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Inside Texas Football
Wednesday nITe LIVE (10/16): Talking all things Texas vs. Georgia
Happy Wednesday! Welcome to the Inside Texas Football YouTube channel powered by InsideTexas.com. I'm Joe Cook, got Justin Wells, got Drew Kelsen, Eric Malene should be joining us shortly. But thank you for joining us, and if you have not done so yet, go ahead and like that video. Get it out of the way, subscribe to the channel. We appreciate everybody who has come and joined us over the past weeks, months, everything. Thanks for coming out. Thank you to Roaster, Clay Copeland. He's happy to see you, Justin. Chris Bennett, appreciate it. Thank you for all our regulars and newcomers for coming and hanging out with us tonight. And of course, if you've not been to InsideTexas.com, well, now's the time, because if you go to Inside Texas, you can get seven days, so you get all the way to next Wednesday, hyping up the Vanderbilt game, get to check all that out, recruit reaction, everything that we offer about the post-game reaction, go and check it out. Drew, were you, you were on the field in 2006? Do you kind of, does it register with you that that was the second top five game in the top five home game in the history of Texas football, and that this is going to be the third now all these years later? No, it was a big deal, because we had beat them the year before in Columbus. So it just made sense for them when it came down, it was a lot of hype, and they wanted to return the favor. So there's a lot of hype coming into it. So it was not lost on us, but it is indicative of where we are today. The fact that we have a regular season game that can include a top five opponent, I love it. I think DKR is going to respond well to it. I'm excited about it. The last time I was in the stadium for a huge game like this was for LSU and Joe Burrow and that group. And Sam Ellinger took them to the wire, so man, I can't wait for this one. This one's going to be fun. Eric, you and I were glad to have you and you and I were talking a little bit today about some of the other big home games, even though they weren't top five games, all that 2008 series season with Missouri, Oklahoma State. And I made the point that in '08, that was the first year where expanded DKR was ready to roll. Because Drew, remember, they moved up the seats from that north end zone, only had that single deck, and it looked like a construction site. They kind of built the second deck in 2007 and 2008. They finally had everything ready to go. Now, Eric, this year, this is going to be the first SEC game at night with all the drones and all that stuff and it's going to create an atmosphere I don't think the stadium's ever seen. Yeah, I'm hoping for 2008 Missouri, which was the week following the Epic 45-35 win over OU, so that gave it added electricity. I went to that game on a whim. I was so upset I didn't go to Texas OU the week before I was watching the bar with about 30 friends. And it was just absolutely bonkers, but I could not wait for Thunderstruck, no way, dude. It's Kelson doing me in. I can't stand that song. You got me, but yeah, 2008, right after OU this week is right after OU. I wrote before the season. I said if Texas goes into this game versus Georgia undefeated coming off the heels of the OU game, it'll add an extra element to it. I think that's going to be the case. You got a night game. There's going to be a full day of tailgating. People will probably be partying starting Friday. The town's going to be crazy. The whole town's going to be crazy. There's going to be a carryover effect into the stadium, I think. So I'm expecting 2008 Missouri, maybe even better. Justin, because of the hyped up atmosphere, this is the recruiting weekend as far as games go for the Longhorns. They're going to have Florida and Kentucky in a couple weeks. Maybe if it comes to it, I wonder what the recruiting policies are for home playoff games, but that's neither here nor there. This is the recruiting weekend as far as games go, and they got a visitor list to match it. Yeah, this is for guys that cover recruiting. This is actually one of the fun times that we do this because it's not just filler recruits. Almost every kid on this roster has a Texas offer. In Texas, this pursuing in some form or fashion, that's ridiculous. It's getting bigger and bigger. I was there in 2006. I was there in 2008 Missouri. I was there for 2022. I went there, but 2022 Alabama had a huge swell of recruits. A lot of those guys at that game in 2022 are playing for Texas right now. And so there is definitely an overlap there that people pay attention to. You know, I talked to a source the other day and they said that they're probably going to break the attendance record for DKR on Saturday night. And I got to tell you, nothing's going to get these kids attention like that atmosphere, like that environment night. I have one recruit telling me during the day. It's a fun atmosphere during the day. He said at night, it's totally different. People get crazy. They get rowdy and I love it. And so for recruits, this is a if you got an invite to this game, you're doing something well. You're doing something right in the eyes of the Texas fans and Texas staff. And so yeah, there should be so many opportunities here for the horns to just continually build on this momentum that Sark's built. Let's not discount the opportunity in college station in the regular season. Are the Aggies going to mess around and bring in 100 kids for that one? I hope so. You know what? I think they would. But I mean, half of them might be for the AG department. Like, I don't know if it would be strictly football. They'll bring them. They'll bring them in from their native territory. Cypress, friends would clear, like, you know, I'm burning Katie. That's one of those times where I'm not excited that there's one way in and one way out of that city. I know it's kind of a little bit ancillary, but I'm excited for game day. They've been very open to the media game days already seen Texas. What if they go back to back weeks and go to Nashville set up game day for Vandy and the Longhorns, but I'm excited to go see that. We'll talk to those guys probably have videos here on this channel from talking with those guys and they put it at the best spot. The tailgate spot, which if you're an inside Texas member and you have it joined. If you are an inside