In retrospect, the play was one of those got-to-have-it moments separating mediocre teams from the good ones.

North Texas was driving at midfield, down 37-27 to Florida Atlantic with 2:55 left in the game. According to ESPN, FAU had a 92.2 percent win probability. There was no margin for error, and quarterback Chandler Morris didn’t like the play-action pass that was called.

For starters, FAU lined up in an exotic blitz package they hadn’t shown all season, which North Texas hadn’t practiced for. Three defensive linemen and an overhang linebacker were overloaded on the right side of the line of scrimmage. Morris wouldn’t have enough time to fake a handoff. But there was no panic for the fifth-year junior.

“In this offense, it seems like you have answers for everything,” Morris said.

On the surface, the ensuing 33-yard fade route to Dalton Carnes was a physical feat that gave the Mean Green momentum to storm back from a 10-point deficit, winning 41-37. Yet three things happening in the mental game represent how North Texas became the Group of Five’s best passing offense.

Seeing FAU’s left cornerback lined up in press coverage on Carnes, Morris audibled to a fade route. 

While he did so, true freshman center Tyler Mercer slid the protection right. Mercer was only playing because an injury to right tackle Landon Peterson forced North Texas to move its most experienced lineman, Jett Duncan, from center to tackle. Mercer had the wherewithal to call the correct protection against a blitz he’d never seen in the heat of the moment.

Earlier in the game, injured wide receiver Damon Ward Jr. noticed the FAU cornerback playing flat-footed and told Carnes he could run past him if he shortened his release off the snap.

These mental adjustments from the North Texas players have propelled the offense to 346.5 passing yards per game, nearly 100 yards more than second-best Memphis, whom North Texas faces Saturday night. 

Just four seasons ago, the Mean Green were the last-ranked passing offense in Conference USA (they did rank in the top two from 2017-20).  Under then-head coach Seth Littrell, the team’s moniker was to ‘Run the damn ball!’ But in 18 games under head coach Eric Morris, the offense has eclipsed 500 total yards 11 times. 

Part of the reason for the dramatic identity change is that North Texas leads the FBS with 77 newcomers from last year’s team. TCU transfer quarterback Chandler Morris has thrown for over 300 yards in five of his six starts. Stay with me here - the son of longtime coach Chad Morris, Chandler’s new coach, Eric Morris, trusts Chandler to be a field general and make audibles. 

Washington State transfer DT Sheffield leads the conference with seven touchdown receptions, but nine players have caught a touchdown pass this season, which is second in the FBS behind Auburn. North Texas leads the nation with 19 total players having caught a pass.

“If you’re on the field, you have a chance of getting the ball from me,” Chandler said.

Case in point: Carnes’s 14-yard post-route touchdown in the Tulsa game. North Texas hadn’t thrown the post route on that play for two weeks in practice, but Chandler got the defensive look that told him Carnes would be open, and Carnes was ready to catch it. 

Ward Jr., the sole wide receiver playing significant minutes to bridge the Littrell and Morris eras, says the wideouts’ understanding of Chandler’s progressions keeps them from demanding the ball. Each wide receiver is the hot read for a different defensive alignment (man-to-man, Cover 2, Cover 3). Chandler is taking whatever the defense gives him, and whatever they give him is wrong.

Four different receivers have led the team in receiving through six games.

“There’s no selfish energy in the room,” Ward Jr. said. “In this offense, you could have one catch in one game and then 13 catches the next game. You don’t know when it’s going to be your day, so you’ve always got to stay ready and locked in.”

While Ward Jr. is one of the lone holdovers from the Littrell years in the receiver room, Duncan is that era’s representative along the offensive line. Common knowledge states that run blocking is more fun than pass blocking because the offensive linemen are the aggressors. But Duncan says North Texas’s frenetic pace of play allows the linemen to attack defenses differently.

“We do tempo a lot,” Duncan said. “So being able to make the defense not get set (and then) we run on them or do quick passes out and score.”

Snapping the ball quickly allows North Texas to deliver those body blows, getting the defense off balance for the knockout punch. The Mean Green and Boise State are the only two FBS teams with four 70+ yard plays this season.

The tempo, compounded by the personnel’s understanding of what audibles to make, makes it seem like North Texas’ offense is taking a test with the answer key on their desk.

“If you’re thinking too much, you’re not playing confidently,” Ward Jr. said. “If it’s second-nature, you’ll go out there knowing you have a counter move for whatever the defense is doing.”