Texas RB room packed but there’s still just one ball
While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:
1. Hot Horns: With Texas football's spring game just days away, head coach Steve Sarkisian singled out players like defensive lineman Jaray Bledsoe, tight end Juan Davis and, as usual, cornerback Manny Muhammad. Sark said, “Manny Muhammad definitely made some plays Saturday. Jaray Bledsoe made some plays up front. Trey Moore and Colin Simmons affected the quarterback.” … Bledsoe in particular is key given the vacancies up front defensively. “Jaray's played defensive end and he's played inside so there's a lot of thinking going on. I felt like he cut it loose, and you could feel his pass rush Saturday in the scrimmage. And he's probably one of the more athletically gifted players on our team as a defensive lineman. And when he plays to his strengths, you can feel his impact on the team when he's out there.” … The fourthyear head coach is really happy with Jaydon Blue and CJ Baxter pacing the running backs room and said Quintrevion Wisner is “a nice addition” with his versatility and pass-catching skills. I'm guessing the hot hand will get the bulk of the carries. Blue and Baxter each had nine in the Sugar Bowl and collectively averaged 6.6 yards a carry, but each also had a costly fumble. Sark said Tuesday's workout marked freshman Jerrick Gibson's “best day” and praised fellow rookie Christian Clark as well as a pair of 210-pound tailbacks. And don't forget bulked-up Savion Red either.
2. It’s Scottie’s world: Let the tributes begin. What a champion golfer and even better human being Scottie Scheffler is. He seems to be the perfect athlete because he's recently as accomplished as any golfer since — dare I say Tiger Woods? — incredibly humble and seemingly with total confidence and without any glaring weaknesses. We said much
the same about Jordan Spieth when he was running things and won three majors in his first five outings. Scheffler has two in his first 15 starts at the majors but also a title at The Players to go with two runner-up finishes and a third-place tie in a U.S. Open. Spieth got his third major championship in his 14th start. Scheffler's right there as he takes aim on a PGA crown. Heck, if his 6-foot birdie putt had gone in on the 72nd hole at the Houston Open, he'd be on a fourstraight heater. … But he and Spieth are so different. Scheffler doesn't talk to himself on the course. He's better built for the long run, a stronger, more physical athlete with more length. He doesn't take himself that seriously. And he lives his Christian faith to the point that this prospective father any day now said at the victorious press conference that while he remains super competitive, golf will soon be “fourth” in his list of priorities behind his Christianity, his role as a husband and that of a father. Texas could not find a better representative than Scheffler, a guy you can't help but root for. Are you betting against him in the PGA? I'm not. He's already got nine PGA wins in 120 events. Spieth has 13 in 268 starts.
3. Honoring honorees: Had an awesome time at our annual Texas Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet in Waco on Saturday night. Colleague Cedric Golden and I are privileged to be on the selection committee, which voted in nine ultra-qualified athletes, coaches and administrators. Loved that Colt McCoy got in a perfect zinger at my expense when he prefaced his speech by saying, “I'm glad Kirk Bohls voted for me for something.” I did vote for McCoy for the Heisman in 2008 (he finished second behind Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford) but voted for Ndamukong Suh in 2009 when Colt came in third. (As a point of reference, I voted for Ricky Williams the year he won the award in 1998. My memory of my other ballots escapes me.) … Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City gave an eloquent talk about recognizing inductee Andy Cooper and the need to give these trailblazers their rightful spots in the pantheon of baseball. I asked him about the “despicable act” of the perpetrators who had stolen the statue of Jackie Robinson and defaced it. He said they wanted it “for scrap metal.” MLB will pay to replace the statue, and Kendrick said the company had fortunately kept the mold even though the artist had died. I have more respect and admiration for the man who broke the color barrier for major league baseball than maybe any other athlete in history. If you haven't seen the movie, “42,” do yourself a favor and find it. … Christa Williams, the second-best softball pitcher in UT history, was so humble in her acceptance speech and spoke of her time as the youngest member of the first U.S. Olympic softball team in Atlanta that won gold. “I really was terrible,” said Williams, who struck out 15 in less than 10 innings in two games. “Yeah, I didn't give up a run, but I didn't handle it well.” … Bubba Thornton, celebrated head track coach at Texas and TCU, was also a terrific athlete, once returning a punt 67 yards to beat the Longhorns. He later played as a rookie wide receiver on the same team as the late O.J. Simpson with the Buffalo Bills.
