Tag: Big 12 Football

Texas Longhorns Represented In ESPN’s Top 150 College Football Players List

The Texas Longhorns are well represented on the ESPN Top 150 college football players of all-time.

In a continued celebration of 150 years of college football,  media organizations have produced lists such as the top 150 teams in college football history. That list came from USA Today Sports, however ESPN has recently released number 26-150 of the top 150 college football players.

Once again you can bet your bottom dollar that the Texas Longhorns would have players who make the list. Four Texas Longhorns players were represented among the first 125 players on their initial list, there are still 25 more players to be released, with players 12-25 to be announced on the story linked above and the top 11 to be revealed during halftime of the National Championship Game on Monday.

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It’s all in the Cards; Texas has QB Ehlinger’s successor

There’s a bright future expected for dual-threat quarterback Hudson Card, one of Texas’ top commitments in their 2020 class. With only one year of eligibility left, current quarterback Sam Ehlinger will be able to assist in grooming Card to become …

There’s a bright future expected for dual-threat quarterback Hudson Card, one of Texas’ top commitments in their 2020 class.

With only one year of eligibility left, current quarterback Sam Ehlinger will be able to assist in grooming Card to become the starter as soon as the 2021 season.

Following in Ehlinger’s footsteps quite literally, Card is also an Austin native who occupied a spot on the Elite 11 Finals roster, the nation’s premier quarterback competition.

The four-star prospect had a breakout junior season with 3,543 passing yards, 50 touchdowns, and four interceptions at Lake Travis. Although Card was sidelined six weeks in 2019 due to a foot injury, similar to Ehlinger’s senior season in high school, Card participated in the 2020 Under Armour All-America game in Orlando this month.

It doesn’t appear that the foot injury hindered Card’s play in any way. After earning the start for Team Pressure in the All-America game, Card completed his first four passes and had the game-deciding touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.

Card possesses sufficient height at 6-2.5 and expects to bulk up his frame at the next level. If there’s one attribute that may exceed Ehlinger, it’s Card’s accuracy within the pocket. They both use their quickness, creativity, and athleticism to escape the rush, but Card’s touch on downfield throws is impressive.

If the cards are played right, the Longhorns are fortunate to have this signal caller for the future.

How to watch, listen, and stream Texas basketball against Kansas State

Both UT and KSU need to get a win to jump-start the rest of their seasons. Here is how you can watch, listen, and stream the two face off.

It has been a tough start to Big 12 play for the Longhorns, as they have started 0-2. Losing on the road to Baylor and dropping a home game to Oklahoma for the first time in five years, Texas has been less than impressive in the new year.

With another chance to get a win at home, Kansas State visits the Frank Erwin Center on Saturday night. The Wildcats have also started poorly in the Big 12, losing to Oklahoma and TCU. Both teams need to get a victory to jump-start the rest of their seasons.

Here is how you can watch, listen, and stream Texas basketball square off against Kansas State:

Game information:

Date: 1/11/2020

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Location: Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas

Watch: Longhorn Network

Listen: TexasSports.com/audio —Austin 104.9FM, 99.3FM, 98.5FM, 1260AM; Dallas 1080AM; El Paso 600AM; Houston 790AM; San Antonio 1200AM — Spanish: Austin 105.3FM; Dallas 990AM, 99.9FM

Stream: Watch ESPN app

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More Texas Longhorns Staff Shakeups On The Way?

Reports have surfaced that cornerbacks coach Jason Washington will not be retained for the Texas Longhorns. Could Jay Valai be the guy?

The reports concerning the Texas Longhorns’ staff heading into 2020 have been at a fever pitch. Following the news that Craig Naivar is out as an assistant in the secondary and running backs coach Stan Drayton could be heading to the NFL, there might be more still to come.

New defensive coordinator Chris Ash is looking to bring his own defensive staff following his hire. Reports are beginning to surface about cornerbacks coach Jason Washington being let go as the defensive assistant shuffle moves along.

Washington has been a coach in the state of Texas since 2004 with stops at Rice, Texas State, Houston and Texas. With any new coordinator, bringing in coaches they have dealt with is no shock. According to Anwar Richardson, the name to replace Washington will be Rutgers cornerbacks coach Jay Valai.

Ash brought over the former Wisconsin Badgers cornerback as his cornerbacks coach when he took over at Rutgers. Valai was working with the Kansas City Chiefs as a defensive quality control coach prior to the move.

The big question now will be, how will that impact recruiting given that Washington does well to recruit talent in the state of Texas.

Texas Longhorns Ranked In Top 20 Of ESPN’s FPI

The Texas Longhorns season may be over but there is optimism about the program. Texas finished in top 20 of FPI.

The Texas Longhorns’ 2019 football season may be over after their 38-10 victory over the Utah Utes but there is still plenty of optimism as they move into the final stages of recruiting in February.

According to ESPN, the Longhorns are ranked in the top 20 in their FPI rankings. FPI is the football power index. ESPN explains the ranking. Texas finished with a FPI of 13.

The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 10,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily.

The Longhorns were also top 25 in team efficiencies another ranking that is developed by ESPN analytics. Texas finished with a team efficiency of 68.9 which is tied for 24th in the nation.

Team efficiencies are based on the point contributions of each unit to the team’s scoring margin, on a per-play basis. The values are adjusted for strength of schedule and down-weighted for “garbage time” (based on win probability). The scale goes from 0 to 100; higher numbers are better and the average is roughly 50 for all categories. Efficiencies update daily during the season.

New offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich is joining the staff after helping the Ohio State Buckeyes to the number one ranking with 33.7 in FPI and number one in team efficiency with 96.6. With Yurcich, Texas could rise in those rankings under his leadership.

Could potential changes to Texas’ staff impact 2020 five-star commit?

