What's next for the Longhorns? Make sure you're in the loop by signing up for our FREE Texas newsletter!

AUSTIN – A second fall scrimmage is in the books for the Texas Longhorns, and it was a second scrimmage where things were hot and humid out at Denius Fields.

The Longhorns No. 1 unit got close to 50 snaps, Herman said, with the second group getting around 53 snaps (that’s not counting the 12 or so live snaps in the kicking game).

“That was a real one,” Tom Herman said afterward.

Herman decided to move the time of the scrimmage back further to simulate what the weather will be like when Texas kicks off the 2017 season on Sept. 2 at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium against Maryland. The conditions impacted two Longhorns as offensive lineman Patrick Hudson and cornerback Davante Davis had to leave the scrimmage with hydration headaches, Herman said.

With Longhorns being 12 practices into a grueling camp, Herman can sense his squad is doing their best to push through.

“I was proud of the guys at the end of the scrimmage that they had a lot of energy, but it’s that time in camp right now,” Herman said. “Practice 12, in the heat, a lot of dead legs out there. But it’s for a reason and we’re going to take tomorrow. Cryochambers, massage therapists, salt water floats, the whole nine to try to get out legs back a little bit.”

-- The defense won the scrimmage even though Herman didn’t think they were going to get the job done. The offense was ahead by five points on the last two-minute drill of the day, but a sack and a goal line stop tied things up.

Exactly like the spring game, the defense stopped the offense from scoring on the final play of Saturday’s affair with DeShon Elliott making the winning play.

“It was good to see them rally back from what I thought was basically over at that point,” Herman said.

-- The defense has now won both scrimmages during camp. Aside from the end results favoring Todd Orlando’s group, Herman is seeing the improvement where the staff wanted to see the defense grow coming out of the spring.

“We’re getting better in the red zone,” Herman said. “That was an area in the spring that was of concern for us. We’re getting better, we’re not where we need to be, but these guys, so much more so that in the spring, are running and hitting.”

-- Herman was asked if anyone flashed during the scrimmage.

“It’s too hard for me to tell without watching film,” Herman said.

-- Herman noted that Orlando’s defense is difficult to prepare for, even in practice. While Houston had one of the nation’s top offenses in Herman’s two seasons with the Cougars, he doesn’t recall the offense winning many spring or fall scrimmages against Orlando’s defense.

-- Aside from the injury report, the biggest news to come out of the scrimmage is that Sam Ehlinger continues to earn reps with the No. 1 offense (he was the quarterback on the field for the final two-minute drive of the scrimmage).

Herman said Ehlinger has had a good week on the field and has made significant strides over the last four or five practices. While Herman would ideally like to name a starter by the end of next week when the Longhorns begin preparing for Maryland, Herman indicated Ehlinger’s progress is making Shane Buechele continue to have to earn the job.

“If Sam continues that trajectory that he’s on, and it’s not that Shane is playing bad, he’s not, Shane is playing well, but Sam has played better,” Herman said. “We’ll see where we are at the end of the week and if it’s too close to call it’s too close to call.”

-- Herman said Chris Warren III was having a good camp before suffering a concussion on Thursday that has him officially listed as day-to-day. Warren is alert and in the protocol, Herman said.

-- While Herman said he’s not concerned about the running back mix right now given that the Longhorns have three weeks before the Maryland game to get healthy, he wants to see a sense of urgency from both Toneil Carter and Daniel Young. Even though Young scored on a long touchdown run in the scrimmage, Herman said Saturday was a wakeup call for both backs.

“They both got called out of stretch to start the day off and that’s never a good thing,” Herman said. “They’ve got to mature and they’ve got to mature quickly because we’re going to need them.”

-- There are three weeks remaining until the Maryland game. Nevertheless, the injuries are mounting for the Longhorns.

Warren is one of three players (Terrell Cuney and Jason Hall are the others) who’ve been diagnosed with a concussion during camp and Elijah Rodriguez is on the shelf after undergoing ankle surgery. Cornerback depth is paper thin with John Bonney (knee) and Josh Thompson (lower leg strain) missing practice time and Kyle Porter (shoulder), Malcolm Roach (toe), Brandon Jones (neck strain) and Andrew Fitzgerald (knee) are all working back from their own injury issues.

Herman addressed the injury issues and the level of physicality on display on the practice field.

“When the intensity and the effort is the same, and you’re doing it with bigger and stronger athletes, and faster athletes, it’s pretty physical,” Herman said. “In terms of injuries and bumps and bruises, practice 12 in training camp, there’s probably not a team in the country that’s not banged up a little bit at this point.”

-- Texas will practice next week at the Whitaker Fields as Herman changes things up to see how the players respond to a new setting. The Longhorns will be moving on to Maryland prep following next Saturday’s scrimmage, so anyone looking to win a position battle or establish themselves on the depth chart has six practices left to do so.

“Camp is over and then it’s [time to] get ready to win a ballgame,” Herman said. “It’s [about having] your identity, who you are, your toughness level because you’ve got to get them back physically those last two weeks.”

-- Wide receiver was the one position group Herman mentioned when discussing the most intense camp battles. Even though the Longhorns will rotate a lot of receivers, Herman likes what he’s seeing regarding the competition for playing time.

“There’s a lot of different wideouts showing up each day,” Herman said.

-- The two position Herman said that concern him as far as depth goes are tight end and linebacker.

-- Speaking of linebackers, today was one of the few times during camp Breckyn Hager has been mentioned. Herman called the 2016 team leader in tackles for loss (13.5) and sacks (6) a situational player based on where things stand right now.

“He can really rush the passer in our third down stuff,” Herman said. “He’s developed a little more stamina at Mike linebacker there, playing with the twos.”

-- Through 12 practices, are the Longhorns where Herman wants them to be?

“I think so,” Herman said.

The Longhorns are done with the installation process and, as Herman said, there are only six practices that remain until the real work for the Maryland game begins. Next week’s workouts, in addition to sorting out the depth chart, will be about continuing to get comfortable with packages, plays and concepts on both sides of the ball.

“We’ve got the offense and defense in, it’s just a matter of repetition and doing it,” Herman said. “On defense, calling a defense and seeing it versus different formations and different plays. The same thing for the offense: Calling a play and seeing it versus different fronts and blitzes.”

Want free VIP access to Horns247? Click here and take advantage of this offer!