Daily Short #76, October 5th, 2017: Kansas State Gameday
presented by the Dental Offices of Wendy Swantkowski, DDS
The Absolute BEST in family and cosmetic dentistry for the Houston-Memorial Area
Now Accepting New Patients --- 281-293-9140
This Week in the Short
TUESDAY - Only a Matter of Time with Ehlinger (Skill Player Snap Counts + Thoughts)
WEDNESDAY - OL Thoughts and Grades (Kerstetter's Debut)
THURSDAY - Beck Throws Buechele Under the Bus
FRIDAY - How the Wizard WILL Attack Texas
Fun Facts from the Texas SID ....
Bob McKay + Hall of Honor Inductees
Bob McKay To Be Honored Saturday
• The University of Texas, National Football Foundation and the College Hall of Fame will jointly honor 2017 NFF Hall of Fame inductee Bob McKay with an on-campus salute duringSaturday's game. He is the 18th Longhorn player, along with two coaches, to be inducted. The official ceremony will be held on Dec. 5 in New York.
• A consensus All-American in 1969, McKay helped guide UT to a perfect 11-0 record and the National Championship.
2017 Hall Of Honor Class To Be Inducted
• This weekend also serves as the 2017 Hall of Honor weekend. Fifteen individuals will be inducted Friday and honored on the field Saturday.
Men's Hall of Honor Inductees
• Ian Crocker (Swimming, 2000-04) was a three-time Olympic gold medalist and 10-time NCAA champion.
• Trey Hardee (Track and Field, 2004-07) was a 2012 Olympic silver medalist, two-time World champion and 2005 NCAA champion in the decathlon.
• James Lott (Track and Field/Football, 1984, 1986-87/1983-85) was a three-time NCAA high jump champion and was also a starter at defensive back on the football team.
• Shaun Rogers (Football, 1997-2000) was a two-time All-Big 12 Conference defensive tackle who was a second-round draft pick and played 13 NFL seasons.
• Drew Stubbs (Baseball, 2003-06) was a two-time All-American who led Texas to the 2005 National Championship and played nine seasons of Major League Baseball.
• Nathan Vasher (Football, 2000-03) was a third-team All-American in 2003 who shares the UT career interception record (17) and played seven NFL seasons.
• Vintage selections are Alfred Jackson (Football, 1974-77), Harry Larrabee (Basketball, 1971-74) and Forrest Wiegand (Football, 1967-69) in addition to Special Selection Bill Hall (Student Manager/Student Assistant, 1966-70).
Women's Hall of Honor Inductees
• Merlene Frazer (Track and Field, 1993-95) was a 2000 Olympic silver medalist in the 4x100-meter relay, three-time NCAA champion and 10-time All-American.
• Cristina Moros (Tennis, 1994-98) was a four-time All-American and the 1997 Big 12 Conference Co-Player of the Year and helped the Longhorns to the 1995 NCAA Championship.
• Cynthea Rhodes-Patterson (Track and Field, 1987-91) was a 1996 Olympian in the triple jump and a four-time All-American who helped Texas win the 1990 NCAA Indoor Championship.
• Stacy Stephens (Basketball, 2000-04) was a two-time All-American who led the Longhorns to the 2003 NCAA Final Four.
• Dorsey Tierney (Swimming, 1988-92) was a two-time NCAA champion and 16-time All-American who helped UT capture the team titles at NCAA Championships in both 1990 and 1991.
Vegas
OPENING LINE: Texas -5.5
CURRENT LINE: Texas -6.5
O/U: 44.5
MONEY LINE: Texas -240
SHARP MONEY: Small amount of sharp money appears to be on Texas given reverse line-shift against percentage of public bets per theSpread.com (48% of public tickets currently coming in on Texas, 52% on K-State).
