University of North Texas
2-0 , 0-0
SFA
1-1 , 0-0
UNT Moves to 2-0 After Winning Home Opener
9/7/2024 11:34:00 PM | Football
DENTON – The Mean Green more than doubled up SFA in total yardage and improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 35-20 win on Saturday at DATCU Stadium in UNT's home opener.
Junior quarterback Chandler Morris threw for 322 yards and a career-high four touchdown passes and shook off three interceptions to lead UNT to the win, along with junior wideout DT Sheffield, who had six catches for 74 yards and three touchdowns – all in the first half.
Sheffield entered the night without a touchdown in his FBS career but that changed just more than five minutes into the night when he hauled in a 51-yard touchdown pass. A little more than four minutes later, he had a 2-yard touchdown reception and then in the closing seconds of the first half had a 28-yard touchdown.
The Mean Green (2-0) dealt with several injuries in the game, including a pair of injuries that ended the nights of two starting offensive linemen, but still were able to manage several big plays and filled the stat sheet.
Junior running back Damashja Harris broke off an 80-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter on his way to 142 yards on just 10 carries in his first career 100-yard rushing effort.
While the offense put up stats for a second straight game and eclipsed 500 yards of total offense for the ninth time in 14 games under head coach Eric Morris, UNT's defense also had some big moments and was able to overcome four UNT turnovers on the night.
The Mean Green, led by linebackers Jordan Brown and Jaylen Smith and defensive backs Evan Jackson and Jayden Hill, allowed just 248 total yards, which was the fewest allowed in a game since they gave up 245 to FIU on Nov. 20, 2021. The 67 rushing yards allowed was also the fewest since that same game. The defense held SFA to 3-for-17 on third downs and 1-for-6 on fourth downs and allowed an average of just 3.5 yards per play.
UNT will hit the road again next week with a trip to Lubbock's Jones AT&T Stadium to face Texas Tech on Saturday at 11 a.m., in a game that can be seen on FS1.
QUICK HITS
- The Mean Green win puts the all-time series at 23-4-3 in UNT's favor, with the last meeting coming in 1994, which ended in a 33-33 tie.
- UNT is now 2-0 with a road win and a home win, the first time UNT has done that since 1994.
- The Mean Green extended its winning streak to four games, moving into a tie for the fifth longest active win streak in the country.
- UNT is now 6-0 under Eric Morris when leading after three quarters.
- The win marks the ninth time in 14 games under Morris that UNT has amassed more than 500 yards of total offense.
- UNT's captains for the game were Landon Peterson, Jordan Brown, Chandler Morris and Damon Ward.
- 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.
- There were three first-time starters for UNT on offense: Juwaun Price, Tyler Mercer and Wyatt Young.
- The win was the first for UNT while committing four or more turnovers since Oct. 26, 2013 in a 55-14 win over Southern Miss.
- SFA's 70-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:08 left in the first quarter was the first by a UNT opponent since FIU did it on Sept. 9, 2023.
- SFA's 10 TFLs was the most by an opponent in a game since Navy had 10 on Oct. 7, 2023.
- Junior QB Chandler Morris (Dallas, Texas) finished 26 for 44 for 322 yards, three interceptions and a career-high four touchdown passes.
- Morris made the second start of his UNT career and the 11th of his collegiate career.
- Morris' four touchdown passes on the night marked the first time he'd thrown for three or more touchdowns in consecutive games after passing for three in last week's win over South Alabama.
- Morris became the ninth quarterback in UNT history to throw for 300 yards or more in consecutive games.
- Morris' 51-yard touchdown pass to DT Sheffield with 9:51 left in the first quarter was his fourth at UNT and the 20th of his collegiate career.
- Morris' 2-yard touchdown pass to DT Sheffield with 5:27 left in the first quarter was his fifth at UNT and the 21st of his career.
- Morris' 28-yard touchdown pass to DT Sheffield with 0:15 left in the first half was his sixth at UNT and 22nd of his career.
- Morris' 7-yard touchdown pass to Oscar Hammond with 8:57 left in the third quarter was his seventh at UNT and 23rd of his career.
- For the second consecutive game, 10 different receivers caught passes for the Mean Green.
- Junior RB Damashja Harris (Killeen, Texas) finished with 10 carries for 142 yards and a touchdown.
- Harris' 142 yards gave him his first 100-yard rushing effort of his career.
- Harris' 80-yard touchdown run with 14:16 left in the game was the longest run of his career and was his fourth career touchdown and first at UNT.
