DRC: UNT's offense shows progress in scrimmage

Brett Vito · April 1, 2017

DRC:

http://beta.dentonrc.com/sports/mean-green/2017/04/01/unts-offense-gains-confidence-scrimmage

SilverEagle · April 2, 2017

I'm a bit surprised that there haven't been any comments about this update.

Vito was correct, Saturday was basically the Kam Duhon (#27 on your program) show. I commented to the person sitting next to me yesterday that, this spring, I've seen more hungry walk-on WR's than I've seen in, well, I can't remember. And the hungriest seems to be Mr. Duhon. IMHO, this guy is working himself into the starting rotation by being the WR with great hands, and the WR willing to go over the middle and take a hit from a LB/Safety. To a slightly less extent, the same could be said for Braydon Watson (#39 on your program) and Dennis Smith (a sports announcers dream name...especially these days.....#84 on your program). ....as well as the ever present Mr Lawrence (#32) still doing his Kenny Buyers imitation.

And from the WR's willing to take the body shot, we go to the WR's who can deliver the long-ball- knockout-blow. With the first pass thrown in the scrimmage (from Mr. Shanbour) Tyler Wilson demonstrated his long ball threat with a 30-40yrd sideline catch. From there at least one TD catch went to our transfer from ND/TVCC, #9 on your program. On just about all of his catches, including the TD catch, he demonstrated his ability to turn a relatively short pass into a long play with his running/tackle-breaking ability. It's a very positive sign, but this is spring, and one wonders if that is great running ability or poor tackling. I say that because the next impressive catch-that-turns-into-a-tackle-breaking-touchdown-run comes from Will Boyd (#80 on your program). All total, a 30-40 yard play on his part. Mr. Bussey had some great catches out there. I didn't see our other transfer Quinetion Jackson (wearing a red jersey, but will wear #13 this fall) who made some good catches in previous practices. I suspect it's because, at this point, he can't take full contact.

TE's. This seems to be the spring of getting Mr. Chumley ready for his new role. He took what seemed like all of the TE plays. He continues to get better. He made a great catch about 15-20 yards down field with a DB hanging on him, but by time he hit the ground the DB had dislodged it. He made other good-to-great grabs, and demonstrated that he can get some yards after the catch. If things continue this way, we are pretty set in the TE category.

RB's. Naturally Mr. Wilson was not out there......nor was Mr. Wyche(#4 on your program). Like Mr. Duhon, Mr. Hosley (#46 on your program) is making a very strong bid to get into the RB rotation. He got a lot of the running plays and he turned a lot of them into pretty impressive tackle-breaking runs. He is quick and fast but @ 5'9" X 175 he is by no means a power back. But he is surprisingly strong in his runs. Let's put it this way, if you want to tackle Mr Hosley, you better take him all the way to the ground....and make absolutely sure his knee has touched.

Defense. Overall the DL is asserting itself in a way that we all hoped they would. Not as many wide open spaces allowed, although in the beginning of the scrimmage our young Mr. Pearson (#10 on your program) saw wide open spaces to his right, that was just too tempting to overlook, and then took off on a 50+ yard TD run. He's one of those runners that is not all that quick, but when he gets his momentum going he gets faster and faster. Shanbour also ripped off a 40+ yard designed run later in the scrimmage. Anyway, the RB's all had to really earn their yardage......and not much of it came against the first team.

Also of note. Just about every catch involved a DB being just right there or the WR having to wear the DB while they caught the ball. VERY AGGRESSIVE DB's.

Edited April 2, 2017 by SilverEagle

All About UNT · April 2, 2017

1 hour ago, SilverEagle said:

I'm a bit surprised that there haven't been any comments about this update.

That's cause we were waiting on you Silver!

UNT Fan 92 · April 2, 2017

Thank you for a great assessment of yesterday's scrimmage - I thought the offense looked much better yesterday as well vs the last scimmage . I'm looking forward to next weeks scimmage . We are much better on defense and offense vs last year .I continue to be impressed with our coaching staff .

Last year I predicted us to win about 5-6 games and be bowl eligible . I think we will win more next year if we can beat SMU and win all the games we are suppose to win . I'm betting we win 6 games and hopefully maybe a bowl game to give us 7 .

MGNation92 · April 2, 2017

4 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

Also of note. Just about every catch involved a DB being just right there or the WR having to wear the DB while they caught the ball. VERY AGGRESSIVE DB's.

You mean we're no longer employing the Skladany/Cosh 15 yard cushion on 3rd and 5? How nice

greenminer · April 2, 2017

A couple people suggested the offense looks head of the curve compared to last year. Would anyone else like to chime in and agree? I would be especially eager to hear from opinions to the contrary.

...updates on D are welcome too!