Texas Football: 3 standouts from first day of full pads fall practice
Texas football wrapped up its sixth day of fall practice on the evening of Aug. 8. Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian held the sixth fall practice in the evening. The team also put full pads on in practice for the first time on Aug. 8.
Sark and the Longhorns are ramping up fall practice in a big way this week. Not only did the Longhorns put on the full pads at practice for the first time in training camp on Aug. 8, but they’re also just a few days away from the first fall scrimmage.
Standouts coming out of the first day of full pads practice for Texas football
It sounds like Texas will participate in the first fall camp scrimmage this coming weekend. The first fall scrimmage is always one of the most highly-anticipated events in training camp.
However, we still have to cover some topics before Texas takes part in the first scrimmage of fall camp this weekend. The players that stood out in the few practice reports we do have from the first day of drills in full pads on Aug. 8 are worth noting.
Here’s a look at three standouts from the sixth day of fall practice for the Longhorns and the first in full pads on Tuesday evening.
Alfred Collins, DL
A hot topic in recent days for the Longhorns in training camp is the emergence of the gifted senior defensive lineman Alfred Collins. Since it was first reported that Collins was one of the major standouts in fall practice on Aug. 5, the former elite five-star recruit received plenty of praise from the media and even Sark.
Sark specifically mentioned Collins among the standouts in the last few fall practices during his post-practice press conference on Aug. 7, along with other players such as junior defensive lineman Vernon Broughton, freshman wide receiver Johntay Cook II, and junior wide receiver AD Mitchell.
The praise for Collins’ performance in fall practice continued through the first day of drills in full pads on Tuesday evening. Inside Texas reported on Aug. 9 (paid content) that Collins continues to show his ability to get off blocks and be a force in the trenches in team drills.
One play mentioned in this IT report from earlier in the week that stood out was Collins beating a double-team (one of the blockers was offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr.) to make a big play for a stop.
David Gbenda on Alfred Collins in fall camp: “The D-Line speaks for itself, with those guys keeping blockers off of me. Alfred Collins, whoa, he’s been producing so far through camp, not going to lie to you, he’s really been producing.”
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) August 9, 2023
Senior Texas linebacker David Gbenda also praised Collins in a post-practice media session on Aug. 8.
All told this is the most positive feedback we’ve received from Collins’ performance consistently for any sustained stretch of training camp since he arrived on the Forty Acres four years ago. Texas needs him to step up and be a consistent force in the trenches this fall.