Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 3)

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Collecting all the post-game analysis articles, including those behind paywalls, regarding the Rice game here:

(Jeff Howe) Instant Reactions: Texas rebounds from loss, blasts Rice, 48-13

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HOUSTON — A decision by Tom Herman to let the Texas offense take the ball to open Saturday’s game against Rice after winning the coin toss paid off. Sam Ehlinger and Co. set the tone with a 12-play, 82-yard touchdown drive and the 12th-ranked Longhorns never looked back, blasting the Owls XX-X at Houston’s NRG Stadium. It wasn't just that Texas moved the ball in an at-will manner that was impressive, but it was Ehlinger firing a 9-yard completion to Devin Duvernay to convert on a third-and-8 and the quarterback hitting Malcolm Epps on the button for 16 yards to move the sticks on third-and-12.

Anything the Longhorns wanted to do on offense, they pretty much did. Ehlinger exited the game in the middle third quarter with Texas claiming a 38-0 lead as Herman was able to get his starters out of the game and begin thinking about next weekend’s conference opener when Longhorns will host Oklahoma State. It was another monster effort by the offense while the defense bounced back from a woeful performance in last week’s loss to LSU. If there was any question what the Longhorns would look like coming off of a loss to one of the nation’s best teams in a game that was there for the taking, they answered emphatically by coming out on fire and not letting up, even getting on the board with 53 seconds remaining in regulation when D'Shawn Jamison ran a kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown.

It was over when…

Keaontay Ingram converted a fourth-and-3 at the Rice 26-yard line by going the distance for a touchdown in the second quarter. After much was made about Ingram's forgettable outing last weekend in the loss to LSU, his longest run from scrimmage through three games to that point saw him show the burst and confidence with the ball in his hands he showed as a true freshman (in the opener against Louisiana Tech). What Ingram's run did as far as putting the game away was in favor of the Longhorns was it turned a 14-0 lead into a 21-0 advantage with 12:11 to play in the first half. In reality, Texas had the game well in hand by that point, but Ingram's run took away the possible chance Rice had to swing momentum in their favor.

Top Offensive Performer

There are some worthy candidates, but Ehlinger gets the top prize for his effort. In the first half alone, the junior quarterback had a 19-for-22 passing performance for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Along with displaying pinpoint accuracy, Ehlinger ran five times for 27 yards and had no negative plays when he pulled the ball down and took off.

Coming off of a 401-yard effort with five touchdowns accounted for while facing a ballyhooed LSU defense, Ehlinger continues to play like one of the better quarterbacks in the country. Through the team's first three games, Ehlinger's season-long numbers include a 73.2-percent completion rate, 956 passing yards and 11 passing touchdowns (no interceptions) to go along with 121 net rushing yards (3.8 yards per attempt) and a rushing touchdown.

Top Defensive Performer

With Rice wanting to play the game in a phone booth, Keondre Coburn was up for the challenge. The redshirt freshman recorded his first career sack and left the game with the rest of the starters in the third quarter with four tackles (two solos) to his credit. Coburn is deserving of recognition, but this week's honor will be split between Coburn and Juwan Mitchell. Making his first career start, Mitchell also recorded his first career sack and looked in instinctive and physical in his first extended action at linebacker for the Longhorns.

Reason to Feel Optimistic

The Longhorns are taking a major step forward as a program from the standpoint of playing to a standard and not down to the level of their competition. Rice was never in the game due to the Texas offense clicking on all cylinders in the first half and the defense holding the Owls to two first downs and an 0-for-6 effort on third down prior to halftime.

Outside of a 15-yard run by Aston Walter on the first play from scrimmage for the Owls, the defense held Rice to an average of 2.2 yards per play on their final 19 snaps of the first half. There was no LSU hangover as the Longhorns did what good teams do by giving an inferior opponent no hope from the jump.

Reason to be Pessimistic

The only time things bogged down for the Texas offense in the first half was when Zach Shackelford went down with a foot injury. The Longhorns finished off the drive where Shackeford left the game (an 8-play, 79-yard march) with a 12-yard touchdown connection between Ehlinger and Jake Smith, but the offense gained a total of 13 yards on their next eight plays from scrimmage to end the first half.

The defense also gave up an explosive play, a 45-reception by Austin Trammell in the third quarter. Even though Ayodele Adeoye and Jeffrey McCulloch split a sack, dropping Rice's Tom Stewart for a 9-yard loss on third-and-10 from the Texas 29-yard line to turn the Owls away, watching Trammell rip off big yardage on the Texas secondary was the kind of play the Longhorns wanted to avoid giving up to a run-heavy offense with the starters in the game.

Modest Proposal

Keep finding ways to get Jake Smith involved. The first half of Saturday's game saw the true freshman turn the five times he was targeted into five receptions for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns, becoming the program's first freshman since Collin Johnson in 2016 to record two touchdown receptions in the same game. Most of Smith's work has been limited to the H receiver (slot) position to this point. However, he's shown enough when he's had a chance to get his hands on the ball that a 10 personnel grouping with Smith, Johnson (missed the Rice game with a hamstring issue), Devin Duvernay, Brennan Eagles could put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses in the Big 12.

Drive of the Game

Texas didn't need to do much in the second half other than hold onto a commanding lead. However, the offense put together the longest drive of the season in terms of yards covered (91), moving the ball down the field in 11 plays on their first drive of the second half before Ingram ended things with a 14-yard jaunt to the end zone. Roschon Johnson provided the biggest spark during the series with an 11-yard run on third-and-4 from the Rice 33-yard line, one of only two third downs the Longhorns faced on the drive (Ingram's touchdown run came on a third-and-2. Ehlinger opened the march by connecting with Duvernay for a quick-hitting 10-yard gain and the first catch of the season by John Burt was an 18-yard snag that moved the ball into Rice territory. The drive was the last of the night for Ehlinger, who finished six of the eight drives he engineered by putting points on the board.

