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satyanash

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Collecting post-game analysis articles regarding the Oklahoma State game here:

Cody Daniel: Initial thoughts from No. 20 Texas’ 41-34 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma State

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Burn the game tape. In one of the more frustrating performances from the Texas Longhorns in recent memory, Steve Sarkisian’s squad fell on the road to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 41-34. Here are a few initial thoughts from the game.

Texas completely collapsed. Again. There was a point when the Horns held a somewhat commanding 31-17 lead, but from that point on, it was all Oklahoma State. The Cowboys finished on a 24-3 run, including a 17-3 stretch in the second half and 14-0 in the fourth quarter as the offense got put on a milk carton and the defense slowly started breaking again after a strong start to the second half. And sure, you could argue that Steve Sarkisian and his staff aren’t the ones on the field failing to execute, but when Texas collapses and blows double-digit leads time and time and time again for nearly two seasons, that ultimately falls on Sark and his staff. Now, Texas is 5-3 on the year, and they’ve led in the fourth quarter in each loss and held double-digit leads in two of those — Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Texas has shown definite signs of an improving program in Year 2 of the Sark era, but the troubling theme of collapsing may be what prevents Texas from reaching its potential — this season and beyond if the theme continues.

Texas plagued itself with penalties. Across the board, various calls just prevented Texas from being anything close to a good version of itself. Numerous defensive pass interferences, critical holding calls including the one on Christian Jones that negated a chunk run from Quinn Ewers on the final drive, etc. Top to bottom, it was just incredibly undisciplined showing from the Longhorns to the point that you don’t deserve to win when you play like that. But maybe far more notably is how, miraculously, Oklahoma State didn’t have a single penalty to Texas’ 14 for 119 yards. Scratch that, they didn’t one called, because it’s literally impossibly to play a game without a single penalty, but it was that kind of day for Texas.

Special teams was the only unit that played well enough to win. And the MVP of that group was undoubtedly punter Danny Trejo, who pinned Oklahoma State deep in its own territory time and time again to keep the field position battle in Texas’ favor. Elsewhere, Keilan Robinson helped change the game with a muffed punt recovery and later sparked a field goal drive with a 38-yard kick return. Xavier Worthy produced much of the same, setting up a couple scoring drives after some chunk punt returns. Morice Blackwell also got in on the fun with a blocked punt that Texas followed with a touchdown just two plays later, and of course, Bert Auburn’s two field goals played a factor. In a game in which the offense and defense each had abysmal halves, the special teams was the one constant, but unfortunately, the other aspects of the game didn’t match that energy.

We might have just seen the worst game Quinn Ewers will ever have as a Longhorn. The freshman hasn’t played much football since his junior year of high school, and Saturday in Stillwater marked just his fifth career start as a Longhorn and first true road start. But it was far-and-away his worst outing to date, and might ultimately prove to be the worst of Texas career. To be sure, the 20-plus MPH winds certainly played a factor, but even in those conditions, Spencer Sanders was able to find his fair share of success, completing 34-of-57 passes for 391 yards and two touchdowns to one pick. As for Ewers, the young gunslinger was just off today today. He never really seemed poised or comfortable in the pocket, and thus, he rushed a majority of his passes. And a majority of those weren’t anywhere near their targets — he was completely airmailing many of them. Then, as the game went on, He was just locking onto one target and finding very little success. The result? a 19-of-49 showing for 319 yards with two touchdowns and three picks, including two costly ones down the stretch.

Winning on the road is hard — Tom Herman, is that you? It’s especially hard to go on the road and upset a top 15 team, but Texas had more than enough chances to do exactly that, and maybe even with relative ease, but couldn’t get out of their own way. But with this latest loss, Texas is just 1-6 in true road games under Sark, and has dropped each of the last five. The lone win in that bunch was TCU last season. That’s another concerning theme under Sark, and when you consider that Texas has two more road games this season against No. 17 Kansas State and an improved Kansas team, it causes some concern about how this season might end.

Gerald Goodridge: Texas collapses once again against Oklahoma State

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The Texas Longhorns again went on the road and went out sad, blowing a second-half lead to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, falling to 1-6 on the road under Steve Sarkisian. The Texas offense managed just three points in the second half, after building a 31-24 lead at halftime. Oklahoma State put together two touchdown drives in the second half with two punts, a missed field goal and back-to-back interceptions with the game on the line.

Freshman phenom Quinn Ewers had another tough performance, with 30 incompletions and three interceptions to go with his 319 yards and two touchdowns. Bijan Robinson tried to do his part, with 140 yards and a touchdown on the ground, along with 41 receiving yards and another touchdown. Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders also struggled with his accuracy, but managed to throw just one interception in the game while tossing two touchdowns. So now the Longhorns go into the bye week with questions to answer, especially with two more tough opponents on the other side of the break.

https://www.facebook.com/LonghornPod/videos/603794438198040/

 

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27 minutes ago, Monahorns said:

Not staying to sing The Eyes with the fans is what losers do.  Lose lose lose.  It's all they know how to do.  Lucky they didn't lose to Iowa St.

Still bitchasses.

I think Sark has made a little progress culture-wise.  But it's still the same bunch we ran out there last year, and mostly the year before.

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29 minutes ago, satyanash said:
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 In one of the more frustrating performances from the Texas Longhorns in recent memory, Steve Sarkisian’s squad fell on the road to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 41-34. 

I have to say I don't feel frustrated just kind of, you know, this is what they do. Sure we are all disappointed but is anybody that surprised? If somebody had told you last week how this game would have gone I suspect almost all of us would have been like "yeah ok that sounds about right."

I mean we have had multiple games just like this every season for years. I don't think it really stands out.

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1 minute ago, Valmy77 said:

I have to say I don't feel frustrated just kind of, you know, this is what they do. Sure we are all disappointed but is anybody that surprised? If somebody had told you last week how this game would have gone I suspect almost all of us would have been like "yeah ok that sounds about right."

I mean we have had multiple games just like this every season for years. I don't think it really stands out.

When OSU tied it up with 10 minutes to go, I turned to my friend and said "I think we both know how this is going to end now". 

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(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Slippage in Stillwater

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Texas and Oklahoma State fought a war of attrition in Stillwater. Both teams had players beat up before the game or dropping during it and back-ups were flowing in from both benches. Ultimately, Oklahoma State had a 4th year starter at quarterback and Texas had a redshirt freshman and each played like it.

Spencer Sanders zeroed in on Texas’ defenses, repeatedly beating the blitz and helping OSU convert four of five red zone trips with three touchdowns. On the day Sanders went 34-57 passing for 391 yards at 6.9 ypa with two touchdowns and one interception. He also added 11 carries for 43 yards, including some big scrambles which enabled scoring drives. Will he stay healthy carrying such a heavy load? No, but it didn’t matter today.

Quinn Ewers looked uncomfortable for the vast majority of the game, opening with an interception and finishing 19-49 for 319 yards at 6.5 ypa with two touchdowns to three interceptions. Texas couldn’t overcome that disparity (particularly when combined with other factors) and ultimately were beaten down over the course of this game.

The bye week comes at a great time for Texas to heal up and prepare for a back half of the season where the win to secure bowl eligibility is still uncollected and a single loss probably knocks them out of the Big 12 Championship hunt.

Quick thought no. 1: 16 targets for Xavier Worthy, four catches

One of Ewers’ big issues in this game was his reliance on Xavier Worthy, which Oklahoma State (naturally) figured out with time. On multiple snaps it seemed Ewers only had eyes for his star receiver, yet they could not connect due to miscommunications, errant tosses, and some heavy coverage shaded his way. With 16 targets Worthy’s way and only four catches for 78 yards and a score, the efficiency of Texas’ passing game was crippled.

That’s 4.9 yards per target when throwing to Worthy, much worse than Texas’ numbers when involving the other receivers. One of the worst moments came on a 3rd down where Texas had three receivers to one side of the field all facing man coverage with no deep safety and Ewers made a sort of token look their way before turning to try and fire in a dig at the sticks to Worthy which was bracketed by senior safety Jason Taylor.

Worthy didn’t even extend for it and it’s hard to blame him, the ball sailed high over his head and a huge hit would have been coming had he a realistic shot. In a related story, Texas was 3-17 on 3rd down for the day. This connection is one Texas has failed to effectively establish this season and will likely be a big point of emphasis in the bye week.

Quick thought no. 2: Texas’ secondary lost the war of attrition

Texas has some depth issues in the secondary, obviously. They lost Ryan Watts again, who’s impact was apparent in moments such as his red zone interception when Oklahoma State tried to work the ball to Bryson Green.

