With their impressive win over Notre Dame, the Texas Longhorns proved that they will be contender in the Big 12 conference this season.
Make no mistake about it: tonight’s victory over the Fighting Irish was huge. After all, Notre Dame welcomed back a number of key players from last year’s 10-win squad that nearly upset Clemson and Stanford. With so much talent returning, the Irish entered the contest ranked in the top 10, and were a popular dark horse pick to make the College Football Playoff this fall.
However, Texas was the better team on Sunday night. Operating under new coordinator Sterlin Gilbert’s spread attack, the Longhorn offense displayed a level of explosiveness that it’s lacked in recent seasons. True freshman Shane Buechele showed that he’s a perfect fit to run this offense, completing 16 of 26 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. He was especially impressive throwing the deep ball, connecting with John Burt and Jerrod Heard for completions of 60 yards or longer.
That’s the same number of 60+ yards catches that Texas had all of last season.
Buechele’s precision passing opened things up for running backs D’Onta Foreman and Chris Warren, who combined to rush for 177 yards. Backup quarterback Tyrone Swoopes was also effective as runner, rushing for 53 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner in the second overtime.
While the offense was the story of the game, you’ve got to give the Longhorns credit for hanging in there when things didn’t go their way. Last year, the team couldn’t seem to buy a break in losses to California (missed extra point) and Oklahoma State (special teams gaffe) early in the season. After Notre Dame erased a 17-point deficit to take the lead and blocked a PAT to tie the game, it would have been easy for the Texas players to think, “oh no, here we go again”, and fold under the pressure.
But, they didn’t buckle. They overcame it. The Longhorn D responded to a quick Notre Dame score in the first overtime by forcing a three-and-out in the second overtime. That stop put the offense in position to win the game, which it did five plays later.
Texas’ new spread offense, coupled with its ability to overcome adversity makes it a legitimate contender to win the Big 12 this season. Remember, the Longhorns handed Oklahoma its only loss in conference play last year, and capped off the 2015 campaign by upsetting Baylor. Yet, the team struggled with consistency on offense and couldn’t come up with a timely stop on defense down the stretch, which is why it missed the postseason.
Based on how UT performed against Notre Dame on Sunday night, that will clearly not be the case in 2016. Even with the Fighting Irish offense firing on all cylinders, and the defense coming up with timely stops, the Longhorns found a way to win.
That’s the type of resiliency that could carry Texas to the Big 12 championship.
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