Texas Football: Offensive line has cost this offense dearly

A bad loss for No. 15 ranked Texas football and new head coach Steve Sarkisian over the weekend at the hands of the longtime rival Arkansas Razorbacks knocked this team well out of both major polls. Texas was humbled and even somewhat embarrassed by Arkansas and head coach Sam Pittman on the road in Fayetteville on the night of Sep. 11, by the final score of 40-21.

What few could’ve predicted in this game was just how overwhelmed the Longhorns were at the point of attack. Texas got thoroughly dominated in the trenches. And while it wasn’t just the offensive line that looked overmatched in this game, there is still plenty of blame to give to that position group.

By far the lowest graded position group through the first two weeks of the regular season is the offensive line. For the first time since the grade was first tracked (since 2012 for the Longhorns), Texas had a pass blocking grade as a team lower than 50.

Texas ranks in the bottom six in pass blocking grade in the Power Five through two weeks. And the Longhorns rank in the bottom half of the Power Five in run blocking grade.

Along with that, Texas has given up a whopping 25 quarterback pressures through two games. That is the highest number of quarterback pressures given up in the first two weeks of a regular season for Texas in more than five years.

There are some particular problematic trends from the offensive line so far. For one, the most proven and experienced offensive linemen returning for the Longhorns is off to the worst start of his career. Redshirt senior offensive tackle Derek Kerstetter is on pace to give up a career-high in quarterback pressures by the end of Week 4.

Kerstetter gave up seven quarterback pressures in the first two weeks alone. At least his run blocking improved in Week 2, but that grade still is below the Power Five average for starting offensive tackles so far this season.

Derek Kerstetter’s struggles emblematic of the problems for the Texas football offensive line through two games

An experienced senior leader like Kerstetter needs to lead by example and start to get a better push in the next few games. Giving up nearly four quarterback pressures per week off the edge is something that is killing the Longhorns in the passing game.

On the other hand, the Longhorns did see some signs of life from junior offensive guard Junior Angilau in the loss to Arkansas. Angilau and Denzel Okafor were the two-highest graded offensive linemen in pass blocking. They were also two of the three highest-graded offensive linemen for the Longhorns in run blocking.

This was at least a solid showing from Angilau to bounce back from a slow start in Week 1, along with returning from a leg injury he suffered in the regular season opener. Angilau didn’t allow a single quarterback pressure against Arkansas, compared to two allowed in the opener.

Maybe new offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood can use this improvement that Angilau showed in Week 2 as something to build off of for this entire position group. Texas needs to show more signs of life and an overall better push in the trenches. Arkansas dominated Texas on both sides of the ball.

And this was an Arkansas defensive line that was figured to be the weakness on this entire side of the ball for defensive coordinator Barry Odom heading into this game.

The key for the Longhorns moving forward with some level of progression along the offensive line will be building up momentum behind the trio of Kerstetter, Angilau, and Okafor, in Week 3 against the Rice Owls. Texas does get an easier matchup with Rice at the right time, ahead of the Sep. 25 Big 12 opener against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Texas will now carry a record of 1-1 into the meeting with Rice on Sep. 18 following the 40-21 loss to Arkansas on Sep. 11. Kickoff time between Texas and Rice is set for 7 p.m. CT under the lights at DKR on Sep. 18.