Quick Thoughts and Takeaways: For the third straight game, Texas is unable to hold a second half lead

[Jameson McCausland]

Another game. Another double digit lead blown by Texas.

• Texas has a mental hurdle they can not get over right now. Even when Bijan Robinson converted a short TD run on 4th down to put Texas up 21-10 in the 3rd quarter, it never really felt like Texas controlled the game. They had opportunities to pull away early, but the mistakes mounted and ultimately costed Texas yet again in the second half.
  
• The Texas defense was gashed on the ground.....again. The Longhorns had a lot of issue holding the point of attack and Baylor repeatedly had gigantic holes for their running backs. The tackling issues and bad angles continued. At this point, Texas is going to have to pick their poison because they are allowing way too many yards in the short and immediate passing game while leaving limited numbers in the box to defend running games that are running wild.
  
• It was very obvious that Baylor decided they did not want Gerry Bohanon to give the game away after his two first half interceptions. They did a good job of basically taking the ball out of his hands in the second half unless they absolutely had to throw. Texas never adjusted. 
  
• Building on the Texas issues defending the run, I am not quite sure what Texas is doing in the secondary right now. They rarely muddy the picture for the QB and give up a lot of easy pitch and catches for 8-10 yards. 
  
• Onto the offense, Texas left so many points on the field it's tough to go back and recount them all. Casey Thompson couldn't connect on a wide open Xavier Worthy in the endzone in the second quarter, and two plays later Joshua Moore fumbled. A few minutes later, following a Luke Brockermeyer interception that gave Texas the ball back with the chance to add points before the half, Thompson's throw to Moore bounced off his hands and right to a Baylor defender.
  
• Baylor was determined to not let Bijan Robinson beat them. Robinson finished the game with 17 carries for 43 yards. Steve Sarkisian even admitted in an interview at the half that if Baylor was going to continue stacking the box, Texas would need to continue to move the ball through the play action game. Texas made them pay a handful of times, but it wasn't enough.
  
• As I have mentioned several times in the past few weeks, Texas misses Jordan Whittington badly right now. Marcus Washington did a nice job of stepping up today (7 catches for 70 yards), but the Longhorns are lacking someone who can go over the middle of the field on 3rd down and help move the chains.
  
• For the most part, I thought the Texas offensive line held up okay in pass protection. Kyle Flood opted to tinker with the lineup throughout the game for the second consecutive game. In the run game, they were whipped repeatedly. Some of it had to with the numbers Baylor was dedicating to the running game, but the Texas offensive line was unable to generate any type of push even when the box thinned out.
  
• All the issues on both sides of the ball were compounded when Texas tried to make a punt in the 4th quarter with the ball around midfield. Not only was the decision to fake the punt questionable, but it was 4th and 11. Sarkisian said after the game that Dicker had the option to run or pass the ball, but it wouldn't have mattered. Baylor had it defended well and stopped Texas on downs. The Bears then turned the short field into a TD when Abram Smith went into the endzone untouched after Texas had no one in the cutback lane.
  

What's next?

• Any hopes that Texas had about back-dooring their way into the Big 12 championship game are gone. Now, the Longhorns have to go to Ames next weekend and are staring 4-5 in the face. I am far more concerned about the state of the Longhorns defense than I am the offense. Texas is simply getting whipped along the defensive line and teams are running the ball at will. While there are some personnel issues that limit the ability of some of the position groups, the unit as a whole should be playing much better than what they have been showing. Steve Sarkisian needs to evaluate everyone these last 4 games, both coaches and players, to figure out what this team needs to do in the offseason to get over the hump. Whatever they are doing now isn't working. 
  

 

[Johnny Depp]

24 points is not going to win many games. The D gave one of those to the O with an int. Horns avg. 41 points.

31 points is reasonable against a ranked team that avg's 38.

 

[java]

  As a team, I thought they played a better game.
  Moore didn’t have his best game. Washington tips too many balls.  He either needs to catch it or defend it.  I felt so bad for him after the game. It looked like he felt the weight of the loss.  Worthy is a beast!

  Dicker made a bad decision that he won’t make again. 
  
 

 

[Eastexhorn]

  As a team, I thought they played a better game.
  Moore didn’t have his best game. Washington tips too many balls.  He either needs to catch it or defend it.  I felt so bad for him after the game. It looked like he felt the weight of the loss.  Worthy is a beast!

  Dicker made a bad decision that he won’t make again. 
  
 

Sark made that call said it was a run pass option.

 

[java]

I read that. I think he thought he would make a better decision. 

