Texas vs. Georgia football? Once, twice, anyone want three times? | Bohls
While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:
Who wants Texas vs. Georgia, not once but thrice?
1. Bring on Georgia: So, yes, the Texas Orange-White spring game was an unmitigated success. Maybe the best ever. Steve Sarkisian’s bunch put on an offensive showcase in front of almost 50,000 fans with 69 total points and the return of Fletcher’s corny dogs, to boot. “It was awesome,” athletic director Chris Del Conte said. “An incredible crowd.” And I’m sure we can all agree we can now expect a Texas-Georgia national championship game next January, right? And brace yourselves, since the Bulldogs come to DKR on Oct. 19 one week after the showdown in Dallas with you-know-whom, we got to figure we’ll see a Texas-Georgia rematch in the SEC championship game and then again in the final of the College Football Playoff. Can the country handle three such games? It had better get used to it. Because until these mega-conferences abolish their league title games, which are unabashed money grabs, and because the SEC and Big Ten will control the landscape moving forward, we could see three meetings between Texas and whomever, Ohio State and Michigan, Alabama and Georgia, etc. Not ideal. ... Texas has now won the Big 12 regular-season championship or tournament title in 10 sports, the fourth year in a row it’s won that many banners. The only other Big 12 schools to have done so aren’t even Big 12 schools anymore — Nebraska twice and Texas A&M once. With softball, baseball, men’s and women’s track, men’s golf and rowing still to be decided, the Longhorns could break the record of 13. Yeah, Texas is going to miss the Big 12.
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Texas welcomes its Arizona pipeline
2. The state of Texas' defensive front: Much of the hullabaloo over the spring game had to do with the quarterback position. Texas appears as stacked 1-2-3 at the position as ever. Personally, I’d say that’s the best spot of the team, followed by running backs and wide receivers and not far behind is the defensive line, especially with the Arizona pipeline bringing in gap-filler Bill Norton, who spent four seasons at Georgia. Since fellow interior man Tiaoalii Savea, another Wildcat, is already here, new linebackers coach Johnny Nansen is earning his keep. The former Arizona assistant had to give both his pupils glowing recommendations and had a ton to do with their additions, so Nansen will be judged somewhat by their play in the early going. The duo helped Arizona rank 25th nationally in run defense. Colton Vasek looks ready to be an impact player this fall.
In this arms race, Texas looks loaded
3. Forget the noise: Yes, Quinn Ewers is and should be and will be Texas' starting quarterback. But Arch Manning showed so much arm, polish and poise that I’m thinking he’ll be a better quarterback (eventually) than Ewers. Just not now. Manning has bigger upside and will be a better NFL quarterback. That’s not a slam. Ewers is a damn good quarterback and will go in the first two rounds of next year’s NFL draft. Manning just has a more physical physique to take more of a pounding. He has a stronger arm and a quick release. He sees the field well. Again, this is not to disparage Ewers even a little bit. But he is 16-6 in his career. He’s missed five of 27 games and parts of a sixth. He doesn’t slide nearly enough. He’s not as mobile as Manning. But he improved dramatically last season and deserves immense credit for taking Texas to its first College Football Playoff. He was within one short touchdown strike to Adonai Mitchell of going to the national championship game. And if injury befalls him for a third straight year, who’s to say if he’ll get his job back after he heals. It says here this is the best three-quarterback group at Texas since, well, last year only because Maalik Murphy, now at Duke, had more experience than Trey Owens, a freshman who looked fantastic and very comfortable Saturday. Remember, the only Longhorns who have started a game in the NFL since Vince Young went 31-19 at Tennessee and one year at Philadelphia were Colt McCoy (11-25) over 12 years, Chris Simms (7-9), Garrett Gilbert (two starts with an 0-2 mark and a Super Bowl ring as a practice squad member of the Patriots), and Sam Ehlinger (0-3 in three starts). More and better candidates are on the way.
