Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 10)

[satyanash 14633]

Collecting post-game analysis articles regarding the K-State game here:

(Richard Tijerina) Texas football beats Kansas State: Our staff takeaways from the Longhorns' 33-30 win in OT

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Was Kansas State coach Chris Klieman right to go for the win on fourth-and-goal from the 4 rather than play it save in overtime with a short field goal? Maybe yes, considering that kicker's travails in No. 7 Texas' 33-30 win. Either way, the Longhorns escaped with a huge win in their continued path toward a Big 12 championship game appearance and possible College Football Playoff bid. Our takeaways from Texas' overtime win:

Just how did Texas win this one, anyway?

Three turnovers, a blocked punt, 10 penalties and a turnover on downs in the red zone by Texas helped Kansas State hang around despite a significant statistical advantage by the Longhorns. Texas won the battle of the trenches against a physical K-State team, but those kind of miscues against a quality team (almost) proved too costly to overcome. 

Also, about those Texas pass rushers ...

The edge rushers for the Longhorns had their most impactful game since the road win at Alabama in the second week of the season. Barryn Sorrell and Ethan Burke combined for three sacks, including a strip sack by Burke inside the Kansas State 5-yard line that led to a quick touchdown run from Jonathon Brooks. But the pass rush faded in the second half, when Kansas State’s Will Howard threw for three touchdowns and 249 of his 327 yards.  Saturday's win was as much about Texas' defense than anything or anyone else. The Longhorns finished with those three sacks, plus eight tackles for loss, seven quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and an interception.

Idea for Maalik Murphy nickname: 'Rollercoaster'

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian isn’t shy about turning his young quarterback loose early. In just his second start behind center, Maalik Murphy threw for 152 yards on 7-of-11 passing in the first quarter alone as Texas raced to a quick 10-0 lead. But Murphy’s limitations and inexperience showed as the game wore on; he threw for 96 yards and two interceptions the rest of the game. He finished the day 19-of-37 for 248 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Last week against BYU, in his first start in place of the injured Quinn Ewers, Murphy was 16-of-25 for 170 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and a fumble. So far, in two starts, he's been up and down, up and down.

Texcetera

Adonai Mitchell has three touchdown catches as a Longhorn. Each one has been thrown by Maalik Murphy. ... UT's minister of culture, Matthew McConaughey, was at DKR celebrating his 54th birthday today. ... Today's attendance was 101,670. ... Seven of the last eight Texas-Kansas State matchups had been one-score games, including a couple of overtimes, all Texas wins.

Up next for Texas: at TCU

Next Saturday, Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, time and TV to be announced. In back-to-back weeks, Texas' Big 12 chances have run through the two teams that played for last year's conference championship. The Longhorns finish out at TCU, at Iowa State and at home against Texas Tech the day after Thanksgiving.

Jeff Howe: No. 7 Texas survives furious comeback by No. 23 Kansas State to claim overtime, walk-off win, 33-30

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AUSTIN, Texas — Seventh-ranked Texas went from leading No. 23 Kansas State by 20 points late in the third quarter to nearly trailing a few minutes later before battling back to claim a 33-30 walk-off win in a wild overtime finish at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The game came down a fourth-and-goal for the Wildcats at the 4-yard line of the Longhorns when pressure off of the edge by Barryn Sorrell didn’t allow Will Howard (26-for-42, 327 yards and four touchdowns with one interception) to get off a clean throw as T'Vondre Sweat knocked it down to the Longhorns’ hopes alive for a trip to the Big 12 championship game and a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Statistically, Texas (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) dominated the Kansas State (6-3, 4-2), winning the rushing yardage battle in a landslide (230-33) behind 112 yards on 22 carries by Jonathon Brooks and averaging 6.5 yards per play on offense while holding the reigning Big 12 champions to a 2-for-14 day on third down. Nevertheless, the Longhorns had to win the game on the final snap of the day thanks to three turnovers, which the Wildcats turned into 13 points, some of which came during a run of 20 consecutive points over a span of 2:23 from late third to the early fourth quarter.

Two of those were interceptions thrown by Maalik Murphy, whose 19-for-37, 248-yard performance was highlighted by a 37-yard long-bomb touchdown to Adonai Mitchell (149 yards on eight receptions). Murphy came up with an answer when Texas needed after back-to-back turnovers allowed Kansas State tie the game at 27, using the momentum from a botched snap on the go-ahead extra-point attempt to drive the Longhorns 69 yards in 14 plays, including a 16-yard strike to Ja'Tavion Sanders on fourth-and-4 from the 37-yard line of the Wildcats to set up a go-ahead 34-yard field goal by Bert Auburn for the offense’s final points of regulation. Horns247 was on the scene, providing live updates before, during and after the game.

 

[satyanash 14633]

Steve Habel: No. 7 Texas gets FG from Bert Auburn, goal-line stand in OT to outlast No. 23 Kansas State

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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas’ defense played three different games on Saturday in the seventh-ranked Longhorns’ 33-30 overtime win over No. 23 Kansas State.  First there was the defense that dominated the game’s first 41 minutes; then there was the unit that allowed the Wildcats to tie the game in the fourth quarter and have two chances, the second one successful, to send the game into the extra period. 

Finally there was the defense that bowed its neck and refused to succumb when Kansas State went for the win, rather than a highly probable tying field goal, in overtime.  That unit was the one that made the difference and Bert Auburn kicked four field goals, including the game-winning 42-yarder in overtime, that allowed Texas to survive a calamitous early-fourth quarter stretch and beat the Wildcats for the seventh straight time, this one before a sun-splashed crowd of 102,846 fans in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Texas led 27-7 before a late third-quarter score by Kansas State followed by two touchdowns by the Wildcats over a 2:23 span of the fourth quarter after a Maalik Murphy interception and a Jonathon Brooks fumble allowed the visitors to pull even. Auburn’s 34-yard field goal put Texas back in front with 6:03 to play in regulation. Chris Tennant, who was wide left on a 27-yard FG attempt with 1:45 remaining, sent the game to overtime with a 45-yarder with one second left.

The Longhorns had the ball first in overtime and were forced to settle for Auburn’s field goal. Kansas State’s Will Howard passed 19 yards to Ben Sinnott on first down but three subsequent plays netted the Wildcats just two yards.  Instead of attempting a field goal that would have sent the game to a second extra period, Kansas State went for the win and was denied when Howard was pressured Barryn Sorrell and passed wildly and incomplete.

