And the last one standing was North Texas.
The 2026 American Conference race was expected to be one featuring immense parity, but not many expected the Mean Green to hold the conference’s last remaining undefeated record. Even though North Texas finished 12-2 a season ago, the program was completely gutted by offseason personnel losses, particularly losing a horde of its coaching staff and starters to Oklahoma State.
But through the first week of November, North Texas continues to boast a perfect record
in American play. That continued Saturday as the Mean Green collected their fifth-straight conference victory and sixth-straight overall victory in a 52-23 handling of Rice.
North Texas has now won 11 consecutive regular season conference games, putting itself in prime position to return to the American Championship Game.
Despite the lopsided final score, it was far from the start North Texas had desired or become accustomed too. The Mean Green’s second-ranked scoring offense was held to 10 first half points against a Rice team riding a seven-game losing streak. The Owls’ ground-oriented option offense did its job in the first half, using long possessions to shorten the game and give itself a chance at the upset.
However, the energy completely shifted after halftime, and North Texas scored touchdowns on six of its final seven possessions to exceed its scoring average. The 52 points marked the Mean Green’s most against an FBS opponent all season, and they extended their streak to six consecutive games scoring at least 45 points.
The engineers behind North Texas’ 52-point explosion were the usual suspects — the “big three” of quarterback Tayven Jackson, running back Jahiem White, and wide receiver Justin Stevenson.
Jackson only needed 18 completions to register 303 yards and a touchdown, and the nation’s third-leading passer extended his streak to five-straight 300-yard outings. White produced 139 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The nation’s third-leading rusher generated his seventh 100-yard game of the season — and North Texas is 7-0 in such games — and he has scored at least once in all nine outings. Finally, Stevenson added 117 yards on five receptions as the game’s leading receiver. The nation’s 10th-leading receiver totaled at least 115 receiving yards in each of his last four games, continuing his October rampage to start November.
North Texas’ 495 yards were actually well below the team’s season average of 535, which ranks No. 1 in the FBS. The Mean Green out-gained Rice by just 62 yards and were challenged at times by the Owls’ unique scheme. However, Rice struggled to finish possessions, coming up emptyhanded three times inside the North Texas 30-yard line — missing one field goal and committing two turnovers.
Rice was led by quarterback Gael Ochoa, who was fresh off a 259-yard rushing outburst against Florida Atlantic, where he scored four touchdowns spanning over 50 yards. Ochoa produced 47 yards as a rusher and 147 as a passer in his second collegiate. The Owls also returned their original starting quarterback Jacurri Brown, who saw limited snaps and gained 17 rushing yards in his first action since Oct. 17.
Defensive standouts for North Texas included inside linebacker Zakye Barker and cornerback Peyton Taylor, who contributed to the 2-0 victory in the turnover battle, and North Texas scored two touchdowns as a result of the takeaways. Barker managed a team-high 10 tackles and forced a fumble, while Taylor intercepted a pass for the second week in a row.
Rice (1-8, 0-5 American) dropped its eighth-straight matchup, falling to 0-8 against FBS opponents this season. The Owls ensured they will finish with a worse record than last year’s 5-7 mark, despite showing competitiveness against some of the American’s top teams like UTSA and Florida Atlantic. All eight FBS opponents Rice has played are currently above .500, but the Owls get a shot at 4-5 Tulane next week in Houston, hoping its troubling streak can finally end.
North Texas (7-2, 5-0 American) is trending in the opposite direction as winners of six straight. After UTSA lost to Florida Atlantic on Thursday night, the Mean Green are the only team boasting a perfect record in American play. However, they’ll face one of the greatest challenges next Saturday, traveling to the Alamodome to face a UTSA team ready to bounce back.
