The 6’0, 212-pounder is one of the hottest commodities around the state, in part because the in-state linebacker class isn’t particularly strong at the top in the 2019 cycle. In recent weeks, Gbenda has picked up offers from Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Missouri, TCU, and Texas A&M.

The Horned Frogs and the Aggies are at the top of his list, along with the Longhorns, who picked up three 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions in the immediate aftermath of the offer. Another projection is now cloudy.

As a junior, Gbenda produced 56 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and two sacks. At The Opening Houston Regional camp in February, he ran a 4.74 40-yard dash, a 4.34 shuttle, and posted a 32-inch vertical, all good results. Since Gbenda relies on his athleticism to range from sideline to sideline and doesn’t have ideal size, the easy Texas comparison is to Gary Johnson, though Gbenda isn’t nearly as fast.

Since the Texas defense relies on a nose tackle and consistent slanting to keep the linebackers free, Gbenda is a good fit — like Johnson, he’s at his best when able to make plays without an offensive lineman climbing into his face at the second level.

Early on, it seems as if Texas is in excellent position to eventually land a commitment from Gbenda, which would provide a good start to the 2019 linebacker class as defensive coordinator Todd Orlando pursues higher-rated prospects like De’Gabriel Floyd and Lakia Henry.

Gbenda is a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 332 player nationally, the No. 10 inside linebacker, and the No. 43 player in Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Despite the concerns about Kliff Kingsbury as head coach for 2018, following a 6-6 regular season and bowl loss to South Florida, Texas Tech is in great position to get over the mid-tier hurdle in the Big 12. Texas Tech is returning 10 of 11 starters on defense that proved to be a takeaway machine and shouldn’t miss a beat this year with an abundance of depth joining the ranks. Texas Tech’s offense was good, but not to the same standards Tech and its fans have been used to in the past, including during the Kingsbury era. Most of that, once again, coming from their struggles in the red zone that will undoubtedly be addressed this spring.

Key Dates:
March 3 - Start of Spring Practices
March 24 - Midland Scrimmage
April 7 - Frisco Scrimmage
April 14 - Spring Game, Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock

Key Losses:
QB Nic Shimonek - Graduation/Draft - 328/493, 3963 yards, 66.5%, 33 TDs
RB Justin Stockton - Graduation/Draft - 132 att, 797 yards, 6.0 avg, 4 TDs
WR Keke Coutee - Draft - 93 recs, 1429 yards, 10 TDs
WR Derrick Willies - Graduation/Draft - 18 recs, 304 yards, 3 TDs
WR Cam Batson - Graduation/Draft - 59 recs, 487 yards, 5 TDs
WR Dylan Cantrell - Graduation/Draft - 71 recs, 816 yards, 7 TDs
DT Mychealon Thomas - Graduation/ Draft - 41 tackles, 25 solo, 1 sack, 1 INT

2017 Redshirt players and returning from injury:
DL Houston Miller - Injured
DL Lonzell Gillmore - Injured
WR Xavier Martin - Redshirt
DB Quincy Addison - Redshirt
DB John Davis Jr - Redshirt
DB Adrian Frye - Redshirt
FB Henry Howard - Redshirt
DL Aaron Calcote - Redshirt
OL Casey Verhulst - Redshirt
OL Dawson Deaton - Redshirt
OL Will Farrar - Redshirt
DL Nelson Mbanasor - Redshirt

Incoming Players:
QB Alan Bowman - 3 Star
OL Troy Bradshaw - 3 Star
WR Sterling Galbon - 3 Star
LB Case Gatlin
QB Nick Gerber - Transfer
DL Jaylon Hutchins - 3 Star
RB Andre Johnson - Transfer
RB Ta’Shawn Henry - 3 Star
WR Miller Royals - 3 Star
RB Shadrick Thompson - 3 Star
WR Erik Ezukanma - 4 Star
WR Corey Fulcher - 3 Star
WR KeSean Carter - 3 Star
LB Xavier Benson - 3 Star

With more than enough reinforcements coming to replace key losses in 2018, the only question is, who will be able to separate themselves before entering the season? Kingsbury recruited speed, speed and more speed in his WR’s this past recruiting cycle and if anyone thinks that Henry will be red-shirted because of the players in front of him, I would’t count on it. Ta’Shawn Henry was a huge get for Kingsbury who needed to stabilize the running back position and is versatile enough to line up in the backfield or in the slot. I think Kingsbury will use him right away if he shows what he showed in high school namely, tough running and play-making ability in space. Seeing as how Texas Tech struggled so much in the red zone last year, Kingsbury won’t hesitate to use any personnel that will give him an edge.

Key Position Battle: Quarterback

The Favorite - McLane Carter, Jr
Carter started the last game of the season, vs Texas, in place of a struggling Nic Shimonek. In the first quarter he showed that he could be the quarterback going forward, going 11/15 for 175 yards. Some concern came after he struggled the following two quarters going just 5/22 before being replaced in the 4th quarter by Shimonek. Carter has the most experience and has shown his capability especially when considering he’d get most first team snaps in the spring and fall.

Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images

The Fan Choice - Jett Duffey, So
Duffey has the backing of most of the Tech fan base due to his Mahomesian style of play and ability to move the pocket under pressure. Duffey was highly acclaimed out of high school and heir apparent to Mahomes, before being suspended from Texas Tech in the spring of 2016. With Shimonek’s good, but not great numbers especially late in games, fans are even more wanting to see what Duffey can do in the Red Raider offense, despite his limited sample size.

The Dark Horse - Alan Bowman, Fr
Some believe that Alan Bowman has a real shot at the job. Seeing as this is the first full on QB battle since the great Mahomes/Webb battle of 2015, it’ll be interesting to see if Bowman plays well enough to beat out Carter and Duffey for the job. Bowman had a fairly good high school career and has gotten praise from Kingsbury and recruiting experts throughout the recruiting cycle leading many to believe he can be the guy for the next four years in Lubbock.

Key Group: Special Teams

The special teams group left a lot to be desired in 2017. Beginning with an injury to Clayton Hatfield that led to kicking issues throughout and at key points in the game to inconsistent punting by transfer punter Dominic Panazzolo, all culminating in the dismissal of special team’s coach Joe Robinson.

Kingsbury waited until March 1st to make the hire of Adam Scheier, his new special teams coordinator. Scheier previously was a special teams quality control coach at Ohio State.

John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

The special teams group doesn’t need to be phenomenal to be an improvement from last year, it just needs to be sound on coverages and consistent on kicks. No one will fault the place kicker for missing a 50 yarder, but from 35 and in has to be money. Panazzolo had great moments and bad moments and was illustrated perfectly in Tech’s bowl game against South Florida. In the 2nd quarter, Panazzolo had a 43 yard punt downed at the South Florida 1 yard line and nearing the end of the half, while deep in their own territory, had a punt of just 15 yards to set up a South Florida score.

Key Coaching Hire: Clay McGuire

McGuire, at Texas Tech grad, previously coached at Texas Tech under Mike Leach from 2006 to 2009. He started as a video intern and worked his way up to running backs coach before following Ruffin McNeil and Lincoln Riley to East Carolina. When Mike Leach got hired at Washington State in 2012, McGuire served Leach as offensive line coach.

McGuire is a huge get for Kingsbury and it’s a move that irked Mike Leach, further proving how good McGuire is. With his experience as both a running backs coach and offensive line coach, he is uniquely suited to handled and improve the running game for Texas Tech. Something Tech has desperately needed since losing Mike Jenks and DeAndre Washington after the 2015 season.

McGuire will also serve as co-offensive coordinator along with Kevin Johns who will coach inside wide receivers. The move by Kingsbury to have two offensive coordinators, presumably shows his willingness to move play calling duties to one of them and at the very least shows an upgrade to have a coach specifically handle the passing game coordination and running game coordination.

Let’s unpack this slowly, beginning with the tweet.

• emoji rating: 7.3
• hashtag rating: 7.3
• content: impeccable

Folks, this makes Tim Brewster’s double-exclamation-point trademark look paltry and weak. You want to know he’s talking about a city? Here’s THREE goddamn city emoji. With a check, thank you. And in case you still weren’t sure what he was referring to, there is extra clarification with EIGHT pointing fingers and THREE arrows. ELEVEN total indicators. Eleven players on a football unit. Coincidence? No, genius, I say. Cap it off with the holy trinity of hashtags (including “That 512 Lifestyle,” which presumably has a variety different meanings to a wide spectrum of people, and that’s okay!).

That’s all well and good, because the true beauty of this tweet lies in the graphic.

ENHANCE.

#Business

Shall we begin?

#1 CITY IN AMERICA, BUSINESS INSIDER. Folks, if you don’t believe this is a keep-up-with-the-Joneses response to Texas A&M Football social media marketing, I don’t know what to tell you. NO ONE in college football is more obsessed with #Business. This is a clear effort to nudge in on that rich market of #Business-oriented blue-chip recruits that we’ve been freely harvesting unimpeded now for years. It’s shrewd, if a bit lacking in subtlety. But when did being subtle ever win at #business? You simply cannot argue that Austin is the #1 city in America, because Business Insider has declared it so.

