North Texas 2025 Season Rewatch: Hawkins Carries UNT to Win Against South Alabama

GAME 1 | GAME 2 | GAME 3 | GAME 4

If there’s one thing I’ve always said it’s that you can’t lose to South Alabama at home.

North Texas didn’t last season, beating the Jaguars 36-22 to move to 5-0 on the season.

In preparation for Oklahoma State’s 2026 season, we’re going back and watching North Texas’ 2025 season. Here are some takeaways from this game against South Alabama.

Hawkins Carried UNT to the W

Caleb Hawkins broke out at just the right time in North Texas’ previous game against Army because, boy, did North Texas need him in this one.

He finished this game against South Alabama with 16 carries for 140 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 78 yards and another score — which came on a ball he caught in the flats and took 68 yards to the house.

It marked the first 100-yard performance of Hawkins’ young career, and he hit that mark after contact alone, with PFF crediting 115 of his rushing yards after contact. He forced 11 missed tackles.

Hawkins ability to keep moving forward is impressive. It’s like he has bumpers on him the way he bounces off would-be tacklers.

South Alabama scored and converted a two-point conversion with 6:11 to play to cut UNT’s lead to 28-22 before Hawkins went beast mode to put this on ice.

On the Mean Green’s ensuing drive, Hawkins had a 10-yard reception and three carries for 57 yards and a touchdown. He left a cavalcade of would-be tacklers behind him on the 27-yard touchdown run.

Through his first four games in college (he didn’t play in the Western Michigan game), Hawkins has carried 42 times for 307 yards (7.3 yards per carry) and seven rushing touchdowns while catching seven passes for 120 yards (17.1 yards per catch) and another touchdown. Seems good.

Other Notes

• There were signs that most of UNT’s personnel would be Cowboys before too long. Here’s how the broadcast opened:

Color commentator Dustin Fox even made a “Should’ve been a Cowboy” reference.

• Miles Coleman scored North Texas’ first touchdown of the day on a reverse, and guess who provided the touchdown-sealing block? None other than QB1.

• Ethan Wesloski intercepted a pass and finished with four tackles and a tackle for loss.

• This was probably Mestemaker’s worst game thus far, as he finished with 234 yards and a touchdown while completing 54% of his passes.

That’s obviously relative. Last season, OSU had more than 234 passing yards just twice.

• Mestemaker (illegally) completed a pass to left tackle Braydon Nelson, who is also now a Cowboy.

Nelson caught the ball, tucked it and turned before being brought down. It was called a penalty because offensive linemen aren’t allowed to have fun.

• UNT enters a bye week at 5-0. It’s the Mean Green’s first 5-0 start since 1959 — two years after Sputnik 1 launched.