University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
North Texas
Southern Miss Topples North Texas 49-14
10/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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HATTIESBURG, Miss.- Something about North Texas just seems to bring out the best in Southern Miss junior quarterback Nick Mullens.
Mullens threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for a fifth score Saturday night as the Golden Eagles won their opening Conference USA football game for the first time since 2010 with a 49-14 victory over North Texas before 26,430 at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
A week after throwing for 447 yards against Nebraska, Mullens picked up where he left off in Lincoln.
He connected with senior Mike Thomas on three touchdowns, including a pair of 5-yard scores and a 62-yard flea-flicker, had a 3-yard score to senior Casey Martin and did not throw an interception for a third consecutive game.
He also collected his second rushing touchdown of the season on a 4-yard keeper.
Mullens passed for 300-plus yards for a third consecutive week and the eighth time in his career. It marked the second time this season that he had thrown four touchdowns in a game, topped only by a five-touchdown pass game against UAB in 2013. His five-scores-accounted-for Saturday were only topped by six-accounted-for in that same game with the Blazers.
Mullens, who came in Saturday ranked fifth nationally in total passing yards and eighth in passing yards per game, lit up the Mean Green for a second consecutive season. Last year, He threw for 305 yards and two scores in a 30-20 victory in Denton, Texas.
Saturday, Mullens had plenty of help.
Ito Smith averaged 10.6 yards every time he touched the football. The sophomore running back had 84 yards rushing on nine carries and 85 yards receiving on seven catches. He scored his third touchdown of the season on a 4-yard run to open the fourth quarter.
All told, Southern Miss (3-2, 1-0 C-USA) piled up 573 yards total offense, including 248 yards rushing.
Thomas, who had 11 catches on the season, grabbed seven passes Saturday for a career-high 155 yards and a best-ever three touchdown catches. He topped the 100-yard receiving mark for a second consecutive week after catching five passes for 121 yards against Nebraska.
North Texas (0-4, 0-2) boasted a 100-yard rusher (136 yards, Jeffrey Wilson) and 100-yard receiver (136 yards, Carlos Harris), but the Golden Eagles held the Mean Green scoreless until the fourth quarter.
The Golden Eagles stopped a North Texas scoring threat with an end-zone interception by sophomore defensive back Cornell Armstrong and recorded nine tackles for loss, including five sacks.
The five sacks gave USM 13 sacks after five games. Last year, the Golden Eagles logged 14 sacks in 12 games in 2014.
USM led 21-0 at halftime on Mullens' passes to Thomas and Martin and his scoring run.
The Golden Eagles made it 28-0 midway through the third quarter on a 5-yard pass to Thomas, and then tacked on another score a few minutes later when senior running back Jalen Richard lateralled back to Mullens, who found Thomas wide open behind the defense.
Harris scored on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Andrew McNulty on the second play of the final quarter to get North Texas within 35-7, but Smith scored on a 4-yard run and senior running back Justice Hayes on a 2-yarder to push the lead to 49-7 with 6:35 to play.
Willy Ivery scored on a 3-yard run with 4:03 to play, but it was not nearly enough to allow the Mean Green to extend its losing streak to five games and nine consecutive losses on the road.
