1. There are a lot of different places you could start with this one. Texas dominated in every way possible and completely outmatched a good Utah team. The final score of 38-10 is obviously a good reflection of UT’s dominance, but the way Texas completely manhandled and outphysicaled Utah was the story of the game. On both sides of the ball, Texas played big boy football looked like the schoolyard bully. Tom Herman’s teams continue to thrive in big games when they’re underdogs and Texas turned in its best overall performance of the season tonight.
2. Texas basically broke Utah’s will in this one with a bunch of crushing body blows and some well-timed punch to Utah’s jaw. Things really unraveled for Utah after Keaontay Ingram leaped a defender and a Utah defender decided to rough Sam Ehlinger up right in front of the official. Utah would follow that up with a facemask two plays later and it felt like the game was over at that point. The Utes had completely lost their composure and knew they were overmatched.
3. For Texas to turn in this kind of performance without the two coordinators who led both sides of the ball all year was a complete surprise. Credit to Tom Herman and the offensive staff, and a big tip of the cap to Craig Naivar for what his defense was able to do tonight.
4. Naivar, take a bow. That dude deserves a standing ovation. His defense limited Utah to 254 yards of offense and 10 points. Texas recorded five sacks and basically whipped Utah for a full four quarters (frankly, Utah shouldn’t have found the end zone once if it wasn’t for one fluke penalty call). Naivar mixed up his alignments in the front seven, called some well-timed blitzes, had his guys playing the run well and the defense actually tackled really well. That was one hell of a performance by a Texas defense that suffered some injuries in the back end during the game.
5. What must Todd Orlando have been thinking watching this game?
6. There’s been a lot of Utah fans/signs/etc. on the Riverwalk this week, but this was a big payback for Texas against a team that has been a bit of a thorn in UT’s side of late. The Utes flipped two Texas commitments (Texas would later flip LB Jaylan Ford) and then fate let both teams to this game. There have been lots of interesting head to head battles between Texas and Utah over the last couple months, and Texas dominated the one that really matters.
7. Was I the only one having to check my roster when No. 57 on defense make a tackle on the first play of the game? Good job by San Antonio-native Cort Jaquess, who actually tied for a Texas team high in tackles in the first half.
8. Joseph Ossai came up huge in last year’s bowl game and he was at it again this year. He delivered some crushing blows and was the most dominant player on the field in finishing with 9 tackles, 3 sacks and a ridiculous 6 tackles for loss. Longhorn fans have known about Ossai’s talent but this may have been his coming out party on a national stage.
9. Oregon was able to run the ball well against Utah in the Pac 12 Championship game, but the Utes still came into this game with the nation’s top-ranked run defense. Texas made that stat a joke in running for 231 yards and 6.2 yards per carry. I thought Texas would have to throw the ball a ton against a depleted Utah secondary to have a chance but I was flat out wrong.
10. Sam Ehlinger wasn’t at his best from a statistical performance and he seemed to be a bit out of rhythm early on, but he settled in and turned in a tremendous performance overall. His final line … 12-18 for 201 yards passing with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, in addition to 73 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown. That’ll work.
11. Brandon Jones was suited up but not able to play. I hate to see his Texas career end like that. One of the most quality young men to come through the program in a while.
12. D’Shawn Jamison can be an adventure on punt returns, but when he gets some space, look out. That 71-yard return in the second quarter is exactly the type of play Texas needed to provide a spark and pave the way for the win in this game. Two plays after Jamison’s return, Ehlinger hits Collin Johnson for an easy score and a 10-0 lead and the Longhorns never looked back.
13. It took a while to get Duvernay involved but the first throw to him midway through the first quarter was huge, with Duvernay making a beautiful catch for a 40-yard gain. Ehlinger and Duvernay would hook up again in the fourth quarter on another beautiful throw and catch the dropped right over Duvernay’s shoulder for a 37-yard gain despite tight coverage. Duvernay would turn in only three catches in his final game as a Longhorn but they were all things of beauty, including …
14. That fourth-quarter touchdown pass/catch to Duvernay deserves a mention of its own. Ehlinger delivered a nice ball with an untouched blitzer delivering a big hit from the backside and Duvernay made a beautiful catch despite pass interference from the defender. Duvernay’s going to be sorely missed next year.
