DRC NT defense must improve

[OldTimer]

Russ Goodall: UNT defense must improve against Tulsa

09:21 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Russ Goodall

On Saturday night, the North Texas defense did exactly what it had to do — it kept Middle Tennessee from scoring when the chances presented themselves.

That’s a definite positive, but the way the Mean Green’s defense played, it also has some serious drawbacks.

It was your typical “bend but don’t break” style of defense. Middle Tennessee’s offense wore out the Mean Green between the 30s.

But in the red zone, UNT’s youth stepped up to the challenge and made plays.

Sophomore linebacker Maurice Holman’s interception deep in UNT territory, and subsequent return for a touchdown, was probably the biggest.

But the play of sophomore defensive back Aaron Weathers, who finished with 10 tackles and an interception, was big all night long for the Mean Green.

“We can do a little bit better job against the pass,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “We did a great job of defending them in our red zone, but they were able to move the ball on us.”

But that was against a Sun Belt Conference opponent.

This week UNT steps up to play a so-called stronger conference opponent in Tulsa.

The UNT defense won’t have the luxury of being able to rely on the big play in the red zone to keep the game close or turn the game around.

There will be no room for 39 assignment errors on defense, which Dickey said was the case against the Blue Raiders.

The Mean Green defense is going to have to come out early and establish itself. No more of that “bend but don’t break” philosophy.

It’s time to stop bending and make plays between the 30s.

Three-and-out is the recipe for success this week.

The most important ingredient in that recipe is pressure on Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith.

“This is a good protecting team we have coming in here,” Dickey said. “Their quarterback is an excellent player, so we are going to have to get some things corrected to be able to go out and slow them down.”

Middle Tennessee quarterback Clint Marks had all day to throw the football, and completed 21 passes for 195 yards. However, he made some crucial mistakes — three interceptions — at some very crucial times.

Don’t expect the same from Smith.

Smith completed 24 of 36 tosses for 246 yards against No. 22 Oklahoma, and has not thrown an interception this season.

Lets face facts: the Mean Green defenders are not as talented as the boys from Norman.

So pressure coming in the form of blitzes and different coverage packages would seem like the way to go against Smith. Confuse the sophomore if you can.

But wait, lets not forget about tight end Garrett Mills.

Mills has caught 18 passes for 190 yards in two games this season, including 13 catches for 152 yards against OU.

So the UNT linebackers — Derek Mendoza, Phillip Graves and Holman — will have their hands full keeping Mills and the Tulsa running backs in check.

This one is going to come down to the guys up front.

Dickey and the Mean Green need to see their defensive line grow up in a hurry.

“We played 10 guys up front, which is what we want to do,” Dickey said. “We can play defense better when we can get pressure on the passer with a four-man rush. We have got to do a better job of getting to the quarterback, or at least hurrying him or hitting him, tipping balls and things like that.”

While four start — Chris Miller, Sky Pruitt, Jeremiah Chapman and Eli Hutchinson — the other six will see plenty of action.

That can be good and bad.

The good is that fresh bodies will be rotating into the game for four quarters. The bad is that no one really gets into a rhythm.

Either way, the Mean Green defensive line, and the other seven players on the field, are going to need everyone to bring it on Saturday.

Consistent pressure on Smith, and UNT just might get one of those elusive non-conference victories everybody talks about.

But more important, it will be a 2-0 start to a season that has a long way to go.

RUSS GOODALL can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is rgoodall@dentonrc.com.

[BIG DAWG]

The good is that fresh bodies will be rotating into the game for four quarters. The bad is that no one really gets into a rhythm.

Getting into a rhythm for DL is not that important. Being able to keep fresh is HUGE in rushing the passer.

[MeanGreenBuzz]

If you watched the MUTS game, we improved on D-Line as the game went along. By the 4th quarter we were getting pretty good pressure on the QB. That could either be from the rotation and our D-Line being fresher or that they had settled in and were playing at a higher level. I think it was a combination of both and the Tulsa game will be the same way.

[Eagle1855]

There will be no room for 39 assignment errors on defense, which Dickey said was the case against the Blue Raiders.

←

never been a football coach so I dont know how often "assignment errors" occur, but that number seems pretty high. I assume it can largely be crdited to the first game of the season and youth on defense?

[Harry]

A couple of thoughts:

- OU may have talent but they don't have a QB that can complete a freaking pass! That's a real hindrance, and I don't care how talented you are. AT least MTSU can throw a down field pass now and then.

- I didn't recall that we used a TON of blitz packages against the MUTS so hopefully there are some fresh ones in the bag

- If we can run the ball then the bend don't break D might work. If the running is tough going then then we get exposed defensively.

- The defensive ends will have to keep Tulsa honest both in their passing game and around the corners against the rush. If we can get a couple of early sacks from the dends it would be huge!

[pollock]

Last year the "Bend but Don't Break" defense sucked because we couldn't tackle an old lady in a phone booth. If the MTSU game is any indication though, we have apparently learned to tackle, so maybe it will work this year.

[H-towngreen]

I've said it all week so far and I'll keep saying it till gametime. We need to stop Mills the TE. They have no running game and other then Mills not much of a passing game. Ball control offense, Meager puts the ball in the air about 14-17 times. With the O on the field the D is off. We need our LBs to step up to cover Mills, biggest matchup of the game.

[Harry]

I can't take credit for this idea but how about shadowing Mills with Monroe?

[H-towngreen]

Exactly Harry, thats what I said a few days ago. Monroe has the speed, strength and tackling ability to get it done. Instead of spying the QB spy the TE, it sounds weird but hey whatever works. I think we should throw in some more 3-4 in order to get more LBs out on the field. Its a way to contain Mills, and also a way to change up the pressure on the QB.