The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
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Kansas
Football hosts Kansas Saturday for Veterans Day
11.06.2017 | Football
The Longhorns will honor veterans with many special recognitions throughout the game.
Texas game notes
The Opening Kickoff
• Texas Football returns home on Saturday for a Veterans Day game against the Kansas Jayhawks. Kickoff is set for 5:05 p.m. inside of Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium.
• The Longhorns enter the game at 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big 12 Conference. UT lost 24-7 at No. 10/12 TCU last weekend. Texas is 2-1 at home in conference play and 3-2 overall at home in 2017.
• The Jayhawks enter at 1-8 overall and on an eight-game losing streak. They lost to Baylor last weekend at home, which dropped them to 0-6 in conference play.
National Game Coverage
• Saturday's game will kickoff at 5:05 p.m. CT and is set to air on Longhorn Network. Lowell Galindo (play-by-play), Ahmad Brooks (analysis) and Kris Budden (sideline) will call the action.
• Longhorn Network's Texas GameDay show begins two hours prior to kickoff. Following the game, LHN will also host Texas GameDay Final with interviews and analysis.
• A Longhorn IMG Radio Network broadcast with Craig Way, Roger Wallace and Quan Cosby can be heard nationally on Sirius channel 132, XM channel 199 and online channel 953.
At The Game...
• Texas Football will recognize Veterans Day with unique stickers on their helmets. The Longhorns' helmets will each honor various active duty military who have gone to UT with both a sticker recognizing the branch of military they are currently serving, as well as their first initial and last name.
• The Army Golden Knights Parachute Team will enter the stadium from above during pregame festivities.
• There will be an F-16 flyover from the Texas Air National Guard 149th Fighter Wing.
• Honorary captains will be: Ahmard Hall, Frank Denius, Nate Boyer and U.S. Army Sgt. Jason Castille.
Veterans Of The Game
• U.S. Army Sgt. James Moriarty (UT grad) and Sgt. Matthew Lewellen (attended KU) will be honored posthumously as the Veterans of the Game. They will be represented during the coin toss by their fathers Jim Moriarty and Chuck Lewellen.
The All-Time Series
• Texas and Kansas meet for the 17th time on Saturday, including the eighth meeting in Austin. UT is 7-0 all-time at home versus KU.
• The Longhorns own a 13-3 advantage over the Jayhawks, having won 13 straight from 1996-2015.
• Kansas won last year's matchup in Lawrence, 24-21, in overtime.
• Tom Herman has never faced Kansas while David Beaty is 1-1 in his career against the Longhorns.
A Dominant Defense
• The Longhorns' defense has put up incredible numbers over the last eight games, including during the first six games against Big 12 Conference opponents.
• After allowing 51 points in the season opener, Texas is allowing just 17.6 points per game over the last eight, which includes three overtime games (two double overtime). UT is ranked 34th nationally in scoring defense (21.3).
• The UT defense has held eight straight opponents under their season averages in both total offense and rushing offense. The Longhorns are allowing just 364.7 total yards per game in Big 12 Conference play and rank 43rd in total defense nationally (367.7).
• The dynamic defense has started up front with stopping the run, as the Longhorns are allowing just 98.9 rushing yards per game over the last eight games, while holding four opponents under 100 yards.
• The Longhorns rank sixth nationally in third-down defense (.265), fourth nationally in fourth-down defense (.250) and are first nationally with five defensive touchdowns scored.
2007 Rice Football Reunion
• Saturday's game will be a reunion of sorts for the 2007 Rice Football coaching staff.
• Tom Herman was the Owls' offensive coordinator that year while KU head coach David Beaty coached the receivers.
• Craig Naivar (co-DC/safeties), Jason Washington (CB), Derek Warehime (GA) and strength & conditioning coaches Yancy McKnight, Scott McLafferty and Clayton Oyster were also on staff.
