HOUSTON — Big momentum swings, hard hits, a fake field goal try, a questionable late-game spot and an injury to Quinn Ewers: Texas and Houston’s long-awaited reunion had it all, but the No. 8 Longhorns ultimately escaped with a 31-24 win.
The conference road win keeps Texas (6-1) in the thick of the College Football Playoff chase and on track to get to the Big 12 title game. But with Ewers’ health uncertain and the Longhorns’ inability to put the Cougars away laid bare, there’s still a long way to go.
Five takeaways from Saturday’s thriller at TDECU Stadium:
If Ewers misses time, Maalik Murphy is up
Ewers left Saturday’s game in the third quarter after taking a massive hit from Houston edge rusher David Ugwoegbu. After the play, Ewers got up and continued on for the next four snaps but Ugwoegbu left the game after the tackle.
Murphy entered on Texas’ next possession. He finished the game while Ewers remained sidelined and was seen wearing a sling on his right arm. Steve Sarkisian said Ewers injured his shoulder and will be further evaluated Sunday.
“He tried to play through it,” Sarkisian said. “We didn’t feel comfortable enough with his ability to continue to play.”
If Ewers isn’t ready to go when Texas hosts BYU next week or misses any extended time, the Longhorns will turn to Murphy.
The redshirt freshman attempted just two passes Saturday but led Texas’ go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown drive and operated the Longhorns offense cleanly and effectively. Sarkisian wisely leaned on the run rather than put his young quarterback in a compromising situation in a tight road game. Sarkisian said he’s confident in both Murphy and true freshman Arch Manning if they’re needed.
“Maalik showed great poise and composure,” Sarkisian said. “He’s got a lot of belief in himself, and he understands our system. If it’s him (starting) this week, I know he’ll prepare really well and he’ll get the majority of those reps, and I think he’ll play good football.
“And I think Arch will be ready. Both of those guys … have really put in a lot of work to play good football for us. Ultimately if the situation arises that (Ewers misses time), we’ll have the utmost confidence in them to play good football.”
Holgorsen questions late spot, review process
Houston coach Dana Holgorsen expressed his displeasure with the officials’ spotting of a third-and-1 rush by running back Stacy Sneed inside the Texas 10-yard line with 1:25 to go.
The Cougars, trailing by seven, were threatening to tie the score, and Sneed appeared to pass the first-down marker at the 9-yard line. Officials spotted the ball short of the 9, leaving Houston with a fourth-and-inches situation. Quarterback Donovan Smith’s fourth-down pass to Stephon Johnson fell short, and the Cougars turned it over on downs.
Holgorsen was visibly frustrated on the sideline and said afterward that he asked officials to review the call and they informed him that they had.
“The spot was horrible,” Holgorsen said. “I think we got the first down. … I don’t understand review. Every time I think something’s reviewable, I can’t get them to review it. They say they’re looking at it, but I don’t know that.”
Houston ended up not converting on 4th & 1 on their next play, their final play of the game, and ended up losing.
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Holgorsen elaborated on his conversation with officials in hopes of getting them to review. “I’m sitting there saying, ‘What do you want me to do? You want me to call a timeout? Can I review it?’ They said they’re reviewing it.
“They said, ‘We are reviewing it, and it is confirmed.’ What else am I gonna do? They say they’ve reviewed it and it’s confirmed, I’m not gonna waste a timeout if they say it’s confirmed. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand what’s reviewable, what’s not reviewable, how we get a review or how we get a challenge. I don’t understand any of it.”
Horns need more consistency
The first quarter and a half couldn’t have started better for Texas. The Longhorns scored touchdowns on three of their first four possessions and dominated defensively. After each team had possessed the ball four times, Texas had a 217-23 advantage in total offense.
It was one of the best starts Texas has had this season and encouraging after having slow starts in other games the Longhorns were heavy favorites, like Rice and Wyoming.
But the rest of the game was a slog for the Longhorns, and it got Sarkisian’s attention. Texas has built a reputation for finishing strong this year, closing out opponents late in all but one of its first six games. Against Houston, a bevy of mistakes and an impressive effort by the Cougars tested the Longhorns all the way to the final minute.
“The lesson learned here is we’ve got to have a killer instinct,” Sarkisian said. “People aren’t going to lay down against us. They’re going to continue to fight. We relaxed, and we didn’t execute the way we had.”
Is it simply an aberration for a team that has otherwise shown this year that it can put teams away, or is it cause for concern after falling late to Oklahoma and having to scratch and claw against a Houston team that the Longhorns were favored to beat by more than three touchdowns?
And how do the Longhorns start putting together good starts and finishes?
“That’s the challenge, and that’s what we talked about in the locker room,” Sarkisian said. “I praised them for their preparation. They were really dialed in this week in practice, and it showed at the start of the game. I think at the end, that killer instinct has got to be there for us because teams aren’t going to go away. … How do we continue to play with that mental intensity, that focus, that energy?”
If the Longhorns are going to get to AT&T Stadium in December and remain in the Playoff hunt, they’ll have to play more consistently for four quarters and with fewer mistakes than they have the past two games. The schedule isn’t a bear, with no ranked teams remaining, but Houston wasn’t supposed to be much of a test, either.
Fake field goal attempt explained
One of the most curious calls of the game came when Sarkisian tried to fake a field goal late in the second quarter with Texas leading 21-7.
The Longhorns had moved the ball almost at will, and a successful field goal would have expanded Texas’ advantage to three scores. But punter Ryan Sanborn threw a pass to kicker Bert Auburn, who was tackled after just 1 yard on fourth-and-6.
Sarkisian said afterward that they felt good about the call based on the scouting report against Houston’s special teams.
“They have a really good rush unit, and they had an excellent guy coming off the edge (to attempt) blocking the kick, (but) he didn’t rush,” Sarkisian said.
Sarkisian attributed the swing in momentum in part to the failure to convert. Houston scored a touchdown on its next possession, closed out the half with a sack of Ewers and then scored on its first possession of the second half to tie the score at 21.
“We can play a brand of football that’s ultra-conservative, but that’s not who this team is,” Sarkisian said. “We’re an attack-oriented team. Our players thrive in that, they believe in those calls. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t have called it. But hindsight is 20/20.”
Houston’s fight
About 20 minutes into the game, things looked bleak for Houston. Instead, to its credit, it put itself in position to win. Houston outgained Texas 369-143 in the last two-plus quarters.
“Proud of our football team,” Holgorsen said. “We practiced well all week. We coached hard and we played hard and we got better as a football team. We took the mighty Texas Longhorns, the No. 8 team in the country, to the wire.”
It required an unconventional game plan. Houston rarely tried to run the ball at Texas’ elite defensive tackles. Early in the fourth quarter, the Cougars had minus-5 rushing yards and ended with only 14 total. The strategy worked, as Houston’s plethora of talented receivers ran roughshod over a beat-up Texas secondary for 378 yards.
“We’ve got to find a way to eliminate passing lanes and play tighter coverage,” Sarkisian said. “If people are gonna throw it that much, we’ve got to create some interceptions, some sacks and some sack-fumbles.”
Although the Cougars (3-4) have lost three of their first four Big 12 games, they have the potential to make a bowl in a down Big 12. After a bumpy start to the season, UH has put together two solid performances in a win over West Virginia and the respectable showing against Texas.
“We had a chance to beat the University of Texas on the last couple of plays,” Holgorsen said. “They have every advantage in the world. Where we’re at as a program right now is not close to where they are, and I’m proud of our guys and the way they fought those guys and the effort that they gave. That’s a huge thing for our program.”
(Top photo of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
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