Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 4)

satyanash · September 23, 2018

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

(Bobby Burton) Snap Judgments: Marching Forward

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Following the Maryland debacle, it's hard to believe I'm even writing this. Texas just beat No. 17 TCU 31-16. It's the first back-to-back home wins against ranked opponents since 2008.

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Texas played better D than the Horned Frogs, and the Texas offense controlled the clock and the ground for most of the second half. This win was no mistake nor was it some sort of charade. Sure, there were key big plays here and there, like the TD pass to LJ Humphrey and the outstanding grab by Collin Johnson, or even the caused fumble by Marqez Bimage. But let's not forget. Texas also left points out on the field, missing two field goals. And TCU had bog plays of their own, like the TD pass on the goal-line to end the first half.

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The Texas DL dominated the line of scrimmage. The Horns D clogged the running lanes all game long. And I felt like the Texas secondary got better as the game wore on. In the second half, defensive coordinator Todd Orlando made TCU QB Shawn Robinson look like the first-year starter that he is. Texas ended up forcing four turnovers.

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And Texas committed no turnovers. Sam Ehlinger played his best all-around game as a Longhorn. His pass to Collin Johnson was put on the money against a rush coming straight into his facemark. He also checked down to Tre Watson for a key third-down conversion that I'm 100-percent sure he never would have made just three weeks ago. There was also the game-clinching TD pass to Humphrey, where Ehlinger didn't rush in the pocket, gathered himself and made an on-the-money throw. Sure, there were things Ehlinger can improve on. He got happy feet in the pocket to start the second half. And he wasn't always accurate, especially in the second half, but that was a good, if not great, all-around performance by the QB.

**

The Texas OL held up in pass protection for most of the day. TCU was hoping to get more significant pressure on Ehlinger than what they were able to. The Horns' OL also opened up some running lanes for the back on a consistent enough basis. It's hard to fathom just how much better this OL is than a year ago, not only in pass protection but also in the run game.

**

Hats off to Watson who did yeoman's work in the backfield. He ran hard, strong and was good out of the backfield and when called upon to pass protect. Keaontay Ingram is a potentially special back. We only saw glimpses of him today but his ability in the third quarter jump-started the Texas offense which had been lagging at the time.

**

Kris Boyd was beat more than once. But he hung with it all game long, and ultimately won his share of battles, including a TD break-up and another pass defended in the end zone. And then there's Caden Sterns who made two picks and Brandon Jones who also had an INT, a fumble recovery and another TD-saving tackle on the goal-line. But the defensive back who may have made the play of the day? Davante Davis. His deflected pass inside the five yard-line stopped TCU's only significant drive of the fourth quarter and forced a field goal attempt which eventually failed. Texas got the ball back after that play and proceeded to march the length of the field for a TD that put the Horns up by an important two scores.

**

Sophomores Marqez Bimage and Ta'Quon Graham turned in strong games in reserve. Bimage stripped Robinson for a big turnover. Graham was consistently pushing the pocket and getting penetration. Both Chris Nelson and Gerald Wilbon had solid games. Wilson may have had his best in his career.

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Not everything was perfect. I did not like Tom Herman's decision to go for it in his own territory in the first half, and I surely didn't like that the play-call was a sweep with Daniel Young to the outside, which plays right into TCU's speedy defense. TCU ultimately scored a TD off the short field and went ahead at half.

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While Cameron Dicker missed two field goal attempts, and cost Texas points, I don't think there's anything to worry with there. And I'm surprised TCU never really tried to go after Texas punter Ryan Bujcevski, instead trying to set up the return game. But Bujcevski punted very well and no punt was ever returned.

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I'd stop well short of saying "Texas is back." But this is the type of team I envisioned when I predicted Texas would win 10 games this season. Texas controlled the ball in the second half, with a good passing and running combo and a QB who made good decisions. The defense has some play-makers and are very well coached. Combine it all together, and Texas will have more wins coming this season. The question is how many. I think much of that will depend on Sam Ehlinger not turning it over and the Texas players not getting too big-headed and continuing to give the kind of four-quarter effort that they showed today for every game going forward. Last week, it was a nice step forward. This was a really big step. TCU is well coached on both sides of the ball. And they have playmakers. Yet Texas beat them. Soundly.

(Chip Brown) Good, Bad and Ugly from Longhorns' upset of No. 17 TCU

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AUSTIN, Texas — Now, that’s a signature win. The Longhorns exorcised all kinds of demons in a 31-16 triumph Saturday over 17th-ranked TCU, which had won four straight over UT by an average margin of 30 points. Following last week's 37-14 victory over No. 22 USC, Texas won back-to-back games over ranked opponents for the first time since 2009 and won back-to-back home games over ranked opponents for the first time since 2008. But most of all, the victory should’ve put belief in the Longhorns’ locker room that they truly might be ready to contend for a Big 12 title this season.

There are more demons to exorcise, including next week at Kansas State, where UT hasn’t won since 2002. But on Saturday, Texas won with a dominating defense that won the turnover battle 4-0, including two interceptions by freshman safety Caden Sterns, who now has three picks on the season. Marqez Bimage came up with a huge forced fumble in the third quarter recovered by Brandon Jones that led to a Texas touchdown. And Sterns’ second interception set up a 2-yard TD run by Ehlinger, putting Texas up 24-16.

Gary Johnson finished with 11 tackles (6 solo), and Jones had 10 stops (7 solo) along with an interception and recovered fumble. Kris Boyd had two pass breakups in the end zone, and Davante Davis came up with a huge third-down pass breakup on the end zone that forced a 41-yard field goal attempt missed wide right by TCU kicker Jonathan Song with 9:16 left. When Texas took its 31-16 lead with 3:18 left, Texas had an 11-minute advantage in time of possession and punished an exhausted TCU defense.

Sam Ehlinger was clutch passing on third down in the second half (5-of-6) and finished 22 of 32 passing for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Texas' running game wasn't pretty (45 attempts, 112 yards, 2.5 ypc), but it was effective enough, led by Tre Watson (15 for 58 yards, 3.9 ypc, 1 TD) and freshman Keaontay Ingram, who came back from an ankle injury that sidelined him against USC and ran eight times for 38 yards (4.8 ypc). The last two weeks, the Longhorns, who are now 3-1 and 1-0 in Big 12 play, have done what good teams do: punish opponents’ mistakes. Here’s the GOOD, BAD and UGLY from the Longhorns’ 31-16 victory over TCU …

THE GOOD

Sam Ehlinger is becoming Mr. Clutch on third down. After completing 6-of-10 on third down against USC, Ehlinger completed 6-of-8 on third down against TCU, including five of his last six:

Third-and-4 … 8 yards to Collin Johnson in the third quarter

Third-and-8 … 8 yards to Tre Watson in the third quarter

Third-and-7 … 11 yards to Lil'Jordan Humphrey in third quarter

Third-and-7 … 7 yards to Collin Johnson in the fourth quarter

Third-and-7 … 38-yard TD pass to Humphrey in the fourth quarter

TEXAS GOES UP 31-16 ON THIRD-DOWN TD PASS: Ehlinger may have made the most mature third-down conversion pass of his career on his 38-yard, catch-and-run TD pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey that put Texas up 31-16 with 3:18 left. Facing third-and-7 from the TCU 38, Ehlinger dropped back and couldn’t find anyone open and started to run, but then backed up in the pocket once he saw Humphrey scrambling toward the left sideline after initially running a crossing route. Ehlinger let the pass go to his favorite third-down target, Humphrey caught it at about the 20 and ran it the rest of the way.

The Longhorns’ decisive touchdown drive to go up 31-16 was kept alive after a great second effort by Collin Johnson, who caught Ehlinger’s pass and appeared headed to the ground 2 yards shy of the marker. But a great second effort by Johnson allowed him to pick up the final 2 yards and keep the chains moving with a first down at the UT 35 with 7:20 left.

TEXAS DEFENSE BOWS UP, TCU MISSES FIELD GOAL: After TCU drove the ball from its 17 to the Texas 25, the Longhorns’ D came up huge as Davante Davis stuffed a pass to Darius Anderson for a 1-yard gain on first down; Kris Boyd broke up a pass in the end zone to Jalen Raegor on second down; and Davis broke up a third-and-9 pass. That forced a 41-yard field-goal attempt by Song that he missed wide right with 9:16 left.

TCU’s FOURTH TURNOVER LEADS TO 24-16 TEXAS LEAD: TCU QB Shawn Robinson was intercepted for the second time Saturday by Texas true freshman safety Caden Sterns, who initially was ruled to have returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. But upon further review, Sterns was ruled out at the TCU 2, setting up a 2-yard touchdown run by Ehlinger on a zone-read keeper, putting Texas up 24-16 with 28 seconds left in the third quarter.

TEXAS REGAINS LEAD 17-16 AFTER TCU TURNOVER: Marqez Bimage stripped TCU’s Shawn Robinson, and Brandon Jones recovered at the TCU 45 with 3:32 left in the third quarter. Ehlinger converted third-and-8 on a swing pass to Tre Watson and third-and-7 on an 11-yard pass to Lil'Jordan Humphrey to the TCU 21. After a holding call on left tackle Calvin Anderson brought up first-and-20 from the TCU 31, Johnson laid for an Ehlinger pass on a post route in the end zone, giving Texas a 17-16 lead with 45 seconds left in the third quarter.

Texas drove the ball from its own 5 to the TCU 18 in the middle of the third quarter on a 14-play drive that took 4:32 off the clock, converting third-and-4 on a pass from Ehlinger to Collin Johnson, and Patrick Vahe may have had his best play as a Longhorn on the drive. Vahe drove a TCU linebacker back 15 yards on a 14-yard run by Tre Watson to the TCU 18. But that’s where the drive stalled, and Dicker missed a 43-yard field goal attempt wide left.

STERNS’ FIRST INTERCEPTION: Brandon Jones got great pressure on TCU’s KuVontae Turpin, who threw the pass that was intercepted by Caden Sterns at the Texas 38 with 8:06 left in the second quarter. Officials made the right ruling that Jones didn’t commit targeting on his hit on Turpin.

Kris Boyd made his second huge pass breakup in a row against Jalen Reagor on a deep ball in the second quarter — after breaking up a third-and-goal pass in the end zone to Raegor when UT limited the Frogs to a field goal late in the first quarter.

JONES INTERCEPTION: After Texas gave up a 39-yard pass to the UT 21 on the previous play, TCU’s Robinson never saw Texas safety Brandon Jones drop into zone coverage, and Jones came up with UT’s second interception of the game, giving the Horns the ball at their own 20 with 13:12 left in the third quarter. The Longhorns’ D forced its second three-and-out of the game, which led to a 26-yard punt from TCU’s Adam Nunez, giving UT the ball at the TCU 47 with 13:16 left in the second quarter.