The Longhorns (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) won their third consecutive game and remained tied atop the conference standings but the win did not come without a heaping helping of drama.  Murphy passed for a career-high 248 yards and a touchdown to Adonai Mitchell in his second career start but also was intercepted twice. Jonathon Brooks ran for 112 yards and a score for the Longhorns, eclipsing 1,000 yards for the season

Howard threw for 327 yards and four TDs in the loss for Kansas State (6-3, 4-2 Big 12). The Wildcats, who had a three-game winning streak snapped, were held to just 33 yards rushing. After driving into K-State territory on their first drive, the Longhorns lit the scoreboard on their second possession, with Murphy throwing a picture-perfect pass to Mitchell for a 37-yard touchdown at the 8:36 mark of the first quarter.

Texas added to its lead with a 32-yard Auburn field goal with 1:06 remaining in the first. Murphy hit Mitchell on a 47-yard pass and then found Jordan Whittington for 19 yards to set up Auburn’s kick.

The Longhorns rolled the dice on fourth down from their own 46 yard line three and a half minutes into the second quarter and hit big. CJ Baxter took a pitch from Murphy, made a defender miss at the line of scrimmage and rolled untouched 54 yards for a TD that put Texas up 17-0. Baxter finished with 90 yards on 10 carries.

Texas moved to the K-State 11-yard line late in the second quarter but failed on fourth down and one when short-yardage quarterback Savion Red dropped the ball in the backfield, continuing the Longhorns’ shortcomings in the red zone.

The Wildcats’ Shane Porter blocked a Ryan Sanborn punt with 1:35 to play before halftime, allowing Kansas State to run its first play in Texas territory on the ensuing snap from the UT 42. Howard hit Jayce Brown with a 28-yard connection to the 11 and then passed to Phillip Brooks for a 6-yard TD pass that brought the Wildcats to within 17-7 with 54 seconds left in the half.

Texas got a huge break on the Wildcats’ opening drive of the third quarter as Michael Taaffe was in the right place at the right time to intercept a deep pass that was bobbled by K-State’s Keagan Johnson. It was Taaffe’s third interception in three games.

Texas added to its advantage with a five-yard Brooks TD run at the 9:21 mark of the third quarter that came one play after Ethan Burke’s strip-sack of Howard was pulled away from the K-State quarterback by Jaylan Ford.

Auburn tied his season high with a 49-yard FG with 4:13 remaining in the third to move the Longhorns’ lead to 27-7. Kansas State finally got on track late in the quarter, driving 75 yards in eight plays (and overcoming three penalties) to Howard’s 26-yard scoring pass to Brooks to bring the Wildcats to within 27-14 on the final play of the third quarter.

Kansas State immediately got a chance to further cut into the lead when Murphy was intercepted by Jacob Parrish. After an 11-yard return and a fumble that was recovered by the Wildcats’ Colby McAllister at the UT 12, Howard passed to Johnson on a crossing route for a score with 13:33 to play and Kansas State was down just 27-21.

Another Texas turnover, this one a Brooks fumble at the UT 32, set the table for Howard’s scoring pass to Jayce Brown on the ensuing snap that tied the game at 27. The Wildcats could have had the lead with a successful PAT kick but botched the snap. That set the stage for Auburn, and Tennant, and finally Auburn again. And finally the Texas defense – and a huge sigh of relief from Longhorn Nation. Texas returns to play on Nov. 11 when it travels to Fort Worth to battle struggling TCU. 

 

[satyanash 14633]

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Red zone-off against K-State

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Texas got off to a fantastic start. The score was 17-0 early in the second quarter and redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy was delivering explosive gains early to Adonai Mitchell while the Kansas State offense couldn’t seem to do anything right. But Kansas State had a strong stretch in the second quarter to make it 17-7 and more competitive and found some success using tempo spread tactics, then picked off Murphy deep in Texas territory and scored again off the turnover.

An absolutely catastrophic stretch late in the 3rd quarter for Texas made the game 27-27 where it came down to back and forth of field goal drives by either team before the game went to overtime. A red zone-off, if you will. One of the best red zone offenses in the country, paired with one of the best red zone defenses in the country, against Texas with one of the worst red zone offenses in the country. Naturally Texas won. 33-30.

Quick thought no. 1: Texas had a terrific start

On the first three possessions Murphy was 8-12 for 155 yards at 12.9 ypa with a touchdown. Kansas State came into this game knowing it couldn’t allow the Longhorns to pound them in the run game and the Wildcats decided to try their luck at keeping numbers in the box while trying to give safety help against Xavier Worthy. This went terribly.

Mitchell torched them early and often and finished the day with eight catches on 12 targets for 149 yards and a touchdown. It appeared the rout was on as the Wildcats were going to be up against it trying to stop the Longhorns from killing clock on the ground for the rest of the game.

They figured it out though, particularly after Texas’ opening script ran out, and defended the Longhorns well for the rest of the game. On the subsequent drives Murphy was 8-25 for 93 yards at 3.7 ypa with two interceptions and a number of near-miss throws into danger. He finished 19-37 for 248 yards at 6.7 ypa with one score and two picks.

Meanwhile the defense was demolishing K-State early before the Wildcats started to find something with the same HUNH (hurry-up, no-huddle) spread tactics other squads had effectively deployed against Texas. The Wildcats had just 107 yards at the half, four three’n’outs (three plays and a punt), and even the second opened terribly with consecutive early turnovers.

Then they worked out to attack Texas with tempo and passing to avoid the dominant Longhorn defensive tackles and attack the composure of the Longhorns in coverage. Will Howard was very sharp, particularly once K-State started running HUNH spread, and finished 26-42 for 327 yards at 7.8 ypa with four touchdowns to a single pick, which was a deflected deep shot snagged by sure-handed Michael Taaffe.

Quick thought no. 2: Texas didn’t maximize the start

As good as the start of the game was for Texas, there were multiple chances to bury the Wildcats under the turf in DKR and the Horns couldn’t make it happen. The first red zone trip on the day included an over-thrown fade to Worthy and a ball that needed more air to find Ja’Tavion Sanders open in the back of the end zone which was nearly picked. But “Sideshow Bert” Auburn drove in the field goal to secure points. Then Texas blew a promising drive when Murphy threw an ill-advised shot over the middle on which Johntay Cook lost his footing on 2nd-and-3 and was picked off.

