THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. This week is the type of game that could supercharge Texas’ recruiting efforts
Back when Mack Brown was coaching, it seemed like every year we’d hear him mention at some point that this single game against Oklahoma would not have a major impact on recruiting. Prospects were focused on the bigger picture, Mack would say, and he was usually right. Even when Mack’s teams got thumped in Dallas, the Longhorns would still reel in one of the country’s best recruiting classes.
Looking at this year’s Red River Showdown (that name still sucks, by the way), I view things a bit differently. Like Mack Brown, Tom Herman and his staff have shown that they too are dominant recruiters. They’ve done it in different ways - Mack filling his classes up early on almost exclusively in-state talent while Herman has recruited nationally and doesn’t usually hit his stride until the summer - but the results have been pretty similar.
So what’s different with this week’s Texas-OU game compared to those of the past?
Again, Texas has recruited at a high level under the current staff, and it’s a huge reason the Longhorn program is finally on an unarguable upward trend. There’s young talent all over the roster, there’s consistency and productivity at the quarterback position and the future looks extremely bright for Texas. But there’s still another step or two that needs to be taken.
The Longhorns played for the conference title last year. They beat a very good Georgia team in the Sugar Bowl. Definite progress, but this is the type of game Texas needs to win to truly get back to the level of being nationally elite. If the goal is to compete with the likes of the Alabamas, Clemsons and Ohio States of the world, Texas needs to win this type of game, and do it again in December. The Longhorns were close against LSU, but they’re not quite there yet. Saturday will provide another opportunity for a big step forward.
If Texas can pull off the win at the Cotton Bowl for the second straight year, I wouldn’t expect a flood of immediate recruiting dividends nor would I be on commitment watch. The 2020 class is nearly full and the 2021 class is off to an amazing start as well. What I would look for is increased momentum for Texas that would only help with the likes of Alfred Collins in the 2020 class and a number of elite players in next year’s crop.
Top prospects … the truly elite, best of the best … want to play for championships, both conference and national. They’re not worried about depth charts, they’re usually not overly worried about schemes. For the most part, they want to play on the biggest of stages and they want to win those pivotal contests. Texas has shown that it will give players a chance to compete in electric atmospheres and big bowl games, now the Longhorns need to begin taking that next step and show that can consistently win these types of games and play for championships. Texas already recruits at a high level. Win this game, take care of business against other conference foes and then beat OU again in the Big 12 Championship and those already impressive recruiting efforts have a chance of rivaling any team in the country.
2. Texas offensive line commitment Jake Majors is having a good senior season
Offensive lineman Jake Majors feels like he’s been a Texas commitment forever. The Prosper product gave Texas a pledge back in January and has never wavered. I caught up with the Rivals250 member to get an update on how his senior season has gone so far.
On Prosper being 5-0 on the year:
“Things have been pretty good. Our offense has been pretty explosive. We have a lot of young guys on the team. The defense has really stepped up. I think they’re probably the best in the state. Others can say otherwise, but that’s what I feel. I think we have a good team this year.”
On how he’s played individually:
“I think I’m steadily having a good year. This week was our bye week, so I was able to recharge, get some more energy. I’m going to have to step up the intensity and do some things, change some things. I think I’ve been a little slow lately, I’m about to change that. Just motivation. We’ve played against some bad teams so I haven’t always played a lot. I’ll need to change that. The second half of season, we’ll be playing a bunch of good teams, so don’t feel like I’ll be getting pulled early.”
On what he’s shown this year that he hadn’t shown previously:
“I’ve definitely been stepping up as a leader. I’m the veteran of the team, so I’m helping guys when things aren’t going the right way, praising them when things go well.”
On where he’s improved with his on-field play:
“I’ve really improved in pass pro. That’s kind of been my main focus. Run blocking is run blocking, but pass protection is a skill. I’ve definitely improved in that area. It’s just watching film, studying the guy I’m going against, also an emphasis on footwork in practice.”
On being part of a four-man UT offensive line class that committed pretty early:
“Honestly, we’re all pretty close. I haven’t been able to see Jaylen (Garth) lately because of his injury. Me and (Logan) Parr talk on a daily basics. Andrej, he’s cool. I met him when I went to watch Oklahoma State and Texas. He’s really cool. We have a really good class.”
On where he sees himself playing at Texas:
“Center.”
On if they’ve specifically told him he’ll be a center:
“Not really, but I did play that at The Opening, and (Herb Hand) told me that he could see me really playing there. I’m kind of going off that.”
On if he likes the idea of playing center:
“I’m ready. I’ve played center when I was little. I’ve always been used to that, and I kind of want that leadership role. I like being a leader.”
3. Jalen Milroe put up a valiant performance against Katy last week
Coming into last weekend, Katy Tompkins and Texas quarterback commitment Jalen Milroe had blown through the competition on their way to a 5-0 start. In last week’s match against state powerhouse Katy, Milroe knew he and his teammates would have to be at their best. Katy would open a 35-10 lead in the third quarter before Tompkins stormed back with three straight touchdowns to cut the lead to five, only to see Katy hold on for a hard-fought 35-30 win.
