Burnt Ends (*** updated 12:50pm on 10-23)

[HornSports Staff]

The point on a brisket is typically the fattiest cut. Pitmasters often trim the point and select edges off a whole brisket and return them to the smoker.

Are burnt ends tough, chewy worthless cuts of meat, or are they a heavenly bites of smoky goodness? I suppose it depends on who you ask...

Rather than discard trimmings and fat, we chose to savor all the information that flows through the site. So, sit down and help yourself to some burnt ends.

***DO NOT FORWARD***

The Horns carpet bombed the state of Florida with scholarship offers to defensive backs last week. Names are still popping up, so the count is varied depending on who you talk with.

Regardless of how many offers actually were extended, a team source told us that Bedford and Strong really covet Miami Central’s, Calvin Brewton. A 4* FSU commitment, Brewton is ranked as one of the top 50 players in Florida.

It would take a monumental effort to get Brewton to flip, but the word we got is that, after seeing his film, the coaches are prepared to make him say no…multiple times.

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Anthony Wheeler a 4* (247 Composite)  OLB from Dallas Skyline is slated to announce his commitment on Sunday according to a Dallas source. The interesting news is that he’s then scheduled to visit Texas a week later.

Wheeler has offers from OU, Alabama and Baylor, but the conventional thinking has his commitment between Texas and OU.

Another source we checked with (from Oklahoma) told us after the Red River Shootout that he thought OU was out in front for Wheeler.

Basically, we’ve got two sources claiming two different things. We’re confident that Wheeler will announce this weekend, and it should be either the Horns or the Sooners. We’ll update this thread during the week when we hear anything new…

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John Burt had a great time in Austin over the weekend and really enjoyed the Horns’ game against Iowa State. Evidently it wasn’t enough to convince him to close the door on his recruitment though… Burt told an Alabama recruiting source that he will still consider signing with Auburn.

We checked in with someone really tuned in to Horns recruiting to ask whether or not they thought Burt would end up in Burnt Orange.

“Based on what I heard, I think Burt is Texas’ to lose. I expect it to stay close, possibly all the way to signing day, unless a coach fouls things up.”

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Quick hitter on former A&M commitment DaMarkus Lodge: We confirmed that the Horns are still making up ground on Lodge. He’s listening, and that’s a good thing…Lodge only has 20 catches on the season, but 10 of them have gone for touchdowns.

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Devin Duvernay (Sachse) might be the most versatile recruit in the state in the 2016 class. He returns kicks, plays corner, and is a legit threat at wide receiver. An analyst we spoke with said, “Dev needs to make a choice after the season. He can contribute anywhere at the next level, but he needs to make his preference known. He isn’t gonna play both ways – this isn’t high school football.”

One quick note on Duvernay – he’s playing in an arm cast and according to a high school coach in his district, “That kid is better with an arm in a cast than most kids are without a cast.”

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A visitor for the ISU game that did not get a lot of publicity from recruiting sites is 2015 quarterback Matt Merrick of Cistercian Prep in Irving. A well-known national recruiting analyst told us that he though Merrick is “the best uncommitted quarterback in the whole country”.

That’s high praise. It also makes for interesting discussion with Gentry on board and Heard heading for a redshirt.

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At 6'4" and 260 pounds, Will Lawrence of Memphis, TN (Harding Academy) has the frame and size the college coaches love to see in young linemen.....and we mean young.

Lawrence is a class of 2018 prospect, which makes his size even more impressive. We know that some of you don't even get excited about 2016 recruits, considering Lawrence is 2 years behind them, this update might be a real stretch for some of you.

But Lawrence's name is worth filing away. He's already unofficially visited Texas and the coaching staff is well aware of him.

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We posted a quick update late last week after talking with Ronnie Huggins (one of the Florida DB’s that Texas offered last week). As we told you, Hoggins has TCU as his leader, but definitely plans to take an official visit to Austin.

Hoggins is undersized for a Big 12 corner, so the Texas offer is somewhat surprising. His offer list indicates that most Power 5 schools are shying away from him, more than likely thinking that Hoggins will struggle to matchup with the taller & bigger wideouts.

