Texas defends the belt, 56–7, at home over North Texas.
AP poll, week 1: North Texas unranked at Texas No. 3 · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Texas came in 241 days into reign #259, which began with a win over USC, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. It was the last defense: Ohio State took the belt in the very next belt game, on September 9, 2006.
For North Texas this was its 2nd shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 2 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.
This is the only time North Texas and Texas have met with the belt on the line.
Recap
Texas dominated North Texas from start to finish, with Colt McCoy orchestrating an offensive clinic that left the Mean Green defense helpless. After McCoy connected with Limas Sweed for a 60-yard touchdown on the game's opening drive, Texas never looked back, scoring on five of their first six possessions to build a commanding lead by halftime. North Texas managed only a single touchdown in the third quarter on a 13-yard pass from Woody Wilson to Brandon Jackson, but it proved merely a consolation in what became a rout. Texas added two more scores in the fourth quarter, including a defensive touchdown when Aaron Lewis recovered a fumble in the end zone, to cruise to a 56-7 victory and retain the belt.
- Colt McCoy's 60-yard touchdown pass to Limas Sweed on the opening drive set the tone for Texas's dominance
- Texas scored on four straight possessions in the first half to put the game completely out of reach
- North Texas's lone touchdown to Brandon Jackson in the third quarter was too little, too late to threaten Texas's control of the game
- Aaron Lewis's fumble recovery touchdown in the fourth quarter sealed the blowout victory and belt retention
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 13:52 | Texas | +60 yd | Colt Mccoy pass complete to Limas Sweed for 60 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 13:52 | Texas | +0 yd | Greg Johnson extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 10:26 | North Texas | +27 yd | Denis Hopovac 27 yard field goal BLOCKED. |
| Q1 1:04 | Texas | +1 yd | Colt Mccoy rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 1:04 | Texas | +0 yd | Greg Johnson extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 15:00 | North Texas | +22 yd | Truman Spencer punt for 42 yards, returned by Aaron Ross for 22 yards to the NoTex 41. |
| Q2 11:19 | Texas | +1 yd | Selvin Young rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 11:19 | Texas | +0 yd | Greg Johnson extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 8:22 | Texas | +6 yd | Jevan Snead pass intercepted by Antoine Bush at the NoTex 7, returned for 6 yards to the NoTex 13. |
| Q2 0:16 | Texas | +5 yd | Colt Mccoy pass complete to Selvin Young for 5 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 1:29 | Texas | +30 yd | Colt Mccoy rush for 30 yards to the NoTex 15 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 0:16 | Texas | +0 yd | Greg Johnson extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 14:45 | North Texas | +33 yd | Woody Wilson pass complete to Brandon Jackson for 33 yards to the Texas 26 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 10:57 | North Texas | +13 yd | Woody Wilson pass complete to Brandon Jackson for 13 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 10:57 | North Texas | +0 yd | Denis Hopovac extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 7:44 | Texas | +29 yd | Colt Mccoy pass complete to Limas Sweed for 29 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 7:44 | Texas | +0 yd | Greg Johnson extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 7:33 | Texas | +27 yd | Greg Johnson kickoff for 64 yards returned by Zach Muzzy for 27 yards to the NoTex 28. |
| Q3 4:52 | North Texas | +32 yd | Truman Spencer punt for 54 yards, returned by Aaron Ross for 32 yards to the 50 yard line. |
| Q3 0:26 | Texas | +10 yd | Jamaal Charles rush for 10 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 0:26 | Texas | +0 yd | Greg Johnson extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 7:26 | Texas | +2 yd | Henry Melton rush for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 7:26 | Texas | +0 yd | Greg Johnson extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 6:33 | North Texas | +0 yd | Matt Phillips sacked by Team, fumbled in the endzone, recovered by Aaron Lewis for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 6:33 | Texas | +0 yd | Greg Johnson extra point GOOD. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Texas
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colt McCoy | 12/19 | 178 | 9.4 | 3 | 0 | 90.2 |
| Jevan Snead | 3/7 | 20 | 2.9 | 0 | 1 | 8.5 |
North Texas
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woody Wilson | 5/6 | 65 | 10.8 | 1 | 0 | 9.6 |
| Matt Phillips | 4/13 | 22 | 1.7 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 |
Rushing
Texas
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamaal Charles | 14 | 77 | 5.5 | 1 | 13 |
| Colt McCoy | 4 | 38 | 9.5 | 1 | 27 |
| Antwaun Hobbs | 5 | 20 | 4.0 | 0 | 8 |
| Henry Melton | 5 | 17 | 3.4 | 1 | 6 |
| Jevan Snead | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 0 | 7 |
| Rashad Bobino | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 |
North Texas
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamario Thomas | 14 | 38 | 2.7 | 0 | 16 |
| Evan Robertson | 5 | -2 | -0.4 | 0 | 1 |
| Woody Wilson | 7 | -5 | -0.7 | 0 | 7 |
| Matt Phillips | 2 | -23 | -11.5 | 0 | 0 |
Receiving
Texas
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limas Sweed | 5 | 111 | 22.2 | 2 | 60 |
| Nate Jones | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Quan Cosby | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 0 | 13 |
| Myron Hardy | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | 13 |
| Jordan Shipley | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 |
North Texas
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Jackson | 2 | 45 | 22.5 | 1 | 33 |
| Johnny Quinn | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 0 | 8 |
| Joel Nwigwe | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Ross Draylen | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 |
| Beau Davidson | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Interceptions
Texas
No recorded stats in this category.
North Texas
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antoine Bush | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Kicking
Texas
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Johnson | 0/0 | 0.0 | 0 | 8/8 | 8 |
North Texas
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denis Hopovac | 0/1 | 0.0 | 0 | 1/1 | 1 |
Punt Returns
Texas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Ross | 5 | 53 | 10.6 | 31 | 0 |
| Quan Cosby | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 |
North Texas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Jackson | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Zach Muzzy | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Punting
Texas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Johnson | 2 | 87 | 43.5 | 0 | 0 | 46 |
North Texas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truman Spencer | 8 | 330 | 41.3 | 0 | 0 | 53 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 262450251) · This game in the downloadable dataset