Will Baizer

Commitment Break Down (Harrison Wier)
 
With the early departure of Texas LT Connor Williams to the NFL being almost inevitable at this point, Tom Herman and Derek Warehime know they must take at least 2 and maybe even 3 offensive tackles in the 2018 recruiting cycle. Today, they gained their first in Seminole OT/TE Reese Moore. Moore is extremely athletic and projects more as an OT in college. This is a huge area of need for Texas, and Moore is just the first piece to fall at the position.  Oklahoma was the early favorite to land Moore, but after a recent visit from Texas OL coach Derek Warehime, it appears that Moore decided to pull the trigger.
 
I am not entirely sure that this commitment was expected, either. But it is one that the Texas coaching staff has to be excited about. As Daniel has pointed out previously, Texas should now focus its attention on Rafiti Ghirmai and another possible candidate such as Cameron Wire. Moore chose Texas over offers from Oklahoma, SMU, TCU, Oklahoma State, and others. This coaching staff has to feel good about where they are sitting with the 2018 recruiting class. Will has more on what Moore brings to the table up front.
 
Film Analysis (Will Baizer)
 
Reese Moore will be playing tackle at Texas, and for good reason too. The 6’6” 255-pound big man is fleet of foot for a lineman, packs a punch, most of all has room to grow. If you’re a Texas fan, you should feel pretty comfortable with a big athletic man being your tackle instead of a pure offensive line *cough* Connor Williams *cough*.
 
His technique is good not great when pass blocking. He plays high, but makes up for it with his strength and foot speed. Despite Moore being asked to do quite a bit at Seminole since he looks and plays like Gronk, his pass blocking is pretty good. It would not surprise me if it didn’t take long for the staff to turn Moore into a more than capable pass blocker.
 

 
His run blocking is particularly impressive. He’s quick enough to get the second line in time to provide a necessary block, and strong enough to take the lead block on a run block to clear out the middle. What really allows him to succeed in this department is his positioning while blocking and awareness on the field. Moore knows where he needs to be on the run blocks and knows how to position himself in pass and run blocking in order to stay square to his defender and make sure to cut off routes to the ball.
 

 
However, as I stated above, Moore does a bit of everything at Seminole because of his athleticism and his size. While watching Reese Moore go to work with the ball in his hands, I can’t help but hear Chris Berman saying, “Rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’,” in the back of my mind because he doesn’t go down easily.
 

 
Final Verdict (Harrison Wier)
 
It is no secret that Texas needs depth at the tackle position on the offensive line. With the addition of Reese Moore earlier this morning, that hole has shrunk ever so slightly. Moore will have quite the learning curve when starting out at the position, but that is expected. He will need some time to build into his 6'6" frame regardless. As of now, he projects as a LT. This is good news in regards to possible replacements for Connor Williams. Moore is a very athletic big man that has great feet and lateral quickness. Unfortunately for Texas, he cannot fill the need at OT completely. 
 
Texas must now go all in for another tackle prospect or two. At first glance, it seems like Tom Herman is going to begin pushing extremely hard for Rafiti Ghirmai. As Daniel stated before, the addition of Ghirmai and another prospect such as Cameron Wire from Louisiana would be huge for this staff. Overall, the addition of Moore to the '18 class was big indeed. That marks two commitments in the span of two days that weren't entirely expected. Look for Tom Herman to continue addressing large depth needs. For now, I believe he got a steal in Reese Moore. He may be raw as a tackle, but has plenty of potential and a high ceiling. I'm excited to see who Herman goes after at the position next. 

Commitment Break Down (Harrison Wier)
 
With the early departure of Texas LT Connor Williams to the NFL being almost inevitable at this point, Tom Herman and Derek Warehime know they must take at least 2 and maybe even 3 offensive tackles in the 2018 recruiting cycle. Today, they gained their first in Seminole OT/TE Reese Moore. Moore is extremely athletic and projects more as an OT in college. This is a huge area of need for Texas, and Moore is just the first piece to fall at the position.  Oklahoma was the early favorite to land Moore, but after a recent visit from Texas OL coach Derek Warehime, it appears that Moore decided to pull the trigger.
 
I am not entirely sure that this commitment was expected, either. But it is one that the Texas coaching staff has to be excited about. As Daniel has pointed out previously, Texas should now focus its attention on Rafiti Ghirmai and another possible candidate such as Cameron Wire. Moore chose Texas over offers from Oklahoma, SMU, TCU, Oklahoma State, and others. This coaching staff has to feel good about where they are sitting with the 2018 recruiting class. Will has more on what Moore brings to the table up front.
 
Film Analysis (Will Baizer)
 
Reese Moore will be playing tackle at Texas, and for good reason too. The 6’6” 255-pound big man is fleet of foot for a lineman, packs a punch, most of all has room to grow. If you’re a Texas fan, you should feel pretty comfortable with a big athletic man being your tackle instead of a pure offensive line *cough* Connor Williams *cough*.
 
His technique is good not great when pass blocking. He plays high, but makes up for it with his strength and foot speed. Despite Moore being asked to do quite a bit at Seminole since he looks and plays like Gronk, his pass blocking is pretty good. It would not surprise me if it didn’t take long for the staff to turn Moore into a more than capable pass blocker.
 

 
His run blocking is particularly impressive. He’s quick enough to get the second line in time to provide a necessary block, and strong enough to take the lead block on a run block to clear out the middle. What really allows him to succeed in this department is his positioning while blocking and awareness on the field. Moore knows where he needs to be on the run blocks and knows how to position himself in pass and run blocking in order to stay square to his defender and make sure to cut off routes to the ball.
 

 
However, as I stated above, Moore does a bit of everything at Seminole because of his athleticism and his size. While watching Reese Moore go to work with the ball in his hands, I can’t help but hear Chris Berman saying, “Rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’,” in the back of my mind because he doesn’t go down easily.
 

 
Final Verdict (Harrison Wier)
 
It is no secret that Texas needs depth at the tackle position on the offensive line. With the addition of Reese Moore earlier this morning, that hole has shrunk ever so slightly. Moore will have quite the learning curve when starting out at the position, but that is expected. He will need some time to build into his 6'6" frame regardless. As of now, he projects as a LT. This is good news in regards to possible replacements for Connor Williams. Moore is a very athletic big man that has great feet and lateral quickness. Unfortunately for Texas, he cannot fill the need at OT completely. 
 
Texas must now go all in for another tackle prospect or two. At first glance, it seems like Tom Herman is going to begin pushing extremely hard for Rafiti Ghirmai. As Daniel stated before, the addition of Ghirmai and another prospect such as Cameron Wire from Louisiana would be huge for this staff. Overall, the addition of Moore to the '18 class was big indeed. That marks two commitments in the span of two days that weren't entirely expected. Look for Tom Herman to continue addressing large depth needs. For now, I believe he got a steal in Reese Moore. He may be raw as a tackle, but has plenty of potential and a high ceiling. I'm excited to see who Herman goes after at the position next. 

Commitment Break Down (Harrison Wier)
 
With the early departure of Texas LT Connor Williams to the NFL being almost inevitable at this point, Tom Herman and Derek Warehime know they must take at least 2 and maybe even 3 offensive tackles in the 2018 recruiting cycle. Today, they gained their first in Seminole OT/TE Reese Moore. Moore is extremely athletic and projects more as an OT in college. This is a huge area of need for Texas, and Moore is just the first piece to fall at the position.  Oklahoma was the early favorite to land Moore, but after a recent visit from Texas OL coach Derek Warehime, it appears that Moore decided to pull the trigger.
 
I am not entirely sure that this commitment was expected, either. But it is one that the Texas coaching staff has to be excited about. As Daniel has pointed out previously, Texas should now focus its attention on Rafiti Ghirmai and another possible candidate such as Cameron Wire. Moore chose Texas over offers from Oklahoma, SMU, TCU, Oklahoma State, and others. This coaching staff has to feel good about where they are sitting with the 2018 recruiting class. Will has more on what Moore brings to the table up front.
 
