Following three straight losses to conference opponents, the Longhorns looked to beat Iowa State in Ames, Iowa to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately for Texas, the bleeding would not stop as junior running back Breece Hall and the Cyclones ran away with a decisive 30-7 victory.
The story of the game for the Longhorns on defense was missed tackles. As a result, Hall was able to sidestep Texas defenders time after time, bouncing off bodies for sizable gains. Hall, the Big 12 Conference’s leading rusher, added another 136 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns to his season stat line in Iowa State’s home win. Furthermore, while Texas’s defensive line did a serviceable job of applying pressure to Cyclones senior quarterback Brock Purdy, the unit too often lost contain and allowed Purdy to improvise on the fly. Ultimately, Purdy finished the game with 252 passing yards and did not notch a single passing touchdown or interception.
While Texas’s defense once again struggled to create any sort of magic, the Longhorns offense certainly supplied no favors. In fact, Texas’s starting quarterback Casey Thompson was pulled before the end of the first quarter in favor of Hudson Card. However, the quarterback change was unable to create a spark for the real position that needed one, the offensive line. On Saturday, Iowa State routinely rushed three down linemen yet was able to consistently force pressure against Texas’s five offensive linemen and additional chip blockers. By the game’s final whistle, the Cyclones were able to produce five sacks against Texas’s offense as both redshirt junior Will McDonald IV and redshirt senior Eyioma Uwazurike tallied 2.5 sacks apiece. Due to Iowa State’s ability to penetrate the line of scrimmage, Longhorns sophomore running back Bijan Robinson found himself being group tackled behind the line to gain on most rushing attempts. Despite a lack of protection, Robinson was able to finish the game with 90 yards on the ground, most of which came late in Saturday’s contest.
Thanks to Texas’s loss to Iowa State, the team has now lost its fourth game in a row, a feat that has not occurred since the 2010 season during Mack Brown’s tenure at Texas. Entering the final stretch of the season, it is clear that the Longhorns need someone to step up as a leader now more than ever.
Next Saturday, the Longhorns will host Kansas at Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, with kickoff set for 6:30 P.M.
Notable Texas Statistics:
- Hudson Card – 101 passing yards & 1 touchdown
- Bijan Robinson – 18 carries for 90 yards rushing
- Brenden Schooler – 12 tackles
