After watching Alamo Bowl as a Longhorn fan, I can only be happy about the insanely bright future that lies ahead for the football program. The Texas Longhorns beat the University of Colorado Boulder 55-23 in a bowl game, which is very important for any college football program.
The Longhorns’ offense was impressive against a top Pac 12 team this year. On offense, Texas had 638 total yards. They had 335 passing yards and 303 rushing yards (12.0 yards per pass and 7.6 yards per rush). They also played a turnover-free game on the offensive side of the ball. One harmful aspect to the offensive was their ability to convert on 3rd and 4th down. They were 2-11 (18%) and 0-2 (0%) on 3rd and 4th down, respectfully. Penalties also destroyed Texas; they had ten penalties, which accounted for 89 penalty yards.
In the postgame press conferences, coach Herman, Bijan Robinson, and Casey Thompson focused more on the program’s future than celebrating this victory. Bijan Robinson, a five-star freshman recruit running back, said in his postgame press conference, “We had a lot of young guys that stepped up in this game and made an impact.” I agree with Bijan’s statements. With the proper coaching and player personnel, Bijan should be the favorite to win the Heisman Award next year.
In Tom Herman’s postgame press conference, he said, “I am happy we were able to come away with a win with a depleted roster.” Coach Herman has been outstanding in his Longhorn career with handling adversity. In the Alamo Bowl, the Longhorns were without 18 of their key players due to injury. Herman still has another year on his contract, signed in 2016 (five years, $29,750,000). Regardless of if the Longhorns keep Herman or choose to search for a new head coach, you have to credit him with how he handles adversity and the Texas Longhorns football’s bright lights during his entire tenure as a coach.
Casey Thompson, a four-star freshman recruit Quarterback, had a fantastic Longhorns debut. In his postgame press conference, he said, “I felt confident and I’ve been preparing for this moment since I stepped on campus.” Texas’s future is bright with Casey Thompson as Quarterback because of his work ethic and willingness to do whatever it takes to win. Casey Thompson is ready to play whenever given the opportunity, and he proved that by having arguably the best half of college football for the Longhorns since Vince Young.
Some individual players that played well during this game were:
Casey Thompson, who went 8/10 passing with 170 yards and four touchdowns in 1/2 the game, finished with a 99.4 quarterback rating.
Sam Ehlinger went 10/16, passing with 160 yards and one touchdown. He finished with a 46.9 quarterback rating.
Bijan Robinson ran for 183 yards on ten carries with one touchdown. He also caught two passes for 37 yards and scored two receiving touchdowns.
Joshua Moore, sophomore WR, caught five passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
There were two players on defense to catch interceptions for the Longhorns (Demarvion Johnson, Junior linebacker & Alfred Collins, Freshman defensive lineman). The only player to record a sack was Reese Leitao (Junior defensive lineman).
In my opinion, the defensive player of the game for Texas was Keondre Coburn (Sophmore defensive lineman), who had five total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and one pass deflection.
I cannot wait for next season. The Alamo Bowl was a chance for Longhorns fans to see the young talent on the roster. The future of Texas Longhorns football is very bright! Hookem!
Max's Sports Blog 