POPULATION: 1.89 MILLION. And every single one of them is on I-35 heading to San Antonio or Dallas every Friday at 4 p.m. AMIRITE? Wow. According to the 2016 U.S. Census (via Wikipedia) the population of Austin is about half that. We knew it was growing, but holy hell! We know, we know. It includes the “greater metropolitan area,” whatever that means. But hey: if you want to gerrymander Round Rock, Williamson County, and the complete, engulfing hellscape of suburban tract housing and drab corporate office parks that surrounds Austin just to inflate your numbers, it’s somewhat disingenuous to tout a weird indie culture as a major selling point. Internet!

QUALITY OF LIFE: 7.3

VALUE: 7.3

Can’t argue with these figures. You whip up a fancy graphic and slap some big block numbers in there, it’s impressive as hell no matter what it says, even if it’s completely devoid of context or meaning. We’ve been doing it on THE TAILGATE now for years.

The capital of Texas gains about 50 new residents daily, many seeking out the city’s “music, outdoor spaces, and cultural institutions.”

Y’all, we have it on authority that this quote comes direct from Tom Herman himself! This is his triumvirate of selling points; the first three facets of the program that he markets in every in-home visit he makes with recruits’ families. As for the 50 new residents, I’m going to be That Guy who embeds his own tweet in a post here because I’m too lazy to come up with a new taek or even completely retype this one.

Austin is beloved for its live music scene and is host to some of the country’s biggest music and culture festivals, including South by Southwest and Austin City Limits. The city was nicknamed “Silicon Hills” in the 1990s for its status as “among the top areas for venture capital investment in the country.”

• “Silicon Hills” sounds like a cheap Red Shoe Diaries spinoff that would air on Showtime at 12:15 a.m. on Sundays in 1997.
• Catch Radiohead this Monday at the Frank Erwin Center as they tour in support of their newest album “Silicon Hills.”
• “Silicon Hills,” the only retirement community exclusively for exotic dancers.
• Watch “Silicon Hills” on BravoTV! this fall, Wednesdays at 10 p.m.
• Fast And Furious 512: Silicon Hills

Louisiana athlete Makiya Tongue is the latest 2019 target to receive an offer from the ‘Horns.

The Baton Rouge native is listed as a OLB/WR on 247 Sports, and is most commonly listed as an athlete. The three-star prospect is ranked as the No. 664 recruit nationally, and the No. 64 athlete.

Texas is offer number 11 for Tongue, and the fifth school to offer him in the past three days. Other suitors include Texas A&M, Kansas State, and Tennessee.

The 6’2, 210 pounder attends LSU’s University Lab High School. Tongue’s father, Reggie, was a linebacker at Oregon State and played 10 seasons in the NFL.

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Tongue is offer No. 81 that the Longhorns have made to 2019 recruits. The ‘Horns have offered 10 other receivers, and five other OLBs.

Kyzir White enters the 2018 NFL Draft as a hard-hitting playmaker at safety after an impressive college career at WVU

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Video Courtesy of WVU Football

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There are, however, some potential upsets that could do a lot to shake up the College Football Playoff rankings. There are also some decent Big 12 games on the schedule, including interesting matchups in Morgantown and Lubbock.

Texas at West Virginia (-3.0) - Connor Williams returns from injury for Texas this week, which will be a huge boost for an offensive line that has been badly depleted all season. Texas’ running game has been atrocious because of those offensive line struggles, but the addition of a preseason All-American could turn that around this week. They’ll also be facing a West Virginia defense that has has allowed 191.1 yards per game on the ground in addition to allowing 4.7 yards per carry on the season. Having said all of this, West Virginia is at home and this line is just too low. Gambling pick: West Virginia covers. Over 53

TCU (-7.0) at Texas Tech - Okay, so TCU could potentially be without Kenny Hill this week. I think most OU fans would prefer to see the Horned Frogs in the Big 12 Championship as opposed to Okie State, so let’s hope he’s good to go. If he sits, highly-touted freshman Shawn Robinson will lead the way. Robinson is a very athletic QB who could give this offense a bit of a different look, so there’s a chance that TCU may not miss a beat this week against a mediocre Texas Tech defense. On the other side, the Frogs may also be without linebacker and leading tackler Travin Howard, linebacker Montrel Wilson and safety Nico Small. Gambling pick: I’m betting that at least some of the guys mentioned (including Hill) end up playing, so I think TCU covers. Over 57

Michigan at Wisconsin (-7.5) - Everything would just be so much simpler if Wisconsin would just lose a game. The problem is that Michigan, although 8-2, is not actually very good. As much as this one means for the College Football Playoff picture, I still don’t think I’ll pass on watching this. I’ll end up taking a nap if I watch more than five minutes. Gambling pick: Wisconsin covers. Under 39

Virginia at Miami (-19.5) - This one has all the makings of a letdown for the Miami Hurricanes. After all the energy that was on display at “The Rock” last weekend, they have to play a noon game against the Virginia Cavaliers. That team won’t get anyone pumped up, but they’re probably good enough to get a W if Miami doesn’t bring their best. Gambling pick: Miami wins, but I think Virginia beats the spread unless they turn it over a bunch (which is quite possible against Miami). Under 50.5

Kansas State at Oklahoma State (-20) - There’s now way that Kansas State can keep up with Oklahoma State on the scoreboard, but that’s a pretty big line. However, Skylar Thompson, who struggled against West Virginia last week, will likely be the guy for the Wildcats this weekend. He isn’t the runner that Alex Delton is, so I don’t envision them being able to do a whole lot offensively. Gambling pick: Oklahoma State covers and hands K-State its sixth loss. Under 65

Oklahoma (-37) at Kansas - To be perfectly honest, that line probably isn’t high enough. A second-half reprieve from facing Baker Mayfield just means that the Jayhawks will have to deal with Kyler Murray. This won’t turn out well for them. Gambling pick: Oklahoma covers and maybe sets some records. Over 70.5

UAB at Florida (-10.5) - America’s second-favorite team goes into The Swamp to face a Florida team that has an interim coach and no offense whatsoever. The conditions are in place for a hilarious upset, but will it actually happen? Gambling pick: No, it won’t happen, but I think UAB beats the spread. Under 48

What position will Sanders play at the next level? Well, that’s not exactly set in stone. If you’re going by Oklahoma’s graphic (seen above), it appears that they see him as a tight end at this point. However, the 6’5”, 210-pound playmaker is also listed as an outside linebacker or even a dual-threat QB by some services. What is obviously apparent is that he has an enormous ceiling as a football player, and his current offer list is evidence of how highly schools already think of him. As only a sophomore in high school, he already has offers from Baylor, Georgia, Oregon and TCU.

Sanders is ranked as the No. 7 overall player in the state of Texas for 2020, and he joins four-star running back Jase McClellan (No. 1 2020 recruit in Texas) as one of two members of Oklahoma’s class. With so many elite 2019 and 2020 prospects already committed, it’s obvious that Riley is taking a very proactive approach to recruiting, and I think that’s certainly an encouraging sign for the future of the program. It’s very early in the process for those guys, but this is at least a great barometer of how things have been going out there on the trail.

Health has been an issue for a number of Texas Longhorn commits. Cameron Rising’s season ended two weeks ago when he injured his knee while diving for a touchdown. Brennan Eagles has sat out his team’s past three games with an unspecified injury. Rondale Moore and Reese Moore (no relation) both sat out games earlier in the season while nursing injuries, but returned to put up strong statistical performances. Byron Hobbs missed a little over half of his team’s season after dislocating his collarbone in Week 2. Jalen Green injured a shoulder a few weeks ago and may very well have played his last high school game. And B.J. Foster, Tom Herman’s highest-rated commit (currently #17 in the 247Sports Composite Rankings) and a player who already missed over a season’s worth of games between his sophomore and junior seasons, was injured last week and will have to sit out another week or two before he’s able to return.

If you’re keeping count at home, that’s three of UT’s four highest-rated commits who have missed multiple games this season due to injury. Hopefully those young men all make a full recovery and are back to 100% by the time they report to Austin next year.

While high school football in Texas is just concluding its regular season, Lone Star State gridders’ counterparts in California and Oklahoma will play their first playoff games this week, and Kentucky’s playoffs are entering their second week.

Of UT’s 19 current commits (18 seniors from the 2018 class and one junior), 13 are either already in the postseason or have seen their teams punch their ticket, only two have been definitively eliminated, and three need wins this week to assure that their senior seasons don’t end before Veterans Day.

After this week, these reports will necessarily begin to get shorter, as teams are eliminated from the playoffs and there’s progressively less action to re-cap or upcoming games to preview. If recent history is any guide, these posts will still likely continue all the way up to state championship week, as - by my count - at least one state championship team from each of the past 21 Texas high school seasons has had a future Texas Longhorn on its roster.

2018 Texas Longhorn football commits

QB Cameron Rising (Newbury Park, California)

Last week: Did not play in a 42-17 win over Thousand Oaks.

This week: Friday, November 10 at 7:00, at Citrus Hill (Perris, California) in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.

Notes: Cameron Rising suffered a knee injury in the 4th quarter of Newbury Park’s October 27 loss to Moorpark, and is likely done for the season. As it turned out, his injury was thankfully not a torn ACL, but Super K of The Football Brainiacs reported last week that Rising’s knee injury would still “require 6-8 weeks of recovery time.”

