Jeremy Hills

by KevinJ on Nov 10, 2008 1:53 PM CST Comment 6 comments

I love the idea of getting a star recruit like Jeremy Hills experience his first year, but why did we wait until this late in the season? We failed to work him into the mix with McGee, Ogbannaya, Johnson, and (to a much lesser extent) Whittaker. I don't think the experience he's getting right now is worth either the exposure to injury or the valuable red shirt we burnt. Any theories on why this was done? Is our running back core that beat up that he had to come in to help share the load? Was it to show recruits you can play your first year if you do what's asked of you? I understand if Mack doesn't want him making mistakes against the OU's of the world as a skinny, true freshman, but why didn't he play more relief in our non-conference games? I understand we didn't know who our starter, or what our strategy would be at running back in those early days, but if we ever considered using him in the backfield for a second, and thus burning the redshirt, why not make competition truly open in games we should always win (weaker non-conf matches compared to Big 12 battles) and give him a chance to show us what he can do? I don't think our backfield is so beat-up that he had to fill in. Vondrell's got two more years of eligibility. Fozzy has three. We also want Lache Seastrunk. Was it just to make more room? As per Cody Johnson, if he can drop some weight maybe he work his way back into the mix to be a starter...but wouldn't it actually be better for the team to have him put on some bulk and stay the short-yardage back we've needed? With all this depth and talent we're targeting I wonder if we don't move Jeremy out to WR..or at least sub him as speed for Fozzy at times?

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He was playing some at the end of games earlier in the season as well

Thus his redshirt was already burnt. I only know this because my law school roommate is mad that Texas beat out Southern Miss for his services and we have him playing sparingly, even in mop-up duty.

by Texas Wahoo on Nov 10, 2008 1:59 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Roger dat

Yeah, he played some early. I was really impressed w/ the ‘pop’ he ran with. More explosive than any of our backs I’ve seen out of the gates.

by HalfmileHorn on Nov 12, 2008 3:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Before this season, some of us

criticized the coaching staff for redshirting Thomas, Scott and Wells (DBs) in 2007, thus not exposing them to game conditions AT ALL before they were needed this season. I think playing guys “some” has several advantages, though you’d love to redshirt everyone and have them come out as second-year frosh and make the impact Blalock (2003) and McCoy (2006) did.

(1) Getting a player on the field is part of the “club membership” as was mentioned in a preseason post. (2) When Hills first played, Fozzy was ailing and Cody Johnson was an unknown, so developing a little depth at TB could have mattered. (3) Another freshman RB, Tre Newton, is redshirting, and there’s a RB commitment due in next summer; if Hills had redshirted, that would have meant THREE freshman RBs next fall — why do that? (4) Mack needs to play SOME true freshmen or other schools’ recruiters will use that “you’re gonna sit at Texas” as a way to recruit top talent to their schools.

by edsp on Nov 10, 2008 2:07 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Good insight, thanks

by KevinJ on Nov 10, 2008 5:35 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

He's played in six games so far.

Jeremy Hills
RUSHING g att yards td long avg/c avg/g
2008 6 14 43 0 8 3.1 7.2

I can’t get the numbers to stagger correctly, but the sequence is logical.

You can access this through MB-TF.com website under Player Bios, click the career statistics just under the burnt orange box or here.

I think edsp covered the logic. Mack is committed to playing more younger players. As a freshman, he still has a lot to learn plus, and in terms of blocking for blitzes, he has a lot of trust to earn before he’ll probably get into the regular rotation.

I suspect he feel better about playing than sitting. He can still redshirt if he incurs an injury.

by whills on Nov 10, 2008 6:37 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Recall the fumble by Chiles in the Arkansas game

Was on a speed option to the edge, Chiles and Jeremy Hills. After Chiles fumbled, Hills didn’t react very quickly to the ball, which was returned for a touchdown. And then Major Applewhite proceeded to go all Muschamp on Hills for his lack of hustle in front of the whole team. Probably the most memorable moment for Hills on the season. But I think he’s going after the ball harder next time.

by GhostofBigRoy on Nov 10, 2008 8:44 PM CST reply actions 0 recs