Know Your Enemy: What Texas Football Needs to Do to Beat the Rice Owls

A fan who wants to let go of last week’s 38-3 loss to Notre Dame may experience similarities to the first time you got drunk in your freshman year in college; you wake up next morning asking yourself how the night got away from you, wondering why your head hurts so bad, and ultimately are left with some choices to make based upon your questionable decision-making. Charlie Strong, welcome to your real-life version of The Hangover. No need to call The Wolfpack.

The Texas Football team has been (perhaps?) blessed with a chance to shake off that Irish whiskey headache by filling their stomachs with some owl, as Rice heads to Austin for the ‘Horns home opener. How can Strong and the team, as 16-point favorites, get back on the right path? It’s time to “Know Your Enemy.” (Continue reading below…)

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Action Jackson

Rice kicked off the season with a 56-16 win versus Wagner College. If you’re asking yourself, “Where is Wagner College,” then congratulations, you’re a living, breathing human being. Driphus Jackson, the fifth-year senior quarterback and former Cedar Hill stud, was the playmaker in said blowout. He threw for 123 yards and went off for 79 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. Yes, Jackson is the most dreaded thing for UT; a dual-threat QB. The encouraging thought for UT is that Jackson is no Malik Zaire. As long as Dylan Haines and Duke Thomas stick to their assignment then the Longhorns aren’t likely to get picked apart in the middle of the defense.

On a sidenote; Driphus Jackson also loves to LiveTweet the MTV Video Music Awards and the DeSoto high school football game, proving he has upside as an entertainment and high school football correspondent or coach. So he’s got that going for him, which is nice.

This what happen with time and….MTV smh pic.twitter.com/vWq6rRUX00

— Driphus Jackson (@Peur_6) August 31, 2015

Desoto QB Just need to learn how to chill n the pocket. He got more time than he think. — Driphus Jackson (@Peur_6) August 29, 2015

Nowhere to Run to, Baby

Rice broke out their option offense to the tune of 401 rushing yard on 54 carries (7.4 yards per carry) and they, as has been their signature for years, are a team committed to running the ball. They possess a three-headed monster of the aforementioned Jackson, redshirt freshman Austin Walter (12 carries, 107 yards and a touchdown versus Wagner) and junior Darick Dillard (who ran for 15 carries, 93 yards and two touchdowns versus Wagner). The Owls aren’t going to beat a team in the passing game so the gameplan is simple; maintain gap discipline and stop the run, utilize the depth that Strong claims he has on the defensive line so that you’re not worn out by the endless number of rushes from Rice, and have Malik Jefferson spy on Jackson. If Jackson even thinks about running the ball then hit him often and hit him hard. Rice head coach David Bailiff has stated that he wants to see Jackson, who has had issues with his left shoulder, pitch the ball or slide but that the QB chooses to not listen. The Texas defense needs to teach him a lesson. If you hold the ball you’re going to pay for it.

Nowhere to Hide

The Owls’ strength is easily their offense but they are as barren on defense as the toy shelves of Target after Black Friday. They are a young, aggressive group that aren’t world beaters. The game plan for Texas’ offense should be simple. Run the ball early and often with senior Johnathan Gray, expose the Owls’ tendency to overpursue with counter plays, and when you do throw, which shouldn’t happen a lot, utilize the play-action pass or get Tyrone Swoopes or Jerrod Heard outside of the edges so that they have some breathing room. This will also give some room to run for Heard, should there be no receiver open. The Owls are breaking in a completely green secondary after losing all their starters so the chance to hurt them downfield is possible, but you can only do that if the quarterback has time to throw the ball. There will be some who would argue that the Longhorns should teach Swoopes and Heard proper footwork and that’s fair, but it’s time to face facts. This young offensive line currently can’t keep a pocket open long enough for either QB to see downfield and they are starting to panic as a result. If you don’t put them in a position to yield positive results and gain confidence then it’s only a matter of time before they cave in.

The Longhorns must be like an old Rihanna song and run this town.

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