Two net rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns is the sort of line that makes a box score look mildly unwell. Tayven Jackson’s afternoon for North Texas was stranger still because the quarterback’s legs supplied both scores while contributing almost nothing between them. His arm did the real steering in the Mean Green’s 52-23 victory over Rice on Saturday at DATCU Stadium in Denton.
Jackson’s five rushing attempts yielded 2 net yards. His ground production included a 9-yard gain in the second quarter and touchdown runs from 6 and 2 yards, with losses pulling down the total. The scores mattered because of where they finished possessions. Nobody needed to mistake that line for an afternoon of the quarterback carrying the running game.
The important figure was 303 passing yards with no interceptions. North Texas used that passing output to keep its offense moving even when the running game was doing the heavy lifting elsewhere. Jackson completed 18 passes on 31 attempts, and the offense reached 495 total yards.
His throwing did not merely decorate Jahiem White’s afternoon; it created the space and field position for North Texas to keep returning to the end zone.
The third-quarter drive that restored North Texas’ control covered 75 yards. Jackson opened it with an incompletion, then connected with Max Reese for 25 yards and 10 more later in the possession. A 23-yard completion to Baron Tipton carried the Mean Green to the Rice 14.
White handled the next two rushing plays for 3 and 5 yards, and Jackson finished the march with a 6-yard touchdown run at 11:17 of the quarter.
Rice answered that possession with a 75-yard touchdown drive of its own, cutting the lead to 17-14. North Texas then punted before later rebuilding its advantage. The Owls were not a harmless opponent wandering through Denton; they produced 433 yards, including 261 on the ground.
North Texas needed points that could keep pace with a productive Rice offense, and Jackson’s passing made the drive more than a red-zone scramble followed by a prayer.
The cleanest example came after Zakye Barker forced Tyvonn Byars to fumble and Bryce Garza recovered at the Rice 32. North Texas needed only five plays to go those 32 yards.
Jackson completed a short pass to Jahiem White, found Baron Tipton for 13 yards, missed on two attempts, and then completed a touchdown pass covering 19 yards to Dalton Carnes at 3:00 of the third quarter. Carnes’ catch put North Texas ahead 31-14 and gave the Mean Green its first touchdown drive built from a Rice turnover without surrendering one of its own.
The turnovers helped, but they were not the whole afternoon. White carried the running burden with 139 yards on 21 attempts and three touchdowns, including a 60-yard score at 14:43 of the fourth quarter. That play followed White’s own 15-yard rush and stretched the lead from 31-17 to 38-17.
White’s big run supplied the sudden punch. Jackson’s passing had carried other possessions, including the 75-yard march that opened the second half.
