DRC article
By Brett Vito / Staff Writer
North Texas spring glance
The North Texas football team will begin spring practice today with several holes in its lineup. The following are five questions the Mean Green must answer before taking a shot at a fifth straight Sun Belt title in 2005.
Who replaces Scott Hall?
UNT offensive coordinator Ramon Flanigan believes Mean Green fans could start to understand this fall just how important quarterback Scott Hall was to the team’s offense last season.
"Sometimes it’s easier to tell people how important players are after they leave," Flanigan said. "One of the keys to our running game has been the development of our passing game. People don’t understand how important Scott and, before him, Andrew Smith were to our offense."
The leading candidates to replace Hall are sophomore Joey Byerly and redshirt freshman Daniel Meager.
Byerly served as the backup last season and is intriguing because of his 6-4, 254-pound frame and athleticism. Meager was a standout high school player who is among the highest rated quarterbacks UNT has signed in recent years.
UNT will need to find someone it can depend on to get the ball to perhaps the deepest and most talented group of wide receivers the Mean Green have had in years.
"Both of those guys have the tools," Flanigan said. "Byerly is big and strong. Daniel has a strong arm, is talented and mobile. What we don’t know is how they will handle pressure and the speed of the game. Spring will give us a good gauge of what they can handle and what they can’t."
Who starts on UNT’s rebuilt defensive line?
North Texas coach Darrell Dickey follows the same course each spring when he says that every position is up for grabs no matter what players did in the past. When it comes to the Mean Green’s defensive line, that goes without saying because no starters are back.
Adrian Awasom, Michael Pruitt, Evan Cardwell and Tommy Harrison all completed careers that ranked from solid to outstanding last season. UNT will have to start basically from scratch without them this spring.
Eli Hutchinson and Chris Miller were serviceable backups last year, while Jeremiah Chapman showed flashes of potential as a true freshman. Redshirt freshman Issac Thomas was a heralded recruit who will also get a chance to prove himself at defensive tackle.
Can UNT rebuild without Brewster up front?
Andy Brewster started at center the first game of his redshirt freshman year and never came out of the lineup until he completed his career having started all 50 games UNT played over four years.
That type of experience won’t be easy to replace, especially considering Brewster was an all-conference selection who was among the best offensive linemen in the Sun Belt the last few years.
UNT will have to replace Brewster and fellow senior Lonnie Chambers, who started at guard last season. What will make matters tougher for UNT is tackle Weston Thaggard has decided to skip his senior year, and guard Dylan Lineberry is taking classes at a junior college in an effort to return to the team in the fall.
If Lineberry does not return, UNT could be looking at Joel Foster as its only returning starter on the offensive line.
UNT will have to quickly develop some linemen to help fill the void. Jeremy Brown started four games as a redshirt freshman and will be counted on to continue developing. Newcomer Mike Mazzola could also make a quick impact after enrolling at UNT at the semester break. The former Culver City, Calif., standout took last season off before landing at UNT, where he will have four years of eligibility.
Can UNT’s young defensive backs excel?
UNT featured perhaps one of the best safety tandems in the Sun Belt Conference last season in Jonas Buckles and Markeith Knowlton and a rare four-year starter in Walter Priestley at cornerback.
All three players completed their careers last season, leaving UNT with several holes to fill in its defensive secondary.
UNT was on the verge of signing a junior college safety, but saw him decide to attend another school at the last minute. That loss will leave several relatively unproven players battling for playing time.
"There are good people here and there are three or four players coming in next year in the fall who can help us," UNT defensive coordinator Kenny Evans said.
Cornerback Dominique Mackey and safety Allan Harrison have the most experience of the group, but they could be pushed in the fall by a freshman class filled with defensive backs.
Can linebacker become a strength for Mean Green?
One area in which UNT is loaded with experienced players is at linebacker, which will be a dramatic change from last season when the Mean Green started two freshmen.
UNT was left in that unenviable situation after heralded recruit Travis Thompson of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M broke his leg in fall practices. The injury forced Thompson to miss the season.
About the only positive to come out of the injury was UNT was able to develop freshmen Bran-don Monroe and Derek Mendoza. Monroe was UNT’s second-leading tackler with 63 stops, while Mendoza was fifth at 53. Shawn Early also had a solid junior year, tying for third on the team with 61 tackles. Converted running back Phillip Graves also showed signs of developing into a solid player.
With Thompson back to join the rest of the group, UNT could have a stronger batch of linebackers. Their development could help the Mean Green make up for a lack of experience at other positions.
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