The Texas defense bowed up once again on the goal line. After a 50-yard pass from Shawn Robinson to Jalen Raegor gave the Frogs first-and-goal from the Texas 4, UT’s defense held TCU to a 23-yard field goal thanks to Jeff McCulloch dropping Robinson for a 7-yard loss on second-and-goal and Kris Boyd breaking up a pass into the end zone on third-and-goal.

TEXAS GOES UP 7-3 AFTER 4TH DOWN CONVERSION: A 17-yard pass from Ehlinger to Devin Duvernay moved Texas to the TCU 47. After Ehlinger missed a wide-open Lil’Jordan Humphrey on third-and-4 from the TCU 41, Ehlinger hit Collin Johnson for 8 yards on fourth-and-4 to the TCU 33. A screen pass to Keaontay Ingram went for a 5-yard loss. But on second-and-15, Ehlinger hit Johnson for an 18-yard gain to the TCU 20. A 7-yard run by Ingram and an 8-yard pass to Andrew Beck set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Tre Watson, putting Texas up 7-3 with 4:09 left in the first quarter.

When Texas went up 7-3 in the first quarter, it marked the Longhorns’ first lead against TCU since Oct. 26, 2013, the last time the Horns beat the Frogs (in Fort Worth). In the four meetings since, TCU had outscored Texas 57-3 in the first quarter.

The Texas defense held TCU to three-and-out on the Horned Frogs’ second possession of the game as Chris Nelson dropped TCU RB Darius Anderson for a 1-yard loss on first down, and Davante Davis had the coverage on KuVontae Turpin’s (dropped) incomplete pass on third down. After a 5-yard run by Tre Watson on UT’s first offensive play of the game, Sam Ehlinger’s first deep shot was on the money to Collin Johnson for 45 yards to the TCU 25. Gary Johnson and Brandon Jones stuffed TCU RB Sewo Olonilua for a 1-yard gain on third-and-3 from the Texas 29 on the Horned Frogs’ opening drive, forcing a 46-yard field goal attempt. The rain-free, 75-degree weather for a 3:30 pm CT kickoff in September!!!

THE BAD

After going 3-of-3 on field goal attempts in UT’s 37-14 victory over USC, freshman Cameron Dicker (The Kicker) was 1-of-2, missing from 42 yards in the first quarter and from 43 yards in the third quarter (both wide left) while hitting from 34 yards in the second quarter. After Texas stuffed a bubble screen for a 2-yard gain on third-and-3 from the UT 29, TCU converted fourth-and-1 at the Texas 27 on a direct-snap run by Sewo Olonilua for 2 yards.

To start the third quarter, the TCU defensive line, specifically end Ben Banogu (No. 15) began imposing its will on the Texas offensive line. UT’s first possession of the second half was doomed by a first-down sack of Ehlinger for a loss of 8 yards by Banogu. And following an interception by Brandon Jones, UT’s second possession of the third quarter was doomed by a 5-yard sack of Ehlinger on third down. Davante Davis was in position to make the play, but somehow Robinson’s pass got past Davis and into the arms of KuVontae Turpin for a 39-yard gain to the Texas 21 on TCU’s first possession of the third quarter.

TCU TAKES 13-10 LEAD BEFORE THE HALF: The Frogs took advantage of outstanding field position after a 37-yard, Ryan Bujcevski punt to the Texas 41 and converted two third downs en route to a go-ahead, touchdown with :06 left in the half. Gary Patterson used his two remaining timeouts perfectly on the drive, and on second-and-goal from the UT 1 with 10 seconds left, Shawn Robinson hit Jalen Raegor with a back-shoulder, 1-yard TD pass before Kris Boyd could turn around, putting TCU up 13-10 with :06 left in the half.

When TCU was offside on a 37-yard punt by Ryan Bujcevski from the back of the Texas end zone that was fair caught by TCU’s KuVontae Turpin at the Texas 41, Tom Herman declined the penalty. Instead of taking the 5-yard penalty and punting from the UT 9, Herman either showed crazy respect for Turpin’s return skills and settled for a fair catch or showed crazy lack of respect for his own punter’s ability to boom a better punt on the re-kick. TCU ended up turning that field position into a 41-yard TD drive just before the half.

Breckyn Hager was called for his second offsides penalty of the first half, giving the Frogs first-and-5 at the Texas 42 with seven minutes left in the second quarter. (The TCU drive ended in a punt.)

FOURTH-DOWN TURNING POINT: Instead of playing field position near midfield with a 10-6 lead, Tom Herman went for it on fourth down and failed. Back-to-back runs by Daniel Young on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 from the UT 47 were stuffed for no gain by TCU with 6:22 left in the second quarter, giving TCU a field position advantage that would ultimately benefit the Frogs two possessions later, on their final drive of the first half, which resulted in a touchdown and 13-10 lead.

Texas appeared strip the ball from TCU’s Jaelan Austin after a 4-yard screen pass with the ball being recovered by Davante Davis at the TCU 29 with just under 10 minutes left in the second quarter. Bizarre officiating: After calling TCU’s left tackle for a false start on third-and-goal from the Texas 11, the officials reversed their call and flagged Breckyn Hager for offsides, giving the Frogs third-and-goal from the Texas 6.

With Kris Boyd playing inside leverage with about a 5-yard cushion, TCU’s Jalen Raegor faked an inside route, then broke the route outside, getting Boyd turned around and getting behind Boyd for a 50-yard reception. It was a great effort by Boyd to trip Raegor at the TCU 4 with two minutes left in the first quarter. After having first down at the TCU 25 following a 45-yard pass from Ehlinger to Collin Johnson, the Longhorns’ next three plays went for minus-2 yards, and freshman Cameron Dicker (The Kicker) missed a 42-yard field goal attempt wide left at the 9:40 of the first quarter with TCU up, 3-0.

TCU GOES UP 3-0 ON OPENING DRIVE: Shawn Robinson went 5-of-5 passing for 41 yards on TCU’s opening drive of the game en route to a 46-yard field goal by Jonathan Song with 11:52 left in the first quarter. Song replaced Cole Bunce, who was 0-2 through three games.

THE UGLY

Let’s go ahead and nitpick - Cameron Dicker’s last missed field goal attempt from 43 yards looked like a duck hook drive out of bounds to the left.

(Ian Boyd) 5 Quick thoughts: Crushing the cockroaches

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I did probably underestimate Gary Patterson a tad in my writeup previewing this game. Garrett Wallow is his spirit animal, a converted safety from New Orleans that he has molded into another heat-seaking missile at LB, and his aggressive plays successfully limited what Texas could do in the run game.

But Gary Patterson and his henchman Sonny Cumbie were always going to have a good plan coming into this game to try and make Texas' strengths appear non-existent while their weaknesses seemed like glaring, obvious holes. There was a period, just before halftime and then early in the third quarter when Texas fans were getting deja vu about those moments in previous contests. "Oh God, Gare has figured Texas out, from here on out is going to be the beating we all feared..."

Then Shawn Robinson fumbled the ball and Brandon Jones recovered. On the ensuing drive, Sam Ehlinger converted a pair of third and longs before the Texas RB (didn't see who) picked up Ben Banogu with a big hit in pass protection and made the space for Ehlinger to step forward and hit Collin Johnson in the end zone for a TD to make it 17-16. From there, the Frog pass rush started to wither and their QB fell apart as Texas slowly dissected them like it was a HS science class.

31-16. The plague is over. Egypt wins.

Quick thought no. 1: The Texas secondary dominated this game

I noticed against SMU that Shawn Robinson tends to lose underneath defenders and that bore out in a major way in this game BUT the first INT by Caden Sterns was simply a "welcome to Austin, we use DB like NFL" moment. Sterns showed tremendous range and then easy control to step down in bounds. He added another one playing as a rat in coverage underneath while Brandon Jones added a pick when Robinson had a window open to Jalen Reagor on a wheel route and the ball seemed to slip out. Kris Boyd also added a number of pass break-ups, each one more harrowing than the last as he barely held up against Reagor outside on deep throws.

It was obvious enough that TCU's team speed was typically nowhere to be found as Texas' DBs flew all over the field and made it appear half the size it normally is for the Frog Air Raid. I'll give you one area where this was true that you may not hear elsewhere: the bubble screens.

Texas played their overhangs (the DB on the edge) very aggressively against the run, which is a big reason why the Frog RBs finished the day with only 70 yards on 20 rushes. The upshot of that is that there was space for the TCU DBs on the perimeter for the bubble screens. Texas defended that space by blowing up the blocks with Davante Davis and Kris Boyd and then closing in that narrowed space with the deep safeties and then the aforementioned overhangs, bailing back out to the perimeter.

It's pretty common these days for anti-spread defenses to just take away the bubble screen by alignment and assignment and then hope to rally to stop the run. Texas is not conceding the ability to get numbers in the box and they are playing tremendously in both regards. Btw, this is a trade-off you face when your outside receivers are both <200 pound track stars.

I could go on for a while about this secondary but we'll move on. Suffice to say that Caden Sterns' unbelievable freshman campaign is both freeing up Brandon Jones and allowing his growth as a player to make this the best safety tandem in the league by a long shot. Boyd nearly met his match in Reagor but this CB tandem has a lot going for them as well. It's nice to be DBU in this league.

Quick thought no. 2: Texas won this game throwing the ball to big wideouts

Much like on defense, Texas had an advantage in this game from their size advantages on the perimeter. I'm not telling you anything that wasn't obvious from watching Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson executing four minute offense by breaking tackles, or watching Lil'Jordan Humphrey run through a small and worn out secondary for the clinching score. Still, it wasn't obvious coming into this game that Texas was going to beat TCU by flinging the ball around on the edge.

Texas ran QB power early in the second quarter twice for 17 yards, then we didn't see it again save for as a tool for attacking the perimeter. The reason is that Gary's response to that was to load up the box and yield a ton of space out wide, playing the deep safety in the box at about seven yards deep. From there it was about using the already established ability of Texas to run power on the Frogs in order to hit the edge with RPOs, which they did.

Sam Ehlinger finished the game 22-32 for 255 yards at 8.0 ypa with two TDs and zero INTs. It was a good, workman like game that included moments of real toughness when it looked like TCU DE's Ben Banogu and Ty Summers were about to take over the game and bury Texas at midfield. But this was really a game where we got to see what Collin Johnson and Lil'Jordan Humphrey can do against a team that isn't game planning to take them out of the game. Johnson had 7-124 with a score, Humphrey added 4-77 and another TD.