The next drive came up short when Steve Sarkisian decided to be aggressive on 4th-and-2 with the “Redcat” formation (featuring Savion Red at quarterback) and seemed to have a wide open touchdown pass to Sanders available if not for a fumbled snap. Texas fans would rue the decision to pass up those three easy points later in the contest. Three points on three good drives isn’t winning football and prevented the Longhorns from building an insurmountable lead. Texas saw things turn hard against them shortly after.

Quick thought no 3: Texas had to survive two disastrous stretches

You could almost say the same for Kansas State, who survived the initial flurry by Texas AND the back-to-back turnovers in the third quarter before succumbing late. That was a tough team who came into Austin today and made sure the Longhorns had to put in a full day’s work to lock down a win.

The Longhorns had a pair of awful sequences which nearly doomed them. First they had a drive which saw a fantastic deep shot opportunity to Worthy erased by an uncalled defensive pass interference. The missed opportunity was compounded when they had horrendous punt protection and the Wildcats punished them with a blocked kick the K-State offense turned into points.

The next sequence began in the third quarter and was one of the worst sequences I’ve ever seen for Texas football. K-State made their fortune somewhat with an eight play, 75-yard scoring drive using the HUNH spread passing attack. Texas followed this up with a horrendous interception where Murphy threw to no one across the field where the Horns were trying to set up a slip screen to the running back but he wasn’t to be found. K-State ball on the Texas 12. The Wildcats would score in just two plays.

Texas came back determined to try and ice the game with a long scoring drive built around the run game, but Jonathon Brooks fumbled fighting for a first down on the second play of the possession and K-State immediately attacked with a play-action shot and scored in just one play. The winds of fortune changed suddenly at that point. Texas was offsides on the extra point try, necessitating another attempt which Kansas State botched to make the game 27-all rather than 28-27 in their favor. Both teams played pretty good and steady football from there and the Longhorns came out on top in the end.

Quick thought no. 4: Texas overcame their own late play-calls

After Texas’ very solid field goal drive to take a 30-27 lead, the Horns played great defense and had a chance to end the game with possession of the ball. A few hard runs by Brooks set up a 3rd-and-3 where Sark, who’d been aggressive all game including having Murphy execute empty sets with Texas risking a total loss of momentum before the half, dialed up an overly predictable call. A same-side toss to the running back, which Texas had already shown in this game (and also used ineffectively against K-State a year ago) was sniffed out and the Wildcats made the tackle to force a punt.

It’s tough to dial up a play to pick up 3rd-and-3 when the defense is selling out for a run and you don’t want to stop the clock or ask too much of a shaky young quarterback, but Texas needed a better call and should probably have just gone downhill with Duo behind Malik Agbo, Gunnar Helm, and Jordan Whittington. K-State used the available time to mount a final drive at a chance for a kick to force overtime. On that drive Texas sent in a worse call on 4th-and-6 which allowed Kansas State to set-up the field goal which did force overtime.

The Wildcats borrowed from Texas’ other opponents this season and put star slot receiver Phillip Brooks in the boundary where he could avoid Jahdae Barron who almost always aligns to the field. Texas’ initial alignment made somewhat obvious what was coming as the Longhorns had no one well positioned to cover him on the crucial play.

Naturally it was because they were bringing Barron off the opposite edge while dropping Anthony Hill into underneath zone to cover Brooks. While this initially denied a quick toss for a first down, Kansas State successfully picked up the blitz and Howard found it all too easy to slide and find Brooks settled in the soft spot of zone coverage.

Brooks had five catches on seven targets for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Texas’ defense of the HUNH spread was pretty spotty in this game, as it has been all year, their call here really made things too easy for the Wildcats. Pete Kwiatkowski used his best cover man to pressure the quarterback and his best pass-rusher to cover the most dangerous receiver, which also forced the Horns to play zone rather than a tighter style of coverage.

With the conversion Kansas State moved up into field goal range and forced the dreaded over time. Who’d be better at converting in the red zone with the game on the line? Surely Kansas State…

Quick thought No. 5: The stand

Texas’ red zone possession went predictably poorly. The Horns had a RPO set up to Mitchell, which had been one of their sure-fire play-calls as Mitchell was enjoying space to operate in all day. A perhaps gunshy Murphy held the ball a moment too long and had it batted down at the line of scrimmage by gutsy K-State defensive end Brendan Mott (also forced the fumble on Brooks). A run to Brooks went nowhere, Murphy overthrew a crossing route, and Sideshow Bert had to salvage the possession with a 42-yard field goal.

What followed next had probably 80% of Texas fans convinced a gut-punch loss was coming for the Longhorns.

Kansas State immediately hit a 19-yard pass to big tight end Ben Sinnott, but this set them up with the horrifying “1st-and-goal at the 6-yard line” sort of scenario which has plagued Texas all year. At this point, Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman and his staff made a series of questionable decisions to undo Texas’ own mistakes up to that point. They kept trying to set up quarterback power sets which had already fallen short earlier in the game by motioning the running back out wide so they could give Howard direct snap run OR pop pass opportunities from empty formations.

This matched Kansas State against the strength and teeth of the Texas defense, their defensive tackles. There was no tempo to wear them down or spacing to navigate to stay away from them. T’Vondre Sweat batted down a 3rd down quarterback pop pass attempt to set up 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Faced with the prospect of continuing the “red zone-off” against a shaky Texas quarterback or trying to end the game then and there, Klieman curiously chose to make the game come down to 4th-and-goal.

The Wildcats tried to motion into empty from a power set to confuse Texas but the Longhorns kept coverage and Byron Murphy broke through the protection to thwart the prospects of any pass attempt. Game over. Texas wins.

Reports have Quinn Ewers aiming to make his return in Fort Worth next week. If Texas had him at the helm today the Horns probably win comfortably, Murphy’s terrific start notwithstanding, but they still found a way to get the win. Texas need to continue to improve the defense against tempo and offense in the red zone, but the Horns just survived their toughest remaining game and are sitting at the top of the Big 12 standings.

