David Ash to start vs. Texas Tech – Monday Presser Tidbits

After David Ash was benched in the 4^th quarter against Kansas last Saturday and replaced by Case McCoy who led Texas to a late-game victory, you have to admit you wondered what that meant going forward…  As Texas fans we have seen the quarterback carousel turn a few too many times over the last two seasons and thank goodness we have been saved of it this week.  In Mack Brown’s weekly press conference today he released the Texas Tech game depth chart which affirmed David Ash had retained the starting quarterback job.  It appears McCoy’s presence in the Kansas game was, in fact, just to provide a “spark” for an offense that had not been able to do much through 3 quarters against the Jayhawks.  Ash played poorly, including two interceptions and a meager 63 passing yards.  McCoy, praised by Mack Brown today for his preparation and execution as a backup played the role well finishing with 68 passing yards and a touchdown after playing less than a full fourth quarter.

Gray Matter – Father vs. Son

For the first time on the depth chart this season true freshman Johnathan Gray is listed as the #1 running back all by his lonesome, ahead of Joe Bergeron, Malcolm Brown (who is still injured) and Jeremy Hills.  This is huge news for Gray who has progressed nicely throughout the season, taking advantage of the opportunity to play in the absence of injured Malcolm Brown.  Gray led the Longhorn rushing attack against Kansas and notched his first 100 yard game as a Longhorn, rushing 18 times for 111 yards.  The game against Texas Tech will be a family affair for the Grays, as Johnathan’s dad James was an All American running back for the Red Raiders in the late 1980’s before being drafted by the New England Patriots in 1990.

Hicks-less

Jordan Hicks was noticeably left off of the depth chart for the first time all season as he continues to nurse the hip injury suffered in the Ole Miss game. Hicks has not played football since September 15^th and it is possible the junior linebacker could miss the rest of the 2012 season and apply for a medical redshirt.

The Big 12 is 2-Loss Good

Mack spent a lot of time today praising the merits of the Big 12 conference.  The scoring, the BCS rankings, the yards per game, passing touchdowns, the nation-leading touchdowns per game…..  He also brought to our attention the fact there there are a lot of 2-loss teams out there that are “really really good football teams.”  Some of these teams are teams that can possibly win a national championship — according to Mack.    He mentioned Texas Tech as one of these teams but did not mention Texas.  The goal for the Longhorns is to finish better than they did last year after playing 8 games and sitting at 6-2.

Setting the stage for what could be a rough day for the Longhorn pass defense, Mack threw Seth Doege in the Heisman race.  “I cannot imagine him (Seth Doege) not being a Heisman contender said Mack Brown.  True?  Sort of.  While Doege is not on the short list of candidates his numbers are impressive.  He has thrown 30 touchdowns to only 8 interceptions amassing 2,540 passing yards.  Doege is likely third in the Big 12 Conference when it comes to being a Heisman hopeful, behind quarterbacks Collin Klein (Kansas State) and Geno Smith (West Virginia).  The Red Raiders will definitely need to win out of Doege expects a trip to the Downtown Athletic Club in December.

Little Nuggets

 

• KU Game Defensive MVP’s – Kenny Vaccaro and Alex Okafor

 

• Josh Cochran named best player on the offensive line

 

• Game MVP’s were Jaxon Shipley & Case McCoy

 

• Saturday was the first time the team has not scored off of a turnover by the defense.  Texas recovered a fumbled punt and could not capitalize

 

• Alex King punted well, landing 3 punts inside the 20 yard line & 2 punts inside the 5 yard line

 

• 6 Big 12 teams ranked in the BCS – Texas is ranked 23^rd

   

• Texas Tech is ranked 12th in the nation in total defense.

 

The Chart

https://www.hornsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ttu_depthchart.jpg