Tag: longhorns recruiting

Two quarterbacks sign with Texas

The first of two National Signing Days are taking place today. UT started the day out strong, locking up two of their top recruits.

The early signing period is finally here and the first of two National Signing Days are taking place today. The Longhorns started the day out strong, as they locked two of their top recruits.

Ja’Quinden Jackson from Duncanville, TX and Hudson Card from Austin, TX both signed their national letter of intent this morning, making their verbal commitment official. Both players are quarterbacks, each playing at Texas high school football’s highest division. Each of them are a four star recruits and they are currently the two highest signed players so far today, according to 247Sports.

Jackson is officially listed as an athlete according to 247Sports, but played quarterback at Duncanville High School. In his playoff semi final game, it is being reported that he tore his ACL and will be out for awhile.

Getting another quarterback out of the Austin area, Card went to Lake Travis High School. He has been committed to Texas since May of 2018 and has been wanting to be a Longhorn for most of his life.

Having depth at quarterback is always a good thing and Texas has that with these two signees. Sam Ehlinger is expected to come back for his senior season, but third string Roschon Johnson played running back all season. A quarterback room of Ehlinger, Casey Thompson, Johnson, Jackson, and Card will provide the Longhorns with depth for years.

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Running back of the decade: D’Onta Foreman

Three 2010s Texas RBs are all in the top 15 career rushing list for the Horns. Foreman gets the nod as the best running back in the decade.

Even though the Longhorns struggled in the early parts of the decade, one part of the offense was really solid. Texas consistently had good running backs throughout the 2010s. D’Onta Foreman, Malcolm Brown and Jonathan Gray are all in the top 15 career rushing list for the Longhorns. It was difficult to pick one of them, but Foreman gets the nod as the best running back for Texas in the 2010s.

It was close between him and Malcolm Brown as they have similar numbers. Foreman has more rushing yards, but Brown has more touchdowns and did better in the passing game. What ended up giving Foreman the nod is the monster season he had in 2016.

In 2016, he had the first 2,000-yard season in Longhorn history since Ricky Williams did it in 1998. Foreman finished second in the country in rushing that year, only 107 yards behind San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey. His efforts were good enough to see him win the 2016 Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s best running back.

Years played: 2014, 2015, 2016

Rushing stats: 431 attempts, 2,774 yards, 6.4 yards per carry, 20 TDs

Receiving stats: 13 receptions, 146 yards

Best game: vs Texas Tech, 2016. 33 rushing attempts, 341 rushing yards, 10.4 yards per carry, three touchdowns

Best moment: Game tying touchdown in the fourth quarter vs Notre Dame in 2016

Accomplishments: Doak Walker Award (2016), First Team All American (2016), First Team All Big 12 (2016), Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award (2016)

Foreman’s career for Texas may not have been great overall three seasons he played, but 2016 was the best season a Longhorn running back has had since Ricky Williams. He went on to be drafted in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft, 89th overall to the Houston Texans. While he is not currently on an NFL roster due to injury, what Foreman did for Texas in his junior season will live on for years to come.

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Texas loses another four star prospect in the 2020 class

Four-star WR Quentin Johnston had been committed to Texas since Aug. The receiver announced that he will be flipping from Texas to TCU.

The day before the early signing period for the 2020 recruiting class just got worse for Texas. Four-star wide receiver Quentin Johnston had been committed to Texas since the beginning of the season, saying he would be joining the Longhorns on Aug. 17.

The receiver out of Temple High School announced via his Snapchat that he will be flipping from Texas to TCU and signing with the Horned Frogs on Wednesday.

This is now the seventh different recruit the Longhorns have lost in the 2020 class. According to 247Sports, because of Johnston’s flip, Texas no longer has the top-rated class in the Big 12. Oklahoma jumped the Longhorns, who now sit at No. 10 in the national rankings.

Currently without an offensive coordinator, recruits do not know who is going to be their coach come spring practice. As for Johnston, he would not even have had a position coach as Texas fired wide receivers coach Drew Mehringer after the season ended. With Graham Harrell out of the conversation, Tom Herman needs to make a move quickly to fill the offensive coordinator role so recruits do not continue to decommit from Texas.