Quick thought no. 3: Experience at QB and OL matters

How many TCU fans are going to wring their hands about having a QB that committed multiple turnovers in back to back weeks that costed them chances to win big games? It's year one for Shawn Robinson, he's got some weak spots and some strong points and facing Todd Orlando and this defense on the road his weaknesses tended to be more glaring than his bright spots. Meanwhile the TCU OL had trouble all day with Orlando's run-stopping stunts and blitzes. When Michael Collins came in he looked like an extra trying to survive a shelling at Bastogne in Band of Brothers.

Four turnovers for TCU, zero for Texas. Sam Ehlinger took care of the ball and managed risk, Shawn Robinson made bizarre errors and coughed it up trying to make plays to lead his team to victory. Experience matters, everyone that is writing off Robinson now is running the risk of looking as ridiculous as Ehlinger's detractors are starting to appear.

Quick thought no. 4: Special teams need a little work

This is an area where Texas may need to come out ahead to win games down the stretch this year. Cameron Dicker missed a FG early and shanked another one, completely negating my expectation that he might be the difference over a TCU kicker that never saw the field (instead Jonathan Song came in and played well). D'Shawn Jamison is pressing a bit too much on his returns, Texas was a big loser in field position for much of this game and at times that was because they were returning kicks from the end zone and failing to even win back to the 20.

Ryan Bujcevksi is coming along now. He's not the field position-flipping monster that Michael Dickson is and was but, that's okay, and he's becoming something like an average or better punter. To be a team that is going to play defense and execute ball control strategies with a run game and big receivers outside, Texas needs to be winning field position battles. It's easy to see improvements occurring here though, as well as when they can play Keaontay Ingram more as that guy creates creases for himself that don't even exist for other backs. For that reason...

Quick thought no. 5: This team can win the Big 12

That was my position coming into the season and one that I maintained in the midst of great scorn after weeks one and two. When Tom Herman said "this feels different" and was written off by some of the Texas commentators who have become a collection of snark artists in the midst of a troubled decade he wasn't just trying to pump sunshine to an exasperated fanbase.

The Maryland game was a weird one with costly mistakes early and down the stretch. The Tulsa game had some grim moments but was really a game in which three quarters of domination wasn't really reflected in the final score. The USC game looked promising but the opponent seemed questionable. TCU was a good team. They're probably not quite as good as last year, the defense without Ross Blacklock has more areas to try and cover up and Shawn Robinson hasn't yet graduated from the Kenny Hill "learn to manage the game, son" school of QB play. It's a good team though and Texas just beat them by 15 points.

Kansas State is not a good team this year, the road trip next week to Manhattan looks entirely different than it in the preseason. Oklahoma is not as good as they were last year either and Texas came within a busted coverage or an Ehlinger concussion protocol session from beating them a year ago. Oklahoma State...well they look pretty dang good.

Suffice to say, Texas is starting to put together their identity and it's absolutely one that can win this league. They can play elite defense, particularly against spread teams that aren't designed to work against teams with NFL athletes all over the field. They can run the ball, which wasn't as obvious in this game but largely because the Frogs schemed to take that away at the expense of their pass defense. Now we know that they can beat teams outside and down the field when the load up to stop the run. TCU didn't spoil the season this year, it's only just getting started.

satyanash · September 23, 2018

Wescott Eberts: Late surge pushes Texas past TCU for monumental win

Joseph Cook: Horns handle No. 17 Horned Frogs, 31-16

AUSTIN, Tx — In its last two home games, Texas went into halftime against ranked opponents in a close game where the second half would determine the outcome. And on both occasions, UT (3-1, 1-0) earned decisive victories, only this time it opened Big 12 play and ended a four-game skid against the TCU Horned Frogs. Last week it was due in large part to an excellent run defense. This week against No. 17 TCU, it was big plays en route to a 31-16 win at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

Texas forced TCU QB Shawn Robinson into three turnovers in the second half, with the Horns capitalizing on the latter two. Texas safety duo of Caden Sterns (2 INTs) and Brandon Jones (INT, FR) led the Longhorn defense to its first win over TCU since 2013. “This was going to be an ugly, hard fought, physical game as all games against TCU are, and the defense kept us in it when we were finding our way a little bit offensively,” Texas head coach Tom Herman said after the game. “I can’t credit the defense or the offense enough for responding.”

TCU scored on its second possession of the second half, taking a 16-10 advantage with 8:44 left in the third. That was before Robinson threw two interceptions, and ended coach Gary Patterson’s attempt at topping UT five consecutive years, most since 1930. The Longhorns responded with a drive down the field and got within range for Cameron Dicker, but he missed his second attempt of the evening. That moment of disappointment was left in the past.

Two plays later, Jones intercepted Robinson and brought it back to the TCU 45. Texas orchestrated a seven-play, 45-yard drive capped off by an outstanding diving touchdown catch by Collin Johnson. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger stepped up in the pocket and fired the ball between two defenders to find Johnson in the end zone. “They gave me a post,” Johnson said. “I was like ‘I’m not the fastest but I’m just going to lay out and try to make the play.’ I was happy just to make the play for the team and help the team out.”

That gave UT a 17-16 lead they wouldn’t surrender and although Herman claims momentum is an illusion, it appeared to loom around the Longhorns for the remainder of the game. If it had simply tipped on Texas’ side at that point, the very next play made it go fully in the Longhorns’ favor. Robinson dropped back on a 1st and 10 and fired a ball in the heart of UT’s defense. It was there Sterns snagged his second INT of the game, as his intended receiver appeared to give up on the route, and the freshman phenom returned it to the TCU 2.

One play later, Ehlinger pulled the ball from Tre Watson’s stomach and waltzed into the end zone with a smile on his face, and a 24-16 lead with five seconds remaining in the quarter. The Horns held the ball for more than 10 minutes in the third quarter, tiring out the TCU defense. The Horned Frogs had one more opportunity late, but a missed field goal by Jonathan Song ended any hope of a comeback, especially considering what Texas did next.

In the style of football Herman prefers, Texas went on a 10-play, 76-yard drive. The Longhorns converted two 3rd downs with the latter being another big play, a 38-yard pitch-and-catch to Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who raced to paydirt sealing the win. “We were expecting that because we wanted to control the game and control the game on the ground,” Watson said of the drive. “Our o-line was getting great push off the ball and they were competing the entire game. In that fourth quarter, we knew we were going to have to handle the ball on the ground. We did pretty well.”

Watson finished as Texas’ leading rusher with 60 yards on 15 carries. On the whole, the Longhorns rushed for 112 yards and two scores at 2.5 yards per carry. The sophomore Ehlinger delivered another efficient performance going 22-of-32 passing for 255 yards and two scores, adding one on the ground. He was the first UT signal-caller to rush and throw for a score in three consecutive games since Colt McCoy in 2008.

Johnson was the only receiver in the game to break 100 yards, with 123 on seven receptions and one score. “I think we were confident in the way that we prepared and that were were confident that if we just went out and continued to stick to the game plan, the plays would start going our way,” Herman said. “We did that. Texas notched its first victory over TCU since 2013 with today’s win, and also achieved its first three-game win streak since 2014. “I really like the grit of this team and the tenacity that they have shown especially in the last couple of weeks.”

It’s a black cloud off no longer hanging over some players, and a sign for members of the program that progress is being made at a steady pace. “This is important to us,” Sterns said. “The culture is starting to change, and we’re just starting to put all the little pieces together. It’s just amazing to see.”

Texas goes on the road next week to face Kansas State. The Longhorns have struggled in Manhattan over the years, lasting leaving with a win in 2002, but Herman’s team is ready to continue to change the direction of the program. “We went 1-0 against a really good opponent and we’re going to have to wake up tomorrow and take another step and do it on the road against another really good opponent,” Herman said.

satyanash · September 23, 2018

Chip Brown: After TCU win, Herman proving correct in sticking with Ehlinger

AUSTIN, Texas - Tom Herman was right. He stuck with Sam Ehlinger at quarterback despite two late interceptions in a second-straight, embarrassing, season-opening loss to Maryland in which even Ehlinger’s completions were slightly off-target. Three games later, the Longhorns are 3-1 (1-0 in Big 12 play) after taking down bully TCU, and Herman has an increasingly confident sophomore quarterback, especially on third down, to go along with the makings of a championship defense that has more playmakers emerging every week.

Usual stars Caden Sterns (two more interceptions Saturday) and team-leading tackler Brandon Jones (interception, fumble recovery, 10 tackles) were joined by Marqez Bimage (forced fumble), Chris Nelson (two TFLs), P.J. Locke (TFL on third-and-1 from the UT 11), Jeff McCulloch (7-yard TFL on second-and-goal from the 4) and some key pass breakups in the red zone by Kris Boyd and Davante Davis.

The combination of championship defense and a maturing offense was the formula Herman had in mind when he said the Longhorns expected to contend for a Big 12 title in November and December. So credit Herman for looking more MENSA than Of Mice And Men following an impressive 31-16 home win that snapped a four-game losing streak to TCU and had Gary Patterson handing out compliments.

“I think you guys got to give Texas credit,” Patterson said when asked if his team suffered a hangover, following a 40-28 loss to No. 4 Ohio State last week. “I mean, they’re doing what they need to do on offense to win ballgames, and they’re letting their defense win the ballgame for them. It’s a good game plan. We know that game plan very well. That’s how we’ve been here 21 years.”

The key to relying on your defense to keep you in games by getting the ball back for your offense is your offense ultimately doing something — aka scoring! — with the ball when the defense gets it back for you. That wasn’t happening early against TCU. An interception by Caden Sterns at the Texas 38 with 8:06 left in the second quarter with UT up 10-6 turned into a failed fourth-and-1 decision by Tom Herman that ultimately gave TCU the field position two possessions later to score a go-ahead touchdown and take a 13-10 lead at halftime. (Let's just say it would've been the main topic of the post-game if UT had lost. But a 15-point win meant it wasn't even brought up.)

A third-quarter interception by Brandon Jones at the Texas 20 on TCU’s first possession of the second half was followed up by a Longhorns’ three-and-out. TCU went up 16-10 on a 29-yard field goal after the Texas defense (P.J. Locke) stuffed TCU quarterback Shawn Robinson for a 1-yard loss on third-and-1 from the UT 11. The game was in perfect position to get away from the Longhorns when a 14-play, 69-yard drive stalled after a 5-yard sack of Ehlinger on first down from the TCU18. That was followed by a 3-yard loss on a swing pass to Tre Watson, capped by a duck hook, wide left on a 43-yard field goal attempt by Cameron Dicker.

