There weren’t any new faces on the field, but a total of 11 freshmen saw action for the Texas Longhorns against the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan on Saturday.
Freshmen who played against Kansas State (11)
- QB Shane Buechele — 17/24 (70.83%), 222 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT
- RB Kyle Porter — 1 car, 1 yd
- WR Devin Duvernay — 1 rec, 80 yds, 1 TD
- WR Collin Johnson — 4 rec, 22 yds
- RB/WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey — no stats (possible special teams contributor)
- OL Denzel Okafor — reserve offensive lineman
- DL D’Andre Christmas — reserve defensive lineman (no stats)
- Fox Malcolm Roach — 3 TT, 1 TFL
- LB Jeffrey McCulloch — no stats
- LB Erick Fowler — no stats
- S Brandon Jones — no stats
Freshmen who’ve played through seven games (16)
(If they have recorded stats, I’ve listed those next to their names as well)
- QB Shane Buechele — 140 of 217 (64.5%, +.8% increase since the previous game), 1722 yards, 15 TD’s, 5 INT (plus 1 rushing TD), 149.3 RTG (29th nationally, 6th in B12)
- RB Kyle Porter — 29 car, 118 yds, 4 YPC, 2 TD
- WR Devin Duvernay — 10 rec, 273 yds, 3 TD
- WR Collin Johnson — 12 rec, 109 yds
- WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey — 2 rec, 15 yds
- C Zach Shackelford — starting center (currently injured)
- OL Jean Delance — reserve offensive lineman
- OL Denzel Okafor — reserve offensive lineman
- DE Malcolm Roach — 19 TT, 3 TFL, 2 sacks
- DT D’Andre Christmas — 2 TT, 1 fumble rec
- DT Gerald Wilbon — 1 TT
- DL Jordan Elliott — 6 TT, 1.5 TFL, 1 sack (currently injured)
- LB Jeffery McCulloch — 13 TT, 2 TFL, 1 sack
- S Brandon Jones — 10 TT, 2 blocked punts (got a piece of another), 1 safety, 2 PR for 33 yards, 1 KR for 21 yards
- DB Donovan Duvernay — no stats recorded
- DE/OLB Erick Fowler — 1 TT, 1 TFL
— Aside from Shane Buechele continuing to add onto his efficient season, and another deep bomb to Devin Duvernay, it was a relatively quiet day for the true freshmen.
— I hope everyone realizes how well Buechele is playing as a freshman. Is he perfect? No. Does he have improvements that need to be made this offseason? Of course. But the combination of arm talent and mental consistency has been one of the refreshing and consistent bright spots of this team.
— Duvernay needs to touch the ball more than once. And really, he should be getting a few carries out of the backfield. His speed and athleticism should be utilized more.
— Kyle Porter got just one carry. Tough to argue against that when the starter is one of the best running backs in all of college football. Plus, Porter hasn’t done a whole lot with the carries he has gotten.
— Malcolm Roach was probably the most productive freshman on defense against Kansas State, but after getting to the quarterback once against UTEP and once against Cal, he’s now on a four-game skid without a sack.
— I’m not too sure what to make of Brandon Jones at the moment. I would have thought by now he’d be pushing one of the safeties for serious playing time. It’s not like Texas has all-conference safeties on the back end.
— I’m officially wondering why Fowler’s redshirt was burned. If he doesn’t play more and show more moving forward, then I’ll be very curious as to what motivated Strong and his staff to get Fowler on the field this season.
— Also interested in what to make of Lil’Jordan Humphrey at this point. Everyone knew Texas was deep at wide receiver heading into this season.
At receiver, Humphrey has two receptions for 15 yards so far. Since his move over to running back to aid in the loss of Chris Warren to injury, we’ve yet to see him record a carry. I assume he’s contributing on special teams, but is that even worth it as well? I guess the staff thinks so.
Freshmen still on track to redshirt (12)
- WR Davion Curtis
- WR Reggie Hemphill-Mapps
- TE Peyton Aucoin
- OL Tope Imade
- OL J.P. Uriquidez
- OL Patrick Hudson
- DL Marcel Southall
- DL Chris Daniels
- DE Andrew Fitzgerald
- LB Demarco Boyd
- DB Chris Brown
- DB Eric Cuffee
At this point, it doesn’t look like it would make sense to play any other freshman just because.
We’ll check back here after Texas hosts Baylor this Saturday in Austin.