First Responder Bowl: North Texas 28, Texas State 30
A valiant loss, a good debut, and hope for the future.
DALLAS — In the end the result was as expected by many. North Texas lost another bowl game. It is now the nation’s longest bowl losing streak dating back to 2016. The Mean Green did play a better football game than people expected, holding Texas State to below their scoring average and keeping them out of the endzone for a good portion of the game. All things considered, the result didn’t make anyone proud necessarily, but it isn’t anything to be ashamed of. That is a start of something.
Drew Mestemaker was more of a rumor than a known quantity. Eric Morris praised him in fall camp, observers told of his exploits, and we mostly had practice reports in the bowl preparation season to go on. In pregame MGN asked coaches what they thought of the QB and what exactly we should expect: “He has the total package. He’s smart, he’s big, fast. He’s done good in the good-on-good sessions. Confident. He’ll do well”
That was the case. Mestemaker the player was equal to the rumor. He threw for a game-high 393 and two scores while running for another. He also scampered for 70 yards and a score to go with the rest of his exploits to total 55 net rush yards on the day. Confident? Yes. Smart? It looked like it. We asked Eric Morris if he pared the playbook any for his freshman QB. “No, we probably added some stuff. He’s so smart and can absorb so much. For him to go out and shake those nerves out, he went out there and threw a strike, you could feel his demeanor change after that first touchdown”
North Texas had lacked a downfield passing game since new Virginia transfer Chandler Morris was hurt vs Tulane and Mestemaker displayed an arm that can threaten a good secondary. He misfired on some passes early but found Miles Coleman (high school teammate) for a 46-yard dot early. NT moved the ball well, and the freshman looked comfortable, poised, and looked and played better than anyone who hasn’t started since 9th grade has any right to. Is he the future? Morris said he will have a chance to lead the program in the future. He also said he wouldn’t be surprised if Mestemaker is still playing 15 years from now.
There were growing pains. Mestemaker threw two picks (one on a screen that wasn’t his fault necessarily, and another in the desperation 4th-and-11 heave into traffic) and had a sack/fumble that was the result of not seeing field pressure from his blind side. Those are things that can be cleaned up for him with more practice and experience.
Aside from the stellar debut of the backup QB, lots of eyes were on the NT defense. The senior heavy squad was being coordinated by Brian Odom in his final game as the interim man. For three quarters or so, NT held Texas State to 90 yards rushing and kept them out of the end zone. The stat sheet says State had 500+ yards and 30 points — including a 73-yard scamper in the 4th — but also NT got a couple of big turnovers in the fourth quarter. Evan Jackson intercepted Jordan McCloud on one possession and Fatafehi Vailea had a sack/fumble on another. NT drove and eventually forced the punt that set up the final drive. It was a desperation moment, with just 40s left and no timeouts but it was a sliver of a chance.
Eric Morris talked about building on this and how his experience at Incarnate Word and building toward a third year was helpful. He has to replace a senior heavy defense, and add depth “pretty much everywhere.” It has been a busy December with the late bowl game and there is a lot of work hosting recruits and working the portal. One coach said “I haven’t had any real time off aside from a couple of days around Christmas”. There are negatives to postseason games, folks. But the work is in progress. Skyler Cassity represents some hope that he defense could look more like they did in this game than, say, any others in league play. The NT fan base was proud of the performance — again turnovers, stops, and holding the offense to field goals trump yardage gained except in the 4th quarter. This defense missed one or two must-stops that will haunt the squad for the future.
An incomplete list:
4th and 2 in the third quarter where Texas State went to the quick game and the NT pass rush/pressure packages were not getting to the QB.
The Evan Jackson missed tackle on Pare in space that allowed a 73-yard score. NT brought pressure to get a stop and was burned.
The 15-yard run on the final TxSt drive in the 4th that ultimately cost NT about 40 seconds on the clock.
Not setting the edge well and letting Pare get free on the edge in the 3rd.
This is what Cassity was hired to fix. Sam Houston State caused turnovers, played fast and aggressively, and stopped good offenses from scoring. NT needs more of that. All season that was the headline. Underreported was how mightily the offense struggled. A big reason was the offensive line. Johnny Dickson started at center until Gabe Blair jumped in during the 2nd quarter. He had never played there before. NT has had four centers this season, struggling to find consistency. The starting offensive line of Landon Peterson, Jett Duncan, Gabe Blair, Johnny Dickson III and Braydon Nelson was the 10th different starting combination this season for the Mean Green. Morris talked up the importance of finding some consistency at that group next season in his post game remarks.
