Prepare for an unparalleled poker experience as TCH Social, the premier edition of the renowned Texas Card House poker clubs, has officially opened its doors. TCH Social Austin, the flagship location of this esteemed line, sets a new standard for poker venues across Texas.
TCH Social Austin is the premier destination for poker enthusiasts in Austin, Texas, featuring up to 70 poker tables, a full-service restaurant, and bar. As the flagship location of the Texas Card House line, it is set to elevate the poker experience with outstanding promotions, tournaments, and top-tier amenities.
For more information and updates, visit texascardhouse.com.
******
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Texas pledge Bo Barnes visited Oregon, but still feels good about his UT commitment
Texas linebacker commitment Bo Barnes popping up on the Oregon visitors list for the Ducks’ game against Idaho was certainly not something I expected going into the weekend but it happened, with the Dallas Skyline product making a last-minute decision to fly to Eugene.
Barnes, who has been committed to Texas since April, said it was an enjoyable experience but remains locked in with the Longhorns.
“I was just going up there to check out a game. Coach Samples, Ra’Shaad Samples, hit me up. He asked if we wanted to come up to a game, see how it was so we went. It was great,” Barnes said.
As for if the Longhorns need to be concerned?
“No, no. It’s no concern. I’m still 100 percent locked in with Texas,” Barnes said. “I just wanted to go check out a game.”
Barnes and Skyline picked up a win in their season-opener last Thursday, with Barnes flying around and making plays all over the field. He finished the night with 13 tackles, 11 solo tackles, 2 sacks and 4 quarterback hurries. Barnes was pleased with his performance, and that of the team, but said there’s always room for improvement.
“Overall, we did well as a team, came together and got it done in the end,” Barnes said. “I feel like I played a great game. But I feel like I have a lot to improve, a lot to work on, just work on my game, get even better next week. I want to do more than I did last week, make more tackles, get more sacks.”
Barnes is an intriguing prospect with his size, speed and somewhat limited experience at the linebacker position. The Rivals250 member goes 6-2 and 230 pounds. Last year he ran a sub-11 second 100 meters and anchored Skyline’s 4X100 meter relay team. He has only played linebacker for two seasons after previously playing running back, so he’s still scratching the surface of his long-term potential.
“I have a lot of potential in me to be the best linebacker in the country,” Barnes said. “That’s what I’m going to prove this year.”
Though he was in Oregon on Saturday, Barnes was able to watch the Longhorn game on television and he loved what he saw. He’s expecting more of the same this weekend when Texas faces off with Michigan.
“My expectations are for them to go out and dominate like they have been doing and will be doing from now on,” Barnes said. “I’m just ready to see them dominate and put on a good show.”
Barnes plans on attending the Longhorns’ home game against Mississippi State later this month.
2. Baylor commitment Jackson Blackwell enjoyed his visit to Texas on Saturday
It wasn’t a huge recruiting weekend for the Longhorns but Texas did host a handful of its own commitments, in addition to one player currently committed to a former conference rival.
Defensive tackle Jackson Blackwell, committed to Baylor, was invited in for the game by Kenny Baker and Blackwell said it was an enjoyable experience.
“I thought the game was great. I got to see a lot of people, meet a lot of people, meet the coaches,” Blackwell said. “It was a great environment. I enjoyed it with my family.”
Blackwell got a chance to connect with Baker while on campus. Texas hasn’t offered yet, but Baker told Blackwell that he’ll continue to evaluate him this fall.
“He said keep playing your game, we’ll be watching. He said they’ll try to come to some games, keep watching and we’ll see how things unfold,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell committed to Baylor on July 1 over programs like Texas Tech and Arizona. If Texas was to offer, he said he’s not sure what that would do for his recruitment.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t really know. I haven’t really considered that,” Blackwell said. “I don’t know what I would do, but know I would be ecstatic about getting an offer from Texas, one of the premier universities in the country.”
At 6-3 and 300 pounds, Blackwell is ranked as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com.
“I think what I do well, I have a lot of power, a lot of strength,” Blackwell said. “I want to work on my versatility, taking on double teams and making tackles and just fine-tuning my craft.”
3. Texas commitment John Mills is hoping to turn in a dominant senior season
Texas offensive line commitment John Mills and his San Francisco St. Ignatius teammates opened their season with a tough loss last week against a strong opponent. Not the outcome Mills was hoping for, but he’ll try to bounce back this week in what should be a strong senior season.
