Inside Texas November 7, 2022 | Texas vs Kansas State

CONQUERING PURPLE

Bijan Robinson looks to repeat his 216 yards rushing against Kansas State as the # 4 TCU Horned Frogs roll into Austin

THIS WEEK:

Big Win in The Little Apple | by Joe Cook

4

Horns play physical football in victory. Five Quick Thoughts | by Ian boyd 8 12

Offense dominated early and defense was opportunistic and relentless against K-State. by Paul WadlIngton

Post Mortem |

Recruiting News |

Huge flip as Texas picks up former OU 4-star. by It Staff

18

Texas held of a second-half rally by the Wildcats to notch first road win of the season. 20

TCU and College Gameday will be in Austin this week. by Paul WadlIngton

TCU Preview |

TEXAS TAMES THE

MANHATTAN, Kan. — The commonly occurring phenomena of the Steve Sarkisian era of Texas Longhorns football made yet another appearance on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Texas jumped to a significant halftime lead thanks to its offensive stars while the defense held a quality Kansas State offense in check. Then, the second half began and KSU crept back into the game.

(Getty Images Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire)

THE WILDCATS

BY JOE COOK

Theexplanation behind the phenomena this time was not all too unfamiliar either.

Texas committed a significant number of pre-snap penalties and saw drives fizzle while Wildcat quarterback Adrian Martinez found a groove against the Longhorn defense.

The Longhorn offense, magnificent in the first half, seemed to pound its head against the wall trying to protect a freshman quarterback with a super star-led run game.

But unlike other Texas road games, or other previous matchups against top 15 teams under Sarkisian, or even other games where the Horns held a

multi-possession lead, Texas escaped enemy territory with the victory.

With Martinez trying to drive for the game-tying, or even game-winning, score, Keondre Coburn forced the third K-State fumble of the night. After the other two went unrecovered by Texas, Jaylan Ford jumped on the ball to fin ish off the first true road win of the year for the Longhorns, a 34-27 win.

The victory has several major implica tions for the 2022 Longhorns. It makes them bowl eligible for the first time under Sarkisian. It also places them in a three-way tie for second place in the Big 12.

Those are important implications for

the season, but so too is Texas’ ability to finally defend a second-half lead even through a nerve-racking process. For the second consecutive game,

Texas was limited to only a field goal in the second half. It was an important field goal, as Bert Auburn’s 29-yard field goal with 10:29 left gave Texas a 10-point lead.

KSU responded with a methodical 13play, 65-yard drive, but it too could only net three points. With three timeouts in hand, Wildcat head coach Chris Klieman elected to trust his defense to make one more stop.

Robinson gained six yards on the first two downs, setting up an all important 3rd-and-4. Sarkisian called a shortside toss, a play that earlier in the game gained 68 yards as Robinson ran behind the hustling Hayden Con ner.

This time, the play lost six yards. Texas punted the ball back to Martinez and the KSU offense, just as Klieman hoped. The chances of another forfeiture of a second-half lead quickly increased.

Martinez orchestrated a surprisingly methodical drive, moving 38 yards and into Texas territory but leaving little time on the clock. However, the Wildcats’ third fumble of the game would be their undoing. With under 30 seconds left, Coburn collapsed the pocket and knocked the ball from Martinez’s hands. Ford corralled it, and the Longhorn offense took the field to kneel out the remaining seconds.

Quinn Ewers

The defense came to the rescue late of an offense that gained 352 yards in the first half but only 114 in the second at an average of 3.8 yards per play.

K-State’s difference makers, Deuce Vaughn and Malik Knowles, had strong performances. Vaughn touched the ball 26 times for 159 yards and a score, while Knowles hauled in three passes for 93 yards.

Martinez, who received the start over Will Howard, couldn’t hold up his end of the deal. He was sacked twice and intercepted by Ford near the end of the first half. That interception led to the second of Xavier Worthy’s two touchdown receptions and gave Texas a 31-10 lead to enter the break.

Ford finished the game with a teamhigh 10 tackles. DeMarvion Over shown tallied nine, including 1.5 TFL. Coburn and Barryn Sorrell brought Martinez down behind the line of scrimmage one time apiece.

The defense was put into additional pressure situations as a result of two Longhorn turnovers. One was the re sult of a Roschon Johnson rush where he reached the line to gain on a fourthdown carry, but had the ball knocked free by a trailing defender line after breaking through the second level.

The other was a Worthy fumble on a reception that would have picked up a third down conversion early in the third. KSU scored a second-half touch down off of Worthy’s fumble.

Though it had its share of lapses, the defense made up for the offense’s

second half struggles, even if it came down to the final possession.

The win has implications that go fur ther than what it means for Sarkisian and his own Texas road record. The Longhorns now sit at 4-2 in the confer ence and can determine whether or not they make the Big 12 title game.

TCU leads the conference with a spot less 9-0 record, including a 6-0 Big 12 mark. Texas is currently tied for second with Kansas State and the Baylor Bears.

Oklahoma State seemingly fell out of contention with a loss to Kansas on Saturday. Both the Cowboys and the Jayhawks sit at 3-3 in Big 12 play.

