Notes from Herman’s Thursday Presser

– CJ Vogel

Texas is two days away from what is likely another sell-out at Darrell K. Royal Texas-Memorial Stadium with the Iowa State Cyclones coming to down. Saturday’s game is also the last time the current seniors will touch the field at DKR with the burnt orange and white on.

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Injury Update:

WR Collin Johnson – Expected to play

S Brandon Jones – Expected to play

RB Keaontay Ingram – Expected to play

CB Davante Davis – Expected to play

DB Josh Thompson – Will NOT play

LB Demarvion Overshown – Expected to play. “Still favoring knee” according to Herman.

LB Marqez Bimage – OUT, underwent shoulder surgery this week

“Everybody is good. Collin [Johnson] looked really good today, so we’ll see. Brandon [Jones] has been limited but we’ve got 49 hours left, if he can play, he’s going to play. He has been in and out of practice in terms in terms of getting limited reps in practice. [Jones has] been living in the training room, so he’s improving every day. Davante [Davis] is good, Breckyn [Hager] is good, Caden [Sterns] is good. Keaontay [Ingram] is good.”

Herman said the injury safety Caden Sterns suffered at Texas Tech was to the head and neck and he did not enter the concussion protocol.

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For head coach Tom Herman, Saturday not only provides an opportunity to get one step closer to a potential Big 12 Championship Game, but also the chance to honor seniors playing in their final game at DKR.

“I can’t thank [the seniors] enough,” said Herman during his Thursday media availability. “They have been through some tough stuff here… This is home. This will be the last time these guys get an opportunity to play in front of the fans.”

One more ride for these seniors at DKR. Texas vs. Iowa St. Saturday. 7:00 PM CT. Longhorn Network. #ThisIsTexas #HookEm pic.twitter.com/WYe0bG2fCv — Texas Football (@TexasFootball) November 16, 2018

And Herman is not wrong about seeing some tough stuff, the four-year seniors on the Texas roster have endured a 24-23 record since joining the program in the fall of 2015.

“There is no separation. There is no division. We’re all one big family. Whether we chose to be brothers or not, we are now,” said Herman regarding the seniors mentoring the younger classes. “They’ve been a joy to be around.”

Herman sent more praise to the senior class for buying in during the coaching transition.

“It could have been very easy, considering we did not recruit [the seniors], it would have been very easy for them to not buy in, for there to be some separation if you will. But they’ve been awesome… They will be remembered around here for a long time.”

Herman emphasizes once again the Longhorns’ best football will be needed week-in and week out.

“Our best is good enough to beat anybody, but anything less than our best is not good enough, that we can get beat by anybody.”

That’s been a constant theme Herman has reiterated throughout the season. It will need to be showcased this Saturday with a Cyclone team that has allowed just 15.5 points per game over their last four games.

Herman also mentioned that though the Longhorns are winning games, there is an obvious need for improvement for “closing the door” with big leads late in games.

Come to speak of the 4th quarter struggles, Herman says he does not consider Texas to have any more than two fourth-quarter blunders this season.

“The loss at Oklahoma State was because of the first quarter,” said Herman.

Regardless, if there have been more blunders than credited by Herman, losing a big lead against Iowa State could prove catastrophic for any hopes of a Big 12 Championship Game berth in mid-December.

Defensive line tidbits after Tech game

– CJ Vogel

It’s been well documented how disappointing the Longhorns’ pass rush has been this season, and getting an idea of the mindset opposing teams have after facing Texas is certainly something I found quite interesting.

I spoke with a source close to the offensive line unit from Texas Tech following the Longhorns’ win at Lubbock this weekend who had some interesting things to say about the defensive attack by Texas.

The source said Malcolm Roach was undoubtedly the toughest player to guard when on the defensive line (especially at DT).

The play at 2:44:15 gives an idea of the force Roach is on the line.

Roach has not seen much play on the interior line this season, and was likely only there because of the Longhorns’ prevent defense in place. However, a healthy Roach attacking the passer is very tough to defend.

The source also said the defensive fronts shown by Texas caused confusion for Tech offensive linemen before the snap. However, the confusion brought be the pre-snap front was countered by a predictable stunt that was picked up easily by the Texas Tech line.

The play at 58:40 is arguably the best play the defensive line made all night on a 4th and inches stop by Charles Omenihu in the 2nd quarter.

What really stood out to me was the source said after the snap, the Texas defensive line took a “recess”-like approach to their pass rush, meaning it appeared there was no real stunt taking place at all. He mentioned perhaps these blitzes were too complicated to be carried out fully.

