Texas Football: 3 problematic Frogs players for the Longhorns

Zach Evans, RB

It doesn’t take a genius to see the impact that the former elite five-star recruit and sophomore running back Zach Evans can make on a game by watching his film or looking at his stat sheet. Even star sophomore running back Bijan Robinson mentioned the level of respect he has for Evans this week leading up to the matchup against Evans and the Horned Frogs.

Although a lot of the more intricately-tracked stats for Evans aren’t as comparable as Bijan in total this season, he’s still been ultra-impressive through three games. Evans is averaging an insane 4.4 yards after initial contact per carry. And he already has 15 missed tackles forced just on rushing plays this season.

The Longhorns never really saw Evans before. He only had one rush for three yards and no scores against Texas last season.

There are also a ton of ways that the Horned Frogs offense likes to use Evans in the ground and in the receiving game. Evans has averaged more than 10 yards per carry on attempts where he runs off the tackles or the tight end, mostly on what is outside zone-type running plays. And he still averages over five yards per carry on the inside runs up the middle.

This is where Texas needs to be good at the second level sideline-to-sideline. That is a responsibility that will largely fall on the shoulders of starting linebackers Luke Brockermeyer and DeMarvion Overshown.

About his only weakness is his blocking ability. Evans is one of the weakest pass-blockers among the skill position players for the Horned Frogs in the last couple of years.