Texas Football: 3 most shocking surprises halfway through 2020

2) Most shocking surprises for Texas football halfway through: New skill position threats

In the last couple of weeks, by far the biggest positive surprise on the offensive side of the ball for the Longhorns was the true freshman running back and former highly touted five-star recruit Bijan Robinson. The play of Robinson was much more efficient of late than what Texas got on the ground from either sophomore Roschon Johnson or junior Keaontay Ingram.

For his efforts in a big weekend in the win over West Virginia, Robinson earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors for the first time in his short college career. In the win over the Mountaineers, he registered 113 rushing yards on 12 carries (9.4 yards per carry), no rushing touchdowns, and two catches for 38 receiving yards.

Robinson is still seeking out his first career touchdown (whether it be with the ground or receiving game). But in total this season, he’s registered 294 rushing yards on 51 carries (5.8 yards per carry), and 105 receiving yards on nine catches (11.7 yards per catch). Maybe the efforts from Robinson in the last few weeks will finally payoff for him getting into the end zone out of the bye week when Texas takes on Kansas on Nov. 21.

Another noteworthy surprise for the Longhorns early in the season was the breakthrough of redshirt sophomore wide receiver Joshua Moore. Although the production of Moore slowed of late, he was still a very positive presence for the passing game earlier in the regular season. He’s also missed some game time of late with an upper-body injury.

In five games played so far this season, Moore registered 22 catches for 343 receiving yards and seven touchdowns (15.6 yards per catch). Hopefully Moore will be ready to go for the Longhorns coming out of the bye week. Even if he’s not ready for Kansas, he should be a very helpful presence for the receiving corps against Iowa State and Kansas State.