Five Things to Watch: North Texas
When UTSA and UNT get together weird things tend to happen. Here are the five things to watch this weekend:
Welcome to the Dome, Mason Fine
I saw an interesting quote today from Mason Fine in which he said that he had never played in an indoor stadium. This might play in UTSA's favor. The Alamodome gets very loud very quickly even if there isn't a particularly large crowd. Will Fine be able to handle the noise? The true freshman quarterback has played okay for the Mean Green if the crowd gets into the game it might lead UNT into some false starts. Fans might remember the game vs. FIU a couple years back when UTSA caused something like 5 false starts in route to a win.
The Pratt effect
Probably the most important member of the offensive line so far. UTSA was running the ball with ease against UTEP until Austin Pratt got ejected for a throwing a punch. The offensive line will be at full strength this weekend. UNT runs a three man front much like UTSA's. The only issue for UNT is that most of their defensive line is undersized. UTSA will attempt to be physical at the line of scrimmage and establish a dominant running game.
Sturm's pass attempts
Hear me out. The less passes Dalton Sturm throws the better. Hell, if Sturm attempts 10 passes it would be okay. If Sturm only attempts a minimal amount of passes it probably means UTSA is running the ball well. If UTSA is running the ball well it prevents guys like Eric Jenkins and the rest of the UNT secondary from making plays. UNT leads the league in interceptions and I am sure they want to keep that mark intact. Like I mentioned earlier UNT has an undersized offensive line. UTSA happens to have a healthy offensive line and two stud running backs that have played well of late. Feed them the ball and prevent the UNT defense from making plays.
Josiah's Revenge
Josiah's Revenge also the name of a punk rock band....back to football. For the first time this year we saw Tauaefa struggle. Although it was not reported Tauaefa was probably dealing with some lingering injuries from the Rice game. Hopefully he is healthy and ready to go and even if he's not there's no way he misses this game. I'm sure this story has made the rounds but for those that don't know it here's the short version. Tauaefa wanted to play for UNT (he's from Lake Dallas HS). UNT never offered and he ended up at UTSA. UNT fans wrote some not very nice things about him on the interwebs. His brother proceeded to screenshot the comments and sent him to Josiah. He kept that screenshot as his phone background. So yeah, no way he misses this game.
Contain the touchdown machine
The touchdown I am talking about is UNT running back Jeffery Wilson. You wouldn't think an Air Raid team would have a running back lead the league in touchdowns here we are. Wilson has been the offensive MVP for the Mean Green with a league leading 12 touchdowns. UTSA will need to contain Wilson and make Mason Fine throw the ball. If UTSA can get up early like they did on Southern Miss and UTEP it should force UNT to rely on Mason Fine a little bit more than they really want.