Let’s talk about Saturday’s blowout win over the Bearkats.
This one was over before even started. After looking somewhat sluggish the last two weeks against inferior opponents, the No. 8 Texas Longhorns had their foot on the gas from the first snap in this one, a 55-0 win over the Sam Houston Bearkats at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Phil Longo has a long rebuild ahead of him in Huntsville and their pitstop in Austin on Saturday revealed all of their shortcomings.
Texas took care of business and then some on Saturday. They even covered a big crooked number for the folks in Vegas. The vibes were definitely high after this one, so let’s hop into the observations from the beatdown of the Bearkats.
Arch found his swagger on Saturday
Yes, I know it is Sam Houston and they are not good at American football, but young Archibald was hooping out there on Saturday. He labored a lot in the previous two weeks and that was not the case against the Bearkats this week.
Plays like that are happening when Arch is comfortable and just taking the game as it comes. Last week we saw him not let it rip to a wide open man in the red zone and this week he was improvising and finding Jordan Washington streaking down the field for six.
Manning finished 18-of-21 passing for 309 yards and three touchdowns through the air and he ran in two more scores on the ground. He did that in just over a half of football on Saturday. Up until now, it felt like everything was a grind for Arch. I am glad he got himself one of these heading into the bye week.
The Texas defense put on a clinic
The Texas defense got its customary turnover on Saturday, as they absolutely ERASED the Sam Houston offense from existence. It took a loooong time just for Sam Houston State to notch a first down against the Texas defense, — a two-minute drive at the end of the first half against a prevent defense — so them getting on the board was more or less out of the question pretty early.
The Bearkat offense mustered SEVEN first downs over the course of the ball game. They were 1-of-14 on money downs. They managed 122 yards of total offense and gained 27 rushing yards at a whopping ONE YARD PER CARRY.
There were negative plays galore for the Texas defense — 10 tackles for loss along with five sacks, with some of them coming late in the game from some of the young pups like freshmen Lance Jackson and Smith Orogbo. You LOVE to see that.
The Texas defense has been very good through four ball games. They will get their next shot against DJ Lagway and the Florida offense, which has looked shaky at best against competent defenses.
Oh yeah, zero points.
We had a Ryan Wingo sighting
Speaking of guys who were having a tough go — Ryan Wingo finally looked like Ryan Wingo on Saturday. Manning and Wingo struggled mightily over the first few weeks to get on the same page and at times it was painful to watch. That was not the case on Saturday, as Manning and Wingo hooked up twice for touchdowns. Wingo also ripped off an explosive run on an end around to help boost the team rushing average.
The 125 yards of total yards of offense with two touchdowns and multiple explosive plays will definitely hunt. Another important confidence booster here for the Texas offense.
Solid collective effort for the Texas run game down two backs
Texas was down Tre Wisner and CJ Baxter in this one and they still churned out 264 yards rushing and the wealth was spread around. Jerrick Gibson, Christian Clark, and James Simon all had 50 or more rushing yards on Saturday, and both Clark and Gibson found the end zone for the Longhorns against the Bearkats.
The 6.4 yards per carry was inflated some by some explosive runs by some none-running back participants, but nevertheless you will take that kind of performance consider you were down your top two backs. The big fellas up front leaned on the Bearkat defense early and often, which is exactly what you want to see in these kind of matchups.
Shoutout to Matthew Caldwell
The backups need love to when they get in there and make big plays. I haven’t been able to find the clip, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching him pull that zone read and gallop down the field like the sweet gazelle he is. A 50-yard explosive run from your backup quarterback will never not be sexy to me.
Caldwell doesn’t look like like a bad insurance plan at the QB2 spot. Also, I thought seeing KJ Lacey late over Trey Owens might be a bit of a tell for the upcoming offseason.
A sound, comprehensive beat down of the Bearkats to take you into the bye week. Time to put ice on the bumps and bruises before getting on a plane for Gainesville, Florida where I hear only gators make it out alive.
The 24-hour rule is suspended this week due to the bye. Enjoy a few more cold snacks this upcoming week before getting your mind right for the trip to The Swamp.
Category: General Sports
