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AUSTIN — Late in the fourth quarter against Texas Tech, the Longhorns earned two short-yardage situations to claim a first down and potentially seal their first road win of the season.

On third down on the final offensive drive, offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert brought out Tyrone Swoopes in the “18-Wheeler” package, but he failed to convert. On fourth-and-one, Swoopes remained and he once again fell short of the first down marker.

All the while, running back D’Onta Foreman, who had tallied 341 rushing yards and averaged 10.3 yards per carry, stood on the sideline.

But, on Monday, Charlie Strong stood by his decision to give the ball to Swoopes and keep Foreman off the field. Reporters asked Strong three separate times about the rationale behind the decisions and each time he reiterated his assurance in the”18-Wheeler” package.

“We have a lot of confidence in that package,” Gilbert said. “I have a lot of confidence in Sterlin. We’ll continue to run that package….And they do a great job on offense, they know exactly what they want to do. You score a touchdown or we get a call where it comes back then we wouldn’t be talking about it.”

Later, Strong added: “The play was set up to go get the first down, and you’re right, 33 [D’Onta Foreman] is on the sideline, but, like I said, we’ve had success in the package and with Tyrone he can go get a yard and drop his pad and run over people.”

But Strong’s toughest question came on the final occasion he was asked, when a reporter said “a point can be made that you and Sterlin were the only two people in the stadium to stop D’Onta by not playing him.”

“Well he got 340 before that point so we didn’t stop him,” Strong said. “You look at our offense, we’re going to do a good job on offense, we’re going to move the ball and people are going to have to stop us. But that package is a solid package for us.”

So far this season, Swoopes has tallied 160 rushing yards and averaged 3.2 yards per carry. The senior quarterback has found some success in his running package, specifically seven touchdowns, but has seen a lack of production in recent weeks. Coming in on a lot of short yardage situations he averaged just under four yards a carry through the first four games, but through the last five games he's averaged 2.5.

In the end, it all worked out as cornerback Kris Boyd snagged a game-sealing interception in the endzone as Texas Tech was driving. And, if Strong’s press conference is any indiction, the “18-Wheeler” package isn’t going away anytime soon.

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