5 Things I'll Be Watching ...
1) The offensive line. As discussed in the Friday column linked above, the Wizard has given the Texas offensive line fits in recent years and I don't see him changing his approach. I'm fully expecting a retooled offensive line that will see Tristan Nickelson replaced at LT by Denzel Okafor, making Okafor and Kerstetter the cornerstones of the line. On top of all this, I've heard Zach Shackelford could be iffy to play and we could get our first glimpse of Terrell Cuney at center in 2017 should Shackelford test the ankle pre-game and be unable to go. Buckle up.
2) Malik Jefferson. Will he live up to the way he's played so far in 2017 or will he shrink versus a physical team that is going to utilize resources to get physical fullbacks to fit him up in the hole? Malik's achilles heel has been shedding second-level contact thus far in his career and we'll have the opportunity to see in this game whether he's made steps forward.
3) Kris Boyd. He played the best game, maybe of his career, last week versus ISU. Can he keep it up? If Boyd continues growing as a key piece of the secondary, the group Texas currently has in place will finally start to feel like it's shifting back to one of the old DBU-type groups fans got used to under Mack Brown and Duane Akina.
4) What's been up with Reggie Hemphill-Mapps? The golden child of the new coaching staff has seen his snaps decrease at the WR position over the last few weeks as you can see in Tuesday's column. Has it been disciplinary, game-flow dependent, or is he just not getting it done at practice? I'll be watching his snap counts closely as they've seemed some of the most variant on offense recently.
5) Ehlinger. This is his chance to step up and take a job. Following a great effort in an instant-classic overtime loss to No.4 USC on the road behind a depleted OL (Connor Williams only played 10 snaps in that game), we'll see what he can do behind an even less-experienced OL at home versus Old Man Purple and the Wildcats who are never an easy out. If he performs well, the controversy over who should start at QB should be finally over as far as I'm concerned (then again, I thought it should have been over post-USC).
All these things we get to see unfold before our very eyes. So fire up the coffee and turn on ESPN. Throw some meat on the smoker and even crack open a shower beer if that's your thing. It's time to get your mind right. We wait all offseason to wait all week for this. This is Gameday.
presented by the Dental Offices of Wendy Swantkowski, DDS
The Absolute BEST in family and cosmetic dentistry for the Houston-Memorial Area
Now Accepting New Patients --- 281-293-9140
This Week in the Short
TUESDAY - Only a Matter of Time with Ehlinger (Skill Player Snap Counts + Thoughts)
WEDNESDAY - OL Thoughts and Grades (Kerstetter's Debut)
THURSDAY - Beck Throws Buechele Under the Bus
FRIDAY - How the Wizard WILL Attack Texas
Fun Facts from the Texas SID ....
Bob McKay + Hall of Honor Inductees
Bob McKay To Be Honored Saturday
• The University of Texas, National Football Foundation and the College Hall of Fame will jointly honor 2017 NFF Hall of Fame inductee Bob McKay with an on-campus salute duringSaturday's game. He is the 18th Longhorn player, along with two coaches, to be inducted. The official ceremony will be held on Dec. 5 in New York.
• A consensus All-American in 1969, McKay helped guide UT to a perfect 11-0 record and the National Championship.
2017 Hall Of Honor Class To Be Inducted
• This weekend also serves as the 2017 Hall of Honor weekend. Fifteen individuals will be inducted Friday and honored on the field Saturday.
Men's Hall of Honor Inductees
• Ian Crocker (Swimming, 2000-04) was a three-time Olympic gold medalist and 10-time NCAA champion.
• Trey Hardee (Track and Field, 2004-07) was a 2012 Olympic silver medalist, two-time World champion and 2005 NCAA champion in the decathlon.
• James Lott (Track and Field/Football, 1984, 1986-87/1983-85) was a three-time NCAA high jump champion and was also a starter at defensive back on the football team.
• Shaun Rogers (Football, 1997-2000) was a two-time All-Big 12 Conference defensive tackle who was a second-round draft pick and played 13 NFL seasons.
