First of all, Season’s Greetings to all from Willie Earl. Now on with the show.
Lots of changes going on over there in Longhorn Football land so I thought it might be useful to provide you with a guide to who and what is in and out as we get started on what we hope will be a 12-game season for the Longhorns when it’s all said and done.
In
Campbell-Williams Field.
I’ve always thought it was dumb to name a field inside of a stadium and naming the field for a guy because he gave a zillion dollars to UT was crass (even for UT) to boot.
Renaming the field after the Longhorns’ two Heisman Trophy winners was one of the best things to happen around here in 2020. It really is sublime. Kudos to Dahr, Randall, and Rob Jamail, Joe Jamail’s three sons for requesting the change. If that’s what really happened.
Out
34% of UT’s season ticket holders have opted out of the 2020 season. I couldn’t find out how many season ticket holders there are, but I’m guessing the number is around 60,000. That would mean about 39,000 are still in. Only around 25,000 per game will be allowed in the stadium. Seemingly, that would mean some season ticket holders won’t be able to use their tickets game-to-game. My guess is the attendance for the UTEP game will be closer to 15,000.
After attending more than 90 % of UT home games from 1974 – 2016 I have attending about two games a year since. If 2020 was Ordinary Time, UTEP would not be one of the two games I’d go to. Just for fun and to be able to say I was there, Helen and I might go Saturday night. “Call me irresponsible.”
In
Texas has two new coordinators. Chris Ash on defense and Mike Yurcich on offense. I think it’s unusual for there to be such optimism surrounding a team when both its coordinators were fired at the end of the previous season. I don’t expect the offense to look any different. Hopefully Chris Ash has closely studied the game film from the Alamo Bowl. Rinse and repeat.
Out
151 receptions for 1945 yards with the departure of Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson.
In
Joshua Moore returns after a yearlong suspension for a misdemeanors weapon charge. According to the arrest affidavit, Police monitoring downtown Austin on July 5, 2019 at the police department’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) noticed a man “remove a firearm from his waistband, walk in between two vehicles, appearing to chamber a round by pulling the slide of the gun to the rear, and then place the firearm back into his waistband.” When the police arrested Moore, they found a Glock 19 — 9mm pistol in his waistband with a 30-round magazine and a live round loaded into the chamber.
Hopefully, it’s onward and upward for Moore. He’s a talented deep-threat receiver with good size whose potential contribution could go a long way toward replacing the loss of Duvernay and Johnson.
Out
Brennan Eagles as a starting wide receiver. Eagles—for now—has been supplanted by graduate-transfer Tarik Black from Michigan. Bet he’s glad to be a Longhorn in 2020.
In
Receiver Jordan Whittington a 2019 Five-Star recruit is back after missing all but the first half of the Louisiana Tech in 2019. Five-Star recruits currently on the roster are Whittington, safety Caden Sterns, and freshman running back Bijan Robinson.
You might find this list of all time Texas five-star recruits interesting.
https://247sports.com/college/texas/Sport/Football/AllTimeRecruits/
Out
The Showband of the Southwest is out of Longhorn games for the foreseeable future.
In
“The Eyes of Texas” I guess they’ll play it over the PA system.
Out
Speaking of “The Eyes of Texas,” Caden Sterns, is opting out. There will probably be more Longhorns who will join him.
In
I’m all in on the strong possibility that by the end of the season San Ehlinger will join Vince Young and Colt McCoy on the list of 21st Century all-time great Longhorn Quarterbacks. He does need to curb his tendency on occasion to abandon the pocket too early and run. I predict that he will have a better NFL career than McCoy and Young though that’s not a very high bar to clear.
Out
I’m out—for now—on the offensive line. Herman is pleased with depth that he has but outside of left tackle Sam Cosmi, that depth is comprised of journeyman Derek Kerstetter, who has been moved from right tackle to center this season, and a collection of unproven or undistinguished talents.
For this team to win a championship the offensive line has got to be better than it was in 2019.
In or Out?
Are you in on the expectation that in his fourth year it’s time for Tom Herman to deliver either a Big 12 Championship or a top five final ranking or both? Or is this a freebee season on expectations for Herman and all head coaches because of Covid 19?
HooK Em,
W.E.
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