text: North Texas football loses big in Ruston | Voice of Denton
  It was a long day in the Big Easy as North Texas (4-6, 3-3 Conference USA) tacked on their sixth loss of the season after losing 17-52 to Louisiana Tech (8-1, 8-0 Conference USA). Heading into this matchup, North Texas had unresolved business with the Bulldogs after having last year's undefeated season spoiled by a blocked field goal on Mean Joe Greene Night.
  However, the Mean Green were stifled in the first half after managing to score three points off sophomore kicker Ethan Mooney's 38-yard field goal.
  "We didn't move the chains," head coach Seth Littrell said in a press release. "We were 2-for-11 on third downs, which is atrocious. We have to do much better."
  Toward the end of the first half, senior quarterback Mason Fine exited with an injury and redshirt freshman quarterback Jason Beane took his place. Before Fine went down he threw 8-for-15 passing and had 48 yards through the air. Beane struggled to get the offense going himself as he committed four turnovers after losing two fumbles and throwing two picks with one being returned for a touchdown. Beane threw for 12-for-16 and 94 passing yards before being replaced by freshman quarterback Austin Aune.
  "Bean did some good things," Littrell said. "We have to have better ball security and we have to snap the ball where we aren't putting it on the turf. We had too many catastrophics. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot, and ultimately that's what happens."
  The Louisiana Tech offense scored six touchdowns with junior running back Justin Henderson scoring two on the ground with his legs. Senior quarterback J'Mar Smith ended the game throwing for one touchdown, one interception and 263 passing yards.
  "At the end of the day, we have to clean some stuff up and we have two more opportunities, and we have to stick together as a team," Littrell said. "We're disappointed in the way we played, but all we can do is get guys back and healthy and come back for two more opportunities."
  UP NEXT: North Texas (4-6, 3-3 C-USA) enters into their second bye week before they travel to Houston, Texas to take on Rice (0-9, 0-5) on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2:30 p.m.
  Featured Image: UNT head football coach Seth Littrell looks out onto the field before the game against Texas-El Paso on Nov. 2, 2019. Image by Zach Thomas