Texas Football: 3 things the Longhorns are missing after first two games

2) What’s missing for Texas football in 2020: Consistent offensive line play

Results were anything but reliable for the Longhorns in the trenches on offense in the win over Texas Tech last weekend. Texas did have an easier run at things in the season opening win over UTEP, where the ground game was able to get some easier pushes multiple levels into their defense. The ground game overall is averaging a whopping 211 yards per game and more than five yards per carry.

But they haven’t blocked very well in front of each of the Texas rushers and/or Ehlinger. Sophomore running back and former converted dual-threat quarterback Roschon Johnson is averaging less than 3.5 yards per carry, and he has the most rushing attempts on the team. Ehlinger was under pressure on 23 of the 81 total dropbacks he’s had this season, and most of those came against Texas Tech.

Ehlinger was sacked twice in the win over Texas Tech, and not a single time in the win over UTEP. More than four Texas offensive linemen are also responsible for at least two quarterback hurries and one or more sacks in the first two games of the season. Even usually stout offensive linemen like redshirt junior offensive tackle Samuel Cosmi and senior OL Derek Kerstetter have allowed multiple pressures and at least one sack through two games.

We should expect Cosmi to be playing better than he is so far. There should be a bigger learning curve for younger and/or less experienced linemen like Denzel Okafor, Christian Jones, and Junior Angilau. There are less excuses for the way that Cosmi and Kerstetter performed thus far. So far this season, Cosmi has posted the lowest offensive grade and run blocking grade of his career.