Herman wants Texas talent for UT
Tom Herman has headlined college football news this week, unleashing a slew of stories behind his recent move across the U.S. 290 to the state’s capital: the details of his contract were released, allowing Herman to pocket $28.75 million over five years – the sixth highest in the FBS; a Houston booster went on a rant, referring to the former Cougars coach as “Judas” and “Tom Vermin”; Herman sacked Charlie Strong’s assistants, hiring four of his own from UH.
However, the story that excited us at here at TexasHSFootball.com was spotting Herman on the sidelines of Lake Travis/Westlake quarterfinals game. The inaugural press conference — promising a motivated Longhorns effort in keeping Texas high school talent in tow — was a positive step for the first year coach on the recruitment path.
Both teams fielded eight players ranked amongst the top-250 recruits in the state. Herman could have been watching Stephan Zabie (Westlake 4-star OT) or Levi Jones (Westlake 4-star OLB), but the true motives behind his visit may have been announced by UT commit Sam Ehlinger, who has served as a passionate recruiter for Austin as he recovers from a hand injury:
https://twitter.com/sehlinger3/status/805544321797734404
An SMU commit, Cade Brewer would be an offensive weapon for quarterback Shane Buechelle’s passing attack and Herman’s spread offense. Brewer has 737 yards and ten touchdown grabs on the season.
No Texas team in the rankings
After 15 weeks of college football, both the AP and the CFP have released their final poll: not a single Texas FBS college team are amongst the rankings. Week 2 saw five Texas teams in the AP poll; the highest ranking was No. 6 for Houston and A&M — the Aggies managed the fourth spot in the first week of the CFP rankings. A&M, Baylor, Houston, TCU, and UT were ranked at various points throughout the season; the Horned Frogs dropped from the rankings after Week 2, and had the shortest stint on the polls. Four teams are bowl eligible; UTSA is the only team in the postseason never ranked in either poll.
Stay in school, boys and girls
UNT was announced as the sixth Texas FBS college team eligible for the postseason, and will play Army in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The Mean Green finished the regular season 5-7 under first-year head coach Seth Littrell and should have been ruled ineligible for a bowl berth. However, since there weren’t enough qualified teams to fill championship games, the Eagles were allowed to compete based on the Academic Progress Rate — a term-by-term qualifying standard to measure the eventual graduation rates of student athletes. By qualifying with five wins, UNT lead the nation as the highest APR score (984); a perfect score is 1,000.
So basically, their letting the smart kids play, and they’ll get stomped because they weren’t even supposed to participate in the first place, right? That’s where the plot twist lies in this playoff miracle — UNT defeated Army earlier in the season 35-18.
Looking forward to 2017
As of today, here are the complete rankings of the FBS Texas 2017 recruiting class:
- Texas A&M
No of commits: 24
Texas HS standouts: Anthony Hines (Plano East, 4-star ILB), Derrick Tucker, (Manvel, 4-Star S), Hezekiah Jones (Stafford, 4-star WR)
Season Record: (8-4)
National class ranking: 6
2. Houston
No of commits: 18
Texas HS Standouts: Mohamed Sanogo (Plano West, 3-star ILB), Timarcus Davis (College Station, 3-star CB), Marqez Bimage (Brenham, ILB)
Season Record: (9-3)
Total Texas commits: 16
National class ranking: 39
3. TCU
No of commits: 9
Texas HS Standouts: Jalen Reagor (Waxahachie, 4-star WR), Shawn Robinson (DeSoto, 4-star QB), Wes Harris (Aledo, 4-star OG)
Season Record: (6-6)
Total Texas commits: 7
National class ranking: 48
4. Texas Tech
No of commits: 16
Texas HS Standouts: Jack Anderson (Frisco, 4-star OG), Will Farrar (Travis, 3-star OG), Dawson Deaton (Frisco, 3-star OC)
Season Record: (5-7)
Total Texas commits: 13
National class ranking: 43
5. UTSA
No of commits: 21
Texas HS Standouts: Javaris Steward (Denton Ryan, 4-star OLB), Tay’lor Perry (Crosby, 3-star CB), Frank Harris (Samuel Clemens, 3-star ATH)
Season Record: (5-7)
Total Texas commits: 16
National class ranking: 69
6. Texas
No of commits: 7
Texas HS Standouts: Lagaryonn Carson (Liberty-Eylau, 4-star DE), Sam Ehlinger (Westlake, 4-star QB), Damion Miller (John Tyler, 4-star WR)
Season Record: (5-7)
Total Texas commits: 7
National class ranking: 61
7. Texas State
No of commits: 23
Texas HS Standouts: Jaylin Nelson (Duncanville, 3-star ATH), Jaylen Gipson (Mexia, 3-star QB), Kishawn Kelley (Corsicana, 3-star ATH)
Season Record: (2-10)
National class ranking: 74
8. SMU
No of commits: 16
Texas HS Standouts: Alan Ali (Timber Creek, 3-star OT), D.J. Gillins (Pearl River, 3-star QB), Cade Brewer (Lake Travis, 3-star TE)
Season Record: (5-7)
Total Texas commits: 15
National class ranking: 72
9. UNT
No of commits: 12
Texas HS Standouts: Cameron Johnson (Heights, 3-star CB), Devlin Isadore (Navarro, 3-star QB)
Season Record: (5-7)
Total Texas commits: 11
National class ranking: 109
10. Rice
No of commits: 13
Texas HS Standouts: Miklo Smalls (Plano East, 3-star ATH), George Nyakwol (Aldine Eisenhower, 3-star CB), Isaiah Richardson (Foster, 3-star CB)
Season Record: (3-9)
Total Texas commits: 12
National class ranking: 99
11. UTEP
No of commits: 3
Texas HS Standouts: Alex Fernandes (Vandegrift, 3-star QB)
Season Record: (2-6)
Total Texas commits: 3
National class ranking: 152
12. Baylor
No of commits: 1
Texas HS Standouts: Jalen Pitre (Stafford, 3-star S)
Season Record: (6-6)
Total Texas commits: 1
National class ranking: 163
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