2023 Spring Practice to Fall Camp Thread - Just hook it to my veins!

[BurntOrange&White 39,930]

59 minutes ago, Bevo said:

I'm okay with that - He is the nephew of a close friend.

One white average walk on is no different than another. 

[BornOrange 1,441]

10 hours ago, Bevo said:

I'm okay with that - He is the nephew of a close friend.

There's always an uncle.....

[NevaLost 284]

18 hours ago, Red Five said:

We'll be comparable to last year at DT. Better just about everywhere else. The D should be very good.

Now we're bemoaning the loss of Ovie? Lulz.

Not bemoaning the loss of Ovie. He was an exceedingly average P5 player, and we're better off with younger players getting his reps. However, there's no real indication that we'll get better production from any individual on this year's roster. The defense was very good last year - my point was that I expect it to be similar this year with weaknesses in late down situations. 

[Tex Long 4,383]

1 hour ago, NevaLost said:

... I expect it to be similar this year with weaknesses in late down situations. 

I've not tracked down any stats, other than our D giving up conversions on over half of 3rd / 4th downs. Either we have better players, or we don't, and the D will follow suit, 'cause it doesn't look like a lotta help gonna be coming from the coaching. Maybe there will be help and we'll all be happy, but I'm not too fucking pleased with a HC who insists on being OC on game day. Set the fucking strategy, Steve, and demand your Coordinators to implement the tactics to carry it out. If they can't, or won't, fire their asses.

[Slacks 6,819]

On 3/29/2023 at 12:29 PM, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Whoever wrote this practice report has obviously never been married.

[Slacks 6,819]

17 hours ago, Bevo said:

We will be a top 10 team when and only when we can reliably stop talking about Jett Bush.

[Red Five 40,847]

We have a ton of bodies to throw at eDge. None of them will be all-conference probably but we don't need them to be. If we're in November and saying "Man we really do miss Ovie" then things have gone horribly wrong. 

As for DT, I'm assuming there is some truth to the Collins rumors. We're going to have a three man rotation of Sweat, Murphy, and Collins. With Bryant, Bledsoe, and Broughton as more situational guys. If that is really a position of concern then holy shit is the team loaded. 

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

3 hours ago, Tex Long said:

I've not tracked down any stats, other than our D giving up conversions on over half of 3rd / 4th downs. Either we have better players, or we don't, and the D will follow suit, 'cause it doesn't look like a lotta help gonna be coming from the coaching. Maybe there will be help and we'll all be happy, but I'm not too fucking pleased with a HC who insists on being OC on game day. Set the fucking strategy, Steve, and demand your Coordinators to implement the tactics to carry it out. If they can't, or won't, fire their asses.

You definitely have not looked up any stats. Our defense finished 11th in the country last year, and they were easily better than the offense or special teams last year. 

[Hookem2147 21,200]

Some Saturday practice notes via Suchomel

Spoiler

--- Quinn Ewers had a long touchdown pass to Casey Cain. Ewers dropped it right in his bread basket off of his back foot. Perfect throw per one source.

--- As @Alex Dunlap reported earlier this week, Ethan Burke was getting some run with the 1s.

--- Malik Muhammad got some run with the 1s at corner when the defense was in the nickel package. 

--- Arch had a nice “high step” scramble for about 10 yards when he was able to elude some pressure.

--- I’m told Casey Cain had multiple nice plays. He had the long TD mentioned above, and then had another long catch and run where he juked the safety and would have a big gain. AD Mitchell was held out of the early portion of practice. One person told me Mitchell was in pads but was chilling on the sideline during the early part of practice but he came in later.

--- Morice Blackwell had an interception off of Maalik Murphy. The ball went through the WRs hands (believe it was DeAndre Moore) and Blackwell got the INT.

--- DJ Campbell had a couple really nice plays, per one source.

--- Savion Red continues to play well. Per one source, he had a nice run where he threw Justice Finkley off of him while Finkley tried to make the tackle in the backfield. Even the defense was impressed with that play.

