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Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 5)

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satyanash

satyanash 14,931

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

Jeff Howe: Texas ends Manhattan losing streak, drops Kansas State 19-14

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MANHATTAN, Kan. — A quarterback switch to open the second half gave the Wildcats some juice on offense. Skylar Thompson replaced Alex Delton and move the ball 82 yards in 10 plays, getting K-State on the board with a 7-yard touchdown run with 11:13 to go in the third quarter. Thompson then led K-State on a 16-play, 70-yard drive that ended when Alex Barnes went over the top of the Texas defense on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, making it a 19-14 lead for the Longhorns entering the fourth quarter.

A Texas defense that was unable to get off of the field made a play when it needed one in a bad. Breckyn Hager knocked down a Thompson pass on third-and-6 from the K-State 20 with 6:31 remaining on the clock. An offense that struggled to get traction in the second half also stepped up in the clutch with Sam Ehlinger hitting Collin Johnson for 13 yards on a slant on third-and-11 to move the sticks with the K-State 48 with under four minutes to play.

Even though offense scored 10 points on two first-half drives that ended in the red zone, defense and special teams carried the Longhorns to a 19-0 halftime lead. D'shawn Jamison started the scoring with a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown with 5:25 to go in the first quarter to give Texas the early lead. The return to the house, the first for Texas since Reggie Hemphill-Mapps took one back 91 yards in last season’s loss to Maryland, marked the 10th non-offensive touchdown for the Longhorns under Herman and the program’s 100th since the start of the 1999 season, which ranks third nationally.

The second drive of the day for the offense one of the best of the season to this point. Sam Ehlinger and Co. drove 89 yards in 11 plays, ending the march when Ehlinger hit Collin Johnson with a bullet in a back-shoulder throw for a 4-yard touchdown on the third play of the second quarter. The ensuing K-State drive saw Charles Omenihu deliver perhaps his best sequence of plays as a Longhorn. A bad decision by Isaiah Zuber started the K-State drive forced the drive to begin at the 9-yard line; Omenihu then sacked Alex Delton for a 5-yard loss and two plays later dropped him again, this time in the end zone for a safety to expand the Texas lead to 16-0 with 12:56 left on the clock until halftime.

A 28-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker with 7:15 to go until intermission capped a 13-play, 53-yard drive and rounded out the first-half scoring for the Longhorns. Texas claimed the program’s first halftime lead ever in a game against K-State on the road and the 19 points scored was nearly half of the 31 points the Longhorns mustered in eight previous first-half performances in Manhattan.

Aside from a dropped pass by K-State tight end Adam Harter in the end zone on the final play of the first half, the Longhorns didn’t allow the Wildcats anything of consequence on offense through the first two quarters of play. The K-State offense was 2-for-7 on third down in the first half, ran for only 50 yards on 23 attempts and had 64 yards of total offense (2.1 yards per play).

(Bobby Burton) Snap Judgments: The Escape Game

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Up 19-0 and coasting, and K-State dropping a sure TD on the last play of the first half, I thought this was finally the game where Texas would exorcise its demons in Manhattan. Then came a third and the beginning of a fourth quarter where K-State out-executed the Longhorns, and all bets were off. Until Texas got the ball back one last time. For the fourth consecutive game, the Texas offense ran out the clock. That's right. Four. When the game is on the line, the Texas offense has been nails since a disappointing Maryland loss.

**

Some will surely remind me that Texas only scored 10 offensive points. And they're right, This offense did not play great. Sam Ehlinger missed a wide open Devin Duvernay on a post route by a good 10 yards. De'Shawn Jamison ran 14 yards backward on a jet sweep. Zach Shackelford entered the game and got a 15-yard penalty on his first play. But all in all, the Horns executed when it mattered most. Ehlinger's third-and-11 completion to Collin Johnson was clearly the play of the game on offense. Then came yardage-maximizing runs by Keaontay Ingram, and a nice play call to run Ehlinger on another third down. All in all, Texas milked the final six minutes off the clock. No, they didn't score a ton of points. But the other team can't score if they don't have the ball.

**

Charles Omenihu came out like a man possessed in the first half and had his best game as a Longhorn. He recorded two sacks (including a safety) and three tackles for loss. But it was Breckyn Hager's batted pass that got Texas the ball back in the fourth quarter for the last time. Hager also had a big sack and forced fumble that put K-State behind the chains in the third quarter after they had scored on a previous drive.

**

Texas' blitz did not get home often enough against K-State. Chris Brown just isn't the same caliber of blitzed as BJ Foster and Anthony Wheeler really was stoned in the backfield more than once.

**

Cameron Dicker has to improve and become more reliable. It's clear that he's the team's best option. But he has to get better. Texas needs him to be Mr. Automatic.

**

Jamison's punt return was outstanding. Not only did he make a cut that I'm not sure anyone else on the field could have made, but the blocking was outstanding. The biggest block came on a seal block by Jordan Pouncey. But Kris Boyd, Anthony Cook and a host of others also made big blocks. That is the big play in special teams that so often wins Bill Snyder football games. Of course, the high snap on a Texas punt almost cost Texas points in the other direction. But Ryan Bujcevski had a solid outing. Two punts were downed inside the 20.

**

Ehlinger played a solid game but was far from perfect. He made a couple of really off target passes in the second half on key third-down plays. I think the big miss early to Devin Duvernay caused him to be a little too timid as the game wore on until the score got closer.

**

Ingram is an outstanding young back. He's able to get skinny in the hole and explode for yardage. And he's also a talented runner on swing passes. Tre Watson had a solid game.

**

Overall, the ball security from the RBs was solid all game. Texas only put the ball on the ground once, and that came on a sack of Ehlinger.

**

The first couple of series, it looked like Texas might have some issues corralling the QB run game of K-State. The Wildcats had two first downs without ever throwing a pass. But Texas finally got things figured out and dominated in that half.

