1. This isn’t a game that is going to be remembered as the best Texas has played all year, especially on offense, but the Longhorns did exactly what they needed to do in going into a hostile environment against a West Virginia team that had gained confidence in its last two games and coming away with a hard-fought victory. This one had all the makings of a potential trap game on paper with Oklahoma on the schedule next week and the Longhorns stepped up and took care of business in a conference road game.
2. I said it last week and I’ll say it again … give me more D’Shawn Jamison. That dude is just a baller. His leaping interception in the third quarter where he flat out took the ball away from Sam James was a thing of beauty. Jamison’s a bit undersized by traditional standards, but he plays much bigger than he looks. He had a couple other nice plays as well, including a big third-down tackle in the red zone in the third quarter to face a field goal.
3. Shortly after I wrote the above, Jamison makes a picture perfect interception when he jumps an out route. Great read, great execution. Give me more Jamison.
4. Sam Ehlinger with a “sneaky” 176 yards passing and two TDs in the first half. It felt while watching the game that Ehlinger was having a bit of a quiet game, then I look up and he has more than 200 yards of offense and three touchdowns, with a very solid 163.7 passer rating.
5. Ehlinger completed 13 passes in the first half to eight different receivers. Only Devin Duvernay (5) and Malcolm Epps (2) had more than one reception.
6. It certainly wasn’t Ehlinger’s best day as a passer. He finished the night completing just 18-of-33 passes for 211 yards. He did have the two touchdowns I mentioned above, but he also had probably the worst interception you’ll see him throw all year when he underthrew John Burt in triple coverage while the game was still in doubt. Ehlinger added 45 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
7. Not to beat a dead horse, but had Roschon Johnson wide open in the flat for what would have probably been a pretty good gain on his interception. The only reason I mention it is because Sam’s decision-making this year has been damn near flawless so it was shocking to see him force that ball into coverage. Oh well, if Ehlinger had one of those in him it was best for him to get it out of his system this week rather than next week.
8. Devin Duvernay was fantastic yet again, finishing the day with 6 catches for 86 yards. Duvernay’s work on third downs was huge early on, with him accounting for three conversions on the first drive alone, all on third and pretty long. Duvernay did find the end zone on a 13-yard run to help put the game away.
9. Speaking of Duvernay, did I see him actually drop a pass? Credit to the WVU defensive back for getting his hand in there for what would have been a touchdown grab in the fourth quarter, but that’s a ball Duvenay usually comes up with. Duvernay would make up for it two plays later on his touchdown run.
10. The TV crew gushed over Keondre Coburn and man, I get it. Coburn is a monster in the middle and if he can continue to progress, that guy is going to make a lot of money someday. Coburn is listed at 340 pounds and I’d be curious to know how accurate that is. If it’s right, the weight certainly doesn’t seem to impact his athleticism but I’d be curious to see what he could do if he’s able to shed a bit of weight and add a bit more muscle.
11. Can we get an iso camera on the female WVU in the green shirt that kept jumping up and down, and just keep her up in the corner of the screen for the entire game? Asking for a friend.
12. Penalties in the first half … Texas 7 for 60 yards, WVU 1 for 10 yards. Texas would finish with 10 for 89 while WVU had only 3 for 30.
13. How big of an asset has Roschon Johnson been this year? My goodness, I can’t even imagine where this team would be without him.
14. Keaontay Ingram just doesn’t seem to have the suddenness of Johnson, or even the elusiveness or ability to finish runs. Roschon has shown that he can run the ball well, he’s had great ball security, been fantastic with blitz pick-ups and is a capable receiver.
15. Roschon Johnson 21 carries for 121 yards (5.8 ypc). Keaontay Ingram 11 carries for 18 yards (1.6 ypc).
16. It was good to see Kirk Johnson out there and being somewhat productive on his four touches. Texas fans haven’t gotten a chance to get to know Johnson much because of his injury history, but he’s a very easy young man to root for.
17. I would have liked to have seen the coaches give Kirk Johnson ALL the work in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand. Once Roschon Johnson got his 100 yards with about 9 minutes left in the game, there was really no need to have him in there risking injury and getting Kirk Johnson in there to shake off some rust wouldn’t have been a bad decision.
18. Did the officials actually review a play for targeting on the kicker? Then a couple plays later they review BJ Foster on what was clearly a clean hit? Good grief, that was nowhere near a targeting penalty … they basically threw the flag because Foster hit the receiver too hard. Big 12 officials, be better.
19. The right side of the line is going to be thankful it won’t have to see Darius Stills again all year. Goodness, he was a handful.
20. How fun was that throwback touchdown to Sam Cosmi, which actually went down as a 12-yard touchdown run. Raise your hand if you saw that coming. Cosmi took a pretty good pop in the end zone but seeing him and Herb Hand celebrate when Cosmi came off the field after the PAT was pretty damn fun to watch. .
21. Other guys have flashed, but Joseph Ossai continues to look like the best player on the Texas defense. Ossai shows up every week and fills up the stat sheet, but he also makes eye-popping plays. He finished this game with 8 tackles (7 solo) and his ability to shed blocks and make plays in space is as good as anyone Texas has on the roster.
22. Welcome back B.J. Foster. That INT in the fourth quarter really helped blow the game open. Had West Virginia driven down there and scored, the tone of this game would have been a lot different. I’ll give Foster a break on the opening-drive touchdown he gave up and chalk it up to him shaking off some rust, but Foster is a big play (and big hit) waiting to happen when he’s on the field and his instincts are tremendous. If Ossai is the best player on defense, Foster could be right there with him if he can stay healthy.
23. West Virginia actually outgained Texas on the day (427 for Texas, 463 for West Virginia). The different was in the turnovers, as it usually is. Texas scored 21 points off four WVU turnovers, whereas the Mountaineers scored only three points on Texas’ one turnover.
