Tag: Xavier Worthy

Five bold predictions for Texas’ final game of the season

It’s time to be BOLD.

The season is coming to a close, and the Longhorns are finishing nowhere near where most people expected.

Texas has been historically bad this season, as they are one game away from losing seven consecutive games. The Steve Sarkisian era has not been ‘All Gas, No Brakes’ as we thought it would be, and now the only thing Texas fans can do is look forward to next year and hope that the recruits and transfers brought in will actually change this program for the better.

Hosting Kansas State for the season finale is a tough matchup for Texas. The Wildcats have an electric running back in Deuce Vaughn, and a solid defense that can give the Longhorns trouble especially if Casey Thompson starts and continues to play like he has been.

At this point, this game should be used to get some younger players experience, and maybe sneak in some seniors like Kartik Akkihal to record a catch.

Amid Texas’ struggles, I’m still going to be bold for this matchup. Here are my final five bold predictions for the matchup with Kansas State.

Five things Texas Longhorns fans can be thankful for

Longhorns fans still have some reasons to be thankful.

The 2021 season has been one many Longhorns fans wish to forget. Continue reading “Five things Texas Longhorns fans can be thankful for”

Studs and duds from Texas’ 31-23 loss to West Virginia

Studs and duds from Texas’ sixth straight loss.

The Longhorns will not be going bowling this season after suffering their seventh loss on the season to West Virginia. The loss extends Texas’ losing streak to six consecutive games.

Texas was unable to come back from an early West Virginia 14-0 lead.

After Steve Sarkisian chose to bench quarterback Casey Thompson, Hudson Card gave the Texas offense some life in the second half. His 52-yard bomb to Xavier Worthy made it a 21-17 game.

Unfortunately, the Texas defense was incapable of getting off of the field on third down. The Mountainers converted on third downs of both 18 yards and 15 yards on scoring drives in the second half.

Texas had an opportunity to tie the game down eight points late in the fourth quarter, but Thompson threw a costly interception the play after Card suffered a foot injury.

The difference in the game was third down. The Texas offense was 2-10 on third down while West Virginia was 12-20.

Here are the studs and duds from Texas’ loss to West Virginia:

WATCH: Texas QB Hudson Card throws a dime to Xavier Worthy for a TD

Pretty throw and great catch.

It finally happened.

A Texas quarterback connected on a deep ball.

After Casey Thompson was yanked for a poor showing in the first half, again, Steve Sarkisian went against his word and put in backup quarterback Hudson Card to start the second half. Thompson ended the first half completing just 4-of-12 passes for 29-yards, while averaging 2.4 yards per pass.

The blame shouldn’t fall solely onto Thompson as there were dropped passes, but Thompson clearly was not feeling it today and the offense needed a change.

Card came into the game with Texas trailing 21-10, and the Longhorns badly needed some sort of spark, as this game was starting to look like it was going to end in a sixth consecutive loss.

The redshirt freshman connected with star receiver Xavier Worthy on a 52-yard touchdown pass on a perfectly thrown ball.

The touchdown gave Worthy 12 touchdown catches on the year, and more importantly it cut the West Virginia lead to single digits.

Two Longhorns named semifinalists for Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award

Bijan Robinson and Xavier Worthy named Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award semifinalists.

The Longhorns have not lived up to expectations this season, but sophomore running back Bijan Robinson and freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy have been bright spots.

Robinson and Worthy’s seasons are not going unrecognized as they were named semifinalists for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award on Thursday.

On their website, the Earl Campbell Award explains their mission:

The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award recognizes the top offensive player in Division I football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell: integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community, and tenacity; specifically, tenacity to persist and determination to overcome adversity and injury in pursuit of reaching goals.

The award is reserved for players that played high school or college football in the state of Texas.

Robinson and Worthy join a strong list of Longhorns previously named semifinalists:

  • QB Sam Ehlinger (2018, 2019, 2020)
  • WR Devin Duvernay (2019)
  • WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey (2018)
  • RB D’Onta Foreman (2016)
  • RB Johnathan Gray (2013)

The finalists will be announced on Dec. 14, 2021.

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Texas WR Jordan Whittington set to return against West Virginia

Big news for the Texas offense as Jordan Whittington is expected to play against West Virginia.