**

Penalties were silly. The first play of the game was a penalty. Holding against Reese Leitao on the kick return. Then there was penalties against Davante Davis (bad call), Kris Boyd (twice, one was questionable) and Shackelford's really dumb penalty. There were others, too. It was far from a clean game for Texas.

**

If I'm handing out the game ball to any player or position, it'd have to be to the OL. They held up most of the game and allowed Texas to move the ball on the ground and through the air. After that, you have to tip your hat to the wide receivers. I don't remember a single dropped pass by the Longhorns. Not one.

**

So we sit here on the last Saturday in September, and the Horns are 4-1. After the Maryland game, I had more people that I can remember writing me and telling me that the Horns very well could be 1-5 following OU. Well, that definitely won't be the case. But the Horns will have all they can handle next weekend in Dallas. The winner of that game will join West Virginia as the only undefeated team in conference play.

Chip Brown: Good, Bad and Ugly from Texas' 19-14 win at K-State

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Despite Texas sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger completing 12 of 14 passes in the second half, Texas was shut out in the final 30 minutes of the game. But the Longhorns held on and accomplished something they had not done since 2002 — win on the road at Kansas State, 19-14, ending a five-game losing streak in Manhattan. Texas was penalty-ridden (10 flags for 104 yards), failed to force a turnover, saw K-State drop a touchdown pass on the last play of the first half, suffered a 14-yard loss on a pass reception by D'Shawn Jamison and had an 11-play, third-quarter drive end with a missed 48-yard field goal.

But the Longhorns remained unbeaten in Big 12 play heading into the Red River Shootout next Saturday thanks to a huge play by senior defensive lineman Breckyn Hager to snuff a tidal wave of K-State momentum, followed by a gutsy, 10-play drive that ate up the final 6:20 of the game. As always, here is the GOOD, BAD and UGLY from the Longhorns’ 19-14 victory at Kansas State.

THE GOOD
A Texas offense that made yards but not points in the second half, took possession at its own 40 with 6:20 left in the game, clinging to a 19-14 lead, and converted third-and-10 on a 12-yard pass from Ehlinger to Collin Johnson and converted third-and-1 on a 3-yard run by Ehlinger. When Ehlinger ran for 12 yards on second-and-6 from the K-State 32 with just more than two minutes left, K-State was out of timeouts, and the Longhorns were able to run out the clock in victory formation.

Breckyn Hager came up with the play of the game by batting down Skylar Thompson’s pass on third down midway through the fourth quarter, forcing a punt by K-State to stop a massive surge of Wildcats’ momentum after KSU had scored touchdowns on long, clock-eating drives on two of their three previous possessions to cut UT’s lead from 19-0 to 19-14. Ehlinger finished 29 of 36 passing for 207 yards and one touchdown and completed 12 of 14 in the second half. Ehlinger also ran eight times for 26 yards, including a few, key third-down conversions as well as his 12-yard run on second-and-6 with two minutes left, allowing Texas to run out the clock in victory formation.

Gary Johnson led the team in tackles with seven (six solo), but the defensive stars were seniors Hager and Charles Omenihu. Hager had the game-turning batted pass along with a sack, a QB hurry and a forced fumble, while Omenihu had five tackles, three tackles for loss, including two sacks - one of them for a safety. Keaontay Ingram led Texas on the ground with 10 carries for 68 yards (6.8 ypc), and should’ve had 10 more carries. Tre Watson had seven carries for 24 yards (3.4 ypc).

Late in the third quarter, Texas put together an 11-play, 57-yard drive that ate up 4:46 and included Ehlinger completing his first five passes for 51 yards as well as a 3-yard run on third-and-1 from the UT 44. But the drive ended with a missed, 48-yard field goal (pushed wide right) by Cameron Dicker. Breckyn Hager’s first sack of the season (for minus-8 yards) was a strip-sack, but Skylar Thompson’s fumble was recovered by KSU tight end Blaise Gammon midway through the third quarter.

Charles Omenihu had a dominating first half, matching Gary Johnson’s team-leading five tackles with three of those tackles for loss, including two sacks. After a terrible pass interference flag on Davante Davis gave K-State its first trip into UT territory with five minutes left in the first half (first-and-10 from the Texas 48), the Texas defense limited to KSU to just 3 yards the next three plays, forcing a punt.

No Tim Beck? No problem to start the game. In addition to D'Shawn Jamison's 90-yard punt return TD, Texas' first three offensive possessions all went at least 11 plays and four minutes:

— 11 plays, 37 yards, 4:24 ... Punt

— 11 plays, 89 yards, 4:11 ... TD

— 13 plays, 53 yards, 5:36 ... FG

DICKER FIELD GOAL PUTS TEXAS UP 19-0

Ehlinger completed 6-of-8 passes for 55 yards, including a 14-yard completion to Collin Johnson on third-and-9, to help set up first down from the K-State 11. But Ehlinger threw incomplete on first down, then caught his own batted pass for a 3-yard gain before getting sacked on third down, setting up a 28-yard field goal by Dicker that put Texas up 19-0 with 7:15 left in the second quarter.

OMENIHU SACK/SAFETY PUTS TEXAS UP 16-0

K-State receiver Isaiah Zuber made a mistake returning Cameron Dicker’s kickoff to the goal line, making it only to the KSU 9. Then Charles Omenihu took over with a sack of Alex Delton for a 5-yard loss on first down and then an 8-yard sack in the end zone for a safety on third-and-11 with 12:56 left in the second quarter.

LONGHORNS GO UP 14-0 EARLY IN SECOND QUARTER

Texas went 7-of-7 passing on an 11-play, 89-yard (4:11) TD drive with Sam Ehlinger going 6-of-6 (including 4-yd TD pass to Collin Johnson), and Tre Watson was 1-of-1 on a pass to Ehlinger for 21 yards to the K-State 5. After a 1-yard run by Watson, Ehlinger high-pointed a fade to Johnson in the end zone, and Johnson did a great job of going up to grab the ball and keep it away from the K-State DB defending on the play, putting Texas up 14-0 with 14:03 left in the second quarter.

