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It was not pretty. It was damn sure ugly for three quarters. It had the feeling of a letdown game. It was easy to go from dreaming about traveling to Houston for the national championship game in January to envisioning a trip to H-Town for the Texas Bowl in December.
After three games, we have learned a few things. This offense can be inconsistent. There are moments when Texas’ offensive line is dominant and other times when the results are disappointing. There have been too many dropped passes. Regardless of the Longhorn emotional roller coaster, Texas is currently 3-0 for the first time since 2012. Yes, I can finally bury that stat and eagerly anticipate eliminating my notorious “How many 5-stars does it take to beat TCU?” question this season.
We know an important fact about this team. There is one aspect of this year’s Longhorns that should have you encouraged as Texas begins its conference schedule on the road against Baylor on Saturday. If we are going to meet at Big City Wings for the ultimate Longhorn CFP party, it will be because of one unit.
The Longhorns are salty on defense.
Sure, Texas receiver Xavier Worthy is explosive and can score any time he touches the ball. Adonai Mitchell is always a threat. Ja’Tavion Sanders did not have a reception on Saturday but we know what he is capable of. In addition, we saw the emergence of running back Jonathon Brooks during the win against Wyoming.
Do you know what else have seen?
Jahdae Barron as the defensive leader every week this season.
T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II creating pressure in the middle.
Jaylan Ford playing consistently well as a linebacker.
Barryn Sorrell and Ethan Burke making big plays.
Jerrin Thompson recording interceptions in back-to-back games.
Linebackers Jett Bush and David Gbenda as contributors.
Contributions from Anthony Hill Jr., Malik Muhammed, and Derek Williams as freshmen.
The best example of Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s unit occurred late against Wyoming.
Yep, I am giving Kwiatkowski his flowers because Lord knows many people were throwing roses on him – because they thought his career at Texas was dead – during his first two seasons.
--- Sorrell sacks Wyoming quarterback Evan Svoboda on 3rd-and-goal on the 10-yard line and the Cowboys settled for a 26-yard field goal. The game is tied at 10 with 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
--- Texas took a 17-10 lead after Xavier Worthy’s 44-yard touchdown reception.
--- Kwiatkowski’s defense holds Wyoming to a three-and-out.
--- Quinn Ewers scores on a 5-yard run and Texas takes a 24-10 lead.
--- Jerrin Thompson gets a pick-six to give Texas a 31-10 advantage.
Game over.
“I've been proud of that group,” Sarkisian said. “Barryn, to start with his sack, he's a guy who we've been talking about Ethan Burke, we've been talking about Anthony Hill, we've been talking about T’Vondre Sweat, we’ve been talking about Byron Murphy, and tonight it was Barryn Sorrell that made the impact play. I think that's a sign of a really good defense is that we have multiple players that can step up and make plays at critical moments now. I think tonight, it was his turn that really set the stage.
“There's something electric about being that north end of the field where the students are and having that sack made right there. You could feel the energy. But another guy on defense I'd be remiss if I didn't mention is Jahdae Barron. Jahdae makes three third-down stops for us that were that were really big plays. His physicality at that nickel spot for us shows up as much as the coverage does. It's his ability to get people on the ground and tonight he did that as well."
In addition, we have witnessed this defense improve since year one.
As data enterers work hard to update their statistics on Sunday morning, here is where Texas ranked defensively before the win against Wyoming.
Texas’ Total Defense (nationally)
2021: 100th
2022: 51st
2023: 23rd
Big 12
Total Defense
2021: 8th (425.6 yards per game)
2022: 2nd (362 ypg)
2023: 4th (269 ypg)
Sacks
2021: 7th (20)
2022: 3rd (27)
2023: T-4th (7); average of 3.5 per game – on pace for 42 sacks
Tackles For Loss
2021: 7th (72)
2022: 2nd (87)
2023: 7th with 14; on pace for 84
Opponent’s 3rd down conversions
2021: 7 (72)
2022: 6 (87)
2023: Tied for 7th; 14 overall; on pace for 84
In addition, this defense is only giving up an average of 15 points per game this season.
Texas allowed 21.6 points per game last season.
It is hard to predict how this offense will perform as Big 12 games begin.
Texas managed only 10 points heading into the fourth quarter against Wyoming at home. The Longhorns produced 316 yards of total offense, nearly 150 less than their win at Alabama last week (454 against the Crimson Tide). Texas attempted – and completed – only one passing play in the fourth quarter.
