Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 7)

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Collecting post-game analysis articles regarding the ISU game here:

Cody Daniel: Initial thoughts from No. 22 Texas’ 24-21 win over Iowa State

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Well, a win is a win. That certainly wasn’t the prettiest game we’ve seen the Texas Longhorns play, but they came away win a win to mark their first three-game conference win streak under Steve Sarkisian. Here are a few initial thoughts from the Horns’ 24-21 win over the Cyclones.

Texas found a way to win. At least as far as the record book is concerned, that’s all that matters. A couple weeks ago, Steve Sarkisian said Texas will start believing they can gut out the close wins — something they’ve struggled mightily to do under Sark — when they can actually go out and do it. Seeing — or doing — is believing, as they say. Texas missed on more than its fair share of opportunities today — more on that in a second — while ISU chipped away at Texas’ double-digit lead and ultimately jumped out ahead in the fourth. But in crunch time, Bijan Robinson and the offense recaptured the lead, needing a 4th a Goal conversion to do so, and the defense helped finish the job, forcing a fumble on Iowa State’s potential game-tying or winning drive. In a lot of ways, this one was ugly, but Texas found a way to win by playing a C+ game at best. For this program at this point, that’s significant.

Texas left way too much on the field. This shouldn’t have been a one-score game that Texas needed a late, go-ahead score ad defensive stop to win. The Longhorns squandered some excellent field position, including their first drive starting from ISU’s 21-yard line, had some execution woes on both sides that added points for Iowa State and killed drives for Texas, and just generally couldn’t capitalize at points where the Horns could have turned their lead into a complete command of the game, only to let Iowa State respond. To be sure, Texas managed to overcome all of that to win, but the outcome could have very easily swung the other way, and leaving so many opportunities on the field isn’t a recipe for consistent success. Learn from it and look better the next time out.

Where would Texas be without Bijan Robinson? Today, specifically, they’d be 4-3 and fresh off of a loss to Iowa State. Not that saying Robinson is a special talent is news to anyone, but today only reaffirmed that, especially in some key moments. On Texas’ final drive of the first half, Robinson was his vintage self and tallied 68 total yards to set Texas up to take a 14-7 lead into the break. The next time out, he turned a few touches into 26 more yards to set lead a field goal drive, and later topped that with 35 more yards on Texas’ game-winning touchdown drive. On a day when Roschon Johnson was also exceptional, as usual, Robinson was the star for Texas, turning 28 carries in 135 yards and snagging four receptions for another 36 yards.

Jaylan Ford’s interception changed the game for Texas. Iowa State was in an ideal position to take a 14-0 edge early, but after that pick, momentum swung significantly in Texas’ favor. The Horns responded with a 14-0 run of their own to end the first half up 14-7, and then added another field goal after the break to cap a 17-0 run, and it all started with Ford’s pick. Not to mention, he was also in on what was essentially the game-sealing forced fumble on Hunter Dekkers, though credit for the actual fumble rightly goes to Anthony Cook. So, not too bad for a guy who’s been an incredibly pleasant surprise for the Longhorns this year.

Jordan Whittington finally got into the end zone! The senior has done everything right for the Longhorns this season, leading them with 26 receptions and being just six yards shy of tying Xavier Worthy for the lead in receiving yards. He’s made numerous clutch plays this year, and that includes his remarkable blocking on the outside. But until today, he was yet to see the end zone — that changed on a quick five-yard slant, and Whittington celebrated in style with Bevo. Then, of course, it was only fitting that his day ended with him making the second push on Roschon Johnson to move the chains and set Texas up in victory formation.

It’s only going to get more difficult from here. Next up, the Longhorns will be on the road against No. 8 Oklahoma State to spark a four-game stand against ranked opponents. Texas has already matched last season’s win total and they’ remain firmly in the thick of the Big 12 title race. The competition is going to get better, the atmospheres will get crazier, and the stakes each time out will continue to get higher. Let’s see what these Horns are made of.

Wescott Eberts: Anthony Cook forces fumble to help clinch 24-21 win for the Longhorns

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First quarter

After Texas won the toss and deferred to the second half, Iowa State started out behind the chains early when quarterback Hunter Dekker scrambled for a short gain prior to a false start penalty. A four-yard run set up 3rd and 10 for the Cyclones and Dekkers was forced to check down. And then the Longhorns finally got to another punt as running back Keilan Robinson took it off the foot of the Cyclones punter. Texas had a chance to scoop and score, but had to settle for possession at the Iowa State 21-yard line.

The offense got off to a slow start, however, as a rush for no gain, an incomplete pass, and a short gain by wide receiver Xavier Worthy on a crossing route forced a field-goal attempt by Bert Auburn, who missed from 39 yards.

The Texas defense missed a sack opportunity on a first down play-action pass that resulted in another check down, eventually leading to a stop by the Longhorns on 3rd and 2. Iowa State lined up for a 4th and 1 attempt, but took a delay of game and punted, setting up Texas with good field position at its own 41-yard line.

Despite failing to handle the snap cleanly on first down, Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers hit wide receiver Xavier Worthy on a deep crossing route, but the drive quickly bogged down with a significant loss on outside zone and then a holding penalty on left guard Hayden Conner as Ewers completed another pass. Then Ewers avoided a big mistake when Iowa State blew up a screen, but Ewers threw it backwards for a loose ball he was able to recover.