Ehlinger threw off-balance on third-and-1 from the UT 30 to Collin Johnson for a 21-yard catch-and-run to the K-State 49. The play extended the 11-play drive to Ehlinger’s 4-yard TD pass to Johnson.

JAMISON RETURNS PUNT 90 YARDS FOR TD

Freshman D'Shawn Jamison started, stopped, went left, and the rest was history on a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown with a great block by Anthony Cook and then a personal escort from Chris Brown and Josh Thompson down the left sideline into the end zone, putting Texas up 7-0 with 5:25 left in the first quarter. Texas ran the ball three times for 26 yards (8.7 yards per carry), and converted two third downs on its first drive of 11 plays and 4:24.

THE BAD
WILDCATS GO ON 16-PLAY TD DRIVE TO CUT UT LEAD TO 19-14

Kansas State put together a 16-play drive in which th Wildcats converted third-and-10, fourth-and-7 and fourth-and-goal from the 1 on a direct-snap touchdown dive by running back Alex Barnes, cutting Texas’ lead to 19-14 with 9:55 to play. After reaching first-and-goal from the Texas 7, the Wildcats snapped the ball directly to running back Alex Barnes, who ran the ball four straight times, including a 1-yard touchdown dive that cut UT’s lead to 19-14.

On second-and-5 from the K-State 45 midway through the fourth quarter, Texas running back Daniel Young missed the hole inside, bounced to the outside and got dropped for a 2-yard loss, and then Ehlinger had one of his two second-half incompletions, missing a wide-open Collin Johnson on third-and-7, forcing a punt with 7:12 left to play. Young got only two carries, and they went for minus-3 yards.

Freshman kicker Cameron Dicker pushed a 48-yard field goal attempt wide right But the drive ended with a missed, 48-yard field goal (pushed wide right) by Texas’ first possession of the second half ended with a 17-yard punt by Ryan Bujcevski.

PENALTIES COSTLY AS KSU FINALLY SCORES

The Texas defense struggled to adjust to K-State’s move from Alex Delton to Skylar Thompson at quarterback and also hurt itself with two costly penalties on KSU’s 10-play, 82-yard (3:42) to Thompson’s 7-yard touchdown run to open the second half, cutting UT’s lead to 19-7 with 11:13 left in the third quarter. After holding K-State to seven first downs in the first half, the Wildcats made five first downs in their first drive of the second half (which ended with a 7-yard TD run by KSU QB Skylar Thompson).

Caden Sterns was slow to get up after ending up at the bottom of a pile on a tackle with 14:55 left in the third quarter. (K-State coach Bill Snyder came out on the field to check on him). Sterns jogged off the field on his own. After Texas was flagged for seven first-half penalties for 80 yards, the Longhorns were flagged for defensive pass interference on Kris Boyd and offsides on Ta’Quon Graham on K-State’s drive to a touchdown to open the second half.

D'Shawn Jamison’s poor decision to reverse field for a 14-yard loss, led to great field position for K-State after Texas punter Ryan Bujcevski managed just a 35-yard punt from the UT 7. K-State Jamison, who silenced the KSU crowd with a 90-yard punt return touchdown in the first quarter, brought the K-State crowd back to life by taking a screen pass from Ehlinger and reversing field, backwards for a 14-yard loss to the Texas 9 late in the second quarter, leading to a punt after Ehlinger recovered his own fumble on third-and-21.

It took a terrible pass interference flag on Davante Davis (nice flop by K-State WR Zach Reuter) for KSU to get across midfield for the first time with five minutes left in the half. Terrible defensive pass interference flag on Davis on a flop by K-State’s receiver Zach Reuter, giving the Wildcats a first down Ta'Quon Graham was flagged for offsides with 4:01 left in the first quarter, giving K-State second-and-5 from its 43 with just under four minutes left in the first quarter.

Kris Boyd was flagged for a personal foul facemask against K-State’s Isaiah Zuber, giving the Wildcats a first down at the KSU 38 with just under five minutes left in the first quarter. Andrew Beck was guilty of an illegal block in the back right in front of the official, leading to second-and-20 from the Texas 49 that UT couldn’t overcome, forcing a punt after an 11-play, opening drive.

Sam Ehlinger had Devin Duvernay wide open on a post route for a touchdown in UT’s first drive and led Duvernay so much on the throw that Duvernay couldn’t even lay out for it (like he did on his TD catch at Maryland). Reese Leitao was flagged for holding on UT’s opening kick return of the game, causing the Longhorns to start their opening drive from their own 12.

THE UGLY
How open Devin Duvernay was on a post route on UT’s first drive … and how badly Sam Ehlinger missed him. D'Shawn Jamison’s decision to reverse field after catching a screen pass and getting dropped for a 14-yard loss at the Texas 9. The play led to great field position for K-State at the end of the half. Only a dropped fourth-and-goal pass in the end zone on the final play of the half kept it from leading to points for the Wildcats. Seven first-half penalties for 80 yards (including a terrible pass interference call on Davante Davis) grew to 10 flags for 104 yards for the game.

(Justin Wells) Five Quick Thoughts: Texas 19, KSU 14

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It wasn't pretty, but football in Manhattan, Kansas rarely is. Texas jumped out to a commanding 19-0 lead, then held on down the final stretch for the 19-14 win at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday. Here are my Five Quick Thoughts following UT's win over Kansas State. 

1. Texas gets points in many different ways. 

The Horns put up points in four ways on Saturday. When the offense isn't explosive, that's so crucial. UT opened up the scoring with a D'Shawn Jamison 90-yard scoring punt return. Then Collin Johnson caught a 4-yard fade from Sam Ehlinger for six. Charles Omenihu was next with a safety of Kansas State QB Alex Delton. And Cameron Dicker drilled a 28-yard field goal as well. That's a rare, but nice balance. To win on the road in Manhattan, it takes all you can get. And Texas needed all of it.

