University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: Fall Camp Midway Point Report
8/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, August 18, 2009, 6:17 p.m.
We are at the unofficial midway point of the fall camp for the North Texas football team so it's a good time to see what we know and what we don't know getting closer to Ball State.
After Saturday's scrimmage a lot of questions were abound about the defense. Well the last two practices have shown that the defense is resilient but the question marks remain.
Here is what we know.
The offense has more weapons than it has at anytime in the Todd Dodge era. It's safe to say this will be the year that fans say that's the offense I've been waiting for. Riley Dodge is fast, quick, and patient with the ball. He's about as accurate a QB as I've seen and if he can avoid any major health issues, SBC Freshman of the Year isn't out of the question.
The offense as a whole has been very good and if go across the board, position-by-position, you have to feel good about most spots. Kelvin Drake is winning the battle to start at left guard and barring an injury or comeback by Gabe Hollivay, he will be starting.
The one thing that stands out about the offense to me is the depth, and not just at RB and the O-line. The rest of the spots on the field have been filled with quality players and in my opinion this team should average between 27-30 points a game. The question is, how many will it allow.
Which brings us to what we still don't know, how improved is the defense?
The last two seasons speak for themselves; it doesn't get any worse than that. The upgrades at the key spots will tell the tale in my opinion.
At the midway point there are still question marks at certain spots, but there are also players stepping up to make you feel better about the progress.
The defensive line is starting to shake out and some names are rising to the top. AK is a lock at the DE spots. Opposite AK should be Tevinn Cantly, but his stock is dropping and that of Sam Owusu-Hemeng is on the rise. Cantly has been a bear against the run but Owusu-Hemeng is better at getting to the passer. The rest of this week and the scrimmage is going to be key for those two.
The tackle spots were the single biggest need coming into the fall camp and I like the possibilities. Shavod Atkinson and Kelvin Jackson look like a nice tandem on the inside, but practice is one thing, games are another. Until proven otherwise that area could be the entire key to the season for North Texas. Pressure on the QB must improve.
The linebackers are deeper than last year, but if they don't wrap up and tackle it doesn't matter. That continues to plague this group at inopportune times this fall but there are signs it's getting better. Ditto for the secondary, if they don't tackle the big play will still be the biggest problem.
Royce Hill has been the biggest standout on that side of the ball. The guy was in over his head last year but is a totally different player right now.
Special teams, I can't really tell by looking at it but it has to be better right? The return game will be improved by the guys returning the ball, D. Carey, D. Cook, and Royce Hill.
I do like the fact that some of the regulars are playing on special teams as well, that should make a difference.
What I would like to see in the second half of the fall camp is more consistency from the defense and better QB pressure. It's been there in spurts the first half, but not enough to sleep well at night.
Halfway to Ball State I still think the same questions everyone had going into camp still linger. Is this defense better? We've got the second half of camp to find out and then 12 games to judge them on.