By the way, I will acknowledge those will point at the other programs that struggled in week one.
Alabama barely defeated USF.
Georgia has not been impressive this season.
Florida State barely defeated Boston College.
Colorado needed overtime to defeat Colorado State.
You guys may have a fantastic point.
Heck, I hope you are rewarded for your optimism.
Going to a bowl game in Houston will be much better in January than in December.
At least we know the reason why Texas has an opportunity to win every game.
The Longhorns are salty on defense.
Individual Notes (provided by UT)
QUINN EWERS, QB
• Completed 11 of 21 passes for 131 yards and 2 TD's
• Earned his third career rushing TD.
• Extended his streak of passes thrown without an interception to 195, the second-longest in program history.
• Has thrown a touchdown in four consecutive games.
• Marked the third-straight game with multiple touchdown passes and the eighth such game of his career.
• Had a passing and rushing TD for the second time in his career.
XAVIER WORTHY, WR
• Had 4 receptions for 56 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown.
• Climbed to 11th all-time in UT history with 1,962 receiving yards.
• Registered his 23rd career receiving touchdown, third-most in UT history.
• Extended his streak to 28 consecutive games with a reception, the sixth-longest streak in program history.
• Has caught a pass in all 28 games to start his career.
• Also had a career-long 31-yard punt return.
JONATHON BROOKS, RB
• Rushed 21 times for carer-high 164 yards (7.8 ypc).
• Marked the second 100-yard game of his career.
• Had a 61-yard run, the second 60-plus yard run of his career.
• Marked a career-high in rushing attempts (21).
BYRON MURPHY II, DL
• Tallied two total tackles.
• Caught a 1-yard touchdown pass, the first reception and touchdown of his career.
JAHDAE BARRON, DB
• Had a season-high nine tackles (6 solo) with 1 pass breakup.
• Had four third-down plays to force fourth down - a pass breakup and three tackles.
• Notched the fourth 8-plus tackle performance of his career.
JERRIN THOMPSON, DB
• Had three tackles (two solo), one interception, and one pass breakup.
• Had an interception for the second consecutive game.
• Had his first career interception return for a touchdown.
RYAN SANBORN, P
• Punted four times with an average of 48.3 yards per punt.
• Had three punts of at least 50 yards, including a long of 56 yards.
• Had two punts inside the 20, including one at the Wyoming 4-yard line.
JAYLAN FORD, LB
• Eclipsed 200 total career tackles (202).
• Tallied six total tackles with 1 TFL.
BARRYN SORRELL, JACK
• Earned his first sack of the season in the third quarter.
• Tied his career high in solo tackles (4).
• Posted 5 total tackles and 1 sack.
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
Got to love Funky Town
Peanut, bad dog
Perfect execution
Ochocinco sounds like a guy who saved most of his NFL earnings
Sports On A Dime
1. Sarkisian on his team’s struggles against Wyoming: “I love kind of quoting Mack Brown on this. We watched as a team in training camp the documentary of the '05 team. And I'm not exactly sure who we played after the Ohio State game, and I think a little bit similar to this one. You guys will do your research and tell me after I'm sure. But he talked that we had a bunch of sore backs going into that game from everybody patting us on the back about how great we were and how great we played. Even tonight going into the stadium as I was taking the field fans congratulating us on the win last week. It's human nature to sometimes get distracted by that and you lose sight of what's right in front of you, and I think it kind of showed in the first half, especially offensively.
“We had a couple of false starts right off the bat. We had a false start on the first play of the game. Why is that? How can we go play at Alabama on the road and not have one false start, and then come home and have a false start on the first play of the game? That lends itself to psyche, right? It's not about physical ability of what we're capable of. I think then we had a snap in there where we had 12 guys on the field on defense. How do you go to Alabama and not have ever have one snap of 12 on the field, but then you come home and you have 12 on the field. I think it was a good lesson learned for us.”
2. Sarkisian’s response when asked if he was happy with the offensive line after having only 88 yards rushing entering the fourth quarter: “I'm okay. Like I said, I think we have to get accustomed to something, and this is now two out of the three weeks where we have gotten an absolutely different defense than they've put on tape. That's a sign of being a really good team that people are going to such lengths to play a style of defense that they would never play against anybody else. That they're going to whatever length it is. When that happens, that's where you have to fall back on your training and trusting your training and being able to block the plays regardless of the look that we get. We had to adjust our play calling some, too. When we were able to do that, I think I gave them better opportunities later in the game to block what we were getting. They really did a nice job of adjusting to that and I think it allowed them to be a little bit more physical and coming off the football in a way where they could knock people off the ball.”
