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On Saturday afternoon the Texas Longhorns will battle Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas. Longhorns Wire has 10 reasons they win or lose.
After having players sit out practice earlier this week due to COVID-19 precautions, everything appears to be a go for the Texas Longhorns and Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday. This game will be featured as part of Big Noon Kickoff on Fox.
Continue reading “10 Reasons the Texas Longhorns win, Kansas State wins Saturday”
On Saturday afternoon the Texas Longhorns will battle Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas. Longhorns Wire has 10 reasons they win or lose.
After having players sit out practice earlier this week due to COVID-19 precautions, everything appears to be a go for the Texas Longhorns and Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday. This game will be featured as part of Big Noon Kickoff on Fox.
Continue reading “10 Reasons the Texas Longhorns win, Kansas State wins Saturday”
These three offensive players will be paramount for the Texas Longhorns to leave Manhattan with a victory on Saturday.
On Saturday the Texas Longhorns look to get right back into the saddle. After falling to Iowa State last Friday, they need to finish out the year strong. The team started out 2-2 after four games but has an opportunity to close it out winning five of the final six regular season games.
As Tom Herman would say, “we need to go 1-0 on Saturday.” That starts with beating the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan at 11:00 am CST. To do so, the offense will need to take advantage of a defense that is susceptible to big plays. They rank dead last in the conference with 51 explosive plays given up. They do expect to have their starting linebackers back for this game. However, Texas has shown the ability to take advantage.
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Breaking down the three key offensive players in the Texas-Kansas State game on Saturday.
The Texas Longhorns and Kansas State Wildcats both feature 6’4″ pass catchers who wear No. 13. So who has the advantage in this game?
The wide receiver matchup for the Texas Longhorns and Kansas State Wildcats features two 6’4″ pass catchers who wear No. 13. Continue reading “Lucky No. 13: The battle at wide receiver for Texas-Kansas State game”
Following the Texas Longhorns loss to Iowa State, two captains opted out of the season. Any other players join them before the season’s end?
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One of the aspects of this 2020 college football season amidst a pandemic has been the opt-outs. Prior to the season, the Longhorns lost Daniel Young, Marqez Bimage, Willie Tyler, and DaJon Harrison. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak the NCAA allowed players to opt out of the 2020 campaign due to these concerns without any fear of losing their scholarships. Schools were required to honor those commitments.
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In the fallout of the Iowa State loss on senior day, the Longhorns lost two more players to opt outs. Both offensive tackle Samuel Cosmi and safety Caden Sterns opted out of the remainder of the season. They will now focus all attention to preparing for the upcoming NFL Draft. Cosmi is viewed as a first-round selection while the opinions of Sterns are all over the place. He was viewed as a fringe second-round pick during the early portion of the season.
One player who will not be opting out of the remaining three games is senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger. He made that very clear during his media session on Tuesday.
While I absolutely love and respect them, I would never do that. I want to finish what I’ve started here. I will always give my all for my teammates, and everybody’s situation is different. – Ehlinger on opting out of the remainder of the season
With the game against Kansas State approaching in four days, no one expects any other players to make the same decision. However, Joseph Ossai could be another name to monitor. If the Longhorns making a coaching change, as has been widely speculated, or they lose to Kansas State it could become a real option.
While the Longhorns aren’t playing for a Big 12 Championship appearance following the loss to Iowa State on Friday, they are still playing for bowl seeding. Most feel that a Texas Bowl appearance is their likely situation, losses to Kansas State and/or Kansas could change that. It could be the difference between playing in Houston at NRG Stadium or a trip to Memphis and the Liberty Bowl.
As far as Ossai is concerned, he was recently listed as a top 32 draft prospect by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. Opting out would prevent any chance of an injury in a game that at this point doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. Most feel that this will be the last season for Joseph Ossai. Another name to consider is Brennan Eagles. He has started gaining momentum in the NFL Draft community.
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The report card and snap counts for the Texas Longhorns after their loss to Iowa State 23-20.
The snap counts for the offensive and defensive units plus the top PFF grades for those units.
The top five offensive and defensive game grades from PFF.
| Offense | Grade | Defense | Grade |
| Samuel Cosmi | 75.6 | Josh Thompson | 69.5 |
| Sam Ehlinger | 75.1 | Joseph Ossai | 68.8 |
| Junior Angilau | 74.5 | Juwan Mitchell | 67.5 |
| Derek Kerstetter | 74.2 | Ta’Quon Graham | 65.3 |
| Brennan Eagles | 73.2 | Chris Adimora | 63.0 |
Next, we hand out game grades for the Iowa State-Texas weekly report card.
Which Texas players stood out the most against Iowa State?
For better or for worse, there were several Texas players who stood out yesterday in the heartbreaking loss to Iowa State. Continue reading “Studs and Duds from Texas’ crushing loss to Iowa State”
The Texas Longhorns passing game has fallen off a bit over the last several weeks but do they have the edge over the Iowa State Cyclones?
