2024 First Responder Bowl Notes
Postgame Bowl Notes – 15th Annual SERVPRO First Responder Bowl – Jan. 3, 2025
Final Score: Texas State (8-5) 30, North Texas (6-7) 28
General Game Notes:
Texas State becomes the first team to play in and two win consecutive contests in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. The Bobcats are the second-most active school in the SPFRB behind North Texas with a trio of treks to Dallas. Texas State also finishes back-to-back campaigns in the bowl with identical 8-5 overall marks. This also is the second straight year with an all-Texas field after The Bobcats downed Rice in December 2023.
Both North Texas and Texas State have rich histories covering two centuries on the gridiron. UNT entered the game with a completely-even 547-547-33 all-time mark over 112 seasons and 1,127 games for a .500 winning percentage and was one of 96 FBS teams with a .500 or better prior to Jan. 3. The Mean Green are 14th among current FBS members with 25 won or shared conference championships while playing in a possible NCAA-most nine conferences since the 1922 season. UNT also 83rd among 134 FBS members with 78 NFL draft selections since 1936.
Today’s attendance is 28,725 to rank sixth-highest on the all-time SPFRB list and most at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
This was the closest game in this bowl’s history with a two-point margin (the previous close call was a 31-28 win by Air Force over Louisville in 2021).
Teams from Texas now are 5-4 in the SPFRB with identical 1-1 records in the last two meetings. Texas Tech first appeared in the then-Ticket City Bowl in January 2011. There have been six different colleges from Texas competing in the First Responder Bowl along with UNT and Texas State – Houston, Rice, Texas Tech, and UTSA.
North Texas is now 3-12 in its 15th bowl tussle and seventh postseason trek since 2016. Record-setting Texas State is among a handful of FBS teams to go 2-0 in its first two bowl appearances and at the same site to boot.
Texas State is 83rd among FBS colleges with a .518 winning percentage and now is 542-506-26. The Bobcats are finishing their 121st season on the gridiron and have taken 14 conference crowns (won or shared) while competing in six different leagues since 1922 when both the Bobcats and Mean Green became members of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Those 12 titles represent the 38th-most in FBS annals, and the Bobcats sport 39 NFL draft choices. Texas State won back-to-back NCAA Division II championships in 1981 and ’82 under the venerable head coach Jim Wacker and entered today’s skirmish with a NCAA-best 1.000 winning percentage in FBS bowls after last season’s SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. North Texas drops to 547-548-33 all-time - 96th among NCAA FBS members and one game under .500 for 112 seasons.
North Texas continues to lead the all-time series 29-8-3 after the teams’ 40th meeting and first jaunt since the 1994 season. UNT had won four of the previous five meetings prior to today.
The team scoring first now has won the last six SERVPRO First Responder Bowls, and Texas State kicked a first quarter field goal to take the first lead today.
The two head coaches in today’s game are very familiar with one another. North Texas’ Eric Morris is now 35-32 overall (fourth season) and 11-14 (second season with the Mean Green). TSU’s GJ Kinne (son of legendary Baylor linebacker and longtime Texas high school coach Gary Joe Kinne) is 27-10 (third season) overall and 16-10 (second year) with the Bobcats. Interestingly, Morris was head coach at Incarnate Word from 2018-21 and then was replaced in that role by Kinne at UIW in 2022. Kinne also served as interim offensive coordinator for SMU in the 2017 Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl under then-new head coach Sonny Dykes.
The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl continues to feature some of the highest-scoring bowl games in recent annals. The Jan. 11, 2011, TicketCity Bowl and a 45-38 Texas Tech win over Northwestern started with 83 composite points. Some other games totaling 70-plus points in the SPFRB have been Oklahoma State’s 58-14 win (72) over Purdue in 2013 and Washington’s 44-31 victory (75) over Southern Miss in 2015 before a series of late tornadoes struck the DFW area. Army West Point and North Texas also registered 69 combined points in the Black Knights 38-31 overtime triumph over the Mean Green in 2016, The 2023 season matchup featured two Texas collegiate offenses in high octane mode and 66 points. Today’s opponents entered the clash with NCAA FBS Top 10 offenses. North Texas averaged 488.7 yards (third in FBS) for third along with 34.2 points per game while Texas State is No. 6 nationally with 474.3 yards each contest as well as 37.1 points per game, and they produced 58 total points and 999 combined total offense yards (a SPFRB composite offense record). The two teams accounted for 501 yards of total offense in the first half alone (258 by TXST and 243 by UNT).
