Longhorns answer questions
By Natalie England
Daily Texan
(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas' preseason officially ended with its 63-18 win over Tulane Saturday night.
And it seems when Kansas State rolls into Austin, Texas, this weekend, all of the questions raised following the early-season loss to Arkansas have answers.
Yes, the Longhorns will throw the ball to the tight ends over the middle.
Yes, the Longhorns have a running game -- perhaps even a pretty big one.
Yes, Vince Young can come into the heat of a game and turn a defense upside down.
Yes, Chance Mock is as good, even better, than his flawless stats project.
And most important -- yes, the Texas defense can stop the ball.
It looked that way against Rice, when Texas kept the Owls from hooting anywhere near the goal line on all but one possession, but there were still questions. Was Texas' "D" really that good, or was Rice really that bad -- the Owls did lose to Duke, after all.
Against Tulane, the Longhorns proved the former.
Tulane's J.P. Losman came into Austin a passing stud -- the overflow of NFL scouts in the Texas press box attested to that -- but in his presence the entire Texas defensive crew turned studly.
Losman did have 186 passing yards, but when 186 yards through the air only translates into 18 points, something is going wrong. It was a simple cause-and-effect battle at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Saturday, with the Longhorn defenders causing trouble and the Tulane offense affecting absolutely nothing except the game clock -- it stopped for every incomplete pass.
Losman stopped the clock 16 times alone.
It was a defensive strategy that worked. Marcus Tubbs and Rodrique Wright spent as much time in the pocket as Losman it seemed, and when Losman did find some time to drop back and examine the field, he found nothing. Of his 16 incompletions, many ended up on the sidelines. Even with all the time he had in the pocket, he couldn't find an open pair of hands to throw to.
Credit Nathan Vasher and Cedric Griffin for getting touchy-feely with the Tulane receiver corps. And it wasn't third date touchy-feely either, for every step Tulane's leading receiver Roydell Williams took there was a bump or a shove.
On just the second Tulane play from scrimmage, Losman planted the ball in his waiting receiver's palms for what appeared to be an easy first down. Then came Griffin, who unloaded a nasty, mouthguard-swallowing tackle, causing the ball to pop out. Tulane punted two plays later.
Turnovers were key to Arkansas' win over Texas, and since then, they've been just as key to the Longhorns' blowout victories. Texas had three against Rice and four against the Green Wave.
Those are numbers linebacker Derrick Johnson likes to see.
"His goal was to get two interceptions a game," Texas defensive coordinator Carl Reese said of Johnson. "And he's come up short in some other games."
Of course, as he was saying it Reese had a wicked grin on his face, giving Johnson's knee a friendly frogging. After all, Johnson did have his first fumble recovery since 2001 against Rice and returned another Saturday 3 yards against Tulane, setting up Mock's 13-yard touchdown pass to Roy Williams.
And, oh yeah, he had two interceptions, too.
That makes three picks for Johnson this year -- just one shy of the UT record he set in 2002 for season interceptions for a linebacker.
Johnson hits just as hard as he plays, and the Texas defense is taking notice -- and the offense is too.
The Longhorns are going to need to -- the Big 12 road begins with Kansas State and won't get any easier. But it looks like the Longhorns have their bags packed and are ready to travel.