The Longhorns’ next opponent? Those Horned Frogs, who head to Austin for a night game next Saturday and who will almost surely carry a top 5 ranking.

Whether Sarkisian’s program can create a new phenomena and string together wins against top 15 op ponents will be determined by next week’s contest.

But in the one on Saturday night, the Longhorns managed to overcome several specters that have haunted the Horns for most of the last 20 games on the way to leaving Kansas and head ing back to Texas with a victory.

Jean Delance

Jaylan Ford

When Steve Sarkisian has extra time to prepare Quinn Ewers for an opponent they can really cook up some offense. Of course that’s not really been the question for this team. Getting up 31-10 on Kansas State in the first half was impressive, but it wasn’t new for Texas.

Watching the lead slowly evaporate in the second half wasn’t new ei ther. However, for the second time under Steve Sarkisian, Texas hung on in the second half for a big road win. The Texas defensive line ultimately won the game for the team, whipping Kansas State’s protec tions in the second half and forcing fumbles against Adrian Martinez until they could finally recover one.

#1: PHYSICAL WIN BY TEXAS ON THE ROAD

Defense and a run game should travel. When you have big men like Texas has on (now both) sides of the line of scrimmage, you need to bank on it when it comes time to win a game on the road. Texas succeeded here.

Texas out-rushed Kansas State 269 to 139. They got 40 carries in the game, ran for 6.7 ypc, had two rushing touchdowns, and were 5-5 in the red zone.

Bijan Robinson outshone his rival Deuce Vaughn. Bijan had 30 carries for 209 yards at 7.0 ypc with a scintillating early touchdown, and 243 total yards. Deuce had 19 carries for 73 yards but was also the no. 1 receiver for K-State with seven catches for 86 yards and a score, a total of 159 yards. Good but not enough and includ ing a number of stuffed runs which put K-State behind the chains.

Early on things looked ominous. Kansas State’s GT counter game was getting some movement, Texas’ ends struggled to balance the need to hammer pullers with the challenge of containing Adrian Martinez option keepers, and the Wildcats were springing leaks in

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QUICK thoughts

By Ian Boyd

The Longhorns are now 4-2 in Big 12 play with another huge night game looming next week against TCU. They’re currently in a threeway tie for second place in the league with Kansas State (over whom they now hold a tiebreaker) and Baylor (against whom they finish the season in Austin).

Everything is set up for the Longhorns to make the Big 12 Champi onship Game if they can protect their home field and avoid another catastrophic loss against Kansas when they travel to Lawrence in a couple of weeks.

the Texas run defense for little Deuce to find.

Then the leaks got patched. Texas matched the physicality of the Wildcats and also benefitted from their own offense which forced K-State into a lot more passes than they could possibly have wanted to attempt.

At the end of the game, while Texas’ 4-minute offensive possession to potentially seal the game was blown up when the short-side toss play they’d pulled from the well a few times before was stuffed, they ran the ball effectively in the second half to protect the lead. The long field goal drive in the previous possession not only kept K-State at arm’s length on the scoreboard but it used four minutes of clock the Wildcats really needed for their own run-heavy ap proach to have time.

When you don’t let teams wear away at this Texas defense, they stay healthier and their D-line has a chance to make game-winning plays.

#2: GREAT 1ST HALF FOR QUINN EWERS AND THE PASSING

They had some decent moments in the second half as well but Sark definitely leaned on the run game more in the second half, eager to avoid the mistakes which have plagued the Longhorns in similar circumstances.

Ewers’ first touchdown pass to Xavier Worthy when he threw the corner route with pressure bearing down on him while his target was still executing his break was a big time throw. He also hit Jordan Whittington on a long out route against man cover age on 3rd down in the second half to help keep possession and run precious clock.

The deep post route to Worthy remains an elusive goal for Texas but in this game they did well to hit him on routes which ask him to take more lateral cuts to get open. For whatever reason, the con nection isn’t there very often on vertical throws but anything breaking a little sharper and Worthy can be absolutely devastating. He now has nine touch down catches on the season.

Texas also worked in more throws to Ja’Tavion

Sanders over the middle where he has been sensational this season. Five catches for 54 yards by Sanders hardly speaks to the impact he had on this game. If Texas needs to win a game this season throwing the ball late, expect Sanders to have a huge performance.

Hayden Conner (76), Jake Majors (65), Cole Hutson (54) and Christian Jones (70)

Ja’Tavion Sanders

(Getty Images Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire)

TEXAS WON THE GAME WITH THE MIDDLE OF THEIR DEFENSE

In addition to the issues Texas had early on with K-State’s physical ity in the run game, they also had major issues at the second level tracking Deuce Vaughn and all of the moving threats Wildcat offen sive coordinator Collin Klein weaves through the middle of the field.

They came into this game planning to run a lot of what you could call “big nickel” defense with Morice Blackwell as the “Star.” Results were mixed, his tendency at this point to spot drop and then have to look around for the ball was a poor fit for matching the compli cated route patterns K-State ran, often involving Vaughn. Ultimately Jahdae Barron ended up getting a ton of snaps and helping to limit some of the damage K-State inflicted early in the passing game.

