Power running appears in Austin
Malcolm Brown. (Will Gallagher/IT)
*quotes added below
Is the power running game, unleashed at Texas Tech, the new identity of Texas’ offense? Or, was it just a one-night stand against college football’s worst defense?
There is no ‘D’ in the Re- Rai-ers, and Texas rolled to a season-best 241 rushing yards. Most of them came behind reliable RG Kent Perkins who enjoyed his best outing of the season. The ground-and-pound tactic saw Texas bolster its line with TEs and, more than at any time all season, used FBs as lead blockers.
One week after Malcolm Brown carried just six times against Kansas State, the senior rumbled for 116 yards and two TDs to give Texas its first 100-yard rusher of the season. Johnathan Gray added 77 yards on the heels of a season-best 17 carries. Co-offensive coordinator Shawn Watson acknowledged Tuesday that Gray, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury last season at West Virginia, is running with more confidence and strength than at any time this season.
“Johnathan is more of a slasher while Malcom is a thudder and slasher,” Watson said.
Watson stopped just short of acknowledging it was the O-line’s best outing of the season. Instead, his praise was diffused among all who had a hand in generating 10 explosive plays (six runs of 12+ yards, four receptions of 16 yards), particularly his WRs who threw downfield blocks.
It was one of the few times this season that Texas passed to setup the run. At the final whistle, John Harris enjoyed a career-best 165 receiving yards.
“When you get the running game going,” Harris said, “it opens up the passing game. We need to get that going Saturday (against West Virginia).”
The run game allowed Tyrone Swoopes to take deep-shots down field, including a career-best 68-yard strike to Harris. His 13 completions were just as many (or, just as few, depending on your perspective) as he had at Kansas State. But his 228 yards through the air Saturday more than doubled his passing 106 yards in the shutout loss at K-State.
“It puts guys in the box when we run the ball,” Swoopes said, “and I tried to throw it over their heads.”
First-year coordinator Tony Gibson was hired to upgrade West Virginia’s porous defense. Gibson’s 3-3-5 scheme has elevated its defense from Manny Diaz-wretched to simply mediocre. The Mountaineers are giving up 389 yards, and nearly 26 points, per game – including 34 points in its last-second win at Texas Tech.
Meanwhile, WVU’s up-tempo offense has shown plenty of quick-strike capability and is averaging nearly 35 ppg in Big 12 play. As such, Watson was asked Tuesday if Texas’ offense has evolved to where it could hang with the Mountaineers in a shootout.
“We’ve got to plan for that,” Watson said. “It’s in the playbook.”
QUOTES
“He played a really good game in terms of getting us in a lot of the right plays. He did a great job getting us in the right plays. He was good in his decision making.” – Shawn Watson, on Tyrone Swoopes
“On his touchdown run, he made a great move. Is it confidence now or is it strength or a combination of both? The touchdown run, the move he made on the safety to create the run, the finish of the run, was something you don’t see a lot. He’s just an outstanding athlete with instincts, and he’s probably learning to trust and be confident in his rehab now.” – Watson, on Gray
