New Mexico Bowl Champs! Quick Reaction New Mexico Bowl: North Texas 49 San Diego State 47
The bowl losing streak is over!
North Texas finishes 2025 with 12 wins, and a New Mexico Bowl Championship1. The winningest season in program history was capped by a bowl win. Drew Mestemaker joins Derek Thompson as bowl champs.
Svoboda said “Always about the players. They had every opportunity to go their separate ways. They finished what they started.”
At one point in this game North Texas was up 42-20 early in the 4th and was otherwise feeling good. The run game was powerful, having put up something like 300 yards by that point. San Diego State, down to their third-string QB, scored a touchdown. They stopped NT, and returned a punt for a score.
The game was then 42-34 with 7+ minutes to go and North Texas facing 4th and 2. Caleb Hawkins ran for 3-yards to put him at 197 for the night, and we could relax a little bit.
This was a strange game, as most bowl games are. The break from weekly football, combined with the roster and coaching turnover, and you have teams that are not necessarily close to the same group that earned the invite. As it was, the game was a love-fest for Mestemaker and this group, who were completing the final game in the winningest season in program history. They won the 12th game of the season, the first bowl game since January 1, 2014 (ending a 7-game losing streak) amidst near-constant reminders of the looming transfer window.
The gist of this game was that North Texas looked like the squad that tore through the regular season, putting up running yards at will, and scoring lots of points. Caleb Hawkins was the same kid who could not be tackled and scored 3-touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 receiving) and ran for 198.
The second half looked like the team that lost to USF and Tulane. The one that turned the ball over had special teams miscues. San Diego State was down to their third quarterback, after the starter was a pre-game scratch following shoulder surgery. Bert Emanuel, Jr (son of the Falcons’ wideout) ran for 170 in just a quarter-and-a-half of play vs North Texas. North Texas has struggled vs running QBs all season, and with the appearance of Crum appeared to be pulling away. The 42-20 lead was seemingly insurmountable. Then Kyle Crum and the Aztecs started finding space. They drove and scored. They stopped NT. They returned a kick for a score. They rolled out and threw miracle, hopeful passes that were caught.
It was 49-40. North Texas could not get the 2-yards that would end the game in two straight drives. Not even difficult-to-tackle Caleb Hawkins could manage the feat.
The defense stomped out what ever magic the Aztecs had left. Let’s get into some quick reactions:
1. I Sense Relief, Not Euphoria
North Texas were 20-point favorites coming into this game. The Mean Green felt like they should have done better vs Tulane in the American championship game. They wanted to finish what they started. They did. They played like they had all season long.
Coming into this season we didn’t think Caleb Hawkins was going to be a star, but he finished as the bowl game outstanding offensive player of the game with 30 carries and 198 yards to go with three scores.
North Texas fans enjoy the win, but it is hard to feel the euphoria of these kinds of things when the bowl losing streak was more a thorn in the side of fans than anything. As complementary of the New Mexico Bowl as everyone was, no one puts that on their vision board.
2. This is the End of An Era
College football is going to be this way for the foreseeable future. In a sport already characterized by change, the modern landscape has accelerated it to an extreme degree. Eric Morris has left for Oklahoma State. All of his staff on both sides of the ball are leaving as well. The rumors are hot and heavy that the stars of this season on the offensive side of the ball will continue their careers elsewhere.
Neal Brown had the opportunity to watch alongside his new boss, a bystander hoping too win over these guys who have accomplished so much and compete with wallets fatter than the one he has to offer. It is an unenviable position, but that’s the job.
3. Competing for 2026 Begins Now
Speaking of Neal Brown, he has already put together some of his staff, but the official announcements have been withheld pending the bowl game. Now that that is complete, expect a rash of hiring announcements for the next staff. Expect more transfer entrants and the full-on roster transformation that is college football anymore.
The North Texas football program had to adjust the standard operating procedure going forward. This was a great season, and a good model for what is possible. Drew Mestemaker was a revelation, and teams cannot hope to get lucky with random walk-ons who have preternatural Quarterbacking talent. Still, the lesson here is that smart, calculated roster building can win you some things. Army won the league last year with a developmental program. Tulane won this year with smart investments and shrewd portal recruiting. They had lost their freshman QB to Duke the previous season and proceeded to grab Retzlaff and won the title.
Everyone will be dealing with transfers and North Texas is no different. Building the program around process, culture, and repeatable success is more important than investing in any one or two individuals. This team — Team 110 — were a part of a great season and everyone should do what they can to make sure it is not an anomaly.
Let’s enjoy being bowl champions, and go mean green!
S/O Dan McCarney