One of the biggest issues for the Texas Longhorns lately has been on the offensive side of the ball. A far cry from what was seen at the beginning of the year. The offense was No. 1 and No. 2 in terms of scoring for the early part of the year. As the season has gone on, the offense numbers are dropping.
As the defense has improved against teams running the ball and bottling up top runners, it is the offense that is failing to catch up. Against the Oklahoma State Cowboys the team failed to generate sustained success. They needed four OSU turnovers to generate points in a game they had to win. Only one drive for a score for more than 60 yards. The offense struggled ever since the Oklahoma game.
Looking at key statistics at different points in the season. We looked at following the Texas Tech, Oklahoma and West Virginia games. As pace of play has gone down, so has total offense, points per game and points per play. The offense is far less efficient than it was earlier this year. A big reason why they aren’t putting away teams that they should. The Texas offense has far too many weapons to have these issues week in and week out.
Pace of play is determined by the number of plays a team runs per game.
| Week | Pace of Play | Total Offense | PPG | Points/Play |
| Week 4 | 82.5 | 582.5 | 61.0 | 0.739 |
| Week 6 | 79.5 | 495.2 | 49.5 | 0.623 |
| Week 10 | 77.0 | 437.1 | 40.4 | 0.525 |
Slowing the offense is down is a byproduct of a Tom Herman offense. A staple of a Mike Yurcich offense is tempo and big plays down the field, that is where the Longhorns have been lacking.
| Explosive Plays | 10+ | 20+ | 30+ | 40+ |
| FBS Rank | 31st | 26th | 20th | 7th |
Some of this can be based on the fact that Texas has dealt with injuries across the board. Some of this can be based on the fact that Sam Ehlinger has plenty of issues throwing down the field and outside of the numbers. Given that, the Longhorns should be running the ball at a higher rate.
Yurcich likes to use the run to set up the pass, more runs help his offense. The emergence of Bijan Robinson can be a focal point and should be a focal point moving forward. The lack of touches for the talented freshman is head scratching. Not to mention with the injuries that are piling up on Sam– despite what Herman will tell you– means that the Longhorns should feed the freshman.
Despite playing less snaps, Robinson leads the Longhorns in yards from scrimmage. He has the largest yards per touch of any non receiver. His 6.7 yards per touch is over a yard more than Keaontay Ingram and two yards more than Roschon Johnson.
Of his 294 yards rushing this season, 204 are on yards after contact. He averages almost four yards per rush after being contacted by a defender. According to PFF his elusive rating is 90, best on the team. Not surprising since he leads the team in missed tackles forced.
The Formula: (Missed Tackles Forced) / (Designed Run Attempts + Receptions) * (Yards After Contact Per Attempt * 100) per PFF.
The Texas Longhorns head coach needs to stop being stubborn and play your best players, not players you may be loyal to because they have been here longer.