Iowa State found some rhythm in the passing game with three straight completions, including one by Jaylin Noel that featured a big collision with two Texas defenders. A short run and a snap infraction slowed the momentum for the Cyclones, ultimately forcing a timeout. Iowa State was able to convert a third and long with an 11-yard pass to enter the Texas red zone. A keep from Dekkers on a zone read set up 3rd and 2 and Keondre Coburn jumped offside on a hard count to give the Cyclones a first down deep in Longhorns territory. Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell saved a delay of game penalty by taking his second timeout of the half before two run stuffs by Texas preceded a blown coverage on third down that produced a five-yard touchdown catch by Noel.

The Longhorns finally produced a positive running play with a gap scheme to gain seven yards to start the drive, then Ewers found tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for an 18-yard gain on a catch that showed off the impressive hands of Sanders. But just before the first quarter ended, running back Bijan Robinson showed off his own strong hands on a check down that resulted in a six-yard loss and put the Longhorns behind the chains again.

Second quarter

Two running plays allowed the Longhorns to attempt a 4th and 3 conversion, but Ewers missed wide receiver Casey Cain on a potential touchdown, throwing the ball too far to the sideline for Cain to adjust to it.

Iowa State continued to gain yards through the air, completing two passes for 27 total yards as Texas cornerback Ryan Watts went down with an injury to his left shoulder on his seventh tackle of the game. The Longhorns appeared to get a stop on third down, but cornerback D’Shawn Jamison was lined up in the neutral zone. With Iowa State deep in Texas territory again, defensive tackle Alfred Collins picked up a tackle for loss to force another third down and linebacker Jaylan Ford came up with a massive interception in the end zone to avoid a 14-0 deficit.

The offense quickly bogged down again with a short rush on first down and Ewers failing to connect with Cain again, this time when the wide receiver stumbled during his route. Facing 3rd and 8, Texas took its first timeout of the first half and Ewers was able to complete a pass to Sanders under pressure, a play extended on a roughing the passer penalty. Wide receiver Jordan Whittington converted another third down as the Texas offense started to move the ball for the first time, then gaining a first down on two runs by Robinson. Worthy completed the nine-play, 80-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown catch on a nice throw from Ewers.

After a big hit by Texas running back Roschon Johnson on kickoff coverage, Noel dropped two passes to start the drive, but a catch by wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson moved the chains. Another incomplete pass and a short run put the Cyclones into another third and long situation and Iowa State opted to punt after a six-yard completion on 3rd and 8.

Robinson finally got loose to start the ensuing Texas drive, gaining 25 yards on first down, Ewers checked down to Sanders for a six-yard gain, and Robinson moved the chains with his own check-down catch. The patient, run-heavy drive started to draw on the clock as Sarkisian called a timeout with 32 seconds remaining facing a 1st and 10 from the Iowa State 35-yard line. Split out in the slot, Robinson caught a 25-yard pass from Ewers on a beautiful extended catch.

Capitalizing on the important drive before halftime, Whittington caught his first touchdown of the season on a well-executed slant route and celebrated with Bevo, whom he’d told before the game that he was finally going to score a touchdown on Saturday.

Third quarter

A long kickoff return by Keilan Robinson was negated due to a hold called on safety Michael Taaffe, but Bijan Robinson continued to find more holes and continued to make defenders miss. Ewers then connected on his seventh consecutive pass and Johnson came in to gain more positive yards with a nine-yard run on first down before moving the chains on second down. Robinson subsequently came close to breaking a long run before a potentially touchdown-saving tackle. Texas continued moving the ball on the ground into the Iowa State red zone, where the drive stalled after some physical play by Iowa State defensive backs that prompted consecutive calls for flags by Longhorn receivers. Auburn came through, however, hitting from 31 yards to make it 17-7.

A dropped pass and a misfire from Dekkers forced a 3rd and 10, but another completion from a bunch formation to Hutchinson produced a first down. Hutchinson then beat Texas safety Jerrin Thompson for another chunk gain and some momentum for Iowa State. A second-down sack by Longhorns defensive lineman Moro Ojomo stalled the rhythm and forced a missed 46-yard field goal attempt by Jace Gilbert.

Texas went three and out on offense and a 31-yard punt by Daniel Trejo failed to flip field position in favor of the Longhorns and allowed the Cyclones offense another chance to reduce the 10-point deficit. It only took two plays for Iowa State to take advantage when Noel ran away from backup cornerback Austin Jordan on 2nd and 2, eventually scoring from 58 yards when Cook ran himself out of the play biting on the play-action fake. It was the longest passing play given up by the Longhorns this season.

With Ewers rolling out of the pocket and Iowa State busting a coverage, Cain was wide open for a potential touchdown, but dropped the ball, stalling the drive, which ended quickly thereafter. Despite getting Iowa State into third and long once again, Texas once again gave up a conversion with a completion over the middle in front of coverage, ending the third quarter.

