Mean Green Hold On For Overtime Win at Army

WEST POINT, N.Y. – After racing out to a 21-point first-quarter lead on Saturday, the UNT football team withstood a furious comeback from the defending American champions and held on for a 45-38 overtime win over Army at Michie Stadium.

Freshman running back Caleb Hawkins set new career highs for carries (13) and yards (99) and had four rushing touchdowns to tie Jamario Thomas (2004) for the most in a game by a freshman in program history, and sophomore Mackenzie McGill II had a career-high 19 carries for 101 yards and a score as UNT gave the Black Knights a taste of their own medicine controlling the time of possession for much of the game, especially in the first half.

The Mean Green, who improved to 4-0 (1-0 in American play) for the first time since 2018, were outscored 17-7 in the fourth quarter with the help of a late turnover, as the Black Knights forced overtime with a field goal with nine seconds left in regulation, before the Mean Green were able to score to open overtime and hold Army out of the end zone for their second overtime win of the season.

"I told them that was as bad of a four minutes as I've been a part of with how we ended the game (in regulation)," head coach Eric Morris said. "I told them we could either pout and hang our heads about it and lose, or we could go win a game. Hats off to our offensive line. We ran the ball effectively all day with our running backs. Our ball control against a defensive like this was phenomenal all day."

The first-quarter scoring flurry was thanks, in large part, to a continued trend of a turnover-happy Mean Green defense, as three of Army's first four drives of the day ended with turnovers and all resulted in UNT touchdowns.

The Mean Green have now forced 13 opponent turnovers through four games, including 10 takeaways (and three turnovers on downs). UNT had 16 takeaways in the 2024 season.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker tied his career-high for completions with 26 out of his 36 attempts and threw for 249 yards a touchdown pass to Wyatt Young to go up 28-7 midway through the second quarter.

But it was the running game that ruled the day offensively for UNT, highlighted by the record-tying day for Hawkins.

"A star was born today, I think," Morris said. "Tough, gritty, smart. I could use so many good adjectives to describe him. Super proud of him. He helped us win this football game today."

The Mean Green will next face South Alabama on Saturday at DATCU Stadium with kickoff set for 11 a.m.

