For much of the spring, the Texas offense has done a number on the Texas defense, so much so that much of the speculation coming into Saturday's Spring Game centered around whether the defense's poor play might be the main talking point going into the summer.
Oops.
Mix in a fired up defense, 30 MPH wind gusts and an offense that often struggled to simply catch the football, and you come up with what happened at DKR on Saturday night. It might have made for a bit of an uneven showcase of Texas football for the crowd that showed up, but the reality is that a strong showing by the defense was just what the doctor ordered, given Tom Herman's occasional frustration with that side of the ball.
The biggest question mark facing this year's team seemed to have some solid answers on Saturday night against Sam Ehlinger and Co., which represents a win in my book, even if it meant the proceedings lacked some sexy highlights.
(Random thoughts on the spring game)
1. Things went so sideways for the first-team offense on Saturday that Tom Herman gave the unit a pity first down late in the second quarter with the hope that the unit would use it to cash in with some momentum to end the half. Yeah ... not so much. It just wasn't the offense's night. A lot of that had to do with the wind, but some of it had to do with one side of the ball showing a lot more focus than the other.
2. I thought it was interesting that Malcolm Epps was clearly Ehlinger's go-to-receiver with Collin Johnson out of the line-up. Although Epps didn't really flash his upside until a 26-yard catch and run in the third quarter, Ehlinger kept throwing to him over and over and over.
3. On one hand, Casey Thompson showed some flashes as a runner on Saturday night, but on the other hand, he averaged less than two yards per attempt in the first half in the passing game. Although the numbers don't express he thrived in the passing game, I thought he did a nice job of standing in the pocket a couple of times and throwing good balls. There's definitely something there for the coaches to work with as a second-team quarterback, but it's clear he's still a project.
4. Jeffery McCulloch and Joseph Ossai absolutely looked the part at linebacker, with McCulloch's interception of Ehlinger that almost turned into a pick-six standing out as perhaps the play of the night.
5. Jalen Green looks like a future star at cornerback.
6. I lost track of the number of dropped passes, but it had to have been at least a half-dozen. Hell, maybe a dozen. It seemed like there was a drop every other play.
7. To be honest, I was probably expecting more flashes of greatness from Jordan Whittington than he showed in the scrimmage, which is probably a good reminder that he's a teenager that should be getting ready for his prom this weekend. He's going to make some things happen this season, but we probably need to temper expectations slightly.
8. Speaking of Whittington, Ehlinger threw him a perfect ball into the end zone that required a slight route adjustment, but it hit Whittington in the hands and it's a ball he has to catch in the fall.
9. Cameron Dicker's 52-yard field goal will be taken for granted, but it shouldn't be. His presence on the sidelines is massive for this team.
10. DeMarvion Overshown showed some flashes in the first half. Someone tell him not to kill the quarterback on the goal line in a scrimmage.
11. Peter Mpagi had a nice pressure on Casey Thompson in the first quarter to force a Kobe Boyce interception.
12. The Longhorn Network needs to show more replays.
13. Parker Braun can't get here soon enough.
14. The Texas offensive line will need to stay as healthy this season as it did last season because the depth just isn't there. That's pretty common for most college football programs (high and low), but I'm not sure there's more than a guy or two that could possibly slide in and contribute without a massive drop-off at his position.
15. More Devin Duvernay in the fall!
16. Very quietly, one of the highlights of the spring game was simply seeing Kirk Johnson get a lot of work with the second-team offense. Very quietly, one of the lowlights of the spring game was seeing Johnson walk off the field with an injured wrist in the second half. Stay healthy, Kirk!
17. Keondre Coburn will start this season over Gerald Wilbon. If he's even in April, he'll be leaving the veteran by August. This is a very positive development.
*****Spring Game Power Rankings*****
1. Jalen Green
2. Jeffery McCulloch
3. Wind
4. Malcolm Epps
5. Cameron Dicker
6. Joseph Ossai
7. BJ Foster
8. Casey Thompson's legs
9. Jordan Whittington
10. Ludacris Post-Game Concert
Oops.
