Sep 4 | Texas

[zelezo vlk]

I don't recall the numbers, I don't think it was as bad as 5 or 6, but it was low. Texas fans referred to the mass transfers and cut players as "The Purge." When it comes to linemen, Mack brought 13 OL in from 2011-2013, but there were massive departures and they all didn't stick around for the 2014 season. Most of them were rated 4 star or better. Here's a list of linemen that should have been there when Strong started in 2014, and who he recruited since:

2015
Brandon Hodges - still at UT
Ronnie Major - still at UT
Tristan Nickelson - still at UT
Garrett Thomas - still at UT
Patrick Vahe - still at UT
Connor Williams - still at UT

2014
Alex Anderson - still at UT
Terrell Cuney - still at UT
Elijah Rodriguez - still at UT

2013
Rami Hammad - transferred to Baylor in 2014
Desmond Harrison - suspended twice, then let go
Darius James - transferred to Auburn in 2015
Kent Perkins - still at UT

2012
Kennedy Estelle - dismissed
Donald Hawkins - transferred into Texas, graduated in 2013
Camrhon Hughes - left program in 2015
Curtis Riser - transferred to Sam Houston

2011
Josh Cochran - retired after 2013 due to shoulder issues
Taylor Doyle - 5th year player, finished last year
Sedrick Flowers - 5th year player, threw a punch at one of our guys last year
Garrett Greenlea - medical in summer of 2014
Marcus Hutchins - 5th year player, finished last year

2010 (added for possible 5th years for 2014):
Dominic Espinosa - had a 5th year, but graduated and left
Trey Hopkins - no eligibility

Dang I was really hoping I was right on the money.

 

[Legacy]

Dang I was really hoping I was right on the money.

Here's a nice article on the Purge and injuries - Chronicles of loss: How dismissals, suspensions, and injuries have decimated the Texas Longhorns
(Oct 2014)

Texas's OL is young, though three starters return from last year. Of thirteen OLmen, one is a Senior and two are Juniors (both from Community Colleges and both Redshirted last year). Texas has not gotten their pick of the state's OL recruits. Eight of the thirteen are three star recruits (two of those four stars will be entering this fall). The other three four stars are their OL starters.

In the Class of 2016, Texas missed on the top four OL recruits from the state of Texas (Little to Ole Miss, Hudson to Baylor, Diesch to A&M, and Urquidez to Baylor) and ended up with two (Delance and Okafor) of the seven four or five star OL recruits from Texas.

But Strong has kept the '14 and '15 classes together for the most part with 18 of the 23 from '14 on the roster, and all 26 of the '15 class on the roster (three did not qualify). That's 89% of the two classes (44 of 49 signees). Redshirting, however, has been selective and a luxury. Only 15 of those 44 players from the '14 and '15 classes have redshirted.

 

[calvegas04]

reading the texas boards and a few think ND will win, but a lot think they are gonna give major payback for last year

 

[irishff1014]

reading the texas boards and a few think ND will win, but a lot think they are gonna give major payback for last year

We should still win but if you expect the same kinda win i think you are being unrealistic.

 

[koonja]

Sounds like they have good 1st team talent and nothing behind it, which doesn't really matter in the 1st game. So this will be a damn tough game IMO. I get their QUs at QB, but we have our own QUs at LB and I can see their RPO fooling us for a while.

 

[rocket66]

Our programs are in completely different places right now. I'd be disappointed if we didn't handle the Longhorns again this year.


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[arrowryan]

Our programs are in completely different places right now. I'd be disappointed if we didn't handle the Longhorns again this year.


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I'll be surprised if we don't come out with a W, considering the amount of question marks they have on offense. But at the same time, I don't expect the same kind of game as 2015.

28-17 or 31-17 sounds like a realistic outcome to me

 

[Shamrock Theories]

Sounds like they have good 1st team talent and nothing behind it, which doesn't really matter in the 1st game. So this will be a damn tough game IMO. I get their QUs at QB, but we have our own QUs at LB and I can see their RPO fooling us for a while.

RPO?

 

[EvilleIrish]

RPO?

Run Pass Options. It's all the rage in college right now. We run some.

 

[ND NYC]

some buzz brewing about the texas freshman qb....think "poor mans manziel"....looks like he piled up a ton of stats in their spring game and longhorn faithful are revving up the hype train.

 

[Wingman Ray]

Sounds like they have good 1st team talent and nothing behind it, which doesn't really matter in the 1st game. So this will be a damn tough game IMO. I get their QUs at QB, but we have our own QUs at LB and I can see their RPO fooling us for a while.

If this is a tough game for ND, then it will be a very long season for ND fans.

 

[ulukinatme]

Our programs are in completely different places right now. I'd be disappointed if we didn't handle the Longhorns again this year.


