For the Longhorns, Big 12 title hopes and an outside shot in the College Football Playoff are on the line on Saturday.
Austin, Texas – In arguably the biggest conference game of Steve Sarkisian’s tenure at the Forty Acres, the No. 7 Texas Longhorns host the No. 23 Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium with kickoff at 11 a.m. Central on FOX.
The mission?
Texas is 4-1 in the conference, part of a five-team tie that also includes Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Kansas State. With head-to-head matchups between the Longhorns and Wildcats and the Sooners and Cowboys in the final Bedlam game, two of those teams are guaranteed to fall behind the pack, making the road to Arlington and the Big 12 Championship Game more difficult.
By Sarkisian’s estimation, the Longhorns also have their best win of the season so far, the Week 2 triumph over the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, a team that remains without another blemish on its record this year. In the short history of the College Football Playoff, teams in the same position as Texas haven’t been featured often, but to the extent the Horns have controlled that opportunity, it’s winning, including the Big 12 Championship Game.
But there is also a risk of injuries in the game on Saturday. Texas starting quarterback Quinn Ewers will miss a second straight game with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder, forcing redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy to start again. At the start of pregame warmups, Buck sophomore Ethan Burke began to loosen up with a large brace on his right knee, even though Sarkisian had officially listed Burke as week-to-week. In the same category, but less likely to play, is senior safety Jalen Catalon (leg), who hasn’t seen a game since a loss to Oklahoma nearly a month ago.
And then there’s the specter of possible injuries during practice this week. Horns247’s Chip Brown asked a pointed question about the topic on Thursday, but Sarkisian was noticeably evasive during pregame warmups to provide further perspective before kickoff.
Warm-up exercises before the game
Some of the injury concerns were alleviated, at least for the moment, when Murphy was one of the first Longhorns out of the tunnel and moving freely, as was junior tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders. And as expected given the activity without pads, Burke came out dressed to warm up.
When the entire team came out for stretching, senior right tackle Christian Jones was out with the offensive linemen, but redshirt freshman backup center Connor Robertson wasn’t dressed and neither was Catalon with the secondary linemen. However, in the 11-on-11 warm-up, Jones was not included in the first-team offense and was replaced by sophomore Cam Williams.
Acting guard
Famous Texas nemesis Kevin Mar is the lead official for Saturday’s game.
The Wildcats are averaging 5.3 penalties per game on the road this season and 4.6 penalties per game overall.
First quarter
After Kansas State won the toss and delayed the start of the second half, Texas began the game on offense with the ball at the 25-yard line after a touchback just inside the pylon.
With Williams starting at right tackle, the Longhorns opened the game with a stop-route-run-pass option to junior wide receiver Xavier Worthy for a 24-yard gain. The ensuing run saw redshirt-sophomore running back Jonathon Brooks loaded, but Murphy hauled another ball through the air to junior wide receiver AD Mitchell for 12 yards. After a batted pass put the Horns behind again, Sanders caught a slot for five yards and then returned it on a false start. On 3rd-and-10, Worthy ran free on a go route, but Murphy put too much air under the ball and it fell incomplete, sending senior punter Ryan Sanborn to the field after an intentional delay of game. The Stanford transfer pinned Kansas State deep in its own territory with a punt at the 7-yard line.
A second-down run by Wildcats running back DJ Giddens provided a first down, but a pass broken up at the line of scrimmage by senior linebacker Jett Bush and a run-stuff forced Kansas State into a 3rd-and-1 7, which led to a sack by Junior Jack and Barryn Sorrell thanks to some tight man coverage in the back end by Texas.
Once again, Worthy looked dangerous on a punt return, gaining 19 yards for the Longhorns to stop the drive in positive territory at the Wildcats’ 47-yard line.
Kansas State loaded the box on first down to stop Brooks for a two-yard gain before the Texas starter found a seam up the middle for eight yards on second down. With one-on-one coverage on the outside, Mitchell hit the Wildcats’ defensive back with a little hesitation on a go route to get open, and Murphy dropped a perfect pass over the top for a 37-yard Dropping a touchdown pass to score a 7-yard touchdown pass. 0 lead with 8:36 remaining in the first quarter.
In a sign of how different this Texas defense looks in terms of toughness, Burke managed to fight through a clear handle to grab a chase-down sack from Howard, and senior cornerback Ryan Watts delivered a huge hit at the rim off, then junior linebacker Mo Blackwell flew up to drop Howard on a third-down run call, forcing a punt.
Kansas State was called for an illegal formation on its ensuing punt attempt, and Texas opted to let the Wildcats kick again, but paid for it in field position when the Kansas State punter hit a 58-yarder.
Brooks got off crappy on a short first-down run and Worthy narrowly avoided a drop or an interception on a catch he bobbled for most of the eight yards it gained. Looking for another strike play, Murphy placed it on Mitchell’s flying fingertips, who made a sensational catch for a 47-yard gain.
Texas advanced into the red zone with a dart from Murphy to senior wide receiver Jordan Whittington and nearly scored a touchdown against Kansas State’s stingy red zone defense, but freshman running back CJ Baxter failed to make the final tackle come and Williams was called for a false start. Two incompletions by Murphy, including a nearly intercepted pass in the end zone, led the Longhorns to settle for a 32-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.
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