Once Texas sorted out out their plan there, they won this game with the defenders up the middle of the defense. Keondre Coburn keeps building a case for an early round draft grade and was in Martinez’s face for much of the night. He finished with a sack and two forced fumbles, including the game winner.

Behind him Jaylan Ford lead the team with 10 tackles, picked off a pass which helped build the big first half lead, forced a fumble K-State managed to recover, and then recovered the fumble Coburn forced to ice the game. DeMarvion Overshown had a solid game but

Jaylan Ford should be getting more credit for his play this season at linebacker.

At safety it was mostly Michael Taaffe and Jerrin Thompson for Texas and they held down the middle well and inflicted several physical tackles on the Wildcats to help set the tone. Aside from the long throw to Kade Warner for the touchdown which made it 31-24, they forced K-State to drive the length of the field.

#5 DRESS REHEARSAL FOR THE FINAL

TCU is a very similar team to Kansas State. They have big, physical interior O-line and do their damage with a poweroption run game, a dual-threat quarterback, and play-action on conflicted pass defenders. Their overall talent level on offense is even greater than K-State’s, although their defense is inferior and they won’t have a home crowd to help them.

Texas will have learned some valuable lessons this week, and avoided another gut-wrenching loss which would have put them in a tough spot in the standings and possibly killed their confidence.

Now the Longhorns won’t have to hear about how they can’t protect a lead, how they can’t win on the road, how they can’t run the ball in the second half, etc. Instead they’ll know they can play winning football against the best teams in the league, they know they have some players who can dominate games, and they know they can run the football on the best defenses in the Big 12.

The remaining defenses in between Sark’s squad and their goal of winning the Big 12 Championship are not as formidable. They need to build on this win and take it home.

Keondre Coburn

PERFORMANCE

While Texas’ overall execution was strong, there were hiccups in the second half which seemed liable to ruin the Longhorns’ day again.

Both teams were heavily penalized. For their own part Texas had a number of false starts which frustrated their attempts to hold onto the ball and run clock in the second half. They also had some helpful penalties which nearly killed a K-State drive with a 1st-and-35 only to bail them out with an automatic first down penalty amidst a chippier portion of the game.

Martinez gave Texas a lot of trouble, which wasn’t shocking. He was definitely healthy enough to be his normal elusive self and he evaded several of what would have been sacks against most other quarterbacks, including his back-up. He finished 24-36 for 329 yards at 9.1 ypa with two touchdowns and a pick. On the ground he couldn’t make enough lemonade of the lemons of the Wildcat protections (which also included a number of false start penalties and a dozen uncalled holds) running it 14 times for 52 yards at 3.7 ypc with a score and two fumbles.

Texas’ 3rd-and-4 play-call with the chance to put the game on ice, along with an earlier 3rd down call, were a bit iffy. The

earlier call which went awry was a tackle-wrap scheme of the sort Bill Snyder used to run regularly in the same stadium on the other sideline. Texas ran it a few times but on this occasion they pulled Christian Jones, lost several defensive linemen, and took a tackle for loss on 3rd-and-2 for the only 3’n’out of the game. The second came on the attempted toss play where they asked Jones to lead block on the perimeter against a safety who was racing off the edge with zero hesitation. This went poorly.

Two fumbles by Texas blew what could have been a safe win. Roschon Johnson didn’t seem to hear the defender coming whereas Xavier Worthy simply got lit up by one of K-State’s senior safeties.

Finally, Texas’ defense of K-State’s passing game was pretty flawed. The dagger concepts K-State torched previous oppo nents with (inside receiver goes up the seam, outside receiver runs a deep in under the cleared out safety) yielded some more wide open gains for them in this game as well. They at least kept receivers in front of them (save for the Warner score) to force sustained drives, but there was definitely some slippage.

Steve Sarkisian

POST-MORTEM | OFFENSE

by Paul Wadlington

The Texas players and coaching staff put together a nearly flaw less first half of football against an opportunistic and dangerous Kansas State defense. The Horns attacked KSU exactly the way they should, bullying the Cats at the line of scrimmage, layering protection, giving Quinn Ewers chain moving throws to the TE and running backs to find new downs, not inordinately chasing downfield shots, allowing Texas to be stubborn in handing Bijan Robinson the football. Everything worked.

Texas first half dominance meant that they scored on 5 of their 6 first half possessions. In fact, the first three Longhorn posses

sions all went 8 plays, 75 yards, touchdown. The only outlier to Texas first half dominance was a Roschon Johnson fumble at the end of a 37 yard run on 4th and 1 at the KSU ten yard line. Amazing play by Wildcat cornerback Ekow Boye-Doe, but RoJo gotta know it’s not a loaf of bread. Without that turnover, Texas likely adds another score and leads 38-10 at the half.

