Inside Texas November 29, 2021 | Texas vs Kansas State

FOLLOW ME Led by an inspired Roschon Johnson, Texas finishes 2021 with a win over Kansas State on Senior Day.

THIS WEEK: Roschon Leads the Way | by Joe Cook

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Post Mortem |

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Roschon Johnson carries the Longhorns to a win on Senior Day

by

Scipio Tex

How the Texas defense held Kansas State scoreless in the second half

Boyd Texas plays winning football against the Wildcats

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Back to Gregory |

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Five Quick Thoughts |

by Ian

by Joe

Cook

Texas basketball plays first regular season game at Gregory in over 40 years.

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Texas vs Kansas State | November 29, 2021

November 29, 2021

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ROSCHON CARR

AUSTIN, Texas — In the waning moments of Texas’ loss at West Virginia, quarterbacks Casey Thompson and Hudson Card both sustained or aggravated injuries. Thompson was forced to play through his, but the thumb remained an issue. Card suffered a high ankle sprain and missed Friday’s game versus Kansas State.

Rather than place the game on walk-on third-stringer Ben Ballard, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian prepared a run-heavy game plan with a significant amount of wildcat package plays for Roschon Johnson in the practices leading up to the season finale. It was the wrinkle that won the game for the Longhorns.

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RIES THE LOAD

BY JOE COOK

November 29, 2021 Xavier Worthy

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- TEXAS | KANSAS STATE -

J

ohnson touched the ball on 33 of Texas’ 68 plays versus Kan-

sas State. He rushed 31 times for

the versatile former high school

“We knew, we went into this week

quarterback to be a significant com-

with Hudson being down, that me

ponent of the offense.

going in at quarterback was a huge

179 yards, both career highs.

possibility,” Johnson said. “I knew Thompson was able to play, but

the wildcat was going to be critical

He rushed 11 times for 77 yards in

was obviously affected by his thumb

for this game. Preparing for this

the fourth quarter, including several

injury. He never pushed the ball

week, that was really a point of

big runs during a clock-eating drive

downfield, and the one big chance

emphasis going into this game.”

that solidified Texas’ 22-17 win.

he did take was intercepted by TJ Smith.

Johnson’s quarterback history

“Roschon Johnson was a warrior today,” Sarkisian said.

Texas prepared the wildcat forma-

opens up the wildcat offense a bit Instead of being able to use his

more than in other situations. He

fastball, Sarkisian had to go to his

can throw and even rolled out a

changeup over and over and over.

time or two. His only completion

tion for the Wildcats when it was un-

was a short one, but the threat was

certain whether Thompson or Card

He said postgame he is never one

would play. With one fewer day to

to typically use the wildcat formation

prepare, the Longhorns looked to

more than 5-10 times per game.

there.

Simplicity may have been a major boost for the Texas offensive line.

O-line coach Kyle Flood had to replace starting left guard Junior Angilau with Hayden Conner due to injury. Christian Jones and Andrej Karic continued to rotate at left tackle with varying results.

Going forward was something the Longhorns were finding reasonable success in. They relied on it toward the end of the game, rushing for 103 yards in the second half.

Johnson didn’t record every carry out of the wildcat. He received a decent number of handoffs from Thompson throughout the course of the game, including the later stages.

But going forward was the way forward for Texas, and they went forward with Johnson.

“Those were the plays we were

Roschon Johnson

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running,” Sarkisian said. “And it was

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- TEXAS | KANSAS STATE -

pretty effective.”

Johnson’s coup de grace in the second half came as a result of a major defensive stop. Facing 3rd-and-1 on the Texas 17 and needing a touchdown, Brenden Schooler stopped Vaughn short of the line to gain. The Wildcats went for it on fourth down with Will Howard, who was stopped short by Keondre Coburn.

The Longhorns took over and set out on their drive with the goal of scoring or burning the 4:03 remaining. One Johnson carry netted four yards. The next gained nothing.

K-State called timeouts after each play, setting up a crucial third down.

Jaylan Ford

Johnson did what he had done all game. He picked up 17 yards, pushing the pile in the process. He gained 24 on the next play, moving Texas into Wildcat territory.

The Texas drive stalled, but the damage to the clock was done.

K-State couldn’t manufacture much on its final drive, and the clock hit triple zero ending Texas’ six-game losing streak.

Johnson put the game on his shoulders and lifted Texas to a win.

“Every guy in that locker room respects No. 2,” Sarkisian said.

