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    Jeff Howe
    Here are some quick hitters from Thursday's practice, the second of training camp for the Texas Longhorns:
    — Wide receiver Ryan Wingo and offensive lineman DJ Campbell weren't at practice. There was no official word on the status of either Longhorn immediately after the window.
    With Wingo out, there was more work available for Emmett Mosley V and Jaime Ffrench, who caught the eyes of the OTF staff today. With that said, Parker Livingstone made his presence felt without Wingo on the field, catching a few deep balls from Arch Manning late in the viewing window. Steve Sarkisian was vocal in his approval of Livingstone's performance on Thursday.
    Along the offensive line, Connor Robertson was elevated to the No. 1 center with Campbell's absence forcing Cole Hutson to right guard. Trevor Goosby, Neto Umeozulu and Brandon Baker rounded out the first-team line. Jaydon Chatman (left tackle), Nate Kibble (left guard), Daniel Cruz (center), Connor Stroh (right guard) and Andre Cojoe (right tackle) made up the second group.
    — Cornerback Kade Phillips and safety Jonah Williams were held out again today. Sarkisian said after Wednesday's practice that both true freshmen are dealing with hamstring issues.
    — Lavon Johnson is still limited and had his left ankle heavily taped for the second consecutive practice. Hero Kanu and Alex January led the interior defensive linemen through drills, but Travis Shaw was noticeable on Thursday. The North Carolina transfer was limited in the spring while recovering from a knee injury. Shaw, Cole Brevard and Maraad Watson had solid days among the guys in Kenny Baker's group.
    — UPDATE: According to a university spokesperson, Campbell and Wingo were absent from practice for personal reasons and it’s “nothing serious,” we’re told.
    Jeff Howe
    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.”
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — Pete Kwiatkowski enters his fifth season as Texas defensive coordinator with the pass rush in a much better place than where it stood three years ago.
    Kwiatkowski’s first season on the Forty Acres was largely forgettable. While allowing the second-most yards per rushing attempt (5.15) of any Longhorn defense and third-most yards per play (6.03) and points per game (31.1) in school history, Kwiatkowski’s first season saw Texas record 20 sacks in a 12-game campaign, good for a No. 98 finish nationally (1.67 sacks per game).
    “What pass rush?” Kwiatkowski quipped before the start of the 2022 season when reflecting on the worst Texas pass rush since 1997 (15 sacks total and an average of 1.36 per game). The Longhorns improved over the next two seasons, averaging 2.08 sacks per game (No. 77 in FBS) in 2022 and 2.29 sacks per game (No. 52) in 2023 before the pass rush took off with authority in 2024.
    “We’ve come a long way from whenever that was,” Kwiatkowski said Tuesday, when he and fellow coordinators Kyle Flood and Jeff Banks met with the media ahead of Wednesday’s first camp practice.
    After sacking opposing quarterbacks 46 times (2.88 sacks per game, which was good for a No. 15 FBS ranking) en route to a second consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff semifinals, Texas heads into the 2025 season boasting arguably the nation’s fiercest pass rush.
    The returns of Colin Simmons (nine sacks as a true freshman), Anthony Hill Jr. (eight) and Trey Moore (5.5) account for the bulk of the 32 sacks the Longhorns welcome back from last season. With Kwiatkowski stewarding the expansion of Moore’s job description to include more snaps at the second level of the defense, along with the shift of transfer Brad Spence (4.5 sacks with Arkansas in 2024) from linebacker to EDGE, the Longhorns have added more pieces to the chessboard.
    Kwiatkowski said he’s excited about the possible sub-package looks and lineup combinations he can put on the field, even if maximizing his personnel is easier said than done.
    “It makes it difficult because you've got all of these guys that you’re trying to put into position to make plays,” Kwiatkowski said. “It’s a good problem to have.”
    An elite pass rush might be most responsible for the success Texas enjoyed on defense last season. The Longhorns allow the third-fewest points per game (15.3), total yards per game (283.4) and yards per play (4.4) in the nation.
    Texas was ranked in the top 15 nationally in rushing yards allowed per game (109.6) and yards per rushing attempt allowed (3.24), which opened up more pass-rushing opportunities. With quarterbacks feeling the heat more often, the Longhorns led the SEC and were No. 2 nationally in takeaways (31), including 22 interceptions (tied for the FBS lead), and fielded the country’s No. 8-ranked third-down defense (31.4 percent conversion rate allowed).
    With that said, there are two reasons to believe the encore could pack more of a punch.
    For starters, Kwiatkowski said understanding and putting into practice the details of the EDGE position will lead to more consistent production from Simmons.
    “He's a playmaker. He's got great ability and skill. It's just attention to the details; being more physical when we need him to be more physical,” Kwiatkowski said.
    Even after Simmons won the Shaun Alexander Award and began an ascent toward an early selection in the 2027 NFL Draft, what LaAllan Clark said when asked for his initial impressions of the 6-foot-3-inch, 240-pounder should have the Texas faithful giddy for what’s to come.
    “An elite player who left a lot on the bone last year,” said the man working with Simmons and the other Longhorn edge defenders. “He’s ready to take that next step.
    “He’s just scratching the surface.”
