Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 9)

[satyanash 14281]

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

(Jeff Howe) Instant Reactions: Texas hangs on to beat West Virginia, 17-13

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AUSTIN, Texas — Like every Texas win in Big 12 play in 2020, Saturday’s 17-13 win the 22nd-ranked Longhorns notched over West Virginia was far from a masterpiece. A game where Texas (5-2, 4-2 Big 12) had to lean on defense and special teams for long stretches due to an offense that often sputtered on a sun-splashed afternoon at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, but it did enough to turn back the Mountaineers (4-3, 3-3) and remain alive for a berth in the Big 12 title game.

The win over West Virginia continued a theme for Sam Ehlinger where the record-setting quarterback didn’t put together a tremendous outing by any stretch, but he threw X touchdown passes and played a second turnover-free game in a row. The story of the day offensively was Bijan Robinson, who broke free for a career-long 54-yard run on the first play from scrimmage en route to the first 100-yard rushing performance of his career.

As was the case in last week’s win over Oklahoma State, the Longhorn defense and kicking game came through in a big way. Chris Ash’s group came up with critical second-half stops in the red zone and Ryan Bujcevski continues to gradually turn into a weapon in the third phase with his ability to flip field position.

Certainly, there were plays Texas left on the field. With that said, following up a win over a ranked team with a victory for only the third time under head coach Tom Herman (2-4 in six previous games coming off of a win over a ranked opponent) gets the Longhorns to the final bye week of the season with a chance to heal up before three games where they’ll play for a chance to punch their ticket to AT&T Stadium in December.

It was over when...

Jarret Doege's pass intended for Ali Jennings on fourth-and-1 from the Texas 8-yard line fell incomplete with 4:44 to go in regulation. Chris Brown provided the coverage for the fourth red-zone stop in a row by the Texas defense and with West Virginia out of timeouts, an 8-yard hookup between Ehlinger and Brennan Eagles on third-and-5 from the 13-yard line and a 35-yard gain by Robinson a swing route coming out of a timeout allowed the Longhorns to milk the remainder of the clock.

Top Offensive Performer

When you’re the first Texas running back in 2020 to go over 100 yards on the ground (Keaontay Ingram last did it in the Alamo Bowl win over Utah to end the 2019 season), that’s reason enough to give Robinson the honor. On top of his numbers, however, Robinson was truly the best player the Longhorns had on that side of the ball on Saturday, showing the kind of subtle burst and playmaking ability with the ball in his hands Texas hasn't been able to rely on consistently throughout six conference games.

Top Defensive Performer

The linebackers continue to get better with Saturday's win going down as another good performance on the ledger of DeMarvion Overshown. Only Juwan Mitchell (nine tackles) had more stops than the eight Overshown recorded, but the junior also registered two tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble and one pass breakup, numbers that added up to a monster performance the Longhorns needed.

Overshown's sack of Doege one play after the Mountaineers had a third-quarter touchdown overturned was one of several pivotal stops the defense had in the second half. Rather than tying the game on the touchdown, Overshown's sack forced West Virginia to settle for a field goal, which was its final score of the game.

Reasons to Feel Optimistic

For starters, the Longhorns committed a season-low four penalties for 45 yards. Those numbers top the five penalties for 50 yards Texas was charged with in a 27-16 win over Baylor on Oct. 17. Bujcevski's first half was better than his second, but he averaged 43.3 yards per punt, had three of his six kicks land inside the West Virginia 20 (two inside the 5-yard line), and avoided a few rushes by the Mountaineers in the second half where a block could've easily occurred. Josh Thompson and Kitan Crawford deserve recognition for the job they did in punt coverage throughout the game.

Nothing else can speak to the job the defense did other than pointing out that the Mountaineers had five possessions in the red zone and came away with only 13 points inside the Texas 20. Leddie Brown entered the game as the Big 12's No. 2 rusher (115.7 yards per game) and the Longhorns held him to 47 yards on 15 carries with the run defense showing up big for the third game in a row (43 net yards for West Virginia and 1.4 yards per rushing attempt).

Reasons to Feel Pessimistic

Ehlinger has suffered serious thigh and calf injuries and it's starting to show in his overall play as each week passes. The offensive line only gave up one to the Big 12's best defense in terms of getting after the quarterback (20 through six games), but Ehlinger and his receivers failed to connect on a number of deep shots throughout the game).

Outside of the game Robinson put together and the designed runs for Ehlinger that netted critical yards in the second half, there was nothing the offense did with enough consistency to feel as though things are trending toward an identity getting formed on that side of the ball. The offensive staff deserves some credit for trying to get Jake Smith going after his winning effort in Stillwater last weekend, but seven unofficial targets for Smith resulted in only three catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.

As good as Bujcevski was, Texas got nothing out of the return game and Cameron Dicker missed a 48-yard field goal attempt right before halftime. If the offense is going to continue to sputter, the kicking game has to give the Longhorns more than it did Saturday.