It wasn’t a singular effort that got the job done. Coburn’s fourth-down stop was the second turnover on downs forced by the Longhorns.

Moro Ojomo made a similar stop

earlier in the fourth, corralling

les, including 3.0 tackles for loss.

Vaughn short of his own 31-yardline.

Pete Kwiatkowski’s unit kept KSU off the scoreboard in the second

Texas took over and Cameron

half, and Texas scored the six

Dicker hit a 22-yarder to put the

points it needed to win the game in

game at its final score and help the

the final 30 minutes. None of those

senior from Lake Travis take the

instances would have been possible

No. 1 spot on the school’s all-time

without Johnson’s performance.

made field goal list.

“It was just win,” Johnson said of his After allowing a 71-yard run to

mindset. “However that looked. If I

Howard in the second quarter, the

had to throw it, run it, even if I had

Longhorn defense played one of its

to kick it, I’m just trying to win.”

best games.

He did, helping Texas reach a 5-7 K-State had 102 total yards in the

record and avoid going into the

second half, including just 17 in the

offseason on a seven-game losing

third quarter. David Gbenda and

streak.

Jaylan Ford combined for 13 tackJean Delance

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POST-MORTEM |

O F F E N S E

by Scipio Tex Playing through a toe injury, Roschon Johnson put the

tion and tackle breaking, but also to the fine job that the

Longhorn offense on his back and pummeled the Wildcat

Longhorn OL did.

D for 179 yards rushing on 31 carries and a touchdown.

There were plenty of holes and Sark was appropriately Take away his longest run of 24 and he still averaged

stubborn in staying with the running game once he saw

over 5 yards per carry. That speaks to his determina-

Thompson’s limitations down the field. This game plan

ROSCHON JOHNSON

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was about intent and making a statement. Johnson carried the ball 6 times for 44 yards on the opening Longhorn drive.

Four or five weeks ago, I started recommending that Texas start playing the RoCat on standard downs to invigorate the running game, get #2 involved, create some prep issues for opposing coordinators, and give the Texas OL some needed advantages.

Easier for me to write than for Sark to implement, but Sark made the adjustment and it paid off with a win in Austin, ending a brutal six game losing streak.

The Texas offense wasn’t explosive, but it was effective enough, converting of 8 of 16 on 3rd down, winning time of possession, and avoided betraying a strong second half defensive performance with dumb turnovers.

In short, they out-K-State’d Kansas State.

QB The Texas brain trust limited Casey’s throws to a fairly narrow box once they saw the downfield interception at the 8:45 mark in the 1st quarter. Sark dialed it all back, despite some coverage opportunities that begged for downfield attack.

Thompson performed solidly within those parameters, finishing 17 of 23 for 170 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

RB Keilan didn’t get much statistical love (9-17 yards) but not really any fault of his. He ran hard and made a really nice effort on one run to make it back to the line of scrimmage.

It was a Roschon game. #2 had 14 carries for 82 yards in the 1st half, got shut down in the 3rd, but eventually broke the Wildcats D in the 4th quarter, gaining 77 yards on 11 carries.

CASEY THOMPSON

With 4:03 left in the game and Texas clinging to a narrow lead, with everyone in the stadium knowing where the ball was going, Johnson carried the ball 6 times for 47 yards with great effort, allowing Texas to effectively run out the clock. KSU regained the ball with no timeouts and 33 seconds on their 20 yard line with Will Howard at QB. Game over.

WR/TE Xavier played well (6-65) and unfortunately some deep ball play action opportunities that were available later in the game weren’t really executable and the Longhorn

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coaches opted to go with the grind over the chance for turnovers.

Not coincidentally, this was the most significant use of Texas tight ends on the year. Brewer and Wiley combined for 56 yards on 6 catches and did a nice job of keeping the chains moving.

Included in those grabs was a terrific catch from Brewer on a very effective red zone concept from Sark.

The play has multiple versions: one is a screen pass to Worthy with Brewer blocking but on this version Brewer continues his route, going right by his defender.

CADE BREWER

Thompson delivered a great ball and Brewer held on for one of the best receptions of his career.

The tight ends also contributed to the run game with the RoCat and pin n pull allowing them to block “littles” instead of edge LB or DL and that played well to the running game’s success.

OL They’ve put in a winning performance three weeks in a row. That’s encouraging. That was certainly Tope Imade’s best game and I’m pleased to see the senior go out on a high note.

Realistically, K-State had a lot of uneven quality on its front, but take baby steps where you can find them.

