Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 12)

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

Cody Daniel: Initial thoughts from Texas’ 55-14 win over Kansas

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Texas absolutely needed a win in hopes of ultimately ending their season on a high note, and they got that in a big way on Saturday, steamrolling Kansas, 55-14. Here are a few initial thoughts from the Longhorns’ bounce-back win over the Jayhawks.

That was certainly the way to bounce back. After a potentially deflating loss last week that saw Texas lose control of its Big 12 destiny, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see a bit of a hangover performance from the Horns on the road in the cold in a less-than-exciting environment. Instead, it was all Texas from the start, despite the absence of a passing game as the Longhorns cruised to a comfortable 41-0 lead before Kansas finally scored and Texas starting introducing backups. With a chance to close the regular season right on par with preseason expectations, this was the kind of showing that can help build the necessary confidence for the Horns to close strong.

Bijan Robinson. Special. I’m sure I’ve said that time and time again, but as his time as a Longhorn is likely dwindling to just one or two more games, you can’t do anything but appreciate the special talent No. 5 is for the Longhorns. 25 carries for career highs in yards and touchdowns with 243 and four, respectively. Today’s career-best effort now bring’s gives Robinson 1,401 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns as part of a sensational season. If we do only get to see Bijan in burnt orange one more time, he’s undoubtedly one of the best Longhorns to do it at running back, and games like his in Lawrence are a prime example of that.

I wonder how much confidence Sark has in Quinn Ewers right now. The emphasis in this one was going to be the great game, and that was only bolstered by Texas and specifically, Bijan Robinson’s success running the ball, but this seemed to be the most conservative play-calling we’ve seen from Sark for his freshman QB. Ewers attempted just 21 attempts, completing a pedestrian 12 of them for 102 yards and one touchdown, and almost all of his passes were in the short to intermediate range — off the top of my head, I can’t actually think of a single deep strike on Saturday. Given that we haven’t seen Ewers look the part since the OU game, I can’t help but wonder how much confidence Sark has in Ewers at this late stage in the season, and the play-calling might be reflecting that.

Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense continues to shine. Until the point when Texas started letting quite a few backups get some run, the Longhorns’ defense was pitching a shutout against a KU offense that’s scored 30-plus six times this season. And not to mention, PK’s unit is showing such substantial improvement despite having some holes at key positions — primarily at safety. I was pretty critical of PK’s defense in Year 1, and they’ve absolutely shut me up this season.

It’s time to close the season in a fashion Texas can be proud of and build upon. Likely finishing on the outside of the Big 12 title picture looking in isn’t the ideal finish Texas had in mind, but they’re now returning home with an opportunity to close the regular season at 8-4 with the bowl game still looming. There’s a lot of football still to be played to bring it to reality, but a potential 9-4 finish behind a three-game winning streak would be a solid step forward from 5-7 as Sark and his staff bring in another loaded recruiting class.

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Vengeance upon Lawrence

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Texas played this final road game against Kansas like they’d have been embarrassed to come home without a win. The Longhorn offensive line was eager to administer punishment and Bijan Robinson ran wild in the holes that resulted as a result of their efforts. It was a very run-heavy day. Kansas didn’t completely sell out to stop the run and their defensive front wasn’t up for this. Robinson had 25 carries for 243 yards at 9.7 ypc with four touchdowns. Complete domination and that was more or less the ball game.

Texas’ chances of making the Big 12 Championship are slim. They need the Kansas State Wildcats to lose at home to this same Kansas team next Saturday. Pretty doubtful prognosis there. Nevertheless, another win next week against the Baylor Bears could cap an 8-4 season a year after going 5-7 and set up a better bowl bid. This was a good win for the program.

Quick thought no. 1: Easy gameplan for Texas on offense

Texas very clearly wanted to come in and run the football and Kansas didn’t offer a ton of resistance. The Jayhawks played single-high defense of the sort the Longhorns had already taken apart in other games this year, conceding some of the deeper crossers Quinn Ewers has hit all year and trusting a formidable but reasonable run-stopping alignment from their defense. It wasn’t anywhere near enough. The Jayhawk D-line was really pushed around and Texas was able to line up and run Duo pretty regularly for substantial gains.