We asked a team source if there was concern over Hoggins’ size and were told, “Watch some film, then tell me that kid can’t play here. Even if he doesn’t grow, he’s athletic enough to play free safety.”

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It’s pretty widely known that Cam Townsend (LB – Missouri City) favors Texas. Townsend has an official visit planned for the weekend of November 8th (WVU game).

We just caught wind of another major prospect that has an official visit planned for WVU weekend…Mesquite Poteet’s Deandre McNeal. Although McNeal is a D1 prospect at ‘backer, his preference is to pursue a career at receiver. Texas is on board with McNeal playing offense and is telling him that he can make an immediate impact on that side of the ball.

Circle November 8th on your calendar. Not only is the WVU game shaping up to be immensely important to the Horns’ bowl hopes, it’s also going to be a priority weekend in 2015 recruiting.

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Three thoughts from one of our best contacts that is on the football team…

1. Don’t look for much new stuff versus KSU. Both the staff and the team feel like the packages that are installed are more than enough to win. Instead of adding more plays, the focus has shifted to executing these so well that they can’t be stopped.

2. Joe Wickline’s quarterback running packages have been a breath of fresh air. We’re told that Wick basically said, “It doesn’t matter how slow Swoopes is, just the threat of him running will cause problems for defenses.”

3. As Tyrone Swoopes gets more comfortable and confident, look for more reads at the LOS and less “mandated” play calls from the box.

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With Fall baseball wrapping up, we checked in with a few of our harball contacts to get their thoughts on how the team looks. Here is a collection of quotes from multiple sources…

• “I’m really optimistic about this year’s team and their ability to put runs on the board. There’s so many different ways they can go with the lineup and all of them have different advantages at the plate. I don’t see how this team won’t score more runs than they did last year.”

• “Connor Mayes pitches on the inner half of the plate better than any high school prospect I’ve seen in 5 years.”

• “Gurwitz would be my MVP of the Fall. I’m almost at the point where I’m surprised when he doesn’t get a hit. It also helps that he’s the best defensive third baseman we’ve had here since Maroul.”

• “I have Travis Jones penciled in at first base.”

• “Clemens is spending time developing a 4th pitch. That’s a waste – you don’t need more than three effective pitches in college. With those throws, he should be working on command and control of his base 3 instead of adding one. To me, adding a 4th pitch sounds like something a pro scout would suggest.”

• “It looked to me like Johnston was nervous with the TV cameras rolling. He’ll need to overcome that issue quickly because he has the stuff to help this team win.”

• “The new ball is going to be a factor in this park. This team didn’t even hit homers in BP last year. Now, when the ball gets squared, it goes.”

• “This Spring, if these freshmen pitchers do what they did this Fall, this team is going to be really tough to beat. R-e-a-l-l-y tough.”

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One more baseball note:

Morgan Cooper and Chad Hollingsworth are still unknowns. Cooper is throwing in rehab without pain, so he’s safer to project for the starting rotation than Hollingsworth, whose surgery was described to us as “pretty invasive” (shoulder). Hollingsworth is throwing now but he has a long way to go before the season. In fact, Hollingsworth is enough of a risk right now that apparently the coaches don’t have him in the starting rotation.

Mid-February is still several months away, so there’s time for Hollingsworth to rehab. But when pitchers and shoulders start being repaired the line between A and B is usually not very straight.

 

[monarch]

thank you!​

 

[joeywa]

When are you going to post your Q&A w/Augie from today?

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

We know that some of you don't even get excited about 2016 recruits

I can only take a passing interest in the 2015 kids.  Speculating on where they may sign is folly, IMO.

 

[Bevostuntdouble]

I can only take a passing interest in the 2015 kids. Speculating on where they may sign is folly, IMO.

Couldn't agree more... I didn't even read aboit the 2018 kid. Tough to take interest so far down the road given what the recruiting landscape has turned into.