Texas member, the details are over on the site. If you haven't joined yet, come join for a dollar and check it out and come see us Saturday. But the college game day location is in front of the tower. And I think that's going to be one of the last times they get to showcase the tower before they go in like a big cleanup and renovation of it. And I'm just excited to see all the, the pageantry and all that stuff right there in the heart. Be honest, you just want to talk wrestling with Pat McAfee. I'm so I'm actually really curious to see where he and Saban post up because I want to. Yeah, I bet they're doing the show Friday from DKR. Yeah, that's where they usually do it. They'll probably do it on on Starks porch. And who's going to be the guest? You've had McConaughey, you've had Glen Powell. I'm curious. What's the prop bet on that, Drew? It's true, Kelson, dude. They don't want Kelson. Eric would be shipping all those hats to Drew right away. Yeah, no doubt. It's maybe Mac Brown. What's he doing these days? He's still coaching. Kind of. You could call it that. Oh, man. Chris, we did kind of go into this. It is unique though, Justin, in that this isn't a weekend, kind of like you mentioned, where they're just bringing in 200 kids. Because there are a lot of that, that they kind of seem to wait on junior days and stuff like that. They are very selective with who they wanted to bring in this weekend. Yeah, that's what's different about this than the other other games. A lot of times you'll have 100 kids there. And 30 of them, 40 of them might have Texas offers. And there could be guys on the radar. A lot of times they're younger guys. They're local guys that they got. They could come in a little bit closer. But that's what the biggest thing to me is most of these guys on this roster. And if you want to look at that invite list, we got a new one posted at InsideTexas.com. Come hang out with us. They have all have Texas offers. And I would imagine a lot of them are committable. Like some of these dudes are real. And I think Georgia recruits are being slick. I think Justice Terry, he's being slick and Isaiah Gibson, they're figuring this out. This is going to be like going to the who's who, who's ever at this game is going to be considered one of the best players in the country in his class at three levels, 25, 26 and 27. Trying to go through some more questions, also double checking that a SEC injury report because they usually updated it right about this time. But this one is, I'm a big viewers fan. Is there any scenario arches brought in? Eric, I was on radio and I said, it's got to take injury or a disaster. We're a big lead. Yeah, injury. Yeah, injury, injury is most likely. Yeah. Quinn could spray an ankle, hit his hand on a helmet. We saw him do that earlier. It's just, you know, he knows how to go. I don't think it's going to be Quinn comes out. He's, you know, 10 for 20 and gets benched. That would be, that would be very surprising. I don't see that happening. Sark's going to stick with his quarterback. He knows that he's got a lot of times to solve the problems. The goal for the season is to win the national championship if they lose to Georgia because Quinn is poorly. That doesn't mean the season is over. They'll have to recalibrate some things maybe the following week, but you got to ride your horse throughout this game and then use the next week to really figure it out. But I don't, I don't anticipate Quinn playing further. Let's not even try to speak that into existence. But, you know, he's the guy. Also, arch is going to probably get it, get that start in Athens. So next year, arch is going to be, you know, he's going to have the tally that he has to go to some of these biggest road venues in the country, Columbus, Athens. Let's just pump the brakes. It'll be cool when he goes back to start. Well, too, I know his family played Ole Miss, but I'm sure there's some memories for Archie and Eli and start. Drew, I'm sending this one your way. Did you see the line movement today? Yeah, because it was at like Texas minus three and a half and it bumped to like six because start money came in and that was apparently what the Vegas people were saying and it's kind of even out to five. Have you seen what do you think about this number at this point? Instinct says, heads your bets and just you got to go, you got to go Georgia. I mean, that's too many points for any Georgia team. I mean, that's what you initially feel. But if you look at the film, if you look at this Georgia team, it's actually shocking. If you go back and watch Georgia against Clemson, you watch them against, like, if you watch Georgia film this year, first and second down are not dominated by the run like you would suspect and it's just weird to watch. It's like I'm watching anticipating them to kind of get in rhythm and get the running game going and it's like, oh, wow, it's third and long. It's third and seventh. It's third and 10. That's a huge difference. That's a huge deal. And frankly, Texas wants to control the run game and force you to pass. I mean, they're inviting that. That's what they want. Now, do they want to do that against this quarterback and his team? That remains to be seen, but you do want to get them into predictable downs. I think the combination of Texas's defense, Texas being at home. What, you know, Georgia has struggled with the run game against multiple opponents. So just like I said about OU last week, it does. I mean, you just can't expect a switch to flip. If it happens, it happens, but you got to take teams for what they are on film. I mean, that people are leaning Texas in this game just because the more they look, the more they realize this is not the Georgia team they thought it was of years ago and Georgia actually has some struggles that you just can't. If you're hedging your bets, if you're mitigating risk, or if you're managing your risk, which side do you lean towards the team that's struggling with the run and has to lean on the past so far this season, the team that starts slow so far this and then has picked it up in the second half. The team that's playing on the road. It just, it makes sense to me why this is the case and yeah, I'm thinking that the Vegas guys read the recruiting predictions today, because almost 30 kids. Nobody's picking Georgia. Like, it's the damnedest thing. So I think Vegas actually was looking at that recruiting prediction thing we