1st Quarter
NORTH TEXAS 17, ARKANSAS 0
Arkansas moved to its 47 before a 31-yard punt. Replay showed Jaelon Darden’s knee down after a 3-yard gain on third and 6, rather than his gain of 16. Cole Kelley’s pass on first down was intercepted by Nate Brooks at the Hogs’ 44. Loren Easly had a 24-yard run, and Santos Ramirez was called for pass interference, setting up Mason Fine’s 2-yard TD run. Arkansas punted from the UNT 37. Keegan Brewer duped the Hogs into thinking he made a fair catch, then ran 90 yards for a TD. Kelley’s second-down pass was intercepted and returned 22 yards by Khairi Muhammad to the Hogs’ 8. Briston Guidry and De’Jon Harris broke up passes at the line, leading to Cole Hedlund’s 24-yard field goal.
STATISTICS NT ARK Rushing att./yds. 5-37 9-11 Passes comp./att./int. 5-11-0 8-16-2 Passing yds. 20 83 First downs 3 8
By rushing 1 2
By passing 1 5
By penalty 1 1 Third downs 1-4 2-5 Fourth downs 0-0 0-0 Total plays 16 25 Penalties/yds. 2-20 1-6 Fumbles/lost 0-0 0-0 Possession 5:33 9:27
2nd Quarter
NORTH TEXAS 34, ARKANSAS 10
Mike Woods made a 25-yard catch to the North Texas 5. Cole Kelley ran for a 5-yard TD. North Texas punted to the Arkansas 15. Jared Cornelius caught a 14-yard pass and UNT committed pass interference, then Woods had a 13-yard catch to the 41. Connor Limpert made a career-high 54-yard FG. DeAndre Torrey went 27 yards with a dump pass. A penalty negated UNT’s 48-yard TD, leading to a punt. Nate Brooks intercepted Kelley. Jalen Guyton had 31-yard catch and Loren Easly scored from 3 yards out. Arkansas drove to the UNT 20, but Connor Limpert missed a 37-yard FG. Jaelon Darden’s 36-yard catch set up Rico Bussey’s 7-yard TD. Arkansas punted from the 5. Darden’s 37-yard catch set up Cole Hedlund’s 26-yard FG.
STATISTICS NT ARK Rushing att./yds. 6-26 7-29 Passes comp./att./int.11-18-0 6-16-1 Passing yds. 176 78 First downs 8 7
By rushing 1 0
By passing 6 4
By penalty 1 3 Third downs 1-4 1-4 Fourth downs 0-0 0-0 Total plays 24 23 Penalties/yds. 5-62 3-24 Fumbles/lost 1-0 0-0 Possession 7:55 7:05
3rd Quarter
NORTH TEXAS 37, ARKANSAS 10
North Texas launched a 14-play, 72-yard drive to open the half. It converted third and 6 on Rico Bussey’s 10-yard slant and got 15 yards on Randy Ramsey’s personal foul. Jalen Guyton dropped a would-be TD, then Bumper Pool forced an errant throw from the 3 to set up Cole Hedlund’s 20-yard FG. T.J. Hammonds caught an 11-yard throw and Jared Cornelius a 13-yarder. Cole Kelley was picked off by Taylor Robinson. Armon Watts’ 9-yard sack forced a punt. The diminished crowd cheered Connor Noland’s entry at QB. He scrambled for 13 yards on third and 6 but was sacked on the next two snaps. The Mean Green could not notch a first down and punted. Noland was sacked on the final play of the quarter.
STATISTICS NT ARK Rushing att./yds. 9-19 7-6 Passes comp./att./int. 4-10-0 5-6-1 Passing yds. 40 38 First downs 6 3
By rushing 1 1
By passing 3 2
By penalty 2 0 Third downs 1-4 1-2 Fourth downs 0-0 0-0 Total plays 19 13 Penalties/yds. 1-5 3-30 Fumbles/lost 0-0 0-0 Possession 8:38 6:22
4th Quarter
NORTH TEXAS 44, ARKANSAS 17
Mason Fine’s third-down pass was swatted by Armon Watts, forcing a punt. Grayson Gunter caught an 11-yard pass to get Arkansas to the 28, but UNT held. Reid Bauer punted to the 50. Tight end Kelvin Smith ran 37 yards to the Arkansas 13, but he fumbled with a 5-yard gain on the next play and Gabe Richardson recovered. John Stephen Jones entered at quarterback for Arkansas and had a long scramble negated by a holding penalty. The Mean Green pinned Arkansas deep again. Kemon Hall intercepted Jones and returned it for a 24-yard TD. Connor Noland re-entered and threw pick No. 6 for the Hogs, a deep ball to Khairi Muhammad. Arkansas’ Maleek Williams ran 68 yards for a touchdown in the final minute.