UNT Beats Rice, Secures Spot in C-USA Title Game

DENTON – KD Davis picked a good time to collect his first career interception.

The fifth-year senior, who is on the verge of becoming the first player in program history to lead the team in tackles for four straight seasons and is 11 tackles away from tying the career tackles program record, picked off Rice quarterback AJ Padgett with 1:12 remaining to put a 21-17 UNT victory on ice and clinch a spot in Friday night's Conference USA Championship Game against UTSA at the Alamodome.

"That was awesome," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said of the game-sealing pick. "What a way to finish off the game. I'm proud of him and all the things he's done for our program. I'm blessed to have had the opportunity to coach him."

Now Davis and his fellow seniors are guaranteed two more games in Mean Green uniforms after a hard-fought win over Rice in which Davis tied for the team lead with 13 tackles in a game that was tied 14-14 at half. The Mean Green went the entirety of the third quarter without a first down before the offense came to life late behind junior quarterback Austin Aune, who was likely playing his final home game at UNT, and sophomore running back Ikaika Ragsdale.

Ragsdale had a career day with 17 carries for a season-high 122 yards and five catches for a career-high 59 yards to go with a rushing score and a receiving score that put the Mean Green in front after Rice briefly took a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Aune finished with 203 yards on 16-of-29 passing with a pair of touchdown strikes to Ragsdale and Jyaire Shorter. His two touchdown passes tied him with the most decorated quarterback in program history, Mason Fine, for single-season touchdown passes with 31.

"Besides the head coach and maybe the coordinator, the quarterback will get a lot of criticism or praise depending on how the team does," Littrell said of Aune. "I'm proud of him and how he's gotten a day better and a week better all season. He puts a lot of time, work and energy into what we do."

Rice out-gained UNT but couldn't make the Mean Green pay in the red zone, as UNT's bend-don't-break defensive philosophy proved pivotal, holding Rice to a field goal instead of a touchdown early in the fourth and forcing two more field goal attempts that fell short.

Now, the Mean Green get a shot at revenge on the team that handed them their first conference loss in more than a calendar year back on Oct. 22, when the Roadrunners scored with 15 seconds remaining to top UNT 31-27 at the Alamodome.

"I'm extremely proud of our team," Littrell said. "We talked about it when we got off the field at UTSA, we wanted to get back there and have the opportunity to go play in a conference championship game. We have great culture in that locker room and that's a testament to our leadership. I'm proud of our men."