Once Watts was out, Texas really struggled with the physicality of Green, who’s shockingly listed at only 6-foot-1, 205 pounds. He plays a lot bigger, like many Cowboy receivers before him. Green would eventually run through the Texas secondary for the winning touchdown and finished with five catches for 133 yards and the aforementioned score.

Losing Watts hurt but at least they had some solutions worked out for this eventuality. They played freshman Jaylon Guilbeau at nickel and moved Jahdae Barron back to cornerback, as they’d settled on against Iowa State. However they also lost Anthony Cook early in the game and eventually Guilbeau went down as well. Kitan Crawford had some bad coverage busts playing for Cook and eventually was pulled for Michael Taaffe, who played three different positions in this game. Jerrin Thompson was clearly playing through some issues from the Iowa State game and Texas was running out of answers on the back end as the game progressed.

Lack of assignment soundness from Crawford is an obvious issue for this team. He’s the most athletic safety on the team but if they can’t count on him to be in the right spots it doesn’t help them. The depth chart gets thin behind him at safety and Taaffe has to run around to plug holes with what’s probably 4.8 speed at best. He did a solid job but there are some obvious deficiencies when he has to cover a lot of space as a nickel or field safety, he’s at his best working in the boundary helping to direct traffic and delivering some big shots.

Texas had a great start to this game on 3rd down, mostly by playing some base quarters coverages. As the game wore on and Sanders lost a little something they mixed in more man coverage and shut the Pokes down in the 3rd quarter. Then the injuries piled up and eventually they were just hanging on for dear life, a good initial gameplan forgotten as they scrambled to patch holes.

Quick thought no. 3: Jeff Banks nearly delivered a win for Texas

At various points in this game Texas had an awful lot go right on special teams. They blocked a punt, they recovered a muffed punt, they avoided Oklahoma State pinning them on a few while they successfully pinned OSU. Texas returned punts for 52 yards, including a Worthy return which set up a very short field (and a field goal). OSU had zero punt return yardage. Texas returned kicks for 109 yards, OSU had 61, and at various points Texas beat the touchback with long returns near midfield.

In the field goal game, Bert Auburn hit a pair of kicks and missed from 46 yards when they had a chance to take a late lead. OSU was also 2-for-3 in their own attempts. There was a lot to suggest a major disparity in this game which should have taken its toll, but it did not. Texas’ struggles at quarterback and in the red zone (3-for-3 but with two field goals) were major factors. Another was penalties.

Texas was called for 14 penalties for 119 yards, many of them pretty harshly called on defensive pass interference or offensive holding. Oklahoma State was called for zero penalties, a truly miraculous event the announcers hardly knew how to discuss.

Quick thought no. 4: Run game disparity

We knew Texas had advantages in the trenches in this game, it was really simply a matter of maximizing them and not allowing Sanders to outweigh them with his scrambling and throws into space. Texas held the Cowboys to 142 rushing yards on 40 carries for an average of 3.6 ypc.

They had issues with the split zone and accompanying arc-read runs OSU loves on the goal line, which lead to Dominic Richardson managing a line of 13 carries for 24 yards at 1.8 ypc and three touchdowns. Split zone beat them badly on a 51-yard run by Jaden Nixon as well. Beyond that and a scramble or two from Sanders, Texas defended the run very well once again.

Meanwhile the Longhorns ran the ball 32 times for 204 yards at 6.4 ypc and two touchdowns. Bijan Robinson looked like he was going to put up a Heisman game early on and still finished with 24 carries for 140 yards at 5.8 ypc and a score while also catching one ball for 41 yards and another score. Roschon Johnson added five carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. Texas just couldn’t get into the run game playbook often enough due to the disastrous nature of the passing game which routinely put them behind the chains.

Early on they were also crushing Oklahoma State with counter runs from 12 personnel, run to the weak side of the formation. Eventually the Cowboys started spilling the pulling blocker better and Texas’ tight ends struggled to lead around the edge, leading to some stuffed runs. They also loaded the box more and more aggressively as the game wore on, like Texas was facing back in 2021. Late in the game Texas almost imposed their will by forcing some runs only for a few incompletions to Worthy to derail another drive and lead to the missed field goal.

Quick thought no. 5: Growing pains…

Quinn Ewers’ amazing arrival on the scene in college football was obscured early on by a few key factors. His opener against ULM was solid but flawed, much like you’d expect from a first-year signal-caller. Then he had a fantastic opening against Alabama, executing a script they’d probably practiced all offseason, before leaving with injury. Ewers then had several weeks to practice before taking the field against Oklahoma with another well prepared gameplan against a team lacking a quarterback to oppose him. He was good, not necessarily dominating but certainly making several eye-popping throws.

Since then, Ewers has come back down to earth. This was his first road game in the Big 12 and the pressure of the moment was clearly getting to him. He struggled to step up in the pocket, get through progressions, or even deliver accurate balls in rhythm.

When executing more Southlake Carroll-esque 4-verticals concepts down the stretch he looked more comfortable than any previous point in the game and zipped in some throws that almost made it interesting. The idea of using that concept to find Ja’Tavion Sanders up the seam is one they should explore more this season. I heard from someone who attended the game live who was ultimately impressed by Ewers’ ability to keep coming after them and making several throws into whipping winds late.

Ultimately this will go down as a painful lesson for Ewers in what it’s like to face a smart opposing team on the road in a very hostile atmosphere where it seems the fans, officials, and even the wind are against you. You have to grit these games out with high-IQ play and physical toughness. It’s a lesson quarterbacks generally learn with experience, experience Ewers still lacks. Texas has a bye week to try and get him more comfortable again, figure out the Worthy connection, and rebuild the secondary before a big final stretch.

 

Edited by satyanash
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We certainly don't have a winning culture.

Does Oklahoma State though? Didn't they blow a big lead of their own last week? People still think we are this big powerhouse that requires elite precision to beat for some reason. Lots of mediocre non-championship meddle teams have beaten us. Tech isn't some bastion of winning football either. We made fuck ups and Oklahoma State took advantage. Good for them. 

But they were also out there tripping over themselves at times. This was not a pretty game for either club.

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Just now, Deej said:

If Okie State had a winning culture, they wouldn't be on the ass end of a 90-19-7 record against OU.

It is like Iowa State last year.

"We beat Texas! That means we have a FIVE STAR culture!" A five star culture that went 7-5.

Beating us doesn't mean anything. 

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Justin Wells: What Texas players had to say after the 41-34 loss to Oklahoma State

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Despite a double-digit second half lead, the No. 20 Texas Longhorns (5-3) lost to No. 11 Oklahoma State (6-1), 41-34, from Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. on Saturday. Here’s what the Texas players had to say following the loss to the Pokes.

Bijan Robinson, RB

“It hurts. It sucks. But we have a lot of season left to play. We can’t let this game stop the whole season. I just know that we are going to continue to work hard. Roschon (Johnson) and me are going to continue to be good leaders and keep trying to take this team in the right direction.”

On Ewers: You know he’s a young quarterback and when we play in environments like that, he just has to keep his composure, keep his head on straight. When a mistake happens, we have to say, ‘hey, am, don’t worry about it. Go back out there and get the next drive.”

Quinn Ewers, QB

When asked why he wore a glove during pre-game: “Early in the week I had my nail on my pointer-finger kind of lifted off the nail bed, but you know, obviously nothing crazy. It didn’t affect my throws. No excuses.”

“I mean, for myself, I think this shows that I could practice better. Because that’s what it boils down to; practice habits turn into game habits. And you know, I think Coach Sark does a great job on his practice schedule and what-not. And, you know, he’ll do whatever it takes. Yeah, overall, I think I just need to practice better and execute better on the field.”

Roschon Johnson, RB

“We just got to focus but I wouldn’t say it’s anything like last year. We continue to fight and we just got to get the little pieces and just stay locked up.”

Demarvion Overshown, LB

“You know, it hurts to the core. I’m hurting, everybody in the locker room is hurting and losing a big game on the road, going into a bye week, hurts. You know it’s going sting. It’s going sting a little bit longer now that we got a week off, but we got to be able to finish those. We got to be able to play complimentary football and got to be able to get them off the field on third down. We just got to move on to the next one. Take this bye week, get healthy, clean up things from this game and got another tough one here in 13 days, 14 days.”

On Ewers: “Like you said, it was a tough day at the office for (Ewers) but like I said, if I know Quinn, I know he’s going to be watching film tomorrow and Monday, and fixing those things that he didn’t do well tonight. It’s all about being disciplined, owning your technique, doing your job. And we didn’t do that collectively as a defense.”

