A Longhorn with questions

Hello and hope you're all doing well. Now that Spring practice is in session I would like to ask you a little about your team. Again, not here to flame and look forward to playing you guys in Austin and in Provo surrounded by your beautiful mountains!



1. What are your major strengths on offense and defense?

2. What are you worried about?



I look forward to seeing Heaps and Apo (Texas boy) play together. Apo is a great kid and wish him success at the college level. Also, as game time draws near, for those traveling to Austin I'll be listing some places to see and to eat at.



Good luck with your team this Spring and hope that both of our teams come out of it injury free!



Hook 'em

Steven

I would say strengths on offense are qb, oline, runningbacks. Most of these guys are returning and we are adding some talent. Last year our receivers struggled but began to pick it up towards years end. with apo coming in and hoffman returning, and a few other new guys it looks to be a strength. we still have not seen apo yet however. our tight end situation is still somewhat in the air. hopefully that gets worked out.



our offense will be much less predictable this year with our new offensive coordinator.



On defense, our front 7 look very strong. couple of usc transfers at dline and linebacker helped a lot this year with depth. the defensive backfield however is in flux and our guys are dropping like flies trying to qualify to actually play. safety will probably be our biggest weakness.



How about the horns. With all the coaching staff changes, what is the mood like there in austin? How do you feel about your quarterback?

Thanks for the reply and insight. Sounds like BYU will be very good as usual this coming year. I don't expect anything less out of your team and coaching staff. I know BYU has the rep for flawless execution and that is what scares me about you guys. Bottom line, I know we have higher rates recruits (some overrated in my opinion), but big deal, if you can't execute it doesn't mean crap. e.g. Look at us last year!!! LOL



Regarding the Longhorns, here in Austin it's called cautious optimism. We need to have those 4 and 5 star players start playing like it and frankly our offense has become very stale over the last 3 years or so. Yes, I know, we have been in the championship discussion over the years, but trust me, Colt bailed us out big time in a lot of games.



With Harsin from Boise State and some of the other young coaches coming in we're hoping it lights a fire in the program with new ideas and philosophy. I am really excited about Bryan Harsin and from what I've seen and read, our players are really reacting good and are being turned loose finally without that dang horizontal attack we've been using. So we'll see. It's all good on paper but lets see it work in a real game.

Major strengths:

QB: We have Jake Heaps if you haven't heard of him....

Offensive Line: We return a deep bunch of guys with experience including Matt Reynolds

WR's: These guys are going to be SCARY good. We return Hoffman (6'4") and add Apo (6'4") and Marcus Mathews (6'5") who can all go up and get the ball. I feel bad for the DB's that have to cover these guys. We also add some slot receivers. Especially excited for red-shirt freshman, Drew Phillips, who's REALLY fast and can also line up in the back field. Phillips should be a return man as well and I expect a couple returns for TD's this season. Jacobson is still a question mark but he could be outstanding as well in this new system/offense.

Running backs: Good last year and expect better things to come with "Juice" this year

Linebackers - Adding a USC Transfer(Kaveinga) along with a few guys that were red-shirting last year (Alani Fua) or changing positions (Ansah). We should be fast on the outside(VanNoy/Fua/Ansah/Pendleton??/Bryson??). We also have a freshman, Manoa Pikula, who could find a role at OLB as well. The kid is going to be good but may red-shirt or play FB. Stout, Ogletree and Kaveinga should be devastating up the middle.

DB's: With all our incoming athletes in the secondary via red-shirt or JC transfer these guys have a possibility of being a special group when added to our returning players



Possible weaknesses:

TE's: We have some good guys they just need some better coaching. These guys are fundamental for a functioning BYU offense.

DB's: We lost Andrew Rich and we don't have a lot of experience back there

DL: We get another USC transfer, Hebron Fangupo, at DT who's a 300lb freight train and perfectly suited to play the 3 - 4 defense. Due injuries last year, ie Fuga, we aren't as deep on the D-Line and may have to rely on some freshman to pick up the slack. Luckily we have red-shirt freshman, Travis Tuiloma, coming in at DT who's going to be a special player. Our DE's will be a big question mark though.



Others may see things differently

Thanks beau!



Sound like ya'll are very excited about this coming season and with good reason. Don't blame those USC transfers for bolting and sounds like they'll be very good additions for you guys. Hoping our OL can handle those guys!

beauso79 wrote:
Major strengths:

QB: We have Jake Heaps if you haven't heard of him....

Offensive Line: We return a deep bunch of guys with experience including Matt Reynolds

WR's: These guys are going to be SCARY good. We return Hoffman (6'4") and add Apo (6'4") and Marcus Mathews (6'5") who can all go up and get the ball. I feel bad for the DB's that have to cover these guys. We also add some slot receivers. Especially excited for red-shirt freshman, Drew Phillips, who's REALLY fast and can also line up in the back field. Phillips should be a return man as well and I expect a couple returns for TD's this season. Jacobson is still a question mark but he could be outstanding as well in this new system/offense.

