University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: Scrimmage Report Card For The Defense
8/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, August 22, 2009, 2:44 p.m.
Inside The Iron - Scrimmage 2 Recap
The second scrimmage of the fall camp is in the books for the North Texas football team and it's that time again to hand out the report card. I'm grading the defense this morning and let's begin.
Defensive Line- B+.....I wanted to see Riley today run around in the pocket, I wanted to see the edge get pressure, and I wanted to see the run battle for the tough yards. Thumbs up on all of them. The line, which has to be the most improved on this team, gave you reasons to feel better about it. Brandon Akpunku and Sam Owusu-Hemeng spent a lot of time in the backfield today. The battle between Owusu-Hemeng and Tevinn Cantly for the second DE starting spot is starting to tilt towards Owusu-Hemeng. Cantly was productive in run stopping and had a few moments of decent pressure, but Owusu-Hemeng more impressive this past week and I think has the edge. The tackle spots are locked up. Shavod Atkinson and Kelvin Jackson are starting. Jackson today reminded me of Michael Pruitt with his ability to get off of the line and into the backfield. K.C. Obi I think just played his way onto the bus this morning as well. He's been muddled with a lot of different bodies at the DE spot but today he stood out.
Linebackers- B....Much better than last Saturday where it seemed like nobody knew how to tackle. The usual suspects were good, not great, today. Jeremy Phillips, who has turned into D-Lo's whipping boy, uncorked the hit of the morning on Alex Lott in the flat. Despite getting a lot of yelling in his earhole, Phillips has been improving and figuring things out. It's probably been slower than D-Lo would have liked, but he's getting there. The area of concern for me today was in the red-zone. Between the 20's the defense was good, real good. In the red-zone, not good. The problems from last Saturday sprung up again and missed tackles were an issue in the red-zone and near the goal-line. That has to improve.
Secondary- B...I thought about a B+ but the struggles in the red-zone made me hesitate. Robby Gordon, a guy I couldn't pick out of a line-up the last two years, has capitalized big-time on the absence of Antoine Bush and has solidified himself as the No. 2 corner. Gordon picked Riley early in the scrimmage and was good sans one completion to BJ Lewis for a TD in red-zone drills. Royce Hill is a lockdown guy. I've said his before but the only thing about him that's the same from last year the number on the jersey. The safety spots are going to Ira Smith and DaWaylon Cook. My biggest problem today with the secondary was in the red-zone. The big play was nullified but inside the 20's, the offense was able to have their way. Missed tackles in the open field were the problem, again, but the coverage wasn't great either. Without AA in the lineup this unit performed well, but it can do better.
Overall - B....The defense at times reminded me of the days when North Texas dominated during the Bowl games of the early decade. And then at times is reminded me of how far they still have to go. There were some "whispers" going around the fall camp that the offense might have been sandbagging this week, holding back to let the defense catch up. Earlier in the week, I might have agreed with you. After today, that's just talk. The defense had it's best week of camp I've seen in a while and today was it's time to prove it and they did. Whether or not the offense pulled out the entire playbook is for others to worry about. What the defense did do was give you reason to think it's an improved unit. Should you even considered thinking this defense can be as good as the glory days five years ago? No way. But I think the defense has shown it's improved and should shed the tag "worst defense in America" by the end of the season. Heck by that time you might even say it's pretty good.