In Rising’s absence last Friday, Newbury Park had a lot of success with its ground game, rushing for 226 yards and 3 TDs in a convincing win over Thousand Oaks. Newbury Park’s leading rusher was freshman Christian Middleton, who had 108 yards and 2 TDs on ten carries.

The win broke a three-game losing streak and saved Newbury Park from finishing winless in Camino League play. The Panthers finished the regular season 5-5 and were 1-3 in league play. They were one of three teams to receive an “at large” bid for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section’s Division 3 playoffs. The CIF’s Southern Section has 18 teams in Division 3, and 16 of them earned playoff bids.

Newbury Park’s first round opponent is Citrus Hill, a team that went 9-1 in the regular season and ran the table on its Mountain Pass League opposition, going 5-0 and outscoring its league foes by an average score of 50-12. Citrus Hill was the 3rd-ranked Division 3 team in the Southern Section going into the final week of the regular season. Citrus Hill’s lone defeat of the season was a 30-0 shutout loss on September to Rancho Cucamonga, the 6th-ranked Division 1 team in the Southern Section. Newbury Park and Citrus Hill did not have any common opponents in the regular season.

QB Casey Thompson (Newcastle, Oklahoma)

Last week: Completed 15 of 21 passes for 215 yards and 4 TDs, and rushed 16 times for 205 yards and 1 TD in a 41-23 win over Cache.

This week: No game, Newcastle did not qualify for Oklahoma’s Class 4A playoffs

Notes: Casey Thompson accounted for 420 offensive yards and 5 total TDs last Friday and helped his Newcastle team end its season on a high note with a 41-23 win that spoiled the postseason hopes of their opponent, Cache. Newcastle finished the season 3-7 overall and 3-4 in district play.

I wrote in last week’s post that Newcastle might still have a chance at a playoff berth, since a win over Cache coupled with a Clinton win over Elgin would have resulted in those four teams all finishing with district records of 3-4 and in a tie for fourth place, and tiebreakers would have been required to determine who got the district’s fourth and final playoff spot. But that scenario was averted when Elgin beat Clinton, 21-14, and an article in The Oklahoman that painstakingly described District 4A-1’s various playoff scenarios going into last week’s games suggested there was no possibility of Newcastle emerging with a playoff bid.

According to The Oklahoman’s high school stats page, Casey Thompson’s senior year stats were: 221 completions on 383 pass attempts (57.7% completion percentage) for 3,217 yards, 37 TDs and 9 interceptions, and 153 carries for 884 yards and 8 TDs. In his 9th-11th grade years, all spent on the varsity squad at 6A Southmoore, Thompson passed for a total of 6,580 yards, 70 TDs and 17 INTs, and rushed for 2,150 yards and 39 TDs on 361 carries.

Southmoore offensive coordinator Jeff Brickman was hired as Newcastle’s head coach last spring, and a number of Southmoore football players - most notably Casey Thompson, his brother Cade (a junior receiver), and incoming senior receiver Jacob Morris - eventually made the move to Newcastle as well. The two schools are roughly 6 miles apart - as the crow flies - and their attendance zones border each other, so it wasn’t a radical transfer but it wasn’t without some local controversy.

In both of its previous two seasons Newcastle had finished with with 1-9 records. With Coach Brickman at the helm and new QB Casey Thompson under center this fall, the Newcastle Racers finished 3-7. That may seem like a modest improvement, but consider that the 2017 Racers not only had one more win than in their previous two seasons combined, they also scored 42 more points than their 2015 and 2016 squads did! Meanwhile, Thompson’s former school, Southmoore, finished 0-10 and scored just 83 total points this season. In 2016, Thompson’s last season at Southmoore, their team finished 6-5 and scored 37 points per game.

If Newcastle’s football program was the biggest beneficiary of Casey Thompson’s transfer, wide receiver Jacob Morris was the second-biggest. As a junior at Southmoore, Morris competed for snaps and catches with three senior receivers and caught 15 passes (fifth-most on the team) for 145 yards (sixth on the team) and no TDs (his only points that season came on one carry for a two-point conversion). As a senior at Newcastle, he became Thompson’s favorite target and produced stats that made him the state of Oklahoma’s - and possibly the nation’s - most prolific pass-catcher. Morris caught 111 passes for 2,003 yards and 22 TDs this fall. According to MaxPreps, his catches and receiving yards both rank first nationally, while his 22 TDs ties him for fifth among all players whose stats have been reported to that site.

RB Keaontay Ingram (Carthage)

Last week: Rushed for four TDs in a 49-31 win over Palestine

This week: Friday, November 10 at 7:30, vs. Tyler Chapel Hill

Notes: The ETSN recap of last week’s Carthage-Palestine tilt didn’t mention Ingram’s full stats, but said his four TD runs covered 4, 36, 25, and 6 yards. The first three of those came in the first half, as Carthage built an overwhelming 42-10 lead at halftime. The second half was played with a running clock, and three Palestine TDs after halftime made the final score look a bit more respectable.

With the win, Carthage improved to 9-0 for the season and 5-0 in district play, clinching the outright championship of District 9-4A Division I. The Bulldogs maintained their season-long strangle-hold on the #1 spot in the AP’s Class 4A rankings, receiving 20 of 24 first-place votes in this week’s poll. They will conclude their regular season on Friday night against district cellar-dweller Chapel Hill (0-5). Chapel Hill is winless in district play despite averaging nearly 32 points per game in those contests (they have also allowed just over 42 points per game).

When the playoffs begin next week, Carthage’s bi-district round opponent will be the 4th place team out of District 10-4A Division I, which has yet to be determined but will be one out of Bridge City, Cleveland, or Huffman Hargrave, the three of which go into Week 11 with identical 1-3 district records.

WR Brennan Eagles (Alief Taylor)

Last week: Team defeated Pearland Dawson, 34-21.

This Week: Thursday, November 9 at 7:00, at Richmond George Ranch

Notes: Brennan Eagles did not appear in the box score for last week’s Taylor-Dawson game and likely missed the game due to injury. A Houston Chronicle article from last week noted that he sat out Taylor’s previous game due to some unspecified injury, and it appears that he has not played in a game since Taylor’s October 6 loss to Pearland.

Needing a win over district leader Pearland Dawson last week to keep their postseason hopes alive, the Eagles-less Taylor Lions gained 416 yards, forced two Dawson turnovers and scored their first TD on an 85-yard kickoff return and defeated Dawson 34-21. Dawson was limited to 153 total yards and just 7 first downs, and only one of their three touchdowns was scored on offense; their first two scores both came on returned interceptions.

The teams were tied at 14 in the 2nd quarter, then Taylor scored on two field goals and a 18-yard TD reception from junior receiver Shea Whiting (who I’m guessing is the son of the same-named Alief Elsik alum who was a four-year basketball letterman at Louisiana-Lafayette) in the final four minutes of the first half to take a 27-14 lead. Defense largely ruled the second half, as both teams scored just one touchdown apiece.

With the win Taylor improved to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in district play, and it set up this Thursday night’s matchup with George Ranch (3-2) as a win-or-go-home battle for the final playoff spot from District 23-6A. If Taylor wins, it will be the district’s 2nd seed in the 6A Division II playoff bracket. Who they might face from District 24-6A in a potential bi-district game won’t be determined until after Friday night’s games.

George Ranch is the second-newest of the five high schools in the Lamar Consolidated ISD, and has the district’s youngest varsity football program, with the Longhorns currently playing their sixth season. After going 41-3 in its final three seasons at the 5A level (2013-2015) and winning the 2015 5A Division I state championship, George Ranch was reclassified to Class 6A and hasn’t had anything approaching the dominance it had previously. They finished 6-5 last season and are currently sitting at 5-3 and need a win on Friday to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012, the program’s first varsity season.

I haven’t found a concrete explanation anywhere for what kind of injury Eagles has that has kept him off the field for a month, and I don’t know his status for tonight’s regular season finale.

WR Rondale Moore (Trinity - Louisville, Kentucky)

Last week: Caught 5 passes for 95 yards and a TD, rushed for an 11-yard TD, and scored on a 79-yard punt return in a 70-0 win over Seneca in the first round of Kentucky’s 6A playoffs.

This week: Friday, November 10 at 7:30, vs. Campbell County

Notes: Trinity got the defense of its 2016 6A state title off to a thoroughly dominating start, holding a pitiful Seneca team to just 8 offensive yards en route to their fifth straight shutout win, and sixth shutout of the season. It was Trinity’s fourth shutout win over Seneca in the span of three seasons, games it won by a combined score of 212-0.

Trinity has now won 26 straight games dating back to the beginning of the 2016 season. Its last defeat was a 20-19 loss in the third round of the 2015 playoffs to rival Louisville Male, that year’s eventual 6A state champion.

In round two they will host Campbell County (7-4), who advanced by beating Louisville Eastern 19-14 in its first round game last Friday. Eastern is the only common opponent Trinity and Campbell County have had this year. Trinity defeated Eastern 45-0 on October 6 in a game Rondale Moore sat out with an injury. Trinity retained the #9 spot in this week’s USA Today Super 25 expert rankings.

