Difference makers: North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker, defense dominate Cougars

Drew Mestemaker

North Texas’ redshirt freshman quarterback, formerly a walk-on, looked like a seasoned vet against the Cougars. He completed 24 of 29 passes for 211 yards and four touchdowns with no turnovers. It helped that the UNT defense time and again set Mestemaker up with short fields, but he was also poised in a clean pocket and constantly had open receivers to throw to. Especially over the middle of the field, it seemed like the Mean Green receivers were left with five or so yards of cushion, and Mestemaker often looked like he was playing a carefree, backyard game of catch. The Austin, Texas, native has enjoyed a stellar start to the season, now up to 764 passing yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Mean Green D

It’s hard to pinpoint just one or two North Texas defenders in what was a dominant effort, so we’ll just highlight the whole unit. UNT’s defense tallied three first-half interceptions, two of which were returned into the WSU red zone and resulted in easy touchdowns. The Mean Green also forced and recovered two fumbles to set up quick scores in the second quarter. UNT recorded three sacks and seven tackles for loss, bottling up the WSU run game and putting steady pressure on Cougar quarterback Jaxon Potter, who scarcely looked comfortable. WSU’s offense totaled 275 yards, but it seemed like a lot less than that. The Cougs had 75 of those yards on a meaningless touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, there was little rhythm to be found.