Film Analysis (Will Baizer)
 
Reese Moore will be playing tackle at Texas, and for good reason too. The 6’6” 255-pound big man is fleet of foot for a lineman, packs a punch, most of all has room to grow. If you’re a Texas fan, you should feel pretty comfortable with a big athletic man being your tackle instead of a pure offensive line *cough* Connor Williams *cough*.
 
His technique is good not great when pass blocking. He plays high, but makes up for it with his strength and foot speed. Despite Moore being asked to do quite a bit at Seminole since he looks and plays like Gronk, his pass blocking is pretty good. It would not surprise me if it didn’t take long for the staff to turn Moore into a more than capable pass blocker.
 

 
His run blocking is particularly impressive. He’s quick enough to get the second line in time to provide a necessary block, and strong enough to take the lead block on a run block to clear out the middle. What really allows him to succeed in this department is his positioning while blocking and awareness on the field. Moore knows where he needs to be on the run blocks and knows how to position himself in pass and run blocking in order to stay square to his defender and make sure to cut off routes to the ball.
 

 
However, as I stated above, Moore does a bit of everything at Seminole because of his athleticism and his size. While watching Reese Moore go to work with the ball in his hands, I can’t help but hear Chris Berman saying, “Rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’,” in the back of my mind because he doesn’t go down easily.
 

 
Final Verdict (Harrison Wier)
 
It is no secret that Texas needs depth at the tackle position on the offensive line. With the addition of Reese Moore earlier this morning, that hole has shrunk ever so slightly. Moore will have quite the learning curve when starting out at the position, but that is expected. He will need some time to build into his 6'6" frame regardless. As of now, he projects as a LT. This is good news in regards to possible replacements for Connor Williams. Moore is a very athletic big man that has great feet and lateral quickness. Unfortunately for Texas, he cannot fill the need at OT completely. 
 
Texas must now go all in for another tackle prospect or two. At first glance, it seems like Tom Herman is going to begin pushing extremely hard for Rafiti Ghirmai. As Daniel stated before, the addition of Ghirmai and another prospect such as Cameron Wire from Louisiana would be huge for this staff. Overall, the addition of Moore to the '18 class was big indeed. That marks two commitments in the span of two days that weren't entirely expected. Look for Tom Herman to continue addressing large depth needs. For now, I believe he got a steal in Reese Moore. He may be raw as a tackle, but has plenty of potential and a high ceiling. I'm excited to see who Herman goes after at the position next. 

Commitment Break Down (Harrison Wier)
 
With the early departure of Texas LT Connor Williams to the NFL being almost inevitable at this point, Tom Herman and Derek Warehime know they must take at least 2 and maybe even 3 offensive tackles in the 2018 recruiting cycle. Today, they gained their first in Seminole OT/TE Reese Moore. Moore is extremely athletic and projects more as an OT in college. This is a huge area of need for Texas, and Moore is just the first piece to fall at the position.  Oklahoma was the early favorite to land Moore, but after a recent visit from Texas OL coach Derek Warehime, it appears that Moore decided to pull the trigger.
 
I am not entirely sure that this commitment was expected, either. But it is one that the Texas coaching staff has to be excited about. As Daniel has pointed out previously, Texas should now focus its attention on Rafiti Ghirmai and another possible candidate such as Cameron Wire. Moore chose Texas over offers from Oklahoma, SMU, TCU, Oklahoma State, and others. This coaching staff has to feel good about where they are sitting with the 2018 recruiting class. Will has more on what Moore brings to the table up front.
 
Film Analysis (Will Baizer)
 
Reese Moore will be playing tackle at Texas, and for good reason too. The 6’6” 255-pound big man is fleet of foot for a lineman, packs a punch, most of all has room to grow. If you’re a Texas fan, you should feel pretty comfortable with a big athletic man being your tackle instead of a pure offensive line *cough* Connor Williams *cough*.
 
His technique is good not great when pass blocking. He plays high, but makes up for it with his strength and foot speed. Despite Moore being asked to do quite a bit at Seminole since he looks and plays like Gronk, his pass blocking is pretty good. It would not surprise me if it didn’t take long for the staff to turn Moore into a more than capable pass blocker.
 

 
His run blocking is particularly impressive. He’s quick enough to get the second line in time to provide a necessary block, and strong enough to take the lead block on a run block to clear out the middle. What really allows him to succeed in this department is his positioning while blocking and awareness on the field. Moore knows where he needs to be on the run blocks and knows how to position himself in pass and run blocking in order to stay square to his defender and make sure to cut off routes to the ball.
 

 
However, as I stated above, Moore does a bit of everything at Seminole because of his athleticism and his size. While watching Reese Moore go to work with the ball in his hands, I can’t help but hear Chris Berman saying, “Rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’,” in the back of my mind because he doesn’t go down easily.
 

 
Final Verdict (Harrison Wier)
 
It is no secret that Texas needs depth at the tackle position on the offensive line. With the addition of Reese Moore earlier this morning, that hole has shrunk ever so slightly. Moore will have quite the learning curve when starting out at the position, but that is expected. He will need some time to build into his 6'6" frame regardless. As of now, he projects as a LT. This is good news in regards to possible replacements for Connor Williams. Moore is a very athletic big man that has great feet and lateral quickness. Unfortunately for Texas, he cannot fill the need at OT completely. 
 
Texas must now go all in for another tackle prospect or two. At first glance, it seems like Tom Herman is going to begin pushing extremely hard for Rafiti Ghirmai. As Daniel stated before, the addition of Ghirmai and another prospect such as Cameron Wire from Louisiana would be huge for this staff. Overall, the addition of Moore to the '18 class was big indeed. That marks two commitments in the span of two days that weren't entirely expected. Look for Tom Herman to continue addressing large depth needs. For now, I believe he got a steal in Reese Moore. He may be raw as a tackle, but has plenty of potential and a high ceiling. I'm excited to see who Herman goes after at the position next. 

Commitment Break Down (Harrison Wier)
 
With the early departure of Texas LT Connor Williams to the NFL being almost inevitable at this point, Tom Herman and Derek Warehime know they must take at least 2 and maybe even 3 offensive tackles in the 2018 recruiting cycle. Today, they gained their first in Seminole OT/TE Reese Moore. Moore is extremely athletic and projects more as an OT in college. This is a huge area of need for Texas, and Moore is just the first piece to fall at the position.  Oklahoma was the early favorite to land Moore, but after a recent visit from Texas OL coach Derek Warehime, it appears that Moore decided to pull the trigger.
 
I am not entirely sure that this commitment was expected, either. But it is one that the Texas coaching staff has to be excited about. As Daniel has pointed out previously, Texas should now focus its attention on Rafiti Ghirmai and another possible candidate such as Cameron Wire. Moore chose Texas over offers from Oklahoma, SMU, TCU, Oklahoma State, and others. This coaching staff has to feel good about where they are sitting with the 2018 recruiting class. Will has more on what Moore brings to the table up front.
 
Film Analysis (Will Baizer)
 
Reese Moore will be playing tackle at Texas, and for good reason too. The 6’6” 255-pound big man is fleet of foot for a lineman, packs a punch, most of all has room to grow. If you’re a Texas fan, you should feel pretty comfortable with a big athletic man being your tackle instead of a pure offensive line *cough* Connor Williams *cough*.
 
His technique is good not great when pass blocking. He plays high, but makes up for it with his strength and foot speed. Despite Moore being asked to do quite a bit at Seminole since he looks and plays like Gronk, his pass blocking is pretty good. It would not surprise me if it didn’t take long for the staff to turn Moore into a more than capable pass blocker.
 

 
His run blocking is particularly impressive. He’s quick enough to get the second line in time to provide a necessary block, and strong enough to take the lead block on a run block to clear out the middle. What really allows him to succeed in this department is his positioning while blocking and awareness on the field. Moore knows where he needs to be on the run blocks and knows how to position himself in pass and run blocking in order to stay square to his defender and make sure to cut off routes to the ball.
 

