The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
Football hits road to take on Iowa State
10.26.2015 | Football
Horns seek third straight win
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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas travels to Ames, Iowa, this weekend to take on the Iowa State Cyclones at 6 p.m. Saturday from Jack Trice Stadium. The game is set to be broadcast on FS1. The Longhorns look to continue their recent momentum and take care of business in a stadium on the road they have never lost in. The Longhorn IMG Radio Network broadcast, including flagship 104.9 FM in Austin, begins at 10:30 a.m. Listen on participating Longhorn Radio Network affiliates, including the Austin Radio Network. The game can also be heard online at TexasSports.com.
Quick Hits
• Saturday's game will be the 13th meeting between the Texas Longhorns and Iowa State Cyclones.
• Texas is coming off a 23-9 home win over Kansas State in a constant downpour of rain. Iowa State fell last week to No. 2/2 Baylor by the score of 45-27 in another rainy contest on the road just north of Austin in Waco, Texas.
• RB Johnathan Gray ran for a season-high 103 yards against K-State, moving into 13th all-time in Texas history for his career with 2,497 yards.
• QB Tyrone Swoopes came off the bench at times to run the "18 Wheeler" package and scored three rushing TD's.
Scouting the Cyclones
• The Cyclones welcome Texas to a recently renovated Jack Trice Stadium. The Iowa State Athletics Department completed the fourth stage of its renovations this summer, adding permanent seating and club seating to the south end zone.
• Iowa State has one of the top defenders in the nation in Dale Pierson. The senior DE has 6.5 sacks on the year and ranks No. 2 in the country in sacks per game. He trails only Oklahoma State's Emmanuel Ogbah for the conference lead. His 10.0 tackles for loss also rank him in the Top 25 in the nation.
• The Cyclones have one of the top punt return teams in the country. Iowa State averages 17.8 yards on punt returns to rank No. 8 in the FBS. Allen Lazard averages 16.9 yards individually and is No. 5 in the nation and leads the Big 12.
• Iowa State is 2-2 at home this season.
• The Cyclones are 2-5 on the year and close to being 3-4. In Week 3, Iowa State lost on the road to Toledo in double-overtime by the final of 30-23. After exchanging field goals in the first overtime, Iowa State could not match Toledo's touchdown in the second go around. Toledo remains undefeated and ranks No. 20 in both major polls this week.
Series History
• Texas leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 11-1, and has never lost on the road at Iowa State.
• The Longhorns' lone loss to the Cyclones came in 2010 when Iowa State bested Texas, 28-21, in Austin.
• Texas posted has won the last four contests against Iowa State by an average of 13.3 points, but the last two meetings have been decided by a total of four points.
• In its last trip to Ames, Iowa, Texas held off the Cyclones in a 31-30 victory. Case McCoy led the Longhorns on a game-winning touchdown drive over the final two minutes to go up 31-30 with 51 seconds left.
Last Meeting
• Last year, Texas defeated Iowa State 48-45 after rallying in the fourth quarter.
• The two teams combined for 31 points in the fourth quarter, 17 of them over the last two minutes.
• After Texas scored a touchdown to go up 45-38 with 1:19 remaining, Iowa State made quick work of tying the game with a 6-play, 75-yard drive in just 51 seconds to tie it up 45-45.
• With only 22 seconds left on the clock, Texas responded with strikes from Tyrone Swoopes to Jaxon Shipley for 39 yards then to John Harris for 29 yards to the 4-yard line.
• K Nick Rose kicked the game-winning 21-yard field goal with three seconds left.
Defensive Improvement
• One primary key to UT's current two-game win streak has been the improved play of its defense. Through the first five games (1-4 record), the Longhorns had allowed their opponents to average 38.2 points per contest and 507.2 yards of total offense per game (6.2 yards per play).
• In the last two games, UT has surrendered just 13.0 points per game and 260.0 yards per game (4.1 yards per play).
• Texas held K-State (Oct. 24) to nine points and 242 yards of total offense (4.0 yards per play). The Horns limited the Wildcats to 15 first downs, 107 yards passing and 135 yards rushing (3.6 yards per rush). Texas also recorded five quarterback sacks and held K-State to 4-of-14 on third-down conversions.
• UT limited Oklahoma (Oct. 10) to a season-low 17 points and 278 yards of total offense (4.3 yards per play). Oklahoma had just 15 total yards in the first quarter and 85 in the first half. The Horns limited Oklahoma to 67 yards rushing (1.8 yards per rush) and 211 yards passing. Texas also recorded six quarterback sacks and held Oklahoma to 3-of-12 on third-down conversions.
• Prior to the Oklahoma game, the last time Texas held a team under 100 yards rushing was Nov. 15, 2014 when Oklahoma State had 34 yards.
Frontal Force
• Part of the recent success for UT's defense has been its ability to create pressure with its front seven.
