Bijan Robinson ran for 188 yards and scored 3 touchdowns as Texas pulled away from the Roadrunners in the second
OUTRUNhalf.
THIS WEEK: Publisher -- Eric Nahlin | InsideTexas.com Editor -- Justin Wells | Lead Writer -- Joe Cook | Contributors -- Ian Boyd, Paul Wadlington, Gerry Hamilton, Bobby Burton | Designer/Photographer -- Will Gallagher To Subscribe/Customer Service -- Phone: 512-659-8167 | Email: help@insidetexas.com 4Horns Running Game Wins the Day | by Joe Cook Defense and running game key Texas victory. Five Quick Thoughts | by Ian boyd 8 12Post Mortem | After a sluggish start, Texas rounds into form on both sides of the ball. by SCIpIo Tex Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson power Texas in 40-21 win. 19Recruiting News | Texas boasts 11 members of the newly-released On3 300. by Gerry HamIlTon and JuSTIn WellS
Texas vs UTSA | September 19, 2022
FROM
HORNS AWAY
RUN
BY JOE COOK
FROM ROADRUNNERS AUSTIN, TX -- Despite being favored by nearly two touchdowns, No. 21 Texas knew the challenge the UTSA Roadrunners presented on Saturday night, and were able to run right through it. Bijan Robinson
The Texas offense arrived a little late, not putting any points on the board in the first quarter. That put the Longhorns at a three-point deficit following UTSA’s 20-play, 74yard drive with a field goal. Johnson started the Longhorn scoring efforts in the second quarter, hauling in an 11-yard pass from Card for a score.
UTSA fought back and retook the lead, then recovered an onside kick, then kept the trickery up with a lateral from Harris to running back Brenden Brady, who found Zakhari Franklin in the end zone to take a 17-7 lead.
mostly absent last week versus Alabama, but it needed to arrive and perform in front of the 102,520 at Darrell K Royal – Texas Memo rial Stadium to stave off the UTSA upset attempt. Not only was typical starting quarterback Quinn Ewers unable to play, but Card was limited in his own right due to an ankle Robinsonissue. and Johnson picked up most of the slack. Texas accumu lated 91 yards on the ground in the first half, then kept pounding the rock in the second half to the tune of 207 yards on 15 carries.
“You know, they went up 17-7 after the double pass and I didn’t think our team blinked for a second,” Sarkisian said. “From that mo ment on, we outscored them 34-3. I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage after that. We were able to run the football. We were able to
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stop the run. We were able to get off the field on defense.” As Sarkisian said, the Longhorns leaned on a strong running game and limited UTSA quarterback Frank Harris to ignite their run.
At this point, the Longhorns were put in a position that would test their
TheRoadrunners.Longhornrushing attack was
Bijan Robinson rushed 20 times for 183 yards and three scores, Roschon Johnson tallied 11 carries for 81 yards plus a receiving touch down, and quarterback Hudson Card added 35 yards on the ground as part of the near-300 yard effort that fueled Texas’ 40-21 win over the
UTSA lived up to their toughminded billing typical of any team coached by Jeff Traylor. The Roadrunners even pulled out sev eral items from their bag of tricks, including a surprise onside kick and a double pass for a touchdown. It garnered them a 17-7 lead with 9:36 left in the second quarter.
- TEXAS | UTSA -
“I’m just blessed,” Robinson said. “Just want to thank God, first of all, for getting out of the game healthy. You know, they just started popping and opened it up in the O-Line. I found the hole and I just hit them.”
Roschon
Johnson
Robinson added another score early in the fourth, and Auburn tacked on one more field goal late just for good measure. The Texas defense either turned UTSA over on downs or forced a punt in the drives following UTSA’s last score with 3:21 left in the third.
With only a one touchdown lead, the defense did their part to help the Longhorn winning effort. Called by Pete Kwiatkowski, who made the move from the box down to the field this season, the Longhorn defense outscored the Roadrunner offense 7-3 in the second half thanks to a timely pick-six with 18 seconds left in the third by Jahdae Barron. That turnover made the margin 31-20.
It also showed who really runs this Texas team’s offense in light of the current quarterback situation: those who run the football.
mettle. They were down 10. Harris, the 2021 C-USA player of the year, was slicing through the Longhorn defense with quick passing and well timed scrambles.
