page_title: 2018 SMU Mustangs football team
section_title: at North Texas
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 SMU Mustangs football team / Game summaries / at North Texas
caption_attribution_description: English: Southern Methodist on offense during the Southern Methodist Mustangs vs. North Texas Mean Green football game at Apogee Stadium in Denton, Texas (United States). North Texas won 46–23.
context_page_description: The 2018 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mustangs played their home games at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, Texas and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by first-year coach Sonny Dykes. They finished the season 5–7, 4–4 in American Athletic play to finish in fourth place in the West Division.
context_section_description: To start the 2018 season, the Mustangs traveled to Denton, Texas to take on the Mean Green in the 38th Safeway Bowl.
  SMU received the opening kickoff and started at their own 25-yard line. Ben Hicks completed a 6-yard pass to C. J. Sanders for the Mustangs' first offensive play. On the next play, SMU was backed up 5-yards after a false start penalty against Larry Hughes, making it 3rd and 9. On third down, Hicks was sacked by E.J. Ejiya for a 10-yard loss to bring up 4th and 19 and the Mustangs were forced to punt. Before the punt, SMU was backed up another 5-yards due to a delay of game penalty. Jaelon Darden received the punt for North Texas, returning it 4-yard to the SMU 49-yard line. Following a Mason Fine sack and an offensive holding penalty, the Mean Green were backed up to their own 49-yard line on 3rd and 25, but a personal foul against Trevor Denbow moved North Texas up to the SMU 36-yard line with an automatic first down. Three plays later, Mason Fine found Jalen Guyton for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The two teams punted on their next drives after both went three and out. On the first play following North Texas's punt, Hicks was intercepted by Kemon Hall who returned it 36-yard for a pick six touchdown. The Mustangs punted three more times before halftime, while the Mean Green punted once and scored six more points with Cole Hedlund making two field goals.
  North Texas received the second half kickoff and started at their own 25-yard line. The Mean Green ended the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mason Fine to Nic Smith. The Mustangs punted on their next three drives, while North Texas scored another touchdown and made another field goal, extending the lead to 36–0. On their 4th drive of the game, the Mean Green turned the ball over on downs at the SMU 37-yard line. On the 5th play following the turnover on downs, Hicks found Jr. Robinson for a 37-yard pass, putting the Mustangs at the North Texas 5-yard line. On the next play, Braeden West found the end zone on a 5-yard run, giving SMU its first score of the game. On the next drive, Hedlund made a 51-yard field goal to make it 39–7. On the kickoff, Sanders returned the kick 23-yards to the SMU 26-yard line. On the 4th play of the drive, Hicks found James Proche for a 59-yard touchdown pass; the Mustangs made the two-point conversion to trail 15–39 with 1:41 left to play. On the following kickoff, DeAndre Torrey returned Kevin Roblebo's kick 96-yards for a touchdown. On the next drive, Hicks made another long touchdown pass, this time a 71-yard pass to West. Receiving the ball back, the Mean Green took a knee to end the game.
  The Mustangs' offense was shutout through the first three quarters, getting their first score of the game on a five-yard run from Braeden West with just over 8 minutes left in the game. SMU only had 256 yards of total offense, while North Texas had 529. SMU's defense couldn't stop Mean Green quarterback Mason Fine, who threw for 444 yards and 3 touchdowns.
caption: SMU in action against North Texas
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