Texas held its second scrimmage of the pre-season this morning and I was able to talk to a couple sources to get some notes. Let’s get right to it … some of the highlights …
First off, I’m told the atmosphere was “great.” Families of the players were in attendance and one person told me there was a sense of ease in the air, but the scrimmage was also very serious, very organized.
“There was a lot of intensity,” one source said. Tom Herman emphasized several times that he wanted intensity on every single rep.
Sam Ehlinger was the first QB to take reps in the pre-scrimmage positional drills, but it was Shane Buechele who took the first-team reps on the first drive of the scrimmage. I’m told he led the offense down the field for a short field goal on that drive and did a good job of mixing in short and intermediate passes and screens.
Collin Johnson, Devin Duvernay and Lil’Jordan Humphrey started at receiver and all caught balls on the drive, mostly Duvernay and Humphrey.
The run game on the opening drive was pretty stagnant. One person told me Tre Watson looked the best and he was the first back on the field, followed by Daniel Young.
Calvin Anderson and Denzel Okafor both got work at first-team left tackle.
One source said the scrimmage seemed to be about establishing depth, as Cam Rising and Casey Thompson seemed to take the majority of the reps. Of the two freshmen, I’m told Rising looks more comfortable in the pocket and he throws a much nicer ball. In fact, one source said of all four QBs, Rising threw down the field the most by far. One viewer did say Rising is holding the ball a bit too long though … his reads were on point, but the ball would sometimes arrive a tick late, resulting in a few drops or pass break-ups.
No shock here, but Thompson looked like the most athletic QB on the roster. One person said he runs “smooth as silk.”
Ehlinger was described as “scrappy and so competitive.” From what I’m told, Ehlinger took the fourth series (it was the second series of the scrimmage with the first-team offense), and after converting a 4th-and-2 on his own side of the field with a QB sweep to the right for about 15 yards, he later hit Tre Watson in the end zone for a touchdown. On the play, Watson was lined up wide and apparently made a very good catch. I’m told the pass was a bit of a floater but Watson made a nice adjustment to make the play.
Buechele got a few more series after the opening drive. One was a 3-and-out and another stalled pretty quickly. He did finally get things going again on his last series, connecting with a screen pass to the right to Jerrod Heard who made a nice move at the line of scrimmage and ended up turning it into a sizable gain. Several plays later, Buechele connected again with Heard on about a 40-yard pass down the sideline. I’m told the play would have been a TD Heard stepped out a couple yards shy of the end zone.
Kyle Porter finished that drive off a couple plays later for the TD. I’m told Porter didn’t get a ton of PT and most of it seemed to be short yardage and goal line stuff.
Ehlinger got one other drive and it resulted in another touchdown. I’m told on that drive, his biggest play was a running play where he went head up with Cameron Townsend and “floored” him. That play actually let to a brief scuffle between both sides of the ball.
As I said earlier … intense scrimmage.
I’m told Ehlinger looked very good in the short passing game today. He didn’t really attempt much downfield. I’m also told Ehlinger continues to sense pressure much better than Buechele.
One observer told me D’Shawn Jamison made an impression on offense.
“He's skinny but fast as hell and even shiftier,” the source said.
On one play, Rising hit him with a pitch behind the line of scrimmage and Jamison shook free for about a 70-yard TD. I believe he scored a second TD in the scrimmage as well.
One observer said the running game overall “looks a bit of a work in progress” and there weren’t a lot of holes for the back. Watson had the best day overall.
Caden Sterns and Brandon Jones started at safety. Good news there since Sterns was banged up a little earlier in the week.
Andrew Beck moved around quite a bit and lined up all over the place. I’m told he had a couple catches.
Defensively, I’m told the QBs faced quite a bit of pressure and the front seven looked really good today.
“Hager is a complete badass. Just has another gear from everyone else on the field,” one observer said.
First off, I’m told the atmosphere was “great.” Families of the players were in attendance and one person told me there was a sense of ease in the air, but the scrimmage was also very serious, very organized.
“There was a lot of intensity,” one source said. Tom Herman emphasized several times that he wanted intensity on every single rep.
Sam Ehlinger was the first QB to take reps in the pre-scrimmage positional drills, but it was Shane Buechele who took the first-team reps on the first drive of the scrimmage. I’m told he led the offense down the field for a short field goal on that drive and did a good job of mixing in short and intermediate passes and screens.
Collin Johnson, Devin Duvernay and Lil’Jordan Humphrey started at receiver and all caught balls on the drive, mostly Duvernay and Humphrey.
The run game on the opening drive was pretty stagnant. One person told me Tre Watson looked the best and he was the first back on the field, followed by Daniel Young.
Calvin Anderson and Denzel Okafor both got work at first-team left tackle.
One source said the scrimmage seemed to be about establishing depth, as Cam Rising and Casey Thompson seemed to take the majority of the reps. Of the two freshmen, I’m told Rising looks more comfortable in the pocket and he throws a much nicer ball. In fact, one source said of all four QBs, Rising threw down the field the most by far. One viewer did say Rising is holding the ball a bit too long though … his reads were on point, but the ball would sometimes arrive a tick late, resulting in a few drops or pass break-ups.
No shock here, but Thompson looked like the most athletic QB on the roster. One person said he runs “smooth as silk.”
Ehlinger was described as “scrappy and so competitive.” From what I’m told, Ehlinger took the fourth series (it was the second series of the scrimmage with the first-team offense), and after converting a 4th-and-2 on his own side of the field with a QB sweep to the right for about 15 yards, he later hit Tre Watson in the end zone for a touchdown. On the play, Watson was lined up wide and apparently made a very good catch. I’m told the pass was a bit of a floater but Watson made a nice adjustment to make the play.
Buechele got a few more series after the opening drive. One was a 3-and-out and another stalled pretty quickly. He did finally get things going again on his last series, connecting with a screen pass to the right to Jerrod Heard who made a nice move at the line of scrimmage and ended up turning it into a sizable gain. Several plays later, Buechele connected again with Heard on about a 40-yard pass down the sideline. I’m told the play would have been a TD Heard stepped out a couple yards shy of the end zone.
Kyle Porter finished that drive off a couple plays later for the TD. I’m told Porter didn’t get a ton of PT and most of it seemed to be short yardage and goal line stuff.
Ehlinger got one other drive and it resulted in another touchdown. I’m told on that drive, his biggest play was a running play where he went head up with Cameron Townsend and “floored” him. That play actually let to a brief scuffle between both sides of the ball.
As I said earlier … intense scrimmage.
I’m told Ehlinger looked very good in the short passing game today. He didn’t really attempt much downfield. I’m also told Ehlinger continues to sense pressure much better than Buechele.
One observer told me D’Shawn Jamison made an impression on offense.
“He's skinny but fast as hell and even shiftier,” the source said.
On one play, Rising hit him with a pitch behind the line of scrimmage and Jamison shook free for about a 70-yard TD. I believe he scored a second TD in the scrimmage as well.
One observer said the running game overall “looks a bit of a work in progress” and there weren’t a lot of holes for the back. Watson had the best day overall.
Caden Sterns and Brandon Jones started at safety. Good news there since Sterns was banged up a little earlier in the week.
Andrew Beck moved around quite a bit and lined up all over the place. I’m told he had a couple catches.
Defensively, I’m told the QBs faced quite a bit of pressure and the front seven looked really good today.
“Hager is a complete badass. Just has another gear from everyone else on the field,” one observer said.