 
However, as I stated above, Moore does a bit of everything at Seminole because of his athleticism and his size. While watching Reese Moore go to work with the ball in his hands, I can’t help but hear Chris Berman saying, “Rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’,” in the back of my mind because he doesn’t go down easily.
 

 
Final Verdict (Harrison Wier)
 
It is no secret that Texas needs depth at the tackle position on the offensive line. With the addition of Reese Moore earlier this morning, that hole has shrunk ever so slightly. Moore will have quite the learning curve when starting out at the position, but that is expected. He will need some time to build into his 6'6" frame regardless. As of now, he projects as a LT. This is good news in regards to possible replacements for Connor Williams. Moore is a very athletic big man that has great feet and lateral quickness. Unfortunately for Texas, he cannot fill the need at OT completely. 
 
Texas must now go all in for another tackle prospect or two. At first glance, it seems like Tom Herman is going to begin pushing extremely hard for Rafiti Ghirmai. As Daniel stated before, the addition of Ghirmai and another prospect such as Cameron Wire from Louisiana would be huge for this staff. Overall, the addition of Moore to the '18 class was big indeed. That marks two commitments in the span of two days that weren't entirely expected. Look for Tom Herman to continue addressing large depth needs. For now, I believe he got a steal in Reese Moore. He may be raw as a tackle, but has plenty of potential and a high ceiling. I'm excited to see who Herman goes after at the position next. 

Mustapha Muhammad
Rafiti Ghirmai
Keondre Coburn
BJ Foster
Anthony Cook or Brennan Eagles

Texas Shuts Out Texas State 2-0
 
Texas came into Tuesday night after having dropped 2 of 3 to Baylor in Waco the weekend before where pitching didn’t come easy. So Blair Henley (3-3 3.99 ERA) and Texas bullpen came into the game looking to flip the script.
 
Henley came in and was lights out to get the win. Henley shut out the Bobcats over 5 innings, getting 3 strike outs with 73 pitches. Despite a shaky outing in Waco where they gave up one game and barely held on for another, the Longhorns bullpen came in to finish up the job with Connor Mayes, Chase Shugart, Tyler Schimpf, and Beau Ridgeway pitching an inning each, shutting out Texas State, and only allowing 2 hits.
 
This is only Texas State’s 2nd time being shut out this year and is Texas’ 6th shutout this year.
 
Despite the wonderful numbers, the Longhorns real success was finding their way out of two bases loaded, no out jams without surrendering a run. Pierce praised his pitching staff and gave them credit for finding their way out of the jams, “What I liked seeing about that is I thought we elevated out pitches and continued to make quality pitches against them… We made very quality pitches to have the opportunity to get out of it.”
 
When I asked David Pierce what was the difference between the bullpen this game and last weekend he simply replied, “There was really nothing different. We were at home. They hit two fly balls in the 9th, and we ran them down.”
 
The Texas State Bobcat pitching staff also pitched well despite getting the loss only allowing 2 earned runs and forcing Texas to hit into 15 ground outs whilst stranding 11 base runners.
 
However, Texas State couldn’t stop Freshman Ryan Reynolds (3-4 RBI, 2B x2), who went on a bit of a hot streak late March into mid-April, but slowed down on his trip to Baylor. Looks like he’s back on track and all it took was some cage time with Coach Pierce according to him, “After a slow weekend, I got with the coaches, and Coach Pierce came up and told me not to swing as hard as I can. He actually came into the cages with us to show us how to do it. Just take 75-80% on our swings and not try to muscle it. Just let it happen.” Ryan Reynolds is now hitting .291 with 10 RBIs and 3 HRs, since March 22nd. Without the Baylor series he hitting .356 with 10 RBIs and 3 HRs.
 
The other RBI came from Kody Clemens (1-4 RBI) on a base hit right up the middle to score Zane Gurwitz (1-3) in the bottom of the 3rd. Kody is now sitting pretty with 16 RBIs over 27 games.
 
With their 25th win of the season, Texas has now matched their win total from the 2016 season with 15 more games in the regular season.
The Longhorns will take on the University of New Orleans this Friday at 7:00 PM CST.
 
BONUS STORY
 
Some of y’all with eagle eyes may have noticed a nice cut right next to the eye of Ryan Reynolds. When I asked him what happened this is the story we were told:
 
“Me and David [Hamilton] go out before the game to hit in the outside cages. Walk in there and there is a bird flying around. We figure, alright, we’ll go get it, let it go. Sucker is hard to catch. Ran for five minutes trying to catch him. There is two divider nets, and I didn’t see, but they were zip-tied together. I was running after the bird, and the next thing I know I was looking straight up at the sun. I feel something kind of running down [my cheek]. It’s blood. I got clotheslined by the net. David was laughing, and of course, everyone came out and was laughing.”
 
(So you didn’t catch the bird?)
 
“Nope. Austin Todd came and got the bird in 2 seconds.”
 
 

It was a crisp, clear day for the first public look at Tom Herman's Longhorns in the annual Orange & White Spring Game held at Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium. Herman came into the day expecting the defense to far outshine the offense; however, 30,000 rabid Longhorn fans saw a game that was a bit tighter than expected.
 
Shane Buechele had a lot to do with the success of the offense, finishing 23-39 for 369 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. While he had plenty of time in the pocket due to a talented offensive line, his passes were crisp, powerful, and on target for most of the game. Tom Herman even noted after the game that Shane Buechele has progressed immensely when it comes to taking more of a leadership role on the team.
 
Shane’s performance included two wonderfully thrown balls to Collin Johnson that resulted in two spectacular catches for touchdowns.
 

 

 
Collin Johnson displayed what type of threat he can be in the end zone with his acrobatics and athletics, and was the leading receiver of the game with 8 receptions for 117 yards and 2 TDs. In fact, the entire receiving corp has a lot of  talent, waiting to emerge. Reggie Hemphill-Mapps had his coming out party with 5 catches for 84 yards, where he demonstrated his ability to find the soft spots in defensive coverages and exploit them.
 

 
Second team WR’s also shined on the field. Dorian Leonard showed that he is back after an injury riddled season last year, grabbing 4 balls for 68 yards. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey had 2 catches for 54 yards including a spectacular catch over some solid coverage from Kris Boyd, and holding onto the ball with enough mind to keep a toe in bounds while taking a hit from DeShon Elliott.

 
The 1st team offensive line also shined through the day, making sure Shane stayed relatively untouched while making Toneil Carter (10 carries for 60 yards) and Tim Yoder (an early enrollee and walk-on) look good against much better competition. Overall, the 1st team offensive line performed well.
 
The 2nd team offense didn’t fare as well against the 1st team defense, as should be expected.
 
Sam Ehlinger, an early enrollee, was scrambling for his life most the game due to very spotty play by the 2nd team offensive line. However, when Ehlinger had time to step into his throws, they were usually on target and to the right spots. Sam flashed signs that he can be a very dangerous threat at QB with his scrambling ability (further demonstrated by one heck of a toss to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey).
 
Most came into the game really looking for improvement from last year’s defense that was 2nd worst in total defense (yard/game) and scoring defense (pts/game) in school history. Todd Orlando stood and delivered, recording 10 sacks and 12 TFLs.
 
As one might surmise from the 10 recorded sacks, the progress showed up front, where Malcolm Roach, Chris Nelson, and Poona Ford tore apart the guys in front of them, helped out by blitz schemes that were too complex for the offensive lines to handle on both ends. Chris Nelson especially shined, regularly blowing up the inside of the line and recording two sacks. Tom Herman even said after the game that he was “pleasantly surprised,” with how good his defensive line is and believes, “you can win with those guys.”
 
Second team front seven guys that really stood out were Charles Omenihu, Jordan Elliott, and Andrew Fitzgerald who together forced Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele into some tough situations including 3 sacks.
Jeffery McCulloch also seems to be really growing into the B-Backer position doing exceptionally well against Connor Williams including getting past him for a sack.
 

