FLIPPING SCRIPT
Two fourth-down stops in the red zone deny fourth-quarter comeback by Mountaineers
UT’s offense sputters, but defense’s big plays stifle West Virginia 17-13
AUSTIN — Coaches and teammates talk about Sam Ehlinger like he’s a mythical figure.
The Austinite bedecked in burnt orange from birth. The warrior quarterback with a heart as big as Bevo’s. The program’s level-headed leader and captain. Mr. Longhorn.
To wit: Videoboard operators at Royal-Memorial Stadium sometimes blast John Williams’ Superman theme when Ehlinger does something heroic, and almost no one grimaces.
Ehlinger, despite a history of supernatural moments, is mortal. That mortality and fallibility was on display this balmy blue Saturday afternoon with West Virginia’s obstinate defense in town.
So on a day when No. 11 lacked magic, Ehlinger’s teammates rose up and delivered for No. 22 Texas (5-2, 4-2 Big 12) in a 17-13 win over the Mountaineers (4-3, 3-3) at DKR.
“We won. And we didn’t early in the year in close games against really good opponents,” Texas coach Tom Herman said. “And we found a way.”
Ehlinger did have a few classic moments, linking up with junior wideout Brennan Eagles for an early score and hitting sophomore receiver Jake Smith on a go-ahead 33-yard touchdown in the third quarter. But the senior completed just 15 of 31 passes for 184 yards, numbers impacted by four drops that could have given Texas a cushier lead.
This win belonged to the Longhorns’ defenders and a rushing attack that chewed up West Virginia’s Big 12-best rushing defense.
Texas opened the game with a counter run for freshman tailback Bijan “Lil’ Ricky Williams” Robinson, who took a sharp cut and ran straight through an arm tackle on a career-long 54-yard run. That drive ended with Eagles’ touchdown.
With junior tailback Keaontay Ingram (ankle) unavailable, Robinson twirled, spun and thundered his way to 113 rushing yards on just 12 carries. West Virginia entered the game allowing a 97.8 total rushing yards per contest.
“For me, it’s just trying to get comfortable in this offense,” Robinson said. “You know, finding holes, finding the gaps, and hitting with burst and then get the passing game going.
“It was really fun getting that kind of game. It’s a good feeling to see where my progression is going.”
That Texas defense, though. It limited West Virginia to 360 total yards and 43 rushing yards, compared with 363 and 179, respectively, for the Longhorns.
Even after losing starting nose tackle Keondre Coburn (ankle) in the first half, the Longhorns’ defense didn’t break where it mattered most: the red zone.
West Virginia kicker Casey Legg tied the game at 10-10 with a 25-yard field goal after Texas nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat batted away quarterback Jarrert Doege’s pass on thirdandat the Texas 9.
Another promising Mountaineers drive stalled in the red zone when junior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown erupted on the snap and swooped in for a critical sack on third-and- goal at the UT 8; another Legg chip shot cut the Longhorns’ lead to 1713.
West Virginia scored one touchdown and 13 total points on five trips inside the Texas 20. And they couldn’t convert on two game-defining fourthdown attempts in the fourth quarter.
On fourth-and-1 from the Texas 16, junior safety B. J. Foster disrupted a pass to Mountaineers tight end Mike O’Laughlin in the end zone. About seven minutes later, on another fourth andsenior safety Chris Brown smothered receiver Ali Jennings and knocked away a pass that would’ve tied the game after the ensuing extra point.
“Common logic in this game is on fourth-and-1, you got to stop the run and you got to sell out to stop the run,” Herman said. “It’s just so hard to run the football with an overloaded box. The defense is right there on the line of scrimmage, and we forced them to be one-dimensional. And our secondary did a great job covering them.”
With West Virginia out of timeouts, Texas was able to run out the final four minutes, 44 seconds. Robinson sealed the win with a 35-yard reception.
Another nail-biter. Another one-score margin. And another win for Texas, still harboring hopes of an appearance in the Big 12 title game.
But Herman warned against any sort of contentedness. This team has problems to sort out, starting with a banged-up quarterback who hasn’t seemed his typical superhero self of late.
If Ehlinger and the Longhorns peaked in that come-from-behind overtime road win last week over No. 6 Oklahoma State, this season won’t have a happy ending.
“They better not be happy,” Herman said. “I mean, what do we got to be full on? I told our guys all week, ‘If the best thing that you dowhen you look back on 2020 is you beat Oklahoma State, what a shame, what a shame that would be.’ ”