University of North Texas Athletics
Thursday, October 29
Denton, TX
6:30 PM CT
University of North Texas
vs
Florida Atlantic
10/26/2026 3:15:00 PM | Football
DENTON – The UNT football team returns to action on Thursday night for a nationally televised game against Florida Atlantic at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN, with the radio broadcast set for 1190 AM/The Varsity Network.
Head coach Neal Brown and select players spoke to the media on Monday and discussed, among other things, the huge opportunity of playing in the national spotlight and ESPN coming to campus and the problems the Owls present offensively and defensively.
Mean Green have big opportunity on ESPN
North Texas football has become more accustomed to getting big opportunities to play in a national spotlight in recent years.
That will continue on Thursday night, as the Mean Green will play on ESPN for just the third time in program history, and second time in as many years. Unlike last year when UNT hosted Temple on ESPN, the network will also bring its flagship show, SportsCenter, to DATCU Stadium to do a 30-minute live hit during the show from outside of the stadium, and fans are welcomed to attend for the live taping.
"It's a huge opportunity for us this week," head coach Neal Brown said. "We're hosting a really good FAU team that has won four of five. It's a showcase opportunity for us on ESPN, SportsCenter will be here be here at 4, and they just canceled class. I hope students show up for the live hit and then go in the stadium and cheer us on. It's a black out to celebrate Halloween and there's a lot of good reasons to come out and support this team. The most important thing is it's two really good teams playing a huge American Conference game."
Senior left tackle Johnny Williams IV said Thursday's game is one he, and kids all across the country, dreamed about playing football in the yard.
"We always look forward to playing in the spotlight," he said. "That's everyone's dream growing up. Thursday night, wearing the black in a blackout, it'll be a really cool experience. We encourage the students to come out and we'll put on the best show for them. We love and appreciate them, and we hope they can come out to the game."
High powered FAU offense will present challenge
Brown is plenty familiar with the Florida Atlantic staff from his time spent at Texas Tech, as he got to know FAU head coach Zach Kittley's dad, Wes, who is the longtime national championship winning track and field coach at Texas Tech, as well as offensive line coach Stephen Hamby, who played and coached previously at Texas Tech and served on staff at North Texas a couple of seasons ago. Brown also coached on the Tech teams that had FAU defensive coordinator Brett Dewhurst as a defensive back.
Offensively, the Owls will come to Denton with plenty of known commodities, most notably wide receiver Easton Messer, who won American Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance on Saturday.
In that win over Rice, Messer scored five touchdowns – two receiving, two rushing and one on a punt return, becoming the first FBS player in the last 20 seasons to accomplish that feat.
"He's a quality player," Brown said. "They do a great job of moving him around. He's not going to be in just one spot on the field. Credit to them for that."
Sophomore defensive back Brandon Jones said Messer stands out among a really good group of wideouts that he and his secondary teammates will have to be ready for.
"He's a great wide receiver," Jones said. "The numbers show and the ability shows. We just have to win our one-on-ones, and we have to lock down as much as we can."
Between those wideouts and an experienced signal-caller Caden Veltkamp, Jones said he knows his unit will be under pressure to perform on Thursday, and he likes it that way.
"I always want the pressure on me," he said. "I want it to be all on the secondary."
FAU rushing defensive numbers deceptive
The UNT offense has made plenty of headlines this season, as the Mean Green rank second nationally in scoring offense (43.1 points per game) and fourth in total offense (525.7 yards per game). They are also the only FBS team with a top-10 passer and a top-10 rusher.
The Owls are coming to Denton with one of the statistically worst defenses in college football, as they currently sit 134th in total defense, 129th in scoring defense and 137th in rushing defense.
But Brown said that is deceptive.
"Their defensive stats are a little misleading," he said. "They played Florida in The Swamp and they have played three triple-option teams (wins over Rice and Navy and a loss to Army) so the rush defense stats are gonna get skewed a little bit there. But they're one of the best coverage teams in the conference. They also have the best punt returner (Messer) in the country. They block multiple kicks per year and their kickoff returner has two touchdowns. It's a huge, huge challenge for us from a special teams perspective."
