Five quick thoughts: Mauling the Bears
Looks like the “seven-win Sark” moniker can be tossed in the trash where it belongs as a take about a head coach who’s main resume as top man was spent rebuilding Washington. Texas finishes the regular season 8-4 with a terrific team win over Baylor in which the foundations of run game, defense, and special teams all came through to give Texas the edge.
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There were some tough moments. Iffy decision-making under pressure by Quinn Ewers directly put nine points on the board for the Bears, but he made enough throws for Texas to stay alive for a chance to dominate the rest of the game and pull out a win with a grinding second half effort.
There were moments early in the third quarter where it looked like Texas might wear out and get run down over the course of the game to give away a pretty good margin. Instead they turned to improved depth and better fundamentals than they had a year ago and Bijan Robinson was the one who knocked on the door in the fourth quarter.
Bijan will likely wrap up his Texas career with season totals of 258 carries for 1,580 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns. An all-time great season from a running back who never had a brilliant, senior-heavy offensive line or a top notch, play-action passer at quarterback to help him out.
Quick thought no. 1: Texas ran the dang ball
This game was a great coaching battle between Steve Sarkisian’s staff and Dave Aranda’s on the Baylor sideline. As Robert Griffin the III summed up the battle early on in the broadcast…
…yes indeed. By the way, while I have no idea what this meant, consider me to be on “Team RG3,” his efforts make the games more fun in my estimation and he understands what makes the game entertaining.
The obvious defining feature of this game was Texas’ second half adjustment to run the dang ball.
In the first half, Baylor held massive advantages in…
- Total plays run (45 to 22)
- Total yards (224 to 136)
- Time of possession (21:01 to 8:59)
If you were a Texas fan worried about the Longhorns wearing down in the second half, you had every reason to be afraid. Bijan and Roschon Johnson had combined in the first half for nine carries for 56 yards at 6.2 ypc with one rushing touchdown.
Here’s how those numbers turned out after a second half of play:
- Baylor ran 75 total plays to 64 for Texas
- Texas out-gained Baylor 402 yards to 280
- Baylor held the ball 33:24 to 26:36
These numbers evened out in a major way because Bijan and Roschon combined in the second half for 33 carries which yielded 200 yards at 6.1 ypc with three rushing touchdowns.
It was a reversal of how this game went a year ago when the Bears wore Texas down. Truly it was a reversal of most every game Texas has blown or even played in the Big 12 under Sark.
Bijan finished with 29 carries for 179 yards at 6.2 ypc with two scores and Roschon added 13 carries for 77 yards at 5.9 ypc with two more rushing touchdowns. What a relief for the Texas fans to see the Longhorns give their two running backs a chance to go win the game for them.
The main key was the drive after Ewers’ sack-strip, scoop ‘n’ score for Baylor. Texas went back out there and ran the ball 11 times in a row for 74 yards and a score.
Then, for good measure, they picked off Blake Shapen and ran the ball six more times in a row for another one. Game over.
Quick thought no. 2: Second half solutions
Everyone, Sark included, assumed Ewers would have to throw the ball effectively to beat Baylor. Multiple teams had given Texas fits by loading the box and taking the game out of Bijan and Roschon’s hands and Baylor had one of the more imposing defensive fronts of any team in the league. What’s more, Baylor has had a weak secondary vulnerable to being attacked.
Early on Texas threw the ball quite a bit and had mixed results. Ewers actually finished 12-16 for 194 yards at 12.1 ypa with no touchdowns or picks. He was finding the over/corner routes he throws so well (although Jordan Whittington fumbled after catching one) and also nabbing some free yards when Baylor would play 10 yards off Xavier Worthy. He was also sacked four times in the first half alone and had the bad intentional grounding penalty which caused a safety, the fumble when he didn’t feel pressure well, and another self-sack.
Then Sark realized there was another way to attack Baylor. All season long the Bears have mimicked Texas’ 2021 defense, playing their secondary back and trusting the defensive front to stop the run with honest boxes and late arriving run support. Consequently, their young and relatively small secondary had relatively zero experience in playing up to stop the run.
Once Texas sniffed that out, this game was over. They lined up in 12 personnel and would motion Whittington in tight to run the ball, mostly on Duo, over and over again. Baylor couldn’t fit all the gaps up front, were totally unused to being bullied in this fashion, and just got run off the field.
There were too many gaps for the D-line and linebackers to fill, even by two-gapping, and Texas wore their secondary out with this simple scheme. I’ll chart the stats during the week but it was a dominating feature. That’s how you run the ball every snap on multiple successful touchdown drives.
