Everything you need to know for Texas vs Kansas State

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Texas game notes | Kansas State game notes | Big 12 Conference notes

 

The Opening Kickoff    
• The University of Texas Longhorns Football team returns to the road for a Big 12 Conference showdown with the Kansas State University Wildcats on Saturday morning in Manhattan.
• Both teams enter the game with identical 3-3 overall records and 1-2 conference marks.
• The Longhorns are coming off a 27-6 win over Iowa State on Saturday at home.
• The Wildcats lost 38-17 on the road to Oklahoma over the weekend.
• UT is looking for their first road victory of the season.


The All-Time Series    
• Texas and Kansas State meet for the 17th time in school history on Saturday in Manhattan.
• Kansas State leads the all-time series 9-7 and is the only Big 12 Conference school that holds the edge over UT.
• In Manhattan, Texas is just 1-6 all-time with their lone win coming in 2002.
Charlie Strong is 1-1 against Kansas State as the head coach of Texas.
• In the last matchup, the Longhorns defeated the Wildcats 23-9 last season in Austin.

National Game Coverage    
• Saturday's game between Texas and Kansas State is slated for an 11:00 a.m. CT kickoff at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas.
• The game will be available nationally on ESPN2. Beth Mowins will call the action with Anthony Becht joining her for analysis in the booth. Rocky Boiman will be on the sideline.
• Beginning two hours prior to kickoff, tune into Longhorn Network's Texas GameDay show live from Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium.
• A Texas radio broadcast can be heard nationally on Sirius channel 119, XM channel 200 and online channel 954.

A Texas Win Would...    
• Improve the Longhorns record on the season to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12 Conference.
• Be Texas' 890th win in program history. UT has an all-time record of 889-355-33.
• Mark Charlie Strong's 52nd career victory. He enters the game with a career coaching record of 51-33.
• Be the Longhorns' first victory in Manhattan since 2002.
• Make Texas 9-8 all-time against the Wildcats.
• Be the Longhorns' second straight over Kansas State.

Head Coach Charlie Strong    
Charlie Strong is in his third season as the head coach at Texas and his seventh overall season as a head coach. Strong is 14-17 (.452) in his career with the Longhorns, while compiling a career record of 51-33 (.607).
• Strong and the Longhorns are sitting at 3-3 overall in the 2016 season having played three Big 12 Conference games. Strong has guided Texas to a 10-11 mark (.476) in Big 12 action during his tenure.
• Prior to Texas, Strong was the head coach at Louisville for four seasons. He was 27-15 in four years with the Cardinals.
• In just seven years, Strong has led his teams to a bowl game five times, registered 11- and 12-win seasons and three bowl wins, including a Sugar Bowl title.

The Offensive Turnaround    
• First-year offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert was brought to Texas to reinvigorate the Longhorns offense and install his up-tempo system on the 40 Acres.
• Through six games, the Longhorns have scored 232 points, which is 85 more than they had through six games a season ago.
• Texas is averaging 261.0 passing yards per game and 238.8 rushing yards per game, up from 148.5 passing yards per game last season and 195.0 rushing yards per game.
• The Longhorns are averaging more than 150 yards per game more than they did through six games in each of the last two seasons and have 62 more first downs through six games than a season ago.

Longhorns Rack Up 500 Yards    
• For the fourth time in the season's first six games, Texas' offense totaled more than 500 yards in Saturday's win over Iowa State.
• In the last two season's Texas had 500 yards of total offense just three times.
• The last time Texas had 500 yards of offense at least four times in a season was in 2011, when they also did so four times. The school record for 500 yard games in a season is six, done in both 2005 and 2009.
• With at least 400 yards of total offense in each of the season's first six games, Texas has accomplished that feat for just the second time in school history. 2016 joins 2008 as the only other offense in school history with six straight 400-yard games to begin the season. The 2008 team had eight straight 400 yard games to begin the season.

The Rushing Attack    
• So far this season, Texas has rushed for 238.8 yards per game and 17 touchdowns on the ground.
• The Longhorns offense has totaled at least 300 yards of offense two times, racking up 329 at Oklahoma State (Oct.1) and 307 at California (Sept. 17).
• The back-to-back 300-yard performances marked the first time since the 2011 season that a Texas team had rushed for at least 300 yards in consecutive games.
• The Longhorns have not had three 300-yard rushing performances in a season since 2007.

