Ransom Beginning To Pay Off

MeanGreen61 · October 21, 2005

DRC article

Football: Ransom beginning to pay off

Highly-recruited DE starting to live up to hype for Mean Green

09:26 AM CDT on Friday, October 21, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Willie Ransom felt a little guilty in the opening weeks of the season.

The North Texas defensive end had seen the rankings and heard the evaluations. He was supposed to be one of the most important members of the Mean Green’s 2005 recruiting class.

For a while Ransom didn’t feel like he was living up to his end of the bargain.

“There was some pressure coming in,” Ransom said. “I had to put that out of my mind and get ready to play. Each week I get better. I am feeling like myself again and am playing to my ability.”

The latest indication that Ransom is coming out of his shell came last week in UNT’s 13-10 win over Florida International. Ransom moved into the starting lineup against the Golden Panthers and posted the first sack of his college career, not to mention his second big play in as many weeks.

The streak is one the former Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College standout hopes to keep alive on Saturday when the Mean Green take on Louisiana Tech at 3 p.m.

UNT heads into the first of consecutive non-conference games off a 13-10 win over FIU. The win marked just the latest in a series of solid performances for the Mean Green’s defense in Sun Belt play. UNT leads the league with an average of 10 points allowed a game through its first three Sun Belt games.

Ransom was barely noticeable in the first of those games, a season-opening win over Middle Tennessee, but has played a larger role in each of the Mean Green’s last two league contests.

The 6-3, 250-pound defensive end picked up a fumble in the Mean Green’s 13-10 loss to Troy and rumbled 21 yards deep into Trojans’ territory.

Those are the types of plays UNT’s coaches expected Ransom to make when they won a recruiting battle with Kansas State, Troy and Southwest Missouri State for his services.

“When we signed Willie, we hoped he would come in and make an immediate impact, and based on our last two games, he has done that,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “He has the speed and quickness to be a great pass rusher and run down plays on the other side of the field. He is also big enough to hold up against the run.”

UNT needed a player of Ransom’s caliber after losing starting defensive ends Adrian Awasom and Tommy Harrison. Awasom led the Mean Green with eight sacks last season and is now in his rookie season with the New York Giants.

UNT’s coaches saw Ransom as a potential replacement for Awasom after he was named honorable mention All-Jayhawk Conference and a three-star recruit by Rivals.com.

Despite those high ratings, Ransom got off to a slow start in his bid to move into the Mean Green’s starting lineup. He missed spring practice while completing course work at Coffeyville and was not quite ready when two-a-days began in the fall because of a toe injury.

Ransom broke his toe at Coffeyville and has continued to experience pain in his foot because the injury didn’t heal properly.

“I didn’t get a chance to work out with the team in the spring and see how my toe would feel,” Ransom said. “Then I didn’t work out enough over the summer. That held me back.”

Ransom was bothered by the toe and a series of other minor ailments during fall practice, but has gradually gotten back to 100 percent while learning the Mean Green’s system.

The result has been a gradual improvement in Ransom’s performance.

Dickey moved Ransom into the starting lineup for UNT’s game against FIU after his solid night against Troy. The result was a sack that helped UNT force the Golden Panthers to settle for a field goal after they drove to the Mean Green’s 2-yard line.

UNT is hoping the promotion will lead to a few more big plays and a more consistent performance from Ransom, who has posted six tackles in what was limited action until last week.

“I have started to come along and get adjusted, which has helped me be more consistent,” Ransom said. “It built my confidence to know that I am going to start. Now I just have to go out there and raise my level of play.”

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