Confidence in Ehlinger at an all-time high
AUSTIN — Nitpicking is part of the gig. It’s all but written in the job description that football coaches must be critical and scrupulous no matter the outcome.
That’s why, brilliant as sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger was in leading No. 19 Texas (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) to a 41-34 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, coach Tom Herman still counterbalanced praise with a snippet of criticism.
The main knock on Ehlinger, who threw for 312 yards and four touchdowns, was how many sacks he took and how many yards he gave away in the process.
The Red Raiders sacked Ehlinger five times for a loss of 45 yards — four for 43 in the first half. He exacerbated some of those situations by trying to flee backward and escape the rush.
“Maybe knowing the high-powered offense that we were going up against that early he tried to do a little too much, and we’ll address that certainly,” Herman said Saturday.
Ehlinger acknowledged that he was angry at himself for taking those sacks. It is one facet that he will have to improve against 22ndranked Iowa State (6-3, 5-2), which has recorded a Big-12 best 20 sacks for a loss of 165 yards in conference play.
“I should have had the ball out of my hand quicker, and I can’t let those guys tackle me like that,” he said. “I got to get away from that.”
That was about the only real critique anyone could muster after another dazzling performance in which Ehlinger extended his streak of consecutive passes without an interception to 280 — a Big 12 record.
His composure during a gamewinning drive on the road in frigid conditions was yet more proof of Ehlinger’s development.
“I think Sam has done a really good job of compacting his base,” Herman said Monday. “Big guys tend to overstride when they throw, which causes them to be erratic. He’s compacted his base and his lower body throwing motion, and the thing that he’s done on a continual basis, he still has some bad habits here and there, but he’s holding the ball high, which is allowing him to get the ball out quicker.
“And then the intangible: I think it’s trust. He trusts (offensive coordinator) Tim Beck; he trusts the offensive staff. He trusts his wide receivers, he trusts his offensive line, and at the end of the day he trusts himself a lot more than I think he did in the past.”
Ailing Horns: Texas escaped Lubbock with a victory but lost a few Longhorns in the process.
Fortunately for UT, only one of those injuries was deemed serious.
Sophomore cornerback Josh Thompson (ankle) is in danger of missing Saturday’s game. Herman said the team remains “hopeful that thing can turn around, but right now, not looking great.” An MRI exam on cornerback Davante Davis revealed a bone bruise on his knee and “strain of a muscle in his ankle,” but Herman expects to have the defensive starter available this weekend.
Freshman safety Caden Sterns (head) and freshman running back Keaontay Ingram (hip pointer) are both on track to play, and junior safety Brandon Jones (ankle) is set to return from a twogame absence.
Junior wideout Collin Johnson, a late scratch against the Red Raiders, still is recovering from a knee injury suffered in practicelast Wednesday.
“He is scheduled for an injection in that knee today, and hopefully within the next 24 hours the swelling goes down, and he starts to feel better, and we can increase his activity as the week progresses,” Herman said.
Longhorns vs. Bulldogs: Athletic director Chris Del Conte announced that Texas finalized a home-and-home series with Georgia.
The Longhorns will play host to the Bulldogs at Royal-Memorial Stadium on Sept. 2, 2028. UT will travel to Sanford Stadium in Athens to play Sept. 1, 2029.
By the time the first meeting rolls around, it will have been 44 years since they last met on the field, barring any potential future bowl clashes. Texas and Georgia played in the 1984 Cotton Bowl, which Texas lost 10-9.
The two programs have played three other times, with Texas holding a 3-1 advantage.
Texas also has home-and-home sets scheduled with LSU (201920), Alabama (2022-23), Michigan (2024, 2027), and Ohio State (2025-26).