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View from the Cheap Seats-Spring game
Zero Sum affair
As we say every year, the Spring game is a zero sum affair. If the O looks great, it means the D . . .not so much. And that’s pretty much what we were treated to this year. Which does not mean there are not things to be gleaned from the performances but keep in mind, one of the top defenders from the last spring game, was in the portal 3 days later. Now the one thing that is obvious, since he has arrived, Sark has significantly improved the talent on the team. Moreso from recruiting but he has found some portal nuggets as well and we had 3 portal nuggets flashing today.
This always a bitter sweet day in the Cheap Seats. Always SWEET to see the Horns even in a glorified scrimmage. On the BITTER side, 140 days away from seeing the Horns at DKR on 2 September vs old SWC rival Rice before a road trip to re-match with Bama.
QB
Make no mistake, Quinn Ewers was going to be the starter heading into fall no matter how he played. What he did was play well and show off his arm talent. This despite being hampered by several drops. Ewers is QB1, was always the case and nothing happened in the spring game to do anything but enforce that opinion.
Big question was could Maalik Murphy hold off Arch Manning for the QB2 spot? No question Arch is the future and looked really good at times but overall, Maalik finally got a chance to show off his big arm. Including a 79 yard toss to Jontay Cook who beat a walk-on DB, played the long ball perfectly and showed off his speed.
Even the Greatest Named QB in TEXAS football history, Charles Wright, looked good in his limited run. Our only concern at QB is can Sark keep Maalik here at least through 2023 so Manning can shirt?
Most talent in the QB room at TEXAS in years.
Wealth of WRs
New portal arrival AD Mitchell was the star of the day with 7 catches for over 60 yards and a glorious 1 handed TD in the end zone. He is a matchup nightmare. X and JWhitt flashed as well, WR 1-3 seems pretty set going into the fall. JT Sanders had two drops for what might have been the biggest offensive disappointment and did not seem to be targeted much after that but his talent is unquestioned. Behind him at TE. . . .well, sparse is the word that comes to mind.
TEXAS has 8 scholarship WRs with a 9th scheduled to show up in the fall. Someone said 12? 9 or 10 is fine for a coach who does not like a rotation. Jontay Cook seems locked into a WR 4 thru 6 spot with a nice day as Neyor was held out along with Casey Cain. Fellow HS student on campus early, DeAndre Moore had 2 drops but it’s spring, it’s time to learn/grow. Don’t be shocked to see Sark look for a 10th WR in the portal. Though given Sark’s lack of desire to use rotations, TEXAS likely fine numbers wise for 2023.
Offensive line
The entire starting OL from 2022 is back for 2023. Not sure how many years we have to go back to see that happening but it’s more than a few. OL should be a major team strength not just for 2023 but in the years to come. Interesting to note Neto Umeozulu rolled out with the 1s at left guard. Meanwhile a couple more HS seniors in Peyton Kirkland and my son’s HS buddy Connor Struh opened with the 2s. Coach Flood building some serious depth.
Running backs
While the average fan and the nerds calling the game focused mainly on QB, the discerning fan of the Cheap Seats knows the biggest offensive question on offense is how do you replace a Top 5 All Time RB at TEXAS and worse, a Top 3 RB 1/RB 2 combo.
This is our big question heading into fall drills. The early favorite for RB 1 was Johnathan Brooks but he was held out recovering from injury as was Alamo Bowl starter Keilen Robinson. This opened the door for Jayden Blue to shine including the best run of the day. HS Senior Cedric Baxter showed off as well and WR converted to RB Savion Red showed his talent by running well. So Sark nowhas a 5 headed RB room, he’s bragged about always having a 1,000 yard rusher and he will be challenged to find the reps as this is likely a pass 1st team despite his calls to run the ball. More on that in our conclusions.
Defense
Remember what we said at the start, Zero Sum Game. While the O looked good, the D overall didn’t. Now two of our portal players, Watts and Wake Forest CB Gavin Holmes had nice pass defenses, overall the offense took the D’s cornbread. HS Senior Anthony “Ant” Hill did flash his talent at the LB spot from time to time. Overall, our top takeaway, this team does not tackle well.
But generally, it was an unspectacular day for the D.
Stats that matter:
Offensive Player of the Game
AD Mitchell, Georgia portal transfer with 7 catches over 60 yards and a SWEET 1 handed grab in the end zone for a TD.