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Never pay money to these numb nuts.  PK is the biggest problem with this team?  They give up 3rd and long every week.  They can't defend a slant or a go route against back ups.  PK should have been fired last year.  He is trash.

And Ian Boyd can't see the forest for the trees.  He can analyze on some level but there is something about him that just misses what is going on.  Bankrupt these guys so they can get back to writing for the fun of it and doing something productive for society.

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10 hours ago, Monahorns said:

Never pay money to these numb nuts.  PK is the biggest problem with this team?  They give up 3rd and long every week.  They can't defend a slant or a go route against back ups.  PK should have been fired last year.  He is trash.

And Ian Boyd can't see the forest for the trees.  He can analyze on some level but there is something about him that just misses what is going on.  Bankrupt these guys so they can get back to writing for the fun of it and doing something productive for society.

Agree but we did see defensive sets where they defended these passes well and this game cannot be put at the feet of just the D. PK needs to put them in a position to succeed or find another job. He's absolutely getting overpaid at this point. 

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Joe Cook: Texas can't overcome itself, OSU in Stillwater, drops another true road game, 41-34

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STILLWATER, Okla. — The No. 20 Texas Longhorns entered halftime with a 31-24 lead over the No. 11 Oklahoma State Cowboys in spite of uneven performances from the offense and defense. Texas accumulated near double-digit penalties while OSU was not flagged once. Texas struggled to sustain drives while the Cowboys made things happen to stay on the field.

Texas entered halftime with a seven-point advantage thanks to two scores from Bijan Robinson, one from Xavier Worthy, one from Roschon Johnson, and a Bert Auburn field goal. But those aforementioned trends in OSU’s favor? They continued throughout the second half. To no surprise, that helped Oklahoma State put 17 on the scoreboard to Texas’ paltry three. Once OSU took a 41-34 lead late, Texas looked to Quinn Ewers to overcome his poor outing and stage a comeback.

Ewers couldn’t rise to the occasion in his first road start. A interception off a deflection during Texas’ final drive, his third pick of the day, squashed the Longhorns’ hopes and solidified the final 41-34 tally.

Ewers struggled from the opening kick to the final whistle. He was 19-for-49 for 319 yards and two first-half touchdowns, and threw three backbreaking interceptions. Two of them came on the Longhorns’ final two possessions. After the game, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said he never considered pulling Ewers from the game in favor of Hudson Card.

The problems on offense went deeper than just the quarterback position. Ewers targeted Worthy a whopping 16 times. They only made four connections for 78 yards and the early first-quarter score.

Robinson tallied 140 yards on the ground and added a 42-yard touchdown, while Johnson had five rushes for 73 yards including a 52-yard score. But as the second half carried on, the Cowboy defense zeroed in on the run game and forced Ewers to be the one to beat them. Whatever the specifics of the plan was worked. Texas mustered 2.9 yards per carry on 15 second-half attempts. Texas had only 110 yards on 30 attempts that didn’t result in a touchdown across all 60 minutes..

Lackluster play from the quarterback position was paired with problems familiar and unfamiliar to the Longhorn defense. Pete Kwiatkowski’s side of the ball struggled to squash third-down opportunities (OSU was 8-of-19) and cover the middle of the field, neither of those being new developments. What was out of the norm was the volume of missed tackles. Those missed tackles helped spring Bryson Green free late in the fourth quarter for the winning score.

For the second week in a row, there were injuries suffered in the defensive secondary. Anthony Cook left the game with what Sarkisian described as a broken arm. But that absence wasn’t the reason for so many mishaps in the back end. No matter who lined up in the deep secondary, whether Jerrin Thompson, Michael Taaffe, or Kitan Crawford, they all struggled to complete the play.

When such a small discrepancy exists on the scoreboard, finding the wide statistical gulfs often point to the true difference in the game. Ewers’ struggles compared to Spencer Sanders’ steady performance in spite of injury (34-for-57, 391 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT) was one. Sanders also constantly found Green to the tune of five catches for 133 yards and his score. Texas didn’t have a receiver like that even with so many attempts.

But the most glaring disparity? Penalties. Texas committed 14 penalties, most deserved, for 119 yards. Oklahoma State was not flagged once. That free yardage helped the Cowboy offense stay on the field at some junctures and assisted the Cowboy defense off the field at others. Texas gained 523 yards with 319 through the air and 204 on the ground. But when operating behind the chains so often, the 14 penalties explain Texas going 3-for-19 on money downs despite those gaudy offensive stats.

All those numbers in concert? They create a difficult situation for Texas to overcome on the road against a top 15 team. And for the sixth time in seven games under Sarkisian, Texas heads back to Austin in defeat following a true road game. The only win? Last year at TCU. Texas enters the bye week at 5-3 and 3-2 in the Big 12. One of the main tasks in the bye will be for the team to lick its wounds and get healthy, especially in the defensive secondary. Cook, Ryan Watts, and Jaylon Guilbeau all left at assorted times in Stillwater.

Another main task will be to clean up penalties. It wasn’t just one side responsible for all of them. Texas had offsides penalties, holding penalties, false starts, and even a roughing the passer. Addressing those issues will be part of the process in solving the problem that has plagued Sarkisian most not just during his time in Austin, but as a head coach in general: winning on the road.

The next chance comes in Manhattan, Kan. in two weeks against Kansas State. If the Longhorns can win a third-straight game in Bill Snyder Family Stadium, it’ll serve as their first road win of the 2022 season and an important feather in the team’s cap. But until then, they’ll have to reflect on heading back to Austin without a win thanks to many familiar and unfamiliar failings in Stillwater.

Cody Nagel: Takeaways, key numbers, top performers from Oklahoma State's 41-34 win vs. Texas

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STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State found a way to win. The odds were stacked against the Cowboys before the game even began on Saturday with half a dozen starters inactive for a Big 12 battle versus Texas. The Longhorns blew a two-touchdown lead (again) and allowed Oklahoma State to fight back for a 41-34 victory inside Boone Pickens Stadium.

After Texas took a 31-17 lead late in the second quarter, the Cowboys outscored the Longhorns 24-3 the rest of the way. Defensive adjustments at halftime were crucial. Good thing Mike Gundy scrapped his locker room speech at the break. Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders put together another solid performance with a career-high 57 pass attempts for 391 yards and two touchdowns. Here is a closer look at the Cowboys' 41-34 win over Texas with the 2-4-7, a breakdown of the two top performers, four takeaways and seven key numbers to know:

2 ... PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Oklahoma State receiver Stephon Johnson Jr. (Photo: BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK, USA TODAY Sports)

STEPHON JOHNSON JR. | WR | FRESHMAN

At one point, the deep, young Oklahoma State receiving corps was down to just five scholarship players available to spread out on the field during Saturday's win. True freshman Stephon Johnson Jr. made his first career start and set new career marks with six receptions for 90 yards. He had four catches for 60 yards in the first half alone. It did not seem to matter who Texas had on Johnson in coverage, he continued to make big play after big play to inject some juice into the Cowboys' offense.

To get more information and access to Oklahoma State football, basketball and recruiting news, sign up NOW and get 30% OFF annual VIP membership or get ONE MONTH VIP access to GoPokes247 for ONLY $1
Oklahoma State safety Jason Taylor II (Photo: Bryan Terry, USA TODAY Sports)

JASON TAYLOR II | DB | REDSHIRT SENIOR

Whenever Oklahoma State needs a big play in the secondary, Jason Taylor II is usually there to make it happen. The redshirt senior safety came up with two crucial interceptions in Saturday's win over Texas and finished with a team-high nine total tackles. Unfortunately, Taylor came down awkwardly and injured himself after hauling in his second pick with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Taylor intercepted the second pass of the game from Longhorns' quarterback Quinn Ewers.

BONUS PLAYERS OF THE GAME

    Spencer Sanders, QB, Redshirt Senior
    Dominic Richardson, RB, Junior
    Mason Cobb, LB, Junior
    Bryson Green, WR, Sophomore

4 ... TAKEAWAYS

1) OKLAHOMA STATE HAD NO BUSINESS WINNING, BUT STILL FOUND A WAY

Oklahoma State was down six starters before the game even started and lost a few more to injury by the time it was over. The Cowboys had no business winning on Saturday over a dangerous Texas team that has loads of talent on paper. But, this is the Longhorns we are talking about. For years now, the easier things are, the harder it seemingly is for them not to mess it up. They usually find a way to lose.

Texas had its chances to blow this game wide open after going up 14 points with just a few minutes to go before halftime. Instead, the Longhorns blew a two-touchdown lead and let Oklahoma State hang around until it finally swung all the momentum in its favor during the fourth quarter.