 
But it will be hard to get in front of Naashon Hughes who seemed to be in his element on the field.
 
Malik Jefferson still appears to be the freakiest athlete on the field, displaying serious speed and ability to generate power in an instant. Last year he took a step back physicality-wise, but he impressed coaches today and the rest of Spring. Malik even showed a bit of coverage skill playing outside the numbers a few times covering a moving RB or recognizing a pass over the middle and breaking it up (something he had trouble with last year).
 

 

 
 
But the real progress in the defense can be seen in the secondary, which was a sieve last season. Five pass break-ups and an interception. That type of production could not have even been thought of last season. The 1st team defensive backs played sound coverage against solid wide receivers and really displayed a better understanding of their responsibilities. With PJ Locke, Brandon Jones, DeShon Elliott, Kris Boyd, and Holton Hill, there were no palms facing the air after plays, and no streaking wide open wide receiver due to mixed up coverages. Everyone was on the same play and if the offense made a play, they earned the heck out of it.
 
Second team defensive backs were a little less solid. Tom Herman even stated going into the game that he was only confident in 3 corners (one of which was injured for today in Davante Davis). Eric Cuffee was picked on all game long, but it is hard to blame him being tasked with guarding Collin Johnson for the duration of the game. Other than that, Chris Brown and John Bonney did pretty well in coverage despite facing one of the most dangerous receiving corps in the league.
 
A unit that gave Longhorn fans headaches during the Charlie Strong tenure was special teams. Coach Herman seems to have thrown a band-aid on this one with JUCO kicker Joshua Rowland who was 3-4 from beyond 30 including getting iced and trash talked by Tom Herman mid-game. Michael Dickson still has a cannon for a leg and was regularly sending balls flying onto the 10-yard line or bouncing them forward. Texas appears to be in good hands in these departments.
 
The biggest question mark post-game has to do with the possible lack of depth in basically every position besides wide receiver and safety. While the Longhorns’ 1’s looked phenomenal, their back-ups were five notches below them on a consistent basis. Todd Orlando addressed this concern after the game, “There’s always depth concerns… I think all positions [have depth concerns], and it’s our job as a coaching staff to continue to develop. We are recruiting for those needs as we speak. We’ve recognized some places. To me it comes down to, you’re talking about your first two guys and you end up getting to number four, are you putting in a 1-AA player? Is he going to get exposed? You’d like to be at least minimum four guys at a position that you feel comfortable with and then up front you probably need 5 or 6.” He continued by saying, “Each position, I don’t think, when you put the second group on the field you feel you’re 1-AA. But I feel we have to stock-pile recruiting.” When it comes to fixing depth concerns he explain, “If you miss on guys and continue to miss on guys, your starters will play all the time… You can’t miss on people and have to improve on recruiting. That’s how you get depth.”
 
While the team is far from a finished product and there are some lingering questions, the Spring Game should make fans feel at ease with the team showing major improvement in many areas.

Texas Shuts Out Texas State 2-0
 
Texas came into Tuesday night after having dropped 2 of 3 to Baylor in Waco the weekend before where pitching didn’t come easy. So Blair Henley (3-3 3.99 ERA) and Texas bullpen came into the game looking to flip the script.
 
Henley came in and was lights out to get the win. Henley shut out the Bobcats over 5 innings, getting 3 strike outs with 73 pitches. Despite a shaky outing in Waco where they gave up one game and barely held on for another, the Longhorns bullpen came in to finish up the job with Connor Mayes, Chase Shugart, Tyler Schimpf, and Beau Ridgeway pitching an inning each, shutting out Texas State, and only allowing 2 hits.
 
This is only Texas State’s 2nd time being shut out this year and is Texas’ 6th shutout this year.
 
Despite the wonderful numbers, the Longhorns real success was finding their way out of two bases loaded, no out jams without surrendering a run. Pierce praised his pitching staff and gave them credit for finding their way out of the jams, “What I liked seeing about that is I thought we elevated out pitches and continued to make quality pitches against them… We made very quality pitches to have the opportunity to get out of it.”
 
When I asked David Pierce what was the difference between the bullpen this game and last weekend he simply replied, “There was really nothing different. We were at home. They hit two fly balls in the 9th, and we ran them down.”
 
The Texas State Bobcat pitching staff also pitched well despite getting the loss only allowing 2 earned runs and forcing Texas to hit into 15 ground outs whilst stranding 11 base runners.
 
However, Texas State couldn’t stop Freshman Ryan Reynolds (3-4 RBI, 2B x2), who went on a bit of a hot streak late March into mid-April, but slowed down on his trip to Baylor. Looks like he’s back on track and all it took was some cage time with Coach Pierce according to him, “After a slow weekend, I got with the coaches, and Coach Pierce came up and told me not to swing as hard as I can. He actually came into the cages with us to show us how to do it. Just take 75-80% on our swings and not try to muscle it. Just let it happen.” Ryan Reynolds is now hitting .291 with 10 RBIs and 3 HRs, since March 22nd. Without the Baylor series he hitting .356 with 10 RBIs and 3 HRs.
 
The other RBI came from Kody Clemens (1-4 RBI) on a base hit right up the middle to score Zane Gurwitz (1-3) in the bottom of the 3rd. Kody is now sitting pretty with 16 RBIs over 27 games.
 
With their 25th win of the season, Texas has now matched their win total from the 2016 season with 15 more games in the regular season.
The Longhorns will take on the University of New Orleans this Friday at 7:00 PM CST.
 
BONUS STORY
 
Some of y’all with eagle eyes may have noticed a nice cut right next to the eye of Ryan Reynolds. When I asked him what happened this is the story we were told:
 
“Me and David [Hamilton] go out before the game to hit in the outside cages. Walk in there and there is a bird flying around. We figure, alright, we’ll go get it, let it go. Sucker is hard to catch. Ran for five minutes trying to catch him. There is two divider nets, and I didn’t see, but they were zip-tied together. I was running after the bird, and the next thing I know I was looking straight up at the sun. I feel something kind of running down [my cheek]. It’s blood. I got clotheslined by the net. David was laughing, and of course, everyone came out and was laughing.”
 
(So you didn’t catch the bird?)
 
“Nope. Austin Todd came and got the bird in 2 seconds.”
 
 

Ya. Usually getting into arguments with Carli is a losing venture, but I like to live dangerously.

Top 3rd:
 
Blair Henley on the mound at 27 pitches
 
1st up is Jacob Almendarez (.287)
He hits a dribbler down the 3rd base line. Cantu lets it roll, hoping for a foul ball. It hangs up on the line.
It's a single.
 
2nd up is Derek Scheible (0-1)
Ryan Reynolds gets a steamer and get the fielder's choice at 2nd.
1 out. Runner on 1st.
 
3rd up is Jonathan Oretega (0-1)
Oretega skies to center.
2 outs. Runner on 1st.
 
Ball scoots away from Kacey Clemens on a pick-off attempt. Runner advance to 2nd.
 
4th up is Theodore Hoffman (0-1)
4 straight balls. Runners on 1st and 2nd
2 outs.
 
5th up is Jaylen Hubbard (0-0 HbP)
Kacey Clemens gathers the ground ball and get the 3rd out.
 
2 more runners stranded and Texas keeps it scoreless.
 

Bot 2nd:
 
On mound is Cam Baird at 12 pitches
 
1st to bat is Kacey Clemens
1 pitch and he grounds out to 2B
 
2nd to bat is Ryan Reynolds
He hits it past a diving RF, it rolls to the back. Reynolds tries to stretch the double into a triple.
He's definitely not fast enough and the cut off man throws him out.
2 down.
 
3rd to bat is Bret Boswell
Pop up high to 1st baseman.
 
3 up 3 down
 
Still 0-0
 
Damn you TOOTBLAN!