--- Gavin Holmes had an interception off of Ewers on a ball that went off the TE’s hands. Gunnar Helm kind of lost the ball while it was in the air and Holmes turned around at the last minute and the ball was right there. It was actually a good throw, but the target didn’t really help Quinn out.

--- I didn’t get a ton of detail on Arch, but one person said he really showed off some arm strength on a perfectly-placed 15-yard out throw.

--- It sounds like both back-up quarterbacks got some work with the 2s and with the 3s.

--- Austin Jordan had an INT with the backups (I believe the 3s) that probably would have gone back for a pick-6 in live action.

--- Kitan Crawford continues to run with the 1s. One person told me when Crawford knows what to do, a case can be made that he’s the best safety on the team. The problem, he still has some occasional mental lapses.

--- Barryn Sorrell and Alfred Collins were working with the 1s at end.

--- Jordan Whittington and Jahdae Barron both made some plays. So did Jaylon Ford. Business as usual with those guys.

--- Johntay Cook and DeAndre Moore both got work as punt returners

 

[billfromlaketravis 11,448]

17 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 We will have Micheal Taeffe for the next few years 

Taeffe is a much better player than Bush. We would have lost our minds, but he probably should have been a scholarship offer in 2021. 

[Reese Bennett 3,608]

3 hours ago, Tex Long said:

I've not tracked down any stats, other than our D giving up conversions on over half of 3rd / 4th downs. Either we have better players, or we don't, and the D will follow suit, 'cause it doesn't look like a lotta help gonna be coming from the coaching. 

I think it's obvious there is coaching going on and players aren't just doing it on their own. There were great strides made last year in just about every position room and, I dare say, all of them on the defensive side. With another year of scheme and terminology comfort, I expect them to be better this year. I'm no longer concerned about LB. I think Choate's doing a great job and the talent is improving rapidly. I'm always concerned about finding elite talent on the DL, but not about the coaching. The secondary coaching is my one nagging worry, but the play improved last year and I expect it to improve again this year. Special teams needs to be more consistent with fewer kill shot calls that lead to roughing the punter. On Offense, I couldn't be more happy with the OL. I think Flood is building what will soon be one of the dominant units in college football. TE seems solid and the fact that they didn't just throw Sanders out there as a freshman allowed him to turn into a monster last year--that's good coaching. QB room looks better than just about any other program. I hope the WR room is getting better with the new coach and talent infusion. Hard to find fault at RB with two guys expected to be high draft picks and more studs in the pipeline. The notion that there's no coaching and development is a hard one to shake after the last decade+ of misery and even tougher when we look through rose-colored glasses at the perfection of 2005, but it is happening and I think the trajectory will be obvious this year (barring critical injuries).

[Born Burnt 6,177]

15 minutes ago, Reese Bennett said:

I think it's obvious there is coaching going on and players aren't just doing it on their own. There were great strides made last year in just about every position room and, I dare say, all of them on the defensive side. With another year of scheme and terminology comfort, I expect them to be better this year. I'm no longer concerned about LB. I think Choate's doing a great job and the talent is improving rapidly. I'm always concerned about finding elite talent on the DL, but not about the coaching. The secondary coaching is my one nagging worry, but the play improved last year and I expect it to improve again this year. Special teams needs to be more consistent with fewer kill shot calls that lead to roughing the punter. On Offense, I couldn't be more happy with the OL. I think Flood is building what will soon be one of the dominant units in college football. TE seems solid and the fact that they didn't just throw Sanders out there as a freshman allowed him to turn into a monster last year--that's good coaching. QB room looks better than just about any other program. I hope the WR room is getting better with the new coach and talent infusion. Hard to find fault at RB with two guys expected to be high draft picks and more studs in the pipeline. The notion that there's no coaching and development is a hard one to shake after the last decade+ of misery and even tougher when we look through rose-colored glasses at the perfection of 2005, but it is happening and I think the trajectory will be obvious this year (barring critical injuries).

[JFKFC 4,878]

5 hours ago, NevaLost said:

He was an exceedingly average P5 player

[closetojumping 62,568]

On 3/31/2023 at 9:26 AM, immamac said:

I've said it for a while. If Juan can figure out the playbook jatavion may lose the starting job. Think about that. 

