2008 Woodie Awards
Craddock, defense win shootout
QB Dasher injured in the final minute of the first half; Nickson, Jones and Jenkins grab interceptions in win
Chris Martin
Issue date: 10/29/07 Section: Sports
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The defense, which set the school single-game record for sacks last week against Arkansas State, terrorized UNT quarterback Giovanni Vizza on the way to racking up four interceptions, two sacks and four pass break-ups.
"We knew North Texas had problems with pressure and we brought plenty of it," senior defensive end Erik Walden said.
The Mean Green rushing game wasn't spared by the Blue Raider defense either. UNT gained 87 rushing yards on 22 attempts. However, 77 of those yards came on a Jamario Thomas touchdown in the first quarter. After allowing that touchdown run, MT was able to limit the Mean Green rushing attack to just nine yards on 20 carries for an average of .45 yards a carry.
One big part of the success for the team was the exemplary play on special teams, especially that of punter David Defatta. Defatta averaged 47.2 yards on his eight punts, four of which he pinned inside the opponents twenty. Of those four punts inside the twenty, three were downed at the UNT 1 yard line leading to two MT safeties, both occurring in the fourth quarter.
Several players came through with big performances for the Blue Raiders. Senior wideout Taron Henry brought in six catches for 103 yards and one touchdown. Tailback DeMarco McNair collected three touchdowns in the game, two on the ground and one in the air to give him an Sun Belt Conference-leading 12 on the season. Walden had three tackles for loss, a sack and an interception.
Not to be outdone by his fellow linemate, senior defensive end Tavares Jones collected four tackles, an interception and a pass break-up. Jones nearly scored while returning the interception, but was dragged down at the UNT 5 yard line.
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