Saturday, October 30
Houston, TX
1:00 p.m.
University of North Texas
2-6 , 1-3
30
at
24
Rice
3-5 , 2-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
OT
F
North Texas
3
7
7
7
6
30
Rice
0
3
7
14
0
24
Photo by: Manny Flores
Running Game, Defense Propel UNT to OT Win
10/30/2021 5:38:00 PM | Football
HOUSTON – The North Texas defense could have been the goat in Saturday's game against Rice.
The Owls went 89 yards on 12 plays to score and tie the game with 16 seconds remaining and seemingly put the momentum squarely into Rice's favor.
But when Rice started overtime with the ball, the North Texas defense quickly forced the Owls into a 43-yard failed field goal attempt, meaning any UNT score would win the game, and the Mean Green offense quickly came through on their end of the bargain in a 30-24 overtime victory at Rice Stadium.
The Mean Green offense ran seven plays on the game-winning drive – all runs – and ended the game with a 1-yard plunge from redshirt freshman Ayo Adeyi – his second score of the day.
"Going in, we knew the defense would make a stop," Adeyi said. "When we're on the 1 and have to punch it in, I got in, and it felt amazing to be a part of the victory."
Adeyi rushed for 47 yards on 12 carries and had his first multi-score game of his career after starting running back DeAndre Torrey left the game midway through the second half with an injury. In all, the Mean Green rushed for 193 yards despite being outgained by Rice and having the ball nearly half the time the Owls possessed it on the day.
"It was big, finally getting some of those guys back and healthy," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said of his running backs. "Ayo's done a great job. Isaiah came in and made some big runs. DeAndre has been a workhorse for us all year. It was awesome to have some fresh guys in the second half. Up front we did a good job, too. It wasn't perfect by any means but when you line up in basically the I-formation at the end and run it over and over and score, that's a good thing."
While Adeyi led the running backs in rushing, the team's leading rusher on the day was sophomore quarterback Austin Aune, who had a career-high 65 yards on six carries, including a career-long 22-yard scamper and a key 11-yard run on the Mean Green's first play of overtime.
The Mean Green never trailed in the game and scored first on a 35-yard Ethan Mooney field goal, marking the second straight week they scored first after a string of games in which they dug themselves a hole too deep to escape.
"Offensively, we struggled early and guys are more comfortable in their roles," Littrell said. "Also, the rhythm and timing between the quarterback and receivers is better. It takes execution and sometimes when you get off and rolling with that first first down, that's key. If we can get that, we're pretty hard to stop."
Defensively, UNT was led by junior linebacker KD Davis, who had a career-high 18 tackles, including a tackle for-loss, which is the most for any Mean Green player since at least 2000. UNT also had three players finish with 10 tackles apiece: Larry Nixon III, Sean-Thomas Faulkner and Dion Novil, while holding Rice to under 100 rushing yards.
"They're all over the field," Littrell said. "They have great speed. They understand the defense, and the last couple of weeks they've done unbelievable job stopping the run. It's a credit to them. They're playing assignment football and everyone has a job to do and when it's their turn, they're making plays."
The win snapped a six-game skid for North Texas, who will turn around and hit the road again for a game next Saturday at Southern Miss, with a 2 p.m., kickoff on Nov. 6.
"I'm proud of these kids the way they continued to fight and give all they had for four quarters," Littrell said. "We kept having to overcome adversity with a lot of calls that put us in bad situations but they kept fighting, and I'm proud of them."
QUICK HITS
The Owls went 89 yards on 12 plays to score and tie the game with 16 seconds remaining and seemingly put the momentum squarely into Rice's favor.
But when Rice started overtime with the ball, the North Texas defense quickly forced the Owls into a 43-yard failed field goal attempt, meaning any UNT score would win the game, and the Mean Green offense quickly came through on their end of the bargain in a 30-24 overtime victory at Rice Stadium.
The Mean Green offense ran seven plays on the game-winning drive – all runs – and ended the game with a 1-yard plunge from redshirt freshman Ayo Adeyi – his second score of the day.
"Going in, we knew the defense would make a stop," Adeyi said. "When we're on the 1 and have to punch it in, I got in, and it felt amazing to be a part of the victory."
