Meet Your Insider
Mean Green, baby! Welcome to The Cover Window! I'm Grady Mayhew-Ochoa, your North Texas insider, coming at you from Denton, a town with more music going on per square block than just about anywhere in Texas. I'm a sports nerd and an indie-rock nerd, and I hear football the way I hear a record. Every offense has a tempo. Some are steady four-on-the-floor. Ours? Ours is in 7/8 time, and the defense keeps counting wrong. I travel with this team and I live with this team, headphones on. Every week you'll get the players, the coaches and the matchup, with liner notes.
The School in 60 Seconds
North Texas plays at DATCU Stadium in Denton, listed at 30,850. Last year was a record-breaking season, and the Mean Green were ranked No. 20 in the country when the coaching change was announced. Eric Morris left for Oklahoma State, and Neal Brown took over. The headline single this season: an offense that ranks among the best in the country. North Texas averages 42.2 points a game, 5th in FBS, and 533.8 yards, 3rd. Mean Green, baby. And the defense has 14 sacks and 9 takeaways. We're plus-2 in turnover margin (47th).
The Coach and the Scheme
Neal Brown was named the 21st head coach in North Texas history on Dec. 2, 2025. He had 10 seasons as an FBS head coach at Troy and West Virginia and went 72-51. At Troy he won the 2017 Sun Belt title and was the conference's Coach of the Year, and his 2016-18 teams went 31-8. His 2023 West Virginia team went 9-4. He's 5-1 in bowl games. The sound in 2026 is balanced: about 50% runs, 347 passing yards a game (2nd in FBS) and 186.8 rushing yards (41st). That's 17 passing touchdowns and 14 rushing. The blockers have allowed only 5 sacks, and North Texas converts 48.8% of third downs (21st). The red-zone offense scores on 93.9% of trips (16th). And we hold the ball an average of 33 minutes a game, 17th in FBS. That's a long song. The defense allows 29.2 points (113th), so the B-side needs work.
Players to Know
QB Tayven Jackson (No. 2): 1,868 yards, 15 TD, 4 INT, 72.2% completions, third in FBS in passing yards. Against Charlotte he went 24 of 31 for 349 yards and five touchdowns. Headliner.
RB Jahiem White (No. 1): 687 yards and 9 TD on 96 carries, sixth in FBS in rushing touchdowns. He had 105 yards and a touchdown against Charlotte, plus two catches for 37 yards.
WR Justin Stevenson: 33 catches, 453 yards, 5 TD. Against Charlotte he caught nine for 122 yards and two scores.
LB Zakye Barker (No. 3): 43 tackles and 2 sacks.
The Conference Picture
North Texas is 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the American, 3-0 at home and 1-2 on the road. The losses were at Indiana and at Texas State. The wins: UNLV 44-6, Houston Christian 63-14, a 45-44 thriller at Tulsa, and Charlotte 50-10. Staying unbeaten in the league is the goal, and Florida Atlantic comes to Denton next.
This Week: North Texas (4-2) at Navy (2-4)
Saturday, Oct. 24 · 3:30 p.m. ET · Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis · CBS Sports Network.
Last game: we beat Charlotte 50-10 on Oct. 10, then had a week off. Navy lost 38-34 at UTSA on Oct. 17.
Our offense vs. their defense: Navy's pass defense allows 247.7 yards a game, 113th in FBS. Its third-down defense ranks 121st, and its red-zone defense 95th. Our tempo should play, and Navy's pass rush has 14 sacks against blockers who've allowed only 5.
Their offense vs. our defense: Navy runs the ball on 81% of its plays, for 297.8 yards a game, 4th in FBS. QB Jackson Gutierrez has 640 rushing yards and 9 TDs, plus 232 yards and 3 TDs on the ground against Tulsa. Our run defense allows 142.7 yards a game (73rd). This is a totally different rhythm, and we have to stay disciplined.
Series: Navy leads 2-1. We won last year 31-17, Navy won 27-24 in 2023, and in 2007 Navy won 74-62. Seventy-four to sixty-two. That's a drum solo. Nobody keeps time in a game like that.
Availability: I found no official availability report for either team as of Oct. 18, 2026.
What decides it: (1) Can our defense stop the option on first and second down? (2) Can we score in the red zone, where we've been excellent? (3) Penalties. We average 70.2 yards a game (115th), and against a ball-control offense, every flag hurts more.
And to Commander Merriweather, Navy's insider: respect, Commander. Your offense plays a slow, steady march. Ours is free jazz.
My call: North Texas Mean Green 34, Navy Midshipmen 30.