Modest Proposal

Drive of the Game

A 7-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Ehlinger to Smith with 7:31 to go in the third quarter. Coming off of a sluggish second quarter offensively, the defense holding West Virginia to a field goal in the red zone at the end of an 11-play, 66-yard drive to open the second half and the ensuing kickoff going out of bounds set Ehlinger and Co. up with good field position.

Unlike the first half, the Longhorns took advantage of the drive starting at their own 35-yard line. Ehlinger found Eagles for 17 yards on third-and-5, which was followed by a Robinson run for 11 yards. Two plays later, on third-and-11 from the 33-yard line of the Mountaineers, Ehlinger fired a strike to Smith down the middle of the field to put Texas up by a touchdown, 17-10.

Best Offensive Play

It didn't go for a touchdown, but Robinson asserted himself as the top running back on the roster with his 54-yard burst over the right side of the line on the first snap of the game. A pulling Junior Angilau and Cade Brewer provided good blocks for Robinson, who was pulled down by West Virginia's Tykee Smith at the 21-yard line of the Mountaineers after completing the longest running play of the season for the Longhorns.

Best Defensive Play

The defense made several key stops throughout the second half, but none was bigger at the time than the pass breakup in the end zone B.J. Foster recorded with 11:30 to go in regulation. With West Virginia facing a fourth-and-1 from the Texas 16-yard line, Doege went for broke by lofting a pass into the end zone for tight end Mike O’Laughlin. O’Laughlin was in position to make the catch and nearly completed the play, but Foster knocked the ball out his grasp as he was coming down to maintain a four-point Texas lead, 17-13. At the time, it was a third consecutive red-zone possession for the Mountaineers where the Longhorns kept them out of the end zone.

Biggest question heading into the next game

(Justin Wells) IT Roundtable: West Virginia

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Texas hosts the Mountaineers of West Virginia today. Get your staff prognostications and more in the Roundtable.

1. When you think of West Virginia, you think of _______.

Justin - 2013, in Morgantown. Sold out, night game. The West Virginia State Police had a German Shepherd, who dropped a massive Aggie right beside the UT bench. Of course, someone stepped in it, on turf, and the smell permeated throughout the Texas sideline from mid-fourth quarter through OT. The worst part; the officer acted like it didn't happen. They roped it off eventually.

Eric - Country Roads and couch fires.

Ian - Skullet, Breckyn Hager, moonshine.

Joe - I think of October 5th, 2019. After Texas beat WVU, I wrote my story, loaded up into the rental car, and drove through the Western Pennsylvania night listening to Game 2 of the 2019 ALDS on ESPN Radio when Gerritt Cole topped Blake Snell. I finished watching the game at a Primanti Brothers, an average establishment. Every TV in the place was on a meaningless Pitt vs. Duke game, I had to beg to get one TV on the MLB playoffs. Luckilly Will Harris closed it out. I also think of Will Grier's finger.

2. With the Stills brothers in the middle and a well-coached back seven, how does Texas score on Saturday?

Justin - Jake and Joshua. They will have chances to making plays with WVU's front, and a clean pocket for Samuel would be the right recipe.

Eric - Texas has to scheme Josh Moore and Jake Smith loose. If they decide to single Eagles to move coverage to the field, then him deep a time or two.

Ian - Same as most games, really. Spread em out and mix crossing patterns with Ehlinger scrambles and draws. Throw on early downs to set up the run with tempo. They'll need to run the ball to have a chance but this team can't just go out and "establish the run" and West Virginia is a tricky team to pass on if you don't spread them out pretty wide.

Joe - I'd try to turnover Jarrett Doege like they did Spencer Sanders, but relying on turnovers isn't sound strategy. I think Texas scores with explosive plays and looks pretty pedestrian otherwise.

3. The best player on the field not named Sam Ehlinger or Joseph Ossai will be:

Justin - Dante Stills. Dude.

Eric - Darius Stills might be the best player on the field regardless of who Texas rolls out, especially since he’s going up against the UT o-line.

Ian - Dante Stills, the bigger, faster of the duo.

Joe - Jake Smith.

4. Texas-WVU prediction:

Justin - Texas 27, WVU 24

Eric - 24-17, Texas. Should be close regardless of outcome.

Ian - I don't have a good feel for this one at all other than it being low scoring and close. Texas' suddenly potent special teams (thanks Michael Dickson!) and Sam Ehlinger probably make up the difference though.

Joe - Texas 27, WVU 21

5. Headed to Vegas with your winnings because you chose what Saturday upset??

Justin - Give me Nebraska over Northwestern. I don't think UH covers vs Cincinnati.

Eric - I called the Virginia win over Mack Brown and I feel a lot of confidence in South Carolina over A&M provided string reads this. It’s still my pick.

Ian - Well, I win money by betting on the spread, and I like Houston +13.5 against Cincinnati though maybe not to win outright. I'm not sure I can buy DJ Uiagalelei winning on the road in South Bend either.

