Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Steve Sarkisian provided some much-needed good news about the health of his team during his Monday press conference.
Texas has been hit by the injury bug a couple of times during fall camp. Continue reading “Steve Sarkisian provides an injury update following Saturday’s scrimmage”
Detrimental news for the Longhorns.
Four players practice ended early due to injury on Saturday.
Running back Roschon Johnson, wide receiver Isaiah Neyor, offensive guard Junior Angilau and defensive back Jahdae Barron each left the field.
Geoff Ketchum of Orangebloods reports Neyor and Angilau will miss the 2022 season due to knee injuries. Detrimental news for the Longhorns.
Multiple sources are reporting to Orangebloods that junior wide receiver Isaiah Neyor and senior offensive lineman Junior Angilau both suffered season-ending knee injuries on Saturday.
— Geoff Ketchum (@gkketch) August 14, 2022
Neyor was poised to have a major role in Texas’ offense after transferring from Wyoming in the offseason. He figured to be the No. 2 receiver behind Xavier Worthy. Pressure now moves to the rest of the wide receiver room to step up.
Angilau is the most experienced offensive lineman on the Longhorns’ roster. The fifth-year senior has started 34 games in his collegiate career and chose to return for the 2022 season. Losing Angilau is a killer blow for Kyle Flood’s offensive line unit.
Steve Sarkisian is expected to provide more details on the Texas injury report during his media availability after practice on Monday.
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Steve Sarkisian will address injury concerns at his media availability on Monday.
Texas entered Saturday relatively healthy. After the scrimmage, the Longhorns added four players to the injury report.
Roschon Johnson, Isaiah Neyor, Jahdae Barron and Junior Angilau were named among players whose practice ended early. We will find out Monday if their exits from practice were more precautionary or cause for concern.
In today's Texas scrimmage, RB Roschon Johnson, WR Isaiah Neyor and G Junior Angilau were all injured to varying degrees, according to @OBWire. Sark will next speak with reporters on Monday.
— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) August 13, 2022
Johnson and Angilau enter what would likely be the final season for each player in Austin. Both have much to gain by a strong showing this year.
Many believe Johnson is an NFL running back, while Angilau has the experience to command scouts’ attention. Both upperclassmen are regarded as vocal leaders. Their presence and absence will undoubtedly be felt by their teammates.
Isaiah Neyor figured to play an integral role in the Texas offense as well this season. The Wyoming transfer has been one of the team’s best players this offseason.
Barron, of course, is among the more versatile defensive backs on the team.
While its not yet cause for panic, the reports of potential injuries are noteworthy. Steve Sarkisian will address injury concerns at his media availability on Monday.
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Head coach Steve Sarkisian provided an injury report before traveling to Arkansas.
Texas came out of the season opener against Louisiana without any major injuries. Junior Angilau was the only one to leave the game with a problem.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian confirmed the guard would be good to go Saturday against Arkansas. Angilau is expected to keep his place as the starting right guard and was at the position on the depth chart released Monday afternoon.
Flipping to the not-so-positive news, two players are in danger of missing the trip to Fayetteville.
Sarkisian said tight end Jared Wiley would be a game-time decision. He has been dealing with a shoulder injury throughout fall camp and only got a few snaps against Louisiana.
True freshman Gunnar Helm stepped up in his place as the H-back tight end. Neither player recorded a reception.
Wide receiver Tory Omeire was the only non-season-ending injury to miss out last week. It sounds like he will continue to miss time with a knee injury.
After tearing his ACL in fall camp last year, Omeire seemed to retweak the injury during the open practice in late August.
“Troy [Omeire] is rehabbing, he’s running, he looks good,” said Sarkisian. “Hopefully, we get him back sooner rather than later but we definitely want to make sure he is in the right space physically to do so.”
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Offensive line coach Herb Hand’s unit hasn’t been great for the Texas Longhorns. On Saturday they provided no help for a struggling offense.
There are plenty of areas of the Texas Longhorns football team that can be highlighted as an issue for this football team. On Saturday, offensive line coach Herb Hand and his unit moved to the forefront of the conversation. This season that unit has been under fire all year. Against the Sooners in Dallas, Texas the offensive line didn’t provide any relief for a struggling offense.
This isn’t something new for Hand. During his final year at Auburn, it was also a problem. They were ranked 10th in the Southeastern Conference in sacks allowed. It seems to be a common issue for Hand’s units. When Tom Herman wiped out most of the staff, he kept Hand and running back’s coach Stan Drayton. Hand hasn’t been able to fix some of these issues that continue to bite them.
