Drc - Meager Takes Lead In Quarterback Race

[MeanGreen61]

Meager looks sharp in scrimmage

11:50 PM CDT on Friday, March 30, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Daniel Meager is back on top in the race to become North Texas’ starting quarterback.

Meager threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Korey Washington in the opening series of the Mean Green's first scrimmage of spring practice on Friday, and continued to work with the first team throughout a 120-play workout at Fouts Field that was cut short by a rainstorm.

"Over the first four practices, Daniel has been the most accurate," new UNT head coach Todd Dodge said. "As we go through spring practice we want to get more continuity. The guys that handle the no-huddle communication and distribute the football are going to get the leg up."

Meager has adapted to Dodge's new spread offense quickly and edged ahead of fellow juniors Matt Phillips and Woody Wilson and redshirt freshman Nathan Tune. Meager, Wilson and Phillips all started for UNT at different points last season.

Meager and Dodge said UNT has a long way to go, but both were pleased with the way the Mean Green is starting to adapt to its new offense.

"We still have strides to make and things to learn, but overall as a unit we did well," Meager said. "A lot of us were in similar offenses in high school. It's not that big a change for some of us, and our coaches have done a good job of teaching it to us and simplifying it."

Dodge was particularly pleased with the way Meager has cut down on the number of mistakes he is making.

"There were some things Daniel did, mistakes that he made before spring break, that he absolutely corrected today," Dodge said. "That is what we are looking for. It's all right to make a mistake, just don't make the same one over and over again."

While Dodge said Meager is at the top of the pecking order at this point in spring workouts, the competition for the starting job will continue. Dodge also has yet to consider moving any of his quarterbacks to another position.

Nurudeen making impression

Latif Nurudeen is quickly making an impression at UNT.

The former Baylor walk-on has only been with the Mean Green for a short time, but is working with the first-team defense. The top four cornerbacks on UNT's depth chart from last season all returned this year.

"It's great to have a guy land in your program with that kind of frame and that kind of speed who is very coachable and conscientious about getting better," Dodge said. "He is getting a lot of looks right now."

Nurudeen (6-1, 190) played seven games at Baylor last season.

"The coaches have high expectations for me," Nurudeen said. "They want me to influence the group in a positive way."

Nurudeen played at Friendswood High School near Houston before walking on at Baylor.

Defensive front strong

One of Dodge's key concerns after taking over as UNT's head coach in December was how much talent he would inherit in the Mean Green's defensive front.

A solid outing by UNT's defense during Friday's scrimmage helped quiet some of those concerns.

Senior defensive lineman Jeremiah Chapman had a big day and sophomore defensive end Eddrick Gilmore caused a fumble in one of his first outings after sitting out last season.

UNT's linebackers also came up with several key plays.

"Our strength defensively is going to be our depth," Dodge said. "We have a lot of guys with experience playing college football. We are going to play to that. They are all receptive to the new scheme."

Tackle spots a concern

UNT continued working with several young offensive tackles in its scrimmage, including redshirt freshman Matthew Menard.

The Mean Green lost starter Joel Foster to graduation, and Jeremy Brown elected not to return to the team. Sophomore Robert Peachey returned but did not participate in the scrimmage.

Menard struggled at times during the scrimmage while facing Chapman.

"We think Matthew Menard will be a really good player for us," Dodge said. "The thing I like about him is that he is one of the most conscientious players I have been around in a long time. He is a worker, has a good frame and long arms."

Youngsters look good

Dodge said several players have made an impression early in practice, including redshirt freshman linebacker Craig Robertson.

"He just jumps out at you as a football player," Dodge said.

Dodge also said he was pleased with Gilmore, defensive linemen Isaac Thomas and Montey Stevenson, cornerbacks Antoine Bush and Robbie Gordon and safeties Aaron Weathers, Roy Loren and Kartay Agbottah.

Briefly …

Johnny Quinn, UNT's all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards, ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at UNT's pro day. Offensive lineman Dylan Lineberry did 28 bench repetitions at 225 pounds. … Former UNT tight end Beau Davidson has joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant.

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

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Edited March 31, 2007 by MeanGreen61

[FirefightnRick]

I wish Dallas would invite JQ to camp. All he needs is a chance and he will get it and do well. I just wished for once it was with the local team instead of one on the east coast.

Rick

[EastTexasMG]

I wish Dallas would invite JQ to camp. All he needs is a chance and he will get it and do well. I just wished for once it was with the local team instead of one on the east coast.

Rick

Wasn't Johnny the holder for Bazadula?

[UNTflyer]

I've never really been a Meager fan, but then again if he is a decent passer how would we have ever known under the Old Regime.

[trud1966]

I've never really been a Meager fan, but then again if he is a decent passer how would we have ever known under the Old Regime.

I agree. There were so many problems last year, that it could become evident very quickly if the problems were lack of talent, or lack of coaching.

[GreenBat]

First off let me clarify I have never met Daniel Meager or any member of the Meager family. Now with that out of the way, I will get on with my post.

It has been apparent since he stepped on campus that he has TALENT. How much of that talent was ever shown the past two years is unknown. I am just glad he is getting a clean slate this year to prove he can be a decent quarterback. He has all the physical tools; strong arm, good speed. The only questions are can he make the correct decision and the correct read? Is he THE MAN that the team believes in to be its LEADER? Does he have what it takes to lead a team?

