Let's open this week's column with five things that stood out to me about the 2019 Texas Longhorn spring game performance after a re-watch.
a. Tom Herman has this program perfectly positioned to accomplish big things in each of the next two seasons. There's just so much explosive talent all over the field. Of course, injuries can occur at the wrong time in any season, but if this team doesn't win the Big 12 in 2019, the season will have been a failure. The time is now with this group.
b. Even though the offense was a lost cause on Saturday night, I fully expect that side of the ball to be better in 2019 than it was in 2018. There's just too many playmakers available to Sam Ehlinger for me to think otherwise. It's a damn shame Texas can't play offense with two footballs at the same time because the Longhorns have the players to justify it.
c. Don't sweat the running back position. The 2019 version of Keaontay Ingram is already better than the 2018 version of Keaontay Ingram and the 2019 version of Jordan Whittington is going to represent an upgrade over the 2018 version of Tre Watson.
d. The defensive end position is the biggest question mark in the program in my mind going into the season. Outside of Peter Mpagi's pressure that led to Casey Thompson's interception early in the spring game, this wasn't a position group that did much to catch the naked eye. There's a lot of pressure on Malcolm Roach and Ta’Quon Graham and I'd be lying if I said I'm completely won over about the pair going into this season.
e. As a way of taking some of the weight off of Ehlinger's shoulders this season, I'd give serious thought to leaning on Casey Thompson and Whittington in some occasional run game/shot-yardage packages when the schedule allows for it if I'm Herman. Against the LSUs an OUs of the world, it's Sam's show, but in games against some of the lightweights on the schedule, I'd let Thompson cut his teeth and gain some experience at this level by letting him take some of the pounding that Sam has owned by himself for much of the last two seasons.
No. 2 - Coming of age ...
While I'm not going to go overboard on a single performance from the Spring Game, I want to point out that when we talk about Texas senior linebacker Jeffery McCulloch, we're not actually just talking about one game.
McCulloch started six games last year, including the Big 12 Championship game. The kid made some big plays in 2019. Yet, the fact that he's just been a part-time starter/contributor in his first three years on the 40 Acres is kind of the point.
For a young man that was expected to emerge into an X-factor player at the college level, it's just never come together for him, despite the fact that there were moments when he would flash the kind of upside that would make you think, "If only he could bottle that up and do it every game."
Heading into the 2019 season, McCulloch still hasn't accomplished anything of note as a college player, but if the spring game (and the entire spring for that matter) means anything at all, McCulloch might just become the player some of us have expected him to become for about four years running.
McCulloch was everywhere on Saturday night at DKR. He intercepted passes. He broke up wheel routes. He dominated the tackle box.
Without making any bold predictions about what's to come, McCulloch looks poised to answer some questions this season, both about himself and the voids at linebacker from departed players.
Better late than never.
No. 3 - Jalen Green and the rest of the UT secondary ...
We know Caden Sterns is a baller. We know B.J. Foster is a baller.
On Saturday night, Jalen Green announced himself in front of the Longhorn Nation as a baller in his own right.
Mix in the fact that Anthony Cook, D'Shawn Jamison and DeMarvion Overshown all look like ballers as well and it's not too early to suggest that the 2018 Defensive Back Class in recruiting, which is the greatest ever assembled in any Texas recruiting class, might just turn out to be the best as it relates to performance on the field as well.
My goodness, those kids are talented. Not a single damn one of them looks like a mistake less than two years in. In fact, all of them look like future starters, if they aren't already starting.
The best news of all?
Even if every single one of them turns pro as soon as the rules allow them to, the Longhorns still get two more seasons out of them at a minimum.
Yahtzee!!!!
No. 4 - Not good enough ...
Hoo-boy, that Texas baseball sweep of LSU in early March feels like a lifetime ago.
After losing two games at home over the weekend to last-place Kansas State, the Longhorns have failed to win any of their last three Big 12 series, which has the team staring up in the conference standings with a 5-6 record.
Yes, the Longhorns are in second to last place in the Big 12 less than a month after they started Big 12 play by taking two of three from Texas Tech. The bottom line with this team isn't that it just isn't consistently excellent. At times this team can look like Omaha-quality, but there are other times when it looks pretty freaking far from that, such as Friday and Sunday when the team combined to score four runs against the worst team in the Big 12 over 18 innings.
At home.
