Texas Longhorns 2011 Football Season Wrap-Up

The 2011 college football season has ended and despite improving on a horrible 2010 season, the Texas Longhorns are still far from their high expectations. While Mack Brown cleaned house last summer and brought in new co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin from Boise State and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz from Mississippi State , a lot of hype was surrounding this team in the pre-season and throughout the season. The Longhorns were constantly over-ranked in my opinion and it seemed the media was trying to speed up the rebuilding process quicker then Mack Brown needs.

Garrett Gilbert started the season as the starting quarterback, lost it in the BYU game, got hurt and ended his season on IR, and now plans to transfer. Case McCoy and David Ash started splitting snaps, despite all of the outside criticism, and ended with Ash starting and playing throughout the bowl game against Cal . I personally would like to see more of Case McCoy who is more of a passer then a runner but has shown he can have some mobility to get him out of danger (Texas A&M game, final drive anyone?) Despite having a bad case of the interceptions syndrome in the game against Baylor, McCoy still threw for 356 yards (that’s not a typo, yes Texas threw for more then 300 yards in a game this season) and three touchdowns and completed 24 of 29 attempts. You have to remember that that day Texas was down to their fourth string running back so you know the Baylor defense was waiting on the pass all day and McCoy still produced to an extent. Now we have to remember that McCoy’s older brother, Colt, also struggled as a sophomore and I even remember people calling for coach Brown to switch quarterbacks. But coach Brown stuck with Colt and now he is regarded as one of the best pure passers in Texas football history next to Major Applewhite. It’s to early to speculate anything on the 2012 season, but I hope to see some more of Case McCoy in 2012. David Ash wasn’t bad as a quarterback, but he looked rattled at times when stepping into a game. When I watched him against Oklahoma I thought he was literally going to throw up on the field because of the look in his eyes. He gets to nervous and unlike McCoy, I feel that when there is blitz pressure he is not confident enough with the ball. McCoy may get happy feet back there as well, but I have more confidence in him to make something happen when the play breaks down. David Ash finished the season with a 56.9% completion percentage for 1,079 yards, four touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Despite throwing 30 less passes then Ash, McCoy finished the season with a 61.1% completion percentage for 1,034 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions (all interceptions came in the game against Baylor).

The running backs were a roller coaster all season. Fozzy Whitaker really started coming on strong early in the season but suddenly had his season end with an injury in the Missouri game. Freshmen tail backs Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron looked great filling in and when both healthy really gave Texas a great 1-2 punch. But the problem was their stability. Malcolm showed signs of great inside running and at times reminded me of Cedric Benson, a guy who could stick his nose in there and grind out the tough yards while still being able to win a foot race in the open field. Joe Bergeron is more of a home run hitter but still showed signs of being able to run inside the tackles as well. You have to be extremely excited to see this duo along with incoming freshman Jonathon Gray next season. But for 2011, the horns needed more stability at the running back position so hopefully our young stable can get in the weight room this offseason and toughen up the muscles. Speaking of muscle, boy will I miss Cody Johnson. That guy is a wooly mammoth, or should I say that mammoth is a guy? He runs over who ever gets in his way and has to be a nightmare for an opposing linebacker seeing a 250 pound big wheel driving through the open hole. A very unselfish player who did whatever coach Brown needed whether it was playing fullback or moving the chains on third and short. I expect Malcolm Brown to take over as the short yardage back next season but it’s hard to replace a guy like Johnson. I’m hoping to see DJ Monroe back next season as for this past season I don’t think Harsin fully utilized him. I think Harsin had a tough time in deciding who was going to be his quick back on the reverses as he kept switching in Monroe and Marquis Goodwin to handle the ball in those situations. Both were fairly effective though once they got into the open field.

The wide receivers were pretty ineffective this season. Behind Jaxon Shipley and Goodwin, a lot of fans were wondering where exactly the rest of the bunch were. Mike Davis looked like he had the potential to be a star his freshman season but he might have been one of the biggest disappointments of this year. He did lead the team in catches and yards but it seemed at times he was lost out there while only scoring one touchdown on the season. I am not blaming all of the passing game problems on Davis or the rest of the cast because the passing game is a three-system unit that needs pass protection from the line, good decision making and throws from the quarterback, and precise routes from the receivers with the ability to catch the ball. All three phases struggled this season at some point, but the receivers really didn’t help out whoever there quarterback was when they needed them most. I know I’m going to sound like I am contradicting myself here, but I expect Davis to really have a great season next year along with Shipley. Shipley seems to have the same football senses as his older brother Jordan and it just seems one way or another Jaxon just finds a way to get open.

