Texas much emphasize running game due to poor QB play

The Texas Longhorns need to emphasize the run game to avoid any further embarrassing defeats like the one suffered in the opener against Notre Dame.

Head coach Charlie Strong emphasized the importance of a running game to reporters after Texas fell to Notre Dame 38-3. Former five-star running back Johnathan Gray only got eight touches against the Irish. That’s not going to cut it, not in this offense.

Running the ball will do a few things to help Texas succeed on offense:

First, it will set up the pass. Tyrone Swoopes isn’t going to beat anyone on his own. He’s still growing as a passer, so he can’t run the offense all on his own.

I think the Longhorns got behind early, panicked, and then abandoned their game plan.

Texas ran the ball 88% of the time during the first quarter, but then fell behind 14-0 and decided to start throwing. In the second quarter, the Longhorns cut that number roughly in half and only ran the ball 40% of the time. They started clearly decided that something needed to change, but were they successful?

Short answer: no. No, they weren’t successful throwing the ball. Both Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard looked overwhelmed and lost under center. Swoopes was consistently leaving the pocket too early and staring down his first read. That’s a recipe for disaster, especially against Notre Dame’s defense.

Running the ball can also help Texas win the time of possession battle. Holding the ball longer than your opponent usually means they have fewer opportunities to score points, which is good. Right?

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Against Notre Dame, the Longhorns lost the possession battle by almost 20 minutes (Notre Dame 39:10, Texas 20:50).

The clock keeps moving when you run the football, and anything Texas can do to keep their defense off the field is a good thing.

Lastly, a solid run game can keep a team ahead of the chains and away from third-and-longs.

The Longhorns converted just 2-14 on third down, which is a whopping 14 percent. Third down is often called the “money down” because that’s where games are won and lost. If an offense can consistently convert on 3^rd downs and keep more drives alive, they’ll in turn score more points. The same philosophy applies to the defense, if your team can stop opposing units from converting on third down that team will have less chances to score.

By running the football on first and second down, you’ll likely end up with a manageable third down situation. Third-and-five is much easier for Tyrone Swoopes to pick up than third-and-12 is. Plus, he has more options on manageable third downs. We all know by now that Swoopes isn’t a dynamic passer; he gets his money by making plays with his feet. Scrambling for a first down is a very realistic thing to do on third-and-five but not third-and-12—unless you’re Kyler Murray, sorry Longhorn fans.

This is pretty simple stuff to understand; even an 11-year old kid that’s played Madden could get it.

I think Charlie Strong gets it too. Heck, he made it clear that he was upset with himself and his staff for not running the ball during his post game press conference.

I don’t know if a quarterback change is necessary for the Longhorn’s offensive success. If Heard couldn’t beat out Swoopes during the spring, why is he a better option now? I think Texas needs to get back to basics and run the ball.

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Texas must emphasize run game due to poor QB play

By Hayden Hyde | Sep 8, 2015

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