Texas Football: Longhorns lose heartbreaking double OT game vs. USC
The Texas Longhorns lost a heartbreaking double OT game, 27-24, on the road against Top 5 USC on Saturday night.
In the first meeting since the 2006 BCS National Title game won by Texas, the Longhorns were seconds away from pulling off a huge road win against USC.
You could say seconds because of what happened at the end of both halves.
The Longhorns defense was stellar, relentless, and dominant throughout the game. But, one bad play at the very end of the first half allowed USC to take a 14-7 lead into halftime. This was moments after Longhorns DB DeShon Elliott scored a Pick 6 TD to even the score 7-7.
Then, at the end of the game, true freshman QB Sam Ehlinger led a magical TD drive to give the Longhorns a 17-14 lead. (Yes, the defense shut out USC for nearly the entire second half.)
But, USC QB Sam Darnold led a great drive in the final seconds of the game to set up a game-tying field goal that sent the game to OT tied at 17-17.
On that final drive, the Longhorns defense was inches away from sacking Darnold on two occasions that could have sealed the game because USC was up against the clock with no timeouts remaining.
Texas Longhorns Clutch and Unlucky in Overtime
In overtime, USC scored on the first play. Then, Sam Ehlinger led a clutch TD drive. Head coach Tom Herman said after the game that he contemplated going for 2 and the win, but he opted to kick the extra point to force a second OT tied at 24-24.
In the second OT, Ehlinger led another drive inside the 4 yardline. However, instead of calling for a RB to carry the ball, the Longhorns called for a second consecutive QB sneak with Ehlinger.
Ehlinger got to the 2 yardline, then appeared to have his forward momentum stopped as USC defenders ripped at the ball in the scrum. Ehlinger fumbled, USC recovered, and the play was upheld to end the Longhorns’ possession.
USC just needed to score to win the game. Yet, the Texas defense did not back down. They rose to the occasion and prevented USC from gaining a yard. And, on third down, Malik Jefferson was inches away from sacking Darnold to push USC out of field goal range. But, Darnold escaped, just like on the last drive of regulation.
That set up USC for a game-winning field goal for the final score of 27-24.
Much Different Feeling than Previous Road Overtime Loss
On November 19, 2016, the Longhorns traveled to Kansas to play one of the worst teams in college football.
All the Longhorns had to do was win the game to qualify for a bowl game. But, the Longhorns lost 24-21 in overtime on a game-winning field goal. That sealed the fate of Charlie Strong and left the Longhorns with a sickening feeling.
On September 16, 2017, the Longhorns lost 27-24 in double overtime on a game-winning field goal against one of the best teams in the country. This feeling was much different than against Kansas.
Sure, it was sickening and heartbreaking because Texas had so many opportunities to win against USC. But, it was different because there is optimism attached to this result.
The Horns were not even supposed to be in the game against USC, much less dominate on defense. The Horns were nearly a three TD underdog. And, on the Fox pre-game show, the panel predicted a wild point output of 50 points for USC and a huge margin of victory.
It played out much differently on the field. If you take away the final play of the first half and the final play of the second half, the Texas defense only allowed 7 points during the meat of the game. That was unbelievably impressive.
There wasn’t much else the defense could do in the game to help Texas win. They scored a TD, they had fourth down stops, they had a goalline stand, they tackled great, they sacked Darnold, and they never let USC get the run game going. The only hiccups were the last play of the first half and first play of overtime.
After addressing the defense after the Maryland loss Week 1, the next big issue to address is the offensive playcalling.
Longhorns Need to Re-Evaluate Offensive Gameplan
The two biggest things that Longhorns fans will lament about this loss is the officiating and the offensive playcalling under OC Tim Beck.
The officiating was dreadful in key moments, including missing three Pass Interference calls against USC and not calling a facemask/grasping the helmet penalty that led to one of Sam Ehlinger’s two critical fumbles.
But, you cannot control that. And, Longhorns fans are all too accustomed to college football officiating woes in recent years. What Texas can control is the playcalling.
Just like the loss against Maryland, the offensive staff completely abandoned the running game from the RB position.
Leading RB Chris Warren only had 4 carries in the game, resulting in 15 yards. Second RB Kyle Porter only had 5 carries, which resulted in 9 yards.
Meanwhile, Sam Ehlinger officially rushed 19 times for a grand total of 10 yards. (The USC defense sacked him five times to hurt his total.)
The Longhorns needed to run the football to continue wearing down USC, who lost starters to injuries during the game. Yet, there were multiple drives in the first and second halves where the Longhorns did not even attempt a RB carry.
In the post-game press conference, Tom Herman even acknowledged they abandoned the run at a certain point in the game. That just cannot happen, though, putting so much pressure on a true freshman QB in that environment.
Ehlinger played admirably considering the circumstances being on the road against one of the best teams in the country. But, the running game needs to be used.
There are plenty of things to be frustrated about from this loss. Now, the Longhorns have to address their offensive identity heading into the start of Big 12 play.
Next: Texas Football Q&A with Peter Gardere
This was an opportunity to make a huge statement to the country that Texas Football is back on the map. Instead, the Longhorns will have to settle for a really good statement that Texas can compete at the highest level again. They’re just not there yet. But, Tom Herman is the man to break through the wall.