Take Aways
 
Offense
·        Shane Buechele is your starting QB. He has looked very crisp today minus a few mess ups. His progression from year 1 to 2 is going to be fun. Especially because he'll be behind a great OL throwing to some great WRs. His balls have had some speed behind them and have been to the right spots.
·        Sam Ehlinger has been difficult to evaluate today since he's been running for his life. When he does have time he has been able to step up in the pocket and deliver an impressive ball to the right spots, including a perfect pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey in between Kris Boyd and DeShon Elliott
·        Toneil Carter looks good all things considered. He's far from your starter, needing to work on picking up blitzes and reading the field on runs.
·        1st team OL is as good as advertised. They've kept Shane Buechele relatively untouched and made the 4th string RB and walk-on look good.
·        2nd team OL has a huge drop off. Sam Ehlinger is running for his life.
·        This WR is absolutely loaded. 
·        Reggie Hemphill-Mapps has been very impressive with his ability to find the soft spots in the coverage. Still needs to work on his hands a bit.
·        Collin Johnson will catch a lot of TDs next year. He's shown how much of an athletic freak he is and has some really great hands.
·        Jerrod Heard is still as good as last year, but gotten better on shorter routes.
·        Davion Curtis is a guy you can rely on. His progression is coming along nicely. He may get some play time this year
·        Lil"Jordan Humphrey has been very impressive, catching most balls that went his way including an insane catch over the head of Kris Boyd and through a DeShon Elliott hit.
·        Dorian Leonard looks like he's picking up from where he left off.
·        John Burt looks like hes getting back to Freshman year form.
·        Devin Duvernay looks as good as he does last year. Reliable hands, elite speed, and great route running.
Defense
·        For a "vanilla" defense they showed a good number of blitzes and coverages.
·        1st team defense has been lights out. Recording 9 sacks and 1 interception.
·        Charles Omenihu and Jeffrey McCulloch were the shining spots for the 2nd team defense.
·        1st team DL gave Sam Ehlinger no room to breathe. Chris Nelson, Malcolm Roach, and Poona Ford will hold down that DL. Fans should be very comfortable with those 3 up front.
·        Chris Nelson especially looked nice. He flashed quite a few time during the game grabbing quite a few sacks.
·        Jordan Elliott also grabbed 2 sacks and looks like he’ll be getting quite a bit of playing time come Fall.
·        2nd team DL looked alright. Got to Shane a few times and blew up a few plays.
·        LBs looked good as well on both lines.
·        Malik Jefferson is still a freak.
·        Naashon Hughes blew up a few plays fast. Looks like the B-Backer position fits him very nicely.
·        Edwin Freeman has a few nice plays on the blitzes, which is new for him since he's usually good in coverage.
·        Andrew Fitzgerald showed up quite a bit, including getting a nice sack, but he still looks to be a year away.
·        1st team DBs were impressive against good WRs. Caused a few coverage sacks and had a few PBUs. Deshon Elliott and PJ Locke were the stand outs.
·        2nd team DBs were a huge drop off. Eric Cuffee was picked on all day and couldn't do anything with it. They were missing Davante Davis.
ST
·        Michael Dickson still has a cannon for a leg. It's ridiculous.
·        Joshua Rowland did well. He'll be an okay kicker. He was 3-4. Made two from 30 yards, but missed one from 49. Had enough leg behind the one he missed, but sailed left.
·        Jerrod Heard should be your starting PR. He seems to have a lot more returning IQ back there.
 

It was a crisp, clear day for the first public look at Tom Herman's Longhorns in the annual Orange & White Spring Game held at Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium. Herman came into the day expecting the defense to far outshine the offense; however, 30,000 rabid Longhorn fans saw a game that was a bit tighter than expected.
 
Shane Buechele had a lot to do with the success of the offense, finishing 23-39 for 369 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. While he had plenty of time in the pocket due to a talented offensive line, his passes were crisp, powerful, and on target for most of the game. Tom Herman even noted after the game that Shane Buechele has progressed immensely when it comes to taking more of a leadership role on the team.
 
Shane’s performance included two wonderfully thrown balls to Collin Johnson that resulted in two spectacular catches for touchdowns.
 

 

 
Collin Johnson displayed what type of threat he can be in the end zone with his acrobatics and athletics, and was the leading receiver of the game with 8 receptions for 117 yards and 2 TDs. In fact, the entire receiving corp has a lot of  talent, waiting to emerge. Reggie Hemphill-Mapps had his coming out party with 5 catches for 84 yards, where he demonstrated his ability to find the soft spots in defensive coverages and exploit them.
 

 
Second team WR’s also shined on the field. Dorian Leonard showed that he is back after an injury riddled season last year, grabbing 4 balls for 68 yards. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey had 2 catches for 54 yards including a spectacular catch over some solid coverage from Kris Boyd, and holding onto the ball with enough mind to keep a toe in bounds while taking a hit from DeShon Elliott.

 
The 1st team offensive line also shined through the day, making sure Shane stayed relatively untouched while making Toneil Carter (10 carries for 60 yards) and Tim Yoder (an early enrollee and walk-on) look good against much better competition. Overall, the 1st team offensive line performed well.
 
The 2nd team offense didn’t fare as well against the 1st team defense, as should be expected.
 
Sam Ehlinger, an early enrollee, was scrambling for his life most the game due to very spotty play by the 2nd team offensive line. However, when Ehlinger had time to step into his throws, they were usually on target and to the right spots. Sam flashed signs that he can be a very dangerous threat at QB with his scrambling ability (further demonstrated by one heck of a toss to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey).
 
Most came into the game really looking for improvement from last year’s defense that was 2nd worst in total defense (yard/game) and scoring defense (pts/game) in school history. Todd Orlando stood and delivered, recording 10 sacks and 12 TFLs.
 
As one might surmise from the 10 recorded sacks, the progress showed up front, where Malcolm Roach, Chris Nelson, and Poona Ford tore apart the guys in front of them, helped out by blitz schemes that were too complex for the offensive lines to handle on both ends. Chris Nelson especially shined, regularly blowing up the inside of the line and recording two sacks. Tom Herman even said after the game that he was “pleasantly surprised,” with how good his defensive line is and believes, “you can win with those guys.”
 
Second team front seven guys that really stood out were Charles Omenihu, Jordan Elliott, and Andrew Fitzgerald who together forced Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele into some tough situations including 3 sacks.
Jeffery McCulloch also seems to be really growing into the B-Backer position doing exceptionally well against Connor Williams including getting past him for a sack.
 

 
But it will be hard to get in front of Naashon Hughes who seemed to be in his element on the field.
 
Malik Jefferson still appears to be the freakiest athlete on the field, displaying serious speed and ability to generate power in an instant. Last year he took a step back physicality-wise, but he impressed coaches today and the rest of Spring. Malik even showed a bit of coverage skill playing outside the numbers a few times covering a moving RB or recognizing a pass over the middle and breaking it up (something he had trouble with last year).
 

 

 
 
But the real progress in the defense can be seen in the secondary, which was a sieve last season. Five pass break-ups and an interception. That type of production could not have even been thought of last season. The 1st team defensive backs played sound coverage against solid wide receivers and really displayed a better understanding of their responsibilities. With PJ Locke, Brandon Jones, DeShon Elliott, Kris Boyd, and Holton Hill, there were no palms facing the air after plays, and no streaking wide open wide receiver due to mixed up coverages. Everyone was on the same play and if the offense made a play, they earned the heck out of it.
 
Second team defensive backs were a little less solid. Tom Herman even stated going into the game that he was only confident in 3 corners (one of which was injured for today in Davante Davis). Eric Cuffee was picked on all game long, but it is hard to blame him being tasked with guarding Collin Johnson for the duration of the game. Other than that, Chris Brown and John Bonney did pretty well in coverage despite facing one of the most dangerous receiving corps in the league.
 
