University of North Texas Athletics
Thursday, October 1
Tulsa, OK
8:00 PM CT
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Tulsa
Mean Green On National Stage at Tulsa
9/28/2026 3:02:00 PM | Football
DENTON – The UNT football team will hit the road on a short week this week, as the Mean Green will play at Tulsa on Thursday at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN, with the radio broadcast set for 1190 AM/The Varsity Network.
Head coach Neal Brown and select players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, playing on a short week of preparation in a conference opener, the opportunity that lies ahead with another national television appearance, and tight end Max Reese showing what kind of offensive weapon he can be.
Mean Green opening league play on short week
Playing on a short week of preparation always presents unique challenges, but doing so in a big game to open conference play adds a new wrinkle to what the Mean Green are facing this week.
"Playing Saturday and then on Thursday, the days get kind of thrown off from a normal seven-day schedule so you're packing things into fewer days and that makes it difficult," said tight end Max Reese. "Then, obviously playing a game Saturday and playing another game on Thursday is hard on recovery but we'll handle it."
Defensive lineman Davion Rhodes said he and his teammates know Tulsa is off to a good start to the season, but they just have to continue to focus on themselves and get better each week, then the desired results will follow.
"Tulsa is a good team and based on our conference they're one of the best [in the conference]," Rhodes said. "I see the same thing for us. It's a big step we're going to have to take in conference play but we just have to keep taking it one game at a time and take care of ourselves."
UNT gets another national audience
The Mean Green opened the college football season in front of perhaps the biggest audience on opening weekend – FOX's Big Noon Kickoff at defending national champion Indiana.
Now, they will have another chance to play in front of a national television audience, when they will square off with Tulsa on ESPN. Tulsa announced on Tuesday that Sportscenter will be airing live from their library on Thursday from 4-4:30 p.m., ahead of the game that night at 8 p.m.
"We talk about maximizing moments," Brown said. "If you play well in those opportunities, you get more of those opportunities. If you don't, you don't. Sportscenter will be there on Tulsa's campus and we'll get the game on ESPN, so we need to perform well and our guys know that.
"We're a growing program, so any time we have FOX on the first game of the season or we're playing in primetime on Thursday night on ESPN, it is a huge opportunity for us. The more we can get the North Texas brand out there is huge. We're in a fast growing area in the country and we're a fast growing program. We have to keep playing well to garner that attention."
A strong performance in a primetime, national television setting could mean big things down the road for UNT, and Reese said he is fully aware.
"One of our goals is to go undefeated in conference," he said. "What comes with that is the CFP, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about that consistently. The winner of the American over the last couple of years has been the one that gets that chance, so that's our goal.
"Any time you're coming in and starting conference play you want to make a statement. Now it's conference play and we're all looking at the same teams and we want to go out there and make a statement in a competitive league."
Reese carving out more of an offensive role
Tight end Max Reese had his best game of the season on Saturday against Houston Christian and posted a career-high 70 receiving yards on three catches, including a career-long 38 yard reception.
Brown said he's envisioned Reese being a big part of the passing game since he arrived on campus and took some blame for his slow start that included six catches over the first three games before his three on Saturday.
"He's performed well," Brown said. "He practiced really well all spring and fall camp. That first few games is on me, I haven't done a great job getting him the ball. The ball hasn't found him until the other night. I felt like he'd be a top 2-3 receiver over the course of the season, and I think it'll still play out like that."
Reese said on Saturday he was able to show what he's capable of, using his blend of size and speed to beat defenses.
"They got me vertical a little bit and that's a skillset of mine I feel like I'm very good at and I was able to exploit holes in the coverages," he said.
Head coach Neal Brown and select players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, playing on a short week of preparation in a conference opener, the opportunity that lies ahead with another national television appearance, and tight end Max Reese showing what kind of offensive weapon he can be.
Mean Green opening league play on short week
Playing on a short week of preparation always presents unique challenges, but doing so in a big game to open conference play adds a new wrinkle to what the Mean Green are facing this week.
"Playing Saturday and then on Thursday, the days get kind of thrown off from a normal seven-day schedule so you're packing things into fewer days and that makes it difficult," said tight end Max Reese. "Then, obviously playing a game Saturday and playing another game on Thursday is hard on recovery but we'll handle it."
Defensive lineman Davion Rhodes said he and his teammates know Tulsa is off to a good start to the season, but they just have to continue to focus on themselves and get better each week, then the desired results will follow.
"Tulsa is a good team and based on our conference they're one of the best [in the conference]," Rhodes said. "I see the same thing for us. It's a big step we're going to have to take in conference play but we just have to keep taking it one game at a time and take care of ourselves."
UNT gets another national audience
The Mean Green opened the college football season in front of perhaps the biggest audience on opening weekend – FOX's Big Noon Kickoff at defending national champion Indiana.
Now, they will have another chance to play in front of a national television audience, when they will square off with Tulsa on ESPN. Tulsa announced on Tuesday that Sportscenter will be airing live from their library on Thursday from 4-4:30 p.m., ahead of the game that night at 8 p.m.
"We talk about maximizing moments," Brown said. "If you play well in those opportunities, you get more of those opportunities. If you don't, you don't. Sportscenter will be there on Tulsa's campus and we'll get the game on ESPN, so we need to perform well and our guys know that.
"We're a growing program, so any time we have FOX on the first game of the season or we're playing in primetime on Thursday night on ESPN, it is a huge opportunity for us. The more we can get the North Texas brand out there is huge. We're in a fast growing area in the country and we're a fast growing program. We have to keep playing well to garner that attention."
A strong performance in a primetime, national television setting could mean big things down the road for UNT, and Reese said he is fully aware.
"One of our goals is to go undefeated in conference," he said. "What comes with that is the CFP, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about that consistently. The winner of the American over the last couple of years has been the one that gets that chance, so that's our goal.
"Any time you're coming in and starting conference play you want to make a statement. Now it's conference play and we're all looking at the same teams and we want to go out there and make a statement in a competitive league."
Reese carving out more of an offensive role
Tight end Max Reese had his best game of the season on Saturday against Houston Christian and posted a career-high 70 receiving yards on three catches, including a career-long 38 yard reception.
Brown said he's envisioned Reese being a big part of the passing game since he arrived on campus and took some blame for his slow start that included six catches over the first three games before his three on Saturday.
"He's performed well," Brown said. "He practiced really well all spring and fall camp. That first few games is on me, I haven't done a great job getting him the ball. The ball hasn't found him until the other night. I felt like he'd be a top 2-3 receiver over the course of the season, and I think it'll still play out like that."
Reese said on Saturday he was able to show what he's capable of, using his blend of size and speed to beat defenses.
"They got me vertical a little bit and that's a skillset of mine I feel like I'm very good at and I was able to exploit holes in the coverages," he said.
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