Head Coach Tom Herman
• Tom Herman is in his first season at Texas and his third season overall as a head coach. He is 4-5 thus far at UT and 26-9 overall as a head coach.
• In just three seasons, Herman has guided his teams to a record of 6-4 against Top 25 opponents, 3-3 against Top 10 foes and 2-1 record against teams inside the Top 5.
• Herman led Houston to a 13-1 record and a win in the Peach Bowl during his first season. He was just the fourth head coach in NCAA history with at least 13 wins in a rookie season (Chris Petersen, George Woodruff, Walter Camp) and just the fifth to win the first 10 games of his career (Petersen, Woodruff, Camp and Larry Coker).
Texas' Tough Schedule
• Last Saturday's game at TCU marked the fourth time this season that the Longhorns have played a Top 12 team, with three of those being on the road.
• Over the last seven games, Texas has played at No. 4/4 USC (now No. 15/14) in a double-overtime loss to the Trojans, at Iowa State (now No. 24/23) in a Thursday night win, vs. No. 12/12 Oklahoma (now No. 5/7) in a 29-24 loss in the AT&T Red River Showdown, No. 10/11 Oklahoma State (now No. 12/15) in an overtime loss at home and at No. 10/12 TCU (now No. 8/9).
• The Longhorns have also defeated K-State (home) (double overtime) and Baylor (away) in that stretch.
• After a home game against Kansas Saturday, the Longhorns travel to play at No. 23 West Virginia.
First Time Starters
• Thirteen Longhorns have made their first career start through the first nine games of the season: TE Cade Brewer (Oklahoma), RB Toneil Carter (Iowa State), OL Terrell Cuney (K-State), QB Sam Ehlinger (SJSU), TE Garrett Gray (Maryland), WR Reggie Hemphill-Mapps (K-State), WR Lil'Jordan Humphrey (Maryland), LB Gary Johnson (K-State), OL Derek Kerstetter (Iowa State), TE Kendall Moore (SJSU), OL Denzel Okafor (K-State), RB Kyle Porter (Maryland) and RB Daniel Young (TCU).
First Time Players
• 24 Longhorns have made their first career appearances so far in 2017. Eight true freshmen (marked *) and seven redshirt freshmen (marked ^) have debuted.
• Maryland: LB Marqez Bimage*, TE Cade Brewer*, LB Demarco Boyd^, DL Jamari Chisholm, DL Ta'Quon Graham*, WR Reggie Hemphill-Mapps^, OL Patrick Hudson^, LB Gary Johnson, K Joshua Rowland, DS Kaleb Smith, DB Josh Thompson* and RB Daniel Young*
• San Jose State: OL Austin Allsup, RB Toneil Carter*, QB Josh Covey, DB Jarmarquis Durst, QB Sam Ehlinger*, TE Kendall Moore and OL J.P. Urquidez^
• USC: DB Chris Brown^
• Iowa State: OL Derek Kerstetter*
• Baylor: WR Davion Curtis^, DB Donovan Duvernay^, WR Philipp Moeller
Youth Is Served
• Texas' youth has shined through in the starting lineup this season. UT's last two recruiting classes (true/redshirt freshmen and true sophomores) have combined to make 60 starts this season, including 49 on the offensive side of the ball.
• At QB, true freshman Sam Ehlinger has five starts, while true sophomore Shane Buechele has four.
• At RB, true sophomore Kyle Porter has three starts, while true freshmen Toneil Carter (2) and Daniel Young (1) have also picked up starts.
• At WR, true sophomores Collin Johnson and Lil'Jordan Humphrey have six apiece, redshirt freshman Reggie Hemphill-Mapps has two and true sophomore Devin Duvernay has one.
• True freshman TE Cade Brewer has three starts.
• On the offensive line, true sophomore Zach Shackelford has started six games at center, true freshman Derek Kerstetter has started six games at right tackle and true sophomore Denzel Okafor has started four at left tackle.
