Aune, Defense Lead Second-Half Flurry To Beat UTEP

EL PASO, Texas – Making his first career opening-game start, UNT junior quarterback Austin Aune could not have been facing a more welcomed opponent on Saturday night at the Sun Bowl.

In his third career start against UTEP, Aune added to his impressive ledger against the Miners by going 16-for-29 for 236 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions as the Mean Green went a perfect 5-for-5 in the red zone to notch a 31-13 season-opening victory against the Conference USA foe.

"He was solid," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said of Aune. "He's had a really solid camp, and like I said, he's really improved. Coach Bloesch has done a really good job with him and all those quarterbacks and understanding where to go with the ball and what we want to accomplish. He was solid there."

Aune's line stretched his career totals against UTEP to 778 passing yards, nine touchdown passes and no interceptions to go with his 3-0 record.

On the game, the UNT offensive attack was a balanced one, as the Mean Green used their stable of running backs and bruising offensive line to rush for 163 yards, led by sophomore Ayo Adeyi's 80 yards on a career-high 17 carries.

As efficient and balanced as the offense was, the UNT defense more than held its own, especially in the second half after some mistakes plagued the unit earlier in the game.

The Miners had 259 first-half yards but were held to just 141 in the second, and the defense also had a goal-line stand in the first half and held UTEP to a field goal after an Aune fumble with just seconds left in the first half gave the Miners possession at the UNT 9-yard line with 30 seconds to work with.

"The second half was much cleaner and more disciplined (defensively) and just playing cleaner helped us," Littrell said. "It's about just trusting your teammates and making routine plays."

Littrell added he was pleased with the way his team overcame some early adversity, including falling behind after going scoreless in the opening quarter and the potentially devastating turnover late in the first half.

"We have to continue to come out and grind," Littrell said. "They showed they could overcome some adversity, and I'm proud of how they fought through it."