Chris Ash officially named defensive coordinator

After reports going around about Chris Ash becoming the DC, it was made official today. Texas sent out a tweet welcoming Ash to Texas.

Having both the offensive and defensive coordinator jobs open at the moment, one of those has officially been filled. After reports going around about Chris Ash becoming the team’s defensive coordinator, Texas made it official today. The Longhorn Football Twitter account sent out a tweet welcoming Ash to Texas.

Ash was the head coach of Rutgers before being fired at the beginning of October. There were reports that Ash joined the staff after his firing from Rutgers to help advise the defense before the Oklahoma game.

Head Coach Tom Herman is familiar with Ash, as the two worked together in the 2014 season at Ohio State. The Buckeyes went on to win the national championship that year, defeating Alabama in the semi-final and Oregon in the title game. Ash’s defense only gave up 22 points a game in the 2014 season and just 342 yards per game.

The second Texas fired Todd Orlando, this was the hire most people expected. Even though he has gotten some criticism for it, Herman continues to hire coaches he is familiar with and coached with in the past. Orlando was with him while he was the head coach of Houston and he did the same with Tim Beck on the offensive side of the ball.

Ash has the potential to be a home run hire for the Longhorns. The roster is full of stud players that have the potential to be something special. It has just been missing a coach that can put it all together. Ash has proven he can do it in the past and Texas is hoping he can do it again.

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Texas Quarterback of the decade: Sam Ehlinger

Ever since Colt McCoy left Texas in 2009 consistent play from their quarterback has lacked. Sam Ehlinger has been the guy starting in 2017.

Ever since Colt McCoy left the 40 acres at the end of the 2009 season, one thing has been lacking for Texas. Consistent play from their quarterback. Starting last season for the Longhorns, Sam Ehlinger has been the guy, taking over the signal calling for the offense under Tom Herman.

While he split snaps with Shane Buechele in his freshman season, Ehlinger won the starting job before the opening game against Maryland in 2018. From that point on, Texas has been ride or die with Ehlinger, with him starting in all 26 games played over the last two seasons.

His sophomore season was his best, leading Texas to their first 10 win season since the 2009 National Championship season. He also took Texas as far as the Sugar Bowl, getting a crucial victory against Georgia to end the season. That year only had their first Big 12 championship appearance since the 2009 win against Nebraska.

Other quarterbacks in the 2010s included Garrett Gilbert, David Ash, Case McCoy, Tyrone Swoopes, Jerrod Heard, and Shane Buechele. The only one of those who comes relatively close to what Ehlinger has done for this program is Buechele. Even then, it is not close, with the junior quarterback from Austin getting the nod as the best quarterback to play for Texas this decade.

Years played: 2017, 2018, 2019

Passing Stats: 63.1 completion percentage, 8,669 passing yards, 65 touchdowns, 21 interceptions

Rushing stats: 430 rushing attempts, 1,453 rushing yards, 24 touchdowns

Best game: vs Oklahoma, 2018. 24-35 with 314 yards, two passing touchdowns, no interceptions. 19 rushing attempts for 72 yards and three rushing touchdowns

Best moment: Second touchdown run against Oklahoma in 2018

Accomplishments: 2019 Sugar Bowl MVP

More than likely coming back for his senior season, Ehlinger has made a huge impact on Texas in his first three. He is already up there statistically with the all-time UT quarterback greats like Vince Young, Colt McCoy, and Major Applewhite, but is just missing one thing. Some form of championship. Ehlinger brought the Longhorns close in 2018 with a Big 12 championship appearance but will need to win one to cement himself as a Longhorn legend.

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Three star defensive tackle Sawyer Goram-Welch commits to Texas

Texas has landed another defensive tackle commit in the 2020 class with Sawyer Goram-Welch. He is a three star prospect out of Longview, TX.

Texas has landed three-star defensive tackle Sawyer Goram-Welch out of Longview, Texas. It was a quick change of events for Goram-Welch, who flipped from Oklahoma State two months after announcing he would be committing.

