| NEW ORLEANS - During their film review of North Texas, a team that was giving up just 209 yards per game passing, the University of Memphis still felt it could exploit the Mean Green secondary. |
| And it took the Tigers just three plays into Tuesday night's New Orleans Bowl to expose the North Texas weaknesses there. |
| On a third-and-13 play, senior receiver Darren Garcia went streaking down the field, blowing past cornerback Jeremy Pearl for a 63-yard gain. Only a shoestring tackle by Pearl at the North Texas six-yard line prevented Garcia from scoring. The play was the longest in the brief three-year history of the New Orleans Bowl. |
| It was the first of several bombs that U of M quarterback Danny Wimprine put up against the North Texas defense. When he was done, Wimprine completed 17 of 23 passes for 254 yards, the most allowed by North Texas in its last seven games. |
| "Those guys came to play," Wimprine said of his receivers. "Those guys were getting down field and getting open. We were calling the right plays and we were executing." |
| Garcia had the most success, catching two passes for 109 yards. His second catch was a 46-yard effort on the first play of the second half. |
| Garcia caught some flak from his teammates after his first grab when he allowed Pearl to catch him from behind. |
| "I got tripped, he grabbed my ankle," Garcia said. "They gave me a little grief about it, saying I was on Bourbon Street too many nights. But it's all good." |
| He nearly scored at the end of the first quarter when Wimprine found him free at the goal line on another bomb. But Pearl was called for pass interference. |
| "If he hadn't grabbed my facemask, that was a touchdown," Garcia said. |
| Sophomore Mario Pratcher caught two passes for 62 yards, including a 50-yard reception to help set up the Tigers' second touchdown. |
| "We saw that we could contain both the safeties and the outside man would be free," said sophomore Maurice Avery, who returned from a knee injury to grab three balls for 34 yards. |
| "They hit us with big plays and they executed well," North Texas coach Darrell Dickey said. "We would get within striking distance, but then things would go against us. We came back in the second half. Our kids played hard, but they just hit us with big plays." |
| - Marlon W. Morgan: 529-2792 |