1. First thing I noticed ... Sheroid Evans starting again, with Davante Davis on the other side. Not sure what's going on with Holton Hill, who didn't record a single stat and I don't remember even seeing on the field.
2. I'm not sure I could be more impressed with what Shane Buechele has done through two games. The offense had some sluggish moments in the first half, but there's no denying that Buechele has been a special, special player thus far. Four touchdowns passing and nothing even close to a turnover in his second career start. He just makes it look so easy, it's easy to take for granted how special he has been through two games.
3. I don't want to oversell this through just two games, but Buechele's ability to throw the deep ball is as good as I've seen in a long time. He throws it so casually that it looks like he's just playing catch with his buddy in the back yard, and his accuracy has been damn near flawless in the first two weeks. I know it won't always be like this, but it really has been pretty amazing to watch. In the first two weeks, I think he's had only two throws downfield that weren't right on the money.
4. UTEP has the worst punting game I've seen in a while. Yikes.
5. Random, but something I noticed tonight that Texas does to help with its tempo ...
On several plays, when Texas completed passes outside the hash marks, the official near the tackle would call for the ball, as is the norm. Instead of giving the ball to that official, the Texas receivers would throw the ball back to the official in the middle of the field so it could be spotted for play quickly. Probably a common practice, but I've never really noticed and it's a little thing that makes the offense run smoothly.
6. Overall, I liked the idea of sitting guys who were dealing with minor injuries. No need to force them into action and risk further injury.
That being said, and it's nothing to lose sleep over, but it's a little bit of a red flag seeing D'Onta Foreman on the sidelines. Moving forward, Texas cannot afford to have him miss time, and Foreman hasn't really shown in his career that he's been able to stay healthy for extended periods of time. Keeping him out tonight was a precautionary move and with any luck, Foreman is 100 percent next week and stays healthy for the rest of the season, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't like to see a bit more durability from arguably the offense's top overall player.
7. It was a great job overall by the Texas defense, holding UTEP to just 7 points, 10 first downs, 3.41 yards per play. That unit was very good at all three levels.
8. If we're going to point out a job-well-done by the Texas defense, we also have to point out that this was a UTEP offense that really had no chance. UTEP was going to struggle regardless, but without their starting quarterback, the Miners were pretty much sunk before this one even started.
Texas had the luxury of pretty much sticking to a base 4-3 early on and loading the box with eight guys with little risk of UTEP doing any damage through the air. And once Texas got up big, the UT defense was able to pin its ears back and pretty much dominate the game.
Again, great game by the UT defense, but things probably won't be this easy again all year.
9. Michael Dickson is becoming must-watch action for me. Yeah, I said it. I'm digging watching a punter put in his work. He's been as good as anyone on the team through two games.
10. It was a little thing, but it was a good sign for the Longhorns to see kicker Trent Domingue make a a 43-yarder fairly easily. Domingue's range is probably his biggest concern, and he punched that one through with plenty of room to spare.
11. Kris Boyd was caught holding on two of UT's first three punts. I didn't see the first one, but on the second one he basically tackled the UTEP gunner so badly by his facemask that the UTEP player's helmet came off. Later in the game, Boyd was flagged for a facemask on a run play where he wasn't even near the action.
Boyd did partly make up for it with a couple other nice plays on special teams, but he absolutely has to eliminate the unnecessary penalties away from the ball. One of those could cost the team a game if things are close, and he made three in one game tonight.
12. Elijah Rodriguez really struggled at left tackle. I'm stating the obvious here, but Texas needs Connor Williams to get healthy and stay healthy. Williams just moved up my OB player draft board based on what I saw tonight.
13. I saw (read) a lot of hand-wringing on the boards in the first half, but this was a pretty good game overall for the Longhorns.
Coming of a hard-fought, emotional win over Notre Dame, seeing the team play a little bit sloppy in the first two quarters should not have been totally unexpected. But when it needed to, Texas was able to turn it on and pull away with ease. This game kind of reminds me of some of the wins we used to witness under Mack Brown when he was fielding teams who would win 10 games just about every year.
Texas is 2-0, and I'm taking sips of the Kool-Aid, but I'm not quite ready to drink the entire pitcher. These next three games - at Cal, at Oklahoma State, OU in Dallas - will tell us everything we need to know about this year's Longhorns.