All in all most fans feel as good as anyone can feel about a loss in this one. The freshman QB played well, the defense has hope for the future, and NT has an offseason to address the needs.
GMG
Editor’s Note: MGN is changing travel plans. To get ahead of the big snow storm coming for MGN HQ on Sunday, we will be travelling all day on Saturday. That means the podcast will be on Sunday morning instead of Saturday. Adjust your listening plans accordingly.
Notes from the press office:
Freshman QB Drew Mestemaker (Austin, Texas) finished 26 for 41 for 393 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 55 yards on nine carries, including a 70-yard touchdown run.
Mestemaker made his first career start and his first since 2020, when he was a freshman at Vandegrift High School.
Mestemaker is the fifth quarterback since 2000 to throw for 300 or more yards in his starting debut (Chandler Morris, Chandler Rogers, Austin Aune and Giovanni Vizza) and is the first to do it in a bowl game.
His 393 yards gives him the most for a true freshman in a UNT debut in program history, surpassing Giovanni Vizza's 383 against Louisiana in 2007.
Mestemaker's 393 passing yards give him the most in UNT bowl history.
Mestemaker's two passing touchdowns tied for the third-most in UNT bowl history with Jason Bean (2020), Derek Thompson (2014) and Scott Hall (2001).
Mestemaker's 448 yards of total offense tied for the most for any player in FBS this bowl season, with Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson.
Mestemaker's 46-yard touchdown pass to Miles Coleman with 6:33 to play in the first quarter was the first of his career and was the second-longest passing touchdown in UNT bowl history behind a 75-yarder from Kason Martin to Jalen Guyton in the 2018 New Mexico Bowl.
Mestemaker's 16-yard touchdown pass to Landon Sides with 14:54 to play in the second quarter was the second of his career.
Mestemaker's 70-yard touchdown run with 1:49 remaining in the game was his first of the season and was the longest rushing play in bowl history for the Mean Green.
The Mean Green loss closes their series advantage with Texas State to 29-8-3 all-time, and it was the first meeting between the programs since 1994, a 27-14 UNT victory.
The loss dropped UNT's all-time bowl record to 3-12, with the last win coming in the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl – a 36-14 win over UNLV on Jan. 1, 2014.
UNT's captains for the game were Jett Duncan, Ridge Texada, Jaylen Smith and Landon Peterson.
UNT is now 3-12 under Eric Morris when trailing at the half and 2-6 this season. When trailing after three quarters, UNT is now 1-7 this season and 2-14 under Morris.
The starting offensive line of Landon Peterson, Jett Duncan, Gabe Blair, Johnny Dickson III and Braydon Nelson was the 10th different starting combination this season for the Mean Green.
Blair made his first start of the season and the 36th consecutive in his career when he's available to play.
Dickson III made his first career start at center, after four starts at right guard and one at left guard this season.
Late in the second quarter, Blair moved to center and Dickson III moved to left guard.
For the season, UNT finished first all-time in single-season passing yards, pass completions, pass attempts and tied for second in single-season passing touchdowns.
UNT's had two scoring drives of 75 yards, giving the Mean Green 36 such scoring drives in their 68 total this season.
Freshman QB Drew Mestemaker finished the day with 393 passing yards in his starting debut.
UNT became the 10th FBS program this season to have two players notch 300-yard passing days.
UNT had two players, Miles Coleman and Damon Ward Jr., record 100-yard receiving days, marking the first time since Oct. 26, against Tulane, when Ward and DT Sheffield eclipsed the century mark, that UNT has had two 100-yard receivers in a game.
It marked the first time in bowl history that two UNT players have had 100-yard receiving performances in the same game.
Coleman and Ward are the third and fourth UNT players with 100 or more receiving yards in a bowl game, joining Austin Ogumakin (131, 2020 Myrtle Beach Bowl) and Jalen Guyton (103, 2018 New Mexico Bowl). They are the ninth and 10th players in First Responder Bowl history to post a 100-yard receiving game.
UNT now has eight plays this season of 70+ yards, which is the most in all of FBS.
