Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer delivered massive praise for Texas’ hiring of defensive coordinator Chris Ash.
When you receive a compliment from one of the most respected coaches in the game, it carries quite a bit of weight. Continue reading “Urban Meyer believes Texas DC Chris Ash was the best coordinator hire in CFB”
Texas’ social media department released a hype video and highlight reel of an emotional return to the field against UTEP.
Texas surpassed expectations in their season opener against UTEP. Continue reading “WATCH: Texas releases hype video, highlight reel of season opener”
Following the report that Texas safety B.J. Foster quit the team on Saturday, Tom Herman provided an update on his status with the team.
The last 48 hours have been a roller coaster for the Texas Longhorns and safety B.J. Foster. It was reported on Sunday morning by Anwar Richardson of Rivals that Foster quit the team in the third quarter of the Longhorns 59-3 win over UTEP. According to Pro Football Focus, Foster played just eight snaps on the night. In a bit of frustration, he allegedly quit the team. That was just the beginning of the roller coaster.
It was later reported by Chip Brown of 247Sports that Foster was in fact with the team during a lifting session at 12 pm Sunday. That was enough to cause a bit of confusion about what the status of B.J. Foster is with the team. Richardson later reported that he had met with the team and would remain a Texas Longhorn.
Head coach Tom Herman met with the media on Monday and provided an update on the former five-star recruit.
“B.J (Foster) obviously let his frustrations get the best of him,” Herman continued “was very contrite, very apologetic. We will handle the discipline in house. He knows what he did was wrong and let his frustration get the best of him. It’s ok to be frustrated but we need to be able to control our actions.” Herman went on to say “it would be water under the bridge for us and this team.”
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According to a report form 247Sports’ Chip Brown, Texas safety B.J. Foster was with the team after he allegedly quit in Saturday’s game.
The wild Sunday following the 59-3 victory over UTEP continues. Earlier in the day Anwar Richardson of Rivals reported that Texas safety B.J. Foster quit on the team during the third quarter of Saturday’s game. He noted that Foster was upset about a lack of playing time in the game. During the blowout opening game, Foster played a total of eight snaps according to Pro Football Focus.
Foster was listed behind Chris Brown on the opening week depth chart that was released by the Longhorns. Jerrin Thompson and Tyler Owens would play more snaps than Foster and it probably didn’t set well with him. Chip Brown of 247Sports is reporting that Foster took part in the lifting session at 12 pm on Sunday.
I’m told #Texas #Longhorns’ safety BJ Foster is at the team’s 12 pm lifting group right now.
— Chip Brown (@ChipBrown247) September 13, 2020
This situation feels eerily similar to the one early this offseason with Anthony Cook. He left the team and entered into the transfer portal before cooler heads prevailed and he returned to the team. Cook as you know was listed behind Chris Adimora at the spur position.
As this wild situation continues, Longhorns Wire will keep you posted.
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The Texas Longhorns won big on Saturday night against UTEP. Here are the three reasons Texas won big, including the new Air Raid attack.
The Texas Longhorns were heavy favorites going into their opening game against UTEP. By kickoff, the original line of (-42.5) grew to (-44.5) according to BetMGM.
The game was never in question, which is why you see a 56-point margin of victory 59-3. It was the second time the Longhorns opened the season under Tom Herman with a 56-point victory after shutting out San Jose State in 2017.
Three reasons the Longhorns beat UTEP on Saturday Night
From the first snap, you could see this passing attack from the Texas Longhorns was different. This isn’t your daddy’s Texas football team. Its offense has always been built on balance. Establishing both the run and pass. However, Mike Yurcich got the team firing through the air. Something he was known for, dating to his time in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
This play is a Mike Yurcich staple from Oklahoma State. Seen this with Mason Rudolph and James Washington pic.twitter.com/84c61Gfggv
— Patrick (@PatSportsGuy) September 13, 2020
One of the keys in this style of passing attack is spreading the ball around. Five Longhorns caught Ehlinger touchdown passes. Overall, between all three quarterbacksm 10 receivers caught at least two passes. Had it not been for a backward pass from Hudson Card, you could have added Malcolm Epps to the list.
Texas safety B.J. Foster reportedly quit the team during the third quarter of the season opener against UTEP.
A shocking report surfaced on Sunday morning that Texas safety B.J. Foster chose to quit the team during the third quarter of the season opener against UTEP. Continue reading “Report: Texas safety B.J. Foster quits the team during UTEP game”
With the Texas Longhorns set to kick off the season on Saturday, Longhorns Wire takes a look at areas of concern for the opener.
The start of the Texas Longhorns football season is finally upon us. A little over 24 hours away from the UTEP Miners and Texas Longhorns kicking off at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Recently the Texas Longhorns named their team captains for the season, really no shocking selections. It just means that we are that much closer to 18,000 fans piling into DKR. Hopefully this is a Big 12 Championship contending season for the burnt orange faithful.
This game is not expected to be one that is even relatively close. The UTEP Miners are coming off a 1-11 season in 2019. They struggled to defeat a FCS foe in Stephen F. Austin, in which they fell behind early 14-3. While they were able to rally from behind, if the Miners and quarterback Gavin Hardison find themselves down early it could be over before the first quarter ends. Texas is clearly the more talented team, it is just a matter of if the Longhorns buy into their own hype and overlook UTEP.
