Injuries taking toll on backs
Warren to sit for rest of spring; Houston, Carter also sidelined.
Texas coach Tom Herman loves his receiving corps. And if you held his feet to the fire, linebacker production would be his biggest concern so far this spring. “But again,” he said, “I’m not concerned about a whole lot.”
Running back depth sure seems like a problem, though.
The Longhorns suddenly look razor-thin in the backfield after Herman announced Thursday that Chris Warren III (hamstring) will be shut down for the remainder of spring drills. Tristan Houston
and Toneil Carter also will miss Saturday’s scrimmage with ankle injuries.
Oh, and Kirk Johnson is still bothered by knee problems. What’s he shown the coaching staff ? “Not much,” Herman said. “I don’t think he’s gone through a full practice in pads.”
These appear to be dire times for burnt-orange ball carriers. Fortunately for the Horns, the season opener is still months away. But it was noticeable that 5-foot-11 freshman Kyle Porter was the only scholarship running back on the field for Thursday’s workout.
Houston and Carter are slated to return to practice Tuesday, Herman said, and UT trainers likely will proceed with caution. Still ...
“It’s a little scary,” the coach admitted. “It makes you nervous. I’m glad we signed two. It’s a very physical position. Very rarely, I don’t know that I’ve ever had a back go an entire season without missing a little time here
and there.
“You better be deep in that room. Kyle is kind of the last man standing on scholarship. Hopefully on Tuesday, we’ll triple that number — go from one to three.”
Still QB-shopping: Herman is learning firsthand what former coaches Mack Brown and Charlie Strong knew all too well. Getting accepted into Texas as a graduate student is extremely difficult.
Finding a graduate transfer quarterback good enough to compete for the starting job yet intelligent enough to qualify academically is a difficult proposition at UT. That may have been why LSU’s Brandon Harris announced last week he was choosing North Carolina over the Longhorns.
“We keep checking the waiver wire,” Herman said. “Got to make sure we can get them into school. That’s an issue here in our graduate school. So we’ve got to make sure that we can get them in, and hopefully we can find one to provide some depth and competition in that room.” Buechele vs. Ehlinger: Speaking of the quarterbacks, Herman detailed his thoughts on returning starter Shane Buechele and freshman Sam Ehlinger after Thursday’s workout.
“Shane, you can tell he’s played 12 college games,” Herman said. “There’s some season-ness to him. Practicing against this defense is as hard as it gets for a quarterback in terms of protections, checks and runs, because it feels like they’ve got 15 guys on the field at all times. It’s difficult, but you can tell he’s got some poise back there and some game experience where it’s not too fast for him.
“Sam, it’s still pretty fast for him, but you’ll see glimpses. When things are clean, he makes some nice throws, makes some good decisions. So I think you can win with either one of them, But Shane, you can tell he’s got some experience.”
Noteworthy: Also on the injury front, center Zach Shackelford (ankle) will be sidelined the rest of spring practice. Defensive tackle Marcel Southall also will miss the rest of spring drills to focus on academics, same as offensive lineman Brandon Hodges. Tight end Andrew Beck (foot) is being eased back into workouts, mostly as a precaution.