QUICK HITS

UNT defeated Army, 45-38, in the ninth ever meeting between the programs and cut Army's series advantage to 6-3.
- UNT is now 4-0 for the first time since 2018 and will have a chance to go 5-0 for the first time since 1977 next week against South Alabama.
- UNT's win snapped Army's eight-game American conference game win streak.
UNT played its second overtime game of the season and is now 2-0 – only the second time in a season the Mean Green have played two overtime games (2016 being the other). UNT is now 5-2 all-time in overtime games and 4-0 in road overtime games.
UNT improved to 7-7 all-time in road games under head coach Eric Morris.
UNT's captains for the game were Gabe Blair, Sawyer Evans, Shane Whitter, Jaden Manning and Desmond Magiya.
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 is now 11-2 under Eric Morris when leading at the half and 12-0 when leading after three quarters.
The Mean Green have now scored at least 30 points in each of the first four games – the first time since the 2018 season UNT has accomplished the feat.
UNT had eight players catch at least one pass in the game.
- The Mean Green have at least eight players catch a pass in 20 straight games dating back to UTSA on Nov. 4, 2023 – all but one game of the Eric Morris era.
UNT had four or more rushing touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2021 season, when the Mean Green had five against FIU and six against UTSA in back-to-back games.
- It marked the fourth time UNT had accomplished the feat since 2000.
For the third straight week, UNT had two players record a rushing touchdown.
UNT's five rushing touchdowns marked the most since the Mean Green rushed for five on Nov. 27, 2021, against UTSA.
The Mean Green entered the game with 16 red-zone touchdowns this season, which was tied for second in all of FBS and added five more on Saturday.
UNT opened the game with a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive, which was capped by a 4-yard touchdown run from Caleb Hawkins and took 6:38 off the clock. The 15 plays and 6:38 TOP were both season-highs.
RS Freshman QB Drew Mestemaker (Austin, Texas) finished 26-of-36 for 249 yards passing and a touchdown through the air. He also rushed for 20 yards on four carries.
- Mestemaker's 26 completions tied his career high, which was set in his first career start in last year's bowl game against Texas State.
- Mestemaker's 6-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Young with 6:35 left in the second quarter was his 10th of the season and 12th of his career.
Sophomore RB Makenzie McGill II (Mount Vernon, Texas) finished the day with 19 carries for 101 yards and a touchdown and now has a touchdown in seven straight games.
- McGill's 19 carries was a new career-high, besting his 16 carries earlier this season at Western Michigan.
- His 6-yard touchdown run with 3:21 left in the first quarter marked his fourth of the season and 14th of his career.
Freshman RB Caleb Hawkins (Shawnee, Okla.) finished the day with 13 carries for 99 yards and four touchdowns.
- Hawkins became the second freshman to rush for four touchdowns in a game in program history, joining Jamario Thomas (2004).
- Hawkins' four rushing touchdowns ties the program single-game record and is the most scored by a UNT player since Lance Dunbar against Middle Tennessee on Dec. 3, 2011.
- Hawkins' 13 carries and 99 yards were both career-highs.
- Hawkins' 4-yard touchdown run with 8:22 left in the first quarter was the second of his career.
- Hawkins' 7-yard touchdown run with 1:24 left in the first quarter was the third of his career.
- Hawkins' 21-yard touchdown run with 9:03 remaining was the fourth of his career, which was the longest touchdown run for UNT this season.
- Hawkins' 3-yard touchdown run in overtime was the fifth of his career.
Sophomore WR Miles Coleman (Austin, Texas) finished the day with eight catches for 74 yards – both season-highs.
- His eight receptions tied his career high, last done against Temple last season.
Junior WR Landon Sides (Denton, Texas) finished the day with six catches for 68 yards – both season-highs.
- Sides' six receptions tied his career high, last done against UAB in 2023.
Sophomore WR Wyatt Young (Katy, Texas) finished the day with two catches for 19 yards and a touchdown.
- Young's 6-yard touchdown reception with 6:35 left in the second quarter was his third of the season and fifth of his career, and his sixth overall career touchdown.
New 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), and senior DL Richard Outland Jr. (Houston, Texas), all former Bearkats, started the game on defense.
- Fisher made his third start for UNT and 31st consecutive start when he's been available to play, dating back to his time at Sam Houston.
The Mean Green had 16 takeaways a year ago and already have 10 on the season.
The 13 opponent turnovers through the first four games ties the most for a UNT defense since 2000, replicating what the 2013 defense did through four games.
Army's third-quarter scoring drive to pull within 31-28 was 17 plays and took 9:58 off the clock – both season-highs against the UNT defense.
- It was the longest drive allowed by a UNT defense since last year's meeting against Army when the Black Knights had 21-play, 94-yard scoring drive that covered 13:46 in a 14-3 Army win.
For the first time this season, UNT allowed three or more scoring drives of 75 yards or more, as Army had five scoring drives of 75 yards.
Entering Saturday's game, UNT was second in the nation in turnover margin and finished with three (and a +2 margin) in the win over Army.
The last time UNT forced three or more turnovers in consecutive games was Sept. 4 and Sept. 11, 2021, against Northwestern State and SMU, respectively.
Senior LB Shane Whitter (Burlington, N.C.) finished the day with a game-high 11 tackles, including two solo stops, and a forced fumble.
Junior LB Ethan Wesloski (McKinney, Texas) finished the day with a career-high 11 tackles, including six solo stops, and a sack.
- His sack in overtime gave him seven in his career.
Junior DB Patrick Smith-Young (Sugar Land, Texas) finished the day with a game-high 11 tackles, including six solo stops.
Senior DL Fatafehi Vailea II (Oakland, Calif.) finished the day with a career-high10 tackles, including two solo stops, and a forced fumble.
- His first-quarter forced fumble his first of the season and third of his career.
Senior LB Trey Fields (Dancinger, Texas) finished the day with seven tackles, including three solo stops.
Junior DL Ethan Day (Ripon, Calif.) finished the day with seven tackles, including one solo stop.
Sophomore DB Quinton Hammonds (Allen, Texas) finished the day with six tackles, including four solo stops, and a tackle for loss.
Senior DB Da'Veawn Armstead (Baton Rouge, La.) finished the day an interception.
- His second-quarter interception was the second of his career and first since 2022 when he was at Sam Houston.
Sophomore DL Keviyan Huddleston (Tyler, Texas) finished the day with four tackles, including three solo stops, a tackle for-loss and a fumble recovery.
- Huddleston's fumble recovery on Army's opening drive with 5:43 left in the first quarter was the first of his career.
Sophomore K Kali Nguma (Mission, Texas) finished 6-for-6 on extra points and was 1-for-1 on field goal attempts.
- Nguma is 78-for-78 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.
- Nguma is a perfect 5-for-5 on field goals this season.
- His 78 consecutive extra point attempts converted is the third-longest streak in program history - next is 134 by Ethan Mooney (2019-22).

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Team Stats

Drew Mestemaker

Players Mentioned

Da'Veawn Armstead

Gabe Blair

Miles Coleman

Ethan Day

Sawyer Evans

Trey Fields

David Fisher

Quinton Hammonds

Caleb Hawkins

Keviyan Huddleston

Desmond Magiya

Jaden Manning

Makenzie McGill II

Drew Mestemaker

Kali Nguma

Richard Outland Jr.

Landon Sides

Patrick Smith-Young

Fatafehi Vailea II

Ethan Wesloski

Shane Whitter

Wyatt Young

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