Head coach Neal Brown and select players spoke to the media on Monday and discussed, among other things, the huge opportunity of playing in the national spotlight and ESPN coming to campus and the problems the Owls present offensively and defensively.
Mean Green have big opportunity on ESPN
North Texas football has become more accustomed to getting big opportunities to play in a national spotlight in recent years.
That will continue on Thursday night, as the Mean Green will play on ESPN for just the third time in program history, and second time in as many years. Unlike last year when UNT hosted Temple on ESPN, the network will also bring its flagship show, SportsCenter, to DATCU Stadium to do a 30-minute live hit during the show from outside of the stadium, and fans are welcomed to attend for the live taping.
"It's a huge opportunity for us this week," head coach Neal Brown said. "We're hosting a really good FAU team that has won four of five. It's a showcase opportunity for us on ESPN, SportsCenter will be here be here at 4, and they just canceled class. I hope students show up for the live hit and then go in the stadium and cheer us on. It's a black out to celebrate Halloween and there's a lot of good reasons to come out and support this team. The most important thing is it's two really good teams playing a huge American Conference game."
Senior left tackle Johnny Williams IV said Thursday's game is one he, and kids all across the country, dreamed about playing football in the yard.
"We always look forward to playing in the spotlight," he said. "That's everyone's dream growing up. Thursday night, wearing the black in a blackout, it'll be a really cool experience. We encourage the students to come out and we'll put on the best show for them. We love and appreciate them, and we hope they can come out to the game."
High powered FAU offense will present challenge
Brown is plenty familiar with the Florida Atlantic staff from his time spent at Texas Tech, as he got to know FAU head coach Zach Kittley's dad, Wes, who is the longtime national championship winning track and field coach at Texas Tech, as well as offensive line coach Stephen Hamby, who played and coached previously at Texas Tech and served on staff at North Texas a couple of seasons ago. Brown also coached on the Tech teams that had FAU defensive coordinator Brett Dewhurst as a defensive back.
Offensively, the Owls will come to Denton with plenty of known commodities, most notably wide receiver Easton Messer, who won American Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance on Saturday.
In that win over Rice, Messer scored five touchdowns – two receiving, two rushing and one on a punt return, becoming the first FBS player in the last 20 seasons to accomplish that feat.
"He's a quality player," Brown said. "They do a great job of moving him around. He's not going to be in just one spot on the field. Credit to them for that."
Sophomore defensive back Brandon Jones said Messer stands out among a really good group of wideouts that he and his secondary teammates will have to be ready for.
"He's a great wide receiver," Jones said. "The numbers show and the ability shows. We just have to win our one-on-ones, and we have to lock down as much as we can."
Between those wideouts and an experienced signal-caller Caden Veltkamp, Jones said he knows his unit will be under pressure to perform on Thursday, and he likes it that way.
"I always want the pressure on me," he said. "I want it to be all on the secondary."
FAU rushing defensive numbers deceptive
The UNT offense has made plenty of headlines this season, as the Mean Green rank second nationally in scoring offense (43.1 points per game) and fourth in total offense (525.7 yards per game). They are also the only FBS team with a top-10 passer and a top-10 rusher.
The Owls are coming to Denton with one of the statistically worst defenses in college football, as they currently sit 134th in total defense, 129th in scoring defense and 137th in rushing defense.
But Brown said that is deceptive.
"Their defensive stats are a little misleading," he said. "They played Florida in The Swamp and they have played three triple-option teams (wins over Rice and Navy and a loss to Army) so the rush defense stats are gonna get skewed a little bit there. But they're one of the best coverage teams in the conference. They also have the best punt returner (Messer) in the country. They block multiple kicks per year and their kickoff returner has two touchdowns. It's a huge, huge challenge for us from a special teams perspective."
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