Freshman Drew Mestemaker throws for school-record 608 yards in North Texas’ 54-20 win over Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Redshirt freshman Drew Mestemaker passed for a school-record 608 yards with four touchdowns and North Texas scored 37 unanswered points to beat Charlotte 54-20 on Friday night.

Mestemaker completed 37 of 49 passes with one interception in breaking the record.

Mestemaker covered 80 yards with three passes — the final one a 41-yard scoring strike to Cameron Dorner — on the game’s first possession to put North Texas (7-1, 3-1 American Conference) up 7-0.

Charlotte (1-7, 0-5) answered with Liam Boyd’s 24-yard field goal and Grayson Loftis’ 33-yard touchdown pass to Javen Nicholas to take a 10-7 lead into the second quarter.

Loftis and Nicholas teamed up for a 64-yard score in a one-play drive and Charlotte led 17-7.

Kali Nguma followed with a 29-yard field goal and Mestemaker hit Caleb Hawkins for a 6-yard score to tie it 17-all at halftime.

Charlotte had a drive stall at the North Texas 3-yard line to begin the third quarter and settled for Boyd’s field goal and a 20-17 lead. It was all Mean Green from there.

Mestemaker passed to Tre Williams III for a 30-yard gain to the Charlotte 1 and Kiefer Sibley ran it in on the next play to put North Texas ahead and Nguma added a 41-yard field goal for a 27-20 advantage after three quarters.

Mestemaker connected with Hawkins for a 7-yard touchdown and Wyatt Young turned a short pass into a 70-yard score and a 20-point lead after the two-point run failed. Sibley added a 45-yard touchdown run and Ashton Gray scored on a 32-yard run to polish off the rout.

Young finished with nine receptions for 190 yards. Dorner caught seven passes for 117 yards and Sides hauled in five for 114.

Loftis totaled 295 yards on 20-for-36 passing for the 49ers. Nicholas had seven catches for 187 yards.

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