A unit that gave Longhorn fans headaches during the Charlie Strong tenure was special teams. Coach Herman seems to have thrown a band-aid on this one with JUCO kicker Joshua Rowland who was 3-4 from beyond 30 including getting iced and trash talked by Tom Herman mid-game. Michael Dickson still has a cannon for a leg and was regularly sending balls flying onto the 10-yard line or bouncing them forward. Texas appears to be in good hands in these departments.
 
The biggest question mark post-game has to do with the possible lack of depth in basically every position besides wide receiver and safety. While the Longhorns’ 1’s looked phenomenal, their back-ups were five notches below them on a consistent basis. Todd Orlando addressed this concern after the game, “There’s always depth concerns… I think all positions [have depth concerns], and it’s our job as a coaching staff to continue to develop. We are recruiting for those needs as we speak. We’ve recognized some places. To me it comes down to, you’re talking about your first two guys and you end up getting to number four, are you putting in a 1-AA player? Is he going to get exposed? You’d like to be at least minimum four guys at a position that you feel comfortable with and then up front you probably need 5 or 6.” He continued by saying, “Each position, I don’t think, when you put the second group on the field you feel you’re 1-AA. But I feel we have to stock-pile recruiting.” When it comes to fixing depth concerns he explain, “If you miss on guys and continue to miss on guys, your starters will play all the time… You can’t miss on people and have to improve on recruiting. That’s how you get depth.”
 
While the team is far from a finished product and there are some lingering questions, the Spring Game should make fans feel at ease with the team showing major improvement in many areas.

It was a crisp, clear day for the first public look at Tom Herman's Longhorns in the annual Orange & White Spring Game held at Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium. Herman came into the day expecting the defense to far outshine the offense; however, 30,000 rabid Longhorn fans saw a game that was a bit tighter than expected.
 
Shane Buechele had a lot to do with the success of the offense, finishing 23-39 for 369 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. While he had plenty of time in the pocket due to a talented offensive line, his passes were crisp, powerful, and on target for most of the game. Tom Herman even noted after the game that Shane Buechele has progressed immensely when it comes to taking more of a leadership role on the team.
 
Shane’s performance included two wonderfully thrown balls to Collin Johnson that resulted in two spectacular catches for touchdowns.
 

 

 
Collin Johnson displayed what type of threat he can be in the end zone with his acrobatics and athletics, and was the leading receiver of the game with 8 receptions for 117 yards and 2 TDs. In fact, the entire receiving corp has a lot of  talent, waiting to emerge. Reggie Hemphill-Mapps had his coming out party with 5 catches for 84 yards, where he demonstrated his ability to find the soft spots in defensive coverages and exploit them.
 

 
Second team WR’s also shined on the field. Dorian Leonard showed that he is back after an injury riddled season last year, grabbing 4 balls for 68 yards. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey had 2 catches for 54 yards including a spectacular catch over some solid coverage from Kris Boyd, and holding onto the ball with enough mind to keep a toe in bounds while taking a hit from DeShon Elliott.

 
The 1st team offensive line also shined through the day, making sure Shane stayed relatively untouched while making Toneil Carter (10 carries for 60 yards) and Tim Yoder (an early enrollee and walk-on) look good against much better competition. Overall, the 1st team offensive line performed well.
 
The 2nd team offense didn’t fare as well against the 1st team defense, as should be expected.
 
Sam Ehlinger, an early enrollee, was scrambling for his life most the game due to very spotty play by the 2nd team offensive line. However, when Ehlinger had time to step into his throws, they were usually on target and to the right spots. Sam flashed signs that he can be a very dangerous threat at QB with his scrambling ability (further demonstrated by one heck of a toss to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey).
 
Most came into the game really looking for improvement from last year’s defense that was 2nd worst in total defense (yard/game) and scoring defense (pts/game) in school history. Todd Orlando stood and delivered, recording 10 sacks and 12 TFLs.
 
As one might surmise from the 10 recorded sacks, the progress showed up front, where Malcolm Roach, Chris Nelson, and Poona Ford tore apart the guys in front of them, helped out by blitz schemes that were too complex for the offensive lines to handle on both ends. Chris Nelson especially shined, regularly blowing up the inside of the line and recording two sacks. Tom Herman even said after the game that he was “pleasantly surprised,” with how good his defensive line is and believes, “you can win with those guys.”
 
Second team front seven guys that really stood out were Charles Omenihu, Jordan Elliott, and Andrew Fitzgerald who together forced Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele into some tough situations including 3 sacks.
Jeffery McCulloch also seems to be really growing into the B-Backer position doing exceptionally well against Connor Williams including getting past him for a sack.
 

 
But it will be hard to get in front of Naashon Hughes who seemed to be in his element on the field.
 
Malik Jefferson still appears to be the freakiest athlete on the field, displaying serious speed and ability to generate power in an instant. Last year he took a step back physicality-wise, but he impressed coaches today and the rest of Spring. Malik even showed a bit of coverage skill playing outside the numbers a few times covering a moving RB or recognizing a pass over the middle and breaking it up (something he had trouble with last year).
 

 

 
 
But the real progress in the defense can be seen in the secondary, which was a sieve last season. Five pass break-ups and an interception. That type of production could not have even been thought of last season. The 1st team defensive backs played sound coverage against solid wide receivers and really displayed a better understanding of their responsibilities. With PJ Locke, Brandon Jones, DeShon Elliott, Kris Boyd, and Holton Hill, there were no palms facing the air after plays, and no streaking wide open wide receiver due to mixed up coverages. Everyone was on the same play and if the offense made a play, they earned the heck out of it.
 
Second team defensive backs were a little less solid. Tom Herman even stated going into the game that he was only confident in 3 corners (one of which was injured for today in Davante Davis). Eric Cuffee was picked on all game long, but it is hard to blame him being tasked with guarding Collin Johnson for the duration of the game. Other than that, Chris Brown and John Bonney did pretty well in coverage despite facing one of the most dangerous receiving corps in the league.
 
A unit that gave Longhorn fans headaches during the Charlie Strong tenure was special teams. Coach Herman seems to have thrown a band-aid on this one with JUCO kicker Joshua Rowland who was 3-4 from beyond 30 including getting iced and trash talked by Tom Herman mid-game. Michael Dickson still has a cannon for a leg and was regularly sending balls flying onto the 10-yard line or bouncing them forward. Texas appears to be in good hands in these departments.
 
The biggest question mark post-game has to do with the possible lack of depth in basically every position besides wide receiver and safety. While the Longhorns’ 1’s looked phenomenal, their back-ups were five notches below them on a consistent basis. Todd Orlando addressed this concern after the game, “There’s always depth concerns… I think all positions [have depth concerns], and it’s our job as a coaching staff to continue to develop. We are recruiting for those needs as we speak. We’ve recognized some places. To me it comes down to, you’re talking about your first two guys and you end up getting to number four, are you putting in a 1-AA player? Is he going to get exposed? You’d like to be at least minimum four guys at a position that you feel comfortable with and then up front you probably need 5 or 6.” He continued by saying, “Each position, I don’t think, when you put the second group on the field you feel you’re 1-AA. But I feel we have to stock-pile recruiting.” When it comes to fixing depth concerns he explain, “If you miss on guys and continue to miss on guys, your starters will play all the time… You can’t miss on people and have to improve on recruiting. That’s how you get depth.”
 
While the team is far from a finished product and there are some lingering questions, the Spring Game should make fans feel at ease with the team showing major improvement in many areas.

It was a crisp, clear day for the first public look at Tom Herman's Longhorns in the annual Orange & White Spring Game held at Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium. Herman came into the day expecting the defense to far outshine the offense; however, 30,000 rabid Longhorn fans saw a game that was a bit tighter than expected.
 
Shane Buechele had a lot to do with the success of the offense, finishing 23-39 for 369 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. While he had plenty of time in the pocket due to a talented offensive line, his passes were crisp, powerful, and on target for most of the game. Tom Herman even noted after the game that Shane Buechele has progressed immensely when it comes to taking more of a leadership role on the team.
 