Joe - I'm not going to climb the turnbuckle and think Arizona State wins outright, but they're going to cover the 11 versus USC. Northwestern is a favorite over Nebraska. I don't buy that. Huskers.

Of note; @Scipio Tex thought it was a road game and is currently lost in the Appalachian mountains. He was unable to contribute to the Roundtable.

 

[satyanash 14281]

 

[Wishbone 4739]

FYI it’s week 10.

[satyanash 14281]

(Justin Wells) Rapid Thoughts: No. 22 Texas 17, West Virginia 13 (w/ quotes)

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AUSTIN, TX -- The game began and ended the same way; with Bijan Robinson. With a career-high 113 yards on 12 carries (9.4 ypc), the true freshman Robinson paced the Longhorns offensive attack in defeating West Virginia, 17-13 from DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

1. On a day where the Texas offense had its troubles, the defense was wide awake for the early kickoff. Demarvion Overshown, Juwan Mitchell, and T'Vondre Sweat all brought their A-game today. Overshown - 8 tackles, 2 TFLs, one sack, and one PBU) picked a good day for his breakout game. The junior linebacker from Arp put on a show and is fitting into his new position quite nicely.

2. The Texas Offense is offensive. With Keaontay Ingram out, Bijan Robinson got his third career start, and produced 54 yards on his first carry. He finished with 113 yards but Texas still needs wide receivers and a healthy Sam Ehlinger. The senior signal-caller is clearly still hampered by bumps and bruises, but made the plays late when it counted. A pedestrian 15-of-31 for 184 yards and two scores (39 yards rushing) won't usually cut it in the Big 12. Brennan Eagles netted 43 yards on four grabs and Jake Smith had 59 yards on three catches, both with a touchdown.

3. On paper, UT was the better team. UT netted 363 yards of offense, with WVU tallying 360, but the Horns used their ground attack and five yards per carry to hold serve versus the Mountaineers. Texas was better on 3rd downs, penalties, and game management in the second half. WVU's insistence on attempting to convert fourth downs instead of getting points ultimately led to its demise.

4. Texas still controls its own destiny. With a win today, the Horns can win out and make the Big 12 Championship in Arlington. These wins are never pretty and today was far from a beauty contest.

No. 22 Texas (5-2) has a bye next week and then travels to Lawrence for a battle with the Jayhawks.

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Bobby Burton) Snap Judgments: Defense tells story in Texas 17-13 win over WVU

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The Texas defense. Outside of the game’s first drive, the Texas D played bend but don’t break and bowed up in the red zone multiple times. Two pass break ups by Chris Brown and B.J. Foster came on fourth downs in the red zone. DeMarvion Overshown made a key sack on third and goal. T'Vondre Sweat batted a fourth down pass back to the QB outside of the red zone, too.

The Horns’ D didn’t record a turnover, even though Alfred Collins dropped one early and D'Shawn Jamison was out-wrestled for a big play in second quarter. But despite the lack of turnovers, Texas kept the majority of balls in front of them, limited the WVU run game and got pressure on Jarret Doege anytime he held the ball longer than perhaps he should have.

No single player deserves the game ball here. And perhaps that was what was most impressive about the Texas defense. They played their best game as a unit since Chris Ash’s arrival. From the second possession onward, Texas clearly had an identity and an idea of what they wanted to do.

**

I would not have thrown that final pass to Bijan Robinson. If Texas simply runs the ball twice more and punts, WVU would have gotten the ball back with about 30 seconds left and no timeouts. At the same time, the gamble by Mike Yurcich and Tom Herman sealed the game.

**

Speaking of Robinson, remember this game, because we finally got a real glimpse of what he can be. He got enough touches to show why he’s different than the other backs on the roster. Outside of a fumble, he played a whale of a game.

**

The Texas OL was called for just one penalty all game. And they protected reasonably well. The Stills’ brothers names were rarely called, although WVU got two blitzes home because of the Horns’ preoccupation with the Stills.

**

Clearly, the offense struggled. The scoreboard tells the story. The Horns scored just 17 points. I’m really perplexed by play-calling. Texas left its defense on the field way too long in the second half. On one Texas possession in the fourth quarter, the Horns got a first down after two runs plays, and then threw three straight deeps balls for incompletions. The Horns needed to move the chains. The defense, while stout, needed a breather.

I know one ball hit Tarik Black in the hands, but those deep balls Texas has probably hit less than 20-percent of the time this season. Going deep three straight times was not what was needed and almost hurt the Horns.

**

The Horns had a touchdown or 4-point lead in four possessions in the second half and never added to the scoreboard to put them up two scores. That allowed WVU to stay with their base offense and just move the chains. If WVU needed more chunk plays, it could have led to turnovers for the Longhorns’ D.

**

Sam Ehlinger used his legs on a couple of key third down runs to keep the chains moving. But Ehlinger had a bad day throwing the ball. He underthrew deep balls, he threw them late and he even looked uncharacteristically off in the short passing game. The long ball to Jake Smith, the ultimate game winner, was perhaps his best throw of the day.