Hawt take, right there, immamac. Like, that shit is hawter than whore in church level shit. 

22 hours ago, oldhorn2 said:

My God!.....if we are worried that what we have coming in will not be as good as Ovie and Overshown then we are doomed to at best a 8 win cap for this team. We are not talking Nobis and Mc Michaels here we are talking guys that were adequate but never stellar. Oh Jesus! We are so fucked if what we have coming in is not miles ahead of those guys....

It’s time for you to regroup and pull yourself together. Your vagina has been flapping all over this thread. 

20 hours ago, Newy25 said:

Red looks nothing like a receiver. The snaps are there for the taking if he wants it. But wasn’t he the one that lost his shit on the sideline last year and almost fought a coach during a game? Or am I thinking of someone else. 

Apparently, they really like the fact that he’s a passionate hothead. I’ve heard it on multiple occasions. He’s an angry dickhead focused solely on winning football games and they are looking for more guys like that. 

[Hookem2147 21,200]

IT scrimmage notes

Spoiler

As we go through any practice bloc, whether Spring ball or Fall camp, common themes begin to emerge. Normally those common themes carry into the season, as was the case last year with improved defense and so-so quarterback play. 

The common theme this Spring is the defense continues to improve. Defense was the story of Saturday’s practice/scrimmage. Today was mainly 1s vs 2s but they did go “good on good” during the red zone portion of practice, which the defense won. As we write every year, it’s common for the defense to be ahead of the offense and it should come as no surprise based on last season. Said a source, “it’s an older group that is playing really well together. Everyone is on the same page. The coaches place a lot of trust in the corners which helps.” 

Often we won’t lead questions to our sources, we’ll just flatly ask who stood out. The first name mentioned was David Gbenda. Not to say he was a superstar, but “he’s playing with better leverage, he’s seldom out of position.” The source was asked if Gbenda is as fast as DeMarvion Overshown. “About neck and neck. Overshown flew around a little more as a playmaker but Gbenda might have better football speed.” Another source believes if Gbenda can keep critical errors in check he’ll be above league average at Will linebacker

Alfred Collins was the second player mentioned. T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy are the starters but the source said, “Alfred Collins played well. All those interior guys had a good scrimmage.” More on Collins, “He’s always been athletic but he’s a lot more consistent. There have been no days off mentally and he knows the scheme a lot better.” 

Ethan Burke was mentioned with the D-line. He spent a lot of time with the ones at Buck this week so even though he went up against the second team tackles today we have some evidence of him holding his own against the top two tackles. “He made some tackles today. Didn’t really stand out but he’s not afraid to stick his nose in there.” The source continued, “He’s gotten stronger but he still needs to become more assertive setting the edge against Kelvin Banks and Christian Jones. There’s a bit of give and take in order to get his pass rushing on the field.”

Cornerback Gavin Holmes had a pick today in red zone work. His coverage has been consistently good all Spring. 

Surely somebody had a good day on offense? “Ja’Tavion Sanders caught some in the flat and required a lot of guys to tackle him.” 

Anyone else? “Jordan Whittingtonwas solid and Casey Cain made a couple of catches. Savion Red showed good vision in addition to running hard.” 

We asked about Arch Manning. “He moved it down the field a bit. He made good reads and some solid throws.” 

We also asked about kick return. Jaydon Blue would be No. 1 there. Cedric Baxter and DeAndre Mooreare also getting looks in that capacity. Texas has lots of options. 

 

[billfromlaketravis 11,448]

Pretty much a nothing burger on the scrimmage notes. 

Based off the practice "reports" and Instagram, Holmes is going to start at corner. Dude makes plays. 

Just a gut feeling here, but Baxter will lead the team in carries. I like Brooks, but I'm not sure he's what we need to beat Bama and most of the Big 12 schedule. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by billfromlaketravis

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20,393]

1 hour ago, Burt Macklin said:

You definitely have not looked up any stats. Our defense finished 11th in the country last year, and they were easily better than the offense or special teams last year. 

