Texas Football: 5 biggest storylines heading into the LSU game
1. Heightened pressure on Sam Ehlinger
Texas football will have an offense that thrives under whatever performance junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger leaves out on the field on Saturday night. Last season already saw Ehlinger account for well over 70 percent of the total offensive touchdowns. With all the running back injuries and a strong receiving corps, Ehlinger is going to have all the pressure to make this offense run on himself.
What doesn’t help the burden that will fall on Ehlinger will be the fact that LSU has such a physical defense and the spotlight on this game. Herman will have to run Ehlinger more than he would ideally like to. Putting the play in Ehlinger’s hands (or legs) at least 15-20 times this week might not be a stretch.
To preserve the health of Ehlinger over the long-term, he’ll have to reduce the amount of times he runs him up the middle. Especially for a front seven that is as fast and strong as LSU’s is traditionally, Ehlinger is going to get banged around a lot. It worked for the Longhorns in the Sugar Bowl win last season over Georgia, but that was the final game of the 2018 campaign.
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In the Week 1 win over Louisiana Tech, Ehlinger racked up more than 300 total yards and four passing touchdowns with no interceptions. His arm looked great and a lot of his incompletions were mostly receiver mistakes, but he’ll have even more weight on him to push this offense in Week 2.