No. 22 UNT Moves to 10 Wins With Rout of Rice

Saturday, November 22

Houston, TX

6:30 PM CT

University of North Texas

10-1 , 6-1

Rice

5-6 , 2-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

North Texas

Rice

11/22/2025 10:58:00 PM | Football

Box Score

HOUSTON – After another slow start to a road game on Saturday night at Rice Stadium, the UNT football team once again showed the full power of its offensive machine in a 56-24 win over the Owls to notch its first 10-win season since 1947.

The No. 22 Mean Green (10-1, 6-1 American) had run just three offensive plays until the waning seconds of the first quarter and trailed the Owls 14-0 before quickly reeling off 42 unanswered points at seemingly the snap of their fingers.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker continued his record-setting season by throwing for 469 yards on 19-of-23 passing and three touchdowns, freshman running back Caleb Hawkins had his fifth game of the year with at least three touchdowns and sophomore wide receiver Wyatt Young had eight catches for an American Conference record 295 yards and two long touchdowns to lead the offensive onslaught.

"He continues to do a great job," UNT head coach Eric Morris said of his signal-caller. "He's cool, calm and collected. His accuracy pushing the ball down the field was phenomenal tonight. We really utilized tempo tonight, too. It was really good when we went fast.

"We ran the ball well. Drew saw it really well. Wyatt made plays down the field, obviously. We ended up putting it together, but it wasn't always perfect."

Though UNT's banged up, short-handed defense struggled in the first quarter, allowing Rice to score on its first two possessions to take the 14-0 lead, it was a fourth-down stop early in the second quarter that turned the tide with the Owls poised to go up 21-7.

After UNT got on the board with a 74-yard scoring strike from Mestemaker to Young, Rice (5-6, 2-5) was facing fourth-and-1 at midfield and had averaged about 7 yards per carry in the first quarter. That's when Jalyn Durgan stuffed Rice's D'Andre Hardemann for no gain to give UNT the ball, and the flood gates opened.

"Hats off to our defense," Morris said. "We are so beat up on that side. We had so many starters out. Linebackers, four or five defensive linemen, (Nickel) Quinton (Hammonds) didn't play, it didn't start well for them, but they settled in nicely and got some stops on fourth down."

On UNT's 42-0 scoring run that spanned 28:28 of game time, the Mean Green outgained Rice, 510-110, and featured numerous chunk plays, including the longest play from scrimmage so far this season – an 84-yard Mestemaker-to-Young touchdown – and a 56-yard dime from Mestemaker to Tre Williams III for another score.

Next up, UNT will close out the regular season on Friday afternoon when the Mean Green celebrate Senior Day against Temple with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m., at DATCU Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN.

"We just have to continue to be ourselves," Morris said about the short week of prep coming up. "Our recipe for winning, we know by this time, we just have to lock in. We have to take a lot off of them physically and give their bodies rest to get them ready for Friday."

