Five Questions – UCLA

 

Five Questions – UCLA

Sponsored By:

By Steve Habel/Associate Editor

If one measures the growth of a football team in steps, Texas is clearly on the upswing after this past Saturday’s game. Although the Longhorns lost to No. 12 UCLA in the AdvoCare Cowboys Showdown at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, the team took a step in the right direction in its 20-17 defeat.

Doubters might say that the Longhorns had no place to go other than up after losing to BYU the week before, but that’s a defeatist opinion. Texas, with sophomore quarterback Tyrone Swoopes showing more confidence with every snap, stood toe-to-toe with the Bruins until the final minutes.

The Longhorns’ inexperience came to the forefront in those final minutes, as UCLA made two huge plays on its winning drive, pulling victory out of the jaws of defeat.

UCLA backup quarterback Jerry Neuheisel hit Jordan Payton on a 33-yard scoring pass with 3:00 to play to give the Bruins (3-0) the win. The touchdown came on [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)] the play following a 45-yard punt return by the Bruins’ Ishmael Adams. The two plays stunned the Longhorns and the majority of the 60,479 fans in attendance.

“Anytime you get a big punt return like [UCLA] did, you figure that they’re going to come with something,” head coach Charlie Strong said. “We need to be ready and not give them anything. They had to score to win the game and we gave up the big play there.”

For a short time in the fourth quarter, the Longhorns (1-2) looked like they might spring an upset. Down 13-10 after a mostly lackluster third quarter, Swoopes engineered a clutch 80-yard, 10-play drive that ended with his 2-yard touchdown pass to John Harris. The play gave the Longhorns a17-13 lead with 5:13 to play.

But Texas couldn’t work any magic on its final two possessions. On the final play — which started at the Texas 23 with 2:55 to play — the offense netted just three yards before a fourth-down incompletion.

UCLA then ran out the clock.

“There’s no doubt this [game] was a missed opportunity,” defensive back Quandre Diggs said. “We didn’t capitalize on what we should’ve capitalized on. We have to do better in those situations. We have to go back to grinding.”

UCLA forged a 3-0 lead in the final minute of the first quarter on a 47-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn. Although down three points, the Longhorns could easily overcome the deficit.

The game changed dramatically when the Bruins’ dual-treat Heisman Trophy candidate Brett Hundley injured his left elbow during a scrambling run, sending Neuheisel into the fray.

UCLA had two huge offensive plays called back in the first quarter because of penalties, allowing Texas to dodge an early bullet and gain some momentum.

Texas earned an extra boost when UCLA went conservative on offense after the loss of Hundley, allowing the Texas attack, spurred by the maturing-right-before-our-eyes Swoopes, to find his footing against a surprisingly underwhelming Bruins’ defense.

The Longhorns tied the game at 3-3 at the 10:32 mark of the second quarter when a 10-play drive moved the team close enough for a 33-yard field goal by Nick Rose.

On the next possession, UCLA managed just three yards of offense on six snaps from deep in its own territory and was forced to punt.

Swoopes then marshaled a 14-play, 62-yard drive that culminated in a 2-yard touchdown pass to M.J. McFarland. The Longhorns spurred a 10-3 lead that the triggered the Texas fans to rattle the stadium’s foundation.

UCLA hit its first key play on its first offensive snap of the third quarter, when Jerry Perkins ran for 58 yards to the Texas 17.

“We missed a tackle,” defensive coordinator Vance Bedford said of the Perkins run. “We were there at the point of attack and had a chance to make a one-on-one tackle. We just didn’t come down with it.”

The Bruins took six more plays to score. The touchdown came on Neuheisel’s 3-yard, jump-ball pass to Nate Iese that floated over linebacker Steve Edmond — and tied the game at 10-10.

Both teams struggled for the rest of the third quarter, which ended with a play from UCLA. The Bruins’16-play drive allowed Fairbairn to kick a 25-yard field goal, giving them a 13-10 lead.

The final nine minutes was a wild stretch, with UCLA making the big plays. Texas left the DFW Metroplex frustrated and lamenting about the game that it let get away.

“We definitely played a little harder [than last week] and coach Strong told us he liked our effort,” said running back Malcolm Brown, who led the Longhorns’ rushing attack with 69 yards on 14 carries. “We still came out with a loss. That’s the bottom line. We have to get better.”

Texas will have an open date on Sept. 20 before traveling to Kansas for its Big 12 Conference opener on Sept. 27. Then comes a home game versus Baylor and Oklahoma in Dallas.

 

1. What changed between the BYU loss and UCLA?

Strong and his staff found a way to get the players to ratchet up their play a notch and play with toughness. Those aspects were nowhere to be found in the second half of the BYU game, and — quite frankly — Strong was stunned by the way his team didn’t respond to the loss on Sept. 6.

Bedford said that his defense “missed a few tackles” against UCLA as compared to the “15 or so” against BYU. After Saturday’s game, he credited his unit with having a lot of fight despite the loss.

