After a frantic and insane evening in Austin, we can now take a deep breath and try to make sense of what just happened. The Longhorns found their way back from 20 points down in the 4th quarter to beat Ohio State, 24-23. The question now is: what did we learn? It was a chaotic, up-and-down affair that left multiple things to be happy and mad about.
Here are the five things I believe we learned last night:
Arch Manning has the clutch gene
This is a performance that will be looked upon fondly by Texas fans, but one that’ll make Arch Manning angry when he watches it back. Manning finished 23/37 for 195 passing yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, numbers that would look even better if Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo didn’t suffer drops. Even with that, he had even more yards left on tape because
he couldn’t be decisive at times, which had to get fixed.
All of that said, he was masterful in the final frame of this game. On the final three drives, Manning went 13/19(4/6 on 3rd down) for 158 total yards and a TD. That’s a special finish when Texas absolutely needed it. There are things to fix and this was far from Manning’s best game, but when Texas needed him, he showed up. That’s a major green flag for this team being a title contender.
Smothers, Brown are season changing portal pick-up
There is zero doubt after two weeks: the rebuilt RB room was money well spent. Raleek Brown had two major mistakes in this game: the fumble and not getting the first on an important 3rd down. Outside of that, this duo was downright incredible. Hollywood Smothers was the player of the game, finishing with 24 touches, 103 total yards and 2 TDs. Raleek Brown, despite the mistakes, rushed for 5.4 yards per carry, including some physical runs late. The major question coming into the season was if this rebuilt RB room was going to work. I’d say that question has been answered.
Offensive line is vastly improved
I’m not sure I could feel better about the offensive line through two weeks of the season. They still aren’t perfect but given the performance last season, this is miles better. They gave up just two sacks, both of which could be argued were Arch Manning’s fault. In the run game, they consistently gave Smothers and Brown gaps, not to mention pushing Ohio State off the ball in the 4th quarter. In this game, Texas averaged 3.30 “OL yards per carry,” which is their best mark in three seasons. This unit, which was nothing short of a disaster last season, is tracking to be a strength of the Longhorns this season.
Will Muschamp was the right hire
If I said this at halftime, people would’ve called me crazy. Jeremiah Smith was dominating the game, Julian Sayin largely was doing whatever he wanted and the Ohio State offense was rolling. Then, halftime came and Will Muschamp began making adjustments, which is where he shines. Ohio State went on to total just 129 total yards and 3 points in the second half. The front seven was consistently getting pressure, the secondary was playing much better vs. Jeremiah Smith and at the center of it all was Muschamp's brilliance. If there were questions about this hire, they are gone.
Linebacker core isn’t a weakness
This was my biggest question coming into the season, especially following Ty’Anthony Smith’s dismissal. Last night, Justin Cryer was the best player on the field from start to finish. He led the team in tackles(9 total, 1 TFL), was a great communicator on the second level and was a force in pass rush late. Rasheem Biles didn’t have the stat stuffing game he can have, but finished with 8 tackles and didn’t make any big mistakes. Finally, Brad Spence made a number of nice plays, including a big-time TFL after the opening fumble. Many people would’ve dubbed this the “weakness” coming into the season. That was put to rest last night.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Five Things we learned about Texas Longhorns in win over Ohio State
