North Texas and Tulane meet for American Conference title and CFP spot after a quarterback shuffle

By Canadian Press on December 3, 2025.

DENTON, Texas (AP) — National passing leader Drew Mestemaker from North Texas and Tulane’s Jake Retzlaff have some connections to three different conference championship games being played this weekend.

First and most important for the quarterbacks is the American Conference title game in which they will play against each other Friday night in New Orleans. A spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff is on the line for the No. 20 Mean Green (11-1, No. 24 CFP) or No. 21 Green Wave (10-2, No. 20 CFP) after both Group of Five teams lost their starting QB from last season in the transfer portal.

“It’s very impressive really by both teams,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “You can sit here and complain about what you’ve lost in the portal or how your roster got poached. Nobody cares. You’ve got to figure it out. So, how do you put the best roster you can together and keep moving forward? And I’m proud that our team has found a way, and I really respect how their team has done it as well.”

The QB shuffle

Mestemaker, now a redshirt freshman, made his first start for the Mean Green in their bowl game last season after Chandler Morris transferred to Virginia. Retzlaff withdrew from BYU this summer before his senior season and went to Tulane, which was looking to replace Darian Mensah after the one-year Wave starter went to Duke.

While their replacements in the American try to get into the playoff, Morris and ACC passing leader Mensah will square off against each other in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Saturday night. That follows the Big 12 title game earlier that day when Retzlaff’s former team, No. 11 BYU with freshman QB Bear Bachmeier, needs a win over No. 5 Texas Tech for a CFP berth.

Former walk-on to FBS leader

Mestemaker is a former walk-on who never started a high school varsity game. In the First Responders Bowl last season, he threw for 393 yards and two touchdowns while running for 55 yards with another score. He is now starting for the Bowl Subdivision’s top offense (511.8 total yards and 46.8 points a game), and leads the nation with 3,835 yards on 271-of-382 passing (70.1%) with 29 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

“What makes him the most dangerous is being able to sit back there and read the defense,” Tulane linebacker Sam Howard said. “When he’s back there, and he’s comfortable, he can really rip your defense to shreds. And also, when he’s improvising, he’s scrambling, he can make some throws deep down the field or to the sideline.”

Three of Mestemaker’s interceptions came against South Florida in the Mean Green’s only loss. Two weeks after that, he set a conference record with 608 yards passing in a win at Charlotte.

“They get this young quarterback who’s not as experienced as Jake, and he’s playing at a really high level. He makes great decisions. He’s accurate,” Sumrall said.

“It’s honestly just watching like a kid go out there and be able to play football every day. He’s just always having fun,” Mean Green left guard Gabe Blair said. “He’s been a great leader. … Even being a young guy he’s really stepped up.”

Running Retzlaff

Retzlaff, who went 11-2 starting for BYU last year on its way to finishing No. 13 in the final AP Top 25 Poll, has thrown for 2,717 yards with 14 TDs and six interceptions for the Green Wave. He is also their leading rusher with 561 yards and his 14 TDs on the ground are a single-season school record for a quarterback. He has run for a score in each of the last six games.

Sumrall, finishing with the Green Wave after being introduced this week as Florida’s new coach, said Retzlaff has been a difference-maker in so many ways, and called the rushing touchdowns a big deal.

“Two totally different ways of doing it, of him and Drew,” said Mean Green coach Eric Morris, who will take over as Oklahoma State’s coach when this season is done. “There’s a ton of different ways to win football games, and I think it’ll be fun to watch those two battle it out.”

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AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed to this report.

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Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press

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