UNT Falls On the Road at FIU

Saturday, September 9

Miami, Fla.

5:30 PM CT

University of North Texas

0-2 , 0-0

FIU

2-1 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

North Texas

FIU

9/9/2023 9:28:00 PM | Football

Box Score

MIAMI – Despite a big-time effort in relief from junior quarterback Chandler Rogers, UNT fell to 0-2 on the season after a 46-39 loss at FIU on Saturday night.

Rogers entered the game for the Mean Green's first series of the second half after FIU took a 24-20 lead coming out of halftime and passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another score to go with 49 yards on the ground in a game that featured eight lead changes and 548 yards of total offense for UNT.

Rogers' 23-yard rushing touchdown with 10:03 to play gave the Mean Green a 39-38 lead and capped a three-play, 30-yard drive after an interception deep in FIU's territory by Phil Hill gave UNT a short field.

A trio of Mean Green wide receivers found the end zone, as junior Damon Ward Jr., led all UNT receivers with 85 yards on four catches and the sixth touchdown reception of his career.

UNT will look to find the win column next Saturday when it travels to Ruston, Louisiana, to face Louisiana Tech at 6 p.m.

QUICK HITS

The Mean Green loss puts the all-time series at 6-5 in FIU's favor, with the last meeting coming last season, when the Mean Green won 52-14 in Denton.
UNT's captains for the season are Stone Earle, Febechi Nwaiwu, Mazin Richards, Logan Wilson and JP Hadley.
UNT's 548 total yards marked the first time the Mean Green have had over 500 yards of total offense since having 623 against FIU last season.
Junior QB Stone Earle (Keller, Texas) finished 10 for 20 for 96 yards, two interceptions and a touchdown pass. He also rushed for 67 yards on seven carries to lead the Mean Green on the ground.
- Earle's 67 rushing yards mark a new career high, besting his 60-yard effort in last year's of win over FIU.
- Earle's 25-yard touchdown pass to Trey Cleveland with 10:50 left in the first quarter was his 18th career passing touchdown and the fifth of his UNT career.
- Nine different receivers caught passes for the Mean Green.
Junior quarterback Chandler Rogers (Mansfield, Texas) entered the game for the Mean Green's first second-half possession and finished the night with 201 yards passing on 11-of-15 passing.
- Rogers' 23-yard rushing touchdown with 10:03 left to play gave the Mean Green a 39-38 lead and was the seventh rushing score of his career (first at UNT).
- Rogers' 10-yard touchdown pass to Damon Ward Jr., with 11:18 left in the game was the 26th of his career and second at UNT.
- His 8-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Mori Maclin with 9:26 left in the third quarter gave the Mean Green a 27-24 lead and was the 25th touchdown pass of his career (first at UNT).
- Nine different receivers caught passes for the Mean Green.
Junior running back Oscar Adaway III (North Little Rock, Arkansas) finished with 57 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown.
- Adaway's 9-yard rushing touchdown with 4:12 left in the second quarter was his first of the season and ninth of his career. It was also the first rushing touchdown of the season for UNT.
Junior WR Damon Ward Jr. (Beaumont, Texas) finished with four catches for a team-high 85 yards and a touchdown.
- Ward's 10-yard touchdown reception with 11:18 left in the game was the sixth of his career.
Sophomore WR Ja'Mori Maclin (Kirkwood, Missouri) finished with three catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.
- His 8-yard touchdown reception with 9:26 left in the third quarter gave the Mean Green a 27-24 lead and was his fifth career touchdown and third of the season.
Senior kickoff returner Kaylon Horton (Houston, Texas) had 124 kickoff return yards to give him 897 to move him into sixth place in career kickoff return yards at UNT, passing Royce Hill, who had 831 from 2008-11.
Junior WR Roderic Burns (Houston) finished with four catches for 54 yards.
- Burns' four catches puts him at 120 in his Mean Green career, tying him for 15th all-time with Brandon Jackson (2004-07).
Junior WR Trey Cleveland (Arlington, Texas) finished with three catches for 47 yards and a touchdown.
- Cleveland's 25-yard touchdown reception with 10:50 left in the first quarter was his first UNT touchdown and the third of his collegiate career.
Junior LB Jaylen Smith (Hamilton, Ontario) finished the day with two tackles - both solo stops - a tackle for-loss and an interception.
- Smith's interception with 14:15 left in the second quarter was the first of his career.
Junior DB Phil Hill (Spring, Texas) finished with five tackles, including three solo stops, a pass breakup and an interception.
- Hill's interception early in the fourth quarter was the fourth of his career and first since 2021 when he was at UNLV against Nevada.
Junior DB Logan Wilson (Dallas) finished with a team-high eight tackles, including six solo stops.
Redshirt freshman DB Patrick Smith (Sugar Land, Texas) finished with five tackles, including four solo stops in his first career start.
Junior LB Jordan Brown (Huntsville, Texas) finished with five tackles, including four solo stops.
Junior DL Marcus Moore (The Colony, Texas) finished with three tackles - all solo stops – and a forced fumble.
Redshirt freshman LB Ethan Wesloski (McKinney, Texas) finished with four tackles, including three solo stops, a tackle for-loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
Senior kicker Noah Rauschenberg (Tulsa, Oklahoma) went 3-for-3 on extra points and was 2-for-2 on field goals in his UNT debut.
- His 49-yard field goal with 1:08 left in the second quarter is now the longest of his career and the longest field for UNT since Ethan Mooney's 49-yarder against UTSA on Oct. 22, 2022.
- His 47-yard field goal with 1:49 left in the first quarter was the first of his collegiate career.