Buechele, running backs steal the show in Orange-White Spring game

By Steve Habel, Senior Editor

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas coach Charlie Strong talked about the importance of Saturday’s Orange-White Spring game to illustrate how the Longhorns have improved across the board because of their accumulated depth and better talent.

The evidence suggests that Strong got just what he wanted. When the Texas team, made up of mostly first-teamers as determined by the initial 14 practices during spring drills, beat the Horns team, made up of second-teamers, 21-7, there were few surprises for Strong and his staff.

For most of those in attendance [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]on a cloudy afternoon at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium that turned to drizzly and truncated the game after just 30 minutes of action, it was the first chance to see the new “up-tempo” attack of offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert and how the Longhorns’ quarterbacks ran the set-it-and-snap-it-in-seven-seconds blitzkrieg.

Initial reports were positive, albeit with a huge caveat: the new offense was working against a shorthanded defense that last year was, statistically, one of the worst in school history and was without both of its starting safeties and a likely starter at defensive end.

True freshman Shane Buechele was the overwhelming standout at quarterback, the position that is, without a doubt, the most important for Texas’ success this season and beyond. Buechele, who hasn’t even gone to his prom at Lamar High School in Arlington yet, hit on 22 of his 41 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns while playing with both the No. 1 and 2 teams.

He looked poised in the pocket, solid in his decision-making and not afraid to be the leader despite the fact that he likely has never even seen the business end of a razor.

“All the way through the spring, (Buechele) has been diligent about his work, the way he processes it and understands it,” Gilbert said. “Shane is a guy that’s savvy about football. He understands what we are doing and what we are trying to accomplish.”

Tyrone Swoopes, last year’s part-time starter and Buechele’s chief healthy competition for the signal-caller position, took the spring game’s first series and played with both teams as well, completing just four of his 16 throws for 71 yards and two interceptions.

While Swoopes’ totals paled in comparison to Buechele’s, some of the difference was in the other Longhorns’ execution on the field.

“We have a lot of work to do … and we’ve still got the summer and we have two-a-days,” Gilbert said. “There is still a lot of process. There is still a lot of evaluations to go through and still a lot of reps. By no means did anyone play perfect today. There is still work to be done. There is still progression out of all of those guys.”

Texas ran 110 plays for 611 yards and four touchdowns in only two quarters. Running back Chris Warren III had 101 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and fellow running back D’Onta Foreman added nine carries for 73 yards and a score. Wide receiver John Burt led the 11 players who caught passes from the two quarterbacks with two catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, while fellow receiver Armanti Foreman hauled in four passes for 64 yards and a score.

Gilbert said that while some of the numbers were impressive, expectations need to remain realistic while he continues teaching his system.

“To me, this game was just a glorified practice, if you will,” Gilbert said. “It’s no different from what happened Tuesday and last week on Thursday. You just keep going backwards with that. I want to see those guys be better offensively and be better up front.”

The defense also made several big plays, registering two interceptions, a forced fumble and seven three-and -outs.

After a punt and two stops on fourth down to start the game, cornerback Antwuan Davis made an impressive one-handed interception in the end zone to stuff the offense’s fourth drive.

The offense would respond on the very next drive, as Buechele found Armanti Foreman in the front corner of the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown. The key play of the drive came when Buechele connected with wide receiver Lorenzo Joe down the seam for an 11-yard completion to convert a critical third down.

Playing with Horns team on the next possession, Warren burst up the middle of the defense for a 51-yard touchdown to even the score at 7-7 midway through the first quarter.

“We did what we were looking for (with the new offensive system) and were really productive,” Warren said. “The more time we have with this system, we’re going to get even better at it. You feel like you get more out of what you do when you do that many reps. We executed a lot more like we did in previous years.”

Six minutes into the second quarter Swoopes would led the offense on a seven-play, 61-yard drive that was capped by a four-yard rushing touchdown for Texas by D’Onta Foreman.

After four straight empty possessions, the offense showed its quick-strike ability as Buechele found Burt down the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown pass to push the Texas lead to 21-7.

Strong raved about the level of competition at every position on his team.

“We didn’t have a lot of competition for positions in previous years, but now we have four or five players in every spot,” Strong said. “The guys are competing because they know they have to if they want to get on the field.”

There will still be plenty of work for the Longhorns to do during summer workouts and the fall camp in the preparation for their season opening game Sept. 4 in Austin.

“There’s going to be a lot of competition because the coaches put the best on the field,” Texas linebacker Malik Jefferson said. “There should be no more excuses about how young we are. When it finally comes down to the last day of practice before we go out there and play Notre Dame, the coaches will have their minds made up. It’s all up to them.”

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