QUICK HITS

The Mean Green win extends their lead in the all-time series with UTEP to 20-8-3, and is their sixth straight win over UTEP, dating back to 2017.
The season opener against C-USA foe UTEP marked the first in-conference opener for the Mean Green since 2005, when they faced Middle Tennessee and pulled off a road victory.
The win marked the first time since 2009 the Mean Green have opened the season on the road with a double-digit win (won 20-10 at Ball State).
When the Mean Green went to the halftime break up 14-13, it marked the first time UNT has led UTEP at halftime in El Paso since 1980.
The Mean Green win marked the sixth straight season-opening victory.
The win gave UNT its sixth straight win over a Conference USA opponent after winning its final five regular season games in 2021.
The win puts head coach Seth Littrell at 38-38 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 improves to 6-1 in his career against UTEP.
The Mean Green captains for the season opener were senior LB KD Davis, senior OL Manase Mose, junior LB Kevin Wood and junior WR Roderic Burns.
UNT had three scoring drives of at least nine plays that covered at least 75 yards – the first time it's had three such touchdown drives since Nov. 28, 2017 vs. Army.
Junior QB Austin Aune (Argyle, Texas) made his first career opening-game start and finished 16-for-29 for 236 yards and three touchdowns.
- Aune completed passes to eight different receivers, the most receivers to catch a pass since nine different receivers had catches vs. UAB on Sept. 18, 2021.
- Aune continued his stellar career against the Miners in his third start against them, as he now has 778 passing yards, nine touchdown passes and no interceptions with a 3-0 record.
- Aune's 236 passing yards gives him 4,013 in his career to move past Jason Mills (1995-97) into eighth place on the program's all-time passing list.
- Aune's 11-yard touchdown pass to Jake Roberts with 4:32 left in the third quarter was the 26th touchdown pass of his career, moving him alone into ninth place on the program's career touchdown pass list ahead of Vidal Carlin (1965-66).
- Aune's 9-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Johnson with 10:27 left in the third quarter was the 25th touchdown pass of his career.
- Aune's 7-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Bush with 10:02 left in the second quarter was the 24th touchdown pass of his career.
- That touchdown pass was the first passing touchdown for the Mean Green since the 4:45 mark of the second quarter in last season's game against FIU on Nov. 20, 2021 – more than 11 quarters of football.
Sophomore RB Ayo Adeyi (Mansfield, Texas) had 17 carries for 80 yards.
- Adeyi's 17 carries was a new career high, breaking his previous mark of 16 last season vs. Liberty.
Sophomore RB Oscar Adaway (North Little Rock, Ark.) had six carries for 23 yards and a touchdown.
- Adaway's 8-yard touchdown run with 1:52 left in the first half gave the Mean Green a 14-10 lead and was his first touchdown since the Myrtle Beach Bowl loss to Appalachian State to close the 2020 season.
Sophomore RB Isaiah Johnson (Lubbock, Texas) had seven carries for 37 yards and a receiving touchdown.
- Johnson's 9-yard touchdown reception with 10:27 left in the third quarter was his second career receiving touchdown and eighth touchdown overall.
Sophomore TE Jake Roberts (Norman, Okla.) had a team-high and career-high four catches for 54 yards.
- His 11-yard touchdown reception with 4:32 left in the third quarter was the first of his career and put the Mean Green up 28-13.
- His 23-yard reception on the Mean Green's first offensive play was the longest of his career.
- Roberts' 54 receiving yards is a new single-game career high.
Junior WR Tommy Bush (Schertz, Texas) had a catch for 7 yards and a touchdown.
- His 7-yard touchdown reception with 10:02 left in the second quarter was the first touchdown of his career and fifth career reception.
Sophomore WR Damon Ward, Jr., had three catches for 45 yards.
Junior WR Roderic Burns (Houston) had three catches for a team-high 72 yards.
- His 10-yard reception in the first quarter marked the 17th consecutive game Burns has recorded at least one reception
Redshirt freshman WR Ja'Mori Maclin (Kirkwood, Mo.) had two catches for 25 yards.
- His 15-yard reception late in the second quarter was his first with the Mean Green and second of his career after notching one reception at Missouri.
- Maclin made his first career start.
Senior OL Manase Mose (Euless, Texas) made his 49th straight start. The center has started every game of his career and is in his fifth season with the Mean Green.
- The program record for most consecutive starts is believed to belong to Andy Brewster (2001-04).
The Mean Green defense held UTEP scoreless in the second half – the first time to accomplish that feat since 38-14 win at Southern Miss on Nov. 6, 2021.
The 13 points allowed by the UNT defense was the fewest points allowed in a season opener since a 40-6 season-opening win over Idaho in 2013.
First-time starters on offense: Jett Duncan and Ja'Mori Maclin
Senior LB KD Davis (Ennis, Texas) finished the day with team-high eight tackles, including five solo stops and two QB hurries.
Senior DB Quinn Whitlock finished the day with seven tackles, including four solo stops, a pass breakup and two QB hurries.
First-time starters on defense: Enoch Jackson, Rod Brown, Mazin Richards and Tom Trieb
Senior kicker Ethan Mooney (Fort Worth) went 1-for-1 on field goal attempts and 4-for-4 on extra points.
- Mooney's 28-yard field goal in the fourth quarter was the 35th career made field goal.
- Mooney's four made extra points gives him 105 consecutive made extra points, dating back to Oct. 12, 2019 at Southern Miss when he had a kick blocked.

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Team Stats

Austin Aune

Players Mentioned

Ayo Adeyi

Austin Aune

Roderic Burns

Tommy Bush

KD Davis

Jett Duncan

Enoch Jackson

Isaiah Johnson

Ja'Mori Maclin

Ethan Mooney

Manase Mose

Mazin Richards

Jake Roberts

Tom Trieb

Damon Ward Jr.

Quinn Whitlock

Kevin Wood

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