• On defense, true sophomore Brandon Jones has started all nine games at safety while true sophomore Malcolm Roach has started two at DE.
Forcing Turnovers
• Texas forced three turnovers for the second time this season in the win over Baylor. The Longhorns had two fumble recoveries and an interception.
• Through nine games in 2017, Texas has come up with 14 turnovers (10 interceptions, four fumble recoveries).
• Texas' turnover margin this season is plus-three.
Getting Off The Field
• The Texas defense has been successful at getting the opponents' offense off the field this season and limiting their opportunities to score points.
• The Longhorns are allowing opponents to convert just 35-of-132 (.265) attempts on third down, sixth-best nationally.
• UT ranks fourth nationally in fourth-down defense, having allowed opponents to convert just 4-of-16 attempts.
• Between third- and fourth-down attempts in 2017, the Longhorn defense has allowed opponents to convert just 39-of-148 (.264) attempts.
• This has been quite a turnaround from 2016, when the Longhorns allowed opponents to convert 72-of-189 (.381) attempts on third down and 8-of-17 (.471) on fourth downs.
Non-Offensive Touchdowns
• Texas has scored six non-offensive touchdowns in 2017 after scoring zero in 2016.
• Holton Hill has three of the six in 2017 and now has four career non-offensive TDs. This season, he has interception returns of 45 (SJSU) and 31 yards (Maryland). He also returned a blocked field goal 65 yards for a score against Maryland.
• DeShon Elliott has two, as he returned an interception 38 yards on the road against USC and 43 yards at Baylor.
• Reggie Hemphill-Mapps has one, returning a punt 91 yards to the house against Maryland.
• The season opener against Maryland marked the first time since Oct. 10, 2009, that UT had scored three non-offensive TDs in a game.
Going The Other Way
• Through nine games, Texas has returned four interceptions for touchdowns, which is tied for the third-most in school history for a single season. The Longhorns have totaled 10 interceptions this season.
• DeShon Elliott and Holton Hill have each returned two interceptions for a touchdown in 2017.
• Hill started the season off with a 31-yard return against Maryland. The very next week he returned an interception 45 yards to the house against San Jose State.
• For a third straight game, a Longhorn returned an interception for a TD as DeShon Elliott returned one 38 yards to the house at Southern California.
• At Baylor, Elliott intercepted one on the third play of the game and returned it 43 yards to the end zone.
Points Off Turnovers
• One of the Longhorns' biggest areas of improvement in 2017 has come in its quick change offense and defense following turnovers.
• Through nine games, Texas' defense has allowed opponents to score just seven points off 11 Longhorn turnovers. In contrast, the Texas offense has scored 58 points off 14 turnovers forced thus far.
• In comparison, last season, UT's defense allowed opponents to score 68 points off 23 Longhorn turnovers, while the offense scored just 41 points all season off 20 opponent turnovers.
• Through nine games last season, UT had committed 13 turnovers (two more), but allowed 58 points (51 more) off of them. Conversely, the UT defense had forced 13 turnovers (one less) through nine games a season ago, leading to just 17 Texas points (41 less).
Pedigree For Success
• Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando is in his third season under Tom Herman and his 13th straight season as a defensive coordinator. He has found success at each of his four previous stops as the DC: UConn (2005-10), FIU (2011-12), Utah State (2013-14) and Houston (2015-16).
• Like in seasons past, Orlando is proving once again the ability to put together one of the nation's toughest defenses. The Longhorns have been prolific at disrupting the quarterback and forcing turnovers, including turning those into points so far in 2017.
• The Longhorns currently rank sixth-best nationally in third down defense and are 11th in rushing defense. Orlando's unit has dramatically improved in scoring and total defense, as well, and leads the nation in defensive touchdowns after the Longhorns did not have any last season.
