TROY, Ala. — North Texas seemingly spent all afternoon knocking on the door of Troy’s end zone Saturday.

The Mean Green ran 11 plays inside Troy’s 20-yard line, nine from inside the 10 and one at the goal line only to be turned away each time by the Trojans, who spoiled the return of UNT head coach Darrell Dickey in a 14-6 win at Movie Gallery Stadium.

For the DRC/Huck Treadwell

North Texas quarterback Daniel Meager looks for running room against the Troy defense on Saturday in Troy, Ala. Meager was knocked out of the game with a concussion.

Dickey coached the Mean Green for the first time since suffering a heart attack on Oct. 13 and saw UNT fall for the fifth time in its last six games.

“We made too many mistakes on offense and didn’t capitalize on opportunities,” Dickey said. “It has been happening too long. An offense takes a little longer to come together than a defense, but we shouldn’t have this many penalties, problems getting out of the huddle and getting lined up correctly. That falls on the coach. We can sit here and sugar coat it all we want, it falls on coach Dickey. Our players’ effort today was outstanding, but it wasn’t good enough.”

Dickey missed UNT’s loss to Arkansas State last week while recovering from his heart attack before returning to see the Mean Green squander several chances offensively against Troy (3-4, 2-0).

The crushing blow for UNT (2-6, 1-3) came in the fourth quarter after wide receiver Johnny Quinn caught a 25-yard pass on fourth-and-16 to set UNT up at the Troy 6 with 13:24 left and the Mean Green trailing 7-3.

UNT ran six plays from inside the 10-yard line after the completion, but failed to get into the end zone. Jamario Thomas carried the ball to the 1 on first down, but was thrown for a 4-yard loss on second down.

Quarterback Woody Wilson was dragged down at the 6 on third down, but Brandon Lang was flagged for a personal foul facemask penalty that gave the Mean Green a first down at the Troy 3.

UNT was immediately flagged for a delay of game penalty and was forced to settle for a field goal that cut Troy’s lead to 7-6 with 9:01 left.

“We lacked execution,” Wilson said. “Everyone wasn’t on the same page. … We missed checks at the line and had some miscommunication.”

Wilson came on in the second half after fellow sophomore Daniel Meager suffered a concussion. Meager was on the field for UNT’s other missed opportunity deep in Troy’s end of the field after safety Aaron Weathers intercepted a pass from Trojans quarterback Omar Haugabook and returned it to the 19-yard line.

UNT got as far as the Trojans’ 4, but settled for a 20-yard field goal from Denis Hopovac and a 3-0 halftime lead.

Troy eventually took advantage of the Mean Green’s offensive struggles. Gary Banks caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Haugabook in the third quarter to give Troy a 7-3 lead.

Troy put the game away after Hopovac’s second field goal. The Mean Green failed to recover an onside kick and Troy took advantage when Anthony Jones scored on a 5-yard run with 4:58 left.

The outcome was disappointing for UNT, which received a solid performance from its defense that limited Troy 243 yards.

“Our defense played really well,” Quinn said. “We needed to capitalize when we got down there. That was the difference in the game.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.