The Horns had 352 total yards at the half – 206 rushing, 146 passing – with Bijan at 161 yards rushing at over 10 yards per carry and Sanders with 4 catches for 46 yards. Meanwhile, Xavier Worthy dominated in the red zone against single man

BIJAN ROBINSON

(Getty Images

Photo by

Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire)

coverage with two touchdowns on corner routes like this:

The Texas offense utterly dominated Kansas State on the field and the Monday before with the game plan install. Then…well.

The second half offensive collapse felt as predict able as the tides, but I’ll try to add some context to what happened. These second half stalls are all so different, but in the same way.

Texas had only five legitimate second half pos sessions.

The first three featured four offsides penalties from four different players: Hutson, Sanders, Red, Billingsley. That’s damaging to a run-heavy sec ond half game plan. Running the ball demands honest sticks.

The first drive of the 3rd quarter began on the Longhorn 4 yard line and three fruitful Bijan runs totaling 24 yards battled two offsides penalties that disallowed easy first downs and turned a 3rd and 1 into 3rd and 6. On that play, Ewers coolly evaded the rush to find Worthy at the sticks for a first down, but a great hit on the ball created a fumble, ending the Texas drive. That’s football. They’re allowed to make plays as well.

The second drive began to see the first loaded Kansas State boxes, but Texas kept grinding with the run into Kansas State territory on the strength of a 20 yard Worthy completion on 3rd down and medium. When KSU was in straight man, they exhibited little ability to cover Worthy on short or intermediate routes. A Savion Red offsides put Texas behind the chains and the Longhorns punted from midfield.

Third drive? Billingsley jumped offsides, putting Texas into 2nd and 15. A 13 yard Bijan completion yielded 3rd and 2. There the Longhorns ran fruitlessly into a 9 man loaded box. KSU was in desperation sell-out mode, daring Sark to call their bluff. Stuffed for -2 yards. Punt.

Fourth drive. Texas went 64 yards on 11 plays, aided by a pair of deserved Wildcat penalties while committing no infractions themselves. Texas play-calling remained cautious but involved Sanders for the first time since his dominant first half. The Horns

bogged down in the red zone trying to run on an extra man front and didn’t convert on an open 3rd and 7 pass to Bijan when the Wildcat blitz overload got an extra man free hit on Ewers. FG, Auburn.

KSU is now in complete defensive sell-out mode on critical downs. As evidenced here on the next Longhorn possession:

The fifth drive was extremely cautious as well. Two Bijan runs yielded 3rd and 4. At 3:32 left in the game, up 7, Texas tried the little toss play which is a terrific solve for stunting interior linebackers or even +1 in the box when every defender fires inside, but against a nine man box that’s a doomed play call. It’s a give up run. If you’re blaming Christian Jones there for not get ting around on a safety sprinting straight up the field while he’s trying to get a reach block angling with his first step, you don’t understand football physics. Sark didn’t trust his passing game. Beyond that, it’s a bad play call that can’t work against that de fense. You can see the dramatic difference in Wildcat alignment on this play vs. the 68 yard run on 3rd and 4 where we caught them on the same play.

Bottom line? The Texas offense choked itself in the 3rd quarter with unforced penalties and KSU forced a fumble. The fumble draws a shrug from me, but the infractions are correctable. That four different players committed them suggests a broader indiscipline, particularly given the history here. Texas was also

(PHOTO BY PETER G. AIKEN/GETTY IMAGES)

overcautious on critical downs — specifically, 3rd and 2 and 3rd and 4 — when KSU telegraphed a nine man box with their cor ners (one of them not a starter – Brents ejected) on true islands and their second level defenders all firing downhill. KSU was highly susceptible to a vertical throw to the TE or a Worthy jerk route, but Sark laid up for fear of a turnover from Ewers. In short yardage, there is a massive difference between an honest or +1 in the box and a nine man box when all of the defenders fire on gaps YOLO style. Absent a running threat QB, the only counter to that is throwing the rock. Sark clearly didn’t want to do that.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Texas had only two negative runs all game and they were both on the aforementioned second half 3rd down runs. They made Anudike-Uzomah irrelevant by attacking him head up and disal lowing him from using his quickness. In the second half, the interior and Majors struggled with Eli Huggins slanting and shed ding but some of that was allowed by KSU being able to load up the box so that a bad guess didn’t result in the huge gains that Texas tortured them with in the first half. Zero sacks on Ewers, most of the pressures came from extra men and Texas had 269 yards rushing at 6.7 yards per carry. One notable pass block blown when Hutson and Jones got crossed and gave up a big hit on Quinn, but the Texas OL won on Saturday.

RUNNING BACK

Bijan was terrific. 30 carries, 209 yards rushing to go with 2 catches for another 34 yards. Phenomenal player. Roschon ran extremely hard and actually left a yard or two out there trying to bounce a couple of runs. I’m sure he wants that 4th down run back. Carrying the ball a little loose is rarely punished on a

breakaway and the KSU de fender made a terrific play.

