Before we get into even a sentence of analysis, can I just say ... that was fun.
After the longest off-season in the history of off-seasons, Saturday night felt like a reminder of why we all commit so much of our souls to watching Texas football.
That was fun. Winning is fun. Blowing teams out with the fierceness of Charles Jefferson on a night when someone messes with his car is fun.
Obviously, there's no reason to make too much of a win over a team like UTEP, an outfit that absolutely earned that 43-point underdog label over 60 minutes.
But, if you're going to play a bad team, you might as well flex some muscle and beat the hell out of that bad team, which is what Texas did. It pounded a bad team, which isn't something we should take for granted coming off of an 8-5 season.
This is still a Texas program learning to take some steps towards possibly emerging as a championship program and tonight felt like a step forward, even if just a baby one.
The offense was explosive. The defense was stingy. The special teams flashes explosiveness. The team looked well-coached.
Herman's squad will come out of this knowing that it has to run the ball better on offense and find a way to get to the passer on defense, but the truth is that Texas could have scored 100 tonight if it had wanted to.
So, go ahead and just enjoy the night. Everyone around here is due for a good time or two.
(Other thoughts on the game...)
* If there was ever a year to open the season with a 78-yard touchdown pass, it was this season. Seriously, as soon as Josh Moore took off into the UTEP secondary like he had a jet-pack strapped to his shoulder pads, all I could think to myself was "Orangebloods needed that!"
* Ehlinger looked like a guy that seriously has a chance to end up in New York at the end of the season. A 239.2 game rating? A new career high of 429 yards in the first half? Five touchdown passes? That'll do.
* I found it awesomely ironic that it was Moore, a player that Tom Herman didn't even mention on Monday when asked about wide receivers that excited him going into the season, was the one who set the entire 2020 season off like a firecracker. That Moore finished with six receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown is proof that Monday press conferences are the greatest motivational took a Texas coach can have. I'm kidding... kind of.
* Speaking of receivers making a fantastic first impression, welcome to Texas, Tarik Black. 5 for 80 and a touchdown in 30 minutes? That'll do.
* It's hard to put into words just how dominant the Longhorns were in the first quarter, but the stat sheet speaks for itself. Those net yards actually tell almost all of the story.
* Speaking of first quarter dominance, how about Josh Thompson looking like the best player on the Texas defense in the first 15 minutes? THAT is the Josh Thompson I've been waiting to see the last couple of years. The talent has always been there and now he seems to be putting the pieces to the puzzle together. It doesn't sound like anyone should be too concerned about the injury that caused him to go back to the locker room in the third quarter.
* If you're going to nitpick the offense, you'd probably have to point to a running attack that struggled at times to establish movement on the line scrimmage... against UTEP. There's no need to overreact tonight, but it's a mental note we'll have to take going into the second game.
* Same with the Texas pass rush. That has to get better.
* On another note, it's time to give Cort Jaquess some damn respect!
* Joseph Ossai didn't create the sexy highlight reel play, but he was a man at the point of attack all night, leading the team with eight tackles.
* Sam Ehlinger was not happy with Brennan Eagles after a dropped pass and miscommunication that led to an incomplete pass. The look on Ehlinger's face after the second incompletion seemed to scream his frustration and after that plays was over, Eagles pretty much sat on the sideline for much of the rest of the half.
* Jordan Whittington leaving the game with a knee injury just as he was starting to get into a groove was just a cruel twist of fate. Here's hoping he's ok.
* Brenden Schooler = 2020 Texas football cult hero. It's happening.
* I thought Brayden Liebrock deserved a target in the end-zone after he recovered Tarik Black's fumble in the second quarter. How on earth did that UTEP defender let him take the ball from him like a piece of cornbread.
* WE HAVE A CORNBREAD REFERENCE! IT'S OFFICIALLY FOOTBALL SEASON.
* Who would have had Kai Money catching two passes and a touchdown before Eagles so much as caught a single pass this season?
* On a bright note, Eagles' touchdown reception from Casey Thompson in the third quarter was probably the highlight of the second half. Congrats to Casey on his first career touchdown pass and a very strong opening performance to the season. He's got to feel good about himself tonight after that performance.
* The coaches told us it would be a running back by committee approach to the running game and they were true to their word - 9 rushes for Keaontay Ingram, 8 for Roschon Johnson and 5 for Bijan Robinson.
* Alfred Collins is going to be starting before the season is over.
* A LOT of true freshmen played tonight. Welcome to college football, fellas.
* D'Shawn Jamison took the opening kickoff back out of the end zone, despite catching the ball five yuards deep into the end zone. Hey, man, when you're playing football in the Rona and it's UTEP kicking off... YOLO!
* I thought Andre Ware did a solid job in his Longhorn Network debut.