2. Sam Ehlinger continues to improve. 

After a first half stat line - 17 of 22, 115, 1 TD, 2 receptions - he completed passes to ten different receivers, including one to himself off a tipped ball. He also caught a pass from RB Tre Watson. He finished 29 of 36, 207 yards, one TD. But it was his game management with 6:20 left in the contest that sealed it. His 3rd down and 11 strike to Collin Johnson for 13 yards was ginormous. His QB Power was big time. He currently has completed 128 consecutive passes without an interception, the 3rd longest streak in school history. It was another week of zero turnovers. He missed on some big shots downfield early in the contest, yet again made sure Texas was in victory formation.

3. Texas shows toughness when K-State got tough. 

KSU's Alex Delton wasn't effective in the first half, but former starter Skylar Thompson led an 82-yard drive and score to open the second half. Then he led a 16-play, 70-yard scoring march, converting two 4th downs, early in the fourth quarter. But when they needed it the most, the defense made the stops and the offense controlled the ball. UT rotated the defensive line early in the contest. After Omenihu-Nelson-Hager, it was Graham-Wilbon-Bimage. It kept the d-line fresh. Omenihu was a maniac in the first half with three TFLs, one sack, and one safety (five total, three TFL, two sacks). And Breckyn Hager made the plays in the 2nd half.

Hager has not performed up to expectations this season, and he'd admit as much, but his second half was huge. One sack, three hurries, and the one batted ball was probably the play of the game. It gave Texas the ball back and they did what they've been doing all year - finishing games. Then the offense puts it in cruise. Heavy doses of Keaontay Ingram, who averaged 6.5 ypc, was imperative. If he's fully healthy, he needs more than 10 GD carries. Give the offensive line credit, they are improving. Give Andrew Beck credit, when he's not harassing opponents before kickoff, he's snagging four catches. Give Collin Johnson credit, he made plays when the ball arrived. But give Texas credit. This is a game UT might not win over the last decade, but they did today. That matters.

4. The penalties are adding up. 

One of the negatives of UT's 2018 season have been dumb penalties. After seven for 80 yards in the first half, Texas was lucky K-State didn't capitalize. UT had 10 yellow flags for 104 yards. K-State didn't commit a penalty all day, which is a damn joke, Big 12 Conference. The pass interference calls, good and bad, were killers. Kris Boyd had his worst day as a senior. Overall, you might beat a mediocre team like the Wildcats with these fouls. But you won't win the Big 12. And you probably don't beat OU next week either. Some of the penalties are warranted; intense, aggressive play breeds that. But the others can kill you. Texas must clean up this part of the season.

5. It's never easy in Manhattan. 

I guess there's a reason Texas hadn't won at Kansas State since the early 2000s. So many things went UT's way. They held KSU to 217 total yards. The Wildcats couldn't complete a 1-yard pass to end the first half, giving UT it's first 1st half shutout at Bill Snyder Family Stadium ever. K-State always punches above weight in Manhattan, KS. Snyder always makes adjustments you have to account for. But at the end of the day, a win is a win. And sometimes it pays to be lucky.

Of note: OU is next. Let's get crazy.

 

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satyanash

satyanash 14,931

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(Jeff Connor) C-Bog:TAP THE BRAKES, CLETUS

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I get it. I really do. You’re not as young as you used to be. Things move just a tiny bit slower. You have a few, weird, gross hairs popping up in unexpected and unwanted places. A few days ago, in the middle of a conversation, your brain was searching for a word, and it took an extra three seconds to retrieve it. It was just three seconds, but it felt like an eternity. “Senior moment,” they used to call it.

An attractive woman hasn’t actually flirted with you since that cute twenty-something at the store. Oh, yeah, I remember now. She wasn’t flirting; she was working for DirecTV. You’re happily married, but would still be nice to have someone attractive check your sticker price, kick your tires, and act like they want to look under your hood. You occasionally wonder if you’ve lost it, if all your good years are behind you.

And then along comes Tom Herman with his rakish good looks, chiseled chin, and gruff demeanor. Oh, Tom makes all kinds of promises, doesn’t he? Big XII Championships. National titles. A tough, physically imposing team. Power football. A defensive dime package that can also stop the run. You get a little verklempt just thinking about it. You catch yourself thinking about Tom at odd, unusual, or uncomfortable times. You surreptitiously smile and then scold yourself for doing it. For crying out loud, you feel like a blushing schoolgirl. You’re a grown man, dang it, not a 6th grader at a K-Pop boy band concert.

Oh, you’ve heard all this Romeo sweet talk before. Mack Brown practically dripped honey in your ear, especially during the later years of his tenure. Charlie Strong was a doer, not a sweet talker, and we all admired that about him; but Charlie made promises as well, and all we have to show for his three years of bedroom eyes is a ticket stub to a low-level bowl game we lost in a blowout.

But with Tom, it’s different. When you listen to Tom talk, part of the emotional wall you’ve built starts to slowly crumble. When he looks at you with that clenched jaw and stuck out chest, he makes you feel like you’re the only fan base in the world. Tom makes you want to … do things for him. With him. To him. Excuse me. I need a moment.

What if, after all these years, we’ve finally found Mr. Right? What if Tom Herman is secretly a prince, and he’ll sweep us off our feet, carry us away to his castle, and we all live happily ever after? What if he’ll really want us and need us and cherish us? What if Tom will take us to those wonderful, heady places we’ve been fantasizing about ever since Colt McCoy’s injury in the Alabama championship game?

Could it really be? National championship after national championship after national championship, each sweeter than the last… Sorry. I was caught in a reverie. Just like the majority of the Longhorn fan base. How quickly we forget. How easy it is to romanticize. Go all the way with Tom? Are you kidding me?

We lost to freaking Maryland less than a month ago. Tulsa would have beaten us at home if they had a field goal kicker, which we STILL don’t have. The Trojans are so anemic they will probably fire their coach at the end of the season. We couldn’t make alousy one-yard fourth down conversion at midfield against an undersized TCU team. Sometimes Ehlinger can’t hit the broad side of a barn.

