AMES, Iowa – An ironic twist for seventh-ranked Texas was a sack on fourth down Byron Murphy That helped seal a 26-16 win over Iowa State, and Murphy fell just short Jarrod Hufford, The Cyclones left guard who spit out bulletin board material at the Longhorns earlier this week.
And T’Vondre sweat hit Hufford to block an extra point that the Longhorns got back for two points.
On Tuesday, Hufford said Texas was going into “darkness” for a night game at Iowa State only to be relegated to the SEC with a loss and that the Longhorns had an ego that needed to be checked. But after Texas lost the final with 3:20 left, the game was canceled Jaydon Blue‘s 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 with 1:42 left, Steve Sarkisian threw his arms in the air to celebrate with the Longhorn players.
“First of all, I don’t know why you would ever challenge them,” Sarkisian said of Hufford, who went all game against Murphy, who had 1.5 sacks, and Sweat, who was under constant pressure, batted a pass and hit Hufford , who blocked the extra point Austin Jordan got the ball and got two points. “That would be the last thing I would do if I was preparing to play against us. But it was their choice to challenge them and, quite frankly, our culture. That’s how we recorded it.”
Sarkisian said he named Sweat and Murphy captains for Saturday night’s game because of Hufford’s comments. According to Pro Football Focus, Sarkisian wanted Iowa State’s captains to look the two highest-rated interior defenders in the FBS in the eyes.
“I wanted them to go to the middle of the field so they could see her [Murphy and Sweat]Sarkisian said. “I wanted them to watch 90.” [Murphy] and 93 [Sweat], and they showed up. Their attitude was, “We’ve been challenged.” “Okay, let’s go play.”
The Longhorns overcame some self-inflicted adversity (two touchdowns wiped out by penalties, a fumble in the red zone and a few missed big plays in the passing game, including a 66-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter) with another culture victory, to improve to 10-1 and stand alone atop the Big 12 with a conference record of 7-1 with one regular-season game remaining against Texas Tech next Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT (on ABC). .
— Quinn EwersContinuing to battle an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder, he completed 70 percent of his passes (23 of 33) for 281 yards, including touchdown passes of 23 yards Jordan Whittington and 31 yards to Gunnar Helm.
“I spoke to them [Murphy and Sweat] “I’ve been trying all week to get them a little more excited about the whole deal,” Ewers said with a laugh. “I ask myself, ‘Are you going to let this happen?’ But no, I mean they were motivated enough to come here and do what they did and especially 90 [Murphy]. Every time I looked up I felt like 90 was out there doing something. It’s just great to see these two guys get to work and I’m really glad I’m on their team.”
Ewers said Hufford’s comments were definitely a rallying point for the Longhorns.
“Honestly, it was pretty weird for us to see,” Ewers said. “We really wanted to let our pads do the talking, but we definitely brought some light into their darkness, for sure.”
– Led by Murphy and Sweat clogging everything inside, the Texas defense did it again, clogging the run and holding Iowa State to nine yards rushing on 21 attempts (0.4 yards per carry).
Jerrin Thompson recorded his third interception of the season, which led to a Texas touchdown in the second half. In the end, the Longhorns even made it into the turnover duel (1:1). Xavier Worthy suffered a fumble at the ISU 9 at the end of a 16-yard run in the second quarter.
— Without a star Jonathan Brooks (torn ACL), the Longhorns were able to rush for 130 yards on 34 carries (3.8 yards per carry), led by them CJ Baxterwho ran 20 times for 117 yards (5.9 ypc) despite going to the locker room early before halftime to receive treatment for an apparent back problem.
Baxter also led Texas in receptions with five for 13 yards.
(Photo: David Purdy, Getty)
– How about some love for Bert Auburn?
Auburn made 39-yard field goals in the second quarter; 50 yards on the last play of the first half; and 42 yards with 6:14 minutes left to play. Those three shots gave Auburn 14 straight field goals since then Steve Sarkisian gave him a vote of confidence after making 9 of 14 starts to the season.
– The 42-yard field goal ended the final scoring drive of the night for both teams. The Longhorns responded to a 66-yard touchdown pass from Iowa State with an 11-play, 56-yard drive with 6:26 remaining that resulted in Auburn’s final field goal of the game.
The only doozy was the play call on second-and-9 from the Iowa State 29 – a swing pass behind the line of scrimmage to Baxter that was blasted for a 4-yard loss. Run the ball downhill, for crying out loud!
Blue ran seven yards on third-and-13 to help Texas get back within manageable field goal range for Auburn, which had cash.
– Iowa State got Thompson to enter the game on fourth-and-1 in the 34th minute. The Cyclones’ tight end Easton Dean came off the line and released the ball right in front of Thompson, who couldn’t follow Dean and instead jumped and tried to hit Rocco Becht‘s pass that found Dean all alone in the middle of the field for a 66-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
Texas’ lead was cut to 23-16 with 12:44 to play, bringing the sellout crowd at Jack Trice Stadium back to life.
– Thompson’s third interception of the season led to a three-play, 57-yard touchdown drive capped by a beautifully engineered play for a 31-yard touchdown from Ewers to Helm, who lined up inline on the right side Blocker and was pulled across the field to the left undetected. Helm was wide open for the catch at the 5-yard line and then ran into the end zone.
