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Texas Spring Football Game 2018


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2 hours ago, Machinator said:

Then you and I watched different games. Reggie Hemphill-Mapps, A. Foreman and LJH had good days, but the offense was shitty.

Connor Williams, in particular, got beat several times by that 6th-year defensive end Maryland is returning.

Should have said better than the rest of the season (i.e somewhat competent as opposed to soul crushingly bad) , but according to UT Lawnghorn we still gave up like 5 sacks, so what do I know

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After watching the Spring Game today, I am about as confident in us as I was to start last season.  Hate to be gloom and doom but I still see a lot of the same glaring flaws (which is to be expected).  

 

However, I will say I think Rising is the future.  I am excited to see if we end up redshirting him or not.  He seems like he might be ready to go day 1.

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19 minutes ago, DiceHands said:

After watching the Spring Game today, I am about as confident in us as I was to start last season.  Hate to be gloom and doom but I still see a lot of the same glaring flaws (which is to be expected).  

 

However, I will say I think Rising is the future.  I am excited to see if we end up redshirting him or not.  He seems like he might be ready to go day 1.

He looks good. Thompson looks super athletic. But lets not do the thing where we pretend a true freshman is the answer to our problems. 

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11 minutes ago, PatSolitanojr said:

He looks good. Thompson looks super athletic. But lets not do the thing where we pretend a true freshman is the answer to our problems. 

Absolutely not.  But it gives me hope that we might have at least one competent QB on the roster, regardless of his age.  Im not giving up on Sam, but if he continues to make dumb decisions, we cant keep trotting him out there.

 

Maryland might seriously be the biggest game of the season.  And its game 1.

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11 minutes ago, DiceHands said:

Absolutely not.  But it gives me hope that we might have at least one competent QB on the roster, regardless of his age.  Im not giving up on Sam, but if he continues to make dumb decisions, we cant keep trotting him out there.

 

Maryland might seriously be the biggest game of the season.  And its game 1.

It is rare to see a freshman not make dumb decisions. Ideally QBs shouldn't even see the field until they are redshirt sophomores. If Rising or Thompson were to play a full season, they would make dumb plays also.

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1 minute ago, Bevo said:

It is rare to see a freshman not make dumb decisions. Ideally QBs shouldn't even see the field until they are redshirt sophomores. If Rising or Thompson were to play a full season, they would make dumb plays also.

Thats true, but by the end of the season, Sam wasnt a freshman any more.  And he was still making the same mistakes.  He just needs to stop trying to unleash the dragon like Rex Grossman and he will be fine.

 

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8 minutes ago, DiceHands said:

Thats true, but by the end of the season, Sam wasnt a freshman any more.  And he was still making the same mistakes.  He just needs to stop trying to unleash the dragon like Rex Grossman and he will be fine.

 

At the end of last season, Sam was literally still a freshman. 

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Rising and Thompson both looked good but I’m not going to get my hopes up.

Realistically Shane probably transfer next season and if ehlinger is still qb1 I bet only one of Thompson/Rising stays. That’s just the way it is these days. If QBs don’t win the job they usually transfer quickly. If ehlinger is QB 1 for 3 more years hard to see Rising/Thompson staying. Which leaves RoJo, if he is willing to stay as RS sophomore.

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9 hours ago, South Austin said:

Is he literally a sophomore yet?

To answer that question, we need to solve a complicated equation involving AP credits and whether he had a committable offer from Stanford outta high school.

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1 hour ago, utexas8 said:

Rising and Thompson both looked good but I’m not going to get my hopes up.

Realistically Shane probably transfer next season and if ehlinger is still qb1 I bet only one of Thompson/Rising stays. That’s just the way it is these days. If QBs don’t win the job they usually transfer quickly. If ehlinger is QB 1 for 3 more years hard to see Rising/Thompson staying. Which leaves RoJo, if he is willing to stay as RS sophomore.

I think we see a legitimate competition for QB1 next spring. Sam will probably be named starter for while he's healthy this season, but I'm not going to pencil him in for the next three years.

