North Texas Names Ex-Indiana QB Tayven Jackson Week 1 Starter Against Hoosiers

A familiar face will be under center against the defending champions to open the season.

The North Texas Mean Green announced on Wednesday morning that fifth-year senior Tayven Jackson will be their starting quarterback for the team’s Week 1 road opener against the Indiana Hoosiers on Sept. 5. Jackson beat out sophomores Chaston Ditta and Chris Jimerson Jr. and freshman Ziondre Williams for the starting job.

Jackson, who played for the Hoosiers from 2023-24, transferred to North Texas after one season with the UCF Knights. In said season (2025), Jackson totaled 2,151 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 126.2 passer rating for the Knights, while completing 63.5% of his passes; he also rushed for three scores.

North Texas is the fourth stop in Jackson’s collegiate career, as he spent 2022 with the Tennessee Volunteers before transferring to Indiana, with whom he made six starts from 2023-24. Jackson is the younger brother of former Indiana Hoosiers star forward and four-time All-Big Ten honoree Trayce Jackson-Davis, who now plays for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.

North Texas is coming off a program-best 12-2 season, but it lost head coach Eric Morris, who left after one season to become the new head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Former West Virginia Mountaineers and Troy Trojans coach and former Texas Longhorns assistant Neal Brown is the new head coach of the Mean Green.

As for Indiana, which is coming off winning its first ever National Championship and is a combined 27-2 under head coach Curt Cignetti, it has former TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Josh Hoover under center, marking the third consecutive season that the Hoosiers find their Week 1 quarterback in the transfer portal (Kurtis Rourke, Fernando Mendoza and Hoover). Over the last two years (2024-25), Hoover has averaged 3,710.5 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 152.2 passer rating per season, while completing 66.2% of his passes.

FOX’s “Big Noon Kickoff” will be on site in Bloomington for the Week 1 matchup between Indiana and North Texas.