University of North Texas
5-2 , 2-1
Memphis
6-1 , 2-1
Mean Green Fall at Memphis
10/19/2024 11:57:00 PM | Football
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Junior quarterback Chandler Morris posted 516 yards of total offense with four touchdowns, including a 49-yard rushing score early in the fourth quarter, as UNT fell 52-44 against Memphis on Saturday night.
"It's a tough environment to come into," head coach Eric Morris said. "We played a great team on the road with two true freshmen starting up front with Tyler Mercer at center and Braydon Nelson at left tackle. Those two weren't world beaters tonight but they did some good things. We can clean up at other spots so we're a work in progress right now."
The 49-yard Morris scamper capped a four-play, 75-yard drive which gave the Mean Green a 38-35 lead with 13:59 remaining on the clock. Memphis answered back with a pair of rushing scores to swing momentum in its favor at 49-38 with 5:17 left to play.
On the ensuing drive, Morris found senior wideout Blair Conwright for a nine-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 49-44. After an onside kick attempt from UNT, the Tigers retaliated with a 43-yard field goal which increased its lead to eight with just over a minute to play.
The Mean Green marched 57 yards on the final possession of the game but were unable to level the score after Memphis intercepted a pass as time expired.
"We just ran out of time there at the end," Morris said. "We tried the onside kick because it felt like the way the game was going, we just needed to get the ball back to our offense."
Junior wideout DT Sheffield finished with eight catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns and a team-high mark of 82 yards rushing with a touchdown. He opened the game with a 75-yard rushing touchdown before he caught a 75-yard touchdown on the second play from scrimmage.
The Mean Green return to DATCU Stadium for Homecoming versus Tulane on Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.
QUICK HITS
· The Mean Green loss marks the 19th against the Tigers in UNT history and moves the program to 4-19 in the all-time series.
· UNT's captains for the game were Jordan Brown, Jett Duncan, Chandler Morris and Damon Ward Jr.
· The Mean Green entered the season with 77 newcomers, which is the most in all of FBS. Thirty-six of the 77 newcomers are transfers.
· Freshman TE Brandon Young Jr. (Mansfield, Texas) made his first career start.
· For the first time in program history, UNT started four true freshmen on offense with OL Tyler Mercer (Prosper, Texas), OL Braydon Nelson (Kilgore, Texas), TE Brandon Young Jr. (Mansfield, Texas) and WR Wyatt Young (Katy, Texas).
· UNT is now 3-8 under Eric Morris when trailing at the half and 2-9 when trailing after three quarters.
· The Mean Green tallied 653 yards of total offense, the most under head coach Eric Morris.
· UNT finished with over 600 yards of total offense for the second time this season and the third game over 19 contests under Eric Morris.
· UNT had three different players score a touchdown rush for the first time since Oct. 15, 2022, versus LA Tech.
· The Mean Green scored on a pair of one-play, 75-yard scoring drives in the first quarter which marked the fifth and sixth one-play scoring drives of the season, and fifth and sixth 75-plus-yard touchdowns of the year.
o The Mean Green tied Boise State for the FBS lead with its sixth one-play touchdown drive of the season.
· UNT scored on an 11-play, 65-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter to mark its ninth scoring drive of 10-plus plays this season.
· After Blair Conwright's third-quarter reception, UNT reached 10 different receivers that tallied a reception for the game.
· With Xzavior Kautai's third-quarter reception, UNT has now had 20 different players catch at least one pass this season.
o 20 different players with a reception ranks first in FBS, passing Georgia which had 19 coming into Saturday.
· The Mean Green scored 21 points in the first quarter to mark its first 21-plus point first quarter since scoring 24 against Abilene Christian on Sept. 30, 2023.
o The 21-point first quarter is tied for the eighth-best scoring first quarter in program history.
· UNT gave up a touchdown on Memphis' opening drive of the game – the 13th time in the last 14 games the Mean Green have given up points on its opponent's first possession.
· Junior QB Chandler Morris (Dallas, Texas) finished 36 for 61 for a season-high 445 yards passing and three touchdowns through the air and added a career-high 71 yards rushing on 10 carries with a touchdown on the ground.
o Morris made the seventh start of his UNT career and the 16th of his collegiate career.
o With 445 passing yards, Morris has three games with over 400 yards and is now tied with Mason Fine (2016-19) for the most career 400-plus yard games in program history.
o Morris finished with 516 total yards and became the third player in single-game history with over 500 yards, joining Daniel Meager (2005-08) and Giovanni Vizza (2007-08).
o Morris' 61 pass attempts are tied for the second-most in program history, last accomplished on Sept. 8, 2007, by Giovanni Vizza at SMU.
o Morris eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark for the sixth time in his past seven games for UNT and the eighth time in his collegiate career.
o The performance marked Morris' fourth straight 300-yard passing game, which is tied with Mason Fine in 2017 for the longest such streak in program history.
o Morris' 75-yard touchdown pass to Sheffield with 6:55 left in the first quarter was his 21st of the season and 37th of his career.
o Morris' 9-yard touchdown pass to Sheffield with 2:32 left in the third quarter was his 22nd of the season and 38th of his career.
o Morris' 49-yard touchdown run with 13:59 left in the fourth quarter was the ninth of his career and third of the season.
o His 49-yard rush marked a new career long.
o Morris' 9-yard touchdown pass to Conwright with 2:48 remaining was his 23rd of the season and 39th of his career.
