North Shore Recruits | Quick Hitter

– Andrew King

As I reported last week, North Shore (TX) ’20 RB Zachary Evans and some other recruits from North Shore were hoping to visit Texas on Saturday.

That was the plan, but like I also reported last week one person said it might be tough for them to make it in for a day game as they have team workouts and film sessions on Saturday morning. I was told they got out around 12:30 on Saturday and there wasn’t enough time for them to make it to Austin for the game.

I’d look for Evans and some of the other North Shore guys to possibly be in Austin in a few weeks for the West Virginia game. Especially if it’s a night game.

Updates from California

– Super K

Some thoughts on players from the Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco game.

***On Bru McCoy I’ll add to this tweet I posted…

Big, fast, physical & sharp but what impressed me most about Bru McCoy is that he probably played more snaps than anyone in the stadium & was still fighting till the end. pic.twitter.com/lYn7js1v1F — Super K (@SuperK_TFB) October 14, 2018

He’s all the things you expect him to be but I’d really to see what he can do when he’s able to catch his breath. He didn’t sit out much at all. In fact, I kept trying to find him on the sideline to get some sideline pictures and as soon as he came out, he’d be going right back in.

Also, football is definitely more physical in California than I expected. Not sure if it was just this particular game but they were letting the guys play. This was in the 4th quarter after I imagine McCoy was exhausted. You see he’s getting physical with 4-star DB, Trent McDuffie.

Bru McCoy and Trent McDuffie going out at it this half. Mater Dei with some fight in them. Score & picked up the 2 pt conversion. 34-18 with 9:28 left. pic.twitter.com/UZjeFe7teB — Super K (@SuperK_TFB) October 14, 2018

Didn’t speak to the Mater Dei kids after the game. They were, as you can imagine, very upset. But I did talk to McCoy’s father the night before and I plan on speaking to him again later today to see what the remaining visit plans are. As you know, McCoy still has a while before he makes a decision.

I still believe this one is USC vs. Texas.

***5-star DB, Elias Ricks was another player on the field that Texas is targeting.

Ricks is what you expect. He’s the big corner with the looseness and bend to actually play corner. Watching film on him, I thought he would transition to safety in college and that may end up being the case. But after seeing him move in person, he seems to have the bend and twitch to play outside.

2020 CB Elias Ricks. Rare to see such a tall, long DB transition like he does even with smaller quicker receivers. Also, he talks a lot of $#%* to the opposing crowd. pic.twitter.com/EQJUdbkG90 — Super K (@SuperK_TFB) October 14, 2018

So, the second point I mention in the tweet above is one of my favorite things about Ricks. He’s a competitor. Reminds of the south Florida guys. Plays with that edge, talks all game long, looks at the opposing crowd and talks to them but he’s locked in at the snap.

One of his players got into a minor dust-up on the other side of the field and Ricks was the first person to go flying across the field to come to his teammate’s defense.

There were too many other players on the field to watch. So, it’d be tough to give you a detailed technical evaluation but I did not that he does well mirroring at the line of scrimmage which is obviously a big thing for bigger corners cause they tend to be a little later in their turn. Though I noticed the cornerback opposite of him, Darion Green-Warren was also quite good in his mirror and off hand jam. So, this must be something they teach well at Mater Dei.

In the end, though, Ricks has premium size and athleticism which are the tools you want to work with.

I plan on stopping by the school tomorrow to speak with Ricks. So, I’m hoping to get a sense of his visit schedule as well.

Peyton Powell | Post Visit Notes

– Charlie S

– Touched base with 2019 Athlete Peyton Powell out of Odessa, TX (Permian) following his official visit to Austin for the Baylor game this past weekend.

– I asked him how the visit went, and if anything stood out to him and he said “The Coaches. Everything was amazing about Texas”

– When I asked him about where the coaches see him fitting in at UT, Powell said “They want to bring me in as the dual-threat QB that they don’t have on the roster”.

– As for a timeline on when he plans on announcing his commitment and if he has any other visits set, Powell said “It will be soon. Me and another dude going to the Tech game on Saturday, and I don’t have another visit scheduled”.

Quick Hitter | Texas Turning Negative Plays into Positive Outcomes

– CJ Vogel

It’s not uncommon to find a random statistic that basically predicts the outcome for a certain team over the course of the season.

For example, the Dallas Cowboys when rushing over a certain amount of times per game see dramatically different results.

#DallasCowboys had just 14 rushing attempts against #BroncosCountry. Cowboys record with 14 carries or less in a game: 1-21. #DALvsDEN — WBG84 (@WBG84) September 18, 2017

Twenty games into the Tom Herman era at the University of Texas, there seems to be a leading candidate for ~that stat~ for the Longhorns.