It's hard to talk about this team and know what the level of expectations should be for the rest of the season, but they're dropping by the minute. Do they have an NIT Tournament in college baseball?
Kidding.
Kinda.
No. 5 – BUY or SELL …
BUY or SELL: That was the worst offensive spring game performance of the past 20 years?
(Sell) Given the wind conditions caused so much of the problems, I'm not even sure I'd say it’s the worst of the last five years.
BUY or SELL: Demarvion Overshown starts at linebacker at some point during the season?
(Sell) Not unless there are injuries.
BUY or SELL: No matter what the reports of springs practice say on our current running backs, we need Zachary Evans bad?
(Buy) As good as the 2005 Texas Longhorns were, that team sure as hell could have used Adrian Peterson.
BUY or SELL: Our O line recruiting classes for 2019, 2020 and 2021 are shaping up to be the best three-year stretch in recent history?
(Buy) If you had said two-year stretch, I'd probably sell, but if we're going three years, it's very, very possible.
BUY or SELL: The Brockermeyer boys commit together soon?
(Sell) We all know where those kids are headed, but they are going to take their time getting there.
BUY or SELL: After this Spring game, I have permission to freak TF out?
(Sell) Over what?
BUY or SELL: Devin Duvernay is the most underrated player on the team?
(Buy) Who else would it even be?
BUY or SELL: Sam ends up as a top 3 QB of all time at Texas?
(Sell) The top three is a tough cookie to crack.
BUY or SELL: Jalen Green and Anthony Cook become the best pair of corners in Longhorn history?
(Sell) Slooooooooow down.
No. 6 - The greatest moment in the history of sports?
The last time Tiger Woods won a major, I was a few months into my first stint in radio as a show host with Chad Hastings.
On the A.M. dial. The Horn 104.9 FM not only didn't exist, it wasn't even an idea back then, let alone the flagship station for University of Texas athletics. An hour before "The Drive" started at 4 p.m., I found myself glued to a television set at Pluckers, unable to drive down to 11th Street for the start of my show because ... well ... because it was Tiger going for a major win in a playoff.
Since then, I co-hosted with Hastings for four years (which allowed for The Horn to be born), held a national radio show gig for another four years, did another radio show from my home and eventually decided that I'd rather not to radio at all if it meant that I had to work with actual radio people.
Basically, a lot of stuff happened. I would imagine the same is true for everyone reading this. The last time Tiger Woods won a major, the American economy hadn't yet seen the crisis caused by high-risk banks such as Lehman Brothers. It didn't know Barack Obama as a president ... let alone a former two-term president. The national championship game against Alabama was still about a year and a half away from going down, which means that nearly an entire decade of Longhorns football floundering would fit into the time span as well.
Four back surgeries, four knee surgeries, a wild divorce and more doubt than anyone could ever imagine later, Woods was back on top of the sports Iron Throne on Sunday afternoon. With less hair on his head and more life experience under his belt, Woods shared this incredibly special moment with his kids.
The golf was special, but the aftermath was something else. There were smiles, tears and screams of joy ... and that was just us fans. The emotions that Woods wore on his sleeves at Augusta in the aftermath will likely become the scenes that we remember the most of his storied career moving forward.
There's winning and then there's what happened on Sunday. This was bigger than winning. This was bigger than chasing Jack. This was bigger than the rest of the sports world. In a way, the entire moment was about all of us being able to capture a piece of immortality in a way that we will never take for granted again.
Two years ago, Woods told people inside of golf that he was done. He just wasn't the same person anymore and he didn't believe that distant identity would ever return.
There are life lessons in all of this that we can learn from, but for a moment let's just soak it all in.
If Sunday wasn't the greatest sports moment in history, it certainly ranks near the top and we've got plenty of time to argue about it because the entire weekend, his shot on 16 and his picking his son up afterwards in a massive embrace will be talked about for decades.
Guys, what we witnessed on Sunday was for all-time.
No. 7 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... It wasn't a bad weekend for Jordan Spieth, it's just that there's no magic in his game and there really hasn't been in a while. Perhaps Tiger's comeback is the biggest positive to take out of Spieth's current form. He'll find his way back ... I think.
... The Nuggets must be wondering what they've gotten themselves into with this series against the Spurs.
... My Sixers really need to get their you know what together. Saturday was probably the worst possible way to begin a critical post-season that will determine the future fate of the entire franchise. Good grief.