**

Sweat actually batted down two passes. Besides the one on fourth down, he also knocked one down on third down inside the 10.

**

Texas wasn’t necessarily “lucky” to win this game. The defense played well. But, make no mistake, the difference between the two teams was a handful of plays and nothing more. It wasn’t the type of resounding win the Horns were hoping to build on after last week. While the defense is stepping forward, the offense often can’t get out of its own way for a number of reasons.

**

It’s two weeks off and then Kansas. At 5-2, the Horns have won three straight with the season’s final three games on tap. Win them all and Texas is in the Big 12 Championship game.

 

[satyanash 14281]

Chip Brown: Good, Bad and Ugly from UT win over WVU as turnaround continues

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The Longhorns' hope for a season turnaround remained alive thanks to a defense that - for the second straight week - came up huge in a 17-13 win over dangerous West Virginia and helped bail out a Texas offense that wouldn’t have been so inept if it had relied more on freshman Bijan Robinson. Read my separate column on the ugliest thing I saw Saturday (other than nose tackle Keondre Coburn limping off the field with an ankle injury:  Not making Bijan Robinson the centerpiece of a completely inept offense.

There was a lot of good that happened (most of it on defense) in Saturday’s 17-13 victory over a dangerous West Virginia team, improving signs of a turnaround for the Longhorns, who improve to 5-2 (4-2 Big 12) with an off-week coming up before facing Kansas in Austin Oct. 21. Texas came up with two huge pass breakups in the end zone on separate fourth-down plays by B.J. Foster and Chris Brown, and T’Vondre Sweat came up with another fourth-down pass breakup as the Longhorns made WVU go O-for on fourth down (0-for-3).

Brown broke up a fourth-and-1 pass in the end zone intended for WVU’s Ali Jennings with 4:44 left to play. ABC’s Greg McElroy said Brown should’ve been flagged for pass interference on the play. The Longhorns’ took possession on their own 8, and they were able to run out the clock thanks to a 35-yard catch-and-run by Robinson on second-and-7 from the UT 24 with 1:40 left.

Foster did a great job of playing the hands of the receiver while breaking up a fourth-and-1 pass to WVU tight end Mike O’Laughlin in the back of the end zone, giving the ball back to the Texas offense at the UT 16. Great game by T’Vondre Sweat, who had a third-down tackle for loss and batted that fourth-down pass incomplete. And it was a bit of a coming-out party for safety-turned-weakside linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, who is improving game by game and finished with eight tackles, two of them behind the line, including a sack.

On Overshown’s sack, he came on a blitz in which he stormed through the line and dropped Jarret Doege for a 9-yard loss on third-and-goal from the UT 8, forcing a field goal with some great red zone defense. Brennan Eagles had two huge third-down catches that extended two drives to touchdowns, including a 7-yard TD catch by Eagles on UT’s opening drive of the game.

It was the second straight game Texas couldn’t find its leading receiver Joshua Moore. Moore’s first touch of the game came in the third quarter, when he recovered a fumble by Bijan Robinson. Let’s get to the rest of the GOOD, BAD and UGLY from UT’s 17-13 win that keeps the chance of a season turnaround alive for the Longhorns:

THE GOOD

- Chris Brown broke up a fourth-and-1 pass in the end zone intended for WVU’s Ali Jennings with 4:44 left.

- B.J. Foster did a great job of playing the hands of the receiver while breaking up a fourth-and-1 pass to WVU tight end Mike O’Laughlin in the back of the end zone, giving the ball back to the Texas offense at the UT 16.

- It appeared Texas suffered its first turnover of the game on UT’s first drive of the fourth quarter on an option play that had Ehlinger deliver a pass to a trailing Kai Money, who dropped the pass, and WVU recovered the ball, just inside the sideline in Texas territory. Ehlinger’s pass was initially ruled a backward pass, but after further review, it was ruled a forward pass and thus incomplete.

- A touchdown pass for WVU in the back of the end zone with 1:10 left in the third quarter (and Texas leading 17-10) was ruled incomplete after further review. WVU settled for a field goal on the drive.

- DeMarvion Overshown blitzed almost untouched up the middle and sacked Jarret Doege for a 9-yard loss on third-and-goal from the UT 8, forcing a 34-yard field goal that cut UT’s lead to 17-13 with 22 seconds left in the third quarter.

- Anyone else see Alfred Collins’ ball-getoff on the play where he knifed through the line to re-route Leddie Brown into a 4-yard tackle for loss by DeMarvion Overshown? Collins’ snaps need to increase.

- Sam Ehlinger, who struggled with accuracy in the first half, threw a perfect post to Jake Smith on third-and-11 from the WVU 33 for a touchdown that put Texas up 17-10 with 7:31 left in the third quarter.

