First-year head coach Steve Sarkisian and his team have found themselves in a position all too familiar.
Texas is in the midst of a three-game losing streak, but to make matters worse, in each of the losses the Longhorns were leading by double-digits at one point. It was reported that Sarkisian screened an inspirational rock climbing movie to inspire the team to be strong-willed and finish the job, but it was to no avail.
Baylor had a great defensive game plan which was to sell out on the run, and not allow Bijan Robinson to make big plays, while forcing Casey Thompson to beat them in the air. Something he clearly cannot do. The Bears’ defense held Robinson to his lowest total of rushing yards with 43, and also limited him to a season low 2.5 yards per carry.
Meanwhile, the passing game was atrocious, as Thompson was throwing off balance seemingly every throw, and the receivers could not catch a cold if they tried. Games are never lost or won by individual plays, but there were certainly some ill-timed plays that did not go in favor of Texas that contributed.
After throwing off no feet like he was Kobe Bryant shooting a fadeaway, Thompson led a wide open Xavier Worthy directly out of bounds instead of for a touchdown if the throw would have been remotely close.
Joshua Moore had probably the worst game of his career, as he dropped a touchdown, fumbled in the red zone, and then dropped a pass that led to an interception. Marcus Washington also had a poorly timed drop when the Longhorns had one of their final chances to tie the game, but the game ended with Thompson forcing a pass to Worthy who was heavily covered.
In terms of defense, they finally held someone under 200 yards rushing. Not really, they held Baylor to 199, and if it wasn’t for a miscommunication on one late hand off they would have surpassed the mark. The defense as usual started out strong in the first half, but was exposed in the second half, and also generated no pass rush. It has been the same tired story with this defense all season.
Special teams should never be talked about, but here we are, as Cameron Dicker decided to or was told to try and fake a punt on 4th and 11, and made it all of two yards.
Sarkisian found himself talking to the media after another embarrassing loss due to the disaster that was his football team, so let’s take a look at what he said.
