Texas Football: Five Questions — Maryland

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

The season opener shouldn’t have been this difficult for the Texas football team.

But the No. 23 Longhorns found out Saturday in a 51-41 loss to Maryland at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium there’s still plenty of work to do before a real football turnaround can take place on the 40 Acres.[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

In a game of momentum swings created by big plays by both teams, the difference for Maryland came down to the two things the Terrapins could control — keeping their poise and running the football. Meanwhile, Texas couldn’t get out of its own way — even when it was getting breaks by the handful.

The wild game featured three special teams touchdowns, two of those by the Longhorns, and another Texas score on an interception return. Still, the Longhorns opened the Tom Herman coaching era in Austin with a thud.

The Longhorns’ uneven performance against a Maryland team picked to finish fifth in the Big 10’s Eastern Division dispelled any resurgence of Texas football. But Herman said there was no sign of doubt or here-we-go-again from his team after the loss.

“We have to do better,” Herman said. “We are our own worst enemy right now. We responded in the right mental and attitudinal way but the execution and the self-inflicted wounds are things that are difficult to recover from, if not impossible.”

Texas quarterback Shane Buechele passed for 375 yards and two touchdowns and ran three yards for another score in a losing cause. Buechele connected with 10 different receivers in the game, but was sacked five times as the Longhorns struggled to run the ball despite returning four starters on the offensive line.

“We moved the ball well but we made crucial mistakes and penalties that cost us the chance to grab the momentum of the game,” Buechele said. “We have to learn what we did wrong and move on. We have a good mindset — we are cocky but not arrogant — and we will keep that attitude going forward.”

Texas outscored 102-0 Maryland in three previous meetings, but the Terrapins made up for that in spades on Saturday.

 

The Terrapins (1-0) offset the unexpected with a steady game from quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome, who passed for 175 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 64 yards and another score before suffering a knee injury late in the third quarter.

With Pigrome out of the game in the fourth quarter, true freshman backup Kasim Hill led a scoring drive that gave Maryland a 44-34 lead. Hill converted a 3rd-and-19 pass before running three yards for the crucial touchdown.

“There was a lot of back and forth,” Maryland head coach DJ Durkin said. “Every time it got close, our guys responded well. That’s what it takes. To be a team that competes for championships, you have to be able to do that on the road.”

Ty Johnson added 132 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries for the Terrapins. Maryland outgained Texas 482-473 despite running just 58 plays to 84 for the Longhorns. The Terrapins enjoyed a 263-98 advantage in rushing yards.

Maryland put the game out of reach via a 12-yard touchdown run by Jake Funk with 2:08 remaining and snapped a 17-game losing streak to ranked opponents.

Pigrome ran 25 yards for Maryland’s first touchdown, hit D.J. Moore for a 20-yard score and found Taivon Jacobs on a 46-yard touchdown pass in the first half. The Terrapins also got a 71-yard blocked field goal return by Antoine Brooks for a score, while building a 27-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

The Longhorns didn’t have any defense or special teams touchdowns in 2016; it took just 1:20 of the game to score their first defensive touchdown this season.

Texas’ two touchdowns in the first half came from its defense, special teams and defensive back Holton Hill. Hill was in the right place at the right time twice on Maryland’s mistakes, intercepting a tipped pass on the Terrapins’ first drive and scooting untouched for a 31-yard touchdown return.

In the second quarter, Texas defensive tackle Poona Ford blocked a field goal attempt by Maryland’s Adam Greene and the ball bounced right into Hills’ hand before he set sail for a 65-yard touchdown return that kept the Longhorns in the game.

Greene converted a 26-yard field goal late in the half to push the Terrapins to a 30-14 advantage at halftime.

Maryland outgained Texas 271-171 in the first half and owned a whopping 167-28 advantage in rushing yards. The Longhorns had five penalties in the first two quarters — three which directly stopped drives — and Buechele was sacked three times.

Texas crawled back to within 30-27 in the third quarter on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Buechele to Armanti Foreman and a 91-yard punt return touchdown by Reggie Hemphill-Mapps. But the Terrapins answered on a 40-yard touchdown run by Johnson to stall the Texas comeback.

Buechele cut the Maryland lead to 37-34 with his 3-yard touchdown keeper near the end of the third quarter, setting the table for a furious fourth quarter.

 

Why didn’t the Longhorns run the ball more?

With four starting offensive linemen back from a team that opened holes for D’Onta Foreman’s 2,000-plus-yard campaign last season, as well as for hammerhead running backs Chris Warren III and Kyle Porter, many thought Texas would be a run-first team.