If by "11th in the country"  you meant "50th in the country"  you are correct.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/stats/team/_/view/defense

[Had Enough 2,079]

[LTtxfan 49,148]

IT scrimmage notes...

input into the Surly CPU for analysis...

 

 

 

Result:

 

[Hank_Hill 18,796]

36 minutes ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

If by "11th in the country"  you meant "50th in the country"  you are correct.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/stats/team/_/view/defense

Lmao he did the thing. 

[D3zii 3,677]

I’m happy to hear this about Collins and Crawford. It’s been a long time coming. 
 

 

[futureman 22,444]

27 minutes ago, D3zii said:

I’m happy to hear this about Collins and Crawford. It’s been a long time coming. 

the best part is that spring practice reports are 100% indicative of fall performance on the field.

[South Austin 52,459]

1 hour ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Pretty much a nothing burger on the scrimmage notes. 

It’s amazing how filling a nothing burger can be in the offseason.

[TheBryMan81 2,508]

2 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

If by "11th in the country"  you meant "50th in the country"  you are correct.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/stats/team/_/view/defense

Well, I guess Air Force has the best defense in the country.

[Huckleberry 32,850]

3 hours ago, closetojumping said:

He’s an angry dickhead focused solely on winning football games and they are looking for more guys like that. 

Winner. That's the definition of a winner. 

[Red Five 40,847]

Sounds like one of us. Angry dickheads solely focused on Texas winning football games. 

[SaucyJack 3,488]

[conVINCEd 21,469]

15 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Sounds like one of us. Angry dickheads solely focused on Texas winning football games. 

[SaucyJack 3,488]

On 3/31/2023 at 9:26 AM, immamac said:

I've said it for a while. If Juan can figure out the playbook jatavion may lose the starting job. Think about that. 

I heared he was working out with one of these

 

[stork642 4,498]

On 3/31/2023 at 5:32 PM, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

NSIAP: Savion Red has been working out. Holy crap.
 

 

He’s going to destroy some poor DBs next year.  

[stork642 4,498]

2 hours ago, D3zii said:

I’m happy to hear this about Collins and Crawford. It’s been a long time coming. 
 

 

I am hopeful but skeptical.  

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 13,091]

5 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

--- Morice Blackwell had an interception off of Maalik Murphy. The ball went through the WRs hands (believe it was DeAndre Moore) and Blackwell got the INT.

I knew Murphy had a strong arm, but to have thrown the ball right though someone’s hands?!? I‘d guess the likelihood of DeAndre recovering from that injury is very unlikely. Literally throwing bullets out there.

[Enemy07 288]

Kool-aid time boys and girls!

Edited April 2, 2023 by Enemy07

[LTtxfan 49,148]

 

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 13,091]

On 3/31/2023 at 10:26 PM, immamac said:

I've said it for a while. If Juan can figure out the playbook jatavion may lose the starting job. Think about that. 

[Laga4 1,270]

4 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

We also asked about kick return. Jaydon Blue would be No. 1 there.

Been good reports all spring on Blue,  hope he keeps it going.  

Could be a real success story. 

Edited April 2, 2023 by Laga4

[ousux 5,597]

We have a ton of bodies to throw at eDge. None of them will be all-conference probably but we don't need them to be. If we're in November and saying "Man we really do miss Ovie" then things have gone horribly wrong. 
As for DT, I'm assuming there is some truth to the Collins rumors. We're going to have a three man rotation of Sweat, Murphy, and Collins. With Bryant, Bledsoe, and Broughton as more situational guys. If that is really a position of concern then holy shit is the team loaded. 

As far as returning production and potential on the bench, I'd have to go back to the MBTF days for a deeper team at all positions, but I think this one can actually better in some ways.

[SaucyJack 3,488]

58 minutes ago, Laga4 said:

Been good reports all spring on Blue,  hope he keeps it going.  

Could be a real success story. 

[lazygringo 369]

[DanTheHorn 4,919]

8 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Some Saturday practice notes via Suchomel

  Hide contents

--- Quinn Ewers had a long touchdown pass to Casey Cain. Ewers dropped it right in his bread basket off of his back foot. Perfect throw per one source.