When Goram-Welch decommitted from the Cowboys on Dec. 7, the Longhorns had already offered him a scholarship five days earlier. Making his official visit to Texas this weekend, Goram-Welch made the decision to join the No. 7 ranked 2020 recruiting class on Sunday night.

 

Goram-Welch is listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 278 pounds. Coming out of Longview High School, he had 64 tackles in his senior season. 15 of them were for losses, including eight sacks. While he did not force any turnovers this year, he forced three fumbles in his junior season in 2018.

Joining Vernon Broughton as the other defensive tackle in the 2020 class, the Longhorns are now up to six defensive commits. Gorman-Welch plans on signing with Texas during the early signing period, enrolling in the University in the spring.

Early period signing day is on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Texas currently is the highest-ranked Big 12 team in the 2020 class, with Oklahoma being the closest to the Longhorns at No. 10.

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Watch: Texas Commit Ja’Quinden Jackson’s Two First Half Scores Against Rockwall

Watch two scores by Texas commit Ja’Quinden Jackson in the first half against Rockwall.

Quarterback and Texas Commit Ja’Quinden Jackson was looking to lead his Duncanville football team to the State Championship. Nearing the end of the first quarter Jackson capped off a scoring drive with a 59-yard scamper to the end zone to put his team up 28-0.

Later in the second quarter, Jackson showed that he is more than just a runner with an 81-yard strike to Marquelan Crowell to go up 35-0.

Three names to keep an eye out for the offensive coordinator position

Firing Tim Beck, Texas is looking for a new offensive coordinator for the first time in three years. Here are names to keep an eye out for.

For the Longhorns in 2019, the offense was one of the strong suits. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger was fantastic, wide receiver Devin Duvernay was one of the best in the country at his position, and even running back Roschon Johnson – who was originally a quarterback – did a fantastic job for Texas this season. However, as the season went on, something was still missing. Especially in the final few games, the Longhorn offense did not feel like themselves.

Once the game against Texas Tech was done, Tom Herman decided that it was time to make some changes. The Longhorns got rid of Tim Beck as the offensive coordinator, moving him to quarterbacks coach. While Tom Herman has been heavily involved in the offense, it may be time for someone new to take over the reins.

When Herman was hired from Houston in 2017, Beck made the transition over with him. Now, making his first coordinator hire as head coach at Texas, Herman has to get it right. What Texas needs is an outside hire that has had success as an offensive coordinator at another big name school. Here are three names to keep an eye out for the offensive coordinator job.

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WATCH: Quandre Diggs gets his second interception of the game

After an interception that went for a touchdown earlier in the game, Quandre Diggs picked off Jared Goff for the second time. Watch it here.

After an interception that went for a touchdown earlier in the game, former Texas cornerback Quandre Diggs picked off Rams quarterback Jared Goff for the second time in as many drives.

This one was different than the first one, as it was downfield. Goff threw it deep to wide receiver Brandon Cooks on 3rd and 5 but overthrew him by a few yards. Diggs was five yards behind the receiver, being in the perfect position to intercept the pass.

You can watch the interception here:

This is Diggs’ third interception of the year, all being with the Seahawks. He continues to make big plays for Seattle, keeping them in games.

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WATCH: Former Longhorn Quandre Diggs gets a pick six

Former Longhorn Quandre Diggs is making another play, this time a pick-six. This is Diggs’ second INT since being traded from Detroit.

Another week, another highlight play for Quandre Diggs. The Seattle Seahawks are in primetime again this weekend, this time playing the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football. For most of the night, Rams’ quarterback Jared Goff has been having success against the Seahawk defense.

That changed when Diggs intercepted Goff in their first possession of the first half. Thrown across the middle, Diggs came out of nowhere, intercepted the ball, and ran 55 yards to the endzone untouched.

You can watch the play here:

This is Diggs’ second interception for Seattle since being traded from Detroit. He has made an instant impact for the Seahawks, being a huge addition to the Seattle defense.

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