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Texas Spring Football Game 2018


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6 minutes ago, TexasFan21 said:

Apparently Mehringer called plays for White who beat Beck as playcaller for Orange


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To his credit, he called the "give the ball to the best player" play a lot, which is more than one can ever really say about Beck

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Chip Brown: Good, Bad and Ugly from Texas Orange-White Spring Game

GOOD

Sacks: Marqez Bimage, Malcolm Roach and Charles Omenihu were credited with sacks for the WHITE team in the first half. … Jeffrey McCulloch added two sacks for the WHITE team in the second half - both against freshman QB Casey Thompson.

Punter Ryan Bujcevski looked more like his cousin (Michael Dickson ) for the ORANGE team (3 punts for an average of 44.7 yards with one downed inside the 20 and another going 50+ yards) than he did with the WHITE team (5 punts, 39-yard average with one 50+). But overall, a promising start.

Quarterbacks: No turnovers

Sam Ehlinger: 13 of 22 for 151 yards 
Shane Buechele: 12 of 21 for 130 yards, 1 TD

The best of only 10 carries by running backs in the spring game was a 16-yard run by Daniel Young of the ORANGE team on third-and-3 on a second-quarter drive that ended with a missed 40-yard field goal by Chris Naggar.

Casey Thompson showed off his arm on a 36-yard completion - perfectly thrown - to Collin Johnson down the right sideline with Kobe Boyce once again providing tight coverage on Johnson midway through the fourth quarter.

Cam Rising hit Jordan Pouncey for a 32-yard gain on second-and-10 late in the third quarter for the WHITE team to the ORANGE 23.

6-PLAY, 45-YARD DRIVE TO WHITE FG: After Breckyn Hager pressured Sam Ehlinger into an incompletion to Lil’Jordan Humphrey on the first play of the drive, Ehlinger and Humphrey got back on track with completions of 17, 14 and 14 yards, setting up a 50-yard field goal by Joshua Rowland, putting the WHITE team up 16-7 on the final play of the first half.

The pass may have gone for no gain, but how about Breckyn Hager lining up at tight end for the ORANGE team as a fun little wrinkle?

14-PLAY, 77-YARD WHITE TOUCHDOWN DRIVE: QB Sam Ehlinger and WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey combined to convert three third downs before Humphrey was credited with a 1-yard TD run. Ehlinger threw to Humphrey for 19 yards on third-and-10 from the WHITE 23; Humphrey ran for 9 yards on third-and-3 from the ORANGE 35; and Ehlinger hit Humphrey for 24 yards on third-and-9 from the ORANGE 25. Humphrey then ran it into the end zone from 1 yard out for the TD. The drive took 4:38 off the clock.

Duvernay on Duvernay crime: Donovan Duvernay had a big pass breakup in the end zone, preventing a touchdown on a 26-yard pass attempt from Ehlinger to Devin Duvernay.

Malcolm Roach of the WHITE defense was credited with a sack of Shane Buechele on third-and-8 midway through the 2Q, killing the ORANGE team’s drive.

Collin Johnson made a big-time catch on a sideline pass from Buechele over a face-guarding Kobe Boyce midway through the 2Q.

Shane Buechele bought time in the pocket to find Collin Johnson for an 11-yard TD for the ORANGE, barely beating the coverage of CB Kobe Boyce.

Trick play: Double pass from Buechele to Jerrod Heard, who then threw deep to John Burt for a 20-yard gain to the WHITE 17 in the final minute of the first quarter.

Brandon Jones of the ORANGE defense sniffed out a screen to Reese Leitao and closed quickly for a 2-yard loss late in the first quarter.

B.J. Foster covered a lot of ground for the WHITE defense in breaking up a deep-ball pass from Buechele to Collin Johnson with just more than four minutes left in the first quarter.

Ryan Bujcevski’s first punt of the spring game looked a lot like his cousin (Michael Dickson), traveling 59 yards - from the ORANGE 21 to the WHITE 20 - where Devin Duvernay fair caught the ball.