I’m just getting warmed up, and I haven’t even mentioned the offensive coordinator. I could go on, but do I really need to? I understand. We’re all desperate for the Horns to have a real football coach. We ache to believe again, to feel that warm, safe, comforting feeling of a 10 win season, but that doesn’t mean you let Tom Herman stick his hand up your skirt after stringing two good games together.

Get it together, man! Tap the brakes, Cletus, and see the world the way it is, not the way you swoon for it to be in some silly Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy.

The 2018 Texas Longhorns are an improved team. They are an improving team. They are starting to realize exactly how good they could potentially be. The bench is deeper than it’s been in years. Defensive assignments seem to be jelling. Our offensive line has a tiny bit of swagger. Our wide receivers are a rapturous thing to behold – as long as we don’t ask them to block consistently.

But two games – two data points – can make a straight line, but they don’t make a long-term trend.There are still major problems with this team, too many to fix in one year. Duke Ellington was once asked about the difference between an amateur and professional musician. “A professional,” Duke quipped, “can do it twice in a row.” That’s my golf game: I can hit a real golf shot. I just can’t do it twice in a row.

Same thing with Coach Herman. He’s has had a good couple of weeks. Is he the real deal or just another silver-tongued devil? A professional can do it again and again and again. Keep up the good work, Coach. I’m not ready to give you a key to my apartment yet, but I am willing to keep my evenings open. Hook ‘em.

A 1986 graduate of the University of Texas, Jeff Conner has held many jobs in his life: husband, brother, uncle, son, oil field roustabout, short-order cook, sandblaster, irrigation pipe mover, musician, retail assistant manager, attorney-at-law, public school teacher, preacher, cartoonist, and writer. While he does have a hot, young wife, Conner is neither as clever nor as good-looking as he believes himself to be. Jeff is currently teaching Algebra 2 and A.P. Statistics at Legacy Early College High School in Taylor, Texas.Conner’s regularly submitted commentary appears in InsideTexas.com and Inside Texas Magazine. The opinions presented do not necessarily reflect the views of the Inside Texas editorial staff.

Wescott Eberts: Texas starts fast, holds on late to defeat Kansas State, 19-14

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59 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Hard to give any credibility to this PFF ratings stuff with such poor throws by Sam to Duvernay and CJ...... That was an average performance

This writer agrees...

 "However, even though Ehlinger completed more than 80 percent of his passes, the misses stood out. The sophomore once again missed junior wide receiver Devin Duvernay on a post route to open the game, continuing a disturbing trend in attempted targets of the speedster. Texas ultimately punted on that possession, so Ehlinger’s miss cost the Longhorns a critical score.

There was also a throw that went wide of junior wide receiver Collin Johnson on a 3rd and 7 in Kansas State territory following the Wildcats score that narrowed the deficit to its final margin.

So while it may seem odd on the surface to criticize a player who completed so many passes, within the context of the game, Ehlinger demonstrated that his accuracy is still the missing piece to becoming a truly good quarterback. "

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InsideTexas Report Card -- KSt.

We scored on a 90 yard punt return with mostly defensive players on that unit, including the returner who is about one more jet loss away from the nickel position he was recruited to play. We scored a safety with our defensive pass rush. We missed another field goal in a disturbing pattern that's forming. 

We threw backwards. We threw sideways. We threw three times deep and one of those was from one of our star receivers (it was the closest to being completed by about the size of a 7-11 parking lot). We never really scratched the surface on short or long division as we concentrated on vanilla with a limited staff on hand. Makes one wonder if our creative mind was stuck in the hospital back home. Who knows? 

Penalties killed drives. It's the type of penalty that raises concern. Getting a blocking in the back call in space is hard to digest. Don't we teach that the big numbers are on the back of the jersey? Getting a peel back penalty way behind the ball is selfish satisfaction. 47 and 56 are veterans and should know better. We also killed a drive with a jet sweep that held the loss to a meager 15 yards when our nickel prospect decided he could give ground and outrun these D1 athletes. Chalk that one up to not in this lifetime. 

Our punt team blocking/scheme is a frigging comedy. One blocked---two hurried. Somebody better become concerned and fix this before we lose a game to stupidity. I strongly question whether 47 and 45 are the best blocking personal protectors available---I know neither are strong decision makers in their primary roles of TE and LB. 

We played offense not to lose yesterday. That's the best I'm willing to concede. We won. We won on the road. That's tough to do when you don't attack down the field against weaker athletes. It's hard to drive the field with base when you commit unforced penalties to get off schedule. We could have thrown successfully to 9 and 84 till the cows come home. It's criminal not to throw deep to 6 at least once a half. Did I mention we won on the road? Here are the grades:

11---Sam---B

32---Young---B-

5---Watson---B+

26---Ingram---A-

6---Duvernay---A-

9---Johnson---A-

13---Heard---B+

14---Moore---A-

17---Jamison---B+

84---Humphrey---A-

47---Beck---B

52---Cosmi---B

56---Shack---B-

66---Anderson---B

68---Kerstetter---B

72---Rodriguez---B

77---Vahe---B

Beat OU. 

Notes that need mentioning.

Heard (13) turned defender to break up interception on 84's pass. Young (32) whiffed on GL pass block---another example of why you need the Porters (21) on the team. Ingram is the real deal---both 26 and 5 need to take what's given when the situation looks dire. Moore (14) has youthful talent. Johnson (9) and Humphrey (84) are becoming complete football players before our eyes. 

We came back to earth with our OL-TE yesterday. KSt just doesn't maker mistakes defensively and we proved the fish were biting yesterday. Sam (11) drove the bus very well yesterday. Zero turnovers but there were two definite scares and three questionable decisions mixed in with the atta-a-boys. Please eliminate that damn "speed" option from our call list. Three slow steps and a pitch to an unarmed RB is basically serving his ass up for a big hit that could have been prevented. Who the hell coaches this play without making the unblocked defender (DE) take the QB? I doubt Colt thinks it's a good call either.

By the way---beat OU.

