Texas Football: 4 overreactions from Alamo Bowl win over Utah

1. Offensive line might not be as bad as we thought

The offensive line didn’t look bad at all for the Texas football program against a very good Utah front seven. Seniors along the offensive line line center Zach Shackelford and the former transfer guard Parker Braun definitely showed up to play in their final games wearing the burnt orange.

The main concern for Utah was the front seven in this game. Their secondary was depleted heading into the postseason, with three key defensive backs missing the game either due to NFL Draft preparation or injury. Utah did rack up three sacks on the day, but that could’ve been much worse with the 33 that Texas had allowed heading into the Alamo Bowl.

Moreover, senior defensive end Bradlee Anae and senior defensive tackle Leki Fotu were held to just one combined sack and tackle for loss. If you told me that Anae and Fotu wouldn’t get even one complete sack for either of them, I would’ve thought it was a joke. Anae had more than 12 sacks heading into the postseason and Fotu could go as an early round pick in the 2020 draft.

Texas also got the push in the trenches to average well over six yards per carry. And beyond the two sacks on Ehlinger, the Longhorns only gave up one more quarterback hurry. This was about the best that the Longhorns fans could hope for out of what was a very shaky offensive line throughout the regular season.