posted earlier today and they're based in a lot of it off that. Under 20, yes, or yes. Oh, man, I need to check out what the total is, but this does kind of bring up the point. Eric, I'm throwing this to you. Georgia's great. Best team Texas has played so far this year, obviously. We can all agree. Best quarterback Texas has played this year. Right. My miles. Best running back group. Yes or no. Is it any better than Michigan's? Not best. Probably not best run game. I don't know. Done. Edwards isn't good. Cleo Mullings is good. Mullings is good. It's probably down the running backs. I would agree with most talented running back for sure. Okay, best offensive line. Yeah, probably. I'm sorry. The way I've seen their run game work, something's not working. Whether you say online or running back, something's not adding up. No, I don't probably get to it later. Watching them a lot this afternoon, it seems to me like Texas is just a little bit better across the board and pretty much every way other than maybe quarterback where Carson Beck could easily easily merge as the player of the game and will Georgia the victory. But man, if you look at it, there are GBS don't get off blocks like they used to. They don't cover with the discipline that they used to. The linebackers look lost. The offensive line is not all that physical. The edges aren't as good as Texas's edges. I mean, there's just everywhere I look, I just see Texas with maybe not a huge advantage, but to me, what looks like a fairly, fairly clear advantage. And then, you know, I was going to say best tight end. I don't think that's the case because they played lovely and the best time. We asked that question, you know, better than Texas at the beginning of the year, you would have said Oscar Delph. But now with what Gunnar Helms done, you could actually lean towards Texas in that matchup right there because of what he's created. One thing Georgia is good at is they are, they do spread the ball around like Texas to a number of receivers like they will get everybody involved. Maybe that's by necessity. They're not running the ball like they normally do, but Delph is good. Your suck is good. Lost and lucky got a touchdown last week in a way that would remind you of, you know, start freeing up, help, helm, the forgotten man. But yeah, I mean, they're tight ends are good, too, but coastal level is the most talented tight end they face. But Gunnar Helms might be the best tight end in this game. So, you know, what does that really matter? Helio, we're going to get to your question a second, but got to talk about some other numbers and that is prize picks. You play $5, you get $50, instantly used to code inside Texas and they've got a new square running that I made great use of NBA season starts soon. But Tuesday, I believe it is, at least for the Timberwolves, and they have a square kind of like the Caleb Williams, half the yard passing. If Anthony Edwards gets more than half a point, which Anthony Edwards should get more than half a point, you get that square. To go along with that Anthony Edwards one, I got Quinn Ewers with, or excuse me, Quintraven and Weisner with a rush of longer than 16 and a half. I've got Arian Smith, one of the Georgia wide receivers with his longest reception being less than 24 and a half yards. And I got another one, Quinn Ewers more than 260 pass and rush, Carson Beck, less, or excuse me, also more than 265 pass and rush. I'm going to get some credit to Beck. And then I did a random one, Millrow, more than 48 and a half rushing yards, and Nico, I am a leva, more than one, more than he throws a pit. You can do all that. It is daily fantasy made easy. If you go there, you can use that Anthony Edwards square to get some, some great picks, some great plays in there. Go to prize picks, play $5, get $50, and instantly, if you use the code inside Texas, should be pretty easy to remember if you are here. Helio Castillo, appreciate this one. We kind of touched on it. Do you anticipate Texas trying to stop Georgia from getting a running game going compared to letting them try to sit in the pocket and pass against the secondary. Justin, this will be the secondary's biggest test either way, but which way do you go? No, actually, I don't think they're going to gear up to stop the run game. I think they're going to gear up to do what they do, which is beat them at all three levels. They're getting a pass rush, which is ridiculous in the last three or four weeks, and they're generating it without blitzing. They're doing it with their front four, that front seven, essentially. I don't think Texas is going to sit back and let them pass against the secondary. I think they're going to do what they do best. I think we're going to see maybe some different stuff that we didn't see against Oklahoma, especially in the back end, but it's one of those things where you're going to have to be on your toes. It's like Eric said, they really do distribute the ball around, and you have to be cognizant of that because that's how you get balanced. That's how you move the ball. That's how you move the chains. I don't see Texas sitting back and letting anybody in the pocket, especially Carson Beck, just sit there and start picking people apart. I think they're going to dial up some stuff. I'd love to see Mookie come off that weak side that boundary blitz again. That right there was tasty. Drew, what's your confidence level in Andrew Makuba now that he is going to be thrust into a more prominent role and starter. We got to say, I mean, at the end of the day, I did see him not play as, I mean, I know he has played well for the most part throughout the year, but there are some things where he just didn't see him as tight and it's touched up. And it's on point in a couple on a couple of plays last week. So just just hoping he's in a better position to go feel, feel up and kind of just support the run in a different way, especially in open field. But we're fine. I don't want to overthink that part of it. All these guys have been trained and have been practicing as starters as if they're starters and preparing as if they're a starter. So they understand the task and why else will we bring Andrew Kuba here. So I do expect him to be dialed in for this game. And anybody else, Jelani McDonald, even Jordan Johnson rebel, I expect people to be prepared to contribute to this game as if they're the starter. Because yeah, everybody has all hands