University of North Texas Athletics
Saturday, September 12
Denton, TX
2:45 PM CT
University of North Texas
vs
UNLV
Mean Green Set for UNLV Clash in Home Opener
9/8/2026 2:17:00 PM | Football
DENTON – The UNT football team begins its home schedule on Saturday, as the Mean Green take on a stout UNLV team at DATCU Stadium, with kickoff set for 2:45 p.m., in a nationally televised game on ESPNU. The radio broadcast is set for 1190 AM/The Varsity Network.
First-year head coach Neal Brown and select players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, the excitement of playing in front of the home crowd at DATCU Stadium, a physical squad showing what it was made of, a banged up cornerback room pushing on and the challenges UNLV will present, led by a Denton native.
Mean Green opening home slate with pivotal matchup
After being at the center of the nation's attention on Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana, when UNT faced off with the defending national champions on a national network broadcast, the Mean Green are set to make their home debut at DATCU Stadium this week against another big-time opponent.
When the season began, there were two teams the college football media consensus counted as the favorites to earn the Group of Six College Football Playoff spot, and one of those is the UNLV squad that will come to Denton this weekend.
"We're fired up and glad to be home," Brown said. "I really hope the fanbase, especially the students, will turn out. I'll be on campus Friday to get some support going for that. It's a quality opponent in UNLV, and [head] coach [Dan] Mullen has been doing it a long time. I think they were the top G6 team in the country in the preseason, so they'll be ready to roll."
Senior tight end Brec Long said he is excited for his first home game as a member of the Mean Green.
"You get that chance to have all the fans and a big support group there," he said. "It's hard to have that at an away game at a place like Indiana. We're excited for a big fan base and we're ready to go."
Despite loss, UNT feeling good about physicality
While a lot might've gone wrong in Saturday's loss at Indiana, one thing the Mean Green came home with was the realization they went toe-to-toe physically with the defending national champions who made their name on physicality a year ago, especially in the trenches.
"It wasn't the outcome we wanted," senior safety CJ Coombes said. "But this is definitely the biggest bit of confidence I've had after a loss in my career. We really held up physicality-wise. We punched those guys in the mouth. It wasn't the outcome we wanted but we hung in there for a good while. It will give us confidence moving forward."
While Brown said he can point to several things he didn't like, specifically early and late in the game, he said the physical brand of football his team played was never a question mark.
"The physicality for our entire team, really – I thought we went toe-to-toe with the best team in the country. We played with a lot of strain, but we have to pay more attention to detail. When you're not doing that, you get exposed, and that's what happened in the fourth quarter."
Next man up mentality in full effect in cornerback room
From the time the Mean Green entered their first fall camp under first-year head coach Neal Brown, the depth chart at cornerback has changed significantly.
Caden Jenkins, Zach Johnson, Chase Canada will all miss Saturday's game but others have stepped up, including BJ Allen Jr., who has played safety and nickel for the Mean Green in the past but is slated to start at corner Saturday.
"Peyton Taylor and Keshawn Davila have looked good," Brown said. "BJ Allen has positional flexibility and Ja'Bree [Bickham] is coming along. He's different than some others because of his length. We still have five guys who can play there. We'll be fine."
Coombes said Allen has been a leader in the back end and has brought his experience at different positions at both Texas and UNT to the table.
"It's been next guy up," Coombes said. "People have been ready to step up. BJ Allen has been all over secondary and is doing a phenomenal job being prepared."
UNLV will present tough challenge
The UNLV offense will present a unique challenge to the Mean Green defense in the form of a local standout at quarterback with several dangerous pieces surrounding him.
Jackson Arnold, who played in two Class 6A Division II state championship games for Denton Guyer, will return with UNLV, which is his third collegiate stop. He is an RPO threat and has a team-high 37 carries through the Rebels' first two games while also throwing for 203.5 yards per game and two touchdowns. He's rushed for three scores.
He's joined in the backfield by Jai'Den Thomas, who's averaged 93.5 yards per game on the ground. The Rebels enter the matchup with a balanced group of wide receivers with seven players at least 30 yards receiving through two games.
"They have some talent," Coombes said. "Jackson Arnold is a really good quarterback and is very mobile. They have a really good running back too. He's very explosive. He's a patient kid – a little undersized but he has a lot of talent. He's a good football player."
Ultimately, Brown said he thinks his team will be up for the challenge and said he hopes to see a packed stadium in the home opener with a lot on the line not only for UNT but the entire American Conference.
