Heisman stakes. American Conference championship stakes. College Football Playoff stakes.
There was no shortage of stakes on the line Saturday morning when the Navy Midshipmen made the long trek to Denton, TX for the first time since a record-breaking 74-62 matchup 18 years ago. On this occasion, Navy entered with an unblemished record against one of the college football’s ultimate breakout teams — the North Texas Mean Green.
While Navy is renowned for its FBS-leading rushing attack, it was an individual ground performance from the North Texas side which stole the show in front of an electric DATCU Stadium crowd. True freshman tailback Caleb Hawkins generated a career-high 197 yards and all four Mean Green touchdowns to lead his team to a 31-17 victory, unseating Navy from its undefeated status.
“Probably the most complete game we’ve played since I’ve been the head coach here,” North Texas head coach Eric Morris said. “That was a team win. Everybody stepped up in huge ways down the stretch. For our guys we started fast, they were able to gain momentum, but the fourth quarter was as good of football as I’ve seen our team play.”
North Texas drew headlines last Friday when star redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker fired for 608 yards and four touchdowns in a dominant road win over Charlotte. While Mestemaker still shined with a 19-of-24 showing and 234 yards, the Mean Green spearheaded their FBS-best scoring offense in a different manner vs. Navy — through a heavy dose of Hawkins.
“We pride ourselves in taking what the defense gives us,” Morris said on the offensive strategy shift. “We thought they’d try to pressure when we tempo’d, and we had some tempo runs that we liked that we were able to pop a gap there early. The offensive line was geared up. They practiced better than they have all the entire year. We got all five of them back last week, and when we have those five in, they’re really good at what they do, day in and day out. For us, we continue to dictate what we want to do on offense rather than somebody making us one-dimensional.”
The true freshman built a 14-0 first quarter lead with two short rushing touchdowns and then extended the margin to as lopsided as 21-3 on a second quarter 14-yard scamper. When Navy stormed back to trim the deficit to seven in the third, North Texas called on its reliable young running back once again to build cushion. Hawkins delivered the punishing blow in the final minute of the third frame, becoming the third freshman in the College Football Playoff era — along with Samaje Perine (Oklahoma, 2014) and Jermar Jefferson (Oregon State, 2018) — to record multiple 4-touchdown games in a single season. Hawkins generated all four scores from inside 15 yards, accruing North Texas’ red zone touchdown total to 40 — ranking atop the FBS.
“He’s a great player, but he’s even a better kid, a better human being, a better teammate,” Morris said of Hawkins. “Everybody’s gonna see these things that happen with his stats, but he had some blitz pickups today where he absolutely stoned people. Their linebackers are fast and aggressive and they blitz. For a true freshman, that was the most impressive thing watching back on the iPad.”
North Texas’ defense entered the contest tied for third in the FBS in takeaways with 17. The Mean Green doubled down on that lofty ranking, dominating the turnover battle in commanding 3-0 fashion on a Navy team which only coughed up six giveaways during its 7-0 start. A fumbled jet sweep exchange stalled one promising Navy drive at the North Texas 25-yard line. Then in the second half, the Mean Green picked off Navy on two critical occasions.
With North Texas clinging onto a 24-17 lead in the late third quarter, Quinton Hammonds made a tremendous one-handed snag with his right glove toward the sideline. Then in the late fourth, all chances of a Midshipmen comeback were eradicated when Hammonds cleanly secured a floater toward the goal line. The safety logged his first two picks of the year as the Mean Green improved their season turnover margin to a spectacular +10.
“The two interceptions were at crucial times in the game, where we were able to run a ton of clock off,” Morris said. “This is a game with limited possessions on both sides. I don’t think they’re comfortable going up-tempo. They want to look at the picture and be able to get the perfect play call, and that’s what makes them so hard to defend — they’re really good at it. It kind of put the ball back in our court and allowed us to control things.”
Turnovers aside, Navy’s offense kept pace with North Texas’ No. 1 ranked FBS scoring offense. Heisman hopeful quarterback Blake Horvath excelled in the run game with his sixth-consecutive outing with 110+ rushing yards and at least one touchdown, contributing 112 of his team’s 311 rushing yards. Brandon Chatman added 67 yards and a touchdown, while Alex Tecza posted 59 and Eli Heidenreich recorded 57. However, the Midshipmen played in unfamiliar territory by trailing for all but three minutes of the contest, requiring the option-oriented offense to shift to a more traditional and up-tempo scheme as the game progressed.
Navy (7-1, 5-1 American) lost its undefeated status after recording its best start since 1978, but the Midshipmen aren’t out of the picture. They await a gauntlet of a schedule featuring Notre Dame, South Florida, Memphis, and Army, hoping to rebound from their first hiccup with a signature victory.
North Texas (8-1, 4-1 American) toppled Navy for the first time in the historical series, which featured two previous meetings. The Mean Green extended their streak to nine-straight contests with 30+ points, and in the process, generated eight wins a in a season for the first time since 2018. North Texas remains in the hunt for the American Conference title, and the College Football Playoff race, with UAB, Rice, and Temple looming on the schedule.
“It’s always been a goal,” North Texas offensive tackle Braylon Nelson said regarding the conference championship race. “It crosses our mind. We know we just have to go out, play our game, do our job, and just win.”
