Temple University Athletics
Friday, November 28
Denton, TX
3:30 PM
Temple University
5-7 , 3-5
25
at
52
North Texas
11-1 , 7-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Temple
7
0
7
11
25
North Texas
14
21
10
7
52
Temple Ends 2025 Season with Loss at North Texas
11.28.25 | Football
DENTON, TEXAS -- The Temple Owls (5-7, 3-5 AMER) the #21 North Texas Mean Green (11-1, 7-1 AMER) 52-25 in front of a crowd of 24,408 at DATCU Stadium.
How It Happened
- The Owls won the toss and elected to take the ball first on offense to start the Black Friday contest. The Owls came out of the gate and set a tone on the ground through running back Jay Ducker. The Owls pounded the rock six straight times and got into UNT territory. A penalty pushed the Owls behind the sticks and derailed the drive. A perfect 40-yard punt by Dante Atton pushed the Mean Green back to its own half-yard line to begin the day on offense. The field position, however, did not stifle North Texas. Once the Mean Green got a little bit of breathing room, the top offense in the country exploded by way of a 77-yard catch-and-run by Cameron Dorner. Quarterback Drew Mestemaker put the ball right where it needed to be and allowed his receiver to turn up field using his speed for the score. The Temple offense responded in a big way on the following drive. On a third-and-11 quarterback Evan Simon found a way to get a big completion to Jojo Bermudez with pressure in his face that extended the drive. The 34-yard gain sparked the Owls. Temple got within the UNT five-yard line and faced a fourth-and-two and K.C. Keeler was not playing it safe and went for it. The Owls converted the play and evened the score at seven thanks to a Ryder Kusch touchdown reception. Simon fit the ball into a spot where only Kusch could catch it and he did just that. A big kickoff return by North Texas set up the high-octane offense at the Temple 34-yard line and four plays later UNT got the lead back. Caleb Hawkins powered into the end zone to make it 14-7 with 1:08 remaining in the opening quarter.
- Temple possessed the ball as the second quarter got underway. The drive stalled just before midfield, which allowed Atton to pin UNT deep again, and he did just that. Mestemaker and the Mean Green offense began the next drive from their own one-yard line for the second time thus far in the game. Being pinned in its own territory doesn't seem to change the effectiveness of its players. Two plays into the drive UNT found itself at the Temple 47-yard line. Two plays later, Hawkins found pay dirt for his second score of the day. The 31-yard rushing touchdown put North Texas up 21-7 with 10:09 remaining in the half. The Mean Green defense had Temple in a third down situation and forced the first turnover of the day thanks to significant pressure in Simon's face. Da'Veawn Armstead picked off Simon to get the ball back to his offense. 30-yards and five plays later UNT extended its lead 28-7 thanks to a juggling touchdown grab by Terrence Lewis. Temple's offense could not get much going on its next drive and would give the ball back to the Mean Green. North Texas would not be slowed down on offense and would score its fifth touchdown of the day by way of Hawkins' third score of the day.
- The Temple defense stopped the UNT offense for the first time today out of halftime by way of a Hawkins' fumble. The fumble was forced by Cam'Ron Stewart and recovered by Avery Powell. That was Powell's third fumble recovery of the season, tied for the lead in the American Conference and among the best in FBS. On the ensuing possession, Temple dialed up some trickery to add a touchdown. On a toss to the left running back Jay Ducker threw a perfect pass to a wide-open Peter Clarke for the 16-yard touchdown. Temple's defense held strong once again against the UNT offense. The Mean Green got to the Temple-nine yard line, but could not find the end zone. Kali Nguma knocked through a 27-yard field goal to make it 38-14 with 7:07 left in the third. The Mean Green added on at the end of the third quarter with a Lewis' second receiving score of the day.
- Temple forced its second turnover of the day on the first possession of the fourth quarter for North Texas. A rush up the middle by Ashton Gray was ripped out of his army by Khalil Poteat and then recovered by Adrian Laing. Temple was set up at the UNT five-yard line with Gevani McCoy now in at quarterback. On second-and-goal Ducker punched the ball in for his second score of the day. Temple converted a two-point attempt to Kusch making it 45-22 with 11:14 remaining in regulation. Both sides would continue to add on until the final whistle. North Texas would hit on a 75-yard pass and catch from Mestemaker to Wyatt Young that set up a Hawkins to punch it in for the score. Hawkins led both teams with four touchdowns on the afternoon. On the following Temple possession McCoy found Colin Chase who faught through a defender to make a tightly contested catch for a gain of 42-yards. Six plays later Carl Hardin would knock through a 26-yard field goal for the Owls.
