The Texas Longhorns are 3-0 and currently hold the best record in college football after knocking off the No. 1 team in the country a week ago and now enter conference play undefeated, having wrapped up non-conference play.
The Longhorns knocked down the Roadrunners in their most recent game 30-6, but the offense didn’t look as sharp as many expected them to be, including failing to log any explosive plays.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian he believes that’s a product of defenses keying in on that part of the game. However, the actual part of the problem could be rooted deeper.
The Longhorns’ offense starts with a running game, as it keeps defenses honest and begins to open up the passing game for quarterback Arch Manning. The week three win over the Roadrunners has been no different, finishing with 228 yards, whittling away at the game, but at the cost of a lack of explosive plays.
“We had a few opportunities. We didn’t have a ton,” Sarkisian said about how tough it’s been for th e offense. “You know, I think the natural thing is that defenses try not to give up explosives when you play us. And so, you know, I think that we have to continually try to whether it’s in the pass game, finding those intermediate throws. You know, we hit Cam on an intermediate throw. We hit Ryan on an intermediate throw. Like those inevitably count as explosives”
The issue isn’t black and white either, however, as the Longhorns have just nine plays this season that have gone for 20 yards or more. One of those came in the recent win, with Manning finding Coleman for a 24-yard touchdown. That pairing, was expected to create highlight plays, and stretch the field, but is yet to materialize into that.
I think we all want explosives in the 50 and 60 yarders. I do too. Don’t get me wrong,” Sarkisian continued on. “Like, I love those. Like we all love those, but sometimes people are going to try to defend those, and so you’ve got to be effective running the ball. You’ve got to be efficient in the passing game in that intermediate and the short range.”
It’s not because of failed protection either. The Longhorns rank as the highest-graded pass-blocking offensive line, and Manning’s time to throw is the seventh highest in college football, averaging 3.22 seconds per drop back.
Even with that number, he has only attempted 12 passes in the air of 20 yards or more, while only completing three of them, resulting in no touchdowns and one interception. Taking the top off the defense doesn’t have to be forced, and the offense is finding success as it, but keeping teams honest will be important as the season continues.
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