By Adam Sweeney
Longhorn Nation, we are officially in do-or-die mode for Texas football with regard to hopes of bowl eligibility. The Longhorns lock up against the 4-4 West Virginia Mountaineers this coming Saturday and desperately need to win if they want to finish with a record of .500 or better. Last week’s game against Kansas, a Texas 59-20 win, was a tale of two halves. The Longhorns should have been down at the half, but finally overcame their third-quarter woes and ended up racking up 598 yards of offense as backup quarterback Tyrone Swoopes ran all over the Jayhawks. This week’s test against the Mountaineers should be much more challenging, and WVU is an 8.5-point favorite. We’re here to give you the skinny on the game and let you know what must happen for Texas to light the tower orange.
The tie that binds
The Longhorns are tied, 2-2, in their all-time series with West Virginia, have come out on top in the last two meetings and are 1-0 on the road in Morgantown, W.V.
End of the Road
No, we’re not talking about [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]the classic Boyz II Men anthem. Right now the Longhorns probably are wishing there was an end to their road games, seeing as they have been outscored, 112-10, away from Austin and Dallas (where the Red River Showdown against Oklahoma is held annually) this season.
Texas is 0-11 under head coach Charlie Strong when opposing teams score first, and it’s hard to keep West Virginia down at home. If the Longhorns want to keep the Mountaineers from continuing their impressive home record (they are 4-1 this season in Morgantown), UT likely will have to get on the board first to silence the crowd. The ‘Horns also need to slow the game down, so spending the first quarter running the ball against West Virginia’s 3-3-5 stack defense, which is susceptible to the run, before moving into a play action-heavy scheme would be ideal. This should be the D’Onta Foreman show. It wouldn’t be upsetting if Jerrod Heard throws deep to John Burt once or twice to make sure that West Virginia’s secondary doesn’t crowd the line. I would suggest throwing to Marcus Johnson, but he dropped the ball one too many times last week for me to trust him at this point. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likely that Heard will fire away, since he has only thrown 30 passes on the road the entire season. Many Big 12 quarterbacks hit that number in a single game.
Lay the ‘Wood
West Virginia’s star offensive player is running back Wendell Smallwood, who will likely go over the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season against Texas. The Mountaineers rank 19th nationally in rushing offense, at a 220-yards-per-game clip, and WVU head coach Dana Holgerson has leaned heavily on Smallwood, who ran for 163 yards and a touchdown against Texas Tech last week and has no problem being the bell cow.
The 5-foot-11, 201-pound running back from Wilmington, Del., averages 6.6 yards per carry, and he is a bruiser. The Texas defense has become allergic to tackling and that must change immediately. The UT defense must take down Smallwood at the point of attack on the first try, and if that means gang-tackling, then so be it. If they don’t, then Smallwood could become the fifth running back to go for 100 yards against Texas this season.
Junior tailback Rushel Shell also is someone the Texas defense needs to watch after he dropped 111 yards and two touchdowns on the Red Raiders last week. He also is responsible for one of the most abusive stiff-arms I have ever seen in high school football, so that’s cool.
Turn the beat around
Texas ranks 13th nationally in turnover margin and will need to continue successfully protecting the ball against West Virginia, which will not be a small feat. The Mountaineers have forced 17 turnovers this season, recovering three fumbles and picking off 14 passes. Their ability to cover receivers may be a big reason why we don’t see Heard putting the ball in the air. Of course, they also have turned the ball over 15 times in the 2015-16 season so they aren’t doing themselves any favors.
The Longhorns have only turned the ball over seven times, which gives us hope that they will be able to keep it out of the Mountaineers’ hands.
“Here’s the kicker”
The Longhorns would be wise to focus on their defensive special teams efforts in practice this week. The Mountaineers’ kickoff return unit ranks 12th in the nation and will be fired up at home.
The “Sky’s” the limit
West Virginia has brought up a number of stud quarterbacks over the years. Junior quarterback Skyler Howard, however, can’t be compared to Geno Smith or Major Harris, and has fought through a roller-coaster year. The Fort Worth, Texas native has passed for 16 touchdowns and thrown nine interceptions this year. If he is going to beat Texas, it will be when he runs the ball. He has rushed for 256 yards and three touchdowns, and could frustrate the Texas defense. We’re not ready to say he is the second coming of West Virginia great Pat White, but the dude can move.
Holgerson said Howard can exploit defenses since “they’ve got to account for him, because he can pull it and keep it anytime.” Longhorns, are you listening? Contain Howard and force him to pass (Howard averages only 230 yards passing per game), and you will be on your way to a win.
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