Photo via AP
A few years ago, Shane Buechele was viewed as the savior of this Texas football program.
Buechele was expected to lead Texas out of the land of mediocre quarterbacks into the realm of championship football. He was ranked as the top dual-threat quarterback in Texas by Rivals in 2016. He passed for 6,379 yards and 73 touchdowns while rushing for 1,805 yards and 21 touchdowns during his tenure at Lamar. Buechele was an early enrollee, which added to the hype. The legend of Buechele grew as former coach football coach Charlie Strong began sharing stories.
Prior to the season, Buechele was working throwing with his teammates one night when the stadium lights turned off. Buechele called Strong and asked if he could travel to campus and turn on the lights. When Strong politely declined, Buechele led his team to the streets of Austin, which is where they practiced. The videos were posted on social media, and Texas observers drank that Kool-Aid like they were at a frat house. Of course, there was the summer of ping-pong, and Buechele was praised for his competitiveness in those games. He was running all competitors off the table. Yes, Buechele’s ability to dominate on the ping-pong table was supposed to magically lead to success on the football field. Boy, those were fun times.
A few years later, Buechele is facing a make-or-break season at Texas.
Most Texas observers believe this is Sam Ehlinger’s job to lose. Ehlinger is young, showed flashes of potential, is a tough runner, and seemingly has more upside than Buechele. Many observers believe Buechele hit his ceiling at Texas, meaning it is time to see if Ehlinger can lead this team. We know Texas football coach Tom Herman has a man-crush on Ehlinger. Herman praised Ehlinger for his ability to lead and alpha male characteristics repeatedly prior to last season. I have never checked Herman’s phone, but his screen saver might be an action shot of Ehlinger.
All jokes aside, we cannot ignore that when 100 percent healthy, Buechele received the nod over Ehlinger twice last season. Buechele started in the season opener against Maryland, and after Ehlinger’s costly interception against Texas Tech in the season finale, Herman decided his freshman should come off the bench during the Texas Bowl.
In addition, when I drove to Houston last month and asked Herman how he hoped the situation with Buechele and would play out this year, and if both quarterbacks might play, he still does not have an unquestionable No.1 guy.
“My hope is that one separates themselves, and that one could certainly be one of the true freshmen,” Herman said. “They’ve got a bit of a bigger hill to climb than the other two based on experience, but my hope is one of them separates themselves. The thing that gets overlooked a lot of times about evaluating quarterbacks, when you have a quarterback competition, so to speak, which every year, to be quite frank, we’re going to have a quarterback competition. We’re never going to [Herman paused] just because you were the guy last year, you can prop your feet up and be comfortable and not go out and practice and perform in practice.
“The difficult thing in evaluating quarterbacks in practice is they’re non-contact. So much of that position is you’re going to take hits, and how do you get back from that hit. How do you stand in the pocket knowing that you’re going to get hit? How do you avoid hits? There’s a lot that goes into the evaluation. I struggled. I thought long and hard this spring for one scrimmage taking the black jerseys off our guys. I couldn’t do it because I couldn’t live with myself if a guy got dinged up in practice. They good thing is, at least the two veterans have some game film that we know. Do we know how they’ve improved in certain areas in regards to the physicality of the game? No, we don’t. My hope is that one of them separates, and he’ll be the guy. If both deserve to play, and that’s not beyond the realm of possibility, but that’s certainly not ideal. I get that. It’s not ideal, but if they both deserve to play, they deserve to play.”
Buechele should not be in this situation.
However, it is not totally unexpected.
Before Herman’s arrival, I had a conversation with a member of the previous staff about Buechele. It was after Texas’ victory against Notre Dame in the 2016 season opener. Buechele completed 16-of-26 passes for 280 yards (true freshman record) during the 50-47 overtime victory. He has two passing touchdowns and scored one rushing. Hours after the game, my phone rang. The caller was giddy with excitement and repeatedly said, “I told you Shane was the truth.”