But UT’s defense wasn’t done giving the Texas offense more chances to score. Marqez Bimage forced a fumble by Robinson after a 16-yard run that was recovered by Jones at the TCU 45 in the third quarter. The third forced turnover proved to be the charm. Ehlinger heated up on third down, converting third-and-8 from the TCU 43 on a swing pass to Tre Watson for 8 yards. And then Ehlinger hit his favorite third-down target — Lil'Jordan Humphrey — for 11 yards on third-and-7 to the TCU 21.

After a holding penalty on Calvin Anderson brought up first-and-20 for the TCU 31, Collin Johnson laid out for a touchdown catch on a post route that brought the Longhorns back to life, up 17-16 with :45 left in the third quarter. UT’s fourth, forced turnover of the game — and Sterns’ second interception of the game — which Sterns returned 33 yards to the TCU 2, set up a 2-yard TD run by Ehlinger that gave Texas 14 points in a 17-second span and a 24-16 lead.

That’s three straight games in which Ehlinger hasn’t thrown an interception. And don’t look now, but Ehlinger is 20 of 35 passing on third down this season (57 percent). Ehlinger’s confidence is growing. So is the confidence teammates have in him. Perhaps the best example of Ehlinger’s surging confidence was his final touchdown pass of the game — on third-and-7 from the TCU 38 in the fourth quarter. Ehlinger couldn’t find anyone open and was about to make a run for the first down, but then he saw Humphrey break his crossing route back toward the sideline.

Ehlinger stopped, backed up into the pocket, where he had good protection, and threw the ball to Humphrey, in stride. Humphrey, who has been targeted 12 times on third down by Ehlinger with eight completions this season, took an 18-yard pass and ran the final 20 yards for a 31-16 Texas lead with 3:18 left to play. “LJ and I made eye contact on that play,” Ehlinger said. “We’ve just really developed an understanding of what each other is going to do, especially on third down.”

The TD pass to Humphrey was only Texas' second touchdown in the fourth quarter all season. "It was incredible," Ehlinger said. "To put together a drive like that to finish the game, which is something we've been preaching and really focusing on, to be able to do that was great. The experience is continuing to grow and help in every way. When you have the receivers we do and the protection we have up front, it's really easy to play quarterback. With the experience and the weapons we have, it's growing a lot of confidence, and we're getting better."

When Ehlinger was asked if Saturday's victory was a signature win for Herman, Ehlinger said no. "I wouldn't call it a signature win," Ehlinger said. "It's just the next step." Herman wasn't gloating or taking credit for his decision to stick with Ehlinger. “He (Ehlinger) believes in what we’re calling, and it’s plays he’s run a thousand times,” Herman said. “Continuity breeds confidence, and he’s playing with a lot of it right now.”

Continuity. That’s code for sticking with Ehlinger and allowing him to grow in this offense despite that clunker against Maryland that had most everyone in burnt orange cursing both Ehlinger and Herman’s names, including myself. After starting 1-0 in conference play against a team that played in the Big 12 title game last year, both Herman and Ehlinger deserve credit for delivering. Herman was right.

Sejjr · September 23, 2018

Hard to argue with anything Ian Boyd wrote. Thanks for posting these.

cmontexas · September 23, 2018

Except for the part about Oklahoma State looking good

satyanash · September 23, 2018

Bobby Burton: Sunday

Some more thoughts on the game and what it means (and doesn’t mean)... The Horns played a near-complete game. Yes, there were ebbs and flows. That’s going to happen when you’re playing a solid opponent. But what I mean by a complete game is that I never once saw Texas revert to its recent past of poor decisions or lack of execution, particularly at critical moments. They kept plugging away. For most of the game, Texas executed well. They played hard. They didn’t give anything away for free. That takes a full team effort to accomplish that. And that’s the hallmark of a good team, not merely a collection of talented individuals.

**

Texas finished with just four penalties. When’s the last time Texas had just four penalties? I’m sure the answer is out there somewhere but that’s not even my point. The point is, the Texas OL last year twice had four penalties on single drives. Twice! If you want to beat good opponents, the effort and execution Texas gave Saturday is what it takes.

**

The final true offensive drive of the game was outstanding for the Horns. It was similar to what Texas did against (gasp) Tulsa to end the game. The Horns salted away the victory then and they did it against a better TCU team on Saturday. The Horns did it mixing power runs, they did it by converting on third downs, by keeping the down and distance manageable and they did it with a mix of quick passes for shorter gains. There was no one way to defend the Horns on that drive. As a result, I suspect we’ll see less of teams dropping eight into coverage moving forward.

**

Several of you pointed out in post-game comments that Texas has to not revert next week against K-State. I couldn’t agree more. Texas needs to exorcise the demons of Manhattan, Kans., in the worst way. And they need to do it the same way they did it against TCU yesterday. They have to play hard, play clean, play fast, make plays on third downs, don’t turn the ball over all while creating turnovers. Is all of that an easy task? No, it’s not. But Texas did just that yesterday. It’s something we haven’t seen around here going back to 2009. But that’s what it takes if Texas truly wants to be “back”. I really believe we could be seeing just such a turn of events.

Thiefery · September 23, 2018

I wonder if Alex Dunlap will re configure his stupid defensive rating dungeon and dragons system. He pretty much bashed Devonte Davis after the MD game, which he left early, saying he was the absolute worst. Then said the following week that Boyce struggles had more to do with Davis, and that Cook should immediately replace Davis. Davis IMO is the best Corner we have. He blows up WR screens through blocks and tackles very well in the open, even against strong RB's.

satyanash · September 23, 2018

InsideTexas Report Card -- TCU

One might make a case for three things that just might have appeared obvious concerning our offense yesterday if one was so inclined. The lead story is we have a solid group of guys that just play well with each other. Our OLine doesn't have any world-beaters but they don't bust assignments and manage to put and sometimes keep a hat on a hat. Our WR's are happy for each other when one makes a play. Sometimes it even makes them giddy enough to make an effective block on said play. Our RB"s give it the old college try every opportunity. Blocking ain't their strong suit but they are game with effort which also describes our TE's capabilities on said maneuvers. This leaves us with QB play and headset play-calling.

Would someone please explain to me how and more importantly why we run a zone based offense without a equality share of QB keeps mixed into the equation? To go one step farther please elaborate why the QB chooses to turn and watch the RB after he gives the ball on inside zone. Does the QB in an option offense stop after he gives the ball? Is it illegal to carry out a fake? I guess I'm just buried in the past but fundamental football still has a place in today's game if we allow it or better yet actually self scout (thanks Scip) how we could better our own sweet selves.

I'm of the opinion that most of us armchair QB's realized going into the game that running wide (sideways) just might not be to our best advantage against the TCU relay teams. Did we really believe we could trick their butts by dialing up the old "speed" option and better yet adding a "fresh" formation on 4th down to attack their perimeter? Hell. half of Ft. Worth beat us to the boundary alley but well, it should have worked. Nobody expected us to attack their strength so the plan was to attack their strength? Here are the grades:

11---Sam---A-

32---Young---B+

5---Watson---A-

26---Ingram---A-

6---DuVernay---A-

9---Johnson---A-

13---Heard---B+

14---Moore---B+

17---Jamison---B

84---Humphrey---A-

47---Beck---B+

80---Brewer---B

52---Cosmi---A-

66---Anderson---A-

72---Rodriguez---B+

68---Kerstetter---B+

77---Vahe---A-

The OL played extremely well against a good opponent. Cosmi and Anderson had excellent games against two good DE's (Ty Summers and Bandgu) . Vahe had his best game in a long time. Rodriguez had a couple of tough blitzes to pick up where he obligated himself and missed the delayed stunts. Kerstetter is technique sound but lacks strength and the power punch as a OG.

Beck makes a few excellent blocks (mostly angle blocks) but always mixes in a few who do I got? misses. Brewer will benefit from a big off season because he's still a skill player's body in a big boys position. Colin started early and delivered quality for 60 minutes. LJH is still the man despite being bracketed on most downs. Duvernay needs more targets period. Moore was active but never had a chance at a touch. Heard is playing the team players role. Jamison might be forcing his decisions.

Sam played clean and well. We can win with Sam not forcing the action. Watson is a blessing from the football gods. Ingram has the sweetest feet and a feel for the game seldom seen in Austin these days. Danny Young is limited as a spare rep---he is used more like a pinch-hitter than a complete series kind of guy. We played very well. It's KState week and we must travel to the other Manhattan where football might be the only bright lights available. It's getting fun again.

*****************************************************************************************

It's fun to watch UT play defense again. We make mistakes and miss tackles enough to make one want to take a dip of snuff but we fly around so carefree that we tend to overlook as many of those bad times as possible. It's hard to play fast break defense against opponents with blinding speed but if you can loosen the blinders you can see the gold in them thar hills. The game is now made for thoroughbreds and quarter horses---the good news is we have more than our share of those on our menu.

We can take a punch. We took several early before we decided they did indeed come to play. We rolled out our helmet and those devils threw to their speed demons while we were adjusting our pads. Once we figured out they were dead serious we held them to FG's until right before half. Four turnovers later we had erased that four game drought against Gary Pat's gnats and brought the bacon home for the cookout.

We pretty much bottled up the frogs ground game with our front and several guest appearances from blitzers---we live and die with our blitzes in case you haven't deciphered that aspect to Orlando 101. Can I get a witness that we actually practiced against double move routes this past week? I'm so glad TCU quit testing our slant and go coverage after we finally covered one.

Anyone else see Reagor open for an out to practice early td on Brandon Jones' interception? Wow, just wow on that throw. By the way, Brandon Jones is so much different this year. Difference making player. Gary Johnson is a streamlined train that's feeling that loving feeling. I still think Gary's more valuable "spying" than stunting---he covers for a basketful of weaknesses as a spy. Wheeler, on the other hand, is stuck in mud in coverage and/or reactions once backyard football enters the fracas.

Sterns and Foster will wind up legendary famous in Austin as the best pair of safeties one class ever produced in this great state. We haven't even seen Overshown yet so there's that left on the table. Jeff McCulloch played extremely well as Roach's backup. It may be selfish of me but I would like to see Jeff stay on the field (in place of Wheeler) on all off schedule situations. He's a better stunter, he's a better coverage guy, and since he's cross trained at all three LB positions he should be ready to play any of the three.

Chris Nelson played extremely well but Wilbon played even better. We have struck gold in that pair. The two freshmen noses should get their shirts but I hope we get their toes wet in the last four games. Bimage made one terrific play but found out playing high against a double team is a losing proposition. Charles and Breck were limited in big plays---Hagers two offsides were costly. Graham probably had his best game---he's a future big timer.