"It's our home opener and our fans deserve for us to play quality football at home," Brown said. "Coming into the year, UNLV and Boise State were kind of 1-2 in the G6. This is an important game for UNT and for the American Conference. For me, we played three-and-a-half quarters against the defending national champions. We just have to play four quality quarters of football."
First-year head coach Neal Brown and select players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, the excitement of playing in front of the home crowd at DATCU Stadium, a physical squad showing what it was made of, a banged up cornerback room pushing on and the challenges UNLV will present, led by a Denton native.
Mean Green opening home slate with pivotal matchup
After being at the center of the nation's attention on Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana, when UNT faced off with the defending national champions on a national network broadcast, the Mean Green are set to make their home debut at DATCU Stadium this week against another big-time opponent.
When the season began, there were two teams the college football media consensus counted as the favorites to earn the Group of Six College Football Playoff spot, and one of those is the UNLV squad that will come to Denton this weekend.
"We're fired up and glad to be home," Brown said. "I really hope the fanbase, especially the students, will turn out. I'll be on campus Friday to get some support going for that. It's a quality opponent in UNLV, and [head] coach [Dan] Mullen has been doing it a long time. I think they were the top G6 team in the country in the preseason, so they'll be ready to roll."
Senior tight end Brec Long said he is excited for his first home game as a member of the Mean Green.
"You get that chance to have all the fans and a big support group there," he said. "It's hard to have that at an away game at a place like Indiana. We're excited for a big fan base and we're ready to go."
Despite loss, UNT feeling good about physicality
While a lot might've gone wrong in Saturday's loss at Indiana, one thing the Mean Green came home with was the realization they went toe-to-toe physically with the defending national champions who made their name on physicality a year ago, especially in the trenches.
"It wasn't the outcome we wanted," senior safety CJ Coombes said. "But this is definitely the biggest bit of confidence I've had after a loss in my career. We really held up physicality-wise. We punched those guys in the mouth. It wasn't the outcome we wanted but we hung in there for a good while. It will give us confidence moving forward."
While Brown said he can point to several things he didn't like, specifically early and late in the game, he said the physical brand of football his team played was never a question mark.
"The physicality for our entire team, really – I thought we went toe-to-toe with the best team in the country. We played with a lot of strain, but we have to pay more attention to detail. When you're not doing that, you get exposed, and that's what happened in the fourth quarter."
Next man up mentality in full effect in cornerback room
From the time the Mean Green entered their first fall camp under first-year head coach Neal Brown, the depth chart at cornerback has changed significantly.
Caden Jenkins, Zach Johnson, Chase Canada will all miss Saturday's game but others have stepped up, including BJ Allen Jr., who has played safety and nickel for the Mean Green in the past but is slated to start at corner Saturday.
"Peyton Taylor and Keshawn Davila have looked good," Brown said. "BJ Allen has positional flexibility and Ja'Bree [Bickham] is coming along. He's different than some others because of his length. We still have five guys who can play there. We'll be fine."
Coombes said Allen has been a leader in the back end and has brought his experience at different positions at both Texas and UNT to the table.
"It's been next guy up," Coombes said. "People have been ready to step up. BJ Allen has been all over secondary and is doing a phenomenal job being prepared."
UNLV will present tough challenge
The UNLV offense will present a unique challenge to the Mean Green defense in the form of a local standout at quarterback with several dangerous pieces surrounding him.
Jackson Arnold, who played in two Class 6A Division II state championship games for Denton Guyer, will return with UNLV, which is his third collegiate stop. He is an RPO threat and has a team-high 37 carries through the Rebels' first two games while also throwing for 203.5 yards per game and two touchdowns. He's rushed for three scores.
He's joined in the backfield by Jai'Den Thomas, who's averaged 93.5 yards per game on the ground. The Rebels enter the matchup with a balanced group of wide receivers with seven players at least 30 yards receiving through two games.
"They have some talent," Coombes said. "Jackson Arnold is a really good quarterback and is very mobile. They have a really good running back too. He's very explosive. He's a patient kid – a little undersized but he has a lot of talent. He's a good football player."
Ultimately, Brown said he thinks his team will be up for the challenge and said he hopes to see a packed stadium in the home opener with a lot on the line not only for UNT but the entire American Conference.
"It's our home opener and our fans deserve for us to play quality football at home," Brown said. "Coming into the year, UNLV and Boise State were kind of 1-2 in the G6. This is an important game for UNT and for the American Conference. For me, we played three-and-a-half quarters against the defending national champions. We just have to play four quality quarters of football."
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