echeese
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View from the Cheap Seats-Iowa State
Demons exorcised
Make no mistake, this is BiJan Robinson’s team. Against the Cyclones, he put the Horns on his back, using both receptions and rushes and showed everyone why he is a Heisman candidate this year as well as a 1st round pick in next spring’s NFL draft. An exceptional performance where many great plays will not show up in the stat sheets, but it was his talent and drive that regularly turned 1-2 yard gains into 5 and 6 yard gains. Nothing better than watching him routinely break defenders’ ankles with his almost other worldly cuts. Good thing BiJan showed up strong as we saw Quinn Ewers come back down to earth more than a little. BiJan would finish the game with 28 carries and 4 pass receptions including an amazing grab on 3rd and 6 to carry the ball down to the ISU 9 yard line leading to an X Worthy TD pass which represented the game winning points in a 24-21 victory.
The ISU Cyclones and Matt Campbell come to DKR riding a 3 game winning streak over the Horns and the #1 WR in the nation with their own version of Xaiver, Xavier Hutchenson. Their Xaiver would have a monster game against the Horns, 10 receptions 154 yards but his biggest play was the only ball he dropped late in the 4th quarter which would have set ISU up at the TEXAS 8 yard line with a chance to take the lead. Our Xavier would have a nice game with 10 catches as well but the big difference, our Xavier turned two of his grabs into touchdowns. The 2nd off a pivot or whip route which left the DB clutching at air. He came off the line broke hard for the post then planted his foot, spun around and headed to the sideline. Just as they did in the 1st half when Jaylen Ford picked off the ISU QB in the end zone, TEXAS’ D, specifically Anthony Cook would hit their QB hard on off a scramble and force a fumble where once again Jaylen Ford was Johnny on the spot, recovering the fumble to seal the win for the Horns. We mentioned last week that the TEXAS D struggles against dual threat QBs. Today the ISU’s 4 star Sophomore QB would outplay TEXAS’ 5 star freshman QB. The turning point of the game would be TEXAS’ D (Jaylen Ford) coming up with 2 turnovers. Not unlike TEXAS, ISU likes to run 1st setting up the passing game.
We would be remiss if we did not give both lines some props. ISU’s Will McDonald, another spring NFL draft pick, came into the game needing 2 sacks to tie the BigXII record. He’s heading back to Ames still needing two sacks and frankly wasn’t much of a factor. OTOH, TEXAS would rush for 191 yards and 4.4 per carry. Ewers was not pressured consistently either. On the flip side, the TEXAS D held ISU’s rush game to 2.6 yards per carry and was a major factor in the outcome.
Steve Sarkisian arrived at TEXAS coming off a National Title at Alabama where he earned the Frank Broyles award for his contributions as their offensive coordinator. Last year raised tremendous questions about his ability to be a head coach including 4 double digit leads blown in the 2nd half of games on the way to a 6 game losing streak. He would finish with a 5-7 record, the worst for a 1st year TEXAS head coach in our history.
Demons exercised, for now. Setting up the coaching challenge, can Sark go from the lows of the Tech loss to the high of the Red River War rout and have the Horns ready to play against a well-coached team? Now let’s make this worse, your young QB who seemed to be playing far beyond his experience was miss firing pretty badly. Quinn Ewers came back to earth this week to follow up on his BigXII Newcomer of the Week performance vs OU. All part of the growth and maturation of a young player.
#1 positive for Sark, despite the Horns losing a lead in the 2nd half, they found a way to come back and win the game. So Sark can check off two demons, keeping his players from eating the cheese (well winning despite some cheese eating) and exercising the 2nd half, lost lead bug-a-boo. Next week’s challenge, a win vs a quality opponent on the road. If TEXAS wants to play for the BigXII title this year, they need to beat a very good Okie Lite team in a very hostile environment on the road. Then TEXAS gets a bye week to get ready for another road trip to KSU
Offensive Player of the Game:
This one is easy, BiJan with 28 carries for 135 yards (4.8 per) with 4 catches for 36 yards. The biggest his 26 yard reception to the ISU 9 setting up Xavier Worthy’s 2nd TD.
Honorable Mention
Xavier Worthy, 10 catches for 74 yards and 2 TDs
Defensive player of the Game
Jaylen Ford In addition to leading the team in tackles, his 1st half endzone INT was a big turning point in the game. His 4th quarter fumble recovery sealed the deal.
Honorable Mention
Ryan Watts. What you say? Him going out allowed their X man go off for a big day. Our secondary is much worse without him. Hope he’s ready for Okie Lite, we need him.
Stats that Matter
· 3-4 TEXAS touchdowns in the red zone, they would add a FG as well
· 4-20 Penalties by TEXAS for 20 yards. TEXAS is playing much better and not costing itself wins
· 13.7 ISU came into the game ranked #8 in the nation for points allowed, TEXAS scored 24.
· 43-26 Run to pass mix, expect us to be more balanced vs Okie Lite
· 69-13 TEXAS scoring in the 3rd quarter. Only 3 points this week.
· 9 TEXAS drives, 3 TDs (2 80 yard drives 1 75) FG FGA 2 punts one downs, average for this team. We need to be better and score on 50% or more of our drives.
