Practice started before dawn today over at Apogee Stadium. Workouts the day before a scrimmage are usually nothing terribly interesting, but there were a few pretty big items of note .
First off, I got a chance to ask Dan McCarney about defensive tackle Dylan McDorman. McCarney confirmed that the McDorman has been forced to give up football due to continuing shoulder issues. UNT is really, really short on its defensive line across the board. A few guys will be back in the fall, including Ryan Boutwell and Brandon McCoy, but UNT is not going to be deep there no matter what happens now.
The makeup of North Texas’ defensive line continued to change this week as the Mean Green prepared for its first full-blown scrimmage of spring practice today.
UNT knew heading into spring drills that it would be without four defensive linemen listed on its depth chart and found out this week that it will be without one of those players permanently. Redshirt freshman tackle Dylan McDorman and UNT’s staff came to the realization that he would be unable to continue his college career due to shoulder injuries.
Some bad news . . . Quenton Brown out at least for the rest of spring, maybe more.
Brock dealing with hamstring issues (can't help but think of Jamario).
Several interesting tidbits in there. He answered your question, SSJ:
Quote:I did get a chance to ask Rick Villarreal about UNT’s contract with Tulsa. It has a provision that covered what would happen if either team left C-USA. UNT will have a nonconference home game against Tulsa in 2014.
Some bad news . . . Quenton Brown out at least for the rest of spring, maybe more.
Brock dealing with hamstring issues (can't help but think of Jamario).
Several interesting tidbits in there. He answered your question, SSJ:
Quote:I did get a chance to ask Rick Villarreal about UNT’s contract with Tulsa. It has a provision that covered what would happen if either team left C-USA. UNT will have a nonconference home game against Tulsa in 2014.
Thanks for the update!
Here is a link to a UNT article and video from todays scrimmage.
Big Plays Highlight First Spring Scrimmage
DENTON, Texas – The first spring scrimmage for the North Texas football team was highlight by big plays on offense and special teams. North Texas ran 105 plays on offense and had special teams work and situation drills through the entire two hour scrimmage.
“We had a lot of big plays today and that was something that was really missing last year from our offense,” said head coach Dan McCarney. “I really love the way we competed today and we put our guys in some difficult situations out there.”
The showdown between Derek Thompson and Brock Berglund for the starting quarterback job at North Texas was put on hold Saturday.
Berglund continued to struggle with a hamstring injury he has been dealing with since the end of winter workouts and saw his afternoon cut short, ending the head-to-head competition for the day.
That injury opened the door for Thompson, who capped what UNT’s coaches described as a great week for the senior by throwing three touchdown passes and showing a general command of the offense during a 105-play workout at Apogee Stadium.
I stopped by practice today to pick up some notes for the blog. I wasn’t there the whole time (had to pick up a car at the shop), but I did see quite a bit.
I had hoped to hear how the MRI on defensive end Quenton Brown’s knee came out. Turns out he wasn’t able to get in to have the MRI done until today. UNT will hear in the next couple of days what the results are.
It’s hard to tell about knees until MRI results come back. I won’t even venture a guess. UNT will just have to hope the injury is not serious.
Spring Game- Defense Dominates In Green Win, 33-26
DENTON, Texas - Three second-half touchdowns and a dominant defense paced the Green to a 33-26 win over the White the Mean Green's annual spring football game Saturday afternoon at Apogee Stadium.
The Green team, made up of first- and third-team players, trailed 24-10 at halftime to the White, which consisted of second- and fourth-teamers and started the game with a 21-0 lead. But touchdown throws by Derek Thompson to Carlos Harris and Andrew McNulty to Brelan Chancellor drew the Green within two points at 26-24. Brandin Byrd got the go ahead touchdown on a four-yard run with 4:09 to play.