Jean Delance
Not everything was rosy on both sides of the ball. The pass game was limited as Card couldn’t push the ball downfield, and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown was ejected when he was ruled to have com mitted targeting in the second half. Sarkisian said they would send the call to the Big 12 office for review to attempt to have Overshown for the
- TEXAS | UTSA -
After entering halftime tied thanks to a Robinson touchdown and a Bert Auburn field goal, Texas stopped the Roadrunners to open the sec ond half. Robinson and Johnson entered the backfield, and Robinson exited the field moments later after a 78-yard touchdown rush.
But the response from Texas, led by a potent rushing attack, was what powered the Longhorns to a relatively easy win over the Road runners that saw second and thirdstringers enter late for both teams.
“Our big thing was it was way too early in the game to start to panic,” Sarkisian said. “Let’s just get back to playing sound football, good Unlikefootball.”last year, when the Long horns wilted time after time after time after time after time after time, this Texas team responded.
7September 19, 2022
Jahdae Barron
It showed that against a tough yet overmatched opponent, Texas could take their best blow and re spond better than last year’s squd.
“It was crazy when I caught it,” Bar ron said. “I looked back, and it was a tight end, and I’m like, ‘It’s over, it’s a touchdown.’ I didn’t even know what celebration to do, that’s how happy I was.”
entirety of the Big 12 opener versus Texas Tech.
Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense bottled up the Roadrunners after the 17-7 margin was established there and made a few big plays and Texas started to get the ground game rolling with a blend of Wildcat (Ro-cat with Roschon Johnson), unbalanced formations, and pure hard running from Bijan Robinson and Roschon.
8 inside texas insidetexas com
Thengame.they had a successful scor ing drive with some Frank Harris magic which made it 10-7. Jeff Traylor followed this up with a surprise onside kick converted successfully and a double pass touchdown. 17-7 Roadrunners.
The crowd sounded very quiet for a moment there when UTSA was up 17-7 after dropping two touchdowns in only a few min utes of game action. From then on out the Horns outscored their guests from down south 34-3 and pulled away with a spread-covering win.
Holding possession to play keep away from the Longhorns and landing the classic, two-pronged special teams big play and trick play touchdown were both typical upset maneuvers.
The one final piece to their formula was to turn over the Texas offense. But it didn’t happen, and then Jahdae Barron erased a promising UTSA drive when the Roadrunners were down 24-20 with a pick-6 on an overthrown screen by Harris. Now it was 31-20 Texas and it all slipped away.
Zakhari Franklin
vs
Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns appeared for a moment to be unprepared for the sort of upset special Jeff Traylor and the UTSA Roadrunners had cooked up in this game.
By Ian Boyd
#1:
QUICK thoughts NIGHTMARE START FOR TEXAS
UTSA was hitting all the upset notes early. First a 21-play, 74-yard drive which ate 8:27 of game clock and put them up early 3-0 when it ended in a field goal. Playing keep away from a strong offense on the road is a great way to avoid allowing a crowd to affect a
5
the game for targeting. Overshown’s speed was invaluable in handling Harris’ quicks.
The Longhorns tightened up their coverage some in the second half to eliminate some of the easy throws underneath, mixing in man coverage and also bringing the safeties in tighter. They also spied some and started involving DeMarvion Overshown in the blitz package more until he was (unjustly) removed from
Offensively, Sark solved the UTSA gameplan by the second quarter. UTSA was crashing against the run early as Texas used a lot of bigger sets with Andrej Karic on the field as a jumbo tight end paired with Ja’Tavion Sanders. The Longhorns mixed in more spread sets and opened up the game with a few bubble screens for easy first downs and sustained a few scor ing drives before ultimately wearing out the Roadrunners.
9September 19, 2022
Texas struggled to ever fully corral Frank Harris, even if they didn’t let him deal any back-breaking damage. He finished with 35 passes for 222 yards at 6.3 ypa with zero touchdowns and the aforementioned pick-6, then 10 carries for 38 yards. Noth ing explosive but they struggled to get him off the field.
#2: GREAT ADJUSTMENTS AFTER THE EARLY SURGE
Byron Murphy
Texas had a lot of trouble corralling Frank game was ever in question, aside from the play
UTSAgambit.was9-16
#5 DEFENSIVE PRESSURE WON
Bijan Robinson
Texas continues to play the zone-read by having their Edges contain the quarterback and making teams earn it the hard way downhill with zone running against the defen sive tackles and linebackers.