• In his first season at UH, his defense led the nation with 35 takeaways, while finishing eighth nationally in rushing defense (108.9 ypg) and 20th in scoring defense (20.7 ppg). Last season, Orlando's defense finished 13th in total defense and fourth in rush defense. They were also third nationally with five defensive touchdowns and allowed just 23.5 ppg.
Turning Up The Heat
• After a slow start to the season in which the Longhorns only recorded two sacks and five tackles for loss the first two games, the UT defense has found success in pressuring the opponents in the backfield over the last seven games.
• The Longhorns had two sacks and seven tackles for loss against TCU, a week after totaling three sacks and 10 tackles for loss against Baylor.
• The 10 tackles for loss were not only the most this season for the Longhorns, but the most since recording 11 in a win over Baylor last season. Texas also had games of 14 (Iowa State) and 11 (UTEP) during the 2016 season.
• Through nine games, the UT defense has 21 sacks and 53 tackles for loss.
Rushing Defense Is Stout
• Texas' rush defense has been stout since the first week of the season, allowing just 98.9 yards per game on the ground over the last eight, and just 113.0 yards per game on the ground against Big 12 Conference opponents.
• Against Baylor, Texas allowed just 31 rushing yards on 37 attempts (0.84 ypc). It was the fourth time this season that UT has held an opponent under 100 yards rushing in a game.
• The Longhorns held SJSU, USC and Iowa State under 100 yards rushing in three straight games. That stretch marked the first time since the first three games of the 2010 season that a UT defense had accomplished that feat.
• The 10 rushing yards allowed vs. Iowa State were the eighth-fewest by a Longhorn defense in the last 10 seasons.
• Texas has held eight straight opponents under their season average for rushing yards and total yards.
Stopping Potent Offenses
• Texas held down another potent offense Saturday at TCU, keeping the Horned Frogs to just 24 points.
• TCU entered the game averaging 37.2 points per game on the season, including 48.3 points per game at home in 2017, the second-best mark in the nation.
• That continued a strong stretch for the Longhorns' defense in Big 12 play.
• In their six games against Big 12 competition, Texas has held Iowa State 26.5 points, Oklahoma 18 points, Oklahoma State (double overtime) 36.8 points, Baylor 21.3 points and TCU 13.2 points below their season averages.
• The only school that has outscored their season averages in Big 12 play against Texas is Kansas State, which needed seven points in overtime to do so, in the Longhorns' double-overtime win.
Elliott A Thorpe Award Semifinalist
• Safety DeShon Elliott was recently named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. He has also won two Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week awards in 2017, following games at USC and Iowa State.
• Against USC, Elliott had seven tackles, two interceptions, two pass breakups and a TFL.
• Against Iowa State, he had six tackles, a sack and two interceptions. For his efforts in that game, Elliott was also named the Jim Thorpe Award National Player of the Week.
• He followed that up with six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one-half sack and one interception against Kansas State.
• Elliott had six tackles and a forced fumble against Oklahoma, before following that up with another forced fumble and a fumble recovery against Oklahoma State.
• Against Baylor, Elliott had his second pick-six of the season and tied for the team lead with eight tackles.
• Last week on the road at TCU, Elliott totaled five tackles and a career-high two tackles for loss.
• On the season, Elliott is fourth on the team with 45 tackles (32 solo). He leads the nation with six interceptions and has 6.5 tackles for loss (second on the team) and 1.5 sacks. He has two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and three pass breakups.
Elliott An Interception Machine
• DeShon Elliott leads the country with six interceptions, which is tied for seventh-most in school history for a single season.
• He has returned two interceptions for touchdowns this season, tied with teammate Holton Hill and five others for the most in a single season in school history.
• Elliott had an interception in three straight games (2 at USC, 2 at Iowa State, Kansas State) and also tallied one at Baylor.
• His six interceptions are the most in a single season at Texas since Earl Thomas set the school record with eight during the 2009 season.
• He is just the ninth UT player in the last 60 seasons to register two multi-interception games in a season.
