The game started out slowly for the Texas offense but they were able to rattle off 27 straight points before Baylor could answer. It was a much needed victory for the Longhorns and for head coach Tom Herman. His seat has become slightly hotter over the last few weeks. The whispers of potential replacements were getting louder.
However, in many cases that starts to die down a bit when your team is winning. Texas did just that. Let’s take a look at three reasons why the Texas Longhorns beat Baylor on Saturday afternoon.
Sam Ehlinger hit the deep throws
Against the Oklahoma Sooners the deep ball just wasn’t there for quarterback Sam Ehlinger. However, when they dialed it up against the Baylor Bears defense they were able to hit several that set up scoring plays. It all started when he found Tarik Black wide open down the middle of the field on a blown assignment.
Ehlinger to Black for 72 yards pic.twitter.com/MZzfKnvwmq
— Longhorns Wire (@LonghornsWire) October 24, 2020
This throw and catch went for 72 yards on Black’s only reception of the game and it set up another Cameron Dicker field goal to take their first lead of the game 6-3. Later in the half, Ehlinger dialed it up once more but this time it took a great effort by leading wide receiver Joshua Moore to come down with it.
Climb the ladder Joshua Moore pic.twitter.com/2RzFo0oQ9X
— Longhorns Wire (@LonghornsWire) October 24, 2020
Of his 15 completions, three were on big plays to Black, Moore and Jared Wiley. On those plays, Ehlinger accounted for 161 of his 270 yards passing. That set up three scoring plays for 17 of their 27 total points in this game. When Sam can hit the deep shots like he did against Texas Tech and UTEP, the Longhorns have a much better chance of winning the football game.
The defense rose to the occasion
Over the last several weeks the defense has allowed more points per game than any team in the conference. In fact it was 47 points per game, for the Longhorns to be success that can’t be the case. Chris Ash’s unit forced punts on six of Baylor’s first seven possessions. They missed a field goal on their eighth opportunity of the game.
The Bears were never able to get their run game going either. In fact Texas allowed just 64 yards total running the football. Middle linebacker Juwan Mitchell led the way with 12 total tackles on the afternoon. Two of which were tackles for loss.
The secondary played much better than they have here recently. They finished with a total of nine passes broken up. Three of which could have been interceptions if the defenders could hold on to the football. The game felt well in hand due to the 27-3 lead and the fact that the defense wasn’t giving anything up.
The Longhorns didn’t sabotage themselves with penalties
Coming into this game, the Longhorns have been one of the most penalized teams in the conference. Texas has averaged 83 yards per game this year and 92 in conference play. Against the Bears, they were able to limit it to 50 yards worth of penalties. One of those came on another bonehead decision by center Derek Kerstetter.
It was a step in the right direction to reduce those penalties by almost half. That kept the Longhorns out of less than favorable situations for their offense. When they aren’t shooting themselves in the foot and playing good defense, the Longhorns are a much harder team to beat.
