The Darrell Dickey era at North Texas continued its fade to black on Saturday when the Mean Green traded in their traditional deep green for all black uniforms against Florida Atlantic.

“The black jerseys and black pants were kind of a fun thing,” Dickey said. “It wasn’t anything other than kids liking that color.”

The change was about the only fun aspect to the game for the Mean Green, who fell short of their goal to send Dickey and a host of seniors out on a positive note in a 17-16 loss in the final home game of the regular season at Fouts Field in front of 9,806.

DRC/Gary Payne

North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey, right, stands with his players before the start of their game against Florida Atlantic on Saturday at Fouts Field.

UNT (3-8, 2-5 Sun Belt) came up with one of its best defensive performances of the season and redshirt freshman Evan Robertson rushed for 201 yards. The combination just wasn’t enough for the Mean Green to send Dickey out in a positive way in the final home game of his nine-year tenure.

Dickey was fired following a loss to Louisiana Tech on Nov. 8 and made his final appearance at Fouts along with 16 seniors who helped the Mean Green win four straight Sun Belt Conference titles from 2001-04.

Dickey told his players earlier this season that they could wear black jerseys if they continued to work hard in what has been a tough season for UNT that has included several close losses and the added distraction of the Mean Green’s head coach suffering a heart attack on Oct. 12. Dickey fulfilled that promise when the Mean Green wore plain all-black jerseys and pants with no names.

UNT appeared as if it might rally to win its final home game of the season in those jerseys, but FAU safety Taheem Acevedo intercepted a pass from Matt Phillips with 1:12 left to play. The Mean Green had driven to the FAU 35-yard line and appeared as if they would have a chance to attempt a game-winning field goal.

“It’s kind of sad to go out in our last home game and not win,” Phillips said. “We’ve got a lot of great seniors and good leaders on this team. We made some mistakes that hurt us. The interception at the end was my fault.”

The interception was one of four costly turnovers committed by the Mean Green.

Starting quarterback Daniel Meager committed two turnovers that FAU (4-7, 3-3) turned into 14 points after the Mean Green had led through most of the first half.

FAU safety Kris Bartels returned an interception from Meager 39 yards for a touchdown that tied the game at 10-10 with 3:04 left in the half.

FAU defensive end Josh Pinnick sacked Meager and forced a fumble on UNT’s next possession. The Owls recovered and scored four plays later on a 1-yard run by Charles Pierre.

UNT’s defense shut out FAU in the second half, but the Mean Green’s offense couldn’t take advantage when it failed to punch the ball in after driving inside the Owls’ 20-yard line twice in the second half.

UNT settled for a pair of Denis Hopovac field goals that cut its deficit to 17-16.

The Mean Green had one last chance to drive for the game-winning score after taking over at FAU’s 47-yard line with 3:56 left. UNT drove to the 35 before Phillips threw the interception that ended the Mean Green’s hopes and spoiled a solid start that saw the Mean Green score on their first possession of the game and lead until a series of mistakes late in the first half.

Quarterback Daniel Meager turned the ball over on each of the Mean Green’s last two possessions before the break. FAU turned both into touchdowns.

Kevin Bartels returned an interception from Meager 39 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. FAU recovered a Meager fumble on UNT’s next possession and scored on a 1-yard run by Charles Pierre to take a 17-10 lead at halftime.

“We made a mistake and they were able to capitalize on it,” UNT offensive lineman Dylan Lineberry said of Phillips’ last-minute interception. “In the Sun Belt, the teams are so even that the team that makes the fewest mistakes is usually going to win. Tonight we made too many mistakes.”

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