I personally have been very pro-Todd Orlando and really think the Longhorns’ lack of defensive pressure stems from numerous variables, including a drop-off in talent at the nose guard position.

Texas currently has 19 sacks this season (1.9 per game), tied for 79th in the country. Last year, Texas was tied for 38th in the country with 31 sacks (2.38 per game).

This season the Longhorns have used Roach at the B-Backer position while having Chris Nelson, Gerald Wilbon, Taquon Graham, DeAndre Christmas-Giles and Keondre Coburn rotate through at defensive tackle.

I’ll end with my two cents: Finding ways to get Roach either back on the defensive line, or coming up with creative ways to involve him in more blitzes will go a long way in helping Texas create pressure in the backfield in these final two regular season games.

Charles Omenihu invited to Senior Bowl

– CJ Vogel

Texas senior defensive lineman Charles Omenihu has announced via Twitter his invitation to the 2019 Senior Bowl held in Mobile, Alabama.

Blessed to get this opportunity just shows that hard work does actually pay off to God be the glory see you there @seniorbowl pic.twitter.com/NcpXBBo8Aw — Charles Omenihu (@charless_94) November 14, 2018

Omenihu will be playing in his last game at Darrell K. Royal Texas-Memorial Stadium this weekend against Iowa State.

The senior out of Rowlett, Texas has been a key point of the Longhorns’ defense for the last three seasons and has been instrumental in turning around the program from a behind-the-scenes standpoint.

Omenihu has appeared in 44 games during his time of the 40 Acres and has racked up 104 total tackles, 24 tackles for loss, 14.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles.

At the moment it appears inevitable that the 6’6″ Omenihu will hear his name called at some point during the 2019 NFL Draft, however, a strong a showing at the Combine and Senior Bowl could bring in a much larger ppayday

Poona Ford (2018) was the last Longhorn to play in the Senior Bowl.

Michael Henderson Jr | Final Six

– Andrew King

Ranchview (TX) ’20 athlete Michael Henderson Jr cut his list from around 20 offers to six.

I spoke with him briefly to get his thoughts on these six schools and what he likes about them all.

Oklahoma- “I love Oklahoma, they’ll be in it til the end.”

Florida- “Always a dream school of mine.”

SMU- “The coaches treat me like a priority, they tell me come be legendary and change the program.”

Nebraska- “The new coaches show me love. They’re building something great there.”

Texas- “I have a really good relationship with the coaches. Seems like a great fit.”

Texas A&M- “The coaches love me and make me feel like a priority.”

MY TAKE: Right now I think Oklahoma is leading this recruitment after talking to Henderson and some other people. They’ve done a great job so far and he’s very comfortable in Norman. Oklahoma is recruiting him as a running back and an HB (their FB/TE hybrid). I’d put Texas at #2, he loves the staff. One thing that could be an x-factor is where Henderson ends up playing, and where he wants to play in college. He’s 6’2 220 right now, but he plays quarterback for his high school team. If he’s dead set on playing quarterback in college I think that could give a local school like SMU a shot at him. He’s much more likely to play outside linebacker or tight end, and if he plays there I think he’s Texas or Oklahoma bound as of today.

Quick-Hitters | Johnson, Coker, Warren & More

– Super K

***In case you missed it, last week, Texas 2019 DT target, Rodas Johnson (Columbus, OH) committed to Wisconsin. As you may recall, Johnson is originally from Texas. He moved to Ohio when he was around 11 years old but still frequents the great state to see family. He visited Texas this past summer and was planning on taking an official visit.

Johnson tells me however that since his commitment he hasn’t had contact with Texas. So it appears the Horns have moved on.

***When I saw TCU OL commit, Andrew Coker a few weeks ago he said, unequivocally, he would take an official visit to Texas. At the time he had said he would also take an unofficial visit to Texas for the West Virginia game.

That did not happen. I checked with him earlier this week and he tells me he will not be able to make it to the Iowa State game. However, I’m told Texas is still pursuing him.

Look for him to possibly take an official in December. Texas will have a big recruiting weekend after the season.

***A JUCO running back to keep an eye on is Rhamondre Stevenson (Cerritos College). The Sooners recently offered Stevenson and when I checked on him I discovered that Texas has actually been in touch with him for bit, as well.

Everything I’ve heard from my contacts out in California have been glowing about Stevenson. He’s considered far and away the best running back in the JUCO ranks in Cali. I’m told he’s very big and very fast.

***2019 DE, Myron Warren tells me that he’s still hoping to make it up to Texas this weekend for an unofficial visit. As of yesterday, however, it sounded like he still wasn’t sure if he’d be able to make it.