on deck. I think they're going to play this. You got to do that injury report real quick, Joe. Yeah, I was going to end on that question too. Yeah, you work on that. Oh, there we go. I got it. I got pulled up if you want to look at it. The big one is bond questionable. Goosby out. Derek Williams out bond questionable is the only big thing. That's what about what we expected. Tate Ratlage questionable. That's a little different than we expected. Correct. I wasn't expecting that at all. That'll be a big return. If Martin's been out for a month, right? Martin hadn't played in a month, I don't think. Right. He missed the last three games, I believe. Yeah, he's in there. They're hurting at linebacker. Those guys look lost in coverage. They look lost in space. Those running backs. Man, I almost want to pick Jane Blue for a good game on the swing passes, but, you know, Trey, why is my might get the same looks at those linebackers are not. Texas has a huge advantage in linebacker play in this game. And that goes back to the last question where I think that they'll be able to play the run game honestly. And be able to keep their safeties back for that past game. At least that's what I'm thinking. Here, I will. We'll have this story posted on inside Texas. Did you want to go back to Helio's question, Eric? I kind of just answered it. I do think that Texas is going to sit back at least to start the game and make them beat them with their arm. I don't think they're going to fall for the play action all day long, like some of these other teams do. And so if that's again, man, I really love the pairing of Leonga and Anthony Hill, the Texas has a clear advantage in linebacker play in this game. Of course, some of that's dependent on how the big boys blocking or, you know, how many blockers they take up in front of you. I think, you know, obviously, you know, Vernon Bron and Alfred Collins are both capable of a big game. But again, I just like Texas. I think Texas just has an advantage. Just every, you know, Georgia is good. Their water shivers are good. They're dangerous. Some of them are dangerous. Some of them are solid. But, you know, Texas is better. I think Texas is secondary. Georgia is just as talented, but they're not nearly as cohesive. And I don't think there's a physical, just everywhere I look, I just see Texas with a slight advantage or maybe a clear advantage. You all noticed who is not on the injury report. Michael Kern is a he's clear and got to give some I gave some shout out to Ian Ratliff because he had a great game. Kern played. He just held, but now it looks like he should be all good. Got to go to this one from Houghtex and Justin. Do you mind reading that one out for me? Yeah, we got Trey Moore gets his first sack. Well, foul gets a turnover and wise, their scores from 20 plus again. Horns win and cover that those are those are those might be dead nut like Trey Moore, you can see him how bad he wants to get that sack. And he was close in close three or four times. You know that's eaten away at him. He's in a room with everyone. It feels like that's how to sack this year. He wants to get that LaFalle is going to force a turnover. I completely agree with that. He puts the ball. He puts the helmet on the on the ball. He really does pop and then wiser from 20. Yeah, like I think with that square that you had Joe that said, but 16 yards plus or whatever. Yeah, that's kind of what why is there is like he's he's a guy that once he gets to the second level, you're probably going to be chasing him from behind. We saw that against Oklahoma as well. So man, Houghtex has nailed this and we love the $5. Thank you so much. Hey, the thing about LaFalle is he's he was known more for his coverage ability than anything else coming downhill and all all fans have really seen from him so far is coming downhill because he played OU obviously not going to drop him in space against Michael Hawkins in that extremely limited passing game, but LaFalle is the best covers linebacker they have. And so, you know, maybe he drops into his own that Carson Beck isn't expecting and he gets his hands on the ball. I wonder if LaFalle in that regard, Eric, if they keep him at will because we had talked a little bit about potentially what he could maybe move to Mike next year, which could move Anthony to one of those outside spots. But maybe he is best set for will. Maybe that's the that's how you maximize those guys. Well, yeah, I asked about that when we found out he was going to start last week, you know, before before the game where we knew he was going to start. I asked is this going to be like what they do next year as well. And the source that he thought so just, you know, kind of allows Anthony Hill to go be a wrecking ball. And he's he does have tougher coverage duties that will than it might. And he's very good. If you go to his junior tape in high school, if you get bored. No, no foul huddle. He's basically playing a safety way outside of these way outside of the box, making plays so very comfortable guy in space, very smart intelligent player. I could see him. I could see him getting his hands on the ball. What do you think drew, you know, you're pretty instinctive linebacker back there. Playing a little safety too. Listen, so I've always known him to be a coverage guy that that's where I made my, you pick off a few times and spring camp. And it's like, okay, we got to get this guy on the field. Thanks for your. But LaFalle is not just a coverage guy. I think we've seen them come downhill and thump. Yeah. And when you can do that. And you can do it decisively and smartly and with the type of patience and consistency he's done. I mean, he's only showed up on film every time he's played. I mean, so, yeah, man, he's he can do it all. So I do think his element is kind of another unpredictable element because he can. Because he allows Anthony Hill to do a bit more. I still think there's some things we're not going to say we haven't shown yet, but just some things that LaFalle allows us to do that. Maybe, maybe we've shown what we haven't majored in yet because we haven't had the right personnel to do it. I think LaFalle can allow us to do it. Before we keep going, got to give some love to our other sponsor. And tonight, as it is every Wednesday night, that is Laura Baker. Hi, I want to tell you about Laura Baker. If you're looking for a new home in the 512 or even at this point, let's