Final With limited offensive resources at his disposal, Steve Sarkisian decided to highlight and scheme up a reliable team leader to carry the load and elevate the play of his teammates.

CADE BREWER AND DEREK KERSTETTER

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POST-MORTEM |

D E F E N S E

JOSH THOMPSON (9) AND BEN DAVIS (6)

The Texas defense played a very good second half,

a football being relatively equal to his actual ability to

shutting out the Wildcats completely and limiting them to

passa football like a heroin drug mule, it looked early on

just over 100 yards of offense. More crucially, Texas was

like KSU was going to rush for 350+ yards, ball control

money on money downs, limiting the Wildcats to a paltry

Texas down the stretch, and make the passing game

1 of 11 conversions combined on 3rd and 4th down.

irrelevant. KSU finished the first half with 159 yards rush-

Interestingly, KSU’s only conversion came on a pass play

ing on only 17 carries.

where Howard threw little dig route (poorly) while Texas was in off coverage on 3rd and 2.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that three Wildcat possessions into the game (KSU scored two touchdowns on drives of

While a skeptic can point to Will Howard’s ability to pass

7-68 and 1-71 after going three and out on their first posNovember 29, 2021

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session), I sighed, folded my arms, shook my head, and

a long time out and a stern chat. Davis didn’t return for

waited for the worst after waching Will Howard go for 71

meaningful snaps. Gbenda remained and made some

yards and a score.

plays, though he also had some rough spots.

Howard is a capable runner because he’s 235+ and

More than just enforcing player accountability, the Texas

fairly athletic, but he’s a 4.7/4.8 40 guy. How does this

defense changed tactically. They started refusing to play

happen?

3rd and short honestly, loaded the box, filled the field with bigs (a lot of Texas base defense featured 3 “bigs”)

1. The edge defender Ben Davis runs aimlessly upfield

and allowed the DL to attack through blockers in short

when he’s supposed to get flat and compress his blocker

yardage rather than catch and fill space.

into the hole while keeping his outside shoulder free.

2. David Gbenda is baffled by the counter action and

Texas dominated those situations and Kansas State’s

false steps, his fit erased.

coaches were too terrified of Will Howard to attack the

3. D’shawn Jamison accepts his blocking.

perimeter with 1 on 1 deep balls on 3rd and short.

4. BJ Foster…words fail me. That’s not a bad angle.

That’s bad effort, which leads to a bad angle. There’s a

KSU also stopped running Howard on counters and gen-

difference.

erally stopped option football, which was a huge favor to Longhorn run defense soundness. Additionally, while

Add them all up and you get the Kansas State QB run-

I admire Deuce Vaughn, direct snaps to him are not the

ning untouched until he crossed the goal line.

best short yardage solution.

But it all got better.

Bottom line: the defense looked like a real unit for a half of play.

BJ Foster was benched and didn’t return. Jamison got

DL Really good ball from the interior guys: Ojomo, Coburn, Sweat. KSU doesn’t have a good OL, but good OL haven’t been a prerequisite to running the ball on Texas. Ojomo and Coburn came up particularly big in short yardage situations.

Jacoby Jones was the brightest light outside, but he was on limited snaps. Watch him on KSU’s last drive – terrific hustle plays.

Thornton and Davis played poorly. Ovie was very active and while his tackle on a K-State money down snuffing out a screen was good stuff, a

JACOBY JONES

240 pound edge should defeat

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a 175 pound blocker 100% of the time. That play was

Special Teams

about K-State’s brain trust screwing up and not changing

Dicker missed a PAT but drilled 3 layup field goals from

their play in time when they saw Texas split out Oghoufo

inside 40 and was on point punting the ball (43 yards per

on their lead blocker.

kick). KSU had 104 yards on 4 kick returns, including a 41 yarder. Not great coverage from the Horns.

LB Jaylan Ford was the most effective guy and played his best game as a Longhorn.

In the second half, he was a real dude. Six tackles and two tackles for loss. Good awareness on a run blitz tracking the football.

David Gbenda takes a lot of false steps and has been fooled by counters and misdirection all year. That written, he gives 100% and is aggressive when he sees the play correctly. I never doubt effort with Gbenda – his moments of passivity seem to stem from indecision. Adeoye got snaps and looked OK in the box.

DB Schooler, Jerrin Thompson and Adimora held down safety

MORO OJOMO

and were game, if imperfect, after the coaches sat #25. The simple act of the safeties trying hard and bringing some energy helped the run defense.

