North Texas Mean Green 2018 Football Preview
Opening Statement: Seth Litrell manufactured a rock solid turnaround in Denton last fall, as he took the Mean green from 5 wins to 9 wins in a single season. UNT ranked 24th in the nation in total offense, 21st in passing yards per game, and 19th in scoring, and won the CUSA West Division. All news was not great, however, as the defense did not live up to their end of things. UNT ranked 98th in total defense, 110th in scoring defense, 102nd against the run, and 72nd against the pass. They also finished 118th nationally in turnover differential at -11. If UNT wants to win the CUSA West once again, those are the areas of focus to get it done.
Breakdown Offense: The mean green scored 35.5 points per game with their Air Raid offense, and nobody benefited more from the turnaround than QB Mason Fine, who is one of the better QBs in the college game that people are not talking about. Fine passed for 4052 yards with 31 TDs last fall, and completed 63.4% of his passes. He also managed to toss 15 INTs on the year, which is an area of concern for OC Graham Harrell, the former Texas Tech record breaking QB. With a full season under his belt, and remembering that he was just a sophomore last fall, expect bigger things, and better accuracy and smarts, from Fine as a junior. Quinn Shanbour, a senior from Oklahoma City, is back as the primary reserve, and attempted just 6 passes as the backup last season.
The run game is a secondary part of what the offense does here, but still managed 163.2 yards per game last season. Jeffery Wilson, who rushed for 16 TDs last fall, is now gone. Sophomore Nic Smith is being pegged as his replacement, and ran for 684 yards last fall, with 6 scores, but will need to up his average per carry slightly to match what Wilson was able to do. He carried just over 9 times per game last fall, and will see a massively increased work load. Evan Johnson, also a sophomore, is projected as his backup, and averaged 5.56 yards per carry last fall in limited duty, and scored 3 times. Christian Holsey, a transfer from Howard Payne, carried just 4 times last fall, and is the only real depth.
The receiving corps is fairly loaded, as 4 of the top 5 receivers from last season all return. Michael Lawrence (62-819-4), Jalen Guyton (49-775-9), and Rico Bussey, Jr. (47-677-7) all return to the fold. Jaelon Darden, who caught 32 passes as a freshman last season, replaces Turner Smiley in the lineup. Quinetin Jackson and Jason Pirtle should provide some depth.
The offensive line returns 3 starters, both tackles and the center, but needs to find 2 new starters at OG from the unit that finished the season in the New Orleans Bowl loss to Troy. Elex Woodworth and Riley Mayfield are the Tackles, while Sosaia Mose is the Center. Jordan Murray could provide some competition at OT, while Chandler Anthony provides some depth at the position. Creighton Barr is the key reserve at Center.
The OG spots are penciled in for now as Thomas Preston III at LG and Manase Mose at LG. Woodworth could slide into the LG spot, with Murray taking his spot, so the LG is especially worth watching in camp.
Breakdown Defense: This side of the football is going to be worth watching in camp, as DC Troy Reffett has been tasked with completely fixing the areas that plagued this unit last fall, starting up front. LaDarius Hamilton and Roderick Young are both back at DE. They combined for 10.5 TFLs last season, but neither of them stood out as a force off the edge. Young had just 2 sacks, while Hamilton did not record one all season. There is not a ton of depth here.
A new NT must be identified in camp. As of now, that looks to be TJ Tauaalo.He totaled just 2.5 TFLs last fall. Again, there is not much depth available.
EJ Ejiya and Brandon Garner both return at LB this fall, but one LB spot must be filled in camp. Ejiya is a star at LB, racking up 109 tackles and 12.5 TFLs last fall. He also led the team with 7 sacks, and added 4 QB hurries and a forced fumble. Garner finished with 68 tackles last season, and added 6.5 TFLs, 2 sacks, 3 PBUs, and 7 QB hurries. The new starter appears to be Joe Ozougwu. He played in 11 games as a freshman last season, and totaled 18 tackles on the year. RS sophomore Corey Mann is the backup, or 4th LB, but depth after that is thin.
The Mean Green get 3 starters back in the 3-3-5 set in CBs Nate Brooks and Kemon Hall, and S Khairi Muhammad. Brooks totaled just 2 PBUs last fall, and totaled 31 tackles, with zero INTs. Hall recorded 8 PBUs, one forced fumble, just one INT, and 72 tackles. Muhammad recorded 94 tackles, one PBU and one forced fumble. Cam Johnson, a sophomore, is the backup at CB. Makyle Sanders backs up Muhammad at Safety.
Tyreke Davis is penciled in at NB, while Taylor Robinson is also projected to start at FS. Davis played in all 14 games as a freshman last fall, and Robinson did the same as a sophomore. Ashton Preston is also in the mix at NB, while Robinson appears to have his spot locked down.
Breakdown Special Teams: Trevor Moore was one of the best PKs in the nation last season, hitting 20/22 FG attempts, but he is no more. Cole Hedlund, a senior, is expected to replace him this fall, but could face competition from as many as 3 other kickers who were in spring camp.
Blake Patterson is back at Punter, and was solid with a 41.12 yards per punt average.
Johnson and Darden appear to be the primary KR men, while Darden was dangerous in PR duty, averaging 11.9 yards per punt with one score.
Final Analysis: For North Texas to make a second consecutive run at the CUSA West title, a few things must come together. First, Fine has to further develop along the path that could take him to being maybe the best QB in North Texas history, and secondly, the turnovers must cease. 15 INTs is simply too high, and the overall turnover count must be reduced. The defense also has to push forward this season and show solid improvements across the board. Nobody is asking for miracles here, but there is more than enough room for improvement, especially from a defensive front line that didn't do much last season. The defense gave up 431.4 yards per game last fall, while the offense racked up 455.1 yards per contest. That gap must widen. North Texas has more than enough offensive tools to win the division, and Louisiana Tech, their prime rival in the race, comes to Denton this season after UNT won in Ruston last fall by one. The opportunity is there, they just have to take it, and then pray that Littrell does not run off to a a job like Texas Tech, which very well could be open next fall.
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