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Posted

Damn Texas needs to run the ball better in 2025

1st & Goal at the 1... Who Gets the Ball? | Texas Football | Arch Manning | CJ Baxter | Tre Wisner   

BOBBY...     July 16th

Gerry and I talked about the Texas run game in this morning’s Saturday Conversation.

Texas finished 69th in the country in rushing yards per game a year ago.

If Texas wants to win a national title, that figure alone must improve.

Perhaps it’s the rehabilitation of Cedric Baxter, perhaps it’s the threat of a QB run game, or maybe it’s the makeup of the interior OL (or perhaps a mix of all of those factors) that can do the trick.

But if Texas wants to win big this season, running the football effectively has to be a major piece of the puzzle.

Furthermore, if Texas can effectively run the ball, the Texas defense will get just that much better as a result.

Hook’Em!

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Posted

With Baxter's injury last year, I agree with Scipio Tex that Sark really whiffed in not adding more experience at RB for 2025...

Scipio Tex on UTEP game

Running Back

CJ Baxter went out after his first run of the game. Clark, Gibson and Simon held it down, with each getting their respective time to ply their trade. Clark ran it into the hole more. He didn’t add much at contact. We tried to employ him in the passing game, to mixed results.

Gibson runs hard where he’s supposed to and there were no fumbles, but he didn’t push many piles. Simon maximized most of his runs, many of them zone runs, and he was the only Texas running back who consistently broke tackles.

All other Texas runners averaged around 1.6 yards after contact. Simon averaged 4.2. When you consider that Simon averaged less than 4 yards per carry, I’ll let you figure out where he experienced average first contact.

This room is about what I expected. One of the highest paid rooms in college football, but not remotely elite or even that good. It should have been re-hauled back in January, but now the goal is to see if Simon can help us. We could see a switch back to more zone running. I think we’re flailing around a bit.

 

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Posted

We have now gotten good looks (against shit competition) at Gibson, Clark, and Simon. I don't want to say they're JAGSs, but they are a little jaggish. I found myself thinking "Man, we're gonna be so much better at RB when we get Wisner back". And I like Wisner, but man he should not be far and away our #1 RB (and to a lesser extent Baxter, in his current condition). Room needs a spring cleaning, and a good portal guy to go with Cooper.

Also OTF said Rickey Stewart didn't dress and wasn't with the team last night. 

Posted
Just now, Red Five said:

We have now gotten good looks (against shit competition) at Gibson, Clark, and Simon. I don't want to say they're JAGSs, but they are a little jaggish. I found myself thinking "Man, we're gonna be so much better at RB when we get Wisner back". And I like Wisner, but man he should not be far and away our #1 RB (and to a lesser extent Baxter, in his current condition). Room needs a spring cleaning, and a good portal guy to go with Cooper.

Also OTF said Rickey Stewart didn't dress and wasn't with the team last night. 

I thought Clark looked a lot better tonight. He played much faster. Simon runs like a veteran, he probably needs another off-season to build up his body. Gibson ran tough but he needs to accelerate with more conviction, the dudes a verified 4.5 guy. He seems like he’s passive at times. Niblett looks like a totally different guy in the backfield than he does as a punt returner, dude gets up field in a flash. 

Posted
16 minutes ago, Red Five said:

We have now gotten good looks (against shit competition) at Gibson, Clark, and Simon. I don't want to say they're JAGSs, but they are a little jaggish. I found myself thinking "Man, we're gonna be so much better at RB when we get Wisner back". And I like Wisner, but man he should not be far and away our #1 RB (and to a lesser extent Baxter, in his current condition). Room needs a spring cleaning, and a good portal guy to go with Cooper.

Also OTF said Rickey Stewart didn't dress and wasn't with the team last night. 

Simon is not a JAG. In fact, he should probably be 1B or 2B just depending on where Baxter actually is (we just haven't seen a ton of him yet and it still isn't clear to me where he is after the injury). As to Clark, I'm just not convinced he is going to be playable against top competition after his injury. Gibson is fine if he isn't fumbling. 

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Posted
Simon is not a JAG. In fact, he should probably be 1B or 2B just depending on where Baxter actually is (we just haven't seen a ton of him yet and it still isn't clear to me where he is after the injury). As to Clark, I'm just not convinced he is going to be playable against top competition after his injury. Gibson is fine if he isn't fumbling. 

Yeah I think Simon is the keeper out of that group.
Posted

Count me in on being pleased - and not surprised - at seeing Niblett looking like a football player coming out of the backfield. Been waiting to see him there. Hope it stays on track.

 

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Posted
6 hours ago, Red Five said:

We have now gotten good looks (against shit competition) at Gibson, Clark, and Simon. I don't want to say they're JAGSs, but they are a little jaggish. I found myself thinking "Man, we're gonna be so much better at RB when we get Wisner back". And I like Wisner, but man he should not be far and away our #1 RB (and to a lesser extent Baxter, in his current condition). Room needs a spring cleaning, and a good portal guy to go with Cooper.

