{"id":462811,"date":"2026-10-11T08:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T08:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/462811\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T08:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T08:06:08","slug":"jackson-throws-5-touchdowns-in-rout-of-charlotte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/462811\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackson Throws 5 Touchdowns in Rout of Charlotte"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>DENTON \u2013 UNT quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/tayven-jackson\/7759\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7759\" target=\"_blank\">Tayven Jackson<\/a> is off to a great start in his first season with the Mean Green, but Saturday&#8217;s performance against Charlotte might&#8217;ve been his finest yet.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nJackson completed his first 14 pass attempts for 208 yards and three touchdowns before finishing the day 24-of-31 for 349 yards and a career-best five touchdown passes in a 50-10 drubbing of Charlotte at DATCU Stadium.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nJackson became the fourth UNT quarterback since at least 1995 to have a game with at least 325 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and zero interceptions, joining the likes of Chandler Rogers, Chandler Morris and Mason Fine, who did it twice.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8220;I think we&#8217;re playing our best football at home,&#8221; head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/coaches\/neal-brown\/993\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"993\" target=\"_blank\">Neal Brown<\/a> said. &#8220;Believe it or not this is the midpoint [of the season]. We&#8217;re halfway done and we&#8217;re 4-2 and 3-0 at home, and we have to continue to defend DATCU. We&#8217;re a better football team and that&#8217;s a struggling team at Charlotte, for whatever reason, but it showed maturity that we could come out and take care of business.&#8221;<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nJackson had quite the supporting cast, as senior running back <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/jahiem-white\/7788\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7788\" target=\"_blank\">Jahiem White<\/a> continued his torrid run of success with 105 yards on just 12 carries with a 61-yard touchdown scamper. He is now the only player in The American with five games this season with at least 100 total yards from scrimmage. Senior wide receiver <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/justin-stevenson\/7782\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7782\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Stevenson<\/a> had a career day as well, with nine catches for 122 yards to tie his career high set earlier this season and a pair of touchdowns to give him four in the Mean Green&#8217;s last two games.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nAs good as the offense was, the defense might&#8217;ve been more impressive.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nUNT (4-2, 2-0 American) allowed 274 total yards, which was the fewest allowed to an FBS opponent since 2024, and 56 rushing yards, which was the fewest by an FBS opponent since 2021. The Mean Green forced two turnovers to give them nine takeaways on the season. They also held Charlotte without a single trip inside the red zone.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8220;We&#8217;re getting better on that side of the ball for sure,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;There were a couple of explosive plays in the first half but other than that I was really pleased with how we did.&#8221;<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nThe Mean Green will now head into their bye week before a huge conference matchup on the road at Navy on Oct. 24. That game is set for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on CBS Sports Network.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n&#8220;We have to take advantage of the bye week,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll give them time. We&#8217;ll practice three times and it&#8217;s not a normal bye week because we play Navy coming out and have to get ready for the triple option. But we have to get our guys healthy at the midpoint of the season and get better as we move along.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>QUICK HITS&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tThe Mean Green win gives them a 2-2 split in all-time the series.&#13;<br \/>\n\tThe 40-point margin of victory was the largest for UNT in a conference game since a 49-7 win over FIU on Nov. 20, 2021, and the largest ever as a member of The American, besting a 38-point win over UTSA last season.&#13;<br \/>\n\tUNT&#8217;s captains for the game were <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/zakye-barker\/7735\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7735\" target=\"_blank\">Zakye Barker<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/tayven-jackson\/7759\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7759\" target=\"_blank\">Tayven Jackson<\/a>.&#13;<br \/>\n\tThe Mean Green entered the season with 70 newcomers, which puts UNT at 215 new players over the past three seasons \u2013 good for the most in FBS in that time.&#13;<br \/>\n\tUNT is one of two FBS teams in the country to return zero starters from 2025 \u2013 the other is Iowa State.&#13;<br \/>\n\tThe Mean Green have an average age of 21.01, which is the second-oldest roster in FBS behind American Conference foe UTSA.&#13;<br \/>\n\tThe Mean Green&#8217;s 580 total yards marked the fourth straight game they have reached at least 500 yards of total offense.