- 5 Q uick T hough T s | u T s A -
UTSA ran the ball 44 times for 139 yards at 3.2 ypc for the night. They were able to pick up some steady gains with their power run game to avoid getting in bad spots against the Texas defense, yet they were inefficient running the ball.
on 3rd down as Harris made throwing on quick shots or scramble drill ers. The Longhorns had trouble figuring it 4-man rush but lost him a few times, tried Jaylan Ford spying but Harris was too quick. Edges with mixed results as well. TEXAS WON THE GAME ON THE GROUND
#3:
Texas was more sporadic but the big plays made all the difference. 36 carries yielded 298 rushing yards at 8.3 ypc with a pair of long scoring runs by Bijan Robinson which gave him 183 yards on the day. Even Hud son Card got in on the action with a 32-yard scramble to convert a 2nd-and-22 on the last touchdown drive by the Horns.
They ran some unbalanced sets, Wildcat, unbalanced Wild cat, and even a fair amount of Texas’ passing game production on the day was in the RPO game, on bubble screens or flat routes underneath to Roschon and Sanders.
10 inside texas insidetexas com
They’ll need to land shots to make the most of this season but the “spread em out and torch them on the perimeter with quick throws or inside with Bijan/Roschon” formula really works quite well with this roster. Worthy is dangerous with the ball in his hands, Whittington is terrific both as a blocker
Texas tested some shots deep and the Card to Xavier Worthy connection came up a little short with a few incompletions, then they ultimately settled on just methodically working the ball down the field with quick throws and runs.
If Card were healthy enough to mix in more zone-option, he could be a very effective spread quarterback as he continues to develop. Texas has a great fallback plan behind Quinn Ewers. HUDSON
CARD - 5 Q uick T hough T s | u T s A -
Ultimately what did the trick was pressure and landing some good hits. Near the end of the third quarter Texas called a corner blitz with Ryan Watts that would break open a close game. Watts applied the preassure and Harris floated a pass out into the flat that went over the hands of his intended receiver. Jahdae Barron took that mistake to the house and put Texas up 31-20.
#4: GOOD GAME MANAGEMENT BY
Hudson Card wasn’t stealing the starting job with his per formance today but he did a terrific job of keeping Texas on schedule, avoiding bad plays, and making the throws (or runs) they needed to secure the win.
Overall this was a strong team win by Texas despite the bad start. Whereas UTSA missed a few boxes on their “upset special” bingo card, the Longhorns connected with “big plays on defense,” “overpowering run game,” and “efficient game management by the back-up quarterback.”
Hudson Card
made play after play with his legs and throws to his talented group of receiv it out. They tried to contain him with a tried some cover 1 man on 3rd downs with quick. They tried spying with their Buck
Card executes this strategy well. He finished 15-23 for 161 yards at seven ypa with a touchdown and zero picks and two carries for 35 rushing yards. Nothing remarkable but reli able play of the sort you want from a back-up for the second straight week.
WON THE DAY
Frank Harris and it’s the main reason this the success of Traylor’s onside kick/trick
11September 19, 2022
or breaking tackles out wide, and obviously Texas’ running backs are lethal.
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The game in a nutshell? The Longhorn rushing attack getting on track while Hudson Card avoided turnovers. Bijan Robinson finished with 202 yards from scrimmage and 3 scores, but Ros chon Johnson was integral in establishing physicality, bringing
POSTTex-MORTEM OFFENSE
The UTSA offense ball-controlled the Longhorn defense, stole an extra possession with an onside kick, and with the addition of Jahdae Barron’s Pick 6, the Longhorn offense managed only 9 meaningful offensive possessions. Only four of those posses sions were in the first half, yielding 17 points.
|
Don’t blame the Texas offensive staff for being overly conserva tive. It’s probably already been forgotten that Texas went for it on 4th and 1 on their own 35 yard line on the first drive of the game. Or that the staff tried a number of deep shots before
realizing that the page needed to be turned to something else. Texas eventually scored on 6 of their 9 possessions, generating 34 offensive points and 459 yards on only 59 plays for 7.8 yards per play average. Rushing for 298 yards at 8.3 yards per clip will boost a team’s chances of victory.