Davis and Boyd were burned on the double moves but made several nice plays each. We must eliminate jumping routes without over the top safety help after they show they aren't afraid to test our butts. Chris Brown had two good plays in limited duty. BJ Foster didn't take long to announce his arrival. I wish I had good news on PJ Locke but that dog didn't hunt. To be honest PJ is lost and a liability at this time. They can sugarcoat it all they want but the damn film just doesn't lie. Shame but obvious. Here are the grades:

90---Omenihu---B+

44---Hager---B

49---Graham---A-

42---Bimage---B+

97---Nelson---A-

94---Wilbon---A-

23---McCulloch---A-

33---Johnson---A-

45---Wheeler---B

2---Boyd---B+

7---Sterns---A-

11---Locke---B-

15---Brown---B

18---Davis---B+

19---Jones---A-

25---Foster---A-

We have KState this week and that means slobber-knocker football. Buckle up, get taped up, and get ready for a road trip. We get another chance to prove ourselves against assignment ball---it hasn't been pretty to Orlando's schemes but this time may be the charm. It's fun again.

LTtxfan · September 23, 2018

ESPN Comments on Game

Texas 31, No. 17 TCU 16

The Horned Frogs' second straight loss came thanks in large part to an offense that sputtered on Saturday vs. Texas. TCU drove inside the Texas 30-yard line six times but came away with only one touchdown in those trips (TCU settled for field goals four other times and missed one of those attempts). Aside from quarterback Shawn Robinson, the running game didn't get much done (Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua combined for 70 yards on 20 attempts) and Robinson himself committed some critical turnovers, throwing an interception deep in Texas territory and one on his own side of the field that eventually led to a Longhorns score. Gary Patterson & Co. need to regroup after opening Big 12 play with a loss.

Bevo14 · September 23, 2018

plus minus system is a bitch

Skyline · September 23, 2018

Bruce Feldman: Inside the minds of the Texas Longhorns

Spoiler

AUSTIN, Texas — After the blowout win against USC on Sept. 15, Texas coach Tom Herman pleaded with his team for 30 minutes last Sunday.

“Do NOT read YOUR mentions!” Herman said. “There should be nobody in the world whose opinion of you as a football player —or of us as a football team — that matters outside this room. That’s it. I’ve got three constituencies in my life that I care about what they think: my family — my wife and my kids; my two bosses (UT president) Greg Fenves and (AD) Chris Del Conte and my team. That’s it.”

Herman pointed out there are nine websites that cover the Longhorns in addition to mainstream and national media outlets, both in print and on TV. He admitted because of human nature and wanting to feel good after being on an emotional ride, blocking out affirmation is very hard for a 43-year-old man, let alone a 19-year kid.

Managing that sort of chatter has been a big problem around UT, he told me. “That has been the downfall of this program,” he told me. “The highs were too high and the lows were too low.

“It’s impossible to not to hear it, but listening is a choice, and I get the sense that this team gets it now.”

Judging by the Texas players I spoke to be before the Saturday’s game against TCU, and after watching their performance in a 31-16 victory, it sure seems like they understand what Herman wants. The win snapped a four-game UT losing streak to the Horned Frogs, games in which they were outscored by an average of 38-8. Saturday’s result also gave Texas its first three-game winning streak since 2014 — a jaw-dropping stat given how great the Longhorns had been not long ago.

“We didn’t know to take winning before,” fifth-year senior D-lineman Chris Nelson said. “That’s something this new staff has taught us.”

We’re going to pump the brakes on any “Texas is back” talk right here. The Longhorns have had two nice wins, taking over in the second half against ranked teams and outscoring them by a combined 42-3. The romp against USC was not as impressive, because the Trojans are struggling and were coming off a 17-3 loss to Stanford. Beating this Gary Patterson-coached team, however, is something that carries a lot more weight.

The Longhorns may not be back, but it sure looks like they’re getting back.

“We’re different,” Herman told me right after the TCU game. “We’re learning how to finish each week. We took a big step last week. We took another one this week. We’re far from a finished product. We gotta come out in the first half and do better on third downs but I’m really proud of our guys in the second half.”

What I think we’re starting to see is a Longhorn team maturing — something Herman took some flack for after he suggested that in the wake of their season-opening loss at Maryland. Perhaps just as important, Herman is getting a better handle on his own job in Austin in year two.

There is a balance Herman is trying to find. After roaring back against USC, Herman observed how there was so much “hootin’ and hollerin’ ” in the UT locker room. But his mind was already racing to the recruiting function he had scheduled for later that night, in addition to finding time to break down TCU and Patterson’s vexing defense. Herman says he understands he needs to do a better job of celebrating these moments when he can before moving on to the next task. “It was ‘O.K., we took the next step. It’s not the step, but it’s an important step,’ ” he says.

Against Maryland his team was in its own head, he’d told me after that first half. They were trying to be perfect. Since then Herman has opted to crank up the tempo so the Longhorns would just settle in and play ball. He wants them to play looser, be less hesitant and less afraid of making mistakes.

Herman got a jolt of reality the week before the USC win. Texas was up 21-0 at half against Tulsa, and the coach in Herman wanted to guard against complacency, his instinct was to go into the locker room at halftime and rip their asses. The upshot of that was the Longhorns had a punt blocked, the defense gave up some big plays and the offense got stuffed by Tulsa on a fourth-and-one. That’s when it dawned on him — “You friggin’ idiot. What did you not learn from the previous game?”

All teams have different personalities and respond to different things. This Texas bunch is dramatically different from the group Herman coached at Houston, where he could go all fire and brimstone and the Cougars would take it as a challenge and get mad at him — “Let’s go prove this (dude) wrong!”

Leaders have stepped up in a big way. On offense it’s been sophomore QB Sam Ehlinger and wide receiver LJ Humphrey. After the Tulsa game two weeks ago, Ehlinger created a goal chart for the team with 10 categories that now hangs in the locker room.

“We needed to be more intrinsically focused,” he said. Tops on that list: score on the first possession. Other things on there: no three-and-outs; no turnovers, score at least 80 percent in the red zone. Ehlinger says if the team hits on at least seven of the 10 each week, he plans to reward his teammates by buying them something good to eat, maybe donuts or tacos.

Herman has encouraged Ehlinger to take over. The kid is a natural leader, and a few weeks before Week 1 he won a close QB battle with former starter Shane Buechele. Herman doesn’t want Ehlinger looking over his shoulder. Ehlinger’s confidence in himself to check plays at the line of scrimmage has grown significantly the past few weeks.

“We want him to play loose,” Herman said. “You want quarterbacks to play tough and be aggressive. Want them to feel like they can make every play without trying to make every play. He needed to know we believed in him and that he didn’t need to prove his worth to the football team on every snap. We’re not gonna overload his plate.

“He’s an alpha. Let’s let him be an alpha. That position more than any other in all of sports needs to have a supreme confidence in their own ability, and their teammates and coaches too to have that belief too.”

The Longhorns don’t have a bell cow running back like they almost always did when they were a Top 10 team, but their receiving corps is stacked. Collin Johnson, at 6-6, 220, is a matchup nightmare as is Humphrey, a 6-4, 215-pounder who is often in the slot and is one of the smartest receivers in college football. He’s their Swiss Army knife.

“He’s a really intelligent dude,” Ehlinger said. “He has an advanced level of understanding of football. He understands what defenses do and how you want to hurt ‘em. We’re always on the same page. He just gets it.”

Beyond Johnson and Humphrey, UT has a bunch of burners to stretch the field horizontally and vertically.

Defensively, Todd Orlando is regarded as one of the top five defensive coordinators in college football, but his group was gashed by the Maryland offense in the opener. Since then, Orlando’s defense has produced consecutive sparkling efforts against two explosive offenses loaded with skill talent. Stars are emerging in Austin. Kris Boyd has blossomed into a lock-down corner among an outstanding secondary that is loaded with young talent.

“He’s become more discipline and more technical,” Orlando said of Boyd. “Before, it was, ‘get on my guy and cover him like a pick-up game.’ Now he plays with pad level. One thing he doesn’t get enough credit for is that he’s very strong. He’ll hit you, and he is long and can jump and match up with guys. And, he goes against some really good wide receivers every day. We thought coming in that he could be that shutdown guy. He’s done it.”

Texas lost a speedy playmaking linebacker in Malik Jefferson off last year’s defense, but the Longhorns have an even faster backer in Gary Johnson, a former state 100-meter champ who has come on after a slow start. He was ejected in the first half against Maryland and didn’t much of a presence against Tulsa, but he was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for the USC game and a big headache for the Horned Frogs. “He can flat-out boogie,” Orlando said, adding that Johnson’s burst has been clocked at 22, 23 miles per hours on GPS tracking data.

A junior college transfer who got to UT right before last season, Johnson didn’t really get comfortable with the scheme until about mid-season. Now he’s 230 pounds, up almost 25 pounds since when he arrived last year. “You can’t run the ball on the perimeter against our defense,” Orlando said. “He can run anything down.”

The other player who really has folks giddy here is freshman safety Caden Sterns, who had two picks against TCU that really turned momentum. Coaches love his range and say he’s a dynamic blitzer. Last year, DeShon Elliott picked off six passes in this defense and made All-American. Don’t be surprised if Sterns ends up with close to 20 picks in his UT career considering how well he fits in Orlando’s system.

“He’s a very conscientious kid,” Orlando said. He cares a ton … He’s like a sophomore or a junior to me.”

The growth in what is such a young team in key places has also shown up in the fourth quarter of late. That was such a big focus for Herman and his staff. It Maryland, the fourth quarter was a fiasco, with the final three drives ending in turnovers. “That one game is not going to define us,” he said. “How we respond to it will.”

This is Feldman's long-form on Texas Football. Well worth a read.

LTtxfan · September 23, 2018

13 minutes ago, satyanash said:

InsideTexas Report Card -- TCU

Hide contents

One might make a case for three things that just might have appeared obvious concerning our offense yesterday if one was so inclined. The lead story is we have a solid group of guys that just play well with each other. Our OLine doesn't have any world-beaters but they don't bust assignments and manage to put and sometimes keep a hat on a hat. Our WR's are happy for each other when one makes a play. Sometimes it even makes them giddy enough to make an effective block on said play. Our RB"s give it the old college try every opportunity. Blocking ain't their strong suit but they are game with effort which also describes our TE's capabilities on said maneuvers. This leaves us with QB play and headset play-calling.

Would someone please explain to me how and more importantly why we run a zone based offense without a equality share of QB keeps mixed into the equation? To go one step farther please elaborate why the QB chooses to turn and watch the RB after he gives the ball on inside zone. Does the QB in an option offense stop after he gives the ball? Is it illegal to carry out a fake? I guess I'm just buried in the past but fundamental football still has a place in today's game if we allow it or better yet actually self scout (thanks Scip) how we could better our own sweet selves.

