University of North Texas Athletics
Photo by: Manny Flores
Fresh Off Bye, UNT Preparing For Missouri
10/5/2021 1:14:00 PM | Football
DENTON – UNT comes out of its bye week and hits the road to take on Missouri on Saturday at 3 p.m., at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri, with the game being broadcast on the SEC Network and KHYI 95.3 FM/KNTU 88.1 FM/Varsity Network App.
UNT head coach Seth Littrell and members of the team addressed the media Tuesday to discuss the upcoming game and the excitement to get back on the field after a much needed bye week.
"They're a very good team," Littrell said. "Offensively, they do a lot of different motions so you have to keep your eyes right in the run game and they have some explosive receivers, too. Defensively, they are big on the back end, are long and athletic and can run. They're big, strong and very good pass rushers but hold themselves in the run game very well up front. They're an SEC opponent. We know what we're facing. It's a great challenge but it's a great opportunity.
"If you don't come to play in big games like that, you probably shouldn't play football. I just want to see our guys go out and compete and play hard for four quarters. The wins and losses take care of themselves. It's a great opportunity for us to go compete."
UNT made the most of bye week
After a second-half rally at Louisiana Tech fell just short in the Mean Green's last game on Sept. 25, they got a much needed bye week to refocus, and perhaps more importantly, heal and get the services back of some key players who had suffered various injuries.
The running backs and wide receivers were particularly thin in the early part of the season, and Littrell said he expects to have some of those players back coming out of the bye week against an SEC opponent. The team was also able to get back to basics.
"We got a lot of work in and got back to fundamentals and looked at tendencies in all three phases," Littrell said. "We worked on some things we need to do to move forward in each phase. It was a good off week. Guys worked hard, and we're ready to get back."
Torrey just fine carrying the load
One player who might have needed some extra rest and recuperation last week is senior running back DeAndre Torrey, who is third nationally with 129.0 rushing ypg and second nationally in all-purpose ypg (165.0). He has moved up the school's all-time list in several categories this season, despite being banged up a couple of times himself.
Torrey has watched as the running back group has quickly gone from perhaps the team's deepest to one of its most vulnerable due to several injuries, including a season-ending one in fall camp to projected starter Oscar Adaway III. That injury changed the plan for Torrey, who was expected to see time in the wide receiver room, and brought him back exclusively to running back.
"I wouldn't say it's a challenge, but it's a little tiring at times," Torrey said. "I've been working extra hard in practice to get my conditioning up because I'm willing to do whatever the team needs."
Torrey said he's paid extra attention to his body and nutrition, and is even going in regularly for "prehab."
"I'm just staying in the treatment room as much as I can and icing to make sure I'm doing everything I can. Even when stuff doesn't hurt, it's OK to get it worked on. I'm just trying to stay healthy for the team. I'd rather die than quit playing football.
"I don't want to let the team down. The coaches are leaning on me, and I know if I go down, our chances go down. Not saying I'm the team or anything like that, but I just want to be there for my teammates whenever I can to take strain off them."
Littrell said he's hopeful some relief might be coming soon for his senior workhorse.
"He's had to take a load," Littrell said. "He's close to over 80 snaps a game and last week we ended up being real thin. We had him and Ayo (Adeyi) at the end. One of our deeper positions in the preseason has gotten really thin. Hopefully we'll get that back this week and take some load off Torrey… That's DeAndre though. He wants to carry the load and compete. He loves ball and he's reliable. He's handled it well."
Stout stepping in as a starter at corner
Freshman cornerback Upton Stout made his first start of the season at Louisiana Tech and earned himself another in this week's game at Missouri.
Stout, who was a highly regarded recruit coming out of powerhouse Galena Park North Shore, has shown he has what it takes to play at a pressure-packed position like cornerback.
"He's a real physical corner," senior safety Makyle Sanders said. "Something that really sticks out with him is his mentality. He's a really good, physical, technical dude. He's always working on his technique, and that's a great mentality to have, especially at that position."
Senior Tyreke Davis, a hybrid linebacker/safety in defensive coordinator Phil Bennett's scheme, said Stout has shown a nose for the ball and an ability to man up on an opponent's best receiver.
