Nick Krueger's Week 4 Texas Wrap-Up

This was a big weekend for me as I checked out a three-pack of games in the Houston area. Thursday I was in Katy to see Houston Heights take on Seven Lakes, on Friday I made the journey south to Dickinson to check in on the Gators as they hosted Katy-Taylor, and I wrapped the weekend with a look at Rivals100 defensive end Marcus Stripling’s Mayde Creek get a dominant win over Alvin. I also did well in my guest-picker role in Bill Trocchi’s If I were a betting man column, after I went 3-2 with my picks. I won’t get into how well I may or may not have have fared with my picks from the rest of the college football schedule from the weekend…

I don’t think a whole lot has really changed about Stripling since before his junior season as far as what he does well as a player - if he gets the jump on a guy, he’s going to win most of the time. Even though it was clear pretty early on that he and his team overmatched Alvin by a wide margin, he looked like he gave a little more with his second efforts, played his gaps better than in the past, and looked comfortable standing and running off the edge versus playing strictly as a down lineman. Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas A&M visits are on the agenda for him, but he’s still picking out dates for visits to LSU and Texas as well before making a commitment during the early signing period in December.

A&M, Bama and OU have also been strongly linked to David Ugwoegbu, but it seems as though whatever chance the Tide had in the race is pretty much dead after speaking to him on Thursday. This was the first time that I had the chance to watch him play in person, and though I like the idea of him not putting his hand down and coming off the edge, there were times that he was spaced out a little too wide and wasn't quite as instinctive as he'll need to be in the open field. In warmups, I saw him make a one-handed interception that I wish he would have had the chance to make in the game - I had to settle for him forcing and overthrow on a rush where he jumped to attempt a block, but must have had his hand at least ten-and-a-half feet in the air. That reminded me of when David Carr was drafted way back when and Sports Illustrated had the photo shoot of him having to throw over ladders.

When I saw John Harrington at a Texas State camp in the summer, he was really impressive as a newly-converted cornerback - which was where I was hoping to see him on Thursday - but he had to resume his old post at quarterback due to injuries on Seven Lakes’ offense. He’s still committed to Yale, which is huge for the Bulldogs, who won’t have to worry about new film of him on defense and other programs getting a closer look at him. The two defensive tackles that Heights has - sophomore Matthew Olugboji and junior Wilbert Angelle - I think are as good a tandem of interior linemen as I’ve seen this season, with a lot more football in front of them. Also on Heights, defensive back Giovanni Williams is still interesting to me. He didn’t have a great showing when he was at the Houston event of the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp Series presented by adidas, and was a bit undisciplined on Thursday night, but he’s got a lot of the fire and physical tools to be a player for some team after he adds some polish to his game.

The 2021 Katy-Taylor offensive line combination of Bryce Foster and Hayden Conner was impressive on Friday night. Along with them was massive TCU commit Andrew Coker, one might have thought that the Mustangs plan to run the ball on Dickinson would have been an easy formula for success, but I thought the young duo was actually better in pass-protection than run-blocking. The unfortunate thing was that the Mustangs were without 2020 quarterback Austin Smith, who was patrolling the sidelines in an ankle boot. Four-star Aggies commit Braedon Mowry was also held out of the game and has yet to play this season with a bit of a concerning core problem that doesn’t seem to have a clear diagnosis or timetable for recovery. However, he said that his commitment to A&M is as strong as ever and was working on four-star tight end Jalen Wydermyer to commit to the Aggies after the game.

›› In the aforementioned Trocchi column, I picked TCU to cover as three-point favorites over Texas. I thought that if the Horned Frogs ran the ball as they did against Ohio State, that the Longhorns would struggle, as I have not been enthused about what I’ve seen from their defensive line till now. Not only did the Longhorns play the run well, they forced Shawn Robinson into a second consecutive week of coughing up crucial points to opponents. Over the last two weeks, I have been taking my medicine in my under-ranking of a few of college football’s early stars, but the things I was concerned about with Robinson coming out of high school have created issues for him this season.

As a thrower, the flight and accuracy of his passes are greatly improved. While he hasn’t been flawless throwing the ball downfield, some of his deep passes have been placed perfectly. Conversely, he’s been bailed out a few times on some of those throws by his receivers and defensive back blunders. He’s still forcing many of those deep passes into double- and sometimes triple-coverage. I think what should be more concerning to Frogs fans is once the scripted plays are finished, so is his efficiency. Robinson looks as though everything rolls off of his back on the sidelines, but in three out of last four games he’s completed less than 60 percent of his passes and thrown five interceptions to three touchdowns.

›› Somehow I ended up way more of the Notre Dame and Wake Forest game than I should have and wasn’t really able to lock-in on the A&M and Alabama game. From what I did see of the A&M offense, I was impressed that Kellen Mond could continue finding ways to beat the Tide defense with his legs as late into the game as he was. I want to say that it looks like he’s finding his way more under Jimbo Fisher, but to this point of the season, the Aggies’ schedule seems much tougher than it did before Week 1.