From Kirk Bohls (@Kbohls) of the Statesman
Just two games into the young season, and already Texas has a really big problem on its hands.
Not near enough footballs.
Receivers, Charlie Strong has plenty of those.
So many that the third-year head coach now has such an array of options that Saturday night’s top two targets in the 41-7 thumping of UTEP were a senior who’d never scored a touchdown in his career and a sophomore who a year ago was throwing passes, not catching them.
September 10, 2016 - Texas wide receiver Jacorey Warrick (11) celebrates his touchdown reception with Texas wide receiver Jake Oliver (6) during the second quarter of action held at Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016. RODOLFO GONZALEZ /
“Really, I haven’t (had this many weapons),” Strong said. “It’s been fun to watch it. And we’re only going to get better, and the quarterback is throwing the ball well.”
But Texas could use a few more footballs to spread around the distribution. Eight Longhorns caught a pass, and four of them found the end zone Saturday. Shane Buechele’s already thrown six touchdowns and, with a little luck, would have easily had nine, but for a drop, a strip and a tackle at the 1.
From Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) of the Statesman
The Miners hoped to lean on Aaron Jones, the nation’s leading rusher after one week. He got loose for a 51-yard score and finished with 123 yards on 18 carries. Overall, UTEP was 3 of 15 on third-down conversions and spent the majority of the game on its own end of the field.
Breckyn Hager had a team-high eight tackles and a sack. DeShon Elliott had his first sack. Kevin Vaccaro now has two sacks in two games.
Plenty of other youngsters stood out. Malcolm Roach looked like he was everywhere and finished with four tackles and a sack. Brandon Jones had UT’s first blocked punt since 2012, and Kris Boyd continues to be a special teams standout, albeit one who goes too far at times.
“I think we could have done more, though,” linebacker Malik Jefferson said. “But from the standpoint we got a win, and it was a pretty good win. Now we can look forward to Cal.”
The trip to California is another major test for a team still adjusting to its national ranking and newfound confidence. Strong said a lot of the injured players who missed UTEP should return.
From ESPN.com
In meetings, in practice and when he was just thinking to himself, Charlie Strong pleaded with his team not to be a one-game wonder after a big season-opening win.
That turned out to not be a problem at all.
Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele passed for 244 yards and four touchdowns and No. 11 Texas backed up its first national ranking since 2013 with a 41-7 victory over UTEP on Saturday night.
"I was nervous," said Strong, who entered the season under tremendous pressure after two losing seasons. "Everyone was telling them how good they are and I wondered how would they respond? I kept telling them, `Just focus. We haven't done anything yet."
Sophomore linebacker Malik Jefferson said the message came through. But Jefferson suggested the players didn't really need the reminder because they knew how to handle the week after beating Notre Dame.
"We were 5-7 last year," Jefferson said. "We can't be satisfied with anything."
From Mike Finger of the Houston Chronicle
"We had a bunch of guys beat up," Strong said. "But we're beginning to build it where we can get two deep."
But at times, that attrition made things ugly for the UT offense, which put up 517 yards and 50 points the previous week against Notre Dame.
Although the Longhorns dominated in terms of field position for most of the first half, they had drives stall three different times deep in UTEP territory, and led only 13-7 late in the second quarter.
But after a key sack by UT safety DeShon Elliott, Buechele and Warren drove the Longhorns 60 yards in nine plays just before halftime, and reached the end zone on an 8-yard toss from Buechele to Warrick.
The Miners (1-1) were led by 123 rushing yards from Aaron Jones, whose 51-yard dash in the second quarter was their only touchdown.
Aside from that miscue, the UT defense spent most of the evening suffocating the UTEP attack, limiting the Miners to 208 total yards.
Defensive end Breckyn Hager, earning his first career start, led the Longhorns with eight tackles, and Davante Davis and Kris Boyd both forced fumbles.
Although Strong said UT needs to play much better if it hopes to win at California next week, he said he was impressed with how the team handled the aftermath of last week's thrilling upset of Notre Dame.
"So many teams don't know how to handle success," Strong said. "We didn't want to be one-week wonders."
From Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso Times
"I thought Aaron Jones was the best player on the football field," Kugler said. "He had 123 yards, he could have had a 200-yard game against a team like Texas. He's a special talent."
"I had a chip on my shoulder, knowing that UT didn't recruit me," Jones said. "If you play football, you definitely want to be recruited by UT."
UTEP's offensive problem was they couldn't identify anything else other than benefiting from several Texas personal fouls. The Longhorns had 10 penalties for 115 yards.
Johnson finished 9-of-15 for 42 yards, an average of 2.8 yards per attempt. Twenty of that came on a pass that Tyler Batson fumbled, so his other 14 attempt needed 22 yards.
"We played physically, we gave 110 percent, we really didn't look at the scoreboard," Johnson said. "The guys got used to (Texas' speed), I got used to it and we started picking it up. The score didn't go in our favor."
Kugler said he hoped to have Greenlee back against Army. He didn't divulge the injury to Alvin Jones that came in the second quarter but Aaron said it was a high ankle sprain and "he'll be all right."