Best Offensive Play

Roschon Johnson continued to show why his move to running back might be a permanent one as he punctuated a 12-play, 82-yard drive to open the game with his first career touchdown. Herman loves drawing up different ways to get his running backs open on wheel routes around the red zone and Ehlinger moving to his right opened up the left side of the field for Johnson to be wide open, hauling in the pass and finishing the play by stumbling across the goal line for a 25-yard touchdown.

Best Defensive Play

The play didn't count, but Ta'Quon Graham gets credit for driving his man into Stewart's lap to record a quarterback hurry with an initial ruling of a fumble and a return for a touchdown by Jalen Green. Although the play was ruled an incomplete pass following a review, it was the most eye-popping play Graham has made through three games and is the kind of effort the Longhorns will need from their bookend to Malcolm Roach in order to maximize their chances of slowing down Big 12 offenses.
Biggest question heading into next week’s game

The Longhorns showed they're a mature bunch by handling their business in a convincing manner. With the slate wiped clean, Texas now heads into Big 12 play looking to break a four-game losing streak to Oklahoma State in a series Mike Gundy and the Cowboys have dominated.

Along with winning seven of the previous nine meetings between the two programs, Gundy's Cowboys have won five games in a row at Royal-Memorial Stadium. Gundy and his staff have game-planned extremely well when facing the Longhorns in recent years, particularly on offense where Oklahoma State has been able to find weaknesses in the Texas defense (regardless of the coordinator), exploiting them en route to an impressive series of victories.

The Cowboys also do a good job of playing up to their native Texans how they weren't recruited by the Longhorns (most of them weren't), creating a large chip on their shoulder that usually translates into Oklahoma State playing well against Texas. Texas has yet to lose a Big 12 opener under Herman, but with all due respect to Iowa State (2017) and Kansas State (2018), this is the program's stiffest challenge in a conference opener to date in the Herman era.

Cody Daniel: Initial takeaways from No. 12 Texas’ 48-13 win over Rice

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The Texas Longhorns got back into the win column on and closed out their non-conference slate on a high note on Saturday night with a 48-13 win over the Rice Owls. It was yet another dominant early-season showing from the Horns against an overmatched opponent, with the outcome essentially decided early in the second quarter. Here are a few initial takeaways from Texas’ win over Rice.

• Texas didn’t let the LSU loss linger. After such an emotional win and being matched up against a winless Rice squad, nobody would have been surprised if Texas came out a bit flat and looked less than impressive against the Owls. The players and staff continually noted throughout the week that that wouldn’t be the case, but until you see it, you never know. Well, now that we have seen it, it’s safe to say Tom Herman’s culture is, indeed, rubbing off on his team, as Texas looked as dominant as it has all season, cruising to a quick 31-0 halftime lead and leaving no doubt that they were focused on the task at hand. That wasn’t always the case for this program, and it’s a refreshing reality as Texas gears up for Big 12 play.
• Texas, again, dominated a team it was supposed to. In following up on the first note, Texas not only bounced back, but did so convincingly, with the game not even being as close as the 38-6 final score could possibly indicate. Even as recently as last season, the Horns had trouble with teams that they quite clearly overmatched on paper, such as Tulsa and Kansas. But to begin the 2019 season, Texas has seen two such opponents in Louisiana Tech and Rice, outpacing the two by a combined score of 93-27, despite benching the bulk of the starters in the third quarter of each outing. Also notable from this particular performance is aside from the Texas offense quickly building a 31-0 lead, the defense didn’t allow Rice to cross into Texas territory for the first time until just over five minutes remained in the third quarter.
• The Texas offense is showing signs of consistency. After scoring on each of its final five series last week against LSU, which included four touchdowns, the Texas offense picked up right where it left off against Rice. The Longhorns scored touchdowns on each of their first four drives against the Owls, and six of their first seven overall when you exclude the final play of the first half. This stretch likely only ended because Texas benched its starting skill players, including Sam Ehlinger. All told, throughout this stretch, Texas scored on 11 of 12 drives, including 10 touchdowns. This kind of offensive success has quite simply been unfathomable in Austin in recent memory.
• Sam Ehlinger may be finding some chemistry with Jake Smith. Entering the evening, the former Gatorade National Player of the Year had just five catches for 51 yards and one touchdown to his name, but that total could have quite easily been much higher has Ehlinger delivered a handful of targets on the mark throughout the first two weeks. Against Rice, it appeared the two finally found a bit of rhythm. Ehlinger found Smith for a 53-yard touchdown in the first half after the freshman blew past Rice safety Prudy Calderon up the seam. Later in the half, the two connected yet again on a short our route, which Smith took to the house for a 12-yard score. By the end of the evening, Smith surpassed his previous season total of five receptions, hauling in six catches for a team-high 75 yards and the two noted touchdowns. Smith’s three touchdown receptions to date are also now just five shy of tying Roy Williams’ freshman school record of eight.

Jeff Howe: Texas center Zach Shackelford leaves Rice game with injury

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HOUSTON — An otherwise flawless first half for 12th-ranked Texas in Saturday night’s game with Rice at NRG Stadium saw the offense deal with an injury to a significant member of the offensive line. Center Zach Shackelford sustained a right foot injury that resulted in him being forced to leave the game while the Longhorns were in the midst of an 8-play, 79-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Sam Ehlinger to Jake Smith.

