Football takes on Kansas Saturday in Lawrence

Saturday, November 19

Lawrence, Kan.

2:30 p.m.

University of Texas

Kansas

11.14.2016 | Football

Texas (5-5, 3-4) will look to become bowl eligible with a victory against the Jayhawks this weekend.

Texas game notes | Kansas game notes | Big 12 notes

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The Opening Kickoff
The University of Texas Longhorns head back on the road for their final regular season game away from Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium when they travel to Lawrence, Kan. for a showdown with the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday (Nov. 19) afternoon. Kickoff at KU's Memorial Stadium has been set for 2:30 p.m. Texas enters the week 5-5 overall, coming off a 24-20 loss to No. 11/10 West Virginia on Saturday in Austin. The Longhorns are 3-4 in the Big 12 Conference. Kansas comes into Saturday's game with a record of 1-9 on the year, having lost nine consecutive games since a season opening win over Rhode Island. The Jayhawks were defeated at home Saturday by Iowa State, 31-24.

National Game Coverage
• TELEVISION: The game can be watched on ABC with a reverse mirror on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will call the play-by-play action and Mike Bellotti will be the color analyst. Kris Budden will report from the field.
• TELEVISION: Longhorn Network coverage will begin two hours prior to kickoff on Saturday afternoon for Texas GameDay. Following the game, LHN will have coverage with Texas GameDay Final.
• RADIO: The Longhorn IMG Radio Network will broadcast Saturday's game across the network. A full listing of local stations can be found on page 13 of this week's notes. Craig Way will call the action with Roger Wallace joining him in the booth. Longhorn legend Quan Cosby will report from the sidelines. The Longhorns' broadcast can also be heard nationally on Sirius channel 81, XM channel 81 and online channel 81.
• SPANISH RADIO: The Longhorn IMG Radio Network offers Cadena Deportiva, a Spanish language radio broadcast of Texas Football games. Join Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva and Jesus Mendoza for the call on 97.1 FM in Austin.

The All-Time Series
• Saturday's game will be the 16th all-time matchup between the Longhorns and Jayhawks.
• Texas has won 13 consecutive in the series and is 13-2 all-time.
• UT is 6-2 all-time in Lawrence.
• Last season, Texas defeated Kansas 59-20 in Austin.

A Texas Win Would ...
• Improve the Longhorns' record to 6-5 on the season and make UT bowl eligible for the 54th time in school history
• Make Texas 4-4 overall in the Big 12 Conference
• Stretch UT's winning streak to 14 straight games over Kansas and seven straight in Lawrence
• Be the Longhorns' second consecutive win on the road in conference play
• Mark Texas' 892nd win in program history

Head Coach Charlie Strong
• Charlie Strong is in the middle of the his third season as the head coach at Texas, compiling a record of 16-19 since coming to the 40 Acres.
• He is in his seventh season overall as a head coach, with a career mark of 53-35. He spent the four years prior to Texas at Louisville.
• This season, 20 players have made their first career start under Strong, while six true freshmen have started a game. The 20 players to make their first career start is tied for seventh-most in the country, while the six true freshmen to start is tied for the second-most nationally.

Defense Under Charlie Strong
• Since Charlie Strong took over defensive play-calling duties, Texas has turned up the defensive pressure.
• The Longhorns have held each of their last five opponents under their season scoring average entering the game.
• After allowing 477.2 yards per game and 6.38 yards per play in the first five games, the defense has vastly improved in the last five games allowing 434.8 yards per game and just 5.03 yards per play.
• The Longhorns' defense has forced 12 turnovers the last five games and has registered 21 sacks and 45 tackles for loss.
• On Saturday against No. 11/10 West Virginia, the Longhorns held the Mountaineers to 383 total yards, 127 yards below their season average.
• The week before that, UT's defense held Texas Tech to just 482 yards on 100 plays (4.82 ypp). It was 118 yards and 2.05 yards per play below their season average.

A Young Nucleus
• After playing 17 true freshmen while starting a school-record 10 a season ago, Texas has played 15 with six making a start this season.
• Last season, the 10 true freshmen who started a game combined to make 66 starts. This season, the six true freshmen to start a game have combined to make 26 starts. Over the last two seasons, Texas' 16 true freshmen to start a game are the most nationally.
• Players currently in UT's freshman and sophomore classes have combined to make 195 career starts (97 on offense; 98 on defense).
• This season, Texas' freshman and sophomore classes have combined for 120 starts, the most nationally.

