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Excellent write-up, @Jeff Howe! Thanks for doing all the analysis.

AUSTIN, Texas — The biscuit that was the Texas running game last season was buttered with the outside zone. Considering how Georgia and Ohio State stymied a Longhorn ground attack lacking diversity in the team’s three losses, the offense might’ve been better served by Steve Sarkisian not pulling so many stretch plays from the well. Regardless, the body of work put together by the offensive line and running backs over a 16-game season revealed that wider was better for Texas in 2024. According to Pro Football Focus, 243 — more than 45 percent — of the offense’s non-sack rushing attempts were from the C gap (between the tackle and the tight end) to the sideline. It was that portion of the line of scrimmage where the Longhorns racked up more than 51 percent of their non-sack rushing yardage (1,415 yards and 5.82 yards per attempt), 64 percent of their rushing touchdowns (16), more than half of their total yards after contact (924 yards and 3.81 yards after contact per attempt) and more than 48 percent of their rushing attempts that gained at least 10 yards (33). The 75 missed tackles Texas ball carriers forced on wide runs accounted for more than 67 percent of the missed tackles forced by the Longhorns on their non-sack rushing attempts. Furthermore, Quintrevion Wisner is the returning leading rusher in the SEC (1,064 yards, 4.7 yards per attempt and five rushing touchdowns) and was most effective on wide runs as a sophomore. The data collected by PFF shows Wisner gained 448 yards, scored all of his rushing touchdowns, recorded 10 of his 27 gains that went for 10 or more yards and forced 27 missed tackles on C-gap-to-sideline rushing attempts, even though those runs accounted for only 45 percent of his total carries (226). So, which concept will be the focal point of the Texas running game in 2025? According to offensive line coach Kyle Flood, who met with reporters on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s first training camp practice, the Longhorns haven’t settled on one. This will be the ninth consecutive season Flood has worked alongside Sarkisian, which dates back to their time together in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons. Flood said the go-to scheme is subject to change from year to year, pointing out that, in 2024, the outside zone "was very productive for us over the course of the season.” “I don’t know what that’s going to look like this year yet,” Flood said. “I think we’ll have a much better vision of that as we go through training camp and we allow these linemen and tight ends to work together.” Based on how the Texas running game has evolved since Sarkisian’s first season on the Forty Acres, Flood isn’t being coy when discussing what the running game will hang its hat on in the current regime’s fifth season. The Longhorns relied heavily on inside zone runs in 2021 (according to PFF, Bijan Robinson had 138 rushing attempts on zone-based plays and just 57 carries on gap-based runs), preferring zone concepts 66 percent of the time. The percentage of zone runs dropped to 57 in 2022, with Roschon Johnson splitting his carries almost equally between zone (47 attempts) and gap-based runs (44). In 2023, with the addition of CJ Baxter, who had more attempted gap runs (69) than zone runs, the 2023 running game, and Jonathon Brooks closing the margin between his zone (101) and gap (86) runs, Texas won the Big 12 and reached the College Football Playoff behind a running game operating on a 54/46 percentage split between zone and gap runs. Last season, even with outside zone being the dominant concept, the Longhorns had a 52/48 percentage split favoring zone runs, their most balanced running game under Sarkisian. What must the coaches consider when establishing which concepts could best help Texas reach the national championship game for the first time since the Longhorns played for the BCS title in 2009? It starts with Flood replacing four starters along the offensive line. And the strongest parts of the line are just as important as determining the schemes in which the retooled group might be most proficient. Last season, the A gap between Jake Majors and Hayden Conner (89 attempts) and the C gap between Kelvin Banks Jr. (87 attempts) and the tight end were the most popular gaps for running plays according to PFF. Those three players are gone. Still, Trevor Goosby was the left tackle for Wisner’s 186-yard performance in the regular-season finale against Texas A&M, and Neto Umeozulu could offer a better, more consistent push in the running game as he takes over for Conner at left guard. Baxter was back on the practice field Wednesday, less than a year after a preseason knee injury wiped out his sophomore season. With Christian Clark showing no signs of slowing down while going through his remarkable recovery from an Achilles injury, and Jerrick Gibson trying to prove he’s worthy of carries after an up-and-down debut, the running back room is a lot more crowded than it was when Baxter was leading the way last summer. “Ultimately, as coaches, we’ll figure out what schemes are going to allow us to utilize that personnel in the best way,” Flood said. “It may be outside the zone again, but I don’t go into it saying, ‘This is what we’re going to be exclusively,’ or, ‘This is what we’re going to do more than anything else.’ I think I want to see that in training camp to really be sure what we feel like is the best thing for this football team, and assume that just because outside zone might’ve been best last year, that it’s going to be best for us again.” View full news story