However, one part of that conversation still stands out.
He said this team could win for a few years with Buechele, but when Ehlinger stepped on campus, he would eventually blow every quarterback at Texas out of the water.
Obviously, things did not go according to the previous staff’s plan, but it is safe to say after 19 starts and 21 appearances, Buechele should not be in a close race with a guy only one year removed from high school.
Buechele has thrown for 4,363 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and 15 interceptions during two seasons at Texas. He is the ninth player in school history to surpass 4,000 passing yards in a career. His quarterback rating is 132.8. Yet, those numbers do not tell the entire story.
The junior quarterback has struggled to play well consistently since that Notre Dame win in 2016.
During his first season as a starter, Texas finished 5-7 under Buechele. He threw three interceptions against Kansas, a loss that prompted President Greg Fenves and Mike Perrin, former athletic director, to hop a plane and prevent Herman from joining LSU. Buechele started in nine games last season, but only threw multiple touchdowns in one game (two against Maryland). He struggles to consistently connect on deep throws. He struggles under pressure, which often leads to sacks. If Buechele’s first option is not open, he often struggles to speed through his progressions to make the right pass, scramble to avoid pressure, or simply throw the ball away. Herman and offensive coordinator Tim Beck tried to help Buechele in those areas last season, but it was a constant struggle.
To be fair, this is not all on Buechele.
- He did not have the luxury of stepping into a quarterback room full of good veterans. Tyrone Swoopes was the only veteran with playing time that year, while Matthew Merrick was the team's third quarterback. Swoopes is a tight end in the NFL and Merrick is no longer playing football.
- Buechele did have two offensive coordinators in two years. Former Texas offensive coordinator Sterling Gilbert tried to hide Buechele’s weaknesses and only asked him to make simple throws, rarely challenging the middle of an opponent’s defense. Herman’s offense requires quarterbacks to take more risks.
- It is easy to knock Buechele for feeling the pressure, but Texas did allow 30 sacks in 2016, followed by 34 last season. The offensive line has played poorly during Buechele’s tenure, and it is easy to see why he rarely felt comfortable in the pocket.
I spoke to a person associated with the program this week and was given a pretty good observation. When we spoke about the quarterback situation at Texas, that person said there are about 10 plays a game where even if the defense guesses right, it should not matter because the quarterback made a play. NBA teams know LeBron James and Kevin Durant will get the ball, but it does not matter. Obviously, nobody is comparing Buechele to those superstars. The overall point is no matter what, a good quarterback makes it happen. If he picks up a blitz and escapes, a defensive coordinator might be hesitant to attack again, as an example.
It is hard to gauge what Buechele’s future at Texas looks like if he is not a starter this year.
If Ehlinger won the competition and was viewed as one of the Big 12’s best passers, Buechele would need to decide if he wants to hang around go elsewhere. If Ehlinger is injured, or struggles, Buechele might be ready to take the next step as a quarterback. Heck, Herman might play both quarterbacks in the season opener and go with the hot hand. Nobody knows exactly how this competition will play out.
The fun of ping-pong tournaments is over.
Buechele is facing a make-or-break season at Texas.
Photo via AP
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
Wish I came across this sooner, but this was too good not to share (some bad language, so do not play at church or around kids)
If this doesn’t make you smile, something is wrong
Yeah, I am convinced Skip Bayless does not believe most things he says
Sports On A Dime
1. That was one hell of a season by the Texas baseball team. The Longhorns had a great run to Omaha. Texas will lose several key players, but this year’s run should make David Pierce’s recruiting job a lot easier.
2. I heard Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte has made starting the south end zone project a top priority. From what I was told, the goal is for construction to begin next summer and have it ready by the 2021 season. There are a lot of details being worked out right now, including about $140 million in funding, but this project is definitely important to Del Conte.
