Warren and D'Onta Foreman combined to average nearly 11 yards per carry on 16 combined rushing attempts in the spring game. One of the biggest misconceptions about the spread offense is that the style of play (being in the shotgun, the use of multiple receiver sets, the focus on improving the passing game) makes a football team soft.

Texas made the shift to the veer-and-shoot attack of Sterlin Gilbert, an offense he learned from Art Briles , this spring. With the spring game now in the rearview mirror, there appears to be nothing soft about the Longhorns.

Based on what the offense showed in the annual Orange-White Scrimmage at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, a 110-play exhibition Gilbert said afterwards “wasn’t much” of what the Longhorns have to offer, the running game is going to continue to be the focal point of the Texas attack. That’s good news for a team with a lot of the pieces back from a rushing attack that was the nation’s 17th best in yards per game (224.8) in 2015.

What’s even better for the Longhorns is Gilbert’s offense should allow Texas to run the ball more effectively in the coming season.

Briles birthed the veer-and-shoot by uniting his roots in the veer offense, having played for Bill Yeomen at Houston, the father the of the veer, and the spread offense in order to give his high school teams an advantage over more talented teams come playoff time. Though Baylor is known for using both a vertical passing attack and the array of quick passes and screens to get the ball down the field and eventually in the end zone, the Bears have become one of the better rushing offenses in the country.

Baylor finished second in the nation in rushing this past season (326.7 yards per game), ranked 27th nationally in rushing in 2014 (215.5), 13th in 2013 (259.7), 14th in 2012 (231.7), 10th in 2011 (235.6) and 24th in 2010 (194.6).

With outside receivers lining up outside the numbers, the constant threat of the vertical pass and a tempo that doesn’t allow for many, if any, situational substitutions for the opposing defenses, teams that face the veer and shoot when it’s clicking have to pick their poison. Combine those elements with the run/pass options (a running play is tagged with a passing play) available to the quarterback at the line of scrimmage based on numbers in the box and at some point the running backs will have a chance to create a big play based on facing a numbers advantage in the box, which could mean one or two defenders will be all that stands between the ball carrier and the end zone.

The Longhorns are armed with a scheme that can enhance the run game, particularly if Shane Buechele can emerge as an answer at quarterback, and the personnel that can allow it to be one of the best rushing attacks in America in 2016. Junior D’Onta Foreman rushed for a team-high 681 yards last season before a season-ending thumb injury in the 10th game of the season against West Virginia, at which time sophomore-to-be Chris Warren took the ball and ran with it on his way to gaining 381 of his 470 yards as a true freshman over the final two games.

Texas has the talent and the innate advantages the new offense provides to live up to the billing of being one of the best one-two punches in the country. Foreman was elated when he saw the advantages the new offense could provide the Longhorn backs once they get into the installation phase of the offense during spring practice.

“When (the Texas offensive linemen) can get up to the linebackers, me and Chris can explode and then we’re one-on-one with a safety,” Foreman said. “That’s exciting because that’s when we can really make things happen.”

As Gilbert said following the spring game, running the football effectively is still about the big boys up front being capable of putting hats on defenders and creating a push. At the same, Foreman and Warren showed on Saturday they don’t need much to get going.

Foreman exploded for 28 yards on the first play of the scrimmage when he pressed towards the line of scrimmage and squirted out from behind a wall created by Patrick Vahe and Kent Perkins on the right side of the line.

Foreman breaks free on the first play. #Hookem https://t.co/DeZktW0Ty6 — Hookem Football (@hornsfootball) April 16, 2016



Warren had one of the highlights of the day with a 51-yard touchdown where he broke free at the second level and shucked safety John Bonney in the open field.



Those runs and the 174 combined yards on 16 combined carries on Saturday showed how rare the blend of footwork, balance and athleticism are in the 6-foot, 238-pound Foreman and the 6-foot-2-inch, 244-pound Warren. Gilbert admitted that he’s never had two backs like the two studs he’s got in Austin right now.

“As far as big bodies and all that stuff? No,” Gilbert said. “I top out at 225 (pounds) as the biggest back I’ve ever had. They’re 20 (pounds) plus that, so that’s rare.”

Foreman and Warren plan on the spring game being merely a taste of what’s to come in 2016.

“If you know you have some speed and some size you can tear up a defense,” Warren said. “Knowing we can throw it to the outside just as effectively as we can run it up the middle is really refreshing.”

The duo combined to average 10.9 yards per carry in the spring game. That might not sound like a big deal, but coming off of a year where Foreman averaged 7.2 yards per rush and Warren ran for 6.6 yards a clip, the spring game showed they’re not likely to slow down.

Armed with immense talent, exceptional physical gifts and a legitimate scheme that can take pressure of them, Foreman and Warren might be ready to truly take off.