There isn’t much about the North Texas football team that head coach Todd Dodge hasn’t changed since he arrived before the beginning of last season.

UNT’s jerseys are different. So is the offense.

Joseph Miller

But when it comes to putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, Dodge and the Mean Green would like to turn back the clock. UNT sent waves of players at opponents just two years ago.

The strategy will be back in vogue this fall after a season that saw the Mean Green fail to live up to its name when it came to putting heat on quarterbacks. UNT had just 14 sacks from five players in 2007.

Defensive lineman Joseph Miller, who finished with 3.5 sacks last season, is the only returning player on UNT’s roster who had a sack last season.

“The way Gary [DeLoach] is doing things is to ask our defensive linemen to give him four plays as hard as they can go,” Dodge said of UNT’s new defensive coordinator. “Then we will get them out and put four more in. We don’t have a tremendous amount of experience at tackle or end, but we have some bodies where we can rotate. That is going to be the key, having our players understand how to work a rotation that way. We think that will improve our rush.”

UNT had 16 sacks from nine players in 2006 and was known for a standout pass rush during DeLoach’s first stint as the Mean Green’s defensive coordinator. UNT finished with 44 sacks from 14 players in 2002, the final season of DeLoach’s first stay with the Mean Green.

UNT had several star defensive linemen in 2002, including two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Brandon Kennedy and Adrian Awasom, formerly of the New York Giants.

UNT won’t have the star power it featured on those teams, but could have several players to turn to in an effort to get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Linebacker Tobe Nwigwe (2.5), linebacker/safety Ger-maine Dawson (1.0) and linebacker Colt Mahan (1.0) all had at least one sack in 2006 before being shut out last season.

UNT will also look to defensive ends Marquis Sykes, Sam Owusu-Hemeng, Ryan Daven-port and Jonathan Stewart and defensive tackles Draylen Ross and Isaac Thomas to provide a spark when it comes to rushing the passer.

“We have the players to do it,” Miller said of improving UNT’s pass rush. “Some of the young guys are looking good. Sykes looks good on the edge, Daven-port had a good spring, Sam has power and speed off the edge and we all expect Draylen to have a big year. Jonathan will also help us on the edge.”

The system DeLoach is implementing could also help the Mean Green, which frequently remained in one formation and did little stunting last season. DeLoach took over UNT’s defense before the beginning of spring practice and was charged with revamping a unit that finished last nationally with an average of 45.1 points allowed per game.

Dodge said the Mean Green would use multiple looks this season, switching back and forth between three- and four-man fronts to confuse opposing offenses.

“Last year we didn’t move much up front,” Miller said. “We were like statues most of the time. Every play we are moving now, sliding here, stunting there. We will get more pressure from our scheme alone. The coaches will put us in the position to make plays. It will be up to us to make them.”

UNT will also blitz more to take advantage of a group of athletic linebackers, including Craig Robertson. The sophomore showed big-play ability last season with five interceptions and 3.5 tackles for loss.

The Mean Green is hoping that using players like Robertson to blitz will help UNT’s secondary pick up more interceptions. The Mean Green finished with 11 last season, a total that ranked sixth in the eight-team Sun Belt.

Robertson took advantage of several mistakes by quarterbacks, but more often than not, those miscues were not a result of the pressure UNT’s defensive front produced.

The Mean Green is hoping to change that by taking advantage of its depth and a new scheme that will put its top players in the position to pile up sacks.

Dodge suffering from tendinitis

Freshman quarterback Riley Dodge cut short his Tuesday morning workout due to tendinitis in his elbow.

Dodge is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and gradually building up his arm strength.

“It’s something quarterbacks go through,” Todd Dodge said. “His shoulder is fine, but he threw all three days when we had our freshman practicing individually.”

That extra work made Riley Dodge’s elbow a little tender.

“We are limiting the amount of time he throws,” Todd Dodge said. “We are going to take it easy with him.”

Injury update

Dodge said several of his players’ injury status has changed in the last few days.

* Sophomore tackle Matt Menard returned to practice on Tuesday after missing several days.

* Safety/linebacker Ger-maine Dawson could be back from a hamstring injury in time for Saturday’s scrimmage.

*  Ross’ ankle injury is not as bad as previously thought, although he still missed practice on Tuesday.

* Center Kelvin Drake will be back from his ankle injury on Thursday.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .

UNT struggled at times last season to pressure opposing quarterbacks. The following is a look at the players who had sacks for UNT last season:

Returning players

Players lost