Texas WR Jake Smith suffers broken foot on first day of practice

Slot receiver Jake Smith unfortunately suffered a broken foot during Texas’ first spring practice.

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The excitement surrounding Texas’ first spring practice came to a sudden halt on Tuesday morning. Continue reading “Texas WR Jake Smith suffers broken foot on first day of practice”

Texas football 2021 projected depth chart, pre-spring offense

Leading up to the season in September, Longhorns Wire will project what the depth chart could look like for Texas. These will often change.

It’s no secret that Steve Sarkisian is inheriting a talented roster at Texas, but how he utilizes each playmaker will be interesting to see. Continue reading “Texas football 2021 projected depth chart, pre-spring offense”

Three key offensive players for Texas vs. Iowa State

There is no bigger game for the Texas Longhorns this season than the Iowa State Cyclones on Friday.

Texas’ conference title hopes are on the line on Friday when they host Iowa State. Continue reading “Three key offensive players for Texas vs. Iowa State”

Texas Longhorns vs Iowa State: WR Tale of the Tape

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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Wide Receiver Comparison

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

Last three games comparison

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

Secondary Receiver

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

Slight Edge: Iowa State

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.

Texas Longhorns vs West Virginia: Game grades from the 17-13 win

Following the Texas Longhorns win over the West Virginia Mountaineers, we are handing out grades in the virtual report card.

It has been more than 48 hours since the Texas Longhorns defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers. So why are we still discussing this game? Frankly on a bye week you can let things marinate a little bit before pointing the game firmly behind you. With the Longhorns not set to play again until next Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas we take one final look back as we hand out game grades.

The Quarterback

Grade: C+

Sam Ehlinger didn’t look his best in this game against West Virginia. Let’s be fair he has looked inconsistent at best. Ever since the game against Texas Christian, it hasn’t looked like the first two games of the year. During that first stretch Ehlinger threw for 10 touchdowns while completing 71.2% of his passes. He was looking like a Heisman Trophy candidate. Since then, Ehlinger has completed less than 50% of his passes twice. Against TCU and then on Saturday against WVU.

He has throw for 12 touchdowns and four interceptions over those five games. His completion rate has dropped to 53.7% over that five game stretch with an average of 229.2 yards per game. Before this run, he averaged 344 yards and five touchdown passes per game. Sure UTEP and Texas Tech aren’t exactly doomsday defenses but the fact remains, Ehlinger is struggling.

Against WVU he did complete less than 50% but Ehlinger did have two touchdown passes. Plus he didn’t turn the ball over. The passing game struggled when they asked the senior to throw 20+ yards down the field. He threw incompletions on three consecutive attempts. The wide receivers didn’t exactly help him.

Chasing Colt: Sam Ehlinger inching closer to the Texas Longhorn legend

The latest update on Sam Ehlinger’s chasing Colt McCoy progress. He now sits just 12 touchdowns short of Texas history.

The 2020 college football season heads into it’s final run after this next week. The Texas Longhorns will enjoy their final bye week before preparing for two trips to the state of Kansas and a home game against Iowa State. The Horns are currently in a tie for third place in the standings and have their eyes locked on a Big 12 Championship game appearance.

Current Standings

Team W-L Big 12 W-L
Iowa State 5-2 5-1
Oklahoma State 5-1 4-1
Texas 5-2 4-2
Oklahoma 5-2 4-2
Kansas State 4-3 4-2

While Texas is chasing the top two teams in the conference, their quarterback Sam Ehlinger is chasing someone else. Ehlinger is inching ever so much closer to a record held by Colt McCoy. After two touchdown passes against the West Virginia defense, Ehlinger sits at 120 touchdowns responsible for.

With an average of three touchdowns over the next three games plus the bowl game, Ehlinger will tie Colt. This year through seven games, Ehlinger has 29 touchdowns this year. That breaks down to 4.1 touchdowns per game. It very well could happen if he is able to stay at that pace, however it he has slowed down the last couple games. That could have something to do with playing the top two scoring defenses in the conference.

Next time they take the field it will be a completely different story. Texas will play the worst scoring defense in the conference. Kansas has given up 48.4 points per game this year, 50.2 in conference play. So look for Ehlinger to go out guns blazing against that Jayhawks defense.

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Colt McCoy isn’t the only Longhorns legend that Ehlinger is closing in on as his senior season is coming to a close. With five more touchdown runs this year he will tie the school record for most scoring runs by a quarterback. Vince Young holds the record with 37 and Ehlinger is sitting at 32.

There was another accolade for Sam Ehlinger. After his touchdown pass to Jake Smith, he moved into the top 10 for touchdown passes in Big 12 Conference history. He passed Sam Bradford with his 90th touchdown pass. Ehlinger now just sits outside the top 10 in passing yards. Sam needs just 23 yards to pass former TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin for 10th all time.

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Texas Longhorns vs West Virginia: The ultimate preview

The ultimate game preview for the Texas Longhorns-West Virginia Mountaineers matchup that kicks off Saturday at 11:00 CST.

[After losing two games in a row, the Texas Longhorns followed that up with a win over Baylor and the upset win over Oklahoma State. After jumping back into the Big 12 Conference race, the Longhorns face off with West Virginia at home. This game will feature The top scoring offense in the Big 12 against the No. 2 scoring defense in the conference.

Texas head coach Tom Herman is trying to follow up a huge win with another win as they try to march back to the Big 12 Championship. They are currently tied with the Oklahoma Sooners and WVU for fourth in the conference. Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Kansas State all ahead of them. Which could all change this weekend.

As far as the West Virginia Mountaineers are concerned, we break down the full matchup in the ultimate game preview.

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Three offensive key players for the Texas Longhorns on Saturday

For the Texas Longhorns to stay on track to challenge for a Big 12 Championship, they will need these three players to guide them Saturday.

The Texas Longhorns offense has quite the test after facing the No. 1 scoring defense in the conference last Saturday. They were able to put up 41 points against that defense with a little help from their own defense. This week it doesn’t get much better against the No. 1 total defense in the conference in the West Virginia Mountaineers.

That same defense held the high powered Oklahoma State offense to 20 first downs, 342 yards of offense and 27 points. You can make the argument that they had an easier task than Texas did since they didn’t face the starting quarterback in Spencer Sanders who was out with the high ankle sprain. Can they rise to the challenge of the Texas offense after they completely shut down Kansas State at home?

The road hasn’t been kind to the Mountaineers this year going 0-2. They have been outscored 61-40 in those two games. At home it is a much different story where they have outscored opponents 158-58. You can make the case that it is a bit of fools gold with a game against Kansas, Eastern Kentucky and Baylor mixed in there. So how can Texas prove their worth against a defense that has looked good?

We take a look at three key offensive players in this game.

Texas Longhorns vs West Virginia: WR Tale of the Tape

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

Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
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

Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports
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

Edge: Texas

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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Studs and Duds from Texas’ victory over Oklahoma State

Who were the top performers in Texas’ crucial overtime win over No. 6 Oklahoma State?

Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger and Jack linebacker Joseph Ossai each delivered clutch performances to power the Longhorns over No. 6 Oklahoma State in overtime. Continue reading “Studs and Duds from Texas’ victory over Oklahoma State”