 

[Bevostuntdouble]

Thank a lot! Hope we can pull in some of these coveted recruits. I know it's not cool anymore to care about star values but kids get stars for a reason and we could use some more of them.

 

[HornEsch]

I like the mentality of this staff. Make the recruits tell you no, multiple times, instead of JUST the old "we only want kids that want to be here". Don't get me wrong or mis-understand what I am saying. We want them to want to be here, but when going after kids out of the state you have to make them understand why that is. It seems in the past we just took a "no" and walked away.

 

[Bevostuntdouble]

Gotta be a salesman... We lost the status of not having to recruit due to our last 5 years of performance. Bama doesn't have to sell itself, success does it for them.

 

[doc longhorn]

Great article - comparable to "The Humidor".

Wheeler and Townsend will look good in burnt orange next year.  Boyd will be here as well.  I worry about him because he is really immature and I mean REALLY.  Strong don't put up with that crap.

 

[Lukus Alderman]

Another great one, guys!

 

[Chitownhorn]

Great stuff today, especially the baseball.

 

[Mike Garland]

Great article - comparable to "The Humidor".

Wheeler and Townsend will look good in burnt orange next year. Boyd will be here as well. I worry about him because he is really immature and I mean REALLY. Strong don't put up with that crap.

15% chance Boyd commits to Texas.

 

[doc longhorn]

15% chance Boyd commits to Texas.

75% when MJ comes here.  Maybe even higher, with the disarray in aggieland.

 

[Matt Cotcher]

75% when MJ comes here.  Maybe even higher, with the disarray in aggieland.

Don't overlook Baylor in Boyd's recruitment.

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Wheeler and Townsend will look good in burnt orange next year.  

With Hicks returning, Hager on board & a guaranteed spot for M. Jefferson, I'm interested to see how the scholarship numbers play out at LB.

 

[HornSports Staff]

Just got word that Daje Johnson is available for Saturday's game against K-State. We haven't confirmed it yet, but wanted to pass along the info to you. 

There were reports early this week of Johnson working out with trainers, but nobody has confirmed his status for Saturday. We'll keep checking on it and let everyone know as we get more information.

 

[doc longhorn]

Don't overlook Baylor in Boyd's recruitment.

IMO, Boyd would have coattailed MJ, when he comes here.  I hear the Demarco Boyd offer dust up has revealed a few things - unknown to most recruiters.

to wit:  KB was leaning aggy, but idolizes MJ and would puppy dog him  where he went.  KB was being brainwashed by aggy commits to starting to believe that UT was evil.  Aggy commits are now wavering because of - well, aggy and the swag polish is tarnishing a little.  KB knows where MJ is probably going and is conflicted because of, well, aggy brainwash about UT, but would come here anyway.  Kb's little brother is starry eyed over UT - life long love of the burnt orange.  Then FSU happens and KB might see a way out of having to go to UT.

That worm is turning in so many direction that this 17 year old kid is really conflicted now.

I'm backing off my 75% prediction for right now.   We'll see.

 

[Lord Vader]

A few thoughts:

I honestly dont care where the elder Boyd goes. Bedford has spun gold out of Hall and Haines. He will do a great job with whatever Florida kid commits and the guys they land.

No concern with the scholarship numbers at LB. We have plenty of open spaces to accommodate a large grab this year. 

Id like to get Jefferson, but he's not going to fix the issue at middle linebacker. Dalton Santos in the middle fulltime next year is not a scenario Id like to play out. 

I'd scratch John Burt off the commitment list. I had this kid read wrong when he signed up and if hes wavering THAT much he cant be counted on. Not concerned about losing a WR, thats the one spot we have an abundance of talent at.

I dont want to lose any OL commits and of course Gentry. We need them badly. I dont know whats going to change by keeping Harrison around another year with a redshirt. That ship has sailed. 

The "fall" of Aggie was predictable, but I expected the collapse to come a bit later in the season. There is a real chance you end up with a five or six win Texas team with momentum and a six or seven win Aggie team FULL of problems. Add in an exposed Baylor and its going to be a crap shoot the last couple months for kids.