DENTON — UTSA's offense accumulated 475 total yards and tied a school record with 31 first downs, but North Texas rushed for 267 yards en route to a 30-23 victory against the Roadrunners on Saturday night at Apogee Stadium.
Jarveon Williams sparked UTSA's third drive with a 21-yard scamper to the Mean Green 44-yard line and finished with a 3-yard touchdown rush around right end to give the Roadrunners an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
DaMarcus Smith then ripped off a 40-yard run to get the Mean Green (1-7, 1-4 C-USA) to UTSA's 21-yard line. Marcos Curry then forced the first turnover of the game for the Roadrunners with a hit on Smith, who fumbled the ball through the back of the UTSA end zone, giving the ball back to the visitors via a touchback.
Following a Roadrunners punt, Tre Johnson returned the ball 30 yards to the opposing 40-yard line with an extra 15 yards tacked on due to a face mask penalty. A defensive holding infraction kept the North Texas drive alive and that was followed by Jeffrey Wilson's 6-yard touchdown dash to tie the game at seven.
Capping a 14-play 76-yard drive, Daniel Portillo tacked on three points with a 24-yard field goal for the Roadrunners (1-7, 1-3 C-USA) with a minute left in the half for a 10-7 advantage.
North Texas gained a 14-10 advantage with 5:58 left in the third quarter when a Jalen Rhodes fumble led to a 44-yard Mean Green scoop and score from free safety Kishawn McClain.
Tyrell Clay punched in UTSA's second touchdown of the night from four yards out to cap a 12-play, 83-yard drive to the Roadrunners the lead once again at 17-14.
On the ensuing possession, Wilson toted the ball for 27 yards inside the UTSA 10 and a Willy Ivery 5-yard touchdown run helped the home side reclaim the lead, 21-17.
Dalton Sturm helped the Roadrunners answer on the following drive with a 1-yard pass to Halen Steward, which made the score 23-21. However, the point after touchdown attempt by Portillo was blocked by UNT's Austin Orr and Chad Davis returned it for a two-point conversion, knotting the score at 23-all.
Smith dashed 54 yards on the next drive and put the Mean Green on top for good with a 1-yard scoring dive.
UTSA was unable to march down the field with 2:13 left in the quarter and that secured the Mean Green's first-ever victory against the Roadrunners.
Sturm completed 27-of-41 passes for 245 yards and added a career-high 73 rushing yards on 21 carries. Kerry Thomas Jr. tied a school record with nine receptions for 75 yards.
Defensively, Jason Neill posted career highs of nine tackles, four TFLs and two sacks, while Duke Wheeler led the team with 10 stops, which was his third consecutive outing in double figures.
The Roadrunners will host Old Dominion (3-5, 1-3 C-USA) in their annual Homeciming Game at 6 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 7.