North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker broke school and conference passing records, and the Mean Green exploded past Charlotte 54-20 on Friday night at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
Mestemaker, a redshirt freshman from Austin, TX – who notably never started a high school varsity game at QB – completed 37-of-49 passes for 608 yards and four touchdowns. Three of his receivers finished with more than 100 yards in catches.
The previous North Texas passing record had been 601 yards. Mestemaker’s sterling night represents the highest single-game passing performance in FBS football this season.
North Texas improved to 7-1 overall and stayed in contention for an American Conference title game berth with the impressive victory. Charlotte, which played great in the first half and led 20-17 midway through the third quarter, dropped to 1-7.
With that 12 yard pass @DrewMestemaker has broken the UNT school record and @American_Conf for passing yards in a game!#GMG🦅 pic.twitter.com/QpxlZ7368C — UNT Football (@MeanGreenFB) October 25, 2025
Hot start for Charlotte cools after failed fake punt
North Texas came into Friday’s American Conference game as the nation’s highest scoring team, averaging 45.0 points per contest. But it was Charlotte making waves in the opening half, jumping to a 17-7 lead even with North Texas moving the ball up and down the field.
The 49ers picked off Mestemaker to end one threat. Charlotte quarterback Grayson Loftis completed touchdown passes of 33 and 64 yards to Javen Nicholas, and the 49ers had the Mean Green on upset watch.
North Texas tied the game 17-17 by halftime, but Charlotte paid off a nine-play drive to start the third period with a 20-yard field goal from Liam Boyd. The Niners led 20-17.
But things started going south from there. North Texas scored 10 points, while Charlotte went three-and-out three straight times. On the third stalled series, the 49ers faked a punt, but North Texas snuffed the play at the Charlotte 23. The rout was on from there.
North Texas tacked on four more touchdowns, and the 49ers never earned another first down.
Mestemaker earned the school and American Conference record on a 12-yard pass to Simeon Evans with 2:52 left in the game. Per Wikipedia, Mestemaker’s 608 passing yards ranks 17th all-time in NCAA FBS single-game history. The NCAA FBS record is 734 yards.
Nicholas had a big night for Charlotte, finishing with 187 receiving yards on 7 catches. He also added a 20-yard rush.
Stat Leaders
North Texas
- Drew Mestemaker: 37-of-49 passing, 608 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT
- Kiefer Sibley: 7 rushes, 71 yards, 2 TDs
- Wyatt Young: 9 catches, 190 yards, 1 TD
- Cameron Dorner: 7 catches, 117 yards, 1 TD
- Landon Sides: 5 caches, 114 yards
- Caleb Hawkins: 4 catches, 39 yards, 2 TDs
- Ethan Wesloski: 10 tackles, 0.5 TFLs
Charlotte
- Grayson Loftis: 20-of-36 passing, 295 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT
- Jariel Cobb: 13 carries, 59 yards rushing
- Javen Nicholas: 7 catches, 187 yards, 2 TDs, 1 rush for 20 yards
- Reid Williford: 7 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 TFLs
- Shay Taylor: 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL
- Yamil Talib: 2 tackles, interception
