Hall of Fame
Mooney is best known for his forced fumble and return for a touchdown that helped North Dakota end a 12-game losing streak to North Dakota State, thus beginning the shifting of balance of power in NCAA Division II and the North Central Conference. With the lead and the ball, NDSU seemed primed to make it 13 straight wins in that 1993 game at Memorial Stadium until Mooney's fourth-quarter touchdown put UND in the lead for good and the goalposts came down on one of the most memorable games in the rivalry' history. Known as "the Mooney Game", that win would be the first of a stretch that saw UND win 11 of the final 13 meetings with NDSU in their Division II rivalry.
Mooney was a two-time All-NCC (1993, 1994) selection and a co-captain of the 1994 squad. He was a Third Team Football Gazette All-America honoree as a junior and added All-America honors from three different organizations as a senior (1994).
His 137 total tackles currently ranks third in the UND record books for single-season stops. He totaled 172 assisted tackles for his career, which ranks seventh in the UND annals. He owns the fifth-most postseason tackles for a North Dakota player (48), tallying 30 of those in the 1994 postseason alone, tied for third-most in a single postseason.