Fourth quarter

Taking advantage of cornerback Terrence Brooks on 3rd and 13, Dekkers connected with Hutchinson for a 21-yard gain into the Texas red zone. On 3rd and 9, Dekkers couldn’t find a wide receiver, but did find a crease in the Longhorns man coverage and ran for an 11-yard touchdown to take the lead, 21-17.

The running game picked up again to start a crucial drive with Robinson and Johnson picking up solid yardage to get well into Iowa State territory on four strong efforts. The Cyclones finally got two stops as the Longhorns faced a critical 3rd and 6, on which Sarkisian dialed up a running back screen that gained 13 yards. On 1st and goal, Johnson trucked a defender to get down near the goal line. Breaking tackles, Robinson got down to the 1-yard line, but got stuffed on third down, drawing a timeout from Sarkisian. After the break, Worthy beat his defender on a pivot route to secure the lead once again, 24-21.

A third-down stop by Texas in Longhorns territory produced a 4th and 2. The Cyclones went back to its star, Hutchinson, who was able to create separation from a rub route, but on the following play, Hutchinson broke stride on a busted coverage and dropped a diving catch attempt instead of possibly catching the ball in stride and scoring. After another incompletion, Campbell called timeout facing 3rd and 10 in four-down territory. Against soft zone coverage, Hutchinson converted over the middle. On the next play, Dekkers was hit on a run by Cook, knocking the ball loose and resulting in a recovery by Texas. Replay checked to see if the knee of Dekkers was down, but the ruling on the field stood for the first fumble recovery by the Horns this season.

Two runs by Robinson and one by Johnson forced Iowa State to burn its final timeouts before Texas picked up the critical first down to set up the victory formation for the Longhorns, who picked up the 24-21 win to end the losing streak against the Cyclones.

 

[satyanash 15624]

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Texas runs through the Flyover D

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Iowa State’s defense is designed to invite runs, only to spring a trap in the form of big, thick linebackers backed by big, downhill safeties all closing on what appeared to be running lanes. Yet the pass over the top is hard to come by because of their three-deep safety shell. Tom Herman’s Texas Longhorns always wanted to find a way to spread them out well enough to run the ball, only to repeatedly fail. Steve Sarkisian seems to have figured out the art.

Bijan Robinson had 28 carries for 135 yards at 4.8 ypc while Roschon Jonson added 11 carries for 71 yards at 6.5 ypc, including the game-winning yardage on the final 3rd-and-1 after being hit in the backfield (props also to Jordan Whittington for the Bush-push). All told? 43 carries for 191 yards at 4.4 ypc and amusingly all the actual touchdowns came from Quinn Ewers flipping the ball in.

Texas’ ability to run the ball, particularly in the second half, was massive in this contest. The defense was struggling badly with Iowa State’s dropback passing game and avoiding another game where the Cyclones could repeatedly take the ball down the field was very helpful. More helpful still? A couple of game-winning turnovers forced by the defense to erase their misdeeds. Here are the standout themes from Texas’ narrow win at home.

Quick thought no. 1: Texas’ D saved their own bacon with turnovers

The Horns played hard and physical on defense in this game, which was extremely important because they didn’t play particularly smart. The Iowa State passing game was chewing them up for several parts of the game, especially on 3rd down (more on that later) but Texas killed two potential scoring drives with turnovers, both involving Mike linebacker Jaylan Ford.

First the Texas backer let Cyclone quarterback Hunter Dekkers‘ eyes take him to the ball on the goal line and he undercut a poor decision to force a slant into coverage at the goal line. The game flipped here. Iowa State hadn’t been dominating, but they were up 7-0 with a chance to get to 10-0 or 14-0 and instead had a good drive end with zero points. Texas responded with a touchdown drive on offense and took over the game until late in the 3rd quarter when the Cyclone passing game took over again.

Texas won the game on a Jaylan Ford fumble recovery. Major credit goes to Anthony Cook who came downhill violently and launched his shoulder on the ball without incurring a targeting penalty to force a fumble on a Dekkers zone-read keeper around the edge. Matt Campbell was beyond furious with the lack of a targeting call and review showed the ball coming out in the nano-seconds before Dekkers’ knee hit. However, Cook lead with his elbow on the ball, it was a violent yet precise hit to save the game.

Texas missed Cook in the middle of the game when he was out for Kitan Crawford for some reason, more on that in the next section. He finished with three tackles. Ford lead the team, as customary, with eight tackles in addition to the two turnovers.

Quick thought no. 2: 3rd down thrashing

With a victory safe in the books, the big focus on this game is going to be around the atrocious defensive performance (again!) on 3rd down. Iowa State was 9-15 on 3rd down for the game, an outrageous 60%, and nearly had the game in hand as a result if not for their turnovers.

If the math above is confusing, note that completing a pass on 3rd down doesn’t guarantee a conversion. It can help set up 4th down though, where Iowa State was 1-1. There were a number of issues for Texas in this game in those “money down” situations. Their coordination on coverages between players was often atrocious. Before the fumble the Cyclones erased the mistake of a near-touchdown to a wide open Xavier Hutchinson which was dropped by getting the receiver wide open on the following 3rd down. Texas’ nickel Jahdae Barron literally just traded him off on a crossing route to absolutely no one.