White defense mauled the Orange team’s first drive. Marqez Bimage was credited with sacking Shane Buechele for a 6-yard loss.

Joshua Rowland hit a 29-yard field goal attempt to cap the White team’s first drive, putting White up 6-0 (because White earned three points in pre-game bull-in-the-ring).

Pass breakup in the end zone by Kris Boyd, who was in position to intercept Sam Ehlinger with perfect coverage on Lil’Jordan Humphrey but couldn’t make the play.

Deep-ball post from Ehlinger to Devin Duvernay on White’s first drive. Duvernay held on despite big hit from Chris Brown.

First-team offensive line - LT Denzel Okafor, LG Patrick Vahe, C Zach Shackelford, RG Elijah Rodriguez and RT Derek Kerstetter - and second-team offensive line - LT Sam Cosmi, LG Elijah Rodriguez, C Derek Kerstetter, RG Tope Imade and RT J.P. Urquidez - took turns rotating for both the ORANGE and WHITE teams.

Wow moment from pre-game Bull-In-The-Ring: Ayodele Adeoye over Anthony Wheeler

Other Pre-game Bull-in-the-ring results: 
Beckyn Hager over Charles Omenihu 
Kris Boyd over John Bonney 
Devin Duvernay over Jerrod Heard 
Sam Ehlinger over Shane Buechele

BAD

Not much in terms of ground attack in this one.

Illegal touching call on WR Davion Curtis helped derail Cam Rising’s first drive for the WHITE team midway through the third quarter.

Attempted trick play: This time a double pass attempt - from Cam Rising to Duvernay with Duvernay trying to connect with Brennan Eagles fell incomplete thanks to fast-closing pressure on Duvernay by Demarco Boyd midway through the third quarter.

Buechele overthrew a wide-open John Burt on a go route on the opening drive of the third quarter for the ORANGE team.

Redshirt freshman WR Jordan Pouncey had a chance to make a highlight-reel catch in the end zone on a perfectly thrown 32-yard strike from Ehlinger. But the ball went right through Pouncey’s hands, forcing a 50-yard field goal attempt by Josh Rowland (that was good).

Chris Naggar missed a 40-yard field goal wide left for the ORANGE team in the second quarter.

Ehlinger overthrew WHITE TE Reese Leitao, who was open for a 20-yard gain. The ball ticked off Leitao’s outstretched hand and was nearly intercepted by Donovan Duvernay late in the 2Q.

Right after Collin Johnson made a great sideline catch over Kobe Boyce for the ORANGE team, J.P. Urquidez was called for holding.

Right after Sam Cosmi was called for a false start for the WHITE team early in the second quarter, Sam Ehlinger couldn’t handle an off-center (to the right) by Derek Kerstetter. It was recovered by Toneil Carter for an 8-yard loss.

On Shane Buechele’s 11-yard TD pass to Collin Johnson, putting the ORANGE up 7-6, WHITE DE Charles Omenihu seemed to go three-quarters speed in a one-on-one situation with OG Elijah Rodriguez. Omenihu didn’t crank up his effort until he saw Buechele drifting out of the pocket to the right, toward Omenihu, who then disposed of Rodriguez but was a second too late getting to Buechele.

Ryan Bujcevski’s second punt of the spring game looked a little less like his cousin (Michael Dickson), traveling 38 yards to the ORANGE 36-yard-line.

Holding call on Denzel Okafor wiped out an 8-yard completion by ORANGE QB Shane Buechele to Jerrod Heard.

The ORANGE offensive line on first drive - LT Sam Cosmi, LG Elijah Rodriguez, C Derek Kerstetter, RG Tope Imade and RT JP Urquidez - struggled! Giving up a sack of Shane Buechele.

Ehlinger throwing to Lil’Jordan Humphrey in the end zone on White’s first drive, despite blanked coverage from Kris Boyd, who could’ve and should’ve intercepted.