This is the final bowl of the post-2024 season for both the American Athletic Conference (6-2 to lead the ESPN Bowl Cup Challenge to date with a .750 winning percentage) and the Sun Belt. The Sun Belt is now 4-3 in seven bowl appearances during the 2024-25 postseason. The eight bowl-making teams from the American (founded prior to the 2012 season) in post-2024 ties the conference’s record for most bowl invitations with eight in both 2015 and ‘16.
There now has been a bowl game played (or started) in Dallas for 89 consecutive seasons. The skein opened Jan. 1, 1937, when TCU edged Marquette 16-6 in the inaugural Cotton Bowl Classic at Fair Park Stadium (later renamed Cotton Bowl Stadium). There actually were three other bowl games played on that same site Jan. 2, 1922, with Texas A&M downing 1920s Southern power Centre (Ky.) 22-14, Jan. 1, 1925, as West Virginia Wesleyan edged SMU 9-7 and Jan. 1, 1934, as Arkansas and Centenary (La.) tied 7-7. The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl was a New Year’s Day or Jan. 2 clash in its first four seasons and then switched to December dates from 2015-23 and then back to January this year. This game originally was supposed to fill the void left at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas when the Cotton Bowl Classic moved to AT&T Stadium in January 2010, and today is the first January kickoff since 2014 when North Texas downed UNLV in the Mean Green’s first appearance.
While it is a rare occurrence and a first for the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl to have back-to-back all-Texas matchups, two Texas teams have met in the same bowl contest on various occasions. In the 1937 Sun Bowl at El Paso then-major college power Hardin-Simmons downed Texas School of Mines (later Texas Western and now UTEP) 34-6, and then in the 1965 Sun Bowl Texas Western/UTEP edged TCU 13-12. The Rice-Texas State game in 2023 was the Owls only bout against a fellow Texas team in 14 bowl trips.
The first 13 SPFRB contests kicked off at 2 p.m. (CST) or earlier, and last year’s 4:30 p.m. (CST) airtime was the latest in SPFRB (with today’s game being the second-latest via airtime at 3 p.m.). ESPNU and the ESPN family of networks have televised all 15 of this bowl’s skirmishes.
Texas State now has two consecutive eight-win seasons for the first time since joining the FBS in 2012. The Bobcats had one of their top performances in 2024 in a 31-28 loss to eventual Big 12 Conference champion and College Football Playoff quarterfinalist Arizona State 31-28.
The SPFRB has started teams on their way to continued greatness the year after they competed here. Oklahoma State went from a 2012 appearance to play in the 2013 Goodyear Cotton Bowl. Washington’s 2013 showing in Dallas led to the 2016 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, the 2017 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, the 2019 Rose Bowl and the 2023 season College Football Playoff championship game against Michigan. Only three of the previous 14 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl winners did not make a bowl appearance in the following season.
Texas State and Jacksonville State in the post-2023 bowl season became the first teams to win FBS bowls in their first invitation. Idaho, now competing again in NCAA FCS, holds the all-time winning percentage mark for three or more FBS postseason bouts at 1.000 and a 3-0 record.
The Sun Belt Conference is are 3-0 in three trips to the SPFRB (Texas State 2-0, Louisiana 1-0).
The American Athletic Conference with member North Texas playing its final contest of the 2024-25 bowl campaign with a 6-2 (.750 winning percentage) leads the ESPN Bowl Challenge Cup through 41 bowl games with the Duke’s Mayo Bowl slated for tonight in Charlotte. The Big Ten (8-5) and Southeastern Conferences (8-6) top all circuits in total bowl victories to date.
The 2011 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (then the Ticket City Bowl) featured a current U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (Rep.-Ala., elected in January 2021) who is undefeated in head coaching assignments at this bowl after leading Texas Tech to a 45-38 win over Northwestern. Sen. Tuberville was a head coach for 21 seasons at Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech, and Cincinnati before entering politics and had a 159-99 overall record with 13 bowl visits and a 7-6 postseason worksheet.
Notably, 2024 North Texas QB standout Chandler Morris (also played at Oklahoma and TCU in the Big 12 Conference) is the son of current Texas State wide receiver coach/passing game coordinator Chad Morris – former head coach at SMU and Arkansas.
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Results
Records By Conference Appearances by season
Games W-L Pct.
