Defense, White Lead Mean Green to Rout of UNLV

Saturday, September 12

Denton, TX

2:45 PM CT

University of North Texas

1-1 , 0-0

UNLV

1-2 , 1-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
UNLV	0	3	3	0	6
North Texas	13	7	14	10	44

Photo by: Madison Morris / University of North Texas Athletics

9/12/2026 7:11:00 PM | Football

Box Score

DENTON – First-year UNT head coach Neal Brown's first game at DATCU Stadium on Saturday was billed as a measuring stick for the Mean Green, going up against one of the preseason favorites amongst the Group of Six conferences in UNLV.

What actually transpired on Saturday was one of the most lopsided UNT wins in recent history, as the Mean Green routed the Rebels, 44-6, to pick up their first win of the season and pick up some good momentum headed into another road trip next weekend.

The Mean Green (1-1) bounced back in a big way after dropping their season opener last week at defending national champion Indiana, as they outgained UNLV 444-301 and had four takeaways on defense to put on a show for the home crowd.

Perhaps the turning point in the game came just before halftime when the Mean Green went up 20-3 on a 3-yard touchdown run from fifth-year quarterback Tayven Jackson with 1:56 to play in the half.

UNLV appeared to have an answer as Denton native Jackson Arnold led his offense on a 15-play, 74-yard drive that ended just one yard short when UNLV running back Jaylon Glover was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-goal from the UNT 1-yard line as time expired in the half. That kept the UNT lead at 17 points instead of 10 and sent the Mean Green into the locker room in a frenzy.

"Huge play there at the end [of the half]," Brown said. "[Cornerback] Jaden Allen isn't a big guy, but he made the stick and stopped them short. [Defensive coordinator Matt] Powledge and the defensive staff had a great plan. We wanted to bring them into the elements and this is our element. It's usually 160 degree on this turf and this is where we practiced all summer. We're built for this. I wanted to be the more physical team, and we were."

Arnold, a former high school standout at Denton Guyer who was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country, transferred to UNLV from Auburn before the season and is known as a powerful runner from under center.

But the Mean Green held him to 14 carries for minus-11 yards on the ground and 194 yards passing, and Brown had a pretty simple answer when asked how his defense was able to keep Arnold in check.

"We're just better than them up front," Brown said. "We had a good plan. He didn't really have a chance with our guys in the backfield. I thought our D-line was dominant against their O-line."

Offensively, the Mean Green were once again led by senior running back Jahiem White, who carried the ball 12 times for 124 yards and a touchdown and added two catches for 34 yards and another score. In his second game under center for UNT, Jackson finished with 233 passing yards and two touchdowns to go with his rushing score.

UNT is the first team to hold UNLV to less than 20 points since Iowa State held them to 3 points on Sept. 18, 2021. It snapped a streak of 36 straight games with 20+ points for the Rebels, which was the longest streak in the country.

The Mean Green will hit the road again to face in-state rival Texas State next Saturday at 11 a.m., in San Marcos. The game will be broadcast on USA Network.

