Late Rally Falls Short in First Responder Bowl

UNIVERSITY PARK – Drew Mestemaker hadn't started a football game at quarterback since his freshman year of high school, when he was behind center for Austin Vandegrift High School in 2020.

On Friday at the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl at SMU's Gerald J. Ford Stadium in front of 28,725 fans, the true freshman walk-on made quite the first impression.

Mestemaker completed 26 of 41 pass attempts for 393 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for a 70-yard score in the closing minutes to pull UNT within two points in what ended as a 30-28 win for Texas State in Eric Morris' first bowl appearance as the Mean Green head coach.

"I'm proud of that kid," Morris said of Mestemaker. "To be a freshman walk-on that didn't play quarterback in high school is an incredible story. He has a lot of good football ahead of him. He kept us in it the whole time."

Mestemaker was in control throughout much of the day and gave UNT a 7-3 lead when he found his former high school teammate Miles Coleman to open the scoring for UNT on a 46-yard scoring strike with 6:33 left in the first quarter.

Coleman finished with his first career 100-yard receiving day, and Damon Ward Jr., finished his Mean Green career with a monster effort after posting a UNT bowl-record 133 receiving yards to move him into 14th on the program's all-time receiving yards list and into 15th on the all-time receptions list.

The Mean Green led until late in the first half when Texas State took a 16-14 lead into the locker room.

UNT (6-7) was able to hang around, but it appeared Texas State (8-5) had put the game on ice with a long touchdown run with 2:25 to play that put the Bobcats up 30-21.

That's when Mestemaker struck again.

With the Mean Green facing third-and-8 at the two-minute timeout, the 6-foot-4 signal-caller took off around right end for a 70-yard touchdown scamper down the Mean Green sideline to close the deficit to two points with 1:49 remaining.

"On GPS, over the whole summer last summer, he was one of the fastest guys on the team, so it didn't surprise me a bit," Morris said of the run.

UNT was able to force a punt and get the ball back at its 9-yard line with just 40 seconds left and no timeouts before a Mestemaker desperation throw was intercepted to end the game.

In the end, Morris acknowledged a few mistakes and a couple of key moments that ultimately broke the Mean Green's back with two drives ending inside the Texas State 25-yard line – one with an interception and one with a failed fourth-down try. But he said the program made some huge strides this year and has a lot to look forward to in 2025.

"We're building this right now," Morris said. "Everyone has to be patient with us, but we have reinforcements coming next year and we're going to try to get better each year and go win eight or nine games next season."

QUICK HITS

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.
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.
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.

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Team Stats

Drew Mestemaker

Players Mentioned

Gabe Blair

Chavez Brown

Breylon Charles

Miles Coleman

Johnny Dickson III

Jett Duncan

Quinton Hammonds

Jayden Hill

Evan Jackson

Makenzie McGill II

Drew Mestemaker

Braydon Nelson

Kali Nguma

Landon Peterson

Landon Sides

Jaylen Smith

Ridge Texada

Fatafehi Vailea II

Damon Ward Jr.

Shane Whitter

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