Texas Football: Herman keeps climbing the Big 12 after win over WVU

An upstart Texas football team keeps building momentum with a three-game winning streak, after they bested the West Virginia Mountaineers on Nov. 7.

In what was a defensive struggle with a lot of twists and turns along the way, fourth-year head coach Tom Herman and the Texas football program pulled out the win over the West Virginia Mountaineers at home on Nov. 7 by the narrow final score of 17-13. This was one of the closest defensive struggles in a long time that Texas has actually come out of with a win.

Texas came into this game with a record of 4-2 (3-2 Big 12), after pulling off the big upset of the previously No. 6 ranked and undefeated Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road back on Oct. 31 by the final score of 41-34 in overtime. Meanwhile, West Virginia came into this game with an identical record to the Longhorns. And they just got done upending the No. 16 ranked Kansas State Wildcats back on Oct. 31, in a very convincing win by the final score of 37-10.

The Longhorns were a one possession favorite ahead of kick off in the betting line. And that proved to be the correct assumption by Vegas for the betting line. This was a very close game through and through. It never really looked like either team was going to pull away at any point.

First-year offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich got the offense going at times, but was mostly stagnant at key points in the second and third quarters. That is a common theme that has come to the forefront this season for the Longhorns.

Senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger had another slow day statistically for the Longhorns, but once again got it done when his team needed him the most. It almost feels like the worse off that Ehlinger’s final stat line is week-by-week, the better the chance the Longhorns have to win.

Ehlinger finished this game with 15 completions on 31 passing attempts, good for just 184 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and no interceptions. He added 39 rushing yards on 12 attempts, with no rushing scores. His two passing touchdowns went to sophomore wide receiver Jake Smith and junior Brennan Eagles.

Maybe the most valuable offensive performance of the day for Texas came from true freshman running back and former five-star recruit Bijan Robinson. In the absence of junior Keaontay Ingram, Robinson broke through in a big way. He tallied up 113 rushing yards on 12 carries, no rushing touchdowns, and an additional 38 receiving yards on two catches.

Robinson had a huge play to set the tone on the first drive of the game for the Longhorns (with a game-high 54 yard run). And he iced it on the final drive with a 35-yard reception that got the Longhorns a first down and allowed them to bleed out the clock.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Longhorns got nice performances out of senior defensive back Chris Brown and junior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown. Brown had a few key pass breakups, and got away with one a bit on a play in the end zone with some aggressive contract at the end of the game.

Overshown tallied up a few tackles for loss, and one key sack in the second half to keep West Virginia to just a field goal instead of a touchdown.

With the win, the No. 22 ranked Longhorns move their record on the season to 5-2 (4-2 Big 12). They now sit well within striking distance of the other schools near the top of the Big 12 standings, including the likes of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Kansas State, Oklahoma Sooners, Iowa State Cyclones, etc.

It now looks like the Big 12 is trending to shape up the way it was supposed to be in the preseason. The three front runners (maybe four including Iowa State) look to be the Longhorns and the Oklahoma schools. And for now, Herman is able to come up with some late game magic and keep more pressure from coming down on him.