Sam has been better each week since USC. He's playing very smart, not trying to do too much (playing within himself), and most importantly, not making mistakes. As far as "exactly what we need now," I don't know what that means other than he is not turning it over and he's hitting his receivers at a nice clip. He's throwing short passes that receivers catch and then make lots of yards over the middle. He is throwing accurate mid range passes that turn into big gainers. He is not panicking in the clutch. I love how he's turned the corner re: game management. I hope he can get more accurate on the long ball; and I hope he improves reading defenses, identifying blitzes, and audibleing correctly to take the play to the area vacated by the blitz. The way he's improved since Tulsa makes me think he is going to be better at the end of the season than he is now. Sam has great receivers that are really helping. He has talented RB's (especially Ingram), and he has a good O line. He fits Herman's scheme. He is playing very, very well. He's gotten my respect the old fashioned way: he's earned it.
He may have an off game at some point. I will still be a fan. I like Ehlinger, a lot. He is becoming a real leader. He will throw a pick eventually. Just don’t treat him like Chris Simms all those years ago. This kid is a fighter and a survivor and deserves a lot of respect. He will move up that top ten list in the next two years.
If he could fix his long ball, which still sucks with receivers having to come back to it, he will turn heads from the NFL in the next 2.5 years!
Honestly, I'm liking him more each week. I'm not sure if it's him or the play calling or both, but he's managing games well and limiting turnovers. He's big and runs well. Sam, and this team, are improving. This is good because the Big XII is no slouch this year.
I think a lot on here lose sight of the fact that Sam is still a true sophomore. A true soph playing QB darn well better be improving, because otherwise it would be very grim. We tend to measure our QB's by the end of their careers, not the beginning. Some wanted to move VY to WR. Colt's soph year had some folks wondering if he was the man. Those two guys did alright, both took us to a National Championship game, and in fact both should have won the Heisman.
My point being - the bar is not high if you base on winning NC's. Sam has opportunity to lead this team to multiple in his career.
I was thinking about this very much, and I don't care if he has an off night, he is a sophomore playing QB at a very high level, last time I saw a sophomore playing as well as him, it was Major Applewhite. And Major had Ricky Williams to help him out. Back then Major was a Red shirt freshmen and first year as a starter but same physical age as Sam. Sam is still growing as a player, when you start a kid as a true freshmen and now true sophomore you have to expect major growing pains, but you also need to see growth. Sam is growing in the position and now looks like a true starting QB. He has great receivers and very good running backs all he has to do is utilize them and not force things and he will go down as one of the all-time greats for Texas. For the first time I feel confident Texas has it's QB and it's probably in Shane's best interest to move on.
This. I was very pleased with his performance and this is the only thing I noticed to complain about. Be it arm strength or accuracy he is always late on deep throws. Will be picked at some point. And that throw to left sideline to Collin. Seen him miss that one twice when CJ was in great position to catch it.
He seems to back leg his long throws. Waited long enough that the pocket closes in and he can't step into it? Anyone else see this, or no?
The dime he dropped in to Tre Watson for the TD was a thing of beauty. He can throw the long ball sometimes, he just needs to work on consistency. I have been on the Sam bandwagon since last season and he has even exceeded my expectations. A few people put him on the Heisman watchlist (probably premature) and he is the Walter Camp player of the week. New Texas record for consecutive passes without an INT and no turnovers in wins against 3 ranked opponents. Sam is the man
And I'm sorry....but alot of people on here (not you Zucker I'm just playing off your post on Colt), have some memory issues.. There were many doubts and doubters of VY until he put it together. He tried to do too much, was not a very good passer, some costly fumbles, poor decision making early on..All you some of you guys remember is how it ended up. He was a spark, but he did not come in even remotely the guy you remember.
I haven't had much negative to say about Sam since he arrived..I liked what TH liked...and thought it was what this team needs. Ill say this one thing. I want him to work on his chemistry, timing etc with Duvernay. He is not being used effectively, and if we add one more option with that speed to compliment our two big boys, we will live in defenses nightmares.
Sam is Sam so the discussion is basically over. We know what he can do and what he cannot do. The only outstanding issue is a lack of a vertical passing game. Texas wins out if they do not get into a scoring contest with a team with an upper-level Power 5 level front 7 (like LSU in the Sugar Bowl). Unfortunately, a Big XII team with a loss to Maryland (despite beating either ou or WVa twice) gives the Committee an out in putting Texas in the playoff.
Love Sam. That clip of him as a toddler with a football and saying that he was Chris Simms cracked me up.
Agree w/ @RainH2burntO about Duvernay. Would love to see him get more catches. With him, Collin and LJH, pick your poison on who you want to focus on. They are all assassins.
I want to make something clear about my previous position. I wasn't so much down on Sam as I just didn't think he was ready to be just handed the keys to this offense. I was wrong and Tom Herman and Tim Beck were right, they had faith in Sam that he could lead this team, and he has proven them right. I'm just sorry for Shane that he has to transfer, but as far as I'm concerned he is a Longhorn for life. Him sticking with the program for 3 years is a credit to him and his family. I hope he gets to find a starting spot where he can shine because I know he has the talent to play this game.
Another thing about Sam that I think is a BIG plus: He will stay all four years. That means he will be a very experienced, true leader on the field, that has seen it all, will command the respect of his team mates, etc. His ability to read defenses, audible at the line, manage the game, etc. will be off the charts in a year or two. Having a junior/senior QB, with talent, skins on the wall (Sam is racking up the skins) will do wonders for recruiting wide outs, RB's and young QB's who recognize the value of red shirting to gain strength, size, knowledge etc without the pressure of being forced to start too soon.
I'm curious to see what happens between Rising and Thompson, I think we are going to need one of them to step up because I think Sam will likely get hurt at some point this year or in the next 2 and they are going to be relied upon. Roshon will red shirt next year and have 3 full years of eligiblility when Sam is gone and the job is up for grabs. Card will have 4. That is going to be a major battle going on. It's nice to have depth and options at QB.
I think we might forget Colt struggled some as a sophomore and really didn't put it totally together until his Jr. year. Colt had an unbelievable line as a freshman and played well, but had a bit of a soph slump especially interceptions. As a Jr, he had Quan and Ship as wideouts. Honestly right now Sam is having a better soph year than Colt. He's not as accurate and probably never will be, but he's getting better every week. What I liked yesterday was realizing it was a big game he took the necessary carries. In other games he slides. Saturday he got the yards we needed. I figured going in we needed 12-15 carries from him. Save his body for the really big games and we'll be fine.
