UNT star has hand surgery
09:23 AM CDT on Thursday, August 26, 2004


By Brett Vito / Staff Writer




North Texas running back Patrick Cobbs missed the Mean Green’s scrimmage Wednesday morning after undergoing minor surgery on his right hand.

Cobbs injured his hand in the late stages of Tuesday afternoon’s practice. Cobbs went straight to UNT’s training room and had surgery a short time later.

UNT coach Darrell Dickey said Cobbs would be available to practice again by Monday.

The injury is the latest in a series of setbacks for UNT’s offense, which still looked sharp without two of its top players during the scrimmage. Wide receiver Johnny Quinn also missed the workout with a minor injury.

"We were much better offensively than in our first scrimmage," Dickey said. "We didn’t make as many mistakes and threw the ball better."

Tight end Andy Blount caught three touchdown passes during the scrimmage, while freshman Brock Stickler added another touchdown catch.

"It’s definitely a good sign we still were able to move the ball," running back Kevin Moore said. "It shows the depth we have. We still have guys who can make plays and are getting better."

UNT will receive a boost when Quinn returns to the lineup in the next few days. The sophomore, who led UNT with 709 receiving yards last year, has missed the last week of practices.

"Johnny will be available for the Texas game," Dickey said. "He knows our system. He just needs to get his timing down."

Quarterback Scott Hall, Cobbs and Quinn all played key roles in the Mean Green dramatically improving their offense last season when UNT averaged 27.5 points a game.

Cobbs won the national rushing title with an average of 152.7 yards a game and also led the nation in scoring with an average of 11.5 points a game.

Quinn became just the third freshman in UNT history to lead the team in both receptions and receiving yards when he grabbed 34 passes.

Hall has been the only one of the trio who has remained in the team’s lineup throughout fall practice, cutting into the time UNT has had to develop continuity among its key skill position players.

UNT rotated several players at running back with Cobbs out of the lineup, including former Liberty standout James Mitchell, freshman Jamario Thomas and sophomore Kevin Moore.

"We miss those guys, but proved that we can still move the ball," Blount said. "It will help us later for some of the other guys on the team to get reps in practice."

Freshmen continue to impress

UNT’s freshmen continued to shine during the Mean Green’s second scrimmage of fall practice.

Thomas posted multiple runs of 10 yards or more, while Daniel Meager continued his impressive performance at quarterback.

Dickey said Hall is entrenched as UNT’s No. 1 quarterback while redshirt freshman Joey Byerly is currently working with the second team.

Meager and sophomore Cullen Mills are battling for the third-team quarterback spot.

The top two spots in UNT’s quarterback rotation were set before junior Andrew Smith died in a car accident just before the Mean Green opened fall practice. Smith was expected to battle Hall for the starting job.

Moore getting back into swing of practice

Sophomore running back Kevin Moore continued to round into shape during UNT’s scrimmage.

Moore missed several workouts early in fall practice while finishing a few summer school classes. The sophomore was UNT’s third-leading rusher last season with 267 yards.

Moore helped fill in when starter Cobbs missed two and a half games last season with a severely bruised thigh. Moore posted a 10-yard run in the late stages of the scrimmage.