This is one of the gutsiest wins in program history. The Cowboys were down before the game even started, but found a way to finish on top.

"I mean, it's big time, just because we're playing a lot of guys that never played (college) football before," Mike Gundy said postgame. "When you're in that situation, you're playing defense, you're trying to stop a team that's got seven NFL guys playing and you're playing with a bunch of freshmen out here. You know, it's a little bit scary, but gutsy is a good term. That's about what they did and they just kind of found a way to get done."

2) ONE TEAM ADJUSTED, THE OTHER DID NOT

Oklahoma State had a hard time defensively in the first half. The Longhorns put up 31 combined points and totaled 351 yards with an average of 8.6 yards per play in the first two quarters. Texas had 10 explosive plays with five passing plays of at least 15 yards and five rushing plays of at least 10 yards before halftime. Those 10 plays resulted in 277 yards and three touchdowns.

In the locker room at the midway break, the Cowboys needed to find answers on that side of the ball. Head coach Mike Gundy said he ditched his halftime speech and let the coaches go over the much-needed adjustments with the players.

"Part of this game is being able to make changes, come up with a plan, absorb information and then take it on the field, otherwise you don't do any good," Gundy said postgame. "And they did, they took the information. I let the coaches coach an additional six minutes at halftime instead of, you know, me getting up and giving them you know, my best Knute Rockne speech. I just said, 'Coach it up. Get it fixed and we'll roll.' That's what we did."

Man, did they ever. Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Derek Mason and the Cowboys held Texas to just a field goal on nine offensive possessions in the second half. The Longhorns' first six drives of the half last no more than four plays. The Pokes' defense forced five punts, a missed field goal and two interceptions to help seal the win late.

3) RUN GAME STRUGGLES OVERSHADOWED IN WIN

Oklahoma State still cannot find a consistent attack in the run game. The Cowboys totaled 142 yards rushing on Saturday, but averaged just 3.6 yards on 40 carries. A big 51-yard gain by Jaden Nixon — who had just one shoe on first most of the play — and two long scrambles by quarterback Spencer Sanders helped boost those numbers. Take out those three plays and Oklahoma State averaged just 1.7 yards on its other 37 rushing attempts.

Dominic Richardson scored three times near the goal line in the first half before leaving the game with an apparent injury. He had 24 yards on 13 carries. Nixon had eight total carries for 64 yards. Ollie Gordon got in the mix as well with four carries for 13 yards.

Oklahoma State continues to try and hammer the run game with another day of 40+ attempts on the ground. It was the fourth straight game and fifth time this season the Cowboys were held to less than four yards per carry.

4) THIS WAS A *VERY* IMPORTANT WIN IN THE BIG 12 RACE

Every game matters in the Big 12, especially this season with every team capable of winning every given Saturday. There is a reason it is the most-exciting conference in college football. That means the stakes in each game are higher than the one before. On Saturday, Oklahoma State gutted out a critical win as it tries to get back to AT&T Stadium in Arlington for the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game.

After Saturday's results, the Cowboys are now tied with Kansas State for second place in the conference standings. The two teams meet next week for a showdown in "The Little Apple." An Oklahoma State win would put it one step closer to a spot in the Big 12 title game, while a loss makes its chances slim with TCU still unbeaten at the top. The Wildcats, like the Cowboys, have just one loss in conference play after losing to the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth.

Here is a look at the Big 12 standings after Week 8:

    TCU (7-0 overall, 4-0 Big 12)
    Oklahoma State (6-1 overall, 3-1 Big 12)
    Kansas State (5-2 overall, 3-1 Big 12)
    Texas (5-3 overall, 3-2 Big 12)
    Baylor (4-3 overall, 2-2 Big 12)
    Texas Tech (4-3 overall, 2-2 Big 12)
    Kansas (5-3 overall, 2-3 Big 12)
    Oklahoma (4-3 overall, 1-3 Big 12)
    West Virginia (3-4 overall, 1-3 Big 12)
    Iowa State (3-4 overall, 0-4 Big 12)

7 ... KEY NUMBERS TO KNOW

.176 — Texas' offense started the game 0-for-5 on third down before converting back-to-back attempts for a first down. The Longhorns would successfully convert just one more third down play in the game to finish 3 of 17 (.176).

98 — Oklahoma State ran 98 offensive plays, which is the most in a game since Sept. 24, 2016, and third most in a game in program history.

0 — Oklahoma State was penalized zero times in the game. The Cowboys were flagged twice, one that was declined and another that was negated with an offsetting penalty on Texas.

391 — Spencer Sanders was just nine yards away from his third-career 400-yard passing game. The Oklahoma State quarterback completed 34 of 57 pass attempts on Saturday with two touchdowns and one interception.

51 — Oklahoma State running back Jaden Nixon provided a spark to the offense with a 51-yard gain on his first carry late in the first half. It is the second-longest run play of the season for the Cowboys.

13 — Oklahoma State was putting pressure on Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers most of the game, ending with 13 quarterback hurries. Ewers was sacked just once.

3 — The Cowboys came up with three interceptions in the game on defense, which matched the most turnovers forced in a game since Oct. 30, 2021, against Kansas.

 

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2 minutes ago, satyanash said:

"Part of this game is being able to make changes, come up with a plan, absorb information and then take it on the field, otherwise you don't do any good," Gundy said postgame.

".... otherwise, you might blow more double-digit second half leads than the rest of the conference combined over a two year span. Or I've been told. Anyway...."

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14 hours ago, satyanash said:

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Slippage in Stillwater

 

Worthy which was bracketed by senior safety Jason Taylor.

Worthy didn’t even extend for it and it’s hard to blame him, the ball sailed high over his head and a huge hit would have been coming had he a realistic shot. 
 

This just annoys me. I remember this play. 1st he was open. 2nd he gave no effort for the pass. That is never understandable. He didn’t even raise his arms. That is kind of an issue from someone who is supposed to be a leader 

 

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13 hours ago, Valmy77 said:

People still think we are this big powerhouse that requires elite precision to beat for some reason.

Haha yes. We are, what, in year 13 of being absolutely mediocre in every imaginable way? Nobody needs some sort of intangible, righteous “culture” to beat fucking Texas in a football game. It’s all narrative bullshit that helps them get their rocks off for a week every fall.

Another way of summarizing the game is “a senior QB, with a million career starts, outplayed the freshman who’s played about 12 quarters of college football, and led his higher-ranked team to a home win.” I know that doesn’t have quite the dramatic flair that “winning culture” has, but is quite a bit more grounded in reality.

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14 hours ago, Monahorns said:

Not staying to sing The Eyes with the fans is what losers do.  Lose lose lose.  It's all they know how to do.  Lucky they didn't lose to Iowa St.

Lol. These guys don’t give a shit about the Eyes of Texas or the University of Texas.  They don’t give a shit about an education. They’ve got one chance at life and that is making NIL money and going to the next level.  Barring that, most will end up flipping burgers at McDonalds and that’s if they actually decide to try to contribute anything to society. 

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15 hours ago, Valmy77 said:

We certainly don't have a winning culture.

Does Oklahoma State though? Didn't they blow a big lead of their own last week? People still think we are this big powerhouse that requires elite precision to beat for some reason. Lots of mediocre non-championship meddle teams have beaten us. Tech isn't some bastion of winning football either. We made fuck ups and Oklahoma State took advantage. Good for them. 

But they were also out there tripping over themselves at times. This was not a pretty game for either club.

Im tired of the media always saying "are they back/not back" "do they have a winning culture" blah blah blah

No other fucking team in the country gets put under that microscope. Lots of teams lose.  Are they back?  Who fucking knows because apparently its only Texas who can be back/not be back.

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15 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Still bitchasses.

I think Sark has made a little progress culture-wise.  But it's still the same bunch we ran out there last year, and mostly the year before.


Sark wasn’t out there signing the eyes himself. He’s the primary source of the loser culture. 

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53 minutes ago, cabowabo said:

Lol. These guys don’t give a shit about the Eyes of Texas or the University of Texas.  They don’t give a shit about an education. They’ve got one chance at life and that is making NIL money and going to the next level.  Barring that, most will end up flipping burgers at McDonalds and that’s if they actually decide to try to contribute anything to society. 

You sound like a fucking moron, and you'd probably be more comfortable on TexAgs.