"He's probably one of our better man corners and he plays with a lot of grit to him," Davis said. "That's what coach (Bennett) wanted and that's why he's transitioned into that starting role."
UNT head coach Seth Littrell and members of the team addressed the media Tuesday to discuss the upcoming game and the excitement to get back on the field after a much needed bye week.
"They're a very good team," Littrell said. "Offensively, they do a lot of different motions so you have to keep your eyes right in the run game and they have some explosive receivers, too. Defensively, they are big on the back end, are long and athletic and can run. They're big, strong and very good pass rushers but hold themselves in the run game very well up front. They're an SEC opponent. We know what we're facing. It's a great challenge but it's a great opportunity.
"If you don't come to play in big games like that, you probably shouldn't play football. I just want to see our guys go out and compete and play hard for four quarters. The wins and losses take care of themselves. It's a great opportunity for us to go compete."
UNT made the most of bye week
After a second-half rally at Louisiana Tech fell just short in the Mean Green's last game on Sept. 25, they got a much needed bye week to refocus, and perhaps more importantly, heal and get the services back of some key players who had suffered various injuries.
The running backs and wide receivers were particularly thin in the early part of the season, and Littrell said he expects to have some of those players back coming out of the bye week against an SEC opponent. The team was also able to get back to basics.
"We got a lot of work in and got back to fundamentals and looked at tendencies in all three phases," Littrell said. "We worked on some things we need to do to move forward in each phase. It was a good off week. Guys worked hard, and we're ready to get back."
Torrey just fine carrying the load
One player who might have needed some extra rest and recuperation last week is senior running back DeAndre Torrey, who is third nationally with 129.0 rushing ypg and second nationally in all-purpose ypg (165.0). He has moved up the school's all-time list in several categories this season, despite being banged up a couple of times himself.
Torrey has watched as the running back group has quickly gone from perhaps the team's deepest to one of its most vulnerable due to several injuries, including a season-ending one in fall camp to projected starter Oscar Adaway III. That injury changed the plan for Torrey, who was expected to see time in the wide receiver room, and brought him back exclusively to running back.
"I wouldn't say it's a challenge, but it's a little tiring at times," Torrey said. "I've been working extra hard in practice to get my conditioning up because I'm willing to do whatever the team needs."
Torrey said he's paid extra attention to his body and nutrition, and is even going in regularly for "prehab."
"I'm just staying in the treatment room as much as I can and icing to make sure I'm doing everything I can. Even when stuff doesn't hurt, it's OK to get it worked on. I'm just trying to stay healthy for the team. I'd rather die than quit playing football.
"I don't want to let the team down. The coaches are leaning on me, and I know if I go down, our chances go down. Not saying I'm the team or anything like that, but I just want to be there for my teammates whenever I can to take strain off them."
Littrell said he's hopeful some relief might be coming soon for his senior workhorse.
"He's had to take a load," Littrell said. "He's close to over 80 snaps a game and last week we ended up being real thin. We had him and Ayo (Adeyi) at the end. One of our deeper positions in the preseason has gotten really thin. Hopefully we'll get that back this week and take some load off Torrey… That's DeAndre though. He wants to carry the load and compete. He loves ball and he's reliable. He's handled it well."
Stout stepping in as a starter at corner
Freshman cornerback Upton Stout made his first start of the season at Louisiana Tech and earned himself another in this week's game at Missouri.
Stout, who was a highly regarded recruit coming out of powerhouse Galena Park North Shore, has shown he has what it takes to play at a pressure-packed position like cornerback.
"He's a real physical corner," senior safety Makyle Sanders said. "Something that really sticks out with him is his mentality. He's a really good, physical, technical dude. He's always working on his technique, and that's a great mentality to have, especially at that position."
Senior Tyreke Davis, a hybrid linebacker/safety in defensive coordinator Phil Bennett's scheme, said Stout has shown a nose for the ball and an ability to man up on an opponent's best receiver.
"He's probably one of our better man corners and he plays with a lot of grit to him," Davis said. "That's what coach (Bennett) wanted and that's why he's transitioned into that starting role."
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