There were some confounding factors as well. Star boundary cornerback Ryan Watts left the game early with a shoulder injury and one of his back-ups (Austin Jordan) got beat on a RPO glance route for a 54-yard touchdown. Curiously there was no help inside from him. Cook may or may not have been responsible for the lack of help and was not seen again until the final drive where he atoned for any mistakes he’d made earlier with the forced fumble.

Cook’s back-up Crawford struggled mightily with his assignment in Texas’ bunch formation coverage checks, which routinely had Iowa State receivers running wide open. It was a hideous game with Texas routinely springing leaks in coverage, usually at the worst times. Dekkers finished the game 25-36 for 329 yards at 9.1 ypa with two touchdowns and a rushing touchdown to boot.

Quick thought no. 3: Sark’s unbalanced sets

The other trick to attacking the Flyover defense, which Mike Gundy routinely employs, is to mix in a lot of unbalanced formations. Iowa State’s 3-3-5 has to distort itself to handle unbalanced sets in ways which can often eliminate the advantages it otherwise creates for its defenders in allowing them to outnumber the offense all over the field.

Texas used a ton of 4×0 sets, with every skill player except the running back, aligned to one side of the field and covering up a tight end to make him ineligible as a receiver. So you lose the ability to throw to someone, usually Gunnar Helm or Andrej Karic, and you gain some leverage on the Cyclone defense. For Texas that was a great trade to make.

The long drive to take the lead in which Texas ran the ball for 72 yards until Ewers punctuated the drive with a fourth down touchdown toss to Xavier Worthy included repeated use of the 4×0 formations. Here’s play-action from the 4×0 set:

They made hay running counter or weak outside zone at the “zero” side where Iowa State would have a cornerback involved in defending the point of attack. They also hammered the Cyclones with “Duo” throughout the game from the double tight end sets. Great job by Sark to find and land on a gameplan which took pressure for winning the game off Ewers while helping the run game to get established. Texas’ chances to run the table down the stretch in this league are going to involve the offensive line continuing to improve so they can hammer increasingly worn down opponents with the run game as the weather cools down.

We should see the “Ezekiel’s wheel” RPO play with a wheel and flat route out of the backfield come back in future weeks as well. Iowa State’s drop 8 coverages allowed them to defend it without overloading their flat defender. Texas ran it unsuccessfully on the first two plays of the game and mostly shelved it for the rest of the game with a few exceptions.

Quick thought no. 4: Texas’ passing game

A really interesting and mixed day for the Longhorn passing game. Ewers avoided interceptions but also “fumbled” early when he tried to kill a busted screen play and then realized he’d thrown the ball backwards to do so and had to dive on the ball to avoid a turnover.

On an early 4th-and-3 Texas cleverly dialed up a slot fade to Casey Cain. Those short-yardage plays on 3rd and 4th down are an IDEAL time to take a shot at the end zone. You’re never going to get an easier coverage to beat then in those moments when the defense is banking on you playing for the line to gain instead of the end zone. Sure enough, Cain broke wide open, but an errant pass (into the wind) fell incomplete and an opportunity was wasted. Cain would later be hit on a wide open route down the field and bobbled the ball while looking downfield to maximize.

Ewers hit this amazing play by Bijan Robinson…

…and also hit an RPO to Whittington for the senior’s first touchdown of the year and this whip route to Worthy for the winning score.

Overall Ewers was 17-26 for 172 yards at 6.6 ypa with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. It was noted in fall camp he was named starter after a strong performance on the goal line in a practice. Ewers definitely made good there in helping Texas punch the ball in, otherwise the passing game didn’t hit their ceiling in this game and it was the rushing attack which carried the day.

This is only the second game Ewers has quarterbacked for Texas where he didn’t get several extra weeks of prep like he did against Alabama and Oklahoma. It was a good performance but less than the superstar show we saw more glimpses of early against Alabama or in the Red River Shutout. Props in this game to Whittington, who continues to block and excel underneath, and Worthy who demonstrated a greater range of skills with his speed than just running by people down the field.

Quick thought no. 5: Survive and advance

This was an ugly win by Texas. Their 3rd down coverage weakness has never looked worse, some of the defensive substitutions were confusing, and they blew a lot of opportunities overall to blow this game open and avoid a tight finish.

They’ve got probably the nastiest game of the year next week visiting Stillwater to play Oklahoma State (currently leading TCU 14-7 as of this writing) and then they’ll get a bye week to rethink or shore up some things on defense. Winning this game was huge for giving them margin for error to potentially drop the road game in Stillwater and still be in contention for the Big 12 Championship Game.

Sark’s Horns still have a lot of untapped upside on offense and could potentially win out simply by out-scoring everyone left on the schedule. They’d be well served though by rethinking their 3rd down game planning. I’d suggest they’re doing too much and would be better off trying to match the Gary Patterson TCU method of simply clamping down everything from tight, two-high coverage, perhaps with a safety subbed in at linebacker (not Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey, who lacks speed for those situations), while using line stunts to help the pass-rush.

A young team in a tough league was always likely to lose some games they shouldn’t. It was a bit of a moral victory for Texas not to blow this one and have a chance to shore up some weak spots to avoid another similar game.

