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North Texas Mean Green Football Falls to Marshall, 49-21, Inside Apogee Stadium

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Football

Senior running back DeAndre Torrey's big night on the ground was not enough to lift North Texas out of a 35-point hole on Friday night, as Marshall left Apogee Stadium with a 49-21 win.

The Mean Green (1-5, 0-3 Conference USA) trailed 35-0 before Torrey opened their scoring in the second quarter with a 75-yard touchdown scamper – the longest rushing play for the Mean Green this season.
 
Torrey went on to rush for 179 yards and put up 202 all-purpose yards after entering the game ranked sixth in FBS with 157.2 all-purpose yards per game. Freshman running back Ayo Adeyi also had a career night, setting career-highs in carries (12) and yards (80) while scoring his first collegiate touchdown on a 14-yard run in the fourth quarter.
 
"Ayo has come in and stepped up, and we've been banged up in that (running backs) room," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said. "We had another (injury) tonight and he stepped up and has done some really good things. He just needs to keep working. He's a great teammate and he loves ball. He's been giving it everything he has."
 
Torrey added a 51-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and is now tied for fourth on the program list in career rushing touchdowns with 29. He is now alone in fourth place in all-time total touchdowns (rushing/receiving/returns) with 34.
 
The Mean Green will now look to bounce back and get back in the win column when they host Liberty on Oct. 23, at Apogee.
 
"We had way too many mistakes and until we clean that up and quit making mistakes and playing complementary football, you're not going to beat good teams," Littrell said. "We have a lot of work to do. I just told our guys we'll stick together and grind this out and find a way to get a week better."
 
QUICK HITS

  • The Mean Green loss extends Marshall's all-time series advantage to 3-1, with the Mean Green's lone win in the series coming at Apogee Stadium on Oct. 8, 2016.
  • The loss puts head coach Seth Littrell at 32-36 in his Mean Green tenure, and he is in sixth place on the program's all-time wins list – behind fifth-place Hayden Fry (40). 
  • The Mean Green loss puts the program record at 22-12 in Apogee Stadium under head coach Seth Littrell. The Mean Green are 1-2 at home this season. One of Littrell's 22 wins at Apogee was technically a road game when UTEP traveled to Denton last season for a Miner home game due to COVID-19 restrictions in El Paso.
  • Sophomore QB Austin Aune (Argyle, Texas) made his second start of the season and finished 16-for-30 for 121 yards.
    • Aune completed passes to eight different receivers.
  • Senior RB DeAndre Torrey (Gautier, Mississippi) had 179 rushing yards on 20 carries and a catch for 3 yards along with 20 kickoff return yards to give him 202 all-purpose yards.
    • Torrey's 179 rushing yards on the day marked the ninth time in his career, and third time this season, he's eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark.
    • Torrey's two touchdowns on the night gives him 34 total touchdowns (rushing/receiving/returns) in his career, and he is now alone in fourth place on the program's all-time list after entering the game tied with Jeffery Wilson (2014-17).
    • Torrey's 51-yard touchdown run with 9:49 left to play was the 29th rushing touchdown of his career, tying him for fourth on the program's all-time list with Scott Davis (1987-90).
    • Torrey's 75-yard touchdown run with 4:24 left in the first half got the Mean Green on the board and was the 28th career rushing touchdown for Torrey, moving him into fifth place alone on the program's all-time career list, past Jamario Thomas (2004-07).
    • Torrey's 75-yard touchdown run was the longest rushing play for the Mean Green this season.
  • Freshman RB Ayo Adeyi (Mansfield, Texas) had 12 carries for 86 yards.
    • Adeyi's 86 yards on the ground set a new career high.
    • Adeyi's 14-yard touchdown run with 2:37 remaining in the game was the first touchdown of his career.
  • Freshman Zhighlil McMillan (Frisco, Texas) made his first career start and caught a ball for 10 yards.
    • McMillan's 10-yard reception midway through the third quarter was the first of his career.
  • Junior LB KD Davis (Ennis, Texas) finished the day with a team-high eight tackles, including two solo stops, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry.
  • Sophomore DB DeShawn Gaddie (Arlington, Texas) finished the game with seven tackles, including six solo stops.
  • Freshman DB Harold West (Arlington) finished the game with four tackles, including three solo stops, and an interception.
    • West's interception early in the fourth quarter was the first of his career and marked the 11th takeaway for the Mean Green defense this season.
  • Redshirt freshman DL Gabriel Murphy (Dallas) finished the day with six tackles, including three solo stops, a sack, a tackle for-loss and a forced fumble – his second of the year.
  • The Gabriel Murphy forced fumble late in the third quarter, which was recovered by DL Caleb Colvin, was the 10th takeaway this season by the Mean Green defense.
  • Sophomore LB Larry Nixon III (North Richland Hills, Texas) finished the night with six tackles, including three solo stops.
  • Freshman DL Roderick Brown (Forney, Texas) finished the night with six tackles, including two solo stops
  • Junior punter Bernardo Rodriguez (Coppell, Texas) had five punts with an average of 53.0 yards per punt and one inside the 20.
    • Rodriguez's punt early in the first quarter sailed 64 yards – a new career high, besting his previous high of 58 yards last season against SMU.