Mix in a fired up defense, 30 MPH wind gusts and an offense that often struggled to simply catch the football, and you come up with what happened at DKR on Saturday night. It might have made for a bit of an uneven showcase of Texas football for the crowd that showed up, but the reality is that a strong showing by the defense was just what the doctor ordered, given Tom Herman's occasional frustration with that side of the ball.
The biggest question mark facing this year's team seemed to have some solid answers on Saturday night against Sam Ehlinger and Co., which represents a win in my book, even if it meant the proceedings lacked some sexy highlights.
(Random thoughts on the spring game)
1. Things went so sideways for the first-team offense on Saturday that Tom Herman gave the unit a pity first down late in the second quarter with the hope that the unit would use it to cash in with some momentum to end the half. Yeah ... not so much. It just wasn't the offense's night. A lot of that had to do with the wind, but some of it had to do with one side of the ball showing a lot more focus than the other.
2. I thought it was interesting that Malcolm Epps was clearly Ehlinger's go-to-receiver with Collin Johnson out of the line-up. Although Epps didn't really flash his upside until a 26-yard catch and run in the third quarter, Ehlinger kept throwing to him over and over and over.
3. On one hand, Casey Thompson showed some flashes as a runner on Saturday night, but on the other hand, he averaged less than two yards per attempt in the first half in the passing game. Although the numbers don't express he thrived in the passing game, I thought he did a nice job of standing in the pocket a couple of times and throwing good balls. There's definitely something there for the coaches to work with as a second-team quarterback, but it's clear he's still a project.
4. Jeffery McCulloch and Joseph Ossai absolutely looked the part at linebacker, with McCulloch's interception of Ehlinger that almost turned into a pick-six standing out as perhaps the play of the night.
5. Jalen Green looks like a future star at cornerback.
6. I lost track of the number of dropped passes, but it had to have been at least a half-dozen. Hell, maybe a dozen. It seemed like there was a drop every other play.
7. To be honest, I was probably expecting more flashes of greatness from Jordan Whittington than he showed in the scrimmage, which is probably a good reminder that he's a teenager that should be getting ready for his prom this weekend. He's going to make some things happen this season, but we probably need to temper expectations slightly.
8. Speaking of Whittington, Ehlinger threw him a perfect ball into the end zone that required a slight route adjustment, but it hit Whittington in the hands and it's a ball he has to catch in the fall.
9. Cameron Dicker's 52-yard field goal will be taken for granted, but it shouldn't be. His presence on the sidelines is massive for this team.
10. DeMarvion Overshown showed some flashes in the first half. Someone tell him not to kill the quarterback on the goal line in a scrimmage.
11. Peter Mpagi had a nice pressure on Casey Thompson in the first quarter to force a Kobe Boyce interception.
12. The Longhorn Network needs to show more replays.
13. Parker Braun can't get here soon enough.
14. The Texas offensive line will need to stay as healthy this season as it did last season because the depth just isn't there. That's pretty common for most college football programs (high and low), but I'm not sure there's more than a guy or two that could possibly slide in and contribute without a massive drop-off at his position.
15. More Devin Duvernay in the fall!
16. Very quietly, one of the highlights of the spring game was simply seeing Kirk Johnson get a lot of work with the second-team offense. Very quietly, one of the lowlights of the spring game was seeing Johnson walk off the field with an injured wrist in the second half. Stay healthy, Kirk!
17. Keondre Coburn will start this season over Gerald Wilbon. If he's even in April, he'll be leaving the veteran by August. This is a very positive development.
*****Spring Game Power Rankings*****
1. Jalen Green
2. Jeffery McCulloch
3. Wind
4. Malcolm Epps
5. Cameron Dicker
6. Joseph Ossai
7. BJ Foster
8. Casey Thompson's legs
9. Jordan Whittington
10. Ludacris Post-Game Concert
