Progress is progress. Texas lost a 20-17 heartbreaker to twelfth-ranked UCLA on Saturday night before an Arlington crowd that was decidedly pro-Longhorn. For a few fleeting moments in the fourth quarter, they might have had cause to celebrate
Tyrone Swoopes took a big step forward in his second game as starting quarterback, passing for two touchdowns and 196 yards on 24-34 attempts. The sophomore looked much more comfortable firing intermediate passes than he did last week against Brigham Young, and threw the ball decisively and accurately. Most important is that he was leading his receivers into space with his passes. That’s a big step in the right direction. But if you’re having trouble making heads or tails of this Longhorn team, you’re not alone.
Texas opened the evening with a blunder after captains chose to kick on a coin toss deferring from UCLA. There’s literally no logical reason to do this, and Charlie Strong was livid with his captains for giving UCLA a free possession. Percentages aren’t readily available for this kind of thing, but I have to imagine you’re at a disadvantage if you commit a turnover before the game even begins.
It was a defensive battle from the beginning, with the Longhorns building a 10-3 lead by halftime. The Bruins struck first in the second half and Texas struggled to respond. Then, with nine minutes left in the game and down 13-10, Swoopes and Malcolm Brown led Texas on a 10 play, 80 yard drive that resulted a TD strike to receiver John Harris, and a 17-13 Longhorns lead.
Texas recovered a fumble on their own 20 yard line with four minutes left, but instead of milking the clock, Strong sent them into a hurry-up offense that went three and out. UCLA responded with a big punt return that brought the Bruins to the Texas 33. It took one more play for UCLA to find the end zone: a brilliant hesitation route and equally great pump fake from backup quarterback Jerry Neuheisel for the score. Texas would get the ball back twice more, going three-and-out and four-and-out.
It wasn’t the ending the fans had hoped for, but there are a lot of positives to take away from the week. Most important: the Longhorns may have found their quarterback.
This article appears in September 12 • 2014.