Jordan Whittington as an extra blocker on the edge is pretty impactful and Kansas had no answers for Texas’ “Big 12 personnel” packages with Andrej Karic playing tight end. Ewers got a lot of RPO bubble screens to throw and was effectively shielded from anything particularly difficult. He finished 12-21 for 107 yards at 5.1 ypa with a touchdown and no interceptions.

Jonathan Brooks got some nice opportunities late in the game with the outcome no longer in question and both the first and second team O-line in front of him. He also made hay, turning 11 carries into 108 yards at 9.8 ypc with two touchdowns. Here was his second score:

The offensive line here goes:

• Left tackle: Neto Umeozulu
• Left guard: Malk Agbo
• Center: Logan Parr
• Right guard: DJ Campbell
• Right tackle: Cameron Williams

It appears the future Texas run game should also be solid.

Quick thought no. 2: A dominant game for Kelvin Banks

I haven’t done a good job this season of repeatedly reinforcing how effective Banks has been this season, whether in pass protection or run blocking. Bijan knows though.

Observe Kelvin Banks and Gunnar Helm “Hammerhand” on this Duo run. Banks hits the Edge and drives him off the ball while lining him up for Helm to pick him up and take him to the next station. Banks then picks up the linebacker and finishes that block into the ground. Banks’ effort on this touchdown is pretty solid as well, against a Kansas defense that clearly ain’t about it any more.

All season long he’s been terrific on inside zone and duo blocks. They’ve even installed GT counter, which wasn’t previously part of the playbook, and I wonder if it was in part to include more plays which get him on the move. He might already be the best left tackle in the Big 12 and Texas has two more years with him.

Quick thought no. 3: A strong day on defense

Kansas welcomed Jalon Daniels back to the field today but the old Jayhawks who were scoring 30+ every week with him at the helm were nowhere to be seen. The Longhorns stuffed Kansas’ run game and out-rushed their opponent on the day by a margin of 427 to 104.

Kansas’ play-action game had a tough time against Texas’ flat-footed safeties and their run game to set it up couldn’t do much of anything. This game really demonstrated Texas’ improvement over 2021 in setting the edge on defense. Kansas got some freebies a year ago just running lead outside zone at the perimeter and hooking the Texas Edges while adding a lead blocker for whomever arrived first to try and rectify the error.

This year they hit a few creases on cutbacks but everything was boxed in effectively and there was no foundation for Kansas to build on offensively. If not for some late throws with the game no longer in question, the overall stats would have been even better.

Texas was able to mix in some youth. Justice Finkley played early and often, Terrance Brooks got the start over D’Shawn Jamison (who also rotated in), and late in the game they emptied the bench of X’Avion Brice and some others. Jaylan Ford also continued his ball-hawking season with an interception off an ill-advised Daniels attempt while he was being chased by the pass-rush. He now has three picks on the year.

Quick thought no. 4: Texas embraced their true identity

The Longhorns won this game with the run game, special teams, and defense. The missing ingredient which might have taken this team to the Big 12 Championship Game if present, Ewers throwing deep to Xavier Worthy, was downplayed in the gameplan.

Kansas did keep a safety deep and Ewers attempted one double move to Worthy, which fell incomplete, but mostly the Longhorns focused on running the ball and mixing in underneath constraints like bubble screens. The deep throw to Worthy included a double move by the receiver which put him behind the defender with only grass behind him but Ewers threw him back on a back shoulder fade. The ball did hit Worthy, who then bobbled it for an incompletion.

This missing dynamic has been a remarkably frustrating component to the season, but today the Longhorns didn’t let it define their offensive effort. Jordan Whittington was the main “play-action” constraint, usually on RPOs rather than actual play-action, catching six balls for 56 yards on nine targets while mixing in his routinely good blocking. Keilan Robinson had a terrific score on a swing screen thrown on 3rd and goal from the 15.