– After Helm’s touchdown catch, the Longhorns went for a two count and converted. Ewers took the snap and quickly threw the ball to Whittington, who flew from right to left before Ewers faked a handoff to Baxter (without the ball in his hands). Whittington easily got into the end zone to give Texas a 23-9 lead with 14:52 to play.
(Photo: Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune, USA TODAY Sports)
– Once Texas took a 13-3 lead in the third quarter, the Longhorns’ pass defense was torn apart by Becht on a seven-play, 83-yard touchdown drive. Becht was 5-of-5 passing with completions of 7, 9, 33, 20 and 14 yards.
The 14-yarder came to the running back on a wheel route for a touchdown Eli Sanderswho hit Morice Blackwell Jr. in cover for the score.
-Sweat blocked Iowa State’s ensuing extra point attempt by beating nonsense Iowa State offensive guard Jarrod Hufford to raise his hand for the block. The ball was picked up at the 18-yard line by Jordan, who returned it 82 yards for two scores to extend Texas’ lead to 15-9.
– Texas came out in the second half with a clear determination to run the ball. It paid off in a big way when Whittington made his first touchdown catch of the season in the third quarter.
After Baxter had runs of 3, 21, 9 and 1 yards on the offense’s first drive of the third quarter, the Longhorns faced a third-and-1 from the Iowa State 23. Whittington lined up in the slot and did a great job selling a pre-race run block by the ISU safety Jeremiah Cooper to catch a perfect 23-yard play-action pass from Ewers to give Texas a 13-3 lead with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter.
– Whittington’s only touchdown reception of the 2022 season came against Iowa State, capped with a memorable celebration with Bevo in his pen at DKR.
– Texas had two touchdowns wiped out by penalties – a 23-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Adonai Mitchell (the holding call against Kelvin Banks Jr. was very questionable) and an 86-yard punt return by Worthy (the block in the background of Kitan Crawford was outrageous and unforgivable for a player of his experience).
— At various points in the first half, DJ Campbell And Yes’Tavion Sanders left the game with injuries. Baxter went to the locker room before the end of the first half to apparently receive treatment for a back problem. Sanders and Baxter returned to action. Not Campbell. Xavier Worthy also left the game in the fourth quarter.
– Against the Longhorns, six penalties were called for 49 yards in the first half, one of which (a block from behind on Kitan Crawford) negated an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown Xavier Worthy.
A call on hold Kelvin Banks that nullified a 23-yard touchdown pass from Ewers Adonai Mitchell in the second quarter was very questionable – as was a defensive pass interference flag Ryan Watts on third-and-8 (the ball was uncatchable) and extended an ISU drive to a 45-yard field goal (ISU’s only points of the first half).
Texas only had one penalty in the second half.
— Yes’Tavion Sanders Left the game with a right ankle, calf or lower leg injury. There were 48 minutes left in the first half after he made a HUGE 17-yard catch on third-and-13 from the Texas 23, extending UT’s 10-play, 58-yard drive to Bert Auburn’s 50-yard drive. Yard field goal on the last play of the half, giving Texas a 6-3 lead.
– In the second quarter, FOX reported CJ Baxter struggled with back problems, but Baxter continued to carry the ball for the Longhorns.
– An 86-yard punt return for a touchdown by Xavier Worthy 2:25 minutes before the end of the first half was undone by an apparent block from behind at the start of the second leg Kitan Crawfordwho definitely should have known better than to contact the ISU player, as that player had already been ejected from the game and would have no role in Worthy’s return.
— Xavier Worthy had some of the biggest highlights of the first half, including a 51-yard punt return that helped set up a field goal, as well as catches of 17, 11 and 30 yards.
But Worthy made a speed sweep and ran 16 yards before fumbling on a hit by Iowa State safety Jeremiah Cooper, which was recovered at the ISU 9 by the Cyclones with 5:40 left in the first half.
As a result, the Longhorns’ only drive inside Iowa State’s red zone was inconclusive, and instead of scoring until the end, the Longhorns’ defense was back on the field.
— Ewers wasn’t sacked against TCU last week, but he was sacked twice in the first quarter and four times total by Iowa State.
On third-and-10 from the Texas 44 on UT’s second possession, JT Sanders missed his block on the ISU side Tyler Onyedimand then CJ Baxterwho stayed inside to block also missed Onyedim and Ewers was dropped for a 9-yard loss, forcing a punt.
– T’Vondre Sweat made his presence felt early in the game when he went head-to-head with him Jarrod Hufford and on ISU’s first possession, he hit a third-down pass and forced a punt.
– Byron Murphy fired Rocco Becht on third-and-10, forcing a 45-yard ISU field goal in the first half.
– ISU kicker Chase Contrerez scored on a 45-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter but missed a 51-yard attempt in the second quarter.
— Alfred Collins And Ethan Burke combined for a third-and-10 sack of Becht on the final play of the first quarter, forcing a punt.
– A 51-yard punt return by Worthy early in the second quarter was the first momentum play of the game for Texas. Unfortunately, there was a 23-yard touchdown pass from Ewers Adonai Mitchell was wiped out by a questionable hold call Kelvin Banksand Texas couldn’t overcome the penalty and settled for a 39-yard field goal Bert Auburn The game ended 3-3 with 11:17 left in the second quarter.