The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
Football returns home Saturday, faces Iowa State
10.13.2014 | Football
Big 12 game will be shown nationally on Longhorn Network beginning at 7 p.m. Central
Longhorns Gameweek | Texas-Iowa State Game Notes (PDF) | Tickets
Gameday FAQ | Digital Guide vs. Iowa State
Looking to get back on the winning track, the Football team (2-4, 1-2) will face Iowa State (2-4, 0-3) Saturday evening in a Big 12 contest. In Saturday's AT&T Red River Showdown, the Longhorns' rally fell short in 31-26 loss to No. 11/9 Oklahoma. The Cyclones are coming off a 37-30 home win over Toledo. The Texas-Iowa State game will be shown nationally at 7 p.m. Central on Longhorn Network which also airs a pregame show beginning at 5 p.m. The game can also be seen on WatchESPN. The Longhorn IMG Radio Network broadcast, including flagship KVET (1300 AM/98.1 FM) in Austin, begins at 6 p.m. The game can also be heard online at TexasSports.com. Tickets are available through TexasSports.com or by calling (512) 471-3333.
Defense Solid, Offensive rally Falls Short in Red River Showdown: Tyrone Swoopes passed for a career-high 334 yards and two touchdowns while running for another to lead a late rally for Texas, but the comeback bid fell just short as No. 11/9 Oklahoma hung on Saturday to defeat the Longhorns, 31-26. Trailing 31-13 with 12:50 left in the fourth quarter, Texas put together two quick scoring drives to close the gap. Swoopes hit John Harris for a 6-yard TD and then had a 12-yard rushing score, but the Longhorns had just 18 seconds on their last offensive possession and never mounted a threat. The defense held the Sooners to just 232 total yards and two offensive scores, but the Longhorns allowed a pair of non-offensive TDs in the first half that helped OU build a 17-3 lead.
The Iowa State Series: Texas and Iowa State are meeting for the 12th time. All but one of those games have come with both as members of the Big 12 Conference. The teams first met in 1979 with the Longhorns winning 17-9 in Austin. The Horns, who have scored 30 or more points eight times in the series, have won five of the six meetings in Austin. Only four games in the series (1979, 1999, 2010 and 2013) have been decided by less than 10 points, including last season's 31-30 win in Ames. The Cyclones lone win in the series occurred in 2010 in Austin (28-21).
First-and-Goal:
• The Horns rank 17th in the FBS in total defense (316.7 yards per game), No. 3 in passing defense (133.7 ypg), No. 4 in both yards allowed per play (4.29) and passing efficiency defense (95.31 rating), and 34th in scoring defense (21.2 points per game). Over the last three games, the Horns held Kansas QB Montell Cozart to a rating of just 50.84, Baylor's Bryce Petty to a career-low rating of 104.20 and Oklahoma's Trevor Knight to a season-low 129 passing yards. UT ranks No. 89 nationally in rushing defense (183.0 ypg), but held the Sooners to a season-low 103 on the ground.
• Oklahoma entered Saturday's game averaging 488.2 total yards per game (No. 29 in the nation), but was held to 232, including only 29 (on 14 plays) in the first half. The total offense output was the lowest by the Sooners in the series since 2002 when they gained 209 in a 35-24 loss and fewest yards overall since totaling 230 in a 27-24 loss at Colorado in 2007. The Sooners were also held to 1 of 11 (9.1 percent) on third-down conversions. That was the worst percentage by a Longhorn Big 12 opponent since Baylor was 1-for-11 in 2008.
• The Longhorns have combined for 21 sacks over the first six games and rank tied for 10th in the FBS (3.50 per game). Twelve players have been involved in a sack this season, including five with 2.0 or more. DT Malcom Brown and LB Steve Edmond share the team lead with 3.5 sacks apiece. Brown and Edmond rank tied for 79th in the FBS (0.58 per game). Baylor entered the Oct. 4 game as one of only two teams in the nation not to allow a sack (also New Mexico State) and the Longhorns took down Petty three times. The Bears had no sacks in their first 163 pass attempts of the season.
