Austin

Aune

Without researching to confirm this, Aune (6'2/216) is one of the oldest players in college football, if not the oldest, bringing up nostalgic feelings for those who long to once again cheer for a Brandon Weeden-like player. Last season, Aune started nine games for the Mean Green, completing 51.2% of his passes on the season while throwing for 1,988 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. North Texas’ offense largely ran through its rushing attack and solid defense in 2021, but perhaps with another season under his belt, Aune will be ready to string together a more efficient season in 2022.

Aune (6'2/216) and the Mean Green were set for an uphill battle heading into this game when it was announced that lead running back DeAndre Torrey would be out with an undisclosed injury. Torrey and the Mean Green rushing attack had become a staple for North Texas’ offense over the last five weeks as they reeled off five straight wins just to become bowl eligible following a 1-6 start. Unfortunately for Aune and North Texas, the absence of Torrey ended up proving to be too much, as he was tasked with throwing 32 times on the evening which resulted in two interceptions, including one in the red zone as North Texas was looking to score a touchdown before halftime. Aune did manage to find the end zone on a rushing touchdown in the second quarter to give North Texas a an early 14-10 lead, but the Mean Green would be shutout in the second half before ultimately falling to 6-7 to close out its season.

Aune (6'2/216) didn’t throw a touchdown in this one, and was used as needed in Saturday’s upset win over UTSA. Aune has attempted just 29 passes in UNT’s last two games, completing 16 of them for two touchdowns and no interceptions. With that being said, North Texas completed what most would have thought was improbable a month ago, becoming bowl eligible after reeling off five straight wins to get to win number six today vs. UTSA. The Mean Green are officially bowl eligible and will wait to see who they play in the coming weeks.

Tough to beat a 36 yards per completion. Aune didn’t have to throw the ball much with North Texas able to do whatever they wanted on the ground (370 yards rushing, five touchdowns), but he was able to add to the fun with the pair of throwing scores and added a rushing touchdown of his own. Aune’s accuracy leaves a lot to be desired, but the 6-foot-2, 216-pound former baseball prospect oozes athleticism, and he’s been playing better as of late. North Texas moves to 5-6, and an upset of UTSA on Saturday would qualify the Mean Green for a bowl.

Aune (6'2/216) and the Mean Green have begun to get things together as they now have three straight wins after losing six straight. Aune has played much better lately, mainly because he’s been able to keep the turnovers to a minimum. He struggled in the passing game for most, completing just 45% of his passes, but he had flashes of brilliance, which helped them in the end. He called his own number when he ran in for the one-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, and then he showed off that arm with a 25-yard touchdown to Roderic Burns. The big moment came when he led the game-winning drive for the Mean Green, including a 58-yard pass to Detraveon Brown to set up the game-winning field goal. North Texas (4-6, C-USA 3-3) will try to keep this momentum going when they travel to take on Florida International next Saturday.

Aune (6'2/216) had a solid first drive for the Mean Green that unfortunately ended in a turnover on downs. He looked comfortable and was delivering the football with confidence. Unfortunately, he threw two incompletions on the last two plays of the drive. On the second drive of the game, he threw what felt like a devastating pick-six to Jay Stanley. After that, he settled down and played a pretty conservative intermediate game and the Mean Green’s two-headed monster in the backfield took over. North Texas takes on UTEP next Saturday.

Aune (6'2/216) was pedestrian through the air but did add four carries for 47 yards. Even with his average day, he came up big when it mattered at the end of the game. Aune led a nine-play, 65-yard drive to score the go-ahead touchdown with just 2:03 left in the fourth quarter. Once the game got to overtime, Aune was quick to get the drive going with a 10 yard run on the first snap for the Mean Green. This was a big win for Aune and North Texas as they snap a six-game losing streak. North Texas faces Southern Miss next Saturday.

Early on, it looked like Aune (6'2/216) and then Mean Green were going to pull off the upset, as they got out to an early lead, and entered halftime up 20-14. Aune started this game with an interception on North Texas’ first possession of the day, and connected with tight end Jason Pirtle on a six yard touchdown in the third quarter to put the Mean Green up 26-14 over Liberty. Aune was unable to rally North Texas late after falling behind to Liberty 28-26. Liberty would eventually take a 35-26 lead late in the fourth quarter that North Texas was able to come back from. Now sitting at 1-6 on the season, North Texas will look to break its six game losing streak next Saturday at Rice.

Aune (6'2/216) struggled throughout this game, as has been the theme for the season for both him and the Mean Green. While a garbage time fourth quarter saved Aune in the box score in a Week 6 loss to Missouri, that would not be the case in this one. Aune failed to throw for a touchdown, completed only 51.6% of his passes and was sacked twice, including one sack where he fell un-touched while scrambling. The Mean Green will look to break its five game skid next week against Liberty.

Aune (6'2/216) didn’t get things going until the fourth quarter, when the Mean Green was down 41-14. In what looked like a magical quarter for Aune, he threw touchdowns of 22, 52 and 77 yards to make what appeared to be garbage time, an interesting game late. He got North Texas within 13 points after his final touchdown, a 77-yard pass to Damon Ward got the Mean Green on the board yet again with 3:47 left in the game. It was a much better day for Aune, who had entered the game with just 144 passing yards and two touchdowns over his previous two games. Now he and the Mean Green will look to build on this high-scoring rally in Week 7 against Marshall.