That play was a great microcosm of the game. Steve Sarkisian drew up a safe play which asked very little of Ewers and the rest of the team picked it up with good blocking and team speed. Next week they’ll face a stronger defensive front but a vulnerable secondary. It’ll be interesting to see how they approach it.

Quick thought no. 5: Bittersweet symphony for Bijan Robinson

Texas will probably only get one more game from Bijan before his Longhorn career concludes and may not get another this dominant before he’s done on the 40 Acres. His 243 rushing yards and four scores were a fun watch and he eclipsed 3,000 career rushing yards and climbed higher up the all-time list at Texas. It seems as though his era will be remembered for being a blip in Austin in between quarterbacks.

He didn’t get a chance to play with Sam Ehlinger much, who could have badly used the firepower in 2019 or early 2020, and none of the quarterbacks since have been able to reliably keep the box clear for him to run on disadvantaged fronts. In fact it’s been the opposite. This week it was a major bonus for Bijan to be facing just a plus one box and to have time to find some cutbacks. Bijan Robinson should have had a more winning career, dominating games and controlling the clock while paired with a more effective passing game.

Nevertheless, he’ll go down a true Longhorn great and has one more chance to put on a show in DKR. For the people of Kansas who have seen him live, he’ll go down as an absolute legend without compare. In three games played in the state he’s had: 64 carries for 624 yards at 9.8 ypc with eight rushing touchdowns.

Bobby Burton: Thoughts upon a re-watch of Texas' 55-14 win over Kansas

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Morice Blackwell, Justice Finkley, Devin Richardson and Terrance Brooks probably got the most reps they’ve received in any single game this season. And all of them played relatively well. Finkley continues to show very good play strength and some speed to the ball. Richardson has effectively replaced Jett Bush on the edge as a depth player, allowing Bush to back-up Jaylan Ford full-time in the middle.

Brooks got beat once, and wasn’t always great in run support. But the freshman did not have any glaring mistakes and appears to be a willing tackler. Blackwell and Bush combined for an early fourth-down stop. Blackwell is an active player. He just needs more play strength and a better grasp of the defense as a whole.

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Another young player who is quietly getting better is Gunnar Helm. The tight end is fitting the run better and better and he’s also starting to gain some strength. A year from now, he could be a true plus-blocker as a TE.

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Bijan Robinson is a stud. He sees and executes cutback lanes better than just about any running back I can recall.

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Texas stuck with the run. Steve Sarkisian refused to throw Quinn Ewers to the wolves. What do I mean? In five different third-and-long situations, meaning third-and-seven or more, Texas opted to run the ball. Of those five attempts, three didn’t result in first downs. However, two of those three were eventually converted on shorter fourth down attempts. In other words, Texas was essentially four of five on third-and-long run attempts.

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Kansas is a tough offense to defend. It takes discipline and play strength to get the better of them in the run game. And Texas did just that. The Texas interior DL owned this game and made everything else possible.

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The lack of deep ball attempts was striking. Ewers uncorked just one all game. Xavier Worthy couldn’t come down with it. It was certainly a more judicious use of the deep ball than we’ve seen at any point this season. And it worked. Texas beat KU up on the ground all game long.

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Jaylan Ford should earn an all-conference selection. He now has three INTs on the year and is approaching 100 tackles on the season. It’s the best all-around performance from a Texas LB since I don’t know when.

 

[Sgt Hulk 13647]

Banks continues to be the best Flipmas Gift we’ve ever had 

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(Scipio Tex) 2022 Kansas Football Post Mortem: Offense

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With that touchdown run four minutes into the third quarter — Bijan Robinson’s 4th journey to the blue paint — the Top 5 all-time leading runner in Texas history had already accumulated 230 yards rushing at over 10 yards per carry. He would finish the game with 243 rushing yards, with no single run longer than 32 yards, a statistical testimony to his consistent gouging of the Jayhawk defense. 350+ rushing yards was a near certainty for #5 if Texas wanted to chase history, but Sark wisely chose to preserve his bell cow. Frankly, things didn’t slow down much without him. The Longhorns totaled an amazing 57 rushing attempts for 427 yards, stubbornly running the ball irrespective of down and distance and even with seconds on the clock during an end of half two minute drill.