Defensive Player of the Game
Jaylan “I was robbed of the BigXII DPOY Award” Ford. Looking forward to a season with him playing with a chip on his shoulder.
Conclusions:
Time for the no excuses tour as TEXAS and the thieves of dirt tell the BigXII to pound sand after this season. Let’s be really candid, Sark has significantly under achieved at TEXAS. 5-7 was the worst season for a 1st year TEXAS HC in program history and we left a BigXII title appearance on the table last year. Big reason for us missing out, Sark is stubborn and very inflexible. He has his system and he will run it even if it cost TEXAS football games as it did last year. Despite the lead at halftime vs both TT and OSU, Sark insisted on throwing more than he ran in two ugly losses. Can he self coach and spot the problems? We doubt it as he is already talking about how this offense works best when bombs away works, a play he runs far too often on 1st and 10 leaving TEXAS behind the chains when it doesn’t work.
2023 sees TEXAS as the most talented team in the BigXII. He has his people in place and should be able to score enough to protect his still questionable D. Improved in 2022 from 2021 but they still lack a dominate pass rusher and a stout secondary. Zero concerns about recruiting, the man is largely a Wizard at recruiting. And we know he’s a great 1st half OC (we’re dubious about the 2nd half), can he evolve into a great Head Coach? 2023 will tell us a great deal. We’re calling it 11 wins and the Big XII title
Top offensive challenge is going to be finding the right mix at RB.
On defense, been a constant refrain since Joseph Ossai took his talents to the NFL, can we find someone to rush the passer
On a minor note, we’ve had 3-4 kids jump to the portal already and we’re not shocked is we don’t lose 2-4 more. So far no one has left that wasn’t “recruited over”. Coaches take a shot on a guy hoping they develop, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. We’re glad they have an easier path to playing time and living the dream even if it’s somewhere else.
About a 130 days till the Pre-Season addition to the Cheap Seats. Make no mistake, we’re sipping the Kool-Aid over this way and the future for the Horns is very bright.
Zero Sum affair
As we say every year, the Spring game is a zero sum affair. If the O looks great, it means the D . . .not so much. And that’s pretty much what we were treated to this year. Which does not mean there are not things to be gleaned from the performances but keep in mind, one of the top defenders from the last spring game, was in the portal 3 days later. Now the one thing that is obvious, since he has arrived, Sark has significantly improved the talent on the team. Moreso from recruiting but he has found some portal nuggets as well and we had 3 portal nuggets flashing today.
This always a bitter sweet day in the Cheap Seats. Always SWEET to see the Horns even in a glorified scrimmage. On the BITTER side, 140 days away from seeing the Horns at DKR on 2 September vs old SWC rival Rice before a road trip to re-match with Bama.
QB
Make no mistake, Quinn Ewers was going to be the starter heading into fall no matter how he played. What he did was play well and show off his arm talent. This despite being hampered by several drops. Ewers is QB1, was always the case and nothing happened in the spring game to do anything but enforce that opinion.
Big question was could Maalik Murphy hold off Arch Manning for the QB2 spot? No question Arch is the future and looked really good at times but overall, Maalik finally got a chance to show off his big arm. Including a 79 yard toss to Jontay Cook who beat a walk-on DB, played the long ball perfectly and showed off his speed.
Even the Greatest Named QB in TEXAS football history, Charles Wright, looked good in his limited run. Our only concern at QB is can Sark keep Maalik here at least through 2023 so Manning can shirt?
Most talent in the QB room at TEXAS in years.
Wealth of WRs
New portal arrival AD Mitchell was the star of the day with 7 catches for over 60 yards and a glorious 1 handed TD in the end zone. He is a matchup nightmare. X and JWhitt flashed as well, WR 1-3 seems pretty set going into the fall. JT Sanders had two drops for what might have been the biggest offensive disappointment and did not seem to be targeted much after that but his talent is unquestioned. Behind him at TE. . . .well, sparse is the word that comes to mind.
TEXAS has 8 scholarship WRs with a 9th scheduled to show up in the fall. Someone said 12? 9 or 10 is fine for a coach who does not like a rotation. Jontay Cook seems locked into a WR 4 thru 6 spot with a nice day as Neyor was held out along with Casey Cain. Fellow HS student on campus early, DeAndre Moore had 2 drops but it’s spring, it’s time to learn/grow. Don’t be shocked to see Sark look for a 10th WR in the portal. Though given Sark’s lack of desire to use rotations, TEXAS likely fine numbers wise for 2023.