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

I think most will agree we have the edge in football talent with our DB's than KSt. has with their receivers and QB's. I doubt their first QB could play QB for very many offenses in college today---the second QB at least threw spirals. I kept thinking we would rush three with a quality spy and make him beat us with his (their) arm.

Never happened. We blitzed till the world looked level. Every third down in the second half. We had zero underneath coverage to help on slants and stops that produced first down after first down. We never wised up. Our blitz packages were blocked much better then the results behind them produced. We made fewer big plays than we gave up but yet we remained steadfast in our use of said strategy.

Sometimes less is more in this game. Sometimes bringing one and dropping seven is the best alternative. We brought the ranch. We got burned more than we ambushed their attack. KSt's passing attack isn't in the same time zone as OU's and they are up next. If we insist in creating either turnovers or td's with all-out blitzes we might need a new scoreboard in the Cotton bowl to accommodate triple figures. We won and that's the bottom line. It was ugly. We could have lost just as easily. Beat OU. Here are the grades:

90---Omenihu---A-

44---Hager---B+

49---Graham---B-

42---Bimage---B

97---Nelson---B+

94---Wilbon---B+

23---McCulloch---B

33---Johnson---B

45---Wheeler---B

2---Boyd---B-

7---Sterns---B+

11---Locke---B-

15---Brown---B-

18---Davis---B

19---Jones---B+

Beat OU.

Notes that deserve mention:

Omenihu is establishing a consistent performance each week that is refreshing. He good. Graham (49) had two offsides and that is punishable by the highest order after practice. Nelson (97) and Wilbon (94) are controlling the LOS but are falling a little short of the Poona's disruption behind the LOS. Johnson (33) is a better spy than inside blitzer. Wheeler (45) needs to be replaced on off scheduled downs. He's a basic statue in coverage.

Boyd must have been saving it up for OU next week because he mailed it in this week. Cook (4) had a terrific block on the return td. Locke (11) was beaten badly on GL coverage---lucky the TE dropped the ball. Davis (18) had a poor call on his pass interference. We miss BJ Foster (25) bad. Brown (15) just isn't the enforcer that BJ offers and Locke (11) is just not a good decision maker at all.

Qssai (46) had a good kickoff tackle. Thompson (29) is one fast mother scooter---he needs to get more reps for underperforming starters. By the way---beat OU.

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satyanash

satyanash 14,931

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Bobby Burton: Texas vs. Kansas State Grades

Quarterbacks

Sam Ehlinger dinked and dunked with the best of them on Saturday. He was relatively accurate and timely on underneath routes and on key third downs. But he also only completed just one ball for longer than 20 yards. His miss of a wide open Devin Duvernay on the game’s first possession was really the story of the game for him in many ways. Excellent underneath but never capitalized on the really big play. Ehlinger completed 29 of his 37 attempts for 207 yards, one TD and no turnovers. Not a great performance but a winning one in tough environs.

Grade: B-

Running backs

Keaontay Ingram is clearly the team’s best runner. And he not only rushed for 68 yards on just 10 carries but added almost another 30 yards on swing passes. He was the clear workhorse of the day. But don’t sell grad transfer Tre Watson short. Watson got some tough yards and pass protected very well. He also tossed a throwback pass to Ehlinger to give the Horns first and goal on their only offensive TD of the day. Daniel Young failed to ever get going and did not have his best day.

Grade: B-

Wide receivers

No drops. Not one. The consistency of the Texas WRs was outstanding. The trio of juniors Collin Johnson, LJ Humphrey and Devin Duvernay were solid. Johnson made a couple of huge catches. Humphrey seems to find the soft spots in coverage. And Duvernay may be the most reliable and toughest runner after the catch of the entire group. De’Shawn Jamison’s jet sweep malfunction was really the group’s only black mark, albeit a significant one. One last thought: they blocked for each other on bubble screens to the outside as well as we’ve seen all year.

Grade: A-

Tight ends

Andrew Beck finished with four catches. He caught everything thrown his way but never could elude that one-on-one tackler that would have led to even bigger gains. Still, Beck was solid as a pass catcher. While he helped a Texas run game get solid gains all day long, he wasn’t perfect. It was one of his better games as a pass catcher and one of his lesser ones as a blocker.

Grade: C

Offensive line

Solid. And I mean that as perhaps the biggest compliment I can give an offensive line after almost a decade of inconsistent, poor performances. Center Elijah Rodriguez played particularly well as did left guard Pat Vahe. Both Sam Cosmi and Derek Kerstetter were steady. Calvin Anderson was beat a couple of times in pass protection and did not necessarily fare as well as you’d want in the run game. But this was a team performance and this group is light years ahead of where the same position group was just a year ago.

Grade: B-

Offense

The Horns missed on a big opportunity early to Duvernay. And never could really get those explosive plays going nor did they find reason to up 19-0 at halftime. That led to a dink and dunk, keep-the-ball attack that produced just 10 points all day but also kept the ball the final six minutes of the game. The Horns had a season-low eight possessions all day. And importantly they did not turn the ball over. But mustering 10 points, which was enough for Saturday, just won’t do in the future.

Grade: C

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

Defensive line

Charles Omenihu owned the first half. Breckyn Hager owned the second. Omenihu made two sacks in the same series, the second one good for a safety, and had another tackle for loss. Hager had a sack and forced a fumble and came through with the game on the line with a batted pass on a blitz stunt that forced a K-State punt. Chris Nelson and Gerald Wilbon made plays here and there but it was not one of their better games. Marqez Bimage played well in spots while Ta'Quon Graham was penalized for an offsides. All in all, it was a solid effort to get Alex Delton out of the game but the front's relative inability to get to the passer in the second half caused problems.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Neither Gary Johnson nor Anthony Wheeler had great games. But they did enough, particularly against the delay QB runs and inside power plays to limit what K-State could be successful with. Wheeler over-ran a couple of plays and couldn't get outside fast enough to stop a K-State TD run by the QB to the pylon. Jeffrey McCulloch continues to see action in place of injured Malcolm Roach. McCulloch played well overall, but also got sucked inside on that QB TD run. Perhaps most disappointingly, the linebackers had a really tough time getting home on any blitzes. You'd give this group two different grades, a good one for run defense and a poor one for blitzing.