I'm of the opinion that most of us armchair QB's realized going into the game that running wide (sideways) just might not be to our best advantage against the TCU relay teams. Did we really believe we could trick their butts by dialing up the old "speed" option and better yet adding a "fresh" formation on 4th down to attack their perimeter? Hell. half of Ft. Worth beat us to the boundary alley but well, it should have worked. Nobody expected us to attack their strength so the plan was to attack their strength? Here are the grades:

11---Sam---A-

32---Young---B+

5---Watson---A-

26---Ingram---A-

6---DuVernay---A-

9---Johnson---A-

13---Heard---B+

14---Moore---B+

17---Jamison---B

84---Humphrey---A-

47---Beck---B+

80---Brewer---B

52---Cosmi---A-

66---Anderson---A-

72---Rodriguez---B+

68---Kerstetter---B+

77---Vahe---A-

The OL played extremely well against a good opponent. Cosmi and Anderson had excellent games against two good DE's (Ty Summers and Bandgu) . Vahe had his best game in a long time. Rodriguez had a couple of tough blitzes to pick up where he obligated himself and missed the delayed stunts. Kerstetter is technique sound but lacks strength and the power punch as a OG.

Beck makes a few excellent blocks (mostly angle blocks) but always mixes in a few who do I got? misses. Brewer will benefit from a big off season because he's still a skill player's body in a big boys position. Colin started early and delivered quality for 60 minutes. LJH is still the man despite being bracketed on most downs. Duvernay needs more targets period. Moore was active but never had a chance at a touch. Heard is playing the team players role. Jamison might be forcing his decisions.

Sam played clean and well. We can win with Sam not forcing the action. Watson is a blessing from the football gods. Ingram has the sweetest feet and a feel for the game seldom seen in Austin these days. Danny Young is limited as a spare rep---he is used more like a pinch-hitter than a complete series kind of guy. We played very well. It's KState week and we must travel to the other Manhattan where football might be the only bright lights available. It's getting fun again.

*****************************************************************************************

It's fun to watch UT play defense again. We make mistakes and miss tackles enough to make one want to take a dip of snuff but we fly around so carefree that we tend to overlook as many of those bad times as possible. It's hard to play fast break defense against opponents with blinding speed but if you can loosen the blinders you can see the gold in them thar hills. The game is now made for thoroughbreds and quarter horses---the good news is we have more than our share of those on our menu.

We can take a punch. We took several early before we decided they did indeed come to play. We rolled out our helmet and those devils threw to their speed demons while we were adjusting our pads. Once we figured out they were dead serious we held them to FG's until right before half. Four turnovers later we had erased that four game drought against Gary Pat's gnats and brought the bacon home for the cookout.

We pretty much bottled up the frogs ground game with our front and several guest appearances from blitzers---we live and die with our blitzes in case you haven't deciphered that aspect to Orlando 101. Can I get a witness that we actually practiced against double move routes this past week? I'm so glad TCU quit testing our slant and go coverage after we finally covered one.

Anyone else see Reagor open for an out to practice early td on Brandon Jones' interception? Wow, just wow on that throw. By the way, Brandon Jones is so much different this year. Difference making player. Gary Johnson is a streamlined train that's feeling that loving feeling. I still think Gary's more valuable "spying" than stunting---he covers for a basketful of weaknesses as a spy. Wheeler, on the other hand, is stuck in mud in coverage and/or reactions once backyard football enters the fracas.

Sterns and Foster will wind up legendary famous in Austin as the best pair of safeties one class ever produced in this great state. We haven't even seen Overshown yet so there's that left on the table. Jeff McCulloch played extremely well as Roach's backup. It may be selfish of me but I would like to see Jeff stay on the field (in place of Wheeler) on all off schedule situations. He's a better stunter, he's a better coverage guy, and since he's cross trained at all three LB positions he should be ready to play any of the three.

Chris Nelson played extremely well but Wilbon played even better. We have struck gold in that pair. The two freshmen noses should get their shirts but I hope we get their toes wet in the last four games. Bimage made one terrific play but found out playing high against a double team is a losing proposition. Charles and Breck were limited in big plays---Hagers two offsides were costly. Graham probably had his best game---he's a future big timer.

Davis and Boyd were burned on the double moves but made several nice plays each. We must eliminate jumping routes without over the top safety help after they show they aren't afraid to test our butts. Chris Brown had two good plays in limited duty. BJ Foster didn't take long to announce his arrival. I wish I had good news on PJ Locke but that dog didn't hunt. To be honest PJ is lost and a liability at this time. They can sugarcoat it all they want but the damn film just doesn't lie. Shame but obvious. Here are the grades:

90---Omenihu---B+

44---Hager---B

49---Graham---A-

42---Bimage---B+

97---Nelson---A-

94---Wilbon---A-

23---McCulloch---A-

33---Johnson---A-

45---Wheeler---B

2---Boyd---B+

7---Sterns---A-

11---Locke---B-

15---Brown---B

18---Davis---B+

19---Jones---A-

25---Foster---A-

We have KState this week and that means slobber-knocker football. Buckle up, get taped up, and get ready for a road trip. We get another chance to prove ourselves against assignment ball---it hasn't been pretty to Orlando's schemes but this time may be the charm. It's fun again.

Solid write-up..... DBs have to not bite on double moves so much. Man this writer very critical of PJ.... wonder if Coaches start giving other players more reps at nickel??

TexArcher · September 23, 2018

Chip Brown is a dickhead.

Domedriver · September 23, 2018

Fuck Chip Brown in his stanky ass with a machete!

Thiefery · September 23, 2018

Wasn't FCP and his co host toad mouth, demanding Sam be benched? Replace with Shane and Rising, salvage the season. For whatever reasons, he had a hard on to criticize everything coming off a win vs USC.

lemonandaturd · September 23, 2018

8 minutes ago, Domedriver said:

Fuck Chip Brown in his stanky ass with a machete!

Yes, and prior to the season he was openly dissing Calvin Anderson. Anderson played his ass off this season and yesterday he played through a knee injury. That kid has heart. Fuck Chip Brown with a red hot fireplace poker.

Zavala · September 23, 2018

4 hours ago, Thiefery said:

Wasn't FCP and his co host toad mouth, demanding Sam be benched? Replace with Shane and Rising, salvage the season. For whatever reasons, he had a hard on to criticize everything coming off a win vs USC.

Chip is rooting against TH and trying to ask "questions" to piss him off. It's like having an Oklahoma nuthugger as 9ne of the top Longhorn football journalists.

satyanash · September 23, 2018

satyanash · September 24, 2018

Bobby Burton: Texas-TCU Grades

Quarterbacks

Sam Ehlinger finished 22 of 32 for 255 yards and two TDs. He rushed for another score. But perhaps most importantly, he had no turnovers and he came up with a big play in the passing game when the Horns needed it. His throw on the post route to Collin Johnson was a thing of beauty in the face of a big rush. His TD pass in the fourth quarter to Lil'Jordan Humphrey showed just how far he's come in such a short period of time. He didn't get overly anxious with the extra time he was given in pass protection and stayed in the pocket and delivered a strike. But there were other plays, too, that make me think Ehlinger is headed in the right direction. Multiple times in the second half, the Horns came through in the passing game on third downs, including a check down to Tre Watson and a quick decision to get the ball to Collin Johnson in time for him to make first-down yardage after the catch. He ran ok, and probably took a sack or two he shouldn't have, but managed the game well. In fact, his composure running the play clock down below 5 seconds on every play on the deciding drive was excellent. I think he can still get better.

Grade: A-

Running backs

No one will confuse this stable of Texas running backs with duos like Ricky Williams and Priest Holmes. But the three that played Saturday afternoon were good enough. Tre Watson got the majority of reps and played well, including some hard-running in the fourth quarter that moved the chains. He also helped in pass protection. Keaontay Ingram gave the offense a real spark in the third quarter. I swear he sees running lanes that some NFL backs can't even see. Daniel Young was solid, especially in the fourth quarter, but was stuffed on back-to-back plays that turned the ball over on downs in the second quarter.

Grade: B

Wide receivers

Collin Johnson's catch was absolutely gorgeous. But for the second straight game, the Texas receiver came out like gangbusters, making multiple catches in the first quarter. I think this was Johnson's best game, start to finish, as a Longhorn. And that doesn't even include his massive block on Humphrey's TD catch. While Humphrey was often double-teamed and bracketed on short-yardage, he was finally able to brake through in the second half. He had three first-down catches on third downs and made another long run-after-catch touchdown for the second straight week. Devin Duvernay did not get an opportunity on a deep ball but blocked extremely well and he also contributed an important run-after-catch first down in the fourth quarter. It was a winning performance all the way around.

Grade: A

Tight ends

Andrew Beck played the vast majority of snaps. He didn't have his best game as a blocker, which just about anybody could see coming since TCU is so quick and does such a good job with its defense. Cade Brewer was blown up one time as a blocker that caused a tackle for loss.

Grade: C

Offensive line

The value of Calvin Anderson continues to boggle my mind. For so long last season, Texas was devoid of a left tackle that could hold up against any sort of pass rush, and teams like TCU made the Horns pay dearly. Not this year, not so long as Anderson is manning the position. Yes, he got beat a couple of times, but he continues to play at a level that helps Texas operate its offense. Samuel Cosmi also had another nice game, routinely getting to the second level on blocks. Elijah Rodriguez was solid for the most part but did whiff on a block near the goal line that resulted in a tackle for loss. The bottom line: Texas was able to run the ball effectively in the fourth quarter. That hasn't happened against TCU in forever, or at least what seems like forever.

Grade: A-

Offense

The Texas O effectively scored a full 24 points (not including the seven they were gifted by Caden Sterns INT return) against a TCU defense that I expected them to struggle to score 17 against. And that doesn't include the opportunity to tack on more points on the two missed field goals. But what's more is that Texas scored when it mattered most. Texas controlled the clock when it mattered most. We haven't seen that sort of acumen on offense from Texas, against a legitimate opponent, in what seems like a decade. Maybe it was the best since Notre Dame two years ago. Texas held the ball for more than 34 minutes of game time. That, along with committing no turnovers and getting into the end zone four times, is a win. A big one.

