DENTON, Texas – After a fairly tight game for a majority of the half, North Texas scored 17 points in the opening half's final 1:53 to gain separation and never looked back posting a 51-0 season-opening victory over Lamar University.
 
Lamar finished the game with 119 yards of offense while UNT recorded 462. The Mean Green also finished the night with a nearly six-minute time of possession advantage.
 
It was a story of LU not being able to string multiple first downs together in the opening 30 minutes to keep UNT's offense on the sideline. On the other side of the ball, the defense forced the Mean Green into third-down plays but couldn't seem to come up with the key stop they needed to get the ball back.
 
Senior Robert Coleman was 13-of-24 for 88 yards with one interception connecting with Nederland native Kyndon Fuselier four times for 45 yards. Seven different Cardinals recorded carries Saturday led by six carries for 21 yards from Major Bowden.
 
The Cardinals dropped UNT running back Makenzie McGill for six yards on the game's first play from scrimmage setting up a long 2^nd-and-16, but the Mean Green managed to save the drive and take it down and score. UNT took a 7-0 lead on their opening drive – eight plays, 75 yards (3:39) – with the key play coming on a 46-yard pass from Drew Mestemaker to Wyatt Young. UNT went for the two-point conversion but Lamar got the stop.
 
Unfortunately, North Texas was able to score on its second possession to build a 13-0 lead. It was just a three-score lead with 1:54 remaining in the opening half before the flood gates opened allowing North Texas to take a 37-0 lead into the locker room. The Mean Green closed the half scoring 17 points in the final 1:53 of the half.
 
After a big opening half offensively for the hometown team, the Cardinals defense settled down in the second half allowing just 14 points. Beaumont native Kristian Pugh and Brayden Faulkner led the with six tackles, while Ronnie Hamrick added five tackles (four unassisted) and two coming behind the line of scrimmage.
 
Big Red returns to Beaumont Saturday, Sept. 6, to host top 10 South Dakota. The game against the Coyotes will kick off at 6 p.m. from Provost Umphrey Stadium and will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live in ESPN+.