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2019 Texas Football Season - "#8 Go Fuck Yourself Bitch"


Xcalibur

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TFB notes on the team:https://texas.thefootballbrainiacs.com/2019/01/open-post-weekend-january-25th-27th/

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Quick Hitter | Team Notes | Whittington, Moore, OL, Hudson
– Will Baizer

– I am hearing from multiple places that early enrollee Jordan Whittington, who was initially recruited as a slot, will start off working mainly with the running backs.

It seems the Longhorn staff was also paying attention to the State Championship. This should also make sure that once Jake Smith arrives on campus, the two are not stepping on each other’s toes a la Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Reggie Hemphill-Mapps.

– Speaking of Lil’Jordan Humphrey, sophomore receiver Josh Moore will be tasked with replacing him. Luckily, he’s shown an ability to get separation in the college game that has translated quite well from his high school days. Those around the program are optimistic about his return from surgery and are telling me he should have a big spring.

– A redshirt freshman who continues to receive high praise is offensive guard Junior Angilau. I’m told he’s another guy who has the mentality that Herb Hand wants in his guards, has the best feet at the guard position, and is powerful to boot. He and Denzel Okafor are my early front-runners for the guard positions.

– The right tackle position is still up in the air. I’m continuing to hear good things about the development of redshirt freshman offensive tackle Christian Jones. It appears the staff really likes his work ethic, and off the field, he has the right attitude to put in a lot of extra work. I’m not saying he starts this year, but he is a project that is coming around nicely and may play sooner than later.

– I checked in with a source on redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Patrick Hudson. The 6’5, 330lbs swiss army knife was taken to the Intensive Care Unit back in September after suffering from “exertional heat cramps” due to rising body temperature during a hot and humid day. It is not over, but as of now, I do not see Patrick Hudson returning to the team any time soon if at all. Medical retirement seems to be where this thing is going.

 

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5 hours ago, ztejas said:

Pretty sure that hit on ASR killed SC's entire program. 

And it still wasn't targeting but I guess we had to be penalized somehow. 

3 hours ago, crash_davis said:

can someone please explain the issues with hudson.  i didn't realize that his heat stroke, if that what it was, was that bad and i didn't realize that it could debilitate you for the rest of your playing days.

Basically once you've had one you're highly susceptible to more. 

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29 minutes ago, BigHorn'13 said:

And it still wasn't targeting but I guess we had to be penalized somehow. 

You can see his mouthguard fly out on the first angle. 

That has to be one of the best sticks ever by a Longhorn. Certainly by a freshman. Looked like fuckin Sean Taylor out there.

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18 minutes ago, ztejas said:

You can see his mouthguard fly out on the first angle. 

That has to be one of the best sticks ever by a Longhorn. Certainly by a freshman. Looked like fuckin Sean Taylor out there.

That and Quandre on Mahomes were the two best hits I’ve seen a Texas player make in the last ten years where the runner wasn’t defenseless or never saw it coming.  They were  Mano a Mano hits.  And both guys got knocked the fuck out cleanly.  

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IT notes (including injury info)

Replacing Leaders

Search for leadership: "You look around and one thing that jumps out is a lot is this is a younger team with a lot of leadership to replace. We'll find out real soon who the next group will be but they'll have big shoes to fill. The importance of leadership can't be overstated. Players have to hold each other accountable during the off-season. Last year was good in that regard." 

When pressed for leaders, I mentioned the obvious in Sam Ehlinger: "Yes, Sam of course. It's his team. Shack is already stepping up. You have to have someone on the o-line for sure, especially with all the younger guys. On defense it's Roach, Jones, and McCulloch."

I mentioned Roach has come a long way: "Just like Chris Nelson did. You gotta have a guy on the d-line step up with all the losses. That room looks a lot different without Charles, Chris, and Breckyn. 

Jones coming back was big: "He's been a leader on the field -- the best communicator in the secondary -- now it's time for him to be more vocal off."

Workouts

This past week the team, along with the new enrollees, began workouts. These consisted of a.m. running sessions followed by hitting the weights. 

The running was more about easing back into it, the weights were a different story with the intensity being pretty high.

This week the workout frequency will increase.

