Longhorns vs. West Virginia Notebook: Xavier Worthy Dazzles, Defense Shows Growth
The Texas Longhorns had a few bad tastes in their mouth entering the second game of Big 12 play in Austin on Saturday.
The most obvious? A 37-34 overtime loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders that saw Texas running back Bijan Robinson fumble away the Horns' chance at getting a road win in the conference opener.
But the taste from the 31-23 loss to West Virginia last season, which killed Texas' chance at appearing in a bowl game, certainly seemed too linger, as the Longhorns angrily washed it away behind a 38-20 win over the Mountaineers.
Let's look at three takeaways from the win:
The Xavier Worthy Show
What didn't Worthy do against the Mountaineers?
After catching the final of his 12 freshman-season touchdowns off the arm of quarterback Hudson Card last season against West Virginia, Worthy added three more on Saturday, all of which came with different levels of entertainment value.
The first, was a casual 15-yard score that gave Worthy his second touchdown of the season.
But then the show began, as Worthy had two highlights that he'll be remembered for long after he leaves the Forty Acres.
Worthy found tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders for a 33-yard touchdown on a trick play. He somehow topped it with a 44-yard touchdown that came in the most unconventional of way.
Card under-threw Worthy in the end zone, as the ball was tipped up in the air by a defender. But Worthy remained concentrated and hauled in the ball for his third score of the game.
He finished with seven catches for 119 yards and three total touchdowns in what was one of his best games as a Longhorn.
Texas secondary shines
The eye test and the box score told the story: the Texas secondary was flying all over the field against the Mountaineers.
A week after having just five passes defended against the Red Raiders the Horns had six pass breakups in the first half alone, two of which came off the hand of cornerback D'Shawn Jamison.
Jerrin Thompson and Ryan Watts got in on the action as well, as the performance from a group that allowed the second-most total passing yards (1,233) in the conference through five games showed some positive signs as what could come as the season progresses.
By the end of the game, the Texas defense had seven pass breakups.
Ja'Tavion Sanders reawakening?
Sanders had five grabs for 40 yards against Tech but had just four catches for nine yards in the previous two games after his impressive season opener.
But Sanders was a key focal point on Saturday, as he totaled five catches for 78 yards and two scores. He was getting a handful of short passes that resulted in short yardage and now leads all Big 12 tight ends in receiving yards (212) while being second in catches (20) and receiving touchdowns (three)
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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