Just two games into the young season, and already Texas has a really big problem on its hands.
Not near enough footballs.
Receivers, Charlie Strong has plenty of those.
So many that the third-year head coach now has such an array of options that Saturday night’s top two targets in the 41-7 thumping of UTEP were a senior who’d never scored a touchdown in his career and a sophomore who a year ago was throwing passes, not catching them.
September 10, 2016 - Texas wide receiver Jacorey Warrick (11) celebrates his touchdown reception with Texas wide receiver Jake Oliver (6) during the second quarter of action held at Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016. RODOLFO GONZALEZ /
“Really, I haven’t (had this many weapons),” Strong said. “It’s been fun to watch it. And we’re only going to get better, and the quarterback is throwing the ball well.”
But Texas could use a few more footballs to spread around the distribution. Eight Longhorns caught a pass, and four of them found the end zone Saturday. Shane Buechele’s already thrown six touchdowns and, with a little luck, would have easily had nine, but for a drop, a strip and a tackle at the 1.
From Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) of the Statesman
The Miners hoped to lean on Aaron Jones, the nation’s leading rusher after one week. He got loose for a 51-yard score and finished with 123 yards on 18 carries. Overall, UTEP was 3 of 15 on third-down conversions and spent the majority of the game on its own end of the field.
Breckyn Hager had a team-high eight tackles and a sack. DeShon Elliott had his first sack. Kevin Vaccaro now has two sacks in two games.
Plenty of other youngsters stood out. Malcolm Roach looked like he was everywhere and finished with four tackles and a sack. Brandon Jones had UT’s first blocked punt since 2012, and Kris Boyd continues to be a special teams standout, albeit one who goes too far at times.
“I think we could have done more, though,” linebacker Malik Jefferson said. “But from the standpoint we got a win, and it was a pretty good win. Now we can look forward to Cal.”
The trip to California is another major test for a team still adjusting to its national ranking and newfound confidence. Strong said a lot of the injured players who missed UTEP should return.
From ESPN.com
In meetings, in practice and when he was just thinking to himself, Charlie Strong pleaded with his team not to be a one-game wonder after a big season-opening win.
That turned out to not be a problem at all.
Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele passed for 244 yards and four touchdowns and No. 11 Texas backed up its first national ranking since 2013 with a 41-7 victory over UTEP on Saturday night.
"I was nervous," said Strong, who entered the season under tremendous pressure after two losing seasons. "Everyone was telling them how good they are and I wondered how would they respond? I kept telling them, `Just focus. We haven't done anything yet."
Sophomore linebacker Malik Jefferson said the message came through. But Jefferson suggested the players didn't really need the reminder because they knew how to handle the week after beating Notre Dame.
"We were 5-7 last year," Jefferson said. "We can't be satisfied with anything."
From Mike Finger of the Houston Chronicle
"We had a bunch of guys beat up," Strong said. "But we're beginning to build it where we can get two deep."
But at times, that attrition made things ugly for the UT offense, which put up 517 yards and 50 points the previous week against Notre Dame.
Although the Longhorns dominated in terms of field position for most of the first half, they had drives stall three different times deep in UTEP territory, and led only 13-7 late in the second quarter.
But after a key sack by UT safety DeShon Elliott, Buechele and Warren drove the Longhorns 60 yards in nine plays just before halftime, and reached the end zone on an 8-yard toss from Buechele to Warrick.
The Miners (1-1) were led by 123 rushing yards from Aaron Jones, whose 51-yard dash in the second quarter was their only touchdown.
Aside from that miscue, the UT defense spent most of the evening suffocating the UTEP attack, limiting the Miners to 208 total yards.
Defensive end Breckyn Hager, earning his first career start, led the Longhorns with eight tackles, and Davante Davis and Kris Boyd both forced fumbles.
Although Strong said UT needs to play much better if it hopes to win at California next week, he said he was impressed with how the team handled the aftermath of last week's thrilling upset of Notre Dame.
"So many teams don't know how to handle success," Strong said. "We didn't want to be one-week wonders."
From Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso Times
"I thought Aaron Jones was the best player on the football field," Kugler said. "He had 123 yards, he could have had a 200-yard game against a team like Texas. He's a special talent."
"I had a chip on my shoulder, knowing that UT didn't recruit me," Jones said. "If you play football, you definitely want to be recruited by UT."
UTEP's offensive problem was they couldn't identify anything else other than benefiting from several Texas personal fouls. The Longhorns had 10 penalties for 115 yards.
Johnson finished 9-of-15 for 42 yards, an average of 2.8 yards per attempt. Twenty of that came on a pass that Tyler Batson fumbled, so his other 14 attempt needed 22 yards.
"We played physically, we gave 110 percent, we really didn't look at the scoreboard," Johnson said. "The guys got used to (Texas' speed), I got used to it and we started picking it up. The score didn't go in our favor."
Kugler said he hoped to have Greenlee back against Army. He didn't divulge the injury to Alvin Jones that came in the second quarter but Aaron said it was a high ankle sprain and "he'll be all right."