That hard-headed persistence paid dividends in the form of a 55-14 thumping and the finest Texas performance of the year. The Longhorns utterly dominated the Jayhawks like they were the David Beaty circa 2015 version instead of a dangerous bowl team that had not lost a game by more than two scores this season. It also demonstrated that the Texas offensive brain trust is capable of being less dogmatic in running the offense it wanted and implementing the offense it needed. How did the Longhorn offense turn it around after a truly disheartening performance against TCU?

First, game plan. Texas had a great one. One as focused on mindset, physicality and proper asset deployment as scheme. This game plan wasn’t laudable for amazing scheming and gotcha plays, but for Sark’s introspection about his larger philosophical approach. Sometimes simpler is better. Complexity can be a prison. Texas shifted its emphasis on offense from a freshman QB chasing theoretical open shots while trying to conduct a complex symphony to a star running back and offensive line with physical advantages at every position banging out repetitive violent chords like a punk rock band. Quinn Ewers ran a pared down Longhorn passing offense; the game taken off of his shoulders and dispersed to his teammates. Namely, the offensive line and running backs. This was a great game plan because it was truthful. About the offense and the opponent.

The Texas offensive line and support personnel at tight end and wide receiver were much more physical than the Jayhawk defense. In my preview, I mentioned that the KU defensive line was just bodies. They lived up to that meek billing, though corpses may have been a more apt description. Kenny Logan was their only tackler in a small weak secondary and when Longhorn runners broke to the next level, Kansas struggled to limit yards after contact, and as the game wore on, limit their own individual business decisions.

Instead of blindly honoring the gods of balance or seeking downfield shots when Kansas crowded the box, Sark just kept handing the ball off, running through nearly the entire repertoire of Longhorn running schemes. Kansas wasn’t just physically dominated. They also never got a feel for the Longhorn running game and the improvisational melding of backs to blockers that turned concepts like counter and duo into a head-I-win and tails-you-lose proposition.

Unsurprisingly, simplicity in game plan favored execution. The Texas offense had only one penalty all game (on Sanders near the goal line and it was a fabrication) and zero turnovers. Texas was 3 of 3 on 4th down until their last give up run of the game. The Horns scored between 10-17 points in every quarter. The Longhorns had only 11 offensive possessions. 9 of the 11 ended in Longhorn scores. The first possession was a punt. The next 9 all scores. The last a “let’s go home” clock runner featuring the 3rd team offense.

Texas was content to stubbornly maul Kansas for four quarters. Was the absence of a second-half lull coincidental to that fact? I suspect not.

QB

After the game, a smiling Ewers looked like a young QB who had the weight of the world – or at least an entire offense – taken off of his shoulders. Ewers was a very modest 12 of 21 for 107 yards and a touchdown running a minimalist passing offense meant to limit mistakes and extend a drive or two. Crucially, he had no turnovers and took no sacks while doing a keeping the offense moving. He even converted a third-down offsides with cadence. I’m not sure he even drove the bus so much as he made sure the bus driver got coffee and he didn’t try to push the wheel into oncoming traffic.

His touchdown throw was emblematic of the Longhorn game plan. Not asking much here and the result is good:

RB

Bijan ate early and often and it only got worse for Kansas as the game wore on. That was a phenomenal performance. Perhaps one day the defender’s jocks littering the field will take root, bloom and form large healthy groin trees.

