Tear Down This Wall
4/17/2007, 04:52 PM
...against UNT's imitation defense. UNT DL is tiny and they whipped the UNT OL. September 2nd is going to be really, really ugly for the Mean Green.
And, that's okay with me. Todd Dodge knows that Keith Stanberry intercepted him at the end of the 1984 OU-Texas game. It'll be nice to get some measure of revenge 23 years later.
Punks.
Mean Green defense shines in scrimmage
Offense fails to score
11:40 PM CDT on Monday, April 16, 2007
By Brett Vito/Staff Writer
North Texas' defense turned the Mean Green's second scrimmage of spring practice into an example of a good news-bad news scenario Monday.
The good news was UNT's defense looked like it could develop into a special unit with big-play potential. The only problem was its performance came at the expense of the Mean Green's offense, which failed to reach the end zone in a scrimmage that lasted just more than 100 plays at Fouts Field.
The workout was scheduled to take place on Friday, but was pushed back due to inclement weather.
"Defensively I was really pleased," UNT head coach Todd Dodge said. "Our defensive ends and linebackers got their hands on a lot of balls today and that is just being a football player and getting in throwing lanes. Our secondary also broke well on the ball. The strength of our team is the number of returning players who have played a lot on defense."
Dodge was particularly pleased with the Mean Green's defensive front that kept UNT's quarterbacks on the run all day and forced bad throws that resulted in four interceptions. Dodge said after the workout that junior Daniel Meager has continued to be the most consistent of the Mean Green's quarterbacks and is leading in the race for the starting quarterback job.
"Our defense did a good job today of forcing us into long-yardage situations," Meager said. "We just never established anything. In an offense like this you have to stay on schedule. The offense does not work as well when you are in third-and-15 as when you are in second-and-4 or third-and-4 situations."
UNT scored just once on a 45-yard field goal from redshirt freshman Steven Woodward.
Sophomore defensive end Jonathan Stewart intercepted a tipped pass to kill one UNT drive, while fellow sophomore end Eddrick Gilmore seemed to spend most of his time on the field pressuring UNT's quarterbacks.
Gilmore tipped a Meager pass to force an incompletion and help kill another UNT drive.
One of the few offensive players to have a solid day for the Mean Green was senior running back Jamario Thomas. The former national rushing champion carried the ball just five times, but ripped off runs of 20 and 24 yards in the span of three plays.
UNT was unable to build on those runs because of a few key mistakes.
"We had too many unforced errors and put ourselves in too many first-and-15s and second-and-20s," Dodge said. "As far as pitching and catching, we didn't have our best day of being efficient. … Our defense is getting pretty good and they are going to make plays, but when we get the protection, get our feet set and get the ball on people we have to come down with the ball and be accurate with it."
And, that's okay with me. Todd Dodge knows that Keith Stanberry intercepted him at the end of the 1984 OU-Texas game. It'll be nice to get some measure of revenge 23 years later.
Punks.
Mean Green defense shines in scrimmage
Offense fails to score
11:40 PM CDT on Monday, April 16, 2007
By Brett Vito/Staff Writer
North Texas' defense turned the Mean Green's second scrimmage of spring practice into an example of a good news-bad news scenario Monday.
The good news was UNT's defense looked like it could develop into a special unit with big-play potential. The only problem was its performance came at the expense of the Mean Green's offense, which failed to reach the end zone in a scrimmage that lasted just more than 100 plays at Fouts Field.
The workout was scheduled to take place on Friday, but was pushed back due to inclement weather.
"Defensively I was really pleased," UNT head coach Todd Dodge said. "Our defensive ends and linebackers got their hands on a lot of balls today and that is just being a football player and getting in throwing lanes. Our secondary also broke well on the ball. The strength of our team is the number of returning players who have played a lot on defense."
Dodge was particularly pleased with the Mean Green's defensive front that kept UNT's quarterbacks on the run all day and forced bad throws that resulted in four interceptions. Dodge said after the workout that junior Daniel Meager has continued to be the most consistent of the Mean Green's quarterbacks and is leading in the race for the starting quarterback job.
"Our defense did a good job today of forcing us into long-yardage situations," Meager said. "We just never established anything. In an offense like this you have to stay on schedule. The offense does not work as well when you are in third-and-15 as when you are in second-and-4 or third-and-4 situations."
UNT scored just once on a 45-yard field goal from redshirt freshman Steven Woodward.
Sophomore defensive end Jonathan Stewart intercepted a tipped pass to kill one UNT drive, while fellow sophomore end Eddrick Gilmore seemed to spend most of his time on the field pressuring UNT's quarterbacks.
Gilmore tipped a Meager pass to force an incompletion and help kill another UNT drive.
One of the few offensive players to have a solid day for the Mean Green was senior running back Jamario Thomas. The former national rushing champion carried the ball just five times, but ripped off runs of 20 and 24 yards in the span of three plays.
UNT was unable to build on those runs because of a few key mistakes.
"We had too many unforced errors and put ourselves in too many first-and-15s and second-and-20s," Dodge said. "As far as pitching and catching, we didn't have our best day of being efficient. … Our defense is getting pretty good and they are going to make plays, but when we get the protection, get our feet set and get the ball on people we have to come down with the ball and be accurate with it."