UNT Looking To Answer Questions At Scrimmage

MeanGreen61 · August 27, 2005

Football: UNT looking to answer questions at scrimmage

09:23 AM CDT on Saturday, August 27, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Over the course of the last three weeks, Daniel Meager and Matt Phillips have had their arms and their egos evaluated.

They have been prodded and pressured in practice.

None of those challenges has resulted in a separation that has led North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey to make a decision on which of his quarterbacks will start when the Mean Green take on LSU on Sept. 3 in Baton Rouge, La.

The competition is still open heading into a scrimmage at 8:30 a.m. today at Fouts Field. The workout could determine how the Mean Green answer a few questions heading into the season.

“There are still positions up for grabs,” Dickey said. “We have some guys who are doing well, but we are still trying to improve and evaluate guys. We are still trying to figure out ways to get our best 11 players on the field for every snap.”

Meager started fall practice as the favorite to win the starting job due in part to the year he spent with the Mean Green as a redshirt last season.

Phillips signed with UNT late and entered fall practice as a long shot to play during his freshman season.

The former San Angelo Lake View standout has quickly overcome those odds with a solid performance that has vaulted him past players with more experience. When UNT’s two-a-day practice schedule came to an end Friday, Phillips was still in the middle of the competition for the starting job.

Both Meager and Phillips had their first chance to play in UNT’s scrimmage last week and will look to build on their performance today.

“This will be a good opportunity for both of us to show what we have to offer,” Meager said. “I felt comfortable in our first scrimmage. I just have to get used to the speed of the game.”

While the quarterback spot is the most intriguing of the position battles still taking place, it is not the only competition still underway. The following is a list of several other key questions that Mean Green will try to answer today.

Will Cobbs or Thomas start?

Running backs Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas will both see significant playing time this season.

The question is who will start and how will carries be divided up? Cobbs has looked terrific throughout fall workouts and appears to be fully recovered from a knee injury that cut his 2004 season short after two games.

Thomas has also played well, but has missed time with a hamstring injury.

UNT’s coaches will get a better idea of how they will use both players against LSU after seeing them play today.

Who starts at safety?

UNT has a long history of featuring some of the best — not to mention hardest hitting —safeties in the Sun Belt Conference.

The departure of Jonas Buckles and Markeith Knowlton left both starting jobs up for grabs. Aaron Weathers has been impressive and is in position to claim a starting job in his first season with UNT after transferring from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.

Roderick Cotton entered fall practice listed as a starter, but has been challenged by several other players, including freshman Kartay Agbottah.

UNT’s new starters will have the advantage of playing with a pair of veteran players at cornerback in T.J. Covington and converted wide receiver Ja’Mel Branch.

“Our safeties have proved themselves all camp,” Covington said. “Aaron stepped up and Cotton will help us. We feel really good with them back there.”

How deep is the offensive line?

UNT is still trying to determine just how deep it is along its offensive line.

The Mean Green have several proven players, including guard Dylan Lineberry and tackle Joel Foster, who should start. Tackle Jeremy Brown and center Chad Rose have also shown potential.

The question UNT’s coaches want to answer is how many backups they feel comfortable turning to in case of injury or to spell starters.

Who is the next Andy Blount?

UNT will look at three or four players to rotate at tight end, which could help replace Andy Blount.

Blount was the Mean Green’s second-leading receiver last year with 427 yards and five touchdowns on 30 catches.

Beau Davidson and Robert Harmon entered the fall as UNT’s starters, but have been challenged by Northeastern Oklahoma A&M transfer Jimmy Chaney and freshman Charles Brown.

Dickey said UNT would like to rotate players at tight end throughout the season to take advantage of their strengths.

Chaney and Davidson are former offensive linemen who could help clear the way for UNT’s running game. Harmon has good size, while Brown could be a threat in the passing game.

Who will emerge on the defensive line?

UNT entered fall practice with the challenge of trying to replace four starters along its defensive line, including Adrian Awasom who is now with the New York Giants.

The Mean Green may not have a player of Awasom’s caliber this season. The change is one UNT plans to make up for with a host of players.

“We are going to be rolling guys there throughout the season as much as we ever have to keep them fresh,” Dickey said. “We have good players at each position who lack experience. We are going to try to grow them all up fast.”

UNT will look to see if another player with the ability to change the face of a game will emerge in the scrimmage or the first few weeks of the season.

Defensive end Willie Ransom is among the players with the potential to develop into UNT’s next elite lineman.

The former Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College standout is one of several players who will have a chance to make his case for a starting job today.

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

greensteve · August 27, 2005

Ransom has to want to play...al I've seen is him limping and going about half speed.

Mad Hatter · August 27, 2005

Do we know about TJ's academic status yet?

Travis · August 27, 2005

Mad Hatter... i dont know if TJ made the grade. As of this morning.. it looked like those who were wearing red jersey's were the scout team. If i am right... it appears that he fell shy of being elligible. But, i dont know.

H-towngreen · August 27, 2005

Why was he wearing a red jersey? If he is not eligible he would not be able to practice with the team at all.

H-towngreen · August 27, 2005

Why was he wearing a red jersey? If he is not eligible he would not be able to practice with the team at all.