It wasn’t the outcome Milroe and his teammates were hoping for, but the team can hold its head high that it continued to battle when the chips were down and nearly came back to pull off an incredible comeback. For Milroe specifically, it was another absolutely stellar performance, with the future Longhorn lighting up the Katy defense to the tune of 407 yards passing and 3 touchdowns, completing 68 percent of his 28 attempts.
“We played a great game, just fell short. We knew coming into the game, it would be a big game for us, a great atmosphere at the stadium,” Milroe said. “At Texas, they have the motto to go 1-0. We (replicate) that at Tompkins, going 1-0 each rep and never giving up. It was 14-10 going into halftime, then we fumbled on our first drive coming out of halftime. They capitalized, then went three and out, punted and the returner scored. We were down, just kept pushing, kept capitalizing, going 1-0. We just kept on rolling with it, never gave up, just fell short.”
Tompkins will face another undefeated opponent in Mayde Creek on Friday. On Saturday, he’ll make the drive to Dallas to watch the Longhorns take on Oklahoma.
“This is my first time going to the Red River Rivalry. I want to just see the environment and how it is,” Milroe said. “I know it’s a big thing, going to be cool to experience it.”
Milroe continues to be an active recruiter for the Longhorns. He said he talks to guys like Hayden Conner (UT commitment), Donovan Jackson, Tunmise Adeleye, Theodore Knox, Landon Jackson and Latree Neville quite a bit. He’s also on a group chat with the other Texas commitments and said he’s ready to see who will be the next to join the fold. Milroe doesn’t feel fans will have to wait too long for the next commit to drop, and I’m certainly not going to doubt him.
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TWO QUESTIONS
1. What’s the month of January going to look like from a recruiting perspective?
A bit random, but I was looking at the recruiting calendar for this cycle, refreshing my memory on key dates like the early signing period and dead periods. In looking at the 2019-2020 calendar, I noticed one major change … pretty much the entire month of February is now a recruiting dead period.
In years past, there was usually a February dead period in the few days leading up to National Signing Day II, but the rest of the month was pretty open for coaches to host recruits on campus. Not anymore.
During a dead period, college coaches can still make contact with recruits and even communicate via video platforms like Skype or FaceTime, but there can be no in-person contact, on or off college campuses. So if a recruit stops by campus, you have to make sure he doesn’t pop by the football offices because there can be no direct contact allowed at any location (for reference, during a “quiet period,” recruits can visit college campuses but coaches cannot visit prospects away from their home campus).
In February of next year, there will be a quiet period on the first Sunday (February 2) before a dead period kicks in February 3. That dead period will run all the way until February 29.
How will that new, extended dead period change things? We’ll see, but the biggest impact will probably be that colleges will have to move up their junior days to January or even December, which has actually been a growing trend in recent years for some schools. For a school like Texas that traditionally has its junior day in February, the staff will have to decide if it wants to move it up a few weeks, or possibly push the event back to early March.
With Texas off to such a fast recruiting start to the 2021 class, and with the February signing day now becoming secondary to the early signing period in terms of major developments, it shouldn’t be a huge issue for the UT staff to navigate. Best guess here is that Texas moves its junior day up to January where the 2021 group can be brought on campus and absorb some of the momentum the program builds from the 2020 class that signs in the early window in December.
It looks like the era of February being one of the most active and interesting recruiting months is officially gone.
2. How does the Big 12 rank after last week’s slate of games?
1. Oklahoma (Last week: 1) – The Sooners continue to win easily, but they haven’t really played anyone with a pulse. We’ll see what OU is made of this week in Dallas.
2. Texas (Last week: 2) – The Longhorns picked up a big road win at WVU, but they’ll need to play a cleaner game this week to knock off OU.
3. Baylor (Last week: 4) – I got some grief for having Baylor high on my list last week, but Matt Rhule can coach and that’s an offense that’s good enough to make any game competitive.
4. Iowa State (Last week: 6) – The Cyclones are finally looking like the team most expected before the season began.
5. Oklahoma State (Last week: 3) – What the hell happened to this group? I’d drop OSU lower if the rest of the conference wasn’t so mediocre.
6. Texas Tech (last week: 9) – Huge win over Oklahoma State, but I’m still not sold on Tech despite Jett Duffey putting up big numbers last weekend.
7. TCU (Last week: 5) – It gets pretty tough to rank them from here on out.
8. West Virginia (Last week: 8) – The Mountaineers showed signs of life at time against Texas but there’s nothing about that club that is special.
9. Kansas State (last week: 7) – What a lackluster effort at home in a loss to Baylor.
10. Kansas (last week: 10) – Les Miles is already making coaching changes, which isn’t a good thing.
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ONE PREDICTION – Texas lands Donovan Jackson
The more I poke around on standout 2021 offensive lineman Donovan Jackson, the more I like Texas’ chances. Schools like Stanford and Texas A&M are others who are mentioned regularly and there’s been some buzz of late about Ohio State and Georgia, but the guess here is that Texas wins out due to a combination of academics, proximity and football success.
I’ve heard conflicting information on when this one might come to an end, but whenever I’ve talked to Jackson directly he’s told me he wants to take his time with the process. With that in mind, there’s plenty of time for movement in this one, but I like where Texas sits right now enough that I put my FutureCast in this week.
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