Running backs: Good last year and expect better things to come with "Juice" this year

Linebackers - Adding a USC Transfer(Kaveinga) along with a few guys that were red-shirting last year (Alani Fua) or changing positions (Ansah). We should be fast on the outside(VanNoy/Fua/Ansah/Pendleton??/Bryson??). We also have a freshman, Manoa Pikula, who could find a role at OLB as well. The kid is going to be good but may red-shirt or play FB. Stout, Ogletree and Kaveinga should be devastating up the middle.

DB's: With all our incoming athletes in the secondary via red-shirt or JC transfer these guys have a possibility of being a special group when added to our returning players



Possible weaknesses:

TE's: We have some good guys they just need some better coaching. These guys are fundamental for a functioning BYU offense.

DB's: We lost Andrew Rich and we don't have a lot of experience back there

DL: We get another USC transfer, Hebron Fangupo, at DT who's a 300lb freight train and perfectly suited to play the 3 - 4 defense. Due injuries last year, ie Fuga, we aren't as deep on the D-Line and may have to rely on some freshman to pick up the slack. Luckily we have red-shirt freshman, Travis Tuiloma, coming in at DT who's going to be a special player. Our DE's will be a big question mark though.



Others may see things differently

I think if bryson comes back our dline looks good. both bryson and rowley got quite a few reps last year and are very talented. Hopefully Bryson put on some weight and makes it back for fall. At dtacke we are stacked which will allow manu to go back to end as well. with fuga, richardson, fangupo, and tuiloma manning tackle, manu, putnum, rowley, and bryson should provide depth and skill at dend. I am not as worried about dend as you seem to be. Almost forgot that meuhlman was moved to defensive end as well. He could prove to get some time right away as well.



with all those bodies at dtackle we will be able to keep fresh and rotate more than we could last year given all of the injuries. Just hope bryson has put on some weight and makes it back.



i still don't get why ansah was moved to outside linebacker.

hookemhorns wrote:
Thanks for the reply and insight. Sounds like BYU will be very good as usual this coming year. I don't expect anything less out of your team and coaching staff. I know BYU has the rep for flawless execution and that is what scares me about you guys. Bottom line, I know we have higher rates recruits (some overrated in my opinion), but big deal, if you can't execute it doesn't mean crap. e.g. Look at us last year!!! LOL



Regarding the Longhorns, here in Austin it's called cautious optimism. We need to have those 4 and 5 star players start playing like it and frankly our offense has become very stale over the last 3 years or so. Yes, I know, we have been in the championship discussion over the years, but trust me, Colt bailed us out big time in a lot of games.



With Harsin from Boise State and some of the other young coaches coming in we're hoping it lights a fire in the program with new ideas and philosophy. I am really excited about Bryan Harsin and from what I've seen and read, our players are really reacting good and are being turned loose finally without that dang horizontal attack we've been using. So we'll see. It's all good on paper but lets see it work in a real game.

How are you feeling about your quarterback?

How are your new coaches? Do you think it will take a few games for the team to catch up to the new systems? I know you have a new OC, is the DC new too?

Regarding QB...man that's a great question. We are currently mid-way through Spring practice and rumor has it RSF Connor Wood is leading the pack after the first scrimmage which is very telling for us. You would think that Gilbert would be leading but if Conner is looking better I don't know if that's a scary thing for us or not. Practices are closed this year but I've heard that Conner is very athletic and frankly is getting Harsin's multiple formation offense better than the rest of the QBs. Again, it's early so we'll see.



Mack has said ALL positions are open this year so every guy, starter or not from last year, is fighting for a position which has made for fierce Spring practices from my understanding and the QB spot is no exception. I expect 1 or 2 of those QBs to transfer next year after the dust settles.

Regarding our new coaches:



It's a two way street, there is new energy and philosophies, but how quick will these kids catch on to the new systems? That's the million dollar question for us. I know we have the athletes and more coming in this Fall with our recruiting class, but again, how will they react to the new system, will they take the time to study it? How dedicated are they? How tough are they when they're not the big kids on the block anymore? Apparently, the new coaches from OC, DC, Weight Trainer have been very encouraging but also very tough on these kids which I like to see. If you accept a scholarship to Texas (or any program), you better expect to work and perform and frankly, we did not see that last year.



I know behind closed doors, Mack said to each on of his players: "You either work hard or get out!" I guess that shook a lot of them up and I'm glad Mack stopped being so nice in this case.

I'm hoping that Texas wins their first game easily and then in week 2 suffers their only loss of the season.



It would be nice if McKay Jacobsen and Ross Apo both have huge games in front of the home town crowd.



Maybe the next time we play it will be a conference game...