face it 737 area code. There's only one number to call. That's Laura Baker at 512-784-0505. As a member of the elite Andy Allen team with Keller Williams, Laura has helped Longhorns find the home of their dreams in central Texas. Just ask our resident sex symbol, Ian Boyd, who moved all the way from Michigan to Texas with Laura's help. Laura can help you find what you're looking for in the 512, the 737, or even parts of the 254 and the 210. Just, you know, give her a call at 512-784-0505. Her email is in the description as well as the rest of her contact details. She's a friend. Give her a call. I'm glad you brought up what he was doing at safety. And some of that speaks a little bit to football on the island. You may think like, Oh, it's just a bunch of kids who are going to be running the wink. No, they run some real spreads out there. Remember, Tua and Talia came from there. So they do, they do some advanced stuff. And that means they had to do advanced stuff. Marcus with Marcus Marioda from out there too. Most likely, but he. What do you mean most likely? You're just. Yeah. But I, part of me feels like he may have played on the game. I know he's Hawaiian. I know he's probably. I know. I mean, see how they're doing, man. He was Hawaii Gatorade player of the year, Marcus Marioda. So you're, you're, you're right. He went to the same school as Tua. It's an easy assumption. And listen, I thought Dylan Gabriel post something about like my hero. And I know he's from Hawaii too. And so I, are you sure? No, I know. I know. I know Dylan from Hawaii. Well, Marioda is free, right? Did we get to the one? Tua and Talia moved to Alabama, which, but Tua was from St. Louis, which is one of the big Honolulu schools. We're going to be a stud in the NFL. Hey, let's get this one real quick, since I don't have an answer. I don't know. I don't know. Scully will find out. It's my job to find out. Hopefully just got rolled up on nothing big, but we shall see. It happened this week, whatever it was. One of the things that when looking at that injury report, it's just bond. It's just questionable. And he is a valuable asset. And you want him in your biggest games, but. I may open the door for Ryan Wingo to be able to start and get some opportunity, more opportunity. And Justin, he's at like 25 yards a catch. We had our friend Nash talks Texas right about that this week and how he does not. He should be included in conversations that include Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith as well. Yeah, and that's that's actually a bold statement because Jeremiah Smith is a freak. Okay, like unfairly. Like first picking the draft in two years, kind of freak. And so every time Wingo touches the ball, it's 20 plus yards every single time. We saw that in the second half against Oklahoma, you know, with Bond's injury, I think it wasn't so bad that where he couldn't come back. It was, do they need him? I think Sarkin, this team is at a position of depth right now where Ryan going there that he's the backup. He got a lot of running the second half. He was actually the team's leading receiver outside of tied in for the receivers last weekend. And so anytime you get Ryan on the field and throw it to him on the run when he's running that slant and you hit him in stride. That's where that 25 30 yards a clip comes from. He's going 20, 21 miles an hour. He's flying every game. He's getting a little bit better. But yeah, I think when you have that conversation of the best freshman ride receivers, you got to have to mention Ryan Wingo. He just, he doesn't have to deal with what Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith, through which they are the main guys a lot of times and a lot of what those guys do on offense where his window is still coming off the bench. He's still a relief pitcher in some senses. And so that that's part of him, you know, not having the same numbers, but man, what a wide receiver class like those three are just, that's right. And we're not even talking about Cam Coleman, who's been heard at Auburn. He's another one that was tremendous in high school. Just really good. Why receive your class and when goes right there with him? I remember what I said. We go had the highest upside of any player on the, on the Texas outside of the quarterbacks. I said that before the season and was like, no, no, no, no, Kelvin banks. I said, no, no, no, it's Ryan Wingo. One of the things that obviously is unique about him is the fact that he can, he can run. Um, and you know, I was very, very surprised to see him. Cut inside on that end around. I could have sworn he was going to cut outside, but the fact that he's already making those plays to cut inside is, is pretty special. That was running back vision. That was like Jared Gibson vision to just get up field as quickly as possible. I was impressive. Hill is football junkie. Thank you for this one. Hill is the type of linebacker Georgia and Bama used to stack up on. I think he lined up at four different positions last week. They move him around. Do you guys still think Benda gets solid reps? Yeah. And had a great game. I mean, back as a backup last week, Morris Blackwell played well, too. But yeah, I don't know why I've been to what they're going to play. And they like, they, they were rotating before. Bending just gets the snaps. Leunga was getting prior. Yep. Yeah, exactly. Whatever said, Benda's still still going to be that dude. Didn't he have a great game against Mississippi State? Just like two weeks ago, he's one of the best players on the field. That, that just shows you the depth. We talked about it in January. We talked about it in the spring. We talked about it in the summer. We talked about it in August. The depth on this team is ridiculous. And that is another prime example. Hey, football junkie. They got my boy Justin Williams out of Oak Ridge last year. And Eric knows that was my, that was my crush, my high school crush for that class. I absolutely love that kid. That's, he's exactly right. These are the kinds they used to stack. But now Texas is starting to stack them year in and year out. And that's a good thing. Man, is he playing? He made me. He made now with he's like 14. No, no, they're playing. If they're not playing him, he's way more lost than these other guys. Then their starters are not. They're not, they're not playing hard discipline football. Scholens having to earn his money this year. Yeah. And