Sometimes football is about Xs and Os and sometimes it's about the Jimmys and the Joes.
Or the Sams and the Lil'Jordans, if you will.
On a night when Texas once again struggled to finish in the fourth quarter, despite being up by 17 points with 10 minutes to go, and appeared to be on the verge of blowing what had been 50 minutes of pretty damn good football, Sam and Lil'Jordan saved the day.
It's as simple as that. If not for those two, the Longhorns would be sitting at 6-4 with dreams of a Big 12 Championship Game evaporated.
Hey, that'll do.
Considering it was a night when Texas was without the likes of Collin Johnson and Brandon Jones, all that mattered was Texas getting in and get out of Lubbock with a win, by any means necessary. Sometimes it''s a very thin line between victory and defeat, and the Longhorns straddled it for a short time, but next week''s game against Iowa State still has massive stakes.
Mission accomplished via Humphrey channeling his inner-Michael Crabtree in the final seconds.
(Other thoughts on the game)
* Ehlinger was as good tonight as he was a week ago against West Virginia when he played what might have been the best game of his young career. In going 22 of 34 for 312 yards and four touchdowns (183.55 passing efficiency), Ehlinger performed like an All-American. Personally, I never had any doubt that he would win the game for the Longhorns once they got the ball back with the score tied at 34-34.
* I wrote on Thursday about Ehlinger's struggles on the road, which was highlighted by a very poor yards per attempt in his three previous road games. In my mind, anything better than a 7.5 YPA would translate to a Texas win and anything lower than that would make it a 50-50 game. So, what was his YPA? 9.2. That'll do.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey didn't need any tortilla snacks tonight because he ate all of Texas Tech's cornbread. Goodness gracious ... Humphrey finished with eight receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns. That was Roy Williams vs. LSU in the 2003 Cotton Bowl level of dominance.
* How important was Humphrey to the Texas offense, especially Ehlinger? Consider that of the 10 passes Ehlinger completed in the first half, Humphrey caught six of them for 109 yards and a touchdown. Everyone else eligible to catch passes for the Longhorns caught four balls for 32 yards.
* Going back to the two plays from the first half from Ehlinger that warrant attaboys - the fourth and four conversion to Andrew Beck and the touchdown throw to Humphrey. Both were big boy passes.
* I can't believe Texas nearly let this game get away from it. Even on a night when it forced a bunch of turnovers, the Texas defense was still a hot pile of garbage for way too much of the game.
* Texas allowed nearly 600 yards of total offense to Texas Tech's back-up quarterback. Yeesh.
* It's hard to be critical of P.J. Locke over the onsides kick that ricocheted off his body because that ball came at him like it was shot out of the jugs machine. Honestly, I thought Locke had his best night of the season outside of that unfortunate situation.
* The turning point in this game occurred in the first quarter when Jett threw an interception with Texas Tech going in for what would have been a 14-0 lead. It was exactly the kind of play you can't make as a back-up quarterback and the entire narrative of the game changed on Davante Davis' pick. Who knows what the game looks like if Texas has to chase Texas Tech down all night?
* Speaking of Davis, his two turnovers created and overall strong play probably rank as the performance of his career.
* Senior defensive end Charles Omenihu was a a true standout in the first half, seemingly making plays up and down the line of scrimmage, highlighted by his fourth down lasso of Jett Duffey on Kliff Kingsbury's brainless fourth down call on his own 34-yard line.
* Texas Tech seemed to have Texas on the ropes early, but the combination of the Duffey interception, the face-mask penalty on 3rd and 33, along with the Kingsbury fourth down call in the second quarter combined to not only keep Texas in the game, but it propelled the Longhorns forward.
* At the end of the first quarter, Keaontay Ingram had the same exact number of carries that you and I had.
* Final rushing numbers: Tre Watson (3.2 yards per carry on 18 attempts). Ingram (5.9 yards per carry on 14 attempts).
* Calvin Anderson has had better nights, as he allowed two sacks, jumping off-sides once and getting called for holding on another play. I know this probably doesn't need to be said, but I'll say it any way ... Sam Cosmi is this team's best tackle.
* File this under the category of Freshman Gonna Freshman. Tom Herman mentioned earlier in the week that freshman linebacker Ayodele Adeoye would see some time on special teams tonight and he did. On his first snap on special teams, Adeoye was hit with a 15-yard penalty on a touch-back through the back of the end zone.
* Caden Sterns was having the best game he's had in about six weeks before that collision to the head he took in the third quarter. Man, that was nasty.
* Kris Boyd had a rough game. If he never sees Antoine Wesley again, I'm sure it'll be too soon.
* Texas gave up points on the defense's opening drive of the game for the eighth time in 10 games.
* Cameron Dicker gets an A+ tonight.
* Welcome to college football, Malcolm Epps. Hell of a catch, young man.