Texas baseball keeps hanging around
4. Mounting a comeback: The Texas baseball team deserves applause for coming back and winning the TCU series after looking so bad in the 5-0 loss last Friday. Ace Whitehead and Lebarron Johnson Jr. looked strong, allowing a combined one run over 12⅓ innings, in their two starts and helped keep very much alive the Longhorns’ Big 12 championship hopes despite their season-long pitching troubles. I was a little surprised that Texas’ national RPI improved only modestly from 76 to 72. That may have had more to do with TCU’s status as the league’s 11th-place team, one that's not a robust hitting crew and that has won only four of 15 road games all season. I wrote over the weekend that Texas baseball hasn’t lived up to its billing and should never be discounted, and it should not. It has a mystique that other programs envy. Texas is only 8-7 against top 50 teams but keeps winning series. That’s a clutch gene. … The Horns travel this week to league-leading Oklahoma, which leads by three games but is only 24-14. The Sooners have swept four Big 12 teams and won nine of their last 11, but they lost series to Oklahoma State and West Virginia. … Maybe this will be a repeat of 1989 when Texas A&M had its best team in history with Chuck Knoblauch and John Byington and couldn’t get out of a super regional it hosted and Texas had a bleak season, relatively speaking, with only superstars Kirk Dressendorfer and Scott Bryant and finished as the College World Series runner-up to Wichita State. Kinda has that feel.
The other side of the spring game fence
5. Horn hiccups: Since we just judged what’s best about the Longhorns' football team, here’s where Texas is either hurting somewhat or has serious question marks. I’d say the team is most suspect at cornerback, linebacker and offensive line. The last two phases can be good, but Pete Kwiatkowski requires a big-time pass rusher, not just a rotating committee of decent pass rushers, and cornerback remains a negative outside Malik Muhammad. Terrance Brooks entered the transfer portal Tuesday and Gavin Holmes didn't have a good scrimmage and got beat far too often. And we all know the pass defense and red-zone offense were the biggest problems of 2023 since the pass defense ranked 116th nationally. … The run defense, though, may be as good as last year’s. Or the offensive line is seriously overrated. But the tailbacks had no holes to run through and were usually brought down in the backfield.
Mitchell and Hunter make their moves
6. Overnight success: Yes, Rodney Terry landed a couple of key players from NCAA Tournament-snubbed Indiana State and high-scoring Arkansas guard Tramon Mark, who’s only a 32% shooter from deep range. But Texas still needs major help in its front court, especially after losing the gifted but slow-developing Dillon Mitchell. I see that point guard Tyrese Hunter, whom we all expected to leave, landed at Memphis. Wish him well, but he regressed both seasons at Texas, was an average 3-point shooter and played without joy or confidence last year. Hope he finds his peace at the AAC school … Not coincidentally, last Friday FedEx pledged $25 million over the next five years to be used in sponsorship deals with Memphis athletes. In a climate where some athletes claim foul and say some schools trying to entice them to come don’t follow through on their financial commitments, this is a game-changer. All a blue-chip quarterback or point guard has to tell Memphis is, “Yeah, I’m coming. And the cool mil absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”
This is a huge boost for the school's name, image and likeness compensation efforts and was facilitated by Altius Sports Partners. The deal is for $5 million per year, an especially big amount of money for a Group of Five school. Of course, this is not how the initial legislation was intended, but it’s the world we find ourselves in now. If I’m Texas, I’m on the phone yesterday with big businesses who headquarter in Austin from Dell to Elon Musk to Google to Apple to Southwest Airlines.
Vic Schaefer's Monday: hunting turkey, signing elite guards
7. 'She just wants to win': Vic Schaefer got himself another elite guard to go with Rori Harmon and Madison Booker, which means neither may have to play 40 minutes. Maybe 39. Texas landed Laila Phelia, who played three years at Michigan and was an All-Big Ten guard with 1,243 career points. “Laila will be a tremendous addition to our team,” Schaefer said after pausing during a turkey hunt. “She is a seasoned veteran, plays hard, is tough and has been to the wars. She is extremely competitive and plays with a high motor. She just wants to win. I believe she will impact our team on both ends of the floor.” Asked what he still needs, Schaefer said, “Need a big.” Texas has one visiting this weekend.
Whatever happened to ...
8. Scattershooting: While wondering whatever happened to former Longhorn quarterback-turned-fashion model Marty Cherry.
Meanwhile, from the greatest seat in the world ...
9. On the couch: We are trying to plod through “Franklin,” a tale on Apple+ about Benjamin Franklin’s heroic efforts to induce France to become allies with the American colonies against mutual rival England. It’s got some great, if at times tedious, dialogue but goes along at a very slow pace. We’re five episodes into it and can’t imagine it being a box-office — or living-room office — success. So far giving it four ducks.
Circling the wagon in Norman
Crazy prediction: Texas will beat Oklahoma two out of three in this week's baseball series.
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Expectations are soaring for Texas football after Manning puts on show