- T’Vondre Sweat, who had a big third-down TFL earlier, batted Jarret Doege’s pass on fourth-and-5 with 2:43 left in the second quarter. Doege caught the rejected pass and threw another pass, which is an illegal forward pass (you can’t throw the ball forward twice on one play). After the penalty, which includes loss of down, Texas took possession at the WVU 49.

- T’Vondre Sweat got great penetration and stuffed a third-and-2 run by WVU for a loss of 1 yard, forcing a punt early in the second quarter.

- Tarik Black made a nice, 21-yard reception with a defender draped all over him for a first down at the WVU 23 late in the first quarter. That drive ended with a 34-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker, putting Texas up 10-7.

- Josh Ossai finished with three tackles, including a tackle for loss that saw Ossai linedup at middle linebacker and blitz through the A gap, stuffing a WVU run behind the line on third-and-9 with 2:40 left in the first quarter, forcing a punt.

- Josh Thompson made a great play, downing Ryan Bucjevski’s punt inside the WVU 5. The Texas defense held WVU to a three-and-out, and the Longhorns got great field position on WVU’s punt out of the end zone.

- After Texas’ first two possessions, UT had six carries for 78 yards, an average of 13 yards per rush, against the Big 12’s No. 1 defense against the run. Bijan Robinson had two carries for 72 yards.

- Robinson had a sick spin move and stiff-arm on an 18-yard run midway through the first quarter. WVU was also called for a personal foul facemask on the play.

- Brennan Eagles came up big on UT’s opening drive to a touchdown, converting a third-and-7 from the WVU 18 with an 11-yard reception and then converting another third down on third-and-goal from the 7 with a touchdown pass from Sam Ehlinger, putting Texas up, 7-0 with

- Talk about a fast start: Robinson ripped off a 54-yard run on UT’s first offensive snap.

THE BAD:

- Nose tackle Keondre Coburn suffered an ankle injury in the first half that will require an MRI.

- Sam Ehlinger completed only 48 percent of his passes.

- Joshua Moore apparently has an A.C. joint sprain in his shoulder after his only touch Saturday against WVU was a fumble Moore recovered in the third quarter after Robinson lost the ball.

- Texas’ D’Shawn Jamison couldn’t wrestle WVU WR Isaiah Esdale to the ground short of the first down on a third-and-3 completion for 3 yards at UT’s 20 with just more than six minutes left to play.

- Brennan Eagles and Tarik Black both appeared to lose the ball on deep passes down the right sideline in the north end of DKR. Both passes appeared to be catchable balls. Texas punted on the drive.

- Texas got pressure on Jarret Doege, but he got the ball to T.J. Simmons on a crossing route, and Simmons turned it into a 29-yard catch-and-run. Moro Ojomo was flagged for roughing the passer on the play, but it was a questionable call, because Ojomo was blocked into a position of falling into Doege’s legs below the knee. WVU ended up with first down at the UT 25 with 12 minutes left to play.

- On West Virginia’s first possession of the second half, the Mountaineers went 66 yards in 11 plays and took 4:49 off the clock, capped by a 25-yard field goal that tied the game 10-10 with 10:11 left in the third quarter.

- Joshua Moore, UT’s leading receiver, had zero touches (other than a fumble recovery) one week after his first touch came on a TD pass in overtime of UT’s 41-34 win at Oklahoma State.

- At halftime, Bijan Robinson had five carries for 77 yards (15.4 ypc), and was third on the team in carries behind Sam Ehlinger (10 for 25 yds, 2.5 ypc) and Roschon Johnson (6 for 21, 3.5 ypc).

- Texas’ second penalty was a biggie: Holding on Christian Jones on first down from the WVU 33 late in the second quarter. UT couldn’t overcome first-and-20 and settled for a 48-yard field goal attempt that Cameron Dicker missed wide left with :07 left in the first half.

- Texas’ first penalty of the game was a biggie: Roughing the passer personal foul on Ta’Quon Graham on third-and-10 - and Texas had held WVU to a 6-yard gain on the play. Instead WVU’s drive was extended.

- D’Shawn Jamison appeared to have an interception with six minutes left in the second quarter, and WVU receiver Isaiah Esdale ripped it out of his hands for a huge, 28-yard reception on third-and-15.

- Texas' three best field-position starts in the first half - the WVU 48, UT 47 and WVU 49 - resulted in zero points. UT failed on a fourth-and-1 run at the WVU 39 on the first drive. UT ran three plays for 2 yards on the second drive. UT couldn’t overcome a holding penalty on Christian Jones, and Cameron Dicker missed a 48-yard field goal attempt wide left after Texas and West Virginia timeouts before the attempt.

- Ehlinger had Brennan Eagles open behind the defense, deep down the right sideline and underthrew Eagles on what could’ve been a big play on first down from the UT 47 midway through the second quarter.

- Ehlinger missed Jake Smith on a crossing route in the end zone on second-and-2 from the WVU 15 in the final seconds of the first quarter.

