The Texas Longhorns set off fireworks in the first half. It was the best first half of the season.
The Longhorns coaching staff facilitated the first half beatdown. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski so outmatched Kansas State’s coaching staff that the Wildcats looked like they didn’t belong on the same field.
Sarkisian did what we thought he might do offensively utilizing his quarterback Maalik Murphy’s plus deep passing ability to his advantage. Murphy landed a couple of deep shots punishing the Kansas State secondary.
In the offseason, we wrote that the K-State secondary would be easy to beat this season. We weren’t expecting even the Texas backup to feast like he has today.
The Longhorns defense played much more aggressive defense like we wrote they could succeed with this week. The team utilized far more press coverage and was seen sending defensive backs into the backfield to pressure. Those pressures yielded positive results.
On particular blitz sent safety Jerrin Thompson directly into the running back. Kwiatkowski’s calls shut down the Wildcat running game and forced the team to beat them through the air. Through one half, K-State has for the most part not been able to capitalize.
The Longhorns lead 17-7 entering halftime. Here are the highlights from the first half.