UNT Falls On the Road at Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – UNT junior quarterback Austin Aune passed for 371 yards and three touchdowns, but his two second-half interceptions were returned for Memphis touchdowns and the Mean Green fell 44-34 on the road on Saturday afternoon.

North Texas (2-3, 1-0 C-USA) led 10-6 after the opening quarter following Aune's first scoring strike of the day – a 20-yarder to Jyaire Shorter and trailed by seven points at the half after Ethan Mooney's second field goal of the day as time expired before halftime.

The Mean Green got to within a touchdown of Memphis (3-1, 2-0 American) one last time midway through the third quarter on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Aune to Damon Ward, Jr., but Memphis returned its second interception for a touchdown of the day to open the fourth-quarter scoring and take a 34-20 lead and from that point, UNT was never again closer than 10 points.

Senior linebacker KD Davis led a strong defensive effort from the Mean Green with 10 tackles to tie a season high. The Mean Green outgained Memphis 473-343 and had four more first downs than the Tigers.

QUICK HITS

The Mean Green loss extends Memphis' lead in the all-time series with to 17-4, and it was the teams' first meeting since the New Orleans Bowl in 2003 when Memphis won 27-17.
The loss puts head coach Seth Littrell at 39-41 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).
UNT's captains for the game were Manase Mose, KD Davis, Jyaire Shorter and Quinn Whitlock.
Junior QB Austin Aune (Argyle, Texas) finished 27 for 49 for 371 yards and three touchdowns.
- Aune's 371 passing yards gives him 5,329 in his career and he is in eighth place on the program's all-time passing yardage list.
- Aune completed passes to 12 different receivers, which is a season-high for the Mean Green.
- Aune's 27 completions gives him 341 in his career, which puts him eighth in program history.
- Aune's 371 yards gave him his second 300-yard passing day of the season and the sixth of his career.
- Aune's 41-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Mori Maclin with 10:50 to play was the 35th touchdown pass of his career.
- Aune's 11-yard touchdown pass to Damon Ward, Jr. midway through the third quarter was the 34th touchdown pass of his career.
- Aune's 20-yard touchdown pass to Jyaire Shorter with 2:12 to play in the first quarter was the 33rd touchdown pass of his career to put him alone in seventh place on the UNT career list ahead of Giovanni Vizza (2007-08) and Jason Mills (1995-97).
Sophomore RB Oscar Adaway (North Little Rock, Ark.) had 12 carries for 46 yards to lead the team in both rushing categories.
Junior DB Kaylon Horton (Houston) finished the day with one catch for 24 yards and a 5-yard touchdown run and 132 all-purpose yards with his 105 yards in kickoff returns.
- It was the fifth touchdown of Horton's career and first rushing score.
- Horton has now scored on a kickoff return, punt return, rush and reception.
Junior WR Jyaire Shorter (Killeen, Texas) finished with two catches for 38 yards and a touchdown.
- His 20-yard touchdown reception with 2:12 to play in the first quarter was the 11th of his career.
Sophomore WR Jordan Smart (Round Rock, Texas) finished the day with a season-high five catches for a team-high 82 yards.
Sophomore WR Damon Ward, Jr., had two catches for 26 yards and a touchdown.
- Ward's 11-yard touchdown reception midway through the third quarter was his first of the season and third of his career.
Junior WR Roderic Burns (Houston) had a team-high six catches for 58 yards.
- He has now gone 21 consecutive games with at least one reception.
- Burns now has 91 catches in his career, and is three away from tying Erric Pegram (1988-90) for 20^th all time.
Redshirt freshman WR Ja'Mori Maclin (Kirkwood, Mo.) had three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.
- His 41-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter was the second of his season and career.
Senior OL Manase Mose (Euless, Texas) made his 53rd 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.
Junior defensive lineman Kadren Johnson (Lewisville, Texas) and sophomore defensive back Logan Wilson (Dallas) made their first career starts for the Mean Green.
Senior LB KD Davis (Ennis, Texas) finished the day with 10 tackles, including six solo stops, a pass breakup and a half-tackle for-loss.
- Davis' 10 tackles ties his season high.
- Davis now has 332 career tackles to move him into eighth on the program's all-time list past Lance White (1983-86).
- Davis now has 156 career solo tackles to move him past Tyreke Davis (2017-21) into sixth on the program's all-time list.
Junior LB Larry Nixon III (North Richland Hills, Texas) finished with six tackles, including three solo.
Senior DB Quinn Whitlock (Pinola, Miss.) finished the day with six tackles, including two solo stops and an interception.
- Whitlock's first-quarter interception was the first of his career and the first for a UNT defensive back since last year's game against Marshall.
Junior DB Deshawn Gaddie (Arlington, Texas) finished with five tackles, including three solo stops, a pass breakup and a QB hurry.
Sophomore LB Jordan Brown (Huntsville, Texas) had eight tackles, including six solo stops, a sack and two tackles for-loss.
Freshman DL Cam Robertson (Plano, Texas) finished with three tackles, including two solo stops and his first career 0.5 tackle for-loss.
- His three tackles is a career high.
Senior DB Sean-Thomas Faulkner (Easley, S.C.) finished the day with six tackles, including one solo stop.
Junior DE Mazin Richards (Burleson, Texas) finished the day with five tackles, including four solo stops, a half-sack, a half-tackle for-loss and a QB hurry.
- Richards tied his season-high of five tackles and now has 23.0 career sacks between North Texas and Eastern New Mexico.
Redshirt freshman DL Fatafehi Vailea (Oakland, Calif.) finished with five tackles, including three solo stops.
Senior punter Bernardo Rodriguez (Coppell, Texas) had eight punts for an average of 41.1 yards per punt, including three inside the 20-yard line.
- His 54-yard punt in the second quarter was his longest of the season.
Senior kicker Ethan Mooney (Fort Worth) went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts and 4-for-4 on extra points.
- Mooney's 36-yard field goal on the last play of the first half was his 41st career made field goal to put him alone in third place on the program's all-time list.
- Mooney's 25-yard field goal in the first quarter was his 40th career made field goal to tie him with Nick Bazaldua (2002-05) for third all-time on the program list.
- Mooney's four made extra points gives him 121 consecutive made extra points, dating back to Oct. 12, 2019 at Southern Miss when he had a kick blocked. He is now 141-for-142 in his career.

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Team Stats

Austin Aune

Players Mentioned

Austin Aune

Jordan Brown

Roderic Burns

KD Davis

Tyreke Davis

Sean-Thomas Faulkner

Kaylon Horton

Kadren Johnson

Ja'Mori Maclin

Ethan Mooney

Manase Mose

Larry Nixon III

Mazin Richards

Cam Robertson

Bernardo Rodriguez

Jyaire Shorter

Jordan Smart

Fatafehi Vailea II

Damon Ward Jr.

Quinn Whitlock

Logan Wilson

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