- The 80-yard touchdown run was the longest run by a UNT player since Ayo Adeyi's 92-yard run against LA Tech on Oct. 15, 2022, and it was 17th time in program history UNT has had a player rush for 80 yards.
- Senior RB Juwaun Price (Phoenix, Arizona) finished with seven carries for 45 yards, a catch for 12 yards and returned a kickoff 50 yards midway through the third quarter before leaving due to injury.
- The 50-yard return was the longest for a UNT player since Kaylon Horton's 99-yarder against UNLV on Sept. 17, 2022.
- Sophomore WR Landon Sides (Denton, Texas) finished with three catches for 43 yards in his first game of the season.
- Sides now has at least one reception in each career game in which he has appeared.
- Junior WR DT Sheffield (Corinth, Mississippi) finished with six catches for 74 yards and three touchdowns.
- Sheffield became the first UNT player with three touchdown receptions in a game since Roderic Burns on Oct. 28, 2023, against Memphis.
- It is the 21st time in program history a player has had three or more touchdown receptions in a game, and Sheffield is the 14th different player in program history to accomplish the feat.
- Sheffield's three first-half touchdowns marked the fifth time since 1979 a player has had three in any half, and he was the first UNT player to have three touchdown receptions in the first half since Jyaire Shorter on Oct. 1, 2022, against FAU.
- Sheffield's 51-yard touchdown reception with 9:51 left in the first quarter was the first of his FBS career and the longest reception of his FBS career.
- Sheffield's 2-yard touchdown reception with 5:27 left in the first quarter was the second of his FBS career.
- Sheffield's 28-yard touchdown reception with 0:15 left in the first half was the third of his FBS career.
- Sheffield's 74 yards tied his career high, which was set last week at South Alabama.
- Junior TE Oscar Hammond (Collinsville, Oklahoma) finished with four catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.
- His 7-yard touchdown reception with 8:57 left in the third quarter was the first of his UNT career.
- Senior LB Jordan Brown (Huntsville, Texas) finished the day with a game-high nine tackles, including two solo stops, and had two QB hurries.
- Senior DB Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio) finished the day with eight tackles, including six solo stops.
- Sophomore DB Evan Jackson (Houston, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including six solo stops.
- Senior LB Jaylen Smith (Hamilton, Ontario) finished the day with eight tackles, including three solo stops, a half-tackle for-loss and five QB hurries.
- Senior CB Ridge Texada (Frisco, Texas) finished the day with two tackles, including a solo stop, two pass breakups and an interception.
- Already the program leader in career PBUs, Texada's two on the day gives him 27 in his career.
- Texada now has 32 passes defended (PBUs + INTs), which moves him ahead of Jonas Buckles (2001-04) into the program's all-time lead.
- His second-quarter interception was the fifth of his career and first since a win over Temple on Oct. 14, 2023.
- Redshirt freshman kicker Kali Nguma (Mission, Texas) went 5-for-5 on extra points to move to 12-for-12 in his career.
Team Stats
SFA 3, UNT 0
SFA - Campos,Chris 40 yd field goal 4 plays, -12 yards, TOP 02:00
SFA 3, UNT 7
UNT - Sheffield,DT 51 yd pass from Morris,Chandler (Nguma,Kali kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:35
SFA 3, UNT 14
UNT - Sheffield,DT 2 yd pass from Morris,Chandler (Nguma,Kali kick) 10 plays, 81 yards, TOP 03:23
SFA 10, UNT 14
SFA - Brown,Jermaine 70 yd interception (Campos,Chris kick)
SFA 17, UNT 14
SFA - Davis,Isaiah 33 yd pass from Vidlak,Sam (Campos,Chris kick) 6 plays, 62 yards, TOP 02:10
SFA 17, UNT 21
UNT - Sheffield,DT 28 yd pass from Morris,Chandler (Nguma,Kali kick) 4 plays, 44 yards, TOP 01:34
SFA 17, UNT 28
UNT - Hammond,Oscar 7 yd pass from Morris,Chandler (Nguma,Kali kick) 10 plays, 74 yards, TOP 04:04
SFA 20, UNT 28
SFA - Campos,Chris 21 yd field goal 5 plays, 31 yards, TOP 01:11
SFA 20, UNT 35
UNT - Harris,Damashja 80 yd run (Nguma,Kali kick), 3 plays, 90 yards, TOP 01:06
