UNT Gets First Win On Field Goal In Closing Seconds

RUSTON, La. – Noah Rauschenberg drilled a 31-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to give UNT a 40-37 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night at Joe Aillet Stadium and get the Mean Green their first win of the season and the first of the Eric Morris era.

Rauschenberg went 4-for-4 on field goals, putting him at 6-for-6 in his collegiate career, and helped erase a furious LA Tech rally in the fourth quarter that included a recovered onside kick and the tying touchdown with 1:04 to play in the game.

A 21-yard run from junior running back Ayo Adeyi from the LA Tech 35-yard line put the Mean Green in comfortable position for Rauschenberg to win the game in the final seconds, and Adeyi was one of the game's offensive stars with 19 carries for 148 yards – both career-highs - and two touchdowns.

"He's a great player," Morris said. "We have to find a way to get it in his hands. He plays for his teammates and blocks hard and does everything you want him to do. We have to find ways to get him the ball more."

Junior quarterback Chandler Rogers made his first start for the Mean Green after entering last week's game in the second half. On Saturday night, he completed 24 of 41 pass attempts for 313 yards and two touchdowns with 11 of those completions going to junior wideout Roderic Burns for 134 yards.

UNT (1-2) put up a season-high 562 yards and led 30-14 going into the fourth quarter before almost letting the game slip away in the final minutes.

"I'm super proud of our guys," Morris said. "They never gave up. They fought until the end and it snowballed in their favor at the end. To have Noah go out there and put it right through the uprights, I'm so damn proud of these kids."

