Green with envy: No. 21 North Texas stands in Temple's way of bowl eligibility
Drew Mestemaker is one of college football’s best stories in 2025, and the prolific North Texas quarterback will be Temple’s problem when the Owls try to upset the 21st-ranked Mean Green Friday in Denton in search of that elusive sixth win that would grant the program bowl eligibility for the first time in six seasons.
If you don’t know Mestemaker’s story by now, the redshirt freshman had not started a game at quarterback since his freshman season at Austin’s Vandegrift High School. He wound up at North Texas as a walk-on prior to last season and made the very most of his opportunity when last season’s starter, Chandler Morris, left via the transfer portal and North Texas needed a starter for the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl.
From there, Mestemaker threw for 393 yards and two touchdowns and 448 total yards, going 26-of-41 passing for 393 yards and two touchdowns. He also reeled off a 70-yard touchdown run.
Proving the bowl game was no fluke, Mestemaker won the job during preseason camp and has thrown for 3,469 yards, 26 touchdowns and just four interceptions in helping steer North Texas to a 10-1 overall record and a 6-1 league mark that has the Mean Green sitting atop the American Conference standings. He leads the nation in passing yards and passing yards per game (315.3) and is 12th nationally with a 70.1 completion percentage.
Now imagine him playing for K.C. Keeler at Temple this season. There’s a world where it might have happened.
Keeler and his general manager, Clayton Barnes, offered Mestemaker a preferred walk-on spot at Sam Houston State prior to the 2024 season. And although he certainly could be considered biased by looking at Mestemaker’s numbers this fall, Keeler said he would have certainly wanted to bring him with him to Temple when he replaced Stan Drayton last December had Mestemaker wound up at Sam Houston State.
“[Barnes] actually was on a Zoom with their family, kind of going over all the things in terms of what it is to be a preferred walk on and the resources we have and the education we have and all those kind of things,” Keeler recalled. “And then, from what I understand, I believe one of his high school teammates went to North Texas, and then he followed.”
Being able to potentially play for a head coach in UNT’s Eric Morris, who previously developed quarterbacks like Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes and Cam Ward, was a selling point in Denton, too.
“Eric Morris has a great track record with quarterbacks,” Keeler said. “He’s just a phenomenal track record with quarterbacks. [Mestemaker] was a guy that we could see there was talent there. It’s just because the school he was in and the quarterback competition, he just never really got a chance to play. And now he’s playing. He’s playing really well, playing as well as anyone in the country.”
Temple’s opportunity to run the ball at UNT
If there’s an area Temple can potentially exploit Friday, it’s North Texas’ run defense, which is ranked last among 14 teams in the American Conference in rushing yards allowed (2,323) rushing yards allowed per game at 211.2. Skyler Cassity, Keeler’s former defensive coordinator at Sam Houston State, is in that same role this season at UNT.
Keeler talked about their relationship, wrapped up conversation about Saturday’s 37-13 loss to No. 24 Tulane, provided some injury updates, and offered more insight into Friday’s game (3:30 p.m., ESPN) during his weekly Monday media availability at Edberg-Olson Hall.
You can listen to that full interview here, along with interviews with tight end Peter Clarke and linebacker Curly Ordonez.