Instead the Longhorns ran 31 times for 98 yards, with Buechele — the last person on the team that needs to accumulate hits — carrying 15 times, almost double of the rest of the team combined.

“I don’t know going in we said, ‘Hey, we’re going to run Shane 15 times,’” Herman said. “I think we called runs [for Buechele] … off the top of my head, maybe three. The rest were either scrambles or pulls on reads.”

Warren ended up leading Texas with 31 yards on six carries and looked hungry for more. Porter — who started the game — had eight carries for just 21 yards. Texas also gave carries to wide receivers Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Jerrod Heard out of the wildcat formation.

“Chris averaged 5.2 yards and Kyle’s average wasn’t great,” Herman said. “I have to see those 14 carries. We knew after the first few series that the fronts and coverages Maryland was giving us were designed to have an extra hat in there for the run, which is why we started throwing the ball more.”

Texas wide receiver Collin Johnson said the plan going into the game was to pass, even though Maryland’s strength was its ability to get to the quarterback.

“The coaches said passing was a great option for this game,” Johnson said. “Swing passes were a big part of our game plan. It was open. I think we averaged nine yards? We averaged a long run every screen pass.”

Expect Texas to run — or at least try to — the ball in next Saturday’s game against San Jose State.

 

What was this game’s biggest play?

After all the blocked kick touchdowns, returns, big runs and penalties resulting in called back scores, the most important play was when Maryland’s Hill converted his third-and-19 pass to Moore early in the fourth quarter to keep the Terrapins’ scoring march alive.

At that time, Maryland led 37-34 and was ready to fold. If Texas made a stop there, it had about nine minutes to grab the lead and take control of the game.

What went through Herman’s mind as he watched the game slip away?

“‘Why can’t we get out of our own way?’” he said. “That’s where the big-time introspection and self-criticism has to come on these next 24 to 48 hours. We have to find a way to stop beating ourselves. We have to execute the way we trained to execute when live bullets are flying.”

Durkin had another take on the situation. His was about players rising up to make a play.

“We went about our business when Hill went in,” Durkin said. “No one said a word. Kasim came in there and handled the moment. That’s a hard spot, a true freshman coming into his first-ever college football game on the road and it’s third-and-19, and he goes and strokes the ball. That tells you a bit about him.”

 

What was the biggest surprise in this game?

You mean besides the fact that Texas lost?

The play of the Texas special teams was a surprise, both good and bad.

Yes, the Longhorns blocked a field goal and ran it back for a score, had a punt return for a score, and showcased All-America punter Michael Dickson, who averaged 58 yards a kick on two punts.

But Texas also had a field goal blocked and run back for a touchdown, missed another field goal, muffed a kickoff return and allowed Maryland a 62-yard kickoff return. Talk about evening things out — wow.

“It’s hard to get excited,” Herman said. “There were some good things but special teams, to me, was much like the other two sides of the ball. There were positive things we can draw from and then really untimely self-inflicted wounds.”

 

Who was the breakout star of this game?

Well, Hill did have two return touchdowns, but that was mostly about being in the right place at the right time.

Our vote has to go to Hemphill-Mapps, who caught about anything that came his way (seven receptions for 69 yards) and showed electric moves and speed on his 91-yard punt return touchdown. That was the Longhorns’ first score off a punt return since 2015 and the third longest in school history.

“Like I said about Reggie a while back, he can just roll out of bed and play football,” Collin Johnson said about his teammate. “He’s an athlete and a great weapon to have on this team.”

As with everything else in this game, Hemphill-Mapps had some good plays and some bad. The referees flagged him for an offensive pass interference penalty in the second quarter, which wiped out a catch that would’ve given the Longhorns a first down deep in Maryland territory. Two plays later, the Terrapins blocked a field goal they returned for a touchdown.

“It was exciting because it’s been two years since I’ve played competitive football,” Hemphill-Mapps said. “I was redshirted last year, so now I get to compete against another team instead of my teammates.”

 

 

What’s next for the Longhorns?

Texas will have a real chance to even its record when San Jose State comes to Austin next week. The game will give the Longhorns an opportunity to discover just what kind of team they will be this season, and marks the last time Texas fans will see their team until Oct. 7 when Kansas State visits.

Between now and the Kansas State game, the Longhorns will play both USC and Iowa State on the road. After Kansas State, Texas goes to Dallas to play Oklahoma, hosts Oklahoma State and then travels to Baylor and TCU. [/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [article-offer] [/s2If]