QUICK HITS

The Mean Green win puts the all-time series at 13-9 in LA Tech's favor, with the last meeting coming last season, when the Mean Green won 47-27 in Denton. It was the first UNT win in Ruston since 2017, a 24-23 victory.
UNT's captains for the season are Stone Earle, Febechi Nwaiwu, Mazin Richards, Logan Wilson and JP Hadley.
Making their first starts of the season for UNT were: Vic Alobwede, Bryce Linder and Loronzo Thompson. It was the first career start for Linder and the first career start on defense for Thompson.
UNT's 562 total yards marked the second time the Mean Green have had over 500 yards of total offense in as many games and the most this season.
UNT's 17-play drive to open that game that culminated with a field goal was the longest UNT drive this season and was the longest scoring drive since an 18-play drive in last year's win over FIU.
The 32 first downs for UNT marked the most in a game for the Mean Green since they had 34 against Texas Southern on Sept. 10, 2022.
With Roderic Burns eclipsing the 100-yard receiving mark and Ayo Adeyi putting up more than 100 yards on the ground, it marks the first time UNT has had a 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver in the same game since Nov. 20, 2021, a 49-7 win over FIU.
Junior quarterback Chandler Rogers (Mansfield, Texas) made his first start for the Mean Green and finished the night with 313 yards and two touchdowns on 24-of-41 passing. He also had nine carries for 35 yards.
- Rogers made his first start at UNT and his 19th career start after transferring from ULM.
- Rogers' 313 yards passing gave him his first 300-yard passing effort with the Mean Green.
- Rogers' 36-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Mori Maclin with 10:23 to play was the 28th of his career and fourth at UNT.
- Rogers' 6-yard touchdown pass to Damon Ward Jr., with 14 seconds left in the second quarter was the 27th of his career and third at UNT.
- Nine different receivers caught passes for the Mean Green.
Junior RB Ayo Adeyi (Mansfield, Texas) finished with 19 carries for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
- Adeyi's 148 yards marks the first 100-yard rushing performance for UNT this season, it's the third 100-yard game of his career and his first since a home win over LA Tech last season.
- Adeyi's 6-yard touchdown run with 4:03 left in the third quarter was his second of the season and 12th of his career.
- Adeyi's 13-yard touchdown run with 3:23 left in the first quarter was his first of the season and the 11th of his career.
Junior running back Oscar Adaway III (North Little Rock, Arkansas) finished with 44 yards on 13 carries.
- Adaway made his first start of the season.
Junior WR Damon Ward Jr. (Beaumont, Texas) finished with two catches for 38 yards and a touchdown.
- Ward's 6-yard touchdown reception with 14 seconds left in the second quarter was the seventh of his career.
Sophomore WR Ja'Mori Maclin (Kirkwood, Missouri) finished with four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.
- His 36-yard touchdown reception with 10:23 left in the game was his sixth career touchdown and fourth in three games season.
- Maclin is the first UNT player with touchdown receptions in three straight games since Jyaire Shorter's similar stretch in 2022.
Junior WR Roderic Burns (Houston) finished with 11 catches for 134 yards for the first 100-yard receiving performance for a Mean Green receiver this season.
- Burns' 11 catches puts him at 131 in his Mean Green career, putting him in 13th all-time on the career receptions list.
- Burns' 11 catches marked a new season high and his 134 yards is a season high. It's the most catches since he had 12 against SMU on Sept. 11, 2021.
- Burns' 134 yards marks the fifth 100-yard receiving game of his career and his first since last season against UTSA.
Junior WR Trey Cleveland (Arlington, Texas) finished with two catches for 41 yards.
- Cleveland's 32-yard reception late in the second quarter was a season-long grab.
Senior LB Kevin Wood (Converse, Texas) finished the day with a team-high nine tackles, including two solo stops and a pass breakup.
- Wood's nine tackles is a new season-high.
Senior DL Mazin Richards (Burleson, Texas) finished with five tackles, including four solo stops, three tackles for-loss and a sack.
- Richards' first-quarter sack was his first of the season and he now has 8.5 in his UNT tenure and 29.5 in his career.
Sophomore DB Bryce Linder (College Station, Texas) finished with six tackles, including three solo stops.
Junior DB Logan Wilson (Dallas) finished with eight tackles, including six solo stops.
Redshirt freshman DB Patrick Smith (Sugar Land, Texas) finished with seven tackles, including two solo stops.
Junior DB Loronzo Thompson (Friendswood, Texas) finished with four tackles, including three solo stops, in his first career defensive start.
Junior DL Roderick Brown (Forney, Texas) finished with four tackles, including one solo stop, and three quarterback hurries.
Redshirt freshman LB Ethan Wesloski (McKinney, Texas) finished with six tackles, including three solo stops.
Junior punter Sawyer Evans (Arlington, Texas) finished with two punts for an average of 60.5 yards per punt.
- His 64-yard punt in the second quarter was a career-long and went out of bounds at the La Tech 3-yard line.
Senior kicker Noah Rauschenberg (Tulsa, Oklahoma) went 4-for-4 on extra points and was 4-for-4 on field goals in his UNT debut.
- Rauschenberg became the first UNT player to make four field goals in the same game since Ethan Mooney against Middle Tennessee on Oct. 19, 2019.
- His 31-yard field goal with three seconds left put the Mean Green in front and was the sixth made field goal of his career on his sixth career attempt.
- His 48-yard field goal with 1:56 left in the first half was the fifth made field goal of his collegiate career on his fifth career attempt.
- His 22-yard field goal with 11:37 left in the second quarter was the fourth made field goal of his collegiate career on his fourth career attempt.
- His 25-yard field goal with 8:07 left in the first quarter was the third made field goal of his collegiate career on his third career attempt.

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Team Stats

Chandler Rogers

Players Mentioned

Oscar Adaway III

Ayo Adeyi

Vic Alobwede

Roderick Brown

Roderic Burns

Trey Cleveland

Stone Earle

Sawyer Evans

JP Hadley

Bryce Linder

Ja'Mori Maclin

Ethan Mooney

Febechi Nwaiwu

Noah Rauschenberg

Mazin Richards

Chandler Rogers

Jyaire Shorter

Patrick Smith-Young

Loronzo Thompson

Damon Ward Jr.

Ethan Wesloski

Logan Wilson

Kevin Wood

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