--- As @Alex Dunlap reported earlier this week, Ethan Burke was getting some run with the 1s.

--- Malik Muhammad got some run with the 1s at corner when the defense was in the nickel package. 

--- Arch had a nice “high step” scramble for about 10 yards when he was able to elude some pressure.

--- I’m told Casey Cain had multiple nice plays. He had the long TD mentioned above, and then had another long catch and run where he juked the safety and would have a big gain. AD Mitchell was held out of the early portion of practice. One person told me Mitchell was in pads but was chilling on the sideline during the early part of practice but he came in later.

--- Morice Blackwell had an interception off of Maalik Murphy. The ball went through the WRs hands (believe it was DeAndre Moore) and Blackwell got the INT.

--- DJ Campbell had a couple really nice plays, per one source.

--- Savion Red continues to play well. Per one source, he had a nice run where he threw Justice Finkley off of him while Finkley tried to make the tackle in the backfield. Even the defense was impressed with that play.

--- Gavin Holmes had an interception off of Ewers on a ball that went off the TE’s hands. Gunnar Helm kind of lost the ball while it was in the air and Holmes turned around at the last minute and the ball was right there. It was actually a good throw, but the target didn’t really help Quinn out.

--- I didn’t get a ton of detail on Arch, but one person said he really showed off some arm strength on a perfectly-placed 15-yard out throw.

--- It sounds like both back-up quarterbacks got some work with the 2s and with the 3s.

--- Austin Jordan had an INT with the backups (I believe the 3s) that probably would have gone back for a pick-6 in live action.

--- Kitan Crawford continues to run with the 1s. One person told me when Crawford knows what to do, a case can be made that he’s the best safety on the team. The problem, he still has some occasional mental lapses.

--- Barryn Sorrell and Alfred Collins were working with the 1s at end.

--- Jordan Whittington and Jahdae Barron both made some plays. So did Jaylon Ford. Business as usual with those guys.

--- Johntay Cook and DeAndre Moore both got work as punt returners

 

So what I took from that report is OL had a few breakdowns. Quinn back foot throw, Arch scramble and Finkley in the backfield. The good thing is in every case the offensive talent overcame it with a good play.

[Wishbone 4,759]

2 hours ago, SaucyJack said:

*YOU’RE

[futureman 22,444]

2 hours ago, DanTheHorn said:

So what I took from that report is OL had a few breakdowns. Quinn back foot throw, Arch scramble and Finkley in the backfield. The good thing is in every case the offensive talent overcame it with a good play.

you can’t win with shoddy play on the OL.  this is a six win team, tops. 

[Nope 3,114]

7 hours ago, futureman said:

you can’t win with shoddy play on the OL.  this is a six win team, tops. 

Shoddy is a spectrum

[futureman 22,444]

30 minutes ago, Nope said:

Shoddy is a spectrum

 

[Nivek 16,923]

32 minutes ago, Nope said:

Shoddy is a spectrum

True, but futureman is on the spectrum of asshole to shithead. 

[Voluminous Banality 1,032]

Not bad for our projected backup tight end.

18 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Surely somebody had a good day on offense? “Ja’Tavion Sanders caught some in the flat and required a lot of guys to tackle him.” 

[futureman 22,444]

58 minutes ago, Nivek said:

True, but futureman is on the spectrum of asshole to shithead. 

that’s unnecessary. 

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 13,091]

29 minutes ago, Voluminous Banality said:

Not bad for our projected backup tight end.

Only the backup if the truly talented one suddenly becomes intelligent enough to learn a playbook.

[Hermanator 7,032]

1 hour ago, Nivek said:

True, but futureman is on the spectrum of asshole to shithead. 

[Red Five 40,847]

10 minutes ago, Coelenterate Fuccboi said:

Only the backup if the truly talented one suddenly becomes intelligent enough to learn a playbook.

I keep telling y'all. Once Max Merrill properly learns the playbook, Kelvin Banks is sitting his ass on the bench.