University of North Texas Athletics
University of North Texas
3-2 , 1-0
Tulsa
3-2 , 0-1
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Texas | 3 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 45 |
| Tulsa | 0 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 44 |
10/2/2026 12:17:00 AM | Football
White Rushes For 219 Yards On 32 Carries In Big Road Victory
TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Tayven Jackson threw a season-high four touchdown passes and added a 1-yard rushing TD in overtime, Jahiem White had 219 yards rushing and a touchdown, and North Texas beat Tulsa 45-44 on Thursday night in the American Conference opener for both teams.
Jackson was 24-of-39 passing for 332 yards with two interceptions. Max Reese had five receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown and Justin Stevenson had two TD receptions for the Mean Green (3-2).
Jackson hit Grayson O'Bara for a 22-yard gain on the first play of overtime and scored on a short run three plays later.
Tulsa's Damari Alston ran for a 2-yard touchdown on the second possession of OT, but the 2-point conversion attempt was short.
Baylor Hayes threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores for the Golden Hurricane (3-2).
Jackson found Koch for a 39-yard gain before White scored on a 14-yard run that made it a two-touchdown game with 6:13 remaining in the third.
White has 10 total touchdowns (eight rushing, two receiving) this season, second most in the Football Bowl Subdivision behind Jadan Baugh's 11 for Florida.
Hayes hit David Wells Jr. for touchdown passes of 5 yards late in the third and 4 yards with 8:17 left in the game to make it 31-all.
After Jackson connected with Stevenson for 14-yard touchdown that put UNT back in front, Hayes scored on a 1-yard run with 31 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
Up next, North Texas hosts Charlotte on Oct. 10, while Tulsa travels to Navy on the same day.
Team Notes
- North Texas' captains were No. 1 Jahiem White, No. 2 Tayven Jackson, No. 3 Zakye Barker and No. 4 C.J. Coombs.
- North Texas won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
- Tulsa entered the game ranked No. 14 nationally in fourth-down defense, allowing opponents to convert just 18.2% of their attempts. North Texas converted three of four fourth-down attempts.
- North Texas entered the game ranked No. 7 nationally in third-down conversions at 54.9%. The Mean Green converted eight of 19 third-down attempts.
- Tulsa entered the game ranked No. 13 nationally in fourth-down offense. The Golden Hurricane converted all five of their fourth-down attempts.
- North Texas improved to 6-2 all-time in overtime and 5-0 in road overtime games.
- Prior to the 2025 season, North Texas had played just five overtime games in program history. Friday's game marked the Mean Green's third overtime game in the last 18 games.
- Neal Brown improved to 2-1 in overtime. His previous overtime games were a three-overtime loss to Appalachian State in 2015 while at Troy and a win over Baylor on Oct. 3, 2020, while at West Virginia.
- White set career highs with 32 carries and 219 rushing yards. His previous career high was 204 rushing yards against Cincinnati on Nov. 18, 2023.
- White has now scored a touchdown in seven consecutive games dating to Aug. 30, 2025.
- White's 219 rushing yards marked the 30th 200-yard rushing performance in North Texas history. He became the first Mean Green player to rush for 200 yards in a game since DeAndre Torrey had 244 against Northwestern State on Sept. 4, 2021.
- White became the first North Texas player to rush for 200 yards against an FBS opponent since Jeffery Wilson rushed for 211 yards against UAB on Sept. 23, 2017.
- North Texas is now 29-2 all-time when rushing for more than 200 yards in a game.
- White's 84-yard rush in the third quarter was North Texas' longest play of the season. It ranks as the 10th-longest rushing play in program history and the longest since Ayo Adeyi had a 92-yard run against Louisiana Tech on Oct. 15, 2022.
- White's 84-yard run was the fourth-longest rushing play by an FBS player this season and the seventh-longest play from scrimmage in the FBS this year.