Shackelford was down on the field on his hands and knees where he and right tackle Derek Kerstetter were moving around gingerly. Shackelford attempted to walk off the field under his own power, but he had to be helped for the last half of his walk to the Texas bench by a member of the training staff. After spending time in the team’s sideline medical tent, Shackelford was carted off the field and taken up the tunnel for further evaluation. As he was on the cart, Shackelford could be seen without a shoe or sock on his right foot.

Texas officials said at halftime that Shackelford was ruled out for the remainder of the game by the medical staff. With Shackelford out of the game, Kerstetter went to center with Denzel Okafor coming off the bench to fill the hole at right tackle. A 2018 first-team All-Big 12 selection by the Associated Press, Shackelford has dealt with ankle and foot issues throughout a career where he started in 30 games and played in 42 prior to getting a start in the Rice game. Shackelford missed most of spring practice in 2017 when he underwent surgery to resolve an ankle issue that plagued him throughout a 2016 season where was named a Freshman All-American.

As recently as preseason practice last month, Shackelford missed time with a foot injury. It wasn’t until the week leading up to the team’s season-opening win over Louisiana Tech that it looked like Shackelford was going to be in the lineup. Shackelford was on the field for every first-half scoring drive by the offense. Sam Ehlinger threw three touchdown passes (two to Smith, one to Roschon Johnson) and Keaontay Ingram recorded a 26-yard touchdown run to give the Longhorns a 28-0 lead in the second quarter.

The lead went to 31-0 at halftime after Cameron Dicker nailed a 57-yard field goal late in the half. Shackelford’s injury was on top of the Longhorns playing the Rice game without the services of Collin Johnson. The senior wide receiver initially suffered a hamstring injury in the Louisiana Tech game and played through it in a 45-38 loss to LSU, but Johnson was scratched prior to the game. Johnson should be ready to go next weekend when the Longhorns host Oklahoma State at Royal-Memorial Stadium for the Big 12 opener.

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Chance Linton: Media reacts to Texas' bounceback win over Rice

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The No. 12 Texas Longhorns were downright dominant on Saturday night en route to a 48-13 bounceback win over the Rice Owls at NRG Stadium in Houston. The Longhorns scored touchdowns on their first four offensive drives of the game and the Texas defense held the Owls scoreless for the first three quarters. It was a dominant showing for the Longhorns coming off last week’s tough loss to LSU in Austin, but Texas improves to 2-1 heading into a showdown with Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Conference opener. With that in mind, scroll down to see what the college football media had to say about the Longhorns' statement win.

Roschon Johnson scores first career TD

True freshman quarterback-turned-running back Roschon Johnson has been outstanding in his brief time at a new position. On the opening drive, he was rewarded with his first career touchdown, running a wheel route out of the backfield and hauling in a pass from Sam Ehlinger for a 25-yard score.

Big play for Jake Smith

Johnson wasn't the only true freshman to get in on the scoring action in the first quarter. On the Longhorns' next drive, first-year wide receiver Jake Smith reeled in a deep pass down the middle of the field and took it to the house for a 53-yard touchdown.

Impressive TD streak

Keaontay Ingram's 26-yard touchdown run on the third drive of the game made it eight consecutive touchdown drives for the Longhorns dating back to last week's game against LSU. Ehlinger connected with Smith on the ensuing drive to extend the streak to nine, but that's where the streak ended as the Longhorns were held to a punt on the next drive.

Big first half for Longhorns

The Longhorns erupted for 350 total yards and 31 points in the opening half while holding the Rice offense scoreless and allowing just 56 yards.

Sam Ehlinger show

Sam Ehlinger was nearly perfect in the game, completing 23 of 27 passes for 279 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions while rushing for 27 yards on five carries before heading to the bench for the fourth quarter with the Longhorns up big.

Cameron Dicker is money

The Longhorns' sophomore kicker connected on two field goals in the game, drilling a career-long 57-yard bomb late in the first half and connecting on a 46-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

 

 

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(Bobby Burton) Snap Judgements: Sam came to play

Sam Ehlinger wasn’t going to let this team have a let down. Ehlinger came out sharp and stayed that way for most of the game. His accuracy and acumen got the Horns out of the gate fast. And Texas built a quick early lead that gave Rice no chance of ever competing for a win.

**

The Texas OL continues to be a huge improvement during the Tom Herman era. Even with the loss of Zach Shackelford, the OL continued to handle pass protection very well and opened up some running lanes, too.

**

The Texas defense continues to be hit or miss. The Horns gave up some sizable runs and got beat badly blitzing late in the contest. Both Rice TDs came on blitz beaters to running backs in the flat.

**

The secondary was spotty, at best, late in the game. Of the starters in the secondary, Josh Thompson seemed to be the only one who had issues against the Owls.

**

The tandem of Roschon Johnson and Keaontay Ingram are more than good enough to help Texas win a lot of games. Johnson continues to improve. He showed more patience than in previous games. Even a healthy Daniel Young appears to have been passed by Johnson on the depth chart.

**

Jake Smith had a breakout game of sorts with his two TD catches, especially the catch and run up the seam. But Smith did not do a lot with the bubble screen to the outside. He’s definitely not in the same class as Devin Duvernay running those plays.

**

Byron Hobbs did not play well filling in for Joe Ossai. Hobbs looked overwhelmed. Linebacker Juwan Mitchell made a couple of nice plays but also overran a couple, too.

**

D’Shawn Jamison’s kick return TD gave the Horns a margin of victory seemingly more fitting for just how much they outplayed Rice.

