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Inside Texas Football
ESPN's Desmond Howard Talks Texas Longhorns vs. Georgia Bulldogs Matchup
You actually played in a time when you know I lost kind of doom in season. Yeah, do you prefer that way or do you prefer the system as it is now where you know there's a little bit of a room for Harrison? Um, I think you just learned to just pivot and adjust with the time so to speak. Yeah, I think that going to 12 teams seems like a lot to me. I would have rather gone to eight teams, but um, now with four to 12. So a lot of teams have hope and yeah, I guess that's just good things. So we'll see how it plays out, you know. You came here a couple of years ago for when Bama and TCU were in town. What are some of the biggest areas of change you've seen in this Texas program since you were last and awesome? That's a really good question. I think the biggest change I've seen is up front. You know, we keep talking about Texas and obviously Oklahoma. Two teams coming from the big 12 to the SEC was going to be the difference. Are they prepared for it? And I believe that, well, I guess it was a year ago when Texas went down to testimony. And they beat Alabama convincingly. And it was because they handled them in the trenches. Alabama didn't push them around in the trenches. Like it was the other way around. They pushed Alabama. So at that point, I said, okay, this team is ready for the SEC because that's where games are going to be one of the losses in the trenches. And I had to give Sarkeesian his recruiting staff and his coaching staff a great job of making sure that they brought in the right players up front that they can handle the battle, the trenches, both ways offensively and defensive. So that's the biggest difference. The numbers we said earlier right now, but how good do you think this Texas secondary is? What they played against this, a prolific passing offense. So I asked the numbers say that exactly numbers don't lie, but damn it, they don't tell the whole truth. But how good do you think they are in both individual players you think you're going to make two years in the fact? For me personally, like, I always judge, I don't care if it's like a person, as far as like a player, like a player for the Heisman or a group, like a unit, like a secondary or team, not just by what they've done, but who they've done it against. So I can't judge you until you do it against somebody who I really respect. And I'm like, okay, like last week, we had the Ohio State Oregon game, right? So you have this Ohio State team that everyone's talking about. Oh, this is a great defense. They shut the teams out, but they hadn't laid me by. So they finally played an offense that really can, you know, move the ball with some highly skilled players. And then we saw, you know, just where they are defensively, you know, I'm sure Jim knows defense coordinators say, we got some things we need to work on. We got some things we need to fix. You won't see those things when you're playing against teams that can't test you, you know what I'm saying? So it's hard when you don't have a team that can test you to see or to actually get a beat on a team or a specific group, like you said, a secondary. Wow, busy time, incredible time. As far as you got this big game, you got F1, but I'm here to work. You know what I mean? Like, like, like my day is, this Friday is a work day. Like I started off at seven o'clock doing a get up and I'll be doing TV until four o'clock. So I don't really have enough time to like venture around Austin. I'm sorry, and see the sites, you know what I mean? This is the work trip for me. The barbecue. Yeah. 100%. 100%. That may be dinner. You know, I definitely won't be there though. It has to be door there. Like you said. Yeah, good. A good recommendation. I appreciate you. You're looking out. Given how the Alabama Georgia game turned out, it's hard on the first half should even be like how it turns out. So do I think the first half should be indicative of it. Do you think it's even going to dictate like what the final score would be? Whether it's lopsides with your god, you know, George is down by a lot or Texas is down by a lot. You think that one of the other could still come back in the very end? Yeah. So if I understand your question, I think that if either team is down by a lot in the first half, I think that Georgia is very equipped to come back because they've done it on the road before. I'm not sure about Texas. You know what I mean? I don't know where they will be mentally. If you let the Bulldogs come in here and push you around for a whole half of football in your backyard, you know, where are you mentally in the second half that you can come back and respond to that? Obviously, we haven't seen it. So I can't say that they have. Like I said, I judge people, not only about what they've done, but for the good, the kids. I saw Georgia's do it against Alabama in Tuscaloosa. So if there's a team, I'm like, well, you know, if they're down in the first half, you know, there's a chance they may come back in the second half and make a game of it. Obviously, it'll be the four of those. You think, obviously, you know what I think is one of the highest one. Do you think Quinn's missed too much time to be in that conversation? Do you think he insert himself back in the highest? I'm so glad you asked that question because I'm tired of people putting quarterbacks in the Heisman conversation because of what? Like, why? You know, you haven't done anything. This is like the elite award. So you have to do something. Ashton Gente, Boise State's running back, is a guy who's elite right now. I mean, his numbers are the numbers of a running back who's played 12 games. Like, this would be a whole season for most running backs. He's special. Travis Hunter, the defensive backs last wide receiver for Colorado, is a unique talent. This is something like we haven't seen before, because it's not like, okay, they got a package for him on the office. No, no, no, he plays offense. So these other guys, like, I'm tired of people throwing in these quarterbacks for what? They haven't done a damn thing. Like, for real, it's like, okay, once you mission them for like the Davey O'Brien or the Johnny United, but not the Heisman. I hate that, bro. He's got your vote right now, Travis. Travis, the only two players to me, worth mentioning at this point in the season, Ashton Gente and Travis Hunter, they're only two, like, unique, you know, unicorn, you know what I'm saying? Everyone else, I mean, they having a good season. This isn't a good season award. What are you picking on this game? Or do we have to wait till tomorrow? Yeah, I would love to tell you right now. Like, I really would, you know, like, I have to say, I would, but you know, the guys are getting mad me to produce it, be pissed, you know what I mean? And hate to see him upset because he gets angry. No, but I have to, you know, wait until tomorrow. It's like asking, like, if Lee Corso just happened to be strolling across here and you ask Lee which mascot hat he's going to put on, he's not going to tell you, you know what I mean? I appreciate the question. What did you try? What did you learn when you saw this team up close up in Ann Arbor? Not much because Ann Arbor, that defense isn't like a team, a defense that you can judge this offense against, you know what I mean? They have like a whole new staff. They have three all Americans, right? They have two defensive tackles who are like the best in the country and the cover corner and Will Johnson, who's like the best corner in the country, but then you got eight more players, you got to deal with. So they're learning like a whole new defensive system. It's just not the team that I would judge their offense by. This is a defense that's, you know, this system has been there for a long time. We really respect Kirby, smart, you know, his defensive genius, so to speak. And so we'll, I would judge them by, like that. I couldn't even judge them by Oklahoma simply because Oklahoma couldn't move to follow an offense. So your defense is going to spend way too much time on the field and then not playing complimentary football. And that's when I think Texas starts to just take over the game. If the offense could have just boomed the ball, you know, put some points in the board and made it more competitive, then you get a chance to really see what that defense is made of. But I think Britt Benables is a brilliant defensive coordinator. But, you know, those guys ultimately it's going to, it's going to be overwhelming by the offense, Texas offense, because their office isn't moving the ball. And then, and they also turn the ball over too, which doesn't help matters. Do you feel like there's more pressure on Georgia in this, you know, situation? When you listen to Kirby's smart talk, you just don't think that they like look at it as a situation where there's pressure. And I think that he talks about pressure as a pleasure, like as a reward, like this is a good thing to have, to have pressure. So I don't think it's negative, even if they do feel pressure.
Desmond Howard is on campus preparing for ESPN College Gameday. What does he think of Texas and the big game?