Texas Football: 3 weaknesses Sarkisian can exploit vs. TCU
Mix up the looks in the secondary to get some confusion from Max Duggan
There is no doubt that TCU has found some success against some of the better teams in the Big 12 the last couple of seasons, like the Longhorns, under dual-threat junior quarterback Max Duggan. Last season, Duggan and the Horned Frogs somehow pulled off a comeback win over the Longhorns following a goalline fumble from running back Keaontay Ingram.
But if Texas was able to hang onto the football and get one more redzone touchdown last season against TCU, then we might still have Tom Herman as the head coach. So, hindsight is a difficult thing in this regard.
Yet, there is one major takeaway that the Longhorns can have from facing Duggan a couple of times now. Duggan showed so far this season that when he’s given time to throw, but when coverages are effectively mixed up, he is very prone to making mistakes.
On 66 dropbacks this season where Duggan wasn’t blitzed, he’s completed just over 61 percent of his passing attempts for 546 yards, five passing touchdowns, and two picks. Meanwhile, when Duggan was blitzed this season, he’s averaging 1.5 more yards per attempt and has no picks. Duggan also has five turnover-worthy plays when he wasn’t blitzed, compared to zero when he was.
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There is a clear pattern here with Duggan. Mix up the coverages and get some effective pressures against him when the TCU offensive line is caught off guard, and the Texas defense could have a big day on Oct. 2. Bring too many players on the blitz when Duggan is ready to get the ball out fast, and TCU could make Texas pay.