Temple University Athletics
Temple University
North Texas
Temple to Face #21 North Texas on Black Friday
11.24.25 | Football
DENTON, TEXAS - Temple will play its final game of the 2025 regular season on Black Friday against the #21 North Texas Mean Green. The Friday contest will kickoff from DATCU Stadium at 3:30 pm ET on ESPN. Fans can also tune in to Temple's radio broadcast at owlsports.com/listen.
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LAST TIME OUT
Temple and #24 Tulane faced off in what was a highly anticipated meeting on both sides of the ball. The Owls saw the opportunity to knock off a ranked opponent at home, but the Green Wave did not let that happen and came out firing from the jump. On Tulane's second play of the day on offense they took a deep shot and connected. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff and wide receiver Shazz Preston connected for a 69-yard catch and run to break open the scoring less than three minutes into the game. The Temple defense settled in enough to allow the offense the opportunity to get back into the game, and it did. Temple held the Green Wave to just a field goal the remainder of the first quarter. Temple's offense got into a swing on its third drive of the day. Quarterback Evan Simon hit his receivers in stride throughout the drive and it started with a 22-yard strike to tight end Peter Clarke. Four plays later Simon found wide receiver Colin Chase over the middle of the field for a 30-yard completion that set the Owls up at the Tulane three-yard line. On third-and-goal Simon would hit his tight end again for the score to make it 10-7 Tulane with 27 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
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The second quarter started with both teams exchanging punts before the Tulane offense struck again. The Temple defense helped Tulane move the ball by way of the penalty. A defensive pass interference set Tulane up at the Temple two-yard line and on the following play the Green Wave stuck. Jake Retzlaff walked into the end zone on a bootleg that put the visitors up 17-7 with 6:45 remaining in the half. Temple's offense would continue to be in a rut, but the defense would continue to stifle Tulane's offense in the meantime. The lone points scored in the remainder of the half was a 36-yard field goal by Patrick Durkin who ended the night a perfect 5-5 for Tulane accounting for 15 points worth of field goals.
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Temple's offense remained scoreless in the third quarter, unable to get in any sort of rhythm to break into the Tulane lead. Part of the story in the third quarter was time of possession. Tulane held the ball for 11:07 in the third quarter and only accounted for six points thanks to two more field goals by Durkin. Temple's 3:53 of offense in the third quarter featured only 42 yards for no points. The opening drive of the final frame, however, proved to be successful for the Owls and the offense. The Owls drove 75-yards on nine plays on a drive that was capped off by a historic touchdown pass by Simon. The redshirt senior broke the Temple single-season passing touchdown record with his passing score on the drive. This was Simon's 24th passing touchdown of the season and propelled him passed E.J. Warner who previously held the record for the Owls. The score, however, was too little too late. Tulane would continue to add on throughout the fourth quarter and would walk out of Lincoln Financial Field with a 37-13 victory.Â
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NORTH TEXAS IN 2025
#21 North Texas has had one of the most successful seasons in the program's history. After its week 13 win over Rice, the Mean Green secured its 10th win of the season. North Texas has only had two prior seasons with ten wins (1947 and 1977). The nationally ranked squad will be looking to lock up its 11th win of the season for the first time in program history against Temple. The North Texas offense is a juggernaut to say the least. The Mean Green have scored at least 31 points in every single game this season and have scored 51 points or more six times this year. A large part in the success for North Texas this year has been because of redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker. Mestemaker stormed onto the college football scene this year and has become a household name. He has thrown for 300 yards or more in four games this season with his season and career high coming against Charlotte as he totaled 608 yards. That mark was an American Conference record and turned heads all around the country. Since head coach Eric Morris took over in Denton, the Mean Green are 11-7 at home and in 2025, specifically, the team is 5-1. The lone loss came to the #24 ranked South Florida Bulls.
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SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's matchup will be just the third all-time between the two programs. North Texas holds a 2-0 series lead over the Owls in the short history of the matchup. The teams first played in 2023 in Texas where the Mean Green came out with a resounding win 45-14 over Temple. Last time these two teams met it was a much closer affair. The game took place in Philadelphia for the first time in the series, and the result did fair the same as the year before. The Mean Green left Philadelphia with a 24-17 win over the Owls. Temple quarterback Evan Simon finished the day 27/44 for 268 yards and one interception. Simon used his legs effectively, however, and accounted for one of Temple's touchdowns by way of the ground game. Running back Joquez Smith finished the day with 39 yards rushing for one touchdown. On the defensive side of the ball Javier Morton stood out for the Owls. He totaled a career-high 10 tackles with six of them being solo tackles.Â
2026 PREVIEW
The 2026 college football season will be here before we know it. Temple will welcome three non-conference opponents to Lincoln Financial Field next season. The year will begin on Saturday, Sept. 5 against the Rhode Island Rams. Week two will catch everyone's attention as the Penn State Nittany Lions come to Philadelphia on Saturday, Sept. 12. On Saturday, Oct. 10 Temple will face the UConn Huskies. The dates for the American Conference games have not been released but the home opponents are as follows: Army, Charlotte, Rice, and UAB. Temple will face these conference opponents on the road next year: East Carolina, Memphis, Navy, and South Florida.