· Junior RB Shane Porter (Friendswood, Texas) finished with 13 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown.
o Porter's 10-yard touchdown run with 2:46 left in the first quarter was the second of his career and second of the season.
· Junior WR DT Sheffield (Corinth, Miss.) finished with a career-high 8 catches for 122 yards and two receiving touchdowns with 82 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground.
o Sheffield's 122 yards gave him his third career 100-yard receiving game.
o Sheffield became the first UNT player to have 100-plus receiving yards in consecutive games since Rod Burns (2020-23) in the first two games of the 2021 season.
o Sheffield's 75-yard touchdown rush with 10:54 left in the first quarter was the first of his career and eighth overall.
o Sheffield's 75-yard touchdown reception with 6:55 left in the first quarter was the eighth of his career and eighth of the season.
o Sheffield's 9-yard touchdown reception with 2:32 left in the third quarter was the ninth of his career and ninth of the season.
· Senior WR Blair Conwright (Lubbock, Texas) finished with five catches for 87 yards and a touchdown.
o Conwright's 9-yard touchdown reception with 2:48 remaining was his fourth of the season and the ninth of his career.
· Freshman WR Miles Coleman (Austin, Texas) finished with seven catches for 62 yards.
o Coleman's seven receptions marked his career high.
· Senior DL Terrell Dawkins (Concord, N.C.) finished the night with six tackles, including three solo stops, and a sack.
o Dawkins' six tackles marked his season high.
· Senior LB Jaylen Smith (Hamilton, Ontario) finished the night with six tackles, including four solo stops.
· Sophomore LB Ethan Wesloski (McKinney, Texas) finished the night with six tackles including three solo stops.
· Junior LB Shane Whitter (Burlington, N.C.) finished the night with five tackles including two solo stops.
o Whitter's five tackles tied his career high.
· Junior DL Fatafehi Vailea II (Oakland, Calif.) finished the night with four tackles, including two solo stops, and a sack.
o Vailea's second-quarter sack was his first sack of the season and first career solo sack, third overall of his career.
· Redshirt freshman CB Kollin Lewis finished the night with three tackles, each solo stops, a tackle for-loss and a pass breakup.
o Lewis' second-quarter pass breakup was the first of his career.
· Redshirt freshman K Kali Nguma (Mission, Texas) finished 5 for 5 on extra points and was 1 for 1 on field goal attempts.
o His 34-yarder in the closing seconds of the second quarter pulled the Mean Green within four points at halftime and marked seven straight made attempts after starting the year 1 for 3 on field goals.
· Junior P Sawyer Evans (Arlington, Texas) finished with four punts for 179 yards for an average of 44.8 yards per kick.
o His 56-yard punt in the third quarter marked his longest kick of the season and third 50-plus yard punt of the season, and 13th of his career.
Team Stats
UNT 0, MEM 7
MEM - Henigan,Seth 4 yd run (Costa,Caden kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:55
UNT 7, MEM 7
UNT - Sheffield,DT 75 yd run (Nguma,Kali kick), 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:11
UNT 7, MEM 14
MEM - Anderson Jr.,Mario 5 yd run (Costa,Caden kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:49
UNT 14, MEM 14
UNT - Sheffield,DT 75 yd pass from Morris,Chandler (Nguma,Kali kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:10
UNT 21, MEM 14
UNT - Porter,Shane 10 yd run (Nguma,Kali kick), 6 plays, 71 yards, TOP 02:36
UNT 21, MEM 21
MEM - Thomas,Brandon 1 yd run (Costa,Caden kick), 10 plays, 79 yards, TOP 04:34
UNT 21, MEM 28
MEM - Anderson Jr.,Mario 42 yd run (Vandenberg,Tristian kick), 1 plays, 42 yards, TOP 00:08
UNT 24, MEM 28
UNT - Nguma,Kali 34 yd field goal 9 plays, 62 yards, TOP 01:02
UNT 31, MEM 28
UNT - Sheffield,DT 9 yd pass from Morris,Chandler (Nguma,Kali kick) 11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 04:29
UNT 31, MEM 35
MEM - Blankumsee,DeMeer 62 yd pass from Henigan,Seth (Vandenberg,Tristian kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:59
UNT 38, MEM 35
UNT - Morris,Chandler 49 yd run (Nguma,Kali kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:34
UNT 38, MEM 42
MEM - Anderson Jr.,Mario 4 yd run (Vandenberg,Tristian kick), 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 04:36
UNT 38, MEM 49
MEM - Anderson Jr.,Mario 5 yd run (Vandenberg,Tristian kick), 5 plays, 70 yards, TOP 02:47
UNT 44, MEM 49
UNT - Conwright,Blair 9 yd pass from Morris,Chandler () 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:29
UNT 44, MEM 52
MEM - Vandenberg,Tristian 43 yd field goal 6 plays, 19 yards, TOP 01:43