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Bobby Burton: Looking at the good and bad from Texas football's loss to Oklahoma State

Quote

Everybody sees the bad in a game like yesterday’s. I can see them, too. But it’s not all that I saw. This wasn’t the same type of loss as a year ago. Texas football fought hard all the way through. They didn’t let Oklahoma State run the clock on them by running the ball down their throats. So where do we go from here? The team with the better quarterback won the game.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: In college football, the team with the better QB wins about 80 percent of the time. Sure, there are a couple of teams so talented that they may be able to overcome that, but Texas most certainly is not one of those teams at this juncture in time. And Spencer Sanders, a four-year starter, was decidedly better than Quinn Ewers yesterday.

Sanders didn’t get locked on to a single receiver, didn’t get rattled when Texas threw different defensive looks at him, and didn’t hear footsteps against a solid pass rush from the Horns. Ewers, however, did all of those things. He locked on to Xavier Worthy far too often. He was often flummoxed by coverages from Oklahoma State. And he definitely heard footsteps way too often.

But this is NOT a rip on Quinn Ewers post. Quite the opposite. It’s a recognition of where he’s at in his evolution as a player. Ewers has struggled two consecutive weeks primarily because he is a freshman quarterback. Think about it. Last week was the first time Ewers had seen an opponent drop so many defenders into coverage. This week, the bracketed coverage on Worthy was a new wrinkle, along with the three-high safety look. Plus he got popped in the face a couple of times in the first half which I think sped up his internal clock and feel in the pocket.

It doesn’t matter how talented Ewers is, or how easy the game seems to come to him at times, there are always firsts for any quarterback. And, by definition, that’s what is happening right now. The last two defenses he has seen both have a unique twist. Thankfully, that will likely be the end of the truly unique approaches in the conference. Yes, K-State, Baylor and TCU all play their own styles. But they’re not all that far away from what Ewers has now seen. Let’s see how he plays the second time he sees more of these defenses.

**

My biggest concern on the team is actually on defense. The secondary is a complete conundrum. And I don’t see any clear solutions. Anthony Cook is likely out for quite a while because of injury. And I don’t think there’s another safety ready to go in his place. Kitan Crawford simply isn’t there mentally when it comes to responsibilities and coverage. JD Coffey is not a pass defender. So where will the Horns turn? Perhaps they find a more fitting role for Morice Blackwell. Or they move Michael Taaffe full time to the spot.

Compounding the issue at safety is the mercurial play of D’Shawn Jamison and the health of Ryan Watts at cornerback. Jamison has unquestionably looked good in spots, but he’s also the DB who has looked the most overmatched at times. If anything, Jamison has been consistently inconsistent. Watts, meanwhile, made a big play against OSU, but had a dinged shoulder going into the game and then missed the rest of the second half with what appeared to be a hamstring strain. If Watts is on the shelf, it further limits who and what the Horns can do in their preferred scheme moving forward.

**

The Horns have two weeks to get healthier and to focus on beating K-State in Manhattan. It’s not an insurmountable task. But the Horns need more from Quinn Ewers and they need a reasonable solution to the secondary.

Coach V: Film doesn't lie for Texas Football

Quote

Coach Venable — There are always thousands of reasons why a team loses a football game. Blaming individuals or individual plays is a lazy excuse. Football is not an excuse making sport so let’s eliminate everything but the facts., thank you. Of course, sometimes established facts need a colorful opinion to spruce up the article’s interest but will try to stay on solid ground as long as possible.

OSU made more positive plays than UT on both sides of the ball. Fact. The OSU football field runs east to west. It may be the only major field in the country (high schools included) that doesn’t run north to south. There was a brisk wind swirling around the stadium. Sanders (OSU QB1) has practiced and played thousands of reps in those conditions. It can be stated that he has documented proof of what that ball might do in those conditions. Ewers (UT QB 1) had exactly two days to figure which way the ball would react on short, medium, or long tosses while his receivers had the same problem adjusting as well.

It’s much easier to throw with/against the wind than throwing into a sideways wind—will it knock the ball down or float it longer? Could the throw dip and swirl or go straight sideways and carry huge off target? We saw all of the above for both teams but it just seemed OSU throws danced into waiting arms while UT throws skittered into the ground.

The UT offense ran the ball very well in the first half of the game. The UT offense had major problems completing passes during the first half yesterday. OSU put one and one together and decided to add to the box to reduce the run and took their chances UT could complete a pass. Give credit where credit is due—OSU made one adjustment that had a huge bearing on the game by taking a chance and it worked. Tip your hat.

We had 14 penalties. OSU had zero. Wow, just wow. Our two stallions (5 and 2) made a ton of brilliant plays. In the first half they moved chains and crossed the alumni stripe during the first half. They also made sparkling maneuvers in the second half but these were getting back to the LOS. MT’s are unacceptable but these two rang up a ton of aw craps among the Cowboys.

Our pass protection had a tough day against a good defense. We may see a change in the interior very soon.

Speaking of MT’s our defense led the college football world yesterday. This wasn’t Bijan and Roschon dodging our flailing efforts but we made them look like our guys with an array of diving arm tackles backed up with direct missed targets too embarrassing to count. I thought players were to show improvement as the season wore on/out.

I found it interesting that we stuck with our audible through the thick and thin of their audibling. We would walk up the MLB to the LOS edge—they would in turn checkoff to a different play. We would then shift back our guy to the MLB alignment. We would then stunt our MLB into the A gap while they threw a pass over the short middle to a wide open receiver. What did we think they would checkoff to once we showed blitz from edge with our Mike backer vacating the middle?—how did we improve our standing by still stunting and leaving the middle vacant either way?

Yikes.

OSU is a good sound football team that doesn’t beat themselves. They have a tremendous advantage with their stadium. Those paddles three feet away make grown men pay attention. They have a quality coaching staff. They teach the game well. It’s not a crime to lose to a well prepared program.

We played very hard for the most part but our staff must figure it out—we can’t play our starters as many plays as we have been asking of them. When you see a Jerrin Thompson (28) on their last td or Jaylan Ford (41) in the 4th quarter pursuit you know they were pushed past their limit and that’s on the staff.

We have some terrific football players. Enjoy them. We don’t have a championship football team at every position. Hope they get better. We didn’t play well enough to win yesterday. Facts. We need the off week to heal up and hopefully work on fundamentals. We aren’t very good at those pesky traits. Putting—tackling. Practice.

Eric Nahlin: Quick Sunday thoughts on the long leash

Quote

There is no outcome yesterday that would have created a quarterback controversy. Quinn Ewers is the quarterback of the future for Texas. Steve Sarkisian is fully invested in him, which is even more clear now than it already was. However, fans should want to be having that useless argument right now because it would have meant Hudson Card came in and finished off Oklahoma State, a team that was begging to be finished off on numerous drives.

If the argument is pulling Quinn would have shaken his confidence, I'll rebut that with: that's not how he's wired, and, going 19-49 is much more likely to shake his confidence than being pulled for a series or two (or more depending on how Card played). I feel strongly Ewers is going to be a great college quarterback no matter what, so I find it questionable he learned anything of value in the 4th quarter. What exactly is going to carry-over to Kansas State? Did he really need to experience going 4/16 to Xavier Worthy to learn from it?

People with good memories are right to bring up the 2003 Tech game in which Chance Mock led a game winning touchdown drive. VY was 16-25 in that game with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. When he left the game Texas had 35 points on the board. He wasn't getting it done and Mack Brown made the "gutsy" call. Did Mack sacrifice VY's development or confidence? No, he played the quarterback he felt gave him the best chance to win. Saturdays are about winning, not developing.

Steve Sarkisian can feel he played the quarterback in the second half that gave him the best chance to win, but that doesn't make it a fact. Of course there's no way to know what would have happened had Card played but it's hard to envision him playing worse than Ewers on that particular day under those particular conditions.

If there's a good case for not making the switch, I haven't seen it yet. I suspect the only good reason might be scheme related, but that would be tough to believe given the growth we've seen from Card as a passer. It probably would have been a good thing to force Sark out of his comfort zone, and to go to much more reliable targets like Jordan Whittington and Ja'Tavion Sanders (and yes, he goofed up at the end but that info is hindsight).

We'll have a lot of questions to ponder during the bye-week but I'll be happy to put this one to bed today. While that was a frustrating game filled with poor play, missed opportunities, and questionable decision making, if you squint you can still see the makings of a good program.

 

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Holy shit this is aggravatingly accurate 

 

Oklahoma State was down six starters before the game even started and lost a few more to injury by the time it was over. The Cowboys had no business winning on Saturday over a dangerous Texas team that has loads of talent on paper. But, this is the Longhorns we are talking about. For years now, the easier things are, the harder it seemingly is for them not to mess it up. They usually find a way to lose.