BIJAN ROBINSON
by Scipio
Card played within himself, finishing 15 of 23 for 161 yards with no turnovers. His best work was flipping it out to Roschon, Whit tington and Worthy in the short passing game and then letting them do the lifting. His longest completion of the night went for 26 yards. Card absolutely did his job. Seeing the field and
pulling the trigger decisively in an open-ended scenario is not a current strength.
Longhorns fans were perhaps a bit taken aback to see that Texas can’t just impose their will physically on a G5 oppo nent (Bijan Robinson averaged less than 4 yards per carry at halftime), but credit UTSA’s early scheme and the fact that the Texas OL isn’t going to get a ton of displacement missing blocks. Once Texas cleaned up some things and found a win ning run play, they wore down the Roadrunners and began popping big runs.
The Texas running game exploded in the second half, with Bijan Robinson finishing with 183 yards on 20 carries and 3 touchdowns, including a 78 yard scamper out of the RoCat. His career
RUNNING BACK
HUDSON CARD
QUARTERBACK
some much needed juice, and almost single handedly carrying the Texas offense through an early rough patch.
touched him on the entire run as the offensive line displaced their UTSA counterparts across the line of scrimmage. The play also included very effective blocking by tight ends Gunnar Helm and JT Sanders and Jordan Whittington knocked his defender down on the perimeter to seal the edge like a vault. The play was a complete team effort that led to an easy score.
Hudson Card couldn’t connect on any shots downfield, but a different variety of shot to his ankle might have allowed him to break a decisive 32 yard run on 2nd and 22 in the early 4th quarter. The play proved integral in creating Longhorn sepa ration as the Horns went up by 18 one play later with Bijan’s touchdown run.
sledding early as the Texas OL struggled to get their hats on the right guy or move UTSA’s squatty interior, but Robinson may have also been too enamored of his own elite cutting ability, attempting to make 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level cuts instead of just making his initial cut and then running through arms and hands. Once those issues were ironed out, Bijan ex ploded for 135 yards rushing in the second half on only 6 carries against an increasingly beaten down Roadrunner defense. 119 of those yards came on two touchdown runs.
No38-20.defender
Robinsonlongest.hadtough
Roschon Johnson finished with an excellent 11 carry, 81 yard rushing performance complemented by another 23 yards and a touchdown on 3 catches, but the manner in which it was achieved was most notable. One handed grabs, hurdling defenders, running through and over tacklers. RoJo brought en thusiasm, violence and energy from the opening kickoff for four quarters and it was exactly what the Longhorns needed to rally
13September 19, 2022
The best example of the Roadrunners wearing down as Texas blockers found their stride was on an almost leisurely 41 yard Bijan Robinson touchdown run to put the game out of reach,
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around. Great example of leading by pure effort and aggression.
protection. His pass pro appears to have improved, but Texas fans need to really love on him for his run blocking.
Hayden Conner had some early struggles on the other side identifying what hat to hit, but the entire OL got it together in the second half and Texas looked much better.
Christian Jones has always been a capable run blocker, but has too often been the subject of negative attention for his pass
Texas pass protected very well overall and run blocking im proved substantially as the game wore on. UTSA doesn’t have a good defense, but they play hard.
One interesting thing I noted is that on a few run plays or screens out wide where Whittington and/or Cain are blocking, Worthy just releases like it’s a go route and his man inevitably turns and runs with him. That’s one way for a 160 pound guy to neutralize a defender. I had it in my notes to praise Casey Cain for some exceptional blocks on screens, but as I underlined it he gave up a free pass to a hard charging corner who blew up Roschon Johnson.
On Bijan’s 78-yard TD Jones absolutely collapsed his man and effectively sealed off the entire backside of the UTSA pursuit. It was total and absolute dominance and the primary reason the play went for 78 yards.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Sanders had his best game as a blocker. Proof that he played 3.5 very good quarters tracking down linebackers and safeties because in the early game he blew a block and then had a hold.
FINAL I encouraged everyone to avoid worrying about style points on offense until Texas gets back its passing game upside.
Even with some constraints on a risk averse passing game and a slow-starting rushing attack, the Texas offense kept hammer ing at the rock until it cracked and then eventually exploded. They’ll need to bring the same approach to Lubbock. Confer ence play is here.
