North Texas has lost one of its top defensive players for the rest of the season.

Linebacker Tobe Nwigwe will undergo surgery on his left foot on Thursday that will end his season and his career at UNT.

Tobe Nwigwe

Nwigwe missed the Mean Green’s loss to Troy last week with the same injury.

“It’s a blow for us,” UNT head coach Todd Dodge said. “Tobe is a great leader on our team. We didn’t realize how serious the injury was. It’s an injury that is so painful and it cannot be masked in a game because of where it is. If you deaden the nerve, it deadens your whole leg. According to our doctors and trainers, it’s an injury that has to be operated on. It won’t get better by itself.”

Nwigwe has been one of UNT’s top players throughout the season. He was the Mean Green’s leading tackler through six games with 57 stops and was also tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with six.

Nwigwe had one of the best games of his career two weeks ago in a loss to Florida Atlantic when he finished with 13 tackles.

The injury cut Nwigwe’s career short just before he would have had a chance to revisit one of the finest moment of his career in a game against Western Kentucky on Saturday. UNT has beaten the Hilltoppers in dramatic fashion in each of the last two seasons.

Nwigwe helped the Mean Green make a goal-line stand last season in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, one he capped by intercepting a pass and returning it 97 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the game.

Nwigwe was a second-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection last season when he led the Mean Green both in tackles with 111 and interceptions with three.

Junior A.J. Penson started last week in place of Nwigwe and is expected to be in the lineup for the rest of the season.

Penson finished with seven tackles last week against Troy and was a 12-game starter at outside linebacker last season when he finished fifth among UNT players with 51 tackles.

“We have faith in A.J Penson,” Dodge said. “He is going to step in and do a fine job.”

Riley Dodge will return to lineup this Saturday

The on-again, off-again career of Riley Dodge as UNT’s starting quarterback is back on this week for a game against Western Kentucky.

Or at least that is the way it appears heading into UNT’s final days of preparation.

Dodge practiced Tuesday and appeared to be back at full speed after missing last week’s loss to Troy with a sprained ankle.

“Riley will play,” Todd Dodge said. “Physically he is ready to play. He will get more mobile as the week goes on. I was pleased with his sharpness in practice today. We will get a better idea when we get into our middle drill to see if he has that burst running the ball.”

Todd Dodge said that he has yet to make a final decision on who would start at quarterback and expressed confidence in backup Nathan Tune.

Riley Dodge has missed two games this season with injuries, the Troy game and the Alabama game in the third week of the season with a separated shoulder.

Riley Dodge has a soft cast on his leg last week, but said his ankle feels better. He originally injured the ankle in a loss to Middle Tennessee on Sept. 26 and then aggravated it when a Florida Atlantic defensive lineman brought him down from behind in the first half of a game on Oct. 17.

Volleyball

UNT wins two key matches on road trip to Alabama

UNT didn’t accomplish everything it wanted to during a key stretch of its season last week, but the Mean Green came close.

UNT knocked off Troy and South Alabama to start a brutal stretch of three matches in four days. The Mean Green lost the final match in the series at home to Denver on Monday night, but that five-set loss didn’t completely offset the two wins that preceded it.

“We did what we needed to do and played well against two pretty good teams,” UNT head coach Cassie Headrick said. “Troy is a pretty solid team and I thought we handled them pretty well. It was the same thing with South Alabama.”

Amy Huddleston and Roxana Casvean both finished with 16 kills against USA. Brittani Youman had one of her best matches of the season in UNT’s win over Troy, finishing with 18 kills and just one error.

“We have learned how to win and play on the road,” Headrick said. “I don’t know if I have felt that way about any team. I feel good about our ability to focus and win on the road. The flip side is that we are not playing that way at home. I don’t know how well we are handling the distractions at home. We had more attack errors and serving errors than we have had all season against Denver.”

UNT will have to improve its performance on its home court if it hopes to make a late run at advancing to the Sun Belt Conference tournament. The Mean Green’s next five matches are at home before it finishes the regular season with two matches on the road.

Headrick: Sun Belt tourney bid within reach for UNT

UNT still has a shot to advance to the Sun Belt Conference tournament this season.

After winning two of its last three matches, Headrick likes the Mean Green’s chances.

“My husband and I sat down and went through everyone’s schedule,” Headrick said. “If there are no upsets, we will be in a good spot. We need to win three out of the last eight to get a spot in the conference tournament. That is attainable.”

UNT (9-16) is 5-6 in league play and is in a half game behind Troy (6-6) for the final spot in the tournament.

“We are playing good volleyball, so I am not worried about the conference tournament,” Headrick said. “We will rest after our road trip and get to work. Those will be big matches.”

Soccer

UNT no longer in  control of its destiny

UNT entered the final three games of the regular season in control of its destiny.

That changed after a loss to Western Kentucky and a double-overtime tie with Middle Tennessee.

UNT (11-5-2, 7-1-2) had not lost a conference game heading into the weekend and was in first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. The Mean Green is now sitting in fourth place heading into its regular season finale at Denver on Friday.

Florida International (10-5-3) is in first place with an 8-1-1 record in league play.

UNT’s prospects took a hit when Michelle Young went down with a concussion on Sunday in the Mean Green’s loss to WKU.

“We are now going to need a little help to get the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament next week,” UNT head coach John Hedlund said. “FIU had a very favorable schedule this year playing seven at home and only four on the road with us having the complete reverse. Unfortunately they’re in the driver’s seat, but we have guaranteed ourselves a top four seed while a handful of teams are still trying to get into the tournament. We’ll just have to see how it all plays out starting with Denver this Friday.”

UNT is hoping to have Young back for its game against the Pioneers

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