Texas Football: Tarik Black lauds Ehlinger after Week 1 performance

Big Week 1 performances for both senior Texas football quarterback Sam Ehlinger and senior wide receiver Tarik Black drew praise over the weekend.

Week 1 of the 2020 season was a massive success for head coach Tom Herman and the Texas football program. Texas got to open up the 2020 regular season at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium under the lights on Sep. 12 with a convincing 59-3 win over the UTEP Miners out of Conference-USA. That 56-point dismantling of UTEP allowed Texas to move up more than five spots in each of the major polls heading into Week 3 of the college football season.

One of the best season opening showings for the Longhorns came from senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger. After a massive first half where he registered more than 400 passing yards and five touchdowns through the air, Ehlinger was shrouded with praise by a number of people around the media-sphere.

Following the game, the group of people that lauded Ehlinger on social media even included his newly added former Michigan senior grad transfer wide receiver Tarik Black. In his Longhorns debut, Black had himself a big game. He registered five catches for 80 yards and one touchdown catch. That was tied for the second most receiving yards for Black in a single game.

It was the third time that Black amassed at least 80 receiving yards and one touchdown in a single game. He was the second leading wide receiver for the Longhorns in the win over UTEP, behind redshirt sophomore Joshua Moore. That was Moore’s first game back since 2018.

Where Texas football can go from here with Black and Ehlinger

Moreover, Black got the start at the X-wide receiver spot to try and fill the shoes of former Texas towering star receiver Collin Johnson (who is now with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL). Black might only be a one-year option for the Longhorns, but he is off to a solid start so far.

Black and junior wideout Brennan Eagles are likely to be relied upon the most at this spot in the receiving corps this fall. Eagles and Black combined for more than 100 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions in the season opener against UTEP.

Ehlinger and Black also looked to show a natural connection between the two of them. It bodes really well that Ehlinger was able to distribute the ball all over the place so well in this season opening win, despite injuries to the Longhorns top two slot receivers in sophomore Jake Smith and redshirt freshman Jordan Whittington.

Watch out for Black to continue to sit among the top two or three Texas wideouts in terms of targets in the passing game. With how well he played in the opener, he should continue to get the start at the X-wide receiver spot.

Black, Ehlinger and the Longhorns move to a record of 1-0 on the season after beating UTEP at home in their opener. Next up for Texas is a bye week, and then the Big 12 opener on the road on Sep. 26 against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.