Fall Camp practice will be open to the public on Aug. 16 at 7 pm at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium at Campbell-Williams Field. Free admission.
I honestly wasn't a fan of either Hall or Billingsley transfer and was open on this forum about it when they happened. Rumors is Alabama was happy to see them both leave.
So you're implying that if Iowa switched to more man defense against a pass-happy team, they'd have better success? With those aforementioned 3-star recruits? There were days last year when I wish we were "only" giving up 400 yards. Purdue took advantage of turnovers and big plays to put Iowa away, but I don't think that's the result of Iowa playing zone. We're kind of on the "uphill" bend for defenses right now. Coordinators all get together over the summer and discuss what tweaks they can make against the crazy offensive production we've witnessed over the past couple decades. Wisconsin had a crazy 3-4 defense last year that was entirely predicated on controlling the LoS with any combination of that front seven and zone coverage for everyone else. If we can control the LoS, we will win. Man, zone, whatever. We haven't had that kind of fortune since 2009.
Exactly, Horns11. Control the LOS, get a decent pressure on the QB so he has to hurry a pass (or take a sack), and the coverage will improve tremendously, regardless of scheme.
Unfortunately for Iowa- David Bell went off for 250 yds receiving. I do think a man D with a double on Bell would have helped them but it just seemed to be Purdue's day. Agree 100% on controlling the LOS and hope this is a Texas team than can finally do it for the first time in a long time.
3 reasons why Quinn Ewers should be definitive starter A few days before the first fall scrimmage, the quarterback competition looms large in camp. Texas is still seeing the likes of redshirt freshman Quinn Ewers and junior Hudson Card duke it out to see who will be the starting quarterback for Week 1... [T]he writing on the wall likely still indicates that Ewers holds the edge over Card in this quarterback competition in fall camp. #3 It was interesting to see that Sark was giving the first-team reps at the outset of fall practice to Card over Ewers. And while it does sound like both Card and Ewers were getting mixed in with reps with the ones and the twos in the early stages of fall camp, you would still figure that the coaching staff would want the presumed starting quarterback to get more reps with the ones exclusively ahead of the opener. It’s especially important for Ewers to get more work with the ones if he is named the starter over Card. Ewers doesn’t have many live-game reps under his belt. And he still has yet to throw his first career college passing attempt in live-game action. Ewers could use the added confidence and trust from the staff that he can lead the way for this offense, which should only benefit in terms of the emerging chemistry with the ones in practice. But Sark and this staff have to give Ewers some trust that he can find the right chemistry with these top skill position weapons working most often with the first-team in practice. #2 From what we’re hearing coming out of fall practice, the quarterback that is showing better touch on the ball is Ewers. And that’s not very surprising given that insane natural arm talent that the former perfect-rated recruit and Southlake Carroll High School product brings to the table. Ewers has the ability to make all the throws necessary to really open up the playbook for Sark and the Longhorns this fall. Texas will have a much different dynamic with the deep-throwing ability of Ewers if he is named the starting quarterback. You could see the sort of touch he had on his deep ball in spring camp, especially when he connected with Neyor for that beautiful 70+ yard touchdown. It’s also encouraging to hear that Ewers is still showing off that insane deep ball arm talent that he brings to the table early in fall practice. He is also apparently forming a great connection in the passing game with some of the other newcomers this offseason in the receiving corps such as super senior Tarique Milton and Neyor. #1 One of the most notable developments we keep hearing about from Card in fall practice thus far is his improved footwork and pocket presence. And while that’s great to hear about him working on this facet of his game, we just don’t know how well that will hold up against real pressure from opposing defenses in live-game action. It’s one thing for Card to be able to show he can effectively go through his reads and display good footwork in the pocket without pressure coming at him in drills. But it’s completely different when there are big-time pass-rushers such as those the Alabama Crimson Tide bring to the table coming after you. We already saw Card struggle mightily at times last season dealing with pressure from opposing defenses. That makes many Longhorns fans skeptical about his actual progress in terms of his pocket presence and awareness heading into the 2022 season. With some of the strides that Ewers has made during the summer and in fall practice thus far, it doesn’t look like there is enough reason to believe that Card will have a realistic shot at winning the starting job coming out of camp. [More at Hook 'Em]
The guy got arrested for taking a boot of his car wheel that the campus police put on it. That doesn't exactly make him locker room cancer, does it?
