MGB: Saturday scrimmage notes

Brett Vito · April 9, 2016

MGB: UNT's defense dominated throughout

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2016/04/saturday-scrimmage-notes-4.html/

And some wrap-up thoughts

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2016/04/five-wrap-up-thoughts-on-unts-scrimmage.html/

Edited April 10, 2016 by Brett Vito

jtm0097 · April 9, 2016

Well at least the defense finally stopped someone.

FirefightnRick · April 9, 2016

The story of the day was UNT’s defense, which dominated throughout

And this is the exact bit of good news we want to hear out of camp....that the defense is dominating. Hope I hear more of this through spring and then through the fall.

Rick

Mean Green 93-98 · April 9, 2016

Makes me a little nervous about the O-line. If they can't protect the pocket, it will be a long season.

UNTLifer · April 9, 2016

@Harry or @SilverEagle or anyone else attend that has some thoughts or observations?

Wag Tag · April 9, 2016

1 hour ago, Brett Vito said:

MGB: UNT's defense dominated throughout

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2016/04/saturday-scrimmage-notes-4.html/

Sweet about Wheeler! He has great size for s little hybrid action!

GOMG2013 · April 9, 2016

47 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

And this is the exact bit of good news we want to hear out of camp....that the defense is dominating. Hope I hear more of this through spring and then through the fall.

Rick

I agree. They brought back the most starters and experience. You add Buyers back and are also plugging in English, the defense should be ahead of the offense right now. The tighter coverage, the unpredictability, and the blitzing should be a step ahead of a new offense and new starters.

Ben Gooding · April 9, 2016

This doesn't sit well with for the OL. We have at best an average DL in terms of CUSA. If they are collapsing the pocket then above average DL's when shred the pocket.

Oh and Brett, save your opinion for yourself. This does not hurt UNT. The ruling helps UNT. We need to recruit local and local kids are going to come to UNT camps. If anything, this keeps our peers away from us and out of our back yard. The bluebloods are going to get whoever they want if they want them bad enough. That's an irrelevant variable to all of this. Louisiana Tech will have to get DFW kids to drive to Ruston for one of their camps. These same DFW kids have one of La Tech's competitors right up the road in Denton. A lot of kids don't have the luxury of taking the 4.5 hour trip over into Louisiana for a camp. They can hitch a ride with a friend up to Denton. This does nothing but help us. It helps, only if a little, keep DFW G5 talent in DFW.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Ben Gooding

TreeFiddy · April 9, 2016

OL, especially the outside guys, may struggle all spring until they get comfortable with all the changes.

GrayEagle · April 9, 2016

I believe that part of the line's problems was due to the absence of Kaydon Kirby. I don't believe that either Rice or Henson did much (if any) snaps last year. Henson has supposedly played center, guard, and tackle in the past; not sure if Rice has. So, a few off-target snaps were to be expected. Mostly, Dilonga seemed to be giving the first team quarterback fits.

Kudos to the secondary for the coverage this morning. There was no more laying ten yards off of the receiver and the results showed. Davis, Minor, whoever #40 was (Brooks?), were especially effective covering the receivers. Morris, Shanbour, and Means had some good throws that were just well-defended by the secondary.

One thing that caught my attention also was that after the scrimmage Harrell had the offense running wind sprints and ran offensive plays long after the defense had left the field. I presume that this was because the defense dominated them.

SilverEagle · April 9, 2016

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

@Harry or @SilverEagle or anyone else attend that has some thoughts or observations?

Well, the defense did dominate. But defenses always do for the earlier part of spring and fall camps. Lots of drops from WR's getting hit. Not that hard mind you, but they got hit immediately after the ball arrived. So the coverage was good and it appeared that the DB were not giving the WR's a cushion. Minor continues to be around the ball a lot and almost got an INT on one occasion.

More pressure on the QB's this week than last. Morris did have to throw away two or three because he was about to get sacked. On a couple of other occasions he scrambled a little but nothing spectacular. Shanbour took the team in a couple of times for a score, one drive from about 50 yrds out. He got off a nice 20 yard run when he saw a lot of empty space to his right. He appears to be pretty fast.

On goal line offense they concentrated on runs up the middle and corner fade routes. They mostly try to throw to the tall WR's (Goree, Rutherford, Bendy).

T. Thompson (11) seems the most "comfortable" in taking a pass over the middle and taking a hit. Prather (27) made a good catch over the middle as well.

Ivory continues to look good running the ball, but he gets more "business" in the passing game. And he continues to go long a lot.