• QB Tyrone Swoopes has directed the offense the last five games, completing 106 of 177 passes (59.9 percent) for 1,068 yards with seven TDs and four interceptions. He posted career highs in completions (27), attempts (44), passing yards (334), total offense (384) and rushing yards (50) vs. Oklahoma. His passing yards and total offense outputs were the most ever by a Longhorn in the Oklahoma series. He was 7 of 13 for 99 yards and two TDs on third-down passing attempts vs. OU. Swoopes had his streak of consecutive passes without an interception snapped at 77 vs. Baylor. The streak ranks No. 10 on the UT all-time list.
• The Longhorns rolled up a season-high 482 total yards (148 rushing/334 passing) vs. Oklahoma and rank No. 107 in the FBS in total offense (346.3 ypg). The total yards output vs. OU was the second most in the series. The Horns racked up 553 total yards in a 37-27 win in 1999.
• Jaxon Shipley (38) and John Harris (31) are leading the team in receptions. They rank tied for fourth and 10th, respectively, in the Big 12 in catches. Malcolm Brown (324) and Johnathan Gray (321) are the top rushers. The Longhorns rushed for a season-high 190 yards and averaged a season-best 4.8 yards per carry vs. a Baylor defense which ranked No. 6 in the nation in rushing defense (80.0 ypg). The Longhorns followed up with 148 yards (40 attempts), including a season-high 78 by Brown and career-best 50 by Swoopes, vs. Oklahoma. The Sooners entered the game ranked No. 22 nationally in rushing defense, allowing 109.6 yards per contest.
Receiving Milestone: The Longhorns have 14 games in school history in which they have produced a pair of 100-yard receivers, but had their first occurrence of three players posting 90 or more receiving yards in the same game in Saturday's Oklahoma contest. Jaxon Shipley posted a career-high tying nine receptions for 115 receiving yards, Marcus Johnson had seven catches for 93 yards, and John Harris five receptions for 90 yards and two TDs.
Streaks, Trends and Milestones:
• John Harris had one TD reception in each of the first four games, becoming just the second player in school history to accomplish that feat. Jordan Shipley had at least one TD catch in the first eight games of 2008. Harris has gone on to post six receiving TDs, including two vs. Oklahoma, on the season to become just the fourth player in school history with at least six TD catches in the first six games. He is tied with Limas Sweed (2006) and Pat Fitzgerald (1995) and trails just Shipley's total of eight in 2008. Harris' TD streak of four straight games, snapped vs. Baylor, ranks tied for fifth in UT history. Shipley's streak in 2008 is also the school record for consecutive games with a TD catch.
• Texas has nine interceptions already this season after posting 10 all of 2013. That is the most for UT in the first six games since recording 10 in 2009. That year they finished with a national-best 25 interceptions. The Horns rank tied for 11th nationally in interceptions and tied for 45th in turnovers gained (11). Iowa State has turned the ball over just five times on the season (one fumble/four interceptions) and rank tied for seventh nationally in turnovers lost.
• Jaxon Shipley posted a career-high tying nine receptions for 115 receiving yards vs. Oklahoma. It marked his fifth career 100-yard receiving game and first of the season. He moved from eighth to seventh on the UT career receiving yards list (2,293), passing Kwame Cavil (2,279/1997-99).
• Duke Thomas had a career-high two interceptions in the win over Kansas. He was the first Longhorn with two picks in a game since Quandre Diggs vs. Ole Miss (Sept. 15, 2012).
• Hicks, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for his 15-tackle, one interception performance vs. Kansas, has a team-high 80 stops. He has averaged 14.4 tackles over the last five games, including a career-best 18 vs. UCLA. Steve Edmond is second with 72 stops, including a career-best 19 vs. Baylor. He is averaging 13.4 tackles over the last five contests.
