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Posted
12 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Full team notes from IT

  Reveal hidden contents

Banged-Up Texas Secondary

Junior cornerback Manny Muhammad was downgraded from probable to questionable on Thursday night’s injury report. We don’t want to share the specific injury with OU right around the corner, but IT does not expect him to play this weekend. The injury isn’t serious and he should be good to go for October 11.

In his place will be sophomore Kobe Black, who also appeared on the injury report. Black is right on time in his development to play a lot this season, and this will be a good test for him. Senior Jaylon Guilbeau will start opposite him.

Here’s where it gets a little interesting: IT expects Warren Roberson, Kade Phillips, and Graceson Littleton to all receive reps at corner. Normally a Star, Littleton played corner against Sam Houston State, and that might be his position next season.

Mixing and Matching at Star

As mentioned often this week, Florida’s offense frequently deploys two tight ends. Texas has the ability to match that personnel with Jelani McDonald at Star, but given the respect for Florida’s offensive line and running back Jadan Baugh, we expect Texas to use its Base package a considerable amount. In Base, the Star comes off and the Sam linebacker comes on. That’s a long way of saying Littleton getting reps at corner makes sense, because the role of Star is expected to be reduced in this contest.

Still, Littleton will likely get the start at Star, but we should also see McDonald, Wardell Mack, and maybe even Michael Taaffe there.

Notes at Safety

Taaffe and McDonald can do just about anything asked of a safety and they pace that room. Expect to see a good amount of Derek Williams this week, and probably increasingly more going forward. It sounds like the staff has a few tricks up their sleeve.

I’m not sure we’ll see any other safeties in this game. Duane Akina doesn’t like to rotate as much as Blake Gideon. Jordon Johnson-Rubell and Xavier Filsaime are coming along, however.

Jonah Williams’ progress is going smoothly. He knows the playbook—he’d pass a classroom test with flying colors—but he’s still working on applying that knowledge to the field. There’s a certain processing speed required.

Williams is viewed fondly enough that he’s being integrated more and more into special teams. No, not as a returner.

Big Opportunity for the Linebackers

If the D-line does its job, this could be a monster game for Anthony Hill, Liona Lefau, Ty’Anthony Smith, and Trey Moore. Moore can play all three linebacker spots and will be the starting Sam. He has a big role this week. Smith can also play Sam.

With Hill already on the national stage, he may soon be joined by Lefau. This game sets up well for him and his run-blitzing ability. The linebackers had a good week.

Swamp Things

Not much was heard about the Edges this week other than they’ve been challenged to get after Lagway. Lance Jackson and Zina Umeozulu continue to stack good weeks of practice.

There should be plenty of opportunities to get into the backfield. The game plan includes some aggressive elements that could aid this group.

D-Tackle Room Gets January Back

Alex January has looked good in his return, but a source wanted to remind me that I should have believed him more about Hero Kanu. Yeah, yeah, yeah—but he’s right. “Hero’s balling.”

In a week spent challenging the defense, the D-line—including the Edges—was told they must reset the line of scrimmage if Texas is going to win. Ian mentioned it in one of his pieces this week, but Cole Brevard needs to have a good game, and it sounds like that was emphasized heavily.

From the outside, it sounds like the defense remains in an excellent mental place and has a strong game plan. We already know the talent and depth are there

 

If Manny doesn't play I am a little uncomfortable with our secondary situation this week in terms of covering guys down field. Gilbeau can be had, and Kobe Black isn't particularly a burner. Knowing that Lagway's best trait is explosive downfield passes, I would much rather have guys with long speed this week on the outsides. 

Posted
1 hour ago, SuckitKevin said:

When does WuLaw drop the prediction thread?

I think the UTEP game broke his spirit.  it came damn close to breaking mine.  plus, as mentioned, this has been a really weird start to the season with the way the nonconference schedule was set up.  I think a lot of us are in wait and see mode right now and are hoping we see something tomorrow that gets us all back in the swing of things.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
1 hour ago, Vertigo said:

If Manny doesn't play I am a little uncomfortable with our secondary situation this week in terms of covering guys down field. Gilbeau can be had, and Kobe Black isn't particularly a burner. Knowing that Lagway's best trait is explosive downfield passes, I would much rather have guys with long speed this week on the outsides. 