15. Collin Johnson didn’t necessarily light up the stat sheet but his presence was big as well, including a big gain on UT’s first play of the game. I thought we’d see a lot more of that over the course of four quarters but Texas didn’t really need it, which limited Johnson’s targets. He still finished with three catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.
16. I loved the move by Tom Herman to pull his offensive seniors with 4:29 left in the game. That was a nice, well-deserved tribute for those guys.
17. Freshman safety Chris Adimora flashed some in this game. He made nice plays in coverage and had a couple nice tackles, including a great stop on a crossing route to keep Utah short of the first-down marker on a third-down completion. The Utes would have to use a time out and Texas got the fourth-down stop on the next play, which felt like a bit of a game-turner after the Longhorns took that stop and went down for a touchdown.
18. That rule that resulted in a penalty on Keondre Coburn is absolutely ridiculous. Instead of Texas getting a fourth-down stop, Utah got a free first down because Coburn basically tried too hard and continued to chase the play after his helmet came off. He was nowhere near the tackle but simply continued his pursuit of the ball. I get that it was the right call by the book, but I’m not a fan.
19. The least surprising thing I saw in this game was Naivar dropping an f-bomb (for you lip readers) when the camera panned on him after that fourth down stop. I gotta admit, I got a kick out of that.
20. What do you do with Naivar after this game? I’m not sure what the plan was for him coming into tonight, but the dude recruits his ass off and he just called a hell of a defensive game. Chris Ash coaches safeties so that will probably impact things, but Naivar did everything he could to earn Ash’s confidence in his audition as the defensive playcaller tonight. Great job by him.
21. Keaontay Ingram deserves mention for his performance after going for 108 yards on a touchdown on the night. Really good performance by him, and Roschon Johnson was very good as well.
22. The backs were good and productive, but some of that credit has to go to the offensive line. There were several runs where the backs had a lot of room to run against the nation’s number one ranked run defense.
23. It wasn’t the season the team or you fans wanted or expected, but finishing with such a dominating performance against a good Utah team is a hell of a way to end things. Let’s hope for the sake of you all reading this column (and for those of us who live on the message boards) that Texas can carry this performance over to 2020.
2. Texas basically broke Utah’s will in this one with a bunch of crushing body blows and some well-timed punch to Utah’s jaw. Things really unraveled for Utah after Keaontay Ingram leaped a defender and a Utah defender decided to rough Sam Ehlinger up right in front of the official. Utah would follow that up with a facemask two plays later and it felt like the game was over at that point. The Utes had completely lost their composure and knew they were overmatched.
3. For Texas to turn in this kind of performance without the two coordinators who led both sides of the ball all year was a complete surprise. Credit to Tom Herman and the offensive staff, and a big tip of the cap to Craig Naivar for what his defense was able to do tonight.
4. Naivar, take a bow. That dude deserves a standing ovation. His defense limited Utah to 254 yards of offense and 10 points. Texas recorded five sacks and basically whipped Utah for a full four quarters (frankly, Utah shouldn’t have found the end zone once if it wasn’t for one fluke penalty call). Naivar mixed up his alignments in the front seven, called some well-timed blitzes, had his guys playing the run well and the defense actually tackled really well. That was one hell of a performance by a Texas defense that suffered some injuries in the back end during the game.
5. What must Todd Orlando have been thinking watching this game?
6. There’s been a lot of Utah fans/signs/etc. on the Riverwalk this week, but this was a big payback for Texas against a team that has been a bit of a thorn in UT’s side of late. The Utes flipped two Texas commitments (Texas would later flip LB Jaylan Ford) and then fate let both teams to this game. There have been lots of interesting head to head battles between Texas and Utah over the last couple months, and Texas dominated the one that really matters.
7. Was I the only one having to check my roster when No. 57 on defense make a tackle on the first play of the game? Good job by San Antonio-native Cort Jaquess, who actually tied for a Texas team high in tackles in the first half.
