AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas used the wild formation a little more in the second scrimmage of the season. Currently three running backs, Joe Bergeron, Johnathan Gray and Jeremy Hills, are getting the majority of the snaps from the formation.
There had been some thoughts about using freshman quarterback Jalen Overstreet as the trigger man in the wild, but Overstreet has not been in that formation as of late and has been operating more as a traditional quarterback.
“What we’re trying to do with Jalen is primarily quarterback,” co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said. “The focus has been playing quarterback. The focus has been learning the offense.”
As for picking just one player to run the wild as Fozzy Whittaker did for Texas last year, Harsin instead wants as many options as possible to run plays in the formation.
“It’s like quarterback you want to have your guy out there,” Harsin said. “You’re going to have your guy that’s going to go roll out there. But that particular play you’ve got those backs now that are in the flow of the game and you need to have a couple. You might call that play and the guy just ran four in a row so he’s gassed. Now if it is Joe in there then Johnathan Gray has to go in. So you still have to have, in that particular play, especially using running backs, is have a couple of them that you can rotate in there and operate it like it’s supposed to be.”