• Elliott became the first UT player since 1947 to record two interceptions in back-to-back games.
• Since 1947, Elliott joins Chris Carter (1993-96) as the only two players with three multi-interception games in their careers. Elliott also had two interceptions against Kansas in 2015.
• Elliott was the first player since Thomas in 2009 with an interception in three straight games. Thomas had an interception in four straight games during that season, totaling five picks in those games.
Dickson A Ray Guy Award Candidate
• Junior punter Michael Dickson, a native of Sydney, Australia, is a leading candidate for the 2017 Ray Guy Award, a season after becoming UT's first-ever finalist for the prestigious award.
• Dickson, who was named Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Year in 2016, set a school record with an average of 47.4 yards per punt.
• Prior to the 2017 season, Dickson was named a preseason All-American by Athlon Sports, preseason All-Big 12 and a member of the Ray Guy Award watch list.
• Dickson has punted 53 times this season and is second nationally with an average of 48.8 yards per punt. The Longhorns' net average of 44.87 is the second best in the country.
• Of his 53 punts this season, 26 of them have gone for more than 50 yards and 11 of them for more than 60 yards.
• He has had 19 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, 14 downed inside the 15-yard line and seven punts downed inside the opponent 10.
• Dickson has twice been named Ray Guy Award National Punter of the Week, following both his performances at Iowa State and versus Oklahoma.
• Against Iowa State, he punted seven times with a net average of 46.2 yards while against Oklahoma he punted five times and averaged a school-record-tying 55.0 yards per punt.
• Against Oklahoma State, Dickson punted a career-high 11 times and averaged 50.9 yards per punt.
• Of Dickson's four punts from OSU territory, he downed two inside the 10 and pinned the Cowboys at an average field position of the 11-yard line.
• Of his seven punts from UT territory, Dickson averaged 57.9 yards per punt (55.9 net) and flipped the field from an average of the UT 23 to a starting field position for the Cowboys of the OSU 21.
• Dickson punted six times against Baylor, averaging 44.5 yards per punt. His net average was 40.3, as he allowed just one return while downing three inside the 20.
• Against TCU, Dickson punted nine times and averaged 50.8 yards per punt, just one-tenth yard shy of breaking into the top 10 in school history for single game punting average, of which he owns five of those top 10 marks.
• In that game against TCU, Dickson boomed a 76-yard punt in the first quarter, a career long. It was the fifth-longest punt in the FBS this season and tied for the fifth-longest punt in school history.
• The FBS record for punting average in a season is 48.4 yards (min. 50 attempts) and 47.8 yards (min. 75 punts).
Top Of The Hill
• Junior cornerback Holton Hill continues to impress during the 2017 season. He is second on the team with 51 tackles and also has two interceptions, six pass breakups and a forced fumble.
• He had arguably the best game of his career against Maryland, becoming the first FBS player in the last 10 seasons to record a pick-six and a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown in the same game.
• He has two interceptions returned for a touchdown this season. The first was 31 yards against Maryland in the season opener, while he returned one 45 yards against SJSU.
• He also has a blocked field goal return for a touchdown this season, as he returned one 65 yards to the house against Maryland. That marked UT's first blocked FG return for a touchdown since 2002.
• He is just the second player in school history (Brandon Foster, 2007) to score three non-offensive touchdowns in the same season, and the only player in school history to have three in a two-game span.
Did You Know?
• Holton Hill became just the third player in school history to return an interception for a touchdown in back-to-back games. He joins Greg Brown (2000) and Alan Lowry (1971).
• Prior to Hill, the program had last returned an INT for a TD in back-to-back games in 2007.
Bonney Has The Ball
• Junior defensive back John Bonney picked up his first start of the season at Baylor, as the Longhorns started the game in their dime package.
• Bonney made it count, recording three tackles, one-half sack and the first two fumble recoveries of his career.