JORDAN WHITTINGTON (4) AND XAVIER WORTHY (8)
Whittington graded out as my best receiver again and a big part of that was his consistently outstanding blocking, reliability and overall physicality. Xavier Worthy turned some easy little flips into chain moving gains, but seeing routes through remains a building point.
WIDE RECEIVER/TIGHT END
The Texas defense and special teams were frustrating at times, particularly in the first half. The presumed game plan against QB Frank Harris, his receivers and a depleted Roadrunner offensive line seemed fairly straightforward. Contest balls underneath, make Harris hold the ball, back man under coverage with two safeties to obviate downfield timing routes, crowd the middle of the field, assign a spy, and allow the Longhorn defensive line to use their athleticism on UTSA’s slow footed, vulnerable OL.
In those three possessions, UTSA scored 17 points, dominated time of possession, and converted 6 of 7 on 3rd down. They were 4 of 5 on 3rd down on the first 20 play drive. They also hit a HB option pass for a touchdown and almost burned Jahdae Barron for another touchdown that was called back for an illegal
15September 19, 2022
Ifshift.you
UTSA’s first three offensive possessions went as follows: 20-74 Field Goal 10-65 Touchdown 2-52 Touchdown
The Texas defensive staff went a different direction. Early on, UTSA exploited a Longhorn game plan that generally conceded what UTSA is best at.
FRANK HARRIS
POST-MORTEM | DEFENSE
want the air out of a stadium and fanbase, that early
- Harris needed the ball out quickly and he’s a highly accurate passer and decision maker against uncontested throws attack ing space and while on the move. A short set up has conse quences if he can’t get the ball out right away. Early on, Texas played off coverage, allowed easy completions, and did not give the rush a chance to get home.
A few general observations:
- Frustrated by their inability to affect Harris, the Texas staff started blitzing DBs and lineback ers in the QB’s line of sight.
- Box score analysts can point to UTSA having to run 84 plays to get 408 yards at a feeble 4.9 yards per play clip and only 20 points on the scoreboard, but 9 of 16 conversions on third down (they were 3 of 9 on their last 12) and 29 first downs are concerning when paired with a 12 minute time of possession advantage.
- When Texas brought blitzers in the form of an extra man off of the corner, the edge opposite the blitz never compensated by overplaying containment to remove Harris’ escape route. The result was Harris fleeing a free backside rusher without having to give ground and a completion on the move. If a QB breaks containment, you can’t let him do it running laterally.
- Off coverage demands great tackling. Texas tackled poorly in the first half. Texas tackling improved when they played tighter coverage. Slippery offensive players like space. Adjustments came and Texas wore down the Roadrunners, though UTSA still had drives of 9-51 and 13-74 in the second half that yielded only 3 points.
- UTSA’s interior OL are refrig erators with bad feet. Texas didn’t allow the defensive line to game them and negated a significant athletic advantage. Collapsing the pocket meant pushing back 6-2, 340 every down. Sometimes it’s better to run past 6-2, 340.
- Off coverage on 3rd and intermediate is a bad habit unless you think your opponent passing game is totally incompetent.
Longhorn defensive game plan was as effective as Lowell Galindo’s play-by-play. Fortunately, it got better. Not the LHN broadcast, the defense.
- When Harris went out for a play after the nonsensical Overshown targeting call, UTSA brought in
their green backup QB. Everyone in the stadium knew Traylor was going to hand the ball off and get Harris back in. Texas ran an honest box. 10 yard UTSA run. A game defining moment? No. Something I notice? Yes.
16 inside texas insidetexas com
DEMARVION OVESHOWN AND JAYLAN FORD
- Harris threw short gimme balls to the vacated space. The idea is to have Harris hold the ball longer and attack him with your front, not present him a more immedi ate passing window by removing pieces from coverage. Eventually, Texas adjusted by blitzing corners or bringing an extra LB from the edge.