**

Oklahoma State comes to Austin next weekend. The Horns need to shore up the secondary and keep executing at a high level on offense.

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(Ian Boyd) 5 quick thoughts: Goodnight Owls

Texas secured a good victory that included some nice stats for star Sam Ehlinger and a lot of snaps for freshman and back-ups. Several players that will likely redshirt this season got in on the action in this contest.

Perhaps the most meaningful event of the game was Zach Shackleford going down with a foot injury (same foot as his preseason injury). As of this writing the severity is unknown but while Texas may be able to get by without him due to Derek Kerstetter's versatility, losing Shack for any period of time leaves Texas fairly thin. It could hurt them in a few games even without further injuries if Texas isn't able to replace Kerstetter's very solid blocking out at right tackle.

A more pleasant event was Tom Herman asking Michael Dicker to put a 57-yard attempt on film for opponents to mull over. Dicker the kicker nailed it, as well as a 46-yarder, and Texas clearly has a very potent weapon in their quiver for any potential close games or late drives before the half or end of games. Opponents will have to consider Dicker's when considering end of game strategies against Texas and Herman will have a nice way to steal some cheap points in big games on drives that stall after midfield. There was also a late kick return and an overall strong game from special teams.

Quick thought no. 1: The Texas DL was too good for this game to get very interesting

Rice is ostensibly an old school, Power-I football team but their OL is small and they repeatedly lost the line of scrimmage against the Texas DL. Nose tackle Keondre Coburn completely owned the interior and Malcolm Roach kept QB Tom Stewart (the Rice QB) from getting comfortable enough to test the Texas secondary much.

There was one occasion in which Texas brought a big blitz and Rice's star slot Austin Trammell showed nickel Josh Thompson an outside move before winning inside on a post for 45 yards. It was an overload blitz that had bad timing, the exact same play that has often driven Texas fans nuts since it left a DB on an island without applying the sort of instant pressure to avoid getting beat on a double move as Thompson was. That drive was later ended when Texas brought an excellent 4-man pressure on a stunt that got Jeffrey McCulloch free inside (Ayodele Adeoye helped clean up).

The goal for the Owls was to run the ball, move the chains, shorten the game, and keep the score within a manageable margin. There wasn't really a gameplan available to Rice that was going to be particularly good but this plan completely failed when the Owls couldn't handle Texas' speed and power up front.

They could have tried more spread passing sets to pick on the Longhorn secondary but that's not their way. Notably, when they did mix in some of those sets they found receivers. The 4th quarter TD drive by the Owls included their QB finding a man open in the middle of the field against a drop 8 zone and narrowly missing an open post on another dig-post combination. Texas' defense is hardly cured, Rice just wasn't at all up to the task of trying to attack some of the vulnerabilities that the Longhorns have shown.

Quick thought no. 2: Texas' spread passing attack is special

Sam Ehlinger's final line on the game: 23-27 for 279 yards at 10.3 ypa with three TDs and zero turnovers of any kind. He also added five scrambles for 27 yards, typically avoiding contact and employing the slide or finding the sideline.

The slot receivers Devin Duvernay and Jake Smith led the targets with six catches apiece. Duvernay continued to show his value as a chain mover both in hunting space over the middle on third down or breaking tackles in the perimeter screen game. Jake Smith torched the Owls on a 4-verticals play where he beat them up the seam and then on a rollout play. The seam route was a 53-yard gain, if you didn't notice, the concerns about explosive gains don't really exist for this team although they still have a ball control mindset much of the time.

A dominant spread passing attack is the hardest thing to defend in football and the most valuable thing you can have in pursuit of championships. Alabama typically comes up short in their annual pursuit for more rings when they have to face a complete team spearheaded by a top flight spread passing attack.

The Longhorns are able to get into their four and five-wide sets from 11 personnel, which is truly devastating. Defenses typically don't have a lot of answers for empty formations and they certainly don't have many answers when they're in a defense designed to defend 11 personnel. Texas' ability to spread opponents out from the same personnel package that can execute the full gamut of their power-spread plays is a nasty component to their team. They had this last year to an extent but the passing attack wasn't as deadly because Ehlinger wasn't quite as good as he is now and they didn't have the same firepower from their different receiving positions. Speaking of power-spread plays...

Quick thought no. 3: Roschon Johnson is a terrific power runner

Keaontay Ingram had a nice transition to the Texas offense after running zone a million times with the Carthage Bulldogs. He makes excellent cuts and regularly hits the "Ingram cut" where he sets the LBs up to hit the backside of the tight zone play before cutting play side for nice gains. Roschon Johnson, besides playing QB rather than RB, operated a different offensive system at Port Neches-Groves. The Indians had a power run game and would run gap schemes in a million different fashions for their star QB to win big games. With Johnson at RB, Texas has been mixing in some gap schemes more often and the freshman has demonstrated a high affinity for maximizing those runs.

Where he shined against Rice was on the Y-counter play, in which a guard pulls to kick out the unblocked edge player and the TE (or Y-back) comes over to lead inside of the guard. Johnson regularly threatened to bounce the run outside of the guard to lure the linebackers outside before cutting back into the intended path behind the TE lead block:

Keaontay had a really nice game but Roschon Johnson really flashed again with 11 carries for 59 yards at 5.4 ypc and then three catches for 30 yards and a score on Texas' throwback play to the RB. Johnson also had a nice block on a Sam Ehlinger scramble after running a check down route into the flat. A healthy Keaontay Ingram is a beast that Texas should feed regularly but Texas certainly has some quality depth at RB still even after all the injuries.