&#13;<br \/>\n\tFor the second time this season, UNT scored on each of its first three possessions with a field goal and two touchdowns. In the win over UNLV, UNT had two straight field goals and then a touchdown in its first three drives.&#13;<br \/>\n\tThe Mean Green&#8217;s one-play, 75-yard scoring drive in the second quarter was their second one-play scoring drive of the season after a 14-yard, one-play drive against Houston Christian.&#13;<br \/>\n\tFifth-year QB <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/tayven-jackson\/7759\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7759\" target=\"_blank\">Tayven Jackson<\/a> (Greenwood, Ind.) finished 24 for 31 for 349 yards passing and five touchdowns.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tJackson&#8217;s 349 yards gave him his third 300-yard passing game of the season and his career, and his third in just his past four games.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tJackson is the fourth different UNT quarterback since at least 1995 to have a game of 325+ passing yards, 5+ passing touchdowns and zero interceptions in a game, joining Chandler Morris, Chandler Rogers and Mason Fine (twice).&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tJackson&#8217;s five touchdown passes in a game is a new career high and the ties for third-most in single-game program history. The most recent five-passing touchdown game for a UNT quarterback was Chandler Morris against Tulsa on Sept. 28, 2024.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tJackson completed his first 14 pass attempts for 208 yards and three touchdowns before his first incompletion.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tJackson&#8217;s 5-yard touchdown pass to <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/justin-stevenson\/7782\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7782\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Stevenson<\/a> with 9:31 left in the first quarter was the 11th of the season and 27th of his career.\u00a0His 11\u00a0touchdown passes this season sets\u00a0a new single-season high.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tJackson&#8217;s 12-yard touchdown pass to <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/kyle-koch\/7681\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7681\" target=\"_blank\">Kyle Koch<\/a> with 14:13 left in the second quarter was his 12th of the season and 28th of his career.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tJackson&#8217;s 75-yard touchdown pass to <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/baron-tipton\/7718\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7718\" target=\"_blank\">Baron Tipton<\/a> with 13:48 left in the second quarter was his 13th of the season and 29th of his career.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tJackson&#8217;s 20-yard touchdown pass to <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/max-reese\/7777\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7777\" target=\"_blank\">Max Reese<\/a> with 0:20 left in the second quarter was his 14th of the season and 30th of his career.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tJackson&#8217;s 34-yard touchdown pass to Stevenson with 10:23 left in the third quarter was his 15th of the season and 31st of his career.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tSenior RB <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/jahiem-white\/7788\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7788\" target=\"_blank\">Jahiem White<\/a> (York, Pa.) finished the day with 12 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown and added two catches for 37 yards.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tWhite is the only player in The American with five games this season of at least 100 total yards from scrimmage.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tWhite&#8217;s 105 yards gave him a 100-yard rushing day for the third straight game and fourth in his last five, and it marks the 11th time he&#8217;s eclipsed the century mark in his career.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tWhite now has scored a rushing touchdown in eight straight games dating back to Aug. 30, 2025, while at West Virginia. It&#8217;s also his 10th game with a touchdown in his past 11 games.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tWhite&#8217;s 61-yard touchdown run with 6:29 left in the second quarter was his ninth of the season and 23rd of his career. It was his 11th overall touchdown of the season and 28th of his career.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tSenior WR <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/justin-stevenson\/7782\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7782\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Stevenson<\/a> (Philadelphia, Pa.), finished with nine catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tStevenson&#8217;s 100-yard receiving day was the second of his career, with the first coming earlier this season at Texas State.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tStevenson&#8217;s 5-yard touchdown reception with 9:01 left in the first quarter was his fourth of the season and the seventh of his career.\u00a0The four\u00a0touchdowns on the season sets\u00a0a new high for Stevenson.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tStevenson&#8217;s 34-yard touchdown reception with 10:23 left in the third quarter was his fifth of the season and eighth of his career.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tStevenson has now scored touchdowns in each of the past three games, and two in two straight games after a pair last week against Tulsa.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tJunior WR <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/kyle-koch\/7681\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7681\" target=\"_blank\">Kyle Koch<\/a> (Dripping Springs, Texas) finished with four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tKoch&#8217;s 12-yard touchdown reception with 14:13 left in the second quarter was his third of the season and his career. He now has touchdowns in three of the past four games.