 

[LTtxfan 50007]

Postgame...  Bobby and Rod Babers

 

[satyanash 15624]

Joke Cook: Thanks to key playmakers, and some fortunate bounces, Longhorns overcome subpar performance versus Iowa State

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After a quarter of play in its matchup with Iowa State, it was evident Texas was not playing at its best. The same applied at halftime, and even after three quarters. A week after a systematic destruction of a seemingly rudderless Oklahoma program, Texas wasn’t firing on anything close to all cylinders at home versus the Cyclones.

Receivers dropped open passes. At one point, Texas faced a 3rd-and-40. Quinn Ewers returned back to earth. The Longhorns had a moderate amount of success on offense against the Cyclone defense, one of the best in the conference. But an effective ISU passing attack uncharacteristically led by Hunter Dekkers had ISU in position to win its fourth straight over the Longhorns.

Texas was locked in a tight matchup and had to defend a second-half lead, a regular occurrence for this team. Keeping those leads aren’t as common. Plus, Saturday was the type of contest Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said they probably would have lost last year. But that was last year. This time, the Longhorns relied on key playmakers to overcome a subpar showing and defeat Iowa State, 24-21.

Dekkers was uncharacteristically brilliant through the air, completing 25-of-36 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns, even rushing for one. He helped Iowa State score a touchdown for the first time since October 1, and sliced the Longhorn defense on money downs. ISU was 9-of-15 on third down despite an average distance to gain of 8.2 yards. Dekkers himself was 11-of-12 for 118 yards and a score on third down, with his rushing TD coming on a third-down play, too.

The pivotal play of the game? It came on first down. Late in the fourth quarter after ISU’s ninth conversion of the game, Dekkers moved under center. He was trying to put his team in position to either tie or take the lead from the Longhorns, who were up 24-21 at the time. Dekkers took the ball, ran left, but was pummeled by Anthony Cook. The ball came loose, and Jaylan Ford jumped on it to stifle the threat.

The Longhorns then rushed for a first down, and ended the game with possession to seal Texas’ fifth win of the year. Sarkisian relied on Ford and Cook, two of his defense’s most consistent playmakers, to help Texas’ winning effort. Ford had eight tackles and a first-quarter interception that stopped what looked like a scoring drive in its tracks. Cook had three tackles and forced the all-important fumble.

On offense, Sarkisian looked to his consistent players, Roschon Johnson and Bijan Robinson, to help lead his team to victory. That’s exactly what they did. ISU held a 21-17 lead with 10:58 left in the game. The Longhorns needed to construct a drive against a style of defense that has given Sarkisian fits in recent years.

Texas went on a 75-yard scoring drive where Robinson and Johnson accounted for 72 of the yards. The Longhorn offensive line moved defenders out of the way for Texas’ rushers to find yardage. The duo tallied runs of 14, 14, 16, and 13 yards to move into a first and goal situation.

It eventually became fourth and goal, and Texas needed only three more yards to retake the lead and give themselves a chance to overcome a poor performance. While they didn’t look to Robinson or Johnson, the Longhorns looked to their star receiver. Ewers found Xavier Worthy 1-on-1 by the near pylon for his second touchdown of the day to make it 24-21.

Those were the plays Texas made. Just as important were some the Cyclones failed to make. Star wideout Xavier Hutchinson had a strong day for the Cyclones, catching 10 passes for 154 yards. It was the catch he didn’t haul in that helped Texas the most. Texas’ defense was nowhere near a streaking Hutchinson on a first-down play near midfield while the Cyclones were on their final drive. Dekkers delivered an on-target pass to hit him in stride, but the normally sure-handed receiver dropped the ball upon hitting the ground.

Also important was the third-down run that sealed the game. Johnson was met by a handful of Cyclone defenders near the line of scrimmage, but Jordan Whittington, who scored his touchdown of the season earlier in the contest, boosted Johnson past the line to gain for the clinching first down.

Would last year’s team have won this game? Last year’s team wasn’t even competitive in this game. This year’s team didn’t provide a consistent performance in all three phases, likely their worst in a win this year. But thanks to the team’s playmakers on both sides of the ball, and a little luck Texas hasn’t been the fortunate recipient of in the past few years, the Longhorns were able to overcome a subpar performance and still earn that win.

 

[satyanash 15624]

Justin Wells: What Texas players said after the Longhorns' 24-21 win over Iowa State

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What a handful of Texas Longhorns players had to say after No. 22 Texas’ 24-21 win over Iowa State at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, the third straight win for the Horns.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers: “Coming off a week like we had last week and everybody telling us how good we are, sometimes it’s hard to regroup. I mean, we went through a lot of adversity and it finally started clicking on that last drive. Cool to see the offensive line, the running backs and receivers fight. It’s a good team win overall.”

Texas running back Bijan Robinson, on his hands: “You know, ever since Coach Sark said that Ja’Tavion (Sanders) had better hands than me, I took it a little personal. Every single day, with coach (Tashard) Choice after practice, and all the running backs, we do ball drills. Drills just for our hands and seeing the ball better. I’m coming for any catch titles that y’all have.”

Texas running back Roschon Johnson, after his smashing hit on special teams: “I’ve been telling the defensive coaches I can play on that side of the ball too!”

Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford: “I thought Coach Sark made a good emphasis that we finally feel like we’ve built the culture that we want around here. I don’t want to talk too much about last year but this year, we showed that, you know what we got going around here is good. It’s looking good and so I’m really proud of my guys.”

Ford, on his breakout season: “For me, I just think it was just trusting myself and my abilities, my coaches, my strength staff, because Coach Sark and all of them are in my corner. They just told me I’m a really good player and that I need to just believe in myself, go out there and play and not think too much. I worked on a lot of things in the offseason and I think it’s really paid off. Now, I’m just able to just play and make plays.”

Texas safety Anthony Cook, on how this team might have reacted last year: “I feel like it really just shows the maturity of our team, you know what I mean? Because Coach Sark was talking to us and just telling us like, a year ago, he felt maybe it would have been a different outcome. But just to see the resilience in our team, to fight back, and give us something that we’ll build on for next week.”

Cook, on new team mindset and the final defensive series: “Honestly, I’ll probably just say a different mentality. The whole defense knew what time it was, we knew if we got the stop, that most likely was the game. Leaders came together.”

 

[satyanash 15624]

(Scipio Tex) 2022 Iowa State Post Mortem: Offense

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The Texas offense probably played better than the box score suggests against a quality Cyclone defensive unit. That’s despite an ugly start and plenty of unforced errors. The Texas offense was thoroughly outplayed and out-coached in the first quarter, notably failing to turn a blocked punt into any points, but as the game wore on, Texas won the game by stubbornly pounding the rock and by throwing it effectively inside the red zone. There were a couple of big passing plays available in each half that might have broken open the game, but Quinn Ewers couldn’t connect with a wide open Casey Cain for a touchdown on a crucial 4th and 3 in the 2nd quarter and a wide open Cain returned the favor in the 3rd quarter dropping a perfectly thrown ball with Texas up 17-14 that would have resulted in a 58 yard touchdown and a double digit lead.

After a miserable pair of opening drives where Texas netted -2 yards on 8 plays, it’s worth noting that the next four drives went as follows:

6-33 Downs

9-80 TD

9-80 TD

13-75 FG

If Casey and Ewers connect on the wide open 4th and 3 pass that ended in downs, Texas is up 24-7 in the early third quarter. Texas sputtered on the next two third quarter drives as they got away from success and Iowa State made a few good plays, but the Horns got it together in the final period for a game-winning 11 play, 75 yard touchdown drive that saddled Bijan, Roschon (they accounted for 72 of 75 yards) and the Longhorn offensive line to dominate Iowa State until they reached the shadow of the goal line. After the Cyclones stiffened, Ewers and Worthy connected on a clutch 4th and goal jerk route for the eventual margin of victory.

Texas then iced the game hammering the running game (a fine RoJo/Whittington combo effort converting a crucial 3rd and 1) before taking two knees in victory formation.

One concern that I expressed in my preview was the Horns not getting enough drives to acclimatize to and wear down the Iowa State defense. Texas had only nine meaningful offensive possessions in the game. After an atrocious pair of 1st quarter possessions, they scored on 4 of the next 7 drives, with two of those drives failing due to the QB or WR bungling wide open touchdowns. In a parallel world somewhere, Texas hits those plays and wins comfortably putting up 35-38 points and Texas fans are raving about their high octane offense instead of sweating the final plays of a nail biter.

That the Texas offense played stretches of C level football and still managed to control the game late against what is likely the best defense in the league is a positive if the team takes away the right message from it. I like that Sark found success in the running game and stuck with it to win when so many other offensive play callers would have tried to dial up the sporadically open balls that kept tantalizing Texas throughout the game.

QB

Weird game for Quinn. In the second half, he threw for only 50 yards on 12 passing attempts. He was largely terrific in the red zone throwing the ball, though he wasn’t patient enough on an open Whittington opportunity earlier in the game. He also committed no turnovers, despite his best attempt at manufacturing one early on an attempted turf “lateral” to Bijan. This is a quality throw to Worthy on a defender with his back to the ball:

 He also threw the ball well to the intermediate sideline throughout the game. Something he also showed against Oklahoma. He can certainly layer it. The rest of it ranged from average to poor. He can play a lot better and he’ll need to if Texas wants to win in Stillwater and Manhattan. If 17 of 26 for 172 yards and 3 touchdowns passing with no interceptions and two long touchdown passes left out on the field is a falling-back-to-earth performance from a freshman signal caller, I suppose we’re recalibrating a lot about what good looks like.

RB

Fantastic, tough effort. They put the offense on their backs and made it happen. I don’t think we realize how lucky we are to have Bijan and Roschon. They combined for 206 yards on 39 carries with Bijan adding another 36 yards on 4 catches. Including this grab:

They also did it the hard way, doling out more punishment than they got. Their longest run of the game went for only 25 yards and they repeatedly maximized runs to keep Texas ahead of the chains, eventually imposing their wills on the game-winning drive. Roschon also added another victim to his truck total by leveling ISU safety Anthony Johnson. Add it to the board.