- The two longest plays from scrimmage by North Texas players in the last three seasons have come against Tulsa. White had an 84-yard run Friday, while Chandler Morris connected with Blair Conwright on a 96-yard pass play against the Golden Hurricane on Sept. 28, 2024.
- Jackson set a single-game career high with four touchdown passes, completing 24 of 39 passes for 332 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.
- Jackson had never thrown more than two touchdown passes in a single game entering the season. He has now thrown at least three touchdown passes in two of his last three games.
- Jackson has surpassed 200 passing yards in four straight games.
- Jackson accounted for five total touchdowns after scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run in overtime.
- It was Jackson's second rushing touchdown of the season and the 10th of his career.
- Reese recorded the second touchdown reception of the season and the fourth of his career on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jackson in the second quarter.
- Reese finished with a career-high 101 receiving yards on five catches, marking the first 100-yard receiving game of his career.
- Reese became the fourth different tight end in North Texas history to record a 100-yard receiving game. It was the sixth 100-yard receiving game by a Mean Green tight end and the first since Andy Blount had 104 yards against ULM on Oct. 30, 2004.
- Stevenson recorded the first multi-touchdown game of his career, finishing with five catches for 50 yards and two touchdowns.
- Stevenson became the first North Texas player with multiple receiving touchdowns in a game since Cameron Dorner had two against San Diego State in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 27, 2025.
- Koch recorded the second touchdown reception of his career.
- His 39-yard reception in the third quarter was the longest catch of his career. He finished the game with three receptions for 48 yards.
- Barker recorded 12 tackles, marking the third double-digit tackle game of his career. He finished one tackle shy of his career high of 13.
- Cross recorded 2.5 tackles for loss, giving him 2.5 TFLs on the season and in his career.
- Taylor recorded his third pass breakup of the season and the 21st of his career.
- Thomas recorded his second career pass breakup and his first at North Texas.
- Ezeani recorded his sixth career sack and his first of the season.
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
UNT 3, TLS 0
UNT - De Freitas,Dominic 26 yd field goal 15 plays, 66 yards, TOP 07:04
UNT 3, TLS 7
TLS - Hayes,Baylor 4 yd run (Carey,Owen kick), 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:51
UNT 3, TLS 14
TLS - Ross,Javon 18 yd pass from Hayes,Baylor (Carey,Owen kick) 1 plays, 18 yards, TOP 00:06
UNT 10, TLS 14
UNT - Reese,Max 11 yd pass from Jackson,Tayven (De Freitas,Dominic kick) 8 plays, 61 yards, TOP 02:21
UNT 10, TLS 17
TLS - Carey,Owen 45 yd field goal 8 plays, 20 yards, TOP 01:46
UNT 17, TLS 17
UNT - Stevenson,Justin 14 yd pass from Jackson,Tayven (De Freitas,Dominic kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:37
UNT 24, TLS 17
UNT - Koch,Kyle 5 yd pass from Jackson,Tayven (De Freitas,Dominic kick) 5 plays, 90 yards, TOP 03:00
UNT 31, TLS 17
UNT - White,Jahiem 14 yd run (De Freitas,Dominic kick), 3 plays, 57 yards, TOP 01:03
UNT 31, TLS 24
TLS - Wells Jr.,David 5 yd pass from Hayes,Baylor (Carey,Owen kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:59
UNT 31, TLS 31
TLS - Wells Jr.,David 4 yd pass from Hayes,Baylor (Carey,Owen kick) 13 plays, 85 yards, TOP 04:12
UNT 38, TLS 31
UNT - Stevenson,Justin 13 yd pass from Jackson,Tayven (De Freitas,Dominic kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:32
UNT 38, TLS 38
TLS - Hayes,Baylor 10 yd run (Carey,Owen kick), 6 plays, 38 yards, TOP 02:07
UNT 45, TLS 38
UNT - Jackson,Tayven 1 yd run (De Freitas,Dominic kick), 4 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00
UNT 45, TLS 44
TLS - Alston,Damari 2 yd run (), 6 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00