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Two things occurred on Saturday that has everyone inside and outside the Longhorn program waking up without stress on Sunday.
First of all, Texas won. It was not pretty, but a win is much better than style points in a loss. Texas (3-2) ended its two-game losing streak, which seemed like a 18-game skid due to the bye week, and avoided falling below .500. In addition, Texas is 2-2 in the Big 12 with a chance to move up the standings. Texas will face three of the four teams ahead of it in the standings, plus a team it is tied with.
Here are the remaining five games: at Oklahoma State (4-0, 3-0) on October 31; West Virginia (3-2, 2-2) on November 7, followed by a road game at Kansas on November 21; Iowa State (3-2, 3-1) on November 28, and at Kansas State (4-1, 4-0) on December 5. Oklahoma (3-2, 2-2) is tied with Texas and owns the tiebreaker. Texas defensive coordinator Chris Ash recently said winning the Big 12 was still on the table, and players will likely be reminded of that message this week.
In addition, players remained for The Eyes of Texas after defeating Baylor, 27-16, at home on Saturday. I called out Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte two weeks ago in this column for not handling this issue prior to the season, but I’ll give him credit for working behind the scenes to resolve this issue after fans became outraged. President Jay Hartzell supported The Eyes of Texas. Players made a decision to stay. Regardless of the many factors and opinions involved, there has been a resolution, and everyone can focus on football.
“I'm always relieved to get a win,” Herman said. “I’ve told you guys, my bosses and myself are completely aligned and on the same page. I have made a habit of … I don't get on Twitter very often. I use it to recruit, and every now and again celebrate momentous occasions. I don't know that the relief of a win was any more today than any other time we win. Winning is intoxicating, but it is also a very, very big relief anytime you get a win.”
Oh, did I mention we are halfway through this 10-game season?
It is time for midseason grades.
Quarterback
No matter how frustrated you are about this season, sit back for a moment and imagine what it looks like without Sam Ehlinger. I cannot imagine Texas defeating Texas Tech without Ehlinger. He led Texas from its own 25-yard line to TCU’s 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter before “that” fumble occurred. Ehlinger led Texas down the stretch against Oklahoma. If Ehlinger brings his A-game, Texas has an opportunity to win every contest.
It is easy to criticize Ehlinger’s touch on deep passes. However, Ehlinger is playing at a high level without a run game, an average offensive line, and a maddening receiver rotation. I have to give Ehlinger credit for carrying this offense.
My grade: A-
Running Back
This is arguably the most disappointing unit. Nobody has rushed for over 100 yards through five games this season. Keaontay Ingram had 89 rushing yards against Texas Tech, but he does not have any rushing touchdowns this season. Roschon Johnson has two rushing touchdowns. Bijan Robinson does not have any rushing touchdowns. Ehlinger has rushed for seven touchdowns.
In addition, this group of running backs have not shown elite speed.
Here are the conference stats prior to Saturday’s games:
Out of fairness to Robinson, the other 5-star running backs in the 2021 class have not done much. Georgia’s Kendall Milton has 21 carries for 134 rushing yards, TCU’s Zach Evans has four carries this season for 18 yards, Clemson’s Demarkcus Bowman is transferring to Florida, while South Carolina’s MarShawn Lloyd is not playing this season due to an ACL injury.
If you want to keep it real, Alabama’s Trey Sanders (5-star in 2019) has rushed 18 times for 54 yards this season. Georgia running back Zamir White was a 5-star in 2018 and rushed for 408 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman in 2019 and 266 yards and five touchdowns this season. Lorenzo Lingard (5-star in 2018) rushed 17 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman at Miami before a season-ending injury. Lingard transferred to Florida and is currently behind three running backs. Alabama’s Najee (5-star in 2017) rushed for over 1,000 yards last season and has 595 rushing yards this year, while Florida States’ Cam Akers (5-star in 2017) was a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams earlier this year.