it's tough to play. It's tough to play inside linebackers, a true freshman. That's one of the tough, tough spots. Center quarterback, safety, all those positions up the middle or tough. Hey, if you remember Malik Jefferson's freshman year, all the stuff that they, he had to do as a freshman, you're like, yeah, he played well. Although yeah, he played well. Absolutely. But man, that's a, that's a lot to put on a 17, 18 year old shoulder play. He played somehow. He played better as a freshman and sophomore. But yeah, he made it up as a junior. Yeah, it's tough to be a, it's tough to be a true freshman linebacker. That's what made Anthony Hill season last year so impressive. Drew, this one's for you. Do you see any comparison or similarities in style between David Thomas and Gunnar Helm? Probably. Um, across worthy safety valve. That's it. Oh, yeah, guy can see him open. Hey, the Thomas never had the speed guys outside like Gunnar's. I mean, I mean, yeah, Gunnar, Gunnar is just bigger and more athletic and more moves after the catch and more everything after the catch. He's actually a weapon. I do think D two was really, he was reliable. Um, he was, he was, you can throw it anywhere in his radius. He put his hands on it. He pulled it in. Um, but it's the after the catch part for Gunnar, Gunnar, he takes pride in it. I don't think people realize it's, you have to take pride and have like, he has this mentality like, no, I'm going to do what the receivers would do. He catches a ball. He plants his foot, makes it a fender miss and he gets right up field. He gets every chance he touches the ball, it's like he literally wants to prove that I can do with the, with the, with the White House do. I can catch ball. I can go up and, you know, Moss do like Gunnar as we've seen them in a lot of different ways. We've seen them on screens. The dude is, he's different. So maybe we've just seen him used in a different way than, than D T was. But, um, outside of just trustworthy and, you know, with good hands, I do think Gunnar is just, he's, he's a different kid. Did Gunnar run hurdles in high school? He said that's going to get him bit. No, he said he didn't. And then when they asked him, well, are he sure as well, did you see what just happened this other the last week? Of course I didn't, I didn't run hurdles up. That's what would have happened. Yeah, he's got to, he's got to stay on the ground, except for when he's Moss and Billy Bowman. That, that play, I think probably it didn't wake us up. We kind of understood what his capabilities are, but I bet there are a lot of people who if they were still tuned into that blowout, saw that play and like, oh, like, he's not just the guy who's catching checkdowns and, you know, are you talking about the, the double pass from Golden? Yeah, the Matthew Golden pass. I was right there. And I said, there's no way he catches this. And then not because he had to elevate to get it, because he was looking over the wrong shoulder and then he adjusted and climbed the ladder and I was like, what the hell did I just see that? Yeah, that was, that was insane. I also think he got the David Thomas, the Davis Thomas savviness versus zone. I think is another, you know, one of those, one of those where he was moving and find those holes. Yeah. Yeah. Can read stick routes. Not always easy. It's kind of integrated in Texas. Oh, man, I had a good Thomas is still the greatest tied in in Texas. He's statistically for sure. Yes. I don't know where I want to get 10 catches in the, what was it? The rose, the first rose board or the second rose bowl. Yes, 10 catches in the rose bowl. Our memory of players is so different than the reality of the players, or at least the way when you compare to players today. I mean, I've made the comment a couple of times that I think this team and this roster is better, like the roster and the team as a team is better than our roster in 2005 and people are like, what? Yeah. And it's, it's, they don't get the depth. They don't get, yes, VY is a cheat code. And yes, the quarterback depth is different now than it was when you take that part out of it, but beyond that. Yeah. When you think it plays when you win a natty, when you win a natty, like you guys did, it takes on like a mystical standing in people's mind. Like, so when I remember, I remember when Jamal Adams was a sophomore, I go, man, this guy reminds me of Michael Griffin. And then was like, you can't compare a high school kid to Michael Griffin. And I'm like, well, I mean, stylistically, they're very similar to me. And then of course, you know, Jamal got drafted higher. So you can these people, there are, there is a next wave of great players. Like they'd actually happens. They're on their way. Yeah. And this, this roster is littered with them. Yeah. One of the cool things, one of the cool things, and I think Eric Mitchell appreciate this, put in a lot of work on mobility and footwork. And you're right. It is showing with the tight end position, Jeff Banks has created a lot of different blueprints over the past couple of years. And a lot of them have to do with development. Like you go from Jitavian Sanders, who has all the athleticism in the world, but may not have the skills of a tight end. He's got the skills of a receiver, doesn't have the skills of a tight end, learns them and becomes a third round pick. And maybe should have gone higher, but that was due to some interest, some, some combine struggles as opposed to you can't be 150 pounds, but you need reps. That's just, that's just a negative, negative indicator. Right. He's going to be the reason Gunner gets trapped at high. Right. Exactly. And then you look at Gunner who made the, he played in 2021. Like I remember he made a catch at Arkansas. Like they, they used them early, had to wait his turn a little bit, had to wait his turn because of scheme, just when they went with the big 12 stuff, the heavy 12, and how he's making the most. Juan Davis the same. And I think we saw some questions on, on our message board about like, Omari and I Black, and it should be clear by now who they trust. But that could be a blueprint for him for next year. Jordan Washington, the same way. Like there's a lot of different ways to, to develop at the tight end position. There are rarely any instant impact guys. And Helm is just another example for Jeff Banks in, in, in showing to recruits. Like, Hey, if you come here, your paths may look