Offensive line
The entire starting OL from 2022 is back for 2023. Not sure how many years we have to go back to see that happening but it’s more than a few. OL should be a major team strength not just for 2023 but in the years to come. Interesting to note Neto Umeozulu rolled out with the 1s at left guard. Meanwhile a couple more HS seniors in Peyton Kirkland and my son’s HS buddy Connor Struh opened with the 2s. Coach Flood building some serious depth.
Running backs
While the average fan and the nerds calling the game focused mainly on QB, the discerning fan of the Cheap Seats knows the biggest offensive question on offense is how do you replace a Top 5 All Time RB at TEXAS and worse, a Top 3 RB 1/RB 2 combo.
This is our big question heading into fall drills. The early favorite for RB 1 was Johnathan Brooks but he was held out recovering from injury as was Alamo Bowl starter Keilen Robinson. This opened the door for Jayden Blue to shine including the best run of the day. HS Senior Cedric Baxter showed off as well and WR converted to RB Savion Red showed his talent by running well. So Sark nowhas a 5 headed RB room, he’s bragged about always having a 1,000 yard rusher and he will be challenged to find the reps as this is likely a pass 1st team despite his calls to run the ball. More on that in our conclusions.
Defense
Remember what we said at the start, Zero Sum Game. While the O looked good, the D overall didn’t. Now two of our portal players, Watts and Wake Forest CB Gavin Holmes had nice pass defenses, overall the offense took the D’s cornbread. HS Senior Anthony “Ant” Hill did flash his talent at the LB spot from time to time. Overall, our top takeaway, this team does not tackle well.
But generally, it was an unspectacular day for the D.
Stats that matter:
- 17/12, 17 scholarship OL on campus, 12 recruited in the last 2 years. TEXAS is really talented along the OL
- 87% Rushing yardage TEXAS will need to replace in 2023 that Bijan and RJ are taking to the show
- 7 High School seniors who played with the 1’s and 2’s today. Sark keeps landing talent
- 140 The dark days of the off season with no real TEXAS football to discuss.
Offensive Player of the Game
AD Mitchell, Georgia portal transfer with 7 catches over 60 yards and a SWEET 1 handed grab in the end zone for a TD.
Defensive Player of the Game
Jaylan “I was robbed of the BigXII DPOY Award” Ford. Looking forward to a season with him playing with a chip on his shoulder.
Conclusions:
Time for the no excuses tour as TEXAS and the thieves of dirt tell the BigXII to pound sand after this season. Let’s be really candid, Sark has significantly under achieved at TEXAS. 5-7 was the worst season for a 1st year TEXAS HC in program history and we left a BigXII title appearance on the table last year. Big reason for us missing out, Sark is stubborn and very inflexible. He has his system and he will run it even if it cost TEXAS football games as it did last year. Despite the lead at halftime vs both TT and OSU, Sark insisted on throwing more than he ran in two ugly losses. Can he self coach and spot the problems? We doubt it as he is already talking about how this offense works best when bombs away works, a play he runs far too often on 1st and 10 leaving TEXAS behind the chains when it doesn’t work.
2023 sees TEXAS as the most talented team in the BigXII. He has his people in place and should be able to score enough to protect his still questionable D. Improved in 2022 from 2021 but they still lack a dominate pass rusher and a stout secondary. Zero concerns about recruiting, the man is largely a Wizard at recruiting. And we know he’s a great 1st half OC (we’re dubious about the 2nd half), can he evolve into a great Head Coach? 2023 will tell us a great deal. We’re calling it 11 wins and the Big XII title
Top offensive challenge is going to be finding the right mix at RB.
On defense, been a constant refrain since Joseph Ossai took his talents to the NFL, can we find someone to rush the passer
On a minor note, we’ve had 3-4 kids jump to the portal already and we’re not shocked is we don’t lose 2-4 more. So far no one has left that wasn’t “recruited over”. Coaches take a shot on a guy hoping they develop, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. We’re glad they have an easier path to playing time and living the dream even if it’s somewhere else.
About a 130 days till the Pre-Season addition to the Cheap Seats. Make no mistake, we’re sipping the Kool-Aid over this way and the future for the Horns is very bright.
