Texas Football: 5 Improvements Longhorns Need to Make During Bye Week

Against Notre Dame, Texas was able to use both Shane Buechele and Tyrone Swoopes effectively in a seemingly effortless tandem. In the Cal game, it was far less smooth. Moving forward, Texas needs to iron out this dual-quarterback system for the offense to be effective.

It’s clear to see how each Texas quarterback can contribute to the offense. Buechele is a gifted thrower who can stretch the field in the vertical passing game. Swoopes is a physical runner between the tackles who can provide a boost to the power running game. Against the Irish, we saw the coaching staff use these skill sets interchangeably to create a cohesive offensive attack.

However, it was a very different story in the Cal game. Part of it may have been Buechele’s injury but the coaching staff seemed unsure about when or how to use each quarterback. Swoopes was forced into some passing situations where he completed 4 of 6 for 65 yards with an interceptions. While that’s not terrible, it clearly was not what the offense wanted him to be doing and the flow struggled.

Those issues were not fixed when Buechele returned. Some drives they were swapping out Swoopes and Buechele on every other play. That makes it difficult for the offense to find a rhythm and likely cost the Horns a couple of scoring drives.

We know that Buechele and Swoopes can coexist. Sterlin Gilbert needs to use the bye week to rediscover that balance he had in the opener.