QUARTERBACK

Ewers was effective, particularly in the first half. He was only 4 of 9 in the second half, but I put some of that on over caution with a lead over anything he was doing wrong. It was a dramatically different performance than what we saw against Oklahoma State. Zero turnovers. He steered the bus, continued to be nails in the red zone, and that will do when Texas is running the hell out of the ball. We abandoned some of the chain movers that got us new sticks in the first half and that’s on Sark to not shy away from his winners thinking they’ve been “used up.

WIDE RECEIVER/ TIGHT END

Worthy was special in the red zone and any time he faced man coverage. He and Ewers are still on different pages downfield and I don’t know how you get it right. One suggestion? Create more pure vertical throws like true go routes or deep posts rather than angled deep routes. I honestly don’t know.

Whittington had a drop, but he blocked his ass off again. Sand ers was dominant in the first half in play action or drawing man coverage from a cornerback, but Texas went away from him in the second stanza. In retrospect, I think Sark will wish he’d polished off a vertical seam or pop pass to a Texas TE on some critical downs in the second half. Both Billingsley and Sanders need to do a better job of holding their water after going in mo tion. The offsides penalties are getting ridiculous. It’s Week 10.

FINAL

KSU has a quality defensive unit and Texas absolutely dominat ed them for long stretches. The hoof slipped from the gas pedal to the brakes in the second half by virtue of dumb penalties, a turnover, and some risk averse critical down play calling, but the final product was 34 points on the board and a hell of a road win.

QUINN EWERS

(Getty Images Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire)

POST-MORTEM | DEFENSE

SPECIAL TEAMS

I’m leading with special teams as Texas winning here is an underrated part of the road victory against the Cats. There is no dramatic blocked kick or a long return to highlight as against Oklahoma State last week. This week was about what Texas denied to Kansas State.

In my game preview, I mentioned that KSU had outstanding kick returners in Malik Knowles (3 career kickoff touchdowns) and

Phillip Brooks (4 career punt return touchdowns) and you can bet the Wildcats felt that a key to home victory was getting one of them into the paint. They probably dedicated an extra period to return teams last week.

Other than Knowles’ first return of the game, Texas decimated the Wildcat kick return team and the Wildcats started at their 12, 15, 15 and 20 on kickoffs while they returned one solitary punt for 7 yards. Texas also downed two of three punts inside the

KITAN CRAWFORD

(Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)

Wildcat 20 and Bert Auburn was a perfect 2 of 2 on gimmies. Jeff Banks and this unit have made a difference for two weeks straight.

DEFENSE

The Horns were a mixed bag on defense, but the effort level was good. The Cats rolled up 468 yards of offense at 6.6 yards per clip, but just as it looked like the Longhorn defense would allow the tying score in the final drive of the game after capitulating on two prior drives, Keondre Coburn made a flat out stud play pushing through a clothesline hold to punish Adrian Martinez’s poor ball security with a forced fumble.

As predicted, the Texas D did a fine job of shutting down the Wildcat conventional running game, particularly in the second half, holding the Cats to their 2nd lowest rushing total of the sea son (Iowa State held them to 8 yards less in Ames), but Adrian Martinez had a season high passing performance connecting on 24 of 36 attempts for 329 yards, 2 touchdowns and a pick. He also added 66 yards on 12 runs (with sacks, he was 14-52). He added another touchdown on the ground.

The primary culprit(s) in allowing an average passer success throwing the ball in fairly predictable situations was an underrat ed KSU receiving corps playing as well as predicted with Horn linebackers and defensive backs blowing some zone coverages, allowing Deuce Vaughn a season high in receptions and receiv

ing yards (7-86-1 td) along with a few individual scorchings of Texas defensive backs in the second half.

You can put it on the players, but multiple times in the game Texas defenders continued to guard grass rather than individu als that enter their zone. This is a coaching point. It requires no talent to pick up a receiver that enters your space. What they do to you after that is about talent. Texas may theoretically have eyes on the QB in zone or two deep man, but decisive breaks on the ball in the air when Martinez threw up some punts were nowhere to be found. If you’re not picking up receivers and at tacking the ball in the air, zone merely becomes “Drop back and tackle the completion.” You have to add an element of peril. Par ticularly as KSU has to deviate from their run/play action script.

Fortunately, Texas forced three fumbles, recovering one to clinch the game and Jaylan Ford added a key end of 1st half interception to close out the big first half lead. Those turnovers prevented the KSU offense from getting into the 30s and forcing

overtime. Whatever it takes.

Caveat: it’s worth noting that Kansas State committed heroic levels of holding. KSU’s offensive line can’t pass block. So holding inordinately benefits them. Penalize it and Texas gets more sacks and pressures, which for Adrian Martinez, inevitably means more turnovers. Texas was content to rush only three or four and when you factor in containment responsibilities on Mar

RYAN WATTS

(Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)

tinez and Wildcat grabbiness, the interior DL did a pretty good job..

DEFENSIVE LINE

Strong game from this unit. When PK began to work Collins and Ojomo in at edge in the second half, Texas played better and was more disruptive in general. Justice Finkley played a few snaps and on one play, he muscled a KSU offensive tackle into the hole and the ball carrier with more physicality than the senior starter ahead of him has shown all season. Coburn played a whale of a game while being held incessantly. 4 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and a sack is a hell of a performance by an interior run stopper.

