Mean Green Fall in American Conference Championship

Friday, December 5

New Orleans, LA

7 PM CT

University of North Texas

11-2 , 7-1

Tulane

11-2 , 7-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

North Texas

Tulane

12/5/2025 11:49:00 PM | Football

Box Score

NEW ORLEANS – North Texas did what it often does to open the American Conference Championship game on Friday night against Tulane – the Mean Green found the end zone.

Unfortunately, that's about all that went according to UNT's script in a 34-21 loss in the Mean Green's first bid at an American championship.

After jumping out to a 7-0 lead after a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive ended with a Drew Mestemaker-to-Tre Williams III touchdown pass, UNT (11-2) allowed 31 unanswered points and went into halftime facing a 24-7 deficit.

"We scored, they matched us, and then we went flat for a while," head coach Eric Morris said. "That hurt us…Good teams make you pay. There were a lot of things (against us) tonight. They were fast and aggressive and did a great job."

After entering the game with 25 forced turnovers on the season, the Mean Green forced none on Friday and Tulane (11-2) forced four, including three Drew Mestemaker interceptions, to force the Mean Green into a deep hole. The Green Wave also racked up five sacks on the night – the most allowed by UNT this season after a previous high of three against Charlotte and Western Michigan.

Just a few plays turned the tide of the game, including a muffed punt in the final minute of the first half that appeared to be a missed kick-catch interference call that led to Tulane scoring to a 24-7 lead to half as time expired, a Mestemaker interception returned for a touchdown that was reviewed and appeared to be a touchback after Mestemaker forced a fumble at the goal line, and another Mestemaker interception in Tulane's end zone to end a scoring threat.

"It wasn't them blitzing and doing things we hadn't seen," Morris said. "We just lost some one-on-one battles up front. They executed some twists up front that got them to the QB. There's a couple you just want back, that interception in the end zone, (Drew) makes that throw perfectly 99 out of 100 times."

The Mean Green were led offensively by Mestemaker and Miles Coleman, who caught seven balls for 125 yards and a 59-yard touchdown. Redshirt freshman running back Ashton Gray had eight carries for 47 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion run to fill in for star running back Caleb Hawkins, who was knocked out with an injury early in the game.

The Mean Green will now await their bowl game destination, as they will look to move to 12 wins to extend the program record for single-season wins.

"The relationships we've built this year will go on a lifetime," Morris said. "The men in this room will be best men in each other's wedding and be there for one another on bad days. It stinks to get so close and not come out on top but there's a lot of special individuals in that locker room that have created a legacy."

