Disaster in the Rockies – BYU runs wild on Texas

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For many months, Texas fans, led by the promises of Mack Brown, had pointed to the 2013 season as “The Year”. This would be the year things all came together, the year when a bevy of talented underclassmen would translate into 19 returning starters. This would be the year Oklahoma paid dearly for the destruction they’d laid on Texas the last few years. Things would be better, as Manny Diaz would have his LBs squared away and things would hum.

Then, signs of trouble emerged against New Mexico State, as for two quarters the worst team in FBS held serve with Texas in Austin.  We were told things would be ok, it was a slow start in the first week. Missed tackles were down, stars were born, and Texas would head to Provo and get a good tune up against a BYU team who had a QB who couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn coached by an Offensive Coordinator who was absolutely offensive.  A near two hour weather delay would simply give more time for Texas to settle in… then disaster struck.

In what can only be described as one of the most shameful performances in the storied history of Texas football, BYU rushed for a Texas school record 550 yards in a 40-21 demolition of the Longhorns that wasn’t nearly as close as the 19 point margin of victory. The Cougars brought in QB Taysom Hill, who couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn or run for anything a week ago, and Texas allowed him to rush for 259 yards, 3 touchdowns, and earn the nickname “Mormon Manziel”.

The Cougars got off to a fast start on the opening drive, blowing Texas off the ball for the majority of a 10 play, 60 yard drive. BYU Offensive Coordinator Robert Anae, for no reason, abandoned the run in the redzone, allowing Texas to hold BYU to a FG.  From there the Longhorns gained just 19 yards on three consecutive three and outs. Texas would eventually strike as Ash hit Mike Davis on a 57 yard strike to pull ahead 7-3.  The touchdown was needed, but before the score, Texas lost Daje Johnson to injury for the night. At the time, a big blow, but one which fans felt could be negated to an extent by the presence of QB/RB/WR Jalen Overstreet.

Trouble began on the next drive, where Taysom Hill broke free and ran 68 yards for a touchdown to put BYU back on top 10-7. The Horns would then largely abandon the run on a 9 play, 76 yard drive, capped off by a short Bergeron touchdown run where he had to do all the work himself.

The avalanche then began in earnest, as Taysom Hill ran 20 yards for a touchdown to put the Cougars head for good at 17-14. The following drive, on one of the only plays of the night not made by Hill or RB Jamaal Williams, Paul Lasike scored on a 10 yard touchdown run for a 24-14 lead. The half would virtually end with a BYU FG for a 27-13 advantage.

Interviewed at halftime, Mack Brown said the team just needed to “tackle”. He was correct, as the first half was a collage of missed tackles and exceptionally poor blocking by the offensive line, particularly upperclassmen Dominic Espinosa and Mason Walters. Still, the Horns were fortunate to only be down 14 at the half, still very much in the game. With 10:02 left in the third quarter, Taysom Hill would end any hope of a Texas comeback with a 26 yard touchdown run for a 34-14 Cougar lead.

David Ash did lead one last try for the Longhorns, throwing a 23 yard touchdown pass to Mike Davis to close out the Texas scoring for the night and pull the team to within 34-21. From there, the Cougars defense largely hammered the Texas offense, dominating the line of scrimmage and running wild through missed tackles and busted assignments by the Texas defense.  BYU would tack on two third quarter field goals for a 40-21 lead.

We finally saw Overstreet later in the game, just long enough to be tasked with trying to convert a 4th down play which was strung out and stopped. I honestly have no idea why Overstreet wasn’t in the game sooner. Speed was badly needed and lacking with no Johnson.

David Ash was injured on a mid fourth quarter run and replaced by Case McCoy, who did complete 5/10 passes for 62 yards, but was also largely ineffective against the Cougars. As stated, Taysom Hill finished with 259 yards rushing, Jamaal Williams ran for 182 yards, and Paul Lasike ran for 87.  As a team, BYU ran the ball 72 times for 550 yards, gaining a whopping 679 yards overall.

The Longhorns gained 132 yards on the ground, and Ash went 19/34 for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns, most while running for his life. While there were many calling for Ash to be benched much earlier, and his defenders ready to pounce on anyone who thought to say it, I don’t put this on Ash.  David Ash is what he is, a quarterback who can play with a lead or come back in a close game. He is not an elite dual threat option, he is not a fiery leader, and he is not a guy who will complete passes at an elite rate.

When the offensive line collapses, someone with much better wheels is needed, and the Longhorns seem to be protecting that guys redshirt (Swoopes).  Since that option was not there, then you need a guy with Ash who has elite speed and play making ability, yet that guy was not out there with him (Overstreet).  Mack and the crew left Ash out there to be hammered and didn’t put any legitimate weapons out there to help him.

Moving on, the defense was at it’s 2012 Diaz awful best tonight. I stopped counting missed tackles in the 20’s, Steve Edmond got destroyed more than once on run plays, and the defense never made any adjustments. The comment at halftime was made “Diaz has 20 minutes to teach them how to defend the read option”.  My reply to that is what has he been doing since last year?

Needless to say, the commentary from distinguished alumni like KDV, Emmanuel Acho, Brian Jones, Kheeston Randall, and others can be summed up as “What is this crap”. I spoke with several uncommitted recruits during the game, and though no one was giving up on Texas, there are a lot with real questions about this program after what they saw.

Hoping what I heard about Mack Brown blowing off Chip Brown’s tough question in the post game presser about giving up 55o yards rushing is not true. Brown absolutely owes answers for this.

I’m going to end this recap like this folks. Nothing is going to change. Mack Brown will be coach next week, next month, next year. Manny Diaz isn’t going anywhere. This won’t be the last painful night we sit through, and don’t you dare come back when the next guy fixes it if you aren’t here now. Some really hard working, talented kids are on campus now, they just need the adults above them to finally make the tough decisions for them.

(Edit – I was surprisingly wrong, as today Manny Diaz was relieved of duties as Texas Defensive Coordinator and replaced by Greg Robinson. Maybe things can change?)