Instanalysis – Texas Bowl

FINAL SCORE: Arkansas 31 – Texas 7

 

 

 

First half: Arkansas 24 – Texas 7

 

Second half: Arkansas 7 – Texas 0

 

 

 

First half observations

 

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[*]Big stop by Diggs on the opening kickoff. The Hogs had the sideline setup and Alex Collins would have gotten big yardage.

 

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[*]Three straight running plays to open the game for the Horns net a first down. But 2 of the next 3 plays are passes, and the OL didn’t hold up against the Arkansas pass rush.

 

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[*]Peter Jinkens was in position to make a negative play on 2^nd down (Arkansas’ second drive that started in Texas territory), but he overran the play. Costly mistake.

 

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[*]The strip by Mykkele Thompson and resulting fumble that popped straight into an Arkansas player’s arms was dumb luck. The fact that it only cost 3 points instead of a touchdown is a credit to good defensive focus. Thompson also made a nice open field tackle on the next drive that saved big yardage (on the play where Hicks was flagged).

 

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[*]Huge holes from the Texas OL in the run game in 1^st quarter. They didn’t pass block well though.

 

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[*]The referees missed an obvious hold on Hughes, and a pushoff by the WR on Arkansas’ first touchdown. The no-calls result in a 10-0 lead, and that’s a tough spot for the Texas offense.

 

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[*]On the goal line fumble, it looked like Johnathan Gray was not expecting a handoff.

 

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[*]10-0 was a “tough spot”….17-0 is disastrous for this team. Texas now has to change their game plan and throw a lot, and based on the pass protection in this game, that’s troublesome.

 

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[*]John Harris (2) and Daje Johnson each made nice catches to help boost Swoopes on the TD drive after the goal line fumble. Also give an assist to Jacorey Warrick on the kickoff return. Teammates picking up their QB in a critical spot.

 

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[*]There hasn’t been much to be critical of with the Texas defense all season, but letting Arkansas march down the field right before halftime negates any momentum that the Horns built when they scored their TD.

 

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Second half observations‘”

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[*]The sack by Naashon Hughes that was negated by a PF penalty when he grabbed Allen’s facemask was so typical of this game.

 

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[*]Arkansas wasted a nice return and easy penalty yards when they missed a field goal on their first drive of the third quarter. A 17-point lead is safe, a 20-point lead might’ve iced it. Texas is on life support, but breathing.

 

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[*]The deep throw where Daje Johnson was out of bounds was a nice play call, a good throw, and a horrible use of personnel. Most wide receivers score on the play. I don’t fault Johnson, he did catch it after all – my beef is with Shawn Watson.

 

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[*]After suspensions and injury resulted in limited time for Daje Johnson this year, the fact that his number was called so regularly in this game was a total surprise.

 

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[*]The 3^rd quarter was forgettable for both teams.

 

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[*]In Jaxon Shipley’s and John Harris’ last game, I expected a big performance out of one of them.

 

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[*]Arkansas punched in a 4^th quarter touchdown and the crowd started up the S-E-C chant.

 

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[*]The Texas offense looked good against the Razorbacks’ second team defense. Then Swoopes threw an interception. It capped off the night appropriately.

 

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[*]Total game time was 3 hours and 15 minutes. The second half seemed longer than that.

 

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[*]Texas only had five second half possessions. Four of them were 3 & out with negative total yardage.

 

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Two takeaways

 

1. Aside from the goal line fumble, Tyrone Swoopes didn’t play horribly. Sure he missed a few passes, but find me a quarterback that doesn’t. A big share of the offense’s ineptitude goes to the OL, but Swoopes did nothing to spark the team tonight – that’s troubling.

 

 

 

2. 6-7 is a losing season any way you slice it. Most Texas fans believe in this coaching staff and the direction of the program. But John Mackovic and Mack Brown only had one losing season apiece. The Horns play Notre Dame, TCU, and OU in their first 6 games of 2015. If the team is 3-3 at the halfway point next season, the bandwagon will be emptying quickly.

 

 

 

Notable Stat’s‘”

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[*]Texas ran 24 plays in the first half, and just 19 in the second half. The offense never gained 6:00 in TOP in any quarter.

 

[*]The Longhorns racked up 7 penalties for nearly 300 yards.

 

[*]The Horns averaged 0.1 yards per rush (net) and 2.3 yards per passing attempt.

 

[*]The top 4 tacklers were DL and LB – a strong performance and big reason the Hogs averaged less than 4 yards per rush.

 

[*]Other than on their lone touchdown drive, the Texas offense never had a drive of more than 6 plays.

 

[*]6 of the Horns’ 11 drives were net negative yardage.

 

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