Quick thought no. 4: A nod to the touchdown play

Keaontay Ingram had two touchdowns himself, both coming on the "touchdown play." When Texas has an explosive play that puts them on the goal line for first and goal, they regularly hurry to the line and just run this play. It's also a common go to for picking up third and short, again, particularly at tempo. The play is tight zone with a bubble screen attached from a 4x1, unbalanced formation.

It's really a triple option play, Ehlinger can punish a nosy nickel with the bubble screen to Duvernay and a blitzing nickel with a QB keeper like on a zone-read play. Texas scored twice on this play, the first time Ingram ran through that play side B-gap for a 26-yard touchdown on fourth-and-three. The second time came on a cutback behind the Y-back and Cosmi from 14 out on third-and-two.

What makes this play so devastating is the unbalanced nature of it. For Texas it's a very simple scheme and easy to line up in this formation at tempo, but opponents have to recognize that it's unbalanced (by placing the TE on the line of scrimmage to the same side as the Z he's made an ineligible receiver), understand the ramifications, and then fit the gaps. Texas' QB stretch play is often devastating for similar reasons, they can get into it at tempo from 11 personnel and the defense has to be able to get into their special "here's how we stop Ehlinger on this!!!" play-call at tempo.

The touchdown play also has a lot of options, as noted above. The first touchdown of the season came throwing a bubble screen to Duvernay on this play against Louisiana Tech and Casey Thompson scored another in that game on the QB keeper. Then there's the range of potential gaps that the basic inside zone run can hit, and Ingram hit two different potential creases in this game. That's four touchdowns on the year for the "touchdown play." One of a dozen highly potent weapons in Texas' HUNH spread system they can execute this season.

Quick thought no. 5: Time for the Big 12 slate

The Big 12 is an interesting conference this season and we've now seen more from all of the teams across the league. Like most of Oklahoma State's other opponents this season, Tulsa wasn't able to do much against the Cowboy rushing attack. The 'Pokes have a very solid OL with a ton of experience on the interior and then well above average runners at RB (Chuba Hubbard) and QB (Spencer Sanders). However, the Golden Hurricane did cause problems for Sanders in the passing game. He's a bit slow through his progressions IF an opponent can take away his ability to make an easy read and then maximize his excellent arm throwing dimes to star receiver Tylan Wallace.

Kansas State proved that they still have some scrappy guys and powerful OL around on campus, they bested the power-spread Mississippi State Bulldogs on their own turf today while running A-gap power from the I-formation and slipping TEs down the field wide open on play-action. This is much better team than most expected. Oklahoma blew away a bad UCLA team with Jalen Hurts turning 14 carries into 150 yards, it's clear what the Longhorns will need to do in that contest.

Matt Campbell is now 0-4 against Iowa and the Hawkeyes have yet to commit a turnover in any of the four games. The Cyclones had their chances but ultimately blew it with one of their punt return blockers running into their return man and causing a fumble with 1:20 left that handed the game to the Hawkeyes, 18-17. The Cyclones still look like a team that can contend for the Big 12 title though with their bend don't break defense and an offense that is solid at ball control and will likely improve down the stretch.

TCU's freshman QB Max Duggan went only 7-18 for 70 yards and a score against Purdue, but both Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua ran for over 100 yards and Gary Patterson erased Rondale Moore in a 34-13 Frog victory.

Overall the landscape is of a league that is quite a bit stronger in the run game than normal and not as effective in the passing game. While all of these teams have young passing attacks that will improve and certainly aim to test the Longhorns, this plays spectacularly into Texas' hands. If the Longhorns can stop the run and continue to execute this murderous spread passing attack, they should be the class of the league.

[Nowhichski 32]

Thanks for posting these. Still worried about this pass d. 

[BurntOrangeCrush 1028]

Thanks Satya

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[Armybrat 41326]

Well TO, teach your secondary to be in the correct position and not blow their tackling.

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(Kaelen Jones) Moving on: What Texas proved to itself as it closed out nonconference play

Spoiler

HOUSTON — As Texas cornerback D’Shawn Jamison weaved around his blockers and zoomed past Rice players en route to a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown late Saturday, coach Tom Herman saw something in his team.

More than the Longhorns putting an exclamation point on their 48-13 nonconference win inside NRG Stadium, more than answering the Owls’ second touchdown of the night, it represented a total effort to Herman.

“I mean, that’s not human nature, right?” he said. “Human nature is, you’re up (big) with (less than a minute) to go, to just say, ‘Hey, this game’s over. Who cares about this kickoff?’ And they played it like it was the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl. I’m just really proud of that.”

A week after losing a gutting, hard-fought primetime top-10 matchup against LSU on their home turf, the No. 12 Longhorns rebounded ahead of opening Big 12 play and in front of 42,417 observers, many wearing burnt orange.

“We can’t ever let a team beat you twice,” junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger said. “So, we knew that we wanted to come out and prove that nothing’s changed, prove to our ourselves that when we play well, no one can stop us. I think we did that.”

This is what good teams do. When expected to win, they dominate. They don’t make many mistakes. They exploit their opponents’ miscues when they make any. More importantly, they out-execute their opponents consistently.

The Longhorns continued to build off the resolve they exhibited through the second half against LSU. And they were led by the performance of their best player, who very much looked the part throughout the evening.

Ehlinger went 23 of 27 for 279 yards and three touchdowns. The first score of the game went to Roschon Johnson — the quarterback converted to tailback in light of injuries — for the freshman’s first career touchdown. Ehlinger flashed his improving rapport with true freshman Jake Smith, whom Ehlinger found for two touchdown passes. Overall, he completed passes to eight different receivers. Rice’s multiple-look defense didn’t faze him.

