What do we know about this Texas football team and head coach Tom Herman heading into the offseason after their 32-point win over CU in the Alamo Bowl?
A nice win for No. 20 ranked Texas football arrived against their former Big 12 foe, the Colorado Buffaloes, on the night of Dec. 29 to send the team into the offseason largely on a high note. This Alamo Bowl win for Texas makes it their second straight. Last year, Texas got an upset Alamo Bowl win in convincing fashion over head coach Kyle Whittingham and the No. 11 ranked Utah Utes by the final score of 38-10.
Another huge double digit victory emerged for fourth-year head coach Tom Herman and the Longhorns in the Alamo Bowl this week, which came by the final score of 55-23 over the Buffs. Since the Longhorns were just over a touchdown favorite in the betting line heading into this game, it was a really nice effort for their shorthanded squad.
Texas came into this game missing multiple key players on both sides of the ball due to various reasons. Opt outs, injuries, transfers, and early 2021 NFL Draft declarations all left the Longhorns thin on all sides of the ball. But that didn’t really phase them since they came out of the gates firing and never looked back.
Outside of a concerning spurt in the second quarter from the Buffs, the Longhorns effectively controlled this game the entire way. It was a well-rounded effort that keeps Herman undefeated in four tries in the postseason as the Texas head coach. And it allows the Longhorns to head into the offseason sporting a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12).
With all of this in mind, here’s a look at four overreactions that are common after the Longhorns sizable Alamo Bowl win over Colorado on Dec. 29.
4) Overreactions from Texas football’s win over Colorado
DeMarvion Overshown and Keondre Coburn will be the faces of the defense
Come the start of the 2021 season next fall, the look of the Longhorns defense under the direction of defensive coordinator/safeties coach Chris Ash is going to be vastly different. Texas already lost a number of important pieces on the defensive side of the ball heading into the Alamo Bowl due to opt outs, transfers, and injuries.
Ash and the Longhorns were already down the likes of All-American junior star linebacker/edge rusher Joseph Ossai, standout junior safety Caden Sterns, senior safety Chris Brown, and senior defensive end Ta’Quon Graham. That allowed a lot of new faces on this side of the ball to step up for the Longhorns in this Alamo Bowl win over the Buffs.
One defensive player that really impressed for the Longhorns in the Alamo Bowl was the former highly coveted blue chip recruit and converted safety DeMarvion Overshown. The 6-foot-4 and 220 pound junior linebacker registered six combined tackles (four solo and two assisted), one interception, one pass breakup, two quarterback hurries, and 0.5 tackles for loss.
Overshown definitely looks like he’ll be a future face of this Texas defense for Herman and Ash.
Moreover, a player that didn’t get enough love for his efforts in the Alamo Bowl was redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Keondre Coburn. The sizable 6-foot-2 and 350 pound nose tackle registered five combined tackles, one pass breakup, 1.5 tackles for loss, and one additional quarterback pressure in the win.
Both Coburn and freshman defensive lineman Alfred Collins were huge for the Longhorns in this game. Expect this duo or trio to be some of the best defensive players for this team heading into the offseason.
Overreactions from Texas football’s win over Colorado
Bijan Robinson deserves a much bigger workload than Roschon Johnson in 2021
One of the biggest question marks for Herman and his coaching staff following the Alamo Bowl win over the Buffs on Dec. 29 was why he didn’t give a larger workload down the stretch to the star freshman running back Bijan Robinson. Both Robinson and sophomore running back Roschon Johnson got the same amount of rushing attempts in this game, with 10 each way.
Johnson still had a decently productive day for the Longhorns both in the ground game, and especially as a blocker. He registered 32 rushing yards on 10 carries (just 3.2 yards per carry), with one rushing touchdown. Johnson also didn’t have any fumbles or drops on the day, which is big given past trends this season for Texas running backs.
The production of Johnson in this game will see him round out the season with just over 400 rushing yards (around five yards per carry), six rushing touchdowns, and just over 50 receiving yards, with one touchdown catch. He was still a solid and reliable running back for this Texas offense in 2020.
But the production and overall efficiency of Johnson didn’t even come close to touching what Robinson did down the stretch this season. In the last two games of the season, Robinson registered a whopping 355 rushing yards (nearly 19 yards per carry), six total touchdowns, and 88 receiving yards.
In this game alone, Robinson registered 183 rushing yards on 10 carries (18.3 yards per carry), one rushing touchdown, two catches for 37 receiving yards, and two touchdown catches.
Heading into next season, Robinson looks like he should be the set in stone starter over the likes of Johnson and maybe even to-be senior Keaontay Ingram.
2) Overreactions from Texas football’s win over Colorado
Texas will be fine with Casey Thompson as the starter in 2021
Something a lot of Longhorns fans likely didn’t expect to happen in the Alamo Bowl was seeing an offense led by first-year offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich that would be fine without senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger spearheading the efforts. In what could’ve been the final game of Ehlinger’s college career, Texas actually saw the depth of their quarterback room come to the forefront.
Prior to exiting the Alamo Bowl with a shoulder injury, Ehlinger had completed 10-of-16 passing attempts for 160 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and no interceptions. He also had a negative number of rushing yards and no rushing scores, if you include sack yardage.
Ehlinger still has a very important NFL Draft decision looming for the coming offseason, but Longhorns fans should be settled with the other options in the quarterback room for 2021.
In the second half after Ehlinger left the game with the injury, the former four-star recruit and redshirt sophomore dual-threat quarterback Casey Thompson really stole the show. Thompson was about as efficient as it gets in this win over the Buffs. He completed 8-of-10 passing attempts, good for 170 passing yards, a whopping four passing touchdowns, no picks, and 17 rushing yards on four tries.
Thompson also gave way to brief stints from two other Texas quarterbacks, including freshman former blue chip recruit Hudson Card and former walk-on Ben Ballard.
In his limited snaps over the course of the last two years, Thompson was efficient for the Longhorns. He’s definitely spent enough time in this program to know the offense and the schemes that Herman and Yurcich will like to run moving forward.
1) Overreactions from Texas football’s win over Colorado
Tom Herman helped himself heading into the offseason
We had to know that the Longhorns were going to have a solid level of motivation heading into this Alamo Bowl showdown with the Buffs given Herman’s previous postseason track record. Back during his time as head coach of the Houston Cougars in the mid-2010’s, Herman got a program-changing New Years Six Bowl win over Jimbo Fisher and the Florida State Seminoles.
And now in four years as the Texas head coach, Herman is undefeated in four tries in bowl games. Herman has now won two Alamo Bowl games in a row by a combined margin of 60 points. He also won the final two games of the regular season for the Longhorns by a combined margin of 70 points (over Colorado and Kansas State).
On the surface, it would look like Herman’s job would be secure and he could have confidence heading into the 2021 offseason. But the inconsistencies both on the field and on the recruiting trail of late are still top of mind for Longhorns fans, and likely stems all the way up to the regents, boosters, administration, etc.
Herman’s total record during his four years as head coach on the Forty Acres also isn’t much to write home about, at 32-18. He’ll likely see his team finish around the same spot in the major polls this season than they had in the preseason (No. 14 in AP Poll). That’s not much to satisfy this rabid fan base moving forward.
The problem that the Texas administration and football program in particular will face if they take on a coaching search during the offseason is a lack of quality candidates compared to what Herman can still bring to the table for them.