“What if Baylor loads the box?” Went from being a chief concern to a opportunity for a blowout.
Quick thought no. 3: Dominant defensive game
Baylor really tried to impose their own will with the run game. Their own two main backs Richard Reese and Qualan Jones combined on 29 carries for 99 yards at 3.4 ypc.
They were pretty consistently picking up 3-4 yards every run, just as Texas was consistently picking up 6-7 on all of their own calls, and that eventually played out on the scoreboard in this game.
Blake Shapen, forced into positions to have to win the game for Baylor, was not up to the job. Texas got inconsistent pressure on him but despite two bad coverage busts, held him to 18-36 for 179 yards at 4.9 ypa with two touchdowns (two busts) and a pick. Him getting railroaded by DeMarvion Overshown when he came unblocked on a blitz was a fitting capstone to the game.
Texas’ overhangs really killed Baylor in this game. One of the key adjustments in this game was when Texas turned to DMO as the Sam linebacker in the 3-4 sets after using Morice Blackwell (also some good snaps) earlier. DMO’s explosiveness off the edge gave Baylor major issues and he finished the day with a remarkable 14 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, two break-ups, and one murder…
His presence to the wide edge (when he wasn’t inside at Will linebacker) was detrimental to Baylor’s bootleg, play-action game and he caused problems backside in pursuit. When it was Jahdae Barron, he was also a problem at the field “Star” position with two tackles for loss, a sack, a break-up, and nearly a pick-6 on a snap where he played cornerback. Barron has a very strong case for being the best nickel in the league.
Credit again to Jaylan Ford as well who made an exceptional drop on 3rd down to pick off Shapen when he was trying to go back to his favorite throw for a dagger route over the middle. That’s four picks on the year for the Mike linebacker and he also added a pair of tackles for loss.
Baylor has a pretty good offense this season but without the ability to pound teams over the game with their senior O-line and run game, they don’t have what it takes this year in the passing game to find wins late. For Texas to out-pound the defending Big 12 Champions was a statement. Credit improved linebacker play, improved schemes, and tremendous depth on the D-line for Texas having multiple games this season where they got stronger down the stretch against opposing rushing attacks.
Quick thought no. 4: Roschon’s touchdown
I mean the second one in particular. You know, this one:
What a terrific play to cement his tenure at Texas in DKR.
Ironically, this was a Wildcat play and specifically it was quarterback stretch. Texas used to run this for Sam Ehlinger all the time, although typically with a lead blocker to the edge rather than backside eye candy (Texas had a fake running back read opposite the flow and a sweep opposite).
Roschon was literally recruited to Texas to play quarterback and run the ball on this concept, that was the plan for his career.
Instead he had some mechanical issues in his freshman camp and found himself on a team with only one healthy, scholarship running back entering the season. So he volunteered to move positions. He’s always had to play second fiddle behind Keaontay Ingram or Bijan, but he’s always been worthy of more and he’s always been there to offer exceptional, hard running for Texas when they needed it. As a team leader and captain, he’ll go down as a Longhorn legend, and Sark will forever be grateful to him for the culture win to finish 2021 against K-State and the subsequent leadership he’s offered.
Had Roschon played running back for Baylor (was never a possibility, for the record) the outcome today could even have been different. I still think he could have been a great Mike linebacker as well, although Texas didn’t end up needing one this season. He’ll finish his Texas career with a lot left in the tank for the NFL and a universal approval rating. Texas wishes the best for him and for Bijan.
Quick thought no. 5: What’s the story in 2022?
Texas isn’t out of the Big 12 race, having done what they needed to do in order to give themselves a chance. Kansas will go into Kansas State’s Castle Snyder tomorrow with Jalon Daniels having already gotten his bad first game back out of the way against the Longhorns.
If Daniels can make magic happen, Texas will be in the Big 12 Championship Game for a rematch against TCU. It’ll have to be magic though, K-State is favored by 11.5.
If not, Texas will be the 3rd place team in the Big 12 with an 8-4 record and three wins better than a season ago. They’ll have played Alabama within a last minute field goal, beaten rival Oklahoma 49-0, beaten 2nd place team Kansas State on the road, and avenged losses to Baylor, Kansas, and Iowa State. Not bad.
Then perhaps back to the Alamo Bowl with a likely matchup against Washington, which would certainly be interesting for Sark and Pete Kwiatkowski.
Texas hasn’t quite got the Sark machine running just yet, but they are playing defense and running the ball better than they ever did for Charlie Strong or Tom Herman. If this is it for the 2022 Big 12 season then Texas will have major momentum heading into NSD1, portal season, and bowl practices.
