Acho and Co. Look To Snare Bruins

Sam Acho

Pity Ryan Taylor. He grew up in Dennison loving the Texas Longhorns and will enter DKR-Memorial Stadium this Saturday fulfilling a dream. His springy red locks will sway as he hustles his 6-foot-3-inch-almost-300-pound frame onto the turf.

He’ll line up at center and discover what might have been. Then a few Longhorn defenders will smack some reality into him. Or at least that’s how the story line should go.

Taylor, the lone Texan, on a beefy UCLA offensive line, will play stoutly this Saturday, a day when the Horn defense will have to prove it’s as adept at stopping a running team as it was – despite the Texas offense’s sloppiness – of shutting down supposedly pass-happy Texas Tech last week. Can you say 158 total passing yards? Subtract from that –14 yards for the Red Raiders on the ground and you see the dilemma for Taylor, his family, and friends as the one-dimensional Bruins come to town and hope for a miracle from offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who was at USC when Vince Young’s Horns yanked a 41-38 national championship victory away in 2005.

UCLA’s pistol formation cruised and bruised for 266 yards on the ground against the University of Houston last week, but the Cougars’ offense was without wizardly quarterback Case Keenum for most of the game — and the rest of the season — and promptly disintegrated. Johnathan Franklin accounted for most of the Bruins' ground game with 158 yards against Houston, but he’s got plenty of help if need be against Texas.

Meanwhile, the Horns — as much as they denied it — were killing the ghosts of 2008 in a 28-14 Lubbock win. Blake Gideon, he of the dropped interception two years ago that would have sealed a win, pulled down an interception this time. As did Curtis Brown, the guy who missed that fateful tackle in that 2008 game. Ghosts slain; defense stout.

The last time the dudes UCLA came to Austin was 1997, when they rode the perfect tasty wave right across Texas for, ouch, a 66-3 whooping. Don’t look for that to happen again any time soon. Not with Bruin quarterback Kevin Prince posting 99 yards on nine of 17 completions and one interception against Houston. This year the Horns are giving up an average of 207 yards a game, 44 of that on the ground.

Sure, that was against a couple of supposed cream puffs and a Texas Tech team in a transition year, but in my eyes the Texas D is for real, and this weekend will prove what that means. Meanwhile, the Bruins have already committed 10 turnovers, evenly split between fumbles and interceptions. Look for a lot more this week.

If so, Garrett Gilbert may get plenty of time on the field to sooth the naysayers who are disappointed his bionic arm hasn’t been fully unleashed. Three passes picked off by Tech? Part of that is just how hard GG throws the ball, particularly under pressure. The rest is unlucky tip drills. Gilbert remains a work in progress, but an amazingly talented one who should settle down a bit this week.

If the UT defense can bottle up the Bruin rambling running game, we may see the continued growth of the Horns young passing attack. Was that an actual tight end sighting in Lubbock? Scoring a touchdown? Barrett Matthews, it’s your chance to step up and catch a few more balls and increase Gilbert’s throwing options. Mike Davis, James Kirkendoll, Marquise Goodwin, and the gang? Warm up. Who knows, Texas might even find a running game this week, but don’t count on it. Do count on a 42-14 warm up before a date with Bob Stoops’ boys in red.