Scrimmage Notebook: Defense Impresses

Photo by: Tate Hawkins

8/22/2020 1:12:00 PM | Football

DENTON - Saturday marked the second full scrimmage of fall camp, presented by Rhino Steel Buildings, as the Mean Green were in action Apogee Stadium. While there were certainly positives on both sides of the ball, the defense stood out on Saturday.

Defensive Play of the Day: Sophomore corner DeShawn Gaddie (Arlington) made an excellent play, jumping a short route and making a house call. He read the play well, jumped it, and was off to the races on a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Offensive Play of the Day: Redshirt sophomore receiver Jyaire Shorter (Killeen, Texas) went up and got a 47-yard touchdown on a very well-thrown ball by fellow redshirt sophomore, quarterback Jason Bean (Mansfield, Texas). Shorter continues to showcase his skillset and physicality that saw him burst onto the scene in 2019 - catching 24 passes for 48

Key Moments:

As they did last Saturday, five quarterbacks saw action on Saturday - redshirt sophomores Jason Bean (Mansfield), Kason Martin (Manvel, Texas) and Austin Aune (Argyle), redshirt freshmen Amani Gilmore (Amite, Louisiana) and Will Kuehne (Owasso, Oklahoma). They combined to throw a couple touchdowns and three interceptions on the day.
- Aune and Bean evenly split reps with the first team, and Martin impressed while running with the second group.
Senior receiver Jaelon Darden (Houston) took a shovel pass from Aune for an electric 28-yard pickup on the opening play of the day.
Redshirt freshman linebacker Gabriel Murphy (Dallas) had a very strong day that started with a nice tackle in space on a running back to keep him to a very small gain.
- Murphy also intercepted a pass over the middle later on in the day, and returned it roughly 20 yards across midfield.
Senior defensive end Asher Frow (Fullerton, California) showcased his speed in pursuit and chased down the ball carrier for a loss of yardage early on in the scrimmage.
On a fourth and short play on the opening series, redshirt sophomore linebacker Larry Nixon III (North Richland Hills, Texas) made a great play to bring down the quarterback on a read option. The defense maintained its discipline and would have likely had both the running back and quarterback stopped for a loss, regardless of the read.
Bean connected with redshirt junior receiver Greg White (Riverdale, Georgia) for an eight-yard gain on his first throw, one that was timed very well out of White's break.
Martin hooked up with redshirt junior receiver Troy Edwards, Jr. along the far sideline, and Edwards did the rest, getting himself to the end zone for a 60-yard scoring strike early on.
Redshirt freshman running back Oscar Adaway III (North Little Rock, Arkansas) had a couple of nice runs between the tackles on his first series.
- Adaway also showed he can be a threat as a receiver, consistently catching passes in the flats and getting forward quickly.
- Adaway capped off his day with a two-yard touchdown run on a third down play late in the scrimmage.
Aune picked out sophomore receiver Deonte Simpson (Beaumont, Texas) with a very well-timed and well-placed throw over the middle to pick up 15 yards and a first down.
Redshirt freshman linebacker Grayson Murphy (Dallas) came up with a big-time hit on the ball-carrier to hold him to no gain.
Redshirt junior running back Tre Siggers ran very hard on Saturday and had several plays reminiscent of his 2019 season, lowering his shoulder to initiate contact and pick up extra yardage. On his first carry of the day, he picked up 10 yards and a first down.
- Later on in the day, Siggers, who was running purposefully, had back-to-back gains of six and seven, respectively to pick up a first down.
- He also had a 12-yard run towards the end of the scrimmage.
True freshman defensive lineman Ta'Shoyn Johnson (Killeen, Texas) stuffed a run play midway through the scrimmage to set up a third and long.
Fellow true freshman running back Isaiah Johnson (Lubbock) made a very decisive cut to pick up 11 yards and a first down on his first series, and capped it off with a five-yard scamper up the middle.
Senior defensive back Cam Johnson (Houston) intercepted a deep throw to force the defense's second turnover of the day.
Redshirt freshman defensive back Dorian Morris (Mesquite, Texas) made a nice play to break up a short pass on a third down play to get the defense off the field.
- Morris broke up another pass on a deep shot by locating it well and getting a hand to it.
Newly eligible redshirt sophomore corner Jordan Rucker (Denton) broke up a pass on a deep ball thrown to the end zone.
Senior running back DeAndre Torrey (Gautier, Mississippi) had a solid day, and his highlight was a nine-yard pickup where he accelerated through the hole to pick up a first down.
Towards the back end of the scrimmage, freshman receiver Evan Greene (Parish Episcopal) made a nice grab and picked up some yardage after the catch for an 18-yard gain and a first down.

Saturday's scrimmage concludes the fall camp portion of practice, as the Mean Green will be off Sunday, and into a mock game week a few weeks ahead of the season-opener against Houston Baptist at Apogee Stadium on Sept. 5. Keep an eye on MeanGreenSports.com as well as on our social channels @MeanGreenFB (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) for more content leading into the opener.