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They were a young team in spots last year. They'll still be young, but I expect more experienced this year. Some sites are expecting this will be the last true rebuilding year for teh Longhorns and they could be at least respectable next season. Given those facts, and knowing this is in Austin, and given that we'll be trotting out a lot of new players ourselves, I expect the score to be closer this year...should still be a win though.

 

[koonja]

Anyone know how many starters they return on both sides?

 

[IrishLion]

If this is a tough game for ND, then it will be a very long season for ND fans.

A Texas team with a lot of talent at the top of the depth chart, playing at home, trying to avenge a big loss.

A Notre Dame team with a lot of new pieces being put in place.

I think ND will win the game by 2 or 3 scores, but Texas will have the potential to make it a tougher game than that. Doesn't mean that everyone should expect doom and gloom.

 

[ulukinatme]

reading the texas boards and a few think ND will win, but a lot think they are gonna give major payback for last year

I've seen mixed reactions. Many are resigned to the fact they're going to "get their shit pushed in," while others think they're going to kick our asses. A lot in the later category are pretty sarcastic though, they've accepted the fact they're not very good at the moment. They'd be happy if the score is at least close though, anything worse than that will probably signal the end for Strong.

 

[Legacy]

Texas vs Ohio State

Texas vs Ohio State

Ohio State could be put into a mature/stable football program. Texas could be classified as in the middle of a rebuild. Worth comparing their class numbers.

Ohio State has seventy of their eighty-seven scholarship players (80%) from the '14, '15 and '16 classes. Seventeen scholarship players from the '12 and '13 class on the spring roster.

Texas has a total of sixty-eight of their eighty-three scholarship players (also 80%) from the '14, '15, '16 classes. Fifteen scholarship players are from classes from the '12 and '13 classes.

Here's where the difference shows up.
Ohio State has twenty-one Redshirt Freshmen out of a class of twenty-five!!
Texas has six out of a class of twenty-six, having to burn so many due to prior attrition and losses.

Ohio State has six Seniors, twenty Juniors, and seventeen Sophs.
Texas has thirteen Seniors, fourteen Juniors, and twenty-six Sophs.

Of Texas's fourteen Juniors, only three are Redshirts.
Of Ohio State's twenty Juniors, eleven are Redshirts.

 

[pumpdog20]

some buzz brewing about the texas freshman qb....think "poor mans manziel"....looks like he piled up a ton of stats in their spring game and longhorn faithful are revving up the hype train.

It was an offense that scored the same amount of points I did against Iowa State. They had no where to go but up. I'm not worried, we are much better and deeper and in a good place.

Also, the guy who tore them up last year, might be the back up for this game... so yeah, we good.

 

[ResLife Hero]

Charlie Strong, Texas football and the 'Psycho' defense

What Psycho could look like for Texas
Though Louisville employed the Psycho front over and over again against Miami, Strong and Bedford have yet to make the defense part of his arsenal in Austin. One of the reasons for that decision could be schematic: the Big 12’s spread offenses make it more difficult to disguise blitzes and coverages while still maintaining assignment integrity (more on this in a bit).

But another reason could have more to do with personnel. The Russell Athletic Bowl came in Strong’s fourth year at Louisville, once they’d had a chance to recruit multiple classes and get the kind of rangy quick-twitch athletes that Strong covets.

That’s not to say he’s totally gone without in Austin. Naashon Hughes is a special athlete, a player who played safety as a high school junior and ran 4.44 in the 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds at Texas camp prior to his senior year. He’s now listed at 239, and would make an outstanding fit. Malik Jefferson is one of the nation’s most athletic linebackers and has shown an aptitude in the past for pressuring opposing quarterbacks off the edge.

But both of those guys are every down players, and Strong’s package at Louisville contained a mix of those — eventual first-round NFL Draft pick Marcus Smith wasn’t coming off the field in a pass-rushing situation — and sub package players. Before Deiontrez Mount and Sheldon Rankins became NFL Draft picks* at defensive end and defensive tackle, respectively, they were situational threats who came onto the field on pass-rushing downs and excelled at the Psycho package. Mount was especially interesting: he wasn’t going to start over Smith and Lorenzo Mauldin, but as a 6-foot-5 player who ran a 4.62-second 40-yard dash at Louisville’s Pro Day, he had a place somewhere.

*Mount was a sixth-round selection of the Tennessee Titans in 2015. Rankins is a projected first-round pick in next week’s NFL Draft.

And that’s where Texas could give some of its younger talent some options. Both outside linebacker signees Jeffrey McCulloch and Erick Fowler have explosive pass-rush potential. The No. 4 outside linebacker in the 247Sports Composite, McCulloch’s talents earned him the nickname “The Shark,” while Fowler was so successful pressuring opposing passers that some had him pegged for defensive end at the next level. Add in a player like 2015 signee Breckyn Hager, and Texas has a defensive end who came in as a linebacker and is plenty comfortable playing standing up.