The Freshman Difference
• A total of 15 true freshmen have made their debuts in the burnt orange and white so far this season.
• Ten true freshmen debuted in the season opener against Notre Dame, four saw action for the first time against UTEP and one more against Oklahoma State.
• So far, QB Shane Buechele has started all 10 games, C Zach Shackelford has started nine, FOX Malcolm Roach has started three, WR Devin Duvernay has started two, S Brandon Jones has made one start and WR Collin Johnson started his first career game Saturday against WVU.
• Other Longhorn freshmen to debut thus far are: DL D'Andre Christmas, OL Jean Delance, DL Jordan Elliott, LB Erick Fowler, WR Lil'Jordan Humphrey, LB Jeffrey McCulloch, OL Denzel Okafor, RB Kyle Porter and DT Gerald Wilbon.

The Offensive Turnaround
• First-year offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert was brought to Texas to reinvigorate the Longhorns offense and install his up-tempo system on the 40 Acres.
• Through 10 games, Texas' offensive numbers are up across the board. In most categories, the Longhorns have improved by a significant margin over each of the last two seasons.
• The Longhorns are averaging 35.3 points per game which is ranked 34th in the country. 35.3 ppg represents more than a 10-point improvement over each of the last two seasons.
• Texas is 14th in total offense averaging 508.5 yards per game. A season ago at this time, UT was averaging 367.5 yards per game.
• UT averages 264.1 passing yards per game (38th) and 244.4 rushing yards per game (16th).
• Texas has run 824 plays through 10 games and converted 260 first downs. A season ago, the Longhorns ran just 781 plays in their 12 games and converted 202 first downs.

Balanced Offensive Attack
• Texas enters Saturday's game as one of just four teams nationally to be averaging 500 yards of total offense, at least 260 yards passing and 225 yards rushing.
• The Longhorns are ranked 14th in total offense (508.5), 16th in rushing offense (244.4) and 38th in passing offense (264.1).

500 Yards Of Total Offense
• With their 536 yards on Saturday against No. 11/10 West Virginia, Texas set a new school record with their seventh 500-yard performance of the season.
• UT totaled a season-best 658 yards of total offense two weeks ago at Texas Tech. It was the sixth-most in a game in school history.
• In the two seasons prior, Texas had 500 yards of total offense just three times.

Prolific Rushing Attack
• Texas totaled 414 yards rushing at Texas Tech behind D'Onta Foreman's 341-yard effort. It was the first 400-yard game since Texas Tech last season.
• Prior to last season's game against Texas Tech, UT had not registered 400 yards of rushing since totaling 439 on Nov. 5, 2011, also against Texas Tech.
• The game prior in 2011, UT rushed for 441 yards against Kansas. Before that, it had been since 2005 against Louisiana-Lafayette that they had reached the 400-yard mark.
• This year's game was just the eighth 400-yard performance since 1980.

300 Yards Rushing
• Texas has totaled three games this season of more than 300 yards rushing. They have not had at least three since 2007 and haven't had more than three since totaling six in 2005.
• Besides UT's 414 yards on the ground at Texas Tech, the Longhorns offense also racked up 329 at Oklahoma State (Oct.1) and 307 at California (Sept. 17).
• The back-to-back 300-yard performances marked the first time since the 2011 season that a Texas team had rushed for at least 300 yards in consecutive games.

#HEISforeMAN
• Junior running back D'Onta Foreman has put himself on the map for both the Doak Walker Award and Heisman Trophy over the last three weeks.
• Foreman leads the nation averaging 179.2 yards per game on the ground. His 1,613 rushing yards are second in the nation behind only San Diego State's Donnel Pumphrey, who has rushed for 1,779 yards in 10 games.
• Foreman, through just nine games, already ranks sixth in school history for rushing yards in a single season. His 1,613 yards are the second-most through nine games in UT's history behind Ricky Williams.

Historic Three-Game Stretch
• Over his last three games, Foreman has rushed for 758 yards, the second-best stretch in school history. He rushed for 341 yards at Texas Tech, 250 against Baylor and 167 Saturday versus West Virginia.

