Horns win, move to 1-1, so why don’t things feel right?
Beating Tulsa 28-21 falls short of greater expectations.
Saturday should have been a terrific day for anyone wearing burnt orange.
Thousands of fans packed the new Bevo Boulevard just outside Royal-Memorial Stadium. The student turnout alone was off the charts. The rain held off, and the Longhorns got to finally wear black socks and new black Nike shoes with their famous jersey tops and white pants.
So when it was all said and done, why was everyone so disgruntled about a 28-21 win over Tulsa?
The Golden Hurricane went 2-10 last year and haven’t won a road game since November 2016. They were three-touchdown underdogs. They missed three field goals and dropped two sure-fire touchdown passes in the end zone.
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger has been criticized for his late-game turnovers. This time, he was 7 of 7 on a key 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive going with check-down passes. Texas finally scored on a swing pass to Tre Watson, who galloped in from 11 yards out. For a team that’s often struggled at winning time, this was a serious step in the right direction. Gobbled up 6 minutes, 13 seconds, too.
Texas finished with 478 total yards. Ehlinger threw for 237 of those, Watson had a team-high 74 rushing yards while freshman Keaontay Ingram flashed serious potential. Lil’Jordan Humphrey had seven catches for a team-high 109 receiving yards and shook off a defender for a 40-yard touchdown. It’s clear he can handle more.
Freshman B.J. Foster also had his first career interception. Another freshman, Brennan Eagles, had a key 35-yard catch, his first career reception. The defense didn’t have a sack but that was more about Tulsa quarterback Luke Skipper’s quick release than anything.
There was a lot to like. Still, it was obvious afterward that something felt off.
The Longhorns had plenty of juice early. Ehlinger came out firing, throwing a strike to Humphrey, who was racing down the seam. The next play, Ehlinger ran it in himself as Texas took a 7-0 lead.
But then, on its second drive, UT couldn’t punch it in on second-and-goal from the Tulsa 1. No big deal. Ingram’s and Humphrey’s touchdowns gave UT a 21-0 lead, and all seemed fine. Or, so it appeared.
This is the same problem Texas suffered in the season-opening loss against Maryland. According to Herman, players were so afraid of making mistakes, they essentially played not to lose instead of playing to win.
Every player in that locker room has a winning pedi- gree. That’s how they got to Texas. Yet for some reason, they apparently tense up now while playing a game they’ve played most of their lives.
“It’s a lot of stress. It’s a big stage,” Watson said. “A lot of guys, I really don’t know. I like to go out there and have fun, so I can’t talk for other people. But that was Herman’s main focus this week, just go out there and play our game.”