UNT Earns Bowl Eligibility With Road Win at Temple

PHILADELPHIA – UNT raced out to a 21-point first-half lead then had a much-needed second-half shutout to end a five-game skid and secure a 24-17 road win over Temple to earn bowl eligibility.

The Mean Green took a 24-3 lead early in the second quarter before being held scoreless for the remainder of the game, while the UNT defense did enough to secure the victory, culminating with a Brian Nelson II interception deep in UNT territory in the closing seconds.

"Hats off to our defense," head coach Eric Morris said. "They played phenomenal. The second half was stop after stop after stop… I'm happy for our kids. They've gone to hell and back the last five weeks. All the close ones we haven't found a way to win and today it was defense that stepped up. They were fantastic."

Nelson nabbed his team-best fourth interception of the season – the fifth straight game UNT has recorded at least one interception – on Temple's final offensive snap and immediately went to the sideline to take part in the now-famous Stone Cold turnover celebration.

"It felt amazing, calling game and doing that celebration with the team," Nelson said. "Just knowing we've been reaching for a bowl game and to accomplish that with those guys means a lot to me."

UNT (6-6, 3-5 AAC) held Temple (3-9, 2-6) to 1-for-16 on third down, and the Owls didn't convert their first third down of the game until there was just 1:45 left to play, as they started the game 0-for-13.

"I'm super proud of them," Morris said of the defensive effort. "We got pressure on the quarterback and did a nice job stopping the run and got off the field on fourth down. I'm super proud of those guys."

While the defense led the way in the second half, the UNT ground game rolled up a season-high 253 yards – most of which came in the first half.

Freshman running back Makenzie McGill II had another big day with 14 carries for a career-high 155 yards and two touchdowns. His 155 yards is the 10th most by a freshman since 2000.

"They came out and played a lot of guys deep and didn't want us to throw over their heads," Morris said. "We knew we had to rely on the run game. Two true freshmen on the O-line and two freshmen running backs out there, so I'm really proud of those guys."