Statistically Speaking
- Quarterback Evan Simon set the single-season record for passing touchdowns during his final season in college football. Simon threw 25 passing touchdowns this year.
- Punter Dante Atton finished the day with three punts within the North Texas five-yard line today.
- Russell Sykes finished the day with 1.5 tackles for loss, a career-high for the redshirt freshman.
- Running back Jay Ducker notched his first ever pass and passing touchdown in today's game. The pass was a 16-yard touchdown to tight end Peter Clarke.
- Peter Clarke secured his sixth receiving score of the season today, this catch breaks a record for tight ends at Temple. Clarke passes Kenny Yeboah who had five receiving touchdowns in 2019.
- Temple faced four ranked opponents within the FBS top-25. This mark ties a program record which has occurred nine times in Temple's history.
- Temple had nine players start all 12 games this season: QB Evan Simon, WRs. Colin Chase, Kajiya Hollawayne, RB Jay Ducker, OLs Jackson Pruitt, Giakoby Hills, Diego Barajas; and CB Ben Osueke, and LB Curly Ordonez. An additional 23 players played in the full slate of a dozen games: Dante Atton, Allan Haye, Ty Davis, Denzel Chavis, JoJo Bermudez, Zyli Powell, Cam'Ron Stewart, Hunter Smith, Avery Powell, Conlan Greene, Adrian Laing, Wesley Brown, Charles Calhoun, Isaiah Hayse, Russell Sykes, Jordan Montgomery, K.J. Miles, Grayson Mains, Luke Watson, Daniel Evert, Peter Clarke, Joseph Auzenne, and Carl Hardin.
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.
Team Stats
TEM
UNT
Total Yards
316
605
Pass Yards
144
366
Rushing Yards
172
239
Penalty Yards
45
25
1st Downs
18
26
3rd Downs
6
6
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
31:02
28:58
1st Quarter
TEM 0, UNT 7
UNT - Dorner,Cameron 77 yd pass from Mestemaker,Drew (Nguma,Kali kick) 5 plays, 99 yards, TOP 01:58
TEM 7, UNT 7
TEM - Kusch,Ryder 2 yd pass from Simon,Evan (Hardin,Carl kick) 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 05:36
TEM 7, UNT 14
UNT - Hawkins,Caleb 5 yd run (Nguma,Kali kick), 4 plays, 34 yards, TOP 01:24
2nd Quarter
TEM 7, UNT 21
UNT - Hawkins,Caleb 31 yd run (Nguma,Kali kick), 5 plays, 99 yards, TOP 01:46
TEM 7, UNT 28
UNT - Lewis,Terrence 5 yd pass from Mestemaker,Drew (Nguma,Kali kick) 4 plays, 30 yards, TOP 02:19
TEM 7, UNT 35
UNT - Hawkins,Caleb 6 yd run (Nguma,Kali kick), 9 plays, 78 yards, TOP 03:25
3rd Quarter
TEM 14, UNT 35
TEM - Clarke,Peter 16 yd pass from Ducker,Jay (Hardin,Carl kick) 6 plays, 38 yards, TOP 03:13
TEM 14, UNT 38
UNT - Nguma,Kali 27 yd field goal 8 plays, 67 yards, TOP 04:32
TEM 14, UNT 45
UNT - Lewis,Terrence 13 yd pass from Mestemaker,Drew (Nguma,Kali kick) 7 plays, 63 yards, TOP 03:25
4th Quarter
TEM 22, UNT 45
TEM - Ducker,Jay 5 yd run (Kusch,Ryder pass), 2 plays, 5 yards, TOP 00:10
TEM 22, UNT 52
UNT - Hawkins,Caleb 1 yd run (Nguma,Kali kick), 5 plays, 87 yards, TOP 02:48
TEM 25, UNT 52
TEM - Hardin,Carl 26 yd field goal 10 plays, 67 yards, TOP 04:09
Game Leaders
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