Longhorns bounced from Big 12 title race
UT blows 10-point lead in must-win game with series of blunders and miscalculations
AUSTIN — Every Longhorn had trotted forth from the north end zone tunnel save for the athletic director and the quarterback.
With one final light tap to the back of his No. 11 jersey, Chris Del Conte sent Sam Ehlinger out onto the field to be honored with the rest of the Texas seniors on a gloomy day inside damp, desolate Royal-Memorial Stadium.
It was a strange ceremony in the strangest season, but more important for the No. 17 Longhorns than that annual ritual was finding a way to beat No. 13 Iowa State.
It didn’t happen.
In the moments after junior kicker Cameron Dicker’s 58-yard field goal attempt drifted left, just outside the upright, Ehlinger was alone again, propped up on one knee near the Texas sideline with his right palm resting atop a white helmet.
The Longhorns’ 23-20 loss to Iowa State (7-2, 7-1 Big 12) on Friday was a heartbreaking moment for the program, the players and especially the seniors, now seemingly eliminated from Big 12 title contention with two games remaining.
“Frustrated and confused,” Ehlinger said. “I wish it didn’t have to go this way.”
At least in the early going, there appeared to be no rust for Texas (5-3, 4-3), which had been sidelined for 20 days after a scheduled bye and the postponement of a Nov. 21 game against Kansas.
Ehlinger bombed a beautiful pass to junior wideout Brennan Eagles to jump-start the opening drive. But Iowa State stuffed
freshman tailback Bijan Robinson twice and he dropped a third-down pass, forcing Texas to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Dicker.
Ehlinger manufactured another crisp drive a few minutes later and capped it with a 17-yard touchdown scamper to put Texas ahead 10-0.
Then Iowa State found its footing, and Texas began a season-costing backslide.
Cyclones receiver Sean Shaw Jr. benefited from busted coverage and a missed tackle by junior safety Caden Sterns on a 35-yard touchdown catch-and-run.
Texas had the ball for all of five plays in the second quarter, producing just 8 yards after outgaining Iowa State 210-69 in the opening quarter.
The defense kept Texas ahead for most of the game largely with its red-zone stinginess. The Cyclones produced just nine points from its first three trips inside the 20-yard line, and missed a 41-yard field goal just before halftime.
Texas actually outgained Iowa State 448-433, and ir limited the Cyclones to five third-down conversions and 3.7 yards per carry. It still wasn’t enough.
Herman gambled three times in the second half; each time he lost.
The Longhorns failed to convert on a fake punt near midfield late in the third quarter, with Dicker’s pass to senior tight end Cade Brewer coming up a couple of yards short. Iowa State capitalized on the short field by kicking a 38-yard field goal to cut Texas’ lead to four points.
“The thinking on the fake punt was that we’d worked it for two weeks and knew it was there,” Herman explained. “And you know, they did a good job defending Cade.”
Not too long after that blunder, Texas pieced together a long, impressive drive. But a wall of Cyclones met Ehlinger on a fourth-and-2 run up the gut, a turnover on downs at the ISU 13 and a drastic reversal of fortunes.
“That was a tough one,” Herman said. “The analytics said to go for it. You know, you go up there by two scores if you wind up converting. I mulled it over quite a bit but felt confident in the play, and we didn’t get it.”
Texas had a chance to drain the clock after forcing a quick three-and-out, but it did Iowa State a favor with two straight incompletions to conclude a
three-and-out that lasted 60 seconds.
With 3:09 left, the Cyclones went to work dicing up a Texas defense that had spent most of the afternoon putting up sufficient resistance.
“We knew a couple first downs wins the game at that point,” Herman said. “We knew that after the first run that the box was going to be significantly loaded (and) felt good with our matchups on the perimeter when they did load the box and center. We didn’t get a first down.”
Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy completed a 22-yard pass to tight end Dylan Soehner and a 17-yard dart to tight end Charlie Kolar before letting sophomore tailback Breece Hall finish the job. Hall’s 3-yard touchdown run left Ehlinger 85 seconds to get in field goal range to tie or find the end zone for the win.
Dicker’s attempt didn’t have to be quite so long, but Cyclones defensive lineman Latrell Bankston ran down Ehlinger for a 4-yard sack on third down with three seconds remaining.
“Last play of the game was four verticals with a checkdown underneath,” Ehlinger said. “Wanted to try to hit the checkdown, then call timeout — didn’t see the guy behind me come in.”
Eventually, Ehlinger stood up and meandered over to the depleted student section for “The Eyes of Texas.” He slumped off the field beaten and disappointed after throwing for 298 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 65 yards and a score.