... Kevin Durant really needs to let someone else deal with Patrick Beverley. At some point in these playoffs, Durant will be pushing the limit on a possible suspension that comes with your seventh technical four in the playoffs. He's got two with 15 games to go. Let Draymond deal with that fool.
... Antonio Brown really should just the hell up.
... Forgive me for just now noticing, but what the hell is happening in the American League East? I knew the Red Sox were struggling, but I had no idea about the rest of the lot. The Rays are +38 runs in 16 games?
... Come on Man City, just drop a point or two ... pretty please with a cherry on top?
... Keep grinding, Mighty Reds, keep grinding. Four more games to go. Just keep grinding.
No. 8 - It's baaaaaaack ...
It's been nearly 27 years since the last episode of Game of Thrones, but the long wait is over. Here are my instant reaction thoughts.
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1. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. I literally have no set of expectations for what is going to happen in this first episode. Is tonight the night that Jon Snow learns he's and his aunt have done the dirty? Would they even care in Dorne? I say they give love a chance, but that's just me.
2. Power couple right from the get go. Dany and looking like gangstas.
3. Arya just saw The Hound and Gendry. The sight of Gendry sure changed her mood in a hurry. He better not break her heart.
4. Sansa just gave Dany that look that a 6-5 person gives a 5-10 person on a basketball court when he realizes he has him one on one in the post. It feels like she's becoming Cersei Lannister like Anakan Skywalker became Darth Vader.
5. Damn, Lyanna Mormont went in on Jon. She gives zero fs.
6. Oh hell, Dany and Sansa are going to claw each other's eyes out, which is hardly fair because I'm pretty sure Jon's legit birthright makes them honorary play-cousins.
7. "It had its moments."
Sansa gives about as many fs as Lyanna Mormont. I'm telling you guys, she's Cersei 2.0. All that's missing is the goblet full of the good stuff.
8. Bran really needs a girlfriend or something.
9. Jon and Arya's reunion was cute, funny and full of edge. Damn, this season is going to take its pound of flesh from us.
10. Awwwwww hell, the Golden Company has arrived.
11. The Greyjoys need a family counselor in the first way.
12. Cersei letting a Greyjoy into her bed was unexpected. Is she going to kill him? Man, that didn't last long. For the record, Cersei never told Euron that he was a better lover than Jamie, just that she loved his arrogance.
13. Dany let Jon Snow ride one of her dragons. I'm guessing her time with Jon went better than Cersei's did with Euron... call it a hunch.
14. Oh, she's head over heels for him.
15. Arya has never had a boyfriend, but she's learning fast. Gendry doesn't have a chance.
16. I did not need to see Sam heartbroken tonight. That was hard to watch. Go hug Gilly, Sam.
17. And now Sam has to talk to Jon. I'm not sure I'm ready for this, either...
Yup, Jon is every bit as mind-blown as you'd expect him to be. It's like that scene in the movie Lone Star when Chris Cooper's character leans he's in love with his sister.
18. Oh, no. Tormond is going to die. They are leaving this scene at the end for a reason. Noooo!!!!!!!
19. Tormond survived, but that poor kid has seen better days.
20. What do you to say to a teenage boy that you tried to kill by shoving him out of a window?
Guess we'll find out next week.
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No. 9 - The List: Top 10 TV characters of all-time ...
Earlier this week, this Tweet caused quite a commotion.
It seemed like the perfect topic for all of us to argue over ... er ... discuss.
Yes, I have a few women on the list. Let's get on with it.
10. Don Draper (Man Men)
9. Cersei Lannister (Game of Thrones)
8. Jesse Pinkman (Breaking Bad)
7. Omar Little (The Wire)
6. Leslie Knope (Parks and Rec)
5. Michael Scott (The Office)
4. Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones)
3. Selina Meyer (Veep)
2. Tony Soprano (The Sopranos)
1. Walter White (Breaking Bad)
Let the discussion begin!!!!
No. 10 – And Finally ...
139 days until the season opener against La. Tech. Settle in... the off-season has truly begun.
Hard to have a top 10 character list w/o Jack Bauer.
10. Kramer
9. Norm
8. Bauer
7. Homer Simpson
6. Tony Soprano
5. Selina Meyer
4. Dexter Morgan
3. Michael Scott
2. Walter White
1. Tyrion Lannister
