Roundtable: Overreactions from the Orange-White game

The Orange-White spring game is in books and now we can overanalyze the small sample size for the next four months until fall camp. Give me your biggest overreaction from Saturday.

Daniel Seahorn (@DanielSeahorn) - I’m going to go with Twitter’s biggest overreaction, which was Arch Manning must suck because he didn’t throw for three touchdowns while playing with walk-on receivers and third-string offensive linemen.

It’s been hilarious to watch everyone try to rush to take shots at him at any chance they can and that was no different on Saturday during a glorified scrimmage.

Gerald Goodridge (@ghgoodridge) - It absolutely has to be the Arch Manning conversation from national voices and people who have zero context on what is actually happening. Arch Manning was never going to have to come in and take over, nor was that ever the plan. He and his folks knew he was going to have a learning curve coming into college and planned on taking a redshirt this year.

Just drown it all out.

Cameron Parker (@camerondparker) - Well, Texas is going 15-0 next year but besides that the “Maalik Muphy is going to transfer now” is mine. In Sark’s short time at Texas, he has had to go to the backup quarterback by the third game of the season. Murphy knows all it takes is one play and he’ll be behind center. Ewers has already had one big in-season injury and it’s likely that he gets injured again at some point during his Texas tenure.

Overall, it appears the general consensus from Saturday was positive from the quarterbacks to the defense. Are we setting ourselves up for more disappointment or has Sark turned a corner?

Daniel - I think this team is going to be even more improved this year if they manage to add a couple more portal pieces between now and fall camp. I think it’s evident across the board that the talent level for the team is much improved from when Sark arrived and that have a good chance to improve yet again in 2023 and continue the trend line they are on as a program.

Gerald - It’s clear that both the talent level and depth are way better than they have been in several years and I think that’s the biggest source of my confidence for 2023. I definitely don’t think that this is a CFP team or anything of the sort, but Texas should have legit hopes for a trip to Arlington as their expectations for the season.

Cameron - I don’t know if it’s going to translate to 10 wins, but Texas finally has depth to at least compete for a Big 12 Championship. It’s the best the quarterback room has looked in nearly two decades, the best the offensive and defensive line has looked in also 20 years, and the defense appears to have turned a corner. No matter what happened on Saturday, the expectation for this season is at least an appearance in the Big 12 Championship game. After the game, it appears that is a real possibility.

Now, the negatives. What is one thing Texas needs to work on coming out of spring?

Daniel - Still need things to shake out on the interior offensive line. Particularly at the guard spots since I think Jake Majors is locked in at center. There is talent aplenty at guard, but you need someone to step in and grab the jobs by the horns come to camp.

Gerald - The interior of the offensive line absolutely is the biggest potential limiting factor for Texas. I wrote about it in a longer piece, but figuring out who will slot in on the left side along with all-conference tackle Kelvin Banks should be the storyline everyone is watching. The run game has always been integral to the Sarkisian offense and nothing can disrupt rhythm like a defensive tackle beating your guard. Whether it's Hayden Conner, DJ Campbell, or Cole Hutson, Texas needs to shore that up ahead of the season.

Cameron - Honestly, keep working on the deep ball.

The most impressive play from Saturday was….

Daniel - AD Mitchell’s one-handed snag. He made that play look way too easy. As I said on Saturday, Sark needs to put him in bubble wrap until September because he’s going to be a monster playmaker for this offense.

Gerald - Jaydon Blue showed off why he was at one point the No. 1 back in the country. The kid has flirted with the portal multiple times, but he’s absolutely someone I hope Texas can find a way to get involved.

Cameron - Jaydon Blue making a business decision and stopping his route before B.J. Allen sent him to the gulag. Doubt the coaching staff was impressed though...