Back to work for No. 6 Texas

By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer

AUSTIN, Texas — A lot of the talk in the Longhorns’ open week was about the status of starting quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

Ehlinger, who suffered a sprained throwing shoulder in the opening drive of Texas’ 23-17 win over Baylor on Oct. 13, is continuing to rehab the injury in hopes of playing, and likely starting, on Saturday.

“There’s a protocol, if you will, for overhead throwers with AC sprains that we want to make sure that we adhere to as aggressively as possible without making sure between have any major setbacks that could be lingering,” Texas coach Tom Herman said about Ehlinger’s injury and rehab while meeting with the press for his weekly availability on Monday.

“We probably won’t know in terms of Ehlinger’s game status until Thursday, I would imagine. But if he’s healthy and he’s himself, then certainly he’ll start.”

Ehlinger progressing from sprained shoulder

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Herman has to take every report Ehlinger gives on his own condition with a grain of salt, because his sophomore quarterback will do just about anything to be back on the field.

“We talked awhile about him being very honest with us in terms of his pain because there’s an element to his game that’s different than a lot of quarterbacks,” Herman explained. “If we’re out there playing cautious and tentative and trying to protect things, I think that plays into the overall effectiveness of him and his game for us.

“Ultimately, it’s going to be does it hurt him too much to be effective and in order to not get it to hurt is he changing the way that he throws to the detriment of the offense.”

If he is unable to go, Shane Buechele will step up and step in to a role he’s familiar with. Buechele has started 19 games and played in 22 in his career at Texas, with 4,363 yards passing. The junior from Arlington is just the ninth player in school history to surpass 4,000 passing yards in a career, and has passed for at least 200 yards in 14 career games. He was 20-for-34 passing for 184 yards with a touchdown and an interception in relief of Ehlinger as the Longhorns topped Baylor last week.

Climb Inconsequential to Herman

Texas (6-1, 4-0 in Big 12 play) has won six straight games and moved to the top of the conference standings but Herman said that means nothing to him and his team as it affects their daily preparation.

The Longhorns climbed from seventh to sixth in the Associated Press poll last week without even taking the field, and continues to employ its “1-0” mantra in the run up to Saturday’s game at up-and-down Oklahoma State.

“It is completely and utterly inconsequential where we’re ranked through seven games of the season,” Herman said. “The only thing we talk about is that we have earned everybody’s best shot, so if we think we’re going to get anything less than everybody’s best shot from here on out, we’re kidding ourselves. The elite teams find a way to give their best shot week-in and week-out.”

Asked if the team addressed in the open week any negative tendencies it had developed over the first seven games, Herman instead opted to look at the positive things the Longhorns have done.

“Having a tendency with something you do well, that’s perfectly OK,” Herman explained. “And at some point somebody’s going to maybe find a way to stop that or slow it down at least and then you’ve got to adjust, but until that comes, it’s OK to have certain tendencies if you’re achieving your goal more often than not.”

More News and Notes from Monday

Linebacker Jeffrey McCullough is expected to practice this week after a one-car accident last week left him with a sore neck. McCulloch’s vehicle hydroplaned off the road during a rain storm. Linebacker Josh Thompson hyperextended his knee last week in practice and had been on the shelf but is expected to practice beginning Tuesday.

Herman lauded the play of defensive end Charles Omenihu, who is making the most of his senior season after considering going to the NFL after the 2017 campaign.

“Charles is a great leader, he’s a great player, he’s a great student, so this is a guy that’s going to get his degree, he’s going to improve his draft stock, he’s going to have the best season he’s had since he’s been on the 40 acres,” Herman said. “He’s going to help us achieve our best season that we have had around here in the last five years. So, it’s a win/win/win/win/win for everybody.

Omenihu has blossomed under the tutelage of strength coach Yancy McKnight, defensive ends coach Oscar Giles and defensive coordinator Todd Orlando.

“Hopefully the success that Charles will have and help our team have as well as in the success that he’ll have in April and beyond will help some of our young guys understand the value of coming back your senior year and getting your degree,” Herman said.

Defensive backs Kris Boyd and Caden Sterns were named semifinalists for the 2018 the Jim Thorpe Award, it was announced Monday. The award is presented to college football’s top defensive back. Former Longhorns Michael Huff and Aaron Ross won the award in back-to-back seasons (2005-06) for Texas and three others UT defensive backs have been named finalists for the award (Quentin Jammer, Earl Thomas, DeShon Elliott).

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