Johnson hardly your typical backup plan
AUSTIN — Three summers ago, as August wound down and the start of the regular season approached, the Texas coaching staff asked freshman Roschon Johnson to make a sacrifice.
Injuries had thinned the team’s backfield, and the offense desperately needed healthy bodies to fill out the depth chart. So one week before the 2019 opener against Louisiana Tech, Johnson, an All-America quarterback who threw for more than 7,700 yards and rushed for 4,900 at Port Neches-Groves, agreed to become an interim member just until the real running backs healed up.
But Johnson burned through his redshirt that season as the Longhorns realized how natural he looked toting the ball. That year the converted quarterback tied for the team lead with seven rushing touchdowns and finished third with 807 total yards of offense, including 649 rushing.
Johnson never left the backfield, even as new stars like Bijan Robinson and Jonathon Brooks joined the program. This season he remains a vital part of the offense, an explosive and rugged playmaker who leads UT and ranks fifth nationally in yards per carry (8.2).
“Roschon, his football IQ really helps him,” Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He is a big, physical guy. Tremendous in pass protection. Great hands. I think Roschon Johnson is just a natural leader. He’s got something about him that is just infectious in his approach.”
Teammates have long praised Johnson’s selfless attitude.
The former four-star recruit and top-10 dualthreat QB never signed on to receive handoffs or block gigantic pass rushers and he has never complained about shelving one dream — to play quarterback at UT — for the betterment of the team. He has embraced the role like a lifelong tailback, helping form one of the nation’s most dynamic backfields alongside Robinson, Brooks and Alabama transfer Keilan Robinson.
Johnson accounted for 176 rushing yards and three touchdowns in Texas’ routs of Rice and Texas Tech, and he rnaks fourth on the team in total yards (243). This recent string of efficient performances has also vaulted Johnson’s career yards-per-carry average to 5.6, 10th all-time among Longhorns with at least 200 rushing attempts.
“I think me and Bijan, we’re both playmakers. And once we get the ball in our hands, we can make something shake, so I think that was displayed tonight especially,” Johnson said Sept. 18 after accounting for 112 of Texas’ 427 rushing yards in a 58-0 win over Rice. “And the running back unit as a whole, I feel like we can all make plays and each time we get the ball we can score.”
Texas (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) will again lean on its potent ground attack this week in a litmus-test game against TCU (2-1, 0-0) at Amon G. Carter Stadium. SMU just chewed up the Horned Frogs’ defense, rushing for 350 yards and two scores in a 42-34 win in Fort Worth.
So at least on paper, Saturday could be another feast for Johnson, now one of the nation’s top “backup” running backs, and the rest of the Texas backfield.
“The running back is definitely probably the heart and core of our team,” UT junior quarterback Casey Thompson said. “They’re really good guys led by a good (assistant) coach — coach Stan Drayton is a great leader. And Bijan, obviously, him and Roschon, they’re hard workers. And I just think that room has an incredible competitiveness and spirit.”
Offense fares well on third down
Through four weeks, Texas has faced 52 third downs. It has converted on 31 of those, a 59.6 percent success rate that ranks first among Power Five teams and second in the nation.
The Longhorns have also scored on 19 of 20 trips to the red zone, a mark tied
with Alabama for 13th in the nation. But Texas is, somewhat remarkably, the only team among the top 100 in red-zone efficiency that has not scored or even attempted a field goal inside the 20-yard line. UT’s only fruitless trip ended on a short fourth-and-4 run by fifth-string tailback Gabriel Brooks on the team’s final possession against Rice.
Those figures all represent a considerable improvement from last year, when Texas tied for 89th in third-down-conversion percentage and 43rd in red-zone offense.
“I appreciate the approach and the execution on critical downs,” said Sarkisian, whose team has also converted on six of nine fourth downs. “You don’t do what we’re doing without having the thirddown execution and the fourth-down execution. And that comes through preparation. That comes through practice and that comes through confidence and belief and trust.
“You know, ideally, I’d love for that to go all year long. I don’t know if all that’s a reality, but we’ll take it right now. And we’re working hard. We’re not settling.”