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4 minutes ago, jinx said:

Holy shit this is aggravatingly accurate 

 

Oklahoma State was down six starters before the game even started and lost a few more to injury by the time it was over. The Cowboys had no business winning on Saturday over a dangerous Texas team that has loads of talent on paper. But, this is the Longhorns we are talking about. For years now, the easier things are, the harder it seemingly is for them not to mess it up. They usually find a way to lose.

It's pretty amazing with all our recruiting classes we get someone hurt and freaking walkons end up playing

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10 hours ago, cabowabo said:

Lol. These guys don’t give a shit about the Eyes of Texas or the University of Texas.  They don’t give a shit about an education. They’ve got one chance at life and that is making NIL money and going to the next level.  Barring that, most will end up flipping burgers at McDonalds and that’s if they actually decide to try to contribute anything to society. 

How badly do you just want to start dropping N bombs on this board every once in awhile?

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Good Listen... Hidden Yds lost killed Texas

On Texas Football:  Lunch with the Coach | Oklahoma State vs Texas Reactions | Texas Is Beating Texas

 

Hidden Yards Lost...

  • 119yds in penalties
  • 50yds+ lost on called back plays
  • 94yds   17 more Poke plays at 5.5yds/play

That's 263yds lost.

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Offense Post Mortem:

Quote

A schizophrenic performance by the Longhorn offense saw first half success and second half frustration, highlighted by 31 first half points and a solitary field goal after intermission. As in Lubbock, Texas managed to snatch road defeat from the jaws of victory. Right now, Texas fans are hoping that the second half turns that characterize Longhorn losses don’t characterize a broader second half turn of the Longhorn season.

A few key offensive numbers defined the game:

19

Texas had a season high 19 offensive possessions. That’s a lot. Consider that they had only 9 meaningful possessions in the entire Iowa State game. Half of their 10 first half possessions yielded scores (four touchdowns, a field goal) while nine possessions in the second half yielded 3 points. That field goal occurred on a 5 yard drive where Texas started with the ball on the Oklahoma State 20 yard line. In fact, the first six Longhorn possessions of the second half totaled 21 plays for 49 yards. It was during this stretch that Oklahoma State erased the Longhorn lead and the Texas offense frittered away the only quarter where the Longhorn defense was effective. During those six possessions, Quinn Ewers was 2 of 10 for 27 yards, had a mishandled snap for -7 yards, and a self-sack. That’s objectively bad, but subjectively it looked worse.

14-0

Texas had 14 penalties. The Cowboys had 0. I can’t offer much commentary on the pristine Cowboy performance, but the home cooking was likely hearty. As for Texas, most of their penalties were well-earned. Though some Longhorn penalties were questionable, many were clear errors that put the Longhorns behind the chains or cost Texas on a critical down. Interestingly, 31 points and 351 yards of offense came in the half where Texas totaled 10 penalties for 85 yards and they still left meat on the bone. The Longhorn offense failed to convert a 4th and 3 on the Oklahoma State 28 yard line by lining up in an illegal formation. Later, the Horns had a 2nd quarter drive that got to the OSU 12 yard line, but false starts on Karic and Sanders helped to create 3rd and 22 and an eventual Auburn field goal.

In the second half, Texas was largely clean on offense (while failing) but as the score tightened, Christian Jones was called for a pretty tough holding penalty that negated a long Ewers run. A couple of plays later, JT Sanders went offsides and on the next play the ball bounced a ball off of his hands for an interception that sealed the game. Hayden Conner added another motion penalty later. The Texas offense had 5 different penalties for procedure or lining up incorrectly. Pure mental errors than can’t be pinned on the zebras. The Texas offense left points on the field due to penalties, but they were thwarted more by awful execution and their second half stubbornness.

11/24 + 8/25 = 19/49

Question: How does a QB go 19 of 49 in modern football against a defense that surrendered 523 yards?

Answer: Because the head coach didn’t stop him at 13 of 34.

Quinn Ewers was a shaky 11 of 24 at halftime with an opening drive interception, but he totaled 190 yards passing largely on yards after the catch. In the second half, he went 8 of 25 for 129 yards and never completed consecutive passes. He opened the first six drives of the second half completing 2 of 10. A 32% completion percentage on total second half attempts doesn’t work anywhere outside of the service academies and that’s because the Army QB went 1 for 3, not 8 of 25.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to sit Ewers is a philosophical one and there are valid points to be made on both sides. At least as it relates to player development. Whether Ewers had the yips or had a physical issue becomes increasingly irrelevant as the 3 and outs mount and the Cowboys narrow the score. The goal is to win the game. Fear of a QB controversy should not enter into it. Any coach or fan more scared of media narrative and second guessing than trying to win has completely lost the plot. There are legitimate long term reasons to keep Quinn in the game and make him battle through adversity, but understanding where you are in the program build is far more important, particularly when you have a viable 2nd option available and it’s clear that the Cowboy defense is beatable. You must try to win the game. That’s ultimately the difference between a head coach who takes the heat (or praise) for a key personnel decision and a coordinator who can’t see the big picture in-game.

30-212-2

That little counter play install certainly served Texas well. 30 carries for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns is the combined stat line for Longhorn runners on Saturday. Texas runners averaged over 7 yards per carry, yet Texas found themselves throwing over 63% of the time with a freshman QB who was having a moment for four quarters. The simple argument is that Texas should have run the ball 50 times, but running efficiency is relevant as two Texas runs totaling 94 yards and 2 touchdowns were offset by 28 other runs for 118 yards. That 4.2 yard per carry clip outside of Bijan and Roschon’s touchdown runs isn’t bad at all, but there are a few considerations here:

First, Texas primarily made its hay on the inside counter wrinkle, pulling the backside guard and bringing the tight end across to kick out. Great game plan installation to counter Oklahoma State’s run blitzing linebackers. That run was really good for Texas, but OSU did make some adjustments. Unfortunately, the good ideas ran out and Texas couldn’t execute a second layer to this staple to target OSU’s adjustments either in the running or the passing game.

Second, the Longhorn QB threatening Stillwater bird life prevented the easy drive-extending passes needed to keep stubborn with the running game. It’s one thing to argue for running the damn ball, but when they load the box or it’s 3rd and 5 because Runs #1 and #2 didn’t move the sticks, you still have to find a new set of downs. Much of that is on the QB failing to execute throughout the 3rd quarter, but it’s ultimately on Sark for not making a personnel switch or having a foolproof short passing game counter to Cowboy adjustments.

Texas could have run the ball more by having a counter to the inside counter or by passing more effectively on shorter gimme throws. If Texas had been able to keep drives extended in the second half with short to intermediate balls in the wide receiver screen game, to running backs, to jet sweepers, or via play action to the tight end, the running game would have flourished, wore down the Cowboys, and ultimately won the game.

3/19

In my preview, I articulated that the only real collective strength of the Cowboy defense was 3rd down defense. That certainly bore out. Texas is more capable than going 3 of 19 on money downs for a 15.7% conversion rate and probably more capable than going 1 of 10 in the second half. It’s notable that the Horns managed to score 31 points while going 2 of 9 on 3rd down in the 1st half, but that’s attributable to multiple big plays. When the big plays dried up, it was incumbent on Texas to concern itself more with chain moving and making some scheme or personnel adjustments than trying to hit Xavier Worthy in double coverage downfield. If Texas even performs at the season average of other Cowboy opponents on 3rd down, the Horns are probably celebrating a win.

I’m not going to break down the positions. There’s not much point. A passable Longhorn passing game would have meant 45+ points on the board, ultimately more Texas runs, and fewer possessions for Oklahoma State to rally. The cause of second half inefficiency was the nexus between head coach, quarterback and perhaps the Longhorn receivers.

The offensive line, if imperfect, absolutely played well enough to win, including stretches where they featured three true freshman.

While Xavier Worthy’s lack of connection to Ewers throughout the game bordered on the surreal, it’s clear that the Texas signal caller and his receivers were not on the same page for most of the contest. I don’t know where the lion’s share of fault rests, but Ewers’ inability to get past his first read and a defective internal clock ignored open secondary pass catchers on multiple downs.

Ultimately, when the offense you want to run isn’t working because the QB isn’t making the throws available, you can either hope it turns, pare down the offense considerably, or you can make a change.

Sark bet it would turn and it didn't.

