North Texas Wins Barnburner New Mexico Bowl
North Texas just took home one of the coolest bowl trophies out there as they beat San Diego State 49-47 in the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday evening.
We here at Pokes Report don’t typically cover games of other teams, but when there’s a chance the playmakers from one of the teams could be making plays in Stillwater next season, we make an exception.
The Mean Green had the game firmly in hand going into the fourth quarter, up 42-20. Through the first three quarters, quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running backs Caleb Hawkins and Ashton Gray had the Mean Green offense rolling with 519 yards of total offense, with 332 yards on the ground. And on the other side of the ball, the Mean Green defense held the Aztecs to just 12 yards of total offense in the quarter.
But the fourth quarter was a different story as SDSU posted 214 yards of offense, 125 through the air and 89 on the ground, and scored 27 points to make it a two-point game.
Defense was definitely issue for both sides as UNT finished with 618 yards of total offense, 250 yards through the air and 368 yards on the ground, while SDSU finished with 532 yards of offense, 351 through the air and 326 on the ground.
Mestemaker finished with 250 passing yards with three touchdowns and two picks, with Hawkins leading on the ground with 30 carries for 198 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He also had three catches for 25 yards and one receiving touchdown.
With his four scores, Hawkins set the all-time FBS freshman total touchdown record with 29.
Following the game, the trio of QB Mestemaker, RB Hawkins and WR Wyatt Young, who finished the game with seven receptions for 55 yards, finished the season with insane stat lines. Mestemaker, a redshirt freshman, led the FBS with 4,379 passing yards and 34 touchdowns, Hawkins finished with 1,434 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns, which led the FBS, and Young finished with 1,264 yards, third in the FBS, and 10 touchdowns.
With virtually the entire UNT coaching staff set to be in Stillwater this spring, one would have to think that trio, plus other, would be a priority for Eric Morris and Co. should they enter the transfer portal.