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1 hour ago, utexas8 said:

Rising and Thompson both looked good but I’m not going to get my hopes up.

Realistically Shane probably transfer next season and if ehlinger is still qb1 I bet only one of Thompson/Rising stays. That’s just the way it is these days. If QBs don’t win the job they usually transfer quickly. If ehlinger is QB 1 for 3 more years hard to see Rising/Thompson staying. Which leaves RoJo, if he is willing to stay as RS sophomore.

Why is that the "realistic" scenario? Do you think he fancies himself an NFL prospect, who just needs that PT to get a decent draft position? 

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Rising and Thompson both looked good but I’m not going to get my hopes up.

Realistically Shane probably transfer next season and if ehlinger is still qb1 I bet only one of Thompson/Rising stays. That’s just the way it is these days. If QBs don’t win the job they usually transfer quickly. If ehlinger is QB 1 for 3 more years hard to see Rising/Thompson staying. Which leaves RoJo, if he is willing to stay as RS sophomore.
I'm pretty sure you're right about only one of Rising/Thompson sticks around (My money is on Thompson transferring) but a while back one of the $9.95'ers was indicating that Buechele might have come to some sort of agreement with the coaching staff that he'd stick around until graduation or eligibility runs out, whichever comes first.

As for Ehlinger, I dont know if he'd tolerate not being the starter as an upper classman, and/or if he has NFL aspirations, just can't imagine someone born with burnt Orange blood wearing a different uniform after being a Longhorn for two seasons, but who knows..

These are good problems to have, (our QB has to win the job over other viable options, not by default like we've had the past 8 years or so) but ideally a healthy program would like to have at least 3 scholly QB's on the roster each season..I don't know any program able to stockpile more than that, but they may exist.
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11 hours ago, DiceHands said:

After watching the Spring Game today, I am about as confident in us as I was to start last season.  Hate to be gloom and doom but I still see a lot of the same glaring flaws (which is to be expected).  

 

However, I will say I think Rising is the future.  I am excited to see if we end up redshirting him or not.  He seems like he might be ready to go day 1.

+1. I'm still watching the game as we speak, but yeah, he looks at least as ready as Sam or Shane. 

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9 minutes ago, ousux said:

I'm pretty sure you're right about only one of Rising/Thompson sticks around (My money is on Thompson transferring) but a while back one of the $9.95'ers was indicating that Buechele might have come to some sort of agreement with the coaching staff that he'd stick around until graduation or eligibility runs out, whichever comes first.

As for Ehlinger, I dont know if he'd tolerate not being the starter as an upper classman, and/or if he has NFL aspirations, just can't imagine someone born with burnt Orange blood wearing a different uniform after being a Longhorn for two seasons, but who knows..

These are good problems to have, (our QB has to win the job over other viable options, not by default like we've had the past 8 years or so) but ideally a healthy program would like to have at least 3 scholly QB's on the roster each season..I don't know any program able to stockpile more than that, but they may exist.

As a QB?

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12 minutes ago, wood said:

+1. I'm still watching the game as we speak, but yeah, he looks at least as ready as Sam or Shane. 

Lulz. I hope you mean as Sam and Shane their FR years. Rising and Thompson were playing with the same OL as Sam and Shane except they were going up against third string defense with a bunch of walk ons. They would have looked much, much worse if they faced the same defenses as the top two guys. Rising was more  raw coming out of HS than Sam or Shane. He’s not going to be ready to play this year, nor should he.

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8 minutes ago, UT Lawnghorn said:

Lulz. I hope you mean as Sam and Shane their FR years. Rising and Thompson were playing with the same OL as Sam and Shane except they were going up against third string defense with a bunch of walk ons. They would have looked much, much worse if they faced the same defenses as the top two guys. Rising was more  raw coming out of HS than Sam or Shane. He’s not going to be ready to play this year, nor should he.

I didn't say he looked particularly ready. I said he looked about as ready as Sam or Shane (ie it was more of a comment about them than Rising. I guess I need to be more direct with my sarcasm). I was only slightly serious, and yeah, it was just a few plays. Of course I don't expect the kid to even play this year. At least I hope he won't. We really need him to RS.