24. The game just ended, but I’m already turning the page on this one. Let the fun begin with OU up next.
2. I said it last week and I’ll say it again … give me more D’Shawn Jamison. That dude is just a baller. His leaping interception in the third quarter where he flat out took the ball away from Sam James was a thing of beauty. Jamison’s a bit undersized by traditional standards, but he plays much bigger than he looks. He had a couple other nice plays as well, including a big third-down tackle in the red zone in the third quarter to face a field goal.
3. Shortly after I wrote the above, Jamison makes a picture perfect interception when he jumps an out route. Great read, great execution. Give me more Jamison.
4. Sam Ehlinger with a “sneaky” 176 yards passing and two TDs in the first half. It felt while watching the game that Ehlinger was having a bit of a quiet game, then I look up and he has more than 200 yards of offense and three touchdowns, with a very solid 163.7 passer rating.
5. Ehlinger completed 13 passes in the first half to eight different receivers. Only Devin Duvernay (5) and Malcolm Epps (2) had more than one reception.
6. It certainly wasn’t Ehlinger’s best day as a passer. He finished the night completing just 18-of-33 passes for 211 yards. He did have the two touchdowns I mentioned above, but he also had probably the worst interception you’ll see him throw all year when he underthrew John Burt in triple coverage while the game was still in doubt. Ehlinger added 45 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
7. Not to beat a dead horse, but had Roschon Johnson wide open in the flat for what would have probably been a pretty good gain on his interception. The only reason I mention it is because Sam’s decision-making this year has been damn near flawless so it was shocking to see him force that ball into coverage. Oh well, if Ehlinger had one of those in him it was best for him to get it out of his system this week rather than next week.
8. Devin Duvernay was fantastic yet again, finishing the day with 6 catches for 86 yards. Duvernay’s work on third downs was huge early on, with him accounting for three conversions on the first drive alone, all on third and pretty long. Duvernay did find the end zone on a 13-yard run to help put the game away.
9. Speaking of Duvernay, did I see him actually drop a pass? Credit to the WVU defensive back for getting his hand in there for what would have been a touchdown grab in the fourth quarter, but that’s a ball Duvenay usually comes up with. Duvernay would make up for it two plays later on his touchdown run.
10. The TV crew gushed over Keondre Coburn and man, I get it. Coburn is a monster in the middle and if he can continue to progress, that guy is going to make a lot of money someday. Coburn is listed at 340 pounds and I’d be curious to know how accurate that is. If it’s right, the weight certainly doesn’t seem to impact his athleticism but I’d be curious to see what he could do if he’s able to shed a bit of weight and add a bit more muscle.
11. Can we get an iso camera on the female WVU in the green shirt that kept jumping up and down, and just keep her up in the corner of the screen for the entire game? Asking for a friend.
12. Penalties in the first half … Texas 7 for 60 yards, WVU 1 for 10 yards. Texas would finish with 10 for 89 while WVU had only 3 for 30.
13. How big of an asset has Roschon Johnson been this year? My goodness, I can’t even imagine where this team would be without him.
14. Keaontay Ingram just doesn’t seem to have the suddenness of Johnson, or even the elusiveness or ability to finish runs. Roschon has shown that he can run the ball well, he’s had great ball security, been fantastic with blitz pick-ups and is a capable receiver.
15. Roschon Johnson 21 carries for 121 yards (5.8 ypc). Keaontay Ingram 11 carries for 18 yards (1.6 ypc).
16. It was good to see Kirk Johnson out there and being somewhat productive on his four touches. Texas fans haven’t gotten a chance to get to know Johnson much because of his injury history, but he’s a very easy young man to root for.
17. I would have liked to have seen the coaches give Kirk Johnson ALL the work in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand. Once Roschon Johnson got his 100 yards with about 9 minutes left in the game, there was really no need to have him in there risking injury and getting Kirk Johnson in there to shake off some rust wouldn’t have been a bad decision.
18. Did the officials actually review a play for targeting on the kicker? Then a couple plays later they review BJ Foster on what was clearly a clean hit? Good grief, that was nowhere near a targeting penalty … they basically threw the flag because Foster hit the receiver too hard. Big 12 officials, be better.
19. The right side of the line is going to be thankful it won’t have to see Darius Stills again all year. Goodness, he was a handful.
20. How fun was that throwback touchdown to Sam Cosmi, which actually went down as a 12-yard touchdown run. Raise your hand if you saw that coming. Cosmi took a pretty good pop in the end zone but seeing him and Herb Hand celebrate when Cosmi came off the field after the PAT was pretty damn fun to watch. .
21. Other guys have flashed, but Joseph Ossai continues to look like the best player on the Texas defense. Ossai shows up every week and fills up the stat sheet, but he also makes eye-popping plays. He finished this game with 8 tackles (7 solo) and his ability to shed blocks and make plays in space is as good as anyone Texas has on the roster.
22. Welcome back B.J. Foster. That INT in the fourth quarter really helped blow the game open. Had West Virginia driven down there and scored, the tone of this game would have been a lot different. I’ll give Foster a break on the opening-drive touchdown he gave up and chalk it up to him shaking off some rust, but Foster is a big play (and big hit) waiting to happen when he’s on the field and his instincts are tremendous. If Ossai is the best player on defense, Foster could be right there with him if he can stay healthy.
23. West Virginia actually outgained Texas on the day (427 for Texas, 463 for West Virginia). The different was in the turnovers, as it usually is. Texas scored 21 points off four WVU turnovers, whereas the Mountaineers scored only three points on Texas’ one turnover.
24. The game just ended, but I’m already turning the page on this one. Let the fun begin with OU up next.
