Inside the Numbers: Rewriting the record books on Senior Day
Against the Baylor Bears, it appeared like the No. 23 Texas Longhorns would let one other one slip by means of their fingers, sending the seniors off on a notice of disappointment relatively than celebration.
Then, with the recreation on the line, Texas turned to its most constant gamers and ended their careers with a win. While it was senior Roschon Johnson who put the exclamation level on the scoreboard late in the recreation, it was Steve Sarkisian’s reliance on his greatest playmaker to place the recreation away.
Bijan Robinson – 29 carries, 179 yards (6.2 ypc), 2 TDs
With a five-point lead in the fourth quarter, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was stripped on a sack try that changed into six factors for the Bears. From that second, Texas put the ball in the arms of the defenders and secured the victory. Texas ran 24 video games after the contest, which was all however 14 for Bijan Robinson in what many assume is his ultimate recreation at Darrell Okay Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.
Those 14 carries accounted for 99 of his 176 speeding yards, one landing and 6 of Texas’ 21 first downscapping the finest single-game efficiency towards Dave Aranda’s protection this 12 months.
His efficiency towards the Bears brings his personal A season whole of 1,580, giving him the convention speeding title by greater than 200 yards towards the closest competitors, Eric Gray of Oklahoma. Not solely does he run the convention in the courtyards, however he additionally set the tempo for whole tackles and yards per recreation in his supposed swan tune.
If it was certainly the finish of his illustrious profession in burnt orange, Bijan Robinson has carved his title amongst the all-time greats regardless of a comparatively quick profession compared. His 1,580 yards places him not solely the season no. 7 all-time, with a doable bowl recreation to play, but in addition makes him simply one in every of three gamers with two of the 15 all-time speeding seasonsbecoming a member of Cedric Benson and Ricky Williams for that honor. He strikes to No. 4 all-time, seven fewer than every other participant in the prime 5whereas his 9 100-yard speeding video games in 2022 tied for No. 5 for a season and No. 4 for a profession at Texas.
Add to that his No. 5 single-season and No. 8 profession speeding totals, and you may’t inform the University of Texas working again story with out Bijan Robinson.
Texas protection: 101 internet yards speeding (2.6 yards per carry)
While Bijan and the speeding assault will get loads of credit score for this play, the Texas protection once more answered the name and turned a one-dimensional crew round – swinging the recreation in the Longhorns’ favor.
Just per week after holding Kansas to 104 yards, Texas held the Baylor Bears — a crew that arguably has extra expertise — to simply 101 speeding yards of their worst efficiency of the 12 months. Over the final two video games, Texas not solely held its opponents to simply 2.97 yards per carry, however didn’t surrender a speeding landing in 2022’s final two outings.
Perhaps the most spectacular a part of the recreation was the shutdown for the protection, holding the Bears to -9 speeding yards in the ultimate body, bringing their second half totals to 39 yards and a pair of.57 yards per carry. Overall, Texas stuffed six of Baylor’s 39 speeding makes an attempt and held the Bears to 34 whole yards on 14 first-down runs, a 2.4 yards per carry to open the drives.
Jaylan Ford: 13 touches, 2 TFL, INT
An enormous a part of the protection’s efficiency towards Baylor is the continued excellence of linebacker Jaylan Ford, who put an exclamation level on his Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year marketing campaign.
After Texas retook a 31-27 lead, the Bears had been seeking to run the recreation and retake the lead in the fourth quarter when Ford threw Blake Shapen’s cross meant for Josh Cameron to finish the menace. That scored His fourth interception of the 12 months not solely tied him for second in the convention, however tied him with Longhorn legend Derrick Johnson for the most by a linebacker in a single season. If he returns for an additional 12 months, he wants only one extra sort out to maneuver into the prime 5 by a profession linebacker.
It ends the season tied for second in the convention in each touchdowns and interceptions, prime 10 in tackles for loss and leads the Big 12 in compelled fumbles. If Ford wins the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, he will probably be the first Texas participant to win the award since Malik Jefferson in 2017.