Shane’s performance included two wonderfully thrown balls to Collin Johnson that resulted in two spectacular catches for touchdowns.
 

 

 
Collin Johnson displayed what type of threat he can be in the end zone with his acrobatics and athletics, and was the leading receiver of the game with 8 receptions for 117 yards and 2 TDs. In fact, the entire receiving corp has a lot of  talent, waiting to emerge. Reggie Hemphill-Mapps had his coming out party with 5 catches for 84 yards, where he demonstrated his ability to find the soft spots in defensive coverages and exploit them.
 

 
Second team WR’s also shined on the field. Dorian Leonard showed that he is back after an injury riddled season last year, grabbing 4 balls for 68 yards. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey had 2 catches for 54 yards including a spectacular catch over some solid coverage from Kris Boyd, and holding onto the ball with enough mind to keep a toe in bounds while taking a hit from DeShon Elliott.

 
The 1st team offensive line also shined through the day, making sure Shane stayed relatively untouched while making Toneil Carter (10 carries for 60 yards) and Tim Yoder (an early enrollee and walk-on) look good against much better competition. Overall, the 1st team offensive line performed well.
 
The 2nd team offense didn’t fare as well against the 1st team defense, as should be expected.
 
Sam Ehlinger, an early enrollee, was scrambling for his life most the game due to very spotty play by the 2nd team offensive line. However, when Ehlinger had time to step into his throws, they were usually on target and to the right spots. Sam flashed signs that he can be a very dangerous threat at QB with his scrambling ability (further demonstrated by one heck of a toss to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey).
 
Most came into the game really looking for improvement from last year’s defense that was 2nd worst in total defense (yard/game) and scoring defense (pts/game) in school history. Todd Orlando stood and delivered, recording 10 sacks and 12 TFLs.
 
As one might surmise from the 10 recorded sacks, the progress showed up front, where Malcolm Roach, Chris Nelson, and Poona Ford tore apart the guys in front of them, helped out by blitz schemes that were too complex for the offensive lines to handle on both ends. Chris Nelson especially shined, regularly blowing up the inside of the line and recording two sacks. Tom Herman even said after the game that he was “pleasantly surprised,” with how good his defensive line is and believes, “you can win with those guys.”
 
Second team front seven guys that really stood out were Charles Omenihu, Jordan Elliott, and Andrew Fitzgerald who together forced Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele into some tough situations including 3 sacks.
Jeffery McCulloch also seems to be really growing into the B-Backer position doing exceptionally well against Connor Williams including getting past him for a sack.
 

 
But it will be hard to get in front of Naashon Hughes who seemed to be in his element on the field.
 
Malik Jefferson still appears to be the freakiest athlete on the field, displaying serious speed and ability to generate power in an instant. Last year he took a step back physicality-wise, but he impressed coaches today and the rest of Spring. Malik even showed a bit of coverage skill playing outside the numbers a few times covering a moving RB or recognizing a pass over the middle and breaking it up (something he had trouble with last year).
 

 

 
 
But the real progress in the defense can be seen in the secondary, which was a sieve last season. Five pass break-ups and an interception. That type of production could not have even been thought of last season. The 1st team defensive backs played sound coverage against solid wide receivers and really displayed a better understanding of their responsibilities. With PJ Locke, Brandon Jones, DeShon Elliott, Kris Boyd, and Holton Hill, there were no palms facing the air after plays, and no streaking wide open wide receiver due to mixed up coverages. Everyone was on the same play and if the offense made a play, they earned the heck out of it.
 
Second team defensive backs were a little less solid. Tom Herman even stated going into the game that he was only confident in 3 corners (one of which was injured for today in Davante Davis). Eric Cuffee was picked on all game long, but it is hard to blame him being tasked with guarding Collin Johnson for the duration of the game. Other than that, Chris Brown and John Bonney did pretty well in coverage despite facing one of the most dangerous receiving corps in the league.
 
A unit that gave Longhorn fans headaches during the Charlie Strong tenure was special teams. Coach Herman seems to have thrown a band-aid on this one with JUCO kicker Joshua Rowland who was 3-4 from beyond 30 including getting iced and trash talked by Tom Herman mid-game. Michael Dickson still has a cannon for a leg and was regularly sending balls flying onto the 10-yard line or bouncing them forward. Texas appears to be in good hands in these departments.
 
The biggest question mark post-game has to do with the possible lack of depth in basically every position besides wide receiver and safety. While the Longhorns’ 1’s looked phenomenal, their back-ups were five notches below them on a consistent basis. Todd Orlando addressed this concern after the game, “There’s always depth concerns… I think all positions [have depth concerns], and it’s our job as a coaching staff to continue to develop. We are recruiting for those needs as we speak. We’ve recognized some places. To me it comes down to, you’re talking about your first two guys and you end up getting to number four, are you putting in a 1-AA player? Is he going to get exposed? You’d like to be at least minimum four guys at a position that you feel comfortable with and then up front you probably need 5 or 6.” He continued by saying, “Each position, I don’t think, when you put the second group on the field you feel you’re 1-AA. But I feel we have to stock-pile recruiting.” When it comes to fixing depth concerns he explain, “If you miss on guys and continue to miss on guys, your starters will play all the time… You can’t miss on people and have to improve on recruiting. That’s how you get depth.”
 
While the team is far from a finished product and there are some lingering questions, the Spring Game should make fans feel at ease with the team showing major improvement in many areas.

It was a crisp, clear day for the first public look at Tom Herman's Longhorns in the annual Orange & White Spring Game held at Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium. Herman came into the day expecting the defense to far outshine the offense; however, 30,000 rabid Longhorn fans saw a game that was a bit tighter than expected.
 
Shane Buechele had a lot to do with the success of the offense, finishing 23-39 for 369 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. While he had plenty of time in the pocket due to a talented offensive line, his passes were crisp, powerful, and on target for most of the game. Tom Herman even noted after the game that Shane Buechele has progressed immensely when it comes to taking more of a leadership role on the team.
 
Shane’s performance included two wonderfully thrown balls to Collin Johnson that resulted in two spectacular catches for touchdowns.
 

 

 
Collin Johnson displayed what type of threat he can be in the end zone with his acrobatics and athletics, and was the leading receiver of the game with 8 receptions for 117 yards and 2 TDs. In fact, the entire receiving corp has a lot of  talent, waiting to emerge. Reggie Hemphill-Mapps had his coming out party with 5 catches for 84 yards, where he demonstrated his ability to find the soft spots in defensive coverages and exploit them.
 

 
Second team WR’s also shined on the field. Dorian Leonard showed that he is back after an injury riddled season last year, grabbing 4 balls for 68 yards. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey had 2 catches for 54 yards including a spectacular catch over some solid coverage from Kris Boyd, and holding onto the ball with enough mind to keep a toe in bounds while taking a hit from DeShon Elliott.

 
The 1st team offensive line also shined through the day, making sure Shane stayed relatively untouched while making Toneil Carter (10 carries for 60 yards) and Tim Yoder (an early enrollee and walk-on) look good against much better competition. Overall, the 1st team offensive line performed well.
 
The 2nd team offense didn’t fare as well against the 1st team defense, as should be expected.
 
Sam Ehlinger, an early enrollee, was scrambling for his life most the game due to very spotty play by the 2nd team offensive line. However, when Ehlinger had time to step into his throws, they were usually on target and to the right spots. Sam flashed signs that he can be a very dangerous threat at QB with his scrambling ability (further demonstrated by one heck of a toss to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey).
 
Most came into the game really looking for improvement from last year’s defense that was 2nd worst in total defense (yard/game) and scoring defense (pts/game) in school history. Todd Orlando stood and delivered, recording 10 sacks and 12 TFLs.
 
