UNT rolls to win over UNLV as Mean Green make statement in Neal Brown's home debut

Neal Brown set a high bar when it came to what he wants to accomplish after taking over at North Texas a few months ago.

UNT’s new coach talked about turning the Mean Green in a program that’s consistently among the best in the country playing outside the power conference level.

His first chance to show what his team will offer in front of a home crowd came on Saturday. The Mean Green responded with a memorable 44-6 win over UNLV at DATCU Stadium.

“You have to begin somewhere,” Brown said. “To do this at home and get this first win is great. There’s no better feeling than what happens in a winning locker room.”

Brown went down in UNT history in the process by becoming the first Mean Green coach to win his home debut since Hall of Fame coach Darrell Dickey in 1998.

UNT (1-1) can only hope the heights of the Brown era will rival those of Dickey, who followed up a win over Nevada in his home debut by leading the Mean Green on 26-game conference winning streak on their way to capturing four straight Sun Belt Conference titles beginning in 2001.

UNT has a long way to go to reach that level of success but saw plenty of positives in front of a crowd of 20,331 on a sizzling hot afternoon.

“Coach Brown is great,” defensive lineman Davion Rhodes said. “He prepared us for this. We ran in the 100-degree weather all offseason.

“We made a statement in the college football world.”

UNT came into its home opener off a 52-16 loss to Indiana, the defending national champion, a performance that left Brown and his players surprisingly encouraged.

“We played three pretty solid quarters against Indiana, which is the best team in the country until proven otherwise,” Brown said. “This was how we thought it was going to go.”

UNLV (1-2) certainly isn’t a match for Indiana, but the Rebels headed into the season off a 10-4 campaign a year ago that included an appearance in the Mountain West Conference championship game.

“This was a great win, a statement win,” Brown said. “We’re going to play well at DATCU Stadium. That’s going to be who we are.”

UNT came into the season off a memorable 12-2 campaign under former coach Eric Morris. The challenge for the Mean Green is to show that they're still on the rise under a new staff.

UNT took a step toward that goal against UNLV. Jahiem White posted the first 100-yard rushing game of his UNT tenure after transferring in from West Virginia in the offseason, rolling up 124 yards. Tayven Jackson also fared well in his second game as UNT’s starting quarterback, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for another.

The Central Florida transfer finished with 233 passing yards on the day.

“They were a great defense that showed us great looks and stopped us a lot of times,” Jackson said. “We did a great job of calling the right plays and getting after them a little bit.”

The Mean Green spoiled Jackson Arnold’s homecoming in the process. The former Guyer standout threw for 194 yards for UNLV in his return to his hometown.

The Mean Green shut down Arnold early and headed into halftime with a 20-3 lead after coming up with a huge stop on the final play before the break.

The Rebels drove to the Mean Green’s 1-yard line and had just enough time to get off one final play. UNT linebacker Aaron Alexander and cornerback Jaden Allen met Jaylon Glover in the line of scrimmage for the stop, sending UNT players streaming on the field on their way to the locker room.

The Mean Green rolled from there. White scored on a 5-yard run and Jackson hit tight end Max Reese for a 16-yard touchdown in the third quarter to put the game away in a home opener that was as memorable as it was historic.

“What Eric and his staff did last year gained real national attention,” Brown said. “We want to build off that and be a program that year in and year out is considered one of the top programs in the Group of Six and is in the American Conference championship race in November.

“This was an opportunity. When people see the score and the highlights, they'll see this was a dominant win. North Texas is here to stay.”