WATCH: Texas Longhorns Fumble Recovery Leads to Jonathon Brooks TD vs. Kansas
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Longhorns defense came up with a huge play in the third quarter of Saturday's Big 12 contest against the No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks in Austin that helped change the tide of the game at a critical point.
Facing a 4th and 1 from their own 38-yard line, the Jayhawks went for it, but quarterback Jason Bean fumbled the read option handoff. Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron recovered for the Longhorns' first takeaway of the afternoon.
Texas got the ball right outside the red zone and used five straight runs to punch in the score from one yard out with running back Jonathon Brooks, who extended the lead to 26-14 with his second touchdown of the third quarter. The Longhorns failed on the ensuing two-point try.
With that drive, Brooks had a whopping 202 yards for two touchdowns on 17 carries with time still to spare in the third quarter.
Texas Longhorns running back Jonathon Brooks makes a long run against the Kansas Jayhawks in the second quarter at Royal-Memorial Stadium on Saturday September 30, 2023
© Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian praised what he's seen from the Kansas defense leading up to Saturday, but the Jayhawks have had no answer for Brooks.
“Defensively, sometimes it’s getting the pieces to the puzzle right,” Sarkisian said. “Obviously they hit the portal really hard on the defensive front this offseason and they’ve got some play-makers up there, guys who not only do well against the run but affect the quarterback and have gotten some sacks. I think the other thing you see defensively out of them is they believe in the scheme. They’ve got a veteran secondary. They’ve got veteran linebackers that all work well together."
The Longhorns scored on their next drive to make it a 33-14 lead and will look to close out Kansas.