Anthony Cook did his job again, finishing the year as the most consistent DB and defender on the team.

Constant rotation at CB between Jamison, Dunn, Barron – Kansas State couldn’t and wouldn’t throw the ball, but run support was decent despite a high visibility hickey on Jamison and a missed tackle by Barron. Vaughn isn’t an easy guy to get on the ground in space.

Nothing game-altering from either team.

Final An encouraging finish by the Longhorn defense in the second half, but I’m not sure how much to take from seeing several competent in-game adjustments and some much needed personal adjustments.

On one hand, they carried Texas to victory and that shouldn’t be minimized. On the other, they serve as a contrast to the inaction of weeks prior.

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5

QUICK

vs

thoughts

By Ian Boyd

Texas has now won five straight games against Kansas State. There

It could also go down as the only time on the year when Texas’ de-

was a time when Kansas State was a persistent problem for the Long-

fense played a good second half. The Longhorns went into the half

horns but without Skyler Thompson they proved a great team to face

down 17-16 and yielded just 107 yards and zero points in the second

to close out the season. Texas snapped their losing streak and finish

half to enable a comeback victory.

5-7 with an outside chance at a bowl game and 6-7 season (or alternatively, 5-8) and more importantly some extra practices to use in trying

The offseason will start to begin now, particularly the final stretch of

to develop this roster for next season.

the recruiting season and then some staff shuffling. It was a positive for Texas to end the losing streak and get a small bit of momentum

This will go down as a career game from Roschon Johnson, who car-

into the future.

ried the Longhorns all the live long day in their third Big 12 victory of the season.

#1: ROSCHON ON THE RAMPAGE Texas leaned very heavily on Roschon in this game.

31 carries, 179 yards, 5.8 ypc, one touchdown, a

two-yard pass, and a 10-yard reception. They fed him in the traditional run game and also had a diversified quarterback run game for the “Wild RoJo” package.

Fitting to score on a quarterback iso play from an

unbalanced formation against the K-State Wildcats:

It wasn’t just the early success and score either

though, Roschon ran for very tough yards down the

stretch when Texas was trying to come back for a win and then to ice the lead and play keep away from the Wildcats. He was extremely difficult to bring to the

ground even after the defense had realized Texas had no intention of trying to win with the passing game.

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#2: BAD GAMEPLAN BY K-STATE Texas was 8-16 on 3rd down in this game, another testa-

stuffed Sam Ehlinger on in Texas’ fateful 2020 loss. The

Wildcat package.

stretch on 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and-1.

ment to the effectiveness of Roschon running hard in the

Kansas State was 1-9 on 3rd down and also 0-2 on 4th down, which was essentially the ball game.

The Wildcats had to play big back-up quarterback Will

Howard in this game but only ran him eight times for 82 yards, nearly all of it coming on a 71-yard scoring strike when Texas was completely dazzled by a misdirection

quarterback sweep play. I anticipated this game could be

Longhorns stuffed this scheme three times down the

After the last failed attempt on a 3rd-and-1, K-State tried the speed-option play the Longhorns had failed to stop all year on 4th-and-1 from the Texas 17. Ovie Oghoufo successfully contained the pitch and Will Howard had

to turn upfield against the grain and try to find the sticks against Alfred Collins and Keondre Coburn. He did not, and the game was essentially over.

trouble for Texas if they involved Howard effectively in

Deuce Vaughn has many fine qualities and had 24 car-

heavily outside of the long run.

along with two catches for seven yards (great open

the power-option game but the Wildcats did not use him

The most egregious move by K-State was to use a “Wild Deuce” formation in short-yardage, direct snapping to

Deuce Vaughn and asking him to pick up short-yardage on the same quarterback power scheme Iowa State

ries for 143 yards at 6.0 ypc and a score in this game,

field tackling by Texas on one). He’s not really a “power over the defensive front in short-yardage” guy though,

especially when your quarterback is 235 pounds. Really a baffling error by K-State.

David Gbenda (33), Brenden Schooler (14) and Jett Bush (43)

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- 5 Q uick T houghts | K ansas S tate -

#3: THE DEFENSE EVENTUALLY SHOWED UP Texas’ 4th-and-1 stop on speed option was indicative of some of the possibilities

for this team which existed all year long. As was Jaylan Ford’s day, where he had six tackles, two for loss, while partner David Gbenda had seven tackles including

a sack, and safeties Jerrin Thompson and Brenden Schooler made their share of stops as well.