QUICK HITS

The Mean Green win extends their lead to 8-5 in the all-time with Rice, and UNT has now won six of the past seven in the series.
The win puts UNT in the Conference USA Championship Game, set for Friday night in San Antonio against UTSA. It will mark the program's second appearance in the C-USA title game with a chance to earn the first conference championship since 2004.
The win puts head coach Seth Littrell at 44-43 in his Mean Green tenure, and he is fourth on the program's all-time win list.
UNT's captains for the game were KD Davis, Jett Duncan, Manase Mose and Sean-Thomas Faulkner.
The Mean Green are now 2-0 when tied at the half in the Seth Littrell era.
Junior QB Austin Aune (Argyle, Texas) finished 16 for 29 for 203 yards and two touchdown passes.
- Aune's 203 passing yards gives him 6,892 in his career and he is in sixth place on the program's all-time passing yardage list, 31 yards shy of Scott Davis (1987-90) for fifth and 153 short of Steve Ramsey (1967-69) for fourth.
- Aune completed passes to eight different receivers.
- Aune has thrown for multiple touchdown passes in nine of UNT's last 10 games and has just two games this year without multiple touchdown passes.
- His 6-yard touchdown pass to Ikaika Ragsdale with 10:35 to play was his 31st of the season and 54th of his career. His 31 passing touchdowns ties Mason Fine's single-season program record, which was set in 2017.
- His 45-yard touchdown pass to Jyaire Shorter with 1:29 left in the first quarter was his 30th of the season and 53rd of his career.
Sophomore RB Ikaika Ragsdale (Las Vegas, Nevada) had 17 carries for 122 yards, five catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving).
- Ragsdale's five catches and 59 receiving yards were both new career highs, besting his previous benchmarks of three receptions and 17 yards.
- Ragsdale's 6-yard touchdown reception with 10:35 to play was his sixth touchdown this season (second receiving) and 11th of his career (third receiving).
- Ragsdale's 7-yard touchdown run with 4:26 left in the second quarter was his fourth rushing score of the year and fifth total touchdown this season.
Junior WR Jyaire Shorter (Killeen, Texas) finished with one catch for 45 yards, which went for a touchdown.
- Eighteen of Shorter's 20 catches this season have gone for a first down or a touchdown (nine touchdowns).
- His 45-yard touchdown reception with 1:29 left in the first quarter was his ninth of the season and 18th of his career in just 30 games.
Redshirt freshman TE Var'Keyes Gumms (Houston) finished with three catches for 41 yards.
- Gumms' three catches give him 31 on the season to put him at No. 2 on the program's all-time, single-season list for most receptions by a tight end in UNT history behind only Jason Pirtle (2017-21), who had 41 in 2021.
- Gumms' 438 yards is the most receiving yards in a season by a tight end in UNT history.
Senior OL Manase Mose (Euless, Texas) made his 60th straight start and is the program's all-time leader for most career starts at North Texas. The center has started every game of his career and is in his fifth season with the Mean Green.
Senior LB KD Davis (Ennis, Texas) finished the day with 13 tackles, including four solo stops, a tackle for-loss, QB hurry and his first career interception to ice the game.
- Davis now has 407 career tackles and is 11 tackles behind all-time program leader Byron Gross (1987-90), who finished his career with 418 total tackles.
- Davis now has 191 career solo tackles in third all-time on the program list and three behind Craig Robertson (2006-10) for second all-time with 194.
Junior LB Larry Nixon III (North Richland Hills, Texas) finished the day with 13 tackles, including six solo stops.
Senior DB Sean-Thomas Faulkner (Easley, S.C.) finished with six tackles, including a solo stop and a fumble recovery.
Junior LB Mazin Richards (Burleson, Texas) finished with seven tackles, including five solo stops, and a tackle for-loss.
Sophomore DL Tom Trieb (Arlington Heights, Ill.) finished with five tackles, including three solo stops, and a tackle for-loss.
Senior DB Quinn Whitlock (Pinola, Miss.) finished with five tackles, including two solo stops, and a tackle for-loss.
Senior DB Zahodri Jackson (Sarasota, Fla.) finished with four tackles, including two solo stops.
Redshirt freshman LB Sifa Leota (Euless, Texas) finished with four tackles, including a solo stop, and a sack.
Junior LB Kevin Wood (Converse, Texas) finished with three tackles, including two solo stops and a sack.
Sophomore DB Ridge Texada (Frisco, Texas) finished with six tackles, including three solo stops.
Senior kicker Ethan Mooney (Fort Worth) went 0-for-1 on field goal attempts and 3-for-3 on extra points.
- Mooney now has 316 career points – moving him into first on the career all-time scoring list.
- Mooney's extra point after the Mean Green's first touchdown of the day with 1:29 left in the first quarter gave him the all-time program record for points scored, as he entered the game tied with Trevor Moore (2014-17) at 313 career points.
- Mooney now has 93 points on the season and passed his own mark from 2019 to move into fourth on the single-season list – one point shy of tying Keith Chapman (1988) for third all-time. Trevor Moore holds the single-season record with 115 in 2017.

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Players Mentioned

Austin Aune

KD Davis

Jett Duncan

Sean-Thomas Faulkner

Var'Keyes Gumms

Zahodri Jackson

Sifa Leota

Ethan Mooney

Manase Mose

Larry Nixon III

Ikaika Ragsdale

Mazin Richards

Jyaire Shorter

Ridge Texada

Tom Trieb

Quinn Whitlock

Kevin Wood

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