Bijan finished with 243 yards on 25 carries and 4 touchdowns. Jonathon (Don’t Call Me Jonathan) Brooks got into the act as the Robin to Bijan’s Batman when Roschon Johnson (7 carries, 34 yards) went out with an injury and he looked as herky-jerky and weird to tackle in space as he usually does, totaling 111 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns, including a 70 yard coup de grace late in the game. That was a fine run against a beaten down defense, but I really liked what he did here even more:

Note the offensive line push above. That comment will apply to several clips.

OL

Dominant. Just note the line push inside on this Bijan touchdown run. How many blue jerseys are being driven five or ten yards down the field here? There’s no chance of pursuit from the backside and the edge is completely rounded off due to Gunnar Helm’s dominant block and a Kelvin Banks linebacker pancake served up with frozen syrup.

The Texas offensive line was extremely physical for four quarters and they did the best job of moving their feet and staying on blocks that I’ve seen all season. Singling out individuals for their effort would be a long list, but I was particularly impressed with Jones and Conner at the point of attack and Majors and Hutson had several winning pulls on counter plays. Kelvin Banks deserves to be 1st team All Big 12 as a true freshman. What a freak.

WR/TE

Worthy had only two catches, but one was a nice skinny post on a key 3rd down for 24 yards beating man coverage and he also drew a PI on a slant. He had a semi-contested drop on the sideline. Whittington was the primary chain moving target, congruent with the keep-it-simple-stupid game plan. Jordan had 6 catches for 56 yards and his blocking was on point. Speaking of blocking, Savion Red is an extremely physical kid with some bully in him.

Gunnar Helm was top notch in limited action and I saw him dish out some Uncle Buck sized pancakes on a few Bijan runs. Sanders was also solid blocking on the perimeter and as a screen lead on counter plays. Karic also got some nice run and got after it. The relative absence of Billingsley in this game plan should be noted. Here’s a nice example of Karic taking a 315 pound defensive lineman’s lunch money on goal line on the first touchdown drive. Watch him methodically drive him from the green into the paint.

Hint to #11: if a blocker starts kicking your ass, it doesn’t get better for you by turning sideways.

Final

Texas did a great job understanding the identity needed to win this game and fashioned the game plan and got the player buy-in to do it. Some earlier revelations in this area might have Texas getting ready for both Baylor and a rematch with the Horned Frogs in Dallas, but a promising end to the season is still in play.

(Scipio Tex) 2022 Kansas Football Post Mortem: Defense

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If you want to play good defense, play less of it. And take away what the offense does best early. For the second straight week, the Horns turned in a very strong defensive performance against a quality offense, tying the Jayhawks’ season lowest scoring output with 14 points while pitching a shutout at halftime. With the Texas offense busy smashing the Jayhawks on nine consecutive scoring drives and opening up a massive lead, 2nd half Jayhawk adjustments and two touchdowns felt more like empty calories than a lapse.

Texas was also able to stop the run with a core six defenders, specifically thwarting the Jayhawk preferred trips formation from which they typically run the ball extremely well and murder overcompensating defenses with big play RPOs. Texas defended that formation with a single high safety and 4 DBs on 3 KU receivers, effectively telling the Texas front and Ford/Overshown to handle the run and option games. That group made standout runner Devin Neal irrelevant. A runner who had accumulated an amazing 523 combined yards from scrimmage against Texas Tech and Oklahoma State with explosive plays of 63, 53, and 42 yards was held to 50 total yards from scrimmage, his longest play a 15 yard run. His other 13 touches totaled 35 yards.

What’s most encouraging about this performance is that the Horns did so well on critical downs and in critical situations. Situational defense. My mantra and cry about modern college defense for years. An area where Texas was deficient in some key losses earlier this season. While Jayhawk big plays were not lacking in the passing game (Daniels hit explosive passes of 55, 42 and 31 yards), they resulted in limited damage because Texas consistently dominated critical downs and turned the Jayhawks over in Texas territory by downs and interception.

So while Kansas managed a healthy 5.9 yards per play, they only ran 59, were robbed of their big play run game identity (104 rushing yards at 3.5 per carry), had a turnover in Texas territory, and were only 4 of 13 on money downs, failing to convert a 4th and 2 on the Longhorn 42 and another 4th and 2 at the Longhorn 47. Those 4th down stops on the Texas side of the field were effectively turnovers.

