Texas Fall Camp Day 5 Report: Offense Strikes Back, Manning Delivers & Camp’s Best Players

Summary

Inside Texas Football Podcast Summary

Episode: Texas Fall Camp Day 5 Report: Offense Strikes Back, Manning Delivers & Camp’s Best Players
Date: August 11, 2026
Host(s): Paul, Eric
Podcast: Inside Texas Football

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Episode Overview

This episode provides an in-depth recap and analysis of Day 5 of Texas Longhorns Fall Football Camp. Paul and Eric break down key performances on both sides of the ball, spotlight rising players, and reveal position-by-position standouts after five practices. The central theme is the offense’s resurgence, highlighted by Arch Manning’s impressive tempo work and a more physical run game, balanced by notable defensive performances in later segments of camp.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Emphasis on Physicality and the Run Game

• [02:22] Paul reads a quote emphasizing the renewed focus on running the football and establishing a physical identity:

  “You know, we’ve got to run the football, it’s got to be our identity and we’ve got to stop the run. I thought those two areas a year ago we weren’t good enough... Taking pride in that is something we had to kind of reinvent ourselves into and it’s been a good start to that here in the first few days.”

• [03:18] Eric credits the coaching staff, especially with influences from Nick Saban and Pete Carroll, for stressing physicality:
  • Offensive line appears noticeably bigger and more physical compared to previous seasons.
  • Improved depth, especially at guard.
  • Running backs (Derek Cooper, Hollywood Smothers, Relique Brown) are pushed for downhill, no-nonsense running styles.
  • Gap schemes like counter, power, and a mix of stretch zone are becoming more prominent.

Running Back Notes and Standouts

• [04:56] Eric: Derek Cooper had a strong practice; needs to thrive as a bigger, physical back even if he's not yet a true “power back.”
• Hints at another RB outperforming Cooper (revealed later as Hollywood Smothers).

Arch Manning’s Strong “Fastball” Segment

• [05:34] Eric:
  • Fastball is the up-tempo, quick-decision segment of camp—Manning thrived here.

  • “This is where Arch can just let it fly and be him and move fast and make quick decisions and not even thinking, just going out there playing.”

  • Compares Arch’s style and toughness to Josh Allen.
  • Offense generally had an excellent day during tempo, although defense is expected to need more time to adjust communications.

Other QB & Red Zone Highlights

• [06:36] Eric & Paul: Backup QB Lacy made a significant seam throw in the "high red" (20 to 10 yard line) to Amari Winston, showing improvement and reliability as the likely second-string.
• [08:16] Paul: Despite offensive success, defense “won” the red zone portions of practice.

Defensive Standouts: Colin Simmons & Justice Terry

• [07:13] Eric:
  • Colin Simmons: So dominant (notably a six-sack practice) coaches had to “put a governor on him.”

    “To me… he’s probably the best player in the country. When you look at traits and production, I think he’s got a case for that.”

  • Justice Terry: Called “probably the most disruptive camp out of anybody”—high impact, but more analysis needed on run defense consistency.

Under-the-Radar and Consistent Performers

• [09:35] Eric:
  • Grayson Littleton (nickel): Consistency and increased physicality are highlights.

    “There are—it needs to be noted how consistent he’s been and how physical he is this year. Probably more physical than he was a year ago.”

  • Derrick Williams (safety): Progressing as an instinctive, “more cerebral” playmaker after making a diving interception and forcing a fumble.

Rapid-Fire: “Camp’s Best Players” by Position (as of Day 5)

• [11:26] Paul & Eric Rapid-Fire Segment:
  • Quarterback: Arch Manning – clear leader and best QB in camp.
  • Running Back: Hollywood Smothers – “No-nonsense, getting what's there… running with good vision, downhill certainty.”
  • Wide Receiver: Cam Coleman – “More than a viral athlete, does all the small things right.”
  • Offensive Line: Trevor Goosby (runner up: Siani).
  • Tight End: Nick Townsend – Most complete due to blocking and dynamic receiving.
  • Defensive End: Colin Simmons – “Duh.”
  • Defensive Tackle: Justice Terry (Hero Canoe praised for improvement as well).
  • Linebacker: Justin Crier – breaking out, unprompted staff praise.
  • Cornerback: Bomasco (no hesitation).
  • Safety: Jelani McDonald (Derrick Williams receiving strong mentions; Kobe Black noteworthy).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On identity shift:

