Inside Texas Roundtable: Texas vs. Iowa State storylines, players to watch, predictions, and more

Texas has a chance to go to Ames, Iowa, leave with a 10-win season, and inch closer to a Big 12 Championship game appearance.

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The Inside Texas staff offers stories to watch, players of note, predictions, and more.

The running back room is without Jonathon Brooks. What do you want to see from CJ Baxter and company?

Eric Nahlin – Baxter needs to run more assertively. He’s not contact averse and he doesn’t lack speed and quickness. All his current shortcomings are a byproduct of indecisiveness. He was challenged this week. We’ll see how he responds. The other backs I just want to see matched to the right play call and situation.

Justin Wells – A balanced attack for Baxter, with help from Jaydon Blue, Keilan Robinson, and possibly Savion Red.

Ian Boyd – Good pass protection, hard running, and the avoidance of negative plays. Texas needs to win this game by throwing the ball, the running backs just need to make sure they do their part and let the receivers do the heavy lifting.

Joe Cook – One of Brooks’ best qualities was his vision. He once he saw a hole develop, he was decisive in getting to it and through it. Baxter can go when the read is clear, but not so much when it’s muddied. Expect a decent amount of gap runs this week, but Baxter has to prove he can run behind zone schemes as well. Elsewhere, expect Jaydon Blue to get a few more conventional down carries.

Gerry Hamilton – Zero turnovers on the road to start. Iowa State is going to force high-end execution by Texas. Pass protection for Blue, Keilan Robinson and Savion Red. Baxter isn’t going to be given 25-30 touches as keeping him healthy the rest of the way is imperative. Blue and Robinson’s touches could be as much in the horizontal passing game as the running game since they don’t fit the inside zone run game scheme.

Bobby Burton – They need to find run plays that Baxter and Blue execute at a high level. They aren’t the same ones that Brooks liked to run, so there needs to be a little help from the play-calling.

Paul Wadlington – You don’t understand how much run maximization helps the offense until it’s gone. Baxter needs to rise to the occasion with respect to running through contact and not tiptoeing around the corner. Way too much acceptance of the tackler. If he looks like he did against TCU, Robinson or Blue need those snaps. The problem is that Baxter is our best pass protector and I expect Texas to throw the ball around a bit in Ames.

Which defensive players are the most important this week for the Longhorns?

Eric Nahlin – T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy. They’re viewed as team leaders and were just called out. They need to kick Jarrod Hufford‘s ass up and down the field.

Justin Wells – T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy. Reputations are on the line.

Ian Boyd – Jarrod Hufford threw down the gauntlet against T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy. Iowa State is a ball-control offense who wants to pick up steady gains by running or throwing underneath and the Texas D-tackle tandem can stop that in its tracks with a big day. Big day for Texas’ safeties as well in terms of clean communication and not allowing anything to slip. I’m curious if the rotations tighten up to feature only the slower but more reliable veterans, Jerrin Thompson and Michael Taaffe. It’s not as though the Cyclones are going to threaten to take the top off in the passing game.

Joe Cook – I’m inclined to hop on the Murphy and Sweat train but I think Matt Campbell is smart enough not to challenge the two best defensive linemen in the country. With that in mind, I’ll say the second level defenders Texas trots out most often in Jaylan Ford, Anthony Hill, and Jahdae Barron.

Gerry Hamilton – Texas defensive line will dominate the line of scrimmage. Iowa State will move the pocket quite a bit. Iowa State will attack the edges in the run game and short passing game. Outside ‘backers and safeties need to play at a high level Saturday.

Bobby Burton – Ethan Burke and Barryn Sorrell. Those two need to get after the passer while also being strong against the run. If they have a great game, Texas wins.

Paul Wadlington – If the DBs won’t allow an early outlet and Pete Kwiatkowski will allow inside pressure to free 1-on-1s for our DL, I think the Texas DL can make things very uncomfortable for ISU’s very chatty, not so athletic OL and young QB.

Saturday could clinch Texas’ first real 10-win season since 2009. Although it has different meaning today than 1970, what does it say about the program if it reaches that threshold?

Eric Nahlin – It would be indisputable evidence Steve Sarkisian knows how to pull off a rebuild. He did it at Washington and now he will have done it at Texas. The program is on the right trajectory, now the question is how high can Sark take it.

Justin Wells – The trajectory remains upward. Steve Sarkisian has the right temperament for the Texas job and it continues to show in wins.

Ian Boyd – It’d be more solid confirmation that the Sarkisian hire was a good one and the program is on track to be nationally competitive again. But ultimately, with the league how it is this year, Big 12 title or the season is a disappointment. Ten wins and no title would be less validating in my eyes than 9 wins and the Arlington hardware and new WWE belt they’re going to strap to the title game MVP. As it happens, it looks like getting the title will mean winning 12, so that’s where the bar is for a meaningfully good season.

Joe Cook – It proves Steve Sarkisian has built a program that can beat other Big 12 teams handily on good days and survive thanks to accumulated talent on bad days. Plus, there remains more room to grow.

Gerry Hamilton – Last season’s eight wins show the program is ascending. This year it’s 10. It’s extremely hard to negative recruit against a Texas program if they are continuing to show ascending signs on the field, and follow up with 7-10 NFL draft selections in April.

Bobby Burton – Oh, I think it says what we all think it does. That Steve Sarkisian has this thing headed in the right direction. It may not always look perfect, but it looks a hell of a lot better than 5-7.

Paul Wadlington – That we’re moving in the right direction.

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Score prediction

Eric Nahlin – 27-24, Texas. I’m going to ride the current trend until the program demonstrates it’s outdated.

Justin Wells – 37-20, Texas

Ian Boyd – 31-20, Texas

Joe Cook – 26-20, Texas

Gerry Hamilton – 27-17, Texas.

Bobby Burton – 23-20, Texas

Paul Wadlington – 26-19, Texas