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Head coach Seth Littrell and selected players spoke with the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, their seven-game conference winning streak, what they learned from the bye week and some of the familiar faces that await them on the field come Saturday.
Make it eight
Dating back to last season, the Mean Green have now won seven straight Conference USA games, including the first two of this season. That streak is the fourth-longest active conference winning streak in the FBS.
Now the third game awaits as the team looks to go 3-0 with its eighth straight conference win over a league foe.
When asked what allowed the team to have this success against conference opponents, all pointed to a week-to-week mentality of focusing on a 1-0 performance every week — nothing more.
“Just taking it one week at a time is the key,” Littrell said. “I feel like there are a lot of great teams in our conference. Week in and week out, anybody can beat anybody. It comes down to execution and preparation. Down the line, we’ve set the right path and we’re going to stick with these games and play exciting football as we find who we are. We’re going to continue to work on that.” “It’s not about the last seven, it’s about this week.”
Second defensive back Logan Wilson He redshirted last season but was still a part of the team’s five-game conference winning streak last year. He said a big part of the success, especially the defensive success, was the players who played in two conferences this year, UTEP and FAU.
“Coaches are putting us in the right positions to make plays,” Wilson said. “We have to go out there and make plays. We all know football. We have to go out there and make plays.”
The big difference this year compared to last year was after the team stumbled in the second half of last season with a win or come home and no wiggle room at the beginning of the season if they wanted to, a bowl appearance.
This year, the team is in the thick of the competition with sights set on the C-USA Championship Game.
“We’re competing,” Wilson said. “We know we have a chance to be in the championship game. We know we can do it. We know we’re going to be in a bowl game. We just have to play.”
High defensive back Sean-Thomas Faulkner He remembers the beginning of the season well as his match against Rice was the first start of his life and started his journey to success.
“We were in game mode the whole time,” he said. “We fought and rallied and came back. We’re in a place where we have a chip on our shoulder this year. We’ve got something to prove. We’ll always have that chip, but it’s a different mindset because it feels like it. We’re in the pack and we’re not knocking from behind.”
It is refilled and ready.
After playing in a zero game week and consequently starting fall workouts earlier than most programs in the country, UNT grinds out six weeks without a break.
That changed last week, as the team had its first bye week and had a chance to not only get fresh and healthy, but to work on things.
“It was good,” Littrell said. “The players responded well and we had a good week of preparation at LA Tech and we got our bodies back and guys fresh. There’s a good line. We’ve done a lot of self-checking and maintenance and we’ve improved but we’ve stayed fresh. To be a mature football team to do it right, and we had a good week.”
Aune is cementing himself as one of the program’s greats at QB.
Junior quarterback Austin A He is climbing the list of the program’s all-time great quarterbacks and is putting up some big numbers nationally this season.
Awn ranks ninth nationally in passing yards (15) and passing yards (15.11) this season, and is seventh in program history in career passing yards, as well as several other categories.
After starting a handful of games in his first two years with the program, he entered this season as the unquestioned starter under center and has become more comfortable in his role, as well as carrying the tools in 2021 after an injury-plagued season.
“The more you play and the more different looks you get, the more confident you get and the slower the game gets,” Awn said. “I’m not trying to be Superman, I’m just trying to make the right read and get the ball to our guys and execute.
“I’m trying to execute every game. I hate to say that because I say it over and over, but that’s all I try to do. When all 11 guys do their job, the stats come. Praise when things go well and the stats are up. I don’t worry about the stats. The stats come in a great game and Great performance to come.
Coaches Aun has a relationship with the new La Tech coach.
First-year Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie will be a familiar face to a few in the UNT program as they watch from the sidelines at Apogee Stadium on Saturday.
After Littrell was hired by the Red Raiders, he was the starting quarterback at Texas Tech in 2004, where he attended the Holiday Bowl and Cumbie beat Aaron Rodgers and No. 4 Calo. Cumby was then hired as an assistant coach at Texas Tech in 2009 during a recruiting cycle that saw Littrell move to Arizona.
Cumbie and UNT associate head coach/offensive coordinator Tommy Main They were on staff together in Lubbock from 2010-2012 before Mainord left for Kentucky.
The relationship isn’t just with the coaches.
When Aun was in high school at Argyle, Cumby was recruiting him to Texas Tech and developed a good relationship with him before eventually signing with TCU.
When Aun ended his baseball career and decided to give football another try, TCU was naturally at the top of his list, and Cumby, who was on staff at Fort Worth at the time, gave him room to step up.
Aun said he was looking forward to playing against the Kumba team on Saturday and was looking forward to reaching him after the game.
“I don’t know him personally, but he hired me and we had a great relationship,” he said. “He’s a great guy and a great coach. I’m happy to play with him.”
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