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Football: UNT defense still struggling against QBs
12:14 AM CDT on Sunday, October 19, 2008
MONROE, La. -- If there has been one constant for North Texas’ defense throughout a tough season, it has been the Mean Green’s struggles to contain athletic quarterbacks.
That trend continued Saturday when Kinsmon Lancaster torched the Mean Green’s defense for big play after big play in a 35-23 win at Malone Stadium that spoiled what was one of UNT’s best outings of the year.
Lancaster scored on runs that covered 54 and 5 yards to go along with a 69-yard touchdown pass to Luther Ambrose.
“It was a little bit of a problem trying to contain him,” UNT defensive lineman Isaac Thomas said. “The coaches put us in the right position. We just didn’t make enough plays.”
Lancaster finished with 171 passing yards to go along with 95 rushing yards. All three of Lancaster’s touchdowns came in the first half when the Warhawks jumped out to a 35-3 lead that proved to be insurmountable for the Mean Green.
UNT fell to 0-7 on the season despite shutting ULM out in the second half.
UNT also struggled to contain Rice quarterback Chase Clement, who threw for 298 yards and added 69 rushing yards in a win over the Mean Green earlier this season. Louisiana-Lafayette quarterback Micahael Desormeaux dominated UNT with 217 passing yards and 123 rushing yards in a ULL win.
UNT did improve in some aspects when it comes to containing opposing quarterbacks against ULM. Defensive ends Eddrick Gilmore and Ryan Davenport and defensive lineman Jesse DeSoto all recorded sacks for the Mean Green.
UNT came into the night ranked No. 117 among NCAA Bowl Subdivision teams with four sacks on the season.
The 35 points UNT allowed was a season low, but Lancaster helped ULM pick up 21 of those points in the early going against the Mean Green’s defense.
That early lead was too much for UNT to overcome on a night when Lancaster was able to manage the game the rest of the way.
“We gave up too many explosive plays,” UNT head coach Todd Dodge said. “I can think of four right off the top of my head.”
Lancaster played a key role in three of those big plays on a night when UNT continued to struggle against explosive quarterbacks.
BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.
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