2017 Texas Football Spring Game: Live Updates!

The Texas Spring Game is finally here. Follow along on Saturday afternoon as we update what’s happening in the first live Texas Football game managed by Tom Herman.

Tom Herman and the 2017 Texas Football took the field in front of a good-sized crowd at DKR Memorial Stadium. On the LHN call, it’s Lowell Galindo and Ahmad Brooks.

Texas Football Spring Game – Second Half Updates

• Play of the Half: Malik Jefferson goal line stand vs. Toneil Carter
• Defender of the Half: Chris Brown

Goal line Drill: Tom Herman was not done with the Spring Game! He wanted the #1 Offense vs. the #1 Defense at the two yardline. Buechele handed off to Toneil Carter, but Malik Jefferson stuffed him at the one yardline. Defense wins. You know that will burn Shane Buechele all summer. The final result: Orange 52, White 51.

Drive 5 for Sam Ehlinger (2:00 Drill): This was about the first team defense trying to stop a two-minute drill to win the game. They forced an incompletion, collected a sack to force a third and long for Ehlinger, and chased Ehlinger out of the pocket to bring up fourth down. Once again, the defense chased Ehlinger out of the pocket to end the drill and game. White 51, Orange 51. But, is it over?!

Drive 5 for Shane Buechele (2:00 Drill): Shane Buechele responded to his INT with a great third down scramble conversion. That led to a strike to Jerrod Heard to get in the red zone. Buechele tried to go back to his red zone target Collin Johnson, but he overthrew him in the corner of the endzone. After Tom Herman iced his own kicker to simulate a real game situation, Josh Rowland made a field goal to complete the 2:00 drill. They even practiced a game-winning field goal celebration after Rowland made the kick! White 51, Orange 48.

Drive 4 for Sam Ehlinger: Right after the INT from Buechele, Ehlinger threw a beautiful TD to the corner of the endzone caught by Lil’ Jordan Humphrey in between two defenders. Orange 48, White 48. Ehlinger gets his first TD of the spring game.

Drive 3 for Shane Buechele: And we have the first turnover of the Spring Game. Freshman Chris Brown picked off Buechele on a deep corner route. Buechele tried to force a deep ball backed up against his endzone, but Brown hunted down the ball for an INT. Brown also had a big hit on Toneil Carter in the first half.

Drive 3 for Sam Ehlinger: Ehlinger and Co. stayed on the field trying to get something positive in the second half. Ehlinger finally found Dorian Leonard for a first down. But, the #1 Defense reasserted themselves and forced another punt. Orange 45, White 43.

Drive 2 for Sam Ehlinger: The first team defense dominated this series, sacking Ehlinger twice and breaking up a pass.

Drive 2 for Shane Buechele: On third down, Buechele threw a beautiful touch pass to Reggie Hemphill-Mapps to convert a first down. RB Toneil Carter then drew oohs from the crowd for trucking a defender catching a pass out of the backfield. Just wait until Carter adds some mass to his frame. Buechele followed with a strike to Devin Duvernay to get inside the 10 yardline. Shane then took a QB keeper into the endzone after backup RB Tim Yoder got the Horns to the 1 yardline. White 43, Orange 38. 2 passing and 1 rushing TDs for Shane Buechele.

Drive 1 for Sam Ehlinger: Early in the drive, Ehlinger finally looked comfortable sitting in the pocket to throw a strike over the middle to Davion Curtis. Sam then had Jerrod Heard open in the corner of the endzone, but he overthrew him and Heard did not complete the route. On the next play, he threw a deep ball off the hands of Dorian Leonard for a near-TD. Kicker Josh Rowland then pushed a field goal to end the drive without a score.

Drive 1 for Shane Buechele: Buechele nearly nailed John Burt on a deep route to the middle of the endzone, but Buechele overthrew Burt by just a few yards. That’s a TD during a real game when Buechele gets in a rhythm. Buechele followed with a strike over the middle to Reggie Hemphill-Mapps, but RHM couldn’t hold onto the ball. Buechele was then sacked by Edwin Freeman on a blitz up the middle to end the drive. Orange 37, White 34.

First Drive: Third-string QB Josh Covey led the 3s against the 3s to start the second half.  Covey threw a few pretty passes, but his WRs could not hang onto the ball. Texas is still in the market for a grad transfer QB, but Covey appears to be a solid emergency option if Buechele and Ehlinger were injured.

Texas Football Spring Game – First Half Updates

• Stars of the Half: QB Shane Buechele (254 passing yards) and WR Collin Johnson (98 receiving yards)
• Play of the Half: WR Collin Johnson second corner TD
• Defenders of the Half: P.J. Locke and Jeffrey McCulloch
• Need to See More: Freshman Sam Ehlinger. Playing with the 2s against the 1s was a tough ask for Ehlinger in his first live action.

Drive 8 (2:00 Drill) for Sam Ehlinger: Ehlinger seemed to be feeling the constant pressure from the #1 Defensive unit, as he short-armed his first two passes in the drive. Then, the #1s forced Ehlinger out of the pocket for a throw-away pass on third down. And that will do it for the first half of the Spring Game. Orange 34, White 33.

Drive 6 (2:00 Drill) for Shane Buechele: Linebacker Jeffrey McCulloch made a great defensive play against All-American OL Connor Williams to sack Buechele. But, Buechele got the yardage back with a nice scramble to midfield. Then, Collin Johnson followed with an epic catch, stop, cut, and sprint to the sideline to get out of bounds. And Johnson topped himself with second great TD catch in the corner of the endzone. Very good 2:00 Drill for Buechele. White 33, Orange 32. Johnson with 2 TD catches from Buechele.

Drive 7 for Sam Ehlinger: Ehlinger made some good plays and reads, but the #2 offense was stopped short on third down. Another punt for Michael Dickson, who is getting his work in. Time for the Two Minute Drill for Shane Buechele!

