Football character matters: Standing ovation for Barryn Sorrell, Tre Wisner, and Trevor Goosby
When you’re a fan of a team, or perhaps especially if you cover a team, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype — in the flashy aspects.
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Arch Manning just scored a touchdown. Must resist urger to write 9 articles on it.
Texas doesn’t lack for shiny objects but one of the pleasures of covering the program is understanding the more unheralded players and stories. There’s a reason Steve Sarkisian mentions ‘culture’ every time a microphone is placed in front of him.
Culture comes with many connotations, one of them is player maximization. Absent a thriving culture, many players won’t maximize. You’re a Texas fan so for better or worse you know that as well as anyone.
There’s no better time to acknowledge a few culture players than after last night. These are guys who haven’t always received a ton of praise but have quietly gone about their business since the moment they arrived and have the respect of the entire locker room.
How about a standing ovation for Edge Barryn Sorrell, running back Tre Wisner, and left tackle Trevor Goosby?
Sorrell, a former three-star recruit, has been a workout warrior since the day he arrived. He’s the epitome of maximizer, a team leader, and as reliable as they come. His offsides penalty was unfortunate but you can’t fault the guy for wanting to make a play. I leapt out of my seat when he nearly had that interception. I wanted that so bad for him.
The New Orleans native, along with others at his position, certainly caught the attention of A&M head coach Mike Elko, “When you can’t win the line of scrimmage and your running back is averaging 1.6 yards a carry, it’s going to make it really hard. We had runs against light boxes, and we couldn’t block the edges. The edges absolutely dominated us tonight. Made it really hard.”
Full grown man.
Wisner, also a three-star recruit, arrived at Texas and immediately won people over. I’ll admit, there were people who didn’t know what to expect from him but his football character was evident the second he arrived. It wasn’t long before he forced the coaches to put him on special teams and soon after he was making plays due to heart, hustle, and fearlessness. Whether covering kicks or carrying the ball he’s the same player. This season he’s more than answered the call after a rash of injuries at running back.
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Wisner was a workhorse against A&M, toting the rock an incredible 33 times. That’s a nearly unheard of number in the modern era of college football. Reliable. Tough. That’s Tre Wisner.
He’ll need to buckle that chin strap even tighter this week because I’m not sure how healthy Jaydon Blue is.
Let’s continue the theme. Goosby, yet another three-star, was the only member of the 2023 O-line class to not enroll early but that clearly drove him because he showed up to campus ready to go. Again, he immediately gained notice for his work ethic. He wasn’t on campus for more than a week before people started feeling like they had a real ballplayer on their hands. After a month there was confidence he was the heir apparent to Kelvin Banks. He sure looked like it last night, didn’t he?
While nobody is ready for the Banks era to come to an end, Goosby’s play last night inspired even more confidence in the future of left tackle.
There are a number of other Longhorns who deserve praise after last night’s game. Quinn Ewers, a five-star showed plenty of heart and toughness. Michael Taaffe, a former walk-on, is the definition of maximizer. But we talk about those guys all the time.
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The victory over A&M affords us the perfect opportunity to raise the curtain and call out Sorrell, Wisner, and Goosby to take a bow.
