https://www.hookem.com/football-news/football/texas-rb-chris-warren-iii-usc Beck and Ed Warinner were co-offensive coordinators at Ohio State in 2015. Ezekiel Elliott, who had rushed for more than 3,500 collegiate yards by that time, had just 12 carries for 33 yards in a stunning loss to No. 9 Michigan State. “I deserve more than (12) carries,” Elliott said afterward in comments that rocked the Ohio State fan base. Elliott was so mad, he basically declared he was going pro. “I can’t speak for the play-caller. I don’t know what was going on.” The following Monday, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said, “I couldn’t disagree with him. He should have gotten the ball more.” Texas fans can empathize. Warren, a 250-pounder with 1,048 career yards, had only 4 carries for 15 yards against USC. He played the entire game despite suffering an eye laceration. Fellow running back Kyle Porter had 5 carries for 9 yards. Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger was the team’s leading rusher in Saturday’s double-overtime loss to USC. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman) Was there some specific reason why Beck and the Longhorns didn’t use Warren more against the Trojans? “I don’t understand the question,” Texas coach Tom Herman said Monday. “Not using? How many carries did he have against San Jose State?” Warren had 16 carries against San Jose State, but again, only 4 against USC. “For 3.8 yards per carry, so, um, I think it’s difficult to … We’ve got to find a way to get him more yards,” Herman said. “But in the middle of a game, when you see how that is shaking out, the definition of insanity is repeatedly performing the same act, expecting different results. “So to keep going back to 3.8 yards per carry, I think there would be some criticism there, too,” he added. “ ‘Tom why did you give Chris Warren the ball 20 times if he only had 70 yards.’ So I mean, you’re either damned if you do, damned if you don’t. RELATED: Tom Herman’s off-week press conference: Some fire, fury … and even a little Angry Birds after USC game “When he’s not getting those yards, it doesn’t make much sense to keep going back to the well.” USC’s primary rushing threat, Ronald Jones II, kept chipping away and had 18 carries for 47 yards — a 2.6 yards-per-carry average. The Trojans constantly jabbed at the Longhorns’ defensive front, going both up the middle and out wide, and finished with 71 rushing yards total. No running back can build any momentum getting just 1 carry per quarter, or 1.25 carries per quarter, as in Porter’s case. Meanwhile, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who started only because Shane Buechele had a bruised shoulder, was UT’s leading rusher with 19 carries for 10 yards. This came two weeks after Buechele had a team-leading 15 carries in the season-opening loss to Maryland. Herman said there were supposed to be only a few quarterback run plays. That same day, Warren had just 6 carries for 31 yards. “We’ve got to do a better job of establishing the run game,” Herman said the following Monday. So instead of ram-rodding Warren up the middle in double overtime against a worn-down USC defense, the Horns twice ran “quarterback power” with Ehlinger. Granted, he got 8 yards on first-and-10 from the USC 11-yard-line. He was stopped short on the second attempt, had the ball stripped away in a pileup and USC recovered at the 7-yard line. A walk-on freshman then kicked a 43-yard field goal, giving USC a 27-24 win. “Where were they weakened? I didn’t see that,” Herman said. “And yeah, Sam made (eight) yards. We hadn’t had a running back make five yards up to that point. So nine yards inside the 15-yard line is a pretty good run.” Beck is not made available to reporters after games, neither is defensive coordinator Todd Orlando. They usually meet with reporters on Wednesdays. Neither Warren nor Porter were made available after the game, either. Texas running back Chris Warren III had 166 yards against San Jose State. (Tim Warner/Getty Images) So when Herman looks at the final numbers, are nine combined carries for Warren and Porter an acceptable total? “Oh no, I never said I was OK with it. No, not OK with that,” Herman said. “But I do think throughout the course of the game, you’ve got to do what you’re doing well. You can’t fix that kind of problem, I don’t think, in the middle of a game. That problem needs to get fixed this week and next week in practice. “And we’ve already spent very little time watching the USC game,” he quickly added. “We’ve spent a lot of time talking about how we’re going to run the football better.” Texas’ mercurial use of the running game may continue. All-American left tackle Connor Williams will be out an unknown amount of time with a knee injury. He’ll have surgery to repair a meniscus tear in the coming days. To recap UT’s tackle situation, Elijah Rodriguez (ankle), Patrick Hudson (knee) and Williams have all suffered major injuries. Brandon Hodges left the program as a graduate transfer and went to Pittsburgh. Jean Delance didn’t think he was getting enough playing time and transferred to Florida in mid-August. Had he stayed, Delance might be a starter now, or at least be in the rotation. Tristan Nickelson and Denzel Okafor are UT’s starting tackles for the foreseeable future. There is next to no depth on the offensive line at this point. “We have five guys right now. Five. Five we feel good about putting in the game,” Herman said. So what will Texas running game look like against Iowa State on Sept. 28? “If we trained like we did the week leading up to USC and play the way we did during the two overtimes each and every week,” Herman said, “we’re going to be OK.”