New Horns

Texas welcomed nine, and soon to be ten, new players to the program. Last year we heard about the early enrollee contingent arriving focused and ready to work. They acclimated as seamlessly as possible, much to the surprise of McKnight and Herman. It's early, but so far I'm hearing the same.

New players are held to the same standard as everyone else, that means when they screw up, the whole team pays for it. There hasn't been much screwing up. The new guys are punctual, hard workers, and studious. They ask a lot of questions and they have no shortage of players helping them along the way.

So far the freshman are keeping up in every way.

Here are the early enrollees:

QB Roschon Johnson
ATH Jordan Whittington
LB De'Gabriel Floyd
TE Jared Wiley
DE Peter Mpagi
LB Marcus Tillman 
WR Bru McCoy 
LB/DE Jacoby Jones 
OL Tyler Johnson
LB Caleb Johnson

Injuries

Dos asked for a refresher on injuries. Here's what we've gathered but as of this writing we're still checking on some things. Some answered questions have led us to more questions.

There are a good number of guys who are still getting right from the normal knocks of the season, including Sam Ehlinger. When I ask about guys like that I just hear back nothing is really wrong, they're just still banged up.

Caden Sterns is still nursing the deep bone bruise that kept him out of the Sugar Bowl. Remember this situation next year when Herman says someone is fine and we say, "eh, not so sure about that." That injury seems to be lingering and I've asked more about it.

Collin Johnson had off-season surgery. I believe it's a meniscus but I'm not sure, but it's probably the injury that kept him out versus Tech. If he misses any length of time, guess who will hit the field quickly? Yep, Bru.

Bru also could benefit from Malcolm Epps being out. I'm still trying to learn about his timeline to return but he has a hurt collarbone.

Josh Moore is also still out with the severe shoulder sprain he suffered during the season. I believe he'll be good to for the spring, but wide receiver is a little banged up right now.

Jalen Green hurt his shoulder in the final minute of the Sugar Bowl, but he's progressed nicely since then and is nearly 100%.

Junior College transfer Caleb Johnson arrived in the middle of rehabbing a shoulder injury. He's a full go for the running sessions but has workout regimen built towards healing. He could miss some of the spring but it's too early to tell.

Marqez Bimage will likely miss the spring. He's still working and doing what he can, but he's limited with his shoulder. He is almost up to 270 pounds, though. He'll be a heavy rotation guy next season, but this will open up some reps for new arrival Jacoby Jones.

We'll be monitoring this and will edit if we hear anything further. Injury information isn't the easiest to come by, but what I care about most is getting the bottom line on each guy -- how bad he's hurt and when he will return.

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Still don't see how we'll be able to get all those receivers on the field. 

The LBs early enrolling make me feel a little better about the defense. 

I think we're a lot better off on OL than people realize. Where things get fucky is, once again, if/ when Shack goes down. I'm guessing Kerstetter is the backup plan there but in doing so, sets off a chain reaction of starters switching spots. I'm all about manufactured depth (everywhere BUT OL) and love having the 6th being a "swing/ utility" player, but that always seems like a receipe for disaster. 

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Should Lakia Henry commit, Texas will have 2 upperclassmen LBs. That is crazy. Also, Shack and Kerstetter will be the only 2 OL without a RS, hopefully that continues moving forward.

Need some clarification on Henry, Shepherd, Hudson and Boyd, but it looks like 79 scholarships accounted for, so GTs shouldn't be an issue.

Currently the offense has 39 players with an average ranking of 0.9104, while the defense has 40 players with a ranking of 0.9110. This roster is heading the right direction.

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On 1/26/2019 at 9:16 PM, Mileslong said:


I wonder if all these shoulder injuries have anything to do with the tiny pads the guys wear now. In my day our pads were huge. They barely cover their shoulders these days

I think it’s guys going for “kill shot” vs wrapping up and tackling. 

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Lowest returning production in the Power 5: guaranteed preseason top-10 Texas

121. Texas (48 percent)
119. Georgia Tech (49 percent)
118. Washington (50 percent)
116. Ole Miss (51 percent)
114. Kentucky (51 percent)
112. Kansas (52 percent)
110. Boston College (53 percent)
109. NC State (53 percent)
108. Stanford (54 percent)
106. Duke (54 percent)

Some of those, you could have guessed. Kentucky loses LB Josh Allen and most of the primary reasons for 2018’s breakthrough. Ole Miss’ offense takes a big hit. Washington loses Jake Browning, Myles Gaskin, and most of its secondary.