For the 15th time in the last 20 games, UNT allowed its opponent to score points on its opening drive.
For the fourth time in UNT's bowl history, the Mean Green did not allow a first-quarter touchdown (2022 Frisco Bowl, 1948 Salad Bowl and 1946 Optimist Bowl).
For the third time in UNT's bowl history, the Mean Green led after the opening quarter (2022 Frisco Bowl and 1948 Salad Bowl).
UNT recorded an interception for the sixth straight game for the first time since the 2016 season, when UNT had seven straight games with an interception.
Senior WR Damon Ward Jr. (Beaumont, Texas), finished with five catches for 133 yards.
Ward's 133 yards gives him 1,931 in his career, which puts him in 14th on the program's all-time list ahead of Michael Lawrence (2016-19) and one yard behind Pete Harvey (1978-81).
Ward's five catch puts him at 127 in his career, which puts him alone in 15th on the all-time list, one behind Rico Bussey (2016-19).
Ward's 133 yards gave him his third 100-yard receiving day of the season and first since the Tulane game on Oct. 26.
Ward's 133 yards gives him the most for a UNT player in a bowl game in program history.
Freshman WR Miles Coleman (Austin, Texas) finished the day with six catches for 104 yards and a touchdown.
Coleman's 104 receiving yards gave him his first 100-yard receiving day of his career.
Coleman's 46-yard touchdown reception with 6:33 left in the first quarter was the second of his career.
Sophomore WR Landon Sides (Denton, Texas) finished the day with five catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Sides' 16-yard touchdown reception with 14:54 left in the second quarter was his first of the season and fifth of his career.
Sides' touchdown made him the 11th UNT player this year to record a receiving touchdown, which is tied for third-most in FBS.
Redshirt freshman RB Makenzie McGill II (Mount Vernon, Texas) finished the day with seven carries for 28 yards and a touchdown.
McGill's 1-yard touchdown run with 3:20 left in the game was his 10th of the season – the second-most rushing touchdowns by a UNT freshman in the FBS era (behind Jamario Thomas' 17 in 2004).
Junior LB Chavez Brown (Houma, La.) finished the day with nine tackles, including four solo stops, and a tackle for-loss.
Senior LB Jaylen Smith (Hamilton, Ontario) finished the day with nine tackles, including three solo stops, and a QB hurry.
Senior DB Ridge Texada (Frisco, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including five solo stops, and a half-tackle for-loss.
Senior LB Shane Whitter (Burlington, N.C.) finished the day with eight tackles, including four solo stops.
Whitter's eight tackles set a new career high, besting his previous high of seven.
Junior DL Fatafehi Vailea II (Oakland, Calif.) finished the day with seven tackles, including five solo stops, a career-high 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
Vailea ended the season with 2.5 sacks and now has two career forced fumbles.
Senior DB Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio) finished the day with seven tackles, including two solo stops, and had two pass breakups.
Including his time at Ohio Dominican, Hill has now started 50 consecutive games.
Hill had two pass breakups, which set a new season high and tied his career high.
Junior DL Breylon Charles (New Orleans, La.) finished the day with six tackles, including two solo stops, a half-sack and a QB hurry to go with a fumble recovery.
Freshman DB Quinton Hammonds (Allen, Texas) finished the day with five tackles, including three solo stops.
Sophomore DB Evan Jackson (Houston) finished the day with four tackles, including three solo stops, and an interception.
His fourth-quarter interception was his third of the season and fourth of his career and made him the first UNT player with an interception since Nate Brooks intercepted Jordan Love in the 2018 New Mexico Bowl.
Redshirt freshman K Kali Nguma (Mission, Texas) finished 4-for-4 on extra points.
Nguma finished the season a perfect 55-for-55 on extra points, tying Trevor Moore (2017) for the all-time mark after he also finished 55-for-55.
Only five other kickers in AAC history have finished with a perfect 1.000 extra point percentage on 55 or more attempts.
Nguma is the fourth player in program history with 50+ PAT kicks made and attempted in a single season, joining Ethan Mooney (54-for-55 in 2022), Cole Hedlund (51-for-54 in 2018) and Trevor Moore (55-for-55 in 2017).
Nguma is now at 88 points for the season, good for seventh on the program's single-season kicking points list – three points back of Ethan Mooney's 91 in 2019.