Special teams
We had an up and down night on special teams. Killeen Robinson starts the game off with a blocked punt after the D forces an opening 3 and out. He would take a kickoff out to the 40 only to have it called back due to a penalty. Auburn was 1 for 2 on FGs while Texas Wesleyan portal transfer Daniel Trejo averaged 36 yards on punts with 1 pin inside the 20.
After some debate this past week, we saw Will Stone kick off to start the game with the ball going around the 3. ISU tried to return, pinning them at their 15. He would do the same thing before half pinning ISU to their 18. ISU would then fair catch 2 Kos and one would go for a touch back. We suspect this is intentional and Stone doing a very good job. We haven’t charted the whole year but it’s clear that Coach Banks and Coach Sark feel our superior athletes can effectively create a negative play to impact the field position game. A fair catch or touchback takes the ball to the 25 so for the game, Will was +17 in field position.
Conclusions
1st game of a tough 4 game stretch down, 3 more to go. In some ways, EXACTLY the kind of game TEXAS needed to play and win. Perhaps Sark saw that Quinn wasn’t “on” for the game and leaned heavily on the run game. This is the type of win that comes with a team growing and maturing. Clearly a dramatically better team than last year. We thought the scheme was vanilla by the O, needless to say, BiJan and Roschon answered the run first/run often call very well. Props to the D, especially the DL. We were concerned TEXAS did not put the game away early. Particularly blocking a punt in the shadow of their endzone only to come away with no points. ISU is the best D we’ve faced since Bama
On Deck
Okie Lite. A team that looks a good deal like TEXAS on both offense and defense. They will feature another dual threat QB in Spenser Sanders, likely the #1 QB in the BigXII today, which causes TEXAS problems (well dual threats cause everyone problems). Okie Lite can both run and pass well. You beat them by attacking their secondary. Sark and the team need to learn to win on the road, so far only 1 road trip this year. This will be the biggest conference game of the year for TEXAS and make no mistake, this will be a very hostile environment. We’re expecting a shoot out, hope we see more of the dirt bugler game plan by our offense.
Fighting Mack Brown’s
We missed the Fighting Mack’s last week, bit too excited about the Red River War outcome but no excuses. What an improbable win. UNC pulls it out late adding to another GREAT day of CFB. Game would not have been close except for Mack’s hiring of Gene Chizik whose defense was a sieve. Only 3-0 team in his division so they control their shot at the ACC title game and already bowl eligible.
Amazing day in College Football.
We remain convinced that College Football is the greatest sport in America. And what an early fall day it was, check out these amazing games:
· TEXAS coming back in the 4th to beat ISU
· TCU coming back from 2 scores down to beat #7 ranked Okie Lite in double OT. TCU tied it up thanks in part to the play of former TEXAS TE Jared Wiley.
· Tenn knocking off Alabama for the 1st time in the last 15 tries with a no time left on the clock FG
· Former TEXAS QB Camron Rising lead Utah to 2 4th quarter TDs and a go ahead 2 point conversion with 14 seconds on the clock to beat previously unbeaten USC.
· Michigan DESTROYED Pedophile State. We don’t like PSU
· Really good day to gorge on CFB.
Note
We were asked this week about our process for writing this. We have watched none of the post game shows (other than just highlights) nor do we read anyone else’s breakdowns or thoughts on the game. 100% ours for better or worse. We do this because we enjoy it and seems more than a few others enjoy the takes of the average fan, thus from the Cheap Seats.
Ranking the BigXII
#1 TCU 6-0/3-0 with an improbable comeback against Okie Lite and aided by TEXAS transfer Jared Wiley’s late TD, TCU moves to class of of the BigXII. TCU now has a game to give but set themselves up for half the CCG. Still a great deal of football to play. They should move into the Top 10 this week.
#2 KSU 5-1/3-0 Unbeaten in conference On the bye this week. TEXAS sees them after Okie Lite but with the bye to get ready
#3 TEXAS 5-2/3-1 Facing a better than their record ISU, TEXAS/Sark exercises some demons. Gritty win. TEXAS matches last year’s win total with 5 games to go. The road grows harder from here with the Top 3 BigXII teams on deck. Bye comes at a good time.
#4 Okie Lite 5-1/2-1 Seen it for years, Gundy blew it in the 4th quarter. With a touchdown lead, looking for a FG at around 6 minutes and looking to run clock, he calls 3 straight passes. Yep, you guessed it 3 straight incompletions.
Separation has begun in the BigXII, above is the class of the conference, below, not so much. the next 6 teams all have at least 2 losses.
#5 Jayhawks 5-2/2-2 Reality setting in but KU most likely going bowling.
#6a Baylor 3-3/1-2 Can they win 3 more to go bowling?
6b TT 3-3/1-2 Can they win 3 more to go bowling?
6c Dirt burglers 4-3/1-3 Playing for their best bowl bid
6d WVU 3-3/1-2 Can they win 3 more to go bowling?
10 ISU 3-4/0-4 Can they win 3 more to go bowling?
Way to early playoff votes
#1 Georgia
#2 tOSU
#3 Clemson
#4 Michigan
Just a bit outside
#5 UCLA USC/UCLA could determine the South winner
#6 Tenn Cocktail party may determine the East winner
#7 Bama Controls their destiny to the SEC title game but not sure they win out. Are we seeing a changing of the guard?
# 8 USC Need to win the South and the PAC to have a chance
Highlights
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