• Bonney became the first UT player since Sam Acho in 2009 versus Louisiana Monroe (108 games) to record two fumble recoveries in the same game.
• He pounced on the first one, which was forced by Holton Hill, and then returned the second one 13 yards to the Baylor 16 (forced by Charles Omenihu).
Jefferson A Butkus Award Semifinalist
• Junior linebacker Malik Jefferson was a highly touted recruit out of high school and has made 27 career starts to date.
• Saturday against TCU, Jefferson led the team with 10 tackles, surpassing 200 tackles in his career.
• Against Baylor, Jefferson tied for the team lead with eight tackles, four of them coming on third downs as UT held the Bears to just 4-of-18. He added 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in the game.
• On the season, he leads the team with 86 tackles, including 61 solo tackles. He also has gotten after the quarterback, with team highs of 8.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and five quarterback hurries.
• Against Oklahoma State, Jefferson set a career high and led UT with 14 tackles.
• Before his new career high, Jefferson had twice totaled his previous career high of 11 tackles earlier this season (USC, Oklahoma).
• As a freshman, Jefferson was named a freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News and USA Today. He made 61 tackles and seven TFL in 2015.
• Last season, Jefferson totaled 62 tackles, 8.5 TFL and 5.5 sacks to earn second-team All-Big 12 recognition from the Associated Press.
• This summer he was named a preseason All-American by Sporting News, preseason All-Big 12 and is on the watch lists for the Bednarik Award, the Nagurski Trophy and the Butkus Award.
Built Ford Tough
• Nose tackle Poona Ford (Hilton Head, S.C.) continues to be a menace in the middle of the Longhorns' defense during his senior season. He has totaled 24 tackles, four tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a blocked kick, a QB hurry and a pass breakup in 2017.
• Against TCU, Ford totaled a season-high seven tackles, including 1.5 TFL and a QB hurry.
• Despite playing on the interior defensive line, Ford finished fourth among UT defenders with his 54 tackles a year ago. He added 5.5 tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two blocked extra points.
• He was named second-team All-Big 12 by ESPN.com and was also tabbed honorable mention All-Big 12 by the league's coaches.
• This season he has been named preseason All-Big 12 and is also on the Senior Bowl watch list.
• In the season opener against Maryland, he blocked a field goal which Holton Hill returned 65 yards for a touchdown.
• The blocked FG was Ford's third career blocked kick. He also blocked two extra points a season ago.
Buechele By The Numbers
• Sophomore quarterback Shane Buechele started his 16th career game Saturday at TCU.
• In making four starts and five total appearances so far in 2017, Buechele is 103-of-158 (.652) for 1,067 yards and five touchdowns.
• Buechele surpassed 1,000 yards on the season Saturday at TCU. He is tied for the eighth-fastest player in school history (five games) to reach 1,000 yards in a season. He has started four games, and played just five snaps in the fifth game. He also reached 1,000 yards in five games a season ago.
• In his first start of the season against Maryland, he was 34-of-52 for 375 yards and two touchdowns. He set new career highs for passing yards, completions and attempts in that game.
• His 375 yards passing were 11th-most in school history for a single game and the second-most by a sophomore (Chris Simms, 383).
• Buechele has now passed for 200 yards in 13-of-16 games that he has started and has two career 300-yard games. His thirteen 200-yard games are the sixth-most in school history.
• In just 16 starts, he has passed for 4,025 yards, just the ninth player in school history to surpass 4,000 career passing yards.
• Buechele has thrown a touchdown pass in 15-of-16 games he has started and has eight career multi-touchdown games.
Ehlinger's Got Game
• True freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger has started five games. His first career start came against San Jose State, as he became just the fourth true freshman at UT since 1980, and the 10th ever, to start a game at quarterback.
• In combination with Buechele, the 2016-17 seasons mark just the second stretch in school history in which a true freshman has started at QB for UT in consecutive seasons (also 1976-79).