WR Al’Vonte Woodard (Houston Lamar)

Last week: Caught 4 passes for 60 yards and a TD in a 42-0 win over Houston Bellaire.

This week: Thursday, November 9 at 7:00, vs. Houston Westbury

Notes: Lamar pitched its third shutout in four weeks in last Saturday’s win over Bellaire, and has won six straight games since its season-opening 23-14 loss to Klein Collins on September 14.

In the win over Bellaire, Al’Vonte Woodard caught a TD in his second consecutive game for the first time this season. He led all Lamar receivers with 4 receptions and 60 yards. Lamar leads the District 18-6A standings at 5-0, has clinched at least a share of the district title, and will be the district’s #1 seed in the 6A Division I bracket. Their bi-district round opponent from District 17-6A won’t be determined until after this week’s game’s are played.

Lamar will conclude its regular season schedule Thursday against Westbury (3-4 overall, 2-3 in district), a team coming off a bye and which lost 14-12 to Bellaire in its last game two weeks ago.

TE Malcolm Epps (Spring Dekaney)

Last week: Caught 3 passes for 33 yards and a TD in a 66-0 win over Aldine.

This week: Thursday, November 9 at 7:00, at Aldine MacArthur

Notes: Epps caught his fourth touchdown pass of the season last week against Aldine, which leaves him one short of his career high of five TD receptions, which he grabbed in his sophomore season.

Dekaney made short work of a hapless Aldine High squad that has not won a game in just over two years. The Wildcats forced three Aldine turnovers, returned a kickoff for a touchdown, scored eight offensive TDs, and never punted.

The win brought Dekaney’s district record to 3-3, which ties them with Aldine Davis and Aldine Nimitz for third place in District 16-6A. Davis and Nimitz play district leaders Spring Westfield and Spring, respectively, on Friday, so Dekaney probably only needs to beat MacArthur tonight to secure a playoff berth, but there is one scenario that would result in five teams tied for third place with 3-4 district records, which would be a headache to untangle.

If Dekaney wins tonight, they’ll be assured a spot in the 6A Division II bracket, though whether they’ll get the district’s #1 or #2 seed in that bracket would depend on whether Nimitz or Davis comes away with the 4th playoff spot. The playoff teams from District 15-6A have already been set, so if Dekaney makes the playoffs they’ll face either Klein Collins or Houston Stratford in the bi-district round.

OL Rafiti Ghirmai (Frisco Wakeland)

Last week: Team defeated Frisco Heritage, 38-14.

This week: Friday, November 10 at 7:00, at Frisco (at The Ford Center at The Star)

Notes: A week ago, Wakeland outgained Heritage 535-187, forced two turnovers, and scored the game’s last 21 points after Heritage pulled to within 17-14 with 9:48 left in the 2nd quarter. That was a must-win game for Wakeland, as there was no scenario that could have gotten them into the playoffs had they lost to Heritage.

Wakeland is 3-3 in district play and tied with Centennial, Heritage, and Independence for third place in District 13-5A. Wakeland finishes the regular season on Friday with a game against winless Frisco High, which is in last place in the district but has only been outscored by an average margin of about 14 points. Centennial and Heritage will play each other Friday night, and Independence finishes with district leader Lone Star (Class 5A’s ninth-ranked team). Wakeland has head-to-head wins over Heritage and Independence, which will get them into the playoffs should those three all lose on Friday and finish with 3-4 district records.

OL Reese Moore (Seminole)

Last week: Caught 3 passes for 64 yards and a TD in a 41-7 win over Fort Stockton.

This week: Bye

Notes: Reese Moore was Seminole’s leading receiver for the second straight week, catching three of his team’s five completed passes and gaining almost half of the team’s 131 yards through the air.

Last week Seminole jumped out to a 21-0 lead over Fort Stockton in the 1st quarter, which expanded to a 34-7 lead by halftime. Reese Moore’s TD catch was 27-yard reception with 3:13 left in the 3rd quarter, and it ended up being the game’s final touchdown. As has become habit for the Seminole Indians this season, they had a strong running game (258 yards on 47 carries) and a stifling defense, limiting Fort Stockton to 110 total yards and allowing them to convert just 6 first downs.

The win was Seminole’s ninth straight after losing their season-opener20-17 to 5A program Lubbock. With the victory, the Indians completed an undefeated run through District 2-4A Division II, giving them their first outright district title since 2011.

Seminole has completed its regular season schedule and will get a bye this week before beginning what it hopes will be a long playoff run next week. The Indians will get their district’s top seed in the playoffs and will play the fourth-place team from the five-team District 1-4A Division II. The Indians were not ranked in this week’s AP poll for Class 4A, but TexasFootball.com currently ranks them #7 among Class 4A Division II teams, with #4 Graham being the only team in their region ranked ahead of them. If they reach the Region I final of the 4A Division II bracket they’ll most likely face Graham or one of their formidable district-mates, Monahans and Sweetwater.

DT Keondre Coburn (Spring Westfield)

Last week: Team defeated Aldine Eisenhower 31-3.

This week: Friday, November 10 at 7:00, vs. Aldine Davis

Notes: Last week’s Westfield-Eisenhower game was actually a close affair on the scoreboard for a long time, and only became a rout in the 4th quarter. The game was scoreless for nearly all of the first half, before Westfield scored on a 37-yard TD pass with 0:50 left in the 2nd quarter. The Mustangs then scored 10 points in the 3rd quarter to go ahead 17-0 heading into the final frame. Eisenhower scored its only points of the game on a 31-yard field goal with 8:17 left in the 4th quarter to cut the deficit to 17-3, but Westfield scored twice more in the game’s final 4:20 to put the game way out of reach.

Westfield’s defense limited Eisenhower to 46 total yards and just 4 first downs, so as with TCU’s defense last Saturday against Texas, they probably had little fear of Eisenhower mounting a comeback even when the score remained close for two and a half quarters.

Westfield remained undefeated at 8-0 (6-0 in district) and in first place in District 16-6A. The Mustangs have outscored their first six district foes 253-21. They own a head-to-head win over second place Spring (5-1 in district), so they will have the district’s top seed in whichever playoff bracket they end up in. Westfield and Spring have clinched playoff spots, with the district’s final two spots to be determined this week. If Aldine Davis gets one of the final spots, Westfield would be in the Division II bracket, but since that would only happen if Davis upsets Westfield on Friday, a win by Westfield probably puts them in Division I. I say “probably” because, as mentioned in my notes on Malcolm Epps, there’s a chance that this week could end with five teams tied with 3-4 district records.

Westfield finished just outside of the top ten in this week’s AP rankings for Class 6A, and were the top school among the “others receiving votes”. They are more highly rated by TexasFootball.com, though, which ranks them #5 among Class 6A teams this week.

LB Ayodele Adeoye (IMG Academy - Bradenton, Florida)

Last week: Made three tackles in a 32-21 win over Hoover (Alabama).

This week: Saturday, November 11 at 7:00, vs. Bishop Sullivan Catholic (Virginia Beach, Virginia)

Notes: Facing Hoover, one of Alabama’s top programs of the past decade, IMG controlled the first half and went into the break with a 23-0 lead. Hoover scored its first points on a short TD reception by George Pickens (a 2019 Auburn commit) in the 3rd quarter, but IMG answered with a long kickoff return that set them up at the four-yard line, and the score was 30-7 in short order.

With the win IMG remained unbeaten at 7-0, and the Ascenders retained the #2 spot in the USA Today Super 25 expert rankings. The school will conclude its 2017 schedule on Saturday with a home game against Virginia private school Bishop Sullivan, whose team is 5-4 for the season but has played a tough schedule that included two teams currently in the top 13 of the USA Today Super 25 rankings. Bishop Sullivan plays a “freelance” schedule, and its nine opponents have included teams from five states plus Canada. Its roster includes five-star LB Teradja Mitchell (an Ohio State commit), four-star athlete Armani Chatman (a Virginia Tech commit), three-star QB Tyler DeSue (a Maryland commit), three-star DE Dante Burke (a Temple commit), and at least three junior athletes who reportedly hold D1 offers.

LB Byron Hobbs (Fort Worth Eastern Hills)

Last week: Caught 3 passes for 48 yards in a 38-18 loss to Grapevine.

This week: Saturday, November 1 at 1:00, vs. Fort Worth Carter-Riverside

Notes: Eastern Hills has not posted its defensive stats from last week’s loss to Grapevine, but Hobbs showed up on the offensive side of the box score, catching three passes.

Eastern Hills had already been eliminated from playoff contention going into the game so the Highlanders were only playing for pride. Led by Texas Tech QB commit Alan Bowman, Grapevine’s offense scored all the points it would need in the 1st quarter. The Mustangs scored on four of their five possessions in the opening frame, with their one non-scoring possession ending with a lost fumble at the Eastern Hills 4-yard line.