Questionable pass interference call on Chris Brown against Reese Leitao on White team’s first drive

Awarding three points to the White team for Bull-In-The-Ring results

UGLY

All the players who missed the spring game with injuries:

TE Cade Brewer (knee) 
DB Davante Davis (ankle) 
DB Montrell Estell (foot) 
LB Edwin Freeman (tricep) 
OL Mikey Grandy (head) 
RB Tristian Houston (knee) 
LB Gary Johnson (groin) 
RB Kirk Johnson (ankle) 
DB P.J. Locke III (stinger) 
DL Chris Nelson (elbow) 
DB Caden Sterns (knee) 
RB/LB Cameron Townsend (ankle)

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We've been irrelevant in college football for 8+ years.   Pathetic doesn't begin to describe that.  Maybe abysmal does.  Actually, pathetic better suits it.

You need a (somewhat) transcendent QB to change that.  But we haven't had it, and don't this season.  Whether being overweight, injury prone, lacking playmaking capability. accuracy or a combination of all, our QB position is still just so underwhelming.    Nothing tonight changes that opinion.

Forget about them winning games this season. Wishful thinking is that the QB position doesn't lose games. That didn't go our way last year so not sure why I should feel better about things this season.

And my God can Galindo be more of a douche?  Doubtful.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Wally Pryor
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Ian Boyd - Five quick thoughts: Spring is in the air

It's fun to watch Texas play football again, isn't it? There was a lot to take in with this game, normally there are 11 guys to try and eyeball on a given play for your team but in the spring game there are 22. Like most everyone else, my eyes mostly watched the ball and the play of the QBs so there will be some things I wait to evaluate until I can watch more carefully.

For instance...

Quick thought no. 1: Don't panic on the OL yet

The OL was often a sieve in this game but it wasn't always as bad as it looked. Well, it was, but it wasn't always as clear a negative omen as it sometimes seemed. Denzel Okafor and J.P. Urquidez couldn't hold up in matchups against Charles Omenihu and Breckyn Hager and that's more of a positive indicator for the 2018 season than a negative one.

We saw Okafor go up against top edge players last year and get whipped, if he's still not up for that challenge that hardly means that Texas is in trouble since he's probably not playing tackle next year anyways. Ditto Urquidez, who didn't even see the field last season.

The OL also didn't get a ton of action blocking inside zone on the defense, which is likely what they do better than anything else in the playbook. Then there's Calvin Anderson, who will be facing high expectations but is a three-year starter that has protected the blindside of a college QB in a lot of football games over the last few years.

This group reminds me of some of the old Joe Wickline units he had at Oklahoma State. They'd often have only seven guys that they felt like could be trusted to take the field in a college game in a given year and they'd make do, even winning the Big 12 title that way in 2011, and they just had to trust in having some good luck. Texas needs to hope they don't suffer injuries at OT like last year but even in that event they're still in better shape than they were at this time in 2017.

Quick thought no. 2: Texas' pass-rush is elite

Texas has three, maybe four pass-rushers on this team that can be a problem for teams that have an iffy tackle on the field between Charles Omenihu, Breckyn Hager, Malcolm Roach, and Jeff McCulloch. Technically Roach did his work today on inside blitzes from the Rover position, which are far and away the most deadly Rover insert blitzes that Texas has had from ANYONE since Todd Orlando took over the defense.

McCulloch, Hager, and Omenihu were devastating the overmatched Texas offensive tackles and killing multiple drives with the negative plays they were inflicting. That level of depth and quality on the edge is very promising and should allow Texas to overmatch most every offense on the schedule. The Longhorns are no exception around the league in terms of hoping to find at least one tackle in a given year that can hold up in isolation, if the defense can require that you have two AND excels at attacking inside with disguise and blitzes then you get into serious trouble as an offense.

Texas showed some more even fronts in this game to allow these guys to work in space against the tackles and I'm sure we'll see more of these even fronts that the coaches have discussed in obvious passing situations next season.

And again, Roach is really devastating as an inside blitzer. Can he do all the things he needs to be able to do in order to play from down to down as an inside-backer? I don't know, but if nothing else Texas is going to have to package some ways for him to be involved as an inside rusher. It might just be a passing down tactic, Wisconsin would regularly get TJ Watt lined up as a Mike LB on 3rd down so they could blitz him at isolated guards rather than tackles.