QUICK HITS

UNT defeated Rice, 56-24, in the 14th all-time meeting between the programs and extended its series lead to 9-5.
UNT improved to 10-7 all-time and 5-0 this season in road games under head coach Eric Morris.
UNT is now 16-2 under Morris when leading at the half and improved to 18-0 when leading after three quarters.
UNT's captains for the game were Sawyer Evans, Simeon Evans and Will Jones II.
The Mean Green entered the season with 68 newcomers, which is the second-most in FBS behind Utah State. Forty-two of the 68 newcomers are transfers, which is the second-most in FBS behind New Mexico (49).
UNT's eight touchdowns gave it 68 on the season, which breaks the program record of 64 set in 1951.
The Mean Green scored 50+ points for the sixth time this season for the first time in program history.
- The only other time a UNT team scored 50+ four times was 1951.
The 56 points scored by UNT is the most in a road game since 62 at Sul Ross State in 1951.
UNT's +244 point differential this season is a single-season program record and ranks seventh in FBS this season.
- UNT is one of just 10 teams nationally with a point differential of +200, joining Indiana, Texas Tech, Ohio State, Utah, Oregon, Notre Dame, James Madison, Miami and Toledo.
UNT has now scored a program-record 241 points on the road this season, surpassing the 217 points the 1980 team scored on the road.
The Mean Green have now scored at least 30 points in each of the first 11 games for the first time in program history after hitting 10 straight last week for the first time in program history.
The Mean Green racked up 640 yards of offense, marking the 16th 500-yard game in Morris' 35 games as UNT's head coach and offensive play caller.
- The 640 yards is the seventh most in program history.
UNT went three-and-out on its opening possession, marking the first time since Sept. 6 at Western Michigan it had gone three-and-out on its opening possession.
- It also marked the first time since Oct. 10 against South Florida the Mean Green didn't score on their first possession of a game.
For the third time in five road games this season, UNT trailed by double-digits when Rice took a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter. The Mean Green are now 3-0 in those games after the other two (Western Michigan and Charlotte) both ended up as UNT wins.
UNT now has a 3,000-yard passer (Drew Mestemaker), a 1,000-yard rusher (Caleb Hawkins) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Wyatt Young) – the second time in program history UNT has accomplished that (2023).
- Entering Saturday, only two FBS teams had a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver, in San Jose State and UConn, and on Saturday, the Mean Green joined the list.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker hit the 3,000-yard passing mark, and freshman running back Caleb Hawkins eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing in the game, putting the Mean Green in select company of programs with freshmen hitting those marks in the same season (since 2000).
- UNT joined Texas A&M in 2012 (Johnny Manziel passing and rushing), Arizona in 2014 (Anu Solomon passing and Nick Wilson rushing) and Ohio State in 2021 (C.J. Stroud passing, TreVeyon Henderson rushing).
Drew Mestemaker's 84-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Young with 3:05 left in the first half was the longest play of the year for UNT and the first 80+ yard pass for UNT since Chandler Morris found Blair Conwright for a 96-yard touchdown pass against Tulsa last season.
The Mean Green had five scoring drives of at least 75 yards, giving them 25 scoring drives this year of 75 yards or more – 24 touchdowns and one field goal.
On Saturday, UNT went 5-for-5 in the red zone (five touchdowns). UNT has 51 red-zone touchdowns this season and has scored in 60 of 63 trips inside the opposing 20-yard line this year.
UNT scored 21 points in the second quarter, marking the seventh time this season the Mean Green have scored 21 or more points in a quarter.
UNT now has 40 rushing touchdowns on the season, which extends the program record, as the previous high came in 1951 (33).
Drew Mestemaker's 74-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Young late in the first quarter was UNT's 25th passing touchdown of the season – tied for ninth in program history and the 13th time in program history a UNT has had 25 touchdown passes.
RS Freshman QB Drew Mestemaker (Austin, Texas) finished 19-of-23 for 469 yards passing with three touchdowns.
- Through Mestemaker's first 16 games of his career, he has now thrown for 3,931 yards – the most by a UNT quarterback through his first 16 career games since 1995.
- Mestemaker is at 3,469 passing yards for the season, which is just 185 yards shy of the American Conference freshman record held by Dillon Gabriel (UCF).
- Mestemaker's 82.6% completion percentage fell just shy of his career high of 82.8% against Washington State this season, and he now owns the two best single-game completion percentages by a UNT freshman. Those two performances are the third- and fourth-best performances in program history (Derek Thompson has the top two).
- Mestemaker's 296.9 passer rating is the second highest in program history and is a career high.
- Mestemaker's 469 yards is the sixth most in program history.
- Mestemaker's 74-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Young with 0:52 left in the first quarter was his 24th of the season and 26th of his career and was the longest play of the season for UNT.
- Mestemaker's 56-yard touchdown pass to Tre Williams III with 6:34 left in the second quarter was his 25th of the season and 27th of his career.
- Mestemaker's 84-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Young with 3:05 left in the second quarter was his 26th of the season and 28th of his career.
- Mestemaker's 1-yard touchdown run with 12:55 left in the third quarter was his fifth rushing score of the year and sixth of his career.
- UNT now has two 70+ yards plays this season – both are Mestemaker to Young passes.
