The Longhorns are looking to get off to a quicker start in Saturday’s game against UCLA in the midst of offensive position adjustments.
The first two Texas drives Saturday consisted of three-and-outs while the second two ended in interceptions for Gilbert who continued to struggle, 2-8 passes for eight yards, before being pulled for good in the second quarter.
“We need to start the game faster. First two weeks we’ve had very inconsistent first halves, good third quarters and dominated the fourth quarter,” said Coach Brown on Monday.
The Longhorns have scored 21 points to the opponent’s zero in the fourth quarter and produced 14 first downs compared to the opponent’s one.
McCoy and Ash switching off at quarterback offered more of a spark for the offense after Gilbert was pulled. McCoy and Ash split time somewhat evenly but plays like McCoy’s 20-yard pass to Shipley on third and nine for a first down stood out; the same drive that eventually culminated in the Longhorns scoring a touchdown to go ahead by one. Ash did more running than throwing and his judgments on certain pitch-or-keep plays were questionable. This is something that will come in time for the true freshman.
“The thing that we feel is we have to have a depth chart for you guys on Monday, but it'll really be fluid, and whoever practices the best this week will start,” said Brown, in reference to which QB will start Saturday.
“We thought [the running backs] did really well,” said Brown. “Malcolm [Brown] is learning more of the packages all the time.”
Fozzy Whittaker got off to a slow start but the other three running backs production held the offense together. Malcolm Brown had a team-leading 68 yards on 14 carries, D.J. Monroe produced 13.3 yards per carry on three touches and Cody Johnson ran in two short-yardage touchdowns.
It is not uncommon for this much player switching in an offense as diverse as Harsin’s, and Longhorn nation could be seeing more plays similar to the Shipley-to-Ash trick pass from the 17-16 win over BYU.
Photo Credit: USA Today
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