Texas was able to survive last night, avoiding their third-straight loss against Ole Miss. Now, it’s time to take stock of the Longhorns performance, starting with our weekly grades. We will grade the offense, defense, special teams and coaching, all of which put together uneven performances.
Here’s how I’d stack up the Longhorns performance yesterday:
Offense: B-
This was an uneven performance from the offense, as Texas fans have come accustomed to. Manning made multiple elite plays, matched with poor decisions and turnovers. The run game that put together a great performance, was totally anemic in the 3rd quarter. The wide receivers left tons of yards on the table, namely Cam Coleman’s open TD being dropped. The offensive line was very good in run blocking
but struggled pass blocking, including a miss that led to the Manning fumble.
The offense continues to be a frustrating product. However, there seems to be an identity forming: run the football, use Manning’s legs and find a few explosives. That’s a path to the offense finding enough rhythm to give Texas a shot at the CFP.
Defense: B+
This was a very impressive performance from the defense. The only thing lowering this grade is the penalties that extended Ole Miss drives. Pass interferences on Kade Phillips, a roughing the passer on Justus Terry and multiple other penalties put the defense in difficult positions, particularly in the 3rd quarter. The lack of Colin Simmons was felt, as Texas finished with 0 sacks. Despite that, Muschamp and company created enough pressure to force multiple throwaways from Chambliss.
Overall, Muschamp’s defense bottled up an elite QB and offense for most of the game. The fumble from Manning gave Ole Miss life that the defense was unlikely to give them. The defense continues to prove to be a championship unit, even without their best player.
Special Teams: D
Yesterday was another example of the special teams putting the offense and defense in bad positions. At the end of the half, the fake punt required the defense to make another stop, which Rasheem Biles did with his INT. At the end of the game, the onside kick is the third-straight Texas hasn’t recovered. That’s not to mention multiple penalties on special teams that helped Ole Miss field position. Jeff Banks’ unit continues to hurt the Longhorns and be bailed out by a few individual plays, like Alex January’s blocked kick.
Coaching: C+
If yesterday’s game was an uncommon occurrence, I’d place more blame on the players. When you have the same issues, over and over again, that responsibility lies with the coaches. Penalties continue to hurt this team every week, lapses on special teams/offense kills momentum and the mental mistakes are a constant for this team. Will Muschamp continues to be the only coach fully carrying his weight, although Sarkisian playcalling was great for much of the day. The players need to avoid mistakes but the coaches need to put them in better positions more consistently going forward.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Longhorns Grades vs. Ole Miss: Offense B-, Special teams D