Adeyi rushed for 47 yards on 12 carries and had his first multi-score game of his career after starting running back DeAndre Torrey left the game midway through the second half with an injury. In all, the Mean Green rushed for 193 yards despite being outgained by Rice and having the ball nearly half the time the Owls possessed it on the day.
"It was big, finally getting some of those guys back and healthy," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said of his running backs. "Ayo's done a great job. Isaiah came in and made some big runs. DeAndre has been a workhorse for us all year. It was awesome to have some fresh guys in the second half. Up front we did a good job, too. It wasn't perfect by any means but when you line up in basically the I-formation at the end and run it over and over and score, that's a good thing."
While Adeyi led the running backs in rushing, the team's leading rusher on the day was sophomore quarterback Austin Aune, who had a career-high 65 yards on six carries, including a career-long 22-yard scamper and a key 11-yard run on the Mean Green's first play of overtime.
The Mean Green never trailed in the game and scored first on a 35-yard Ethan Mooney field goal, marking the second straight week they scored first after a string of games in which they dug themselves a hole too deep to escape.
"Offensively, we struggled early and guys are more comfortable in their roles," Littrell said. "Also, the rhythm and timing between the quarterback and receivers is better. It takes execution and sometimes when you get off and rolling with that first first down, that's key. If we can get that, we're pretty hard to stop."
Defensively, UNT was led by junior linebacker KD Davis, who had a career-high 18 tackles, including a tackle for-loss, which is the most for any Mean Green player since at least 2000. UNT also had three players finish with 10 tackles apiece: Larry Nixon III, Sean-Thomas Faulkner and Dion Novil, while holding Rice to under 100 rushing yards.
"They're all over the field," Littrell said. "They have great speed. They understand the defense, and the last couple of weeks they've done unbelievable job stopping the run. It's a credit to them. They're playing assignment football and everyone has a job to do and when it's their turn, they're making plays."
The win snapped a six-game skid for North Texas, who will turn around and hit the road again for a game next Saturday at Southern Miss, with a 2 p.m., kickoff on Nov. 6.
"I'm proud of these kids the way they continued to fight and give all they had for four quarters," Littrell said. "We kept having to overcome adversity with a lot of calls that put us in bad situations but they kept fighting, and I'm proud of them."
QUICK HITS
- The Mean Green win extends the all-time series over Rice to 7-5, with the first meeting coming in 1988.
- The win puts head coach Seth Littrell at 33-37 in his Mean Green tenure, and he is in sixth place on the program's all-time wins list – behind fifth-place Hayden Fry (40). He moves to 5-1 in his career against Rice.
- The Mean Green climbed to 3-2 all-time in overtime games.
- UNT's last OT game before Saturday came on Dec. 27, 2016, in a 38-31 loss to Army in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl.
- UNT's last OT win came on Sept. 24, 2016, in a 42-35 double-overtime win over Rice.
- Sophomore QB Austin Aune (Argyle, Texas) made his fourth start of the season and finished 11-for-22 for 121 yards.
- Aune completed passes to six different receivers.
- Aune's six carries for 65 yards led the team in rushing and set a new career-high rushing total for a game, eclipsing his 59 yards in a loss at Missouri earlier this season.
- Aune's 22-yard run late in the first quarter set a new career high for longest rush.
- Senior RB DeAndre Torrey (Gautier, Mississippi) had 43 rushing yards on 14 carries, a catch for 2 yards and 24 kickoff return yards to give him 69 all-purpose yards.
- Torrey's 1-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left in the first half was the 31st rushing touchdown of his career, good for fourth place on the program's all-time list.
- Freshman RB Ayo Adeyi (Mansfield, Texas) had 12 carries for 47 yards and two touchdowns – his first multi-touchdown game.
- Adeyi's 1-yard touchdown run to win the game in overtime was the fourth touchdown of his career.
- Adeyi's 5-yard touchdown run with 3:58 remaining in the third quarter was the third touchdown of his career.
- Freshman RB Isaiah Johnson (Lubbock, Texas) finished with eight carries for 27 yards and a touchdown.
- His 6-yard touchdown run with 2:03 to play was his third of the season and fourth of his career.