He Is The 100-Yard Man
• Foreman has rushed for 100 yards or more in 11 straight games, tying Earl Campbell's school record set in 1977. His 11 straight 100-yard games leads the nation.
• Foreman has surpassed 100 yards in all nine games this season which is the fourth-most in school history. Campbell holds that record with 11 in a season, while both Ricky Williams (1998) and Cedric Benson (2004) had 10. He has 13 career 100-yard games, sixth-most in school history.
• During his 11-game streak, Foreman has rushed for 1,917 yards on 271 attempts (7.07 ypc). He has scored 16 touchdowns, including six games with at least two.

Foreman Snaps 1,000 Yard Drought
• D'onta Foreman became the first Texas Longhorn since Jamaal Charles in 2007 to rush for 1,000 yards in a season when he surpassed the mark against Baylor.
• He is the 23rd player in school history to reach the milestone.
• Foreman snaps a nine-year drought for Texas, the longest in school history since the program's first 1,000-yard rusher in 1966.

Foreman Career Notables
• Foreman enters Saturday's game at Kansas with 2,367 career rushing yards, good for 15th-most in school history. Earlier this season, he became the 50th player to surpass 1,000 career yards and just the 19th player to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark.
• He has done his damage on just 348 career carries, good for an average of 6.8 yards per carry. That mark is tied with QB Vince Young for the best in school history.

Foreman Season Notable Games
• Foreman has rushed for more than 150 yards in five games this season, including three straight. He leads the nation averaging 179.2 yards per game and ranks fifth at 187.7 all-purpose yards per game.
• At Texas Tech, he rushed for 341 yards and three touchdowns, both new career highs. His 341 yards were the third-most in school history and the most in the nation this season.
• Against Baylor, Foreman rushed for 250 yards and two touchdowns. That was the second-most in school history against an AP ranked team.
• He became the first player at Texas since Hodges Mitchell in 2000 with 200 yards rushing in back-to-back games.

Foreman Against The Big 12
• In six Big 12 Conference games, Foreman has rushed 196 times for 1,325 yards (6.8 ypc) and 10 touchdowns.
• He has carried the ball at least 30 times in four games, setting a new career high each time with 30, 32, 33 and 35 attempts against ISU, Baylor, TTU and WVU respectively.
• He is averaging 189.3 yards per game in seven games against Big 12 foes this season.
• Foreman's lowest output of the season was 124 yards against Kansas State, who owns the 10th-best rushing defense nationally.

Foreman's Seven-Game TD Streak
• Prior to playing at Kansas State, D'Onta Foreman had rushed for a touchdown in seven consecutive games.
• During that seven-game span, he registered a career-high two touchdowns on the ground four different times.
• Foreman is one of 10 players in school history with a rushing touchdown in at least seven consecutive games.
• He has bounced back nicely, however, rushing for five touchdowns over the past three games.

Buechele Making History
• True freshman quarterback Shane Buechele has made history early in his career at Texas.
• He became the first true freshman QB in school history to start the first two games of his career and was just the second ever to start the season opener, joining Bobby Layne in 1944.
• His 10 starts are the most ever by a true freshman QB and his five wins are tied with Bobby Layne (1944) for the most ever.
• He has completed 203-of-326 (62.3 %) passes for 2,575 yards and 20 touchdowns.
• His 2,575 yards are the most ever by a freshman in school history, while his 20 touchdown passes are the second-most (Colt McCoy, 29).
• His 20 touchdown passes are the 12th-most for a career in Texas' 124-year history.
• Buechele reached the 1,000-yard mark in game five, the fastest freshman to ever reach the mark at UT.
• He reached the 2,000-yard mark in eight games, tied for second-fastest in school history.
• Against UTEP, Buechele passed for a true freshman-record four touchdowns.
• Buechele's 245 passing yards against Oklahoma were the third-most by a UT freshman in the game (293, Major Applewhite, 1998; 263, Shea Morenz, 1993) and most by a true freshman.
• His three passing touchdowns against the Sooners are tied for the most ever by a Longhorn in the Red River Showdown. Vince Young (2005) was the last to do so.
• Buechele has passed for at least 200 yards in nine games so far, including a career-high 318 yards Saturday against West Virginia.
• He has a touchdown pass in all 10 games this season and has had multiple TD passes in seven.
• His 2,575 passing yards this season are second among all freshmen nationally, while his 20 TD passes are the most among freshmen ranked inside the top 50 for passing.

