Inside the Play: Bijan Robinson rumbles through Roadrunners for a 78-yard score
The No. 21 Texas Longhorns entered halftime of their contest with the UTSA Roadrunners tied at 17. It took a trick play, an onside kick, and savvy play calling from Jeff Traylor and his staff to even the score, but the Conference-USA squad from down Interstate 35 stayed with the Longhorns for the first 30 minutes.
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UTSA took the kick to start the second half, but their six-play drive ended with a punt. The Texas offense took the field, but Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian had a message for Bijan Robinson ahead of the series.
“Right before the first play of the second half, I told him ‘just run through these guys,’” Sarkisian said postgame. “I said ‘enough of the dancing in the hole, spinning, and all that stuff. Just start running through ‘em and you’re going to hit a big one here.’”
The Longhorns took over and Robinson rushed for two yards. Then from a Wildcat set, Roschon Johnson took the snap and read the UTSA defense.
“Sure enough, it was two plays later and (Robinson) hits that long run,” Sarkisian said.
Johnson read the EDGE defender and handed the ball off to Robinson, who followed blocks from Christian Jones and Ja’Tavion Sanders.
“I had to follow JT’s block to see where he was going to hit it,” Robinson said. “Right when he made that block, I just hit it underneath him.”
Jones, Kelvin Banks, and Jake Majors sealed off several Roadrunners who elected to crash to the wrong side of the play, Johnson’s fake drew the Buck, and the corner is nowhere to be found.
“When I saw Bijan breaking, I definitely had my hands up like ‘touchdown’ before he even crossed midfield,” Jones said.
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Robinson then ran the rest of the way untouched to complete the 78-yard score, the longest of his career. Despite being dinged up after the Alabama game, Robinson ran 20 times for 183 yards and three touchdowns against UTSA. The rushing yardage total is tied for the second highest of his career, and the three rushing touchdowns ties a career high.
It was part of a 299-yard effort on the ground from Robinson, Johnson, and Hudson Card. With the pass game limited both by Card’s lingering ankle injury and Ewers’ absence due to a shoulder injury suffered in the Alabama game, the Longhorns relied heavily on the running game in their 41-20 win over the Roadrunners.
“Sometimes, when you’re running the ball it doesn’t happen right away,” Sarkisian said. “Over time, it starts to break and people start to get out of their gaps.”
After the Roadrunners took a 17-7 lead with 9:36 left in the first half, the Longhorns went on a 38-3 run. It was powered mostly by the run game, with the Wildcat playing a key role in the Longhorn’s winning effort.
How formidable is the offense when Johnson and Robinson are in the same backfield together?
“When we get it going, its hard to stop because you’ve got two running backs going at the same time,” Robinson said.
