Five Questions – Iowa State

 

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

AUSTIN – There’s something about Iowa State that the Texas football team can’t easily solve.

The Longhorns walked away with a 27-6 victory at Darrell K Royal Stadium on Saturday, winning 12 of the past 14 games against the Cyclones. However, like most of those games, this one came down to a few plays.[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

Texas (3-3, 1-2 in Big 12) snapped a three-game losing streak and, for the first time in 15 games in coach Charlie Strong’s tenure, won after trailing at halftime.

Despite those milestones, this game — played before a crowd of 96,851 on a starry cloudless night — followed suit with previous contests.

Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele led the Longhorns on three straight touchdown drives in the third quarter. He hit on scoring passes of 37 and 75 yards in the quarter and passed for a career-high 296 yards for the game.

With fellow running back Chris Warren III sidelined indefinitely, D’Onta Foreman has now become the focal point of the Texas offense. He amassed 136 yards and an 18-yard touchdown on a career-high 30 carries against Iowa State.

The troubled Longhorn defense — a group that gave up 672 yards to Oklahoma a week before in a 45-40 loss — played its best overall game of the season. Texas didn’t give up the over-the-top passes or running plays it had in the first five games of the year. The Longhorns held Iowa State to 280 yards of offense — 72 of which came on a final, meaningless drive.

“The defense finally stepped up,” Strong said afterward. “I challenged the whole team to play better, with confidence and show us all the kind of players we know they are. We have six games left — we have to get better every day, every practice, every game.”

One game doesn’t turn around a season; however, the Longhorns’ win will help right the ship. Getting to that point took awhile, and the Texas faithful were on edge, especially during the first two quarters.

That’s when Texas struggled offensively, failing to move the ball against Iowa State’s 102nd-ranked defense. The Cyclones kept to their mantra to grind out the clock, take what Texas would give and not make mistakes, and that strategy allowed them to take a 6-0 lead on a pair of Cole Netten field goals.  

Iowa State marched 58 yards in 12 plays, using 5 minute and 44 seconds of the first quarter before settling for Netten’s first kick — a 39-yarder — and a 3-0 lead at the 3:59 mark of the first quarter.

On the Longhorns’ ensuing possession, Foreman had the ball taken from him by Iowa State’s Willie Harvey, Jr. at the Texas 33-yard line. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Caleb Bluiett advanced the ball to the Texas 18, but Iowa State’s drive stalled at the 8-yard line, forcing another Netten kick, this one a 25-yarder for a 6-0 Cyclones’ advantage.

The Longhorns finally scored on a 21-yard field goal by Trent Domingue with 15 seconds to play in the half that cut Iowa State’s lead to 6-3. The Cyclones, amazingly, had a chance to answer thanks to a 47-yard return by Kene Nwangwu on the ensuing kickoff and a nifty 20-yard pass from backup quarterback Jacob Park to Jhaustin Thomas. Netten, however, missed a 50-yard field goal attempt as the first half expired.

Texas owned a 161-140 edge in total offense in the first half and outrushed the Cyclones 95-55 thanks to three sacks that cost Iowa State big yards. Buechele passed for just 66 yards in the first half, with his longest completion a 16-yard hookup with Dorian Leonard.

The Longhorns finally broke through on the opening possession of the third quarter for their first touchdown against Iowa State when Buechele (who ended up 26-of-38 passing for 296 yards) found a wide-open Jerrod Heard for a 37-yard scoring pass that, after Domingue’s PAT kick, put Texas ahead 10-6.

The touchdown pass came one play after Buechele hit Armanti Foreman on a 37-yard play that went into the end zone but was called back when both Foreman and the Iowa State defensive back covering him were called for offsetting facemask penalties.

“We didn’t change anything from the first half to the second — we just killed ourselves with penalties in the first two quarters that stopped drives,” Buechele said. “I missed some guys for big plays that were wide open.

“We executed better in the third quarter,” he added. “We got our confidence back when we hit that first touchdown pass.”

Texas started rolling on its next possession, which began after the Longhorns’ defense stopped Iowa State on a fourth-and-2 situation at the Texas 25. Buechele floated a high pass down the right sideline for Duvernay, who shrugged off a would-be tackler and sprinted for a 75-yard touchdown and 17-6 lead.

The Longhorns added to their lead in the final minute of the third quarter on Foreman’s 18-yard touchdown run, which capped a 13-play, 96-yard drive.

Iowa State (1-6, 0-4 in Big 12) didn’t have the offense to respond to the Longhorns’ run. Quarterback Joel Lanning’s 140 yards in the air led the Cyclones’ offense late in the game. Mike Warren picked up 60 yards on 18 carries for Iowa State.