Contrast that critical downs effort with the Texas Tech loss in Lubbock (to a worse offense) where the Horns held Tech to only 4.8 yards per play. Except that Tech ran 99 of them because they converted 6 of 8 on 4th down and had zero turnovers.

DL

They owned the line of scrimmage. Cold weather made the big fellas frisky and seeing T’vondre Sweat chase screens when the score was already out of hand is good stuff. Barryn Sorrell had a great hustle tackle for loss unblocked on the back side of a running play, aided by the front side interior stacking up Neal’s initial hole. Alfred Collins had a terrific tackle for loss on a 4th and 2 and he has been outstanding in limited snaps for several weeks in a row. Daniels was a load to try to corral in the pocket, but Texas did a pretty good job of flushing him off of his spots when he held on to the ball for anything longer than a quick RPO read.

Their primary charge was to destroy an explosive KU running game and keep Daniels from hurting the defense with scrambles and that’s what they did. This wasn’t a “stat game” but it was a darn effective one.

Ford grabbed a one-handed pick on the Texas 28 yard line and capably covered Devin Neal when KU tried to hunt him in the passing game. Good play as usual. Overshown had one of his statistically quietest games of the year, but that may have been his most disciplined linebacking performance. I saw some good things from DMO. Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey earned an obvious targeting call and a personal foul which offered the sideline reveal that he puts on more white makeup than the Wayans brothers in White Chicks.

DB

 

Really solid game against the run and taking away some of KU’s early staples in the passing game, particularly RPOs in the middle of the field. Texas was brutal against the Kansas screen game. Gave up a few too many big shots, but some of them – like the throw in the seam to their big TE – were defended well and perfectly executed by the Jayhawks. Pass defense is about trade offs and Texas chose to take away comfort early.

Another great game from Ryan Watts and Jahdae Barron. Barron will regret dropping an early Pick 6 opportunity, but his tackle for loss on a Kansas wide receiver screen on a 3rd and short continues his amazing streak. Note to offenses: Barron is not the dude to target in your screen game. He’s about effective a nickel as I can remember in disrupting that. Barron also combined with Jerrin Thompson for another big play against the Kansas screen game on their first failed 4th and 2 attempt, seen above. Anthony Cook led the Horns in tackles and had a couple of authoritative tackles in run support when Kansas tried to go jumbo. Michael Taaffe did a good job as single high safety, but he’s a tad slow to react in zone.

D’shawn Jamison returned and was adequate though he split quite a bit of time with Terrance Brooks. Morice Blackwell got a lot of run as a walked-up safety/hybrid linebacker and he looked much more comfortable than weeks previous, notching 6 tackles including an nice combo stop with Jett Bush on a 3rd and short run.

Final

A strong game plan attacking the core offensive identity of the Kansas offense. They inevitably adjusted and hit some big shots, but the game was already over. Texas took away the base Kansas offense early and diagnosed well on critical downs. Now Texas will face the somewhat novel challenge of a wide zone play action style offense on a short week, but there’s good reason for optimism that they can present as many challenges to the Bears as they’ll present to Texas.

Bobby Burton: What the Texas Longhorns' record says about program improvement

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What are your thoughts about the Texas Longhorns at 7-4? I predicted a 7-5 regular season with a bowl victory pushing Texas to 8 wins. It wasn’t the rosiest of projections, but in the preseason I saw a Texas program in need of establishing a winning identity. To do so, it would have to improve its defense, install a freshman quarterback as starter, and play much smarter football than they did a year ago.

In other words, the questions surrounding the team heading into the season were rather large. So as we look back on this campaign, a couple of things have come to pass. First and foremost, the defense is improved. While far from perfect, it is an unquestionably better unit than a year ago. And it appears on the right track for the future.