Using Pro Football Focus numbers, the team as a whole allowed 23 pressures by the Sooners defense. Of the times that Sam Ehlinger dropped back to pass, he faced pressure on 32.8% of the time. Essentially a third of the time, the quarterback faced some sort of pressure. On those passes he was sacked a total of six times in this game. Ehlinger had an amoebic 2.6 yards per attempt. Longhorns Wire will have more on Ehlinger’s struggles a bit later on.
Up front the line was unable to give Ehlinger enough time in the pocket. Christian Jones led the team with allowed pressures. He allowed eight total pressures and one sack. No one on the team had more than three pressured surrendered in this game. Left tackle Samuel Cosmi was the lone blocker to not allow a single pressure on the quarterback.
Derek Kerstetter and Junior Angilau both allowed three pressures and one sack apiece. Angilau also was called for two different penalties that hurt the football team. The lone penalty from Kerstetter cost the football team a shot at a touchdown. After a long run by Ehlinger, the team was set up with a forth and short inside the five-yard line. The personal foul after the play forced Texas to kick a field goal and take the decision to go for it off the table.
Kerstetter as a whole has struggled at the center position since moving over from right tackle. Denzel Okafor allowed two pressures and a sack. All in all they haven’t been a very solid unit. Their struggles fall at the feet of Hand and head coach Tom Herman. With the bye week for the Texas Longhorns before they host Baylor, it would be as good a time as any to make some changes on the line.
The Longhorns have a highly touted center listed behind Kerstetter. Jake Majors was one of the top recruits from the 2020 cycle. His rankings according to 247Sports Composite put Majors as the No. 5 center in the country as a four-star recruit. Kerstetter was one of the highest graded right tackles, it might be a better move to fix the center and right tackle. Isaiah Hookfin should also get some looks at the guard spot in place of Okafor.
The big issue with Hand’s unit is not only the struggles with protecting the quarterback but also running the football. The Longhorns team is much better when they can get the running game going. Outside of breaking some long runs, this team has been unable to get any semblance of a run game going.
The team has run for 474 yards this year without Ehlinger’s 242 yards included. The team needs to get more from the run game and it starts up front. The team hasn’t been able to have a consistent run game to help out the offense that has shown some struggles over the last two games. The offense needs to be better and while no one unit or player is to blame, it would benefit from an improved effort in the trenches.
Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman spoke about the offensive line’s performance against Texas Tech.
There are a lot of storylines to unpack after the Texas Longhorns survived a 15-point deficit with just over three minutes left in the game. Sam Ehlinger rallied his team two touchdown passes and a two-point conversion sandwiched around an onside kick recovery. Needing to score fast and effeciently with the clock winding down, Yurcich abandoned the run and let Ehlinger go to work through the air.
However, one of the focal points after the wild 63-56 win was the offensive line for the Texas Longhorns. Ehlinger would be sacked four times during this game. The offensive line allowed 12 pressures total according to Pro Football Reference. That equates to pressure on 23.5% of drop backs. On the flip side the Red Raiders allowed zero sacks and pressure on 20% of drop backs.
Tom Herman spoke with the media on Monday and he weighed in on his offensive line.
Texas football coach Tom Herman said the offensive line played better than he thought after watching the film during his Big 12 media conference call
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) September 28, 2020
While the argument can be made that he played better than he thought, there is really no excuse for this unit. Coach Herb Hand’s unit was getting beat consistently with just three man pressure. Late in the third quarter, the Red Raiders brought three men on a rush that forced Sam on the run where he threw his lone interception. The next drive Tech would take the lead 42-38 as they closed the third quarter.
The offensive line needs to fix some of their issues with Texas Christian and Oklahoma looming on the schedule. If the Longhorns want to take the Big 12 Championship for the first time since 2009, then fixing the protection is going to be monumental.
PFF pass blocking grades against Texas Tech
| Lineman | Grades |
| Junior Angilau | 79.1 |
| Samuel Cosmi | 77.2 |
| Christian Jones | 75.8 |
| Denzel Okafor | 75.1 |
| Derek Kerstetter | 50.7 |
The only member of the offensive line not credited with a sack given up in the Tech game was Denzel Okafor.
According to Rivals, guard Isaiah Hookfin will be out for two to three weeks. The redshirt freshmen suffered a shoulder injury in practice.
According to Anwar Richardson of OrangeBloods.com, guard Isaiah Hookfin will be out for two to three weeks. The redshirt freshmen suffered a shoulder injury in practice this week.