• Drew Stubbs (Baseball, 2003-06) was a two-time All-American who led Texas to the 2005 National Championship and played nine seasons of Major League Baseball.
• Nathan Vasher (Football, 2000-03) was a third-team All-American in 2003 who shares the UT career interception record (17) and played seven NFL seasons.
• Vintage selections are Alfred Jackson (Football, 1974-77), Harry Larrabee (Basketball, 1971-74) and Forrest Wiegand (Football, 1967-69) in addition to Special Selection Bill Hall (Student Manager/Student Assistant, 1966-70).
Women's Hall of Honor Inductees
• Merlene Frazer (Track and Field, 1993-95) was a 2000 Olympic silver medalist in the 4x100-meter relay, three-time NCAA champion and 10-time All-American.
• Cristina Moros (Tennis, 1994-98) was a four-time All-American and the 1997 Big 12 Conference Co-Player of the Year and helped the Longhorns to the 1995 NCAA Championship.
• Cynthea Rhodes-Patterson (Track and Field, 1987-91) was a 1996 Olympian in the triple jump and a four-time All-American who helped Texas win the 1990 NCAA Indoor Championship.
• Stacy Stephens (Basketball, 2000-04) was a two-time All-American who led the Longhorns to the 2003 NCAA Final Four.
• Dorsey Tierney (Swimming, 1988-92) was a two-time NCAA champion and 16-time All-American who helped UT capture the team titles at NCAA Championships in both 1990 and 1991.
Vegas
OPENING LINE: Texas -5.5
CURRENT LINE: Texas -6.5
O/U: 44.5
MONEY LINE: Texas -240
SHARP MONEY: Small amount of sharp money appears to be on Texas given reverse line-shift against percentage of public bets per theSpread.com (48% of public tickets currently coming in on Texas, 52% on K-State).
5 Things I'll Be Watching ...
1) The offensive line. As discussed in the Friday column linked above, the Wizard has given the Texas offensive line fits in recent years and I don't see him changing his approach. I'm fully expecting a retooled offensive line that will see Tristan Nickelson replaced at LT by Denzel Okafor, making Okafor and Kerstetter the cornerstones of the line. On top of all this, I've heard Zach Shackelford could be iffy to play and we could get our first glimpse of Terrell Cuney at center in 2017 should Shackelford test the ankle pre-game and be unable to go. Buckle up.
2) Malik Jefferson. Will he live up to the way he's played so far in 2017 or will he shrink versus a physical team that is going to utilize resources to get physical fullbacks to fit him up in the hole? Malik's achilles heel has been shedding second-level contact thus far in his career and we'll have the opportunity to see in this game whether he's made steps forward.
3) Kris Boyd. He played the best game, maybe of his career, last week versus ISU. Can he keep it up? If Boyd continues growing as a key piece of the secondary, the group Texas currently has in place will finally start to feel like it's shifting back to one of the old DBU-type groups fans got used to under Mack Brown and Duane Akina.
4) What's been up with Reggie Hemphill-Mapps? The golden child of the new coaching staff has seen his snaps decrease at the WR position over the last few weeks as you can see in Tuesday's column. Has it been disciplinary, game-flow dependent, or is he just not getting it done at practice? I'll be watching his snap counts closely as they've seemed some of the most variant on offense recently.
5) Ehlinger. This is his chance to step up and take a job. Following a great effort in an instant-classic overtime loss to No.4 USC on the road behind a depleted OL (Connor Williams only played 10 snaps in that game), we'll see what he can do behind an even less-experienced OL at home versus Old Man Purple and the Wildcats who are never an easy out. If he performs well, the controversy over who should start at QB should be finally over as far as I'm concerned (then again, I thought it should have been over post-USC).
All these things we get to see unfold before our very eyes. So fire up the coffee and turn on ESPN. Throw some meat on the smoker and even crack open a shower beer if that's your thing. It's time to get your mind right. We wait all offseason to wait all week for this. This is Gameday.