The quarterback situation, on the other hand, is shakier but not unexpectedly so. Texas is playing with a freshman QB, running a lot of two man routes and has asked too much of him too often. What has happened at QB is pretty much what you can expect from inserting a freshman QB, no matter how talented, into the starting lineup.

Even with the offense and defense and its strengths and struggles, perhaps the single most encouraging aspect of this Longhorns program is the idea that they’re no longer shooting themselves in the foot. Yes, there have been some key mistakes, from drops to penalties. But the complete bone-headed ones of a year ago, or even under Tom Herman’s regime, seem to be a thing of the past. What’s more, I’ve yet to see a complete lack of cohesiveness or effort that we witnessed so often a year ago.

This season, even though it’s not complete, has seen Texas successfully change its identity. They’ve gone from being a loose affiliation of football players to a team focused on winning. Maybe that all really started with Roschon Johnson putting the team on his back a year ago this week against Kansas State. Or maybe it started with Bo Davis’ tirade on the bus at Iowa State. Maybe even there was some addition by subtraction on prior personnel.

Whatever the case may be, Texas has improved year over year, and I believe they’ve done it in a sustainable way fit for the long haul.

Eric Nahlin: Kansas win inches Texas towards meeting external expectations

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Exceeding expectations is out the window for Texas but depending on what they are, meeting expectations can be good, neutral, or negative. It really depends on what the expectations were to begin with.

Sometimes a program can be a victim of misplaced expectations which only compounds the public pile-on when things go awry. A weekly example would be the 2022 Texas A&M Aggies. If they were properly rated as a fringe Top 25 team their slide wouldn’t be trending on Twitter every Saturday. But they were ranked No. 6, which means they should have been in contention for the SEC West and the playoffs. To whom much is given, much will be required. They were given high expectations.

Realistic Texas expectations coming into the season centered around 8-9 wins, which is still in play. On the heels of going 5-7 in his inaugural season — a season that unfortunately reduced expectations for his second season — falling short of 8 wins would not be ideal for Steve Sarkisian.

At this point in the recruiting cycle Sark and his coaching staff are putting the final touches on their presentation to recruits they’re trying to sign, whether the recruits are committed or otherwise. This is a crucial period in the presentation, one in which proof of concept can’t bog down. That’s why Saturday’s win in Lawrence, Kansas, was big for the program. It kept Sark on schedule for a makable 3rd down conversion against the Baylor Bears at home next Friday.

Some pessimists might find it upsetting the win in Lawrence was so important, but this isn’t the same Kansas team that’s been wandering the desert for 100 years, save a drink of water here and there. Yesterday was yet another good reminder this isn’t the same Texas from last year.

While KU was a dangerous team, Texas had no business losing. UT’s baseline talent advantage was on display early and often. The only way it would have been a competitive game would have been a failed game plan or poor effort. But Sark and Pete Kwiatkowski did what good coaches do, they played to their advantages. Some of that had to do with opponent, especially in the run game. Some of that had to do with coaching, as evidenced by assignment soundness on defense.

Based on metrics, the eyeball test, weekly player honors, and increased NFL interest in draft eligible players, Texas is vastly improved over last season. But as a selling point much of the positives go out the window if they don’t align with the win column.

Meeting expectations is how you keep recruits who committed to your school before the season with those same expectations in mind. I don’t think Arch Manning or Cedric Baxter made their decisions on the expectation Texas would win 10 games. While fans bite their nails and worry about every message board rumor they can find — it seems they actively search for things to worry about as if the world doesn’t provide enough — Baxter is telling everyone he’s solid to Texas.

Expectations for the five-star running back matter in other ways, too. From an individual standpoint, who is a better template than Bijan Robinson? And what about Baxter’s expectations for offensive line improvement ahead of his arrival? In those regards, Texas is also meeting expectations. It’s when expectation aren’t met that you have trouble getting recruits to sign on the dotted line or to keep program momentum and buy-in moving forward.

The Kansas win was big. If Sark dials up one more, he’ll have met expectations ahead of the bar being raised once again this offseason.