Texas will wrap up spring practice Saturday evening with the Orange-White spring game, although this year’s spring game will have a little different format. Steve Sarkisian mentioned after Thursday’s practice that they will not be splitting up the roster into two teams this year, instead opting for an offense-defense scrimmage of around 100 plays with a competitive red-zone period to end the evening.
Despite not having a conventional spring game, there are still plenty of storylines to follow as the Longhorns hold their final practice before entering into the offseason.
1. Hudson Card vs Quinn Ewers
Another year, another QB battle. One benefit of this year’s spring game setup is both QB’s should see time with the first team offense. Regardless of how both perform on Saturday, this is a battle that will stretch into fall camp. This will be the first opportunity for fans to see Quinn Ewers in live action, and it will be interesting to see how the redshirt freshman responds with fans in stands during a live scrimmage environment.
Hudson Card had a solid spring game a year ago before ultimately winning the starting job in fall camp and then losing it in week 3 of the regular season. Card will need to display better pocket presence and accuracy than he showed in 2021.
Both quarterbacks have the arm talent to execute Steve Sarkisian’s offense, so the ability to take care of the football and limit mistakes will likely play a big role in who opens the season as the starter.
2. Will the LB’s take the next step?
The entire Texas defense was not good in 2021, but the linebacker position in particular struggled mightily for extended stretches. This was a massive spring for DeMarvion Overshown, Jaylan Ford, David Gbenda and Devin Richardson. Overshown is completing his first (!) spring practice at LB, while Ford is looking to build on some solid performances at the end of last season. All 4 linebackers will need to take big steps forward in defending the run and Saturday will serve as an early test to see how far they have come in 15 practices.
3. Making the pieces fit together at WR
It has been a big offseason in the WR room, with Brennan Marion being hired and several transfers joining the fold. Xavier Worthy is the clear number one receiver and should be in for a big sophomore campaign. How things shake out behind Worthy will be one of the more interesting developments to watch beginning on Saturday. Jordan Whittington is fully healthy and looking to build on a 2021 season where he put together several quality games before suffering an injury. Senior Marcus Washington saw extended action following Whittington’s injury and is perhaps the best blocking WR on the team.
One of the biggest additions of the offseason was snagging Wyoming transfer Isaiah Neyor from the portal. Neyor brings a different skillset with his length and catch radius. He very well might open fall camp as the starter opposite of Xavier Worthy. Fellow transfer Agiye Hall committed to Texas earlier this week and is set to join the team this summer after finishing his semester at Alabama.
There are no shortage of options for Texas at WR. In addition to the 5 players mentioned above, redshirt sophomore Kelvontay Dixon and redshirt freshman Casey Cain will be fighting for snaps. Saturday’s spring game will serve as the first data point for how Steve Sarkisian and Brennan Marion deploy the options at their disposal.
