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North Texas Player Thwarted Navy’s Surprise Onside Kick Attempt With Smart Move
North Texas and Navy’s matchup Saturday at DATCU Stadium in Denton, Texas had big College Football Playoff ramifications as both teams vie for an automatic bid as one of the five highest ranked conference champions. The undefeated Midshipmen found themselves behind to 7–1 North Texas early after two first-quarter touchdowns from the Mean Green.
Trailing 14–3 midway through the second quarter, Navy tried to flip momentum with a surprise onside kick attempt that they initially came away with, but North Texas ended up with the ball thanks to a heads-up move from freshman receiver Baron Tipton. He called for a fair catch as popped-up kick was in the air, which led to a flag on the Midshipmen for interference and a 15-yard penalty that gave the Mean Green the ball with great field position.
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Check out the wild sequence below:
I have not seen someone call fair catch on an onside kick before! pic.twitter.com/goLs5V0x8C
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) November 1, 2025
Tipton did wave his arm on the play, but it didn’t seem to be super clear above his head as he prepared to catch the ball. The officials gave him the benefit of the doubt, ruling he did call for a fair catch and effectively flipped the field for North Texas as they went on to score a third first-half touchdown on the drive to take a 21–3 lead.
Since the ball was in the air, he was allowed to call a fair catch, as opposed to if the Navy kicker put the ball on the ground first. North Texas prevailed 31–17, advancing to 8–1 and handing Navy their first conference loss of the season. The win puts the Mean Green into a tie atop the conference with a 4–1 record in the American.
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Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.