Hey Ross is a great kid and very well could have a banner day against Texas especially if Heaps proves to be great. It will be an interesting year for my Horns. I believe some great days and some growing pains within the new system. Again, it will be a matter of how quickly the boys can catch on to Harsin's system and Diaz's new defensive scheme. The talent is there no doubt about it and I am excited to see some of these guys that have not been given a shot to prove themselves.. and I hope their a lot more motivated than last year. With BYU coming into town, they better be ready and I'm sure Mack knows that!



No matter what, I expect a great game when BYU comes to town and I've already got my tickets ordered!



Hook 'em

Steven

Oh...who knows....It could be us being independent along with you! ;)

Regarding the work ethic, I really liked Bronco's approach: "See all these bowl game trophies and MWC trophies? You didn't win these. Those who came before you won these. If you want to win some of these you're going to have to start working and playing like you deserve these."



Some of these kids came to BYU expecting to just win, forgetting that winning isn't automatic. I think Texas may have experienced some of this last year. I fully expect Texas to come at BYU very hungry for a good win. Fortunately, Texas will have BYU's undivided attention the moment we beat Ole Miss...



I'm hoping to make it to Austin for this game. Nothing would be better!

jonnylingo wrote:



I think if bryson comes back our dline looks good. both bryson and rowley got quite a few reps last year and are very talented. Hopefully Bryson put on some weight and makes it back for fall. At dtacke we are stacked which will allow manu to go back to end as well. with fuga, richardson, fangupo, and tuiloma manning tackle, manu, putnum, rowley, and bryson should provide depth and skill at dend. I am not as worried about dend as you seem to be. Almost forgot that meuhlman was moved to defensive end as well. He could prove to get some time right away as well.



with all those bodies at dtackle we will be able to keep fresh and rotate more than we could last year given all of the injuries. Just hope bryson has put on some weight and makes it back.



i still don't get why ansah was moved to outside linebacker.

I don't know if we can really depend on Fuga to provide much of anything this year. The Dude tore both his ACL and MCL and is trying to work his way back. Bryson could be great at DE if he decides to come back and if he's been able to gain some more weight. Putnam really hasn't impressed at DE in my opinion and Manu may have to put some time in at DT again. Muehlman a wild card, could be a great move or could suck. Guess we'll see. I still think there are a lot of questions to be answered?



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One strength we will have next year that nobody mentioned (I echo what everyone else has said) is the kicking game.



We get our place-kicker (Justin Sorensen) back from a 2 year mission this year, and he could kick one from Provo all the way to Austin. The kid hit a 61 yard field goal in high school. He played for us as a true freshman a couple years ago, and will start from day one. I hope he didn't "walk" his leg out over the last 2 years. Hopefully he gets back to gameday shape in time, but he was a huge asset to our team. Though not used in FG's much (we had a junior kicker also) he did kickoffs, and most went right through the uprights on kickoffs.



I am very excited to have him back, and I hope he gets on the field this year.

BlueIsBetter wrote:
One strength we will have next year that nobody mentioned (I echo what everyone else has said) is the kicking game.



We get our place-kicker (Justin Sorensen) back from a 2 year mission this year, and he could kick one from Provo all the way to Austin. The kid hit a 61 yard field goal in high school. He played for us as a true freshman a couple years ago, and will start from day one. I hope he didn't "walk" his leg out over the last 2 years. Hopefully he gets back to gameday shape in time, but he was a huge asset to our team. Though not used in FG's much (we had a junior kicker also) he did kickoffs, and most went right through the uprights on kickoffs.



I am very excited to have him back, and I hope he gets on the field this year.

Don't forget his 330 yard field goal he hit.

Darn. I went to the BYU profile page for Justin Sorensen, and they fixed the 330 yard season long field goal. It now says 31 yard.

hawkwing wrote:

One strength we will have next year that nobody mentioned (I echo what everyone else has said) is the kicking game.



We get our place-kicker (Justin Sorensen) back from a 2 year mission this year, and he could kick one from Provo all the way to Austin. The kid hit a 61 yard field goal in high school. He played for us as a true freshman a couple years ago, and will start from day one. I hope he didn't "walk" his leg out over the last 2 years. Hopefully he gets back to gameday shape in time, but he was a huge asset to our team. Though not used in FG's much (we had a junior kicker also) he did kickoffs, and most went right through the uprights on kickoffs.



I am very excited to have him back, and I hope he gets on the field this year.

Don't forget his 330 yard field goal he hit.

331. How dare you short him one yard!!! ;) That was his season long! (I checked his bio today, and they fixed that! I was heartbroken! I mean, if you are going to leave it up two years, leave it up forever. Right?)

Welcome to the board! Look forward to having some respectful conversations with you. I also hope that no matter what happens on gameday that both sides will remain respectful. Some sooner fans a couple years ago went from being respectful to completely vindictive after we beat them.



I think the analysis from some of the other guys has summed it up better then I could so I will leave it at that. BYU is lining up talent that we have never had here before so there is a lot of excitement about both the offense and defense if that talent can come together. It should be a good game, hopefully BYU remains undefeated against the Longhorns after the game :)