North Texas’ dream season ended in New Orleans with a 34-21 loss to Tulane in the American Conference championship in Eric Morris’ last game as the head coach of the Mean Green. It was the lowest point output for the offense this season. They’re 11-2 on the season and await a bowl invite.

Mistakes and unfortunate decisions by the officials were too much for the Mean Green to overcome. They turned the ball over five times, allowed five sacks, and were on the wrong side of two calls, one a missed kick-catch interference and the other a fumble through the back of the end zone after an interception. Those two calls alone represented a 14-point swing. 

Morris’ group was culpable in their own demise, as well. Star running back Caleb Hawkins fumbled in the first half and never returned after the play with an upper body injury while quarterback Drew Mestemaker threw a pair of interceptions. The Mean Green scored on their opening possession to take a 7-0 lead but were shut out for the next five possessions as Tulane scored 31 straight to take a stranglehold on the contest. A late rally by North Texas was thwarted by Mestemaker’s third interception. 

Mestemaker was 21-of-34 for 294 yards and two touchdowns. Hawkins only managed seven carries for 20 yards before the injury. The Mean Green outgained Tulane 415-344, but the Green Wave won the rushing battle by over 75 yards and they were plus-five in the turnover margin while possessing the ball for over 35 minutes. They’ll get one of the auto-bids into the CFP as likely the 11- or 12-seed. 

The Mean Green only turned the ball over seven times across 11 wins. They turned it over 10 times in their two losses, including five against Tulane on Friday night. South Florida turned five North Texas turnovers into 21 points in a 27-point win over North Texas back in October. Tulane also scored 21 points off turnovers in a win over the Mean Green. One of those turnovers was a bad break because the officials missed a clear kick-catch interference on a punt that hit a North Texas player and set up Tulane with 1st-and-goal late in the first half. Another was a pick-six that appeared to be fumbled through the back of the end zone. 

The Green Wave followed a similar game plan to create those turnovers – getting physical with ball carriers and creating pressure on Mestemaker. USF was credited with two sacks and four quarterback hurries against North Texas. Tulane reached four sacks by the end of the third quarter. With a clean pocket, Mestemaker was the best quarterback in the G5 this season. But pressure makes every quarterback mortal. Mestemaker only threw one interception in 11 wins. He tossed five in the two losses. Football isn’t always complicated. 

Neal Brown will be introduced as the next head coach at North Texas in a press conference on Monday morning. He was most recently 37-35 in six years leading West Virginia, winning nine games in 2023 and leading the Mountaineers to four bowl games in his final five seasons. But it is his track record in the G5 that earned him the job at North Texas. Brown won the Sun Belt championship in 2017 at Troy and reached the 10-win mark three consecutive years from 2016-18. 

He'll likely lead a roster that is unrecognizable from the one that played for the AC title on Friday night. Morris is likely to take the whole staff with him, including defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity. Morris will want many of the key members offensively, including Mestemaker and Hawkins. Cassity figures to take as many of the defenders as he believes can play in the Big 12 much like he did when he moved from Sam Houston to North Texas after last year.

G5 football is becoming a one-year proposition in many ways. Mean Green fans know that. They watched over 50 new faces added to the roster ahead of Year 3 of the Morris era. Brown likely needs to add that many new faces again ahead of 2026. He was hired too late to salvage much of a class in the early signing period. He’ll try to scrap together a group of high school signees in February and attack the portal in January to field a team in 2026.