 

[sith_horn 2407]

1 hour ago, satyanash said:

"..., but the Horns just survived their toughest remaining game and are sitting at the top of the Big 12 standings" - Ian Boyd

Hopefully, but not exactly sure about that.

Edited November 4, 2023 by sith_horn

[satyanash 14633]

(Scipio Tex) 2023 Kansas State Wildcats Post Mortem: Offense

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The Texas offense offered excitement of every stripe on Saturday in a thrilling 33-30 win over Kansas State. The Horns gained 478 yards at 6.5 yards per clip against a Kansas State defense that had been dominating lower tier Big 12 competition, but the unit also had three critical turnovers, two of which set Kansas State up on second half short fields that allowed them back into a game that Texas led 27-7 halfway through the 3rd quarter. The Texas passing game also fizzled from Q2-Overtime, causing more fear and consternation to the Texas sideline than the Wildcat side of the ball.

One consistent bright spot was a Texas running game that put up 230 yards at 6.2 yards per pop. Even if you remove a well-schemed up 4th down toss pitch around the corner for CJ Baxter that went for 54 yards and six points, the Horns still averaged 4.9 yards a pop. Perhaps spreading out the field and playing “normal offense” at tempo preventing defensive subs is the way to go in goal to go?

Of course, it helps when the D plays an undersized three man DL that can’t anchor and the blitzing linebackers get picked off by heady guard play (good job, Conner).

What was noticeable was how many productive or big plays that Texas still left on the field in the passing game once Kansas State stopped playing single coverage on Adonai Mitchell and abandoned the extra man in the box. Texas wide receivers were consistently open for most of the game and with very good pass protection, Texas should have had considerably more scoring opportunities. The drop off in the passing game wasn’t a coaching or scheming problem, it was the quarterback’s inability to alter his play to exploit a new set of parameters.

I’d contend that this was one of Sark’s better schemed games at Texas. That’s a bizarre thing to write for an offense that went a horrific 2 of 15 on 3rd down, but Sark can only create favorable conditions for offense. He can’t execute the play. Sark consistently had Kansas State’s number. Whether that number hit was complicated by other factors.

Quarterback

Maalik Murphy started sizzling hot in the first quarter, hitting 7 of his first 11 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. Was a Longhorn folk hero being born? I wish. More like the confluence of an early script that Murphy felt comfortable reading from and friendly Wildcat tactics. Good pass protection combined with Kansas State’s early strategy allowed easy one-read throws to Adonai Mitchell in single coverage (Mitchell had 96 yards on 3 catches in Q1) and Murphy took full advantage.

He also had a gorgeous throw to Mitchell in the end zone. When the Cats adjusted, Murphy lost his composure and his accuracy, finishing the game from 2Q-OT throwing 12 of 26 for 96 yards and 2 interceptions. 3.7 yards per attempt in the passing game is sub-Iowa level passing game, particularly when there were still open receivers and good pass protection.

Oof. You can’t throw that. Not just the poor decision, but the weird fadeaway back footer in response to the mildest of pressure. That’s very bad. Particularly with a lead in the 4th quarter on your end of the field. There were also multiple poor throws that went unpunished:

Above defines “turnover worthy throw” and from a process standpoint, it’s not as bad as the screen YOLO, but you’ll notice that if the first KSU defender didn’t pick it, another Wildcat in rotation behind him had a play.

In all, Murphy had four turnover worthy throws (KSU dropped two easy picks) and missed 7 wide open receivers. In counting the latter statistic, I didn’t count “wide open” as a guy having a step or Maalik not seeing a receiver that wasn’t covered. I mean he missed a fairly easy throw to a receiver where often the defender was not on the screen. Six of those throws were more or less layups. One was a “football happens” just miss of a wide open Mitchell on a sideline break that would have gone for six.

Because Maalik’s turnovers and turnover-worthy throws are all unforced – compounded by larger inaccuracy on what should be pretty straightforward completions that move the chains on 3rd down – Texas is in peril in any game they play, even with significant athletic or coaching advantages. You’re hoping the latter compensates for the former.

Offensive Line

As a unit, one of the better performances of the year outside of way too many penalties. Kansas State only had three tackles for loss, which is pretty good considering that it was clear that Texas wanted to run the ball and de-emphasize the passing game in the second half of play. They also pass protected well. Maalik wasn’t sacked, I saw only one hit on the quarterback and I counted only three real pressures.

I’d argue that LT-LG-C collectively turned in their best performance of the season while the right side combined for six penalties. Five procedure penalties (3 on Cam, 2 on DJ) and a hold (DJ). Cam Williams had an interesting game, generally either whipping someone outright or looking a step slow on his assignment, particularly when the Wildcat front went into a pre-snap late shift. Makes sense for a young right tackle in his first start.

Kelvin Banks was fantastic from start to finish both as a run and pass blocker. KSU’s long lanky edges are accustomed to using quickness to beat blocks and they were clearly shocked to have a 320 pound dancing bear latch on to them and match their footwork. He also delivered a hustle hit on an interception that caused a fumble and fought through a bum shoulder to finish out the game. Nice job, Kelvin.

Forgetting the Baxter run, which though well blocked, was more of a terrific play call that caught KSU cheating, Texas had success running inside (I’ll define that as from the outside shoulder of each guard), notching 113 yards on 16 carries (7 yards per carry). That included runs of 27, 21 and 15 yards. Throw those explosives out and Texas was still at just under 4 yards per carry lugging it inside the tackles. The smaller Wildcats struggled to anchor inside, even when they lined up in extra man fronts. I was particularly pleased to see Longhorn running success from big personnel packages.

Pssst… when a lanky edge doesn’t pass rush and tries to time a deflective leap in the QB’s throwing window, don’t stand there satisfied that he’s blocked. Hit him really hard in the sternum with both hands when he’s fully extended. He probably won’t do that again.

Tight End/Wide Receiver

Adonai Mitchell was uncoverable when KSU was in man and uncoverable when they were in zone. The difference was the ease with which the QB could locate him. Mitchell finished with 8 catches for 149 yards and probably left another 85 yards out there on errant throws. Xavier Worthy had an up and down performance and he needs to make sure he works through the route even when receiving an egregious uncalled PI or when it’s an errant throw. He looked ridiculously quick on his opening 24 yard catch of the game.

