Last-second kick lifts UT
Field goal as time expires caps upset as defense punches back with dominant second half
Texas tops No. 16 Kansas State on a 26-yard field goal.
AUSTIN — The musical selection moments before Texas kicked off to No. 16 Kansas State were curious.
Trumpets heralding the start of the “Rocky” theme blared from speakers stationed around Royal-Memorial Stadium following the coin toss Saturday, and it was easy to draw a direct line from song to Tom Herman.
It’s an overplayed stadium anthem, one unlikely to make anyone’s ears prick up. But tune being played at time felt like a glaring message aimed at the Longhorns from their coach, who earlier in the week invoked a boxing analogy to describe the challenge Texas now faced.
“We’re on the ropes,” Herman said Monday. “You can do one of two things. You can fight your way off the ropes or you can tell your trainer to throw in the towel. And from all accounts, everybody is pushing in the same direction, saying we want to fight our way off the ropes.”
The strain Texas felt heading into Game 9 was only amplified by a desultory first half in which the visitor did just about everything better. But the 14-7 halftime deficit was both fortunate and manageable, considering how poorly the first 30 minutes went.
As night descended upon the stadium, Texas (6-3, 4-2 Big 12) channeled Sylvester Stallone’s punch-drunk brawler character and battled off the ropes to save the season with a 27-24 win. Sophomore kicker Cameron Dicker delivered the knockout blow, drilling a 26-yard field goal as time expired.
“Obviously extremely proud of the win,” Herman said. “But definitely more importantly, the things that this crew has been through these last few weeks, to overcome what they overcame, it was special.”
Whatever Texas trained for and tried to correct during the off week didn’t seem to take, at least throughout the first half.
Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando spent that time harping on this team’s woeful performances on third down, particularly in longer situations. It was a season-long problem that had cost Texas again and again.
And what happened on Kansas State’s first two drives?
A house blitz failed on thirdand-5 and redshirt freshman wideout Malik Knowles ran 70 yards untouched for a touchdown. On the next drive, K-State converted a pair of third downs and quarterback Skyler Thompson floated a 19-yard TD pass to junior wideout Wykeen Gill.
Texas later hoodwinked the Wildcats (6-3, 3-3) with a well-executed flea-flicker to Collin Johnson, who was alone in the end zone when Sam Ehlinger’s pass landed in his hands. But that was all the Longhorns could produce in a first half dominated by new coach Chris Klieman’s Wildcats.
Texas featured a heavy dose of sophomore running back Keaontay Ingram (career-high 139 rushing yards) on its first two drives after intermission. Ingram broke off a bruising 20-yard dash to start the second half then turned a pitch from Ehlinger into a 34yard TD run, with his tip-toe scamper along the sideline reviewed and upheld.
The second drive stalled in the red zone after UT racked up 25 yards of penalties, but Dicker nailed a 36-yarder to give the Horns their first lead at 17-14.
After being gashed for two scores and 246 total yards over the first two quarters, Texas limited K-State to 58 yards, no thirddown conversions and a field goal in a dominant second-half performance.
UT, with safeties Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster back in the lineup, finally applied pressure on Thompson in the backfield and the secondary was more aggressive in coverage after granting KState’s wideouts too much room to operate early.
“I’d like to say it was some magic defense that we called,” Herman said. “It wasn’t. We played better on first and second down and made those third downs a lot longer. We executed at a much higher level.”
Senior safety Brandon Jones — on the wrong end of the Wildcats’ first two touchdowns — led a revitalized effort in the secondary and broke free for a critical 53-yard punt return to setup Ingram’s second TD run with 12:17 remaining.
Texas gave those points right back, however, allowing freshman Joshua Youngblood to return the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a score. A 15-yard targeting penalty on sophomore corner Jalen Green, which resulted in his ejection, helped set up kicker Blake Lynch’s game-tying, 45yard field goal with 6:45 remaining.
It was the last time K-State had possession.
Ehlinger led a 13-play, 67-yard drive that left Dicker three seconds to blast another game-winning kick, keeping alive hopes of a Big 12 title game appearance with a trip to Iowa State looming next Saturday.
“Obviously, we put ourselves on the ropes and we took a step toward swinging and clawing and scratching our way out,” Herman said. “But we know we’ve got to go on the road this week and continue to try to get off the ropes, but doing it with this level of confidence helps.”