Now we are only 9 days away from a high noon shootout with the Longhorns.
Offense
Quarterback-
We now have the decision from Tom Herman about who will be in the shotgun week one sophomore Sam Elinger, Elinger played in nine games, starting six, as a freshman. He passed Shane Buechele on the depth chart because of his competitiveness and fit into Herman’s preferred offense. Ehlinger’s ability to run was used in his first season. He was the team’s leading rusher with 385 yards.
Ehlinger completed 57.5 percent of his passes. He finished with 1,915 yards passing and 11 touchdowns. His first career start was in Week 2 against San Jose State. He went 2-4 as a starter but impressed in road losses against USC and Oklahoma. He started the bowl game, completing 11 of 15 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. His best game came against Kansas State when he became only the third quarterback in UT history to pass for more than 300 yards and rush for more than 100 in the same game.
Running back-
The Longhorns don’t appear to have a clear No. 1 running back at this point. Toneil Carter led the way with 10 carries in the spring game, but he fumbled in the first quarter and totaled 27 yards. Young rushed three times for 18 yards (the bulk coming on a 16-yard rush) and Kyle Porter had two carries for four yards. The Longhorns will need to improve there attack this season Texas ranked 95th in the country in rushing offense with just over 139 yards per game. As a unit, the running backs accounted for 92 yards per game. Herman also added competition and depth to the backfield this spring, landing California graduate transfer Tre Watson. He will push for Young, Carter, and Ingram for the starting job week one.
Wide Receiver-
Receivers Collin Johnson and Lil’ Jordan Humphrey return, but promising slot receiver and punt returner Reggie Hemphill-Mapps (who lit the Terps up) transferred. Colin Johnson stands at 6 foot 6 and according to Tom Herman, he will be a nightmare to anyone outside the numbers. Humphrey has the tools to make an impact all over the field. That was evident in the spring game when he had seven catches for 100 yards and four carries for 14 yards and two touchdowns. The bottom line is Sam Ehilger will have a lot of targets to throw at against the Terps and it will be a good test for the Maryland defensive backfield.
O-Line-
The biggest question here is who will replace Conner Willams the star left tackle, as of the spring game the line was so thin that it did not have enough guys to field a second-team offensive line coach Herb Hand has already helped out the Longhorns who was brought in from Auburn, is already paying dividends. He helped steer Rice graduate transfer Calvin Anderson to UT. Anderson will compete for the starting job at left tackle. As for the rest, Texas will return center Zach Shackelford and left guard Patrick Vahe, impressed head coach Tom Herman and offensive coordinator Tim Beck with their performance in spring ball. this is one of the question marks for Texas or a big chance for the Terps defensive line.
Projected depth chart (Houston Chronicle):
LT Calvin Anderson
Denzel Okafor
LG Patrick Vahe
Mikey Grandy
C Zach Shackelford
Samuel Cosmi
RG Elijah Rodriguez
Tope Imade
RT Derek Kerstetter
Patrick Hudson
Defense
The Texas defense was ranked 29th in PPG last season
Secondary-
Texas is anticipating a breakout season from junior safety Brandon Jones, who will be one of the key players in a deep Longhorns secondary. UT is leaning on Jones to help fill the void left by DeShon Elliott, a sixth-round pick by Baltimore in the NFL draft after leaving school early. Texas had 16 interceptions — all by defensive backs — last season, which tied for 19th in the nation. UT relies heavily on a nickel defense, meaning five defensive backs are on the field, and there is plenty of depth in the secondary to do so. P.J. Locke III and Kris Boyd are the most experienced returning players. Locke is likely to be named a team captain for the second straight season. Boyd led Texas with 15 pass breakups last season when he made the All-Big 12-second team. Davante Davis (15 career starts) is also back for their final seasons on campus. Texas also brings in 6 4 star members of the secondary 3 of which are early enrollees. This might be the biggest positive on the Longhorns roster.
Linebackers-
Starting in the month of July, the Longhorns started to lose some depth in the linebacking corps when senior Edwin Freeman announced his decision to transfer out of the program and become immediately eligible elsewhere. To add fuel to the flame for the departures at linebacker, Demarco Boyd was suspended for some off the field assault issues that are still ongoing.linebackers Gary Johnson and Malcolm Roach are expected to be big hitters for Texas because of lost depth this has become the biggest hole for Texas.
No comments have been posted yet, be the first!
Post a comment by filling out the form below.