If you contain offenses and force them to find their yards between the hash marks against these defensive tackles, they won’t find much and these linebackers and

safeties can make tackles. The Longhorns came out flat in this game for the third straight week, but eventually came to life and decided to try and set the edge a few times.

When the edge was set, Ford and Gbenda looked much more competent and

decisive filling interior gaps and the safeties weren’t put in such terrible positions

as in other games this season. They also got play-making from the interior D-line, particularly on those key short-yardage stops.

Texas will be left to wonder what better edge play might have enabled this season. Certainly a .500 record if not more.

Xavier Worthy

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- 5 Q uick T houghts | K ansas S tate -

#4: BIG O-LINE SO CLOSE Texas opted to try and win this game with bully-ball, play-

Jared Wiley and Cade Brewer played a lot and each got

as many ways as they could. Junior Angilau was banged

end screen where Wiley feigned a quick block on star

ing with double tight end sets and force-feeding Roschon up in the first half and they relieved him with Hayden Conner for the second half.

involved in the passing game, including with a nifty tight

pass-rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah before releasing him and catching a quick pass for 12 yards running behind a lead block by Christian Jones.

Consequently Texas ended with the following line-up:

Cade Brewer and the right side of the offensive line will

Left tackle: Christian Jones. 6-foot-6, 314 pounds.

all depart after this season is over but the future of the

Left guard: Hayden Conner. 6-foot-5, 332 pounds.

Texas offensive front is pretty big and now well blooded

Center: Jacob Majors. 6-foot-3, 310 pounds.

after this season.

Right guard: Tope Imade. 6-foot-6, 361 pounds.

Right tackle: Derek Kerstetter. 6-foot-5, 310 pounds.

Junior Angilau is smaller than Conner and Imade but

Pretty massive interior, even with Majors at center, and

have a chance to better realize the vision for a power run

Texas just mashed right into the Wildcats with some

perhaps the most effective drive blocker and Texas will

sweeps, inside zone/duo plays, and straight up power-O

game in year two.

running. Just as Kyle Flood always wanted.

Jake Majors (65), Hayden Conner (76) and Christian Jones (70)

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#5 ODE TO THE SENIORS Texas got some solid play from their seniors in this game

injury and taking his extra COVID year to give one more

which was instrumental in the victory. It was a disappoint-

season at right tackle.

ing run for them while they were in Austin and a weak finish, but there were a few guys who showed up in this

Cade Brewer

game and helped end with a victory.

Caught a nice touchdown pass for the second straight week. It came on a sucker play where he faked a screen

Tope Imade

block (lots of bubble screens for Casey Thompson today

Finally locked down a starting job after spending six years

in the cold) and then elevated to bring down the score.

as the (literally) biggest man on campus and he took the

He’s been a very solid blocker all year, an offseason

final opportunity to cook up some pancakes and help pave

priority for Texas will be to get one of his talented but less

paths on several long runs.

reliable understudies to block at a comparable level.

Jacoby Jones Had a solid game at Jack linebacker, helping to solve the containment issues at times and giving effort in the pass-rush down the stretch. While losing him helped clear a lane for Alfred Collins to find the field, it’s clear Texas missed his understanding of edge play this season.

B.J. Foster Had a forgettable final outing as a Longhorn which included an iffy angle and him trailing a (probably) 4.8 runner into the end zone on the long Will Howard touchdown run. We didn’t see him again and Sark indicated he thought Texas’ effort level on the long run was insufficient in his post-game remarks. The Texas defense improved from there.

Tope Imade

Brenden Schooler Was pretty solid in this game as a field safety and

Derek Kerstetter

owned that position down the stretch this season. Had

Was his normal solid self. If anyone forgot, he was forced

Texas set the table better for their safeties and perhaps

into action as a true freshman in 2017 when Texas had no

not rotated through so many of them this season, maybe

one else who could pass set. He got to sit on the bench

we might have seen some better results.

in 2018 after Sam Cosmi emerged and Calvin Anderson transferred in.

Cameron Dicker Ccored nine points in his final game as a Longhorn and

In 2019 he combined with Cosmi to form one perhaps

punted for 215 yards in a game which Texas controlled

the best tackle tandem in the league and in 2020 dutifully

with defense and run game.

moved inside to center before ending the year with an

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2021 HOOPS

THE LONGHORNS GO BACK TO GREGORY

by Joe Cook

GREGORY GYM

T

exas men’s basketball head coach Chris Beard

some energy over there. You kind of felt like there was a

started building relationships as soon as he arrived

basketball game tonight.”

on the Forty Acres. His “Unite the Family” mantra was intended to include a variety of groups, from lettermen, to

He booked Austin hip-hop group Blackillac, who he saw

former coaches, to fans of the Longhorn program.

at an outing on South Congress earlier in the year, to perform for those who planned to attend the game.