Texas is 9-3 under Herman and Todd Orlando when winning the negative play category (sacks + tackles for loss). As for the contrary, when Texas’ opponent finishes with more negative plays created, the Longhorns are 1-6.

Last season, Texas was 5-1 when creating more negative plays on defense, and 1-5 when losing the negative play statistic. (The 2017 Iowa State game ended with the same amount of negative plays, yet a Texas win.)

Obviously, Texas has won their last six ball games, and in that timeframe, they have gone 4-2 in the negative play battle, with TCU and Tulsa being the two losses in the category.

Texas just dominated the negative play category with Baylor, 13-5. Keeping Baylor behind the sticks was one of the biggest reasons for being able to sustain a second-half lead when the offense put up a goose egg.

Even with a disappointing pass rush, the Longhorns are racked up one more sack than their opponent and 9.5 more tackles for loss.

This is much different than last year when Texas opponents created three more sacks and two more tackles for loss over the course of the season.

Again, Herb Hand’s addition is paying off and it’s been quite evident. The brilliance of Todd Orlando has been on display once again, even with a pass rush that has underperformed to standards.

So while winning the negative play category doesn’t automatically correlate to wins, it certainly is something to keep in mind moving forward.

Caleb Johnson | Post Visit Update

– Super K

I spoke with JUCO LB, Caleb Johnson (Fullerton CC). As you know, Johnson took a visit to Texas this past weekend.

Johnson went into the visit with high expectations. Prior to his visit he said he expected Texas and Austin to really impress him.

Texas didn’t disappoint, “It definintely exceeded my expectations. The vibe of the place and the game, it was amazing.”

Johnson is an LA guy so the city where he goes to school is going to play a factor, “Austin didn’t seem that much different than Cali. So much to do out there. The campus is like it’s own little city.”

Johnson said the visit went so well that he actually consider committing. But ultimately decided against it, “I was for sure thinking about it (committing) but then I thought I should take my visits. It’s going to be hard to beat Texas but I definitely thought about it (committing) but I just told myself it’d be better to take the visits just to make sure”.

So far, Johnson has taken official visits to Iowa State, Colorado, and Texas. Next weekend he will take a visit to Arkansas which will leave him with one remaining official visit.

As I mentioned prior to his visit, Johnson is hoping for an offer from a particular school that he grew up rooting for. That school is Oregon and while they’ve been in touch, he’s unsure if an offer will come. Caleb said he will likely wait another week or so and just move on.

However, he’d still like to take his final visit. If not to Oregon then perhaps to another school as he has numerous programs still reaching out.

Caleb said that regardless, he would like to have his commitment done in November at the latest.

Texas is sitting in a good spot at the moment. Should a school like Oregon offer, they’ll quickly become competition for the Horns.

If Texas doesn’t land Caleb, a target they could go after is Vic Viramontes out of Riverside CC (California). Viramontes told me that Texas has been in touch.

OL Logan Parr | Post Visit Update

– Andrew King

Another top target that was in Austin this weekend was O’Connor (TX) ’20 OL Logan Parr.

This was his second trip to Texas on the season. Parr told me he really enjoyed himself saying “It was great. I got to talk with Coach Herman and Coach Hand in person again which I was looking forward to.” Parr told me the talks weren’t really much about football, more of a “personable conversation” and that they were glad to see him again.

I reported that week that one reason that he was excited for the visit was that it would be his mother’s first trip to Texas. He told me she really enjoyed the trip as well. Telling me “She got a great feel for the place and it was the first time she got to meet Coach Herman and Coach Hand, and she liked them very much!”

When I asked Parr what is it about Texas that’s standing out so far, he told me it had to do with the relationships Herb Hand already has with his offensive lineman. ” You can see each player trusts everything he says and that he cares for each and every one of them.”

Kennedy Lewis Decommits From TCU

– Charlie S

– 2019 wide receiver and Hook Em offer, Kennedy Lewis out of Melissa, Texas, has tweeted out his official decommitment from TCU…

Please respect my decision!💯 pic.twitter.com/aIiKRp83Aj — Kennedy C Lewis💯 (@Kennedy_lewis35) October 16, 2018

– Lewis was in town for the Baylor game, and as we have mentioned, should the Longhorns push for him…well we like their chances.

– Spoke to K as he was hopping on a flight from Cali back to Texas and he has been in touch with Kennedy.

– Doesn’t sound like a decision is imminent as he (Lewis) would like to take some out of state visits to Notre Dame and Florida

– We still are very confident where Texas stands with Lewis and K will have more on him soon