Balanced Offensive Attack  
• Despite averaging over 83 plays per game so far through six games, Texas has maintained one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the country.
• The Longhorns have rushed for 1,433 yards (238.8 per game) while passing for 1,566 (261.0 per game).
• Of their 30 touchdowns this season, 17 have come on the ground while 13 have come through the air.
• UT has six receivers with 11-or-more catches, with Armanti Foreman leading the way with 21. Additionally, Texas has seven receivers that have between 163 and 220 receiving yards this season.
• Of offenses averaging at least 225 rushing yards per game and 250 passing yards per game, Texas joins Baylor, Texas A&M, Louisville, Washington and Alabama (all top 10 teams) among the most balanced in the country.
• The Longhorns' difference of 22.2 yards is the fourth-best in the nation entering this weekend's game.

Disruptive Defense    
• Texas turned up the defensive pressure on Saturday night against Iowa State, totaling eight sacks and 14 tackles for loss.
• The eight sacks were tied for eighth-most in a game in school history and the most for the Longhorns since totaling 9.0 against Texas Tech in November of 2013.
• The 14 tackles for loss were the most of the Charlie Strong era and also matched the 14 against Texas Tech in 2013.
• The eight sacks were the second-most by an FBS team this season while the 14 TFLs were the fifth-most.

Texas Holds ISU Out Of End Zone    
• Texas allowed just two field goals to Iowa State's offense during Saturday night's 27-6 victory over the Cyclones.
• Iowa State had averaged 39 points per game over the three games prior to the matchup with the Longhorns.
• The six points allowed were the fewest by a Big 12 Conference team in a league matchup this season.
• It was the first time since shutting out Kansas 23-0 on Sept. 27, 2014 that Texas has held their opponent out of the end zone in a game.

Dominating Rush Defense    
• The Longhorns defense allowed just 98 rushing yards to Iowa State in Saturday night's win.
• It marked the first time the Texas defense has allowed fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game since surrendering just 67 yards on the ground to Oklahoma a season ago.
• The 98 yards were the fourth-fewest rushing yards allowed to an opponent during the Charlie Strong era at Texas.

Foreman Making A name For Himself    
• Junior running back D'Onta Foreman is quickly becoming known as one of the best running backs in the country.
• So far this season, Foreman has rushed the ball 117 times for 731 yards and eight touchdowns.
• He is averaging 146.2 yards per game, second-best in the country.
• Earlier this season, he became the 50th player in school history to break the 1,000-yard mark for his career.
• Entering Saturday's game at Kansas State, Foreman ranks 29th in school history with 1,485 rushing yards.

The 100-Yard Man    
• Foreman has rushed for 100 yards or more in seven straight games, including all five this season. He has nine 100-yard games in his career, all coming in the last 11 games in which he has played..
• His active streak of seven straight games with 100 yards-or-more leads the FBS and is second in school history behind Earl Campbell's 11 in 1977.

Foreman Notables In 2016    
• A native of Texas City, Texas, D'Onta Foreman has started four games this season and played in five of the Longhorns' six contests.
• He has rushed for a touchdown in all five games, including three multi-touchdown performances.
• Entering the year, his career high was 157 yards against Kansas. He matched that career high in a week three game at California and then set a new career high with 159 yards in the Red River Showdown against Oklahoma.
• Against Iowa State, Foreman carried the ball 30 times which was a new career high.

Foreman Chasing Earl Campbell    
D'Onta Foreman has rushed for 100 yards-or-more in seven consecutive games. That streak is second in school history behind only Earl Campbell's 11 straight 100-yard performances in 1977.

Rushing TD In Seven Straight Games    
• Over his last seven games, D'Onta Foreman has totaled 11 touchdowns while scoring at least one in all seven games.
• During that span, he has registered a career-high two touchdowns on the ground four different times.
• Foreman is one of 10 players in school history with a rushing touchdown in at least seven consecutive games.
• The school record is 11 consecutive games owned by Ricky Williams, Cedric Benson and Byron Townsend.

