Five Takeaways From Texas Offense in Baylor Loss
The Texas Longhorns (4-4) suffered a third-straight loss Saturday in Waco, as the No. 16. Baylor Bears (7-1) used a balanced rushing attack and steady defense to win 31-24.
The loss marked the third straight game in which the Longhorns lost despite holding a double-digit lead at some point in the contest. Even after a strong start to the season, the Texas offense has failed to capitalize in the second half of each of the past three games.
Against Baylor, a 21-10 third-quarter lead by the Longhorns disappeared as Baylor went on a tear, outscoring Texas 21-3 in the second half.
Let’s take a look at five takeaways from the Texas offense in the loss.
1. Bijan Robinson Held in Check
When the best offensive player on the team sees his lowest rushing total of the season despite a modest workload, it’s going to be difficult to pull out a victory. Robinson had 17 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown plunge, but saw little to no running room all afternoon. With his longest run only going for nine yards, it was clear the Baylor defense sold-out to prevent any breakaway plays from the star running back. Texas wasn’t able to get Robinson involved in the passing game either, as he had only catch for four yards.
2. Unable to Capitalize Despite Prime Field Position
From the very first burnt orange possession, the Texas offense was set up with prime real estate after a BJ Foster interception on the second play of the game. But, aside from a deep bomb for six to Xavier Worthy and a 14-play scoring drive to begin the third quarter, the Longhorns did little despite starting with quality field position on a handful of drives. The most glaring miscue came with under a minute left in the second quarter, as Casey Thompson threw a pick right outside the red zone up 14-10. Instead of capitalizing on a pick by the Texas defense four plays earlier, the offense seemingly gave away points before the half.
3. Xavier Worthy Provided Spark
As previously mentioned, Worthy took a 63-yard catch-and-run to the house at the end of the first quarter to put Texas on top 14-10. That play signaled the perfect moment for the Longhorns to seize momentum, but it ended up being one of the only offensive highlights for Texas on the day. Worthy simply outran the Baylor secondary as Thompson lobbed the pass over everyone’s heads for six. It’s clear that the Bears adjusted to keep the speedy receiver from producing in the second half though, as he only managed three catches for 52 yards aside from the big touchdown.
4. Elite Baylor Defense Too Much For Sarkisian’s Gameplan
When an offense fails to produce like Texas’ did on Saturday, a ton of credit remains to be given to the opposing defense. Baylor’s defensive unit from the front seven to the secondary was stout when it mattered in the second half. As a team, the Bears held the Texas offense to 3-of-14 on third down and 2-of-5 on fourth. Preventing Sarkisian and Co. from moving the chains did wonders in swinging momentum. Additionally, the Baylor secondary was swarming to the ball, as the unit caused seven pass deflections and had one pick.
5. Theme of Complacency Has Set in For The Offense in Past Three Games
Blowing three-straight double-digit leads can certainly be blamed on both the offense and defense, but the Texas offense and getting complacent with a big lead have seemed to go hand-in-hand recently. Depending on how you look at it, it’s a really positive sign that Texas has managed to build multi-possessions leads in each of the past three games. The potential to be a 7-1 team is clearly there and could be possible if only a few more possessions had gone Texas’ way. Instead, the team is starting down the barrel of a 4-4 hole, with basically no chance of making it to the conference championship game.
A disappointing past weeks doesn’t get any easier next Saturday, as the Longhorns take on the Iowa State Cyclones (5-3) in Ames at 6:30 p.m C.T. The rowdy road environment will present Texas with yet another tough challenge as the final stretch of the regular season draws near.
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