1st & 10: The Longhorn offense has benefitted greatly from explosive run plays
The Steve Sarkisian offense is predicated on running the ball effectively to set up explosive downfield pass plays. But this year, the Longhorn ground game has provided more than its fair share of big runs. Texas has 30 rushes this season of 10 or more yards for a total of 667 yards, or 30 runs averaging over 22 yards per play.
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Seventeen of those 30 have been provided by Jonathon Brooks, who has touchdown runs of 29, 54, and 40 yards on the year.
I asked Sarkisian on Monday what the ingredients for an explosive run are. He included…
- A good plan: “We have got to make sure that the runs that we’re calling predicated on the defenses and the fronts that we’re getting are playing into our strengths but also hopefully taking advantage of a weakness in theirs, whether that’s a personnel weakness or schematic weakness.”
- Effective use of RPO: “The fact that people have to defend our RPOs because whether it’s Xavier (Worthy), Jordan (Whittington), (Adonai Mitchell), even our tight ends have gotten involved in our RPO game to create explosive plays.”
- Texas’ passing game: “People are obviously very concerned with us throwing the ball over their heads and playing a little bit more of a conservative approach.”
Sarkisian said the combination of those three things have created larger running lanes for backs like Brooks, who on the year has 108 carries for 726 yards and six touchdowns. Those combinations have come around often in 2023, helping the Longhorns win games and plow through opposing defenses without putting the ball at risk of being intercepted.
According to CFBStats.com, Texas is tied for 77th in the country in runs of 10 or more yards with teams like App State, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, James Madison, Old Dominion, and San Diego State.
But as the runs become more explosive, Texas moves up the leaderboard.
Runs of 20 or more yards? Texas is 30th.
Thirty or more yards? The Longhorns are No. 8 with seven such runs.
Forty or more? Texas is No. 9 with four, two behind national leaders Jacksonville State, Louisiana, NIU, and Troy.
Fifty or more? The Longhorns are No. 6
Sixty? No. 4.
Brooks’ own skill set has created those chances. He finally claimed to be fast Monday after joking he wasn’t fleet of foot earlier in the season. But he was quick to provide credit to others for helping set up some of his explosive runs.
“Just a well-blocked play,” Brooks said Monday of what it takes to gain big yardage. “Having the mentality of knowing we’re going to do what we’ve got to do to get the ball down the field.”
That plays into one final aspect Sarkisian mentioned. Sometimes, run plays are just run plays without a pass option attached. When that happens, receivers have to make blocks down the field on secondary players, and those blocks are often the ones that bust the play loose.
“We ask a lot of our receivers in blocking downfield,” Sarkisian said.
When the whole play is blocked, whether by the front or by the skill players, Brooks’ opportunities to break open are great in number.
“Hats for everyone plus the ball, that’s when good runs happen,” O-lineman Christian Jones said Monday. “So you need to create that to have that happen.”
One of the essential parts of the ingredients Sarkisian listed is quarterback Quinn Ewers, who is enjoying an extremely successful sophomore campaign. Ewers has a front row seat to when Brooks or other backs carve up defenses on the ground. Sometimes, he even does it himself.
He’s enjoyed his view of those 30 runs, 11 of which have gone for 20 or more yards, and can’t wait to see more.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have some good backs here at the university,” Ewers said. “I said last year I get the best view of them all so it’s pretty cool to watch.”
The Longhorn offense has been fortunate, too. Texas has some explosive balance, with 76 pass plays of 10 or more yards. That total is good for No. 20 in the nation. That combines with the run play total for 106 plays of 10 or more yards, a number that checks in at No. 25 in the nation.
The explosiveness on the ground has delivered the types of gains that was typically seen only from downfield pass play shots. Accordingly, the Longhorn offense has performed better than any other Sarkisian has fielded at Texas, and Brooks is a household name as a result of the offense’s ability to gain big yardage on the ground.
Here are 10 more thoughts
1: Brooks had his jersey retired by Hallettsville High on Friday, and he was joined on the Coastal Plains by teammates Whittington and T’Vondre Sweat. On Monday, Brooks revealed Sweat is one of his best friends, and are currently roommates.
“I’m not even sure how we became friends,” Brooks said. “It was out of nowhere. My freshman year he walked into study hall and he was just a big, funny dude. It just snapped. We were just friends and we started hanging out. We’re roommates now.”
Brooks added, “he’s really helped me in the time that I’ve been here, with his experience and with the good friend he is.”
The two are inseparable, as David Gbenda noted
“They’re attached at the hip,” Gbenda said. “They’ve got their own little thing. They call their apartment ‘East View.’ They joke around and say ‘East View!’ I love those guys. They’re balls of energy when they’re joking around and chuckling around. It’s always good to have them around. I’d describe them as a funny duo.”