Strong’s Louisville version basically used three defensive ends, one defensive tackle and a linebacker to apply five-man pressure. At Texas, that could include two defensive ends — let’s say Hughes and Hager — two linebackers — Jefferson and McCulloch/Fowler and perhaps a smaller, quicker defensive tackle like Marcel Southall.

That’s a lot of speed out a “front five” and the ability to generate one-on-one blocking or unblocked players would suit each of those players well.

But there’s another personnel reason Strong might not have gone with the Psycho front: uneven safety play. Calvin Pryor was an unbelievable player who covered for all manner of sins, and in the cases where five players were sent after the quarterback, the defensive backs had to cover well and tackle soundly to keep players from taking a short pass and turning it into a first down gain.

So why not Psycho?
A former Big 12 coach put it simply when he said, “It would be really tough to run that stuff in that league.”

Why? For a couple reasons. The first, as mentioned above, is the spread. Not every team in the Big 12 runs the spread (it only seems that way), and not every league team’s spread is created equal. But even with a safe pressure of sending four players, it can become difficult at times for a player showing blitz to rally back to his assignment.

The second, and potentially bigger reason? Some Big 12 teams like to go for it on fourth down. Send a ‘Psycho’ front at Baylor on third-and-10, for example, and the Bears would be more than happy to check into a trap or counter, run for seven (or more) yards and face a fourth-and-short. For Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl, a seven-yard play on third-and-10 meant a punt on fourth down. For Baylor, which went for it on fourth down 40 times in 13 games, a punt is hardly guaranteed.

Put it this way: the Bears punted just twice more in 2015 — 42 times — than they attempted a fourth-down conversion. And the Bears converted 70 percent of those attempts.

Still, while three Big 12 teams attempted an average of two or more fourth-down conversions per game, that wouldn’t seem to eliminate the possibility completely.

It’s likely that Texas won’t ever use the Psycho front as often, or as effectively, as Louisville did in that bowl game. That was a situation where the Cardinals’ scheme and personnel fit perfectly against a Miami team that was susceptible to it. But could Strong and Bedford reach back and pull out the front as a situational weapon, particularly as the Longhorns add the talent to run it?

It wouldn’t be ‘Psycho’ to see the possibilities.

 

[greyhammer90]

Charlie Strong, Texas football and the 'Psycho' defense

If they tried that we'd eat them alive sideline to sideline and with tunnel screens.

 

[ulukinatme]

If they tried that we'd eat them alive sideline to sideline and with tunnel screens.

You assume we don't run right into the pressure. We did a lot of that in 2013 it seemed, but less since Chuck Martin left.

 

[ClausentoTate]

Buechele went to my high school, AFAIK he's the only big-time D1 prospect we've had in a decade. Gonna be hard for me to root against him.

 

[Irish#1]

some buzz brewing about the texas freshman qb....think "poor mans manziel"....looks like he piled up a ton of stats in their spring game and longhorn faithful are revving up the hype train.

The Spring Game, where everyone's optimism is renewed before being dashed so cruelly in the fall.

 

[Legacy]

some buzz brewing about the texas freshman qb....think "poor mans manziel"....looks like he piled up a ton of stats in their spring game and longhorn faithful are revving up the hype train.

Breakdown of every pass by Texas QBs Tyrone Swoopes and Shane Buechele from Orange & White game

For each pass, I put what it looked like the route was supposed to be, but also could have missed that as some were out of the camera view. I also put a rudimentary grading scale of rating the play as excellent, good, bad or terrible.

 

[GoIrish41]

And who is going to be the guy to do an analysis like that for our spring game? That was some solid work.

 

[NDdomer2]

And who is going to be the guy to do an analysis like that for our spring game? That was some solid work.

Don't ask ACross...

 

[NDTH91]

Breakdown of every pass by Texas QBs Tyrone Swoopes and Shane Buechele from Orange & White game

Yikes... that sounded like a pretty bad day for swoopes, and made it sound like their receivers are brick walls.

... and it sounds like Buechele is the second coming. Let's hope he's nowhere near as good as this makes him sound lol

 

[Crazy Balki]

The Spring Game, where everyone's optimism is renewed before being dashed so cruelly in the fall.

Unless you're ND, where we're ahead of the curve. Our hopes are already dashed prior to spring practice.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

What happened to the Heard kid at QB?


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[dublinirish]

What happened to the Heard kid at QB?


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Texas Longhorns: Jerrod Heard out for rest of spring

missed most of spring with injuries

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Looking for some tickets if anybody has a lead, or extras?...PM me