* I cannot listen to Tim Brando call another college football game. Uncle! Uncle!
Or the Sams and the Lil'Jordans, if you will.
On a night when Texas once again struggled to finish in the fourth quarter, despite being up by 17 points with 10 minutes to go, and appeared to be on the verge of blowing what had been 50 minutes of pretty damn good football, Sam and Lil'Jordan saved the day.
It's as simple as that. If not for those two, the Longhorns would be sitting at 6-4 with dreams of a Big 12 Championship Game evaporated.
Hey, that'll do.
Considering it was a night when Texas was without the likes of Collin Johnson and Brandon Jones, all that mattered was Texas getting in and get out of Lubbock with a win, by any means necessary. Sometimes it''s a very thin line between victory and defeat, and the Longhorns straddled it for a short time, but next week''s game against Iowa State still has massive stakes.
Mission accomplished via Humphrey channeling his inner-Michael Crabtree in the final seconds.
(Other thoughts on the game)
* Ehlinger was as good tonight as he was a week ago against West Virginia when he played what might have been the best game of his young career. In going 22 of 34 for 312 yards and four touchdowns (183.55 passing efficiency), Ehlinger performed like an All-American. Personally, I never had any doubt that he would win the game for the Longhorns once they got the ball back with the score tied at 34-34.
* I wrote on Thursday about Ehlinger's struggles on the road, which was highlighted by a very poor yards per attempt in his three previous road games. In my mind, anything better than a 7.5 YPA would translate to a Texas win and anything lower than that would make it a 50-50 game. So, what was his YPA? 9.2. That'll do.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey didn't need any tortilla snacks tonight because he ate all of Texas Tech's cornbread. Goodness gracious ... Humphrey finished with eight receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns. That was Roy Williams vs. LSU in the 2003 Cotton Bowl level of dominance.
* How important was Humphrey to the Texas offense, especially Ehlinger? Consider that of the 10 passes Ehlinger completed in the first half, Humphrey caught six of them for 109 yards and a touchdown. Everyone else eligible to catch passes for the Longhorns caught four balls for 32 yards.
* Going back to the two plays from the first half from Ehlinger that warrant attaboys - the fourth and four conversion to Andrew Beck and the touchdown throw to Humphrey. Both were big boy passes.
* I can't believe Texas nearly let this game get away from it. Even on a night when it forced a bunch of turnovers, the Texas defense was still a hot pile of garbage for way too much of the game.
* Texas allowed nearly 600 yards of total offense to Texas Tech's back-up quarterback. Yeesh.
* It's hard to be critical of P.J. Locke over the onsides kick that ricocheted off his body because that ball came at him like it was shot out of the jugs machine. Honestly, I thought Locke had his best night of the season outside of that unfortunate situation.
* The turning point in this game occurred in the first quarter when Jett threw an interception with Texas Tech going in for what would have been a 14-0 lead. It was exactly the kind of play you can't make as a back-up quarterback and the entire narrative of the game changed on Davante Davis' pick. Who knows what the game looks like if Texas has to chase Texas Tech down all night?
* Speaking of Davis, his two turnovers created and overall strong play probably rank as the performance of his career.
* Senior defensive end Charles Omenihu was a a true standout in the first half, seemingly making plays up and down the line of scrimmage, highlighted by his fourth down lasso of Jett Duffey on Kliff Kingsbury's brainless fourth down call on his own 34-yard line.
* Texas Tech seemed to have Texas on the ropes early, but the combination of the Duffey interception, the face-mask penalty on 3rd and 33, along with the Kingsbury fourth down call in the second quarter combined to not only keep Texas in the game, but it propelled the Longhorns forward.
* At the end of the first quarter, Keaontay Ingram had the same exact number of carries that you and I had.
* Final rushing numbers: Tre Watson (3.2 yards per carry on 18 attempts). Ingram (5.9 yards per carry on 14 attempts).
* Calvin Anderson has had better nights, as he allowed two sacks, jumping off-sides once and getting called for holding on another play. I know this probably doesn't need to be said, but I'll say it any way ... Sam Cosmi is this team's best tackle.
* File this under the category of Freshman Gonna Freshman. Tom Herman mentioned earlier in the week that freshman linebacker Ayodele Adeoye would see some time on special teams tonight and he did. On his first snap on special teams, Adeoye was hit with a 15-yard penalty on a touch-back through the back of the end zone.
* Caden Sterns was having the best game he's had in about six weeks before that collision to the head he took in the third quarter. Man, that was nasty.
* Kris Boyd had a rough game. If he never sees Antoine Wesley again, I'm sure it'll be too soon.
* Texas gave up points on the defense's opening drive of the game for the eighth time in 10 games.
* Cameron Dicker gets an A+ tonight.
* Welcome to college football, Malcolm Epps. Hell of a catch, young man.
* I cannot listen to Tim Brando call another college football game. Uncle! Uncle!
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