"...the definition of insanity is repeatedly performing the same act, expecting different results." I hate this line, and the people who use it are generally idiots.
Don't think he's scheduled for surgery for another week so prob won't hear anything until then. OL looking scary at this point. Losing Conner was worst case scenario for the line but that's 3 guys lost for the season. Herman moved true freshman Tope Imade from DL back over to OL. Also, looks like Shane will get the start vs ISU. Sam played admirably vs USC but think this is the right move.
It's 5 lost lineman counting the backup tackle that transferred in the summer and the tight end. I agree about Shane but we'll see how long he can stay healthy. It's nice to know that Sam had a crash course in college quarterbacking in the last 2 weeks. I think he's reached the point of a potential 2nd half substitution if Shane struggles from here on out but we'll see. Sam's success towards the end of the game really emphasizes how important it is to throw it more than 10 yards in the center of the field. That's something (for whatever reason) Shane has not been able to do.
David Boren (OU Prez) could be announcing his retirement today which would be incredibly good news for the big 12. He has been a constant impediment for the conference.
Bye Week sucks If Chris Warren doesn't get 10 carries against Iowa State, it's time call for Tim Beck's job
It doesn't make any scenario more likely. It just ensures the process will be more level headed and systematic. Boren had a history of mouthing off for no good reason other than to generate headlines for himself. He really was the Donald Trump of the big 12.
Ya think the outcome will be the same, just less likelihood of it being a complete clown show. Think the conference and tv partners will get a deal done and business will go on as usual.
Redshirt Freshman DT Chris Daniels is transferring. Daniels joins tight end Peyton Aucoin, offensive lineman Jean Delance, linebacker Erick Fowler and defensive linemen Jordan Elliott and Marcel Southall as members of a 24-player signing class who have departed Texas since Tom Herman’s hire this past November. It seems like Herman/Houston don't have much use for heavy defensive linemen. Texas needs a solid winning streak and a big win against OU to keep their current recruits on board.
Just read that Daniels stopped showing up to practices, team functions, etc...so the writing had been on the wall for a while. There's going to be a big hole at DT after Ford graduates, shame none of those guys could stick it out.
He ended up being more of the "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed" parent IMO. But not going to lie, I'm nervous about tomorrow night's game.
Yep. Iowa St is relatively good this year and has every reason to be confident after shutting UT out the last time they played in Iowa and with how relatively well they have done this year. It's crazy to think that Texas is 2-9 in true road games since the start of the 2015 season. This game is impossible to predict because of the uncertainty of the offensive line. Hope for the best. Horns247 Predictions: Texas' Big 12 opener vs. Iowa State http://247sports.com/college/texas/...nghorns-Big-12-opener-vs-Iowa-State-108008554 On another note, UT Students will vote online today as to if they want the annual A&M game to come back. I'm sure a large majority will vote for it. The vote doesn't actually do anything but present a public sentiment for the game which Tom Herman has already shared. The game would be much easier to schedule on an annual basis if the conference structure changes in a way that allows UT to go back to a 4 game non-conference schedule. That makes it easy to ensure UT has at least 2 non conference home games. You don't have any flexibility with scheduling other national programs in non-conf since you could not travel in years where the A&M game is in college station. Moving back to 4 non conference games would only happen if the big 12 added two teams(unlikely), if the big 12 gets rid of the round robin or a major conference shakeup happens which is possible in about 5 years. The idea of A&M being the "marquee" non-conference matchup is not exciting. USC, Notre Dame, Michigan etc. should be on the schedule every year.
