Five Quick Thoughts: UT 28 OSU 7

With a dominant 28-7 win in Stillwater, Texas is bowl eligible and on a 3-game winning streak heading into a bye week and subsequent showdown with No. 4 TCU.

1. This was Tyrone Swoopes’ best game

It made sense that Swoopes would take another positive step with the Texas run game helping the Longhorns to establish an identity, but Ty really picked things up in the 2nd half amidst struggles from the Texas run game.

Swoopes finished 24-33 for 305 yards and two TDs. That’s 9.2 yards per attempt after sitting at only 6.4 in the first half. Texas needed him to take over the football game and he did so.

Texas was 11-19 on 3rd downs with Ty completing several key passes to sustain drives and cover over the sins of the Texas run game.

Texas had the ball for 38:37 in the game and this luxury was afforded by Swoopes’ 3rd down efficiency. What’s more, he had to do it without Shipley in the 2nd half.

2. Strong’s strategy is working against the Big 12’s spread offenses

That strategy being “control the ball and play great defense.” Texas has won three consecutive games by comfortable margins against high-scoring spread offenses. Preventing opposing QBs from getting in a rhythm, wearing out your DL, and exhausting your defensive play calls has paid big dividends with Texas holding opponents well below their season averages on the scoreboard.

Granted two of these three opponents were awful and relying on walk-on QBs, but Texas’ D’s body of work over the season has been impressive.

3. This Texas DL is overpowered

Malcom Brown kicked things off with a sack on the first drive where the OSU right tackle and right guard double teamed him and he split the difference and took down Garman. Later, Hassan Ridgeway (Green Mile) sped past OSU’s overmatched center for a sack in the 3-3-5 set.

The team finished with 7 sacks and Garman threw for only 5.4 yards per pass and had -10 rushing yards.

Texas used the blitz at times but were also able to drop eight into coverage at times, sit on top of the deep routes where Garman was dangerous early in the year, and take away Hill underneath. This was made possible in large part because Texas’ DL absolutely obliterated the ‘Poke OL.

When the coverage and pass-rush work in tandem like this, these offenses can be made to look very ordinary in a hurry.

4. The 3rd quarter struggles continue

Texas’ emphasis on being a ball control offense has its advantages, but it becomes a challenge when you have a young OL and QB who don’t always adjust well to the opponents adjustments and execution errors kill drives.

Texas’ ability to dominate on defense has suffered when, in multiple games, opponents have had more time in the 3rd quarter to probe and attack the defense while the Longhorn O repeatedly sputters and punts.

Oklahoma St’s DL started playing more aggressively and pushing back Texas’ guards on zone whereas in the 1st half they were pushed laterally while trying to prevent creases from forming. Their penetration killed several Texas runs. The ‘Pokes also started bringing more pressures and their linebackers got some sacks as a result.

Texas is still learning to handle pressure, in particular Swoopes doesn’t navigate the pocket that well when blitzed. Of course it didn’t matter, as Ty made several big throws that covered these errors and ultimately put the game away.

5. This win was big for the future of the Charlie Strong era

Charlie guaranteed that Texas wouldn’t finish the regular season with a losing season, which almost seemed a guarantee when Texas lost 3/5 of the starting OL and the only college-ready QB on the roster before week two.

Although Harris was monstrous with nine catches for 117 yards and a TD, Texas also saw some players who will return in 2015 get in on the action.

Marcus Johnson made a big 3rd down catch and held onto the ball despite getting popped by an OSU safety, a positive step for the drop-prone WR. Army Foreman had a 3rd down catch of his own as well as a 45 yard TD where he took the top off the OSU defense. Jacorey Warrick also had a catch.

Texas will now have bowl practices to refine Swoopes’ skills and hopefully develop some of these young receivers who will be needed with Harris and Shipley departing.

Finally, Strong should have a good sales pitch to make to the top undecided in-state targets of a resurgent Texas program that he’s molding in his likeness. This was a big win for what it symbolized as much as how Texas dominated the game, the future is starting to clear up in a positive way.