Did anyone ever receive their order?

October is likely imo. It takes time. Christian Clark is the welcome news. He is ahead of schedule and ready to roll. We’ll need him out of the gate.

It was mentioned again to me last night that it shouldn’t be expected to see much if any of Baxter against Ohio State.

Sure and as I said, they'll work him in slowly. See how he pulls up in training, etc. I think we're pretty much in agreement, so I'm confused why we're going back and forth here lol.

I would love for him to work consistently but goal should be to be RB1 in 2026 after Wisner heads to the NFL.

there's a possibility that he's not the same when/if he comes back

Saw Bobby’s comments regarding The Great Steve Worster 2 time All American. I appreciate Bobby honoring Steve . He was an amazing person. A great person. When he ran on the field the crowd would always yell! “WOO , WOO,WOO” . I can still hear the crowd.. 58 years later !

Tell this to Halliburton....there is countless examples of athletes rushing back recovery and getting hurt again. Hell Johnathan Brooks is a prime example of this to keep it Longhorn related. His knee injury just wasn't an ACL. It was ACL and his MCL that needed to be surgically repaired and his PCL suffered damage as well but fortunately for him it wasn't a complete tear and didn't need surgery. That is dang near every ligament in his knee that was damage in some sort of severity. His recovery should be slower to ensure the knee is strong as it possibly can be.

Not really. He'll get touches, but it won't be much. He seems to be moving pretty good. But he's not getting 20 carries a game yet, that's for sure. You ease him back into it. Maybe if a game is a blow out, he'll get some reps. I'm not sure he has enough juice to surpass Wisner, Clark or Gibson at the moment.

That would be detrimental to his recovery and could even put him at higher risk of injuring himself again.

I went to high school with him & we lifted weights together in off season in high school.Worster was as down to earth as anyone could be . He was a great baseball catcher. Could hit the ball a country mile . His recruitment was between LSU and Texas . He loved baseball but he loved the roar of the crowd. Loved Texas Longhorns. A extremely violent RB . Thank you for honoring him today . He was Mr. Wishbone. “ Hookem Big Woo” R.I.P.

Gerry’s been saying that Baxter isn’t fully ready for a while and not sure why people say otherwise.

His open-field hits sounded like shotgun blasts.

I was there for that one. My goodness

Westbrook knew how to pop pads

It's takes a lot to make it out of Port Arthur. He can't lose when the whole city behind him.

Occasionally I would see Steve Worster at Sholtz Garden before games, he always seemed happy and would acknowledge a hello. The thing that always struck me was he was not as big as I thought he was. A true Texas legend.

So does Randy Kinder: https://youtu.be/icNQ4WfP-wE?si=63X7Q9D7Zah8E3Gv

Obligatory clip: https://youtu.be/icNQ4WfP-wE?si=eOc2GPJ2OXdcX222&t=21 Loved to watch Westbrook and certainly appreciate woo-woo Worster too.

Leeland McElroy knows the answer:

Lies mute munroe

lol I didn’t notice that. let’s go…. 8:18 AM this morning. That sounds good.