1 week Ago By By Brett Vito Staff Writer
One doesn’t have to turn the clock back far — just a couple of weeks — to find a time when there was a growing confidence in the North Texas defense. UNT was dominant in a win over Wyoming after changing its scheme and followed up with another promising performance in a win over Tulsa. The competition has improved since.
The Mean Green’s defense hasn’t. The latest example came Saturday when UNT fell 52-44 at Memphis. The Mean Green gave up 526 yards on the day and 17 points in the fourth quarter of a showdown between teams that came in at 5-1.
“I’ll have to go back and study what happened,” UNT coach Eric Morris said. “There were some points we got them off the field on third down, but it seems like they converted quite a few-third-and-longs. “We’ll evaluate it and see if it’s something where we’re outmanned or if there is something schematically that we can’t do that we’re trying to do.
” What Morris finds will go a long way toward determining how his second season at UNT turns out, not to mention what happens down the line. Morris, coordinator Matt Caponi and the rest of UNT’s staff deserve credit for midseason adjustments that helped lead to the Mean Green’s wins over Wyoming and Tulsa. UNT flipped to a base 3-4 scheme from the 3-3-5 to put more of its talented linebackers on the field.
The payoff has been substantial. The Mean Green were one of the most improved teams in the country defensively heading into their game at Memphis. UNT was allowing 102.
7 fewer rushing yards per game, dropped the number of points it was allowing per game by 4.1 and was also coughing up 44.1 fewer yards overall.
The Mean Green gave up just 37 points combined in wins over Wyoming and Tulsa. Memphis is loaded offensively and has one of the most productive and experienced quarterbacks in college football in former Ryan standout Seth Henigan. Henigan threw for 319 yards and accounted for two touchdowns against UNT.
More importantly, he put the Tigers in the right position over and over against the Mean Green’s defense. Memphis running back Mario Anderson Jr. rushed for 183 yards and four touchdowns.
Needless to say, Memphis put a dent in some of those numbers showing just how much UNT has improved. Bouncing back won’t be easy with games against Tulane and Army coming up. The Black Knights are unbeaten at 7-0 and nationally ranked.
Tulane, which comes to UNT this week, is 3-0 in American Athletic Conference play. The injury issues UNT is dealing with certain aren’t going to help matters. The Mean Green played without defensive end Jake Shipley on Saturday.
Safety Evan Jackson came into the day battling injuries, played sparingly and finished with just one tackle. “We’re playing so many young guys right now and are banged up at safety,” Morris said. “Not having some of those guys back there hurt us.
” UNT is capable of improving behind a host of talented players, including cornerback Ridge Texada and transfer defensive lineman Terrell Dawkins, who has come on of late. Dawkins finished with six tackles and was in on a sack against Memphis. “This game and playing a high-caliber offense will help us down the line,” defensive lineman Roderick Brown said.
That’s the hope as UNT heads down the stretch in the second season of Morris’ tenure with a senior-laden defense. Texada might be UNT’s best defensive player and is one of eight seniors who were listed as starters heading into the Mean Green’s game against Memphis, a group that also includes Dawkins. UNT has decisions to make as it builds toward what will certainly be the first bowl appearance of the Morris era in a few weeks.
A significant rebuild looms when the season ends defensively. The Mean Green’s defense played a key role in moving UNT to within a game of the six wins it needs to be bowl eligible before falling flat against Memphis. Coaches are paid to make big decisions and get them right.
Morris is facing a big one as he examines where UNT stands defensively and how to improve moving forward. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.
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