Texas team notes after Spring practice No. 10: A pretty even day
The team returned to the field on Tuesday for the first time since the Saturday scrimmage. Practice was held in the bubble in half pads. Overall it was the standard, competitive Texas practice.
They briefly worked no-huddle, which I think Sark refers to as ‘fastball’. That seems to be as much for the defense as it is the offense. They did their normal turnover drills which lead pretty much every practice. As far as team portions go, they did Team Run, 7 on 7, and 3rd Down.
Improving team run defense?
Run fits, which have been one of the main topics of Spring ball, looked good during Team Run but that should be expected. There’s much less indecision on the defensive side of the ball since they know the drill is run oriented. This particular drill seems geared for the offense as Sark wants to be able to run the ball late in games when the defense knows what’s coming (hello, Tuscaloosa!). All that written, a source said he felt the run fits were better in general going back to the previous scrimmage. There haven’t been as many easy creases and shoe-string tackles.
In particular, a source felt the linebackers were getting more comfortable. Yes, they’re all experienced to a certain degree, but there’s a new coach in town and Anthony Hill is at a new position. There’s a lot of confidence within the program the linebackers will be a big plus come September even if they’re far from a finished product now.
Passing offense vs Passing defense
7 on 7 was pretty nondescript. The offense was set on working the perimeter and short middle (mesh?) passing games. The running backs were targeted a lot which makes sense when you have Jet Blue and Tre Wisner catching passes.
The very important 3rd Down segment was mostly even. The defense looked pretty good but the offense also completed some passes. That’s about what you want to hear when it’s zero-sum.
Sark spoke highly of sophomore Malik Muhammad after practice.
That’s just Manny being Manny.
Corners who can turn the offense over aren’t all that common but Muhammad has the knack. On this play, he demonstrated good eyes and awareness to haul in an overthrow targeted to Isaiah Bond (I think).
In a recent piece I mentioned I’d ask for more details on how the corners have looked this Spring. Word is they have gotten better and have mostly looked good throughout the Spring but they’re still mastering the different nuances within the varying schemes. It’s important to note the coaches have been tinkering with new things — there’s been some trial and error. The corners haven’t been great, but they have been good.
Sark also mentioned sophomore head hunter Jelani McDonald.
McDonald had a good scrimmage on Saturday and is coming along. He’s still putting it all together as far as consistently knowing what to do and doing it without thinking, but one constant is he’s always flying around to the ball. He’ll get the ‘Kitan Crawford‘ snaps this upcoming season.
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