• Ehlinger has passed for 1,419 yards while rushing for another 265. He is tied for fastest in school history to reach 1,000 passing yards (four games) in a season.
• After passing for 380 yards and rushing for 107 against K-State, he passed for 278 and rushed for 110 against Oklahoma. He is the first freshman QB in school history (true or redshirt) to rush for 100 yards in consecutive games, and just the third freshman QB to do so twice in a season (Vince Young, '03; Jerrod Heard, '15).
• His 278 passing yards against Oklahoma were a UT true freshman record in the Red River Showdown. He was just UT's third-ever true freshman to start at QB against the Sooners, joining Buechele (2016) and Bobby Layne (1944). In that game, Ehlinger became just the fourth player (seventh time) to pass for 275 yards and rush for 100 in a game. He joins Vince Young (Nov. 6 & 13, 2004) as the only players in school history to do so in back-to-back games. Colt McCoy, Ehlinger and Young are the only three players to have two games of 275 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in their careers.
• His 380 passing yards against K-State were the 10th-most in school history and the most ever by a true freshman quarterback.
• Ehlinger has now passed for 200 yards in all five games and has gone over 300 yards once.
• He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in four-of-five games and has two multi-TD games.
Connor Williams Suffers Injury
• Junior All-American left tackle Connor Williams sustained an injury in the Longhorns' game against USC.
• He suffered a sprain of his MCL and PCL and also a meniscus tear. There is no timetable for his return at this point.
• Williams had started 26 of a possible 27 contests to date in his career, including 13 consecutive, before the injury.
• Last season, Williams was a consensus first-team All-American, just the fourth sophomore in UT history to receive first-team All-America honors (Hub Bechtol, 1944; Russell Erxleben, 1976 and Earl Thomas, 2009) and second sophomore (Thomas) to earn consensus honors.
• Throughout the offseason, Williams was recognized as a preseason All-American by the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, College Football News and Athlon Sports.
• Additionally, Williams was named to the watch lists for the Maxwell Award, Outland Trophy, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award and was also named preseason All-Big 12.
Offensive Line Stepping Up
• The Longhorns have dealt with a number of injuries that have impacted continuity on the offensive line.
• In addition to Williams, who missed his sixth straight game on Saturday, several other Longhorn offensive linemen have missed time this season: Patrick Hudson (last seven games), Jake McMillon (one game), Elijah Rodriguez (nine games) and Zach Shackelford (three games).
• The Longhorns returning starter at tight end and one of the Horns' best run blockers Andrew Beck has missed all nine games this season as well, while TE Garrett Gray has missed seven straight. That brings Texas' total to 42 games missed by offensive linemen and tight ends through just nine games.
Chasing 1,000
• Wide receivers Armanti Foreman and Collin Johnson are both closing in on 1,000 career receiving yards.
• Foreman, who has totaled 21 catches for 179 yards and three touchdowns this season, currently sits at 969 career receiving yards. He has 76 receptions, 10 of which have been touchdowns, in his career.
• Johnson, who is just a sophomore, currently sits at 935 yards on 67 catches for his career. He leads the team with 39 receptions for 620 yards in 2017. He caught his second TD pass of the season Saturday at TCU.
Lil'Jordan, Big Numbers
• Sophomore wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey set career highs with six catches for 109 yards in Saturday's game at TCU.
• A native of Southlake, Texas, Humphrey is currently third on the team with 28 receptions, while he is second on the team with 357 yards. He caught his first career touchdown in the victory at Baylor.
Spreading The Ball Around
• A common theme amongst Texas' quarterbacks in 2017 has been ball distribution, as the Longhorns have connected with at least eight different receivers in every game except one.
• Five times this season, 10-or-more players have caught at least one pass in a game, including all four games started by Shane Buechele.
• Ten-or-more players have caught at least one pass in three straight games.
• Fifteen different Longhorns have caught passes this season, with eight of them registering at least one receiving touchdown thus far.
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