Travis · August 27, 2005

I thought they could still practice with the team even if they didn't make the grade.

PlummMeanGreen · August 27, 2005

Mad Hatter... i dont know if TJ made the grade. As of this morning.. it looked like those who were wearing red jersey's were the scout team. If i am right... it appears that he fell shy of being elligible. But, i dont know.
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PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS FROM MY TRIP TO MEAN GREEN COUNTRY TODAY:

I saw Harry and Matt at New York Subway after the scrimmage and I think those guys will have some comments today on TJ Raymond. (Nice to have finally gotten to meet you, Matt).

QB Dan Meager still seems to be favoring his shoulder (normal player reaction) as he passed today and I have no idea when he will be at 100% full strength (and confidence) with that. Danny Meager is very, very accurate with short to mid-range passes, though, from what I saw this AM at the scimmage. I was impressed with the arm of true freshman Matt Phillips, too. As far as Sir Patrick "the Emerald Express" Cobbs and Super Jamario Thomas? What can you say about those 2 that hasn't been said already? They both had their long runs from scrimmage and Cobbs ran a kick-off back for a TD. Anyone else notice Cobbs seems to have not missed a step since his surgery? Could it be possible he has even gained a half-step?

BACK 2 BACK PRESS BOX BILLBOARD: The "Back 2 Back" billboard on the back of the Fouts press box is completly finished. It will be up 3 full weeks before our first home game so if approx. 50,000 commuters pass by that billboard daily, you can do the math to see how many will see it before the Tulsa U Golden Hurricane come to Denton on Septermber 17'th.

MORE FOOTBALL FODDER: I think with either QB's this Fall we see an instant replay of the 2002 season when RS frosh Andrew Smith took over from an injured Scott Hall. That a season when ex college QB's and now NT coaches Darrell Dickey and Ramon Flanagan very closely monitored Drew's acitivities during the course of that bowl winning season. These 2 NT coaches will not ask our 2 QB's to do anything that would in any form or fashion shake either's confidence as to make them ineffective. Now the NT QB who can make some plays will probably get more playing time as it would be on any team, but for some reason I think we see 2 QB's used quite a bit for the 2005 football season. As it is, I believe we all know who will take the bulk of the Mean Green offense this Fall.

Sat by posters Buff64 and Gray Eagle in the area of my season tickets (Lower Section E) and enjoyed my visit with both. Buff64 was a West Texas State ex football player who played for Coach Joe Kerbel back in the day AND has really become a great Mean Green fan. We both were remininscing back to the era when NT and WT were regulars on each others football schedules. Nice to have met you this morning at Fouts Field, Buff64.

I really like the look of the new turf at Fouts as all of you will. Long time super MG fan Gray Eagle who has seen NT football even before Fouts was built pointed out to me the missing crown on our football field and I thought that was pretty cool and figure that will be a plus for both players and fans alike.

Gray Eagle and I later went over to the NT Ticket Office where Gabe Kirkpatrick was working on his Saturday off getting season tickets ready to mail out. Gray and I both bought the new 2005 football media guide and it is quite impressive. It costs $15 this year but is worth every penny of it. If you've never owned an NT football media guide, it is a great encyclopedia (remember those?) of NT football from the beginning at the turn of last century.

This morning at Fouts Field was very hot, muggy and steamy and Coach Dickey (very wisely IMO) cut the practice shorter than last weeks marathon.

BACK TO GRAY EAGLE: After the scrimmage, Jack "Gray Eagle" Fincher of Rowlett, Texas, took me over to the new Athletic Center as it was my first opportunity to get to see all of its interior. LISTEN TO ME NOW FELLOW MEAN GREEN FANS (and future NT recruits) This personal guided tour of the A/C facility just completely blew my socks off! I've even heard a certain ex NT football player who was an NFL All Pro offensive lineman just last season said NT's facilities were better than some in the NFL. FWIW, it is quite a facility that gives all of us even more reasons to be: Mean Green & Proud Of It! (Any of you still have one of those old buttons)?

While on the tour, Gray Eagle then took me outside the Athletic Center walking downward to the veranda of our future end zone facility and people please hear me out again, I just cannot tell you the complete raw emotion and goose bumps I felt (as I'd bet many of you did or will) walking on this enormous exterior part of the A/C knowing what will soon be attached to it. The A/C's veranda facing northward will easily hold 500-750 donors or guests (maybe even 1,000).

As Gray Eagle and I continued our walk across the veranda gazing northward over the land which used to be the UNT Golf Course, you can only imagine our new 35-40,000 (forget the 32K we all read in the enormous DMN article today on UNT Athletics--a source told me they will never build it that small); anyway, as we 2 NT alums looked northward to see the lay of the land, one could not help to just let the creative and imagination juices run wild to realize the unbelievably bright future that lay ahead for all of us in the NORTH TEXAS constituency.

We can also appreciate the fact that we have an NT Administration, an NT Board of Regents, AD Rick Villarreal & staff who are turning what seemed to always be "future talk" at our alma mater into "now talk" at: The University of North Texas.

GMG!

7,000 posts here I come!

Edited August 27, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen