DENTON, Texas (Interstat) — Tayven Jackson threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns and added 41 rushing yards, and North Texas withstood a 452-yard passing performance from Caden Veltkamp to beat Florida Atlantic 48-41 on Thursday in an NCAA Football Bowl Division game at DATCU Stadium. North Texas improved to 6-2, while Florida Atlantic fell to 5-3 before an announced attendance of 22,092. North Texas entered after a 49-39 victory at Navy, while Florida Atlantic had won a 51-49 decision over Rice. North Texas entered on a two-game winning streak, and Florida Atlantic had won three of four.

Jackson, North Texas’ top star, completed 33 of 46 passes while spreading the ball across a deep group of receivers. Justin Stevenson had nine catches for 119 yards and one touchdown, Kyle Koch had nine catches for 78 yards and two scores, Max Reese had seven catches for 85 yards, Dalton Carnes had three catches for 66 yards, Brec Long had two catches for 21 yards, and Baron Tipton caught an 8-yard touchdown. The Mean Green also got a 59-yard touchdown run from Jahiem White and a 1-yard scoring run from White. Josiah Martin added a 5-yard run and Brendon Haygood had a 7-yard run. Jackson had thrown for 305 yards and three touchdowns in a 49-39 win over Navy in his previous game.

Veltkamp completed 37 of 56 passes for 452 yards and five touchdowns for the Owls. Dominique Henry had 10 catches for 116 yards, Kelby Valsin had six catches for 73 yards, Branden Hoch had three catches for 37 yards and a touchdown, and Kaden Shields-Dutton ran three times for 31 yards while adding a 22-yard touchdown catch. Easton Messer caught three scoring passes as Florida Atlantic kept answering North Texas drives. Ethan Ervin added four carries for 1 yard.

The game turned into a back-and-forth contest with both quarterbacks finding rhythm in the passing game. North Texas opened the scoring with Dominic De Freitas’ 24-yard field goal, and Florida Atlantic answered when Veltkamp hit Hoch for an 18-yard touchdown. Collin Rogers added a 30-yard field goal for the Owls, and Jackson connected with Tipton for an 8-yard score. Veltkamp then found Messer for a 27-yard touchdown, and Jackson hit Koch for a 3-yard score. White broke free for a 59-yard touchdown run before Veltkamp connected with Messer for a 12-yard score just before halftime.

The teams continued trading scores after the break. De Freitas made a 48-yard field goal for North Texas, and Jackson found Stevenson for a 4-yard touchdown. Veltkamp answered with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Shields-Dutton, and White scored again on a 1-yard run. In the fourth quarter, Veltkamp hit Messer for a 34-yard touchdown, and Jackson connected with Koch for a 2-yard score. The Mean Green led 48-38 after Jackson’s final touchdown pass to Koch, and Rogers made a 43-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining to make it 48-41. Florida Atlantic did not score again, and North Texas ran out the final seconds. The Owls’ final drive stalled after the field goal.

Special teams also played a role. Early in the second quarter, Michael Taylor II’s 63-yard kickoff was returned 98 yards by Leonard Farrow for an apparent Florida Atlantic touchdown, but the play was nullified by a holding penalty. Ian Ratliff punted twice for 75 yards for North Texas. De Freitas made field goals from 24 and 48 yards, while Rogers connected from 30 and 43 yards.

Peyton Taylor led North Texas with seven tackles and an interception, and Jason Cross Jr. also had seven tackles. Brenden Reese and Zakye Barker each made five tackles, with Barker adding two quarterback hurries. Brayden Knox had four tackles, one sack and one quarterback hurry, Curlee Thomas IV added two tackles and a sack, and Taye Seymore finished with four tackles. CJ Coombes, BJ Allen Jr., Justin Benton, Cameren Jenkins, Tyson Wilson, Cedric Roberts and Keshawn Davila each had three tackles for the Mean Green. Davion Rhodes had one tackle and one quarterback hurry, Udoka Ezeani had one quarterback hurry, and Ian Ratliff punted twice for 75 yards. Jaden Allen, David Onuoha, Brandon Jones and Wesley Hudson each had two tackles, while Chase Canada and Michael Taylor II each had one.

Joseph Sipp Jr. paced Florida Atlantic with eight tackles. Travis Jackson had seven tackles, Damon Allen and Amar Reynolds each had six, and Leon Hart Jr. and Tyson Rooks each made five. CJ Doggette Jr. had four tackles and a quarterback hurry, and Jayden Sweeney added four tackles. The Owls also got five tackles from Kelby Valsin, four from CJ Doggette Jr. and four from Jayden Sweeney. Florida Atlantic’s defense got a quarterback hurry from Doggette and tackles from Branden Hoch and Dominique Henry on special teams.

North Texas leaned on Jackson’s command of the offense and a balanced receiving effort to overcome Veltkamp’s big day. The Mean Green improved to 6-2 and stayed in the win column after a high-scoring stretch, while Florida Atlantic dropped to 5-3 despite producing more than 450 passing yards and five touchdowns through the air. North Texas had recent wins over Navy, Charlotte, Tulsa, Houston Christian and UNLV this season, while Florida Atlantic had beaten Rice, Texas Southern, Louisiana-Monroe, Florida International and Navy. North Texas is next scheduled to host Rice, and Florida Atlantic is next scheduled to host Texas-San Antonio.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected North Texas 65, Florida Atlantic 39. Interstat’s ELO system had projected North Texas with a 93.6 percent probability to win. North Texas had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -14.5. The total score of 89 finished above the over/under line of 77.5. Those projections and line figures were pregame numbers.