CJ Vogel

Golden was so good at this short-red comeback route. Two examples here — Michigan and vs. Arkansas. Ewers on the move was elite as well.

Also funny looking back at this point in the season and seeing Texas started 11/11 in the red zone.

Shakes route from Bond Sell the in-breaking route and you have a free run to the corner. Heck of a route.

Texas liked the whip route quite a bit. Though, low release point and defense ends knowing the ball was coming out quick allowed for tips and bat downs. Same whip route out of different looks. Batted down vs. UGA and an INT vs Texas A&M.

Running through the 3rd quarter plays of the Texas offense in 2024 and I couldn't help but take note of the route concepts for the Longhorns in the red area. Some of the more memorable moments for the Longhorns came on 1-on-1 wins. Right. It was Matthew Golden's one-handed catch vs. Vanderbilt. Or Isaiah Bond's first touchdown as a Longhorn vs. Colorado State where his facemask was yanked. Or the route win by Golden against Michigan. Isaiah Bond also added a pretty rub-route touchdown in man coverage against Georgia at DKR. Of course, there was some a return, exit motion attached to that play, but point being, there were some bright spots here. All of those routes were out-breaking wins in man-to-man coverage. Of course, we are all well aware of some of the issues we saw in the red zone otherwise. More so in the run game trying to get movement in the middle. But the point I wanted to bring to this is when looking ahead at the fall roster and personnel at the position, I begin to wonder what might this offense look like in the tight red. Will Texas rely on the 1-on-1 route winning ability again? Or do they not have that wide receiver ready on the roster? Or does the legs of an Arch Manning alleviate whatever hindering issues showed up time and time again in the tight red? Right now it is all an unknown. Looking at the skillsets of the receivers on the roster, a Matthew Golden or Isaiah Bond prototype could be tough to find. Wingo and Moore each had different strengths a year ago, with neither of their notable red zone targets coming in tight area man-to-man victories. Wingo was more of a vertical jump ball guy, and Moore was relied on slot fades and corner routes time and time again. So, my question is this. Who becomes the tight area route winner? Is that the next step for Wingo? Can a Ffrench, or Lockett, or McCutcheon step up in this case as well? Do these targets change to back-shoulder or jump balls with Arch Manning? A lot of unknowns. *** But more than that, I will attached some notable moments in the tight red from a year ago to highlight what spurred this conversation.

Week 3 of spring football begins tomorrow morning as the Longhorns take the field for practice No. 7. A few nuggets over the weekend that I picked up on the mini scrimmage/team period from practice No. 6. *** – WR Daylan McCutcheon found the end zone over the middle of the field during the team setting. Route running continues to be a strength for the early enrollee who has continued to see time with the first unit. – A pair of nuggets on the RB room. RB Christian Clark has been making some noise this spring after recovering from an Achilles injury last fall. The staff is keeping Clark pretty limited in the live situations so far this spring, but other than that, Clark has consistently earned praise for his cutting ability off the Achilles. Should there be no setbacks, and I am knocking on wood as I type, Clark will have a role this fall. Another RB mentioned was early enrollee James Simon who got loose a couple of times Thursday night. Simon is listed at 205 pounds on the Texas roster, but he is probably closer to 210 and carrying it well. – Two sources indicated RT Andre Cojoe continues to be a positive surprise this spring. The battle between Cojoe and Baker is legit. One source indicated that they believed the job would be pretty quickly decided for Baker, though Cojoe has given Baker a run for his money and continues to piece things together.

Pretty good update all around. Quite the ball club.

Averaged 15.5 and 7.2 over his final six games of the season, including two AAC games and an NIT game.

Unbelievable win.

Heck of a throw by UGA CF Nolan McCarthy.

A leadoff hit (by pitch) is immediately followed by a two-run opposite field HR for Jalin Flores and the Horns have the lead!

BANG!

Ruger as the Sunday guy has been great.

Time to get the sticks hot.

Really appreciate the post and the kind words, @K. Baughman ! And a thank you to all of the OTF community for making this place so enjoyable to log into every day!

This team rocks. Sticks haven’t come alive yet, yet still winning games.

If you have the chance to watch a game from the Yeti Yard, I recommend it. Awesome environment. CDC made an appearance as well.

Organizing a rally in the Yeti Yard currently.

Errors are no good.

Awesome win for the Horns. Great read, Jeff.

Stanford portal EDGE David Bailey picks Texas Tech. Following up on what @Bobby Burton posted this AM, Tech felt a lot of confidence after their visit with the Stanford edge and end up landing him. Texas hosted Bailey on Tuesday, though Bailey was unable to meet with Steve Sarkisian as a result of his newborn.