UNT Runs Away With Win to Open AAC Play

DENTON – Roughly 25 minutes into Saturday's game at DATCU Stadium, UNT head coach Eric Morris couldn't have been much more frustrated with himself as a play-caller nor with his offense that had yet to put up points against Tulsa.

Then, a screen pass to Blair Conwright turned into a 96-yard catch-and-run touchdown, and the Mean Green were off.

What happened next was a 22 ½-minute stretch of game time that saw UNT reel off 52 points en route to a 52-20 win over the Golden Hurricane to move to 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in AAC play, as UNT rolled up 618 yards of total offense and averaged 10.3 yards per play.

"That's the culture we're building here now," Morris said. "As sloppy as we were offensively in the first half - I was stuck calling plays, we were inefficient on first down and we were getting beat up front. It was just all sloppy. This team loves one another and fights for one another. The defense kept standing up and standing up. We finally got the break with that screen pass from the 4, and that got us sparked."

With 1:30 to go in the first half and UNT holding a 7-3 lead, Alphie Guillory Jr., blocked a punt that was recovered at the Tulsa 1-yard line by Ethan Wesloski. Wyatt Young punched it in from 1-yard out to put the Mean Green up 17-3 with 1:28 to play in the half.

Tulsa's ensuing drive ended with Evan Jackson's second interception of the night and set up a two-play, 41-yard drive that ended with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Chandler Morris to Young with six seconds left in the half to put UNT up 24-3.

In all, the junior quarterback had his best game at UNT with 439 yards and five touchdowns – to five different receivers. It was the first time since at least 1968 that five different players have caught touchdown passes in a single game for the Mean Green.

"We did a nice job of spreading the ball around. (Nick) Rempert and DT (Sheffield) had some nice catches. Our running backs did a nice job – all of them. We did a nice job making adjustments at the half. We were probably a little too cute in the first half and they were doing some things we hadn't seen on tape. We got caught on some things that shouldn't have happened. We ended up dialing it back a bit and ran our base plays, and I thought we were much better in the second half."

Eric Morris raved about the play of his defense, which came off a strong effort against Wyoming to hold Tulsa scoreless for the entirety of the first quarter and to just two field goals for more than 30 minutes of game time from the beginning of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth, after which UNT led 45-6.

"I'm proud of our defense and how they continued to grow and get better," Morris said. "They're tough and gritty. We had a bunch of backups and young guys in there in the end and we got a little sloppy, but I was really proud of that group."

The Mean Green now head to their first bye week before returning to action on Oct. 12, when they'll look to improve to 2-0 in conference play at FAU. The kickoff time for that game will be announced on Monday.

