Texas Football: 3 reasons Sam Ehlinger will be Big 12’s best player in 2020

2. Used more efficiently as a runner

There was a sizable dip in the number of rushing yards that Ehlinger amassed with the Longhorns from the 2018 to the 2019 season. He broke some Texas program records during his sophomore campaign in the rushing department. Ehlinger amassed a whopping 16 rushing scores in 2018.

He topped all of that off with three rushing touchdowns alone in the Sugar Bowl win over the Georgia Bulldogs to cap a special 2018 campaign on New Year’s Day 2019. He rounded out the 2018 season with 533 rushing yards on 169 tries, to add to those 16 touchdowns on the ground.

Last season, Ehlinger didn’t get close to raking in the same number of rushing touchdowns. But he did average more than four yards per carry for the first time in his career. He registered 677 total rushing yards and seven touchdowns, and greatly minimized the number of times that the offense coughed up the football.

An important mark too was that Herman reduced the number of rushing attempts and quarterback power play calls that went to Ehlinger. His injury problems were at the lowest point they’ve been in a long time last season. Continue to maximize the rushing efficiency for Ehlinger on less overall attempts, and he’ll be in better shape in terms of staying healthy.