2: CFBstats.com also has data on how many explosive plays opponents have recorded. Texas has only surrendered 67 plays of 10 or more yards this year, placing them No. 13 nationally. The country’s leader is Penn State, who has allowed 43 plays of 10 or more yards. Texas is No. 1 in the Big 12 in the metric.
3: Texas’ trip to Houston to play the Cougars will be the third of five 2023 matchups with former members of the Southwest Conference. So far this year, Texas is 2-0 against schools from the league it was a member of until 1996 with wins over Rice and Baylor. Following the matchup with Houston, the Longhorns will have a road trip to Fort Worth to face TCU before hosting Texas Tech on the day after Thanksgiving. Next season, Texas is scheduled to face two former SWC schools, with both games on the road. The Horns travel to Fayetteville, Ark. to play the Arkansas Razorbacks and to College Station to renew the rivalry with the Texas A&M Aggies.
4: Five Longhorns being candidates for the Lombardi Award speaks to the quality of the Longhorns’ trench play this season. For Sweat, Jones, Jaylan Ford, Ja’Tavion Sanders, and Kelvin Banks to all be up for the honor speaks also to the developmental ability of Sarkisian’s staff.
Jones is a sixth-year senior who has enjoyed his best football under Sarkisian and Kyle Flood. He’s joined by Banks, who arrived in Austin immensely talented and became must-play within his first few weeks on campus.
Sweat is a fifth-year senior who, thanks to a rotation at defensive tackle and quality coaching from Bo Davis, is able to run his motor white hot and bully opponents.
Ford went from the No. 1191 player in the 2020 On3 Industry Ranking to a standout, every-down player and third-team All-American under Jeff Choate.
Sanders, a five-star in the 2021 class, arrived at Texas needing to learn to play tight end. He’s done that, to say the least, under Jeff Banks.
Texas has developed trench players during Sarkisian’s time at Texas, an indicator that Sarkisian’s “Big Humans” philosophy has its benefits. There is a noticeable absence as far as positions that fit the Lombardi’s criteria go, with no EDGE players among the group selected.
Who from the EDGEs becomes that caliber of player is not easy to nail down, and their absence reflects how Jack and Buck have been the weakest part of a strong defense.
Everywhere else, at least as it pertains to interior players, has someone the Rotary Club of Houston deemed worthy of recognition.
5: Speaking of Jones, there’s a high likelihood he will be paid by one of the 32 NFL franchises to play football next season, an incredible story for someone who probably had pro soccer aspirations until he outgrew the sport.
Jones, the last member of the Longhorns 2018 class on campus, should join a number of classmates who have also reached the league. If he does he’ll join…
as pro Longhorns from the #revolUTion18 class, not to mention DeMarvion Overshown who should join those ranks upon return from injury next season.
6: The Longhorns currently have one commitment in their 2025 class in K.J. Lacey. In the updated 2025 On300, Lacey was ranked as the No. 142 player in the country. On3 ranks Lacey lower than any other service.
The On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services, ranks Lacey as the No. 57 prospect in the nation.
7: Rodney Terry‘s team kicked off the preseason on Tuesday night with the Orange-White game at Gregory Gym. Kadin Shedrick and Dylan Disu, who Terry provided updates on postgame, were the team captains of the two squads.
One of the standouts was Ze’rik Onyema, who will be called upon to be the post presence on both sides of the court until Shedrick and Disu return. Oneyma, a transfer from UTEP, bullied smaller defenders in the paint and held his own on defense. What he may lack in height he makes up in bulk with a 235-pound frame. His performance could decide games against the tougher early-season opponents.
8: A Reddit thread about BYU’s performance depending on kickoff time made the rounds last week.
Add another to the loss column as the Cougars lost a 2:30 p.m. game to TCU on Saturday.
Texas will play BYU at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 28 in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
9: The national game of the week this Saturday is the matchup in Columbus, Ohio between No. 7 Penn State and No. 3 Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 3.5-point favorites on Bovada as of publication. I think the Nittany Lions eke this one out, winning outright.
10: The AP poll labeled Texas men’s basketball as the No. 18 team in the country on Monday. Some of the leading computer metrics also released their preseason rankings this week. KenPom labeled the Longhorns as the No. 16 team in the nation, a spot that was fourth in the Big 12 behind No. 2 Kansas, No. 3 Houston, and No. 7 Baylor. No. 11 Marquette was also ranked ahead of the Horns, while potential opponent UConn had the No. 4 spot. Torvik also placed the Longhorns at No. 16.
Vic Schaefer’s women’s team received the No. 13 spot, tops among Big 12 teams.