Grade: B-

Secondary

The number of penalties incurred by the secondary almost equaled the amount of total yardage they allowed through the air. There were three pass interference calls and a 15-yard facemark call, too. Kris Boyd was beat a couple of times, both on a stop and go type of routes. Davante Davis played well, and truthfully, his PI call was bogus. P.J. Locke got picked on underneath routinely, especially in third- and fourth-down situations. Brandon Jones and Caden Sterns were both relatively quiet but that's more because of solid all-around play than anything else. Like the other positions on D, the secondary had real problems getting home on any blitz. Chris Brown was particularly ineffective as a blitzer. The penalties extended way too many drives and impact the final grade.

Grade: C

Defense

A team gives up just a little more than 200 yards and just 14 points, you'd think the grade would be higher. But perhaps the expectation level of this D is quite a bit higher than its offensive counterpart. The Horns allowed multiple key first-down conversions on third-and-long in the second half, committed multiple penalties and never created a turnover, although they did add crucial points to the scoreboard on Omenihu's safety. Texas doesn't win this game without the defense, but the defense didn't dominate in the second half and didn't get off the field as quickly as they'd like to either. And they created no turnovers, too.

Grade: B

Special teams

It all started with a great punt return by D'Shawn Jamison. Jamison not only stopped and started on a dime, but he also got clearing blocks from a host of Longhorns, including Jordan Pouncey, Kris Boyd and Anthony Cook. However, Cameron Dicker missed another field goal which would have given Texas a bigger cushion, and the Horns also had a punt block after a high snap. Otherwise, the punt game was fine. Texas actually won the special teams aspect of the game. Bottom line: Jamison's punt return for a TD helped Texas win this game as much or more than any single play.

Grade: B

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49,459

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On 9/30/2018 at 2:46 PM, satyanash said:

InsideTexas Report Card -- KSt.

 

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We scored on a 90 yard punt return with mostly defensive players on that unit, including the returner who is about one more jet loss away from the nickel position he was recruited to play. We scored a safety with our defensive pass rush. We missed another field goal in a disturbing pattern that's forming. 

We threw backwards. We threw sideways. We threw three times deep and one of those was from one of our star receivers (it was the closest to being completed by about the size of a 7-11 parking lot). We never really scratched the surface on short or long division as we concentrated on vanilla with a limited staff on hand. Makes one wonder if our creative mind was stuck in the hospital back home. Who knows? 

Penalties killed drives. It's the type of penalty that raises concern. Getting a blocking in the back call in space is hard to digest. Don't we teach that the big numbers are on the back of the jersey? Getting a peel back penalty way behind the ball is selfish satisfaction. 47 and 56 are veterans and should know better. We also killed a drive with a jet sweep that held the loss to a meager 15 yards when our nickel prospect decided he could give ground and outrun these D1 athletes. Chalk that one up to not in this lifetime. 

Our punt team blocking/scheme is a frigging comedy. One blocked---two hurried. Somebody better become concerned and fix this before we lose a game to stupidity. I strongly question whether 47 and 45 are the best blocking personal protectors available---I know neither are strong decision makers in their primary roles of TE and LB. 

We played offense not to lose yesterday. That's the best I'm willing to concede. We won. We won on the road. That's tough to do when you don't attack down the field against weaker athletes. It's hard to drive the field with base when you commit unforced penalties to get off schedule. We could have thrown successfully to 9 and 84 till the cows come home. It's criminal not to throw deep to 6 at least once a half. Did I mention we won on the road? Here are the grades:

11---Sam---B

32---Young---B-

5---Watson---B+

26---Ingram---A-

6---Duvernay---A-

9---Johnson---A-

13---Heard---B+

14---Moore---A-

17---Jamison---B+

84---Humphrey---A-

47---Beck---B

52---Cosmi---B

56---Shack---B-

66---Anderson---B

68---Kerstetter---B

72---Rodriguez---B

77---Vahe---B

Beat OU. 

Notes that need mentioning.

Heard (13) turned defender to break up interception on 84's pass. Young (32) whiffed on GL pass block---another example of why you need the Porters (21) on the team. Ingram is the real deal---both 26 and 5 need to take what's given when the situation looks dire. Moore (14) has youthful talent. Johnson (9) and Humphrey (84) are becoming complete football players before our eyes. 

We came back to earth with our OL-TE yesterday. KSt just doesn't maker mistakes defensively and we proved the fish were biting yesterday. Sam (11) drove the bus very well yesterday. Zero turnovers but there were two definite scares and three questionable decisions mixed in with the atta-a-boys. Please eliminate that damn "speed" option from our call list. Three slow steps and a pitch to an unarmed RB is basically serving his ass up for a big hit that could have been prevented. Who the hell coaches this play without making the unblocked defender (DE) take the QB? I doubt Colt thinks it's a good call either.

By the way---beat OU.

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

I think most will agree we have the edge in football talent with our DB's than KSt. has with their receivers and QB's. I doubt their first QB could play QB for very many offenses in college today---the second QB at least threw spirals. I kept thinking we would rush three with a quality spy and make him beat us with his (their) arm.

Never happened. We blitzed till the world looked level. Every third down in the second half. We had zero underneath coverage to help on slants and stops that produced first down after first down. We never wised up. Our blitz packages were blocked much better then the results behind them produced. We made fewer big plays than we gave up but yet we remained steadfast in our use of said strategy.

