David Fisher knew he’d encounter some doubts back in the spring while talking about what he thought North Texas was capable of in the third season of coach Eric Morris’ tenure.
The Sam Houston transfer cornerback had just rolled into Denton and liked what he saw.
“As a team, we want to win the conference and hopefully a spot in the College Football Playoff,” Fisher said. “We have the offense to do it, and I know we have the defense.”
That goal certainly sounded like a stretch then. Fisher’s comment drew looks of surprise.
UNT? The CFP?
A team that entered the year looking for its first winning season since 2018, with a quarterback who had started one game since the ninth grade and an entirely new defensive staff?
“We’re speaking it into existence,” Fisher said after being offered an opportunity to back off his stance.
A few months and a 5-0 start later, Fisher’s take on UNT’s place in college football doesn’t sound all that crazy heading into a nationally televised game against South Florida on Friday night at DATCU Stadium.
The Mean Green are on a tear after winning their first five games of a season for the first time since 1959. They’ve knocked off Army, the defending American Conference champion, and blew out Washington State along the way.
Add in the fact that the American Conference is in the midst of a terrific year that puts the league in line to have its champion land a spot in the 12-team playoff field, and UNT has reason to believe the dream is within reach.
The challenge for UNT now is twofold.
Morris and his team are trying to maintain focus heading into the biggest regular-season game in recent program history, while UNT’s administration is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the Mean Green have a huge crowd behind them.
USF is 4-1 and is sitting at No. 24 in the AP Top 25 poll after beating Boise State and Florida, both of which were ranked when they fell to the Bulls.
“This is a huge test for us,” Morris said. “Our guys have earned the right to play in a big, meaningful game. We have to go capture the moment.”
UNT certainly has momentum on its side after hitting a host of milestones and inching toward others.
The Mean Green are receiving votes in both of the national Top 25 polls. UNT’s last appearance in the AP Top 25 came shortly after its last 5-0 start more than 65 years ago.
The weight of the moment isn’t lost on UNT athletic director Jared Mosley, who is seeing fans respond to the school’s appeals to pack the stands on Friday. UNT had less than 3,500 tickets remaining as of Wednesday afternoon. DATCU Stadium seats 30,100.
“I’m extremely proud of our coaches and student-athletes who have worked really hard to put themselves in this position,” Mosley told the Denton Record-Chronicle. “Winning is difficult, and I hope all Mean Green fans can enjoy this ride, continue to show up and provide support.
“The opportunity on a national stage [ESPN2] is significant for UNT.”
An unexpected rise
The unexpected nature of UNT’s run has made the journey all the more enjoyable for the Mean Green.
UNT lost starting quarterback Chandler Morris after last season when he left for Virginia and an name, image and likeness deal that school officials said exceeded $1 million, a sum the program couldn’t match.
The Mean Green’s questions went beyond how to replace an elite quarterback. Eric Morris also brought in a new defensive staff led by coordinator Skyler Cassity.
To say it’s all come together — at least thus far — would be understating it.
Former walk-on and First Responder Bowl breakout star Drew Mestemaker has shined after taking over for Chandler Morris. The former Austin Vandegrift backup has emerged as one of the nation’s most efficient quarterbacks while throwing for 1,247 yards and 11 touchdowns without tossing a single interception.
Eric Morris has quite the history when it comes to finding and developing quarterbacks. Patrick Mahomes, Cameron Ward and Baker Mayfield all trained under Morris before making their way to the NFL.
Seeing UNT roll out another good quarterback isn’t a shock. Mestemaker being elite from the jump is the stunner. He was buried on the quarterback depth chart at Vandegrift after his ninth grade year.
UNT took a flier on Mestemaker and has seen him quickly develop into a star.
“He’s like a sponge,” Morris said. “He can absorb information, take it to the field and apply it in a really short amount of time.
“He processes information as a quarterback as fast as anyone I’ve been around.”
Mestemaker has taken advantage of that ability more and more as he has gained experience. His confidence has grown along the way as he has fueled UNT’s start.
“As a quarterback, you have to have that confidence about yourself,” Mestemaker said earlier this season. “I didn’t think it’d come this quick, but as the days went on, I kind of realized, ‘Yeah, I’m meant to be here. I can do this.’”
