The No. 4 Texas Longhorns will look to improve their record to 3-0 for the first time since 2012 on Saturday.
To go 3-0, Texas has to get past the scrappy Wyoming Cowboys. The Cowboys have already upset Texas Tech in Laramie, but Wyoming will have to travel to Austin this week in a stadium filled with over 100,000 fans that just saw their Horns beat the juggernaut program in Tuscaloosa.
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Even if the game were in Laramie, there is just too much momentum to cause an upset against these red-hot Longhorns. In order to avoid an upset after a massive win, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers led a players-only meeting earlier in the week to wreak havoc on any upset Wyoming had in store for the Horns.
Here are three things to watch for in this Week 3 matchup.
The deep ball
Texas Longhorns wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) reaches for a touchdown catch against Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, Sep. 9, 2023 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
We finally got to see the deep ball we’ve been waiting for last Saturday when Texas defeated Alabama. Quinn Ewers completed his first pass of over 20 air yards when he took a deep shot to find Xavier Worthy in the end zone. Texas won’t necessarily need the deep ball on every possession to beat the Cowboys, but seeing more of it will definitely help Ewers get more comfortable with throwing it downfield moving forward.
Offensive line
Austin American-Statesman
Texas’ offensive line had some struggles in Week 1 against the Rice Owls. According to PFF, they only had a 67.7 pass block grade and a 61.6 run block grade. They performed better in the passing game against Alabama with an 88.8 pass block grade, but not as well in the run game, only racking up 105 rushing yards and averaging 2.8 per attempt. The offensive line should perform better against Wyoming, as their defense is allowing 25 points per game and nearly 400 total yards per game.
A defensive lockdown
Texas Longhorns linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. (0) celebrates a sack during the game against Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, Sep. 9, 2023 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The defense has been spectacular this season. Only allowing 24 points to Alabama, the Texas defense also had two takeaways from the Crimson Tide. Texas isn’t known for their defense, but head coach Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski have changed the mindset of bad defensive football that once loomed over every Big 12 team. To beat Wyoming, the gameplan should be to stop the run and make the Cowboys throw the ball. Wyoming’s starting quarterback Andrew Peasley only has 350 passing yards with an average of 7 yards per pass through two games this season. If the Texas defense can make Peasley throw the ball, they will find that the game should get out of hand for Wyoming.