Quick thought no. 3: Lil'Jordan Humphrey is primed for a big year

That was the topic of my last gameplan and it was fairly obvious given what he flashed in 2017 and the fact that his primary competition inside at the slot (Reggie Hemphill-Mapps) transferred. Still, he's a special player and Sam Ehlinger went to him early and often over the middle of the field.

Then, quite interestingly, they inserted him at RB in order to run power on the goal line. I don't know if it was more shocking and encouraging to see Texas' TEs execute straight ahead, kick out blocks on power or that Humphrey was the ballcarrier plunging ahead through the traffic for a pair of scores on the play.

Motioning the slot in to be the ballcarrier behind lead blocks from the TE and traditional RB should be a useful trick for Texas next season both for the purpose of getting big and running downhill behind multiple blockers at tempo as well as making sure that Humphrey never lacks for touches from week to week. I bet there's a wrinkle in there where Ehlinger motions out or runs a route and Humphrey takes a direct snap and throws to him on a pop pass. Obviously he'll get some Wildcat looks as well and Herman is admitting as much even now in the post-game presser.

Hopefully the reason that Breckyn Hager bubble screen was such a terrible play was that those trick play reps are going towards other, more worthy efforts, lol. I'd love to hear the story behind that play call.

Collin Johnson had a pretty solid game today but Humphrey will probably be the lead man next season and Johnson will likely benefit regardless. If Herman is worried about Collin not getting enough opportunities at beating man coverage then Humphrey is likely the solution to that problem.

Quick thought no. 4: This team is tackling really well

I noticed multiple occasions where Texas made quick and immediate tackles on ballcarriers in space. John Bonney made an excellent tackle from a two-deep alignment, every Lil'Jordan Humphrey catch featured him instinctively getting small because he knew a big hit was coming, and every toss in the flat seemed to do very limited damage against the open field tackling from this team.

Walk-on Jamarquis Durst made a lot of tackles and even an INT, I don't know if his coverage is good enough or not for him to play in a Big 12 game (not a doubt, I'm pleading ignorance) but at the least that guy seems emblematic of a culture where everyone plays hard. DeMarco Boyd took that notable opportunity to flatten Duvernay on a pass attempt on a trick play. I imagine that a more careful viewing of the game will reveal more details on this but it was obvious that good tackling is something that is cultural and taking place at every level of the roster and not just from the top players.

Quick thought no. 5: Texas has a very talented QB room

Sam Ehlinger was probably the most aggressive QB tonight, taking multiple deep shots and working the post route in the flood concept on multiple occasions. That may have been because of superior pocket presence, or perhaps because he didn't face Malcolm Roach in his face on insert blitzes like Shane Buechele did.

Ehlinger missed a few deep shots, including one painful throw that was a touch late and a likely TD otherwise, but also landed a few nice throws over the middle. Buechele just barely missed on multiple throws, either because of the pressure or lack of sync with the receivers on his team (Herman even suggested the skill players probably had tired legs). Buechele's work on quick hitters was as sharp as ever and he hit Collin Johnson on some impressive plays and also hit Heard up the seam (another nice catch).

Cam Rising has the best arm on campus and Casey Thompson might have the best legs. Rising could end up being supremely skilled in time, it's just really easy for him to throw the football. Casey Thompson had me concerned early when he made some shaky throws that recalled bad throws I'd seen him make in HS but then he settled in and shot off some really impressive lasers. I don't know how much time Rising will need to put it all together but Thompson will probably need a few years, but they'll be years he'll get and then look out.

Texas will probably want to play only Buechele and Ehlinger next season so that the freshmen can redshirt and get some separation from the former two but it's not hard to see Rising or even Thompson getting to the point where they could go in and execute some plays to help Texas win in 2018. Things are really looking up here.

P.S.
Texas running power as well as they did tonight was very encouraging. They didn't even really attempt it a year ago because it's a hard block for the TE, but tonight it was a staple.

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