Another significant group he sought to bring in was the Texas student body. Beard made good on a preseason

“Those guys are pretty good,” he said.

promise to students that he would throw a party in front of the UT tower ahead of a (mostly) student-only game at

He spoke to the students…

Gregory Gymnasium.

Then led them to Gregory Gym… He brought food trucks to the tower plaza. He made sure beer was available for purchase, too.

There, his team kept another promise it made in the preseason to play hard. That they did, topping the Sam

“It was fun over there,” Beard said. “There’s some

Houston State Bearkats, 73-57, in the process.

energy. There wasn’t just guys standing in line and girls trying to get a free meal at the food truck. There was

Officially, 2834 settled into the 91-year-old building.

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- 2021 BASKETBALL | BACK TO GREGORY -

MARCUS CARR

When Beard walked the sidelines, he wore special Air

But with 3:13 left in opening 20 minutes, Texas started a

Force 1’s commemorating Texas’ history at 2101 Speed-

run. Carr hit a three-pointer, then another bucket to make

way.

it a five point game. Jones made a basket, then Carr nailed another three with just over 30 seconds left to give

The Longhorns hadn’t played a regular season game at

Texas a 10-point lead heading into halftime.

Gregory Gym since a 90-51 win over Rice on February 22, 1977.

Students were heavily involved in the game during the first half. Often, they were spurred on by requests from

On November 29, 2021, the Longhorns extended their

Beard on the sidelines and the rest of the Longhorns. At

regular season winning streak in its former home to two.

other times, the play on the floor got the majority student crowd into the action.

Marcus Carr led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three. Courtney Ramey

The 10-0 run made ears ring as a result of the energy

added 14 points, as did Andrew Jones. Timmy Allen con-

provided by those in the current UT RecSports facility.

tributed 12 points, five rebounds, seven assists, a block, and a steal.

“It was extremely loud,” Carr said. “There was points where you couldn’t hear yourself. I’m kind of egging

20

The crowd was into the game early, but so were the

them on to make some noise. I’m like ‘that’s pretty loud

Bearkats. SHSU forced Texas to take a timeout on its

right there.’ It was definitely fun and one of the best

very first possession and kept the game within single

environments I’ve been in in my collegiate career so far.

digits for much of the first half.

Definitely fun to play here tonight.”

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2021 BASKETBALL | BACK TO GREGORY -

A 9-0 run midway through the second half extended

But to get the students involved and to the Erwin Center,

Texas’ lead to 17. The Longhorns would bump it all the

he understands the requirement of putting a good prod-

way up to 20 at one point, with SHSU never making the

uct on the floor. Sometimes other things can accompany

margin smaller than 14.

it, but it starts and ends with wins in exciting basketball games. He put an entertaining win on display in front of

The game was a successful venture for the program,

almost 3000 students on Monday.

and as he had for games at the Erwin Center, Beard invited students to the floor to sing the Eyes of Texas.

“I just think one of the biggest words is expectations and our expectations internally are really, really high,”

Carr hopes the success from Monday’s contest carries

Beard said. “We believe that we can create a basketball

over for the next home game at the Erwin Center. And

homecourt advantage here, but it takes a lot of time, and

the next one. And the one after that.

work, and relationships. We have to deliver.”

“Let’s keep building it,” Carr said. “I want to see the students there on Friday.

We’re going to keep playing hard, keep playing for them, and keep playing for each other. We’re looking to build this thing to where we have one of the best homecourt advantages in the Big 12 and in the country.”

Beard understands there is a reciprocal relationship between the team and members of all ages of the fan base, students

CHRIS BEARD

specifically. He can’t throw a “darty,” a word that tickled Beard, at the tower

Their next chance to deliver will be in front of a crowd

for every home game to get students there.

composed of students and non-students alike. But Beard made his message known ahead of Texas re-

Logistical issues associated with playing in a 91-year-

maining home schedule of 14 games.

old building owned by the university and not the athletic department make these types of on-campus events

“The message to the students is thank you and come

one-offs.

check out the Erwin Center,” Beard said. “We can have the same situation, I promise.”

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Photo of The Week - Tope Imade on Senior Day

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