Three-count: Christian Jones, Pete Kwiatkowski on the field, almost 300-yards rushing
After the Texas Longhorns’ 41-20 win over UTSA on Saturday, there were a few things Steve Sarkisian’s team put on the field that I found worth unpacking further.
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How about Christian Jones?
Entering the 2022 season, there was an expectation that several offensive linemen from Texas’ 2022 recruiting class would enter the starting lineup as early as Week 1. Kelvin Banks and Cole Hutson made that ring true at the left tackle and right guard positions.
There was also an expectation that more would join the first five as the season went on, with right tackle highlighted as one of the places a freshmen could take over.
Christian Jones had something to say about that.
Back home on the right side after a tough 2021 at left tackle, Jones believes he is playing the best football of his career, and his play on the field 100 percent backs that up.
“I’m definitely having fun,” Jones said postgame Saturday. “I’m just overly confident about what I’m doing. No second-guessing. Just see the play, line up, try my best. I definitely feel like there’s been a big improvement.”
According to PFF College, Jones has 106 pass blocking plays this year. He has only surrendered three pressures (a sack, a hit, or a hurry), and committed just one penalty. After his pass protection was a liability last season, it is undoubtedly now one of his strengths.
His play along with Banks’ on the left side has given Texas a formidable tackle tandem.
Pete Kwiatkowski is with his troops
An underreported story from this season is defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s presence on the field. Last year, Kwiatkowski called the defense from the press box. This year, he moved down to the field level to work with Jeff Choate, Terry Joseph, and Bo Davis.
“I think it’s good for PK to be down there for a couple of reasons,” Sarkisian said postgame Saturday. “It gives him a sense to feel the game. I’ve always been an on-the-field play-caller my entire career. I think there’s something about looking in your players’ eyes and getting a feel for the game. We trust the people that are upstairs for him, and I also think it helps from a substitution standpoint with our EDGE players of getting really good substitutions done.”
“All in all, I think it’s been a good switch.”
Though Kwiatkowski was on the field, Joseph and Choate were still the ones signaling the defense. Whether the move to the field is the reason behind the improvement is unknown, but it’s worth highlighting as the Longhorn defense has played well through three games with Kwiatkowski there to rally the troops.
So close to 300 yards rushing
The Longhorns were on the cusp of recording their third 300 rushing yard game of the Sarkisian era on Saturday, but fell two yards short.
If not for one late kneel-down and a late four-yard loss from Keilan Robinson, the UTSA game would have joined the Rice and Texas Tech contests from the 2021 season as 300-yard games on the ground for the Longhorns.
Last year, Texas carried the ball 41 times for 427 yards and six scores against the Owls with both Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson tallying over 100 yards on the ground. The Red Raiders failed to adequately defend 52 carries for 336 yards and four scores one week later.
Saturday against UTSA, Robinson and Johnson once again performed well. Robinson rushed for 183 yards on 20 carries with three touchdowns, while Johnson added 81 yards on the ground on 11 carries.
Those types of games help offenses dictate the terms of the contest. It took a little time for the Longhorn rushing attack to do that, but once Robinson rushed for a 78-yard score in the third quarter, the Texas offense began to tell the Roadrunners how the game was going to go.
