North Texas fires defensive coordinator after allowing 681 yards in 4th loss in a row

DENTON, Texas (AP) — North Texas fired defensive coordinator Matt Caponi on Saturday, a day after the Mean Green allowed 681 total yards while losing their fourth consecutive game.

The Mean Green lost 48-27 at UTSA, which Friday night became the fourth consecutive opponent to have a 150-yard rusher against them.

Caponi was in his second season as UNT’s defensive coordinator. Linebacker coach Brian Odom was named interim defensive coordinator for the remainder of this season.

North Texas (5-5), which has to win one of its final two games for bowl eligibility, has allowed 159 points in its four-game losing streak. That is just under 40 points per game, and that even includes a 14-3 home loss to undefeated No. 16 Army last week.

“We believe a change on defense is needed at this point to help the team make a strong push toward earning a bowl game berth,” second-year UNT head coach Eric Morris said.

The Mean Green are one of the top offensive teams in the American Athletic Conference, averaging 35.6 points and 498.4 total yards per game. But they were also allowing a league-worse 458.1 yards per game and 35.7 points, which ranked 12th of 14 teams going into Saturday’s games.

UNT plays its home finale against East Carolina next Saturday, then plays at Temple on Nov. 30.

Odom is in his first season at North Texas after two seasons at Southern Cal as associate head coach for defense and inside linebacker coach. He previously served as interim defensive coordinator at Oklahoma and USC.

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