    Then there’s Hill, whose next step, Kwiatkowski said, is growing his game in pass coverage. Hill expanding his skill set could allow Kwiatkowski to use him as a decoy to open things up for other Texas defenders and make it tougher for offenses to try and exploit him when hunting matchups.
    “He has a nose for the ball, plays his tail off and has a knack for big plays,” Kwiatkowski said of Hill, a second-team All-American linebacker as a sophomore and a projected first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. “It's just the consistency in his pass coverage. That’s the next step, and he's doing a good job with that.”
    If Kwiatkowski can do more with Simmons and Hill, it’s hard to imagine any collegiate defensive front being harder to deal with than the one the Longhorns will deploy.
    Kwiatkowski didn’t tip his hand on what he’s cooking up for the Cotton Bowl rematch with Ohio State in 32 days. Still, it was hard for Kwiatkowski to hide his excitement about the personnel he’ll be working with in camp as he and the defensive staff begin molding the ball of clay that is the 2025 defense.
    “I feel really good about what we've got personnel-wise,” Kwiatkowski said. “Guys coming off the edge, 'backers can rush the passer and we've got good D-tackles that can push the pocket.”
    Jeff Howe
    SAN ANTONIO — The final day of the Texas High School Coaches Association’s annual convention and coaching school is marked by the keynote address, delivered by a college head coach.
    This year, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian will speak to the high school coaches gathered inside San Antonio’s Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Tuesday.
    On Texas Football is onsite to hear Sarkisian’s remarks with 39 standing between the Longhorns and the 2025 season opener against reigning national champion Ohio State.
    Jeff Howe
    SAN ANTONIO — When Texas hits the turf at Ohio Stadium in 40 days for a College Football Playoff semifinal return bout against Ohio State, Steve Sarkisian will be involved in a season opener the likes of which he hasn’t been a part of in 22 years.
    The Longhorns and Buckeyes should be among the highest-ranked teams in the Associated Press Top 25 when they pick up on Aug. 30 where they left off in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10. The last time Sarkisian kicked off a season in a game featuring two top-10 squads, he was in his third season coaching USC’s quarterbacks for Pete Carroll when the eighth-ranked Trojans went into Jordan-Hare Stadium and smacked No. 6 Auburn, 23-0.
    That’s one of three times throughout Sarkisian’s collegiate coaching career in which he’s had to prepare a team for a season opener on the road against a current member of a Power Four conference. He hasn’t coached a season opener against an AP Top 25 foe since 2013 (Washington soundly defeated No. 19 Boise State, at home, 38-6).
    Still, Sarkisian is drawing on those experiences to prepare his squad for “probably the most daunting challenge of a first game” in his career.
    “You just try to tap into those things throughout your career that you've been through,” Sarkisian said on Sunday at the Texas High School Coaches Association Convention in San Antonio. “How can you benefit from that?”
    Like the team Sarkisian is taking to Columbus, USC lacked extensive experience at key positions entering the 2003 season. First-round NFL draft picks Carson Palmer and Troy Polamalu were among five Trojans selected from a team that finished Carroll’s second season with a share of the Pac-10 title and an 11-2 record after a rout of Iowa in the Orange Bowl.
    Matt Leinart’s starting debut came against the Tigers. The shutout win over Auburn, which received a first-place vote in the preseason AP Top 25, also marked the USC debuts of running backs Reggie Bush and LenDale White; Bush and Leinart were two of seven Trojans on the 2003 roster (USC went 12-1 that season and split the national championship with an LSU team coached by Nick Saban) who went on to become first-round NFL draft picks.
    Led by four preseason All-SEC first-team selections (DJ Campbell, Anthony Hill, Colin Simmons, Michael Taaffe and Quintrevion Wisner), the Longhorns’ current roster could prove worthy of standing side by side with the most talented collegiate teams with which Sarkisian has been associated. Wanting to ensure the 2025 squad puts its best foot forward against the reigning national champions, Sarkisian will maximize the team's preseason practice time while maintaining a proven camp format.
    “The first 2.5 weeks or so of training camp have been truly that — of training camp. Then, we've adjusted, kind of, into that third week, where we've gotten into that first opponent, that bigger opponent,” Sarkisian said. A few years ago, it was Alabama for that week. Last year, it was Michigan. This year, it would be Ohio State. That was really implementing the game plan for that game. In the fourth week, we would then game-plan and prepare for our first opponent.
    “This year, what it'll look like more [is] kind of a two-week process to get ready for the game,” he continued. “Similar, in a sense, I guess you could say, almost to a bowl game. Yet, the reality of it is, probably with a little more physicality, a little more opportunity to tackle and to do those things to make sure that you're sharp.”
    There are concerns to address going into a season opener, regardless of the opponent. For Sarkisian, tackling and ball security top the list, as they do for most coaches.
    While issues relating to alignment, assignment and communication can be problematic early in the season, Sarkisian also mentioned "dealing with performance anxiety." Not every current Texas player was on the field for meaningful snaps in Tuscaloosa, Ann Arbor, College Station or other road environments similar to the Horseshoe that the Longhorns have experienced.
    For Sarkisian, no stone will be left unturned by the Longhorns to make sure they're ready for their second meeting with Ohio State in less than eight months.
    “If I can put them in some of those elements, as well as the staff putting together a good game plan, and then we can get up there and go cut it loose and go play,” Sarkisian said.
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