WR/TE

Xavier Worthy played a strong game, coming up with two touchdowns and demonstrating sure hands throughout. He also got PI’d a couple of times on what could have been really big plays. Whittington finally scored, but was less of a focus as the Horns struggled to find him in the seams or on intermediate routes. Sanders chipped in with 37 yards on 3 catches but Iowa State completely shut down his verticals up the seam and also seemed take away his layered RPO game on the edge. Andre Karic struggled early blocking, twice allowing Cyclone defensive ends to close down on interior runs. Casey Cain had an easy TD drop that you just can’t have. Effort wasn’t optimal on some other plays. We saw more Milton as the game went on, but no production to show for it.

OL

A slow start until they settled in and got their legs against Iowa State’s movement and run support angles. After that halting start, I thought they largely won at the line of scrimmage. Ewers had clean pockets, they controlled ISU’s excellent edge rushers and Texas surrendered zero sacks with only four tackles for loss. Add in the 4th quarter run game victories and this was a winning performance overall. The first four runs on the game winning possession went 5, 14, 14, 16. That can’t happen without their effort. For a little context, consider that in 2021, the Iowa State defense had 7 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and 3 forced fumbles. In 2020, they had 6 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, a forced fumble. 2022? 4 tackles for loss, no sacks, no forced fumbles. The youngest offensive line in the Big 12 handled a complex scheme well. We’re now at three weeks in a row where the OL struggles early and then settles in and performs. This looks to be a trend.

Final

Iowa State now has the unenviable honor of being the best 0-4 conference record team in Big 12 history and Texas got a win against a very game opponent when the Horns brought something less than their best execution. Texas learned some things about itself on offense. What the Horns do with those lessons will play a huge role in how the season finishes.

 

[CurlyDumps 4662]

 

 

[satyanash 15624]

(Scipio Tex) 2022 Iowa State Post Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

Quote

Pete Kwiatkowski owes Anthony Cook an ice cream and a gift certificate to Massage Envy.

Cook’s outstanding forced fumble hit on Hunter Dekkers with 2:09 left in the game on the Longhorn 32 yard line with Texas tenuously holding on to a three point lead saved the game and the defensive coaching staff from possibly having to Uber home. At that stage of the game, the Longhorn defense was crumbling and Iowa State had converted the chains into a new set of downs six times in a row, including converting 3rd and 13, 3rd and 10, 3rd and 8 (twice). The others were 3rd and 5 and 4th and 2. They also had their best player drop a wide open touchdown pass on a busted coverage where the closest Longhorn defender, Jerrin Thompson, was in San Marcos. Without Dekkers getting cold Cooked, Iowa State would have methodically drained the clock and scored a game winning touchdown. Probably on a 3rd and 10.

However, since Anthony Cook forced that fumble and Jaylan Ford caught an earlier Dekkers brain freeze interception in the end zone and Texas won, I probably should write some platitudes about the defense doing enough to win and go watch NFL games. Nah. There are three issues here:

First, the seeming indifference of the game plan to the small handful of things that Iowa State can do on offense was odd. Shades of Lubbock. Solve ISU on Tuesday and you don’t need to worry much about Saturday. Texas isn’t dominant enough to just roll out the football and play. Opponents with glaring weaknesses need to exploited, not endured. Further, Texas has high IQ starting safeties and a massive advantage on the interior. Doubling or shading a key wide receiver on 3rd and 10 is not football chess. It’s barely checkers. Further, if the pass rush isn’t getting home, add defenders to the pass defense and deny Dekkers his rhythm security blankets. When he turns to Page 2 and starts to improvise from the pocket, bad things happen to him. Make him demonstrate his shaky skills. Don’t allow him his demonstrated ones.

Surrendering 21 points seems eminently reasonable in a modern football game, but that doesn’t adjust for the quality of the Cyclone offense, the number of possessions in the game, or the multiple unforced Cyclone errors that left points on the field. Could Texas have scored 35 on offense with better breaks? You bet. As could Iowa State. The Cyclone scored their first touchdown on a busted coverage where the Horns didn’t cover the motion man. The second touchdown was a simple RPO slant on Austin Jordan where the entire 2nd and 3rd level jumped the fake and left the middle of the field wide open. The backside safety also took a weird angle to cover a referee. What should be a twelve yard gain or a pass break up turned into a 54 yard score. The third touchdown was an 11-yard Dekkers scramble up the middle on goal to go when Sweat lost his lane discipline and Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey watched and took a late angle that made Descartes roll over in his grave. Iowa State converted 3rd and 2, 3rd and 13, 3rd and 8 on that drive.

Texas could take away ISU’s entire running game simply by lining up in an honest box and letting the interior defensive line own the line of scrimmage while Ford cleaned up the trash. ISU was a one dimensional team from the opening kickoff and Texas showed little ability to parlay dominance in one facet of the game to stifle an Iowa State passing game that is near the league bottom in overall efficiency.

Iowa State’s total dominance on key downs was perplexing given their inability to run the ball against the Texas interior line and given the frequency with which they found themselves in 3rd and long. The Cyclones converted 10 of 16 on money downs (62.5%), a season high not seen since their season opener against the pride of the Ohio Valley conference, Southeast Missouri State. ISU converted those third and longs in two predictable ways: throwing to an open receiver from a trips bunch formation on smash or brush routes and/or finding Xavier Hutchinson in single coverage or drifting into open space between closely guarded grass in zone. The Horns also gave them two new sets of downs with offsides penalties. Hunter Dekkers also operated from a pristine pocket, which he has not done all year save against…Southeast Missouri State.