 

[Drb522]

  As a team, I thought they played a better game.
  Moore didn’t have his best game. Washington tips too many balls.  He either needs to catch it or defend it.  I felt so bad for him after the game. It looked like he felt the weight of the loss.  Worthy is a beast!

  Dicker made a bad decision that he won’t make again. 
  
 

Dicker had blocking outside on the run, but cut inside them into the defenders.  That’s why you don’t let punters make decisions like that.

 

[Eastexhorn]

I think Sark did not think if he did he would not make he call. Texas has had enough trouble winning does not need this kind help in losing!

 

[java]

Oh no!

An announcer on TV just used the word stalwart.  Terrible memories.

 

[Mac-7]

The 4th and 11 call was dumb.   Sark will never live that down.      But the reason Texas is losing is they have a weak offensive line.    Baylor  was getting 6-9 yards on first down runs while Texas was lucky to get back to the line of scrimmage.   
 

and that puts too much pressure on the passing game which is not living up to its billing either

 

[North Texas Golfer]

Just got through watching the game. Not impressed with this coaching staff. Starting at the top. 

 

[Hiwood]

really dont know what to make of this team, dont know if they have the heart or guts to get down and dirty and do whatever it takes to win games....they seem to lack the leaders on the field that can impose their will on their teammates to play above their abilities

still willing to give Sark and PK a pass but maybe they are trying to sell a whole new culture and system to these players and they just aren't buying into it...Lots of blame to go around in this game

 

[Sirhornsalot]

really dont know what to make of this team, dont know if they have the heart or guts to get down and dirty and do whatever it takes to win games....they seem to lack the leaders on the field that can impose their will on their teammates to play above their abilities

still willing to give Sark and PK a pass but maybe they are trying to sell a whole new culture and system to these players and they just aren't buying into it...Lots of blame to go around in this game

I'm afraid he won't be able to fully instill a new culture until some of the old hands are gone. Its too engrained in them to change them now.

I'm going to tough out this first year and look for a much better team next year. If Aranda can do it at Baylor, Sark can do it here.

 

[Captain Hookem]

 Moore didn’t have his best game. Washington tips too many balls.  He either needs to catch it or defend it.  I felt so bad for him after the game. It looked like he felt the weight of the loss.  Worthy is a beast!
 

Casey needs to be more accurate and put balls in the strike zone. While these are catches that should be made, too many passes are taking WRs out of their routes.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Casey needs to be more accurate and put balls in the strike zone. While these are catches that should be made, too many passes are taking WRs out of their routes.

Thats because the routes are covered. You throw to the open spot and let the WR go get it. If the ball hits them in the hands, then it should have been a catch.

 

[Captain Hookem]

Sark made that call said it was a run pass option.

It should’ve been a pass/punt option. He’s not running 10 yards, and the defense lined up like it was 3rd and long. He had plenty of time to punt once it was clear the wr was covered.

 

[Captain Hookem]

Thats because the routes are covered. You throw to the open spot and let the WR go get it. If the ball hits them in the hands, then it should have been a catch.

That’s my point… he’s not doing that. Several of those passes went to the wrong side, too high and hot, out of bounds, or pulled the wr into a defender. We’ve seen this for several games now. 
 

He does a better job of this when he has time. But when he’s rushed or on the run his mechanics break down. That first big miss he was literally in the air when he tried to throw the ball 45 yards. It did not end well. He’s got to be better in these situations.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

That’s my point… he’s not doing that. Several of those passes went to the wrong side, too high and hot, out of bounds, or pulled the wr into a defender. We’ve seen this for several games now. 
 

He does a better job of this when he has time. But when he’s rushed or on the run his mechanics break down. That first big miss he was literally in the air when he tried to throw the ball 45 yards. It did not end well. He’s got to be better in these situations.

Maybe its just me, but I think CT is doing fine, considering he's running for his life most plays. He's doing a lot of things right. His ability to improvise is part of what got him this job. If you will notice, in the 4th one of the few things working for us was Casey running when the routes were covered (RPO). We were getting 10 yards a clip. I wondered aloud why we didn't do it more.

 

[Eastexhorn]

If he had more time no doubt he would be better.

Amazing to me so many are saying its the OL causing the problem, Been saying that for years.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

If he had more time no doubt he would be better.

Amazing to me so many are saying its the OL causing the problem, Been saying that for years.

Its been the problem for years. We have SUCKED at recruiting OL. When we did get a decent one (CW), he was a tight end that we converted.

We have two big names that are possible for this class in the OL category. We really need to hit on both and take 2-3 from the portal.