Sometimes less is more in this game. Sometimes bringing one and dropping seven is the best alternative. We brought the ranch. We got burned more than we ambushed their attack. KSt's passing attack isn't in the same time zone as OU's and they are up next. If we insist in creating either turnovers or td's with all-out blitzes we might need a new scoreboard in the Cotton bowl to accommodate triple figures. We won and that's the bottom line. It was ugly. We could have lost just as easily. Beat OU. Here are the grades:

90---Omenihu---A-

44---Hager---B+

49---Graham---B-

42---Bimage---B

97---Nelson---B+

94---Wilbon---B+

23---McCulloch---B

33---Johnson---B

45---Wheeler---B

2---Boyd---B-

7---Sterns---B+

11---Locke---B-

15---Brown---B-

18---Davis---B

19---Jones---B+

Beat OU.

Notes that deserve mention:

Omenihu is establishing a consistent performance each week that is refreshing. He good. Graham (49) had two offsides and that is punishable by the highest order after practice. Nelson (97) and Wilbon (94) are controlling the LOS but are falling a little short of the Poona's disruption behind the LOS. Johnson (33) is a better spy than inside blitzer. Wheeler (45) needs to be replaced on off scheduled downs. He's a basic statue in coverage.

Boyd must have been saving it up for OU next week because he mailed it in this week. Cook (4) had a terrific block on the return td. Locke (11) was beaten badly on GL coverage---lucky the TE dropped the ball. Davis (18) had a poor call on his pass interference. We miss BJ Foster (25) bad. Brown (15) just isn't the enforcer that BJ offers and Locke (11) is just not a good decision maker at all.

Qssai (46) had a good kickoff tackle. Thompson (29) is one fast mother scooter---he needs to get more reps for underperforming starters. By the way---beat OU.

 

Just re-read this..... A few items stood out as Spot-On:

1) Please eliminate that damn"speed" option from our call list. Three slow steps and a pitch to an unarmed RB isbasically serving his ass up for a big hit that could have been prevented. Who the hell coaches this play without making the unblocked defender (DE) take the QB? I doubt Colt thinks it's a good call either.

2) I kept thinking we would rush three with a quality spy and make him beat us with his (their) arm.

Never happened. We blitzed till the world looked level. Every third down in the second half. We had zero underneath coverage to help on slants and stops that produced first down after first down. We never wised up. Our blitz packages were blocked much better then the results behind them produced. We made fewer big plays than we gave up but yet we remained steadfast in our use of said strategy.

Sometimes less is more in this game. Sometimes bringing one and dropping seven is the best alternative. We brought the ranch. We got burned more than we ambushed their attack. KSt's passing attack isn't in the same time zone as OU's and they are up next. If we insist in creating either turnovers or td's with all-out blitzes we might need a new scoreboard in the Cotton bowl to accommodate triple figures.

3) Our punt team blocking/scheme is a frigging comedy. One blocked---two hurried. Somebody better become concerned and fix this before we lose a game to stupidity. I strongly question whether 47 and 45 are the best blocking personal protectors available---I know neither are strong decision makers in their primary roles of TE and LB. 

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satyanash

satyanash 14,931

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Ian Boyd: Texas run game vs K-State

Before I go break down the Oklahoma vs Baylor film I figured I'd post this:

image.png

Texas busted out a new play in this game, the "QB tight zone" play which most everyone (including me initially) probably mistakenly took for a draw. In fact, they'd have Keaontay Ingram swing to the field and Ehlinger would read the MLB for whether to throw the swing screen to Ingram or run downhill on the normal tight zone play. They picked up like eight yards on the pass the first time they ran the play and the MLB stayed home. The next two times Sam Ehlinger picked up two yards (good CB play) and then 14 yards on the game clinching play:

giphy.gif

There's no "draw" action on the OL, just straight ahead blocking. Besides this game-winner, Ehlinger ran the ball on a couple of short-yardage plays and picked them both up. His line on the day was six carries for 28 yards at 4.7 ypc. It's doubtful that Oklahoma will play him the same way as last year, using man coverage from nickel and then watching him run wild on scrambles.

Obviously Keaontay Ingram is a special back, that's been obvious from day one. Even now, playing with the knee brace and looking a little less than 100% he's trouble. They got him the ball out on the perimeter a lot with the swing screen off the QB tight zone and then another packaged play they've been running a ton this year. They'll swing the RB to one side of the field and Ehlinger will read the MLB. If he doesn't chase the swing Ehlinger will throw the quick screen to the RB, if he chases it then Ehlinger will work to the boundary on a double slants concept. It's been a good play for steady gains this year.

The inverted zone-read play is one I wrote about in the offseason that was also a useful way to get Ingram on the perimeter. It's similar to the counter-option or QB tight zone play in that the QB takes the inside track on zone and the RB takes a wide constraint track. Everyone up front blocks for zone-read but the Ehlinger hands off to the RB going wide if the DE stays wide to contain and keeps to run the normal downhill path if the DE plays to stop the RB sweep path.

The "stretch iso" play is like the normal iso runs except the OL are taking a stretch step first rather than the normal tight and downhill trajectory of the inside zone runs. They were obviously trying to prevent K-State's LBs from firing downhill after the TE insert like they did against West Virginia, the play didn't really work very well though and they the normal iso zone play once after that.

Obviously Texas didn't have very many possessions in this game or get many carries. It's highly likely that if they had they would have worn out the Wildcat defense and run them over late but the gameplan seemed to be to get the W and get home to prepare for OU. On another note, Texas was very well prepared both for Alex Delton and the Snyder-ball single-wing run game and also to take advantage of K-State's bad TE play. A couple of fun plays:

giphy.gif

What goes wrong here is that Dalton Risner (their best OL) fails to control Shark McCulloch and get him off the line of scrimmage at all. The pulling tackle decides to try and lead inside but Delton doesn't like the look of the congestion in there and bounces it to become shark bait. Shark has been playing really well on the edge this season. A few plays later:

giphy.gif

QB power. Marqez Bimage sets the edge this time and Gary Johnson puts the pulling guard on his back to create a wall where there should have been a gap. Also fun, on the backside of the play Shark throws Risner to the ground before arriving in pursuit to help push the wall backwards. Texas is going to find it relatively easy to keep whoever plays Mac and Rover LB clean next season with the rising DL and B-backers on this squad.

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