3. Texas tight end Cade Brewer was one of 43 student-athletes named to the 2017-18 All-Big 12 Rookie Team. According to a press release, Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team members must be new, first-time/incoming freshmen that have completed 24 semester hours of non-remedial coursework and achieved a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 (4.0 scale). Additionally, the student-athlete must have participated in at least one of their team’s scheduled contests and a member of their respective team for their sport’s entire NCAA Championship segment. Props to Brewer for his academic achievement.
4. Mo Bamba will have a well-known name soon enough. Just give him a few years.
5. No matter how you feel about Baker Mayfield, I give him credit for schooling when Colin Cowherd during the dumb questions/observations about his celebration against Ohio State. Yes, I know your only response will be “OU sucks.” I still had to share the video
6. Speaking of OU, the school did not waste any time giving football coach Lincoln Riley a pay raise. Here is what the Tulsa World reported:
“Riley’s new contract was extended through 2023. The five-year deal pays him $4.8 million this year and increases by $100,000 every 12 months, averaging $5 million per year.
“Riley’s deal includes a base salary of $325,000 (which is unchanged from last year), but his outside income from unrestricted private funds for personal services, fundraising and promotional activities was increased to $3,475,000, a $1 million change. That figure will increase $100,000 each year (which amounts to his annual raise).
“He’s also due an annual stay benefit of $500,000 (payable June 1 of each contract year) and gets a supplemental retirement income plan of $500,000 annually. He’s immediately 100 percent vested in the plan and the contribution is non-forfeitable.”
7. I am sure there are a lot of opinions in this state about banning tackling for kids under the age of 12. Football is not going anywhere, but as former players speak out, youth football numbers will continue to decline.
8. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, like every football observer, knew Jameis Winston had a lot of red flags at Florida State. The Bucs ignored those warning signs and drafted Winston anyway. Now, Winston will serve a three-game suspension after an alleged incident with a female Uber driver, and here is an excerpt from a recent Tampa Bay Times story:
New details emerged Friday night about the Uber ride in Arizona in March 2016 that led to Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston's three-game suspension to start the upcoming season, including the fact that Winston was in a car that night with a former Vanderbilt football player now serving a 15-year prison sentence for aggravated rape and sexual battery.
ESPN first reported that the alleged third passenger, unnamed by Winston and FSU teammate Ronald Darby, was Brandon Banks, a friend of Darby's who was training in Arizona and rode with Winston and Banks in an Uber with a female driver to a club on the night in question.
Banks' attorney, Mark Scruggs, said to the Tampa Bay Times on Friday night that Winston was in bad enough condition at that club ("unruly," he told ESPN) that a second Uber was called to take him home, and he left in that car alone with another female driver.
"It appeared that Winston was trying to lay this on Brandon," Scruggs said in his reason for stepping forward. "They were together that night. They took an Uber to a club, the three of them did, and Brandon said nothing whatsoever happened while the three of them were in the Uber. … For whatever reason, they felt they needed to put him, escort him into an Uber so he could go home on his own. There's two different Uber rides is what we're talking about."
9. If LeBron James wants to win a championship, he uses one of the scenarios below and finds a way to join Houston. Obviously, Houston seems like a long-shot, leaving Cleveland and Los Angeles as the most likely landing spots. I do not see L.A. getting past Houston (if Chris Paul re-signs), Golden State or Oklahoma City in the Western Conference playoffs, which would hurt his legacy. I think his smartest move is re-signing with Cleveland, trading for a shooter, and continuing to beat up on Eastern Conference teams.
10. I am glad Canelo Alvarez caved into the public pressure and agreed to fight Gennady Golovkin. I hope the pressure to beat GGG does not result in Alvarez finding better ways to cheat this time.
Thank You
I just wanted to thank you for all the prayers and well-wishes for my family. Mom and Titan Ali Richardson are doing great. Heck, she was walking around H-E-B three days later. He is sleeping great, the boy is super low maintenance, and has been a blessing to our family.
Last edited:
