University of North Texas Athletics
Photo by: Manny Flores
Freshman Adeyi Making Most Of His Chance
10/19/2021 1:04:00 PM | Football
DENTON – The North Texas football team will play its second home game in eight days on Saturday afternoon when it will look to get back into the win column against Liberty at Apogee Stadium with a 3 p.m. kickoff. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and on the Mean Green Sports Network on KHYI 95.3, KNTU 88.1 and the Varsity Network App.
UNT head coach Seth Littrell and selected players met with the media on Tuesday afternoon and discussed the upcoming game and what Liberty (5-2) brings to the matchup.
"Obviously, Sundays are for cleaning up messes and we had a lot to clean up (from last week's Marshall loss)," Littrell said. "Now we're moving on to Liberty. They're a great team. Coach Freeze does a great job. They have lots of athletes and the quarterback is about as good as we'll see. They have a lot of speed and they do a great job in the running game."
Freshman RB coming off career game
At the beginning of fall camp, freshman running back Ayo Adeyi was most likely not expecting to be a big part of the Mean Green running game.
But before the season began, projected starter Oscar Adaway III was lost to a season-ending injury, and it didn't take long after the season began for other injuries to begin popping up at the position.
Of course, the nation's seventh-leading rusher DeAndre Torrey still rules the roost at running back for the Mean Green, but Adeyi got an opportunity for extended work in Friday's loss to Marshall and made the most of his chance.
The 5-7, 197-pound back from Mansfield had a career-high 12 carries for a career-high 86 yards and scored his first career touchdown after entering the game with just five carries for 20 yards in just two games played.
"He's been one of those guys who's stepped up and been very consistent and made the most of his opportunities," Littrell said. "And that's what you have to do. We've had a lot of skill players go in and out with injuries and we've been dinged up in that room, and he's always doing the right things in practice and it carries over to the game. He has tools, too. He's a great player. I'm proud of how he's stepped up and made the most of the opportunities he's gotten. That's big time. That's what we need."
Count sophomore quarterback Austin Aune as one of those players who didn't see Adeyi getting No. 2 reps at any point this season. With that said, Aune wasn't surprised in the least to see Adeyi put up numbers last week.
"When he wasn't getting the reps in fall camp he was back there paying attention knowing what to do so when his number was called – and I guarantee he didn't think it would be – he was ready to go and really shined," Aune said.
"I've seen it from fall camp. He's a smart player. He's a little faster than anyone gave him credit for. He runs downhill and is smart in protection and route running. Being a younger guy, he's getting his chance and he's taking advance of it."
Liberty QB among nation's best
Priority No. 1 when trying to contain Liberty's explosive offense on Saturday will be to keep quarterback Malik Willis in check.
Willis, who is projected by many to be a first-round draft pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, is a dual threat under center for the Flames and is the team's leading rusher on top of his 1,462 yards and 14 passing touchdowns through seven games.
"He's extremely talented," Littrell said. "His accuracy throwing the ball is great, but even if things break down he can make plays with his legs and break contain. It's hard to tackle him. There's a reason why he's one of the top quarterbacks in the country."
Littrell said there is no way to shut down Willis and the Liberty offense but playing good complementary football will go a long way in containing him.
"We have to have 11 guys do their job," Littrell said. "He's gonna make plays. We're not naïve to the fact that we're gonna shut him down. That's not how it works. They're gonna make plays but you have to play complementary football and play well in all three phases against a team like this. They do a great job. We've watched the tape, and we're gonna game plan and do what we do and go match up."
Senior defensive tackle Caleb Colvin agreed and said he and his teammates must stick to their individual assignments and not break contain.
"He has an arm and is good on his feet," Colvin said. "He can get out of the pocket and break tackles. It's important for all of us to swarm the ball. It's about hustle and effort. Guys are gonna miss tackles, it's football, but it's important for everyone to swarm and stay in pass rush lanes and wrap up."
UNT head coach Seth Littrell and selected players met with the media on Tuesday afternoon and discussed the upcoming game and what Liberty (5-2) brings to the matchup.
"Obviously, Sundays are for cleaning up messes and we had a lot to clean up (from last week's Marshall loss)," Littrell said. "Now we're moving on to Liberty. They're a great team. Coach Freeze does a great job. They have lots of athletes and the quarterback is about as good as we'll see. They have a lot of speed and they do a great job in the running game."
Freshman RB coming off career game
At the beginning of fall camp, freshman running back Ayo Adeyi was most likely not expecting to be a big part of the Mean Green running game.
But before the season began, projected starter Oscar Adaway III was lost to a season-ending injury, and it didn't take long after the season began for other injuries to begin popping up at the position.
Of course, the nation's seventh-leading rusher DeAndre Torrey still rules the roost at running back for the Mean Green, but Adeyi got an opportunity for extended work in Friday's loss to Marshall and made the most of his chance.
The 5-7, 197-pound back from Mansfield had a career-high 12 carries for a career-high 86 yards and scored his first career touchdown after entering the game with just five carries for 20 yards in just two games played.
"He's been one of those guys who's stepped up and been very consistent and made the most of his opportunities," Littrell said. "And that's what you have to do. We've had a lot of skill players go in and out with injuries and we've been dinged up in that room, and he's always doing the right things in practice and it carries over to the game. He has tools, too. He's a great player. I'm proud of how he's stepped up and made the most of the opportunities he's gotten. That's big time. That's what we need."
Count sophomore quarterback Austin Aune as one of those players who didn't see Adeyi getting No. 2 reps at any point this season. With that said, Aune wasn't surprised in the least to see Adeyi put up numbers last week.
"When he wasn't getting the reps in fall camp he was back there paying attention knowing what to do so when his number was called – and I guarantee he didn't think it would be – he was ready to go and really shined," Aune said.
"I've seen it from fall camp. He's a smart player. He's a little faster than anyone gave him credit for. He runs downhill and is smart in protection and route running. Being a younger guy, he's getting his chance and he's taking advance of it."
Liberty QB among nation's best
Priority No. 1 when trying to contain Liberty's explosive offense on Saturday will be to keep quarterback Malik Willis in check.
Willis, who is projected by many to be a first-round draft pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, is a dual threat under center for the Flames and is the team's leading rusher on top of his 1,462 yards and 14 passing touchdowns through seven games.
"He's extremely talented," Littrell said. "His accuracy throwing the ball is great, but even if things break down he can make plays with his legs and break contain. It's hard to tackle him. There's a reason why he's one of the top quarterbacks in the country."
Littrell said there is no way to shut down Willis and the Liberty offense but playing good complementary football will go a long way in containing him.
"We have to have 11 guys do their job," Littrell said. "He's gonna make plays. We're not naïve to the fact that we're gonna shut him down. That's not how it works. They're gonna make plays but you have to play complementary football and play well in all three phases against a team like this. They do a great job. We've watched the tape, and we're gonna game plan and do what we do and go match up."
Senior defensive tackle Caleb Colvin agreed and said he and his teammates must stick to their individual assignments and not break contain.
"He has an arm and is good on his feet," Colvin said. "He can get out of the pocket and break tackles. It's important for all of us to swarm the ball. It's about hustle and effort. Guys are gonna miss tackles, it's football, but it's important for everyone to swarm and stay in pass rush lanes and wrap up."
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