Sun Belt 3 3-0 1.000 2020-23-25
Pac-12 2 2-0 1.000 2015-17
Independent 1 1-0 1.000 2016
C-USA 7 4-3 .571 2011-13-14-15-16-19-20
Big 12 3 2-1 .667 2010-12-17
The American 3 1-2 .333 2022-23-25
Mountain West 3 1-2 .333 2013-18-21
MAC 1 0-1 .000 2019
ACC 2 0-1 .000 2018-21
Big Ten 4 0-4 .000 2010-11-12-14
Other Quick Team Notes:
North Texas
Former walk-on quarterback Drew Mestemaker made his first collegiate start for the Mean Green after 2024 standout Chandler Morris took his services to Virginia. Both players were teammates at Austin (Texas) Vandergrift HS prior to coming to Denton. Mestemaker accounted for a team-high and his career-best 448 yards of total offense today (393 passing and team-best 55 yards rushing). In the third quarter Mestemaker completed another career-longest pass to Damon Ward Jr. for 57 yards to bring his cumulative tally at that time to 294 yards passing, and the QB eclipsed that on the following play. Then the UNT quarterback rambled a career- and game-best for the Mean Green 70 yards for UNT’s longest play from scrimmage.
UNT has had 21 different receivers with at last one catch to lead all FBS schools. Eight players were on the receiving ends of passes today.
Mean Green cornerback started the afternoon as the school’s career pass deflections’ leader with 37 – the ninth-most among NCAA FBS individuals. He had none in today’s game but was among the team’s leading tackler with eight stops.
The 46-yard TD pass from Mestemaker to Miles Coleman (his second-longest catch of the season after a 49-yarder against Texas Tech) was a career-long for Mestemaker. The SPFRB record for a TD pass remains at 80 yards by Cody Sokol to Kennth Dixon of Louisiana Tech vs. Illinois in 2014.
Texas State
Bobcats kicker Mason Shipley tied the SPFRB game record of three field goals in the first half along with Matt Hogan, Houston vs. Penn State (5 attempted), 2012, Quinn Sharp, Oklahoma State vs. Purdue (3 attempted), 2013; Cameron Van Winkle, Washington vs. Southern Miss (3 attempted), 2015; and Mat Gay, Utah vs. West Virginia (3 attempted), 2017.
Texas State’s 70-yard pass-and-catch by QB Jordan McCloud to WR Jaden Williams (ruled out on the North Texas one-yard line with the Bobcats settling for a field goal on the drive) ranks as one of the longest in this bowl’s annals – 10 yards shorter than the record 80-yard TD toss in 2014 by Louisiana Tech. Williams later scored on a McCloud pass for the Bobcats first TD.
Bobcats QB Jordan McCloud held the school season record for touchdown passes with 35 in 2023 and added his 30th today to become the first quarterback in Sun Belt Conference annals to pass for 30 TDs in consecutive seasons. He now has 88 career TD tosses while competing for USF, Arizona and Texas State.
Texas State also entered the contest No. 10 nationally in tackles for loss per game at 7.4.
The Bobcats had seven TFLs this evening. The Bobcats limited UNT to 28 net yards rushing outside Mestemaker’s 70-yard TD jaunt.
Texas State RB Lincoln Pare almost doubled his team’s rushing production (from 102 to 175 team yards) on his 73-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. It was 13 yards short of the SPFRB record. Pare paced both teams in rushing with 143 yards rushing and two TDs.
