Quotables and Notables: Longhorns beat Iowa State 17-7 on the road

The Texas Longhorns (2-2, 1-0) defeated the Iowa State Cyclones (2-2, 0-1) 17-7 on Thursday evening at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. The Longhorns improved to 13-2 all-time against Iowa State with the win, including a 6-1 record at Jack Trice Stadium.

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Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando once again implemented a solid game plan, which was executed by the defensive personnel with energy, passion and purpose. The Longhorns held Iowa State to 10 yards rushing on the night and intercepted Cyclone quarterback Jacob Park three times, courtesy of DeShon Elliott (2) and Kris Boyd (1).

Herman Quotables

On his team winning their first conference contest, on the road, in a prime-time Thursday game on ESPN:

“I’m really proud of our team’s effort, intensity and accountability. You could tell that was a team playing for each other out there, not playing for themselves. Obviously, the defensive performance was phenomenal to hold a team to 10 yards on the ground and get the turnovers and fourth down stops that we did in their stadium is pretty impressive. Let me backtrack a little bit: We’re going to celebrate this win. Winning college football games is really hard. Winning on the road in conference on a Thursday night is even harder, and we’re going to celebrate it tonight.”

Tom Herman credited the Cyclones and head coach Matt Campbell’s defense for limiting the Longhorns’ offensive production, but it was the Texas defense that rightfully earned praise from Herman:

“They learned a very costly but valuable lesson in that Maryland game. You can’t play great defense if you’re evaluating and you’re thinking and you’re gauging or tip-toeing. You have to stick your foot in the ground and go and trust that the other 10 guys are going to be there right behind you. Our defense for the last three weeks has been doing that.”

Notables

Defense

DeShon Elliott’s 2 interceptions in the game brings his total on the season to 4 in 4 games and 7 in his career.
Kris Boyd’s interception was his first of the season and second of his career as a Longhorn.
Breckyn Hager, Malik Jefferson and Naashon Hughes each had one sack on the night.
The Texas defense allowed less than 100 yards rushing for the third straight game (Iowa State had net 10 yards on the ground). The last time this feat was accomplished was during the since the first three games of the 2010 season.
The seven points allowed are Texas’ fewest in a Big 12 opener since shutting out the Kansas Jayhawks 24-0 in the conference opener in 2014.

Offense

The Longhorns saw two true freshmen make career starts at their respective positions on Thursday night in Derek Kerstetter (RT) and Toneil Carter (RB).
Carter scored his first career touchdown on a 22-yard pass from Shane Buechele in the 2nd quarter.
Shane Buechele finished 19-of-26 for 171 yards and one touchdown in his return as the starter at quarterback. Buechele’s shoulder was injured in the team’s season opening loss to Maryland.
Chris Warren’s first quarter 11-yard touchdown run was the 10th of his career. Warren finished with 44 yards on 16 carries

Special Teams

Texas kicker Josh Rowland made good on a 49 yard field goal early in the 4th quarter. Rowland’s 49-yarder was the longest for the Longhorns since Nick Rose’s connected on a 53-yarder at Baylor in the 2015 season. Rowland is now 2-4 in FG’s made on the season.
Punter Michael Dickson punted seven times for 328 yards (good for a 46.9 avg), including a long of 61 yards.