different, but I can still get you to a hell of a motivator. I mean, there's a reason guys go so hard on special teams for him. He's a hell of a motivator, highly energetic guy. And he's got a lot of skins on the wall too. So yeah, it's, for most of these guys, if you go to Texas, they just stick to the script, they're going to get developed. Tyler Warren, that's the Penn State guy, right? Yeah, he might have won that of Mackie award by Saturday by just in that game. It was ridiculous. No, that's all right. Hey, you know, Donner Helm, who cares? Give him in the conversation. Make sure he's a finalist. Get to the get, get, win a national championship. And then you'll go down as a mythical figure like David Thomas. Yes. Yes. He'll be going back to Cherry Creek. And I got someone who, who, who misgendered me here. I'm quite upset about this, calling me Erica. Is that illegal? Early, we're not in Britain earlier this week. You mentioned unhappy running back that may transfer. This, of course, is a player outside of Texas. If somebody was asking about portal rumors, would he reside on the West Coast? Of course, he's talking about that USC running back, I'm sure. No, he does not reside on the West Coast. To answer that question, I do appreciate the super chat. Those names always come out in due time. Yeah, we'll let that player season finish and see if they're still rumblings. But yeah, it's still early. What is it still? It's October 16th. A lot of, you know, emotions can change a lot very quickly in the sport of college football. You know, they start going better your way. Maybe they actually live around the NIL. You were promised. Who knows the reasons. But the guy's unhappy now. I think, you know, some other schools are aware of it. He's very talented. Texas needs a running back. And so we'll see if he's still upset when it really matters. Are y'all surprised, Justin? I'll tell you, are you surprised or not surprised that Texas has kind of been immune to this guy? It's like, nope, I'm going to red shirt. I'm sitting out and then I'm going to enter the portal. I'm not, no, I'm not surprised. We can't be surprised at what we talked about earlier. Like the brotherhood, the culture there, these guys aren't thinking like that. You know, listen, there's nothing wrong to protect yourself and to protect what you want to be. Because your only person's going to take care of you is you. If they want to make that decision after four games, the red shirt, all that stuff, that's your call. That's your decision. That may not be the best for the team. Everybody on this roster, it feels like, is doing what's best for the team. And that might be losing a red shirt. That might be, you know, having to play a little bit more. And so I don't, I'm not surprised we don't see it in this Texas roster right now, just because I don't think it's constructed to where you would have guys that want to do that. I think these guys want to be super involved. I think they all realize SARC the most. This team can win the National Championship this year. That in and of itself keeps you in line, keeps you getting up early, keeps you going to class, keeps you taking care of your peas and your queues. And at the end of the day, I'm not surprised Texas doesn't have this sort of issue. And even if they did, again, that's that person's decision, they're going to do whatever's best for them. I don't think you have to worry about that in Austin right now. I think what we've noticed is that for a lot of the ways, this is controversy, this is pop thing up, group of five, or I'm thinking of cases at USC and all else, where those are teams that have these giant aspirations this year. And now with a second or third loss, they feel like it's done. Drew, what were you about to say, bud? No, just that any player who's thinking about red shirting on this roster, a focus on transferring on this roster on this team, number one, you can go, bro. Yeah, hell out. Like, what are we talking about right now? You chose to go to a school, you chose to go to a class, you chose to work out, you chose to do all this work. And you just, you're six and oh, and you're somebody's in your ear. I don't know who you've been talking to in your dorm room. I don't know who the conversation is, stop, stop. If you don't want this, then you don't want anything beyond this or anything, wherever that may be, ride this season out. If it works out for you, great. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But dude, you don't walk away from this. Cause I mean, everybody's battling. I mean, look at me on like, look who you can battle for time. Everybody gets to eat. If you qualify, if you meet a standard, you get to play. You just got to meet the standard. So if you can't meet the standard, get out, but nobody's thinking about me. Go back to what we were writing in 2021. Nobody wanted to leave that roster and they just went five and seven. The guys that were left had to be massaged out so they could upgrade the talent. It wasn't guys leaving cause they were pissed off at going five and seven or there was all this discord. So now that there's six and oh going from five and seven to six and oh, you know, three years later, number one of the team, most likely team in the country to win the national championship, 90% likelihood of making the playoffs. Anybody would talk about that would be self-identifying themselves as an idiot or selfish and should be on the way out. But that's not happening. So there's none of those guys. I did bring that up to just kind of have a discussion about guys who have red-shirted or have already burned their red shirt. And we post this basically every week over on Inside Texas, talk about it on the members form. The guys at the bottom, you can see Colin Simmons, Kobe Black, Ryan Wingo, Jared Gibson, Jordan Johnson-Rebell, Ty Anthony Smith, Michael Kern, and Alex January. Like, it may be Jordan Johnson-Rebell, but now he's been thrust into action to where, if you hadn't burned it already, he's going to continue. He's not ready, he's not ready. They need him. No, they need him. I don't think he's going to red shirt anyways. They're trying to bring him along cause they'll need him next year. He's so smart. So smart. And the other thing is like, we're in an era where A, you got to play these kids because they want to play or else they'll leave. But B, I think the best example of this are the top two, Eric. Jordan Washington's