“Last week we started out great, but we didn’t finish strong,” Bedford said. “We didn’t finish strong enough [against UCLA] because we didn’t win the football game. When the defense was on the field we had a chance to win, and we didn’t get it done. But we’re working hard.”

The offense took advantage of what UCLA allowed, amassing 332 total yards, after gaining 179 in the first half. Texas’ mix of run-pass (30 rushes and 34 passes) is expected to remain pretty much the same in the weeks ahead, but the Longhorns have to find a way to get more out those snaps.

“Last week wasn’t our football team,” Strong said. “The way we played against UCLA was an indication of how well we can play when we go out as a team, stay focused and be prepared.”

“I told them that if we keep fighting, good things will happen,” he added. “It’s tough in the locker room because I know they laid it out there and gave it everything they had.”

While desire doesn’t guarantee wins, the Longhorns played like they thought they could beat UCLA. That can’t be said about the effort against BYU, so it’s obvious that the team is getting better even with the loss.

 

2. Can Texas win with Swoopes at quarterback?

In updating a question from last week, the answer is yes. That win will come soon, likely on Sept. 27 when Texas visits Kansas.

Swoopes improved immensely from his first start to his second. His confidence level was obviously higher thanks to the extra week of work with co-offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and he was mostly decisive with his throws.

“He grew up a lot tonight,” Harris said about the quarterback. “He stood in the pocket with poise. He can do great things here at Texas.”

Swoopes’ numbers are not overwhelming — 24-of-34 passing for 196 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions — but he did what he was asked to do in managing the offense.

His longest completion was for 33 yards to Harris, even though he looked to have a receiver open deep a couple of times throughout the game. Instead of throwing, he’d check down the ball.

“Tyrone continues to get better,” Strong said. “He made really good throws and managed the offense well. He mostly took what the defense gave us. We had some [deep pass] plays called, and with the UCLA defense playing the way it did, he didn’t let the ball go.”

Swoopes also showed some toughness in the red zone when he lowered his shoulder on a 10-yard run that ended at the UCLA 2 and immediately preceded his touchdown pass to McFarland.

 

3. What was the game’s biggest play?

UCLA’s winning touchdown pass from Neuheisel to Payton takes the prize because of its significance. Under further review, the Bruins used the entire game to set up the elements that made that play work and they pulled it out of their hat when they needed it the most.

The Texas staff had prepared the secondary all week to be wary of a double move from the UCLA outside receivers. In past games, the Bruins leveraged these players for deep passes.

Cornerback Duke Thomas was aware that the play was coming but — in his haste to make a huge play that could win the game for the Longhorns — bit on Payton’s out move and Neuheisel’s pump-fake pass. Once that occurred, the rest was easy for the Bruins as Thomas was out of position. He wasn’t able to make up the ground he lost as Payton ran under his quarterback’s rainbow.

The play was a classic example of the life of a cornerback in man-to-man coverage — guess wrong and you’ll get burned. All the coaching and preparation in the world can’t coach instinct out of a player who continuously battles one-on-one against a receiver all game. I bet that Thomas makes that play next time around.

4. What do the stats tell us?

UCLA dominated almost every offensive statistic and made key plays when it counted the most. The Bruins outgained Texas 443-332, had 81 offensive snaps to the Longhorns’ 64 and gained 5.5 yard per play as compared to Texas’ 5.0.

The biggest discrepancy? UCLA outrushed Texas 249-144, marking the second game in a row that an opponent won the ground game battle. If the Longhorns plan to turn around the season, they need to run the ball consistently, even with the inexperienced offensive line.

“[UCLA] ran the ball well. We just weren’t able to establish our own running game,” Strong said. “They had success with boundary runs when we weren’t getting our gaps and fits, or getting off their blocks. We have to stop the run. We have to make the opponent one-dimensional, which we didn’t, and we had an opportunity to.”

Texas did win the punting battle, as Will Russ averaged 50.5 yards per punt that included a 64 yarder. He also had three kicks that pinned the Bruins inside their own 20. But Russ’ final punt — a line-drive 58-yard effort — didn’t give his team enough time to fill the return lanes and set the table for Adams’ huge return.

“You’d like for the ball to hang a little longer and give us a chance to get down there and cover it,” Strong said. “It was a great punt, but just outkicked the coverage.”

 

5. What are the Longhorns’ plans for the open week?

Texas doesn’t need to return to the drawing board, but the team does need to emphasize the things it did right against UCLA. The Longhorns also need to find a way to make more plays, especially in crunch time.

“There’s a lot that’s positive about the way we played, but it’s not positive the way we finished the game,” Strong said. “Now it’s about finishing and taking advantage of our opportunities. Good teams take advantage of those opportunities. We’ll get there. We need to make sure that when we get a chance to go make a play, we go make that play.”

Harris said the team plans to work to keep its focus.

“We finally broke through a wall [against UCLA] but the luck hasn’t been on our side,” he said. “We’re going to keep fighting and trying to get back on track like we did last year.”

 

[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)] [article-offer] [/s2If]