4. Best ever?: Glenn Moore was, to put it mildly, very impressed. The Baylor softball coach, after getting beaten three times by Mike White's No. 1 team and giving up 23 runs on 27 hits the last two games, offered this assessment of perhaps the best Texas team in school history, with apologies to Cat Osterman. “First of all, I tip my hat to the best Texas team I've seen in my 24 years here,” Moore said. “They're an outstanding team all the way around. They've got speed, great offense and they've got great arms in the bullpen after the one they choose to start. It's really hard to prepare and make adjustments to the different looks they have in the bullpen.” … Texas' lethal offense and pitching depth with freshman Teagan Kavan as co-ace with Mac Morgan and a true strikeout pitcher could take the Longhorns a long way, maybe even all the way. … Texas would love to tie or beat Oklahoma (and has the tie-breaker edge by having won the series with the Sooners) for the Big 12 regular-season title. That would also help it nail down a home-field advantage for both the regional and super-regional rounds. “That's what you play for,” White said. “That's so important.” The Longhorns are an impressive 18-2 at McCombs Field with losses only to OU and to Stanford in extra innings. The Sooners are ranked no worse than No. 2 in five national polls, and the Cardinal between No. 3 and No. 8.
5. Help wanted: Help obtained. Rodney Terry will lose almost his entire Texas men's basketball team, save for a Kadin Shedrick and a Chendall Weaver. But he got aggressive in the transfer portal and landed a couple of key players off NCAA Tournament-snubbed Indiana State that was ranked for the first time since Larry Bird was on campus and Arkansas' leading scorer Tramon Mark. Should they also grab Oregon State guard Jordan Pope, Terry should have a heckuva backcourt next season. The 6-foot-2 Pope is ranked as the 10th best point guard in the portal, according to 247Sports, and has a nice mid-range game to go with 38% shooting from deep and an 88% marksmanship at the free-throw line. Terry was able to get 6foot-8 wing Jayson Kent and his 6-3 teammate Julian Larry at the point as well as the 6-6 Mark. Larry was a fouryear starter at Indiana State and a 45% 3-point shooter. ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla tells me Kent should be “a good SEC role player who plays hard and can rebound. He made a living at Indiana State as a great cutter. Larry is a late bloomer who is an excellent athlete with above-average speed..”
6. Very hard ball: The Texas baseball team is still scuffling and doing enough to stay in the hunt in the Big 12 at 9-6. That's good enough for fourth place, only two games back of co-leaders Oklahoma and West Virginia. But more disturbing is the state of David Pierce's baseball staff without anyone resembling an ace. The Longhorns are unranked with a mouth-dropping RPI of 67, one spot ahead of USC. No, not that USC, but University of South Carolina Upstate of the Big South. Equally troubling is even though Texas is in fourth with a big weekend series against TCU next but is the eighth highest ranked RPI among Big 12 teams. Division I baseball's midseason NCAA Tournament projections send Texas as a third seed to College Station where new No. 1 Texas A&M awaits with No. 14 Louisiana and a strong Lamar squad.
7. Portal's open: The transfer portal is in full swing. Maybe you didn't notice that the SEC has a rule that allows transfers inside the league, but if they leave after the winter portal, they must sit out a year before they can play. That's a huge deterrent. I assume it's to restrict tampering somewhat within the league, but I also think it's unfair. I get it that coaches become more desperate in April to restock their roster if they are new to their jobs like A&M's Mike Elko and Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby and try to borrow, if you will, players on other SEC rosters. But some coaches surely will dump players they don't want and encourage them to leave by telling them they won't get on the field. And forbidding them to go to another SEC school and play immediately. It's amazing that 148 scholarship quarterbacks went into the transfer portal.
8. Scattershooting: While wondering whatever happened to former Texas third baseman Joe Ayers.
9. On the couch: My wife and I just finished a compelling but very dark and twisted “A Friend of the Family” on Peacock. This excruciating, true-life account of a serial pedophile predator in Utah who targets, kidnaps (twice), sexually abuses and brainwashes a 12-yearold girl. It's a cautionary tale for sure. It's well-acted, a serious subject and smart to watch to be aware of the dangers. Gave it 8 ducks. Watch the 90-minute documentary to go with it.
Crazy prediction: Scheffler will win two of the next three majors.