MM is not a burner at all. Generally plays with good feet, physicality, and discipline though

Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Red Five said:

Kinda sorta seems like we have two true freshmen who are already pushing Guilbeau at corner. To say nothing of Kobe Black, and MM when healthy, obviously. Guilbeau needs to be back at star pretty soon IMO.

Good chance Texas runs a lot of base defense with no Star this week. That would make it easy put Littleton at CB. There is a chance they bring McDonald to Star and have Taaffe and Williams at Safety. Stopping the run has to be the priority this week. 

Edited by Codaxx
Posted
12 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

throw your prayers to FL ....

 

 

There is a Mayo clinic in JAX so good healthcare is available.  Prayers go out for him.

Posted
1 hour ago, The Dog said:

There's two narratives that I've seen pushed that favor Florida:

1. Bounce back game and it's a team with their backs against the wall. Florida is the team with "nothing to lose" and will play fast and loose. Klatt or someone else mentioned that Billy always seems to have a game where they just ball out and win before regressing. 

2. Texas has OU next week, which makes this road trip a typical "trap game." We also blew them out last year, so Texas won't be as up for the game.

Not saying I necessarily agree with those takes, but that's what's out there. 

Anyway here is my favorite prediction from the Gators subreddit on the game:

 

This is not a trap game. Texas hasn't played a real opponent in 5 weeks. Texas has also won 10 straight road games iirc. 

I also don't think this staff looks ahead to OU. They had a bye week to prep for both games and OU shouldn't need a ton of extra prep with the dude they are rolling out at QB. 

Posted
4 minutes ago, ztejas said:

This is not a trap game. Texas hasn't played a real opponent in 5 weeks. Texas has also won 10 straight road games iirc. 

I also don't think this staff looks ahead to OU. They had a bye week to prep for both games and OU shouldn't need a ton of extra prep with the dude they are rolling out at QB. 

.... Ummm... I have bad news about game 1 ...

  • Haha 2
Posted
2 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

.... Ummm... I have bad news about game 1 ...

Haha whoops. 

Either way Texas has been good on the road the past two seasons. 

Posted

Friday - In Gainesville: Bobby

Spoiler

Friday - In Gainesville

 

Bobby Burton

By Bobby Burton

  • 3 hours ago
 

I’m here in Gainesville, Fla., this morning.

Just drove past the bronze statues of Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow in front of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium where the Longhorns will face the Gators tomorrow afternoon.

Texas and Florida, both teams, are at a crossroads for this season. Neither team has matched their preseason hopes.

While the Horns are 3-1, Texas has not really looked like a top ten team. A top 10 defense? Yes. But not a top ten team, not yet at least.

The Gators, meanwhile, have all but written the eulogy for coach Billy Napier with a 1-3 start, including an inexplicable home loss to South Florida. A victory over the Horns would be their last vestige of hope for the 2025 season to be anything other than a lost one.

I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I don’t think many people do. Because no one has seen the best of either team yet this season.

Will DJ Lagway finally have a breakthrough game? Will Arch Manning keep the momentum gained against Sam Houston going?

Theoretically, both of those things could happen. Or neither.

That’s why I think the teams are both at a crossroads, albeit different types. And that’s why this game is so hard to read for me.

And, I’ll admit, the newness of traveling to the Swamp, the relative newness of the every-week grind of SEC play, is cause for some of my trepidation, too.

**

With the updated report last night of CJ Baxter remaining “doubtful” for this game, I’ll go ahead and predict that we won’t see Baxter tomorrow.

The surprise of the report, however, was the downgrade of Manny Muhammad to questionable from probable.

With that, expect increased roles for Graceson Littleton, Kobe Black, Warren Roberson and possibly Kade Phillips and Wardell Mack.

Phillips continues to ascend behind the scenes. But we’ll see if the true freshman is ready to start in the Swamp, or if the Horns push Littleton out to corner and insert Mack at nickel.

It also puts more focus on the play of Jaylon Guilbeau who, analytics suggest, has been the weak spot of the Texas secondary so far this season.

Not an ideal situation in the secondary for the Horns tomorrow.

**

Texas 20 - Florida 14

**

On the recruiting front, Georgia defensive end Dre Quinn is visiting Ohio State this weekend, as Gerry Hamilton had suggested as a possibility.

Quinn, the former Clemson commitment, now appears to be considering not only Texas and Tennessee, but also the Buckeyes.

 

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