My grade: C-
Receivers/Tight End
I do not get the need for a constant rotation at this position. In my perfect world, Joshua Moore, Brennan Eagles and Jared Wiley are consistently on the field. I will also take the healthiest slot receiver that week. There is something to be said for forcing teams to defend your best players. I like receivers working against cornerbacks throughout a game to learn their opponent’s tendencies and exploit it. In addition, I think asking Ehlinger to use his muscle memory and recall the speed of seven or eight receivers in real time is asking a lot.
These guys are definitely solid. It would be easier to gauge them without the constant rotation. However, I cannot knock any of them.
My grade: B
Offensive Line
Texas entered Saturday’s game ranked seventh in sacks allowed within the Big 12. The Longhorns allowed two sacks against Baylor, but I have to re-watch the game to determine if that was on the offensive line. We definitely know the offensive line is not opening enough holes for the running backs.
However, it is impossible to lead the nation in points scored without some sort of offensive line protection. In addition, outside of one dumb penalty by Derek Kerstetter, the offensive line seemingly did not make many mistakes against Baylor.
My Grade: C
Defensive Line
Joseph Ossai.
Do I need to say anything else?
Okay, I’ll add in Ta’Quon Graham to keep @DustinMcComas , the fan club president, happy. Plus, Moro Ojomo, Keondre Coburn and Alfred Collins have been solid.
However, Ossai has terrorized opponents this season. I asked my sources about Ossai prior to Baylor game and was told if he was on the opposing team, they would have to game plan for him. Ossai was the difference maker against Baylor. I am starting to believe he has a bright NFL future.
My grade: B+
Linebackers
I was not sold on Juwan Mitchell. He was forced to come off the bench in the Alamo Bowl. I questioned if he was better than Cort Jaquess. In addition, I questioned his dedication to the program and becoming a standout linebacker at Texas.
It looks likes the light bulb has gone on.
Mitchell led the Longhorns with 12 tackles against Baylor. He is fourth on the team in tackles (29), has four tackles for loss, and forced a fumble this season. Mitchell seemingly has a lock on the position.
Meanwhile, Ash recently praised DeMarvion Overshown.
“I love De-Mo. He's working really, really hard,” Ash said. “It's not an easy transition. There's a lot of things he's got to get better. Going up from up to safety, to being in the box and playing linebacker, things happen so much faster. The reads are different. You're so much closer to the ball and to blockers. A lot of linebackers all they've been playing for their career, and they've done it for multiple years. They train, and they just react faster. De-Mo is not a trained linebacker. He keeps getting a little bit better every week. He handles things a little bit better. He reads things a little bit better. Reacts faster a little bit better. Uses his hands a little bit better.
“It's not an easy transition. We knew he wasn't going to be a finished product by game three or game four. We knew it's going to be a long process with him, and he's just got to stay positive, stay confident, keep working, and that's exactly what he's done.”
Linebackers: B
Defensive backs
If you are looking for a negative, Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman had five touchdown passes against Texas this season. If you are looking for something positive, Chris Brown, Caden Sterns and Chris Adimora intercepted Bowman during Texas’ victory. Also, Texas has not allowed an individual receiver to compile more than 100 yards in a game this season.
The coverage strategy Ash and cornerbacks coach Jay Valai seem to prefer is having defensive backs play a receiver’s hands and not the ball. Some coaches want their defensive backs to look back to track a ball. The new staff seemingly prefers their guys to gauge a receiver’s hands and make a play. The challenge for defensive backs is not to engage with a receiver before the ball hits their opponent’s hands. It is easy to obtain a pass interference penalty that way.
Of course, playing the ball can lead to getting burned deep.
Ash’s approach will not lead to many interceptions. The defensive backs are following instructions.
My grade: C+
Special Teams
Ryan Bujcevski had a 19-yard punt on Texas’ first possession against Baylor and followed with a 34-yarder on the ensuing possession. Special teams recorded a delay of game penalty on Cameron Dicker’s 41-yard attempt in the second quarter.
