football Game Recap: Texas 56 - SJSU 0 (by Aaron Carrara)

[Harrison Wier]

After a disappointing upset loss in the season opener against Maryland last week, the Texas Longhorns had everything to prove this week when they took the field against San Jose State on Saturday.  The Longhorns bounced back by relying on a solid rushing attack that used an array of players to deliver a 56-0 shutout loss to the Spartans.

Junior running back Chris Warren led the effort with 166 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns.  Kyle Porter added 72 yards on 16 carries, including one touchdown.  When the day was done the Longhorns amassed a total of 406 yards rushing.  Compare that against the 98 total rushing yards last week against the Terrapins and it is easy to see why Tom Herman, who won his first game as head coach at Texas, was pleased with team’s ability to produce results on the ground.

“We need to run the ball. We’ve got an above average offensive line. We’ve got good tailbacks. That’s who we are. That’s what we believe in.  You’ve got to be able to impose your will and run the football and take some pressure off the quarterback. I think our offensive line and backs did a marvelous job of that”

Texas (1-1, 0-0) started true freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger in place of Shane Buechele, who is nursing a shoulder injury sustained in the loss to Maryland.  Ehlinger took command of the offense and operated efficiently, finishing with 222 yards passing and one touchdown.  Ehlinger also contributed 48 yards to the rushing effort, showing his ability to move in and out of the pocket when necessary. The Texas offensive line did not allow a sack in the game, highlighting the progress made from last week’s subpar performance in which Buechele was pressured incessantly and forced to scramble more times than not.

The Longhorns struck first on backup quarterback Jerrod Heard’s 9 yard run out of the Wildcat formation, giving Texas a 7-0 lead at the 4:12 mark in the first quarter.  Chris Warren added to the score in the second quarter, rumbling 41 yards for a touchdown and delivering punishing blows to San Jose State defenders in the process.  Jerrod Heard rushed for his second touchdown on the day at the 2:17 mark, scampering into the left side of the end zone once again out of the Wildcat.

The Longhorns led 21-0 at the half.

San Jose began the second half on offense and was forced to punt after the Longhorns held  the Spartans to 3 and out. The Longhorns would begin a scoring drive at the 13:23 mark, which included a heavy dose of Chris Warren and Kyle Porter.  The drive ended with Porter finding the end zone from 3 yards out to give Texas a 28-0 lead and Porter’s first touchdown as a Longhorn.  Texas added to its lead in the 3rd quarter with Holton Hill intercepting San Jose State’s Aaron Montel and returning it 45 yards for a touchdown.

In the opening 4th quarter drive for the Longhorns, Sam Ehlinger found Collin Johnson for 27 yards and Reggie Hemphill-Mapps for 23 yards, setting Chris Warren up for a 9 yard touchdown run, his second of the game.  On the Longhorns’ following drive, Ehlinger would notch his first career collegiate touchdown on a one yard shovel pass to Armanti Foreman.  Texas pulled Ehlinger halfway through the 4th quarter, letting Heard handle the offense for the remainder of the game.  The Longhorns added one more touchdown from tailback Toneil Carter, with 2:46 left to play.

While the praise for the offense is warranted, the performance by the defense against San Jose State was equally impressive.  The Longhorns held Aaron Montel and the Spartan defense to just 42 yards rushing and 171 total yards of offense.  The linebackers played better, the defensive line won the battles they needed to, and the defensive backs closed faster. San Jose State isn’t a Top-10 team, but Todd Orlando has a lot of positives to glean from his unit’s play today.

The uncertainty surrounding Shane Buechele’s timetable for return means Sam Ehlinger could get the starting nod again when the Longhorns travel to Los Angeles to play Top-10 USC next week at the Coliseum.

Tom Herman will begin preparing his game plan for USC tomorrow morning at 10:00 am.

Game Notes

• Texas freshman Reggie Hemphill-Mapps did not play in first half for reportedly violating team rules.
• The Texas kicking game struggled again today with Josh Rowland missing a 43 yard FG attempt. Rowland is 0-3 on the season in FG’s.
• Holton Hill’s interception for a touchdown return gives him 3 touchdowns on the season.
• The Longhorns are now 13-5-1 all time in games following a season opening loss.
• Chris Warren surpassed the 1,000 yard mark with his 166 yard performance against the Spartans.
• Patrick Hudson left the field with what appeared to be an injury to his knee.
• Head coach Tom Herman won his first game at Texas and is now 23-5 in his career as a head coach.

[Epictetus]

Two thumbs up.

[DMAC]

USC 347 yards offense at halftime against Stanford 

[okiehorn]

5 minutes ago, DMAC said:

USC 347 yards offense at halftime against Stanford 

Stanford ain't crap compared to SJSU, bring em on.  

[Baron]

8 minutes ago, DMAC said:

USC 347 yards offense at halftime against Stanford 

That's scary. Texas will have to control the tempo and clock next week.

[Huskie1]

If the Horns throw it 50+ times like week one, it will be a long night. 

[okiehorn]

Woooow USC looks good 600+ total offense and the RB runs HARD. Trusting in the HERMAN

[DMAC]

And a good OL and defense.  

[DBut82]

And didn't Chuck refuse to offer Ronald Jones??? WTH???

