North Texas combined big passing plays, a productive rushing attack and timely defensive contributions to take control against Navy in an American Conference matchup featuring plenty of offensive fireworks.
The Mean Green established their intentions early, attacking Navy's secondary with quarterback Jackson connecting repeatedly with leading receiver Justin Stevenson.
Despite playing without Cory Milliner, their third-leading pass catcher, North Texas wasted little time demonstrating the strength of its passing game.
Jackson opened the scoring with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Stevenson, who found space behind the Navy defense. The Mean Green followed with another touchdown pass, this time to Kyle Cook, quickly establishing a two-score advantage.
Navy responded through quarterback Jackson Gutierrez, whose ability to run the football remained central to the Midshipmen's offense.
Gutierrez found an opening in the middle of the defense and raced 18 yards for a touchdown, giving Navy its first score.
North Texas answered with another deep completion to Stevenson, setting up a rushing touchdown by Jaheim White. The score extended White's streak to nine consecutive games with a rushing touchdown.
Navy then received an unexpected boost from its special teams.
On a punt return featuring two deep returners, Dalton Kessler fielded the football and broke free along the sideline for a touchdown. The unusual alignment helped create an opportunity that brought the Midshipmen closer.
Gutierrez added another rushing touchdown on a short-yardage play, further reducing the deficit before halftime.
But North Texas continued finding ways to create separation.
One of the game's most important plays came when Navy lost possession on a quarterback run. Freshman defensive tackle Dylan Williams helped force the fumble, and veteran linebacker Zakai Barker recovered the football and returned it for a touchdown.
The defensive score gave North Texas additional breathing room and demonstrated that the Mean Green could produce points beyond their already productive offense.
Navy refused to abandon its ground-oriented approach.
Gutierrez broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown run, taking advantage of effective blocking along the sideline. The Midshipmen followed with a successful two-point conversion on a misdirection play involving Jake Norris, trimming the deficit to 10 points.
North Texas responded immediately through its most reliable passing combination.
Jackson again found Stevenson behind the Navy secondary for another touchdown. The reception was Stevenson's second scoring catch of the game and helped restore a more comfortable advantage.
Navy later intercepted Jackson on a pass affected by pressure, providing another opportunity to close the gap. Gutierrez continued generating yardage on the ground, but the Midshipmen struggled to contain North Texas' explosive offense.
White delivered another major play late in the highlights, breaking free for a 59-yard touchdown run. It was his second rushing score of the afternoon and another example of the Mean Green's ability to turn ordinary possessions into quick points.
The performance highlighted the offensive balance that has made North Texas difficult to defend.
Jackson's deep passing created repeated problems for Navy's secondary, while White supplied the rushing production needed to keep defenders from concentrating exclusively on the passing game.
Navy demonstrated considerable offensive determination, particularly through Gutierrez's rushing ability and creative special-teams execution. However, the defensive touchdown and repeated explosive plays proved difficult to overcome.