Sanders had a key grab late converting a 4th and 4 on the KSU 37 and I thought he did a much better job blocking Kansas State’s secondary defenders and undersized linebackers than going against bigs. Multiple effective kick out or lead blocks on Worthy’s reverse, the Baxter run and a couple of productive Brooks totes.

Texas had Kansas State badly beaten by the call, but Sanders and Helm still had to get those critical blocks outside while CJ made the off balance shoe diver miss.

Running Back

Brooks fought for 112 hard yards on 22 carries. He was also the best run maximizer of the day. The fumble fighting for additional yards inside was very unfortunate and I wonder if it was related to his injury. He kept coming in and out in considerable discomfort, but fought on. He’s also over 1000 yards rushing on the season with plenty of football to go. He and Ollie Gordon are your 1st team All Big 12 running backs.

CJ Baxter had a great statistical game (10-90-1 td) buoyed by his 54 yard run and another explosive run, but both were blocked perfectly. In his other eight carries, he went down at first contact. Also banged up.

Final

Texas had a hell of a win headlined by some terrific individual offensive performances. We’ll take it. The Horns put themselves in the Big 12 driver’s seat. Can they find a seat belt for the QB who keeps trying to climb out of the sun roof on the interstate? With a healthy Quinn Ewers, I’m convinced that the Horns score in the mid-40s and win the game by 3 touchdowns. Without Ewers or a massive improvement in Murphy, it will be difficult for the offense to operate at anything like its full capabilities going forward.

Justin Wells: Top PFF grades from No. 7 Texas' 33-30 OT win over No. 23 Kansas State

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After the No. 7 Texas Longhorns’ 33-30 win over No. 23 Kansas State from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Inside Texas takes a look at the Pro Football Focus grades on offense and defense after the Longhorns moved to 8-1 for the first time since 2009.

OFFENSE

QB – Maalik Murphy, 41.3

Murphy made his second career start on Saturday and played well early, but was a little rough until the team’s final drive in regulation. He went 19-of-37 passing with 248 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Him and Adonai Mitchell have shown a remarkable connection together.

RB – Jonathon Brooks, 77.5, Cedric Baxter, 67.8

The duo of Brooks and Baxter tallied 208 total rushing yards and two touchdowns, including Brooks’ eclipsing the 1,000-yard rushing mark in 2023 and Baxter’s fourth down scoring jaunt.

More from Mr. Baxter.

WR – Adonai Mitchell, 81.1

The passing game opened up more, with Mitchell continuing to be a top target for Murphy on Saturdays, with 149 yards receiving and one touchdowns on eight catches.

TE –  Ja’Tavion Sanders, 52.2

Sanders was clutch on Saturday. He only tallied 21 yards receiving on two grabs on 41 snaps, but his fourth-down reception on UT’s final drive of regulation was huge in the win.

OL – Kelvin Banks, 64.2, Jake Majors, 65.2, Hayden Conner, 65.8

Offensive linemen Kelvin Banks (76 snaps) and Hayden Conner (74 snaps) paced the O-line attack up front. Conner’s 86.5 pass-blocking grade and Banks’s 68.8 run-blocking grade led all the offensive linemen.

DEFENSE

DL/EDGE – T’Vondre Sweat, 88.0, Byron Murphy, 87.3, Ethan Burke, 75.4

Sweat (41 snaps) and Murphy (41 snaps) once again led the Horns defense, with Sweat notching four tackles, one tackle for loss, and a number of pressures, and Murphy leading the defense with 84.3 pass-rush grade. Burke led all defenders with two sacks, in addition to three tackles.

LB – Jaylan Ford, 60.2

The Frisco (Texas) Lone Star product Ford continues to pace the linebacking crew, grabbing eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss on 74 snaps.

CB/N – Malik Muhammad, 65.5, Ryan Watts, 63.0

Watts (57 snaps) led the back seven with eight tackles on Saturday, while Muhammad (19 snaps) was like glue with 65.2 pass-coverage grade.

S – Michael Taaffe, 64.5, Derek Williams, 74.2, Jerrin Thompson, 73.2

For the third consecutive week, Taaffe snagged a critical second half interception, in addition to seven tackles on 65 snaps. Williams added a 80.5 tackling grade and two tackles in 21 snaps as the true freshman from the Pelican State continues to see his playing time increase. Thompson led the safeties with 63 snaps on Saturday.

 

Coach V: Finding ways to win ugly versus Kansas State

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By: Coach Venable – Well, we found a way to make a laugher into a nail biter at the end. While we played outstanding football for most of three quarters we still managed to mix three false starts, a mis-snap, plus a couple of holds to kill the drives where we didn’t score in that time frame. We also added a blocked punt with a costly interception to aid in the K-State comeback. Thank goodness the ‘Cats botched an extra point snap and hooked a field goal attempt or we would have lost in regulation.

It was really fun watching most of this game. I honestly thought old KSU would spit the bit once we just kept hammering their defenders with gashing gains and our aerial attack that provided huge chunks of yardage. We finally made enough errors to give them life support and they honored the game with their best and we held on for dear life toward the conclusion. It took a terrific goal line stand from the five but we stuffed them for four straight downs. If you don’t mind I would rather talk mostly about the good things I saw from here on out—there is enough to leave us with a good taste in our mouths.

Our defensive line is playing lights out right now and took a solid offensive line behind the toolshed for a lesson in dominance. Sweat (93) is playing as well as any DT in the country. Murphy (90) is the perfect compliment to Sweat in that he forces and often splits blocks that allow Sweat to pursue with vengeance. Broughton (45) has been the best surprise of the cast of characters. Vernon has gone from a miscast DL to a pressure providing asset that is actually playing the run as well as rushing the passer. Collins (95—more later) plays both inside and outside and always makes a big play or two while giving valuable downs at both tackle and edge end. Carter (98) made a key play in a support role.

Burke (91) had a terrific game with pressure and sacks—welcome back young man. Sorrell (88) is vastly under-rated as our strong side edge. He had a sack plus numerous pressures and tackles. Finkley (1) held the LOS in a support role. Bush (43) had a big play early and added good pursuit and pressure. Between our edges and LB’s we held their extremely strong QB running game to a very pedestrian output. One of the best keys to our victory.

