Texas 38, Louisiana 18: Second half recap

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The Steve Sarkisian era could not have gotten off to a better start, as Texas was firing on all cylinders.

Sarkisian led the No. 21 Longhorns into the new season, and his first game as the head coach happened to be against a very good No. 23 Louisiana team that finished 10-1 last season. The Ragin’ Cajuns looked outmatched seemingly all game after they took an early 3-0 lead. The Longhorns took the lead and never turned back winning the game 38-18.

Not only did Texas have a new head coach making his debut, but redshirt freshman quarterback Hudson Card made his first career start today and could not have done better. Card and of the offense stalled through the first couple drives, but being the offensive mastermind he is, Sarkisian put his young quarterback in position to succeed. Card finished the day 14-of-21 for 224 yards passing with two touchdowns, while also rushing for a touchdown.

The offense was very run heavy for their first couple drives, feeding the star running back Bijan Robinson who finished the game with 176 total yards and two touchdowns. However, Sarkisian was able to draw up a perfect play to get the Longhorns on the board for the first time of the season and new era, while also giving Hudson Card his first career touchdown pass when he connected with Bijan Robinson.

Even when the offense was struggling to get things going at first, the Texas defense had a great game. There were a couple drives towards the end of the game that weren’t pretty, but overall the defense did quite well.

The Longhorns third down defense was stellar, as they held Louisiana to 4-of-13 on third down conversions. Led by linebackers DeMarvion Overshown and former walk-on Luke Brockermeyer, the defense was swarming to the ball. Notre Dame transfer Ovie Oghoufo had a great game as well recording a very impressive sack, and a nice pass breakup.

The Texas defense finished the game with seven total sacks, holding Louisiana offense to 76 yards rushing, and for the most part making life for fifth year senior quarterback Levi Lewis miserable the whole game. The defense’s penetration was there all game, making it hard on the Ragin’ Cajuns offensive line, and outside of the drive where Louisiana scored their last touchdown, the tackling was very much improved in comparison to last season.

The offense did have a few people stand out as well, especially receiver Jordan Whittington, who in his first two seasons has been injury plagued. There were questions as to who would step up in the receiver group, and Whittington was that guy. He finished with a team leading seven catches for 113 yards and one touchdown.

There were also questions about junior quarterback Casey Thompson, and whether he would rotate in, which he did get in the game in meaningful action. Thompson came into the game with Texas up 16 points, and played well in his limited time going 4-of-5 for 41 yards and a touchdown.

The biggest issue for the Longhorns in the win was the offensive line, who gave up five sacks. It’s not easy for a young quarterback to feel comfortable in a packed stadium in his first career start against a ranked team, but having to run for his life every single play seemingly does not help either. Louisiana has a very good defensive unit, but the amount of pressure they got on the Texas quarterbacks was ridiculous.

The Longhorns will certainly focus on the offensive line issues to prepare for their game against Arkansas, but for now the program can celebrate a tad. The Sarkisian era is off to a 1-0 start, and in a game that many figured would be decided by single digits, they won by 20. There is still plenty of room to grow, but compared to other teams in the Big 12, Texas looked like one of the best today.