That top name might come as a surprise.

Fresh off of a 10-win campaign — the school’s first since 2009 — and a Sugar Bowl win, Texas is all but guaranteed to begin 2019 in the preseason top 10. The Horns bring back quarterback Sam Ehlinger and receiver Collin Johnson as headliners, plus the fruits of successful recruiting.

They do not, however, return their leading rusher (Tre Watson), leading receiver (Lil’Jordan Humphrey), three honorable mention all-conference offensive linemen, their top three tacklers on the defensive line, their top two linebackers, and three of their top five defensive backs, including corner Kris Boyd, who led the team in havoc plays (tackles for loss, forced fumbles, and passes defensed).

At 48 percent returning production, the Horns aren’t in the “guaranteed regression” range like, say, UAB and Fresno State. But Tom Herman’s recruiting classes are going to have to break through quickly if Texas is to live up to expectations.

 

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29 minutes ago, texifornia said:

 

Bill Connelly has a model that is not impressed with Tom Herman's Longhorns? Is such a thing even possible? I'm glad he is trying to dig deeper into what makes teams good. He is trying to dig into a very large pile of data, and he is starting with correlation strength in past seasons as a predictor for future ones. You can use a can each of red, white, and blue paint to make a flag or a big light purple blotch.

OU has high percent returning, just not their Heisman QB or any good QB with any experience playing in the system. Or their star WR. Or a few other key pieces of a puzzle that fit together by making an irresistible offensive force and turnstile defense.

aggy returns moderate production by his ratings, but again lacks a few important pieces, like their all-SEC RB, their go-to big WR TE, and much of what defense that could actually play.

Texas loses lots of older players who were in front of higher rated but still inexperienced players. LJ is a big loss, but Vahe, e.g., is not some third-and-long bulwark who was keeping our drives alive with his pass pro. This production ratio system is designed so that it will overestimate the value of bringing back corches on the field and the cost of graduating "best we had ready at the timers."

His bit about preseason ranking for us seems like evidence he has been sniffing his own farts and expects to tell the world how smart he is when we get trashed by LSU and finish near the bottom of or out of the polls.

Edited by Magus Ossis
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7 minutes ago, Magus Ossis said:

Bill Connelly has a model that is not impressed with Tom Herman's Longhorns? Is such a thing even possible? I'm glad he is trying to dig deeper into what makes teams good. He is trying to dig into a very large pile of data, and he is starting with correlation strength in past seasons as a predictor for future ones. You can use a can each of red, white, and blue paint to make a flag or a big light purple blotch.

OU has high percent returning, just not their Heisman QB or any good QB with any experience playing in the system. Or their star WR. Or a few other key pieces of a puzzle that fit together by making an irresistible offensive force and turnstile defense.

aggy returns moderate production by his ratings, but again lacks a few important pieces, like their all-SEC RB, their go-to big WR TE, and much of what defense that could actually play. 

Texas loses lots of older players who were in front of higher rated but still inexperienced players. LJ is a big loss, but Vahe, e.g., is not some third-and-long bulwark who was keeping our drives alive with his pass pro. This production ratio system is designed so that it will overestimate the value of bringing back corches on the field and the cost of graduating "best we had ready at the timers." 

His bit about preseason ranking for us seems like evidence he has been sniffing his own farts and expects to tell the world how smart he is when we get trashed by LSU and finish near the bottom of or out of the polls. 

He's also just generally not a UT fan - his favorite teams are Mizzou and OU - so he likes get a little dig in every time he can.

Edited by texifornia
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They do not, however, return their leading rusher (Tre Watson), leading receiver (Lil’Jordan Humphrey), three honorable mention all-conference offensive linemen, their top three tacklers on the defensive line, their top two linebackers, and three of their top five defensive backs, including corner Kris Boyd, who led the team in havoc plays (tackles for loss, forced fumbles, and passes defensed).

At 48 percent returning production, the Horns aren’t in the “guaranteed regression” range like, say, UAB and Fresno State. But Tom Herman’s recruiting classes are going to have to break through quickly if Texas is to live up to expectations.

 

It may burn a little, but this is a fair projection to me.  We lost a ton.  We don't know how good our backups are yet.  We're about to find out.  

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