I hope and believe so is the answer to all of the questions. But I want a QB who can lead this team back to New Orleans or even farther. Is that Meager? I don't know.

Is it one of the other three QB's on campus right know? It might be. Is it Vizza? It could be.

But whoever the QB is he needs to have the team's confidence, like Scott Hall did.

I want the QB who takes the opening snap in Norman, Okla. to have the confidence of his teammates that he is the man to lead them to the upset.

[UNTFan23]

One thing I hope the coaches work on with Meager is looking off receivers. Last season I noticed he stared down the receiver he was passing to.

[UNTflyer]

Something tells me TD will correct the problems of delays, personal fouls on big plays, and various other mental mistakes.

[FirefightnRick]

There is a timeline for this new system to get the play in and get the ball snapped. Seem's like I was told they want the ball snapped with 20 seconds left or something like that(don't hold me to that) so I suspect the delay of game penalties are a thing of the past.

UNTFan23

One thing I hope the coaches work on with Meager is looking off receivers. Last season I noticed he stared down the receiver he was passing to.

You mean the ONLY reciever, right? Because when you only have enough time to look one direction before getting hit in the ribs that basicially narrows down your target opportunities.

I expect our QB play will be greatly elevated this next season. However, there is a lot of learning to be done between now and September. I keep reminding myself that Louisiana Lafayette learned a similar system to ours and installed it the second week of the '05 season and did very well with it. So again, I expect much the same, or better for NT this season.

Rick

[Charlie NT 73]

ETMG, offensive tackle, and defensive tackle questions-

Jemery Brown not returning? That is a surprise! Whats the story here?

Who were the guys working at OT? I know Menard and Peachy are OT's-

What about Eidd, Carlson, and Crumes, are these guys OT's

Do you know which players were working at OT during the scrimage?

DT's- was Montey Stevenson moved from DE to DT?

Did Isaac Thomas get more reps in this scrimage than the other DT's?

Was Santiago, Ridge, and Miller working at DT?

How did they look?

Thanks-

Charlie

[mad dog]

One thing I hope the coaches work on with Meager is looking off receivers. Last season I noticed he stared down the receiver he was passing to.

Now this might blow your mind, but I remember a few years ago at spring practice, Meager got yelled at for looking off his receivers. I believe the exact phrase was something along the lines of "Who do you think you are? #*$(#* John Elway?"

I found that a little odd.

[BIG DAWG]

Now this might blow your mind, but I remember a few years ago at spring practice, Meager got yelled at for looking off his receivers. I believe the exact phrase was something along the lines of "Who do you think you are? #*$(#* John Elway?"

I am so glad we do not have to deal with that sh!t anymore!

[UNTLifer]

Now this might blow your mind, but I remember a few years ago at spring practice, Meager got yelled at for looking off his receivers. I believe the exact phrase was something along the lines of "Who do you think you are? #*$(#* John Elway?"

I found that a little odd.

I'm guessing that coach is still looking for a job.

[yyz28]

I'm willing to give the kid a second look. Different coaching staff, different regime. The past coaching staff couldn't make the super-talented look good the way they were managing the team and running plays...

CLEAN SLATE. Let's see what the kid's got.

[MeanGreen61]

I'm willing to give the kid a second look.

Mighty considerate of ya.

[megagreen]

I have to admit that I've been firmly in the Woody Wilson camp since the SMU game last year, but I'm willing to give Danny a chance if he is getting the job done. Good luck to all of the boys!

GMG!

[MeanGreenBuzz]

Sorry to jump into the fray so late and I haven't read the posts above me but my immediate impression of Meager being at the top is that Dodge will find out what DD found out. Meager practices well but plays poorly while Phillips steps it up come game time. Also, I think Woody has a lot of potential but has more of a learning curve on this offense than the other 2. It will be interesting to see what happens with Viazza in the fall...

[NT80]

Sorry to jump into the fray so late and I haven't read the posts above me but my immediate impression of Meager being at the top is that Dodge will find out what DD found out. Meager practices well but plays poorly while Phillips steps it up come game time. Also, I think Woody has a lot of potential but has more of a learning curve on this offense than the other 2. It will be interesting to see what happens with Viazza in the fall...

This new offense really favors the multi-tasking-abled QB with excellent peripheral vision. If you are a QB that can keep track of X,Y, and Z receiver routes for each play, plus know where the underneath guy is and running back out in the flat, all while keeping an eye on the pressure defense, then you'll do OK. Tunnel-vision guys need not apply.

Edited April 3, 2007 by NT80

[SilverEagle]

Sorry to jump into the fray so late and I haven't read the posts above me but my immediate impression of Meager being at the top is that Dodge will find out what DD found out. Meager practices well but plays poorly while Phillips steps it up come game time. Also, I think Woody has a lot of potential but has more of a learning curve on this offense than the other 2. It will be interesting to see what happens with Viazza in the fall...

Then this will be the first serious challenge of Coach Dodge's teaching/coaching abilities. This is analogous to the old question of nature vs nurture when people debate why some kids turn out great and some do not. It'll be interesting to watch.