Grade: A-

******************************************************************

Defensive line

The belly rubber! Chris Nelson set the tone for the Texas DL against the run. Multiple times he got penetration and made plays to disrupt and effectively disable the RB run game for TCU. Back-up Gerald Wilbon also saw action and fared well. Breckyn Hager and Charles Omenihu were asked to set the edge more than disrupt the running lanes but neither ever really got going as pass rushers. Marquez Bimage’s forced fumble may have been the defensive play of the game.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Since the Maryland game, Gary Johnson has been the best Texas linebacker since Derrick Johnson. That’s with all due respect to five or six others who have played pro ball since then. Johnson is utilizing his speed, knifing through gaps and playing like a man possessed. Anthony Wheeler had a solid game. Jeffrey McCulloch stepped in for Malcolm Roach and made a couple of big plays. McCulloch is more sudden than Roach and significantly better in coverage. So much so that I doubt Roach gets his position back if he returns this year.

Grade: A

Secondary

The dreaded double move beat both Davante Davis and Kris Boyd multiple times. But they both continued to compete and eventually got the better of their counterparts in the decisive second half. Boyd broke up a pass in the end zone that saved points and Davis’ deflection near the goal-line on a key third down was a huge play. Add in the play of safeties Brandon Jones and Caden Sterns, who combined for four turnovers, and this is a group that played like one of the conference’s best. Sterns is a ball hawk and Jones is finely letting his speed loose. PJ Locke was solid in run support while BJ Foster was mostly used as a blitzed in the second half. Yes, the secondary came out on top but they also gave up too many big plays on the first half, thus the final grade reflects that.

Grade: A-

Defense

Look at the scoreboard. Texas gave up just 16 points to a talented TCU offense. That’s a win. A big one. The res zone defense was particularly strong, forcing four field goal attempts, as was the run defense. TCU’s offense never really gained any consistency all day. But the biggest story were the turnovers. Getting four from TCU, that’s outstanding.

Grade: A

Special teams

Cameron Dicker missed two field goal attempts but other than that it was a clean game for the Texas special teams unit. TCU’s return game, both punt and kickoff, was virtually nil. And the Horned Frogs were certainly expecting an edge. The Texas punt game was probably the biggest positive special teams surprise. The two missed field goal weigh down what otherwise would be a good grade.

Grade: C-

Machinator · September 24, 2018

Scipio Tex: Texas-TCU Post-Mortem: Offense

The Texas offense had three performances in one game. One solid, one horrific, one excellent.

In the first third of the contest, Texas moved the ball well running tempo offense. The first four drives of the game totaled 30 plays for 163 yards and featured drives of 51, 65, 17 and 30 yards. Collin Johnson dominated TCU's single coverage and the Longhorn running game was just effective enough. Three of the four drives ended in scoring opportunities and Texas converted on two of them (TD, FG, missed FG). At the end of Q1, Sam Ehlinger was 8 of 10 for 101 yards. CJ had 4 catches for 78 yards.

10-6, Texas.

In the middle third of the contest, Texas played as putrid a level of offense as you'll find in the Herman era. Ben Banogu and LJ Collier dominated on the edge with honest pressure and Sam Ehlinger was repeatedly sacked and hurried as TCU dropped 7 or 8 into coverage on most downs. The seeming bane of our offense. Over five possessions spanning the 2nd quarter into the middle of the 3rd quarter, Texas ran 14 plays for...wait for it...-2 yards of offense. Texas stayed stuck on 10 while TCU added 10 of their own. Texas fans started to get that sick feeling of how this was going to play out...

16-10, TCU.

But it didn't play out that way at all. Texas found its feet again. Over the final four meaningful drives of the contest beginning in the mid 3rd quarter, Texas ran 32 plays for 192 yards (69, 45, 2, 76) at 6 yards per pop that resulted in four scoring opportunities that yielded 3 touchdowns and another missed field goal.

31-16, Texas.

What happened to turn things around?

On Texas' first productive possession of the second half, they stubbornly ran Keaontay Ingram four consecutive times at tempo for 8, 7, 2 and 9 yards. That four carry 26 yard outburst seems marginal in the big picture, but it got TCU out of their scheme and it made their LB, DE and S run forces play honestly. Texas began throwing the ball effectively again. That 14 play, 69 yard drive also reset the Texas defense. That the drive ended in a missed field goal proved immaterial. Texas was back on track.

Success begat success as TCU began to tire. Banogu slowed down just enough against a hobbled Calvin Anderson and big LJ Collier flat tired out. TCU's quick LBs had to react rather than dictate. Suddenly, the weak links in the TCU secondary were exposed again. Just like in the first quarter.

Virtuous circles ensued. The play of the Texas offense helped the Longhorn defense. With some time to adjust, the Texas D set up the Longhorn offense with short fields of 2 and 45 yards. Both resulted in Texas touchdowns.

Up 24-16, the coup de grace was a gorgeous 10 play 76 yard drive that ate up over 6:00 of late 4th quarter clock and ended in a Sam Ehlinger 38 yard touchdown pass to LJH that seemed to encapsulate the game's flows and ebbs: Ehlinger had six seconds in the pocket against TCU's three man rush, LJH broke off his route instead of accepting coverage, and an exhausted Frog D tapped out. Before that, heady plays from Devin Duvernay and Tre Watson showed them purposefully fighting to stay in bounds to burn clock. It was smart football.

A Texas offense that had been 0-9 on 3rd downs converted 5 of their last 6.

I'm not sure how to characterize a Texas offensive performance that ranged from competent, as bad as I've ever seen, and finally will-imposing, but that's why we have scoreboards. And Todd Orlando's defense.

No Festivus or post-mortem is complete without an airing of grievances, so here are two things to examine critically.

1. The 4th and 1 call in the 2nd quarter was bad. Real bad. I liked going for it near midfield (your D playing well is a reason to go for it, not to shell up as fellow fans so commonly urge) but running a pitch toss to Danny Young to the short side of the field against a defense you know you can't run on horizontally and you know we're not very good at moving the edge is football strategy of the "We know, but you know we know, but we know you know we know, so we know that you know we know you know and...wait, what were we talking about?" variety. I mean, c'mon. "Hey Khabib, you should only fight Conor McGregor standing up! He'll never expect it!"

2. TCU decided that LJH was more dangerous than CJ. So they doubled him early and blitzed. We threw to CJ and he killed TCU in the first quarter. So TCU dropped 7/8 and bracketed both of them. They did it with the corner in a loose trail position and the safety just hanging on the top. It took us five possessions to have our receivers stop jogging into the safety and have them run option routes, which is a fancy way of saying that we asked them to run to green grass between or outside of the coverage. That's about three possessions too long.

Beyond that, lots of good to call out.

QB

I think we all see the inaccuracy on some lay-up throws (Tre Watson lost out on about 30 yards of receiving because of Ehlinger's lack of ball placement), but please see with very clear eyes that Sam took a beating for five straight frustrating possessions and just kept plugging away, not shying in the pocket when he started delivering strikes. On the other side of the ball, TCU's QB - facing a less withering pass rush - tapped out mentally and physically. Sam finished 22 of 32 for 255, 2 TDs passing, 1 rushing and no turnovers. On the season, he has a 4:1 TD/INT ratio and has protected the ball. We can win a lot of games with this version of Sam Ehlinger.

RB

Under appreciated Tre Watson gave us yards after contact again running bigger than his size and could've had topped it off with some big passing plays if we were more inclined to use him there and #11 could hit his upfield shoulder in stride. 15 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown isn't winning any fantasy championships, but in a reality contest, he's a very useful runner for us and I'm glad he's here.

Keaontay is the best talent in the stable and that's obvious. He needs to learn, however, than on a 3rd and 1 when our blocking scheme is to cover up the DL and leave LBs unblocked, you can't run parallel to the LOS hoping to spring the corner. He got submarined by sprinting TCU LB and Texas had to punt. Ingram has to lower his pads and get small for 1.5 yards and a fresh set of downs. He'll learn. Obviously, if healthy, he represents significant upside for this running game.

WR/TE

Finally, both primary Texas WRs played well in the same game and used their size and route running in ways that created mismatches. LJH scored his 3rd consecutive TD (4-78, 38 yard TD) of the season and CJ dominated single coverage 7 catches for 124 yards and a spectacular diving TD catch on a post route. Duvernay had two catches and played smart. We really need him to punish teams more when CJ and LJH draw attention, but that'll involve getting on the same page deep with Sam.

We've significantly reduced our WR rotation and I think that's paying off with the players learning and having a better feel for how they're being covered. Further, if we can create some understanding between Ehlinger and our WRs that cloud coverage means option routes and adjustments to green grass (paired with an effective running game) then we can punish defenses appropriately for the Drop Errbody approach.

I'd like to see more contact from Beck driving through a smaller defender and less screening. Brewer isn't being physical enough and I wonder how much his knee bothers him.

OL

They really struggled against TCU's speed outside for a stretch (TCU had 3 sacks during that time and 4 tackles for loss) when Ehlinger had to hold the ball against coverage, but they acquitted themselves well against the blitz and asserted their will late in the game. Not many outright busts and the negative plays that TCU inflicted in the running game were either good guesses on stunts or just really good individual plays from the TCU defender. TCU is legit quick - it's part of the deal. Anderson clearly battled through an injury out there while drawing arguably the best speed rusher in the Big 12.

Overall, there is a clear difference in this unit four games in. Not really even arguable anymore. Like their QB, they're not perfect, but they'll certainly battle for four quarters.

Overall

Overcoming TCU is a big mental boost for this football team. TCU may be in a bit more of a transitional phase than many expected or we might care to admit (The Frogs going 5-4 in the Big 12 looks far more likely than 7-2 right now), but beating them is an important step. Texas was the more physical team on Saturday and if they can continue to show better execution and adjustments in the passing game while tapping upside in Ingram in the running game, there may be more big plays available to complement the current grinding approach.

Now it's time to put our next Purple demon to bed.

Machinator · September 24, 2018

Scipio Tex: Texas-TCU Post-Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

Here's a little industry knowledge that's likely of no interest to you: offensive recaps always garner 20-50% more reads than a defensive recap. On all platforms, at all levels, almost without exception, because that's how most fanbases relate to the game. Credit touchdown plays, glamorous QBs, and everyone having an opinion on play-calling (i.e. any play that doesn't work is a de facto bad play call).

I boldly assert that defense represents 50% of the football team. When you add in special teams, you've got the majority of your game performance. So consider this your vegetables and lean protein and I'll do my best to be generous with the garnish, butter and cheese. Dessert comes later.

Longhorns are 3-1 for the first time since 2012 and have beaten ranked opponents back-to-back for the first time since 2008. The Longhorn defense is the primary reason why.

As expected, Shawn Robinson hurt us running the ball in the first half. He had 7 carries for 42 yards at halftime with some key conversions on money downs that allowed TCU's TD drive (he had carries of 17, 11 and 7 yards, including two money down conversions on the drive that gave TCU a 13-10 lead). He only carried twice for the remainder of the game after the Bimage strip fumble (which was a great effort by #42). The TCU coaches lost some confidence in him and Robinson just got plain beat up. Orlando played the long game and traded yards for punishment. It worked.