I honestly don’t know why Texas doesn’t simply bring him on an official visit. I would surmise they want to make sure they hold on to their official visit in case more schools jump in the mix before signing day. But getting him in this weekend for a home game environment would be helpful.

***Also, a quick note on high upside 2019 OT, Isaiah Hookfin. He will not make it in this weekend for the Iowa State game. He tells me that he still has yet to set up his official visit to Texas or any other school (he already took one to Illinois).

TFB Game Week | Iowa State – Texas

– Gabriel

Have y’all been looking forward to this game as much as I have? I know, I know, it’s strange, it’s Iowa State! Matt Campbell has transformed the ISU program into one that every conference team now dreads playing, yikes. He may be the best coach in the conference, though there’s no way of knowing that. What’s apparent is, his first two and a half seasons at ISU are impressive, especially if you consider the issues at the most important position in football, quarterback. Can you tell I like Matt Campbell? This game will be very difficult for Texas. While ISU doesn’t light-up the scoreboard, their defense is more than capable of keeping them in games and within striking distance. Currently, the Texas defense is the team’s weak link. They are average at the moment and thank goodness the ISU offense is average. On the other hand, the Texas offense, while it’s been able to put up points, still struggles at times against middling defenses. Aside from defending better, creating on offense will be a big issue this weekend.

Tale of The Tape (per footballoutsiders.com)

ISU Offense

ISU Defense

Texas Offense

Texas Defense

That last one, ouch…

Offense

I took to Twitter to discuss tidbits about the Iowa State defense. What’s different about it? The funny thing is, it’s not so different anymore, as football is a copycat sport. Iowa State led the way in the Big 12, fielding a more full-time Dime personnel (six defensive backs) package. They even run it when a tight end is on the field. Attacking it is very difficult because the personnel is a mature and very physical bunch, at every position. Note that, if there were weak links, the scheme wouldn’t work quite as well, see Texas. Anyhow, I want to discuss the key to this defense a bit and propose some solutions.

Middle Safety – This guy is what sets this defense apart. It’s not because of his particular talent-level, but more so because of what his position allows the ISU defense to do. If you watch him play, it will surprise you just how often he’s in on tackles against the run, and that’s near the line of scrimmage. Yet, he’s also a coverage defender. Consider this, the guy can drive down hard against the run, but if play-action comes, he’s already in position to move to various zones in coverage, whether it’s a hook-curl zone or all the way to the flat. He’s a very versatile tool. This allows Iowa State to quickly bring 8 against the run or even drop as many into coverage, two extremes that appear the same pre-snap. This makes it very important to stay on schedule! How do I propose attacking the Cyclone Dime? Below I provide some thoughts.

Weapons-X’s – To defeat the middle safety, middle safety kryptonite is needed. Texas currently fields two very physical presences outside at receiver, Humphrey, and Duvernay. While Humphrey gets most of the credit, deservedly, Duvernay punches above his weight, mainly because speed is power, the guy is explosive. Texas can utilize either to work up to the middle safety on run schemes and ‘take him out’. For Humphrey, it’s easy, as he already aligns inside much of the time. For Duvernay, it would require a longer path or motion inside. Of course, if running to the perimeter (field side), one could see Duvernay racing inside to crack the middle safety, bang! Note that this would also include Beck, however, I tend to favor more athletic options because of the space required to reach the defender.

Humphrey – Last season, to ice the game, Texas utilized an extremely direct approach. They ran Tight Zone, oftentimes ‘off-tackle’ utilizing the tight end and or Humphrey as a lead blocker. Note how this ties into the previous point, however, in this case Humphrey was brought into formation and blocked at the line or up on a linebacker or safety. When you have a versatile athlete like Humphrey, you can stay ‘big’ while also forcing ISU to remain in Dime. Otherwise, they get burned playing 3-4 personnel.

Short Weak – Because Iowa State keeps the middle safety high, it leaves them short on the weak side. They compensate by utilizing the corner to set the front. A football dictum is ‘Big people beat up little people.’ Texas can attack the weak side with Lead runs and timely smash mouth quarterback runs, though the latter will need to be used more judiciously. Again, pulling linemen, leading with the tight end and or Humphrey into the weak side alley gives Texas a physical mismatch. Couple this with options to the strong side, run or pass, and it helps split the ISU Dime into more manageable parts.

N.B. This game will be a great time for both Draw and delayed screen concepts that take advantage of weak side numbers or Dime personnel retreating into coverage. I like Quarterback Lead Draw and slow screens to both the back and Twins inside receiver (sort of like Tunnel).