The Freshman Connection
• WR Collin Johnson and QB Shane Buechele were two of the four freshmen to enroll early for Texas this past spring. • Their bond has paid off recently, as Buechele has found Johnson for three touchdowns in the last two games.
• The two TDs at Texas Tech were the first two of Johnson's career. Both capped off 9-play, 75-yard, 2:32 drives. The first one was from 16 yards out while the second was from nine yards.
• Johnson had four catches for 47 yards total in the game.
• He was just the sixth UT freshman with two TD catches in a game and the first since 2008.
• Against West Virginia, Johnson caught seven passes for 68 yards, both career highs. He also had a 20-yard TD grab in that one.
• Johnson's three TD catches are tied for second-most in school history among freshmen.

Spreading The Ball Around
• Through 10 games, UT has eight receivers with at least 16 receptions.
• The Longhorns have eight players with at least 200 yards receiving and six with more than 250.
• Eight Longhorns have found the end zone so far this season and five are tied for the team lead with three touchdown grabs.

Leonard Has Career Day
• Dorian Leonard continued his breakout season on Saturday against No. 11/10 West Virginia, catching seven passes for 125 yards. He set new career highs for both receptions and yards.
• Leonard became just the third Longhorn this season with 100 yards receiving in a game.
• The junior receiver is tied for third on the team with 24 receptions so far. He has 370 yards, second-most on the team. Leonard has averaged over 15 yards per catch.
• Prior to the 2016 season, he had just one career catch for seven yards.

Swoopes Nearing Historic Mark
• Senior quarterback Tyrone Swoopes became just the 13th player in school history to eclipse the 3,000 career passing yards mark in week three against Cal. Swoopes has now passed for 3,038 yards in his career.
• Additionally, he is just 48 rushing yards shy of 1,000 career yards. Swoopes could join Colt McCoy and Vince Young as the only three quarterbacks in school history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for at least 1,000 in a career.
• Swoopes is looking to become just the sixth QB in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in their career.

Did You Know?
• Texas ran 100 plays on Saturday against WVU. The school record for plays in a game is 101.

First Time Starters, Players
• Besides true freshmen, 14 players have made their first career starts so far: RG Alex Anderson (UTEP), CB Kris Boyd (Oklahoma), LB Edwin Freeman (Baylor), CB Sheroid Evans (ND), RB D'Onta Foreman (ND), RT Brandon Hodges (ND), WR Dorian Leonard (Iowa State), OL Jake McMillon (Oklahoma State), DT Chris Nelson (ND), WR Jake Oliver (Oklahoma State), DE Charles Omenihu (ND), LT Elijah Rodriguez (UTEP), SS Kevin Vaccaro (UTEP) and WR Jacorey Warrick (ND).
• An additional 12 players have made their first career appearance: K Mitchell Becker (ND), K Trent Domingue (ND), OL Garrett Graf (UTEP), WR Garrett Gray (Baylor), DS Jak Holbrook (ND), RB Tristian Houston (UTEP), DL Alex Mercado (UTEP), DL Patrick Ojeaga (UTEP), OL Garrett Thomas (UTEP), LB Cameron Townsend (UTEP), LB Johnny Tseng (UTEP) and TE Michael Wilson (ND).

Dickson A Threat For Longhorns
• Sydney, Australia native Michael Dickson has turned into a major threat for the Longhorns in his sophomore season. He enters Saturday's game ranked third in the nation and first in the Big 12 Conference averaging 47.8 yards per punt.
• Dickson has punted 49 times in 10 games for a total of 2,344 yards. Of his 49 punts, 21 have been more than 50 yards and 20 have been downed inside the 20.
• In total, 16 of his punts have been returned, for an average of 6.1 yards per return.
• As a team, Texas is first in the Big 12 and seventh nationally with a 42.0 net punting average.
• Against Notre Dame, Dickson set a new career long with a punt of 64 yards, and also a new career high and school record with his 55.0 yards per punt average. His five punts of more than 50 yards were also a new career high.
• Against Baylor, Dickson matched his career high with five punts of more than 50 yards. His long in the game was a 63-yarder, while he averaged 52.7 yards (fourth-best in school history) on his six attempts.
• In their win over Texas Tech, Dickson punted five times averaging 51.0 yards per punt (eighth-best in school history). He had two 60-yard punts and two downed inside the 10.
• Against WVU he punted four times. While three were returned, the combined return yardage was minus-3.

