University of North Texas Athletics
Texada Earns C-USA Defensive Player of the Week Honors
10/3/2022 12:00:00 PM | Football, General
Sophomore DB honored after recording a pair of INTs in Saturday's win over FAU
DALLAS – After recording a pair of interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, four pass breakups, four tackles and a tackle for loss in Saturday's win over FAU, sophomore DB Ridge Texada was named the Conference-USA Defensive Player of the Week.
Texada recorded his first career interception with 9:22 left in the first half and became the first UNT player to return an interception for a touchdown since Kemon Hall's pick-six against Arkansas on Sept. 15, 2018.
Texada becomes the first UNT player to earn Defensive Player of the Week honors for the Mean Green this season. The last to grab the honor was Dion Novil on Nov. 23, 2021.
Later in the contest, Texada picked off another pass and returned it 58 yards to the FAU 1-yard line to set up a Mean Green touchdown to take a 42-21 lead with 8:23 left in the third quarter.
Texada became the first UNT player with two interceptions in a game since DeShawn Gaddie had a pair of picks against UTEP on Dec. 20, 2020 and became just the 13th UNT player since 2000 with two interceptions in a game.
In total, Texada racked up 116 interception return yards, believed to be the most for a UNT player since Ret Little had 128 on two interceptions against Louisville in 1967. Additionally, Texada's 116 interception return yards are the most in a single season for a UNT player since at least 2001.
Texada's impressive day did not stop at just interceptions, however, as he became the first UNT player since Royce Hill in 2011 to have at least four pass breakups in a game.
After Austin Aune won Offensive Player of the Week honors on August 29 and Kaylon Horton was named the Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 19, the Mean Green now have won all three of the conference weekly awards in the same season for the first time since 2018.
Texada recorded his first career interception with 9:22 left in the first half and became the first UNT player to return an interception for a touchdown since Kemon Hall's pick-six against Arkansas on Sept. 15, 2018.
Texada becomes the first UNT player to earn Defensive Player of the Week honors for the Mean Green this season. The last to grab the honor was Dion Novil on Nov. 23, 2021.
Later in the contest, Texada picked off another pass and returned it 58 yards to the FAU 1-yard line to set up a Mean Green touchdown to take a 42-21 lead with 8:23 left in the third quarter.
Texada became the first UNT player with two interceptions in a game since DeShawn Gaddie had a pair of picks against UTEP on Dec. 20, 2020 and became just the 13th UNT player since 2000 with two interceptions in a game.
In total, Texada racked up 116 interception return yards, believed to be the most for a UNT player since Ret Little had 128 on two interceptions against Louisville in 1967. Additionally, Texada's 116 interception return yards are the most in a single season for a UNT player since at least 2001.
Texada's impressive day did not stop at just interceptions, however, as he became the first UNT player since Royce Hill in 2011 to have at least four pass breakups in a game.
After Austin Aune won Offensive Player of the Week honors on August 29 and Kaylon Horton was named the Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 19, the Mean Green now have won all three of the conference weekly awards in the same season for the first time since 2018.
Players Mentioned
QB
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DB
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WR
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DL
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DB
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