The Texas Longhorns enter their final scheduled bye week with a 5-2 record. After three straight wins over Baylor, Oklahoma State and West Virginia the team is sitting near the top of the Big 12 standings. Despite the three wins they have their fair share of issues on the offensive side of the ball. They haven’t moved the ball with same regularity as they did earlier in the season. Checking Sam Ehlinger‘s passing chart to find any issues in his game this year.
| Ehlinger | Comp | Att | Comp % | Yards | YPA | TDs | INTs |
| Deep | 14 | 55 | 25.5 | 480 | 8.7 | 6 | 3 |
| Intermediate | 27 | 39 | 69.2 | 562 | 14.4 | 6 | 1 |
| Short | 59 | 81 | 72.8 | 601 | 7.4 | 8 | 1 |
| Behind LOS | 47 | 51 | 92.2 | 216 | 4.2 | 2 | 0 |
Looking at the numbers for Ehlinger, he does well throwing from behind the line of scrimmage to 19 yards down the field. Anything beyond 20 yards is less successful. It has shown to be a regression from last year. Is the receivers? It is his inability to make the throws? Or is it the fact that he is so banged up that Ehlinger just can’t complete them?
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Looking back at his deep throws from last year, it has been a significant drop off. Losing Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay definitely hurt this team, but Ehlinger has missed quite a few throws down the field.
| Season | Comp | Att | Comp % | Yards | YPA | TDs | INTs |
| 2019 | 33 | 83 | 39.8 | 1,129 | 13.6 | 13 | 3 |
| 2020 | 14 | 55 | 25.5 | 480 | 8.7 | 6 | 3 |
Factoring in the loss of two NFL wideouts it has been clear this offense has missed them. However, just how healthy Sam is would be another factor. He has been banged up with the amount of punishment he takes from the pocket and on his designed quarterback runs.
Over the last three games, it has been noticeable with his accuracy issues downfield. Drops also factor in but too often Ehlinger is missing on these opportunities.
| Opponent | Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | YPA | TDs | INTs |
| BU | 3 | 7 | 42.8 | 161 | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| OSU | 1 | 4 | 25 | 41 | 4.1 | 1 | 0 |
| WVU | 2 | 10 | 20 | 54 | 5.4 | 1 | 0 |
Against Baylor was the only game in which one of these deep throws were caught when throwing outside the numbers to his left or his right. He has struggled in this area of his game throughout his time in Austin, but it has been worse this year. As the offense continues to struggle, this is one area you can point to.
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