15. The Big 12 is ripe for the picking. I'm not saying the Longhorns are going to win the conference, but if we're taking bets after two games played, doesn't UT's odds have to be as high as anyone else's?
Player of the game: I thought about going with Jerrod Heard after his two-touchdown performance, but it's hard not to give the nod to Shane Buechele. All the true freshman did was complete 22-of-27 passes for 244 yards and 4 TDs without throwing a single interception. Buechele's passer rating was a ridiculous 206.3.
Best position group: For Buechele to be good, that has to mean the wide receivers were good. The group played a very clean game from top to bottom in terms of catching the football (one of the only real mistakes was Warrick's fumble and a very questionable pass interference call on Devin Duvernay) and several guys were involved. Heard, Warrick and Dorion Leonard all found the end zone. Collin Johnson and Li'Jordan Humphrey both recorded their first career catches. It was a quiet night for John Burt, Armanti Foreman and Jake Oliver, but they made plays when their number was called. Solid night overall from this group.
This game was over when ... I'm calling this one pretty early. Texas led only 20-7 at the half, but this game was all but over after Shane Buechele hit Petey Warrick for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 13 before the break. It was a sloppy first half, but there was no way UTEP was coming back from two TDs down.
Best decision: Texas was a battered team coming into this game and several starters took the night off. I'm sure the coaches could have trotted some of those guys out there if need be, but it was smart to play it safe and get everyone fresh for what is going to be a tough three-game stretch coming up.
Head-scratcher: For the second straight week, there's not much to nitpick here. I guess if I'm really digging deep, I wasn't crazy about having Buechele run the ball late in the game. Maybe I'm overly paranoid because he's a pretty small guy, but every time he runs the ball and takes on some contact, I kind of hold my breath.
What's next?: Texas will travel to Cal for a late game next Saturday. As I write this, Cal trails San Diego State 21-14 early in the second quarter. The Longhorns struggled so badly on the road last year that I'm not guaranteeing anything, but as of right now, I am having a hard time seeing Cal match up with Texas' physicality. The Longhorns should be strong favorites to sweep through their non-conference schedule.
2. I'm not sure I could be more impressed with what Shane Buechele has done through two games. The offense had some sluggish moments in the first half, but there's no denying that Buechele has been a special, special player thus far. Four touchdowns passing and nothing even close to a turnover in his second career start. He just makes it look so easy, it's easy to take for granted how special he has been through two games.
3. I don't want to oversell this through just two games, but Buechele's ability to throw the deep ball is as good as I've seen in a long time. He throws it so casually that it looks like he's just playing catch with his buddy in the back yard, and his accuracy has been damn near flawless in the first two weeks. I know it won't always be like this, but it really has been pretty amazing to watch. In the first two weeks, I think he's had only two throws downfield that weren't right on the money.
4. UTEP has the worst punting game I've seen in a while. Yikes.
5. Random, but something I noticed tonight that Texas does to help with its tempo ...
On several plays, when Texas completed passes outside the hash marks, the official near the tackle would call for the ball, as is the norm. Instead of giving the ball to that official, the Texas receivers would throw the ball back to the official in the middle of the field so it could be spotted for play quickly. Probably a common practice, but I've never really noticed and it's a little thing that makes the offense run smoothly.
6. Overall, I liked the idea of sitting guys who were dealing with minor injuries. No need to force them into action and risk further injury.
That being said, and it's nothing to lose sleep over, but it's a little bit of a red flag seeing D'Onta Foreman on the sidelines. Moving forward, Texas cannot afford to have him miss time, and Foreman hasn't really shown in his career that he's been able to stay healthy for extended periods of time. Keeping him out tonight was a precautionary move and with any luck, Foreman is 100 percent next week and stays healthy for the rest of the season, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't like to see a bit more durability from arguably the offense's top overall player.
7. It was a great job overall by the Texas defense, holding UTEP to just 7 points, 10 first downs, 3.41 yards per play. That unit was very good at all three levels.
8. If we're going to point out a job-well-done by the Texas defense, we also have to point out that this was a UTEP offense that really had no chance. UTEP was going to struggle regardless, but without their starting quarterback, the Miners were pretty much sunk before this one even started.