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39 minutes ago, wood said:

+1. I'm still watching the game as we speak, but yeah, he looks at least as ready as Sam or Shane. 

Well, he's playing against third-stringers and walk-ons. So yeah, he looks good. I did like what I saw on his second play when he felt pressure, spun out of it and threw to Davion Curtis, who had stepped out of bounds and should have had the catch. He looked comfortable improvising there. 

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3 hours ago, utexas8 said:

Rising and Thompson both looked good but I’m not going to get my hopes up.

Realistically Shane probably transfer next season and if ehlinger is still qb1 I bet only one of Thompson/Rising stays. That’s just the way it is these days. If QBs don’t win the job they usually transfer quickly. If ehlinger is QB 1 for 3 more years hard to see Rising/Thompson staying. Which leaves RoJo, if he is willing to stay as RS sophomore.

RoJo is supposed to be equally as much of a Longhorn diehard as Sam - it would take a whole lot for him to transfer that early.

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My take on Shane is that he is a bit shell-shocked and seems overly focused on trying not to fuck up.  He seems to be thinking too much and too long and overly fearful of taking the hit and/or throwing a pick, which ironically ends up in him getting sacked/hit.

With Sam, he seems to not be thinking enough.  He's still developing his situational sense and needs to adapt his high school dominance mindset to the college level.  Some of his Westlake ad-libbing that resulted in long TD runs will end up in decapitation in the Big-12.  The good with him is his lack of panic/fear (generally) when he needs to scramble, but tends to rely on scrambling a bit sooner than he needs to / should. 

The key to both improving will be the O-line play.  The missed assignment blitzes up the middle can play on the QB's internal clock and confidence in the pocket.  If that gets patched a bit, Sam and Shane should both improve.

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29 minutes ago, VinyVango said:

My take on Shane is that he is a bit shell-shocked and seems overly focused on trying not to fuck up.  He seems to be thinking too much and too long and overly fearful of taking the hit and/or throwing a pick, which ironically ends up in him getting sacked/hit.

With Sam, he seems to not be thinking enough.  He's still developing his situational sense and needs to adapt his high school dominance mindset to the college level.  Some of his Westlake ad-libbing that resulted in long TD runs will end up in decapitation in the Big-12.  The good with him is his lack of panic/fear (generally) when he needs to scramble, but tends to rely on scrambling a bit sooner than he needs to / should. 

The key to both improving will be the O-line play.  The missed assignment blitzes up the middle can play on the QB's internal clock and confidence in the pocket.  If that gets patched a bit, Sam and Shane should both improve.

Two great insights about the two players. To me, it looks like Shane is playing because someone told him to play. Just an un-informed observation, but I don't see a love for the game when he is out there--I see a young man trying his best to meet heavy expectations and experiencing a lot of pressure, much like the vibe that Garret Gilbert communicated. Interestingly, they have similar Dad situations. 

With Sam, it's completely the opposite. Like Baker Mayfield, it looks like he just loves every second of being out there, and still needs to learn that he can't do everything on every play. I'm not worried about Sam's progression. I was hoping that Sam would get a redshirt year, but the situation dictated otherwise. Unfortunately, when things get dicey, I'm concerned that the coaches are going to default to last year's Sam left/right/up the middle strategy and he will have a short career.

FYI, Sam would never transfer.  

Edited by TreatyOak
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Shane played a lot as a confident true fresh and had his confidence shaken by some huge hits and injuries (shoulder). Then the offense he succeeded in was replaced by one where he was no longer a great fit. His 1st experience in that O was a punishing sac and a humiliating loss. His soph season started and ended with injuries (ankle) and off season surgery (hip) thanks in part to a terrible OL that hasn't improved much yet. Are we surprised that his confidence and deep ball accuracy are down? 

Sam played a lot as a confident true fresh and had his confidence shaken by some costly mistakes and injuries (head)... if the OL sucks ass again in '18, it doesn't take much imagination to see his confidence dwindling and his development stalling or regressing like Shane's. 