“That was about as mentally challenging of a game for our quarterback as he’s probably seen in three years,” Herman said. “They threw a lot at him, and I thought he handled it well.”

The Longhorns scored touchdowns on each of their first four drives to open the contest, scoring on nine consecutive series, dating back to the LSU game. They took a 31-0 lead into halftime. For the second time in three games, UT had the luxury of deploying redshirt freshman quarterback Casey Thompson and several other backup players by late in the third quarter. Its defense shut out the Owls for three-plus quarters and forced four three-and-outs in a row to open the game.

The Longhorns played at the caliber of an upper-tier football team.

There were a handful of reasons for UT to show up emotionally sullied for its matchup with a Rice squad it was favored to beat by 32 points. There was the aforementioned sting of its one-possession loss to LSU on a national stage. That was only compounded by backward-looking questions lobbed toward players and coaches throughout the week surrounding ‘what-ifs.’ What if LSU’s players hadn’t cramped up? What if the Longhorns had made a stop on that third-and-17 play in the final minutes? The unusual discourse about air conditioning in the visitors’ locker room, which became a brouhaha over social media, lingered over the program, too.

The Longhorns tuned out all of that and put the previous week behind them.

“We said all week … you don’t prove to yourself that you’re an elite team by winning every top-10 matchup that you go into and face,” Herman said. “Sometimes they go your way. Sometimes they don’t. Obviously, we wish we would have played better last week, but this week was gonna be the big test to prove to ourselves that we can prepare, train, take care of our bodies at an elite level.

“Then obviously, we had to go out and play and start fast, and I thought both sides of the ball really, really showed that they believed in that.”

UT also overcame the growing rash of injuries it’s been dealing with early in the season. Even with the return of junior tailback Daniel Young (ankle), numerous injuries had piled up by Saturday’s kickoff: senior receiver Collin Johnson (hamstring), safeties B.J. Foster (hamstring) and DeMarvion Overshown (back), as well as running backs Jordan Whittington (groin) and Kirk Johnson (shoulder).

The Longhorns were forced to rely on their depth.

Smith, who corralled his first career touchdown pass against LSU last week, continued his scoring surge and caught six passes for 75 yards.

Redshirt freshman Malcolm Epps caught four passes for 53 yards as Collin Johnson’s replacement at the X-receiver spot.

“The lights are not too bright for those guys,” Herman said of the pair, noting their snaps against LSU. “They’re not rookies, per se, anymore.”

Roschon Johnson once again impressed, rushing 11 times for 59 yards, along with three catches for 30 yards and his touchdown. It stoked further confidence that the Longhorns’ tailback room can hold its own as it continues to get healthy.

Still, there are more concerns. In the second quarter, starting offensive linemen Derek Kerstetter and Zach Shackelford went down on the same play. Kerstetter, the junior right tackle whose leg appeared to get rolled up underneath him, would return to the game a few plays later. However, Shackelford, UT’s starting center, was carted off to the locker room after aggravating a right foot injury that hampered him in the latter stages of the preseason. Kerstetter replaced Shackelford as the first-team center for the rest of the game. Herman said afterward that Shackelford will do everything he can to be ready for next week’s Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State.

But even with Shackelford out, the offensive line did well protecting Ehlinger and creating lanes in the run game. “The O-Line found their groove,” Herman said.

It helped that UT’s starting running back look more like himself, too.

Sophomore Keaontay Ingram bounced back from a substandard performance against LSU in which he dropped a potential touchdown catch early in the game. Offensive coordinator Tim Beck said during the week that Ingram needed to stop being so hard on himself.

Ingram channeled that displeasure by running hard against the Owls. He tallied 13 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns, marking the first multi-rushing score game of his career. His 26-yard score in the second quarter marked the Longhorns’ first run of more than 20 yards this year. He smiled as he walked off the field alongside Whittington at the end of the game. He couldn’t help but beam momentarily when redshirt freshman nose tackle Keondre Coburn interrupted his postgame interview, calling out, “Yeah! That’s my boy!”

“I feel like I’m heading in the right direction,” Ingram said. “I’m starting to get my feet back under myself.”

“It was important for him to have a game like this,” Herman added.

The defense also bounced back. Last week, the unit was torched by LSU’s Joe Burrow, who threw for 471 yards, the most allowed by a UT defense since 2008. This week, the Longhorns faced a different kind of threat in the Rice offense, which boasted a multiple-look offense unafraid to deploy formations featuring 22 (two running backs, two tight ends) and 23 (two running backs, three tight ends) personnel groupings.

The Owls didn’t complete a pass until the second quarter. Rice managed just 266 total yards, with 149 coming in the fourth quarter. Its offense averaged 4.9 yards per play and punted on its first eight drives (it had 11 drives total). The Longhorns finished with five tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries, three pass breakups and three sacks.

It didn’t matter whom the Longhorns were lining up against. They wanted to prove they were capable of playing at a high level.

“Anytime you can have that kind of success, regardless of style of play, they should be proud,” Herman said. “They bowed their necks and they said, ‘OK, you want to come downhill and run the ball between the tackles, we’re going to match and hopefully exceed your physicality.’ They deserve to be proud of that.”

The Longhorns have routed Louisiana Tech and Rice, two opponents they were expected to soundly defeat, after playing in 10 games decided by one possession a year ago. Their offense, which didn’t log a play of more than 50 yards last year, has produced two, including a 53-yard strike between Ehlinger and Smith on Saturday.

