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The closest thing the Texas Longhorns have to a human highlight reel is junior wide receiver Collin Johnson, who has a reputation for making remarkable one-handed catches in practice. On Thursday, he did it again:
As Johnson did, credit early enrollee cornerback Anthony Cook for tough and physical coverage here — he was in excellent position. But Johnson didn’t allow Cook to knock him off his line and went up to make an incredible catch. Dude can show some crazy sick hands at times.
The problem is that Johnson disappeared for long stretches during the 2017 after he seemed poised for a breakout by catching seven passes for 191 yards against USC, his second 100-yard performance in the first three games. In fact, the 6’6, 215-pounder never broke the century mark in receiving yards again for the rest of the season and only scored two touchdowns total.
So the operative word now is consistency.
“He had some unbelievable plays today and then some plays that a junior shouldn’t be making,” head coach Tom Herman said on Thursday. “I have no issues with Collin’s buy-in level. I have no issues with Collin’s want-to, desire. He’s a great teammate, he’s a great player for a coach to coach. I think it’s got to be a constant, whether it’s self-talk, mental focus, whatever you want to call it, dialed into that 1-0 mentality each and every play. I think Coach Mehringer, Coach Meekins, myself, we’re constantly reminding him of that. He’ll get there. I’m very confident he’ll get there.”
Texas needs him to and it needs to happen soon.