Texas has a short week requiring immense focus
There’s been a lot of back-slapping among Texas fans and players in the past 36 hours. And rightfully so. The Horns soundly defeated Iowa State in Ames. It was as satisfying of a conference victory as there has been this season.
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But now is the time for the players and coaches to re-focus.
Texas Tech comes to town Friday riding a three-game conference win streak. The Red Raiders have taken care of TCU (35-28) and Central Florida (24-23) at home, and went on the road to Kansas and beat the Jayhawks 16-13 on some last-minute heroics.
Couple of things to note:
– In Saturday’s game against UCF, in the fourth quarter the Red Raiders blocked a PAT from UCF that would have tied the game at 24.
With more than 5 minutes left in the game, the Knights never got the ball back. Tech sustained a drive and drained the remaining time left on the clock.
Point is, Joey McGuire‘s team is not the same Air Raid style many are accustomed to in Lubbock. Instead, they rely heavily on running back Tahj Brooks and the short passing game to move the sticks and keep opposing offenses off the field.
Brooks had 24 carries for 182 yards against UCF. He has 1,352 yards on 250 carries on the season and is the unquestioned focal point of the Tech offense.
– Tech D-lineman Jaylon Hutchings left the UCF game with a lower leg injury in the second half and did not return. Hutchings is one of the better defensive lineman in the league and joins Tony Bradford Jr. as the league’s second-best tandem on the defensive interior.
Hutchings and Bradford were key to limiting the Texas rushing attack in Lubbock a year ago. And I’m sure they’re confident they can do it again, this time in Austin.
Last year, Bijan Robinson rushed for 103 yards on 16 carries. But forty of those yards came on a single carry.
Meanwhile, the combo of Roschon Johnson and Keilan Robinson were much less effective. The duo rushed 11 times for just 24 yards.
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UCF was able to run the ball against the Red Raiders effectively. But the Knights employ the QB run game, which Texas does not.
– Tech also has a pair of tight ends that could cause red zone issues for the Horns, like they did a year ago. Mason Tharp is the primary. But Baylor Cupp is also capable.
– It’s also worth mentioning that Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers did not play in that game against Tech a year ago. This will be his first time going up against the Red Raiders.
Ewers is 196-279 (70% completion rate) on the year for 2,513 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. Compare that to his numbers a year ago, and it’s clear the second-year starter is showing vast improvement.
Ewers completed just 58-percent of his passes in 2022 for 15 TDs and six INTs, which means his TD-INT ratio has also improved.
And so have his yards per attempt. He has already passed for 300 more yards on 20 fewer passes this year than he did in 2022. Ewers’ improvement has been tangible.
**
Max Abmas hit a fadeaway jumper with less than a second left on the clock to beat Louisville 81-80. Virginia transfer Kadin Shedrick led the Horns’ basketball team with 27 points. Texas is 4-0 on the season and plays defending national champ UConn tonight at 6pm. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
