Coach V: Last night's Texas win over ULM was fun

By Coach Venable: It’s always fun to watch the Texas Longhorns make plays regardless of opponent. It was very obvious that some of our returning veterans have definitely improved over an eight month camp to change our way of living and competing. We still have some that haven’t thrown caution to the wind unfortunately and they should be passed up in short fashion if that continues. We made too many mistakes for sure but when you make those errors busting your butt they don’t seem to hurt the team as bad. Here is how this pair of eyes saw some of our first contest.

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I think the most impressive aspects of our defensive effort was split between how well we ran to the ball and our tackling program wide. The best part of both strengths was they were accomplished as a team. We played fundamentally sound and basically limited our mistakes to minor errors—we seldom took the wrong avenue leading to major busts. This was definitely an improvement over last season. Missed tackles became quick opportunities for teammates to apologize for your miscue.

We had several defenders raise their performance from last season in my opinion. That’s a step in the right direction. Everyone saw Barryn Sorrell (88) make his claim on the strongside edge position. He distributed more of the promise he gave small hints of last fall. I saw a completely different Anthony Cook (11) and I gave him a standing ovation performing like a bullet safety. Moro Ojomo (98) made plays inside and outside. Jaylan Ford (41) was extremely active in coverage but was a minor disappointment against the ground game. DeMarvion Overshown (0) is a much better player when given a specific assignment—eliminate having him read keys and assign him sic’em every down.

Jamier Johnson (31) will play major snaps this fall. Jaylon Guilbeau (13) is fun to watch. Ovie Oghoufo (18) is not fun to watch. Ethan Burke (91) is fun to watch. T’Vondre Sweat (93) is fun half the time and not the other half. Vernon Broughton (45) made three terrific plays but needs lower body strength bad. D’Shawn Jamison (5) had a big game but did anybody see him as a punt blocker making a huge play? Ryan Watts (6) is a big corner that will secure the weak side. If Jerrin Thompson (28) had another 15 pounds he would be dangerous. He runs the pursuit angle very fast but lacks a puncher’s chance at a knockout.

The biggest improvement on defense might have been Pete Kwiatkowski’s gameplan. I’ll leave it to others to describe what his strategy was but I was impressed that he didn’t ask players to win assignments they weren’t as comfortable fulfilling. Of course, the difference in quality opposition might make a bigger difference than we need but I saw players making the correct decisions all over the field last night. That’s a huge start in playing well. We ran extremely well (and smart) to the ball. We tackled very well most of the time. It will interesting to see how well we tee it up with the big boys this week.

Bijan Robinson (5) is just different. Roschon Johnson (2) is a leader and a warrior. Quinn Ewers (3) is the moxie talent that will take your whisky and have his way with your women while you wonder how this rube finished high school. Xavier Worthy (8) is scary good but missed two potential td’s (posts) where he fade adjusted while QE laid it out there for him to run under. Ja’Tavion Sanders (0) is a five star TE that will make good defenses assign an extra defender to underneath threats, mainly him. Casey Cain (88) made sure both 88’s made the honor roll with a nasty move to put a 50 yarder on the board.

The OL had a very average night with some super goods and some why did I do that’s mixed in. Hayden Conner (76) and Kelvin Banks (78) executed several excellent “twists” switches and had just a few bad efforts. Jake Majors (65) had a solid night—good snaps and correct calls are half the battle and Jake carries his own weight in that department. You gotta love Cole Hutson (54) at RG. Early enrollee that proved he belonged and now everybody takes him for granted. He’s a stud warrior is all he is.

Christian Jones (70) is still struggling with pass pro at RT. We didn’t get to see enough of DJ Campbell (52), Cam Williams (56), Malik Agbo (67), Neto Umeozulu (72), or Connor Robertson (62) to see exactly how close they are to being productive backups. We know where Andrej Karic (69/92) and Logan Parr (71) fit in the scheme of things but it appears Karic needs to stay alert because these young guys are definitely knicked up probabilities.

One bad snap, hold, or kick on a field goal ruined a good night on special teams. I was impressed with our coverage units. We are definitely stressing special teams more under this staff.

Well, that bunch of ragknots (Alabama) comes into our house next week. I have a hunch everybody will undergo an oil check on both sides. I never went into a game thinking we had zero chance of winning and I’m not about to start now. Nobody said it is going to be easy but one way or the other it will be settled on the field and not before the kickoff. Let’s have fun again this week.