Powered by the rush, No. 21 Texas surges past UTSA

Despite being favored by nearly two touchdowns, No. 21 Texas knew the challenge the UTSA Roadrunners presented on Saturday night, and were able to run right through it.

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UTSA lived up to their tough-minded billing typical of any team coached by Jeff Traylor. The Roadrunners even pulled out several items from their bag of tricks, including a surprise onside kick and a double pass for a touchdown. It garnered them a 17-7 lead with 9:36 left in the second quarter.

“You know, they went up 17-7 after the double pass and I didn’t think our team blinked for a second,” Sarkisian said. “From that moment on, we outscored them 34-3. I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage after that. We were able to run the football. We were able to stop the run. We were able to get off the field on defense.”

As Sarkisian said, the Longhorns leaned on a strong running game and limited UTSA quarterback Frank Harris to ignite their run. Bijan Robinson rushed 20 times for 183 yards and three scores, Roschon Johnson tallied 11 carries for 81 yards plus a receiving touchdown, and quarterback Hudson Card added 35 yards on the ground as part of the near-300 yard effort that fueled Texas’ 40-21 win over the Roadrunners.

The Longhorn rushing attack was mostly absent last week versus Alabama, but it needed to arrive and perform in front of the 102,520 at Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday to stave off the UTSA upset attempt. Not only was typical starting quarterback Quinn Ewers unable to play, but Card was limited in his own right due to an ankle issue.

Robinson and Johnson picked up most of the slack. Texas accumulated 91 yards on the ground in the first half, then kept pounding the rock in the second half to the tune of 207 yards on 15 carries.

“I’m just blessed,” Robinson said. “Just want to thank God, first of all, for getting out of the game healthy. You know, they just started popping and opened it up in the O-Line. I found the hole and I just hit them.”

The Texas offense arrived a little late, not putting any points on the board in the first quarter. That put the Longhorns at a three-point deficit following UTSA’s 20-play, 74-yard drive with a field goal. Johnson started the Longhorn scoring efforts in the second quarter, hauling in an 11-yard pass from Card for a score.

UTSA fought back and retook the lead, then recovered an onside kick, then kept the trickery up with a lateral from Harris to running back Brenden Brady, who found Zakhari Franklin in the end zone to take a 17-7 lead.

At this point, the Longhorns were put in a position that would test their mettle. They were down 10. Harris, the 2021 C-USA player of the year, was slicing through the Longhorn defense with quick passing and well timed scrambles.

“Our big thing was it was way too early in the game to start to panic,” Sarkisian said. “Let’s just get back to playing sound football, good football.”

Unlike last year, when the Longhorns wilted time after time after time after time after time after time, this Texas team responded. After entering halftime tied thanks to a Robinson touchdown and a Bert Auburn field goal, Texas stopped the Roadrunners to open the second half. Robinson and Johnson entered the backfield, and Robinson exited the field moments later after a 78-yard touchdown rush.

With only a one touchdown lead, the defense did their part to help the Longhorn winning effort. Called by Pete Kwiatkowski, who made the move from the box down to the field this season, the Longhorn defense outscored the Roadrunner offense 7-3 in the second half thanks to a timely pick-six with 18 seconds left in the third by Jahdae Barron. That turnover made the margin 31-20.

“It was crazy when I caught it,” Barron said. “I looked back, and it was a tight end, and I’m like, ‘It’s over, it’s a touchdown.’ I didn’t even know what celebration to do, that’s how happy I was.”

Robinson added another score early in the fourth, and Auburn tacked on one more field goal late just for good measure. The Texas defense either turned UTSA over on downs or forced a punt in the drives following UTSA’s last score with 3:21 left in the third.

Not everything was rosy on both side of the ball. The pass game was limited as Card couldn’t push the ball downfield, and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown was ejected when he was ruled to have committed targeting in the second half. Sarkisian said they would send the call to the Big 12 office for review to attempt to have Overshown for the entirety of the Big 12 opener versus Texas Tech.

But the response from Texas, led by a potent rushing attack, was what powered the Longhorns to a relatively easy win over the Roadrunners that saw second and third-stringers enter late for both teams. It showed that against a tough yet overmatched opponent, Texas could take their best blow and respond better than last year’s squd.

It also showed who really runs this Texas team’s offense in light of the current quarterback situation: those who run the football.