Texas Football: What we learned from win over Iowa State

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AUSTIN, TX – NOVEMBER 17: Tre Watson #5 of the Texas Longhorns rushes the ball defended by Lawrence White #11 of the Iowa State Cyclones in the second quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

Tre Watson coming on strong

A couple weeks back, it looked like senior running back Tre Watson was going to get phased out. Watson provided a nice one-two punch with true freshman running back Keaontay Ingram early in the season. In the middle of the Big 12 slate, Ingram started to emerge as the better option in the rushing attack than Watson.

Watson led the team in rushing yards with 93 on 14 carries. Meanwhile, Ingram averaged nearly five yards per carry on 12 rushing attempts. Watson and Ingram are still the answer for the Horns on the ground in combination with the potent dual-threat quarterback. Watson is also a valuable presence out of the backfield in the passing game.

Even sophomore running back Daniel Young got some work in this game. Herman might be trying to get some other running backs involved with Watson’s time on the Forty Acres running out. Young only had four rushing attempts for nine yards. He got spotty workloads in his second year after a promising true freshman campaign.

Texas has some work to do over the off-season to figure out the future look of this ground game. With Young struggling to find running room and Watson out of eligibility, Ingram is the only proven option left. Texas might have to turn to someone like junior running back Kyle Porter or sophomore Toneil Carter to add some depth during the off-season.

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