2024-25 Bowl Schedules, Results, Attendance – 46 Bowls (Attendance noted; all television tentative airtimes EST) – Results and Schedule (ESPN telecasts unless noted) – As of early Jan. 3, 2025
Saturday, Dec. 14 – Cricket Celebration Bowl, Jackson State 28, South Carolina State 7 (36,823)
Salute to Veterans Bowl, South Alabama 30, Western Michigan 23, (12,021)
Tuesday Dec. 17 – Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, Memphis 42, West Virginia 37 (12,022)
Wednesday, Dec. 18 – Boca Raton Bowl, James Madison 27, WKU 17 (15,808)
AOS LA Bowl hosted by Gronk, UNLV 24, California 13 (24,420)
Thursday, Dec. 19 - R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Sam Houston 31, Georgia Southern 26 (13,151)
Friday, Dec. 20 - StaffDNA Cure Bowl, Ohio 30, Jacksonville State 27 (10.518)
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, Florida 33, Tulane 8 (41,472)
CFP first-round, Notre Dame 27, Indiana 17 (77,622)
Saturday, Dec. 21 – CFP first-round game, Penn State 38, SMU 10 (106,013)
CFP first-round, Texas 38, Clemson 24 (101,150)
CFP first-round, Ohio State 42, Tennessee 17 (102,819)
Monday, Dec. 23 - Myrtle Beach Bowl, UTSA 44, Coastal Carolina 15 (8,164)
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Northern Illinois 28, Fresno State 20 (2 OT) (10,359)
Tuesday, Dec. 24 – Easy Post Hawai’i Bowl, USF 41, San Jose State 39 (5 OT) (6,720)
Thursday, Dec. 26 – GameAbove Sports Bowl, Toledo 48, Pittsburgh 46 (6 OT – NCAA Record) (26,219)
Rate Bowl, Kansas State 44, Rutgers 41 (21,659)
68 Ventures Bowl, Arkansas State 38, Bowling Green 31 (19,582)
Friday, Dec. 27 – Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, Navy 21, Oklahoma 20 (50,754)
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl, Vanderbilt 35, Georgia Tech 27 (33,840)
AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Arkansas 39, Texas Tech 26 (37,764)
DIRECTV Holiday Bowl, Syracuse 52, Washington State 35 (23,920)
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, USC 35, Texas A&M 31 (26,671)
Saturday, Dec. 28 - Wasabi Fenway Bowl, Connecticut 27, North Carolina 14 (27,900)
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl, Nebraska 20, Boston College 15 (30,062)
Isleta New Mexico Bowl, TCU 34, Louisiana 3 (22,827)
Pop-Tarts Bowl, Iowa State 42, Miami (Fla.) 41 (38,650
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl, Miami (Ohio) 43, Colorado State 17 (40,076)
Go Bowling Military Bowl, East Carolina 26, NC State 21 (23,981)
Valero Alamo Bowl, BYU 36, Colorado 14 (64,261)
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, Army West Point 27, Louisiana Tech 6 (34,283)
Monday, Dec. 30 - TransPerfect Music City Bowl, Missouri 27, Iowa 24 (52,311)
Tuesday, Dec. 31 - ReliaQuest Bowl, Michigan 19, Alabama 13 (51,439)
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, Louisville 35, Washington 34 (40,826)
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Illinois 21, South Carolina 17 (47,129)
Kinder’s Texas Bowl, LSU 44, Baylor 31 (59,940)
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Penn State 31, Boise State 14 (CFP quarterfinal – 63,854)
Wednesday, Jan. 1 – Texas 39,.Arizona State 31 (2 OT), (71,105) (CFP quarterfinal)
Rose Bowl presented by Prudential, Ohio State 41, Oregon 21 (90,732) Calif. (CFP quarterfinal)
Thursday, Jan. 2 – TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, Ole Miss 52, Duke 20 (31,290)
Allstate Sugar Bowl, Notre Dame 23, Georgia 10 (57,267) (CFP quarterfinal)
Friday, Jan. 3 – SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, Texas State 30, North Texas 28 (28,725)
Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech, 7:30 p.m., Charlotte, N.C., ESPN
Saturday, Jan. 4 – Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl, Buffalo vs. Liberty, 11 a.m., Nassau, Bahamas, ESPN2
CFP Semifinals
Thursday, Jan. 9 – Capital One Orange Bowl, Miami Lakes, Fla., Notre Dame-Penn State, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 10 – Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Arlington, Texas, Ohio State vs. Texas, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 20 – College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Atlanta, Ga., semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m.
Conference Records in 2024-25 Bowls (Through early Jan. 3 – 41 Bowls)
AAC 6-2
ACC 2-9
Big Ten 8-5
Big 12 4-5
CUSA 1-4
Independents 3-0
MAC 4-2
MWC 1-4
Pac-12 0-1
SEC 8-6
Sun Belt 4-3
Competing Conference Teams: AAC – 8; ACC – 13; Big Ten -12; Big 12 – 9; CUSA – 5; Ind. – 2; MAC – 7; MWC – 5; Pac-12 – 1; SEC – 13; Sun Belt – 7.
Note: The record for total bowl attendance is 1,822,387 with an average of 52,068 in 2010-11, and the attendance average mark is 65,178 for eight bowls in 1966-67 with total attendance of 521,427. The 2024-25 bowl season has exceeded 1,000,000 for the 27th time in the last 28 seasons with 2020-21 COVID-19 conditions limiting games and attendance.
Total 2024-25 Attendance: 41 Bowls (Through early Jan. 3): 1,586,176, average: 38,687)