Newcomers highlight first scrimmage

MeanGreen61 · August 21, 2005

Football: Warming Up

Newcomers highlight North Texas’ first scrimmage

08:55 AM CDT on Sunday, August 21, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

The North Texas football team unveiled what amounts to nearly an entirely new defensive lineup on Saturday during its first scrimmage of fall practice.

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North Texas wide receiver Joel Nwigwe (31) catches a pass whie being defended by defensive back Ja’Mel Branch during a scrimmage on Saturday at the C. H. Collins Athletic Complex.

By the end of the morning, that lineup looked more promising than it had just a few hours before.

UNT’s defense bounced back from a rough start to hold its counterparts on offense scoreless on six straight possessions in a controlled scrimmage at C.H. Collins Athletic Complex.

The Mean Green ran through a series of scenarios during the workout. The more situations UNT ran though, the more comfortable the defensive players became.

“Our defense came on after a little bit of slow start at the beginning of the scrimmage,” UNT coach Darrell Dickey said. “We had some guys grow up.”

UNT has worked all fall to introduce new players into its starting lineup on defense. The Mean Green were set to return four defensive starters this year, but linebacker Shawn Early was lost for the season due to a knee injury he suffered in spring practice.

Fellow starting linebacker Brandon Monroe has also missed most of fall practice with a pulled hamstring, leaving UNT with just two starters from last season back in its lineup.

That inexperience showed early on in the scrimmage when the offense scored on three of its first four possessions.

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North Texas running back Jamario Thomas (20) runs for yardage as linebacker Maurice Holman (41) tries to make the tackle during a scrimmage on Saturday.

Freshman quarterback Matt Phillips highlighted the run with a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Robert Harmon on the fourth offensive series of the scrimmage.

UNT’s defense turned the tide by shutting down the offense for extended stretches the rest of the morning.

“There is still a lot of learning to be done on both sides of the ball,” Dickey said. “You can tell who is relatively new. Our young guys are giving us great effort and are making a lot of progress. Some of them could help us this year.”

Several of those young players may contribute for the Mean Green this season both on defense and at quarterback, where the competition for the starting job continued during the scrimmage.

Phillips and redshirt freshman Daniel Meager split time with the first- and second-team offenses. Each had their moments when they thrived, but also struggled at times.

Meager hit wide receiver Ja’Mel Branch for a 65-yard touchdown. Phillips threw three touchdown passes, including a 40-yard strike to wide receiver Johnny Quinn.

“Both of those guys did good things,” Dickey said. “Daniel and Matt showed some things and Kellen Haynes also had a good scrimmage. We are happy with the way they are coming along.”

Meager began fall practice as the favorite to start for the Mean Green this season. Phillips, one of the last players UNT added to its recruiting class last season, has worked his way into position to compete for the starting job with a solid performance in practice.

Haynes is trying to join the mix for the starting job during his redshirt freshman season.

Meager and Phillips will continue to be among the players in that battle after solid performances in what Dickey described as a productive scrimmage for the entire team.

“I was pleased with effort, attitude and intensity we showed,” Dickey said. “We still have some guys who have a ways to go to play a game for four quarters at the level of play that we want them to, but they are making progress.”

Lineberry injured in workout

Senior offensive lineman Dylan Lineberry injured his neck midway through the scrimmage and was held out of the last part of practice. UNT coach Darrell Dickey said the injury was minor and would not prevent the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection from returning to practice with in the next few days.

Thomas named to Walter Camp watch list

UNT sophomore running back Jamario Thomas was named to the watch list for the Walter Camp Award this week.

The award is presented to the nation’s top college football player each season.

Thomas rushed for 1,801 yards last season and had six 200-yards games, an NCAA record for a freshman running back.

Ice by the truckload

The combination of the warm weather and an extended preseason practice schedule has the UNT football team going through ice at a rapid rate, just like all college football teams in the South.

As of Saturday, the Mean Green have gone through 58,800 pounds of Reddy Ice, which is delivered to the Mean Green Athletic Center throughout the week.

DeepGreen · August 21, 2005

As of Saturday, the Mean Green have gone through 58,800 pounds of Reddy Ice, which is delivered to the Mean Green Athletic Center throughout the week.
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That's over 29 tons of friggin' ice.

meangreenfreak · August 21, 2005

That's over 29 tons of friggin' ice.
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That's a lot of ice.

Danish42 · August 21, 2005

As of Saturday, the Mean Green have gone through 58,800 pounds of Reddy Ice, which is delivered to the Mean Green Athletic Center throughout the week.

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Reddy Ice just had an IPO last week

greenminer · August 21, 2005

I can't help but wonder how the defense will fair against the running backs of other teams as they get used to practicing against the likes of Thomas and Cobbs everyday.

-gm