Drive 5 for Shane Buechele: Buechele was sacked on the first play, then threw an amazing strike over the middle on second down but the pass was dropped. Collin Johnson nearly converted a third and long, but it was three and out again for the ones. Orange 28, White 24.

Drive 6 for Sam Ehlinger: Ehlinger moved the ball, but P.J. Locke made a great defensive play to break up a third down pass attempt. Also during that drive, Herman talked about the arms race with other Texas schools, specifically in building the best locker rooms known to man.

Drive 4 for Shane Buechele: With Tom Herman live on the air, Buechele’s unit went three and out backed up against their goalline again. Toneil Carter had a nice reception in the open field, but it wasn’t enough for a first down. White 24, Orange 22.

Drive 5 for Sam Ehlinger: Ehlinger and his unit stayed on the field again trying to get Ehlinger comfortable since he looked a little uneasy in the pocket facing the #1s on defense. Ehlinger finally got some room on third down, but Lil’ Jordan Humphrey dropped a sideline pass. Another punt for Dickson.

Drive 4 for Sam Ehlinger: Ehlinger finally got some breathing room in the pocket and threw a terrific corner route to Dorian Leonard. Hey, look, a Tight End. Ehlinger completed another sideline route to TE Michael Wilson to cross midfield. But, Ehlinger got some pressure in his face and overthrew a third down pass.

Drive 3 for Shane Buechele: Buechele was just throwing darts, looking very smooth coming out of the endzone again. And, Toneil Carter was one defender away from popping a long touchdown. Buechele then threw a laser to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey with a defender in his face to get in the red zone. The defense prevented a TD, though, and White settled for a field goal. White 25, Orange 15.

Drive 3 for Sam Ehlinger: Ehlinger and Co. stayed on the field trying to build some confidence after two tough drives. Ehlinger completed a nice first down pass to Dorian Leonard to finally get some momentum. But, Chris Nelson got a touch sack to stop the drive. White 17, Orange 15.

Drive 2 for Sam Ehlinger: Malcolm Roach started the drive by sacking Ehlinger. And, the drive ended with another sack, this time from Naashon Hughes and Anthony Wheeler. The second-team offensive line is struggling against Todd Orlando’s first-team defense. White 15, Orange 12.

Drive 2 for Shane Buechele: Dickson’s punt backed up the first team unit near the endzone, but Buechele converted a great third down pass to Collin Johnson. Buechele’s unit could not convert a third down, so transfer kicker Josh Rowland came on for a successful field goal. White 15, Orange 8.

Drive 1 for Sam Ehlinger: This was the Offensive 2s vs. the Defensive 1s. Ehlinger’s unit went three-and-out against the first unit defensive team. And, punter Michael Dickson is in mid-season form.

Drive 1 for Shane Buechele: This was the Offensive 1s vs. the Defensive 2s to start the Spring Game. Buechele threw a beautiful TD in the corner of the endzone to Collin Johnson. Freshman Toneil Carter also got a lot of work. The drive resulted in 12 points for White, per the Spring Game scoring system.

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Texas Football Spring Game – Pre-Game Updates

Longhorn Network started coverage at 12:00 p.m. CST with a video package on Tom Herman coming to Texas to replace Charlie Strong.

Live on the field inside DKR Memorial Stadium, host Alex Loeb was joined by Cory Redding, Emmanuel Acho, and “Roughrider” Vince Young.

Who are the former UT players watching in the Spring Game?

• Redding: DL Poona Ford and Malcolm Roach
• VY: New Offensive Coordinator Tim Beck
• Acho: WR Collin Johnson
• Loeb: Incoming freshman sensation RB Toneil Carter

And, as for the injuries, another RB is out of the Texas Spring Game: Tristian Houston. That makes four RBs on the injury list…

• TE Andrew Beck
• DB Davante Davis
• S Jason Hall
• C Zach Shackelford
• RB Tristian Houston
• RB Kirk Johnson
• RB Kyle Porter
• RB Chris Warren

Back from break, NFL LB star Derrick Johnson joined the set to talk about his injury recovery with the Kansas City Chiefs. Johnson talked at length about Texas LB star Malik Jefferson and compared his skills to Malik’s. DJ closed that he hopes to return to Texas after his NFL career is over to teach the next generation of Longhorns.

Still to come: Colt McCoy on the pre-show.

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Leading up to McCoy on the set, the LHN crew talked up sophomore QB Shane Buechele. Redding said that Buechele feels a lot more confident going into his second season after trying to navigate starting every game as a freshman last season. What about incoming freshman Sam Ehlinger? VY relayed that Ehlinger came up to him throughout practice asking questions wanting to learn and grow.

Down on the field, Tom Herman talked to sideline reporter Kris Budden about what he wants to see from the team at the Spring Game. Herman said the key is eliminating distractions and sustaining maximum effort.

Back from break, Colt McCoy joined the set. Always good to see back-to-back Texas QB legends McCoy and Vince Young hanging out. McCoy said he hasn’t felt pride walking into an NFL locker room wearing his Texas gear because Texas Football hasn’t been good for the last seven years. McCoy said his advice for Buechele and Ehlinger is just go play and not feel pressure. As for his NFL career with Washington Redskins, McCoy said he’s competing for a starting job and trying to assert himself now that he’s comfortable in the system.

Next: The #1 Reason Why Texas Fired Strong & Hired Herman

The pre-show closed with an epic flashback clip of Tom Herman and Oscar Giles modeling Texas Football Strength & Conditioning almost 20 years ago. Then, awesome live footage of the Circle Drill between the Offense and Defense. Some great battles in the ring leading to an epic clash between Alpha Males Poona Ford and Connor Williams.