UAB Drops 45-42 Decision at North Texas on Final Play

Saturday, November 25

Denton, TX

1 p.m. CT

UAB

4-8 , 3-5

North Texas

5-7 , 3-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UAB

North Texas

UAB Drops 45-42 Decision at North Texas on Final Play

11/25/2023 5:47:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score Final Season Statistics

DENTON, Texas – North Texas kicker Noah Rauschenberg connected on a 32-yard field goal as time expired to give the Mean Green a 45-42 victory over the UAB football team on Saturday at DATCU Stadium.

UAB (4-8, 3-5 AAC) tied the game at 42-42 with 2:43 left in the contest, but the Mean Green (5-7, 3-5 AAC) were able to go 60 yards in seven plays which moved the ball down to 15-yard line to set up the game-winner.

The Blazers put up 506 yards of total offense but allowed North Texas to run 101 plays and gain 645 yards. UNT quarterback Chandler Rogers led the way 404 passing yards and three touchdowns.

UAB's Jermaine Brown Jr. (116) and Lee Beebe (101) each ran for 100 yards and each score two touchdowns. For Brown Jr., he became just the third player in school history to eclipse 3,000 career rushing yards and also went over 5,000 career all-purpose yards. For Beebe, it was the first 100-yard game and first multi-touchdown game of his career.

Jacob Zeno threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns and in the process became just the third player in school history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. Zeno finished the 2023 campaign with 3,126 passing yards, which is the second most in school history.

Defensively, Everett Roussaw Jr., Ricky Lee III and Jason Riles Jr. all shared a team-high nine tackles. Riles Jr. made his first career start and saw his first significant playing time today at linebacker.

The Blazers took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards into the end zone on a 7-yard rush from Brown Jr. which put him over the 3,000-yard mark.

Following a North Texas touchdown on its opening drive, UAB once again marched right down the field for another 75-yard touchdown drive. Brown Jr. capped it with the 30th rushing touchdown of his career for a 13-7 lead with 5:47 left in the opening quarter.

Ayo Adeyi gave North Texas its first lead of the game on a 7-yard rush for a 14-13 advantage at the 11:37 mark of the second quarter, but UAB scored the next 15 points for a 28-14 halftime lead.

Lee Beebe answered Adeyi's touchdown with a career long 66-yard rushing score and following a Colby Dempsey interception late in the second quarter, the Blazers turned that into eight points on a 32-yard pass from Zeno to Fred Farrier II with :27 left in the half. The 2-point conversion to Amare Thomas was good for the 14-point halftime lead.

North Texas outscored UAB 11-0 in the third quarter on a 34-yard field goal from Noah Rauschenberg at the 10:47 mark, and a 2-yard pass from Chandler Rogers to Xzavior Kautai with :32 left in the quarter. The 2-point conversion was good and UAB led 28-25 entering the fourth.

North Texas continued to apply pressure by scoring the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to gain a 35-28 advantage with 8:14 left, but the Blazers battled back. On the first play of the next possession, Zeno hit Tejhaun Palmer for an 80-yard touchdown to tie the game at 35-35.

Adeyi, who had 132 rushing yards, added his second touchdown with 5:30 left to give UNT a 42-35 lead. UAB once again answered with a 5-play, 75 yard drive, highlighted by a 47-yard reception by Brown Jr. which set up Beebe's second touchdown to once again tie the game.

However, UNT had 2:43 remaining on the clock and engineered the game-winning drive for the victory.

UAB finished the season with the most prolific offense in school history with an average of 450 yards per game.