Option The Guy – Instead of focusing on the first or second levels, since the middle safety is often a box defender (late), you can scheme to option him in the run and pass game. While he’s not the middle linebacker, there will be space opposite to where he goes. Otherwise, you freeze him, making him less of an impact against schemes to either side. After all, if you formation correctly, you’ll have even numbers to block within the box. Go ‘hat on hat’ and live with it.

Quicks & Three-Level – So far we have ‘match-up blocking’, weak side runs (quarterback included), and option, but what about straightforward pass concepts? The quick pass game can help defeat Dime because of the off-alignment of the ISU safeties, it only leaves them with three defensive backs near the line of scrimmage, quick passes targeting the linebacker and corners will help Texas stay on schedule. Utilizing the back to the Flat also helps create instantaneous numbers advantages post-snap. Lastly, the three-level pass game should see work because it specifically targets the are behind the middle safety and the intermediate zone between the corner and the other safety (or outside linebacker).

In case you haven’t realized yet, the entire game plan would be wise to focus on that one defender, because he is an integral part of the ISU Dime defense. At this point, Texas doesn’t have the multiple tight end personnel to go bigger on a more consistent basis. What it has is the next best thing, ’11 and 10′ personnel that plays very physical and that’s athletic enough to match Dime personnel and win. That said, we’ll see what Herman and company rolls with this weekend, I’m excited!

Defense

I’ll keep this section super simple because I focused so much on offense. You know why that is, right? The offense is the focus because it’s the best unit on the team and it’s head-to-head with the Cyclones’ best unit. As for the defense, well, it’s been bad. Part of that has to do with facing the top offenses in the conference, namely, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Texas Tech. Defensively, that is a murderer’s row, especially when it comes to metrics. This weak, the defense will face a much more average offense, but one that is capable of creating explosive plays. Sometimes that’s all you need when your defense keeps you in every game.

Butler – This dude is fierce. He’s a massive physical presence on the field. The Texas defensive backs will need to do their best to match and contest throws against the big man. That will mostly fall to Boyd, but the Cyclones could move him around some. If they do, sirens need to go off and proper adjustments made, especially in the red zone. The only advantage here is that Butler isn’t extremely explosive, but when the ball’s in the air, he makes it his, watch for physicality and penalties.

Purdy – How Campbell manages to keep his team playing at a high level with a revolving door of backup quarterback talent is testament to the system he runs. Purdy doesn’t need to carry the team, but he does add a certain flair when on the field. He’s an underrated runner and ball-handler, Texas defense kryptonite, yikes! That said, he’s a freshman and is not progressing through reads very well, yet. Given the Texas defense’s struggles, It’s hard to tell just how to approach the ISU offense with Purdy in charge, because they’re not really doing anything quite well. Nevertheless, keep Purdy bottled up, no escape, and throwing into coverage. How they do that depends on the next point.

Run Stop – Texas has been unable to make good teams one-dimensional. I think they have a better shot here because they can plug holes inside and push the ball wide outside. This will allow some efficiency for Iowa State, but it doesn’t lend itself to explosive plays, something the ISU offense is very good at, especially when backed into a corner. Also, because the freshman quarterback is limited, it allows for a bit more dictation from the Longhorns offense. Much like last season’s USC game, Texas needs to spill runs hard and allow space outside some to keep the ISU offense under wraps. Regardless of their recent lackluster play, Texas has the front to make plays and allow the secondary to sit back and avoid being roasted. Orlando needs to challenge the veteran front to carry the load this week, much needed.

Pass & Pressure – Texas needs to stay in Nickel more often. I’d even go so far as to say he needs to rotate personnel some, to avoid having the freshman safety play so many snaps. Perhaps there’s no way around that. The bottom line, it’s cost Texas a game or two. I wish there was a way to allow Locke to play weak safety some, move Davis inside to Nickel (or keep Thompson there), and allow Cook to play field side corner. Something’s gotta give. Anyhow, Texas needs to be smart with its pressure. So far, Texas blitzes have been easy to pick up, because of scheme and players. I’d like to see late pressure more often. On the back end I’d like to see coverage match-up more aggressively inside (wall-off and re-route) while outside, coverage can be more conservative. Again, push the ball laterally, run and pass, cap vertical routes aggressively with the safeties.

The quality of the season took massive hits with the OSU and WVU losses. If Texas loses this week, the entirety of the season will be considered a big disappointment. I say that because this Texas team is capable of ten wins. Now that that’s off the table, being unable to settle for nine will be deeply dissatisfying, even more reason to post an impressive win against these Cyclowns. I hope you enjoyed this stream, let me know what you think in the comments.