5 overreactions to Texas football’s contentious win over Iowa State
That’s a RB making that catch.
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) October 15, 2022
Bijan Robinson is phenomenal. pic.twitter.com/zJkYFDgAvx
Bijan Robinson will be able to continue to make the best of defenses look silly
It goes without saying that the best running back in the Big 12 at this point of the season is the Longhorns’ star junior Bijan Robinson. If there was any doubt regarding who held the edge in the competition to be the Big 12’s best running back between Bijan and the Kansas State Wildcats’ versatile speedster Deuce Vaughn, I think that question was answered this weekend.
Just look at the stat comparison between Bijan and Deuce facing Iowa State this season:
- Bijan Robinson: 141 rushing yards (4.8 yards per carry), 36 receiving yards, 84.6 offensive grade
- Deuce Vaughn: 23 rushing yards (2.3 yards per carry), 14 receiving yards, 61.6 offensive grade
Bijan was contributing at a high level in multiple phases of the game. He was also extremely valuable for the Texas offense in terms of his ability to pick up yards in chunks when there seemingly wasn’t any room to run beyond the line of scrimmage, as well as his ability to move the chains.
We saw Bijan move the chains a whopping 10 times, seven of which came on rushing plays, and three on passing plays. He also had seven missed tackles forced in the ground game (per PFF) and one as a receiver. I will say, though I saw at least a dozen missed tackles forced by Bijan on running plays, so I think PFF is underselling his total in this regard.
Running backs with the most rushing yards vs. Iowa State this season:
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) October 15, 2022
1. Bijan Robinson (UT): 141
2. Richard Reese (BU): 78
3. Devin Neal (KU): 75
4. Roschon Johnson (UT): 71
5. Nolan McCormick (Ohio): 43 pic.twitter.com/elNGZD0XDQ
Bijan was so good against an Iowa State defense that was pretty fearsome through the first half of the regular season. Iowa State was holding opponents to just over 90 rushing yards per game and barely over three yards per carry. And Bijan destroyed that stat line in this game.
In fact, Bijan almost doubled the rushing yards against among running backs compared to the next-best player at the position that Iowa State has faced so far this season.
Bijan definitely continued to prove just how good he can be in this game. And I don’t see another team on the schedule that will have consistent success limiting what he can do in the ground game and as a receiver out of the backfield.