Ford (41) has been outstanding since the OU game. He consistently arrives with attitude and strength. He will become the complete LB once he reverts back to his solid coverage ability that he displayed last year. Hill (0) has loudly introduced himself to every offense as he makes his way thru the schedule. Hill just keeps getting better and better and is being rewarded with more snaps every week. Gbenda (33) had one nice tackle in a reserve role. Blackwell (37) had several nice plays as he received more snaps this week.

The entire secondary played more physical this week and limited the mistakes with decent to solid tackling. Watts (6) is a very good boundary corner and tackles like an OLB. Brooks (8) gave up the TD but probably should have had help from the safety over the top. Muhammad (5) had a good effort game. Jordan (4) had the tackle on the bad snap extra point.

Taaffe (16) had several nice plays including a interception. He also had the clearing block on Worthy’s first punt return and it was truly a thing of beauty. Williams (2) had several open field tackles but might have failed to get deep enough on the TD pass by jumping the TE. Thompson (28) had some good plays but once again got beat for a TD in the corner of the end zone.

Our defense played much better than the 30 points KSU scored. In fact, they played like a championship unit and with a few adjustments they should be crowned conference champs after four more victories. Hello darkness my old friend. We just can’t stand prosperity can we? There we were humming along on all eight cylinders taking names and making them like it and then we couldn’t find that magic again. Damn, I said enough of the criticizing and yet here I go again. On to the Oline…

Banks (78) is back to being the stud we saw last year. He has one pull where he demolishes the defender (Worthy’s reverse carry) that was especially easy on the eyes. Conner (76) played much better but still has a lack of physical attitude in the ground game. Majors (65) had two bad plays in an otherwise excellent game. He lost the LOS to penetration once and had another false snap where he double clutched early. Campbell (52) had one of his best efforts but still had one holding penalty on his ledger. Hutson (54) got a few snaps at RG and is almost back to his previous sound effort. Cam Williams (56) got his first start and minus the three false start penalties played pretty well but those three bad plays killed three potential drives.

Sanders (0) had one nice fourth down catch for a key first down late in the contest. He also blocked much better and had a decleater block on Worthy’s reverse run. Helm (85) was effective on the edge but didn’t get a target in the passing game. Agbo (80) was good in short yardage.

Worthy (1) had several nice catches and runs including a reverse and another terrific punt return. Mitchell (5) had a super strong game with two monster catches, a TD, and several nice shorter catches to keep drives alive. Whittington (13) had one good catch to keep a drive going and many good blocks but also received one holding penalty. Cook (2) had a key catch in his only target.

Brooks (24) had another 100 yard effort but laid the rock on the ground once and that turnover cost us six. I’ll still take this guy every single week without reservations. Baxter (4) had his biggest output along with a 50 yard touchdown on a fourth and short down. Both these backs block with solid protection for our QB. Blue (23) had a nice run. Robinson (7) had good special team effort.

Murphy (6) had a great first part of the game and led us with conviction. That’s the bottom line—he threw bullets on time and with good accuracy. If there is a shortcoming in that excellent stretch it that he hasn’t kept the ball in two full games and the keep is wide open. He ain’t that slow. He did show improvement from his past efforts and that’s key. He must figure it out—take care of the ball. Too many off targets and too many floaters. Grow young man.

At the front of this opinion piece I mentioned Alfred Collins (95) had special plays that I strongly believe won the game for us. Third down in overtime and Collins completely wrecks the LOS and carries the blocking scheme back into the QB power to ruin their best opportunity to win the game. He did the same thing in regulation—-Collins and Sweat on the goal line are two I would go to war with regardless of opponent. Murphy belongs in that unit also. TCU in Cowtown next week. We owe them.

Mike Venable is a retired coach who had a 30 year career coaching football at Lancaster, Duncanville, Gladewater, Pasadena Sam Rayburn, R.L Turner and The Colony.

 

[LTtxfan 49358]

Kansas State game

 

QB rating  49.1   Gerry's grade  F    Bobby's  D

 

[satyanash 14633]

(Ian Boyd) Film room: After a tumultuous fourth quarter, the entire Texas defense did its job on the final play

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The last 15:01 of game time in Saturday’s contest versus Kansas State was not the Texas defense’s best, to say the least. Challenged by short fields given to KSU by the Longhorn offense, the Wildcats rattled off 23 points in the final quarter plus one second, including a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation, to send the battle between the Longhorns and Wildcats into overtime.

Texas managed just a field goal in the first half of overtime, and K-State surged inside the Texas 10 when it had the ball with a chance to steal a win. First down inside the 10 saw Will Howard gain two yards on a QB keeper. Second down was a pass play broken up by T’Vondre Sweat. Third down was an incompletion that rocketed past a receiver in the end zone. Fourth down arrived, and Wildcat kicker Chris Tennant remained on the sidelines.

The game came down to the fourth-down play, and the Longhorns were ready for the moment when they saw Howard and company take the field. “Could we have found a way to play better at some key moments? Sure, but we played well enough at the most critical moment: when the ball is on your own four- or five-yard line there for four straight snaps and our defense was able to get the stop,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said.

Said Byron Murphy, “when they came out there with the offense, I was like ‘it’s time to strap it up, get a stop, and get off the field and win this game.'” After Texas called its lone OT timeout, the Longhorns trotted out a true 3-4 look that went…

😄 Ryan Watts
$: Jerrin Thompson
F: Michael Taaffe
😄 Jahdae Barron

W: David Gbenda
J: Barryn Sorrell
B: Jett Bush
M: Jaylan Ford

T: T’Vondre Sweat
N: Byron Murphy
E: Alfred Collins

Kansas State motioned from a classic Collin Klein look into another classic Klein look. R, running back DJ Giddens, and F, tight end Ben Sinnott, originally start in the backfield before finding their places wide. The play is meant to find Sinnott or X receiver Keagan Johnson, and it looks akin to the play that Oklahoma used to defeat Texas in the Red River Shootout.

In that ill-fated play, Watts blitzed leaving Gbenda and Thompson to fend for themselves versus two receivers and a miscommunication left Nic Anderson wide open in the corner of the end zone. Versus Kansas State, Pete Kwiatkowski called a different defense. Not only was it different than the one used in the Cotton Bowl, but it was also a changeup from what he had run much of the day.

