North Texas close to home vs. Boise State in Frisco Bowl
Frisco Bowl: North Texas (7-6) vs. Boise State (9-4), Saturday, 9:15 p.m. Eastern (ESPN)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK COLLEGE LINE: Boise State by 10 1/2.
Series record: Tied 3-3.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Boise State and North Texas are both coming off losses in their conference championship games, the Broncos in the Mountain West and the Mean Green in Conference USA. Boise State, which won all eight of its Mountain West games in the regular season, can reach 10 wins for the 18th time in the past 24 seasons. North Texas fired coach Seth Littrell after the C-USA title game loss that gave him a 44-44 record over seven seasons. Defensive coordinator and former SMU head coach Phil Bennett will be the interim head coach in the Frisco Bowl, though the Mean Green hired Washington State offensive coordinator Eric Morris as their new head coach this week.
KEY MATCHUP
Boise State is fifth nationally allowing only 160.7 yards passing per game and 11 TDs. Only three teams have had more than than 184 yards passing against the Broncos. North Texas quarterback Austin Aune has thrown a school-record 32 touchdowns while throwing for 254 yards per game. The 29-year-old junior, who previously spent six seasons playing minor league baseball in the New York Yankees organization, leads the nation with 15.39 yards per completion.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
North Texas: Senior linebacker KD Davis had 14 tackles in the C-USA title game, pushing his career total to a school-record 421. The C-USA defensive player of the year has 132 tackles this season, which is fifth nationally and 12 shy of a school record.
Boise State: Dual-threat quarterback Taylen Green was the Mountain West freshman of the year. Green, who took over as the starter in the fifth game, has thrown for 1,905 yards and 13 touchdowns while running for 467 yards and another eight TDs.
FACTS & FIGURES
North Texas is playing in its sixth bowl game in seven seasons. The Mean Green lost the first five, including last season’s one-time Frisco Football Classic that was played in the same stadium as the Frisco Bowl. … Boise State has won 129 games at home when leading after the third quarter, the longest active streak nationally. The Broncos last loss came Oct. 10, 1998 to North Texas. Alabama is second to Boise State, but the Tide’s streak sits at just 71. … North Texas center and team captain Manase Mose is set to make his 62nd consecutive start. His 61 in a row is currently tied for the FBS record with Trey Carter, an offensive lineman at Coastal Carolina from 2017-21.
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2