Time to play a little rapid fire with the Long Horns as they get ready for their first season in the SEC. And one thing we know about joining the SEC, them boys don’t play right. So UTS competition is about to be turned up a notch or two or 3456789. Yeah, it’s gonna be massive. So, with that in mind, so let’s go ahead and get to our first rapid fire question.
We know Georgia is gonna be the toughest game on UT schedule.
What is Second Corey? Do you have anything in mind? I’m gonna let you think about it. Well, I tell you the right answer.
How about that? I’m going with the early season test to get the defending national champs, the Michigan Wolverines that game kicks off on September 7th. It’ll be UTS first road game of the season and we know it’ll be a hostile environment in Ann Arbor. This is the largest stadium in all of division one, college football. They’re gonna pack 100 and 10 screaming fans in there.
If the long horns win though, it would be an important statement taking down the reigning champs. See I needed that extra time because that was my first pick. So I’m gonna go with this one. As for me, I think the last game of the regular season will be an even tougher task at Kyle field against the Aggies who have waited a long 13 years to get revenge against the horns. They have a solid quarterback and Connor Wigman and new head coach Mike Elko will have them ready to play on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
So can’t wait to see that renewed rivalry now, swinging it back to Texas though. Jeff, who the player that’s going to be tough to replace from last season. I wanna talk about that archive footage. We just saw Ricky. That’s awesome.
Turning the clock back in time. All right, we keep on turning the clock back in time to the guys who left last year who’s gonna be the toughest to replace Corey. That’s a great question. I’m gonna go with AD and I Mitchell. The guy was a proven cheat code in the red zone, fades slants.
He could do it all. Then he would out jump and out muscle any DB in his way. When the field gets condensed down there deep in the red zone, you only have five or 10 yards to gain before the end zone.
You need a big target who you trust and Ad and I was definitely that guy for both Quinn and coach Sark last season. See I’m gonna stick with the same position, but I’m gonna go for a different reason.
So Jordan Winnington is my pick. And the reason is for what he did off the field is leadership that he brought. And also the way he’s able to bring people together and you can sense the love that he had for the game. I think that was the biggest thing for me knowing that in the locker room, everyone looked up to Jordan to be that leader.
So who’s gonna replace him?
That’s the question. And also just in the media and listen to him have questions. He’s a great sound bite and he loves ice cream. So I’m gonna miss those questions and answers about the ice cream as well. But all right, let’s shift our what’s up?
You got something on your mind. I know we have to move but you, you mentioned ice cream. We have an hour. Let’s chat a little bit. What’s the best ice cream flavor?
Butter pecan? My man. You know the vibe. Have you always liked butter pecan? Yeah, I’m an old man at heart.
I didn’t know. Ok. OK. Well, look at that my flavor too. I had no clue.
Have we had this conversation? I don’t think so.
Ok, we’ll talk next commercial break. Say let, let’s shift our focus to the guy. We think that will make the biggest impact this year who may not be someone that y’all are counting on right now.
Yeah, a name that you might not know today, but you would definitely know soon A K A the breakout player of the year and Corey, you know, I like to pat myself on the back when I can behind us. These were the two guys who you and I mentioned last year, you said ad and I Mitchell would break out.
I see t sweat would break out. Both of them broke out, won some awards and they’re now playing in the NFL. We were right.
So let’s be right again. You feel me who’s breaking out? Well, my pick is going to be Leona Lafa. He’s a sophomore linebacker from Hawaii and I kid you not. His name has been coming up all camp long, whether it’s its impact on special teams, how great of a teammate he is or simply his growth at his position.
Lao may not be a household name yet, but he’s definitely a locker room one and that’s a good sign for success. They call him the lion man and a lion is my favorite animal. So I like that. Pick a whole lot. I like my pick too.
My pick is number of having Silas Bolden. He’s a senior transfer from Oregon State.
The guy is undersized. There’s no hide in that, but there’s also no hiding his game breaking speed. Bolden also has experience.
He’s played in 37 college games, both as a wide receiver and a return man. The versatility, the speed, it all helps a guy whose physical stature is not gonna wow. Many defenders, Silas only stands about 5 ft eight, maybe 100 and 60 pounds, but you can’t measure heart and his head coach says Silas has plenty of that, you know, I think of like a Steve Smith, right, who was a fearless receiver, you know, at Utah and in the NFL Silas is fearless, you know, he’s not afraid to do any of the dirty work, but he also uses his strengths to, to his ability, cat quick.
He’s fast in the open field. He trusts his speed.
Uh, he’s elusive. Um, but at the end of the day, he doesn’t shy away from the contact and I think that’s the key ingredient for a guy that’s not the biggest player. He’s gotta, he’s gotta be brave, he’s gotta have courage. He’s, he’s gotta, you know, he’s gotta be fearless that he is.
Well, guys, we’re gonna dial the clock back a little bit to a few months ago.
Quinn Ewers Arch Manning and Trey Owens all had what I like to call moments of, wow, during the spring game back in April and what wowed me the most were Manning’s massive improvements from his first spring game to a second. Now, don’t take my word for it. I have two plays to show you where Arch was as a freshman and where he is. Now, let’s check him out. We’ll start with a play from last year’s spring game.
This throw is tough. It’s a 10 yard come back from one hash to outside the numbers on the other. It’s a throw that arch completed as a freshman, but barely it’s inaccurate, a difficult play for the receiver to make and doesn’t allow for any yards after the catch. Now, check out this year, same concept, a 10 yard come back from one hash to outside the numbers on the other side of the field. Much different result, an easy catch for the receiver who was able to turn and fall forward for another three yards.
Those three yards could be the difference between a first down and a three.
Now, next play different concept but the same massive improvement in accuracy. This is last year’s spring game. Savion Red lined up next Arch in the backfield. Saban’s job is to push the defender out and then cut in.
He did his job but the pass was off the mark fast forward to this year’s spring game, same route concept. Jaden Blue lined up in the backfield now he’ll push his defender out before cutting in Arch, puts the ball on the money time which leads to points. It’s improvements like those that L ESPN S Peter Burns to say Texas has not one but two quarterbacks who could eventually win Heisman trophies in this offense. Jeez high expectations, but that’s what happens when you got Manning as your last name. I guess you should say, huh?
Yeah. And when you’re making improvements like that you earn some butter pecan ice cream..
Read More: Scrimmage Takeaways | What Stood Out? | Texas Longhorns Football
