UT Spring Game

[Old Tiger]

Anyone going to it from the low?

[Emerson1]

I will be recording it.

[wedo]

Originally posted by Emerson1
I will be recording it.

When is it?

[BreckTxLonghorn]

As of right now, there's an extremely good chance I'll be there, weather permitting. It could change though, if I can't get my buddy to go to the TexasExes tailgate with me.

I heard Colt's bulked up. Would like to see how Mack will use him now.

[Emerson1]

A look ahead for Longhorns football
McCoy is stronger, and the shotgun's still the preferred firearm formation.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007

In case your eyeballs will have to be surgically removed from your television screen because of the college basketball craziness, and you'll be unable to attend the Texas spring football game this weekend, allow me to enlighten you on what Mack Brown accomplished in the past month.

Consider this the early Cliffs Notes version before the summer football magazines start cluttering your mailbox in June. Until then, here's what you should know.


•Texas will pretty much remain in the shotgun, as it was 78 percent of the time last season. (Sorry, all of you in the I-formation Club.)

•The offensive line has been rebuilt, in a fashion, but it could sure use another tackle.

•A bigger Colt McCoy, now up to 208 pounds, will run more and do so more effectively.

•If the Longhorns learned one thing from all the trick plays they saw in 2006, it's if you can't beat 'em — or defend 'em — join 'em.

•Some of the wide receivers will catch less and block more.

These factors should correct what broke down last year, when Texas was a strong running game and a lot of mental toughness away from another appearance in the BCS title game. The Longhorns went 10-3 and lost only when McCoy wasn't experienced enough (Ohio State) or was hurt or wounded (Kansas State, Texas A&M).

McCoy will again be the focal point of the offense, and he'll be better than ever. Vondrell McGee and Chris Ogbonnaya will get the extra carries left over from Jamaal Charles, and Texas will be the premier offensive team in the Big 12 unless it's trumped by the dynamic Oklahoma State trio of Bobby Reid, Adarius Bowman and Dantrell Savage.

Right, Greg Davis?

"After nine years, I'm not a grand predictor," the Longhorns' offensive coordinator said.

He'll stay off any limbs, but he does feel confident the Longhorns' offense will be better by the time the team lines up for kickoff against Arkansas State on Sept. 1. It would be a misstatement to say anything was truly broken, considering the Longhorns scored 40 points or more five times and topped 400 total yards in seven games. Cracked, maybe.

I'm still not convinced Texas is better served in the shotgun. Breaking in three new starters in the interior line could spell disaster. Dallas Griffin will be a very slimmed-down version of Lyle Sendlein at center, but Griffin is bright and athletic. Chris Hall isn't a candidate for the decathlon, but he is tenacious and has a work ethic that would embarrass a Marine. Charlie Tanner, the other guard, is naturally strong and has a mean streak.

With their help, the run game should be better for three key reasons, Davis said.

Better quarterback threat. Improved blocking from receivers. A more savvy Charles.

Even though he won't ever be Vince Young, McCoy is more confident, beefed up and will carry the ball by design on draws or zone reads eight or nine times a game. And the staff will prepare redshirt freshman Sherrod Harris or true freshman John Chiles with a Florida-style package — a la Tim Tebow — to provide a dangerous change of pace from McCoy.

"John is a piece of clay that hadn't been molded," Davis said, "but he can really run, and he probably has better arm strength than I expected. I'd say they're even or Sherrod is just slightly ahead."

High school coaches who have taken in Texas' practices have detected a distinct difference in McCoy. He's stronger in his core. He is experimenting more, partly because he's not concerned with winning a job. He's not as obsessed with passing as he was last spring when he felt his throwing would win him the starting job. That job is his now.

McCoy can help Charles as much as vice versa, provided the blur of a running back will run to daylight before dark of night. A gifted back, the sophomore was hesitant at times last season, and had just one run longer than 27 yards for a reason.

"Jamaal was looking for the big play, which is really common among second-year running backs," Davis said. "Sometimes, he's indecisive. He was always looking for where is the big play instead of where is the 4-yard run that can become the big play."

On those days when the offense isn't clicking, like against Texas A&M last November, expect to see more exotic plays, not unlike the wheel route for 72 yards that Charles caught from McCoy against Iowa in the Alamo Bowl.

Sadly, Davis has never embraced trick plays unless they came against already outmanned Rice or Iowa State. That will change, he promises.

No one studies his offense's tendencies and statistics more than Davis, whose figures show that the Longhorns score on 38 percent of their drives but — whenever their quarterback gets sacked — only a minuscule 2 percent.

More trick plays should keep defenses off balance, prevent some of those sacks and give Texas' superior athletes the opportunity to make plays in space, the key to a game plan that will call for more five-receiver sets and fewer two-tight end formations.

"It's an area we've been negligent in," Davis conceded. "I think that is a legitimate gripe. We need to make it a more natural part of our offense. But I'm not talking about double-triple reverse passes."

That's fine. We'll settle for simple triple-reverse passes, Greg.

kbohls@statesman.com