QUICK HITS

UNT fell to Tulane, 34-21, in the fourth all-time meeting between the programs and saw the Green Wave extend its series lead to 4-0.
UNT fell to 10-8 all-time and 5-1 this season in road games under head coach Eric Morris.
UNT's captains for the game were Gabe Blair, Sawyer Evans, Trey Fields and Tay Yanta.
- Blair started his 48th consecutive game and played his 50th career game.
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).
The seven points UNT scored in the first half tied with the second half against Navy for fewest points UNT has scored in a half this season.
UNT's three touchdowns gave it 78 on the season, which extends the program record over the previous mark of 64 set in 1951.
UNT has now trailed by double-digits in four of its six road games this season, and prior to Friday the Mean Green were 3-0 in those games.
The Mean Green failed to score 30 points for the first time this season after they had scored at least 30 points in each of the first 12 games for the first time in program history.
The Mean Green outgained Tulane by a margin of 415-344.
The Mean Green had two scoring drives of at least 75 yards, giving them 32 scoring drives this year of 75 yards or more – 31 touchdowns and one field goal.
Miles Coleman's 59-yard reception late in the third quarter was UNT's 15th play of 50+ yards this season and the eighth touchdown of that length.
On Friday, UNT went just 2-for-4 in the red zone (two touchdowns). UNT has 58 red-zone touchdowns this season and has scored in 68 of 74 trips inside the opposing 20-yard line this year.
- The 58 red-zone touchdowns scored this season leads FBS.
UNT now has 45 rushing touchdowns on the season, which leads the nation and extends the program record, as the previous high came in 1951 (33).
UNT's opening drive covered 75 yards in 15 plays and resulted in a Drew Mestemaker-to-Tre Wililams III touchdown pass, tying for the longest drive of the season in plays (15).
The second-quarter sack of Drew Mestemaker was the first allowed by UNT since Nov. 1 against Navy.
The Mean Green allowed five sacks on the night – the most in any game this season, beating the previous high of three.
RS Freshman QB Drew Mestemaker (Austin, Texas) finished 21-of-34 for 294 yards passing with two touchdowns and three interceptions, which tied his season high.
- Mestemaker is at 4,129 passing yards for the season, which extends his American Conference freshman record, which was previously held by Dillon Gabriel (UCF), who had 3,654.
- Mestemaker's 4,129 passing yards this season is a new program record, breaking Mason Fine's record of 4,052 in 2017.
- Mestemaker is the fifth freshman in FBS history to pass for 4,000 yards in a season, joining C.J. Stroud (Ohio State, 2021), Drake Maye (UNC, 2022), Jameis Winston (FSU, 2013) and Brent Stockstill (Middle Tennessee, 2015) on the list.
- Mestemaker has now thrown for 200+ yards in every game this season and in 14 consecutive games dating back to last season, which is the longest such streak in program history.
- Mestemaker's 31 passing touchdowns is tied for the second-most in program history with Chandler Morris (2024) and Mason Fine (2017), and he is now two shy of tying the program record held by Austin Aune (33 in 2022).
Mestemaker's streak of attempts without an interception ended at 133 midway through third quarter, the fifth-longest spell since 2000; Mestemaker has two of the top five marks on that list (164, 133) and is the only player in the top five two times, besting Mason Fine (300, 124)
- Mestemaker's 10-yard touchdown pass to Tre Williams III with 8:32 left in the first quarter was his 30th of the season and 32nd of his career.
- Mestemaker's 59-yard touchdown pass to Miles Coleman with 0:16 left in the third quarter was his 31st of the season and 33rd of his career.
Freshman RB Caleb Hawkins (Shawnee, Okla.) finished the day with seven carries for 20 yards and added a catch for 11 yards and lost a fumble before leaving with an injury.
Redshirt freshman RB Ashton Gray (Marion, Ark.) finished the day with eight carries for 47 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion run.
- Gray's 9-yard touchdown run with 9:26 to play was his third of the season and his career.
Sophomore WR Miles Coleman (Austin, Texas) finished the day with seven catches for 125 yards and a touchdown.
- Coleman's 125 yards was a new career high and marked his second 100-yard game of the season (third of his career).
- Coleman's 59-yard touchdown reception with 0:16 left in the third quarter was his second of the season and fourth of his career, and it was the longest reception of his career.
Senior WR Cameron Dorner (New Market, Md.) finished the day with six catches for 76 yards.
Senior WR TE Tre Williams (Calhoun, Ga.) finished the day with four catches for 52 yards and a touchdown.
- Williams' 10-yard touchdown reception with 8:32 left in the first quarter was fifth of the season and 16th of his career.
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 12th start for UNT and 40th consecutive start when he's been available to play, dating back to his time at Sam Houston.
Tulane's opening drive was the second-longest drive for an opponent this season, taking 16 plays and resulting in a fourth-and-goal touchdown. The longest opponent drive of the season was against Army (17).
The Mean Green entered the game with 25 forced turnovers (13 interceptions and 12 fumble recoveries) on the season but forced none on Friday night.
Senior LB Trey Fields (Dancinger, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including four solo stops.
Senior DB Will Jones II (Mansfield, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including six solo stops, and a forced fumble.
Junior DB Patrick Smith-Young (Sugar Land, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including six solo stops.
Junior LB Ethan Wesloski (McKinney, Texas) finished the day with seven tackles, including six solo stops.
Senior DB Da'Veawn Armstead (Baton Rouge, La.) finished the day with four tackles, including three solo stops.
Junior DL Ethan Day (Ripon, Calif.) finished the day with four tackles, including two solo stops, and a tackle for loss.
Sophomore DB Quinton Hammonds (Allen, Texas) finished the day with four tackles – all solo stops.
Sophomore DL Saadiq Clements (Henderson, Ky.) finished the day with four tackles – all solo stops.
Sophomore K Kali Nguma (Mission, Texas) finished 1-for-1 on extra points.
- Nguma is 125-for-125 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 125 consecutive extra point attempts converted is the third-longest streak in program history - next is 134 by Ethan Mooney (2019-22).