DMN NT against airborne Panthers (FIU)

[OldTimer]

UNT up against airborne Panthers

07:56 AM CDT on Saturday, October 15, 2005

By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle

North Texas coach Darrell Dickey knew of Don Strock long before he became the head coach at Florida International.

Dickey watched Strock rack up more than 6,000 passing yards as the starting quarterback at Virginia Tech and then play with the Miami Dolphins. That experience could offer the Mean Green an indication of what they will face today, with kickoff set for 5 p.m., in a game against the Golden Panthers at FIU Stadium.

"Don Strock was a great college and professional quarterback," Dickey said. "He has installed a lot of things that he did in professional football in his team. They have only been sacked a few times this year, even though they throw the ball from the pocket a lot."

FIU might not have a quarterback to rival Strock in his playing days, but Josh Padrick has more than sufficed.

Padrick enters the weekend ranked first in the Sun Belt in passing with an average of 205.5 yards a game. The Golden Panthers torched Arkansas State for 362 yards passing in their first Sun Belt Conference game and added 226 yards last week in a win over in-state rival Florida A&M.

FIU (1-3, 0-1) had two weeks to prepare for the Mean Green since that win on Oct. 1 and will no doubt have some more tricks to throw at UNT (1-3, 1-1) with a passing attack that has already been highly effective.

The Golden Panthers rank near the top of every statistical category in the Sun Belt when it comes to throwing the ball. FIU leads the league in passing yards with an average of 239.0 a game, a total that is more than 40 yards better than the nearest competition.

Florida Atlantic's average of 195.8 yards a game ranks second in the league.

Junior flanker Chandler Williams also leads the Sun Belt in receptions (5.25 per game) and receiving yards (79.2 yards per game).

UNT's defense is looking for just about any way to slow Padrick down.

"It's going to be huge to get some pressure on their quarterback," UNT defensive end Jeremiah Chapman said. "They have a pro-style offense, use a lot of five-step drops and haven't given up that many sacks. We have gotten better at getting to the quarterback by using stunts and blitzes. We will have to get better this week."

Those strategies paid off against Troy. Chapman posted two of UNT's three sacks in a loss to the Trojans to push the Mean Green's season total to six.

Building on that total could be a challenge against FIU and Padrick.

Strock's pro-style offense often includes deep drops that give defensive players a long way to go to reach Padrick. FIU has thrown the ball 144 times this season while allowing just five sacks. The total is impressive considering the Golden Panthers have faced Texas Tech and Kansas State.

UNT is hoping to limit Padrick not only by getting to him with a solid pass rush, but also by keeping him off the field with an effective running game. The Mean Green have struggled to get their running game going this year behind Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas.

UNT is averaging just 102.2 rushing yards per game, well off of its average of 186.4 yards per game last season. That total has contributed to the Mean Green holding the ball for an average of 26:30 a game.

Dickey and UNT offensive coordinator Ramon Flanigan said they have seen progress in practice that could help the Mean Green break through. FIU is just hoping that improvement does not come today.

Cobbs is averaging just 73.2 yards a game, while Thomas is posting 39.0.

"They have a running game that is the equal of any we have seen," Strock said. "With the last two national [rushing] champs, it is certainly something that concerns us."

The timing of the game is also a concern for FIU. The Mean Green are coming off a loss to Troy that ended their 26-game Sun Belt Conference winning streak.

UNT is looking to get back on track with a win over FIU that could help the Mean Green stay in contention for the conference title.

"I can't say that it is perfect timing for us," Strock said. "They have a lot of pride as a team, which is obvious when you look the fact that they won 26 straight conference games. They will want to start all over again this week."

• • •

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

[Ibleedgreen]

A close acquaintance was in Lubbock for their game against FIU that started their season. He was impressed with their running game. He said they ran the ball up and down the field pretty well, but Tech's defense either forced a turnover or stopped them every time they were close to scoring.