[tejasrulz]

• Texas freshman Reggie Hemphill-Mapps did not play in first half for reportedly violating team rules. - Kid needs to follow the rules, we need him on the field
• Holton Hill’s interception for a touchdown return gives him 3 touchdowns on the season. - I think he leads the team in TDs, total guess
• Patrick Hudson left the field with what appeared to be an injury to his knee. - Hope it isn't serious, this young man will be a stud

[primal defense]

At this point I will take any win I can get. We really see where we are next week. Good win.

 

UT & TOM HERMAN TO SAN JOSE STATE!

[JMagana]

4 hours ago, okiehorn said:

Woooow USC looks good 600+ total offense and the RB runs HARD. Trusting in the HERMAN

Big game Herman!

[Slimer]

Where was Devin Duvernay?  Don't recall ever seeing him yesterday.

[Coal Harbour]

1 hour ago, Slimer said:

Where was Devin Duvernay?  Don't recall ever seeing him yesterday.

I was fine with that.  His body language is poor and he is more impressive in shorts and t-shirt running the 40 than he is as a football player.  I don't believe he should ever start are be a focal point until it looks like he actually likes football.  Reminds me of CB Devante Davis last year.  Football team is better without those players in significant roles. 

[drgilbert]

It wasn't that long ago we thought running back might be a weakness with little depth, now it looks like we have a real stud in CW3 and 3 serviceable back ups. 

[DMAC]

RUSHING STATISTICS
NAME	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Chris Warren III	22	197	9	41 (TD)	2
Kyle Porter	24	93	3.9	14	1
Toneil Carter	6	56	9.3	38	1
Sam Ehlinger	7	48	6.9	11	0
Jerrod Heard	9	43	4.8	9 (TD)	2
Daniel Young	4	27	6.8	11	0
Shane Buechele	15	21	1.4	9	1
Lil'Jordan Humphrey	1	21	21	21	0
Armanti Foreman	1	3	3	3	0
Totals	90	504	5.6	41	7

[texbound]

granted the sample isn't very large at this point, but I really liked Carter and Young.  Both hit the hole hard and both seem to have really good speed to take it to the house.   As far as Duverney and Burt, the Horns need them to be the players they're capable of being.  Having Mapps step up like he has is a plus, but they need DD and Burt to take ghe top of defenses with their speed.  So far, thats an element that is missing, imo.

[jrcruz1026]

This team has a long way to go....Texas basically just beat a team as talented as Anderson High school. Still made a lot of mistakes but fortunately the talent on the other side of the ball did not exist and couldn't punish Texas for the mistakes

[Sirhornsalot]

23 hours ago, Harrison Wier said:

 

• Chris Warren surpassed the 1,000 yard mark with his 166 yard performance against the Spartans.
•  

 

Isn't it a little early to have broken the 1K mark?

[Sirhornsalot]

I would be interested in knowing why Kirk Johnson didn't enter the game at some point. He must still be nursing an injury. Seeing him early as a frosh, he had some lightning in the bottle. Would love to see him play.

I was impressed with both Carter and Young. However, it also tells me that SJSU DL was just not up to par. USC will be day/night different than that.

To beat USC, we're going to have to play lights out defense. Score at least twice on O, once on ST, and once on D. Hopefully, the team stays at a Holiday Inn Express out there.

 

 

[Aaron Carrara]

37 minutes ago, Sirhornsalot said:

 

Isn't it a little early to have broken the 1K mark?

To clarify - surpassed the 1K career yard mark at Texas.  He has 1033 yards.

[texbound]

I read somewhere that Kirk Johnson wasn't dressed due to a hamstring injury.  Not sure if it's true, but have no reason to believe otherwise.

[North Texas Golfer]

Do not get overly excited about any player who played a good game against San Jose State. 

Be really concerned about any player who did not play good against San Jose State. They should not see the field again.

It was San Jose State. 

We will know who really is a good player and who is not after this coming Saturday night.

 

 

[83Dee]

Five point plan to limit the damage against USC, for what it's worth..... probably very little:

1.  Play Hager much more as a pass rusher.  Pass rush has been poor and that combined with a secondary that tends to allow people to run around free could be lethal.  Hager can get to the QB.... please get him on the field more.

2.  Give Chisolm more snaps.  See pass rush observation above.  I didn't see much of Chisolm but what I did intrigued me.  Our current DL may grade out okay, but they do not pressure the QB very well.

3.  Treat Warren like a weapon (which he is).  Stop with the consistent rotation and give him the overwhelming majority of the carries.  Stop with the committee already. 

4.  Let Shane heal completely before putting him back in a game.  He has the edge over Sam (right now) because of experience and accuracy.  But the overall difference between the two is minimal.  A less than 100% Shane makes Sam the better option.  A re-injured Shane makes us less formidable for the rest of the year. 

5.  I won't pretend to know the intricacies of the rotation, the psychology, who practices better, etc.... but here is my fifth bullet point - Johnson and McCullough are now starters at LB.  Keep them on the field until they require a breather. 

[tejasrulz]

Quote

5.  I won't pretend to know the intricacies of the rotation, the psychology, who practices better, etc.... but here is my fifth bullet point - Carter and McCullough are now starters at LB.  Keep them on the field until they require a breather. 

 

Why do you not want Carter as a RB? He seemed to do well IMHO. 

McCullough has hardly played this year. What have you seen of him to state he should start? I must admit I was wondering why he wasn't seeing the field much myself, just curious what you know or have seen.