Ehlinger has plenty of passing options at Texas

Losing two of the most prolific receivers in program history left Texas with a problem: Where would senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger throw the ball in 2020?

The transfer market and a receiver who sat out 2019 while suspended quickly answered that question for the No. 8 Longhorns.

Joshua Moore scored on the first play of the season against UTEP, graduate transfers Brenden Schooler and Tarik Black both scored, and even walk-on Kai Money found the end zone as Ehlinger tossed five touchdown passes in the first half.

After a week off in which they climbed back into the top 10, the Longhorns open Big 12 play today at Texas Tech (1-0), which surrendered 527 yards passing yards to Houston Baptist in the Red Raiders’ opener.

Ehlinger spread his five scoring passes around to five receivers. He had to. His favorite targets last season, Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson, are now both in the NFL.

“I don’t know if we’ve got the one or two dominant (receivers) we had in the last two years,” Texas coach Tom Herman said. “That’s OK. We’ve got 6 or 7 really, really good players.”

Moore’s 78-yard TD was a triumphant return for a player who had to fight his way out of Herman’s doghouse. Moore was arrested in 2019 when police saw him on camera loading a pistol he was carrying in his waistband. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor and avoided jail time, but Herman sent him to the scout team for the season.

Moore called the punishment “what I deserved.”

“To be honest, man, every game that I did not play in last year, I cried,” Moore said.

And the transfer market proved quite helpful for Texas. Schooler first transferred from Oregon to Arizona before settling in Austin, and Black came from Michigan.

Both were ready to plug in and play. Schooler got to the end zone first on a 40-yard catch and run. Black scored 2 minutes later on a 5-yard TD.