The Texas Longhorns got back on track Saturday after a 3-game skid despite starting off 2-0. After being outscored 144-114 in the past 3 games, the Texas defense stepped up, only allowing 2 field goals to Iowa State.

Texas ranks 19th nationally on offense. Rushing, they are 20th, averaging 238.8 yards per game, thanks to D’Onta Foreman. Passing, the Longhorns are 42nd in the nation at 261 yards per game. Shane Buechele seems to have regained his confidence after below-average games at Cal, OSU, and OU. The true-freshman tossed 2 touchdowns with 68% completions for 296 yards, his highest total of the season so far.

This game was a tale of two halves for Texas, highlighted by yards gained. In the first half, the Horns totaled 138 yards. To put this abysmal number in perspective, it must be noted that D’Onta Foreman racked up 136 for the entire game. Texas also only scored 3 points in the first two quarters, settled for after driving down to the 2 yard-line before halftime.

The second half went much better for the Longhorns when their offense realized that they were not playing against a pee-wee team. Texas gained 367 yards after halftime, 229 more than before intermission. Buechele connected on a couple of long balls to former QB Jerrod Heard and freshman receiver Devin Duvernay, jump-starting the offense and leading the Longhorns to 21 points in the third before putting in the backups. Over the course of the game, Buechele completed passes to 10 different receivers, the most in a game this season.

The bright spot for Texas on Saturday was defense. Charlie Strong took over defensive play-calling duties after allowing over 300 yards of passing per game to opponents heading into the Red River Rivalry. It only took one week for the defense to fall into place after letting up over 600 yards to OU. With cheat-sheets on their forearms, the Texas defense let up only 280 yards of offense to Iowa State, a massive improvement for the 103rd ranked defense in the FBS. The Horns tallied 8 sacks last game, their most since 2013.

There are still plenty of signs that this football team needs to mature. Texas racked up 9 penalties for 100 yards on Saturday. These penalties destroyed drives on offense and also ruined two 3rd down stops for the defense. This week held the most penalties for Texas, thankfully against a shoddy Iowa State team. The Longhorns must stay disciplined on both sides of the ball to have a chance against other Big 12 powerhouse opponents.

One thing that continues to carry over for Texas is the performance of tailback D’Onta Foreman. He stretched his streak of games with 100 yards or more to 7 last week, leading the entire FBS. Foreman will look to continue his streak against a tougher Kansas State defense in week 8.

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