Texas Football: 4 takeaways from dismantling of Baylor in Waco

Steve Sarkisian has flipped the script in the second half

There is a night and day difference for this Texas team in the second half compared to what we saw from Sark’s squad the prior two seasons. Texas has won each second half of its four games this season by a combined margin of 48 points. And one of the biggest reasons why the Longhorns haven’t won these four games by more points in the second halves is Texas playing the backups.

Texas got redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy some late fourth-quarter reps in this game. The defense also rotated a ton in the second half, getting talented true freshmen like cornerback Malik Muhammad and safety Derek Williams quality reps down the stretch.

A few special teams miscues also cost the Longhorns some points in the second half, including two muffed punts and a missed 26-yard field goal from Bert Auburn. That does give the Longhorns a lot to work on in practice this week to sure up the special teams unit.

On the other hand, it’s fantastic to see the Longhorns players respond the way they have to various miscues this season. A good example is a near-interception that Ewers had on a screen pass where he stared down Baxter. The Baylor linebacker got a read on the play but couldn’t come up with the pick. On the next play, Ewers runs the ball in on a nice 29-yard touchdown scamper where he showed nice footwork on the sidelines.

Sark clearly has this team bought into the vision. They don’t stay down for long when they make mistakes, and it shows in Texas’ two big road victories this season.