DEFENSIVE LINE
The interior DL played well, but weren’t freed to get after Harris with stunts and games. The edges did not play well. Oghoufo didn’t set containment and lacks the strength or desire to see it
DEFENSIVE BACK
17September 19, 2022
Ryan Watts really struggled finding the ball, earning an end zone pass interference and surrendering a HB option touch down where he was in position but didn’t attempt a play. He
T’Vondre Sweat had his flash play with a great interior pres sure in the second half and he led the interior DL in tackles. Broughton just isn’t strong. He has a first step and swim move. If that gets halted, he gets blown out. Murphy, Coburn, Ojomo all played well. Collins looked good in limited snaps. Texas needs to look seriously at playing 3 interior DL and an edge against a number of future opponents. Getting Collins more snaps is imperative.
SPECIAL TEAMS
FINAL THOUGHTS
You may have gathered that I wasn’t necessarily blown away by the initial defensive game plan, but playing pretty hard can make up for a lot of sins. The Longhorn defense conceded 3 second half points and improved depth meant that waves of Longhorn defenders wore down the Roadrunners over time. No one lost composure and that was instrumental in the unit tightening up and the Longhorns pulling away late.
JAHDAE BARRON
Jamison had a poor effort on a QB blitz, but made up for it with a nice PBU in the end zone. Barron got worked early and blew a tackle on a short yardage situation, but he played better ball when Texas tightened up coverage. Barron’s Gift Six touchdown was a turning point and while that was mostly about a bad ball, Barron com pleted the play. The safeties were OK..
Overshown had two poor missed tackles in the 1st half and doesn’t seem to quite understand what area he’s defending or what routes he should be interfering with in zone. Much stronger second half with an outstanding PBU on the UTSA tight end in the red zone, another good break up later, and then the nonsen sical targeting hit on Harris. Jaylan Ford had a big work rate (15 tackles) but he showed that he’s not a good choice for spying fu ture mobile QBs and he’s not triggering fast enough on straight forward run reads. DTD had some nice plays in the second half that helped make up for some “where’s the ball?” moments.
Bert Auburn should have had a field goal waived off due to false starting but he did drill a 44 yard er, Stone put one out of bounds on a kickoff, and the front line of the Longhorn return team all turned their backs on the UTSA kickoff at contact, allowing UTSA a gimme onside kick that increased 1st half Longhorn fan pucker factor by 135%. Trejo is punting well for distance, but they are line drives.
got bailed out on another double move that should have gone for 6.
LINEBACKER
through. Sorrell had his worst game as a starter, but he’ll come along. Finley and Burke had decent snaps late, but I’m not sure how much of that was attributable to beaten down Roadrunners.
Derek Williams, S, New Iberia (La.) Westgate
Prior On300 ranking: No. 28
The updated On300 for the 2023 cycles continues to have Texas commitment Arch Manning holding down the No. 1 overall spot, with running back commitment Cedric Baxter Jr. ascending to 5-star status.
New On300 ranking: No. 37
RECRUITING TRAIL NEWS
PHOTO COURTESY OF THOMPSON FAMILY
On300 ranking: No. 1 overall (5-star)
11 MEMBERS OF ON3 TOP 300
PHOTO COURTESY OF THOMPSON FAMILY
Cedric Baxter Jr., RB, Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater
Prior On300 ranking: No. 26
All told, eleven Texas commitments are members of the updated On300 for the 2023 with Jonah Wilson making the biggest jump.
Prior On300 ranking: No. 30
18 inside texas insidetexas com
Arch Manning, New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman
New On300 ranking: No. 22 (5-star)
The Texas Longhorns sport the No. 4 ranked recruiting class after the updated On300 for the class of 2023.
TEXAS CURRENTLY WITH 4TH-RANKED CLASS
New On300 ranking: No. 30
by Gerry Hamilton and Justin Wells
Malik Muhammad, CB, Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff
Thompson is the 22nd commit of Texas’ 2022 class joining
Lance St. Louis (Williams Field – AZ)
Prior On300 ranking: No. 80
“I had never been to a night game at Texas before,” said Cook. “Once they started singing with the lights, I got goosebumps. UTSA came out strong, but Texas started turning it out right before halftime. Once the second half started, the crowd got live and so did the team. I loved it.”
New On300 ranking: No. 162
Sydir Mitchell, DL, Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic
Austin Jordan (Denton Ryan)
Jaydon Chatman, OT/IOL, Killeen (Texas) Harker Heights
New On300 ranking: No. 99
Jaydon Blue (Klein Cain)
It had been a few weeks since DeSoto (Texas) wide receiver and Texas commit Johntay Cook was in Austin. While watching his No. 22 Longhorns topple UTSA 41-20 at Darrell K Royal –Texas Memorial Stadium, he was happy to be home. “(Texas) is home,” said Cook. “Coming back always reminds me of home. I can’t wait to be with my guys soon.”