The Mean Green’s defense has been just as big of a revelation. The Mean Green allowed 34.2 points per game last season and lost their top three tacklers to graduation.
That’s not exactly a formula for success, and yet, the Mean Green are suddenly a national story with Mestemaker as a media darling and a defense that is allowing 20.0 points per game.
“It feels good. We finally have some people recognizing us,” wide receiver Landon Sides said. “But at the same time, you have to be humble. We’re getting all this praise, but it can end like that.”
A golden opportunity
If there was any question about how big the opportunity is for UNT, university President Harrison Keller ended it last week when he canceled afternoon classes the day of the game.
“I couldn’t be more proud each weekend to cheer on our student athletes and coaches as the team continues to dominate on the field,” Keller wrote in part when he announced the decision. “In the spirit of rallying the full Mean Green community, classes will conclude at 12 noon.”
The move is just one the school has made in the hope it can strike while the iron is hot. UNT has never been considered a playoff contender before and hasn’t brought home much in the way of hardware recently.
UNT’s last conference title came at the end of a four-year run atop the Sun Belt in 2004 under Hall of Fame coach Darrell Dickey.
Bowl wins have been just as rare. UNT has just three, with the last coming at the end of the 2013 season, when the Mean Green beat UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
“This opportunity is not only great for UNT, but also for the city of Denton,” Mosley said. “With this national exposure, we have a chance to showcase what we all love about this community, our campus and the continued success we are seeing across our programs.”
UNT isn’t just letting class out early in the hopes of drawing a crowd to get behind its efforts to stay in the playoff chase. By Friday of last week, UNT had announced nine initiatives to boost attendance, from various ticket discounts to free tickets for faculty and staff to free T-shirts for students, one of whom will walk away with a $1,000 scholarship just for showing up.
UNT has declared the game a blackout and is encouraging fans to dispense with their green attire for a night and wear black.
The hope is those efforts will help UNT avoid another dismal turnout after the school announced a crowd of 16,575 for its win over South Alabama in its last home game that kicked off at 11 a.m. UNT’s official attendance figure was its lowest at DATCU Stadium since the end of the 2023 season, when 14,628 showed up to see the Mean Green close out a disappointing five-win campaign by sneaking past UAB.
Mosley expressed his disappointment on social media shortly after large swaths of empty seats were broadcast in a nationally televised game.
Morris struck a similar tone last year when fans complained about an early kickoff for a game against Tulane. He has softened his tone since.
“As I’ve said all year, we’re grateful to our fans and the way we’re growing as an institution in our support for these kids,” Morris said. “Creating a home-field atmosphere is huge, especially in a game like this.”
Could a crowd help UNT stay in CFP race?
Mason Y’Barbo has as good of a perspective as anyone when it comes to the impact an electric environment can make for a team.
Y’Barbo started on UNT’s offensive line in 2013, when the Mean Green faced Rice at DATCU Stadium. There was quite a bit on the line on Halloween night.
The Mean Green were on the verge of becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2004 and pulled it off with a 28-16 win over a Rice team that was also in the race for the Conference USA title.
“That crowd helped us,” Y’Barbo said. “At our level, crowds make an impact if the stadium is echoing and loud. Players in the SEC and Big Ten are used to that. They pump in crowd noise at practice all week.
“No one is doing that to prepare to play at North Texas.”
Y’Barbo is certain the environment made a difference when UNT’s defense made a stand against the Owls. Rice ran eight plays inside the Mean Green’s 6-yard line without scoring in a series that was extended by a holding call in the end zone.
Y’Barbo said that was the loudest environment he played in during a home game in his four seasons at UNT. A crowd of 22,835 was there that night.
He has been in contact with a host of former teammates over the last few days and believes UNT could have another large, screaming batch of fans on hand Friday, this time clad in black.
Fisher pointed to where UNT will be Friday as the goal months ago, when the chances of that dream becoming a reality seemed slim.
UNT is putting all it can, both as a team and as an athletic department, into capitalizing now that the opportunity is here.
UNT is suddenly a playoff contender.
“We’ve worked so hard for this,” tight end Tre Williams III said. “Coming into the season, no one thought we would be in this situation.”
The Mean Green have a lot more people believing in them now heading into Friday’s showdown with USF.
“We’ve got a little buzz,” Williams said. “We earned the opportunity.”
BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870 and bvito@dentonrc.com.
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