Against TCU, the Horns forced four turnovers, knocked TCU's QB out of the game and dominated the second half, surrendering one field goal on TCU's seven second half possessions. While there's no question that TCU's domination of the Longhorn offense has been the story of the last four years of Purple Reign, the larger script being written for this season post-Maryland is all about the Texas defense and their ability to keep acronym opponents (USC, TCU) largely stuck on their first half point total while the Texas offense plods along and wears down the opposing D. It's winning football. If we could get the offense playing with a significant lead earlier, this defense might really show off.

DBs

Kris Boyd had a rough first half, as TCU WR Jalen Reagor notched 6 catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. He had 3 catches for 79 yards in the first quarter, including a 50 yard scorching that set up a TCU score. He also mesmerized #2 for a half-ending fade route TD where everyone knew TCU had to throw it immediately to a spot and Kris didn't get a jam or play off and drive on the ball, but sort of just hung out. He also didn't seem to grasp that a PI in that situation is a 4 point differential in play result.

Reagor was also robbed of a long score by Caden Sterns on the Turpin pass when Boyd bit on a double move. While I appreciate the REAGOR IS BETTER THAN ANTONIO BROWN crowd, once you stop waving pom-poms for TCU's wide out, it's notable that Reagor disappeared from the game (2nd half: 2 catches, 15 yards) after Orlando had Boyd play off coverage, gave him a little safety help on the back half, and Kris stopped getting caught in the no-man's land of squatting in "on" coverage while not attempting to get a jam and stopped jumping everything without a safety cover over top. Basically, from a technique and scheme standpoint, he got unf***ed. That helped Jerry Rice crossed with Odell Beckham Reagor become mortal again and Robinson lost his single read security blanket.

Caden Sterns has the highest football IQ on the entire defense. He's a true freshman and that was his third interception of the season (along with a blocked field goal). Safeties who turn over the other team - whether through interceptions, forced fumbles, or special teams value add - are as game-changing as any player on the field. Enjoy him for 2.8 more years. He's as instinctive a football player as I've ever seen. The hesitation move he put on Reagor on his interception return was sweet as well. He should have just fallen to the ground being in his presence. In the name of balance, I will point out that he missed an open field tackle. Inexcusable. BENCH HIM.

Brandon Jones had his best tackling game as a Longhorn. While he was rewarded with a gift interception and hustle fumble recovery to round out the box score, his tackling work in the open field is what really impressed me. Davante Davis had a really good game overall, giving up only one hickey on a double move. Seeing him come off his man to make a play on the ball on a parallel pattern scored him some points for game awareness. BJ Foster played a very good half of football. When he tackles, you can hear it. PJ didn't play consistently well and Chris Brown brings aggression but he was caught a little flat-footed at times in his first start.

LB

Gary Johnson is terrific at see-ball, chase-ball and blitzing. As long as we continue to use him that way, he's going to keep having game impact. He led Texas in tackles with 11. I think his effort level when he's in that mode is terrific. Anthony Wheeler had a great pop on Robinson in the pocket on a second half blitz, but what little running game TCU mustered was attributable to him getting caught up on blockers.

Jeffrey McCulloch has come into his own at B-Backer. While he moves well for a 250 pound man, the thing that distinguishes him is his strength and ability to shock and control bigger OTs. His remarkable - 7 yard TFL in the red zone when TCU had it on the Texas 4 yard line and was seemingly headed for 6 demonstrated just how much punch #23 packs. He's a junior, but he's just now starting to get it.

DL

Winning isn't always expressed in sacks or tackles. Orlando repeatedly played light boxes so that the Texas secondary could play multiple coverages, jam up the middle of the field and run some exotic blitzes; the 3 DL were asked to take on 5 OL at the point of attack and win. They did that much more often than not. TCU's losses in the OL were evident from last year and Nelson and Wilbon did a great job controlling the C-G gaps, making Darius Anderson irrelevant (8 carries, 18 yards) and taking away any credibility in TCU's play action game. TCU got pretty predictable in the second half and became a conventional offense. Not good for them.

Hager hit us with two off-sides but he played big inside and didn't give up ground. Same for Omenihu. Graham continues to play really good football and he drew a hold that saved a TCU skill player from a decapitation.

I think these guys are getting a little too much grief from what I've read on the boards. The game plan was to beg TCU to run on favorables boxes and alignments (sometimes we got a little carried away there with the 5 men in the box stuff) and use speed and bodies in the back 7 to turn over Robinson. Hard to argue with the results.

Special Teams

Problematic. Dicker missed two field goals and had a bad kickoff. The punter continues to struggle and isn't demonstrating an awareness of when to take his time and boom it and when to kick it quickly. Jamison probably needs to be fired as a kick returner until he can show better decision-making. Returning a kick from three yards deep to "make something happen" and forcing a hold by Josh Thompson so that the Texas offense starts on the 5 isn't the happening we're looking for. Fortunately, TCU didn't hurt us much with their own ST performance as their punter also struggled, their return game didn't hurt us, and Song missed one of his 4 field goal attempts.

Overall

Texas played smart D for the most part. Very few penalties and once the coverage approach on Reagor was corrected at halftime, Robinson lost his single read security blanket. I wrote about the importance of making TCU turn to Page 2 in my preview and when they were forced to do so after Texas took away their inside running game and misdirection "Texas beaters", and put the game on Shawn Robinson's shoulders playing behind an inexperienced OL, he broke.

Kansas State on the road will present its own unique challenges next week, but by way of quick preview, the purple plague in Manhattan ain't what it used to be.

Hook 'em.

Bateshorn · September 24, 2018

Thanks.

Viper · September 25, 2018

Quote

There was a period, just before halftime and then early in the third quarter when Texas fans were getting deja vu about those moments in previous contests. "Oh God, Gare has figured Texas out, from here on out is going to be the beating we all feared..."

I admit it, this was definitely me.

TreatyOak · September 25, 2018

LTtxfan · September 25, 2018

Thanks for this thread..... Especially enjoyed Scipio's write-ups

huge · September 25, 2018

35 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Thanks for this thread..... Especially enjoyed Scipio's write-ups

Yup, let's keep this going week to week

Amos Moses · September 25, 2018

Just echoing the appreciation for this thread.

Except for the Chip and Bobby trash. Y'all can keep that garbage.

Edited September 25, 2018 by Amos Moses
FCB and FBB.

Machinator · September 25, 2018

Ian Boyd: Texas run game vs. TCU

This was a tough one for the run game because Gary Patterson specializes in stopping the run and will generally do so at the expense of his pass defense until you make him quit. Whereas Texas last year flooded the field in dime and dropped back, daring opponents to try and run the ball on an undermanned front, TCU will flood the field with a pseudo dime but then overload the box so that you're running into unblocked defenders.

Their favorite strategy for this week was to "rock back" their LBs against Texas' zone plays, allowing those speedsters to key the TE and race to where he was while weak safety Ridwan Issahaku would fill the play side gaps behind them. You see what makes tight zone deadly is that the TE creates a new gap that has to be accounted for by a DB while the LBs uselessly fill the normal gaps, so the RB inevitably ends up cutting back behind a double team and the lead block of the DE and then some poor DB has to stop him. That can often results in things like this:

But TCU would race their LBs to that cutback lane and fill the original backside gap with the weak safety crashing down. That allowed starting LBs Garrett Wallow and Arico Evans to finish with 11 and 10 tackles respectively, many of which were at the line or close to it. You can see that some here:

Their LBs knew what was up, they were just waiting for the RB to try and cutback and they would be there. SS Innis Gaines also can be seen here dropping back to take away the screen to Duvernay on bottom before racing to support the run.

-The "spread zone" runs I included were inside zone runs from four-wide sets with no TE (or more likely, the TE was flexed out). Often when Texas runs inside zone from that set they'll run it as a zone read but on these they would block both DEs and Ehlinger would read the MLB on a bubble/handoff RPO option.

-"Why didn't Texas run QB power a dozen more times???" Texas ran that play twice and picked up 17 yards. The second time looked like this:

What's notable here is that the TCU DT actually slipped past Elijah Rodriguez and hit Vahe while he was on his way to pull over and block the LB. But Rodriguez played it like a veteran, instead of holding or looking back wistfully, he found someone else to block, Garrett Wallow. Ehlinger, who's a natural inside runner, quickly found the resulting cutback and then ran through TCU DBs for a first down.

From then on Texas got this look from that set:

That's man coverage on everyone with seven guys in the box. You could run Ehlinger on power for that, hope that he can drag an unblocked guy for a few yards, or you can take advantage and throw screens or downfield on man coverage. Texas ran a few screens out of it from there, one of which was a shoelace tackle away from being a massive gain.

-"Why doesn't Texas run more power or iso?"
Sometimes when Texas pulls a guy on power they don't block it as cleanly or cover everyone up (like on that play above that ERod and Ehlinger turned into lemonade), it's not always the guaranteed gain that tight zone is against everyone besides TCU. Iso usually blows big holes through defenses though so I'm not at all sure why we don't see it 7-10x a game. Maybe they're less comfortable blocking it against stunts and pressures, I don't know.

-On the day I had Ehlinger's rushing numbers at 8-29 at 3.6 ypc with a TD. Not bad, fairly workmanlike numbers typical for a spread QB. It's notable that rather than pulling a Kansas State and responding to TCU loading and attacking the box by calling more single-wing style runs for Ehlinger, they instead made use of mssrs. Johnson and Humphrey working against coverage. Texas' "X-factor RB playing QB" beat the Frogs much worse with his arm than with his legs.

More on that in the gameplan later this week because here we only talk run game but they have a fair number of tricks for getting good matchups and leverage for those guys. I think we'll see Lil'Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson continue to get big time work and numbers in conference play.

Here are the numbers by quarter:

1st quarter: 10 carries, 30 yards, 3 ypc, 1 TD
2nd quarter: 11 carries, 26 yards, 2.4 ypc
3rd quarter: 10 carries, 54 yards, 5.4 ypc, TD
4th quarter: 9 carries, 26 yards, 2.9 ypc

Danoe · September 25, 2018

Many thanks for posting these.

FORTY NINE TO ZERO · September 25, 2018

Bless ur heart

Sejjr · September 25, 2018

“Why does Ian Boyd ask himself questions in his column?”

Zavala · September 26, 2018

Scipio Tex should get his own radio show.

Zavala · September 26, 2018

(Chip Brown) Good, Bad and Ugly from Longhorns' upset of No. 17 TCU

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