- WVU safety Sean Mahone was flagged and called for targeting on a run by Roschon Johnson late in the first quarter, but the targeting call was reversed upon further review.

- Keondre Coburn limped off the field, favoring his right leg, with 3:20 left in the first quarter. He was replaced by T’Vondre Sweat.

- Following a Texas timeout, WVU converted third-and-10 with a screen pass for 10 yards with 3:35 left in the first quarter.

- Texas went for it on fourth-and-1 from the WVU 39 with a hurry-up handoff to Bijan Robinson, who was stuffed for no gain with 5:22 left in the first quarter. Texas started the drive with great field position at the WVU 48, following a Mountaineers’ punt out of the end zone.

- On Leddie Brown’s 12-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, Juwan Mitchell got both arms around Brown’s legs at about the Texas 8, but Brown broke the tackle.

- Alfred Collins had a great pass breakup that could’ve been a sweet interception but bounced off of his hands. WVU then connected on a 38-yard pass to the Texas 12 on the next play, and the Mountaineers then scored on a 12-yard run by Leddie Brown, tying the game 7-7 with 8:58 left in the first quarter.

THE UGLY:

Seeing nose tackle Keondre Coburn limping off the field with 3:20 left in the first quarter. Tom Herman said after the game Coburn will get an MRI for an ankle injury.

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Bobby Burton) Texas-WVU Grades

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Quarterback

While Sam Ehlinger avoided the big interception, and ran for a couple of key first downs, the senior’s passing game was woefully off much of the day. He ended the day 15 of 31 for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Sure, he endured a couple of drops, but even the short passing game was lacking. He simply was off. Perhaps he is battling injuries more than is being let on. Either that, or he’s regressing in a way that seems counterintuitive. His touchdown pass to Jake Smith was the throw of the day, and he also made some key third down passes to Brennan Eagles, and then the final pass of the game to Bijan Robinson closed the door. Again, Ehlinger made some excellent throws, but the inconsistency and desire and decision to go deep so often put the Horns in a close game.

Grade: D

Running back

Bijan Robinson separated himself yesterday from every Longhorn RB to don the uniform since Jamaal Charles. Not since Charles has a Texas RB shown the potential to be both quick enough to evade tacklers and fast enough to hit the home run. Some may point to D’Onta Foreman’s 2,000-yard campaign, but frankly Foreman had more of a mix of power and speed rather than agility. Robinson’s first run of the day was eerily reminiscent of Ricky Williams’ first big carry against Hawaii as a true freshman. Of course, Robinson also ended the day with a nice catch and run. His only blemish was a fumble in the third quarter that almost cost the Horns. Interestingly, I thought Roschon Johnson seemed out of sorts on multiple plays, and may have had one of his worst games as a runner. He tried bouncing things outside when they weren’t there, tripped over his own feet once, and looked uncharacteristically indecisive most of the day.

Grade: B+

Wide receivers

Brennan Eagles had a relatively strong day, save his one drop in the end zone on what was a 50-50 ball. Otherwise, he had one TD and made a couple of sure catches on key third downs. Jake Smith’s sliding catch in the end zone punctuated a solid performance from the sophomore, but he also didn’t make a couple of 50-50 catches either. Tarik Black dropped a ball that hit him in the hands in the fourth quarter yet made a spectacular grab in the first quarter. Joshua Moore’s biggest play, before he left injured, came on the fumble recovery of Robinson. The Texas receivers continue to be relatively pedestrian and need the return of Jordan Whittington post haste. They had too many drops on Saturday and are not getting open nearly enough.

Grade: D

Tight ends

Jared Wiley got the majority of snaps at tight end. The sophomore did not record a catch, although Malcolm Epps did. Epps saw his most extensive action of the season as Cade Brewer was sidelined. Wiley continues to improve as a blocker but must become more of a factor in the passing game.

Grade: C

Offensive line

The Texas OL put in a pretty strong performance given the opponent. Ehlinger had plenty of time to throw much of the day and the OL mitigated the impacts of the Stills’ brothers most of the day. The Horns ran a counter play to start the game to much success and ripped off a couple of runs at other times. But pass protection was their best effort on the day. Outside of a couple of blitzes, Ehlinger was clean much of the day, and there was only one penalty of note. It was far from dominating, but it was solid and should have resulted in more points for the Horns had the skill position groups held up their end of the bargain.

Grade: B-

Offense

The scorebord tells the story. Seventeen points rarely, rarely wins you any games in Big 12 conference play. Multiple drops from receivers, errant throws and odd decisions repeatedly derailed drives and scoring opportunities. And Texas continues to allow other teams multiple chances to stay in games rather than put them away. The Texas O had three possessions in the second half with a touchdown or four-point lead, and rather than extending the lead, instead earned just two total first downs on those three possessions. It’s an offense that just can find no rhythm or identity outside of the QB draw. Even early in the game, on the fourth down stop of Robinson, Texas just seemed out of sync or lacked understanding of the situation as a whole. It was a poor performance by the Texas O. Very poor.