If Hookfin does miss the maximum timeline of three weeks, the guard would miss the season opener against UTEP. The Longhorns are scheduled to host the Miners on Sept. 12.
However, Brian Davis of the Austin States-American is reporting Hookfin will be ready to go for the opener.
Hookfin is going into his second year with the program. He sat out all of last year, taking a redshirt year. Now, Hookfin is projected to be the starting right guard against UTEP.
Redshirt sophomore Willie Tyler was supposed to start, however, he opted out of the 2020 season on Aug. 19.
With Derek Kerstetter moving from right tackle to center, the interior offensive line will consist of Junior Angilau, Kerstetter, and Hookfin. All three will be playing their respective positions for the first time in college.
Texas redshirt freshman guard Isaiah Hookfin will miss the next two to three weeks after sustaining a shoulder injury in practice this week, according to my sources.
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) August 27, 2020
Texas redshirt freshman OL Isaiah Hookfin sustained a shoulder injury in practice on Tuesday, school announces. He is still expected to play against UTEP.
— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) August 27, 2020
Texas’ offensive line is expected to be a strength this season, even with injuries. Protecting quarterback Sam Ehlinger and giving him time to make plays is what makes the Texas offense work.
Just over two weeks from the UTEP game, the Longhorns will be working to remain healthy. A couple of weeks off the practice field will make sure Hookfin is ready to go on Sept. 12.
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As the countdown to Texas football continues, we remember the best Longhorn to wear number 75. Octavious Bishop and Junior Angilau.
Longhorns Wire is continuing the series of jersey numbers to match the days until the Texas kicks off the season. On Thursday we find ourselves remembering number 75.
During the years of Ricky Williams setting records, one of the key blockers in front of him was Octavious Bishop. He was the starting left tackle for three years in Austin. While blocking up front, it allowed Williams to run for 1,893 yards and 25 touchdowns in 1997. He would follow that up with 2,124 yards and 27 touchdowns in 1998.
Bishop was part of the final Southwest Conference Championship team in 1995 and the very first Big 12 Championship team in 1996. Despite the fact that he was able to pave the way for Williams, 1997 was a forgettable season for the Longhorns as they fell to 4-7 that season and John Mackovic was replaced by Mack Brown.
In his final season with Texas, Bishop and the Longhorns rebounded with a 9-3 season in 1998. The team would fail to capture the Big 12 South Division and return to the Big 12 Title game. They would play in the Cotton Bowl and defeat Mississippi State 38-11.
Bishop would move on to the NFL but after failed attempts in the NFL and NFL Europe, he tried his luck with the XFL before it folded. Bishop would return to his alma mater in 2016 in a support staff role for Charlie Strong. It lasted only a year. Bishop is currently a Family Pastor at LifeAustin and an Associate Professor at Austin Community College.
In 2018, Junior Angilau redshirted his freshman season. In 2019 as a redshirt freshman, Angilau played and started 12 games at right guard between current center Derek Kerstetter and former center Zach Shackelford. Angilau should maintain his role as a starter in 2020 as they shuffle the line.
Along with Sam Cosmi, Kerstetter, Tope Imade and Denzel Okafor they should make up the starting five. Angilau is looking to keep his quarterback upright while creating holes for their three-headed rushing attack. Angilau should only improve in 2020.
Athlon Sports released their 2020 All-Big 12 team. With four different teams, the Texas Longhorns walked away with 16 total selections.
Athlon Sports has released their 2020 All-Conference teams with the Texas Longhorns have the third-most selections. Oklahoma (18) and Iowa State (17) were the only teams with more than Texas’ 16 selections. Cornerback D’Shawn Jamison was selected three different times by Athlon.
There is absolutely no surprise with Sam Ehlinger leading the charge as the top quarterback in the conference. The senior quarterback will be looking to lead the Longhorns back to the top of the conference and cement his legacy much like Vince Young and Colt McCoy did before him.
Sam Cosmi is viewed as a first round draft pick and fringe top 15 selection. With no question he is the top offensive tackle of the conference and might be the best lineman as well. He will make himself a lot of money with another stellar season in 2020.
Joseph Ossai is listed at linebacker although he will be playing closer to the line of scrimmage at the “Jack” position. Ossai showed just what time of impact he can have in the Valero Alamo Bowl against the Utah Utes. When asked to rush the passer, Ossai can be a disruptive force.
D’Shawn Jamison shows up on the list three different times. Once as a cornerback and twice as a return specialist. Jamison led the team a year ago with three interceptions. He also led the team in kick return and punt return yardage in 2019.
