A look at North Texas records set by Mason Fine and what’s to come

Even though North Texas quarterback Mason Fine says he doesn’t care about individual statistics, and honestly seems like he really doesn’t, Fine has made a career of inflating stats and breaking records.

The big numbers started at Locust Grove High School, where Fine took control of every major passing mark in the Oklahoma preps record book. That trend just continued when he got to UNT, including becoming the Mean Green’s all-time leader in completions Saturday in a win against Southern Miss.

Fine, a junior, ended the game with 653 career completions. Fine’s 32-yard pass to Jalen Guyton in the second quarter against Southern Miss put him over Mitch Maher’s previous top mark of 640, set in 1994. Fine started the season at No. 6 on the list with 479 career completions.

“We’ve just been throwing the ball a lot these past three years,” Fine said. “It’s just the type of offense we’re gonna have. For us to be successful, we gotta have a high completion percentage, and we’re gonna throw the ball around and spread it to our play-makers. That’s all it comes down to.”

Career completions isn’t the only list Fine sits atop of seven games into his junior campaign. He entered this season with a UNT-best 133.88 career passing efficiency percentage. Fine was also at least in the top 10 in all five major career passing statistics, including attempts, completions, efficiency, touchdowns and yards, after a stellar sophomore year in which he set the Mean Green’s mark for most passing touchdowns (31), yards (4,052) and completed passes (324) in a season.

With no sign of leaving UNT early, Fine still has at least 18 games left with the Mean Green, meaning he could very likely hold every UNT career passing record before he graduates next year. He already has the most completions and the best passing efficiency, leaving the only three major passing records for Fine to beat as career passing yards, touchdowns and attempts.

Fine has the second-most career passing yards with 7,834, only 685 yards behind Maher’s 8,519. Fine’s 1,053 passing attempts is third, with Maher’s 1,149 at the top.

Fine’s biggest gap is in career passing touchdowns, which he has 53 of, putting him at No. 3 on the list. Steve Ramsey tops that statistic with 69, set between 1967-69.

“I’m just gonna make sure I’m the most prepared and the most hard working,” Fine said earlier this season. “I think all the numbers will take care of themselves. I’m gonna listen to what the coaches are doing, execute the game plan and make routine plays. Everything else will play out. That’s really what I’ve done. I’m just more focused on myself, and all the accolades and statistics will just work out, so I’m not really worried about that stuff right now.”