3. Sarkisian on his play-calling: “I critique myself as hard as I critique the players or harder. And quite frankly, we probably should have scored the first drive of the third quarter. Those are a couple of crummy play calls - the second and third-down a call. If I could go back and change two calls, like I'd tell you guys all the time, I can tell you right now I’d change those two calls that I made on second down the third down kind of in the high red right there. And then ultimately on that third-down, Quinn takes a sack on something that I was probably trying a little too hard to make happen. But that's okay. And I'm going to come in here Monday and tell the players that exact same thing and so they know as much as I'm critiquing them and trying to get them better, we do the same as coaches, too.”
4. Longhorn fans must hope Cole Hutson’s injury toward the end of the first quarter looked worse than it is. I saw Hutson on crutches after the game and he could barely move. Hutson did not look like a player who would be back anytime soon. Offensive line coach Kyle Flood and Sarkisian must decide if DJ Campbell is the best option or if Neto Umeozulu deserves a look.
5. The drones were a nice addition to the game day experience at DKR. The light show at DKR did not create the same rowdy atmosphere as Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, but it was a great addition.
6. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. updated his draft board and listed Quinn Ewers and Xavier Worthy as first-round picks. Here is what he said about each player:
3. Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas
6-2, 195 pounds | Previously: NR
I wrote a bunch about Ewers after he led the Longhorns to a win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In short, he has shown in his career that he can be maddeningly inconsistent in one game and look like a No. 1 overall pick in another. Against Rice to begin the season, he missed a few easy throws and was 0-for-6 on passes of 20-plus air yards. He didn't turn the ball over, but he also didn't make the Owls pay until he found a rhythm in the second half.
Against Alabama, we saw Ewers' potential as he flipped the script and was unphased by the road atmosphere. He showed outstanding touch and accuracy on his deep throws and was precise to all points of the field. He was decisive in his reads and was fantastic maneuvering the pocket, keeping his eyes down the field to find targets. That's what he can be if he plays to his talent level.
As I have mentioned, though, this is the same guy who had a 19-for-49 game against Oklahoma State last season. He has to bottle that Bama performance and carry it through the rest of the season. If that happens, he likely will be a top-15 pick. If not? He'll drop -- and Texas will fall out of the College Football Playoff race.
22. Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas
6-1, 172 pounds | Previously: NR
Worthy is an electrifying player with the ball in his hands. His quickness and movement in space reminds me a little bit of Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, who starred at Oklahoma and was a first-round pick in 2019. Worthy is tall but very thin. He can fly by cornerbacks on vertical routes. He had 60 catches for 760 yards and nine scores last season and has 12 catches for 165 yards and a TD this season.
His biggest problem? Catching the ball. He already has three drops this season after dropping 10 a year ago. He has to be more consistent. Now, he dealt with a hand injury in 2022, but I still see some concentration issues at times. If he keeps playing well, he could rise even more.
7. As a USF grad, I have a lot of thoughts about the close loss against Alabama on Saturday.
- Regardless of the QB, Alabama should have smoked USF.
- I will take the moral victory – we barely win as it is.
- USF’s defensive coordinator is Todd Orlando – might be the best place for him.
- This is one of the weakest Alabama teams we have seen in years.
- I have been predicting the end of Nick Saban’s since last season and it looks over.
- If Texas A&M does not beat Alabama in a down year, there is no hope for Jimbo Fisher.
- Freaking out over Jalen Milroe’s decommitment seems silly in retrospect
8. Missouri kicker Harrison Mevis deserves a nice NIL deal after bailing out his coaching staff after an unthinkable mental error. Missouri made it to the Kansas State 38 and quarterback Brady Cook spiked the ball to stop the clock, but Eli Drinkwitz and his staff mysteriously lost track of time on the sideline, resulting in a delay of game penalty pushed the field goal attempt back 5 yards. A 56-yard attempt was pushed back to 61-yards, but Mevis nailed it – and Missouri fans stormed the field.
9. Considering Dave Arnada lacks energy, he must lean on someone else to help his team.
10. Maybe Colorado struggles during conference games. Maybe not. Right now, I am enjoying the biggest story in college football.
