University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: Going Under The Hood: Part II
8/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, August 2, 2009, 12:17 p.m.
Defensive Line
Okay where do we start. How about the edge. Brandon Akpunku, the little lineman that could, is on the edge now after moving from linebacker. The best athlete on the team, bar none, has got to learn this position and learn it well to be affective because of his size. Tevinn Cantly is on the other side and has a lot to prove. As a redshirt freshman, he’s being given the chance to start and has the tools, just not the experience.
Eddrick Gilmore is going to be the jack-of-all-trades. He will play inside, outside, up, down, left, right, and anywhere else. Most likely he will be inside at the tackle spot but it’s a big question mark.
Make or break with this unit lies with the newcomers. Can Shavod Atkinson, Kelvin Jackson, John Weber, Kyle White, Tyler Washington and others live up to the potential. That’s the biggest question mark. Nobody will know until September 3.
Linebacker
The leadership of North Texas is found here. Tobe Nwigwe is the leader of the unit, defense, and quite frankly the team. Coming off his best season, he’s wants more than in the best shape of his left to do so. He’s dropped about 15 pounds from last year’s 251 and checks in at 235 pounds, which will give him a lot more speed.
A.J. Penson slides over to be his back-up and you have Craig Robertson and Steven Warren on the right. Kylie Hill moves down from the secondary to be a hybrid type guy. I like this move only if it gives North Texas the best chance at getting it’s most talent players out on the field. And with more and more teams now a days throwing the ball 30-40 times, you really need five DB’s on the field at all times
Secondary
I can’t wait to see Royce Hill this year. As a freshman, he suffered through a fraternity like hazing last year at the cornerback spot, but towards the end he really flourished. He asserted himself as the best DB on the team this spring and has “lock down” written all over him.
Ira Smith was originally at cornerback this spring, but he’s going to battle it out for a starting spot at Strong Safety with Darien Williams and John Shorter. The early edge goes to Shorter, but Williams was a starter and Smith has a lot of talent.
On the other side Adryan Adams has supplanted Antoine Bush as the starter. Raise your hand if you think that’s hard to believe. Me too but Adams has come onto the scene strong and Coach Dodge has made it known that competition is going to be expected at all spots, all positions, and all players.
Special Teams
Disaster would be putting it kindly when talking about this unit last year. Jeremy Knott was a nice boost at the placekicker position and Truman Spencer was great, but that was it. The return games were non-existent and the coverage units hardly better. It’s been 11 year’s since North Texas has returned a kickoff for a TD and that’s gotta change.
I think Shelton Gandy was issued a bullet proof vest when he took over this position this offseason because it had a lot of holes. One thing that Coach Dodge has told Gandy to do is take the best players, regardless of unit or name, and use them on the special teams unit. That should make a difference.
This was one unit that is often overlooked but North Texas found out the hard way last year it can’t be anymore.
Bottom Line
Arguably it was the worst defensive season on record at North Texas. It was historically bad. This side of the ball has a lot to prove this season and not a lot of people who think it will be better. It’s unrealistic to think this unit to turn into a dominating one in less than a year, but if the defense can shave off up to one-half off the totals from last season, Gary DeLoach will be up for sainthood.
The biggest difference I see in the defense is experience. The freshman mistakes from last season started to go away towards the end of the year and you saw glimmers of hope in the spring. Like so many great defenses, if the d-line is better, this overall unit will thrive and the results will be dramatic.