Even being heavy favorites according to BetMGM, there are still areas for concern in the upcoming game. This is the first live action for many of these Longhorns. The incoming freshman class such as Bijan Robinson and Alfred Collins getting their opportunity to prove their value and why they were 247Sports Composite five-star recruits.
We start with Longhorns Wire’s areas of concern with the health of the team.
Locked on Longhorns giving you updates on the Jake Smith injury, UTEP chat with Adrian Broaddus and football on Thursday Night.
The latest Locked on Longhorns podcast opens up discussing the Jake Smith injury that occurred on Tuesday What does this mean for the depth chart? With Jordan Whittington now healthy ahead of the opener, how much will we see of the talented redshirt freshman talent? A player with his injury history is a concern.
Head coach Tom Herman updated the injury news on Thursday morning with an appearance on The Horn in Austin. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich stated the team would be going with a wide receiver by committee. With the injury to Smith, could we see more tight ends in the game?
Chris Ash spoke with the media bout his Rugby style of tackling. How they might improve their defense in 2020 with his coaching. Ash also had quite the compliment for quarterback Sam Ehlinger.
Adrian Broaddus of ESPN El Paso helps break down the UTEP Miners football team. What were some of his takeaways from the victory over Stephen F. Austin? Can the Miners challenge the 42.5 point spread in this game and what is his final prediction.
What do we expect to see on Saturday night? Could the Longhorns cover the spread? Takeaways from the Broaddus interview plus can UTEP find a way to do enough to keep it interesting. What football game are we looking for ward to on Thursday night? Plus what the host of Locked on LSU said about Tom Herman and the Texas Longhorns.
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On Tuesday, Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Chris Ash talked about the Rugby style of tackling. Why is is safer and more effective.
When the Texas Longhorns decided to hire Chris Ash as the new defensive coordinator for the 2020 season, one of the first things I wanted to do was research his history. The first job people wanted to bring up was Rutgers. It was his most recent stop and it was anything but successful. Ash was relieved of his duties before he got very far into the 2019 year. However, he had a lot of success at Ohio State as the defensive coordinator on a National Championship team.
Phil Harrison of Buckeyes Wire spoke about his impact, specifically on his tackling style that helped Ohio State.
Another thing Ash brought to Ohio State was the concept of rugby-style tackling instead of traditional violent hitting and wrapping to bring a ball carrier down. It took convincing, but Meyer relented and Ohio State went from being a defense that missed a ton of tackles, to one that improved greatly. He’ll likely bring the same thing to Texas.
During media availability session on Tuesday, Ash was asked about this style of tackling. What exactly is rugby tackling?
“There is a lot of people out there that refer to a certain tackling style as rugby tackling,” Ash started out. “It’s just shoulder tackling. Years ago player safety became a really hot topic of conversation around how we coach the game. As we went and researched how we could make this game safer, a lot of those conversations were around tackling. We wanted to be on the forefront of trying to tackle in a way that we could reduce the number of blows to the head.”
#rugbytackle pic.twitter.com/ANzqIWmkQh
— Rocky Osborn 🤘🏽🏈🏀 🏉 🧡🌈 (@rockyknowsbest) September 9, 2020
“There is an old school way to do it and there is a new school way to do it. I studied a lot of Rugby. I see the physicality in those styles of tackling and they don’t have helmets, they don’t have protective gear on. They are using their shoulder. I really thought this is something that we could use in football. Some people were using it before. It was something we incorporated back in 2014.”
For the Longhorns defense, getting better at bringing down the ball carrier is a must. In the Big 12 Conference, especially a team like Oklahoma, making solid tackles in the open field is a must. Much like Harrison said, he improved the Buckeyes tackling. Plus as Chris Ash spoke about, player safety should be a forefront of everyones minds.
“I just think it is the safest way to tackle and honestly it is the most effective way. It’s the way most of the players tackle anyway. So as I studied that and looked at that, I’m like why are we not teaching that this way. And we made a huge transition several years ago. It’s been good to us ever since.”
The Longhorns are set to kickoff the 2020 college football season in a matter of days. Here is the preview as Texas looks to take down OU.
This coming Saturday the Texas Longhorns will kickoff their 128th college football season. During that time the Longhorns have put together a 916-375-33 record that ranks 3rd all-time. That mark is tied the Alabama Crimson Tide. They are one of seven schools who can claim 900 wins in their history.
The Longhorns look to open the season with a win for only the second time in the Tom Herman era. The team is 1-2 in the first three opening games for Herman, both losses came against Maryland. This will also be the first time the Longhorns will open the season against the UTEP Miners. Texas-El Paso defeated FCS opponent Stephen F. Austin in their opening game of the year 24-14.
The kickoff set for Sept. 12 is the latest that Texas has kicked off the season since 1986. That year Texas and Stanford faced off on Sept. 13, the Longhorns lost that game 31-20. That season Texas finished 5-6 and failed to qualify for a bowl game. It would end up being Fred Akers final season as the head coach for Texas. Here is to hoping history doesn’t repeat itself.