Grade: D

Defensive line

The Texas defensive front controlled the football game more than any other position group on either side of the field. The Horns held a vaunted WVU rushing attack to just 43 yards on 26 carries. The Horns were so consistently good against the run that it forced WVU to throw on every fourth-and-short and those ultimately resulted in incomplete passes. Moro Ojomo got the front’s only sack but T’Vondre Sweat batted two passes, and the group limited WVU’s passing game to quick throws and short completions. Joseph Ossai made a couple of big plays but didn’t quite make the difference he did a week ago. Ta’Quon Graham got some consistent push inside. Again, if there’s a single position that deserves credit for the W, it’s the Texas DL.

Grade: A

Linebackers

Juwan Mitchell is far from perfect but his effort level is excellent and his athleticism is surprising at times. Mitchell does a nice job against RBs in one-on-one situations out of the backfield and has been strong and smart against the run on the inside. DeMarvion Overshown continues to improve. His well-timed blitz and sack of the WVU QB in the third quarter set the tone for the rest of the game for the Texas D. Texas also saw some action from David Gbenda who filled in for Overshown in the first half and looked good against the WVU run game.

Grade: A-

Secondary

The absolute lack of pass interference calls against the Horns was a welcome change. But the Horns played a lot more zone against WVU than they did last week, so that should be expected. The Horns failed to win a couple of 50-50 balls that could have changed the momentum of the game. Yet B.J. Foster broke up a TD pass on fourth down and Chris Brown made a bang-bang play on the goal line on another fourth down. Caden Sterns’ lack of outright speed and quickness may have hurt the Horns in a couple of situations but Sterns played well overall. Anthony Cook filled in well for an injured Chris Adimora in the second half. Overall, I’d like to see more plays on the ball and fewer yards gained after the catch than what we witnessed on Saturday.

Grade: B-

Defense

If there’s a single team stat that summarizes the game, it’s the 0-3 mark of West Virginia on fourth down, all of the attempts coming deep in Texas territory. Another strong stat? WVU finished just 6-of-17 on third downs. This WVU offense is far from a juggernaut but Texas held the Mountaineers to just 13 points, and their only TD drive came on the very first drive of the game. It was a mix of excellent play by the Texas DL, solid play from the LB group and big plays from the Texas secondary on fourth downs. Put it all together, and it’s the best overall game by a Texas defense against a quality team in a long, long time.

Grade: A

Special teams

The miss by Cameron Dicker hurt. But Ryan Bujcevski was particularly strong, especially in the first half where two kicks were downed inside the five-yard line. Neither side’s return team did much of anything. Dicker’s miss took points off the board while Bujcevski pinned WVU deep twice.

Grade: C+

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Scipio Tex) 2020 West Virginia Postmortem: Offense

Quote

The Longhorn offense needs a bye week. Sam Ehlinger needs a rest to heal from an assortment of nagging injuries that are compromising his ability to throw. Running the QB a lot and allowing multiple hits in the pocket every week has a cost. And that price is the degradation of that QB’s ability to pass. Right now, Ehlinger's play is testament to that fact. Keaontay Ingram and Joshua Moore need to do some mending of their own.

The Texas OL needs more reps to cohere In a running game direction that they should have been pursuing since August. Finally, the Longhorn staff needs a long reflection on the white board to double down and build out on the things that are working, eliminate some of the nonsense, and do some of the things that a staff with more initiative and less stubbornness would have done in August and September.

Observations:

1. The Longhorn running game broke out man/gap blocking schemes and surprised West Virginia with counters, power, and pulling linemen. Texas racked up 109 yards rushing in the first quarter, including big runs from Bijan Robinson. Texas is simply too poorly coached to execute outside zone and the Longhorn OL and runners are much better in more intuitive man/gap schemes. Texas should be running counter gap, pin n pull, inside zone, and power from here on out. Then building some constraint plays off of them in play action and with jet sweeps. This revelation occurring in November is par for the course for Herman.

2. Longhorn pass protection was relatively good. You can credit a running game with a heartbeat, the ****canning of the idiot play-action slide protection from weeks previous, and good competitiveness from the OL. WVU exploited some Horn protection calls with a pretty simple edge stunt on some 3rd downs, but apocalyptic scenarios where the Stills brothers and WVU’s other pass rushers dominated the Longhorn OL just didn’t happen. The Texas OL won more often than it lost and there were plenty of ties.

3. WR Jake Smith continues to work his way back into rhythm. He can separate and in a Longhorn receiver corps afflicted with separation anxiety, that’s a plus.

4. TE Jared Wiley got the start and the lion’s share of snaps from 11 personnel. That decision should have been made in September, but now he has a chance to grow into the job. If Texas can start running the ball in gap schemes, he’s a big potential target in the seam.

