Crunch Time: Breaking down Texas’ third-down and red-zone performance vs. UTSA

While the Longhorns dominated the scoreboard, they didn’t excel in every area of the game. Let’s check out how they did on third downs and in the red zone.

In another resounding victory, the then-No.2 Texas Longhorns defeated the UTSA Roadrunners 56-7 in Austin on Saturday. Regardless of being without running back Jaydon Blue or losing starting quarterback Quinn Ewers, the Texas offense sliced through an overmatched UTSA defense.

The continued ability of this Texas team to plug and play at every position demonstrates the depth and talent of a roster that is hungry for success. No matter who is on the field, the standard is the standard. In this week’s edition of Crunch Time, we’ll analyze how Texas performed on third downs and in the red zone, two key areas for offensive success.

Third downs

3-of-10 (30.0 percent)

Texas converted only 3-of-10 (30.0 percent) third downs in the victory on Saturday, well below success. Against the Roadrunners, the Longhorns were able to score regardless of their third down woes. However, this rate will not allow Texas to sustain offensive success in the future.

Early in the game, the recipe for failure was repeated situations of third and long — all but one third down in the first half were 3rd and 10 or more. No team is equipped to deal with third and long regardless of who is calling plays or throwing the ball.

The first third-down attempt was a 3rd and 10. Texas fell behind the chains thanks to a false start from right guard DJ Campbell before only making up five yards on the next two plays. On third down, Ewers scrambled for seven yards, but came up short of the marker.

The three-yard difference between the end of the scramble and line to gain highlights the need to keep third-down attempts to manageable distances. Ewers has demonstrated a knack for taking off on third down and giving him the option to throw the ball or take off adds another dimension to the offense that will keep defensive coordinators up late into the night.

Later in the quarter, Texas faced a 3rd and 19 fueled by two miscues. Once again, a false start penalty, this time by right tackle Cameron Williams, put Texas behind the chains. It only got worse on a creative but poorly executed swing route.

On the play, Sarkisian motioned wide receiver Matthew Golden into the backfield, momentarily creating a diamond backfield look before Golden orbited back to the wide side of the field. Once the ball was snapped, Ewers faked a handoff to running back Jerrick Gibson before trying to connect with scatback Ryan Niblett on a swing pattern. The lateral pass fell to the turf, but was recovered by Texas for a loss of six.

Even in failure, this play call demonstrates the prowess of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. He uses two pre snap motions and a fake handoff to create a scenario that is more than favorable for Texas. Golden and fellow wide receiver Ryan Wingo each had to block one secondary defender in order to allow Niblett a one-on-one opportunity where he had the entire field to work with and a hypothetical full head of steam.

While Wingo has looked electric with the ball in his hands during the season, this play demonstrates one area — blocking — where he’ll need to continue improving both physically and technique wise.

Wingo was responsible for a down block but was unable to get solid contact on the defender. It appears Wingo over pursued which allowed the defender to get past him before he could break down and get in proper position. Wingo didn’t quit on the play and tried to slow the other UTSA defender, but it didn’t matter given the inability of Ewers and Niblett to connect.

This set up a 3rd and goal from the 19-yard line. Ewers found wide receiver Johntay Cook on a quick slant that Cook took to the house.

While Texas did convert this third down, this was not due to offensive execution but rather the speed and elusiveness of Cook — 3rd and 19s are not typically going to fare well for Texas, or any team for that matter.

Rarely will you see an offense only have two third-down attempts in over 25 minutes of gameplay yet the next third-down attempt wouldn’t occur until 4:10 remaining in the second quarter and Texas leading 28-7 with quarterback Arch Manning running the offense.

Under Manning, Texas went 1-of-5 (20.0 percent) on third downs. On this play, Texas faced 3rd and 5 at their own 26-yard line. After a nine-yard gain on first down, Texas lost four yards on a zone read that Manning correctly pulled. The tackle was made by a UTSA cornerback that came unblocked after a failed block by Golden on the perimeter.

On 3rd and 5, UTSA brought a backside corner blitz than Manning never felt. He went down for a 10-yard loss and Texas punted.