  "Placing more of an emphasis on it, taking pride in that is something that we had to kind of reinvent ourselves into and it’s been a good start to that here in the first few days." — Paul quoting staff [02:22]

• On Arch Manning:

  "I think there is a little bit of Josh Allen to his game and yeah, I think it’s easy for him to get in the moment and just get in a rhythm." — Eric [05:34]

• On Colin Simmons’ dominance:

  "He had a practice in… six sacks, you know, and I think they just… had to start sitting him… To me, you know, he’s probably the best player in the country." — Eric [07:13]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:22] Renewed offensive physicality and run identity
• [03:18] O-line improvements, scheme adjustments, RB depth
• [04:56] Derek Cooper’s role and performance
• [05:34] Arch Manning’s fastball/tempo success
• [06:36] Backup QB Lacy’s key red zone throw
• [07:13] Defensive standouts: Colin Simmons and Justice Terry
• [09:35] Consistent camp performances: Grayson Littleton, Derrick Williams
• [11:26] Camp’s Best Players rapid-fire by position

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Summary & Takeaways

This Day 5 report reveals Texas building a tougher, more run-focused offense and a talent-laden, disruptive defense. Arch Manning is settling in as a leader, Hollywood Smothers has seized the top RB spot, and defensive players like Colin Simmons and Justice Terry are dominating. Consistency and growth are hallmarks of this early camp. Observers are encouraged to watch if these camp themes—particularly on red zone defense and offensive physicality—carry into the season.

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For more detailed reports and player breakdowns, visit Inside Texas or grab Paul's annual Texas Football preview.

Transcript

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[Paul]

All right everyone, welcome back for another practice report. Number five correct Eric?

[Eric]

No. Yeah, that's right. And we await number six tonight. Sorry, we're just joking. Offline.

[Paul]

Yeah. And so we are going to give you the latest news from that first head over to inside Texas. 75% off your first year. You can get all those notes before they are on video. Also get Paul's book thinking Texas Football. It is the number one preview for Your Texas Longhorns, but also our opponents in the sec. You can get that down below as well. All right, we start off with offensive highlights here and let me, I have a nice paragraph quote to read for everyone, so let me do that. You know, when we're not in pads, we mix in a pass play just because you can't just run into each other all the time. But that's a mentality, you know, we've got to run the football, it's got to be our identity and we've got to stop the run. And I thought those two areas a year ago we weren't good enough, and so it's not new to us. But placing more of an emphasis on it, taking pride in that is something that we had to kind of reinvent ourselves into and it's been a good start to that here in the first few days.

[Eric]

Yeah, well, he's, he's been priding himself on physicality since he arrived at Texas and credit to him for coming up under Nick Saban and Pete Carroll and adopting the physical mindset you need when other offensive minded coaches don't always do that. But, you know, he hasn't had the luxury of having a unique individual talent like he had with Bijan to where, you know, you can kind of get away with average blocking up front. So I think there's a big, bigger emphasis on that. Even though they've improved the running backs year over year into getting downhill, being more physical. And, you know, I was a little bit surprised to hear that they're running some gap schemes to good effect in the most recent practice. Counter some gap, some power, and then also mixing in some stretch zone, which we think that they're going to lean into quite a bit. You know, one of my observations from going to the first two practices was that the offensive line is bigger and more physical looking. There's no doubt about that. Goosby looks better, Siani looks better, Brandon Baker looks better. And then they've got some bigger guard options that they can run with this season as well and definitely improve guard options. But overall and, and the depth guys, the depth guys, some of the, some of those guys look even bigger than a number of the interior starters or the guys that we think will start. So physicality should be improved, but he's going to smash them straight in the defense's head and, and see if they can force them to be more physical and tougher. He's, he's been doing team runs since he got to Texas. Definitely an emphasis this year, but they had some Success on, on Tuesday night, on Monday night. And you know, he was talking about it pretty, pretty fondly. But again, you know, the defense definitely had its way later in the day.