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tFifth-year TE <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/max-reese\/7777\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7777\" target=\"_blank\">Max Reese<\/a> (Chicago, Ill.) finished the day with three catches for 39 yards and a touchdown.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tReese&#8217;s 20-yard touchdown reception with 0:20 left in the second quarter was his third of the season and fifth of his career, and it was his second straight game with a touchdown.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tJunior WR <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/baron-tipton\/7718\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7718\" target=\"_blank\">Baron Tipton<\/a> (Coppell, Texas) finished with three catches for 93 yards and a touchdown.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tTipton&#8217;s 75-yard touchdown reception with 13:48 left in the second quarter was his second of the season and of his career.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tTipton&#8217;s 75-yard reception was the longest passing play of the season and second-longest overall play of the season. It&#8217;s the longest passing play for UNT since Nov. 28, 2025, against Temple.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tThe 274 total yards allowed by the Mean Green was the fewest allowed to an FBS opponent since UNT allowed just 244 total yards to Wyoming on Sept. 21, 2024.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tThe 56 rushing yards allowed was the fewest by an FBS opponent since Liberty had 45 on Oct. 23, 2021.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tUNT held Charlotte without a trip in the red zone for the entire game, marking the first time since its 51-0 shutout of Lamar on Aug. 30, 2025, that a UNT opponent has failed to get inside the red zone and the first time since at least 2020 that an FBS opponent hasn&#8217;t visited the red zone.&#13;<br \/>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/brayden-knox\/7679\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7679\" target=\"_blank\">Brayden Knox&#8217;s<\/a> sack in the end zone midway through the second quarter gave UNT its first safety since Nov. 19, 2016 against Southern Miss.&#13;<br \/>\n\tFifth-year DL <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/davion-rhodes\/7778\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7778\" target=\"_blank\">Davion Rhodes<\/a> (Camilla, Ga.) finished the day with five tackles, including two solo stops, two sacks, 2.5 tackles for-loss, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tRhodes&#8217; 2.0 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss are both career highs.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tFifth-year DL <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/david-onuoha\/7770\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7770\" target=\"_blank\">David Onuoha<\/a> (Cliffwood, N.J.) finished the day with six tackles, including two solo stops, and a half-tackle for loss.&#13;<br \/>\n\tJunior LB <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/cedric-roberts\/7779\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7779\" target=\"_blank\">Cedric Roberts<\/a> (Fort Valley, Ga.) finished the day with six tackles, including three solo stops, a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.&#13;<br \/>\n\tSophomore LB <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/brenden-reese\/7705\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7705\" target=\"_blank\">Brenden Reese<\/a> (Longview, Texas) finished the day with six tackles, including three solo stops.&#13;<br \/>\n\tFreshman DL <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/dylan-williams\/7870\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7870\" target=\"_blank\">Dylan Williams<\/a> (Duncanville, Texas) finished the day with four tackles, including two solo stops, a half-sack and a half-tackle for loss.&#13;<br \/>\n\tSophomore DL <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/brayden-knox\/7679\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7679\" target=\"_blank\">Brayden Knox<\/a> (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished the day with three tackles, including two solo stops, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.&#13;<br \/>\n\tSenior DB <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/cj-coombes\/7740\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7740\" target=\"_blank\">CJ Coombes<\/a> (Bellafonte, Del.) finished the day with a tackle and an interception.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\tCoombes&#8217; interception was his first of the season and second of his career.&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tSophomore K <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/dominic-de-freitas\/7751\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7751\" target=\"_blank\">Dominic De Freitas<\/a> (Nappanee, Ind.) finished 5-for-5 on extra points and 2-for-2 on field goals.&#13;<br \/>\n\tFreshman K <a href=\"https:\/\/meangreensports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/michael-taylor-ii\/7869\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"7869\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Taylor II<\/a> (Houston, Texas) finished the day with six\u00a0touchbacks on his eight\u00a0kickoffs.&#13;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENTON \u2013 UNT quarterback Tayven Jackson is off to a great start in his first season with the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-462811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}