Run Haven't heard that. Any details? I would have hooed the team leaders would have taken care of that.
Texas focused on improving turnover margin From creating a more natural pass rush to being more stout against the run, the Texas Longhorns defense has myriad areas for improvement heading into the 2022 season after struggling last season under defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski. But creating more turnovers — and a better turnover margin overall — has been the top point of emphasis for head coach Steve Sarkisian throughout the offseason. “Probably the most important thing that I stressed coming out of spring and that we stressed throughout the summer that we’re trying to find every which way to enhance is creating turnovers,” Sarkisian said. Texas finished tied for No. 93 nationally in turnovers gained in 2021 with only 14, split evenly between fumble recoveries and interceptions... Super senior safety Anthony Cook, who may be the best player in the secondary this year for Texas, admitted on Tuesday that he hadn’t recorded an interception yet to that point in preseason camp. In fact, Cook doesn’t have an interception through four seasons on the Forty Acres... As a whole, Cook estimated the defense had around eight interceptions after six practices with super senior cornerback D’Shawn Jamison leading the way. The Longhorns also need to be more opportunistic attacking the football, tying for 92nd nationally with seven forced fumbles. Overall, the Longhorns finished 2021 with a minus-three turnover margin, tied for 85th nationally. [More at Hook'Em]
It’s interesting that Cook gets a pass from many last season. He was ok as were many others. He was pretty solid versus TCU but to be honest on his sole turnover created for the season. Right place at right time as much as anything. He did some good things versus OU, but he also had some critical misses. And the singular biggest play versus BU was 4th and 6 in Texas territory. It appears to be Cook on the coverage. It wasn’t close. If we make that play, it’s 21-10, latish in the 3rd and our ball. Like the Dline guys, Cook needs to make more big plays. ***** about the LBers. ***** about the walk ons. But that stuff is secondary to the lack of production of the 4 star guys that have been here for 4 years.
Had a good shutdown corner been assigned to Bell every play then perhaps he wouldn’t have received 250 yards IMO.
Hate to hear it, but I’m not sure how a team escapes four weeks of increasingly challenging preparation without a few dings. We all just hope they’re minor.
Preaching to the choir probably here... If they do plan on playing man...or playing at all for that matter....there must be greater penetration by the dline or they are giving up a ton of yards (and points) either way
You may be right on Agiye...looks likely...but i am going to be surprised if you dont see some positive contribution from Billingsley, LHB...unless Sanders just blows up and doesnt come off the field.
Concerned about the sound of that first one there on RJ....for our sake and his. We need his leadership and effort and he deserves a great year and an all expense paid trip to Sunday afternoons.
Texas hopes tighter coverage helps all aspects of the 2022 defense Plenty of factors go into an opponent’s completion percentage, but perhaps the most significant is how defensive backs are deployed in coverage. One adjustment UT head coach Steve Sarkisian wanted to make heading into his second season in Austin was to have his DBs play tighter coverage. Why? “I want to play tighter coverage because I think that can then allow us to rush the passer a little bet better,” Sarkisian said... “If it’s a three-step drop, and the ball is always coming out because we’re not rerouting receivers, it’s tough to get home as a pass rusher.” The two go hand-in-hand. The high opponent completion percentage helps to partially explain the Longhorns’ low 2021 sack total of 19.0, with no player having more than 2.0. The pass rush needs help from the coverage, or else the pass rush has a minimal effect. “The most important thing that I stressed coming out of spring and that we stressed throughout the summer that we’re trying to find every which way to enhance is creating turnovers,” Sarkisian said. “It’s the No. 1 stat in football that pertains to winning and losing.” [More at IT]
How Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey helps to open up DeMarvion Overshown From the returns we’ve received early in fall camp, it sounds like the Longhorns have an improved top group ready to stand out at the linebacker position during the upcoming season. And this top group of linebackers that appear to be rising to the occasion... is highlighted by super senior DeMarvion Overshown and the former FCS All-American and James Madison Dukes senior grad transfer Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey. One of the ways that Kwiatkowski and this defensive staff are looking to really open up Overshown’s game this fall is by using him in more of a hybrid edge rusher role. We could see Overshown take multiple snaps as a pass rusher at the sam linebacker