[Paul]

Yeah, we'll talk a little bit more about the offensive standouts. The first person mentioned is Derek Cooper and that he had a good practice,

[Eric]

but yeah, Cooper had a. Cooper had a good practice. Well, I mean, if they're running the ball downhill in a physical mindset, you hope to hear something about Derek Cooper had a little bit of a quiet camp. That's mainly because we've talked about the starters, the co starters and Hollywood Smothers and Relique Brown. But yeah, good hearing about Derek and that's the exact sort of practice setting you want to hear things from your big physical. I'm not necessarily going to call him a power back yet. He can run with power, but your bigger physical back, he's got to show up in these, in these scenarios.

[Paul]

Yeah. And then you tease that there's actually a running back doing better. But we will get to that in a later portion. And then Arch Manning led a strong performance in fastball. So what happened there?

[Eric]

Yeah, fastball is the tempo portion of camp. And this is where Arch can just let it fly and be him and move fast and make quick decisions and not even thinking, just going out there playing. You know, I think we all know that Arch is a gamer under the lights, tough guy, likes to get hit. You know, he gets going like that. There's. Yeah, there's a handful of quarterbacks throughout the history of football that are like that. You know, I think there is a little bit of Josh Allen to his game and yeah, I think it's easy for him to get in the moment and just get in a rhythm. That's the whole thing, right. If you can get in a rhythm, you're not, you're not worried about mechanics, you're not overthinking mechanics and just deliver the ball to the open guy and he's good in that setting. Offense had a good day in, in up tempo, which also means again, zero sum. Maybe the defense has some things to iron out on tempo, but you kind of expect that too early in camp because communication has to be extremely fast. It's got to be short. There's got to be a, there's got to be an approach to it that understands that, hey, if team's going fast, we, we don't have time to get a call in.

[Paul]

Yeah, absolutely. And then QB2 also had a good moment.

[Eric]

Yeah, Lacy in the red zone. I Think. What is he. What is SAR called? The high red area.

[Paul]

Yeah, whatever. Whatever nonsense in the high red, which

[Eric]

is, you know, I guess he's calling 20 to 10 yard line. He ripped a seam to Amari Winston. And Lacy having a really good camp hadn't been really good off season. Summer, spring, whatever, Lacy's. Lacy's bringing it. Like I said, like we've been saying all. All off season, that that's your backup right there.

[Paul]

So offense won early, but the defense did return later on in practice. And there were two players, not surprisingly, that you mentioned early, that also had another good practice. And that is.

[Eric]

Yeah, Colin Simmons and. And Justice Terry. You know, this is. I don't normally talk about Colin Simmons, at least since his freshman year, because I take it for granted that every year or every practice report, he's doing what he does. You know, he had a practice in the sp, six sacks, you know, and I think they just.

[Paul]

They had to start sitting him.

[Eric]

Yeah. So they put a governor on him. But he's making so much noise this camp that I just have to mention them. So, I mean, it's kind of a foregone conclusion that he's balling out. To me, you know, he's probably the best player in the country. When you look at traits and production, I think he's got a case for that. It's either him or Jeremiah Smith. And then, you know, so you. But he's just doing so much. I've got to mention it. And then Justice Terry's having, you know, probably the most disruptive camp out of anybody. There's no governor on him. I do need to check in. I do need to investigate a little bit more about how well he's playing against the run because again, we are hearing about some success in the run game. I need to check on that. We know he can make the disruptive plays that. That lean towards his athleticism and physicality and even improving skill. But what happens when you run right at him? I need to do some more investigating on that.

[Paul]

And then ultimately, defense did win the red zone portion, so keep an eye

[Mark Cameron]

on that as well.

[Paul]

Historically, with red zone performance for the offense.

[Eric]

Yeah. Right now we're looking for themes, so tuck those away. We'll see what we continue to report. If we report the same thing throughout camp, then those things are going to show up in the season.

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[Paul]

and then you said one player not receiving enough love is Grayson Littleton.

