ITYT: Full Texas Longhorns Spring Game Preview

The Texas Longhorns’ Spring game is scheduled for this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Before the Longhorns hit Campbell-Williams Field for one final time ahead of the 2024 season, the Inside Texas staff provides a full preview looking at the offense, defense, players to know, what to watch for, and more on the Inside Texas Football YouTube Channel.

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Eric Nahlin discusses the unique “zero-sum” aspect of practices considering they feature the Longhorn offense and defense squaring off. In years past, this was rarely revelatory. With the talent on hand? There are things that can be taken away from the inside info gathered from practice by IT. One area Nahlin highlights is the pass-rush and how it has been successful at various junctures this spring.

Ian Boyd then dives into linebacker play and how some minor movements can make major changes to the defense using film from the 2023 season. They look at plays from contests versus Houston, Rice, and Kansas State to assess what went wrong and what needs to go right.

The discussion continues with the secondary as the main topic. Paul Wadlington explains how important cohesion is when putting together a starting five in the secondary, and how finding the right players in certain spots is critical. He notes that fans should observe how Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba are deployed during the spring game. Nahlin says to watch Jaylon Guilbeau at Star. Justin Wells says to keep an eye on Jelani McDonald. Joe Cook adds some “past vs. present” context when thinking about defensive back roles.

They conclude on defense with a defensive line discussion, with Vernon Broughton and Alfred Collins leading the way at tackle while Barryn Sorrell, Ethan Burke, Trey Moore, and others are making waves at EDGE. Those players, and potential schematic updates from Johnny Nansen, give the crew optimism about defensive tackle despite the losses of Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat.

The spring game provides a massive recruiting opportunity for Steve Sarkisian, as a number of recruits are heading to town. 2025 Duncanville (Texas) quarterback and SMU commit Keelon Russell is one of many top prospects heading to Austin, as is 2025 Shreveport (La.) Calvary Baptist running back James Simon. On defense, a number of top targets including Lufkin (Texas) DT Zion Williams are set to see Austin.

Offense is the next topic, with a quick preview of what the spring game might look like from offense. Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning, CJ Baxter, Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, Ryan Wingo, and Gunnar Helm are discussed with regard to how Texas can succeed in situations more often than in 2023.

The crew finishes with the players everyone is most excited to see on Campbell-Williams Field on Saturday.

This video is sponsored by Laura Baker.

Call Laura Baker at 512-784-0505 or email her at [email protected].

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