Finally, the Longhorns exhibited odd substitution patterns that predated Ryan Watts going out with a stinger. While Watts going out certainly hurt Texas (he already had 7 tackles), Iowa State was attacking the Longhorn coverage scheme and open space. Not individual players per se. The secondary is the offensive line of the defense. They thrive on cohesion, communication and reps. Mass substitutions of inexperienced or lesser players all at once makes little sense. You stagger subs and I didn’t see any Longhorn defenders gasping for air after defending six Iowa State plays on their first two possessions. On the third and fourth mass sub possessions, ISU drove 84 yards for a TD and then 53 yards before the Ford INT.

Hunter Dekkers had a career day going 25 of 36 for 329 yards while adding three total touchdowns with two turnovers. He was sacked only once. He averaged 9.1 yards per attempt and 13.2 yards per completion. Interestingly, against three other Big 12 opponents – Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State – Dekkers averaged only 6.3 yards per attempt, just over 10 yards per completion, threw for only three touchdowns and three picks, and was sacked 11 times, including five against Kansas. Texas is the clear outlier against the Cyclone passing game.

DL

The edges got no pressure and allowed Dekkers to leave the pocket several times. The interior defensive line dominated on run downs but made little impact as pass rushers. If you’re not getting pressure, lane discipline becomes important – keep Dekkers in the pocket and play coverages that force him off his first read. That’s what Kansas State did and Dekkers averaged around 5 yards per attempt in that game while totaling 198 yards through the air.

LB

Ford played really well inside against the run. The interception was a present, but plenty of linebackers can’t unwrap the gift. Overshown had some flashes early and pursued well but is becoming a surprisingly non-useful player on passing downs. He stands and watches in his “drop”, delay blitzes into a blocker, or comes flying off of the edge too late to impact the play. Given Overshown’s agility and length, it’s hard to imagine not finding him work on robber concepts or letting him shadow the QB while Texas runs line stunts to get pressure. Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey played poorly. He sought blocking and is slow to react to open-ended situations. See the Dekkers touchdown scramble.

DB

 

Several busted coverages, which is odd given that Iowa State’s passing offense isn’t brimming with options and 8th graders run smash route concepts. It looked like a secondary that wasn’t well prepared for the ISU Trips Bunch formation, brush routes, in/out cut combos, or Xavier Hutchinson as WR #1. As the game progressed, confusion increased and performance worsened. Ryan Watts was playing well before his injury, but losing a cornerback should generally be an individual match up problem, not degrade the entire secondary’s recognition of how they’re being attacked. D’shawn Jamison was OK. Kitan Crawford is Danger, Will Robinson because he’s Lost in Space. Anthony Cook was not on the field for long stretches before coming back late and winning the game. I don’t know why. Reliable Jerrin Thompson had his least impactful game to date. Jahdae Barron played well at nickel and then was later pressed into action at cornerback. Austin Jordan was put in a tough spot and his technique completely fell apart on the slant touchdown, but that was as much a team breakdown as individual fault.

Special Teams

Keilan Robinson blocked a punt (and a took a foot in the gut) while kick coverage was terrific. Roschon Johnson brought us this gem of form tackling.

Final

The defense didn’t perform well against a limited offense despite dominating the line of scrimmage. Texas will face another offense with some real personnel limitations this Saturday led by a feast or famine QB with a knack for making plays off schedule.

Bobby Burton: It starts with Oklahoma State

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A good process doesn’t ensure good results. Neither does a good culture. But both help sustain success, providing resiliency in the face of adversity. Confidence helps, too. The Horns are riding a three-game conference winning streak. But the stretch of these next three games, beginning with Oklahoma State this coming weekend, will test all of that. The Horns’ next three games - Oklahoma State, Kansas State and TCU, in order - are all against higher-ranked opponents. And the first two are on the road. While Texas is currently riding a three-game conference win streak for the first time since 2020, the rest of the season hangs in the balance.

**

The trip to Stillwater comes first. As usual, Mike Gundy has a capable offense and a relatively stingy and opportunistic defense. Sure, that defense was uncharacteristically shredded on Saturday, but it’s clear TCU has one of the nation’s best offenses. And even a hobbled Spencer Sanders still steered the Cowboys’ offense to 30 points in regulation. These next three games will tell us just how Texas stacks up, just how much Texas has improved since last season. Is it enough to compete for the Big 12 title or are the Horns still lagging? Perhaps improved culture, a dedication to the process and confidence can all play a role.

 

[texifornia 59017]

 

[Duane Moore 5757]

That Scipio post-mortem on the defense is so frustrating. 

[Valmy77 13626]

2 hours ago, texifornia said:

 

What the hell Iowa State? You finally turn the tables on us and win 3 out of 4 times and NOW you want us to leave the conference?

What do you have to do to win people over? Besides even if the ref did blow the call, I don't think he did nor do I think this was textbook targeting, that has nothing to do with us. That is the refs in the conference you are staying in.