Grapevine led 24-6 going into the 2nd quarter, forced a turnover on downs on both of Eastern Hills’s possessions of that quarter, and scored once more to go ahead 31-6 at the break. Eastern Hills scored twice in the 3rd quarter to cut the deficit to 31-18, and after a missed Grapevine field goal they took over to start the 4th quarter and drove all the way to the Grapevine 1-yard line with a chance to make it a one-possession game, but were stopped on 4th-and-goal. Grapevine ran 13 plays and punted on its subsequent drive, and the ball was downed at Eastern Hills’ 2-yard line. Two plays later, the Highlanders lost a fumble that Grapevine recovered in the end zone to push their lead to 38-18, which concluded the scoring for the game.

The loss dropped Eastern Hills to 3-6 overall and 1-5 in district, tying them for sixth place in the eight-team District 8-5A. Hobbs and his Highlander teammates will finish their season Saturday afternoon against 1-8 Carter-Riverside, a team that has been outscored 401-46 this season. The Carter-Riverside Eagles have historically been the definition of a mediocre program; they have had five playoff appearances in their history (since 1936), but only one of those has happened since the end of the Eisenhower administration. But this has been a bad season even by their standards. 2017 will be their lowest-scoring season in a decade, and if Eastern Hills beats them they’ll be 1-9 and finish with fewer than two wins for the first time since 2003.

DB B.J. Foster (Angleton)

Last week: Did not play in a 34-7 win over Richmond Foster.

This week: Friday, November 10 at 7:30, vs. Port Lavaca Calhoun

Notes: B.J. Foster sat out last week’s matchup with Richmond Foster and Angleton’s offense wasn’t quite up to its explosive standards, but the Wildcats still came away with a convincing win over a solid team that advanced five rounds into the playoffs in 2016 and was state-ranked early this season. (Note: references to “Foster” in the game notes will refer to Foster High, not B.J. Foster, unless otherwise noted).

The teams’ offensive production was not significantly different (213 total yards for Angleton vs. 195 yards for Foster), but Foster fumbled the ball six times (losing two of them) and committed three turnovers, which resulted in 17 Angleton points. Angleton led 14-0 about mid-way through the 1st quarter. A 14-yard TD run by Foster cut the deficit to 14-7 with 2:33 left in the opening quarter, but Angleton answered with a 87-yard kickoff return TD, and they would go on to score the game’s final 20 points.

It was Angleton’s first win over Foster in five years, according to the Houston Chronicle’s recap of the game. B.J. Foster sustained an unspecified injury in Angleton’s Week 9 win over Victoria West and had to sit out last week’s game, and likely won’t return until the playoffs.

Losing a player as talented as B.J. Foster from a team’s lineup will necessarily take a very explosive element away from their offensive attack, but Angleton head coach Ryan Roark pointed out after the game that Foster missed five games during his sophomore year and eight games in his junior season, so his teammates are used to not always having to lean on him to make plays.

Angleton moved up to #5 in this week’s Class 5A rankings, and the Wildcats have outscored their opposition this season 413-28. They will conclude their regular season schedule on Friday against a Port Lavaca Calhoun team that is coming off a 76-21 win over Victoria East but has already been eliminated from playoff contention. Angleton will be the top seed from District 27-5A in the 5A Division I playoff bracket when the postseason begins next week. Who they will face in the first round has yet to be determined. The top two teams from District 28-5A (San Antonio schools Memorial and Sam Houston) are also its two smallest and will thus both be in the Division II bracket, and behind them are four teams in a tie for third place going into the season’s last week.

Region IV is by far the weakest region in Class 5A, and some of its best teams (including 4th-ranked Corpus Christi Calallen and likely undefeated Austin McCallum) are going to end up in the Division II playoff bracket. The way things are shaping up, Angleton might not face a stiff test until the fourth round (regional championship), which would very likely present them with either a re-match with Richmond Foster or a tilt with 8th-ranked Dripping Springs, the team that knocked Angleton out of last year’s playoffs by the exceedingly unusual football score of 12-11.

DB Jalen Green (Houston Heights)

Last week: Did not play in a 44-9 win over Houston Chavez.

This week: Bye

Notes: Heights played its last regular season game last week and will get a bye before the playoffs begin next week. Against Chavez, Heights didn’t have Jalen Green, who will likely be out until the first or second week of the playoffs after breaking his collarbone a few weeks ago, but they got big plays from senior wide receiver Jacoby Hopkins.

Hopkins, a three-star recruit with multiple D1 offers, made the most of his limited offensive touches, rushing for a 76-yard TD in the 1st quarter on his only carry of the game, returning the second half’s opening kickoff 91 yards to the house, passing for a 5-yard TD less than three minutes later on his one pass attempt of the game, and gaining 41 yards on his only reception of the game.

Heights led Chavez 28-9 at halftime, and Hopkins’s exploits helped expand the lead to 41-9 just three minutes into the 3rd quarter. Heights has wrapped up a playoff spot and I believe will be District 18-6A’s second seed in the 6A Division II bracket. Who they will face in the bi-district round next week hasn’t been settled yet, but it will most likely one of the top two teams from District 17-6A: Langham Creek or Houston Cy-Fair, who are both 8-0 for the season and will play each other on Saturday.

DB D’Shawn Jamison (Houston Lamar)

Last week: Returned a kickoff for a 77-yard touchdown, made 4 tackles (1 for loss), and had one pass defended in a 42-0 win over Houston Bellaire.

This week: Thursday, November 9 at 7:00, vs. Houston Westbury

Notes: D’Shawn Jamison returned the opening kickoff of last week’s Lamar-Bellaire game for a 77-yard TD, and it would be the only points Lamar needed, though the Texans didn’t stop there by a long shot. After a turnover, Lamar scored again to go ahead 14-0 just one minute into the game. They led 28-0 after one quarter and 35-0 at halftime. Lamar’s defense forced two turnovers and limited Bellaire to 3 first downs and 61 total yards, and nine Bellaire Cardinal drives ended in punts.

The game-opening kickoff return TD was Jamison’s second kickoff return score of the season, and his fourth TD of the season. He returned a punt for a TD two weeks ago and had a pick-six in Lamar’s season-opening loss to Klein Collins.

Lamar has clinched the championship of District 18-6A, and finishes its district and regular season slate tonight versus a Westbury team that has been eliminated from playoff contention. Lamar is assured the district’s top seed in the 6A Division I playoff bracket, but their bi-district round opponent won’t be determined until after this week’s games. Lamar beat Westbury 51-7 when the teams played in 2016.

DB DeMarvion Overshown (Arp)

Last week: Team defeated Harleton, 31-14.

This week: Bye

Notes: Arp needed a win over Harleton to assure that they wouldn’t miss the playoffs one year after advancing to within one round of the 3A Division II state championship, and they got the win and their playoff berth with a 31-14 victory.

I have not found any stats or a detailed recap of the game published anywhere. The win evened Arp’s district record at 3-3, putting them comfortably in fourth place in District 9-3A Division II, behind three teams at the top tied at 4-1, and ahead of three teams tied at 1-4. The Tigers have a bye in the final week of the regular season.

Arp began the season 1-4 before finishing by winning three of their last four games. For turning their season around in the second half of district play and clinching a playoff berth, the Tigers will be rewarded with a first round matchup against the champion of District 10-3A Division II, Newton.

Newton is 8-0 for the season and ranked 4th in this week’s AP poll for Class 3A. The Eagles have made mincemeat of their first four district opponents by a combined score of 256-8, which amounts to an average score of 64-2. Newton will play its final regular season game Friday night against their district’s last-place team, Frankston.

When the playoffs begin next week, Newton will be looking for revenge against the last team to beat them. The Arp-Newton bi-district round game will be a re-match of the Region III final in last year’s 3A Division II playoffs, in which Arp edged previously unbeaten Newton 13-6.

DB Caden Sterns (Cibolo Steele)

Last week: Made seven tackles and intercepted a pass in a 31-14 win over San Antonio Wagner.

This week: Thursday, November 9 at 7:30, at Schertz Clemens

Notes: As with DeMarvion Overshown’s Arp team, Caden Sterns and his Cibolo Steele teammates followed up a long 2016 playoff run by starting the 2017 season 1-4, but they have since rebounded to win four straight games and clinch a playoff spot.

In last week’s win over Wagner, Steele took a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter on two rushing TDs by Rice commit Brendan Brady, and later a third Brady TD with 3:08 left in the 2nd quarter put Steele ahead 24-6. Neither team scored in the 3rd quarter, and the contest was effectively iced when senior wide receiver Onyx Smith, a Bowling Green commit, caught a 32-yard TD pass from freshman QB Wyatt Begeal with 8:45 left in the 4th quarter to pad Steele’s lead to 31-6.

Steele sits in 4th place in District 27-6A and will be the district’s #2 seed in the 6A Division II bracket when the playoffs begin next week. Steele is 5-4 for the season but only one of their wins has come against a team with a winning record, while the four teams they’ve lost to have a combined record of 32-4 going into the final week of the regular season. Tonight’s game against rival Schertz Clemens (8-1) likely won’t affect either team’s playoff seeding but it will give the Knights a chance to prove they can beat a solid team and that they aren’t the same team that lost four straight games (albiet against very good opponents) for the first time in the program’s history in the first half of their season.

