A Look At Texas: Q&A With Beat Writer Ryan Autullo

Last week, Blue & Gold Illustrated spoke with Ryan Autullo, who covers Texas for The Austin American-Statesman.

BGI: How will the quarterback situation shake out?

Autullo: If I had to guess I would say that the true freshman Shane Buechele will get the nod, but there’s a lot of talk about Tyrone Swoopes, the senior who struggled badly in last year’s game.

Based on what we have seen as reporters in two open practices … Shane Buechele was the better quarterback, he was the more accurate passer and has better poise.

BGI: What impact will new offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert have on the decision?

Autullo: He’s going to have his own thoughts. He comes in giving everybody a clean slate, so his knowledge of Tyrone Swoopes is not the same knowledge as the fans have, the other coaches on the staff have.

It’s pretty fascinating, but at the end of the day it’ll be Shane Buechele. … Charlie Strong saying that both quarterbacks will play, I found that to be interesting.

BGI: What is Buechele’s background?

Autullo: He’s one of those kids that’s good at everything. He’s small, and he just looks frail. He’s not very big and strong, and his arm is strong enough. He’s not a crazy athlete, but he can move around and make people pay for mistakes.

The thing that fans are most excited about is his presence. He's the confident kid that has presence when he’s on the field. Tyrone Swoopes does not have presence.

BGI: Does one QB fit the offense better than the other?

Autullo: It’s going to be a run-oriented offense because two of Texas’ best players are running backs. They’re going to make first downs through the running game, and that does benefit Buechele who is not going to be asked to win games.

You have to be accurate in this offense, and Swoopes is not an accurate passer. We’ll see what happens in a live game — but it looks like Buechele is the more accurate of the two.

BGI: How does the defense look?

Autullo: They should be better, but that’s a pretty low bar, because last year’s defense was the worst in school history statistically. They could be bad on the defensive line. That’s their weakest position group on the team. They don’t have a proven pass rusher. They’ve got freshmen that are going to play a lot snaps at defensive tackle. They’re talented guys, but that’s a tough position to play for a true freshmen. If they can’t stop the run — and they did not stop the run last year well at all-- and they can’t get to the quarterback with their down linemen, it’s not going to be a good year.

They have a lot of talent in the secondary. Their linebackers are good enough, but those things don’t matter a whole lot if you’re not getting it done up front. People are going to talk about the quarterback situation, but to me the biggest concern or the biggest pendulum swing is going to be how the defensive line plays.

BGI: How big is this game for Charlie Strong?

Autullo: People are going to say it’s huge and his biggest one yet. I don’t know that I disagree with that, but even if they lose and look bad, he’s going to have 11 games left to correct themselves.

A win would be huge for him, huge for the confidence of the team. It’s a team that lacked confidence last year. The most important thing is that the product looks good, that the offense we’ve been writing about for months looks the part, look like the real deal. The sophomores who were promising as freshmen have improved and look more ready than they were a year ago.

If he loses closely to Notre Dame, just about any realistic Texas fan is going to be OK with that. If you do 38-3 again, watch out.