Buechele displaying extraordinary poise
Horns recognize freshman QB’s value to success
AUSTIN — The hits from UTEP defenders didn’t bother Shane Buechele.
The Miners kept trying to knock his head off, and he kept refusing to avoid them, even after he and No. 11 Texas cruised into the closing stages of a 41-7 romp at Royal-Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
When he made it to the sideline, though, Buechele found a linebacker he didn’t want to mess with.
Malik Jefferson, who along with UT fans had been waiting for what seemed like forever for a bona fide star quarterback, wasn’t about to risk letting him get hurt now that he had finally arrived.
So after watching Buechele lower his shoulder into a tackler instead of taking a slide, Jefferson screamed at his freshman passer to get the heck down.
Protect the asset
“We can’t lose him,” Jefferson said. “He’s that important piece of the puzzle we were missing.”
One week after helping lead the Longhorns to a double-overtime upset of Notre Dame in his college debut, the 18-yearold Buechele completed 22 of 27 pass attempts for 244 yards and four touchdowns against UTEP.
Delighting a crowd of 92,863 that had spent much of the previous six years treating almost every successful forward pass as a miracle, Buechele once again blended a quick release with near-pinpoint accuracy, spreading the ball around to eight UT receivers.
“There’s a lot of them,” Buechele said of his bevy of targets. “I love getting the ball out in their hands.”
He particularly enjoyed throwing to Jerrod Heard, the converted quarterback who celebrated his 21st birthday by hauling in two Buechele touchdown passes.
Heard, who only a year ago looked like the Longhorns’ passer of the future in a record-breaking performance against California, said the transition to wide receiver wasn’t as complicated as some might think.
“It’s real easy,” Heard said. “All you’ve got to do is beat the defender down the field, and go catch the ball.”
UT, carrying its highest national ranking since 2012, also got 95 rushing yards and a touchdown from Chris Warren, and seven catches and a touchdown from Jacorey Warrick
With the victory, the Longhorns (2-0) rose to two games over .500 for the first time in Strong’s three seasons as coach.
UT plays at California on Saturday.
Entering the game as four-touchdown favorites, the Longhorns took the opportunity to rest a sideline full of key contributors.
Starting tailback D’Onta Foreman, left tackle Connor Williams, right guard Kent Perkins, tight end Caleb Bluiett, safety Dylan Haines and backup tackle Tristan Nickelson sat out from the beginning.
Later, UT’s offensive line had to dip into its third unit when backup guard Alan Anderson limped off the field.
Strong said Williams, Perkins and Bluiett should be available next week, and offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert said Foreman could’ve played Saturday in an emergency.
At times, that attrition made things ugly for the UT offense, which put up 517 yards and 50 points the previous week against Notre Dame.
Although the Longhorns dominated in terms of field position for most of the first half Saturday, they had drives stall three times deep in UTEP territory, and led only 13-7 late in the second quarter.
But after a key sack by UT safety DeShon Elliott, Buechele and Warren drove the Longhorns 60 yards in nine plays just before halftime, and reached the end zone on an 8-yard toss from Buechele to Warrick. Miners limited
The Miners (1-1) were led by 123 rushing yards from Aaron Jones, whose 51-yard dash in the second quarter was their only touchdown.
The Miners missed the passing of injured starting quarterback Zack Greenlee, who was held out to rest a strained knee before the start of the Conference USA schedule.
Kavika Johnson was 9-of-15 for 42 yards.
Although Strong said UTneeds to play much better if it hopes to win at Cal, he said he was impressed. with how the team handled the aftermath of last week’s thrilling upset of Notre Dame.
“There’s very few teams that know how to handle success,” Strong said. “That’s all I kept talking about.
“Are we going to be just a one-game wonder? What are we going to do? How are we going to respond?”