Mean Green Drop Opener at Defending Champion Indiana

Saturday, September 5

Bloomington, IN

11:00 AM CT

University of North Texas

0-1 , 0-0

Indiana

1-0 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
North Texas	0	6	10	0	16
Indiana	14	10	7	21	52

9/5/2026 3:13:00 PM | Football

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — UNT football fans finally got a look at what's to come in the 2026 season under new head coach Neal Brown on Saturday, and the Mean Green showed a lot of promise in a 52-16 season-opening loss at defending national champion Indiana.

The Mean Green (0-1) found the end zone for the first time in 2026 early in the third quarter to pull within nine points of Hoosiers and still trailed by just two scores going into the fourth before a 21-0 fourth quarter helped Indiana (1-0) pull away.

"For three-and-a-half quarters, I thought we battled them and went toe-to-toe and represented UNT on a national stage, and we just couldn't finish the game out like we needed to," Brown said.

The Mean Green's lone touchdown of the game was scored by senior running back Jahiem White, who transferred from West Virginia, where he played for Brown, and the preseason All-Conference pick totaled 97 yards, including 61 on 14 carries and a career-high seven receptions.

"He's an elite player and I thought he did a lot of good things," Brown said of White. "He was close to really having a special game. He'll continue to get better especially when we get into our league where we can block people better than these guys. That is probably the best defensive line in the country, and I hope our fans can understand that."

Fifth-year quarterback Tayven Jackson, who played two seasons at Indiana and made a handful of starts for the Hoosiers, made his first start for UNT and had a strong showing, as he completed 22 of 28 pass attempt for 192 yards and an interception. He also added 22 yards on the ground.

Jackson's 79% completion percentage was the best mark for a UNT quarterback in his UNT debut going back to 2000. He narrowly edged out Dajon Williams, who in 2014 against Nicholls State completed 78.6% of his passes on just 14 attempts.

"That was an emotional game for him," Brown said of his quarterback, who briefly left the game with an injury but returned soon after. "There was a lot of pressure on him, playing against his old team and his old coach, and I thought he played well. I was excited for him. It wasn't his A-game, but it was good game."

The Mean Green will make their 2026 home debut against UNLV next Saturday at 2:45 p.m., at DATCU Stadium.

QUICK HITS

The Mean Green loss gives the Hoosiers a series advantage of 2-1 all-time over UNT. The teams had split their previous two meetings, with UNT winning the first game at DATCU Stadium (then Apogee Stadium) in 2011, and the Hoosiers getting revenge in Bloomington in 2014.
Prior to Saturday, UNT had faced the defending national champions four times but just one other time to open the season (at Texas in 2006). UNT is now 0-5 in those matchups, with the closest loss being a 37-10 defeat at the hands of Oklahoma in 2001.
The Neal Brown era at North Texas began on Saturday against Indiana and head coach Curt Cignetti, and it marked the second time in Brown's career he's opened his tenure with a program with a game against a Cignetti-led squad. In 2019, Brown opened his tenure at West Virginia against then-FCS powerhouse James Madison and Cignetti, with Brown's squad scoring a 20-13 win over JMU.
UNT's captains for the game were Zakye Barker and Chandler Strong.
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 Kyle Koch (Dripping Spring, Texas), TE Brec Long (Copan, Okla.), OL Keon Johnson (Akron, Ohio), OL Neto Umeozulu (Allen, Texas), OL Willie Goodacre (Denton, Texas), DB Brandon Jones (Houston, Texas), DB Chase Canada (Hahnville, La.), DL Justin Benton (Atlanta, Ga.), DB BJ Allen (Aledo, Texas), DL Nolan Clark (Glen Rock, N.J.). Several others made their first UNT start: RB Jahiem White (York, Pa.), QB Tayven Jackson (Greenwood, Ind.), TE Max Reese (Chicago, Ill.), OL Chandler Strong (Warner Robins, Ga.) (33rd of career, most on team), OL Johnny Williams IV (Macon, Ga.), LB Zakye Barker (Norcross, Ga.), DB CJ Coombes (Bellafonte, Del.), LB Aaron Alexander (Bellville, Miss.), DL David Onuoha (Cliffwood, N.J.), DL Christian Lorenzo (DeKalb, Ill.). It marked the second career start (and second for UNT) for DL Terrell Washington (Lynchburg, Va.) and WR Baron Tipton (Coppell, Texas).
The Mean Green failed to score in the opening quarter of a game for the first time since Sept. 6, 2025, when UNT was tied 0-0 with Western Michigan before going on to win 33-30 in overtime.
UNT hit the scoreboard for the first time at the 9:48 mark in the second quarter on a 47-yard field goal from Dominic De Freitas, which was the longest a UNT team has gone without scoring in a game since Oct. 21, 2023, at Tulane when UNT first scored at the 10:20 mark in the third quarter in the first season under former head coach Eric Morris.
The Mean Green trailed 24-6 at halftime, marking the largest halftime deficit (18 points) since Nov. 15, 2024, when UNT trailed UTSA by 20 points at halftime.
UNT had eight players catch at least one pass in the game.
Fifth-year QB Tayven Jackson (Greenwood, Ind.) finished 22 for 28 for 192 yards passing and an interception and added 22 yards rushing on six carries in his Mean Green debut.
- Jackson's 79% completion percentage was the best mark for a UNT quarterback in his UNT debut going back to 2000, narrowly edging out Dajon Williams in 2014 against Nicholls State, when he completed 78.6% of his passes on just 14 attempts.
Senior RB Jaheim White (York, Pa.) finished the day with 14 carries for 61 yards and a touchdown and added seven catches for 36 yards.
- White's 9-yard touchdown run with 11:40 left in the third quarter was the first of his UNT career and the 18th overall touchdown of his career (15th rushing).
- White's seven receptions set a new career high, breaking his previous mark of five against Texas Tech on Nov. 30, 2024, while with West Virginia.
Sophomore RB Brendon Haygood (Wylie, Texas) finished the day with six carries for 28 yards and one catch for 3 yards.
Senior WR Corri Milliner (Alexander City, Ala.) finished the day with four catches for a team-high 66 yards.
- His 36-yard reception in the third quarter on the Mean Green's first touchdown drive of the season was the longest play of the day, and season so far.
Senior WR Justin Stevenson (Philadelphia, Pa.), finished with two catches for 47 yards.
Junior WR Josiah Martin (Corinth, Texas) finished the day with two catches for 26 yards.
Senior DB CJ Coombes (Bellafonte, Del.) finished the day with nine tackles including a solo stop.
Fifth-year LB Zakye Barker (Norcross, Ga.) finished the day with eight tackles, including three solo stops.
Fifth-year LB Aaron Alexander (Belleville, Miss.) finished the day with eight tackles, including six solo stops.
Sophomore DB Brandon Jones (Houston, Texas) finished the day with seven tackles, including four solo stops and a tackle for-loss.
- Jones' seven tackles tied his career high.
Sophomore K Dominic De Freitas (Nappanee, Ind.) finished 1-for-1 on extra points and was 3-for-4 on field goal attempts with makes of 47, 33 and 38 yards and a miss from 55 yards.
- Saturday's game marked the third 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.