Spring Football Daily Outlook

DENTON (4/17/07) - MeanGreenSports.com is previewing the 2007 North Texas football team with daily updates that will break down the team's outlook by position. The annual Green and White Game will be played at Fouts Field on Sunday, April 22 at 3 p.m.

Quarterback

Much of the struggles from the quarterback position over the past two years has come from the instability in settling on a starter. Three different quarterbacks have had their shot at being the starter last year and all three saw significant action throughout the season. Junior Matt Phillips began the season as the starter, but was replaced after two games by junior college transfer Woody Wilson. Wilson started the next four games before giving way to Daniel Meager who started the final six games. Phillips came in to replace Meager in each of the four games and had his best numbers in those games.

All three quarterbacks had comparable numbers for the entire season with Wilson having a slight edge in passing efficiency (98.8) and passing yards (528) while Meager led the team with four passing touchdowns. All three are back in 2007 and are expected to benefit from the teaching of Dodge who has extensive knowledge of the quarterback position both as a player and coach.

Nathan Tune redshirted as a freshman in 2006 and he will also be in the mix as the coaching staff attempts to sort out the depth chart during spring practice. Giovanni Vizza, who is a highly-touted recruit that ran an offense very similar to what Dodge is installing at North Texas, will join the team in the fall. Dodge believes he will have five capable quarterbacks heading into fall camp and will use that time to sort out a depth chart.

Top Returning Quarterbacks:
Daniel Meager - 53/100 passing., 517 yards, 4 TD
Matt Phillips - 29/60 passing, 337 yards, 3 TD

Woody Wilson - 54/90 passing, 528 yards, 2 TD

Head Coach Todd Dodge on Quarterbacks:

"The competition has been good during the spring and we have a much better idea what we have at the quarterback position. Daniel Meager has really improved at distributing the ball to different receivers and he has picked up the offense very quickly. Nathan Tune has a natural understanding of the passing game and that helps, but there are a few small mechanical things we need to work on with him. Matt Phillips has a very strong arm but needs to improve his consistency. Woody Wilson does a lot of nice things as both a runner and a passer and provides an added dimension to the offense. It will be an on-going competition through the first couple weeks of fall practice and we hope that Giovanni Vizza can come in and add to that competition. The thing that we will look for during fall camp is accuracy and no-huddle efficiency. We will definitely have an efficient quarterback."

Here is a look at the schedule for the updates by position

Wed. April 11 Defensive Line
Thur. April 12 Linebackers
Fri. April 13 Safeties
Sat. April 14 Cornerbacks
Sun. April 15 Special Teams
Mon. April 16 Offensive Line
Tue. April 17 Running Backs
Wed. April 18 Wide Receivers
Thur. April 19 - Quarterbacks

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Daniel Meager

Matt Phillips

Nathan Tune

Giovanni Vizza

Woody Wilson

Upcoming Events

University of North Texas Athletics