QUICK HITS

The Mean Green win extends their series advantage to 2-0 all-time, with the first meeting coming last season in Denton, a 45-14 UNT win.
With the win, UNT is now eligible for its 15th bowl appearance in program history and first since the 2022 Frisco Bowl, at which Eric Morris was roaming the stadium shortly after being hired. This will be the first bowl bid under Morris.
UNT's captains for the game were Chandler Morris, Ridge Texada, Roderick Brown and Landon Peterson. Morris is the only player to have been a captain for every game this season.
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.
UNT is now 8-2 under Eric Morris when leading at the half and 4-1 this season. When leading after three quarters, UNT is now 5-0 this season and 9-0 under Morris.
UNT rushed for a season-high 253 yards on the day (200 in the first half), marking the fourth time this season with 200+ rushing yards and the first since the previous season-high total of 239 at UTSA.
For the fourth time this season, UNT opened the game with a scoring drive, and for the third time it was a touchdown.
- The touchdown on the opening drive was the first scoring drive to open a game since the Army game, and the first time scoring a touchdown on the opening drive since the FAU game.
UNT snapped a five-games streak of allowing an opposing player to rush for at least 100 yards.
UNT held its opponent scoreless on its opening drive of the game for just the fifth time in the last 19 games.
UNT shut out Temple in the second half – the first second-half shutout since Wyoming earlier this season and the first on the road since a 40-13 win at Western Kentucky on Oct. 29, 2022.
UNT held Temple to 0-for-13 on third down conversion attempts to start the game, and Temple didn't get its first first down until the 1:45 mark of the fourth quarter before finishing 1-for-16 on the day.
UNT recorded an interception for the fifth straight game for the first time since the 2016 season, when UNT had seven straight games with an interception.
For the fourth time this season, UNT had two players record 10 or more tackles, as Chavez Brown and Quinton Hammonds each reached double figures.
Junior QB Chandler Morris (Dallas, Texas) finished 21 for 40 for 180 yards and a touchdown.
- Morris made the 12th start of his UNT career and the 21st of his collegiate career.
- Morris now has 3,774 yards passing this season, putting him in third on the single-season list – 199 yards shy of Mason Fine's 3,793 in 2018.
- Morris' 3,774 yards puts him in 10th on the program's all-time career list behind Jason Mills (1995-97), who threw for 3,981.
- Morris' 197 yards of total offense moved him into second on the program's single-season total offense list with 4,016 yards – 52 yards shy of the program record of 4,068, held by Mason Fine (2017). He is the second player in program history to eclipse 4,000 yards of total offense in a season.
- Morris' opening touchdown pass to DT Sheffield put him at 35 touchdowns responsible for (31 pass, 4 rush) to move him past Austin Aune (2022) for the most in single-season program history.
- Morris' 31 touchdown passes this season ties him for second on the program's all-time single-season list with Mason Fine (2017) and puts him two behind the record of 33, held by Austin Aune (2022).
- Morris' 14-yard touchdown pass to DT Sheffield with 12:19 to play in the first quarter was his 31st of the season and 47th of his career.
- Morris' 17 rushing yards put him at 242 this season, which is the seventh-most in a single season by a UNT quarterback since 2000.
Senior WR Damon Ward Jr. (Beaumont, Texas), finished with one catch for 7 yards.
- Ward's 7 yards gives him 1,798 in his career, which keeps him in 15th on the program's all-time list behind Michael Lawrence (2016-19).
- Ward's one catch puts him at 122 in his career, which ties him for 15th on the all-time list with Jim Russell (1965-67).
Redshirt freshman RB Makenzie McGill II (Mount Vernon, Texas) finished the day with 14 carries for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
- McGill's two touchdowns gave him his second multi-touchdown game of his career after he had three on six carries against Wyoming.
- McGill's 155 rushing yards is a new career high, besting his previous mark of 70 yards against Tulsa.
- McGill's 155 rushing yards is the 10th most for a UNT freshman in a single game since 2000.
- McGill's 51-yard touchdown run with 14:52 left in the second quarter was his ninth of the season – the second-most rushing touchdowns by a UNT freshman in the FBS era (behind Jamario Thomas' 17 in 2004).
- McGill's 39-yard touchdown run with 3:02 left in the first quarter was his eighth of the season.
- McGill's nine rushing touchdowns ties him for sixth-most in FBS this year among freshmen.
Freshman RB Kiefer Sibley (Waco, Texas) finished the day with nine carries for 41 yards.
Senior WR Blair Conwright (Lubbock, Texas) finished the day with three catches for 41 yards.
Freshman WR Miles Coleman (Austin, Texas) finished the day with eight catches for 32 yards and a touchdown.
- Coleman's eight catches mark a new career high.
Junior WR DT Sheffield (Corinth, Miss.) finished the day with four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown.
- Sheffield's 14-yard touchdown reception with 12:19 left in the first quarter was his 11th of the season.
- Sheffield's 11 touchdown receptions this season ties for the sixth-most in program history (Ja'Mori Maclin (2023), Jyaire Shorter (2022), George Marshall (2001), David Brown (1994) and Mavin Walker (1982).
- Sheffield's 47 yards gives him 822 on the season, which ranks 17th on the single-season list, as he passed Roderic Burns (2021), Jalen Guyton (2018), Troy Redwine (1994) and Michael Lawrence (2017) on the day.
Junior LB Chavez Brown (Houma, La.) finished the day with 11 tackles, including four solo stops.
- Brown's 11 tackles is a new career high.
Freshman DB Quinton Hammonds (Allen, Texas) finished the day with 10 tackles, including eight solo stops, and a pass breakup.
- Hammonds' 10 tackles tied his career high.
- Hammonds is the first UNT freshman since at least 2000 to have multiple games with 10+ tackles.
Senior LB Jordan Brown (Huntsville, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including three solo stops, and a half-tackle for-loss.
Senior LB Jaylen Smith (Hamilton, Ontario) finished the day with seven tackles, including three solo stops, and 1.5 tackles for-loss.
Senior DB Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio) finished the day with four tackles, including three solo stops.
Senior DB Ridge Texada (Frisco, Texas) finished the day with five tackles – all solo stops – and a pass breakup.
- His PBU in the first quarter was the 32nd of his career and 37th career pass defended (PBUs + interceptions) – both extended his program records.
Redshirt freshman DB Brian Nelson II (Pearland, Texas) finished the day with two tackles, including a solo stop, a QB hurry and an interception.
- Nelson's interception in the closing seconds was the fourth of his season and career and sealed the win and bowl eligibility for the Mean Green.
Junior DL Breylon Charles (New Orleans, La.) finished the day with four tackles, including two solo stops.
Redshirt freshman K Kali Nguma (Mission, Texas) finished 3-for-3 on extra points and was 1-for-2 on field goal attempts.
- With his second extra point conversion of the day, Nguma became the second player in UNT history and 12th player in AAC history with a perfect 1.000 PAT kick percentage on 50+ attempts in a season.
- Nguma is the fourth player in program history with 50+ PAT kicks made and attempted in a single season, joining Ethan Mooney (54-for-55 in 2022), Cole Hedlund (51-for-54 in 2018) and Trevor Moore (55-for-55 in 2017). Nguma is now 51-for-51.
- Nguma is now at 84 points for the season, moving him past Trevor Moore (2014) into seventh on the program's single-season kicking points list – seven points back of Ethan Mooney's 91 in 2019.

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Team Stats

Chandler Morris

Players Mentioned

Chavez Brown

Jordan Brown

Roderick Brown

Roderic Burns

Breylon Charles

Miles Coleman

Blair Conwright

Quinton Hammonds

Jayden Hill

Ja'Mori Maclin

Makenzie McGill II

Chandler Morris

Brian Nelson II

Kali Nguma

Landon Peterson

DT Sheffield

Kiefer Sibley

Jaylen Smith

Ridge Texada

Damon Ward Jr.

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