North Texas seemed to be running out of time when it came to seeing some signs of life from its much maligned defense before its season opener at Ball State.

UNT finished last nationally in scoring defense the last two seasons and didn’t look like a group ready to make a jump in its first scrimmage of fall practice. Thanks to a few big plays by defensive end Brandon Akpunku and a surprisingly effective day from backup cornerback Robbie Gordon, UNT’s defense limited the Mean Green’s first-team offense to one touchdown in a scrimmage that lasted approximately 120 plays on Saturday at Fouts Field.

“I was really pleased with the improvement of our defense,” head coach Todd Dodge said. “One area that really stood out was the pressure we put on the quarterback. We had relentless pass rush today and had several people pushing the pocket. We also forced turnovers. Those are two areas that we were so poor in last year and have to improve. We have talked about it and recruited toward it. It makes me believe that our players are starting to envision themselves making those kinds of plays.”

Akpunku, a converted linebacker who is projected to start this season as a sophomore, finished with 3 1/2 sacks. Freshman defensive ends K.C. Obi and Tevinn Cantly also posted sacks.

UNT finished with just 12 sacks and finished tied for 112^th nationally with an average of 1.0 sacks a game last season.

“We had to show that we are much better today,” Akpunku said. “We had to come out here, make a statement and show that our defense is ready this season. It builds our confidence when we are out here getting sacks and turnovers.”

Gordon intercepted a pass from Riley Dodge on the first series of the day. Akpunku helped UNT build on that turnover when he sacked Dodge on consecutive plays in the first-team offense’s second series of 10 plays.

Gordon replaced starting cornerback Adryan Adams, who was out with a hip injury he suffered Friday morning. UNT was also missing senior cornerback Antoine Bush, who is out for about a month with a knee injury.

Royce Hill was the only member of UNT’s trio of top cornerbacks who was available for the scrimmage.

UNT’s offense was unable to take advantage of a defense playing without two of its top players. The first-team offense’s only touchdown came when Dodge hit B.J. Lewis in the corner of the end zone from 9 yards out.

Dodge’s lone touchdown pass of the day came at the end of the scrimmage when UNT started two series from the defense’s 15-yard line.

The Mean Green came up empty on its one good drive of the day when starting running back Cam Montgomery fumbled after UNT had reached the 5-yard line.

UNT’s defense forced three turnovers on the day. The Mean Green finished in a tie for 104^th nationally last season with just 16 turnovers forced.

“This was much better than last Saturday,” Gordon said. “We are getting used to what we are doing and we practiced hard this week. We cut out a lot of mental errors and tackled a lot better today.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-7870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.