BEVO BEAT

Third and Longhorns: Inside Texas 38, Baylor 7

Posted October 28th, 2017

Rich Tijerina American-Statesman Staff

@RichtAAS

A deeper look inside Texas’ 38-7 win over Baylor:

Why Texas (4-4, 3-2 Big 12) won

Another solid week for the defense, which for a change didn’t go up against the nation’s No. 1-ranked offense. Baylor is a far cry from Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, so take Saturday’s statistical output with a grain of salt — the Longhorns had 431 yards of total offense, held a 19-11 advantage in first downs converted three of their four red zone trips into points. And the Bears committed three turnovers which led to 10 Texas points.

Why Baylor (0-8, 0-5) lost

There are reasons why the Bears are winless. The run defense is as bad as advertised. Matt Rhule’s decision to rotate Zach Smith and Charlie Brewer in and out of the lineup only resulted in a neutered offense that never found a rhythm. And Texas’ defense is as good as advertised, so that was a factor, too. The three turnovers were real killers and they came in different ways — a pick-six, a fumble, another fumble and don’t forget the botched punt snap. Next Saturday’s road game at Kansas can’t get here soon enough.

The Eyes of Texas

The Longhorns kept their eyes on three specific Bears — running back John Lovett, the team’s leading rusher who was averaging 5.1 yards a carry and had scored four touchdowns; wide receiver Tony Nicholson, Baylor’s second-leading receiver who was averaging five catches a game in Big 12 play; and cornerback Harrison Hand, who had Baylor’s only interception this season through the first seven games.

How did they do?

Lovett scored Baylor’s lone touchdown, but finished with only 2 yards on 5 carries.

Nicholson had a fairly quiet day: 3 catches for 38 yards.

Hand also had a quiet day. He had five tackles.

Game balls

OFFENSE

All eyes were on Shane Buechele. He delivered: 27 of 34 for 256 yards, 2 total touchdowns and one interception. He didn’t need to make big plays, and didn’t, but he did make a couple of important ones.

And let’s acknowledge freshmen running backs Toneil Carter (15-70-1) and Daniel Young (7-60-1), who averaged 4.7 and 8.6 yards per carry and got into the end zone in the second half.

DEFENSE

Holton Hill was the defensive player of the game. He had six tackles, a pass breakup and forced a fumble.

DeShon Elliott had a big day, with his pick-six.

Plays of the game

Offensive play of the game: In his first start since the conference opener at Iowa State, Buechele showed no ill effects of that ankle injury with a 28-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to put the Horns up 21-7.

Texcetera

The post Third and Longhorns: Inside Texas 38, Baylor 7 appeared first on Hook ‘Em.

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