Freshman RB Caleb Hawkins (Shawnee, Okla.) finished the day with 20 carries for 97 yards and three touchdowns and added a catch for 12 yards.
- Hawkins is the only player in the nation to have five games this season with 3+ touchdowns.
- Hawkins' five games of 3+ touchdowns this season to tie him with Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech, 2007), a college teammate of UNT head coach Eric Morris, for second most by a freshman behind only Western Michigan's Javion Franklin, who had six such games in 2014.
- Hawkins is the fourth freshman running back in American Conference history to rush for more than 1,000 yards.
  - Hawkins joins Kenneth Gainwell (Memphis, 2019), Makhi Hughes (Tulane, 2023) and Marlon Mack (South Florida, 2014).
- Hawkins' 17th rushing touchdown of the season in the second quarter marked the most by a freshman in American Conference history, moving him past former Houston running back Alton McCaskill, who had 16 in 2021.
- Hawkins' 19th rushing touchdown tied him for the single-season program record with Patrick Cobbs (2003) and tied him for the FBS lead with Ole Miss' Kerwin Lacey.
- Hawkins' 19th rushing touchdown tied him for ninth on the all-time UNT career list with Michael Jones (1974-77) and Abner Haynes (1957-59).
- Hawkins' 21st overall touchdown (18 rushing, 3 receiving) put him in a tie for first on the single-season all-time list with running backs coach Patrick Cobbs, who scored 21 in 2003 (19 rushing, 1 receiving, 1 return).
- For the sixth time this season, Hawkins had multiple touchdowns in a game, and it marked the fifth time he has had multiple rushing scores in a game.
- Hawkins' 4-yard touchdown run with 10:26 left in the second quarter was his 17th of the year and his 20th overall touchdown.
- Hawkins' 7-yard touchdown run with 3:14 left in the third quarter was his 18th of the year and his 21st overall touchdown.
- Hawkins' 8-yard touchdown with 12:10 to play was his 19th of the year and his 22nd overall touchdown.
Sophomore WR Wyatt Young (Katy, Texas) finished the day with eight catches for 295 yards and two touchdowns.
- Young's 295 yards is a new American Conference record and is the most by an FBS player ths season.
- Young is now at 1,076 receiving yards this season, which puts him at sixth all-time for a single season in program history.
- UNT's last 200-yard receiving game was from Damon Ward Jr., on Aug. 30, 2024 at South Alabama when he had 230 yards.
- It was Young's second game this season of more than 150 receiving yards after his first this year at Charlotte on Oct. 24.
- Young had his fourth 100-yard receiving day of the season and fourth in the past five games.
- Young's 74-yard touchdown reception with 0:52 left in the first quarter was his ninth of the season and his 10th overall touchdown of the year. It was his 11th career receiving touchdown and 13th career overall touchdown.
- Young's 84-yard touchdown reception with 3:05 left in the second quarter was his 10th of the season and 11th overall touchdown of the year and it was UNT's longest play of the season. It was his 12th career receiving touchdown and 14th career overall touchdown.
- UNT now has two 70+ yards plays this season – both are Mestemaker to Young passes.
Senior TE Tre Williams III (Calhoun, Ga.) finished the day with two catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.
- Williams' 56-yard touchdown reception with 6:34 left in the second quarter was his fourth of the season and 15th of his career, and it was his longest reception at UNT.
Defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity came to UNT from Sam Houston and brought six of his players with him to Denton.
- Senior CB David Fisher (Houston, Texas), senior LB Trey Fields (Danciger, Texas), senior CB Da'Veawn Armstead (Baton Rouge, La.) and senior DL Richard Outland Jr. (Houston), all former Bearkats, started the game on defense.
- Fisher made his 10th start for UNT and 38th consecutive start when he's been available to play, dating back to his time at Sam Houston.
When Rice scored on its opening drive to take an early 7-0 lead six minutes into the game, it was the first time UNT had trailed since the 8:17 mark in the third quarter against Charlotte on Oct. 24.
- That touchdown was the fourth time this season UNT has allowed its opponent to score on its opening drive.
UNT didn't force a turnover for just the third time this season (Western Michigan and Charlotte).
Junior LB Ethan Wesloski (McKinney, Texas) finished the day with a career-high 17 tackles, including 10 solo stops and 1.5 tackles for loss.
- Wesloski now has 9.0 tackles for loss this season and 21.5 in his career.
Senior DB Will Jones II (Mansfield, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including five solo stops and a tackle for loss.
Senior DB David Fisher (Houston) finished the day with eight tackles to tie his career high, including four solo stops and a tackle for loss.
- His tackle for loss gave him three on the season and 5.5 in his career.
Junior DB Patrick Smith-Young (Sugar Land, Texas) finished the day with seven tackles, including five solo stops, and a tackle for loss.
Senior LB Trey Fields (Dancinger, Texas) finished the day with six tackles, including four solo stops, and a half-tackle for loss.
- Fields now has 5.5 tackles for loss this season and 13.5 in his career.
Junior DL Ethan Day (Ripon, Calif.) finished the day with five tackles, including two solo stops.
Senior DL Jalyn Durgan (Ocean Springs, Miss.) finished the day with four tackles, including two solo stops.
Freshman DL Brayden Knox (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished the day with four tackles, including three solo stops, two tackles for loss and a sack.
- The tackles for loss and sack were the firsts of his career.
Sophomore K Kali Nguma (Mission, Texas) finished 8-for-8 on extra points.
- Nguma is 117-for-117 in his career on extra points, tied with Trevor Moore (2014-17) for career extra point percentage (1.000), as Moore was 154-for-154 on PATs in his career.
- His 117 consecutive extra point attempts converted is the third-longest streak in program history - next is 134 by Ethan Mooney (2019-22).