The remaining third down in the half was a 3rd and 13 thanks to an errant throw by Manning and a failed tunnel screen. The Longhorns ended up punting it away.

The third-down woes continued in third quarter for Texas. While the Longhorns did convert a 3rd and 3, they were unable to convert the other two opportunities.

The first failed attempt was a 3rd and 17 on a drive immediately moved backwards on an end around to wide receiver Silas Bolden that was stopped for an eight-yard loss.

Golden and tight end Juan Davis and both missed a UTSA defender that was able to string the play out to the sideline. DJ Campbell also allowed a defensive lineman into the backfield further convoluting a route to positive yardage.

Texas eventually punted after picking up only four yards on the 3rd and 17.

The final third down of the third quarter was a fumble by running back Jerrick Gibson, who hit the hole hard and had reached the first-down marker before the ball was stripped out.

In the fourth quarter, with Trey Owens at quarterback, Texas went 1-of-3 (33.3 percent), continuing to face long down and distance as the three attempts were from 10, one, and 22 yards respectively.

Texas cannot expect to win games like this during conference play. Texas faced six third downs of 10 or more yards. The formula for changing third-down success isn’t on third downs. It is before. The Longhorn offense must avoid penalties and negative yardage plays on first and second down so thirds become manageable.

Through three games, Texas has converted third downs at a rate of 50.0 percent, which is tied for 23rd nationally. Last season, the Longhorns finished 70th in the country with a rate of 38.4 percent.

Red zone

Five attempts, four touchdowns, one fumble

The red zone was once again a point of strength for the Longhorns, a trend that shows significant improvement from last year.

On the first drive of the game, Texas relied solely on the pass. On the first play in the red zone on this drive, Golden drew a holding call that set up 1st and goal from the 7-yard line. Ewers demonstrated his pinpoint accuracy and hit wide receiver Isaiah Bond on a slant with a defender draped on his back.

This touchdown demonstrates Sarkisian’s ability to create space on the field and use the talent on the roster. With the ball on the left hash, Sarkisian lined up two tight ends off of left tackle Kelvin Banks while splitting out Bond on the right hashmark and Golden on the top of the numbers.

This forces the UTSA defense into a tricky spot — the heavy left formation indicates a potential power run to that side of the field, which requires extra defenders to that side and an alignment closer to the line of scrimmage. Sarkisian manipulates the safeties to create a natural isolation for Bond and Golden with plenty of grass to operate.

After the snap, Ewers fakes the handoff to Gibson. This pulls the linebackers and creates enough of a window to hit Bond despite the blocking miscue by Hayden Conner.

Bond ran a quick slant pattern and Ewers led him up field perfectly. A week after Texas ran the ball all three red zone plays on their first drive, Sarkisian did the exact opposite this week, calling only passes.

The next red-zone drive ended successfully but highlighted how Texas drives can be derailed. As previously mentioned, a false start penalty and poorly executed swing pass created a 3rd and goal from the 19 that Cook took to the house.

The remaining red zone trips were under Manning. His first was a bizarre sequence where his first play in the game was in the red zone. Sarkisian dialed up a play-action rollout that gave Manning the time and comfort to find a crossing DeAndre Moore for six.

The next red-zone possession for Texas was a quick two-play sequence that started with a rush by Gibson up the middle for five. This set up 2nd and 5 from the 12-yard line from the left hash. Sarkisian once again opted to split out two wideouts to the far side of the field while using two tight ends. And, once again this brought UTSA safeties into the box and created one-on-one coverage. Manning used a play-action fake before dropping a dime into Cook’s hands on a slot fade that demonstrated his burst, hands, and overall ability football IQ showing patience setting up the defender before accelerating to the corner.

For the season, Texas has scored on 15-of-16 (93.8 percent) red-zone possessions, which is tied for 32nd nationally. Last year, the Longhorns finished 87th nationally with a red-zone conversion rate of 80.3 percent. Texas’ red-zone touchdown rate of 87.5 percent is well above last year’s touchdown rate of 50.8 percent. Currently, Texas leads the nation in red-zone passing touchdowns with 10.