- Sophomore WR Bryson Jackson had three catches for 50 yards.
- Jackson's 38-yard reception to set up a touchdown just before halftime was a career-long.
- Jackson set new career highs for catches and yards, breaking his previous bests of two and 20, respectively.
- Redshirt freshman WR Khatib Lyles (El Paso, Texas) finished the day with three catches for 18 yards – all on the team's first possession of the day.
- Lyles' three catches set a new career high, as he passed his previous career high of two.
- The 3 points allowed in the first half by UNT was the fewest since it allowed 3 in the first half to UTSA on Sept. 21, 2019, in a 45-3 Mean Green win.
- Junior LB KD Davis (Ennis, Texas) finished the day with a team-high 18 tackles, including two solo stops and a tackle for-loss.
- Davis' 18 tackles are the most for a Mean Green player since at least 2000.
- The 18-tackle day set a new career high for Davis, eclipsing his previous high of 14, which he had done twice previously – most recently in the season-opening win over Northwestern State.
- The 18-tackle day was the third double-digit tackle day of the year for Davis.
- Senior DL Dion Novil (Abilene, Texas) finished the day with 10 tackles, including two solo stops, a half-sack, a half-tackle for-loss, a pass breakup, a QB hurry and a forced fumble.
- Novil's 10 tackles set a new season high, breaking his previous best of five, which he'd done twice this season.
- Sophomore LB Larry Nixon III (North Richland Hills, Texas) finished the day with 10 tackles, including a solo stop.
- Junior DB Sean-Thomas Faulkner (Easley, S.C.) made the start at safety – his first of his Mean Green career.
- Faulkner made 22 starts at The Citadel before coming to Denton.
- Faulkner's 10 tackles set a new season high, eclipsing the seven he had in the season-opening win over Northwestern State.
- Senior DB Makyle Sanders (Tyler, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including two solo stops.
- Sophomore DB DeShawn Gaddie (Arlington, Texas), who has been a starting safety all year, made the start at cornerback – his first start at corner since last year's game against SMU.
- Gaddie finished the day with seven tackles, a half-tackle for-loss and two pass breakups.
- Senior LB Tyreke Davis (Denton) finished the day with six tackles, including three solo stops, and a pass breakup.
- Freshman DB Ridge Texada (Frisco, Texas) made the start at cornerback – his first of his Mean Green career.
- Texada started one game last year at McNeese State.
- Texada had six tackles, including three solo stops, and a tackle for-loss.
Team Stats
UNT
RIC
Total Yards
314
368
Pass Yards
121
271
Rushing Yards
193
97
Penalty Yards
74
114
1st Downs
20
25
3rd Downs
7
6
4th Downs
1
4
TOP
21:21
38:39
1st Quarter
UNT 3, RIC 0
UNT - Mooney,Ethan 35 yd field goal 16 plays, 55 yards, TOP 05:57
2nd Quarter
UNT 3, RIC 3
RIC - VanSickle,Christian 30 yd field goal 19 plays, 68 yards, TOP 12:07
UNT 10, RIC 3
UNT - Torrey,DeAndre 1 yd run (Mooney,Ethan kick), 9 plays, 78 yards, TOP 01:52
3rd Quarter
UNT 10, RIC 10
RIC - Myers,Jordan 1 yd run (VanSickle,Christian kick), 7 plays, 38 yards, TOP 03:21
UNT 17, RIC 10
UNT - Adeyi,Ayo 5 yd run (Mooney,Ethan kick), 7 plays, 58 yards, TOP 02:40
4th Quarter
UNT 17, RIC 17
RIC - Bailey,Jake 17 yd pass from Constantine,Jake (VanSickle,Christian kick) 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 07:08
UNT 24, RIC 17
UNT - Johnson,Isaiah 6 yd run (Mooney,Ethan kick), 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 04:28
UNT 24, RIC 24
RIC - Patterson III,Cedric 12 yd pass from Constantine,Jake (VanSickle,Christian kick) 12 plays, 89 yards, TOP 01:42
OT Quarter
UNT 30, RIC 24
UNT - Adeyi,Ayo 1 yd run (), 7 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
11
TD
0
YDS
121
INT
0
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
K
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
DB
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DB
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RB
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