HornSports Staff
HornSports.com
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- Oct 20, 2013
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Quarterback - It wasn't exactly a tale of two halves for Tyrone Swoopes on Saturday, but Swoopes did seem to regress as the game moved along. To begin the game, the Texas QB completed 4 of 5 passes with a 2 yard TD pass to Swaim. After that drive, Swoopes was only 7 of 18 with an interception - with only three of the completions coming in all of the second half.
What was more perplexing was the fact that the coaches only chose to run Swoopes two times in the game: one on the first drive for -5 yards and the other midway through the third for 4 yards. It was an odd gameplan for the young QB, as he constantly threw deep "jump balls" down the field, had difficulty staying on the same page with his receivers, and rarely used his legs.
Grade: D
Running back - The Texas five star backs are finally looking worthy of their rating. While there are questions regarding the effectiveness of the gameplan surrounding the quarterback, there's no doubt that the offensive coaching staff put together a great plan to attack the middle of the West Virginia defense. The Longhorn RB's took advantage of the great gameplan and rushed for 240 yards and 3 TD's.
Malcolm Brown got the backs started by running over and through the WVU front and Johnathan Gray finished it off with some outstanding runs, including a big highlight run with an ankle-breaking juke that turned into a diving finish into the endzone.
As average as this group has looked all year, it was refreshing to see this group play up to their potential.
Grade: A
Wide Receivers/TE's - It's difficult to grade this group with the fact that a great deal of the passes thrown were low-percentage deep jump balls. That said, there is some responsibility that falls on both parties when the passer and the receiver aren't on the same page, and that happened far too often at critical points in the ballgame.
There were some good areas for this group too, including: both catches by the TE's being productive (1 first down and 1 TD) and some very good blocking (both by the TE's and downfield by the WR's).
But 10 catches as a collective group and wrong routes/missed line calls-audibles is unnacceptable this late in the year.
Grade: C-
Offensive Line - A lot of credit has to be handed out here. Let's first get it out in the open that the Longhorns played the entire game with only 6 offensive linemen, as injuries have taken its toll out of this group. This is a group that has struggled, even against poor defenses, to establish a solid ground game as well as protect the QB. Against, WVU, that all changed.
The Texas offense on Saturday racked up 239 yards rushing and 3 TDs while passing for 124 and a TD. While Texas QB Swoopes did experience pressure, specifically in the second half, the Longhorns gave up no sacks on constant blitzing by the Mountaineer defense.
The OLine improved for a second straight game. It wasn't a perfect performance considering the lack of second half efficiency, but the group continues to get better week-by-week.
Grade: A-
Defensive Line - The statistics show a different game than what the scoreboard showed. Texas surrendered 200 yards rushing with 2 TD's - on the surface, that doesn't look great. But what it doesn't show is the fact that the Longhorns consistently pressured the WVU QB into quick throws, applied a constant push to WVU's O-Line, and forced the Mountaineer offense into completing only 3 of 17 first downs.
The Longhorn defensive line was responsible for 35 tackles, 3 sacks (all by Reed), 6 TFL's, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, 3 QB hits, and one HUGE safety that gave breathing room for the Longhorns in the second half.
There were some poor plays, including the lack of contain on a long 62 yard run midway through the fourth that put WVU back in the mix. But there were bigger gamechanging plays and performances by the whole group that held a hot Mountaineer offense to their worst offensive performance since losing to Alabama in the first game of the season.
Grade: B
Linebackers - Much like the D-Line, the Linebackers are responsible for the large yardage surrendered to the Mountaineer offense, specifically the 200 yards rushing. Against an offense like WVU's that spreads the defense, it's more difficult for the LB's to impose their will unless they are constantly blitzing, which wasn't necessarily the case on Saturday.
The LB's did give up a good deal of rushing yards, but they also had a big hand in forcing the Mountaineer offense into a third down efficiency and out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.
It wasn't their best game, but they did the job.
Grade: B-
Defensive Backs - Giving up 248 yards passing doesn't seem like a big success against many teams, but the fact is that the Texas secondary held WVU to almost 100 yards below their season average. Moreover, the Mountaineers may have completed 36 of 49 passes, but 248 yards on 36 completions equals a low 6.8 yards per reception which indicates that the Longhorn secondary did a fantastic job of keeping the passing game in front of them. It also means that they did a fantastic job of cutting down on missed tackles and not allowing WVU many yards after the
catch.
The biggest play, however, by the secondary may have been the interception by Quandre Diggs late in the second quarter. The turnover came immediately following a missed 46-yard field goal by Nick Rose. That play allowed the Longhorns to run more time off the clock and finish the half up 24-3.
The Longhorn defensive backs, once again, played a big game.
Grade: A
Special Teams - In many games on the season, the Longhorns Special Teams have had a negative impact on the scoreboard. This week, it was nearly the opposite. While Texas started the game off poorly in regards to special teams by allowing a 48 yard kickoff return after a TD as well as a short 23 yard punt by Russ on the Longhorns' next possession, the rest of the game provided huge plays by the Texas ST's that impacted the outcome in their favor.
Following the poor punt, Charlie Strong made one of the best coaching moves he's made on the season when he benched Russ in favor of Michael Davidson. What occurred after was a downed punt at the one, which forced WVU into a short possession and gave the Longhorns favorable field position (which turned into 7 points for Texas). Later, another fantastic punt by Davidson and great coverage by the Texas punt unit downed the ball at the 2, which turned into a game-changing sack/safety by Cedric Reed.
There were still some mistakes later in the game, including a facemask penalty on a punt that gave WVU good field position in the 3rd quarter, but the defense held up and forced a failed fourth down conversion. On the plus side, there were two onside recoveries, a big FG before the half, and several kickoffs that flew through the endzone, ensuring no returns would be made.
Overall, the Special Teams played well and, for the first time all season, they had a positive outcome on the game.
Grade: B+
