Saturday, October 18
Denton, TX
2:30 PM CT
University of North Texas
vs
UTSA
UNT Set to Host UTSA For Homecoming
10/14/2025 1:15:00 PM | Football
DENTON – The UNT football team welcomes rival UTSA to DATCU Stadium on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., in a game with key American implications as one team will leave with a 2-1 conference mark and the other will be 1-2. The game can be seen on ESPN+, with the radio broadcast set for 1190 AM/The Varsity Network.
Head coach Eric Morris and select players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, the incredible atmosphere at a sold out DATCU Stadium for last week's game against South Florida, focusing on stopping UTSA's ground attack with a new weapon in the middle and a long relationship between Morris and UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor.
Team hoping for more strong fan support
Even though the result of Friday's game against South Florida didn't go as the players and coaches would have hoped, the program collectively raved about the fan support that led to the first sellout in the history of DATCU Stadium and a record crowd size of 31,386 for UNT.
"That was one of the most memorable things in all of my time here," junior offensive lineman Johnny Dickson III said. "I didn't start here, I transferred in here, but seeing the people of Denton and the community come out and support us was amazing. It made me want to play harder for those people. They might not know my name, but they took time out of their day to come support us, and that meant a lot."
Head coach Eric Morris said he knows his team must continue to put a great product on the field, but he definitely wants the juiced up atmosphere to be the new normal at DATCU Stadium.
"It can't be understated how phenomenal that was," Morris said. "I've gotten so many messages – not only from people who were there in person but I had a bunch of texts from family, recruits, people who watched on TV who were shocked how good it looked on TV. Our student section was awesome, and you just don't see that everywhere in this conference.
"I know we play a huge part in this. Success is the ultimate. Winning solves a lot of problems. But our administration has been phenomenal with the marketing efforts, and (Vice President of Athletics) Jared's (Mosley) fan interaction on twitter and his access. That's really him. That's how he leads every single day. That's not him putting on a front in front of a keyboard. He's been amazing. It's our job to make it fun and make it continue to grow in the right way. Hats off to our alumni, fanbase, student, everyone who made that such a great atmosphere."
UTSA bringing running game to Denton
With rival UTSA coming to town, Morris & Co. are expecting to see a balanced offensive attack from the Roadrunners led by a veteran quarterback in Owen McCown and a dangerous ground attack that rolled up nearly 200 yards rushing in last week's demolition of Rice.
"This running back has had explosive runs that hit from everywhere," Morris said. "They pop on the back side of counter, front side of counter, back side of zone, front side of zone…
"Then you have McCown, who is an accurate passer and can obviously push the ball down the field, but he's sneaky athletic, too. He'll hurt you with his legs and can sneak out and do some things if you don't contain him. He's not dual threat like what we saw last week (against South Florida) but if you don't keep him in the pocket he'll hurt some people (running the ball)."
A big part of that UNT run defense will be up front in the middle in the form of Saadiq Clements, a sophomore defensive tackle who transferred in from Louisville and has stepped up in the absence of senior captain Fatafehi Vailea II, who is out for the year with an injury.
Last week against South Florida, Clements was one of the bright spots for the Mean Green, registering career-highs with seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
"We struggled with the inside run game against Army and this past week, but we've been able to rely on (Clements) and he's been physical and he hasn't had many assignment busts," Morris said. "When you ask him to do his job, he's doing his job. That's the sign of a good interior defensive lineman to me. The more and more you're around him and watch his personality and how he practices, the more you see he's a pleasure to be around. We're super lucky to have him on this roster right now."
Senior linebacker Shane Whitter said Clements has always had a key role on the defense – it just grew when Vailea was lost for the year.
"He's always been a important piece, even though he wasn't starting when (Vailea) was healthy," Whitter said. "But he's a very fun and goofy guy and he always brings the juice."
Morris, Traylor relationship goes way back
UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor has provided a blueprint for college football coaches jumping up a weight class in conference alignment.
When UNT, UTSA and four other programs moved from Conference USA to the American prior to the 2023 season, all of those programs knew the competition would be tougher to deal with than in their old stomping grounds.
Traylor and the Roadrunners won the CUSA championship in their last two years in the conference and immediately contended for the American championship in 2023, and he's also created a winning culture, something Morris respects from his time as a contemporary of Traylor's.
Morris, whose dad was a Texas high school coach like Traylor, recruited one of Traylor's quarterbacks from Gilmer High School when he was at Texas Tech and got to see firsthand the East Texas powerhouse Traylor built. Then, when Morris moved on to become head coach at Incarnate Word, the two shared a city in San Antonio and found themselves often at the same functions. Their wives even became friendly and the four shared meals from time to time.
Morris said he always roots for Traylor, except for that one week when they go head to head.
"I respect the hell out of him," Morris said. "Everywhere he's been, he's won. My dad is a HS coach and when you have someone who has success and you know what he went through to build a program at Gilmer, it says a lot. We took one of his QBs at Tech and talked to him a lot about taking that kid. When we were in San Antonio together and both having success and winning conference championships, we got to know each other. I think he's a good human being and cares about his kids. My wife and he and his wife have spent time together at retreats. I root for him except this week, because he's always been good to me."
