Texas Football: Mid-season report card for every position
Offensive Line
Potentially the most improved area of the Texas football roster this year is pretty clearly the offensive line. Last year, the offensive line hampered any ability of the Horns to give the quarterback any time to go through his reads in the pocket or to get anything established on the ground.
With so many returning starters, and a grad transfer at left tackle in Calvin Anderson to replace the departed Connor Williams, the offensive line was assured to progress in some fashion. The great thing is that the offensive line took some strides in nearly every relevant portion of what they’re expected to do each week.
Texas is actually in the top half of the nation so far this year in terms of sacks allowed, with 10. Last year, Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele would’ve given anything to have the offensive line perform like that in pass protection. This just shows how much each team relies on its offensive line.
The offensive line is also making a ton of headway for the ground game for both Ehlinger and some of the team’s best running backs. The biggest difference can be seen in the red zone where the offense is converting much more often than last season. As long as this line stays healthy, it’s going to be a huge part of the team for the rest of the year.