“I’m trying to showcase, just be the best offensive lineman I can be, better than last year, get ready for Texas,” Mills said. “Just show my athleticism, my technique, aggressiveness. Just keep being nasty and aggressive.”
Mills committed to Texas in late June and has never looked back. Schools like Washington and Nebraska still reach out from time to time, but Mills remains locked in with his Texas commitment.
“I’m just getting more excited every day. I’m excited to come compete for such a top-tier program,” Mills said. “(Other schools) still try to hit me up. Most of the time I don’t answer, but sometimes I’m just like ‘Thanks, appreciate it.”
******
TWO QUESTIONS
1. Could Texas fans have asked for a better weekend?
What a start to the college football season for those of you reading this column.
The Longhorns were dominant in really every phase of the game in their opener against Colorado State. In week one, when some teams are tripping all over themselves, Texas looked like a well-oiled machine against a Colorado State team that’s not completely devoid of talent. Quinn Ewers was Sharp. Arch Manning electrified the stadium when he was in the game. The receiver depth … wow. The defense was dominant all day aside from a couple of decent runs by CSU. Perhaps most importantly, Texas came out of the game without any significant injuries.
Meanwhile, on Saturday night, Texas fans got the enjoyment of watching Michigan look rather pedestrian in a 30-10 win over Fresno State. Confidence in Texas’ ability to win in Ann Arbor was high before last weekend’s slate of games, and now it feels like the Longhorns will be able to win that game by multiple scores if the two teams play anywhere close to what they showed last weekend.
If that wasn’t good enough, Texas fans were able to revel in the offensive train wreck that took place in College Station on Saturday night. I don’t particularly like kicking a young student-athlete when he’s down, but that performance by Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman (12-30 for 100 yards and 2 interceptions) was downright abysmal and has me wondering if the Aggies will be very competitive once conference play starts up. A&M actually has a fairly favorable schedule compared to someone like Oklahoma, but are the Aggies any better than the Auburns, South Carolinas and Mississippi States of the SEC? I’m not so sure. Side note … Connor Weigman’s Heisman odds entering the season were at +3500, just above players like Shedeur Sanders of Colorado and Brady Cook of Missouri. Yikes.
2. How do the SEC programs rank after last weekend’s slate of games?
1. Georgia – It took some time, but Georgia just broke Clemson’s will
2. Texas – Extremely impressive performance by Texas from top to bottom
3. Alabama – Every time I checked the score in the first half, Bama was adding points
4. Ole Miss – It was against Furman, but 76 points is 76 points
5. Oklahoma – I’m sure Temple will wind up being trash, but OU looked the part
6. Tennessee – Their new QB with a name I’ll never remember was impressive
7. Missouri – Fairly pedestrian stats for Mizzou’s top guys but still an easy win
8. Auburn – Not sure how legit Auburn is but 73 points is impressive
9. Arkansas – Scrub opponent but Arkansas actually looked good in putting up nearly 50 points in the first half
10. Kentucky – Nice shutout of Southern Miss
11. Mississippi State – Not sure they’ll hold this spot, but a nice thumping of a win to start with
12. LSU – They’ll move up this list, but it’s hard to put them above teams who won by such sizeable margins
13. Texas A&M – See LSU, although I’m not sure A&M will move up too much if that offense doesn’t improve by a lot
14. Florida – Completely outclassed by Miami; gonna be a long year in Gainesville
15. Vanderbilt – I’m probably disrespecting Vandy with this ranking after it knocked off Va Tech
16. South Carolina – A four-point win over Old Dominion doesn’t really move the needle
******
ONE PREDICTION – Bo Barnes and Jaime Ffrench both sign with Texas in December
I’m not exactly going out on a long limb with this one, but there aren’t a lot of bold recruiting predictions to be made this week.
With Barnes having visited Oregon last week, it’s a situation worth monitoring but I feel pretty confident that he’ll remain locked in with Texas and ultimately sign with the Longhorns in December.
With Ffrench, I had a Florida source tell me Texas was going to have to fight off Miami and LSU despite what the five-star receiver announced this week, and one person expected fall visits to places other than Texas to happen. We’ll see if they do and we don’t want to make negative assumptions before anything happens, but Ffrench has been so pro-Texas for so long that I’d be surprised to see him sign anywhere else.