Also OTF said Rickey Stewart didn't dress and wasn't with the team last night. 

Here's Scipio Tex's take on the current state of the RB room:

"A three-headed rushing attack started off with Christian Clark. He ran at 4.8 yards per clip and did a better job of hitting obvious holes. There’s not much juice there and he goes down at first contact. He looks comfortable as a pass catcher.

Jerrick Gibson will hit it up in there, but he’s not breaking tackles like his freshman year. Perhaps ball security concerns are limiting his stiff arm and recklessness. 4.8 yards per carry.

James Simon continues to demonstrate the most raw dynamism of the current healthy group. His acceleration on a counter play late was noticeable. He averaged 5.6 yards per carry and it’s a different speed when he’s carrying it. He’s inexperienced and probably not a trustworthy pass protector yet.

Texas had nine rushes of 10+ yards, but a lot of them were blocked up for 10+ with the RB adding nominally to the total.

This isn’t a very talented room right now. If you watch other college football, the contrast is marked. Collectively, they recorded a middling 2.25 yards after contact against Sam Houston State, and that includes 12 yards after contact from Ryan Wingo’s run.

Wisner’s return should help with some floor and pass catching ability."

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Posted

Baxter still has to prove he’s what he flashed occasionally before he got hurt.  Because before those last couple games his YAC was absolutely horrible. He had a game with 23 carries and like 1 yard after contact.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Thanks to Wisner for his service to the university and all, but I can’t stand watching him tippy toe up to the line at half speed. I don’t see any reason to play him over Simon, Clark, and even Gibson. 

Posted

Every year it seems that the two top running backs or more for Texas get hurt and miss significant time. Baxter has played about a half season in now his third year at Texas. Before the season I was saying this to Burton and company on one of their livestreams. I said we should get a running back out of the portal for insurance for a change. I said we should go after Justice Haynes, who wound up at Michigan. Texas could have gotten him but never even tried. I was told Texas has plenty of quality backs and didn't need him. The past several seasons have said different, and this one is just another repeat of that.

It doesn't matter who you have in the running back room if they aren't available to play when you really need them. 

Posted
8 minutes ago, NBHorn7 said:

Every year it seems that the two top running backs or more for Texas get hurt and miss significant time. Baxter has played about a half season in now his third year at Texas. Before the season I was saying this to Burton and company on one of their livestreams. I said we should get a running back out of the portal for insurance for a change. I said we should go after Justice Haynes, who wound up at Michigan. Texas could have gotten him but never even tried. I was told Texas has plenty of quality backs and didn't need him. The past several seasons have said different, and this one is just another repeat of that.

It doesn't matter who you have in the running back room if they aren't available to play when you really need them. 

Burton and OTF look like fucking idiots with all the sunshine pumping they were doing about the offense 

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Posted
Thanks to Wisner for his service to the university and all, but I can’t stand watching him tippy toe up to the line at half speed. I don’t see any reason to play him over Simon, Clark, and even Gibson. 

When we first saw Wisner here, every handoff he took he looked like he was shot from a cannon. That is completely gone now.
Posted
1 minute ago, Red Five said:


When we first saw Wisner here, every handoff he took he looked like he was shot from a cannon. That is completely gone now.

He almost never runs the play as designed, and it exacerbates the holding issue

Posted
6 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Burton and OTF look like fucking idiots with all the sunshine pumping they were doing about the offense 

Nimrods, imbeciles, knuckleheads, idiots, fools, should I keep going? 

Posted

Crossposting... Scipio Tex

The offensive line is a wreck, the RBs are JAGS 

RUNNING BACK

Texas totaled 15 rushing yards from all players not named Arch Manning. I guess the people arguing with me about this room’s talent are waiting for one of them to drop a 7 yard run against OU when Venables slants the wrong way to count coup, but let’s just put this one in the old PW win column. I would rather have taken a Big L.

They schemed up the safety, linebacker and an edge on Wisner multiple times in pass pro, yielding a sack, two pressures. They generally manhandled him. Wisner also fell at contact on a goal line run like a fainting goat watching The Shining. Christian Clark got some run, gave up a pressure and blocked the wrong guy on only three protection snaps.

On the positive side, Wisner had 8 carries for 13 yards. Which if you did three times, it’s now 3rd and a long 5. Then you go on a hard count on a 4th down, get an offsides from the defense, then we’re looking at 4th and inches, and then you can sneak it for zero when the OL do their slip n slide belly slide. Turnover on downs, but you establish the run and these body blows pay off in the 4th quarter

 

 

Posted

Wisner is an absolute shell of what he looked like initially here. He would take the ball and was then lightning past the LOS. Granted, this year there is really nowhere to go once you reach the LOS…

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