Texas utilized man coverage throughout the contest, a key factor as to why the Wildcats were 2-for-14 on third downs on Saturday. K-State likely expected to see that again, and designed a play for Sinnott to work against Gbenda and beat him to the pylon for the winning score. “They wanted to go to 34,” Ford said. “If I was on that team, I would too. Heck of a player. I think his read was just go to 34.”

Instead, Kwiatkowski called a coverage that put Watts in zone, asked him to trade the deeper route to his teammates, and trust in their ability to cover Johnson while covering Sinnott, the first option. He and his teammates executed it to perfection.

Watts’ immediately recognizes the play, and passes it off to his teammates. Option one in Sinnott is covered. Option two in Johnson is covered. Howard is forced to try to roll back to the opposite side of the field to heave a desperation pass. But pursuit by Sorrell and Murphy make that a tough task, Howard loses his footing, and Sweat earns the game winning PBU. Even so, the linebacking corps, plus Barron moonlighting at corner instead of star for the all-important play, execute their responsibilities to a T.

“They put up a wonderful pressure,” Barron said of the defensive front. “Sorrell, he was trying to get the sack and T-Sweat, he was trying to get a pick.” The latter portions of the game weren’t the best for the Texas defense, giving up 249 passing yards and three touchdowns in the second half. But when Texas needed a stop, all 11 Longhorns on the field executed their assignment to earn the program’s eighth victory of the year.

 

[gurt 750]

Anybody got the Scipio defensive post Mortem?

[Hagbard Celine 10923]

not one of these guys said a word about not taking 3 to go from 17-0 to 20-0

to me the entire game is like a glitch in the matrix from that moment forward

it was a direct replay of the houston game

i just can't past it

[gmr548 16617]

not one of these guys said a word about not taking 3 to go from 17-0 to 20-0
to me the entire game is like a glitch in the matrix from that moment forward
it was a direct replay of the houston game
i just can't past it

I think probably for two reasons:

1.) It’s not a direct replay of the Houston game because they had a real offensive play. To be clear I still think you kick the FG there but they came out with a play that was clearly going to work if the snap wasn’t botched. At Houston they trotted out a fake FG call, pinning their hopes on converting on Burt Auburn getting to the edge and turning the corner. It never had a chance, they might as well have punted from the UH 25. Bit of a difference there.

2.) At UH your could feel the game turn on that call, not so much here. The offensive meltdown was such that the extra 3 points wouldn’t have put the game out of reach. It could have been consequential, yes, but in this case Texas passed on a 20 point lead in the first half and still found themselves up 20 in the late third quarter.

[satyanash 14633]

On 11/7/2023 at 7:22 PM, gurt said:

Anybody got the Scipio defensive post Mortem?

(Scipio Tex) 2023 Kansas State Postmortem: Defense/Special Teams

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If I told you before the game that KSU QB Will Howard would throw for 327 yards and four touchdowns while the Texas offense coughed up three turnovers and Maalik Murphy endured a three quarter meltdown, my guess is that you might have skipped watching the game in favor of Golden Girls reruns on the Lifetime channel.

However, the Longhorn defensive front’s total domination of the Wildcat run game, two forced turnovers and clutchitude in OT from both players and the headsets allowed the Horns to play just enough defense late for the win. This piece from Joe Cook breaking down the last play of the game is a must read. Good call and execution in a key moment.

The Texas defense was done no favors by a sloppy offense that turned the ball over three times, twice deep in Longhorn territory, leading to KSU touchdown drives of 12 and 32 yards, respectively. Unfortunately, those “drives” consisted of only 3 plays to gain the necessary 44 yards and 14 points. Because of lay up plays like this:

Those two short field touchdowns came sandwiched between a 8 play, 75 yard Kansas State touchdown drive and a 10 play 56 yard drive that ended in a short field goal miss followed by another 10 play 33 yard field goal make. Mind you, KSU only had 347 total yards on 73 plays and was a pathetic 2 of 14 on 3rd downs for the game.

A Texas defense that dominated a good portion of the game obliterating a deeply experienced KSU offensive line and talented running back room was in the process of getting a second half 8 count from the referee, irrespective of the Longhorn offense trying to beat themselves. Nearly all of the damage done in just a bit over a quarter of action.

What happened? How did the Wildcats go from being utterly dominated — totaling 23 yards on their first 23 plays from scrimmage over their first six drives — to dropping 246 passing yards on the Texas pass defense in the second half? On a highly efficient 19 of 28 passing?

Tired of being mauled by the Texas run defense and trying to play action from run formations that only led to sacks and pressures, Kansas State abandoned their running game, spread the field out and let Will Howard feast on screen game and crossing routes against Longhorn coverages that they predicted with remarkable accuracy.

Throw in a couple of poor tackling efforts and some major turnover miscues and that’s how a team rallies from 20 points down to put you in overtime despite trailing in halftime yardage 306-107. Hey, does this play look familiar? Arghhh.

The Longhorn D got a little too predictable (in coverages and pressures; PK’s default pressure solution of blitzing the nickel into a play side RB aligned to the nickel while they throw to an open slot receiver crosser outrunning the LB switch probably needs a rethink at this point), struggled to find creative ways to heat up the QB and had some clear moments where they lost composure against tempo.

This isn’t adequately explained by “well, KSU switched their game plan.” This wasn’t a wishbone team coming out in the run-n-shoot. Besides, defending three and four wide, empty sets, crossing routes and screens are basic opponent agnostic football staples.

As for the opponent, since October of last year, KSU has spent quite a bit of time in passing game alignment and tempo when they see opportunity in it. Recall that last year, non-thrower Adrian Martinez threw for 329 yards against Texas as KSU rallied unsuccessfully from a 31-10 deficit. The defense did a lot of good things, but let’s not paper over something that can get Texas beat.

Defensive Line

Utter domination from Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat. They combined for an amazing 11 hurries, 2 batted balls and multiple stuffs at the line of scrimmage that fed the stat line of the cleanup guy. Broughton and Collins were also terrific. Please watch Alfred, Byron and Sweat on the OT series. Absolutely awesome. Dominant Collins QB draw stuff, a Sweat batted ball on jump pass and the game-sealing Byron Murphy penetration.