Head coach Eric Morris and select players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, the incredible atmosphere at a sold out DATCU Stadium for last week's game against South Florida, focusing on stopping UTSA's ground attack with a new weapon in the middle and a long relationship between Morris and UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor.
Team hoping for more strong fan support
Even though the result of Friday's game against South Florida didn't go as the players and coaches would have hoped, the program collectively raved about the fan support that led to the first sellout in the history of DATCU Stadium and a record crowd size of 31,386 for UNT.
"That was one of the most memorable things in all of my time here," junior offensive lineman Johnny Dickson III said. "I didn't start here, I transferred in here, but seeing the people of Denton and the community come out and support us was amazing. It made me want to play harder for those people. They might not know my name, but they took time out of their day to come support us, and that meant a lot."
Head coach Eric Morris said he knows his team must continue to put a great product on the field, but he definitely wants the juiced up atmosphere to be the new normal at DATCU Stadium.
"It can't be understated how phenomenal that was," Morris said. "I've gotten so many messages – not only from people who were there in person but I had a bunch of texts from family, recruits, people who watched on TV who were shocked how good it looked on TV. Our student section was awesome, and you just don't see that everywhere in this conference.
"I know we play a huge part in this. Success is the ultimate. Winning solves a lot of problems. But our administration has been phenomenal with the marketing efforts, and (Vice President of Athletics) Jared's (Mosley) fan interaction on twitter and his access. That's really him. That's how he leads every single day. That's not him putting on a front in front of a keyboard. He's been amazing. It's our job to make it fun and make it continue to grow in the right way. Hats off to our alumni, fanbase, student, everyone who made that such a great atmosphere."
UTSA bringing running game to Denton
With rival UTSA coming to town, Morris & Co. are expecting to see a balanced offensive attack from the Roadrunners led by a veteran quarterback in Owen McCown and a dangerous ground attack that rolled up nearly 200 yards rushing in last week's demolition of Rice.
"This running back has had explosive runs that hit from everywhere," Morris said. "They pop on the back side of counter, front side of counter, back side of zone, front side of zone…
"Then you have McCown, who is an accurate passer and can obviously push the ball down the field, but he's sneaky athletic, too. He'll hurt you with his legs and can sneak out and do some things if you don't contain him. He's not dual threat like what we saw last week (against South Florida) but if you don't keep him in the pocket he'll hurt some people (running the ball)."
A big part of that UNT run defense will be up front in the middle in the form of Saadiq Clements, a sophomore defensive tackle who transferred in from Louisville and has stepped up in the absence of senior captain Fatafehi Vailea II, who is out for the year with an injury.
Last week against South Florida, Clements was one of the bright spots for the Mean Green, registering career-highs with seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
"We struggled with the inside run game against Army and this past week, but we've been able to rely on (Clements) and he's been physical and he hasn't had many assignment busts," Morris said. "When you ask him to do his job, he's doing his job. That's the sign of a good interior defensive lineman to me. The more and more you're around him and watch his personality and how he practices, the more you see he's a pleasure to be around. We're super lucky to have him on this roster right now."
Senior linebacker Shane Whitter said Clements has always had a key role on the defense – it just grew when Vailea was lost for the year.
"He's always been a important piece, even though he wasn't starting when (Vailea) was healthy," Whitter said. "But he's a very fun and goofy guy and he always brings the juice."
Morris, Traylor relationship goes way back
UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor has provided a blueprint for college football coaches jumping up a weight class in conference alignment.
When UNT, UTSA and four other programs moved from Conference USA to the American prior to the 2023 season, all of those programs knew the competition would be tougher to deal with than in their old stomping grounds.
Traylor and the Roadrunners won the CUSA championship in their last two years in the conference and immediately contended for the American championship in 2023, and he's also created a winning culture, something Morris respects from his time as a contemporary of Traylor's.
Morris, whose dad was a Texas high school coach like Traylor, recruited one of Traylor's quarterbacks from Gilmer High School when he was at Texas Tech and got to see firsthand the East Texas powerhouse Traylor built. Then, when Morris moved on to become head coach at Incarnate Word, the two shared a city in San Antonio and found themselves often at the same functions. Their wives even became friendly and the four shared meals from time to time.
Morris said he always roots for Traylor, except for that one week when they go head to head.
"I respect the hell out of him," Morris said. "Everywhere he's been, he's won. My dad is a HS coach and when you have someone who has success and you know what he went through to build a program at Gilmer, it says a lot. We took one of his QBs at Tech and talked to him a lot about taking that kid. When we were in San Antonio together and both having success and winning conference championships, we got to know each other. I think he's a good human being and cares about his kids. My wife and he and his wife have spent time together at retreats. I root for him except this week, because he's always been good to me."
Players Mentioned
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