8. Joseph Ossai came up huge in last year’s bowl game and he was at it again this year. He delivered some crushing blows and was the most dominant player on the field in finishing with 9 tackles, 3 sacks and a ridiculous 6 tackles for loss. Longhorn fans have known about Ossai’s talent but this may have been his coming out party on a national stage.
9. Oregon was able to run the ball well against Utah in the Pac 12 Championship game, but the Utes still came into this game with the nation’s top-ranked run defense. Texas made that stat a joke in running for 231 yards and 6.2 yards per carry. I thought Texas would have to throw the ball a ton against a depleted Utah secondary to have a chance but I was flat out wrong.
10. Sam Ehlinger wasn’t at his best from a statistical performance and he seemed to be a bit out of rhythm early on, but he settled in and turned in a tremendous performance overall. His final line … 12-18 for 201 yards passing with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, in addition to 73 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown. That’ll work.
11. Brandon Jones was suited up but not able to play. I hate to see his Texas career end like that. One of the most quality young men to come through the program in a while.
12. D’Shawn Jamison can be an adventure on punt returns, but when he gets some space, look out. That 71-yard return in the second quarter is exactly the type of play Texas needed to provide a spark and pave the way for the win in this game. Two plays after Jamison’s return, Ehlinger hits Collin Johnson for an easy score and a 10-0 lead and the Longhorns never looked back.
13. It took a while to get Duvernay involved but the first throw to him midway through the first quarter was huge, with Duvernay making a beautiful catch for a 40-yard gain. Ehlinger and Duvernay would hook up again in the fourth quarter on another beautiful throw and catch the dropped right over Duvernay’s shoulder for a 37-yard gain despite tight coverage. Duvernay would turn in only three catches in his final game as a Longhorn but they were all things of beauty, including …
14. That fourth-quarter touchdown pass/catch to Duvernay deserves a mention of its own. Ehlinger delivered a nice ball with an untouched blitzer delivering a big hit from the backside and Duvernay made a beautiful catch despite pass interference from the defender. Duvernay’s going to be sorely missed next year.
15. Collin Johnson didn’t necessarily light up the stat sheet but his presence was big as well, including a big gain on UT’s first play of the game. I thought we’d see a lot more of that over the course of four quarters but Texas didn’t really need it, which limited Johnson’s targets. He still finished with three catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.
16. I loved the move by Tom Herman to pull his offensive seniors with 4:29 left in the game. That was a nice, well-deserved tribute for those guys.
17. Freshman safety Chris Adimora flashed some in this game. He made nice plays in coverage and had a couple nice tackles, including a great stop on a crossing route to keep Utah short of the first-down marker on a third-down completion. The Utes would have to use a time out and Texas got the fourth-down stop on the next play, which felt like a bit of a game-turner after the Longhorns took that stop and went down for a touchdown.
18. That rule that resulted in a penalty on Keondre Coburn is absolutely ridiculous. Instead of Texas getting a fourth-down stop, Utah got a free first down because Coburn basically tried too hard and continued to chase the play after his helmet came off. He was nowhere near the tackle but simply continued his pursuit of the ball. I get that it was the right call by the book, but I’m not a fan.
19. The least surprising thing I saw in this game was Naivar dropping an f-bomb (for you lip readers) when the camera panned on him after that fourth down stop. I gotta admit, I got a kick out of that.
20. What do you do with Naivar after this game? I’m not sure what the plan was for him coming into tonight, but the dude recruits his ass off and he just called a hell of a defensive game. Chris Ash coaches safeties so that will probably impact things, but Naivar did everything he could to earn Ash’s confidence in his audition as the defensive playcaller tonight. Great job by him.
21. Keaontay Ingram deserves mention for his performance after going for 108 yards on a touchdown on the night. Really good performance by him, and Roschon Johnson was very good as well.
22. The backs were good and productive, but some of that credit has to go to the offensive line. There were several runs where the backs had a lot of room to run against the nation’s number one ranked run defense.
23. It wasn’t the season the team or you fans wanted or expected, but finishing with such a dominating performance against a good Utah team is a hell of a way to end things. Let’s hope for the sake of you all reading this column (and for those of us who live on the message boards) that Texas can carry this performance over to 2020.
