Houston Game Recap
CJ Baxter’s go-ahead TD proved to be the game winner for the Longhorns. Photo: Troy Taormina, USA Today
What just happened??
What started off looking like a routine day for the Texas Longhorns turned into a wild game and tense finish that saw the Horns come away victorious but lose Quinn Ewers in the process. Texas fans will have left this game with far more questions than we had going into it. How long will Quinn be out? Is the season over? And what has happened to the Texas defense?
While some of these questions will remain unanswered for the time being - I will say this. The season is not over! Yes, Quinn Ewers has played great for the majority of the season, and he’s been a crucial part of the 6-1 start. However, this team has done a lot of damage on the lines of scrimmage - Jonathan Brooks has been one of the best running backs in the league, and the Longhorns have leaned on the defense in many games. Texas will be just fine - and should be in good hands with Maalik Murphy now stepping in at QB. He didn’t have to do too much in this game - throwing just 2 passes as Texas leaned on Brooks and Baxter to take us home. Murphy has shown some flashes and sports tremendous physical traits - valid questions remain whether he’ll be ready to run Sark’s offense in real game action. More on this point later.
It was a bit of a shock to the system that we even got to this point. After all, Texas was up 21-0 early in the 2nd quarter and looked likely to put this game away before half. Instead, the whole thing turned on its head as Houston cut the halftime lead to 21-14 and went right down the field after half to tie the game. A few short drives later, Ewers had gone to the locker room and dread filled the hearts of Longhorn fans everywhere. Having been hit squarely in the gut, Texas did something a little unexpected in a road environment without its starting quarterback - they won the game. And isn’t that the mark of a great team? Coach Sark talks about this frequently - when adversity strikes, how will you respond? Well, the Longhorns responded well - calmly going down the field in a tie game with a heavy dose of Jonathan Brooks, polished off by an explosion up the gut from CJ Baxter for the score that proved to be the icer. Going back to its bread and butter, the Texas offensive line and running back room put the team (and Maalik Murphy) on their backs.
The Texas offense has found success on short yardage situations with Savion Red leading a wildcat package. Photo: Eric Christian Smith, Associated Press
Let’s talk about some of the bright spots from this game - how about the Savion Red package (The Zone Red?)! With Red operating as a wildcat, a look Texas fans will have seen a few times throughout the season - the Horns had a lot of success in converting 4th downs and even scoring down near the goal line. I have slowly come around to this strategy - if it works this well, why not go to it in big situations? The offense has struggled in short yardage situations and red zone opportunities in more conventional sets, and for whatever reason the Zone Red has defenses searching for answers.
I want to shout out another important player in this game - Keilan Robinson, who brought the energy on a couple of kickoff returns late in the game to set up the Longhorns with great field position. For a guy whose offensive touches have fallen off this year with the emergence of Brooks and Baxter, it’s great to see him working hard to make meaningful contributions on special teams.
Now for the concerns. Starting with the Texas defense - all of a sudden, we can’t count on the defense to make consistent stops. Now being a 2-game trend going back to the Oklahoma game, the defense has been unable to contain the opposing passing game. The defensive line isn’t getting home with pressure on the QB as much as they had been, either. Houston ended the game with 378 passing yards from Donovan Smith, and had it not been for an INT in the end zone from Michael Taaffe and a 4th down stop inside the 10 yard line on the Cougars’ final 2 possessions, the outcome of the game could have been much different. Texas could not force any Houston punts over the final 40 minutes of the game.
So, what’s going on?
For starters, it’s worth mentioning that the past two opponents have some of the better passing numbers that the Longhorns have faced, and prior to that Texas had faced 3 backup QBs in a row. Additionally, the Horns are dealing with multiple injuries in the secondary with Ryan Watts missing each of these games and Jalen Catalon missing time as well. It is simply uncertain going forward whether this group can be the dominant force that it was for the first 5 games of the season. And that will in turn put more pressure on the offense and Murphy to deliver.
On that note - here’s what we know concerning Quinn Ewers. He suffered a grade 2 AC sprain in his throwing shoulder on Saturday - an injury that is definitely going to keep him out of the next game, and likely more beyond that. All the info Sark has given is that Quinn is “week-to-week” - but expect him to miss at least 3-4 weeks in my estimation. That leaves Murphy as the starter for the foreseeable future - with home games against BYU and Kansas State, and road trips to TCU and Iowa State lined up over the next month. It also thrusts Arch Manning into a backup role should anything happen to Murphy. If we’re to believe the coaches, those guys are perfectly capable of leading the offense. But given how little we’ve really seen of game action from them, it leaves this next crucial part of the season up to pure speculation. We’ll know more in a week whether Murphy is ready for the moment.
Texas moves to 6-1 and will be a new look team as they face BYU on October 28th. Photo: Sara Diggins, Austin American-Statesman
A win is a win, right?
The Texas Longhorns weathered the storm and survived to improve to 6-1. The season is not over. All of the goals of this team and the hopes of this fanbase are still in front of us all. Let’s just try to enjoy the ride.
Final score: 31-24 Texas
Hook ‘em
