1st & 10: Longhorn seniors detail their favorite on-field memories
Every year before the final home game of the season, Texas makes a number of seniors available. The topics usually center around what you’d expect, including fond memories, feelings of gratitude toward the program, and excitement to run out of the tunnel one final time.
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I use this opportunity to ask the players made available what they would lead off their career highlight tape with. Essentially, what’s your No. 1 play as a Longhorn? Hearing the players themselves talk about game-changing moments from their perspective is one of my favorite questions to ask on the beat. It rarely fails to deliver good answers.
Jerrin Thompson
“I don’t know,” Thompson said. “I don’t really have a highlight that just comes to my mind. I like to have a next play mentality. I’m not one of those guys who can just remember plays off the top of my head. I’ve really got to get back to that. I’ve got to think about it.”
Well Jerrin, allow me to choose for you. Your fourth quarter interception of Jalen Milroe in Tuscaloosa this season is the most important play you’ve made in your career.
That interception set up Jonathon Brooks for a five-yard touchdown run at a pivotal moment of the game, and was key in helping Texas become the first team since 2019 to win in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Jordan Whittington
“Either the TCU thing, or there was a play against Iowa State where Roschon (Johnson) had the ball, I grabbed him, and I picked him up,” Whittington said. “That was kind of crazy. That was a great play.”
This was the game-sealing play against the Cyclones in 2022, another contest in which Whittington scored a touchdown. Despite getting beat by his assignment, Whittington doesn’t give up on the play, grabs Johnson, and pushes him forward past the line to gain to clinch a tight victory.
Both of those plays, including the TCU forced fumble below, are the embodiment of hustle.
Christian Jones
“In the Baylor game last year?” Jones said. “Oh yeah. That’s it.”
Johnson’s hurdle is the memorable part of this play for most, but for Jones his efforts pancaking a poor Baylor defender stand out. If I recall right, he said after this game last year he didn’t even know if Johnson had scored. He was that intent on putting his man in the dirt.
David Gbenda
“I would just say one of my effort sacks, really,” Gbenda said. “One player that I really tried to model my game after was Joseph Ossai. One thing I noticed consistently throughout practice, on or off the field or whether it be a simple card game, he’s going to be the best. He’s not getting beat. He’s got a high motor and he’s a competitor. I told myself look where he’s at right now. Look at what he did. I tried to emulate that in my game.
“I’d say for me, either my sack against Alabama or the one I nearly had against Baylor because I like showing people I’m not a flashy guy. I’m a guy you’re not going to outrun. I’m going to get to the ball regardless of what I have to do.”
Gbenda recorded one of five Longhorn sacks versus the Crimson Tide and hustled hard to earn it.
Jahdae Barron
“I’d probably say my touchdown versus Tech,” Barron said. “It’s my first touchdown ever.”
Barron will always remember his first, and this was one that Texas definitely needed in a wild game in Lubbock versus the Red Raiders. Special teams gaffes were a critical part of this contest, and Texas (via current Red Raider Tyler Owens) took advantage of Tech’s miscue. Barron was in the right place at the right time for an important score.
There have been a number of other highlights, like Barron’s touchdown versus TCU in 2022, his interception versus Alabama in 2023, and other impact plays. But his first touchdown in his first season? That’s one he’ll cherish forever.
Texas made just these five players available on Monday ahead of senior day, where 25 will hear the cheers of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial one last time. The moment they run out of the tunnel will be an opportunity to reflect and think back on memories made, including these of the on-field variety that mean the most to the five players above.
Here are 10 other thoughts.
1: The College Football Playoff selection committee once again ranked Texas as the No. 7 team in the country, one spot behind No. 6 Oregon and one spot ahead of No. 8 Alabama. The major move in the rankings was made by Washington, who leap-frogged Florida State to take the No. 4 ranking from the Seminoles.
You won’t find any argument here, but you will find an argument against the Tennessee Volunteers being ranked No. 21 in the poll.
The Vols do not have a good win. They are under .500 in conference play. Their best win, and this is more to Jeff Traylor’s credit than it is to Tennessee, is UTSA at home.
Selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan’s word salad doesn’t do much to explain why a team that was good early in the year is in the top 25 in late November.
I understand that some 7-4 teams are going to have to be included because a 7-4 Power Five team likely has more going for it than a 9-2 Group of Five team at this stage of the year. But the committee chose the wrong 7-4 team, and as a result both Georgia and Alabama have a undeserved win against a team in the rankings at this juncture. The Vols are going to finish 8-4 unless Vanderbilt takes care of this issue.
2: Every Big 12 team in the rankings — Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State — can win this weekend, an outcome I think the Longhorns should be rooting for. All of those teams winning, including Texas, would solidify the Horns’ place in Big 12 Championship game as they would be the only in the group with an 8-1 Big 12 record. Those three other teams winning would bolster the Texas resume. It’s not like they’re going to fall out of the top 25 in the CFP rankings after a win.
It would also send the Cowboys to the title game considering their wins over OU and KSU. Anything that includes a Texas win and bolsters the resume is something the Horns should be in favor of.
3: Speaking of, Berry Trammel reported that the Big 12 lifted its tiebreaker procedures from the Pac-12. That I don’t have too much of a problem with, as in the upcoming super-conference era where No. 1 in a league will play No. 2 in a league and not every team plays each other, there are going to be some confusing situations.
