Mean Green Ready to Resume Conference Play

DENTON – The UNT football team will look to score its seventh straight Conference USA win as it hosts FAU at Apogee Stadium on Saturday to resume C-USA play with kickoff set for 3 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+ with the radio broadcast on KHYI 95.3/KXXN 97.5 (Wichita Falls)/The Varsity Network.

Head coach Seth Littrell and selected players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, resuming C-USA play after a season-opening conference win, fixing small mistakes that could lead the team to a strong finish this season and the added wrinkle newcomer Kaylon Horton has added.

Back to C-USA play
The Mean Green had a scheduling rarity this year in that they opened the season against a conference foe, and UNT scored a road conference win with a 31-13 domination of UTEP back on Aug. 27.

Now, after four non-conference games, the remainder of the schedule is against conference foes and the Mean Green have now won six straight games against Conference USA teams.

"We're 1-0 this year and have won six straight C-USA games," Aune said. "We're confident we're a great football team and we believe can finish the rest of the year on a high note and keep playing our football and the results should show."

Last year, the Mean Green won their final five conference games after an identity shift to a power running team. This year, Aune is fifth in the nation in passing yards and the team has been more balanced.

"It's not so much a shift, but we're more comfortable and everyone is on the same page with what we're looking for," Littrell said. "There's no doubt in my mind we have to have a certain physicality to win a game and the run game is a part of that and we have to run the ball to have success, but last week (against Memphis) there weren't many good run plays with seven, eight or nine guys in the box. You have to be able to make plays on the perimeter and pitch and catch the ball. We made some plays which will only build confidence. We're gonna need that because we can't allow people to load up the box on us like that."

Horton providing new wrinkles
When Kaylon Horton arrived on campus the week of the season opener and approached UNT's coaches about joining the football team, no one was real sure what he would add to the team.

It didn't take long for the speedster from Tarleton State to make an impact on the team when he returned a kickoff for a touchdown against UNLV two weeks ago. Against Memphis last week, he had a 24-yard reception and scored a rushing touchdown to give him five touchdowns in his college career – two kickoff returns, a punt return, a touchdown reception and the touchdown run.

"I didn't know he was coming here until he came," Littrell said. "He graduated and wanted to come to North Texas and asked if he could be a part of the team, and we're fortunate he did."

To say he's added a new wrinkle to the Mean Green is an understatement, and his role could still be growing.

"He's a little spark for us," Aune said. "He's been really good in the kicking game, obviously, so we decided to mix him in the offense and he a great job last game. We'll continue to work him and throw to him a few more times. He's definitely a great athlete and can really run, so we'll try to get him the ball.

"He's got great vision and speed and elusiveness, so when you have a guy like that you want to get him the ball and get some explosive plays here and there."

Not far away
Littrell is convinced his team is just a handful of plays away from possibly being 4-1 instead of 2-3 overall, as is the case for many teams.

Three or four plays a game can decide a winner, and the Mean Green had a few of those crucial mistakes in last week's loss at Memphis, most glaringly two interceptions Memphis returned for touchdowns.

But it isn't always the big mistakes that make a difference, he said.

"It's the little mistakes that add on together and stack on top of each other," Littrell said. "They're little but they become big. We have a good football team and a very talented football team that can win games, but at the same time it still takes execution and it's not just about effort and energy."

Junior linebacker Mazin Richards said last week's defensive performance against Memphis was one that will give his unit confidence moving forward.

UNT tallied three quarterback sacks, multiple pass breakups and held Memphis to 2-for-12 on third down and stopped the Tigers on their one fourth-down attempt.

"It was great to see that," said Richards, who is tied for fifth on the team in tackles and leads the team with two sacks. "At UNLV, we didn't do good. That showed up and was apparent. We missed some big-time plays but it was good to bounce back. We had sacks, TFLs, DBs getting pass breakups. It was a good thing for the team.

"UNLV was a gut punch giving up that many points. Going against Memphis, we put it together and just scratched the surface of what we're capable of as a team."

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kaylon Horton

Mazin Richards

Upcoming Events