 

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(Scipio Tex) 2022 Texas vs. Oklahoma State Post Mortem: Offense

Quote

A schizophrenic performance by the Longhorn offense saw first half success and second half frustration, highlighted by 31 first half points and a solitary field goal after intermission. As in Lubbock, Texas managed to snatch road defeat from the jaws of victory. Right now, Texas fans are hoping that the second half turns that characterize Longhorn losses don’t characterize a broader second half turn of the Longhorn season. A few key offensive numbers defined the game:

19

Texas had a season high 19 offensive possessions. That’s a lot. Consider that they had only 9 meaningful possessions in the entire Iowa State game. Half of their 10 first half possessions yielded scores (four touchdowns, a field goal) while nine possessions in the second half yielded 3 points. That field goal occurred on a 5 yard drive where Texas started with the ball on the Oklahoma State 20 yard line. In fact, the first six Longhorn possessions of the second half totaled 21 plays for 49 yards. It was during this stretch that Oklahoma State erased the Longhorn lead and the Texas offense frittered away the only quarter where the Longhorn defense was effective. During those six possessions, Quinn Ewers was 2 of 10 for 27 yards, had a mishandled snap for -7 yards, and a self-sack. That’s objectively bad, but subjectively it looked worse.

14-0

Texas had 14 penalties. The Cowboys had 0. I can’t offer much commentary on the pristine Cowboy performance, but the home cooking was hearty. As for Texas, most of their penalties were well-earned. Though some Longhorn penalties were questionable, many were clear errors that put the Longhorns behind the chains or cost Texas on a critical down. Interestingly, 31 points and 351 yards of offense came in the half where Texas totaled 10 penalties for 85 yards and they still left meat on the bone. The Longhorn offense failed to convert a 4th and 3 on the Oklahoma State 28 yard line by lining up in an illegal formation. Later, the Horns had a 2nd quarter drive that got to the OSU 12 yard line, but false starts on Karic and Sanders helped to create 3rd and 22 and an eventual Auburn field goal.

In the second half, Texas was largely clean on offense (while failing) but as the score tightened, Christian Jones was called for a pretty tough holding penalty that negated a long Ewers run. A couple of plays later, JT Sanders went offsides and on the next play the ball bounced a ball off of his hands for an interception that sealed the game. Hayden Conner added another motion penalty later. The Texas offense had 5 different penalties for procedure or lining up incorrectly. Pure mental errors than can’t be pinned on the zebras. The Texas offense left points on the field due to penalties, but they were thwarted more by awful execution and their second half stubbornness.

11/24 + 8/25 = 19/49

Question: How does a QB go 19 of 49 in modern football against a defense that surrendered 523 yards?

Answer: Because the head coach didn’t stop him at 13 of 34.

Quinn Ewers was a shaky 11 of 24 at halftime with an opening drive interception, but he totaled 190 yards passing largely on yards after the catch. In the second half, he went 8 of 25 for 129 yards and never completed consecutive passes. He opened the first six drives of the second half completing 2 of 10. A 32% completion percentage on total second half attempts doesn’t work anywhere outside of the service academies and that’s because the Army QB went 1 for 3, not 8 of 25.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to sit Ewers is a philosophical one and there are valid points to be made on both sides. At least as it relates to player development. Whether Ewers had the yips or had a physical issue becomes increasingly irrelevant as the 3 and outs mount and the Cowboys narrow the score. The goal is to win the game. Fear of a QB controversy should not enter into it. Any coach or fan more scared of media narrative and second guessing than trying to win has completely lost the plot. There are legitimate long term reasons to keep Quinn in the game and make him battle through adversity, but understanding where you are in the program build is far more important, particularly when you have a viable 2nd option available and it’s clear that the Cowboy defense is beatable. You must try to win the game. That’s ultimately the difference between a head coach who takes the heat (or praise) for a key personnel decision and a coordinator who can’t see the big picture in-game.

30-212-2

 

That little counter play install certainly served Texas well. 30 carries for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns is the combined stat line for Longhorn runners on Saturday. Texas runners averaged over 7 yards per carry, yet Texas found themselves throwing over 63% of the time with a freshman QB who was having a moment for four quarters. The simple argument is that Texas should have run the ball 50 times, but running efficiency is relevant as two Texas runs totaling 94 yards and 2 touchdowns were offset by 28 other runs for 118 yards. That 4.2 yard per carry clip outside of Bijan and Roschon’s touchdown runs isn’t bad at all, but there are a few considerations here:

First, Texas primarily made its hay on the inside counter wrinkle, pulling the backside guard and bringing the tight end across to kick out. Great game plan installation to counter Oklahoma State’s run blitzing linebackers. That run was really good for Texas, but OSU did make some adjustments. Unfortunately, the good ideas ran out and Texas couldn’t execute a second layer to this staple to target OSU’s adjustments either in the running or the passing game.

Second, the Longhorn QB threatening Stillwater bird life prevented the easy drive-extending passes needed to keep stubborn with the running game. It’s one thing to argue for running the damn ball, but when they load the box or it’s 3rd and 5 because Runs #1 and #2 didn’t move the sticks, you still have to find a new set of downs. Much of that is on the QB failing to execute throughout the 3rd quarter, but it’s ultimately on Sark for not making a personnel switch or having a foolproof short passing game counter to Cowboy adjustments.

Texas could have run the ball more by having a counter to the inside counter or by passing more effectively on shorter gimme throws. If Texas had been able to keep drives extended in the second half with short to intermediate balls in the wide receiver screen game, to running backs, to jet sweepers, or via play action to the tight end, the running game would have flourished, wore down the Cowboys, and ultimately won the game.

3/19

In my preview, I articulated that the only real collective strength of the Cowboy defense was 3rd down defense. That certainly bore out. Texas is more capable than going 3 of 19 on money downs for a 15.7% conversion rate and probably more capable than going 1 of 10 in the second half. It’s notable that the Horns managed to score 31 points while going 2 of 9 on 3rd down in the 1st half, but that’s attributable to multiple big plays. When the big plays dried up, it was incumbent on Texas to concern itself more with chain moving and making some scheme or personnel adjustments than trying to hit Xavier Worthy in double coverage downfield. If Texas even performs at the season average of other Cowboy opponents on 3rd down, the Horns are probably celebrating a win.

I’m not going to break down the positions. There’s not much point. A passable Longhorn passing game would have meant 45+ points on the board, ultimately more Texas runs, and fewer possessions for Oklahoma State to rally. The cause of second half inefficiency was the nexus between head coach, quarterback and perhaps the Longhorn receivers. The offensive line, if imperfect, absolutely played well enough to win, including stretches where they featured three true freshman.

While Xavier Worthy’s lack of connection to Ewers throughout the game bordered on the surreal, it’s clear that the Texas signal caller and his receivers were not on the same page for most of the contest. I don’t know where the lion’s share of fault rests, but Ewers’ inability to get past his first read and a defective internal clock ignored open secondary pass catchers on multiple downs.

Ultimately, when the offense you want to run isn’t working because the QB isn’t making the throws available, you can either hope it turns, pare down the offense considerably, or you can make a change. Sark bet it would turn and it didn’t.

 

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I can't prove it, but I have this feeling that one of Sarkisian's flaws as a coach is disbelief in what his eyes are showing him.  It seems he disbelieved how bad his roster was last year.  He seems to disbelieve that PKs defense is FUBAR, which may be related to his coming to believe that his roster is not what he thought it was.  He disbelieved that Ewers was that bad and would stay that bad throughout the game.

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(Scipio Tex) 2022 Oklahoma State Post Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

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It started off encouragingly enough for the Longhorn defense in their first action after a sudden change Quinn Ewers interception deep in Longhorn territory yielded the Cowboys only a field goal. Unfortunately, that early standard did not hold. Texas played poor to passable defense against the Oklahoma State Cowboys for most of the game. The worst demonstrated by an end of the first half sequence in which Oklahoma State put together consecutive drives of 75, 63, 85 and 54 yards that resulted in 17 points. The bright spot in that sequential pummeling was a Ryan Watts interception in the end zone, where #6 demonstrated nearly flawless press coverage while also keeping his eyes on the QB and destroying any attempt at route. Sanders threw it on timing and wasn’t pleased with the result.

The Cowboys had 318 yards of offense and 24 points at half, largely on the strength of seeking out D’shawn Jamison in coverage (he was burned on a 3rd and 9 for 39, drew two PIs, his poor tackling directly contributed to two Cowboy touchdowns, early on and finally the game clinching 41 yard score), exploiting Longhorn penalties (and a weird phantom call on Jahdae Barron), the use of hard counts to draw easy first downs and tempo to confuse Longhorn defenders in the back 7. OSU started the game down three offensive starters. Additionally, I pointed out in the preview that Oklahoma State was playing with a compromised offensive line. The failure of the Texas defense to capitalize on this was notable. When there are weak players on the field up front, the failure to attack those bodies with a team strength is a little puzzling.