Bujcevski’s punt was blocked against Oklahoma. He was also flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty during the Red River Showdown, which led to an Oklahoma score. Texas was very inconsistent against Texas Tech.
The coverage units tackle well, but this unit has not played a complete game yet.
Cameron Dicker saves this unit from a D grade.
My grade: C-
Feel free to post your grades:
Quarterback
Running Back
Receivers/Tight End
Offensive Line
Defensive Line
Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
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Sports On A Dime
1. Time to move on
2. Herman on his defense holding Baylor to 5-of-14 third-down completions: “It was really big, and when you factor in that fourth-down stop, it was really five-of-15 of getting off the field, in terms of stopping drives. Again, you get what you emphasize. We practiced a lot on third-down over the last couple weeks. Early in the game, I was a little disappointed because we did get off the field, but it was after a couple first downs, and we were given our offense some pretty long fields to operate with. We got that settled down. Again, you know you get what you emphasize. There wasn't any magical calls or anything. I thought we pestered the quarterback pretty well. They completed some balls underneath us, but we rallied and tackled.”
3. Herman on the run game: “• "I thought Bijan (Robinson) responded well and I thought our offensive line - we had a few breakdowns, but No. 2 is a hell of a player. Terrel Bernard is one hell of a player and he showed it again today. We have a ton of respect for him. He made some plays against us in the run game. But credit to Coach Yurcich and our staff for sticking with it and when you're playing as good of a defensive player as he is, combined with the talented guys around him, they're going to make a few plays. We had a couple 1-yard, 2-yard runs. That's OK. But we also had some 9-yard runs, 11-yard runs, 12-yard runs. I don't know exactly, to be honest with you - I don't want to give a ton of trade secrets away on what was working - but we challenged the offensive line, we challenged the tailbacks and really we challenged everybody on offense because the perimeter blocking too is a key part of that. Last week, we practiced Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and it was run period, run period, run period. And both sides of the ball improved because of it. We didn't get any of those in a spring ball and we got very limited amounts of those in training camp. We wanted to make the most of the bye week and improve our areas of deficiency, and for at least a week I feel like we did that."
4. It is probably accurate to say if Sam Ehlinger is not throwing a lot of passes, Texas is ahead and its defense is playing well.
5. Ehlinger is correct. There is not an outcome over the next five Longhorn games that would surprise any of us.
6. @DustinMcComas highlighted how physically impressive Andrew Jones currently looks in his weekly column. If Greg Brown III is adding muscle as well, I will go all chips in on the Longhorns having a breakthrough season. Brown is a difference-maker.
7. Tampa Bay is all chips in on winning a Super Bowl this season. It remains to be seen if Antonio Brown can act right for an extended period of time. Recent history says it will not happen, but we shall see.
8. I need help deciphering this paragraph from the F1 experts. What was Bottas’ team hoping to accomplish with their strategy during qualifying?
“Bottas and Hamilton were given the choice to switch from softs to medium tyres at the end of Q3 at Portimao for a final run at pole position – and both switched to the yellow-walled compounds. Then, they had to choose between doing just one timed lap, with one lap’s worth of fuel at the end of qualifying, or two timed laps with double the fuel load. Bottas chose the former, and ultimately missed out on pole by just 0.102s, having looked the quicker of the two Silver Arrows drivers up to that point.”
9. Meanwhile, this is one hell of an achievement for Lewis Hamilton
10. Floyd Mayweather is 100 percent correct. Unfortunately, the attempts to get rid of the multitude of sanctioning bodies in boxing has failed throughout the years. The numerous belts give boxers, especially those on a lower level, an opportunity to compete for a championship. In addition, promoters who have relationships with the various sanctioning bodies find ways to get their fighters ranked. The alphabet soup of sanctioning bodies will never go away.