What I do have a problem with is the lack of transparency from the league on just exactly what the outcomes of those confusing situations are. Wrote Trammel:
If Texas beats Texas Tech on Friday to secure the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Championship Game, OSU will join the Longhorns in Arlington, provided the Cowboys beat Brigham Young on Saturday. If OSU loses to BYU, OU makes the title game with a victory Friday over Texas Christian. If Texas wins and both OU and OSU lose, Kansas State gets in, provided the Wildcats beat Iowa State.
That’s been clear. What isn’t clear is what happens should the Longhorns get upset.
He added that the league will provide a spreadsheet after Friday’s games, which feature Texas vs. Texas Tech and Oklahoma vs. TCU, relaying the possible outcomes.
Top 10
- 1New
Big 12 title scenarios
Four with path to Championship Game
- 2
UNC-NC State brawl
Postgame drama in Chapel Hill
- 3
Locksley calls out Franklin
Terps HC: 'It was bullshit'
- 4
Connor Stalions
Ex-Michigan staffer trolls Ryan Day
- 5Trending
Michigan-OSU pepper sprayed
Players pepper sprayed in postgame brawl
That would have been nice to know a couple of weeks back.
4: Byron Murphy is scheduled to go through senior day honors despite his classification as a true junior. That’s a pretty clear declaration from the DeSoto (Texas) product about his next-level intentions.
Bijan Robinson, who also left after his true junior season in 2022, didn’t receive senior day recognition though I’d venture the DKR crowd chanting his name was about as special. Murphy going through this process with a year of eligibility remaining speaks to his desire to enter the NFL Draft this upcoming April.
5: The Longhorns have a chance to make their seventh appearance in the Big 12 Championship with a win over Texas Tech. Texas is 3-3 in its previous six appearances, with wins in 1996, 2005, and 2009 and losses in 1999, 2001, and 2018. From 2010 to 2016, the league did not have a championship game. Texas contended for one Big 12 title in that span when it was “one half away” in 2013.
The quarterbacks for those championship teams were James Brown, Vince Young, and Colt McCoy. For what it’s worth, here’s a statistical comparison between all three and current Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.
- James Brown: 170-for-299, 2468 yards, 17 TDs, 12 INT, 2 rushing TDs
- Vince Young: 212-for-325, 3036 yards, 26 TDs, 10 INT, 155 carries, 1050 yards, 12 rushing TDs
- Colt McCoy: 332-for-470, 3521 yards, 27 TDs, 12 INT, 129 carries, 348 yards, 3 rushing TDs
- Quinn Ewers: 196-for-279, 2513 yards, 16 TD, 4 INT, 5 rushing TDs
This isn’t to say Ewers has joined that echelon, but rather just to compare numbers among Big 12 title winning quarterbacks to what the current Texas’ signal-caller is doing.
6: Let’s not overlook Texas Tech and their bell cow back. Jonathon Brooks and Ollie Gordon have been fantastic for the Longhorns and OSU Cowboys, respectively, but Manor’s Tahj Brooks has been a workhorse for Zach Kittley‘s offense.
Tahj Brooks has rushed for at least 100 yards in eight games this year, and has scored a touchdown in each of Tech’s last seven games. With the Red Raider quarterback situation not one that puts Joey McGuire‘s team in a position of strength, Brooks will be asked to do something few have been able to do against the Longhorn defense and run the ball.
The Longhorns are allowing only 82 yards per game on the ground, a figure that ranks fourth nationally (fifth, if you include the ineligible James Madison). Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat, plus other D-linemen like Ethan Burke, Barryn Sorrell, Vernon Broughton, and Alfred Collins, might have their best challenge yet on Friday.
7: Speaking of Sweat, he’s getting the recognition he deserves. Not only was he named an Outland semifinalist one week ago, but he was also added to the list of semifinalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award.
Sweat’s work at a non-glamour position has him on lists honoring the player of the year across college football. While his efforts may not be enough to get him onto a Heisman finalist list, On3 recognized the year Sweat is having in its most recent Heisman power rankings.
For a defensive tackle to get that recognition, it takes a lot of dominant play. That’s all Sweat has provided this year.
8: The game of the week this weekend is Michigan vs. Ohio State. This is the second best rivalry in college football, one spot behind Texas-OU and one spot ahead of Army-Navy.
The Wolverines are a three-point home favorite, and the over-under is set at a Big 10-esque 45.5
While I think Michigan is motivated, and while I’ve made no efforts to hide my affinity for Jim Harbaugh, I think everything finally catches up to the maize and blue this week. Ohio State can make JJ McCarthy have to win this game. I think he’s capable, but I don’t know if there are pieces around him that can help him do it. Meanwhile, Kyle McCord has TreVeyon Henderson, Cade Stover, and of course Marvin Harrison Jr.
As much as it pains me to say this, Ohio State wins and covers in the Big House.
9: Rodney Terry‘s basketball team provided a spirited effort on Monday against defending national champions UConn. Tyrese Hunter played a gutty game, trying his best to overcome not having Dylan Disu or Kadin Shedrick in the lineup. Those efforts were not enough to top the Huskies.
The game proved Texas can hang with just about anyone thanks to the talent Terry has accumulated in Austin, but the Longhorns will need Shedrick AND Disu to compete with the best of the best in the Big 12 and around the country.
10: Happy Thanksgiving from Inside Texas!