QUICK HITS

The Mean Green win cuts Tulsa's lead in the all-time series to 17-9, but it was UNT's third straight win in the series.
With the win, UNT moves to 4-1, which ties for the best start through five games since 1967, when UNT started 4-0-1.
UNT's captains for the game were Chandler Morris, Jett Duncan, Roderick Brown and Jaylen Smith.
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.
Senior WR Nick Rempert (Batavia, Ill.), who was previously at Tulsa, made his first career start.
UNT is now 7-1 under Eric Morris when leading at the half and 8-0 when leading after three quarters.
The win marks the 11th time in 17 games under Morris that UNT has amassed at least 500 yards of total offense.
The last scoreless first quarter for UNT was on Oct. 28, 2023, against UTSA.
The last scoreless first quarter for UNT and its opponent came on Aug. 27, 2022, in the season opener at UTEP, who scored with 13:58 left in the second quarter to open the game's scoring.
For the first time since 2003, UNT has put 50 or more points on more than one FBS opponent in the same season (Tulsa and South Alabama, 2024; Baylor and Arkansas State, 2003).
For the first time since at least 1968, the Mean Green had five players catch touchdown passes in a single game, and they now have eight players who have caught at least one touchdown pass this season.
Alphie Guillory Jr.'s blocked punt late in the first quarter, which was recovered by Ethan Wesloski at the Tulsa 1-yard line to set up a touchdown run, was the second of the season for UNT. Entering the day, there were four teams (Colorado, Eastern Michigan, Louisville and ULM) tied with two blocked punts this season – the most in FBS.
- The two blocked punts on the season marks the first time since 2019 the Mean Green have had two in a season.
Blair Conwright's 96-yard touchdown reception with 4:47 left in the second quarter tied the AAC record for longest pass completion, matching Marquez Stevenson's for Houston against SMU on Oct. 24, 2019.
- The play tied Troy Redwine's 96-yard reception on Nov. 13, 1993, against Nicholls and is second only to Casey Fitzgerald's 99-yard reception against ULM in 2007.
Starting with 5:24 left in the second quarter, UNT scored on eight straight drives through 12:35 left in the game, and six of those drives were two minutes or less. Four of them were less than one minute.
For the first time since Oct. 7, 2023, against Navy, UNT didn't let the opponent score on its opening drive of the game.
Junior QB Chandler Morris (Dallas, Texas) finished 22 for 34 for a season-high 439 yards and five touchdown passes.
- Morris made the fifth start of his UNT career and the 14th of his collegiate career.
- Morris eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark for the fourth time in his five games for UNT, which is already the sixth-most 300-yard passing games in a single season in program history, and the sixth time in his collegiate career.
- Morris eclipsed the 400-yard passing mark for the second time this season and third time in his career.
- Morris completed passes to 12 different receivers.
- Morris' career-high 5 touchdown passes tied for the third-most in a single game in program history and was the most since Chandler Rogers had five in last year's game against Memphis.
- Morris' 96-yard touchdown pass to Blair Conwright with 4:47 left in the second quarter was his 11th of the season and 27th of his career, and it tied for the second longest pass play in program history.
- Morris' 26-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Young with six seconds left in the first half was his 12th of the season and 28th of his career.
- Morris' 27-yard touchdown pass to DT Sheffield with 12:05 left in the third quarter was his 13th of the season and 29th of his career.
- Morris' 14-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Carnes with 8:31 left in the third quarter was his 14th of the season and 30th of his career.
- Morris' 9-yard touchdown pass to Kiefer Sibley with 1:32 left in the third quarter was his 15th of the season and 31st of his career.
Redshirt freshman RB Makenzie McGill II (Mount Vernon, Texas) finished with five carries for 70 yards and a touchdown.
- McGill's 75-yard touchdown run with 12:34 left in the fourth quarter was the fourth of his career and was the longest rush of his career.
Freshman WR Wyatt Young (Katy, Texas) finished with two catches for 56 yards and a touchdown and one carry for 1 yard and a touchdown.
- Young became the first freshman with two touchdowns in a game since Landon Sides did it last year.
- Young also became the first UNT player to have both a rushing and receiving touchdown since Ikaika Ragsdale on Nov. 26, 2022, against Rice.
- Young's 1-yard touchdown run with 1:28 left in the second quarter was his first career rushing score.
- Young's 26-yard touchdown reception with six seconds left in the first half was his second receiving score of the season.
Junior WR DT Sheffield (Corinth, Miss.) finished with two catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
- Sheffield entered the game tied for the lead in the AAC in touchdown receptions on the season with four.
- Sheffield's 27-yard touchdown reception with 12:05 left in the third quarter was the fifth of his career and fifth of the season.
Senior WR Blair Conwright (Lubbock, Texas) finished the day with two catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.
- Conwright's 115 yards gave him his first career 100-yard receiving day.
- Conwright's 96-yard touchdown reception with 4:47 left in the second quarter was his third of the season and eighth of his career (fifth at UNT), and it tied for the second longest pass play in program history.
- Conwright had touchdowns in back-to-back games for the second time in his career – the first coming last season against UTSA and SMU.
Sophomore WR Dalton Carnes (College Station, Texas) finished with four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
- Carnes' 14-yard touchdown reception with 8:31 left in the third quarter was his first at UNT and the second of his career.
Freshman RB Kiefer Sibley (Waco, Texas) finished with seven carries for 58 yards and two catches for 17 yards and a touchdown.
- Sibley's 9-yard touchdown reception with 1:32 left in the third quarter was his first career touchdown.
Sophomore LB Ethan Wesloski (McKinney, Texas) finished the day with seven tackles, including two solo stops, a sack and a tackle for-loss.
- Wesloski's seven tackles were a new season-high.
- Wesloski's sack was his first of the season.
Sophomore DB Evan Jackson (Houston, Texas) finished the day with six tackles, including five solo stops.
- Jackson's two interceptions made him the first UNT player with two in a game since Ridge Texada had two against FAU on Oct. 1, 2022.
Senior LB Jordan Brown (Huntsville, Texas) finished the day with five tackles, including three solo stops.
Senior LB Jaylen Smith (Hamilton, Ontario) finished the day with five tackles, including two solo stops, 1.5 tackles for-loss and a pass breakup.
Senior DB Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio) finished the day with five tackles, including four solo stops, and a pass breakup.
Junior LB Shane Whitter (Burlington, N.C.) finished with four tackles, including three solo stops.
Senior DB Ridge Texada (Frisco, Texas) finished with four tackles – all solo stops.
Redshirt freshman K Kali Nguma (Mission, Texas) finished 7 for 7 on extra points and was 1 for 1 on field goal attempts.

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Chandler Morris

Players Mentioned

Jordan Brown

Roderick Brown

Dalton Carnes

Blair Conwright

Jett Duncan

Alphie Guillory Jr.

Jayden Hill

Evan Jackson

Makenzie McGill II

Chandler Morris

Kali Nguma

Ikaika Ragsdale

Nick Rempert

Chandler Rogers

DT Sheffield

Kiefer Sibley

Landon Sides

Jaylen Smith

Ridge Texada

Ethan Wesloski

Shane Whitter

Wyatt Young

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