“Coach Herman really emphasized playing up to the Texas standard,” senior safety Brandon Jones said. “So we did a really good job of tuning out the opponent and playing for us.”

There are still areas of concern, most notably improving the team’s health. But UT enters the most significant portion of its campaign with a brimming confidence.

The Longhorns haven’t defeated Oklahoma State at home since 2008. The Cowboys boast stars in running back Chubba Hubbard and receiver Tylan Wallace. With the tough matchup next Saturday and a bye to follow, Herman said that it’s the type of week to hold nothing back.

“We’re excited,” Herman said. “It’s leave everything you have on the practice field and on the field at DKR on Saturday night. We’ll take a deep breath, regroup, hopefully get some of these injured guys back, and move forward from there.”

 

[Machinator 32102]

(Scipio Tex) Texas-Rice Postmortem: Offense

 

The Longhorns came out firing against an overmatched Rice defense, scoring touchdowns on their first four possessions on drives of 82, 90, 73 and 79 yards, respectively. When your first four drives yield >300 yards of offense and 28 on the scoreboard, the game is going to go a certain way if the Texas D shows up. The first drive really told the tale, as Texas converted three 3rd down situations on their way to the score, proving that even if Rice could inflict negative plays in the running game with shifting fronts and overloads (and Texas did a poor job getting out of a couple of bad runs early), the Longhorns could still convert based on Sam Ehlinger's play, OL pass blocking and better skill athletes.

Sam Ehlinger set the tone early with an uncharacteristic sizzlingly hot start. He was 9 of his first 10 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns and the running backs also flourished after a relatively slow start.

The 48-13 score didn't fully reflect Texas dominance (the coaches called off the wolves pretty early) and it was a terrific opportunity to develop depth and build even more fluency in what is becoming the most efficient Texas passing game since 2008.

QB

Ehlinger is one of only three QBs in FBS football who has thrown at least three TDs in every game with no interceptions. The other two? Tua and Hurts.

#11 made great throws from the opening gun and showed terrific touch on a couple of deep balls and throws outside of the hash that highlighted his arm strength and accuracy. He finished the game 23 of 27 for 279 yards and three touchdowns. He added another 27 yards rushing on 5 carries, all of which came on scrambles.

We're watching a mature developed QB operating in total command of his offense.

Casey Thompson got significant snaps at QB and I credit the Texas coaches with letting him run some real offense instead of hand off and punt. Casey had an errant throw behind Al'Vonte Woodard and took a sack, but settled down to go 5/7 for 57 yards and convert a nice little 3rd down QB draw. Really pleased to get him real game action.

RB

Keaontay Ingram started slow, but eventually found his footing on his way to 13 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Is he less explosive because of the injuries or his weight gain? Or both? Dunno. We'll find out the answer if he's ever 100%. I'm starting to having a bad feeling Ingram is the type of runner who is never really 100%. He also blew a pass protection on a Rice stunt, but showed some nice finishing ability on his 26 yard touchdown run.

Roschon Johnson continued to earn his way into Longhorn fan's hearts with a 25 yard touchdown catch (he had 3-30 overall) and added another 11 carries for 59 yards rushing. Hard not to love #2 and his ability to adapt to a completely different position with zero notice. I like his ability to throw moves while on the move and his willingness to stick his nose in there on the counter. He has a nice feel for the cutback. An offseason will really benefit him as a tackle breaker.

A healthyish Daniel Young also returned and was able to see some action with four carries. That's great news for the Longhorns, who now boast an actual depth chart at RB again.

As I've noted each week, the RBs continue to play a major role in the passing game (combined 7-56), which I've been advocating for a long time. There's a lot of meat left on that bone on check downs and screens, where a player like Whittington or Bijan Robinson could make a big difference.

WR

Malcolm Epps liked facing off against a lesser level of DBs than what he saw against La Tech and LSU. Epps showed some good, showed some bad, put 'em together and there you have, the facts of life. He started in place of an injured CJ and grabbed 4 passes for 53 yards, including some key 3rd down conversions. He also had a substantial pitch and catch called back for a Sam Cosmi penalty that somehow manages not to be called every week on Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. On the negative side, Epps had a drop and his blocking on the perimeter was horrific. For a 6-6, 240 pound dude, he sure struggles to claim and own space.

Jake Smith notched 6-75 and two touchdowns, including a gorgeous 53 yard touchdown on a 4 verts pitch and catch that made offense looks easy. He doesn't have a great feel for the perimeter game yet, though his blockers could do a lot better job setting him up. Exciting to see the coaches trust the youngsters in so many spots.

Devin Duvernay, target monster, grabbed an efficient 6 for 60 stat line and was happy to give up his snaps to develop depth.

Brennan Eagles was a quiet 1-28. We'll use him when needed. Kennedy Lewis had a nice 37 yard gain that he manufactured on a simple perimeter throw from Casey where he kept his balance, planted hard upfield and showed some big boy acceleration. Marcus Washington dropped a contested 50/50 ball downfield that he needs to convert based on his play style. Good comeback catch by John Burt (1-18) who needs to show that he can add seniority to our depth mix. Nice to see Al'vonte Woodard involved, back from his Fall Camp injury. I'm curious to see if he can crack our depth chart as the season progresses.

All in all, a great developmental game for the corps.