We have taken a look at the quarterback and running back tale of the tape, now for the wide receivers. The Longhorns’ top guy is Joshua Moore. The redshirt sophomore came out hot to start the year. Over recent weeks his impact has been lessened but he still leads the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns. For the Iowa State Cyclones, they counter with Xavier Hutchinson.
A huge portion of the passing for the Cyclones is a bit different than the Longhorns. While Texas has more receivers making an impact, Iowa State counters with a trio of tight ends with NFL aspirations. They are led by Charlie Kolar. Texas has Brennan Eagles, Jake Smith, Tarik Black, and Jordan Whittington as their secondary options.
So which team has the edge in receiving?
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| Moore | vs | Hutchinson |
| 6-1 | Ht | 6-3 |
| 169 | Wt | 207 |
| RS-Sophomore | Class | Junior |
| 22 | Rec | 41 |
| 343 | Yards | 518 |
| 15.6 | Average | 12.6 |
| 7 | TDs | 4 |
| 23 | Touches | 41 |
| 342 | Yards | 518 |
| Moore | vs | Hutchinson |
| 3.6 | Rec/Game | 4.3 |
| 47.7 | Yards/Game | 73.7 |
| 13.0 | Yards/Rec | 17.0 |
| 1.0 | TDs/Game | 0.7 |
| Brennan Eagles | vs | Charlie Kolar |
| 6-4 | Ht | 6-6 |
| 229 | Wt | 257 |
| Junior | Class | Junior |
| 19 | Rec | 25 |
| 286 | Yards | 286 |
| 15.1 | Avg | 11.4 |
| 5 | TDs | 4 |
The Texas Longhorns may have more touchdown production from their players, the Cyclones get more consistent production overall. The big key is can the Longhorns get the passing game going against Iowa State? They have averaged just 207.7 yards per game through the air in the last three games. Against West Virginia, they totaled just 184 net yards through the air. The Cyclones allow just 229 per game.
The Longhorns defense is actually the worst in the Big 12 in terms of yards per game. They allow 283.1, which is 0.5 yards per game worse than Texas Tech. If Brock Purdy is as efficient as he was against Kansas State, it could be a long afternoon for the passing defense.
In the final leg of the offensive tale of the tape, we look at the Texas Longhorns and West Virginia Mountaineers WR groups.
The final leg of the offensive tale of the tape series features the wide receivers for the Texas Longhorns-West Virginia Mountaineers matchup. Both teams coming off wins over ranked opponents as they prepare for a must-win game. The WVU duo caught seven passes for 135 yards and one touchdown. The Longhorns duo accounted for four receptions, 70 yards and two touchdowns. One being the game winner.
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This year without question Joshua Moore has been the Longhorns best wide out. Many expected the top guy to be Brennan Eagles or Jake Smith. Moore has been a solid outlet for quarterback Sam Ehlinger but in three games this year he has two receptions or less. He needs a better output against West Virginia than just one reception like Moore put out against Oklahoma State. This defense will test the entire WR group.
The West Virginia wideouts are more of the complimentary role. While yes they do have two receivers with over 300 yards receiving, this team likes to run the football and play defense. Last week Texas was able to limit Chuba Hubbard to just 2.5 yards per carry. Can Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Winston Wright take advantage of PFF’s 80th ranked pass defense in terms of coverage? If they do it could be another long day for Chris Ash’s unit.
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| Joshua Moore | vs | Bryce Ford-Wheaton |
| 6-1 | Ht | 6-3 |
| 169 | Wt | 218 |
| Redshirt Sophomore | Class | Sophomore |
| 22 | Rec | 16 |
| 343 | Yards | 301 |
| 15.6 | Yards/Rec | 18.8 |
| 7 | TDs | 3 |
| 23 | Touches | 16 |
| 342 | Yards | 301 |
| Brennan Eagles | vs | Winston Wright |
| 6-4 | Ht | 5-10 |
| 229 | Wt | 180 |
| Junior | Class | Sophomore |
| 15 | Rec | 32 |
| 243 | Yards | 391 |
| 16.2 | Yards/Rec | 12.2 |
| 4 | TDs | 2 |
| 15 | Touches | 34 |
| 243 | Yards | 395 |
The wide receiver duo of Moore and Eagles gets the slight edge over Ford-Wheaton and Wright. With the lack of a consistent rushing attack the Longhorn have to rely on their passing game to do the bulk of the damage. Also factor in that Jake Smith is starting to come on after dealing with a hamstring injury that has lingered. How will they do against the number one pass defense in the league?
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Following the Texas Longhorns upset win over Oklahoma State, we hand out grades for the team. Which unit was the best on Saturday?
The Longhorns may have very well ruined the Big 12’s bid at the College Football Playoff, but that was a much needed win for the program. Texas won their first game on the road against a top 10 foe since defeating Nebraska 20-13 in 2010. It has been just over 10 years since the last time that happened.
With the Longhorns back against the wall, they needed to pull off a win against Oklahoma State. Sitting at 3-2 and 2-2 in conference play, if they wanted any shot at a Big 12 Championship game berth they had to come out on top.
As we try and unpack all of the fallout of the victory, we look to hand out grades for the team. Plus a look at how Pro Football Focus graded the individuals. We start with the offense.
