WEEK EIGHT
....
#15 TEXAS LONGHORNS (4-2, 2-1)
VS.
OKLAHOMA SOONERS (3-3, 2-2)
Texas didn't impress by blowing out the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday, and they didn't impress by having great performances from one or two players. Instead, they had good performances by nearly every member of the team, took advantage of opportunities when they had them, and outlasted an evenly-matched opponent. Tied at 24 with precious little time left to play, the Longhorns put together their most impressive yard of the day, and hit a 25-yard field goal as time expired to extend their season win streak and their win streak over Oklahoma to four straight games.
Naturally, the Longhorns continued to lean on their ground game, rushing the ball 51 times, but they only managed 4.2 yards per carry. Suprisingly, the Sooners almost matched their rushing total with fewer carries, averaging 5.9 yards per carry, but it didn't matter in the end. Daniel Pratt didn't have a spectacular day under center, but did enough to carry his team to a win, completing 10 of 24 passes for 157 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Pratt also rushed for 62 yards, but averaged just 2.5 yards per carry as the Sooners did an outstanding job containing him for the most part. Unfortunately for Oklahoma, the runningbacks were more than happy to make up for it. Backup Daje Johnson racked up 51 yards and a touchdown off just 11 carries, and junior runningback Jonathan Gray (pictured above) carried the ball 13 times for 89 yards, and also had a 16-yard TD catch. Defensively, Texas did not record a sack, managed to force just one turnover, and allowed 381 total offensive yards, but they did just enough to limit Oklahoma's scoring in the three-point victory. Unfortunately, the victory did not come without a cost as the team lost two starters for multiple weeks. Senior Torshiro Davis (DE), who won the Lombardi trophy last season after leading the team with 8.5 sacks, will miss at least three weeks with a pulled groin. He will be replaced in the starting lineup by the very capable Kevin Marshall, a second-year freshman who already has two sacks this year. On the offensive line, starting left tackle Kennedy Estelle will most likely miss the rest of the season with a broken tailbone, which will elevate junior Camrhon Hughes into the starting role, and position center Brett Christensen as the primary backup at both tackle positions as well as center.
On the other side of the ball, junior QB Justin Potts completed 52% of his passes for 192 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, and also rushing for 45 yards. With offensive star Trey Metoyer (WR) sidelined due to injury, Potts completed passes to nine different players, never letting Texas' defense key in on one guy. As for the ground game, junior runningback Alex Ross carried the ball just 14 times, but racked up 109 yards, averaging 7.7 yards per touch. Oklahoma's defense did an outstanding job at limiting Texas' speedy quarterback, recording five sacks, one interception, and tackling Pratt quickly when he did decide to run. Still, their effort simply was not enough in the end as the Sooners lost their third game in the last four weeks. The team will take a bye week now before returning to action with a home game against West Virginia (3-3, 1-2), then hitting the road to face off against undefeated conference foes Baylor and Texas Tech.
Riding a four-game winning streak, confidence has been fully restored in Austin, but the team faces a major test at home next week when they host in-state rival #3 Texas Tech (5-0, 3-0) as they continue their bid for an undefeated season. The Red Raiders have the most fearsome aerial attack in the nation, averaging 386 yards per game, and are coming off back-to-back wins over ranked conference opponents #10 Clemson (38-7) and #16 TCU (34-27 OT). But both of those wins came at home, which is a different setting entirely than the raucous sold-out crowd at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. The big question here is if Texas' average secondary can stop senior quarterback Michael Brewer, who has completed 63% of his passes for 1,922 yards, 17 touchdowns, and just four interceptions this season.
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/osdyn.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></head><body><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn" width="575"><tr class="masthead"><td align="center" colspan="6">#15 Texas Longhorns at Oklahoma Sooners</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="48%">Oct 17, 2015</td><td align="right" width="10%">1ST</td><td align="right" width="10%">2ND</td><td align="right" width="10%">3RD</td><td align="right" width="10%">4TH</td><td align="right" width="12%">SCORE</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>#15 Texas Longhorns (5-2, 3-1)</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right" class="active">27</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Oklahoma Sooners (3-4, 2-3)</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right" class="active">24</td></tr></table><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn spacer" width="575"><tr class="masthead"><td colspan="3">Team Stats Comparison</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="60%"></td><td align="center" width="20%">TEX</td><td align="center" width="20%">OKLA</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Total Offense</td><td align="center">374</td><td align="center">381</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Rushing Yards</td><td align="center">217</td><td align="center">189</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Passing Yards</td><td align="center">157</td><td align="center">192</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">First Downs</td><td align="center">23</td><td align="center">20</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Punt Return Yards</td><td align="center">18</td><td align="center">24</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Kick Return Yards</td><td align="center">110</td><td align="center">103</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Total Yards</td><td align="center">502</td><td align="center">508</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Turnovers</td><td align="center">1</td><td align="center">1</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">3rd Down Converstion</td><td align="center">8-15 (53%)</td><td align="center">7-13 (53%)</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">4th Down Conversion</td><td align="center">2-2 (100%)</td><td align="center">0-1 (0%)</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">2-Point Conversion</td><td align="center">0-0 (0%)</td><td align="center">0-0 (0%)</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals</td><td align="center">4-2-2 (100%)</td><td align="center">4-3-0 (75%)</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Penalties</td><td align="center">6-30</td><td align="center">10-67</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Posession Time</td><td align="center">31:17</td><td align="center">28:43</td></tr></table></body></html>