The 3-4 or 5-2 alignment against opponent run sets that features Burke-Collins-Sweat-Murphy-Bush or Blackwell can’t be run on and it’s a great wrinkle by PK. It can also provide a pretty devastating pass rush as it guarantees every DL a one-on-one match up. I’d love to see more of that, even as a change up, particularly paired with on coverage.

Texas “only had 3 sacks” but they combined for 22 hurries and 3 other QB hits. The problem is that Kansas State always had an immediate release valve that prevented the completion of the rush and Howard was terrific at stepping up in the pocket or repositioning 18 inches to release the ball to an open receiver a few yards from his face.

See crossers/screens above and the second touchdown clip for an example. Don’t blame the front. They more than did their job and spent most of the game passing the C-RG-RT of the K-State OL through their stool. Ethan Burke looked pretty good post meniscus surgery, didn’t he? He had 2 sacks, a strip fumble deep in K-State territory and played the run well.

Please note how bringing interior LB pressure created zero passing window for Howard and set the table for Ethan. At the risk of oversimplifying, when we brought the nickel or a delayed LB blitz, bad things happened. When we brought LBs inside with urgency and numbers to guarantee 1 on 1 pass rush matchups, pretty good things happened.

Put more simply: would you prefer Barron cover and Hill blitz or Hill cover and Barron blitz? I know what the Wildcats preferred. See the regrettable PK 4th down call that KSU converted late to go to overtime. You didn’t need Connor Stalions on the sideline to know that KSU knew exactly what was coming there.

Jett Bush played wonderfully in limited snaps. Watch him sniff out the Wildcat shovel pass on 3rd and 3 in the fourth quarter. Elite recognition and recovery. He paired that with a pass deflection and several physical block attacks when Kansas State ran outside zone. Sorry star gazers, Bush is a good 20 play per game edge/LB hybrid in that 3-4. Finkley was the only Texas DL that struggled. Still look to upgrade there.

Linebacker

Very physical play from Jaylan Ford inside. We put quite a lot on the linebackers in coverage against KSU’s best athletes and it didn’t work out really well in the second half.

Texas put Anthony Hill in some impossible coverage situations and Kansas State targeted him with their excellent TE Sinnott on screens and KSU WRs underneath on rub routes and crossers. Passing off coverage to Hill while we blitz the nickel is self-defeating. There is no surprise factor and it’s counterproductive with negative ripple effects through the entire scheme. Every opponent offense now aligns their RB or move TE on a critical passing down to the nickel side. More importantly, they know that our best short area coverage guy has now been rendered useless.

I chuckled at one point when Howard berated his RB for lining up away from the nickel side and adjusted him as if to say “Dude, we talked about this on Tuesday.” KSU was a perfect 8 for 8 for 77 yards targeting Hill, four of them for first downs.

Defensive Back

Ryan Watts played about ten different games in one game. He was targeted heavily in the passing game, but also had two pass break ups, missed a tackle on the sideline, was terrific in run support and played the heady zone switch to Sinnott on KSU’s last play of the game perfectly. Also dropped a likely interception. Brooks and Jase Brown were a touch matchup for him. Really quick little dudes. Watts prospers best against bigger bodies and KSU hunted that one out well.

Taking Phillip Brooks out of the slot and aligning him everywhere was a smart wrinkle, but they were fleeing Barron as much as targeting Watts with small, quick bodies. In combination with giving Hill major coverage responsibilities on switches, that had knock on effects throughout our whole pass coverage. KSU did a great job of getting quick guys on big guys and we didn’t adjust. 40 of KSU’s 42 passing attempts were targeted in the middle or right side of the field.

It’s not unusual for a passing offense to be right or left-handed, but 95.2% is a tell. The safety rotation was tighter without Kitan Crawford. I thought the group played pretty well as the Cats were attacking other coverage matchups. I loved nearly everything we got from Derek Williams, though you’d like to see him keep his depth better on the Terrance Brooks surrendered post touchdown.

Jerrin Thompson played just fine. The Brooks TD throw in the end zone on Jerrin was just a great play and good throw, exploiting a known issue. Taaffe tackled poorly in some spots (c’mon, use the sideline), but he had several good positioning plays that negated a potential completion (see the Burke strip sack play for example) and his interception proved that half of success in life is just showing up.

His best play of the game? Jacking up 240 pound Ben Sinnott in press man coverage. The Cats were clearly targeting that match up and you can see Howard wondering why his TE can’t get a release on the 55 pound lighter safety. The play ends in a Barryn Sorrell sack, but Taaffe was the impetus.

Special Teams

Whoa. A lot happened. Bert Auburn was amazing, going a clutch 4 of 4, including two from 40+ and a 49 yarder that would have been good from 59. He’s 8 of 8 since the OU game and now 17 of 22 on the season. Welcome back, Sideshow! Sark had a nice I-told-you-so in his presser about the early season push to try someone else instead and Sark was 100% right.

Ryan Sanborn was awesome again. Dead balled two punts on the KSU 6 yard line. One of those led to a critical Texas score. This guy is a complete stud and one of the best punters to ever play for Texas. Worthy had two strong punt returns, totaling 52 yards with a long of 33. Banks has something going there the last three weeks.

From a negative standpoint, the punt block was a space cadet play by some Texas blockers who released as if the Wildcat rush could be ignored completely. A brutal turn of field position that really switched game momentum. Is there any doubt that Sanborn would’ve pinned KSU inside their 10 here?

Two different Wildcats could have blocked that. I know K-State is great at punt blocks, but this was an own goal. Has to be pure player error. Texas also enforced an illegal formation re-punt that cost them 15 yards of field position. With Worthy at returner, another bite at the apple makes sense. I didn’t hate that from a process standpoint.

Final

Loved the effort and the play up front. Seeing Texas manhandle a high level running game speaks to my inner caveman. I was also moderately encouraged by the tighter safety rotation and what we saw from the pass rush when we allowed 1 on 1 matchups rather than predictable “scheme” blitzes.

The Texas defensive brain trust has some re-thinking to do on some ineffective approaches to the spread passing game and some of its base concepts. If Chandler Morris can go for the Frogs, I see no reason why TCU doesn’t drop back 50 times going hurry up with some pretty basic concepts on repeat. The good news is, if Texas brings some adjustments, we can be the team catching them unaware as we break tendency. Hook ’em!