As one might surmise from the 10 recorded sacks, the progress showed up front, where Malcolm Roach, Chris Nelson, and Poona Ford tore apart the guys in front of them, helped out by blitz schemes that were too complex for the offensive lines to handle on both ends. Chris Nelson especially shined, regularly blowing up the inside of the line and recording two sacks. Tom Herman even said after the game that he was “pleasantly surprised,” with how good his defensive line is and believes, “you can win with those guys.”
 
Second team front seven guys that really stood out were Charles Omenihu, Jordan Elliott, and Andrew Fitzgerald who together forced Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele into some tough situations including 3 sacks.
Jeffery McCulloch also seems to be really growing into the B-Backer position doing exceptionally well against Connor Williams including getting past him for a sack.
 

 
But it will be hard to get in front of Naashon Hughes who seemed to be in his element on the field.
 
Malik Jefferson still appears to be the freakiest athlete on the field, displaying serious speed and ability to generate power in an instant. Last year he took a step back physicality-wise, but he impressed coaches today and the rest of Spring. Malik even showed a bit of coverage skill playing outside the numbers a few times covering a moving RB or recognizing a pass over the middle and breaking it up (something he had trouble with last year).
 

 

 
 
But the real progress in the defense can be seen in the secondary, which was a sieve last season. Five pass break-ups and an interception. That type of production could not have even been thought of last season. The 1st team defensive backs played sound coverage against solid wide receivers and really displayed a better understanding of their responsibilities. With PJ Locke, Brandon Jones, DeShon Elliott, Kris Boyd, and Holton Hill, there were no palms facing the air after plays, and no streaking wide open wide receiver due to mixed up coverages. Everyone was on the same play and if the offense made a play, they earned the heck out of it.
 
Second team defensive backs were a little less solid. Tom Herman even stated going into the game that he was only confident in 3 corners (one of which was injured for today in Davante Davis). Eric Cuffee was picked on all game long, but it is hard to blame him being tasked with guarding Collin Johnson for the duration of the game. Other than that, Chris Brown and John Bonney did pretty well in coverage despite facing one of the most dangerous receiving corps in the league.
 
A unit that gave Longhorn fans headaches during the Charlie Strong tenure was special teams. Coach Herman seems to have thrown a band-aid on this one with JUCO kicker Joshua Rowland who was 3-4 from beyond 30 including getting iced and trash talked by Tom Herman mid-game. Michael Dickson still has a cannon for a leg and was regularly sending balls flying onto the 10-yard line or bouncing them forward. Texas appears to be in good hands in these departments.
 
The biggest question mark post-game has to do with the possible lack of depth in basically every position besides wide receiver and safety. While the Longhorns’ 1’s looked phenomenal, their back-ups were five notches below them on a consistent basis. Todd Orlando addressed this concern after the game, “There’s always depth concerns… I think all positions [have depth concerns], and it’s our job as a coaching staff to continue to develop. We are recruiting for those needs as we speak. We’ve recognized some places. To me it comes down to, you’re talking about your first two guys and you end up getting to number four, are you putting in a 1-AA player? Is he going to get exposed? You’d like to be at least minimum four guys at a position that you feel comfortable with and then up front you probably need 5 or 6.” He continued by saying, “Each position, I don’t think, when you put the second group on the field you feel you’re 1-AA. But I feel we have to stock-pile recruiting.” When it comes to fixing depth concerns he explain, “If you miss on guys and continue to miss on guys, your starters will play all the time… You can’t miss on people and have to improve on recruiting. That’s how you get depth.”
 
While the team is far from a finished product and there are some lingering questions, the Spring Game should make fans feel at ease with the team showing major improvement in many areas.

Take Aways
 
Offense
·        Shane Buechele is your starting QB. He has looked very crisp today minus a few mess ups. His progression from year 1 to 2 is going to be fun. Especially because he'll be behind a great OL throwing to some great WRs. His balls have had some speed behind them and have been to the right spots.
·        Sam Ehlinger has been difficult to evaluate today since he's been running for his life. When he does have time he has been able to step up in the pocket and deliver an impressive ball to the right spots, including a perfect pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey in between Kris Boyd and DeShon Elliott
·        Toneil Carter looks good all things considered. He's far from your starter, needing to work on picking up blitzes and reading the field on runs.
·        1st team OL is as good as advertised. They've kept Shane Buechele relatively untouched and made the 4th string RB and walk-on look good.
·        2nd team OL has a huge drop off. Sam Ehlinger is running for his life.
·        This WR is absolutely loaded. 
·        Reggie Hemphill-Mapps has been very impressive with his ability to find the soft spots in the coverage. Still needs to work on his hands a bit.
·        Collin Johnson will catch a lot of TDs next year. He's shown how much of an athletic freak he is and has some really great hands.
·        Jerrod Heard is still as good as last year, but gotten better on shorter routes.
·        Davion Curtis is a guy you can rely on. His progression is coming along nicely. He may get some play time this year
·        Lil"Jordan Humphrey has been very impressive, catching most balls that went his way including an insane catch over the head of Kris Boyd and through a DeShon Elliott hit.
·        Dorian Leonard looks like he's picking up from where he left off.
·        John Burt looks like hes getting back to Freshman year form.
·        Devin Duvernay looks as good as he does last year. Reliable hands, elite speed, and great route running.
Defense
·        For a "vanilla" defense they showed a good number of blitzes and coverages.
·        1st team defense has been lights out. Recording 9 sacks and 1 interception.
·        Charles Omenihu and Jeffrey McCulloch were the shining spots for the 2nd team defense.
·        1st team DL gave Sam Ehlinger no room to breathe. Chris Nelson, Malcolm Roach, and Poona Ford will hold down that DL. Fans should be very comfortable with those 3 up front.
·        Chris Nelson especially looked nice. He flashed quite a few time during the game grabbing quite a few sacks.
·        Jordan Elliott also grabbed 2 sacks and looks like he’ll be getting quite a bit of playing time come Fall.
·        2nd team DL looked alright. Got to Shane a few times and blew up a few plays.
·        LBs looked good as well on both lines.
·        Malik Jefferson is still a freak.
·        Naashon Hughes blew up a few plays fast. Looks like the B-Backer position fits him very nicely.
·        Edwin Freeman has a few nice plays on the blitzes, which is new for him since he's usually good in coverage.
·        Andrew Fitzgerald showed up quite a bit, including getting a nice sack, but he still looks to be a year away.
·        1st team DBs were impressive against good WRs. Caused a few coverage sacks and had a few PBUs. Deshon Elliott and PJ Locke were the stand outs.
·        2nd team DBs were a huge drop off. Eric Cuffee was picked on all day and couldn't do anything with it. They were missing Davante Davis.
ST
·        Michael Dickson still has a cannon for a leg. It's ridiculous.
·        Joshua Rowland did well. He'll be an okay kicker. He was 3-4. Made two from 30 yards, but missed one from 49. Had enough leg behind the one he missed, but sailed left.
·        Jerrod Heard should be your starting PR. He seems to have a lot more returning IQ back there.
 

Ok we're pushing like 30000 fans now.

Scoring System for Today's Game
 

 
Keeping it simple.

As stated above, Casey has huge ties to the big group of talent in Houston including the Lamar guys (Anthony Cook, Al'Vonte Woodard, D'Shawn Jamison), Joshua Moore, Brennan Eagles, Jaylen Waddle, Mustapha Muhammad, Jalen Green, and Brendan Radley-Hiles.
 
That's a huuuuuge haul right there, and the majority of that group is currently loving the Longhorns.
 
None of those guys will commit any time soon, but having their 7on7 QB in their ear (phone screen?) every day will do nothing but help Texas' cause.

Since I made the picture, I can say with certainty that it is the Mensa logo.
 
Also Vladamir Putin's Body, Terry Crews's arm, breakfast steak, a diamond grill, and a roman candle.

Since I made the picture, I can say with certainty that it is the Mensa logo.
 
Also Vladamir Putin's Body, Terry Crews's arm, breakfast steak, a diamond grill, and a roman candle.

This is exactly the reason why he will not make it.