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2026 North Texas

4–⁠2 (2–⁠0 American Athletic Conference), coached by Neal Brown.

Schedule and results

North Texas in 2026, game by game: lost at No. 6 Indiana 16–52; won vs. UNLV 44–6; lost at Texas State 35–49; won vs. Houston Christian 63–14; won at Tulsa 45–44; won vs. Charlotte 50–10+49−36Lost 16–52 at No. 6 Indiana-36No. 6 IndianaWon 44–6 vs. UNLV+38UNLVLost 35–49 at Texas State-14Texas StateWon 63–14 vs. Houston Christian+49Houston Christi…Won 45–44 at Tulsa+1TulsaWon 50–10 vs. Charlotte+40Charlotte
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5at6IndianaL 16–⁠5222%
Sep 12vsUNLVW 44–⁠658%
Sep 19atTexas StateL 35–⁠4956%
Sep 26vsHouston ChristianW 63–⁠1492%
Oct 1atTulsaW 45–⁠4466%
Oct 10vsCharlotteW 50–⁠1089%
Oct 24atNavyPreview50%
Oct 29vsFlorida AtlanticPreview74%
Nov 7vsRicePreview86%
Nov 14atUTSAPreview39%
Nov 21atTulanePreview43%
Nov 28vsUABPreview76%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

Record
4–⁠2
Conference
2–⁠0 shared first in American Athletic Conference
AP now
Unranked
Points
253–⁠175
Coach
Neal Brown
Elo
1591 +1 this season
SP+ rating
-1.0 No. 76 of 138; offense No. 36, defense No. 115, special teams No. 123
SRS
4.2 No. 51 of 138 in FBS
Returning
3% of last season’s EPA, No. 129 of 136
Recruiting class
No. 137 roster talent No. 95 in FBS
Defensive coordinators
Matt Powledge and Bradley Dale Peveto
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense22nd of 138
  • Defense88th of 138
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted17th of 138
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted91st of 138
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2344%1.4022nd of 138
Defense0.1543%1.2588th of 138
Opponent-adjusted0.20 off
0.14 def		44% off
44% def		—17th off
91st def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense57%8.9 yds15%3.2014%
Defense48%8.4 yds13%2.7017%
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.6own 3010% allowed
Defense4.0own 3217% caused

CORE rating 3.2, 50th of 138 (offense 11.5, defense 8.3).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsTayven Jackson QB1,859 yds
Passing touchdownsTayven Jackson QB15 TD
Rushing yardsJahiem White RB676 yds
Rushing touchdownsJahiem White RB9 TD
Receiving yardsJustin Stevenson WR453 yds
Receiving touchdownsJustin Stevenson WR5 TD
TacklesZakye Barker LB43 tkl
SacksDavion Rhodes DL4 sacks
InterceptionsBryce Garza S1 INT

Top recruits in the 2026 class

Lathon Latiolais WR★★★No. 1358
Cason Applewhite DE★★★No. 1976
Ziondre Williams ATH★★★No. 2022
Jerious Singletary TE★★★No. 2502
K.C. Ekwu OT★★★No. 2502

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2026 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.840
Receivers23.00.853
Offensive line23.00.841
Defensive line23.00.831
Linebackers13.00.820
Athletes and specialists23.00.831
Whole class103.00.837

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Roster 108

The 2026 roster

108 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2026 line; 58 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 49

The 2026 portal
Brendon Haygood RB★★★from Missouri
Drew Clemens TE★★★from Utah
Henry Fenuku OL★★★from Missouri
Ja’Bree Bickham S★★★from Boise State
Jahiem White RB★★★from West Virginia
Peyton Taylor CB★★★from Emporia State
Tayven Jackson QB★★★from UCF
Zach Johnson CB★★★from Southeastern Louisiana
C.J. Coombes S★★★from Wofford
Chandler Strong OL★★★from Georgia Southern
Chantz Johnson LB★★★from Texas State
Christian Lorenzo DL★★★from Illinois State

And 37 more, lower-rated or unrated.

Transfers out 38

Drew Mestemaker QB★★★★★to Oklahoma State
Caleb Hawkins RB★★★★to Oklahoma State
Wyatt Young WR★★★★to Oklahoma State
Ashton Gray RB★★★to East Carolina
Ethan Day DL★★★to Utah
Braydon Nelson OT★★★to Oklahoma State
Evan Jackson S★★★to Oklahoma State
Keviyan Huddleston DE★★★to Oklahoma State
Kollin Lewis CB★★★to Oklahoma State
Miles Coleman WR★★★to Oklahoma State
Quinton Hammonds S★★★to Oklahoma State
Terrence Lewis WR★★★to Oklahoma State

And 26 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2026 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
UTSA3–⁠06–⁠1
North Texas2–⁠04–⁠2
Army3–⁠14–⁠2
Memphis2–⁠15–⁠2
UAB2–⁠14–⁠3
Florida Atlantic1–⁠14–⁠2
East Carolina1–⁠13–⁠3
Tulane1–⁠13–⁠3
South Florida1–⁠25–⁠2
Tulsa1–⁠24–⁠3
Temple1–⁠22–⁠5
Charlotte1–⁠21–⁠6
Navy1–⁠32–⁠4
Rice0–⁠31–⁠6

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.