Haines Has A Nose For The Ball
• Senior safety Dylan Haines has registered four interceptions this season for the Longhorns, good for 16th-most nationally.
• He recorded two interceptions in the Red River Showdown against Oklahoma. They were the Longhorns' first two interceptions of the season.
• He twice intercepted WVU quarterback Skyler Howard for his second multi-interception game of the season.
• Haines now has 13 career interceptions which he has returned for a combined 238 yards. His 13 career interceptions are tied with Chris Carter, Stanley Richard, Johnnie Johnson and Bobby Dillon for fifth-most in school history. His 238 interception return yards are second-most in school history.

Forcing Turnovers
• After forcing just one turnover in the first four games of the season, the Longhorns have flipped the script by forcing 16 turnovers in the last six games.
• UT has forced multiple turnovers in five of six games.
• Against WVU, the Longhorns were the benefactors of three interceptions - two from Haines and one from P.J. Locke. Kris Boyd also forced and recovered a WVU fumble.

Enc'ROACH'ing On The Quarterback
• True freshman Malcolm Roach has shown a knack for getting to the quarterback so far this season. He recorded his third sack of the season on Saturday, which moved him into a tie for 10th all-time among UT freshmen.
• In that game against WVU, Roach recorded a seven tackles and three tackles for loss, both career highs.
• So far this season, Roach has played in all 10 games and started three. He has 28 tackles, six tackles for loss and three sacks.

Horns Hosting A Block Party
• So far in 2016, Longhorns' special teams have come up with five blocked kicks (two punts, two PAT, one field goal), tied for second-most in the country. Texas did not have a blocked kick in each of Charlie Strong's first two seasons
• With two blocked PATs this season (OSU, TTU) Poona Ford became just the third Longhorn since 2003 with multiple blocked PATs in the same season joining Chris Whaley in 2012 and Marcus Tubbs in 2003. The two blocks also tie 2012 for most by a team in a single season since 2003 when five were blocked.
• True freshman Brandon Jones blocked a punt in back-to-back games against UTEP and California. He was the first Longhorn since Mykkele Thompson in 2012 to block a punt in consecutive games and only the fourth player at Texas since blocked kicks became an official stat in 1975.
• Jones' punt block against UTEP was the first blocked punt for Texas since Carrington Byndom did so vs. Texas Tech on Nov. 3, 2012.
• Jones is just the 12th player in school history to block multiple punts in the same season. The school record is four, owned by Aaron Williams (2008), Michael Griffin (2005) and Terrol Dillon (1999).
• Both punt blocks have led to points, as the block against UTEP led to a FG while against Cal it resulted in a safety.
• Junior Naashon Hughes blocked a Notre Dame field goal late in the third quarter of that game, as the Fighting Irish attempted to mount a comeback. The Longhorns eventually won in double-overtime, 50-47. For Texas, Hughes' field goal block was the first in the last 30 games. Jackson Jeffcoat was the last to block a field goal when he did so against Kansas on Nov. 2, 2013.

LOCKE-ing Up
• Sophomore P.J. Locke has been part of the Longhorns' resurgence on defense during the second half of the season. The nickelback recorded his second interception of the season Saturday against WVU.
• Locke registered four tackles and a TFL to go along with his INT against the Mountaineers.
• For the season, Locke has started seven games and recorded 27 tackles. He has two TFLs, a sack, two interceptions, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

Freeman Taking Advantage
• Over the last four games, Edwin Freeman has totaled 25 tackles, four tackles for loss, a forced fumble and an interception.
• Freeman set a career high with eight tackles against West Virginia.
• He made his first career start against Baylor and has started each of the last three games.

Hager Running Wild
• Sophomore FOX Breckyn Hager has been a catalyst for the Longhorns defense this season. He has played in all 10 games, making four starts.
• Hager has totaled 50 tackles, which is the third-most on the team. He has a team-high nine tackles for loss and five sacks.
• He has added a pass breakup and forced fumble.

Duvernay An Explosive Threat
• True freshman wide receiver Devin Duvernay has burst onto the scene recently, totaling 14 receptions for 313 yards and three touchdowns in his last six games.
• In total, the first-year player from Sachse, Texas has caught 16 passes for 329 yards. He is also tied for the team lead with three touchdown receptions.
• Duvernay leads the Longhorns averaging 20.6 yards per reception, while his three touchdown receptions are averaging 72.7 yards per catch.