Buechele Making History    
• True freshman quarterback Shane Buechele has made history early in his career at Texas.
• He became the first true freshman QB in school history to start the first two games of his career and was just the second ever to start the season opener, joining Bobby Layne in 1944.
• Buechele has started all six games to date for the Longhorns, compiling a record of 3-3.
• He has completed 123-of-193 (63.7 %) passes for 1,500 yards and 13 touchdowns.
• Against Iowa State, Buechele was 26-for-38 for 296 yards and two scores.
• His passing yards, passing attempts and completions against the Cyclones were all career highs for the native of Arlington, Texas.
• Thus far, Buechele has passed for at least 200 yards in five of his six outings. Prior to the 2016 season, a true freshmen at UT had totaled just one 200-yard passing game in school history.
• In the season-opening win against No. 10 Notre Dame, Buechele was 16-of-26 for a then true freshman-record 280 yards passing.
• Against UTEP, he passed for a true freshman-record four touchdowns.
• Buechele's 245 passing yards against Oklahoma were the third-most by a UT freshmen in the game (293, Major Applewhite, 1998; 263, Shea Morenz, 1993) and most by a true freshman.
• His three passing touchdowns against the Sooners are tied for the most ever by a Longhorn in the AT&T Red River Showdown, Vince Young (2005) was the last to throw three touchdown passes against OU.
• Against Iowa State, Buechele set a new true freshman record with 296 passing yards and 329 all-purpose yards.

Foreman Brothers Are Formidable    
• As if the Big 12 Conference's leading rusher D'Onta wasn't enough to deal with for opposing defenses, his twin brother Armanti leads the Longhorns this season with 21 receptions. The older Foreman, Armanti, has 190 yards and two touchdowns in 2016.
• Against Oklahoma, the Foreman brothers combined for 242 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. D'Onta recorded a career-best 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Armanti totaled 28 receiving yards, 55 kickoff return yards and a receiving touchdown.
• Armanti has started all six games this season, while D'Onta has started four. They have combined for 1,084 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns.

Duvernay Bursting Onto Scene    
• True freshman wide receiver Devin Duvernay has burst onto the scene in the last two weeks, totaling seven receptions for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
• In total, the first-year player from Sachse, Texas has caught nine passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns. He is leading the Longhorns averaging 21.4 yards per reception.
• He caught his first career touchdown pass against Oklahoma, a 63-yard reception that (at the time) was the 15th-longest reception by a freshman in school history.
• Against Iowa State, Duvernay followed that up with a 75-yard touchdown reception. That stands as the sixth-longest TD reception by a freshman in school history.

Spreading The Ball Around    
Shane Buechele has been the benefactor of a deep and talented receiving group thus far in 2016.
• The Longhorns feature six players with double-digit catches through six games and seven receivers have more than 160 yards receiving.
• Additionally, seven players have combined to catch 13 touchdown passes.

Heard Of Him Before?    
• Sophomore wide receiver Jerrod Heard has made what seems to be a seamless transition from quarterback to wide receiver for the Longhorns in 2016.
• After starting 10 games at QB a season ago for Texas, Heard has now started two at wide receiver for UT in 2016.
• Earlier this season, Heard became just the seventh player since 1980 to record a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown in his career when he caught two touchdowns on his 21st birthday against UTEP.
• Heard's two receiving touchdowns against UTEP marked the Longhorns' first multi-touchdown receiving game by a single player since John Harris caught two versus Oklahoma in 2014. Since the beginning of the 2010 season, Heard's effort was just the seventh multi-touchdown receiving game.
• Against Iowa State, Heard caught two passes for 45 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give the Longhorns the lead for good at 10-6.
• Heard has 17 receptions for 220 yards and a team-high three touchdowns this season.

Leonard With First Career Start    
• Junior wide receiver Dorian Leonard picked up his first career start in Saturday's 27-6 win over Iowa State.
• In the game, he caught a career-best five passes for 47 yards.
• Leonard became an unexpected threat in the Longhorns' offense early on in the year when he caught his first career touchdown pass from 46 yards out against UTEP.
• Against Oklahoma, he added his second touchdown of the season - this time from 45 yards out.
• Leonard has 11 receptions for 206 yards so far this season. He is second on the team averaging 18.7 yards per reception.
• He has totaled three receptions this season of 40-or-more yards.
• Prior to this season, Leonard had just one career catch for seven yards.

Swoopes Nearing Historic Mark    
• Senior quarterback Tyrone Swoopes became just the 13th player in school history to eclipse the 3,000 career passing yards mark when he completed 4-of-6 passes for 65 yards in week three against Cal. Swoopes has now passed for 3,038 yards in his career.
• Additionally, he is just 84 rushing yards shy of 1,000 career yards. Swoopes could join Colt McCoy and Vince Young as the only three quarterbacks in school history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for at least 1,000 in a career.

Swoopes In The 18-Wheeler Package    
• Since the installation of the 18-wheeler package last season against Oklahoma State, quarterback Tyrone Swoopes has shined for the Longhorns. Not counting last season's TCU game, Swoopes has totaled 94 rushes for 501 yards (5.33 ypc) and 17 rushing touchdowns. He has also added two more passing touchdowns out of the package.
• Swoopes has been nothing short of efficient out of the package, as 41-of-94 rushes (43.6%) have either gone for a first down or touchdown.
• In the last 15 games, Swoopes has had five multi-touchdown games on the ground alone, including three in the win against No. 10 Notre Dame and two against Oklahoma State to open Big 12 play. Since the package was rolled out last season, Swoopes has had five games with at least four combined touchdowns or first downs

The Freshman Difference    
• A total of 15 true freshmen have made their debuts in the burnt orange and white during the first six games of the season.
• Ten true freshmen debuted in the season opener against Notre Dame, four saw action for the first time against UTEP and one more against Oklahoma State.
• So far, QB Shane Buechele and C Zach Shackelford have started all six games, while both S Brandon Jones and FOX Malcolm Roach made their first career starts against the Oklahoma State.
• Other Longhorn freshmen to debut thus far are: DL D'Andre Christmas, OL Jean Delance, WR Devin Duvernay, DL Jordan Elliott, LB Erick Fowler, WRLil'Jordan Humphrey, WR Collin Johnson, LB Jeffrey McCulloch, OL Denzel Okafor, RB Kyle Porter and DT Gerald Wilbon.
• After playing 17 true freshmen while starting a school-record 10 a season ago, Texas has played 15 with four combining for 10 starts already in 2016.
• On offense, true freshmen have accounted for 95.8% of passing yards, 17.9% of rushing yards, 15.6% of receptions and 19.5% of receiving yards.
• On defense, true freshmen have combined to make 49 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, a fumble recovery and two blocked punts.
• True freshmen have also been heavily involved in both the punt return and kickoff return units.

Dickson A Threat For Longhorns    
• Sydney, Australia native Michael Dickson has turned into a major threat for the Longhorns in his sophomore season. He enters Saturday's game against Kansas State ranked second in the nation and first in the Big 12 Conference averaging 47.9 yards per punt.
• Dickson has punted 30 times in six games for a total of 1,437 yards. Of his 30 punts, 13 have been more than 50 yards and 13 have been downed inside the 20.
• In total, only 10 of his punts have been returned for an average of 5.5 yards per return.
• As a team, Texas is first in the Big 12 and sixth nationally with a 43.40 net punting average.
• Dickson punted six times for an average of 55.0 yards per punt in the season-opening victory over Notre Dame, playing a crucial role in flipping the field throughout. He set a new career long with a punt of 64 yards, and also a new career high and school record with his 55.0 yards per punt average. His five punts of more than 50 yards were also a new career high.
• Against UTEP, he punted five times for an average of 50.4 yards per punt (51.8 net average). Three of his five attempts were 50 yards-or-better, while two punts were downed inside the UTEP 20, including one at the 1-yard line.
• In the Big 12 opener versus Oklahoma State, Dickson punted five times for an average of 45.2 yards per punt. He also rushed for six yards on a fake punt, rolling out to his right and cutting up field to gain a first down.

Domingue Delivering Consistency    
• A graduate transfer from LSU, placekicker Trent Domingue has provided consistency in the Longhorns' special teams this season.
• Domingue has made 9-of-12 field goals with a season-long of 43 yards against UTEP.
• In fact, Domingue is a perfect 9-for-9 on field goal attempts of 43 yards-or-less this season.
• He has matched his season-high with two field goal makes in four different games: UTEP, California, Oklahoma and Iowa State.
• He is perfect in field goal attempts in four different games: Notre Dame, UTEP, Oklahoma and Iowa State.
• Domingue has made four consecutive field goals.

First Time Starters, Players    
• Besides true freshmen, 13 players have made their first career starts so far: RG Alex Anderson (UTEP), CB Kris Boyd (Oklahoma), CB Sheroid Evans(ND), RB D'Onta Foreman (ND), RT Brandon Hodges (ND), WR Dorian Leonard (Iowa State), RG Jake McMillon (Oklahoma State), DT Chris Nelson (ND), WR Jake Oliver (Oklahoma State), DE Charles Omenihu (ND), LT Elijah Rodriguez (UTEP), SS Kevin Vaccaro (UTEP) and WR Jacorey Warrick (ND).
• An additional 11 players  have made their first career appearance: K Mitchell Becker (ND), K Trent Domingue (ND), OL Garrett Graf (UTEP), DS Jak Holbrook (ND), RB Tristian Houston (UTEP), DL Alex Mercado (UTEP), DL Patrick Ojeaga (UTEP), OL Garrett Thomas (UTEP),  LB Cameron Townsend(UTEP), LB Johnny Tseng (UTEP) and TE Michael Wilson (ND).

Haines Has A Nose For The Ball    
• Senior safety Dylan Haines registered two interceptions in the Red River Showdown against Oklahoma. They were the Longhorns' first two interceptions of the season.
• Haines now has 11 career interceptions which he has returned for a combined 238 yards. His 11 career interceptions are tied with Quandre Diggs, Mossy Cade and William Graham for ninth-most in school history. His 238 interception return yards are second-most in school history.
• His first interception in that game came on a ball that was dislodged by Malcolm Roach and ended up in Haines' hands for the pick. His second interception was an overthrow that Haines returned 38 yards to set up a Texas field goal.
• The interceptions came on back-to-back drives for the Sooners.

Horns Hosting A Block Party    
• So far in 2016, Longhorns' special teams have come up with four blocked kicks (two punts, one field goal, one PAT). Texas did not have a blocked kick in each of Charlie Strong's first two seasons and had just two total since the beginning of the 2013 season.
• Against Oklahoma State, Poona Ford blocked a Cowboys' PAT in the third quarter. It was Texas' first blocked PAT since the 2013 season against Ole Miss, a span of 38 games.
• True freshman Brandon Jones blocked a punt in back-to-back games against UTEP and California. He was the first Longhorn since Mykkele Thompson in 2012 to block a punt in consecutive games and only the fourth player at Texas since blocked kicks became an official stat in 1975.
• Jones' punt block against UTEP was the first blocked punt for Texas since Carrington Byndom did so vs. Texas Tech on Nov. 3, 2012.
• Jones is just the 12th player in school history to block multiple punts in the same season. The school record is four, owned by Aaron Williams (2008), Michael Griffin (2005) and Terrol Dillon (1999).
• Both punt blocks have led to points, as the block against UTEP led to a FG while against Cal it resulted in a safety.
• Junior Naashon Hughes blocked a Notre Dame field goal late in the third quarter of that game, which proved to be huge as the Fighting Irish attempted to mount a comeback. The Longhorns eventually won in double-overtime, 50-47. For Texas, Hughes' field goal block was the first in the last 30 games. Jackson Jeffcoat was the last to block a field goal when he did so against Kansas on Nov. 2, 2013.

Getting To The Quarterback    
• Texas has been one of the nation's most prolific teams in getting to the quarterback this season, as they have totaled 23 sacks through the first six games.
• The Longhorns' defense ranks fourth in the nation and first in the Big 12 Conference averaging 3.83 sacks per game.
Naashon Hughes leads the way after totaling 2.5 sacks against Iowa State. He now has 3.5 on the season.
• Right behind Hughes is Breckyn Hager with 3.0. He had a sack in the win over Iowa State Saturday.

Hughes With A Huge Game    
• Junior Naashon Hughes started his 23rd career game on Saturday against Iowa State. He made the most of it, totaling 2.5 sacks for a combined 24 yards.
• In total he had four tackles in the game and now has 12 on the season.
• He leads the Longhorns with 3.5 sacks on the year and has added a pass breakup, forced fumble and blocked a field goal.

Nelson Emerging ON the D-Line    
• Sophomore Chris Nelson has been consistently among the leaders for the Longhorns on the defensive line this season and Saturday was no different.
• Nelson registered a team-high seven tackles to go along with 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
• Along with the rest of the defense, Nelson held Iowa State to just 98 rushing yards and six points. During the three weeks prior, ISU had averaged 472 total yards (185 rush, 287 pass) and 39 points per game.
• Through six games, Nelson is fourth on the team with 29 total tackles. He has a team-best 5.0 tackles for loss and also 1.5 sacks.

Forcing Turnovers    
• After forcing just one turnover in the first four games of the season, the Longhorns flipped the script by benefitting from four Oklahoma turnovers in the Red River Showdown.
Dylan Haines had two first quarter interceptions, Poona Ford forced and recovered a fumble and Kris Boyd recovered a muffed punt.
• Over the last two games, Texas has gotten five turnovers from the opponent, including two interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

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