• Safety Jason Hall made his first career start in the Kansas game and was credited with a career-high seven tackles. He became the first true freshman to start a game since Blake Gideon in 2008. Gideon started all 13 games at safety that season.
• Dominic Espinosa, who fractured an ankle in the season opener vs. North Texas, had his team-best 40 consecutive-game starting streak snapped vs. BYU. DE Cedric Reed, who has started 25 straight games, now has the team lead. TE Geoff Swaim has the most consecutive starts on offense with 11.
Last Time vs. Iowa State (Oct. 3, 2013): Case McCoy's 1-yard touchdown run on a quarterback sneak with 51 seconds left lifted Texas over Iowa State, 31-30. McCoy, who went 26 of 45 for 244 passing yards and a touchdown subbing for injured starter David Ash, led Texas on the game-winning 75-yard drive in a Thursday night contest that featured six lead changes. Johnathan Gray ran 16 times for 89 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown run. Iowa State's Sam Richardson passed for 262 yards and rushed for another 83, though he was sacked five times. Trailing 30-24 after the defense forced an ISU field goal, Texas got the ball back with less than four minutes left in the game. With the help of three penalties, including a pass interference one in the end zone, the Longhorns had a first-and-goal with less than 1:30 left. Gray had two cracks at punching the ball in the end zone from the 2-yard line. He gained 1 yard on the first attempt and appeared to fumble, but he was ruled down. Gray did fumble on the next play, but made the recovery after Jake Knott jarred the ball loose. Then on third-and-goal, McCoy plunged in from 1 yard out.
Holding Baylor's High-Powered Offense in Check: Baylor entered last week's game ranked No. 1 in the FBS in scoring (56.8 points per game), first in total offense (641.0 ypg) and fourth in passing offense (401.3 ypg) and the UT defense held the Bears well below those averages as they produced 389 yards of total offense, including 111 passing yards. It marked just the second time in the last 45 games that Baylor posted less than 400 yards of total offense (370 vs. TCU in 2013) and it was the lowest passing yards output by the Bears since the final game of the 2008 season (91 vs. Texas Tech). UT held Baylor's explosive plays to a minimum. The Bears had five runs of 12-plus yards and only three pass plays of 16 or more yards.
Directing the Offense: Sophomore Tyrone Swoopes has started the last five games at quarterback. Swoopes, who played in six games as a reserve in 2013, has capably directed the offense in the first starting action of his career, completing 106 of 177 passes (59.9 percent) for 1,068 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions. His 1,068 passing yards are the most by a Texas QB in the first five starts of their career dating back to 2003.
• Swoopes has thrown at least one touchdown pass in four of his five starts (Baylor) and completed better than 60 percent of his passes in three of five. He is coming off a game in which he set career highs in completions (27), attempts (44), passing yards (334), total offense (384) and rushing yards (50). After completing less than 50 percent of his passes (16 of 34) vs. Baylor, he rebounded to complete 61.4 percent. He was 7 of 13 for 99 yards and two TDs on third-down passing.
• In his starting debut vs. BYU, Swoopes was solid, completing 20-of-31 passes for 176 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He completed his first eight attempts of the game, and although he was unable to lead his first scoring drive until the third quarter, he showed promise. On the TD drive, Swoopes led a 13-play, 75-yard drive in which he went 6-of-6 for 53 yards, including a 13-yard TD to John Harris.
• In his second start, Swoopes went 24 of 34 for 196 yards and two TDs vs. UCLA. He again got off to a hot start, completing his first 11 passes, and was 11 of 13 for 104 yards and two TDs on Texas two touchdown drives. Swoopes made the first road start of his career and helped Texas win 23-0 at Kansas. He completed 19 of 34 passes for 218 yards and two TDs, along with a 7-yard rushing TD. Swoopes was 6-for-8 for 75 yards and one touchdown on third downs.