QUICK HITS

The Mean Green win cuts the Mean Green deficit in the series with UNLV to 5-2. The only other win in the series for UNT was in the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl at the end of the 2013 season.
UNT is now 8-2 mark in its last 10 home openers, and first-year head coach Neal Brown became the first UNT coach to win his home debut with the Mean Green since Darrell Dickey beat Nevada, 27-21, at Fouts Field in 1998.
The 38-point margin of victory was the largest for UNT since another 38-point win when the Mean Green beat UTSA 55-17 on Oct. 18, 2025.
It marked the first time since Sept. 21, 2019, when UNT beat UTSA 45-3, that the Mean Green didn't allow a touchdown to an FBS opponent.
It was the first time since Sept. 6, 2014, that UNT didn't allow a touchdown to a non-conference FBS opponent when the Mean Green won 43-6 over SMU.
The official temperature at kickoff was 100 degrees, which is the third hottest UNT home game in history.
This game marked the second time Neal Brown and Dan Mullen have matched up as head coaches. The first was in Brown's first season at Troy (2015), on October 10, 2015, against Mullen's Mississippi State team. The Bulldogs won the game 45-17, in Starkville.
UNT's captains for the game were Zakye Barker and Tayven Jackson.
The Mean Green entered the season with 70 newcomers, which puts UNT at 215 new players over the past three seasons – good for the most in FBS in that time.
UNT is one of two FBS teams in the country to return zero starters from 2025 – the other is Iowa State.
The Mean Green have an average age of 21.01, which is the second-oldest roster in FBS behind American Conference foe UTSA.
Several players made their first career start: WR Josiah Martin (Corinth, Texas), OL Dylan Shaw (Corpus Christi, Texas) and DB Keshawn Davila (Tampa, Fla.). Several others made their first UNT start: WR Corri Milliner (Alexander City, Ala.), WR Justin Stevenson (Philadelphia, Pa.), DL Davion Rhodes (Camilla, Ga.), DB Cameren Jenkins (Lewisville, Texas) and DB Peyton Taylor (Aurora, Colo.)
UNT had eight players catch at least one pass in a game for the second straight game to start the season.
Fifth-year QB Tayven Jackson (Greenwood, Ind.) finished 15 for 26 for 233 yards passing with two scores and added 15 yards rushing on seven carries and a touchdown in his home debut.
- Jackson's 32-yard touchdown pass to Jahiem White with 3:51 left in the first quarter was the first of his UNT career and 17th of his career.
- Jackson's 16-yard touchdown pass to Max Reese with 5:39 left in the third quarter was the second of his UNT career and 18th of his career.
- Jackson's 3-yard rushing touchdown with 1:56 left in the second quarter was his first of the season and ninth of his career.
Senior RB Jaheim White (York, Pa.) finished the day with 12 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown and added two catches for 34 yards and a touchdown through the air.
- White's 124 rushing yards marked his eighth career 100-yard rushing day and his first for UNT. He also went over 2,000 career rushing yards early in the fourth quarter.
- White's day marked the third game of his college career with both a rushing and receiving touchdown.
- White's pair of touchdowns marked the fourth game of his college career with multiple touchdowns.
- White's 43-yard run on UNT's first drive of the second half was the Mean Green's longest play from scrimmage on the season.
- White's 32-yard touchdown reception with 3:51 left in the first quarter was the first of his UNT career and the fourth of his career. It was the 19th overall touchdown of his career (15th rushing).
- White's 5-yard touchdown run with 12:32 left in the third quarter was his second of the season and 16th of his career. It was his third overall touchdown this season and 20th overall.
Sophomore RB Brendon Haygood (Wylie, Texas) finished the day with 12 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown.
- Haygood's 9-yard touchdown run with 8:24 to play was the first of his career.
Senior WR Corri Milliner (Alexander City, Ala.) finished the day with three catches for a team-high 65 yards.
Senior WR Justin Stevenson (Philadelphia, Pa.), finished with two catches for 43 yards.
Junior WR Josiah Martin (Corinth, Texas) finished the day with three catches for 24 yards.
Fifth-year TE Max Reese (Chicago, Ill.) finished the day with a catch for 16 yards and a touchdown.
- Reese's 16-yard touchdown reception with 5:39 left in the third quarter was the third of his career.
The 301 total yards allowed by the Mean Green was the fewest allowed since UNT allowed just 275 total yards to Washington State on Sept. 13, 2025.
The Mean Green defense forced a three-and-out on UNLV's first drive of the game, which marked the first time a UNT opponent had gone three and out on its opening drive since Charlotte did it on Oct. 24, 2025 – a 54-20 UNT win in Charlotte.
The Mean Green forced five fumbles and recovered three, the first time they've done that since last year's 55-17 win over UTSA on Oct. 18.
The Mean Green forced four turnovers (three fumble recoveries, one interception) for the first time since Nov. 15, 2025 in a 53-24 win at UAB (three interceptions, one fumble recovery).
The Mean Green defense forced its first turnover of the season in the first quarter on a sack and forced fumble from DL Davion Rhodes (Camilla, Ga.) that was recovered by DL Justin Benton (Atlanta, Ga.) to set up a field goal to give UNT a 6-0 lead.
UNT held UNLV scoreless in the first quarter, marking the first time UNT held a team scoreless in a quarter since the third quarter of the New Mexico Bowl against San Diego State on Dec. 27, 2025 - a 49-47 UNT win. The last time UNT shut out a team in the first quarter of a game was Nov. 15, 2025 at UAB - a 53-24 UNT win.
The three points allowed by UNT in the first half was the fewest since a 51-0 shutout of Lamar in last season's opener and the fewest against an FBS opponent since UNT led 42-3 at half against Washington State on Sept. 13, 2025.
The last time a UNT defense allowed 159 yards or less and forced at least two turnovers in a half was Oct. 18, 2025, when the Mean Green allowed 150 yards and forced three turnovers in the second half against UTSA.
Senior DB CJ Coombes (Bellafonte, Del.) finished the day with a team-high seven tackles including five solo stops and a PBU.
Fifth-year DL David Onuoha (Cliffwood, N.J.) finished the day with six tackles, including four solo stops and 1.5 sacks.
- Onuoha's 1.5 sacks gives him four in his career.
Junior DB James Cross Jr. (Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished the day with six tackles, including three solo stops and a forced fumble.
- Cross' third-quarter forced fumble was the first of his career.
Fifth-year LB Zakye Barker (Norcross, Ga.) finished the day with five tackles, including a half-sack, a PBU and a fumble recovery.
- Barker's first-quarter fumble recovery was the first of his career.
Junior DB Jaden Allen (Aledo, Texas) finished the day with five tackles, including a solo stop.
Sophomore LB Brenden Reese (Longview, Texas) finished the day with five tackles, including a solo stop, a sack, 1.5 tackles for-loss and a fumble recovery.
- Reese's third-quarter fumble recovery was the first of his career and his fourth-quarter sack was the first of his career.
Sophomore DB Brandon Jones (Houston, Texas) finished the day with four tackles.
Fifth-year LB Aaron Alexander (Belleville, Miss.) finished the day with four tackles, including a solo stop and a forced fumble.
Sophomore DB Bryce Garza (Wolfforth, Texas) finished the day with four tackles, including a solo stop, a half-tackle for-loss and an interception.
- Garza's fourth-quarter interception was the first of his career.
Senior DL Justin Benton (Atlanta, Ga.) finished the day with three tackles, including a solo stop and a fumble recovery.
- Benton's first-quarter fumble recovery was the first of his career.
Senior DL Wesley Hudson (Lancaster, Texas) finished the day with three tackles, including two solo stops and a forced fumble.
- Hudson's first-quarter forced fumble was the second of his career.
Fifth-year DL Davion Rhodes (Camilla, Ga.) finished the day with a sack and a forced fumble.
- Rhodes' first-quarter forced fumble was the second of his career.
Sophomore K Dominic De Freitas (Nappanee, Ind.) finished 5-for-5 on extra points and was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts with makes of 35, 27 and 41 yards.
- Saturday's game marked the fourth of De Freitas' collegiate career (previously at App State) when he has made at least field goals. His career high was when he went 5-for-7 on field goal attempts against Arkansas State on Nov. 29, 2025.
Freshman K Michael Taylor II (Houston, Texas) took over kickoff duties on Saturday and finished the day with eight touchbacks on his nine kickoffs.