On the pivotal play at the end of the game Coburn was clothes lined as he dominated his man and still forced the fumble that Jaylon Ford recovered to seal the win.

LINEBACKER

Jaylan Ford made an early mistake in coverage and then played an absolute whale of a game with 10 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and a recovered fumble. He’s the only true linebacker on the roster and has become arguably the most crucial player on the defense. DMO has shown no improvement as a standard off-ball linebacker. KSU ran some successful early downhill counters with DMO unblocked and he was totally lost. As KSU was forced to go away from their standard running game, DMO made some great hustle plays chasing and pursu ing. Blackwell drew the start and looked lost early in both run and pass defense. He got it together a bit later in the game and had a nice goal line stick on Martinez on a QB lead.

DEFENSEIVE BACK

Ryan Watts was fantastic. KSU avoided him completely for four quarters. 6 tackles and a tackle for loss with great run support and lockdown coverage.

Jerrin Thompson had a brain dead personal foul that allowed KSU out of 1st and 35 in the early third quarter. KSU went on to score a touchdown on that drive to cut the lead to 31-17 and make it a football game. Texas is not good enough on defense to offer 35 yard bailouts and the QB of our secondary has to understand game context.

Jahdae Barron had a key PBU in the end zone, returning after being shaken up by friendly fire. Michael Taaffe had six tackles and made a great play on a pulling 310 pound OL to stop a potentially long run. Huge props to Anthony Cook for com ing in and playing through a significant injury, but he is clearly diminished.

FINAL

Game balls to Watts, Coburn and Ford. Texas has a lot of work to do to prepare for TCU. They must nail down zone concepts and play the best up front to stop the Frog running game with an honest box and disrupt Duggan’s comfort zone. Texas should also compile a Best of KSU holding tape and send it to the Big 12 conference offices and put the GameDay zebras on notice. If the Frogs can hold with impunity while running 4 and 5 wide, the Texas offense better put up 52. Meaning, 49 in the first half.

DEMARVION OVERSHOWN AND JAHDAE BARRON

RECRUITING TRAIL NEWS

by Inside Texas Staff

LONGHORN LEGACY COLTON VASEK FLIPS FROM OU TO TEXAS

Austin (Texas) Westlake EDGE Colton Vasek originally wanted to get away from home and play for the home town school’s biggest rival.

On Tuesday, Vasek changed his mind and decided to play for the school right down the road. Vasek, a 6-foot6, 230-pound defensive end, committed to Texas after a previous commitment to Oklahoma. Vasek committed to the Sooners on August 1 but made several visits to Texas since that decision, including a trip for the Iowa State game with Texas commit Arch Manning in town.

Vasek, rated as a four-star EDGE by On3, played on two of the three recent Westlake state championship teams. During the 2021 season Vasek and current Longhorn EDGE Ethan Burke provided a stiff challenge for op posing offensive lines. Vasek recorded 56 tackles with 10 sacks and 14 quarterback hurries during the 2021 season, and was named the defensive MVP of the 2021 6A Div. I state championship game.

This year, Vasek has 45 tackles with 11.0 sacks and 16 hurries through 10 games. He also has one fumble recovery.

His father, Brian Vasek, played football for Texas in the mid-1990s. The Vaseks took official visits to his five final ists over the course of June, with the Texas trip on June 14 sandwiched between visits to Oklahoma and Oregon. Texas Tech and Clemson also received visits.

Vasek is the No. 137 prospect, the No. 21 EDGE, and No. 26 prospect in the state of Texas according to the On3 Consensus. On3 ranks Vasek as the No. 143 prospect, the No. 20 EDGE, and the No. 28 prospect in the state of Texas.

HOW HE FITS AT TEXAS

Vasek has a number of attributes which translate to good play at defensive end or EDGE. He’s long and powerful at 6-foot-5 with some good throwing numbers in track and field, and the frame to add a lot of additional strength.

former defensive lineman for the University of Texas, he’s well schooled in how to use his hands in the pass-rush to keep offensive tackles off him.

This is then paired with quick feet and a fantastic motor. So he’s long, good at using his hands, and powerful up top with quick feet and a strong motor. Such a player can be a menace to opposing passing games with constant pressure at a quarterback and opposing run game. He could play either EDGE spot for Texas, it’ll depend on how big and strong he gets but I suspect Jack would be his eventual destination. – Ian Boyd

Coach Says:

Strengths — Impressive long athlete with long arms. Extremely quick off the ball, frequently beating top-level opponents to the inside gap. Tremendous motor. Trans lates power from lower body very efficiently. Shows a good amount of balance at high speed and with change of direction. Good short area quickness. Takes on pullers with good technique and looks fundamentally sound in

COLTON VASEK

space. Deceivingly good ability to slip blocks. Sets the edge decisively. Shows speed-to-power, push-pull, and an impressive spin move as part of a nuanced pass rush repertoire. Closes quickly on the ball and frequently delivers good power on contact.

