North Texas 31, Louisiana-Monroe 21

10/13/2007 10:29 PM

DENTON, Texas (AP) -Giovanni Vizza threw a 99-yard touchdown pass and North Texas returned two interceptions for scores in a 31-21 victory against Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday night.

The win was the first for coach Todd Dodge since making the rare jump from high schools to the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).

The Mean Green (1-5, 1-2 Sun Belt) came into the game with the nation's worst defense but ended Warhawks running back Calvin Dawson's national-best streak of 100-yard games at 10. Dawson had 65 yards on 18 carries.

North Texas had only one interception this season before taking two back for touchdowns and getting three overall. Both scores went off a receiver's hands. Defensive tackle Montey Stevenson took the first interception 20 yards, and cornerback Dominique Green went 75 yards after his pick.

Between those scores, Vizza hooked up with Casey Fitzgerald for the 16th 99-yard touchdown pass in NCAA history. Fitzgerald caught a short pass, shook off cornerback Darius Battles' tackle, followed a downfield block from Brock Stickler and outran the Warhawks (1-5, 1-2) to the end zone.

Fitzgerald, who entered the game second in the nation with 727 receiving yards, caught six passes for 118 yards. Vizza finished 16-for-30 for 202 yards and a touchdown, with one interception.

ULM scored on the first possession of the second half when backup quarterback Trey Revell hit tight end Zeek Zacharie from 46 yards to get within 21-7. They also combined for a 2-yard score with 1:23 remaining in the game.

After the Warhawks recovered an onside kick, Revell threw a 20-yard TD pass to Frank Goodin with 34 seconds left.