Aune, Team Ready to Open Season In-Conference

DENTON – The last time UNT junior quarterback Austin Aune opened a football season as the starting quarterback, the highly recruited quarterback and MLB draft hopeful was taking the field against Argyle's rival Lovejoy in August 2011.

Aune, then a senior at Argyle, led his team to a 42-17 season-opening win that night before leading his team to the Class 3A Division II state championship game later that year.

Eleven years later, here he is – the unquestioned starter for the Mean Green heading into Saturday's season opener at UTEP – this time as a husband, father and veteran with a dozen career starts under his belt, but none as the opening-day starter.

While a lot has changed for Aune over the years, some things have remained the same, including his desire to take the field to open a season and lead his team against a conference opponent instead of squaring off against each other in practice.

"That was a big reason I wanted to come back," Aune said in Tuesday's weekly press conference. "I wanted to ride that momentum into that last six games of last year and come to this season as the starter and keep that momentum with the guys and keep that rolling and here we are, so it's time to get rolling."

Aune has good history against the Miners, as he's thrown for 542 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions while adding a rushing score in two games, and he hopes another good outing on Saturday will help set the tone for a successful season.

"This is something I've worked on and have wanted to have done ever since I got here," Aune said of being named the starter in fall camp. "It's a big honor to start Week 1, and the first game sets the tone for the rest of the year and I want to go out there and do a good job and come out with a win."

Team set for rare season-opening league game
The Mean Green's opener at UTEP Saturday night (8 p.m., Stadium, Mean Green Sports Network/Varsity Network App) will mark the first time they have opened a season against a conference foe since a 2005 win at Middle Tennessee when the teams were a part of the Sun Belt.

Aside from being more meaningful than a non-conference season opener, there is likely to be some added juice to the game as UTEP is expecting a sellout crowd of more than 46,000 people at the Sun Bowl.

"For sure, there's more urgency," senior linebacker KD Davis said of opening against a conference foe. "It's Week Zero, so everyone in the country will be watching. If we go out and win this game, that'll send a message to the rest of the conference and let everyone know we're coming."

If UNT is playing in front of a packed house in a hostile environment, junior wide receiver Roderic Burns said that will do nothing but help him and his teammates.

"We just have to go out there and do our job," Burns said. "They're gonna have a good environment, so it's going to feel good to go out there make plays and hush the crowd."

Head coach Seth Littrell said his approach is the same in any season opener, regardless of whether it's a non-conference or conference game.

"Game 1 is Game 1, right?" he said. "Going into any first game it's about getting jitters out of the way and it's about execution. Year in and year out, you look at some of these early games and it's all about execution and making sure you're disciplined and doing your job. Both teams have a lot of experience, which will help, but at the end of the day, Game 1 is Game 1 and we're looking forward to playing a really good opponent in UTEP on the road."

Team learned valuable lessons in strong finish to last year
Last season after opening the year with a win, the Mean Green fell to 1-6 before reeling off five straight wins to qualify for a bowl game and scoring their second win over a ranked opponent in program history with a 45-23 rout of then-No. 15 UTSA to earn bowl eligibility.

That run from midseason on taught the players and coaches, alike, a lot about themselves and helped them establish a hard-nosed identity that allowed them to overcome a lot of adversity in the earlier parts of the season.

Even though the team went on to lose its bowl game, Littrell said he thinks that second-half momentum can carry over to this year.

"Every year is different," Littrell said. "There's gonna be adversity within this year, as well. There always is, whether it's throughout the season, throughout a game, throughout a quarter. You're always going to face adversity, and I think we're hopefully better equipped to overcome that adversity a little quicker than we did in the past.

"I think that comes with maturity, and I think we have a mature football team and that's why our culture is where it is. I'm fired about this group. They've been solid. I think it's probably, culturally, one of the best I've had since early on when we did have a bunch of experience."

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Austin Aune

Roderic Burns

KD Davis

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