INSIDER: E-Newsletter Game 1 Texas vs. New Mexico State

Five Questions – New Mexico State

 

By Steve Habel

 

Never have the Longhorns seemed so enigmatic one minute and so dominating the next.

Playing before a crowd of 99,623and a national television audience, the 15^th-ranked Longhorns found that space, in several meanings of the term, was the differentiating factor in their first game of the 2013 season. From a stunning beginning to a scintillating finish, Texas ultimately produced a 56-7 win against New Mexico State at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on August 31.

For the game’s first 28 minutes, [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] the Longhorns were mistake-prone and scoreless, allowing New Mexico State (who hasn’t played in a bowl game since 1960) to take a 7-0 lead and show a bit of swagger.

Then like the flick of a switch, Texas found its stride. The offense discovered its own space between and behind the New Mexico defenders. And once the Longhorns were in the open field and flying into the Aggies’ secondary, they were unstoppable. Texas ran off touchdowns on five consecutive possessions during a six and a half minute stretch, bridging the second and third quarters.

“We’re our own worst enemies. We just had to get out of our own way,” Texas offensive coordinator Major Applewhite said. “Sometimes it’s not about what your opponent is doing. We started off slow and our defense played its ass off to keep us in the game. We finally started to get things going.”

After registering 136 yards in its first 27 plays of the game, the Texas offense posted 342 yards in its next 15 plays, including the five touchdowns. The Longhorns averaged 54.6 yards per play on those touchdowns.

By the time all was said and done, the Longhorns scored touchdowns on eight of their final 10 possessions and amassed more total yards — 715 — than in any other game in Texas history. The output moved the Longhorns’ 692 yards against Rice in 1998 to the No. 2 position in the record books.

For the record, Texas did put forth an effort early in the game. The Longhorns snapped the ball in New Mexico State territory on four of their first five possessions. Unfortunately three of those ended in turnovers (a fumble by receiver Mike Davis after a third-down catch and a run, a David Ash interception at the goal line on a pass to Davis and another interception after a tipped pass) and a failed fourth-down conversion.

“We tried to force runs when [New Mexico State] had everybody on the line of scrimmage,” head coach Mack Brown said. “There wasn’t anybody outside.  We could’ve thrown the ball any time we wanted to. So we decided to go ahead and just start throwing, get them spread out a little bit and then run the ball in the fourth quarter.”

After Ash’s second interception, the Aggies drove 64 yards in nine plays and took the lead on an 11-yard pass from Andrew McDonald to Joshua Bowen. The touchdown stunned the home crowd and boos rained down on a team rumored to be a legitimate contender for a BCS game this season.

The response by the Longhorns was sudden and drastic. First, Ash hit receiver John Harris who found a space between the defenders on the right sideline. The junior sprinted, untouched, for a 54-yard touchdown with 1:48 to play before halftime.

Texas used a stalwart defense and all three of its timeouts to get the ball back before intermission. With just one play left and 10 seconds on the clock, Ash found Daje Johnson in full flight in the middle of the field. Johnson turned the pass into a 66-yard touchdown and, after Anthony Fera’s PAT kick, a 14-7 lead.

The floodgates opened in the second half. The Longhorns added touchdowns on a Johnson 24-yard run and Ash’s 55-yard scramble that showcased a block by Jaxon Shipley that eliminated two Aggie defenders, as well as Ash’s tightrope walk along the sideline. Texas also scored on a 74-yard screen pass from Ash to Malcolm Brown, where not a single defender was within 15 yards of the running back when he initially caught the ball.

By this point in the game, the Longhorns version of a tempo offense and their considerable depth was too much for New Mexico State to handle.

In the fourth quarter, Ash added to his highlight reel a 25-yard pass to Davis, who caught the ball in the end zone. Texas then turned over the game to its power running attack. And although the goal was to run out the clock, the team still added touchdowns on Jalen Overstreet’s runs of 1 and 38 yards.

Overstreet was the fifth man in Texas’ running back rotation.

“We wanted to compete and make plays. I thought we did about as well as we could,” New Mexico State coach Doug Martin said. “We got beat by a better football team. Texas is the No. 15 team in the country and they’re more talented than us at this point.”

With the win, the Longhorns have now won their last 14 season openers and have posted a 15-1 mark in Brown’s regime at Texas.

 

1. How good was Ash and how has he matured?

Ash racked up a career-high 434 total yards of offense — the most ever in a season opener for Texas. He completed 20 of his 28 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns, matching a career high, and rushed for a career-best 91 yards and another score. His total offensive performance ranks as the sixth best on the all-time single-game list, and he became the fifth Texas quarterback to post 400 yards of total offense in a game (following Vince Young, Colt McCoy, Applewhite and Chris Simms).

