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Texas Football: 5 overreactions from Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia

By Andrew Miller

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 01: Sam Ehlinger #11 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates after winning the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 01, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 01: Sam Ehlinger #11 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates after winning the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 01, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JANUARY 01: Tre Watson #5 of the Texas Longhorns runs with the ball as Azeez Ojulari #38 of the Georgia Bulldogs defends during the first half of the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 01, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JANUARY 01: Tre Watson #5 of the Texas Longhorns runs with the ball as Azeez Ojulari #38 of the Georgia Bulldogs defends during the first half of the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 01, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

5. Recovering from the loss of Tre Watson will be difficult

One of the bigger question marks heading into the 2019 off-season for Texas football is the status of the ground game with depth thinning at running back. Texas football is set to lose the former graduate transfer running back, senior Tre Watson, following his standout performance in the Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia. This backfield is also set to lose sophomore Toneil Carter and junior Kyle Porter to transfer.

Losing three running backs that could’ve contributed for the Texas offense next year is something Herman and offensive coordinator Tim Beck need to work on heading into spring camp. The losses of Carter and Porter shouldn’t hurt too much since they didn’t contribute much of anything this season. Carter didn’t even get on the field this season.

However, Watson is definitely going to be the biggest loss of the trio of backs that the Horns won’t have next year. The value that Watson brought to the table for the Horns stemmed beyond his reliability on the ground to pick up chunk yardage and make smart and patient reads to find the hole. His first cut was underrated too which allowed him to make something out of nothing as the ball carrier.

In the Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia, Watson led the team in rushing yards with 91 and averaged more than five yards per carry. His pass blocking presence was key to helping sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger finding the end zone as much as he did. Watson’s versatility that helps the Horns on the ground, in pass protection, and in the receiving game is going to be missed next season.

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