Just a side note, you have to love Blaine Irby. The guy battled his whole career just to get on the field and actually at one point thought he would never play again before this season because of a painful knee injury but then he made on of the greatest catches I have ever seen in the Baylor game and also a huge play in the bowl game. Irby will be greatly missed and I definitely wish him all the best of luck in whatever he decides to do after his college career.

The offensive line was very young this season and that comes with being inconsistent. Sometimes I felt like the o-line could do whatever they wanted with the opposing defense and then other times I was just hoping they wouldn’t get our backs killed. The line needs to become more stable but I expect them to be alright in the upcoming seasons. Center Dominic Espinosa was exposed a little against Cal but he is only a freshman and I think he can develop into the anchor of the line. Senior David Snow is the only one who won’t be back next season and he really held the line together this season in times of need. I wish he had more of a mean streak to him but he was a great leader for the unit and really helped the learning process for the rest of the young bucks. If there is a guy with a mean streak on this unit it is Mason Walters. Sure he might be a little hot tempered (Texas A&M game when he got in McCoy’s face) but you need that in a guard if you want to successfully run the ball. I like this kid and hopefully he only get bigger, badder, and better. Trey Hopkins and Josh Cochran were the tackles this year an while struggling against top defensive units, they showed signs of being able to hold their own. Hopefully this unit can grow as a whole and mold into a top offensive line by the time they are upper classman. The chemistry will be there in time.

I love this defensive line. Jackson Jeffcoat is a beast. Kheeston Randall is an unmovable object. And Alex Okafor is an animal. Jeffcoat and Okafor will be back next season along with rising star Chris Whaley. I could rave on and on about the talent we are going to have on the d-line in upcoming seasons, but as for the 2011 season the d-line didn’t have to take a backseat to anyone. The defensive line did anything Diaz asked of them whether it was plugging holes, sucking up blockers for the backers, or getting after the quarterback. They didn’t do a perfect job in staying discipline within their assignments but there weren’t too many wrong things they did. Calvin Howell and Ashton Dorsey really produced as well when they stepped in.

The linebacking crew was led by Keenan Robinson and Emmanuel Acho and boy was this unit a quick, fast, aggressive force. Both Robinson and Acho could lay down a big hit while also being able to cover receivers. Acho may have been one of the smartest players we have had in a long time as he seemed he was always in a position to make a play but unfortunately sometimes it seemed he got pushed around a little too easily. Robinson can be a flex in my eyes at the next level. He reminds me a lot of the safety Roy Williams back when he was with the Cowboys in the NFL. The guy can hit, run and catch. Jordan Hicks really came on late and I hope he keeps up with this progress because he could be a star in the making. Robinson and Acho will be greatly missed but there are guys ready to step in their place.

The secondary was led by Kenny Vaccaro plain and simple. This guy is a warrior. Look no further then the leaping play he made against Cal in the bowl game and you’ll see why. Blake Gideon was a huge disappointment in my eyes. His college career started off with him being thrown into the middle of everything as a true freshman. Unfortunately the older Gideon got, the more I felt he started slipping in pass coverage. He is a great tackler but seems to be lacking some speed and agility specifically in deep pass coverage. You have to let the two young cornerbacks. Carrington Byndom and Quandre Diggs were excellent this year. Diggs played big as a 5’10 freshman corner and Byndom wasn’t half bad either as a sophomore. Add Adrian Phillips to the mix and you can certainly argue that the cornerbacks overachieved this season and helped pick up the slack when the safeties were having a rough day in pass coverage. I am certainly hoping Vaccaro comes back for his senior year but I wouldn’t be shocked if he left early.

The special teams units were surprisingly weak in my mind. Dustin Tucker had a decent year in the kicking stats but it was his punting that was horrible. It is obvious to me that Tucker wont make a living in the NFL as a punter but he might want to fine tune his skills in the kicking game just for insurance. We also need work in the punt return/kick return fields. Our punt return was essentially MIA however I cannot remember many mistakes so it wasn’t like it was awful or anything. It just wasn’t there much at all. After Whitaker went down our kick return threat was pretty much gone too. Monroe and Goodwin have the potential to be huge threats returning kicks but it seemed like we could never set up and hold our blocks long enough.

Overall, it was an O.K. year for the Longhorns. 8-5 is decent for any team, but these are the Texas Longhorns. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 9-10 win season next year. With that being said, I personally think the media overhyped them this past season. Sure going into the Oklahoma game we were undefeated, but the teams we played before that game weren’t really impressive. The conference games were good measuring sticks for us and we found out that our defense is there, but the offense needs to step up. I will be posting a look ahead to the 2012 season after signing day is over. Which lets me end this blog with this: Dorial Green-Beckham, if you’re reading this, you would look mighty nice in burnt orange and white for four years! We need you kid! Hook’em Horns! \m/