[Eric]

Yeah, it's quite the opposite of last year. Remember, we talked about him in every report, every video update was Grayson Littleton. Guy's probably going to start. Then it got to Grayson Littleton. The dude is going to start everybody freaking out about it and then he goes out there and plays extremely well in his first game this year. It's just kind of, hey, this is what we expect out of him. But there are it's it needs to be noted how consistent he's been and how physical he is this year. Probably more physical than he was a year ago. You know, playing for Will Must Champ is going to do that for you, but he's having a really good camp. Consistent. You want to hear consistency out of nickel, man, because that could be a position that gets picked on pretty easily and it's tough to solve when that happens. Probably not going to happen to Texas this year.

[Paul]

And then Derrick Williams also received recognition after again a recognition again after forcing a fumble. I'm struggling to read today, man.

[Eric]

Hey, reading Stark is going to be tough because especially when we transcribe him exactly how he says it, it'll throw you off kilter. Yeah, it's not like he speaks better, he's poorly spoken or anything. But it's just there's a cadence to it that you don't write like that. But yeah, Derek Williams, she had a diving interception in the previous practice and today, the last practice he forced a fumble. Making plays, playing more intelligently. Sark mentioned him in the we mentioned it two days ago and then Sark mentioned I love it when Sark comes over the top and says something we had just written says that he's playing more with with more cerebral ability and you know, safety really rewards that. A lot of times it comes with experience. He's. He's been in the program. This is entering his fourth year now. And so we expect him to play smart even if the knee isn't 100. We here it is. But even if he's not quite that explosive athlete, he'd still be really good and perhaps even better.

[Paul]

Now you. You did some good stuff here, Eric. Team best. Right. So we can get some quick hitters. We'll go rapid fire. So these are through five practices. This is the best player, each position. Quarterback.

[Eric]

Arch. Come on.

[Paul]

Running back. This is the running back we mentioned earlier. Yeah.

[Eric]

Hollywood smothers. And just the. No nonsense. Getting what's there. Taking it running with good vision, downhill certainty, no dancing around. You know, that's. That's your guy right now.

[Paul]

That was on his tape. Not surprised to hear that at all.

[Eric]

And then wide receiver Cam Coleman. I mean, it's not just that he's a freak athlete and doing things that go viral. It's. He does all the small things right, too.

[Paul]

Very complete offensive line.

[Eric]

Trevor Goosby. You expect that Siani run number two.

[Paul]

I was interested by this one, especially with the past couple practice reports tied in. Yeah.

[Eric]

I was a little surprised here to hear Nick Townsend just because he brings the most to the table from a passing blocking. I think the run game is doing well on the. On the schemes that pull the tight end, you know, split zone and, you know, obviously he's probably. He's probably pulling on some of the counter stuff.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Eric]

So I think that being on the move is going to help him as a blocker. But also he's the most. He's probably the most dynamic receiving threat, even though Emory Winston is a better natural catcher.

[Paul]

All right, here's a couple. No. Does defensive end Colin Simmons. Duh. Defensive tackle.

[Eric]

It's been Justice Terry. I mean, Hero Canoe's having a really good camp. More physical, very technical. I think he's going to rise up draft boards. But Justice Terry's been the best so far. I am going to check into who's the best run run defender, though. That's probably going to be good for linebacker Biles. But justice, not Justice. I've got that on my brain. There's justice and Juice. And Juice Crier. Justin Crier was also mentioned unprovoked. I did not ask about him having a really good camp. And Stark was speaking highly of him. And where was I at recently? And they're like, man, we're hearing way too much about Justin crier. I'm a little worried about it. No, embrace it. It's a good thing. Cornerback Cornerback Bomasco that that one was a quick answer. No dud reply to and then safety Jelani Jelani McDonald. You expect that Derek Williams having a good camp. We've been mentioning Kobe Black of late, but basically what we're hearing is the best players on the team are playing like the best players on the team.

[Paul]

Awesome. Everyone head over to Inside Texas. You can get 75 off and get all these practice reports before you see them on the video. Also get Paul's book thanking Texas Football down in the description below. Everyone have a great day and we'll see you at the next practice report.