Steve Sarkisian announced on Thursday that Texas wide receiver Jordan Whittington will return to the field against West Virginia.

Whittington had surgery after he suffered a broken clavicle against Oklahoma back in October.

Texas has missed the redshirt sophomore from Cuero in a major way. Since Whittington went down Texas has lost five straight games, and saw starting wide receiver Joshua Moore enter the transfer portal.

Having Whittington back in the mix should benefit both Xavier Worthy and the running backs. Adding a dangerous threat to the offense means some attention will be taken away from Worthy and opposing defenses will think twice about loading the box.

In five games, Whittington had 359 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He was to go-to guy for Texas in clutch situations, leading the team in third-down conversions before his injury.

Whittington will provide some much-needed help to the offense as the Horns look to end their five-game losing streak. Texas must beat both West Virginia and Kansas State to become eligible for a bowl game.

WATCH: Great view of Xavier Worthy’s record-breaking touchdown reception

He is special.

While there hasn’t been many positives for Texas this season, there is one that comes via freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy.

It’s a reason to be optimistic for the future, as Worthy is the only player that Steve Sarkisian recruited to Texas before taking the job. He has been an absolute star for the Longhorns and is already one of the best receivers in the nation.

The Fresno native burst onto the college football scene this season, and along with breaking records, is amongst the top receivers in terms of statistics. He is tied for first in the nation with 11 touchdown catches this season, a margin that helped him surpass Texas legend Roy Williams for most touchdown receptions by a freshman in school history.

Worthy’s career day against Kansas was not enough as the Longhorns would go on to lose in overtime, but nonetheless was still an impressive individual performance. Worthy finished the game with a career-high 14 catches, 152 yards, and three touchdowns.

Texas will need to rely on the rising star heavily in their last two matchups in order to become bowl eligible.

Texas Report Card: PFF grades from the shocking Kansas loss

Outside of true freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy, Texas had a rough showing against Kansas.

There weren’t many positive takeaways from Texas’ 57-56 loss to Kansas in Week 11. Continue reading “Texas Report Card: PFF grades from the shocking Kansas loss”

Five takeaways from Texas’ loss to Kansas

Five takeaways from the most heartbreaking loss of the year.

The Kansas Jayhawks marched into DKR and beat Texas in a 57-56 in an overtime thriller. It would not be an understatement to call that one of the craziest games in college football history.

Texas has now dropped five straight games for the first time since 1956. One year before Darrell Royal was hired.

Entering the game, Kansas had lost 56 straight conference road games. A streak that has lasted 13 years.

The night could not have gone any worse for Texas. They turned the ball over four times on two strip-sacks and two interceptions. One was taken back for a touchdown.

Kansas scored three touchdowns in the final two and a half minutes of the first half to take a commanding 35-14 halftime lead.

Texas charged back in the second half to tie the game up on a Cade Brewer touchdown with only 22 seconds left.

Both teams would trade touchdowns to start overtime but Kansas head coach Lance Leipold would send his team out for the game-deciding two-point conversion.

The play felt like slow motion. Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels scrambled to his right, then threw to his fullback Jared Casey, who had not caught a pass all season. Casey hauled in the pass capping off one of the biggest upsets in college football history.

Here are five takeaways from a historic night in Austin:

WATCH: Texas QB Hudson Card finds Xavier Worthy for 33-yard touchdown

From the pocket presence, to the throw, to the catch. Beautiful.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is once again playing musical chairs with quarterbacks Casey Thompson and Hudson Card.

Although Thompson started the game against Kansas, Card entered the game in the second quarter and had the highlight of the game up to this point. The redshirt freshman found wide receiver Xavier Worthy for a 33-yard touchdown to tie the game 14-14.

It may have been the best pocket presence displayed by a Texas quarterback all season. Card stepped up in the pocket to evade pressure, and delivered an accurate downfield pass to a streaking Worthy.

It’s unclear how Sarkisian will continue to use the two quarterbacks throughout the rest of the game. With one minute left to go in the first half, the Longhorns trail the Jayhawks 21-14.

The offensive line unit continues to be the biggest issue for Texas this season.

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