Texas Football Takes Halftime Lead, Up 10-7 Over Kansas State

Tim Heitman-US PRESSWIRE

A series of unfortunate events quickly turned evened the game. The first came when Klein telegraphed a throw into the end zone, being intercepted for a Texas touchback. Then freshman Daje Johnson bounces a toss outside seventy yards upfield, the Wildcats only averting a touchdown when Johnson steps out of bounds at the ten yard line while being pursued by three defenders. Fortunately, the run defense remains solid and provides two straight stops for no gain. On third down Meshak Williams comes up with a huge sack to hold Texas to a field goal. A 7-3 lead isn’t a bad thing, but 14-0 would’ve looked better.

K-State may have gotten lucky on their next possession. They were held without a first down, but Braden Wilson fumbled after a one yard gain and the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds, but it was available for a good two seconds for a Texas defender to snatch up. Much more troubling was on fourth down, where punter Ryan Doerr had his blocker pushed into him and was on the ground for quite a while before coming off the field. No word on his health, but K-State has led the nation in fewest yards allowed in punt returns this year. That statistic is because of Doerr.

On the next Texas possession the Longhorns drove down the field seemingly unimpeded, and went up 10-0 on a Jaxon Shipley touchdown pass on a play that seemed to have three wide receivers all open in the end zone at the same time.

Tyler Lockett returned one kickoff and didn’t even make it to the 20 yard line, but his willingness take a chance appeared to effect Texas’s kicker as he kicked the next kickoff out of bounds, giving K-State the ball at the 35.

Texas is going to get another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty tonight. There’s an attitude problem on that sideline that doesn’t seem to be relenting.

K-State was stopped just inside the 50 and K-State was forced to punt. Doerr did the punting, and looked just fine. However, I’d like to see a little more aggression. K-State had the ball on 4th and two on the 45 and is more than capable of getting those last two yards. Additionally, the ball was downed at the 20. A net of 25 yards doesn’t seem worth a chance to retain possession.

On Texas’s next drive, K-State seemed unable to defend the pass. Then, facing second and less than a yard, Jarred Tuggle met the running back at the line of scrimmage and didn’t budge an inch. On third down Case McCoy actually lost a yard with the quarterback sneak. However, on fourth and two they picked up three and kept the drive alive. That’s why I hate it when K-State punts on fourth and short inside their opponent’s 50. Fortunately, K-State was able to finally force an incomplete pass and an intentional grounding penalty. Texas attempted a fake field goal that failed, and we enter the half with K-State 7, Texas 10.

Quick Halftime Stats:

K-State has one turnover, Texas has one

Texas owns a significant advantage in total yardage, 245-115

This has something to do with the passing game, where Texas leads 204-72

Case McCoy has completed 17-20 passes, and has 10.2 yards per pass. Nasty. Collin Klein is 4-10.

Each team is 3-7 in third down success.