They are giving Porter more work this week. He took at least one in on the goal line. He too is pretty involved in the passing game. He has good hands.

greenminer · April 9, 2016

Basically, I want to know if Ivory is going to get lots of touches this season.

Wag Tag · April 9, 2016

48 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

This doesn't sit well with for the OL. We have at best an average DL in terms of CUSA. If they are collapsing the pocket then above average DL's when shred the pocket.

Oh and Brett, save your opinion for yourself. This does not hurt UNT. The ruling helps UNT. We need to recruit local and local kids are going to come to UNT camps. If anything, this keeps our peers away from us and out of our back yard. The bluebloods are going to get whoever they want if they want them bad enough. That's an irrelevant variable to all of this. Louisiana Tech will have to get DFW kids to drive to Ruston for one of their camps. These same DFW kids have one of La Tech's competitors right up the road in Denton. A lot of kids don't have the luxury of taking the 4.5 hour trip over into Louisiana for a camp. They can hitch a ride with a friend up to Denton. This does nothing but help us. It helps, only if a little, keep DFW G5 talent in DFW.

Remember the OL is running w wide spread or gap. I am sure non of these have had any experience with such a formation. They could have the biggest adjustment of any position.

UNT Fan 92 · April 9, 2016

The defense look good today---I agree with SilverEagle that it is early Spring and the Offense will get better. However , I really like what we are doing on defense---tight coverage , blitzing from all angles, being physical and aggressive--- Hats off to the defensive coaches.

UNTLifer · April 10, 2016

Thanks Silver. I agree UNT Fan 92, I like what I am hearing about the defense. Historically since the late 70's, we may not consistently win but we always had a defense that would slap their own momma. Outside of the Dodge years and last, this has been consistent and something I love to watch. My one fear with the hiring of Littrell wasthat the D might get ignored to some degree, and I am thankful this does not appear to be the case.

SilverEagle · April 10, 2016

3 hours ago, greenminer said:

Basically, I want to know if Ivory is going to get lots of touches this season.

Well, if spring practice is any indication. Your wish might be granted.

North Texas Shep · April 10, 2016

I always expect the defense to be stronger in spring ball (most know that is the norm). The offense looked better organized today. Not sure why the first string line could not handle there assignments, but hopefully they can change that quickly. The dropped balls are unacceptable. I believe these coaches will address both issues (or already have) , and these players learn from today. Still better than anything I saw last spring or last season.

GrayEagle · April 10, 2016

6 hours ago, greenminer said:

Basically, I want to know if Ivory is going to get lots of touches this season.

Unfortunately, no is the probable answer unless he gets a role as a receiver. I think that could happen unless other receivers develop. Ivery is a terrific running back but the majority of the carries will go to Jeffrey Wilson. In addition Nic Smith might also get some carries because he is such a talent. However with Ivery's speed he can get downfield fast and has good hands and great yards after catch moves. Personally, I'd like to see him take on both roles. He could be a nightmare for opposing defenses.

SilverEagle · April 10, 2016

10 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

Thanks Silver. I agree UNT Fan 92, I like what I am hearing about the defense. Historically since the late 70's, we may not consistently win but we always had a defense that would slap their own momma. Outside of the Dodge years and last, this has been consistent and something I love to watch. My one fear with the hiring of Littrell wasthat the D might get ignored to some degree, and I am thankful this does not appear to be the case.

.............and as EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW, that started with the 1966 North Texas defense, who earned the (now famous) nickname THE MEAN GREEN. Then along came Hayden Fry in 1973 and decided that the whole team, not just the defense, should carry that nickname.....along with the Mascot name EAGLES.

One of the best examples of a "slap yo mamma" defense was the 1986 version that caused 9 fumbles in their game against TCU.

southsideguy · April 10, 2016

it is like mean jo says put the mean back into the green!

UNTLifer · April 11, 2016

On ‎4‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 7:33 AM, SilverEagle said:

.............and as EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW, that started with the 1966 North Texas defense, who earned the (now famous) nickname THE MEAN GREEN. Then along came Hayden Fry in 1973 and decided that the whole team, not just the defense, should carry that nickname.....along with the Mascot name EAGLES.

One of the best examples of a "slap yo mamma" defense was the 1986 version that caused 9 fumbles in their game against TCU.

Very true. I should have gone back to the mid 60's, but I didn't want to show my age! Either way, we have always had defenses, regardless of size, that were known for being hard hitting and tough. The UNT/Navy game during the Dodge era was a whipping to suffer through.