After the longest off-season in the history of off-seasons, Saturday night felt like a reminder of why we all commit so much of our souls to watching Texas football.
That was fun. Winning is fun. Blowing teams out with the fierceness of Charles Jefferson on a night when someone messes with his car is fun.
Obviously, there's no reason to make too much of a win over a team like UTEP, an outfit that absolutely earned that 43-point underdog label over 60 minutes.
But, if you're going to play a bad team, you might as well flex some muscle and beat the hell out of that bad team, which is what Texas did. It pounded a bad team, which isn't something we should take for granted coming off of an 8-5 season.
This is still a Texas program learning to take some steps towards possibly emerging as a championship program and tonight felt like a step forward, even if just a baby one.
The offense was explosive. The defense was stingy. The special teams flashes explosiveness. The team looked well-coached.
Herman's squad will come out of this knowing that it has to run the ball better on offense and find a way to get to the passer on defense, but the truth is that Texas could have scored 100 tonight if it had wanted to.
So, go ahead and just enjoy the night. Everyone around here is due for a good time or two.
(Other thoughts on the game...)
* If there was ever a year to open the season with a 78-yard touchdown pass, it was this season. Seriously, as soon as Josh Moore took off into the UTEP secondary like he had a jet-pack strapped to his shoulder pads, all I could think to myself was "Orangebloods needed that!"
* Ehlinger looked like a guy that seriously has a chance to end up in New York at the end of the season. A 239.2 game rating? A new career high of 429 yards in the first half? Five touchdown passes? That'll do.
* I found it awesomely ironic that it was Moore, a player that Tom Herman didn't even mention on Monday when asked about wide receivers that excited him going into the season, was the one who set the entire 2020 season off like a firecracker. That Moore finished with six receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown is proof that Monday press conferences are the greatest motivational took a Texas coach can have. I'm kidding... kind of.
* Speaking of receivers making a fantastic first impression, welcome to Texas, Tarik Black. 5 for 80 and a touchdown in 30 minutes? That'll do.
* It's hard to put into words just how dominant the Longhorns were in the first quarter, but the stat sheet speaks for itself. Those net yards actually tell almost all of the story.
* Speaking of first quarter dominance, how about Josh Thompson looking like the best player on the Texas defense in the first 15 minutes? THAT is the Josh Thompson I've been waiting to see the last couple of years. The talent has always been there and now he seems to be putting the pieces to the puzzle together. It doesn't sound like anyone should be too concerned about the injury that caused him to go back to the locker room in the third quarter.
* If you're going to nitpick the offense, you'd probably have to point to a running attack that struggled at times to establish movement on the line scrimmage... against UTEP. There's no need to overreact tonight, but it's a mental note we'll have to take going into the second game.
* Same with the Texas pass rush. That has to get better.
* On another note, it's time to give Cort Jaquess some damn respect!
* Joseph Ossai didn't create the sexy highlight reel play, but he was a man at the point of attack all night, leading the team with eight tackles.
* Sam Ehlinger was not happy with Brennan Eagles after a dropped pass and miscommunication that led to an incomplete pass. The look on Ehlinger's face after the second incompletion seemed to scream his frustration and after that plays was over, Eagles pretty much sat on the sideline for much of the rest of the half.
* Jordan Whittington leaving the game with a knee injury just as he was starting to get into a groove was just a cruel twist of fate. Here's hoping he's ok.
* Brenden Schooler = 2020 Texas football cult hero. It's happening.
* I thought Brayden Liebrock deserved a target in the end-zone after he recovered Tarik Black's fumble in the second quarter. How on earth did that UTEP defender let him take the ball from him like a piece of cornbread.
* WE HAVE A CORNBREAD REFERENCE! IT'S OFFICIALLY FOOTBALL SEASON.
* Who would have had Kai Money catching two passes and a touchdown before Eagles so much as caught a single pass this season?
* On a bright note, Eagles' touchdown reception from Casey Thompson in the third quarter was probably the highlight of the second half. Congrats to Casey on his first career touchdown pass and a very strong opening performance to the season. He's got to feel good about himself tonight after that performance.
* The coaches told us it would be a running back by committee approach to the running game and they were true to their word - 9 rushes for Keaontay Ingram, 8 for Roschon Johnson and 5 for Bijan Robinson.
* Alfred Collins is going to be starting before the season is over.
* A LOT of true freshmen played tonight. Welcome to college football, fellas.
* D'Shawn Jamison took the opening kickoff back out of the end zone, despite catching the ball five yuards deep into the end zone. Hey, man, when you're playing football in the Rona and it's UTEP kicking off... YOLO!
* I thought Andre Ware did a solid job in his Longhorn Network debut.
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