position. It’s really the addition of Tucker-Dorsey that will change the game for PK in terms of how he can utilize Overshown as an edge rusher. Tucker-Dorsey’s consistency and ability to find the ball, especially defending the run, means that the coaching staff should have more trust in sending Overshown after opposing quarterbacks at the line of scrimmage. The evidence of Tucker-Dorsey’s impact, especially as a run stopper at middle linebacker, is apparent in the fact that he was one of just two FCS players at the position last season to accomplish the following: Missed tackle rate no higher than 8.0 percent At least 40 run stops Run stop percentage of at least 12.0 Even if Tucker-Dorsey only lives up to 80 percent of the production and efficiency that he displayed during his time playing for JMU, that would still be an upgrade for Texas compared to some of their middle linebackers from last season. [T]he early returns from fall camp and the word from summer workouts indicate that Tucker-Dorsey is making a strong impression on the coaches in the last couple of months. [More at Hook'Em]
4 players that shined in first fall scrimmage After the Texas offense started to make some apparent strides in full-pads practice earlier this week, it looks like the defense took things back over. #1 Jordan Whittington, WR There was some common feedback following the conclusion of this first fall scrimmage that one of the true offensive standouts was the former five-star recruit and redshirt junior wide receiver Jordan Whittington. This starting slot wideout was apparently still very productive and efficient in the receiving game, despite the secondary mostly getting the best of the offense. Whittington had at least one touchdown catch on the day and only really had one mistake that was noteworthy. And that was not something that could be said for most offensive players for the Longhorns in this scrimmage. That one mistake that Whittington made in this scrimmage was a drop on a pass from Card. But drops are going to happen in these early scrimmages. It sounds like Texas even saw an unusual drop by star sophomore wide receiver Xavier Worthy. Yet, the takeaway... looks to be that Whittington was a major positive. He apparently had a nice connection with Ewers on the day, including a receiving touchdown out of the slot. #2 DeMarvion Overshown, LB Overshown reportedly was all over the place, getting after the quarterback effectively while showing some flashes as a production run-stopper. There was also a reported sack that Overshown had on the day of Ewers, which came on the very first play of the scrimmage. All in all, it sounds like Overshown was showing a lot of speed and quickness off the line of scrimmage when he was called upon as an edge rusher in this scrimmage. Overshown’s speed was also apparently a problem for this offensive line, which was struggling to hold up the pocket for the quarterbacks in this scrimmage. That is a good sign considering how many situations Texas could utilize Overshown off the edge as a pass rusher this fall. We will still continue to monitor Overshown’s progress when he’s asked to drop back into pass coverage. That was one area that we didn’t get a lot of returns from in this first fall scrimmage. It is also one of the more important parts of Overshown’s game where he needs to show some growth this season. #3 From what we’ve heard about Thompson’s play in camp in the last few days, he’s really picking up the concepts of this defense in Year 2 under PK and Gideon. Thompson even reportedly had maybe the most impressive interception of the scrimmage on Aug. 13 (per the scrimmage notes from Inside Texas, paid content). It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to hear Sark and the Longhorns staff continue to speak positively about the progress made by Thompson so far this offseason. Thompson was apparently very consistent and effective in pass protection in this first fall scrimmage. And Thompson continues to step up as one of the vocal leaders in this secondary coming out of this weekend’s scrimmage. If we keep getting these types of improvements from Thompson heading into the season, then all the chatter concerning any looming position battle at field safety will cease in the near future. #4 Jaylon Guilbeau, CB Guilbeau could be a candidate to either land a backup spot on the two-deep at corner or star this fall. Moreover, a notable nugget here is that Guilbeau at least spent some of this first fall scrimmage playing with the ones at the star position. This would likely be due to some type of injury or non-football-related precaution for the Longhorns with junior defensive back Jahdae Barron. Nonetheless, this is still a significant development for Guilbeau to be playing so well in camp, regardless of whether he gets reps at corner or star. He apparently was one of the best freshmen in this scrimmage. And it sounds like he was able to make some big plays on the day, including at least one pass breakup and a couple of key tackles. Honorable mentions Bijan Robinson, RB Kelvin Banks, OT Charles Wright, QB Ovie Oghoufo, EDGE [More at Hook'Em]