Areas for Improvement / Concerns — Might need to add significant bulk depending on where they want him to play. Don’t know that his straight-line speed will allow him to run anyone down, but that’s probably a minor concern.

Vasek is the 21st commit in Texas’ 2023 class.

RISING IN THE RANKINGS

Few things feel better for Texas than flipping a prospect away from Oklahoma. But doing that and then jumping the Sooners in the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings? Priceless.

The Longhorns did exactly that this week, first flipping four-star Austin (Texas) Westlake EDGE Colton Vasek from the Sooners, and then jumping past them to No. 6 in the team rankings. His commitment also brought Texas within striking distance of No. 5 LSU as Steve Sarkisian and Co. look to close in on a second top-five class in a row.

He originally pledged to the Sooners on Aug. 1 over the Longhorns, as well as Oregon, Clemson and a handful of other programs. But he remained one of the Longhorns’ top targets in the 2023 cycle, with Texas’ defensive staff working over the past few months to flip him. He visited for a pair of games this fall, and the Longhorns’ mo mentum, combined with Oklahoma’s on-field struggles, opened the door for him to flip.

“I live in Austin, and Oklahoma isn’t doing well,” Vasek told InsideTexas last month. “I’m close with the Texas staff. I talk to Coach PK (Pete Kwiatkowski), Coach Sark, and a lot of the Texas staff pretty much weekly. It’s a re ally good connection with them.“

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound prospect is the No. 137 overall prospect and No. 21 EDGE in the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major

recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 26 player in Texas.

Texas looking to close 2023 cycle with a bang. Vasek is the 14th blue-chip commitment for the Long horns this cycle, joining a class with 11 other four-star prospects and pair of five-stars: quarterback Arch Man ning and safety Derek Williams. But Texas isn’t done just yet.

The Longhorns are now considered the heavy favorites for five-star Denton (Texas) Ryan linebacker Anthony Hill, who decommitted from Texas A&M on Monday.

This weekend, they’ll host Hill, along with five-star tight end Duce Robinson, four-star Louisville wide receiver commit DeAndre Moore Jr., four-star safety Javien To viano, and four-star lineman Markis Deal, among others.

NEXT WEEK | PREVIEW

by Paul Wadlington

TCU is 9-0 with a dominant, explosive offense that averages over 43 points and 500 yards per game at 7.4 yards per clip paired with an opportunistic defense that does enough to keep the Frogs on the winning end of the scoreboard. Throw in spe cial teams buoyed by a roster brimming with skill position speed (Derius Davis has housed two punts this year) and it’s clear

why they’re the #4 team in the country with a legitimate shot at making the college football playoff. 1st year Frog coach Sonny Dykes has done a terrific coaching job. The Horned Frogs are a second half team that plays its best football as they adjust to opponent schemes and they play hard every Saturday.

QUINN EWERS

OVIE OGHOUFO (18) AND T’VONDRE SWEAT (93)

So why should fans be optimistic about this matchup?

First, let’s address the sweaty el ephant in the room: Gary Patterson. I’m sure he wants revenge against the program that he built (and then presided over its late decline) but beyond the media storylines, what can he offer in terms of game day advantage?

He knows TCU’s personnel cold. The warts that film may not reveal. That can be a little dangerous if you don’t allow for player improvement or a new system helping their deficien cies, but knowing who the mental midgets are in the secondary are or which offensive lineman is suscep tible to a bull rush is helpful. As for scheme input? Hard to say. This kind of offense is part of the reason why he’s currently a GA at Texas. In some respects, PK may have the better dispo sitional approach against the Toads. But Patterson’s input won’t just be limited to the Longhorn defense.

DEFENSE

The Frogs are mediocre defensively, ranked #34 in the country by FEI and perhaps a rung or two below that subjectively. They are very physical and have knocked out several opponent start ing quarterbacks, which is a pretty efficient means of limiting an opponent’s offense, but QB Power won’t be particularly promi nent in the Horn playbook this week.

DEFENSIVE LINE

This is a group that Texas can beat at the point of attack. They feature a 3 man front and all three defensive linemen are be tween 275-320. They’re physically stronger than Kansas State’s front, but lack their mobility and quickness. They’re there to clog up lanes, eat blocks, and free TCU’s second level defenders to make tackles. Senior Dylan Horton is the best pass rusher and the most disruptive of the group. He’s their only down lineman capable of generating honest pressure. They start a true fresh man at nose tackle: 6-2, 320 pound Damonic Williams. Williams is a talented kid with a bright future but Texas needs to punish

his inexperience. Experienced starter Terrell Cooper completes the trio. The Frogs rotate players, but there is a real drop off the second group.

LINEBACKER

The Frogs have physical linebackers and they use them to generate a pass rush, but they’re not particularly instinctive offthe-ball second level defenders save Johnny Hodges. Explosive Dee Winters will miss the first half of the game for targeting against Tech and he is their best 3rd down pass rusher, notch ing 6.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss. He can do it as a blitzer or coming off of the edge. Jamoi Hodge is a big dude who hits hard, but he’s more comfortable attacking downhill than read ing. They blitz him constantly through interior gaps, hunting for disruptive plays and he’s 2nd on the team in sacks with 3.5. Johnny Hodges, a Navy transfer, completes the trio and he’s their leading tackler.