Texas outscored Iowa State 21-0 in the third quarter and outgained the Cyclones 243-71. The Longhorns ended with a 505-280 advantage in yards while recording eight sacks among 14 overall tackles for a loss.

“This game and this win is a page from a book we have to keep turning,” Texas defensive tackle Paul Boyette said. “We have to continue to improve, trust each other and keep buying into what we’re doing on the field.”

 

What was the biggest play in this game?

The momentum changed when the Longhorn defense stopped Warren on a fourth-down and 2 carry midway through the third quarter. If Iowa State converted that play and continued on to a touchdown, I may be writing a different story.

“On the fourth down call, we thought [Lanning] was going to run it again like he did on third down, but he handed it off,” Strong said. “To get that stop was big. Suddenly, you see the shift of momentum and then, boom, we hit a home run on them.”

Texas defensive end Naashon Hughes said the defense played with a hunger that was missing the past few weeks.

“As a defense, we took it upon ourselves to go out, step up and help the offense when they needed it,” Hughes said. “We went out there and played with a chip on our shoulder. We’ve been focusing on getting to the quarterback and finishing our rushes. We wanted to leave nothing on the table.”

 

What was the difference maker for the Longhorns?

The Texas players had two meetings this week — one on Monday to focus on the defense’s issues and another on Thursday in which several of the team’s leaders called out fellow teammates for their lack of hunger and failure to execute.

“We challenged ourselves and others in that meeting,” Hughes said. “We all went in there and put our pride to the side and said what we needed to say to each other. After that meeting, we all knew what we had to go do. We finally started challenging each other instead of pointing fingers.”

Those meetings, and the accusations within, certainly ruffled a few feathers but produced the Longhorns’ best defensive game since a week two blowout against Texas-El Paso.

“Anytime you go through adversity as a team, you will grow together,” Texas offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert said. “That’s what we’re in the process of right now.”

After losing three games in a row, the Longhorns’ players put added pressure on themselves to produce this week.

“We put it on ourselves,” Texas defensive end Breckyn Hager said. “We figured it out during our meeting, and through practicing as hard as we could, and the results were positive.

 

Who is Texas’ most important player?

Right now, that would be Foreman, who gained 100 yards or more for the seventh straight game — a feat accomplished only by the legendary Earl Campbell, who had 11 consecutive 100-yard-plus games in his Heisman Trophy season of 1977.

“He’s having an unbelievable year,” Strong said. “I haven’t seen many running backs across the country, but I think we have one of the best here with him. And we’ll keep feeding him the ball.”

Strong said he wouldn’t back away from giving Foreman the ball 40 times in a game if that’s what’s necessary.

“It goes with what’s going on in the game,” Gilbert said about the number of carries for Foreman. “We have an idea about the carries we’d like [for him to have] and what we’d like him to do.”

Foreman understands his role on the team and relishes the comparison with Campbell.

“I play my role on this team and that’s to lead, be physical and try to help us move the team,” Foreman said. “However much I get the ball, I’m willing to play my role. I’m proud of the [offensive] line. I went to each of the guys personally and told them thank you — if it wasn’t for them, this wouldn’t be possible.”

 

What’s the deepest unit on the Longhorns?

Texas’ collection of wide receivers continues to improve and amaze. Twenty-four of Buechele’s 26 completions against Iowa State went to eight different wideouts but none of the receivers caught more than five passes.

The Longhorns’ two leading receivers were players that barely had a role with the team when the season started — Leonard (who caught five throws, three more than in any other game in his career) and Duvernay (four catches for a team-high 96 yards).

Leonard got the start in the right outside wide receiver spot in lieu of John Burt. Burt, who was penciled in to be a superstar for the Longhorns this season, never saw the field against Iowa State.

“Leonard continues to improve,” Strong said. “He’s exciting to watch. What I love about him is that he’s still on every one of our special teams. He never wants to come out of the game.”

“And Duvernay blows by guys,” Strong added. “We’re explosive on offense. I know it’s going to take time but we’re talented at wide receiver.”

 

What’s next for the Longhorns?

Texas will carry a modicum of momentum into next Saturday’s road game at Kansas State, which lost to Oklahoma 38-14 in Norman on Saturday. The Longhorns seldom play well in Manhattan, losing the past four games in the “Little Apple.”

“We know we’ll have to play better against Kansas State next week and we can’t afford to have the mistakes, the slow start and especially the penalties we had here tonight,” Strong explained. “It’s all about ourselves — we control our destiny and we can’t look back. We have to live in the present.

“Our goal this season is to play well at home — we have to be undefeated at home. When we get on the road, it’s going to be a challenge for us. But we have play better on the road. It’s going to be a good challenge for us and we’ll see exactly how this win will carryover for us.”[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [article-offer] [/s2If]