5. Yurcich was able to scheme up multiple open single man shots. They were largely unsuccessful due to Ehlinger’s arm ragging out on him, Texas receivers losing the ball in the sun like they were being strafed by a Japanese Zero, and straight-up drops. Texas actually left quite a bit of offense out on the field. Hit 50% of those throws and Texas wins going away. If, buts, candies, nuts...but I'd rather see the plays there to be made than the alternative.

Texas averaged a very mediocre 5.4 yard per play and gained only 363 yards of offense, but there were real signs of life in the running game and multiple big plays in the passing game that the Longhorns simply couldn't execute against.

QB

Sam is hurt and throwing like it. Football isn’t a video game and a QB can’t take repeated huge shots in the pocket and in the running game without consequence over time. He has been depleted since at least Baylor and every week exacerbates his problems. He missed open receivers on the RPO hitch outside the hash and a wide open Brennan Eagles deep shot, finishing a pedestrian 15 of 31 for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was particularly poor in the 1st half (9 of 18 for 87 yards), but actually threw some good deep balls in the second half that were drops or miscommunications. He was an effective runner from QB power, converting multiple 3rd downs with his legs, but his burst is gone there as well.

Dead legs, dead arm. Beat-up football player gutting it out. If the bye week isn't enough time to get the load reduction he needs, a return date with Kansas may be. Once again the key statistic for Ehlinger that belies his inefficient high-usage box score? Zero turnovers.

RB

What do gap blocking, angle advantage, and pulling linemen offer our OL and RBs? An opportunity.

Bijan opened the game with a 54 yard run, impressed even more with a vicious stiff arm on a 18 yard jaunt on his next carry, and then iced the game late with a 35 yard reception up the sideline. I think we all would have liked to seen more opportunities between those bookends. He finished with 12 carries for 113 yards and 2 catches for 38 yards. I don't think he's ready for 20-25 touches per game, but it's clear that the freshman is our burstiest runner and he responded very well to the new direction in the running game. He didn't have a negative run and even if you remove his 54 yarder, he averaged over 5 yards per carry.

Roschon Johnson disappointed me on a couple of runs. 10-29. Tried too string out too many runs instead of cut and go, which is his forte, and how he has broken every big run he's ever had at Texas.

WR/TE

Eagles dropped a TD pass and pulled up on another potential big gain when he lost the ball in the sun, but finished with a respectable 4-43-1td stat line. He played his body size on a couple of intermediate routes, shielding defenders and breaking tackles, and Sam missed him badly on a wide-open streak route that would have been a 53 yard TD. Josh Moore was injured and held without a catch, but came up with a big fumble recovery.

Jake Smith had a nice 33-yard TD catch on a double move corner/post route where he separated and Sam hit him with the help of excellent pass protection. That’s where Smith excels and Texas should be hunting those matchups with him going forward. Had a fumble. 3-59-1td. Terrible blocking effort on a couple of plays, including the play before his TD. Tarik Black had a nice 21-yard catch from an accurate Ehlinger throw on a post route, but had an egregious drop on an Ehlinger strike on 3rd and 10.

I had hopes for Black as a stabilizing possession receiver, but that just hasn’t happened. Schooler is working his way back into the lineup and he can help us on the perimeter as a blocker. Jared Wiley got the bulk of snaps at TE. He was kept in on a fair number of passing downs to offer a 6 or 7 man protection. Blocking was average, but he’s much better as a move TE coming across the formation to screen or kick out an edge defender than as a hand down TE trying to take on a big defender.

OL

This group is much better suited to man/gap blocking and early Texas success in the running game demonstrated that. It’s a lot more intuitive and allows big athletes to mash on a guy, often with angle advantage. That success in the running game was relatively short-lived once WVU adjusted (Texas rushed for 109 in Q1, 70 over the next three quarters) and Texas didn’t have any adjustments to re-establish early gains, but it’s a direction that Texas should be pursuing going forward. It also gave the WVU defensive front a lot to think about and I don't think it's coincidence that this was their least effective outing of the season. The Stills Brothers had very little game impact.

WVU exploited one of our protections by bringing Tonkery off of the edge next to a WVU DE. Both times, Christian Jones tried to help the guard set his guy before coming off to Tonkery. Both times Tonkery ran right past him. That’s a poorly taught/executed scheme. Jones also had a holding call that hurt us. Probably the best game from the Longhorn interior OL to date.

Overall, this unit gets plaudits for holding up extremely well in 1 on 1 matchups with a WVU DL that had notched 20 sacks coming into this game. They finished with only 1 sack and Ehlinger threw from multiple clean pockets. The unit also showed that they are capable of creating space in the running game if not burdened by a poorly taught scheme. When Texas fans bemoan Longhorn OL talent, games like this should be a wake up call as to our actual potential. Texas only scored 17 points largely because of the skill player’s inability to execute. The Texas OL created plenty of opportunities.

Final Thoughts

Time to rest, think, and recoup. There’s a pretty clear way forward for this offense. Let's see if Texas pursues it.