OL

Excellent play across the board, particularly as pass blockers. The negative run plays were more about alignment (Rice was overloading a side and we were allowing free runs into the backfield) and failure to check a play than physical losses. Tough hombres with good communication characterize this bunch. Unfortunately, Zach Shackelford's injury, which saw him bent over a pile on the same ankle/foot that has given him chronic issues, is no bueno. Shack was later shown on crutches on the Longhorn sideline and his future status is unknown. That's a blow. Not so much because of Kerstetter at center, but because of the drop from Kerstetter at RT to Okafor at RT in pass blocking. While Okafor is a comparable or even better run blocker than Derek outside, he's prone to free passes to the QB as a pass blocker.

Given the larger reality of the Texas offense and where upside rests (hint: the passing game), this staff is going to have to compensate in our play mix and what we will task towards blocking assignments outside while assessing Zach's readiness to go. Hand has done a very good job with this unit and I expect that to continue.

Final Thoughts

2019 Texas has grown into a ball control offense with big play upside. The same unit aversion to turnovers persists (no interceptions on the season, one fumble lost through three games) and while Texas retains the ability to possess the ball and chew clock, cheating defenses are now punished with big plays instead of another incremental gain. This is exactly what I predicted in my 2019 Thinking Texas Football preview as too many college football analysts undersold #11's talents and oversold the loss of LJH and some experienced OL who were average performers. Only three games into the season, Texas has erased any of the "No Plays Over 48 Yards" stats from last year and has already proven itself of grabbing big chunk gains in the passing game. The Longhorns are an explosive RB away from making a similar leap in the running game.

On to 3-0 Oklahoma State, who hold a four game winning streak over Texas in Austin, have a terrific offense that the Longhorns will need to match play-for-play, and the league's best CB duo.

Edited September 16, 2019 by Machinator

[Machinator 32102]

(Scipio Tex) Texas-Rice Postmortem: Defense & Special Teams

The Texas defense dominated a bad Rice offense early, allowing only two first downs and 56 yards of offense at the half. That 31-0 lead is exactly what Texas needed to play everyone, save some powder for OSU, and notch the kind of easy dominating win that had been a struggle in the early part of the Herman Era.

Texas lost the shutout late playing its reserves, allowing Rice 13 4th quarter points on some distressingly familiar looking long pass plays and a goal line RB outlet pass against a blitz that Rice knew was coming. Overall, the Texas defense did a nice job of dominating when the game mattered with the Texas DL dictating the line of scrimmage against the Rice run game and repeatedly getting pressures on Rice QB Tom Stewart with only 3 and 4 men.

Texas played a lot of 3-3-5 nickel against Rice's base offense. Not sure if that will hold against the Cowboys.

DL

Dominant effort across the board. Graham had a beautiful bull rush pressure deflection that was nearly a fumble TD return, Roach repeatedly got pressure through his man on 3 man pressures and Keondre Coburn flat wore out Rice's poor center. Coburn finished with 4 tackles and a sack, Graham had 3 tackles and a tackle for loss and Roach added two solo stops of his own. Those stats still don't really reflect how they dictated the game inside. Big T'Vondre Sweat got some nice run in the 2nd half and he's a blossoming monster. Moro Ojomo continues to show nice motor. He's some refinement away from being an inside disruptor. Chisholm can own his blocker when fresh. Carson and XMas-Giles looked a little lethargic.

Rice was physically overmatched across the board. Unfair from the first snap.

LB

Juwan Mitchell is a real LB. He played fast in small spaces and he has a nose for the ball. Mitchell and Adeoeye saw similar snaps and had similar stat lines (5 tackles, involved in QB sacks) but qualitatively Adeoeye struggled more with recognition and when to take on a blocker or flow straight to the ball.

Joe Ossai played well, but went out with a shoulder injury. Status unknown.

McCulloch continues to show good motor,

Loved the brief flashes I saw of #13 Tillman. He'll be a menace when he figures it all out and isn't just chasing the ball.

DB

Kobe Boyce had a near Pick Six jumping a perimeter throw and a quiet (in a good sense) game otherwise. Jalen Green also played well in limited action. Rice had only one viable receiver and Trammel the Mammal smoked Josh Thompson late for a 45 yard gain, finishing with a 6-97 stat line. D'shawn Jamison also got punished for aggressiveness while on an island outside, giving up a 41 yard gain. Texas played with a much heavier coverage bias than what we saw against LSU or La Tech and Rice really only started throwing the ball effectively when Texas tried more pressures and the game was already in hand.

Still, nice to see players like Adimora and Owens get some run. This game told me very little, but the first half suggested that we should expect more help for the corners outside. I seriously question our looks and player understanding in pure zone coverage (no man underneath). Rice had a nice potential gain negated by a drop by a WR running free through that poorly executed coverage.

Special Teams

The Longhorn special teams were dominant on Saturday night. Cameron Dicker drilled a 57 yard field goal that would have been good from 62 right through the dead center of the uprights and then showed the same accuracy on a "mere" 46 yarder. Ryan Bujcevski averaged 44.5 yards per punt and didn't allow a return. The piece de resistance was D'Shawn Jamison's 98 yard kickoff return in the late 4th quarter that was so well blocked and executed it looked like a classic Bill Snyder special teams unit from the early 2000s. Jamison made many Longhorn gamblers very happy with that late cover.

Final thoughts

I don't take much away from this game aside from the fact that Texas can now finish outmatched opponents convincingly rather than screw around and let them back into the game.

Juwan Mitchell can play football.

Todd Orlando clearly wanted to work on some three or four man rushes that offered his corners extensive help inside and over the top. Jones at nickel seems to help that cause.

We'll see how that translates to the Cowboys who feature a good young mobile QB with class, a dominant WR (Wallace has 6 touchdowns in 3 games), good scheming by the Mullet, and the league's best RB.