Sterns and the rest of Steele’s secondary will be tested by four-star receiver Tommy Bush, a 6’5” speedster who has six total touchdowns this season and has held a Texas offer since June. On the other side, Steele’s freshman signal-caller Begeal will be challenged by Clemens’s senior defensive back Jaques Tyler, who has six interceptions for the season, two of which he returned for touchdowns. Clemens is one of three teams (Converse Judson and Smithson Valley are the other two) tied for first in the district at 5-1. Clemens beat Smithson Valley 16-10 on October 20, and suffered their only loss of the season a week later to Judson, 31-14.

K Cameron Dicker (Lake Travis)

Last week: Made a 20-yard field goal and was good on 5 of 6 PAT attempts in a 51-7 win over Cedar Park Vista Ridge.

This week: Friday, November 10 at 7:30, at Austin Vandegrift

Notes: Cameron Dicker made his first five PAT attempts in last week’s win by Lake Travis over Vista Ridge, but was not successful on his sixth and final attempt. It was his first missed extra point try in nearly a year, and only the second of his high school career (he has made 205 of his 207 attempts; how many high school kickers, or kickers at any level, get that kind of sample size over a three-year period?). He made up for that miss by nailing a 20-yard field goal attempt on his next kick.

He also had five of his seven kickoffs result in touchbacks. Lake Travis blitzed Vista Ridge to the tune of 41 first half points, which allowed their starters to mostly rest in the second half. The win clinched a playoff spot for Lake Travis, which now boasts a 7-2 overall record and is 4-1 in district play. They will finish the regular season Friday night with a game against Vandegrift that will decide the runner-up of District 25-6A. Regardless of that game’s outcome, Lake Travis will get the district’s #1 seed in the 6A Division I bracket. Their bi-district round opponent will be San Antonio Madison, which currently has a 4-5 record and is tied for third place in District 26-6A.

2019 Texas Longhorn football commit

QB Roschon Johnson (Port Neches-Groves)

Last week: Completed 22 of 29 passes for 284 yards and 4 TDs, and rushed 6 times for 21 yards and one TD in a 48-0 win over Beaumont Ozen.

This week: Friday, November 10 at 7:00, at Nederland

Notes: Port Neches-Groves led 7-0 at the end of the 1st quarter last week against Ozen, then Roschon Johnson had a hand in four touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the first half (3 passing, 1 rushing) to give PN-G a 34-0 halftime lead. He connected with senior receiver Cameron Stansbury on a 62-yard pass for his fourth scoring toss of the night early in the 4th quarter.

Johnson has accounted for at least four touchdowns in each of PN-G’s eight games so far this season. The Indians are 8-0 and have a 7-0 record in district play. With last week’s win they clinched the championship of District 22-5A. They play their last game of the regular season on Friday against 6-2 Nederland, whose only two losses of the season came by a combined ten points to Port Arthur Memorial and Beaumont Central.

PN-G and PAM are assured of postseason bids. The district’s final two playoff spots haven’t been decided yet, but regardless of what happens in this week’s games, PN-G will get the district’s #1 seed in the 5A Division II bracket, and will face either New Caney or Barbers Hill in the first round next week.

But those were ultimately far from the only key injuries faced by the offense, before or since.

To understand why the offense has struggled so much, it’s worth looking back on a timeline of the injuries and the resulting impact on the team.

August 8 — Elijah Rodriguez suffers a high ankle sprain

Only days into preseason camp, the prospect right tackle, redshirt junior Elijah Rodriguez, went down with a serious high ankle sprain in practice. Two days later, he had surgery that left him with an indefinite timetable for a return. Rodriguez hasn’t played this season and doesn’t appear likely to return for any of the final three games.

Impact: The injury to Rodriguez not only cost the team one of its best offensive linemen, it also left it without the most versatile player in the unit — the Houston-area product was capable of playing four positions. Ultimately, the loss of Rodriguez forced a sub-par senior — Tristan Nickelson — and an inexperienced sophomore — Denzel Okafor — into roles for which they were not prepared.

August 17 — Andrew Beck fractures his foot again

Less than 10 days later, the ‘Horns lost another key player at a position with limited depth when senior tight end Andrew Beck suffered a fracture foot. Within days, he was declared out for the season.

Impact: Entering preseason camp, Beck was the only player on the roster with experience playing the position at Texas. An effective blocker, he also had the potential to emerge as a pass catcher in a more tight end-friendly offense. Instead, his injury left the ‘Horns relying on a former wide receiver, a graduate transfer who arrived during preseason camp, and a freshman who was largely a wide receiver in high school.

September 2 — Shane Buechele suffers a bruised throwing shoulder

After an offseason spent questioning whether the sophomore could stay healthy for an entire season, it only took one game for Buechele to suffer another injury. He ultimately missed two games and showed questionable arm strength when he returned against Iowa State.

Impact: Buechele’s injury forced true freshman Sam Ehlinger into action early, with Ehlinger playing his second game on the road against No. 4-ranked USC. Injuries at the position were one of the worst-case scenarios before the season and it didn’t take long for that to come to pass.

September 9 — Patrick Hudson suffers a knee injury

Late in the blowout against San Jose State, redshirt freshman right guard Patrick Hudson went down with a non-contact knee injury after a promising performance. An MRI later revealed that he had torn his ACL.

Impact: The nation’s No. 2 offensive guard in the 2016 class was set to become a key back up for Texas in his second season on the Forty Acres and his injury left the ‘Horns thin at the guard position.

September 9 — Garrett Gray suffers a knee injury

The former wide receiver became the starting tight end after Beck’s injury and performed poorly against Maryland before suffering a knee injury against San Jose State. He hasn’t played since.

Impact: Gray likely wouldn’t have been a competent player had he remained healthy, but his injury did force freshman Cade Brewer into action long before the coaching staff would have liked. Offensive coordinator Tim Beck was left scrambling to find a way to effectively utilize Brewer.

September 16 — Connor Williams suffers knee injuries

In the season’s third game, the ‘Horns lost the one player the offense absolutely could not afford to lose — All-American left tackle Connor Williams. In the first half against the Trojans, Williams suffered a torn meniscus and sprained two of his knee ligaments. He hasn’t played since.

Impact: Not only is Williams a generational talent at the most important position on the offensive line, but the team also lacked an effective replacement with the injury to Rodriguez. As a result, Nickelson briefly took over the position, but it quickly became apparent that his lack of mobility in pass protection could single-handedly sink the offense.

September 28 — Buechele suffers an ankle injury

After returning to the starting lineup for only one game, Buechele quickly suffered another issue, as the school announced the following day that he had sprained his ankle against Iowa State.

Impact: Once again, Ehlinger was forced into the starting role.

October 14 — Jake McMillon misses game with a hand injury

An injury in practice kept McMillon, the starting right guard, out of the Oklahoma game and limited his participation in the Oklahoma State game.

Impact: With Hudson out, redshirt junior Terrell Cuney showed why he failed to receive playing time in the past — he’s undersized and susceptible to the bull rush.

October 14 — Kyle Porter suffers an ankle injury

Sophomore running back Kyle Porter carried the ball three times for seven yards against the Sooners before leaving the game with a sprained ankle. After missing the Oklahoma State game, Porter hasn’t received a carry since.

Impact: Given Porter’s lack of effectiveness as a runner, his injury wasn’t particularly significant, though he did provide value as a blocker when he was healthy.

October 21 — Ehlinger suffers a concussion

The freshman threw a brutal game-ending interception in overtime before the school revealed the next day that Ehlinger was suffering from concussion symptoms. He then sat out the Baylor game and didn’t play against TCU due to an inner ear issue that may be related to his head injury.

Impact: Just when it looked like Ehlinger was taking control of the position and the team, Texas was forced into another change at quarterback, complicating the play-calling situation for Beck.

October 21 — Zach Shackelford suffers a concussion

Just as McMillon was returning to health, starting center Zach Shackelford, a sophomore, also suffered a concussion during the game against Oklahoma State. Like Ehlinger, he didn’t play against Baylor or TCU.

Impact: Cuney was once again pushed into the startling lineup due to the injury and largely played poorly, especially against the Horned Frogs.

October 21 — Reggie Hemphill-Mapps suffers a knee injury

One of the team’s most explosive playmakers on offense missed the second half of the game against the Cowboys after sustaining a knee injury.

Impact: Hemphill-Mapps played in the next two games, but totaled only one catch for five games in those contests. As the player most capable of turning short catches into long gains, the diminished impact of the redshirt freshman has hurt the Longhorns offense.

October 28 — Toneil Carter suffers a concussion

Just as freshman running back Toneil Carter was seemingly breaking out with a 15-carry, 70-yard performance against Baylor that also included a touchdown, the speedster suffered a concussion. Carter missed the game against TCU.

Impact: The rush defense of the Horned Frogs probably wasn’t going to give up much yardage against any Longhorns running back given the state of the Texas offensive line. However, losing the pass-catching ability and explosiveness of Carter when he was finally getting an extended opportunity was certainly unfortunate.

November 4 — Denzel Okafor misses start due to injury

Nickelson started the game with the first-team offense as a result of Okafor suffering an undisclosed injury in practice, head coach Tom Herman said on Monday.

