– Taquon Graham: Graham had hoped to make the scrimmage this past weekend but had a team event that conflicted. If Texas holds a scrimmage this upcoming weekend, as Strong indicated in the presser they might, I suspect he will make an effort to be there.

I was told by someone close to Graham, “he really wants to go. He wants to see where the team is and if they’re going to be for real”. It’s pretty clear in talking to folks around Graham that some early success this fall would eliminate any reservations Graham has about Texas. The greatest threat to Texas right now remains Oklahoma. But Graham comes from a Longhorn family and if Strong wins, Texas will be tough to beat. – (Super K)

– Quarterback Battle | Let’s Talk About Reps: This past weekend the question everyone wanted to know was who took more reps with the first team in the scrimmage. In fact all throughout camp that has typically been the first thing reported by most.

The reason is obvious. Starters rep with the first team. So if you’re getting more first team reps it signals you are the likely starter. I, myself, have been fully focused on this question of rep numbers as well.

But as I thought about this last night it dawned on me that a quarterback battle may be a little more nuanced. And in fact my fixation with reps last year during the OU quarterback battle led me a bit astray.

Last year the Sooners had a 3-way battle between Baker Mayfield, Trevor Knight and Cody Thomas. We had plenty of sources telling us what was going on in closed practices and scrimmages. We had detailed breakdowns from various onlookers. And we certainly knew how the reps were being split. It was pretty clear that while Thomas started to make a push here and there, that it was really more of a battle between Mayfield and Knight (though Cody received some first team reps, especially as camp wore on which really confused us!).

But between Baker and Trevor, all the way up until the end we couldn’t really tell who it would be. We tried to go by reps but the rep numbers kept changing. One day, Baker would receive more first team reps. Another day, Knight would receive more. It was so back and forth that even after fall camp we were debating who would be the starter. Counting the reps didn’t help.

All the while, I had folks in and around the program telling me, “its going to be Baker” but I never said anything. I just couldn’t bring myself to believe it based on the information which I knew to be accurate coming out of practices. If I recall correctly, Knight took equal or perhaps more first team reps near the end of camp.

As you all know, Mayfield ended up being named the starter.

So the day after Mayfield was named the starter I was speaking to a coach who told me, “that thing was decided in the spring”.

That doesn’t mean the competition was a formality. I’m sure that had Trevor clearly separated himself he would have been given another chance to be the starter. But the reality is, he and Cody may have pulled closed to even or perhaps exceeded Baker on certain days in practice, but Baker was the presumptive man. And it was a “to be the man you’ve got to beat the man” situation.

OU had a new offensive coordinator so a lot of folks, myself included, thought, “maybe Trevor will rekindle the greatness of the Alabama game with a new coach and a better system”. The practice reports seemed to indicate that. But in the end, OU went with their gut.

If there is any question whether Mayfield was the right choice, all one needs to do is review the second half of the TCU game where Mayfield left due to a hit to the head and Trevor Knight was given a nice lead. That lead didn’t last long.

I do know, as we’ve mentioned before, that the coaches had Buechele picked in their minds as the starter going into fall camp. So if the Texas staff is like Oklahoma’s staff then for Swoopes to be the man he would have to beat the man. Whether he is doing that or not is tough to say. From what we’ve heard he is not doing that but like everyone else, we’re relying on other people’s thoughts and opinions.

The story of Oklahoma may have no relevance to how Texas will or won’t decide things. Perhaps reps mean everything at Texas. But as someone who has been fooled by this all once before not long ago, I figured I should at least keep last year’s experience in the back of my mind. – (Super K)

– UPDATE (2:10 pm): I was just told by Erick Fowler’s father that his son has just been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse and will report to Texas soon. This is huge news for Texas as Fowler was a consensus Top 100 recruit in the nation in 2016. I was told he will start his career at Texas at FOX end, but he has a long way to go in hopes of seeing the field as a freshman as he is months behind the others in his class. – (Andrew)