Texas recently suffered back-to-back conference losses to unranked teams. Needless to say, there’s numerous areas of concern for the Longhorns as they hope to get back into the win column against Baylor.
It starts and ends with head coach Tom Herman. Although Herman has landed impressive recruiting classes throughout his tenure in Austin, he hasn’t been able to produce.
That boils down to player development. It’s nice that you can buy the shiny car on the lot, but can you drive it? Texas has given Herman years to operate this vehicle and he continues to stall at every intersection.
Texas can’t seem to get out of their own way this season. We’ve narrowed in on three primary areas of concern for the Longhorns as they prepare to face Baylor on Oct. 24.
Discipline/Penalties
The self-inflicted wounds have been Texas’ Achilles heel this year. It’s not your typical pass interference or effort type of penalties, we’re talking about the backbreaking unsportsmanlike conduct penalties at crucial moments in the game.
Texas has to show up focused against Baylor. Limit the bonehead turnovers, dropped passes and unnecessary penalties. At this point in the season, the Longhorns are one of the most penalized teams in college football. Herman’s squad is currently surrendering 83 penalty yards per game.
Balanced Offense
With three very talented athletes in Texas’ backfield, I never expected the run game to be a concern this season.
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger was the leading rusher in each of Texas’ losses this season. They just can’t seem to get the run game going after running back Keaontay Ingram’s ball security issues and lingering injuries to Roschon Johnson and Bijan Robinson.
In order to keep their below average defense off of the field, Texas must establish the run against Baylor. Ehlinger has struggled with accuracy issues in the air for the majority of each contest, Texas can’t keep relying on miracle comebacks. Control the game.
Missed Tackles
Texas has recorded 61 missed tackles this season. In particular, the linebacking corps is one of the weakest position groups of this team. DeMarvion Overshown has led the team in missed tackles each of the last three weeks.
Throughout the offseason, many were optimistic of the rugby-style tackling that defensive coordinator Chris Ash was brining to Austin. Ash wanted to put an emphasis on the fundamentals of tackling, which is notably lacking right now.