Impact: Okafor has struggled throughout much of the season after being forced into the starting role at left tackle, but he earned the role for a reason — Nickelson is a liability even at right tackle and an even bigger liability at left tackle. The ‘Horns ultimately gave up seven sacks in the game, a season high for the Horned Frogs.

Understanding how much all the injuries along the offensive line hurt the 2017 team requires some further context.

Last season, Williams and left guard Patrick Vahe combined to produce much of the yardage for Doak Walker Award winner D’Onta Foreman. And the offensive line as a whole struggled to protect Buechele, allowing 32 sacks on the season and ranking No. 108 nationally in passing down sack rate.

In other words, this was a line that needed to show some improvement without Foreman and without former starter Kent Perkins and part-time starter Brandon Hodges, who became a graduate transfer. There were no guarantees that it would have become an above-average unit even at full strength.

At the least, however, Texas could have counted on being able to pick up some yards running left and successfully protecting the blind side of the quarterback.

Ultimately, the loss of Hodges, and the subsequent fall transfer of former Under Armour All-American tackle Jean Delance severely limited depth across the entire unit — any long-term injuries to starters or back ups along the offensive line or at tight end were going to be a problem.

By the third game of the season, the ‘Horns had lost the team’s three best blockers, the back-up tight end, and the back-up guard, all to long-term injuries.

No other position group in football has to play with the same level of coordination as the offensive line, where any break down can sink the entire play. An offense that gets behind the chains and struggles to pass protect stands little chance of succeeding. Meanwhile, strength and experience are paramount in pass protection and run blocking. Texas has lacked continuity, strength, and experience for almost the entire season.

Even the more experienced players, like Vahe and Shackelford, were’t able to redshirt. McMillon redshirted, but arrived as a defensive end, moved to guard, moved back to defense, then moved back to offense again.

Meanwhile, the quarterback position has been a revolving door — neither player has started more than three games in a row the entire season, resulting in a lack of continuity at that position that has made game planning and play calling more difficult. It has also left a leadership void on the offense.

At positions that have had relative health, like running back and wide receiver, the older players have struggled to produce meaningful contributions — the two freshmen running backs are clearly the most talented players at their position and the three leading receivers are all second-year players.

And yet, the leading receiver was demoted to a back-up role three games ago. One of the two seniors at the position has hardly played most of the season because of his poor practice habits.

So Texas fans can complain about the lack of week-to-week improvements and scrutinize the issues with individual play calls, but the bottom line is that injuries play a huge role in a brutal game like football. And the ‘Horns have suffered a rash of them without the depth to insert experienced back ups as replacements.

Despite that, Texas is somehow several plays away from being a two-loss football team. In those three games, mistakes by Ehlinger and the defense were as responsible for the losses as any mistakes by Beck.

Put any of those three games in the win column and all of a sudden the entire season feels much different.

Instead, the players — and coaches — are dealing with extremely difficult situations every week.

“They look out and one minute this guy is playing and the next this guy is playing,” Beck said on Wednesday. “The next minute this guy is playing, the next minute Shane is at quarterback and the next minute Sam is at quarterback. They kind of see the revolving door. It's hard to have any consistency when that is happening. I think that was the first game that we started the same offensive line two games in a row.”

As a result, Beck admitted several weeks ago that he was pressing as a play caller. The players are pressing, wanting to succeed. But as head coach Tom Herman has pointed out all season, the key to success is playing confidently, without hesitation, and with trust in the training provided by the coaches. Due to the circumstances, none of that has really been possible for the offense.

“They are so eager to try and do well,” Beck said. “Sometimes they are trying so hard, they are trying too hard. So we're trying to not press, but we are pressing, we know that. It's hard not to.”

Beck closed the press conference by noting that “most people” see the injury issues and the constant changes in personnel and understand why the team is struggling. But based on how fans perceive Beck’s job performance this season, it’s clear that many don’t understand.

And so instead of understanding why the offense consistently fails to show improvement from week to week, a difficult task due to the changing levels of competition and the challenges of a difficult schedule, fans are instead reflexively blaming Beck.

In doing so, those fans demonstrate an abject lack of understanding about why the offense is where it is.

Sad.

Perhaps the most noteworthy message coming out of today’s press conference was when Baker Mayfield openly challenged the fans to set a new standard for crowd noise. Mayfield referenced how the Tech game from ‘08 is always brought up for how impactful the fans can be, and he wants this week to be the new benchmark.

“I got one last thing. Being at one of the last home games we’re gonna have, it’s important to our college football playoff run. I’m gonna call out our fans. It’s gonna be an important one for us. 7 o’clock game. Night game. I don’t want to hear any talk about the 2008 Texas Tech game. This needs to be the new talk for the future, this crowd needs to be going. We give it our all week in and week out. I expect the fans to do the same for me this Saturday.”

Fans, I know we can rise to the occasion. For those in attendance, do your part and be the difference. Let’s make the TCU game from 2017 the new standard for the future.

Lincoln Riley took the podium after the players and touched on a little bit of everything from the past weekend and previewed Gary Patterson’s Horned Frogs. Check out some of the highlights from Riley’s Q&A with the press on Monday:

“I think he’ll respond well, he’s a competitor. I think some of his youth showed up the other day [. . .] but he’ll learn, he’ll grow, he’s competitive. He’s a really, really good player and he’ll be much better for it.”

“I feel like he’s just gotten more comfortable, and we’ve gotten more comfortable with him. He’s able to play more reps, and he’s making more plays as the reps go up.”

“It’s uneducated. When we sit here and play our conference every single week and we play great offenses every single week, we’ve seen what happens. We’ve also seen, going back to the bowl games last year, there’s one conference that gave up under 20 points per game and that was the Big 12 where everybody is playing out of conference teams. People want to talk about (Big 12 defenses), but we didn’t have any problems moving the ball against SEC defenses — one of the best ones in the country last year in the bowl game.”

“He’s the best one I’ve ever coached and probably the best one I’ve been around. I’ve been around other guys that maybe did a few things better here or there, but you talk about the total package of intelligence, arm talent, leadership, drive, being able to move, he’s the most complete one I’ve been around.”

Lincoln Riley announced that safety Kahlil Haughton will miss this weekend’s game against TCU with an injury, cornerback Jordan Thomas is listed as questionable and defensive tackle Neville Gallimore should return this week after missing the last two games. Haughton’s injury is especially crucial because the other safety, Will Johnson, will miss the first half of the TCU game after being tagged with a targeting call on Saturday.

Full Press Conference Links:

Orlando Brown also spoke about Baker Mayfield and his Heisman chances. It is apparent that this award would mean a lot to Brown and the o-line unit.

“He may say it doesn’t mean much to him, but as on offensive line it means a lot to us. We want him to win that Heisman Trophy. We want him to win every award he can win. We want to send him out of this university as one of the best players of all time.”

On the day, there was a lot of talk about emerging star receiver Marquise Brown. Baker Mayfield was asked who he thinks is faster between Brown and the 2016 Biletnikoff Award winner, Dede Westbrook.

“I think Marquise is even faster. Love Dede, but Marquise, he’s got another gear.”

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The latter buzzword is almost cliche at this point when discussing first-year head coach Tom Herman and the Texas Longhorns, but it does matter — the only assistants he didn’t bring with him from his first staff in Houston were his offensive coordinator and his running backs coach.

And his offensive coordinator, Major Applewhite, became the next head coach. Herman also knew his running backs coach, Stan Drayton, from his time at Ohio State. Not to mention the fact that Drayton is considered one of the best in the business.

So it was hardly a surprise on Monday when Herman defended his entire staff — and most especially, heavily-criticized offensive coordinator Tim Beck — by indicating that he expects all nine to return next season.

After all, that continuity has value in producing alignment and it’s something that the ‘Horns simply haven’t had in recent years.

As Herman pointed out, fifth-year senior B-back Naashon Hughes has seen 33 assistant coaches work at Texas since he enrolled in 2013. In every season, there has been a different offensive coordinator. Former head coach Charlie Strong change his offensive play caller and his defensive play caller in consecutive seasons.

In sharp contrast, Mack Brown’s coaching staff was remarkably stable during his incredible run — by Herman’s count, there were only 15 coaches over a stretch of 12 years.

“I think continuity and consistency with your staff is really, really important in college football,” Herman said. “It is one of the most underrated reasons for success in my opinion, and it's why now as a head coach -- now I see why all the other head coaches that I worked for were always so protective of their assistant coaches and didn't want them to leave because they understood the value in continuity.”

The other area that Herman wanted to emphasize is that Beck is the play caller as the offensive coordinator, but he’s not solely responsible for the plays that go down to the field. Wide receivers coach Drew Mehringer is now providing another set of eyes in the coaches box, while the entire offensive staff provides feedback and makes personnel decisions.

There are a variety of interactions that occur when the defense is on the field between Herman, Beck, Mehringer, and the rest of the staff. Beck and Herman solicit input on what plays the staff likes, what adjustments are necessary, what plays can beat specific fronts or coverages. The offensive line coach provides insights on how the defensive line is attacking the line of scrimmage and suggest possible plays as a result. The position coaches make decisions about personnel.

Between games, the ultimate responsibility rests with Herman to evaluate and provide feedback to his coaches.

