Habe on the ‘Horns: Strong remains wary of the unknown as season opener approaches

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

Which Texas team will show up when the Longhorns and Notre Dame open each other’s 2016 college football campaigns Sept. 4 at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium?

Will it be the one that manhandled Oklahoma last season, the one that built a big lead against Baylor in the season finale before holding on for the win at the end? Or will it be the squad that laid a massive egg in a 24-0 shutout at Iowa State?

Asked Saturday about his biggest concern [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]as his team goes into its final two weeks of the preseason, Texas coach Charlie Strong said he frets over the Longhorns’ overall youth and their consistency from practice to practice, from game to game.

“With our young players you don’t know, week to week, what you’re going to get,” Strong said after his team had its second controlled scrimmage of fall workouts. “Our leadership throughout the team is better than it’s been. We’re just ready to see how our guys will perform.”

Strong asked was repeatedly during the media availability — likely his last until the team gets into normal game-week preparation — if he was ready to name his team’s starting quarterback. He said that senior Tyrone Swoopes and true freshman Shane Buechele both would play against the Fighting Irish and that his coaches and players will know which player will be the starter; he just has no reason to reveal those plans to the press or the general public before one of the two trots out for the first offensive snap of the season.

“We will know and the players will know and you would like to know, right?” Strong teased. “There won’t be any big announcement or anything; our guys will just know. (The team and the coaches) are on the same page about what we are doing.”

Both of the Longhorns’ top running backs — junior D’Onta Foreman and sophomore Chris Warren III — participated in Saturday’s scrimmage, but were limited in an attempt to keep them fresh for Notre Dame. The time those two players have missed has allowed sophomore Kirk Johnson and true freshman Kyle Porter to grab the coaches’ attention.

Strong said former full-time quarterback Jerrod Heard’s transition to slot receiver is going well and that Heard made some plays in the scrimmage, including hauling in a deep touchdown pass.

“Heard came to me and asked to be moved to where he can help the team,” Strong said. “He’s too talented to not be on the field, and he’s got a great attitude and has done well with the switch.”

Heard’s name came up as well when Strong listed the players he though would be crucial to his team and make things happen.

The Longhorns, with a two-deep pretty well established and a relatively healthy roster, now will turn their attention to preparing for Notre Dame in earnest. With two weeks until opening night, the anticipation is palpable across the 40 Acres.

Other items addressed by Strong on Saturday included:

• Freshman center Zack Shackelford is progressing with his ankle injury. Strong said Shackelford is at 60 percent but improving daily, and likely would play against Notre Dame.

• Freshman linebacker Erick Fowler has been at practice this week, but only participated in shorts and then in shells as mandated by the NCAA for the first few days of fall practice. Fowler, who is beginning his stint with the Longhorns late because of academic issues, is expected to participate fully this week.

• When Strong was asked who among his players has been overlooked in the run-up to the season, he lauded the improvement of wide receivers Jacorey Warrick (a senior) and Jake Oliver on offense and defensive tackles Poona Ford (a junior) and Chris Nelson (a sophomore) on defense.

• Strong chose to take the high road when asked a question about six Notre Dame players who were arrested this weekend. “We saw that happened,” he said. “We just have to take care of our program.”

[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [article-offer] [/s2If]