MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee fell victim Saturday to one of the best offenses in the country.
 
The Blue Raiders (1-5, 1-3) had a two-score lead in the second quarter before North Texas (2-3, 1-2) roared back and won 52-35 at Floyd Stadium.
 
"Give North Texas credit, their skill on offense was really good," Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Stockstill said. "They stoned us on both sides of the ball in the second half.
 
"In the first half, we started out and did a lot of good things on both sides of the ball. … I'm just disappointed in how we played in the second half."
 
Everything went MT's way for most of the first half.
 
The Blue Raiders used three Mean Green turnovers to take a 28-14 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the second quarter, scoring on three of their first five possessions.
 
It was Middle Tennessee's defense that made things easy on their offense.
 
However, a North Texas touchdown late in the first half closed the score at the break to 28-21, and the momentum appeared to flip to the road team.
 
The Mean Green scored 35 unanswered points with three touchdowns in the third quarter and another 10 points in the fourth.
 
"We just didn't tackle very good at all, and offensively, we didn't do anything [in the second half]," Stockstill said. "We just didn't play very good on either side of the ball."
 
In the end, Middle Tennessee surrendered 768 total yards, including 462 rushing, which was the most total yards the Blue Raiders have ever allowed in a single game.
 
"It was a tough one," junior safety Gregory Grate Jr. said. "We just need to fill our gaps and play discipline football. … We got out of our gaps sometimes and didn't fill it how we were supposed to, and they burned us on it."
 
The Blue Raiders' offense started out on fire behind redshirt junior running back Chaton Mobley and redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara.
 
The backfield duo connected for the first score of the game almost midway through the first quarter, a sign of what was to come before halftime.
 
O'Hara finished out the first half with three passing touchdowns, while Mobley had 106 rushing yards to go with the receiving score before heading to the break.
 
Mobley added a 30-yard run for a TD in the fourth quarter, finishing with 156 rushing yards on 14 attempts. O'Hara completed 17-of-25 passes for 164 yards, three TDs and an interception and added 79 rushing yards on 24 attempts.
 
"I knew coming into the game … there were going to be a bunch of running lanes to take advantage of," Mobley said. "I knew if our offensive line got the push that we needed, I was going to make some plays."
 
Defensively, senior linebacker DQ Thomas led the way with 12 tackles. Grate had 11 to go with a forced fumble on a sack. He scooped up the fumble and returned it all the way back for a 20-yard touchdown.
 
Redshirt freshman cornerback Quincy Riley had two interceptions in the first half, the first two of his Blue Raider career, before exiting due to injury.
 
Middle Tennessee will travel to Houston to take on Rice next week. The Owls haven't played a game yet this season, making game planning this week a bit more difficult.
 
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.