North Texas can change the perception and trajectory of its football program with a win on Friday night against South Florida and that’s not hyperbole.

Win the game against the No. 24-ranked USF squad and the Mean Green are the favorites to represent the G5 ranks in the College Football Playoff. A sentence that would’ve felt like fanfiction if written at any point during the six seasons that predated the 2025 campaign. 

This was the vision when North Texas parted ways with former head coach Seth Littrell a day after playing for the 2022 Conference USA championship against UTSA and hired a young, offensive-minded former coordinator and FCS head coach in Eric Morris. The fan base and administration dared to dream bigger than sub-.500 seasons and that bet is finally paying off in 2025. 

The first two years of the Morris era were a slow burn, but the Mean Green are finally ready to explode onto the scene and claim their place amongst the G5 elite in Texas and in the nation. The early part of the decade belonged to rival UTSA. The last two years were a coronation of a Texas State program that’s finally starting to scratch the ceiling. Now, it’s North Texas’ time. 

The Mean Green are 5-0 for the first time since 1959. A win on Friday night would propel them into the AP Top 25 for the first time since that same season. The offense ranks eighth nationally in scoring with 44.8 points per game but scoring was never the issue under Morris. 

A quick look at the Mean Green’s defensive numbers might cause a casual to miss the point. They’re 42nd in scoring defense and 39th in total defense, which isn’t great, but when compared to the units over the past two seasons, this might as well be the 1985 Chicago Bears. North Texas is allowing 20 points per game in 2025. That number was 34.2 in 2024, which was an improvement on the 37.1 they allowed per game in 2023. 

The offense is explosive. The defense has caused 11 turnovers, two behind the nation’s leaders. The schedule sets up for North Texas to run the table and reach the American Conference Championship game. Memphis and Tulane aren’t on the schedule. South Florida, UTSA, and Navy travel to Denton. This season could be special. A win on Friday could make it magical. 

No one needs to remind North Texas fans that rooting for a G5 football team is a tortured existence. The Mean Green won nine games in 2017 and 2018 with Mason Fine at quarterback only to shrink back into an average football team over the next six years. They’ve watched the team’s leading passer, rusher, and receiver walk out the door at the end of the last two seasons. 

Sure, Morris will be mentioned every time a new job opens and the transfer portal looms at the end of the season, but those are tomorrow’s problems. Don’t let a future hangover prevent today’s celebration. North Texas is in the good times of life in the G5. Ask UTSA fans how much they’d give to return to 2021 or 2022. Success is fleeting in college football, and that’s especially true at this level. 

But none of that matters. Not this week, at least. The eyes of the college football universe will be transfixed on Denton, America on Friday night and that provides the Mean Green with a chance at the best possible advertisement that modern football provides – winning a big game in primetime. And the advertisement won’t just serve to raise the national profile of the Mean Green. Think of how many fans in attendance will return for UTSA in Week 8 or Navy on the first Saturday of November. 

Rarely does a program receive an opportunity to make this type of impression. North Texas needs to take advantage of it on the field and off. This is a big opportunity for Morris and the football team, but also a massive time for the administration and hardcore fans to grow a product that deserves more support than it received so far this year. The experience on Friday night, on the field and in the stands, will reverberate for good or bad through this program for years to come. 

There are no excuses left for alumni and students waiting to jump on the North Texas train. The fan base swore it’d support the program if it produced a winner. It has. Show up, be loud, support the Mean Green and don’t stop to worry about if these good times will last or not. Just soak it in, because even without the portal, these times aren’t promised to programs that aren’t propped up by ESPN or Fox.