at the four game threshold. You're not going to get him for five years. Brandon Baker's at three games. You're not going to get him for five years. So you might as well make the most of the time you have him. Yes, you know, Cam Williams played on special teams as a true freshman. And a lot of times you'd say that's a waste, but they knew that he was going to hit like he is enough. Not after three years, certainly after four years. It looks like it's going to be three years anyways without having much experience before this season. So they know who the NFL talents are when they not long after they get on campus. They have a good idea when they evaluate them in high school. They love this class. They have a very extensive understanding of this class with so many of them being early enrollees 18 this year, 14 the year prior. So they have a very good idea how these guys are going to mature physically, how they're going to mature technically over the years. And they know whether or not, you know, they know the ROI on red shirting versus not red shirting. I don't anticipate Jordan Washington redshirting. He's going to be a massive, massive piece next year as a sophomore. Brandon Baker is going to start at right tackle assuming Cam Williams leaves. So what's the point? Just get him out there. Even I do think that just being out on the field on extra points and stuff like that and playing in the fourth quarter does expedite the learning process. So those guys that haven't played yet, obviously they're going to red shirt. Those other guys, I would bet all of them are going to continue playing. Yep, the ones you haven't mentioned Wardell Mack. He's seen some action Parker Livingstone Xavier feels to me. That's the one I think is kind of in the weird middle. He's been getting up a little bit too, right? Right. Yeah. Now with the injury to Derek and you might not 100% know how he's going to come back. You might try to expedite his learning curve, but he's a raw player, came in raw. There's a reason they waited so long to offer had nothing to do with his upside and talent. It was more about what his ceiling was or what his floor was as a player. Now they might need him sooner. He's a hell of an athlete. He's got good size to him. Maybe they see what he can do. Maybe not this week, obviously, but if they can somehow get up on Vandy, that's tough for order than it used to be. Just get him some experience. He's actually a more important, and I don't want to say this in like a condescending way. He's a more important player than he was since Derek Williams got hurt. And his development is more important since Derek Williams got hurt, because you don't know that Derek Williams will come back and be 100%. It's the only surprise for me, Justin, on the hadn't played at all lists. And I had to go through this because Zina Umingazulu hadn't been credited up to this point, and then they made some alterations. I'm going to say he'd played. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Santana Wilson, should we have expected to see him like on special teams at least? I honestly thought he could get on special teams. But again, he wasn't going to be in a rotation at DB. I think he does need that year to kind of get ready. But he was one of the best prospects I thought they signed last year. His tape is great. He has a technician with incredible feet. I am a little surprised that Santana Wilson isn't more involved. He had a birthday a few days ago. Happy birthday, Santana. I am a little surprised because I was kind of expecting to see a little bit more from him, but I'm trusting this group. I'm trusting Coach Joseph and PK and those guys on how to handle him the best. And coming from a football family like he does, Santana is probably one of those guys that just shuts up and shows up and goes to work, just because of who his dad is and how he was raised. He needs a little physical development. He does not have the same body type as his dad, obviously. Yeah. So I think that's what the day, you know, he's like the richest. Yeah, he needs to need some more time in the weight room. He needs to eat a little bit more. Him and Cody Black need to switch diets. Right. I like that, but it sets up well for these guys to not come in just completely lost and not lost. But like, just remember, he was one of the few that didn't enroll early. And that's going to be, that's the trend now in Austin. If you're not enrolling early, you better not just expect to play as a freshman, no matter how much your impact is going to be. That enrolling early is big. We've got a list over on insidesexas.com. Come see us on the prospect board. What is it? 20 commits and 18 of them are expected to enroll early. Yeah. It's like, good Lord. I was talking to a source the other day about the wider receiver room, about the three guys that are going to be coming in in January. And he's like, man, it's going to, it's going to work itself out in that room because those three coming in are coming into play. Chris, I saw your question. The question was, will this Saturday break the attendance record at DKR? The record is 105-213. And it was the Alabama game. Number two is the TCU game from that same year, 104-203. The funny thing is, one, two, three, four, five games from last season are in the top 12. So that is indicative of what happens when the program gets going. You know what? I think they break it. Everybody in Belmont is expecting it to be broken. And if you ask Cristo Cante, the unofficial record is like 115,000 for LSU when they scanned in a bunch of people. Isn't that the year one of them died? It could have been a crush. It was the year 10 LSU players acted like they died. Well, it was too humid and hot for Coach O, you know? If it's too humid in Austin, you shouldn't live in Louisiana. I think that's a good thing to end on. Thank you for watching. Make sure you like the video. Subscribe to the channel. Of course, if you have not already, you got to head over to Inside Texas where you can get one week for just seven days and then third split. Seven days for just one dollar. It's been a long day. Seven days for just one dollar and then 50% off your first year. Come see us. We can't wait to have y'all come and join us. Eric, Drew, Justin, thank y'all. We'll see you all next time on Inside Texas Football YouTube channel. Power by InsideTexas.com.
It's time for the first top-five matchup in Austin in almost 20 years!