Could Texas lose 2020 five-star commitment to coaching staff changes?

Every coaching staff plays a critical role in landing top rated high school athletes. When a player is highly sought-after, it’s often times the connection and comfort made with a particular coach that sways their decision.

That’s exactly what happened to Texas’ highest-rated player in their 2020 class. Five-star running back Bijan Robinson was heavily recruited by former offensive coordinator Tim Beck and current running backs coach Stan Drayton.

Beck and Drayton were both significantly involved in the Longhorns offense when Robinson announced his verbal commitment in August. Unfortunately, that’s the cruel uncertainty of college football.

A few months later, Beck was demoted by head coach Tom Herman due to an underwhelming 2019 season. The former Longhorns offensive coordinator later accepted the same position at North Carolina State University.

There wasn’t much hesitation for the record-breaking running back amidst the departure of Beck. According to Bleacher Report’s Adam Kramer, Herman contacted Robinson shortly after to reassure him that Drayton, Robinson’s primary recruiter, would remain on the staff as his position coach.

Robinson has not underrated the importance of Drayton throughout his recruiting process, even expressing to Austin American-Statesman that it may have played the biggest role in his decision.

“What coach Drayton has done in these past years – he’s a big reason why I chose Texas.”

Robinson signed his National Letter of Intent on December 18.

As much as Texas has vied to keep Drayton on staff in 2020, there’s now serious competition for his services. The National Football League began expressing interest over the past two days, including the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams.

Would a return to the NFL, primarily a reunion with running back Ezekiel Elliott in Dallas, be the one opportunity Drayton would leave the Longhorns for?

The consistency of a coaching staff can be described in just five words.

You’re there until you aren’t.

Texas Longhorns Safety Visits Cancer Patient

Texas Longhorns safety has become a fan favorite both on and off the field. He recently visited Judson football player Bryce Wisdom.

Caden Sterns can be an absolute menace in the secondary for the Texas Longhorns’ defense. Whether it is delivering a bone-crushing hit across the middle of the field, blitzing from his safety position or plucking passes out of the air in front of opposing receivers, Sterns leaves it all out on the field. However, there is another side of the Longhorns’ safety and that has to be the compassionate side.

This afternoon Caden met with former Judson football player Bryce Wisdom in the hospital. He even took a photo that was shared by his mother Diana on Twitter.

Wisdom wanted to play varsity football like his two older brothers before him when he was diagnosed with stage two kidney cancer. He has been in the fight for his life but as you can see his spirits still remain high. The San Antonio community has come together for young Bryce. Even NFL players such as Tre Flowers has got involved.

If you would like to help this family, please visit his Bryce Strong GoFundMe page.

 

Three landing spots in the 2020 NFL Draft for Collin Johnson

Johnson’s size and athleticism are what make him a desirable target for many NFL teams. Here are three spots for him in the 2020 NFL draft.

Forgoing the 2019 NFL Draft, Longhorns wide receiver Collin Johnson came back for his senior season. It did not fully go to plan, as he spent most of the year injured. However, when he did play, he put up mega numbers for the Longhorns, competing with Devin Duvernay for the title of the best receiver on the team.

Finishing his Texas career strongly, he had over 100 receiving yards in his final two regular-season games against TCU and Kansas State, while he hauled in 62 yards on three catches in the bowl game against Utah. What makes him so dangerous is his size, coming in at 6 feet 6 inches and 220 pounds.

His size and athleticism are what makes Johnson a desirable target for many NFL teams. While he is not going to walk in and be the star/main receiver for many teams, what he will be is a bigger guy who will be a matchup nightmare for a team’s second or third best corner.

Here are three landing spots for Collin Johnson in the 2020 NFL Draft:

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2020 Texas Longhorns: B.J. Foster Profile

The Texas Longhorns are loaded with talent in the defensive backfield. Can B.J. Foster help lead the defense to greater heights in 2020?

In high school B.J. Foster was a two-way star for Angleton High School in the state of Texas. He had one year of good production as a receiver and running back but he was always a better player on the defensive side of the ball. In 2020, Foster should be in line to start opposite of Caden Sterns. This would give the Longhorns a safety duo that were five-star recruits according to 247 composite rankings.

Foster was used some as the nickel cornerback but could move inside with the departure of Brandon Jones to the NFL. There could be a competition for the starting spot this spring with freshmen safety Tyler Owens. Foster has the experience having played in 21 games over his first two seasons in Austin.

He has the length that scouts love to see in the secondary, which doesn’t give taller receivers much of an advantage over Foster. He has all the potential to be another threat on the backend for the Longhorns’ defense. Foster is able to show off good range and he has shown some good skills to get to the football. He has recorded an interception in each season.

For this team, the Longhorns need to get back to being in the conversation as one of the top defensive back factories in college. That starts with B.J. Foster and Caden Sterns.

Large buyout may keep Texas from hiring new WR coach

There has been speculation about Kansas wide receiver coach Emmett Jones. The only issue is that UT is not prepared to buy a large buyout.

After the regular season ended, Texas fired wide receivers coach Drew Mehringer after three seasons with the Longhorns. A few weeks later and the position still has not been filled. There has been speculation about Kansas wide receiver coach Emmett Jones joining Tom Herman’s staff, but there may be an issue.

According to Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman, Texas is not excited about the possibility of paying a large buyout for Jones. He is also reporting that the buyout is set at $225,000. Because of this, the Longhorns may pass on him and go in a different direction to find their wide receivers coach.

After working for local DFW high schools for nearly 13 years, Jones got a role in Kliff Kingsbury staff at Texas Tech in 2015. After one year as a player developer, he was promoted to wide receivers coach. After Kingsbury was fired from Texas Texas, Jones ended up at Kansas, working for head coach Les Miles and his staff.

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