SECONDARY

Dynamic cornerback Tre’vius Hodges-Tomlinson has both apostrophe and hyphen swagger and completes his eleventh year of eligibility at TCU. The lockdown corner is undersized but crazy quick. Josh Newton – a ULM transfer- has played pretty well, but he’s someone Texas can target. The safety trio has a lot of experience and the Frogs rotate several players there. The secondary isn’t remarkable, but they will take risks and TCU will

BIJAN ROBINSON

throw a lot of looks at Ewers.

STRATEGY

TCU will try to confuse Quinn Ewers and get the Longhorn run ning game behind the chains by guessing right with a run blitz or penetration. Texas has to get bodies on bodies and let Bijan and RoJo do work. That should pop some big runs. The more important question is: can they complement those with steady runs and a play action passing game that keeps the chains fresh? Quinn Ewers is going to have open receivers. The Horns just need to block it up and make smart play calls since Ewers lacks the experience to change plays at the line. The name of the game for the Texas offense is valuing the ball and no stupid penalties. The points will come.

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACK

Max Duggan has been fantastic for TCU this year, occasionally struggling for a quarter or two, but then invariably hitting huge plays downfield and then taking off to grab chunk runs. He looks like a different QB from years previous and his 24 td to 2 int ratio speaks to his efficiency. He’s averaging just under 10 yards per passing attempt and his 15 yards per completion average demonstrates to his willingness to push the ball down the field. He’s a good runner (he had a 67 yard touchdown run against OU) and 4 rushing touchdowns and TCU isn’t shy about letting

him run. If Duggan has any bad habits, it’s a desire to extend plays that will lead to sacks. He’s not turning it over though. Right now, he’s your Big 12 MVP and the most efficient QB in the league. Nope, I didn’t see that coming either.

RUNNING BACK

TCU’s running game is extremely underrated and Dykes has shown great patience attacking light fronts. There’s a perception that TCU is just a wild throw-it-around spread team, but they’re averaging 219 yards rushing per game with the 2nd highest per carry average in the league. That’s how TCU has the most ex plosive offense in the conference while also maintaining a time of possession advantage over their opponents.

220 pound Kendre Miller is RB1 and he’s already a thousand yard rusher at 6.6 yards per clip. Over his last four Big 12 games, Miller is averaging 133.8 yards per contest. He has power (he’s put on about 15 pounds of good weight), but also has a real knack for popping long runs. In my mind, he’s the third best back in the league. TCU rotates in Emari Demercado to keep Miller fresh and he’s compiled 342 yards on the season at 5.6 per carry..

WIDE RECEIVER

The Frogs have the best receiving corps in the league. Quentin Johnston is the bell cow and a future first round draft pick, but

ANTHONY COOK (11) AND DEMARVION OVERSHOWN (0)

the former Longhorn com mitment is struggling with an ankle sprain. I wish him good health…next week. If Johnston is healthy, Texas doesn’t really have anyone who can match up with his size, speed, agility and catch radius. He’ll get his. Make him work for it.

His supporting cast is a fine combination of experience and speed. Slot Derius Davis may be the fastest guy on the field and he leads the Frogs in receiving touch downs. Experienced Taye Barber has been at TCU forever and he’s tormented Texas a few times in the past. The group is rounded out by big Savion Williams (6-5) who excels at contested catches and jump balls.

In all, a really good group with a strong mix of experience, body types and playmaking. They distribute the ball around and while QJ is the lead dog, they can all bite.

OFFENSIVE LINE

These guys shouldn’t be playing as well as they are, but multi year starter and former SMU center transfer Alan Ali has been a huge stabilizing force for them. TCU runs blocks quite well against light or honest boxes, but I’m skeptical that they can handle the Longhorn front in the running game. Monstrous Brandon Coleman is a very good run blocking tackle. The Frog offensive line actually isn’t a high level pass blocking unit (de spite what their metrics tell you), but Duggan’s mobility, TCU’s tenacity running the ball to force honest play and Dykes system make defenses terrified to pressure them and they just flat wear people out. Texas Tech had a lot of success pass rushing Duggan early in their game, but TCU eventually murdered them running the ball when they got out of their gaps.

STRATEGY

Texas has generally shown a knack for limiting the big plays that TCU feasts on and the Longhorn DL is a potentially big asset if

PK wants to stop the Frog running game with minimal numbers while loading up coverage. Texas will have to be judicious about keeping bodies fresh, but if the Horns play the schemes I think they will, there will be a lot of pressure on Jamison, Watts, Barron to make plays in space on a Frog receiving corps that aggressively claims 50/50 balls to the tune of 70/30.

FINAL

This is huge game and a possible turning point for this program. If you’re able to attend in person, get there early and let the Frogs feel what 105,000 motivated fans sound like for all four quarters.

TAYE BARBER

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