“It's my job as the head coach to coach the assistants and provide them feedback as to areas I think they need to improve, provide them with support and praise in areas that I think they are strong at and allow them to continue to enhance their strengths,” Herman said. “But that's my job as the head coach is to coach the assistants.”

Herman admitted that at some point a coach may become uncoachable, just like a player, but Texas is not approaching that point yet.

“I hired these guys knowing exactly what I was going to get, and we've all got to get better, especially on that side of the ball. But I have full confidence that we will,” Herman said.

Unfortunately, significant improvement, especially offensively, probably won’t come until 2018.

The defense had another solid day, forcing 5 Mountaineers turnovers, including 4 interceptions of Will Grier. Once again, the run defense was incredible, holding the Mountaineers to 62 yards on 30 carries. Justin Phillips led the way with 6 total tackles, and AJ Green had a breakout game with 2 interceptions.

I have talked a lot about the defense in this series of articles this year, and rightfully so. The narrative is that the Big 12 does not “play” defense because of the high scoring offenses. However, it cannot be understated how good the Cowboy defense has been this year. Young at nearly every position group, they have stepped up and have been getting better every week, this is going to be key for the rest of the season.

The defensive line has been a key to the success of Oklahoma State’s defense this season. Guys like DeQuinton Osbourne and Jordan Brailford have had a lot of success this season. One guy that has gotten lost in the mix this year is Cole Walterscheid, but he had a fantastic game against West Virginia. He is my unsung hero this week. Walterscheid had 3 tackles, one for loss, and a sack (it should have been two sacks, but it was negated by a questionable horse collar tackle penalty).

Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

He has been a great edge rusher for the Cowboys the last two years. He came on strong last season, playing in place of the aforementioned Brailford, who missed all of last season with an injury. He only has 11 tackles through 8 games this season, but what he has been able to do is provide continued depth on the defensive line for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys rotated 4 guys in and 4 guys out during drives. Having that type of depth is important, especially against high-flying offenses. If Walterscheid can continue to produce, he will be a part of the success of the defense as the Oklahoma State tries to contend for a Big 12 title.

For starters, Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph owns nearly every major school passing record and currently leads the nation in total passing yards. That being said, a couple of teams have already provided the blueprint on how to limit his effectiveness.

Against TCU, Rudolph struggled going through his progressions if his first target was not open. Part of this was how well the Horned Frogs’ secondary was covering, but the other essential factor to this was the pressure TCU’s defensive front was able to get against OSU’s weak and depleted offensive line, as seen here:

If Oklahoma’s front seven can apply consistent pressure either on the edges or up the middle, giving Mason little time to go through his reads, the Cowboys should have a difficult time creating big plays in the passing game. It’ll be easier said than done this time around, as that offensive line is in much better shape health-wise than it was at that point.

In the game against Texas, Rudolph’s completion percentage was 12 percent higher than it was against TCU, but his 7.4 yards per attempt was the lowest it’s been all season. This is primarily because Rudolph opted for the shorter passing routes over the deep bombs that typically define the Cowboys’ offense. Oklahoma State wants to throw it down the field often, but this strategy is rendered quite ineffective if that part of their game is suppressed.

Now, it’s been one of the more discussed concerns among Sooner fans, so I won’t pile on too much, but the defense needs to put together a more complete game across the board. If OU isn’t going to position its corners at the line, then they cannot let OSU’s receivers get behind them. Stout coverage is the obvious key, but underneath tackling can make all the difference.

Speaking of receivers, there was talk about how deep and talented the Cowboys’ receiving unit is all off-season, and by all accounts they have backed up those claims with some tremendous performances. Take the Pitt game for an example of what they’re capable of:

Headlined by the big-play threat wearing 28, James Washington is really an all-around great receiver. He has excellent control of his body and his top-end speed in the open field is highlight material. The Cowboys also feature the big bodied Marcell Ateman, who uses his size to snatch the ball over the top of defenders and is a difficult matchup for undersized corners. The quick and agile Jalen McClesky is heavily used in the slot but does appear on the outside as well. Tackling McClesky is easier said than done, but it will be crucial. Finally, Dillon Stoner is young but has a knack for getting open and uses his hands well like a seasoned vet. Defending this bunch is a tall task, but the Sooners mustn’t be passive in their defensive approach. OU has to be smart, yet aggressive.

Against Texas Tech, Oklahoma switched from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense after the first quarter and saw results almost immediately. Utilizing a four-man front will be something the Sooners should go to once again this weekend because the increased front helps stymie the opposing run game. OSU will want to establish the run to open up the passing attack. If OU can dictate the game defensively by forcing Oklahoma State to shy away from the run, this should help the defensive backs in a big way, especially on longer conversion attempts.

Lastly, many times a good offense can be the best defense. In this case, the best kind of offense for the Sooners could be the kind that drains clock in bunches. TCU nearly doubled its time of possession against Oklahoma State, which not only kept OSU’s offense on the sideline, it also kept Mason Rudolph and company out of rhythm. It is highly conceivable for this Oklahoma team to execute such a game plan. Combining OU’s deep and powerful offensive line with its plethora of capable running backs should go a long way towards containing the offensive counterparts.

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No. 10 TCU vs. Texas: What to know about the Horned Frogs and Longhorns | The Star-Telegram

It doesn’t matter how good or bad the Horns are, this game always means a little more to TCU because of how many kids got passed over by the flagship university of the state. Recently, it’s been all Horned Frogs, though.

Texas leads 62-24-1. TCU has won the last three, one shy of its longest win streak from 1935 to 1938. The teams have been playing since 1897 and played every year from 1927 to 1995, the last season of the Southwest Conference. They played a non-conference game in 2007 in Austin, won 34-13 by Texas. In Big 12 meetings, TCU is 4-1. TCU’s 50-7 victory two years ago in Fort Worth marked its series-high point total. In the last three meetings, TCU has outscored Texas 129-26.

TCU’s Patterson: Blame goes around in Iowa State loss | The Star-Telegram

Sounds like we will have a re-focused TCU team Saturday, including the coaching staff.

“Well, No. 1, everybody’s struggled throwing the football against Iowa State,” Patterson said Monday during the Big 12 coaches conference call with reporters. “Bottom line to it, we need to put him in better situations. You can’t get inside the 5-yard line and — we probably needed to run the football. We turned the ball (over) down there. We didn’t find ways to win. It wasn’t so much Kenny’s deal as everybody’s. I think you can put the load on everybody.”

Iowa State has given up the second-fewest passing yards in the league, trailing only TCU’s league-leading defense. The Cyclones’ 10 interceptions are second-most in the league, tied with Texas and Texas Tech.

Hill entered the game not having thrown an interception in 100 pass attempts covering three games, his best stretch at TCU.

“Kenny’s fine,” Patterson said. “He probably took it as hard as anybody with the loss. It was a very quiet bus ride and plane ride home.”

Herman keeping QB situation under wraps with wicked TCU defense up next | San Antonio Express News

Who will start under center Saturday for UT? Sounds like we might not know until game time.

Herman would love to stick with one quarterback for the remainder of the year beginning with this matchup. He also understands that type of permanence might not be in the cards this season given the glut of injuries not only at quarterback but on the offensive line. Luck is a considerable factor when it comes to continuity, and right now Herman is in desperate need of a rabbit’s foot swathed in four-leaf clovers.

“It has been hard. It’d be foolish of me to say otherwise,” Herman confessed. “I do think there is a rhythm, there is a continuity factor especially in the throw game with the receivers and timing and all of that.

“To say that we’d like one to ride out the next four games, yeah, I think that’s pretty accurate. Now is that realistic? I don’t know. Recent history tells me it’s not. But I think that would be ideal.”

Iowa State climbs into 4-way tie atop Big 12 | USA Today

There is a lot at stake Saturday for TCU, as they have a chance to take sole possession of first place in the conference with a win. Iowa State has a tricky game against WVU and OU and OSU play their annual bedlam game, where a Cowboys’ W could put TCU atop the leaderboard with just three games to play.

That leaves the one-loss Horned Frogs, Sooners and Cowboys desperate to win out and hope for some outside chaos that would open the door for a team from the Big 12 — which missed the playoff a year ago — to nab one of the four coveted postseason spots.

Things should clear up fairly quickly.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State square off next week in Stillwater in what essentially will be an elimination game for each program's playoff hopes.

Should the Cowboys survive and then topple Iowa State on the road, they'll be in a strong position to reach the conference title game. Oklahoma State finishes with Kansas State and Kansas at home.

Quotables

Brian Dohn, National Recruiting Analyst

...but his ceiling is highest as a safety. He has the speed to cover outside of the numbers, he changes direction well, he is physical and will hit in the passing game and against the run, and he he has plus ball skills. He reads plays quickly and his burst is a plus. He can fill run gaps and also blitz.

Measurables

Height: 6’ 3’’

Weight: 200 lbs.

Power 5 Offers - Florida, Penn State, Pittsburgh, California, Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, N.C. State, Rutgers, South Carolina, TCU, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin

Big 3 Ratings:

• 247Sports - 4* (93 rating)
• Rivals - 4* (5.8 rating)
• ESPN - 4* (82 rating)

Highlights: