Five Questions – Kansas State

 

By Steve Habel / Senior Editor

There was a time before the 2014 season when head coach Charlie Strong considered moving 6’4”, 244-pound quarterback Tyrone Swoopes to tight end to take advantage of his soft hands, size and powerful running ability. Instead Swoopes started the final 12 games at quarterback last season and the first contest of 2015 before being relegated to a backup roll.

And now he’s all the rage and the talk of the 40 Acres.

In three of the past four games — including Texas’ take-it-as-it-comes 23-9 win against Kansas State in the pouring rain Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium — Swoopes has come up big in a new package that [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)] allows him to make things happen in short-yardage situations.

Against the Wildcats, in conditions more favorable for a duck hunt than for playing football, Swoopes ran for three touchdowns including the game-clincher from 10 yards out with 1:47 to play.

Swoopes has become the difference-maker Texas always thought he could be, just not in the way the staff originally envisioned. Now he even has his own nickname — “the 18 wheeler,” as a tribute to his jersey number and size.

“When we went to [Jerrod] Heard at quarterback, I told Swoopes to keep his head up and to realize that he was still going to be an important part of this team,” Strong said after the Longhorns won their second consecutive game to improve to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play. “He’s embraced his new role and he’s making a difference. Having him back there with his hands on the wet ball when we were around the end zone was a key factor for us today.”

Swoopes also found the end zone on 1- and 2-yard touchdown bursts in the second quarter as the Longhorns won by controlling the line of scrimmage and running the ball 53 times. Texas averaged 5.2 yards per carry as the wet conditions forced the Longhorns to continue the conservative tack they used in the Oct. 10 win against Oklahoma.

“We’re still confident in our ability to throw the ball but we haven’t needed to throw [as much] to win the past two games,” offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said. “I love that we’re establishing an attitude of physical, run-first football. That takes a little mean streak and I think we’re developing one.”

Texas had 375 yards of total offense — 276 of those on the ground — while passing just 16 times for 99 yards. Heard came to Strong early in the second quarter and told his coach he was having trouble gripping the wet football. That situation almost assured that the Longhorns would stay with the run as long as they could, and having an early 16-0 lead helped Texas stay on that tack.

Running back Johnathan Gray posted a season-high 103 yards on 18 carries for Texas and the Longhorns’ two quarterbacks, Heard (61 yards on 15 attempts) and Swoopes (50 yards on seven totes), combined for 111 yards.

The Longhorns are now 9-2 in the Strong era when scoring first and 8-2 when leading at halftime.

Texas got on the board first with a 28-yard Nick Rose field goal that capped a 15-play drive in which the Longhorns ran 14 times. After Swoopes’ two short runs staked Texas to a 16-0 lead, the Wildcats answered on a 7-yard pass from Joe Hubener to Dominique Heath in the final seconds of the second quarter.

Texas’ stifling defense allowed Kansas State (3-4, 0-4 in Big 12) just 125 total yards in the first two quarters. Kansas State got a career-high 122 yards rushing on 18 carries from running back Charles Jones but that wasn’t enough to keep the Wildcats from their fourth consecutive loss.

K-State’s four-game skid is its worst since losing five games in a row in 2008 and the most consecutive losses for coach Bill Snyder since 2005. Kansas State has scored only nine total points in its past two games — the fewest in a two-game stretch since 2006 (six points vs. Louisville, three points vs. Baylor.)

“Texas executed exactly what they were told to do,” Kansas State defensive back Sean Newlan said. “That was their game plan, they were going to run the ball and when they did, they executed.”

 

1. What adjustments did Texas make because of the rain?

The Longhorns went into the game knowing they would run the ball more than they would throw it. The 53-16 ratio of run-to-pass was a product of the conditions as much as Texas’ success in the run game.

The first adjustment came Saturday morning, when the Texas brain trust installed the offensive package that had Swoopes at quarterback on the Longhorns’ final drive and resulted in the clinching touchdown.

“We actually did a few things this morning and made some adjustments in the game plan,” Norvell confirmed. “The last drive — we put that in this morning. We never practiced those plays like that before. It’s just a balance of using the best knowledge of the forecast and using the best judgment you can to prepare for it.”

Strong also asked his players for an attitude adjustment during warmups, feeling his team was too worried about the weather and not on task.

“I didn’t like the way we were warming up — they were just going through [the motions],” Strong said. “I told them, ‘Okay, it’s wet, we understand that. What do you want me to do, move the clouds? I can’t move the clouds. I can’t stop the rain. So is it raining — look at the far end. Is it raining down there? They’re warming up pretty good, so let’s get into it.’”

And once Heard told the coaches he couldn’t grip the ball to throw it downfield, Texas chose to win with the run.

 

2. Did Saturday’s performance mark a resurgence of confidence from Gray?

During the preseason, 2015 was said to belong to Gray, who would finally become the team’s main running back. Yet with the emergence of Texas’ run-first quarterbacks, fellow running back D’Onta Foreman and, to a smaller extent, freshman runner Chris Warren, Gray has never had his time alone in the spotlight.

So the 100-yard performance — Gray’s first of the season — was a breath of fresh air for the Longhorn’s leader in work ethic, enthusiasm and attitude.

“Finally,” Gray said of the 100-yard game, a benchmark for individual rushing success. “It was a lot of relief. Guys were clicking on all cylinders. The offensive line looked great. The team looked wonderful. They helped me get 100 yards, and we can keep it going. We have enough backs to get 100 yards each game. We have the offense to do it, so we have to stay focused.”

With upcoming opponents likely to concentrate on stopping Heard, the Texas running backs will play an intricate role as a solid option for big plays. And we haven’t really seen much of Texas’ short passing game — one of the aspects Gray excels in — with Heard running the show.

 

3. What was the game’s biggest play?

Texas’ special teams have been much-maligned this season (for good cause), but on Saturday it was a clutch play by punter Michael Dickson — the same player who against Oklahoma State had a snafu that cost the Longhorns a chance at overtime in the waning seconds — that likely made the difference between winning and losing.

Early in the fourth quarter, with Texas clinging to a 16-9 win and moving into the teeth of the rain and wind, long-snapper Kyle Ashby’s snap sailed over Dickson’s right shoulder.

“Once that ball sailed past him, I said, ‘Oh God, here we go again,’” Strong said.

Dickson, a freshman from Australia who honed his kicking skills as an Aussie Rules Football player, quickly corralled in the ball and, while under duress from two Kansas State rushers, managed to get off a 33-yard punt and avoid disaster.

Dickson said once the snap got past him he had to make a choice — either fall on the ball, which would’ve given the Wildcats a short-field possession at a crucial juncture of the game, or find the space to get it off.

His calmness under pressure, along with his ability to take a few steps to his right and get the ball on his foot, gave him the confidence to make the right choice: kick it.

“I knew I had to wheel around and get it on my foot — that’s when the Australian rules kicked in,” Dickson said. “I didn’t know if I was going to have enough time. I was just thinking I have to do it. It’s time to take the risk in the game.”

 

4. Who has become Texas’ most important defensive player?

Linebackers Malik Jefferson and Peter Jinkens receive a lot of press and the secondary leads the team in tackles, but the Longhorns’ defense lives and dies by the play in the interior of the line by defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway. Ridgeway is also the player Strong nicknamed “the Green Mile” for his likeness to deceased actor Michael Clarke Duncan, the star of the famous film.

Ridgeway had just four tackles against Kansas State, but his penetration at the point of attack and ability to occupy two of the opponent’s blockers make his play a continued key to the Longhorns’ success.

“When Ridgeway is able to dominate up front, then we’re pretty good on defense,” Strong explained. “He can beat a one-on-one block so he’ll force a double team. That allows the backers to run through and it also allows other players to go make plays.

“Ridgeway is so big and strong, and he’s really quick for his size,” Strong continued. “He’s not one of those guys in the middle who can’t move — he’s not a slug. He’s a guy that can rush the passer. He sets it for us because he’s able to control the line of scrimmage.”

Ridgeway said the defense had some growing pains early in the year but has come together in the past two games.

“Every team moves at a different pace,” he said. “I mean, once we get our groove, we have our groove. Honestly, we’re just going out there and playing for each other. It’s about knowing that, trusting the dude next to you and just playing for that person. Now we have to keep it going.”

 

5. What’s next for Texas?

Suddenly Texas, with Iowa State and Kansas as its next two opponents, looks like a team that can find its way past its rough start and earn a postseason bid.

“We have to continue to build on the progress we’ve made the past two games and take each week as a one-game season,” Strong said. “We have challenged our guys to be physical and dominate the line of scrimmage at the point of attack and they’ve responded.  We’re developing a mental toughness and have learned to win by beating two very good teams, but we have five left to play.”

Strong will keep after his team to continue to improve.

“I tell our players all the time that they have to believe that they’re a good team because once they believe it, then they’ll start playing like it,” Strong said. “I know we beat Oklahoma and Kansas State, but we’re still sitting here at 3-4. We can’t get full of ourselves and start believing what everyone is saying, or buy into it. We can have a good season. We can end up the right way — but we have to continue to play.”

 

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