After limping into the locker room at halftime, the Texas defense came out with four consecutive series of outstanding defense, holding the Cowboys to four consecutive punts and only 38 yards of offense on 15 plays. The Horns switched to a lot of single high safety looks (perhaps more from injury necessity than inspiration) and brought an extra man off of the edge in the form of a safety, linebacker or corner about 80% of the time. The extra man didn’t do much, but it did create some penetrating 1 on 1 matchups inside on a bad Cowboy OL and it forced the OSU receivers to make quicker decisions. Unfortunately, the rock-ribbed effort that comprised most of the 3rd quarter was synced up to a Texas offense that had regressed into the fetal position. If Texas had any offense during that time period, Cowboy offensive adjustments would have been pushed into the late 4th quarter with the game already out of hand. Uncomplementary football.

OSU eventually made their offensive adjustments to the Longhorn looks and personnel losses, despite the absence of 2 starting receivers, a weak OL, an injured starting running back and an entire receiving corps comprised of sophomores and freshmen. Texas had key personnel losses but there were two unhealthy teams on the field forced to play some marginal starters and youngsters. One of them made the critical adjustments to win, with a senior QB likely the decisive difference. The Cowboys scored 17 points on their next four possessions starting in the late 3rd quarter and their last two meaningless possessions of the game were effectively clock running punt opportunities.

The Texas defensive staff was holding it together with chicken wire and duct game by game’s end as Longhorn injuries and exhaustion mounted. Further, a high possession game at tempo is going to yield points, but there are still too many critical errors by deployment and personnel in critical moments. On review, I identified a dozen or so that stuck out. I’ll share a couple:

No, I don’t really credit Spencer Sanders there. 3rd and 9 in Longhorn territory with Texas up 7 points in the 4th quarter. This is the definition of a critical down. Get your best personnel on the field. The Cowboys have a screen call on but it turns into a Sanders scramble for the first down and an eventual OSU score. Texas has a 3 man rush, but notice that the second level defenders are DTD and Oghoufo. An offset Oghoufo is apparently assigned as the spy. Texas had him deployed a dozen times like this throughout the game and it’s bad football. They are down a man in coverage and he is not a lateral mover or open field tackler in any alignment. The issue is further compounded by the fact that Vernon Broughton, who is lined up inside the offensive tackle, should be taking a hard slant inside to Sanders set up spot. The tackle he is going against gets no help from the guard, but Broughton mysteriously tries to work outside from an inside alignment, removing himself from play relevance and eliminating the idea of bouncing Sanders out to Oghoufo’s abandoned “spying alignment.” The sea parts like Moses waved his hand. This is a bad defensive call, badly staffed, poorly executed. The trifecta.

Here’s a seemingly innocuous goal line sequence for the first OSU TD run where the Cowboys score by exploiting personnel and a bad red zone approach. Skip ahead to 13:22 and watch both runs. Then rewind and walk through it with me.

These two runs are on the heels of consecutive offside penalties on Longhorn defenders. Not good, but the larger takeaway is that during the dead balls, if Texas wanted to sub personnel, they had ample time. It’s also the 9:40 mark in the 1st quarter. No one is tired.

Oklahoma State is inside the 10 yard line. Note the defensive personnel and alignment. 230 pound former 3rd string off-ball linebacker Devin Richardson is playing edge (he’s been practicing there for a couple of weeks). He doesn’t understand he’s supposed to squeeze and blow up the counter block from a backup wide receiver and he effectively removes himself from the play. Note Vernon Broughton on the field, the worst run defending DL in the Texas rotation by a significant margin. If Texas insists on playing base defense inside the 10, Richardson should be replaced by Collins/Ojomo and Broughton should be replaced by Murphy/Coburn. They should also ALL be slanting and we probably don’t want a run bubble directly over the center. This is losing football before the whistle blows.

Note that on the first run, the OSU RB Richardson doesn’t see the hole develop. He still gets positive yardage because Texas is totally outmatched. Gundy sees our defensive deployment and personnel on that run, immediately goes tempo and runs the same concept and Richardson attacks the proper gap. Easy touchdown. Jahdae Barron is left unblocked and his tackling effort is poor, but a 185 pound nickel isn’t stopping a 210 pound runner running downhill at that angle. When you dominate the bigs and the second level, an unblocked small coming laterally is irrelevant.

Note also that OSU doesn’t have to double team the interior DL. Broughton is whipped at the point of attack and they get bodies on the Texas linebackers. That can’t happen in goal line defense. Texas handed the Cowboys a touchdown in the part of the field where Texas should actually have significant advantages by both personnel and available space. Situational football matters. Oklahoma State cannot run the ball honestly in the red zone if Texas is in a proper defense.

Beyond the moments where I thought PK’s personnel and call didn’t match the game situation, there was plenty that went wrong that can be put on the players. Here's where the absence of Anthony Cook was sorely felt. Kitan Crawford tries to directs true freshman Jaylon Guilbeau and then blows the coverage. Danger Will Robinson!

On review, Texas had more hard hits on Spencer Sanders than I originally thought. Keondre Coburn, Moro Ojomo and Alfred Collins also played notably strong games. Devin Richardson actually exhibited more pure pass rushing talent than Oghoufo playing on the edge. Take that as you will. At this stage, it’s odd to watch PK try to sort through edge options when he has a healthy Ojomo and Collins and plenty of mix and match options in various fronts if he wants to employ Murphy, Coburn, Sweat etc.

The secondary is a problem without Cook and probably needs a rethink. D’shawn Jamison played terrible football when Texas needed a lockdown presence from the senior so they could simplify with the safeties while overplaying inside releases with the corners. While many Texas fans believe that playing Kansas State will mean relief for the secondary’s alignment issues, the premise of the entire Wildcat offense is based on 2nd and 3rd level assignment conflict. Teams that handle it shut them down. Those that don’t bleed big plays.

Special Teams

A terrific effort overall. Texas won every phase of the return game. Morice Blackwell blocked a punt, Trejo had a punt to the 1 yard line that should have turned the game and Worthy had multiple strong punt returns. Texas won this phase of the game convincingly and if you’d told me before the game that the Horns would have blocked a punt, returned another to the opponent 20, recovered a muffed punt in Cowboy territory and out gained the opponent by 100 yards in returns, a loss would have not been in my predictive index. Losing finds a way.

Final

When the Texas defense played good football, the offense betrayed it. When the offense played good football, the defense was AWOL. Special teams were let down by both. I have questions about how this staff deploys its assets on critical downs. With injuries in the secondary mounting and shaky depth on the second level, it’s more important than ever that Texas be right in the things it can control. Who you play and the defense you play on critical downs are in the staff’s control.

 

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I predicted PK would be fired at some point during the season and I think that is still a distinct possibility once a hobbled Adrian Martinez brutalizes our secondary and TCU’s receivers capture soul of our team like that guy in Mortal Kombat.  

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19 hours ago, Newy25 said:

I predicted PK would be fired at some point during the season and I think that is still a distinct possibility once a hobbled Adrian Martinez brutalizes our secondary and TCU’s receivers capture soul of our team like that guy in Mortal Kombat.  

Sark's post-game presser was the first time I thought PK is getting fired. He said something like "the game plan was to wall-off the OSU WRs inside out and force them to throw outside....I will have to look at the tape to see what a happened". We did not see the game plan that Sark was expecting. That is not usually good for someone's employment status.  

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2 hours ago, Codaxx said:

Sark's post-game presser was the first time I thought PK is getting fired. He said something like "the game plan was to wall-off the OSU WRs inside out and force them to throw outside....I will have to look at the tape to see what a happened". We did not see the game plan that Sark was expecting. That is not usually good for someone's employment status.  

Last week he said something about tightening up coverage too. 

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4 hours ago, Red Five said:

Scipio touched on this, but we seem to play Broughton a lot in short yardage/goal line situations. Why?

Because it works on a white board. Among our many…curious defensive strategies seems to be one where any 11 bodies on the field have the same value as any other 11 bodies on the field, and that the base package is a legitimate way to play short yardage defense. 
 

PK needs his make right guy, because he seems to be pretty tone deaf to the game in very obvious situations. We apparently have no one on staff capable of cutting out his headset and overriding some of his less well considered decisions.

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Scipio touched on this, but we seem to play Broughton a lot in short yardage/goal line situations. Why?

Not that I’d agree, but I’d imagine the logic - if there is any to it, and it’s not just a mindless, rigid, situationally inflexible rotation of X snaps per DL then sub - would be that he’s shown some ability to penetrate and they’re trying to feature that.

I tend to think there’s not much more to it than sticking to the rotations regardless of context.
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