Defense spectgacular for UNT

[MeanGreen61]

Defense spectacular for UNT

08:06 AM CDT on Sunday, October 16, 2005

By BRETT VITO / Staff Writer

MIAMI – Florida International's offensive line has faced some pretty impressive competition this season, including Texas Tech and Kansas State.

That fact alone made what the Mean Green accomplished in a 13-10 win over the Golden Panthers on Saturday night at FIU Stadium all the more impressive.

UNT finished with five sacks and constantly hounded FIU quarterback Josh Padrick. FIU had allowed just five sacks on the season heading into its game against the Mean Green.

UNT's breakout performance rushing Padrick played a key role in the Mean Green ending their three-game losing streak.

"We had a good scheme coming in," UNT linebacker Maurice Holman said. "We wanted to come after him this game and see if they could take the pressure. We executed our plan."

Holman was one of several players who spent large part of the night in FIU's backfield and was part of what turned out to be one of the key plays of the game.

UNT was trailing 10-6 in the third quarter when junior linebacker Phillip Graves burst into FIU's backfield and leveled Padrick. Padrick fumbled the ball on the play and Holman was there to jump on it at the Golden Panthers' 23-yard line.

UNT scored what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown a short time later on a 7-yard pass from Daniel Meager to wide receiver Johnny Quinn.

Graves finished with two sacks, while junior defensive end Willie Ransom and sophomore defensive lineman Montey Stevenson each added one.

FIU had prevented its opponents from getting to Padrick for most of the season, but had to make a few adjustments on its offensive line heading into its game against UNT. Starting left guard Ed Wenger had a concussion and did not start, although he did play.

"They were using some twisting inside and a couple of other things we weren't used to," FIU head coach Don Strock said. "We adjusted in the second half, but they still got to us."

The pressure UNT applied helped the Mean Green force eight turnovers, stopping multiple FIU scoring threats.

UNT used several different blitz packages to apply pressure, but also benefited from rotating a host of defensive linemen into the game. Ransom moved into the starting lineup for the first time this season in place of senior Eli Hutchinson.

Ransom responded with his first sack of the season.

UNT had just six sacks on the year coming into the game.

The improvement UNT made rushing the passer helped the Mean Green force Padrick into enough mistakes to negate his 243 passing yards.

"[Defensive coordinator] Kenny Evans did a good job of game-planning for their protection scheme," UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. "We got some guys free and made some things happen when we blitzed. When we didn't blitz, we got pressure with four guys. It was important for us to pressure Padrick because it could have been a long night if we didn't."

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