Texas had the luxury of pretty much sticking to a base 4-3 early on and loading the box with eight guys with little risk of UTEP doing any damage through the air. And once Texas got up big, the UT defense was able to pin its ears back and pretty much dominate the game.
Again, great game by the UT defense, but things probably won't be this easy again all year.
9. Michael Dickson is becoming must-watch action for me. Yeah, I said it. I'm digging watching a punter put in his work. He's been as good as anyone on the team through two games.
10. It was a little thing, but it was a good sign for the Longhorns to see kicker Trent Domingue make a a 43-yarder fairly easily. Domingue's range is probably his biggest concern, and he punched that one through with plenty of room to spare.
11. Kris Boyd was caught holding on two of UT's first three punts. I didn't see the first one, but on the second one he basically tackled the UTEP gunner so badly by his facemask that the UTEP player's helmet came off. Later in the game, Boyd was flagged for a facemask on a run play where he wasn't even near the action.
Boyd did partly make up for it with a couple other nice plays on special teams, but he absolutely has to eliminate the unnecessary penalties away from the ball. One of those could cost the team a game if things are close, and he made three in one game tonight.
12. Elijah Rodriguez really struggled at left tackle. I'm stating the obvious here, but Texas needs Connor Williams to get healthy and stay healthy. Williams just moved up my OB player draft board based on what I saw tonight.
13. I saw (read) a lot of hand-wringing on the boards in the first half, but this was a pretty good game overall for the Longhorns.
Coming of a hard-fought, emotional win over Notre Dame, seeing the team play a little bit sloppy in the first two quarters should not have been totally unexpected. But when it needed to, Texas was able to turn it on and pull away with ease. This game kind of reminds me of some of the wins we used to witness under Mack Brown when he was fielding teams who would win 10 games just about every year.
Texas is 2-0, and I'm taking sips of the Kool-Aid, but I'm not quite ready to drink the entire pitcher. These next three games - at Cal, at Oklahoma State, OU in Dallas - will tell us everything we need to know about this year's Longhorns.
15. The Big 12 is ripe for the picking. I'm not saying the Longhorns are going to win the conference, but if we're taking bets after two games played, doesn't UT's odds have to be as high as anyone else's?
Player of the game: I thought about going with Jerrod Heard after his two-touchdown performance, but it's hard not to give the nod to Shane Buechele. All the true freshman did was complete 22-of-27 passes for 244 yards and 4 TDs without throwing a single interception. Buechele's passer rating was a ridiculous 206.3.
Best position group: For Buechele to be good, that has to mean the wide receivers were good. The group played a very clean game from top to bottom in terms of catching the football (one of the only real mistakes was Warrick's fumble and a very questionable pass interference call on Devin Duvernay) and several guys were involved. Heard, Warrick and Dorion Leonard all found the end zone. Collin Johnson and Li'Jordan Humphrey both recorded their first career catches. It was a quiet night for John Burt, Armanti Foreman and Jake Oliver, but they made plays when their number was called. Solid night overall from this group.
This game was over when ... I'm calling this one pretty early. Texas led only 20-7 at the half, but this game was all but over after Shane Buechele hit Petey Warrick for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 13 before the break. It was a sloppy first half, but there was no way UTEP was coming back from two TDs down.
Best decision: Texas was a battered team coming into this game and several starters took the night off. I'm sure the coaches could have trotted some of those guys out there if need be, but it was smart to play it safe and get everyone fresh for what is going to be a tough three-game stretch coming up.
Head-scratcher: For the second straight week, there's not much to nitpick here. I guess if I'm really digging deep, I wasn't crazy about having Buechele run the ball late in the game. Maybe I'm overly paranoid because he's a pretty small guy, but every time he runs the ball and takes on some contact, I kind of hold my breath.
What's next?: Texas will travel to Cal for a late game next Saturday. As I write this, Cal trails San Diego State 21-14 early in the second quarter. The Longhorns struggled so badly on the road last year that I'm not guaranteeing anything, but as of right now, I am having a hard time seeing Cal match up with Texas' physicality. The Longhorns should be strong favorites to sweep through their non-conference schedule.
