What North Texas Can Do With a Back Who Handled 32 Carries

Thirty-two carries can turn a running back into the story and the next week’s strategic question at the same time. Jahiem White converted that workload into 219 rushing yards and a touchdown in North Texas’ 45-44 overtime win over Tulsa.

On Tuesday, Mean Green coach Neal Brown supplied the context that matters more than the gaudy line: he praised White’s improved conditioning and the way the player has taken care of his body.

That assessment supports trusting White with significant responsibility. It does not turn 32 attempts into a weekly instruction.

White’s production makes the temptation understandable. He has 582 rushing yards, ninth among FBS players, and is averaging 6.59 yards per carry, third nationally. Against Tulsa, White supplied repeated answers across those 32 attempts. His value to the offense is obvious. The harder coaching job is preserving that value when the opponent, score and physical demands change.

Brown’s Tuesday comments arrived alongside a new bit of evidence that North Texas need not make White the entire offense. Tayven Jackson has thrown for 1,519 yards through five games, fifth in the FBS. As of Tuesday, North Texas was the only FBS program with both a passer and a rusher ranked inside the national top 10 in those categories.

That is a rare combination, and it gives the Mean Green more ways to punish a defense that commits too heavily to the run.

Max Reese provided another reason to resist tunnel vision. The senior tight end finished the Tulsa game with a touchdown and 101 receiving yards from five catches, with a 41-yard reception included in the outing. It was the first 100-yard receiving game of his career, and a weekly honor from the John Mackey Award organization followed Tuesday.

Reese became the fourth North Texas tight end to reach 100 receiving yards in one game; the previous occurrence had been in 2004.

The award is a pleasant footnote. The matchup value is the real point. If a defense tilts toward White, Reese can attack space that opens for the tight end, while Jackson presents a separate problem in the secondary.

One excellent game does not establish a permanent change in Reese’s role, but it gives North Texas a fresh piece to use when opponents decide White must be stopped first.

Tulsa’s game also contained enough sloppiness to prevent an overly tidy reading of the offense. Jackson threw an interception before halftime, then answered with a touchdown pass at the beginning of the third quarter. Late in the contest, another poor throw was picked off before Jackson connected with Grayson O’Bara on the pass that started overtime.

The response helped North Texas escape, but the two interceptions remained part of a game decided by one point.

That distinction matters against Charlotte on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CDT in Denton, with the game streaming on ESPN+. Charlotte is 0-5, a record that can encourage careless assumptions.

Brown, however, identified speed among Charlotte’s skill players and a defensive line capable of producing sacks and tackles for loss. Those qualities can make a run-heavy plan less comfortable, particularly if the front disrupts the backfield before White has room to build momentum.

Brown has urged students and people around Denton to make the game part of their Saturday, pointing to North Texas’ entertaining offense while the Texas-Oklahoma matchup in Dallas is sold out. The stronger argument is on the field.

White brings explosive production, Jackson forces defenses to respect the pass and Reese has shown that the tight end position can add real stress to a coverage plan.

White’s conditioning, as Brown described it, makes a substantial workload more practical. It does not make repeating the Tulsa number automatically wise. North Texas will get more from its best back if those 32 carries remain a powerful option rather than becoming a quota opponents can prepare for every week.

Sources

North Texas: official football announcement

North Texas: official football announcement