The stunning part? He could’ve been better. The junior’s two interceptions stunted the Texas offense in the first half. Brown, however, was quick to commend his signal caller’s overall play.

“We had some adversity and had to overcome some things,” Brown said. “David kept his composure and Major probably helped him through that. He played a great second half.”

Ash credited Applewhite’s influence in getting past the lackluster beginning.

“We’ve been in that situation, I don’t know how many times, and we’ve failed before,” Ash said. “It helped having coach Applewhite [on the sideline]. So much of football is about morale and believing, and coach Applewhite’s been in these types of situations. He knows what to say, knows what to expect, and knows what to do to get guys going.”

The coach-quarterback duo seem to be hitting on all the right cylinders, but one must quantify that progress as having come against New Mexico State, a team that Texas should be able to manhandle without question. The proof in the pudding will come in the weeks ahead.

 

2. How did the defense play?

Texas employed a “bend-but-not break” defense and allowed New Mexico State 346 total yards, but just 150 after the first half. The Longhorns gave up 4.1 yards per play, but just four of 17 yards or more — an aspect that defensive coordinator Manny Diaz focused on afterward.

“We eliminated the big play,” Diaz said. “We were put in adverse situations early on, and I was proud of the way our guys responded. The guys did a good job battling through the unknown, making the proper adjustments and playing well in the second half.”

New Mexico State was able to control the game through the first 28 minutes with a combination of runs by the quarterback and short passes. An adjustment made by the Texas defense at halftime forced the Aggies to try to run the ball inside, taking away the quarterback run option.

“We changed to make them force the handoff,” Texas linebacker Jordan Hicks said. “Overall we played well. Obviously there are some things that we need to improve on, but that comes with the first game.”

The upcoming games will be tough, but the Longhorns’ performance against New Mexico State gives them something to work on as they move forward.

 

3. Who was Texas’ best player?

That designation is bestowed, with a deep bow, to Johnson, who ended up with a game-high 139 all-purpose yards (67 receiving, 62 rushing and 10 on a punt return). Texas wants to get the ball to Johnson, who has explosive speed and quickness, as much as possible.

“Daje has a unique skill set because he has so much lower body strength. You see him run [inside] and break tackles,” Applewhite said. “He has phenomenal hands, return game skills and open-field skills. And he’s very bright.  He understands where he’s at right now as a player and where he needs to continue to work to be the best. He believes he’s the best player on the field.”

Johnson’s take-it-to-the-house-on-any-play ability compares favorably to former West Virginia standout Tavon Austin and Oregon playmaker De’Anthony Thomas. Johnson, however, is happy being himself.

“Those are just two players I look up to and would like to play like, but I want to establish my own identity,” Johnson said. “I knew during the game I was going to get the ball so I wanted to give it my all. Whenever they give the ball to me, I’ll try to score every time. “

 

4. How well did the tempo offense work?

The final numbers — 715 total yards with 359 rushing and 356 passing — support the team’s change to the new offensive scheme. However, looking across the line of scrimmage, one must understand that Texas was playing a game that amounted to little more than an exhibition against an obviously inferior New Mexico State squad.

“In certain areas, we were able to exploit some things,” Applewhite said. “We were able to get some completions out on the edge. The tempo definitely showed up in the third and fourth quarter, and that’s what’s going to happen. In the run game, those 2- to 3‑yard gains in the early first half started turning to 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 15-, 20- and 30‑yard runs.”

Running back Malcolm Brown credited the tempo offense with jumpstarting the Longhorns’ comeback.

“We can tire out a defense and get rolling,” Brown said. “Once you get into the rhythm of the up-tempo it’s hard to stop. You could see that there were times that [the Aggies] weren’t in their stances and we were hiking the ball, ready to play.”

“Our players, like the tempo offense because anybody can get the ball on any play, run or pass,” coach Brown said. “They bought into it, and they’ll have fun.”

 

 

5. What was the best thing that came out of this win?

The game was ultimately a blowout, but the way the game was played, with the score very close at halftime and a lot still left to be decided in the second half, will benefit the Longhorns in the long run.

“[The way the game started] wasn’t as much fun, but in the long run this kind of game is better for you,” Brown said. “You don’t need a scrimmage in an opening ball game, quite honestly. You need some adversity. You need to have to overcome some things. You need for them to play well enough to feel they can be good but understand they didn’t do well enough to be good. We’ve got some things we need to fix. It was a great opener for us.”

 

Onward to the Wasatch Mountains and BYU, the Longhorns will face a tough, well-coached team made up of veteran players and known for its defense. This game will be a true test to see how far Texas has really come.

 

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