• Texas registered six sacks in the win over the Sooners, one shy of the team's season total leading into the game and followed it with five sacks against Kansas State.
• Texas had a total of eight tackles for loss against both OU and K-State.
• Freshman LB Malik Jefferson has 2.5 of those sacks over the last two games, while DT Bryce Cottrell has 3.0 tackles for loss over that span.
Running Game Turnaround
• Texas has been a dominant running team in each of its last two contests, averaging 293.5 yards rushing per game in the wins against Oklahoma and K-State.
• The Longhorns recorded 274 yards rushing on 53 carries (5.2 yards per rush) in the 23-9 victory against K-State (Oct. 24).
• Texas posted a season-high 313 yards rushing on 58 carries (5.4 yards per rush) in the 24-17 win against Oklahoma (Oct. 10). It marked the first time since the 2013 season opener against New Mexico (359 yards) that the Horns had eclipsed the 300-yard rushing mark as a team. UT also had two 100-yard rushers (D'Onta Foreman with 117 and Jerrod Heard with 115) for the first time since a home win against Texas Tech on Nov. 28, 2013.
No Gray Area
• Senior RB Johnathan Gray is climbing up the all-time lists at Texas. With a long history of legendary running backs for the Longhorns, Gray could move into the top 10 in yards soon.
• Gray needs just 168 yards to move ahead of Hodges Mitchell for 10th in school history. He is currently 13th and less than 15 yards from surpassing Jim Bertelsen for No. 12 on the list.
• Against K-State on Oct. 24, Gray tallied 103 yards on 18 carries. It marked his first 100-yard game of the season and the sixth of his career.
• Against Cal on Sept. 19, Gray had just 46 yards rushing but made an impact on the passing game as well with a career-high 71 yards receiving.
• He currently has five receptions for 79 yards. If he maintains that current pace of contributing to the passing game, he could crack the Texas all-time Top 10 for receptions and receiving yards in a season by a running back. He also is approaching the Top Five in school history in those two categories for a career by running backs.
Roll on 18 Wheeler
• Junior QB Tyrone Swoopes may no longer be the starter but he is still contributing to the team in a significant way thanks to the "18 Wheeler" package installed by the coaching staff.
• Swoopes has come in to spell Jerrod Heard in short-yardage situations and the team has seen great success in both the running and passing game.
• Against Kansas State, Swoopes scored three rushing TD's to help carry the team to a 23-9 victory. He represented all 52 yards in the game-clinching drive with carries of 13, 29 and 10 yards on consecutive plays to punch it in.
• Since installing the package for the Oklahoma State game (Sept. 26), Swoopes has amassed 99 yards on 19 carries for an average of 5.2 per rush. He has scored 5 TD's in the package running and thrown one TD pass during the Oklahoma game (Oct. 10) to also help seal that victory. He also threw a TD pass at TCU (Oct. 3) but not as part of the "18 Wheeler" package.
Fuel Efficiency
• The efficiency of the "18 Wheeler" can be seen in Swoopes' ability to move the chains or score.
^ Against Oklahoma State, all three of his carries resulted in a first down or a touchdown.
^ Two of his four carries against Oklahoma resulted in a first down or touchdown, plus the TD pass
^ Against K-State, in addition to his three TD's, three more of Swoopes' seven total carries moved the chains with first downs. Two of those first-down gains were of 13 and 29 yards.
Punter Down Under
• Freshman punter Michael Dickson hails from Australia. He is part of a recent surge in kicking specialists from the nation over recent years in college football.
• In his first year playing American Football rather than Australian Rules Football, Dickson is averaging 40.0 yards per punt on his 45 attempts through seven contests with a season-long of 59 yards.
• On Saturday against Kansas State, Dickson had a game-saving effort early in the fourth quarter to preserve UT's home win. With 4th-and-19 at the K-State 41-yard line, the snap sailed over his head and he recovered to make a running scoop and kick all the way back at the UT 32-yard line while being chased by defenders. The ball took a Texas bounce and was downed at the 8-yard line. The final result: a 33-yard punt that pinned K-State deep in its own territory (instead of allowing K-State to take over deep in Texas' end of the field).
• Dickson had two more impressive punts in the decisive fourth quarter against K-State. He had a 45-yard effort that should have been downed inside the 5-yard line but was misplayed by UT's punt coverage unit and bounced into the end zone for a touchback. Then with just over 4:30 remaining in the game and the ball at the UT 29-yard line, Dickson boomed a 51-yard punt that pinned the Wildcats' back at their 20-yard line.
• In total, 11 of Dickson's punts have been 50 yards or longer, and he's placed 11 of his punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line (with only three touchbacks) for some impressive percentages.
• When Dickson's punts are returnable, the Texas punt coverage teams ranks among the best in the nation as the Longhorns are only allowing 2.8 yards per punt return to rank No. 10 in the FBS and No. 2 in the Big 12.
