Seventeen seconds into the fourth quarter, Jahiem White found the kind of space that turns a running back’s afternoon into a highlight package. North Texas had a pass play wiped out by offsetting holding penalties at 14:55, and on the next official snap White went 60 yards for a touchdown at 14:43, stretching the Mean Green’s lead over Rice to 38-17.
That was the spectacular part of White’s night. The more important part had already happened in smaller spaces.
White carried 21 times, producing three touchdowns and 139 yards in North Texas’ 52-23 win Saturday at DATCU Stadium in Denton. Two of those scores came from 3 yards and 1 yard. The long run supplied the jolt, but the short finishes helped define why Rice could not keep the game from becoming a runaway after halftime.
The first touchdown arrived in the opening quarter after Tayven Jackson connected with Justin Stevenson for 48 yards, taking the Mean Green to the Rice 6. White gained 3 yards on one snap and 3 more on the next for the score.
It was plain, productive football: North Texas had created a red-zone opportunity and trusted its back to finish it without needing a trick or a broken play.
The 1-yard touchdown came with the game less comfortable. North Texas opened the third quarter by moving 75 yards for a score, including completions of 25 and 10 yards to Max Reese and a 23-yard connection with Baron Tipton. Jackson’s 6-yard run finished that possession and made the score 17-7.
Rice answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive, trimming the margin to 17-14. North Texas then punted before forcing a Rice punt of its own. Starting at the Owls’ 35, the Mean Green needed three plays to score.
A Rice face-mask penalty advanced the ball 15 yards, White gained 3 and Jackson completed a 16-yard pass to Baron Tipton, and White finished from the 1 with 4:22 remaining in the third. The fumble came on Rice’s next possession and set up a different touchdown, the pass to Dalton Carnes that made it 31-14.
Those two drives show why White’s 139 yards should not be treated as the entire story. His carries included the goal-line work, a 15-yard gain that began the final sequence of the third quarter and the 60-yard sprint that opened the fourth. He could move a drive, close one and suddenly break it open. A single average can blur those different jobs.
White also contributed before the defense had to account for him as a runner. He caught four passes for 31 yards, including a 24-yard reception during the opening scoring drive. Jackson completed 18 passes in 31 attempts for 303 yards, while Stevenson produced five catches for 117 yards and Reese added four for 72.
The passing game had enough range to make Rice defend more than a crowded tackle box, and White’s involvement gave Jackson another short-area option without removing him from the backfield equation.
North Texas’ offense still had imperfections. The Mean Green committed nine penalties for 98 yards and scored 10 points in the first half, with two second-quarter possessions ending in punts. Rice also gained 433 yards, including 261 rushing, so this was not a defensive strangling disguised as a blowout.
The Owls were within 10-7 at halftime and had enough running success to keep the contest from looking settled early.