RS the Fr QBs at almost all costs

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24 minutes ago, B00M said:

RS the Fr QBs at almost all costs

Lest they get killed before they become Sophmores.

Herman showed his recruiting chops getting two very solid QB recruits to play behind our dogshit O-Line. I can only guess he somehow convinced them it would improve.

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28 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

What is Adeoye’s ultimate role in this defense? Seems like a between the tackles LB is better suited to another league. 

A better version of Wheeler wouldn't go amiss for our upcoming matchups against LSU.

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21 minutes ago, Machinator said:

A better version of Wheeler wouldn't go amiss for our upcoming matchups against LSU.

Using one possible non conference game a year against an SEC opponent as a blueprint seems like a hard way to build a roster. I’m just curious what the coaches have envisioned for him.  You’re not wrong at all btw.

 

As a side bar, when Strong was hired I was curious how a 3-3-5 defense optimized for Big XII play would stand up in the playoffs or a MNC tilt against a true power rushing attack. I guess it partly depdends on our offense being able to keep the opponent from sticking to ground and pound. 

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9 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

Using one possible non conference game a year against an SEC opponent as a blueprint seems like a hard way to build a roster. I’m just curious what the coaches have envisioned for him. 

 

As a side bar, when Strong was hired I was curious how a 3-3-5 defense optimized for Big XII play would stand up in the playoffs or a MNC tilt against a true power rushing attack. I guess it partly depdends on our offense being able to keep the opponent from sticking to ground and pound. 

It's not that I think playing the Mac/Mike against power running teams is his only utility; it's just one he's especially well-suited for. He has better instincts than Wheeler IMO and brings the physicality that Herman and Orlando look for. It's not an archetype you look to recruit every cycle but a deep, versatile linebacker corps includes guys like him. I've definitely tempered my expectations for his impact over his 3-4 years at Texas but the fact that he belongs physically from day 1 and was an early enrollee makes him more useful than other comparable prospects. I also think he's a bit more athletic than you give him credit for.

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13 hours ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

What is Adeoye’s ultimate role in this defense? Seems like a between the tackles LB is better suited to another league. 

Seeing him walk by me after the spring game was a head turner. There is absolutely no way that kid just graduated high school, no way. He has to be in the best shape of any player on the team. Only words out of my mouth were "holy crap".  Beyond freak athlete. Orlando will have no problem finding a role for him.

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1 hour ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Seeing him walk by me after the spring game was a head turner. There is absolutely no way that kid just graduated high school, no way. He has to be in the best shape of any player on the team. Only words out of my mouth were "holy crap".  Beyond freak athlete. Orlando will have no problem finding a role for him.

I don’t care what he looks like stepping off the bus. I’m just not sure he’s a sideline to sideline LB in a league that lives on making people play in space. We’ll find out soon enough. He’s just not a spin down candidate. 

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Just now, Bobby_Batronic said:

I don’t care what he looks like stepping off the bus. I’m just not sure he’s a sideline to sideline LB in a league that lives on making people play in space. We’ll find out soon enough. He’s just not a spin down candidate. 

He would've been better off in the Big Ten, but I'm glad we got him. He has better instincts than Wheeler, and a Wheeler with better instincts is a very useful player. He will help with teams like Maryland, USC, and K-State, and I think in a year, he will have enough experience to reliably diagnose plays fast enough to make up for his speed limitations.  He'll never be an ideal fit, but he's a good player that could thrive in specific facets of the game if the DC can protect him most of the time.

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1 hour ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Seeing him walk by me after the spring game was a head turner. There is absolutely no way that kid just graduated high school, no way. He has to be in the best shape of any player on the team. Only words out of my mouth were "holy crap".  Beyond freak athlete. Orlando will have no problem finding a role for him. 

Much of that reminds me of when I walk on campus.

Seeing her walk by me after the spring game was a head turner. There is absolutely no way that kid just graduated high school, no way. She has to be in the best shape of any chick in Austin. Only words out of my mouth were "holy crap".  Beyond freak. I would have no problem finding a position for her. 

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