Graves Time To Shine

MeanGreen61 · August 13, 2005

Football: Graves’ time to shine at UNT

With injury, junior LB will be counted on even more

08:43 AM CDT on Saturday, August 13, 2005

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Phillip Graves

North Texas junior Phillip Graves appeared to be headed for a season in which the status quo would hold for one of the few times in his career.

Graves wouldn’t have to change positions or switch from offense to defense like he did earlier in his career.

He settled in at linebacker in 2004 and was set to share time with Shawn Early at outside linebacker for a second straight year. The former Hutto standout will still play linebacker this season, but the idea of splitting time with Early appears to have come to an end.

UNT head coach Darrell Dickey confirmed earlier this week that Early will not be able to recover from a knee injury he suffered in spring practice in time to play in the 2005 season.

Early could have tried to push himself to get ready in time for the last few games of the year, but UNT’s coaches would rather see him spend the upcoming season as a redshirt and fully recover before returning for his senior year in 2006.

“I have some big shoes to fill, but I will be able to handle it,” Graves said. “I am more mentally prepared this year. Going through spring practice helped.”

Graves finished with 50 tackles and intercepted a pair of passes last season. Early posted 60 tackles to complete an effective rotation on the edge of the Mean Green’s defense.

Graves’ performance last season represented a dramatic jump from his freshman season when he finished with eight tackles. UNT’s coaches are hoping he can improve his performance on defense again this season while maintaining his high level of play on special teams.

Graves has used the speed that helped him rush for more than 2,000 yards as a senior in high school to become one of the Mean Green’s top special teams players. He excelled on kickoff and punt coverage teams last season.

“I played special teams all last year and am in good enough condition to do that and start on defense this year,” Graves said. “Markieth Knowlton played defense and covered kicks last season.”

The chore is one that will be even more demanding after the Mean Green lost Early. The challenge is one Graves believes he is ready to meet, although he would rather have Early on hand to bolster the defense.

UNT was left with just three returning starters on defense after Early was unable to recover from his injury in time to play this season.

“Shawn and I came in the same season, stayed in the same dorm and became part of a family,” Graves said. “It’s good to know that he will still be around. We will have him back next year, that’s for sure.”

Flanigan: UNT QBs capable, but raw

The UNT football team’s coaches saw all of their young quarterbacks on the field with the Mean Green’s veteran receivers and defensive backs for the first time Friday with mixed results.

Redshirt freshman Daniel Meager and freshmen Matt Phillips and Steve Warren struggled, but also showed promise.

“They looked like it was the first day,” UNT offensive coordinator Ramon Flanigan said. “We have a lot of work to do, but there is a lot of talent out there. We have to get them to learn the offense and their role in it.”

UNT is looking for a replacement for Scott Hall, who graduated after last season. The Mean Green do not have a player on the roster who has taken a snap in a college game.

Bazaldua included on Groza watch list

UNT senior kicker Nick Bazaldua was one of 30 players named to the watch list for the Lou Groza award, which is presented to the top kicker in college football each season.

Bazaldua was a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection last season when he ranked first among kickers and second among all players in the league in scoring with an average of 7.5 points a game.

Bazaldua made 14-of-18 field goal attempts and all but one of his 38 extra point tries. He made his final 10 field goal attempts of the regular season and connected on a 51-yard attempt in a win over New Mexico State.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

PlummMeanGreen · August 13, 2005

And Patrick Cobbs proved to be a good example of how a medical redshirt off year can be a positive experience. It was encouraging to see Cobbs on the sidelines being a student coach last Fall.