Texas Football: 4 reasons why the Longhorns can dominate Houston
Jonathon Brooks will have a field day vs. Houston’s front seven
Texas’ ground game has sparked the offense in a big way this season. Redshirt sophomore running back Jonathon Brooks leads a top-five rushing attack regarding rushing yards per game and yards per carry in the Big 12 this season.
Brooks has emerged as one of the best running backs in the Power Five this fall. He earned AP Midseason First-Team All-American honors after leading the Big 12 in rushing yards per game, rushing touchdowns, and touchdowns from scrimmage through Week 7.
Brooks is red-hot for the Longhorns in the last four games, rushing for over 100 yards in each outing.
The Longhorns will be able to get the ground game going against a Houston defense that is overmatched against this high-powered Texas offense. Getting the ground game going will be a major key for Sark and the Longhorns to establish balance and rhythm on offense this weekend.
Houston is decent along the defensive line among their starters. Starting defensive tackles Chidozie Nwankwo and Jamaree Caldwell grade out in the middle of the pack in run defense in the Big 12 this season. The defensive ends, Nelson Ceaser and former Oklahoma transfer David Ugwoegbu are also performing at an average level in run defense.
The problem for Houston is that there aren’t enough playmakers along the defensive line or at EDGE to make up for the bad linebacker play this season. Houston has three of the 10 lowest-graded linebackers in run defense this year.
This is not a great situation for Houston to face the best running back in the Big 12, if not the entire Power Five, in Brooks this weekend.
Another opportunity the Longhorns have in this game is to get the offense going in the red zone. Texas had issues converting when they get inside the 20-yard line in the first half of the regular season. According to TeamRankings, Houston ranks 73rd in the FBS this season in opponent red zone scoring percentage (over 85 percent).
Brooks and the Longhorns should be able to physically overmatch the Houston defensive front in the red zone. Texas needs to find an answer for the red zone scoring woes this season, and this is the perfect time to get that done.