The 5-foot-11, 171-pounder and No. 41 overall prospect in the 2023 On3 Consensus had more than 1,496 receiving and 28 touchdowns during his sophomore and junior seasons. In three games this year, Cook has tallied 250 yards and three touch downs on 22 catches.
19September 19, 2022
J’Mond Tapp (Ascension Catholic – LA)
New On300 ranking: No. 54
Derion Gullette, LB/EDGE, Teague (Texas) High
Trevell Johnson (Arlington Martin)
Johntay Cook II, WR, DeSoto (Texas) High
The 2023 commit and early enrollee has had a fantastic start to the 2022 season. In the meantime, Cook is working on 2023 Longview (Texas) WR Jalen Hale, who is set to announce his commitment on Wednesday September 21st.
The following is the On3 Scouting Summary for Johntay Cook:
Will Stone (Austin Regents)
“Smooth-moving receiver who is one of the better route-runners in the 2023 cycle. Shows the ability to tempo and toggle speeds within his routes. Can win at all levels of the field. Has long arms with a 6-foot-4 wing-span at 5-foot-11.5. The length helps create a large catch radius. Productive and efficient as a junior while facing top competition at one of the top talent-producing high school programs in Texas. Scored 18 touchdowns on just 38 receptions as a junior. Will need to continue improving on his reliability as a pass-catcher and eliminate concentration drops.”
New On300 ranking: No. 88
JOHNTAY COOK
JOHNTAY COOK BACK IN AUSTIN
- RECRUITING TRAIL NEWS -
Prior On300 ranking: No. 51
Jaray Bledsoe (Marlin)
Kristopher Ross (North Shore)
New On300 ranking: No. 66
Bryan Allen Jr. (Aledo)
Prior On300 ranking: No. 92
Derrick Brown (Texas High)
New On300 ranking: No. 91
Jonah Wilson, WR, Spring (Texas) Dekaney
Ronald Lewis (Warren Easton – LA)
Jamarion Miller (Tyler Legacy)
New On300 ranking: No. 199
Prior On300 ranking: No. 273
Note: Moved from 90 grade to 92
Prior On300 ranking: No. 226
S’Maje Burrell, LB, Fort Worth (Texas) North Crowley
Prior On300 ranking: No. 95
Zac Swanson (Brophy College Prep – AZ)
Cook is the No. 41 overall prospect and No. 7 wide receiver in the 2023 On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 7 player in Texas.
Justice Finkley (Hewitt-Trussville – AL)
Cole Hutson (Frisco)
Eoghan Kerry (Mater Dei – CA)
Maalik Murphy (Junipero Serra – CA)
Aaron Bryant (Southavenz – MS)
Connor Robertson (Austin Westlake)
Prior On300 ranking: No. 60
Ryan Niblett, WR, Aldine (Texas) Eisenhower
Armani Winfield (Lewisville)
“THEY TOLD ME THEY WERE GOING TO RUN THE BALL, AND DO IT EFFEC TIVELY,” BAXTER SAID. “AND THEY DID THAT. THEY PLAYED THREE BACKS. BIJAN ALMOST HAD 200 YARDS, AND ROSCHON HAD CLOSE TO 100. THEY DID WHAT THEY SAID THEY WOULD.”
“VINCE SAID HE HAD WATCHED MY FILM,” BAXTER SAID. “HE LOVES THE WAY I RUN, AND THINKS I CAN BE THE NEXT GREAT PLAYER AT TEXAS.”
5-STAR RECRUIT CEDRIC BAXTER TALKS TO VINCE YOUNG PRIOR TO THE UTSA GAME. BAXTER CAME AWAY FROM HIS VISIT VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE GAMEDAY ENVIRONMENT AT DKR AND SOLID IN HIS COMMITMENT.
“THE ATMOSPHERE WAS AMAZING, AND I HAD A GREAT TIME,” BAXTER TOLD INSIDE TEXAS SUNDAY. “THE FANS WERE AWESOME. I TOOK PICTURES WITH PEOPLE, AND SIGNED SOME AUTOGRAPHS.”
