Game Three Snapshot: Texas football heads west to face USC

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

AUSTIN, Texas — Here are a few of the things worth watching from the Longhorns in their first road game of the season … and it’s a doozy, against fourth-ranked Southern California. The contest kicks off at 7:30 p.m. CDT Saturday at the sold-out Los Angeles Memorial Colisuem:

NOTES, QUOTES, PLAYERS TO WATCH

• Either sophomore Shane Buechele (who passed for 375 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score in a week 1 loss to Maryland) or true freshman[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] Sam Ehlinger (15 of 27 passing for 222 yards and one touchdown against San Jose State) will start at quarterback for the Longhorns against USC. Buechele missed the San Jose State game with a bruised throwing shoulder, but has practiced and is still day-to-day.

• Junior defensive back Holton Hill had his third return touchdown of the season and fourth of his career when he intercepted a pass and brought it back 45 yards for a score. Hill has three career interceptions, and has returned all three for scores. His other touchdown return came on a blocked field goal.

• In just his second game back from injury, junior running back Chris Warren III carried the ball 16 times for 166 yards and two scores in the win over San Jose State. It marked his fifth career 100-yard game and allowed him to reach 1,0333 career rushing yards (49th in UT history) on just 155 carries. He has nine career touchdowns.

SERIES HISTORY: Saturday’s game against Southern California will mark the sixth time the Longhorns have faced the Trojans, and the third time the teams will meet at USC. The Trojans lead the all-time series 4-1, but the Longhorns enter Saturday’s game having won the last matchup. The series began with a USC win in 1955. The two programs have played home-and-home series in 1955-56 and 1966-67, and now again, Saturday’s game marks the first of a 2017-18 home-and-home. USC is scheduled for a return trip to Austin Sept. 15 next season.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “I don’t know, because last week we needed that, too. We needed the games. We needed the adversity and we also needed the success. We needed both. Last week and this week. You need adversity because you need to know how to respond when the games get tougher. Not every game is going to be easy and not every game is going to go step-by-step your way.” — Texas running back Chris Warren III, on if his team needed its big win over San Jose State after a season-opening loss to Maryland.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Scouting the running game: Texas ran for 406 rushing yards in the win over San Jose State, marking just the ninth 400-yard rushing game for the Longhorns since the 1980 season. It was a huge improvement over game 1, in which UT managed 31 carries for just 98 yards, with only 14 of those carries (and 52 of the yards) coming from its running backs. Texas now has a 400-yard rushing game in each of its past three seasons.

Scouting the passing game: Ehlinger passed for 222 yard and a score in his first action for the Longhorns and was not sacked. Either Ehlinger or Buechele, the incumbent starter, will get the start against USC.

Scouting the run defense: Texas worked hard to be better at stopping the run after surrendering 263 yards on the ground in its opener against Maryland. The Longhorns allowed San Jose State just 42 yards and earned a shutout for the first time since Sept. 27, 2014, when they blanked Kansas, 23-0.

Scouting the pass defense: The Longhorns have just two sacks in two games this season and will have to do more up front if they are going to compete with USC. Texas allowed just 129 yards passing last week against San Jose State, and Holton Hill intercepted a pass that he returned for a touchdown. The Longhorns’ secondary had several major breakdowns in coverage in the first half last but got away with them; they can’t expect to get so lucky against the Trojans.

Scouting the special teams: Texas junior kicker Joshua Rowland missed a field goal for the second consecutive game; he has two misses and a blocked kick in two games this season. Junior punter Michael Dickson averaged 45 yards on three punts and can be a game changer.

DRAFT PROSPECTS

• Left tackle Connor Williams: The offensive line pushed around the smaller and weaker San Jose State defense and Williams was a huge part of that. His stock rises with every game but how he shines in battles against the likes of USC’s defense will determine how high he will go in next year’s draft.

• Nose tackle Poona Ford: He had just one tackle against San Jose State but dominated the middle, spearheading the Longhorns’ interior defense and helping Texas make a big goalline stand in the second quarter on the Spartans’ only drive that constituted a real scoring threat. Ford remains a man on a mission.

• Linebacker Malik Jefferson: He led the Longhorns on tackles for the second straight game and had with seven total tackles, four of which were solo stops. Jefferson shot through a gap to the right of the center to help Ford and company deny San Jose State a fourth-and-1 conversion.

ROSTER REPORT:

• Texas will be without tight end Garrett Gray and backup guard Patrick Hudson, each of whom is dealing with a knee injury.

• Buechele still is not 100 percent with his banged-up throwing shoulder. If he misses much practice this week, expect Ehlinger (who Texas coach Tom Herman loves) to start and play against USC if he gets the bulk of the snaps in practice.

• Freshman tight end Reese Leitao, who was suspended for Texas’ first two games after reaching a plea deal on drug charges stemming from a February arrest, could see his first action of the season against USC.

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