The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

Football preview: at Iowa State
11.01.2021 | Football
Texas Football will face Iowa State for the 19th time in program history in Ames on Saturday.
Texas (4-4, 2-3) vs. RV/RV Iowa State (5-3, 3-2)
November 6, 2021
Stadium: Jack Trice Stadium
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: FS1 (Aaron Goldsmith, Mark Helfritch)
Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Craig Way, Roger Wallace, Will Matthews)
Spanish Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva, Jesus Mendoza)
National Radio: ESPN Radio (Sean Kelley, Barrett Jones, Ian Fitzsimmons)
THE OPENING KICKOFF
- The University of Texas continues its 129th season of football on Saturday when the Longhorns face Iowa State for the 19th all-time meeting.
- Texas (4-4, 2-3) heads to Iowa after falling to Baylor, 31-24 in Waco, Texas.
- Iowa State heads into Saturday's game with a 5-3 record and a 3-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play following a 38-31 loss to West Virginia in Morgantown last week.
- Saturday's matchup will be Texas' third night game of the season following five consecutive 11 a.m. kickoffs. The Longhorns are 1-1 this season in their previous two evening matchups.
- UT has scored 32 or more points in five of eight games this season and in seven of the last 10 games overall.
- Texas currently boasts 927 all-time wins, the fourth-most in college football history. UT holds an all-time record of 927-382-33 (.703).
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
- Texas is set to face off with Iowa State for the 19th time in program history on Saturday, and for the ninth time in Ames.
- The Longhorns are 14-4 all-time against the Cyclones, and 6-2 at Jack Trice Stadium.
- Texas has outscored Iowa State by 85 points in eight all-time meetings in Ames, a margin of 10.6 points per game.
- UT's 0.818 winning percentage against Iowa State is its second-best mark against any current or former member of the Big 12 Conference.
A Texas Win Would ...
- Be Texas' 928th victory all-time, keeping UT as the fourth-winningest program in college football history.
- Improve the Longhorns to 14-4 all-time against Iowa State.
- Give Steve Sarkisian his 51st victory as a head coach and fifth at The University of Texas.
The Captains
This season, Texas will be naming game captains on a weekly basis.
- LOUISIANA (Game 1): OL Derek Kerstetter, RB Roschon Johnson and LB DeMarvion Overshown.
- ARKANSAS (Game 2): TE Cade Brewer, K/P Cameron Dicker and DL Moro Ojomo.
- RICE (Game 3): OL Junior Angilau, DB B.J. Foster and WR Jordan Whittington.
- TEXAS TECH (Game 4): DB Anthony Cook, RB Keilan Robinson and QB Casey Thompson.
- TCU (Game 5): DL Keondre Coburn, OL Denzel Okafor and RB Bijan Robinson.
- OKLAHOMA (Game 6): RRB oschon Johnson, OL Derek Kerstetter, LB DeMarvion Overshown and RB Keilan Robinson
- OKLAHOMA STATE (Game 7): TE Cade Brewer, DB B.J. Foster, EDGE Ovie Oghoufo and DB Brenden Schooler.
- BAYLOR (Game 8): RB Roschon Johnson, OL Derek Kerstetter, DL Moro Ojomo and DB Josh Thompson.
Bijan Brings the Noise
- Bijan Robinson has been on a roll this season, racking up yards at an astonishing rate. In seven games, he has 967 yards on 163 carries (5.9 ypc) and 11 touchdowns to go along with 15 receptions for 211 yards and three more scores. In 178 plays he has 1,178 yards for 6.6 yards per play and 14 touchdowns.
- The sophomore's hot start earned him nods on five midseason All-America teams, garnering accolades from the Associated Press, CBS Sports, ESPN, The Athletic and The Sporting News.
- Robinson currently leads the Big 12 in total touchdowns (14) and scoring (10.5 points per game), while ranking seventh and 10th nationally in each respective category. He ranks second in the conference and seventh in the nation in rushing yards (967) and rushing yards per game (120.9), second in the Big 12 and ninth in FBS in all-purpose yards (147.25) and total points scored (84). His 11 rushing touchdowns are also second among those in the Big 12 and rank 11th in nation.
- Over his last 12 games, Robinson has totaled 1,489 rushing yards on 210 carries (7.1 ypc) with 15 touchdowns, while hauling in 23 receptions for 340 yards (14.8 ypr) and scoring five touchdowns. All told, he has 1,829 yards on 233 plays for 7.8 yards per play and 20 touchdowns.
- He has scored 20 touchdowns (15 rushing and five receiving) in his last 10 games with at least one score in 10-straight games.
- His 10-game touchdown scoring streak equals the longest stretch for a Longhorn since Jordan Shipley scored in 10 consecutive games in 2008. It is the longest streak for a UT running back since Cedric Benson in 2003-04, when he matched Ricky Williams' UT record of 11 consecutive games in 1998-99.
Thompson at the Helm
- Junior QB Casey Thompson is making the most of his opportunity since being named the starter in week three against Rice.
- Thompson guided Texas to victories in each of his first three career starts, the first Longhorn to begin his career 3-0 since Garrett Gilbert in 2010.
- At Baylor, the junior established career highs with 23 completions and 38 attempts, while passing for 280 and two touchdowns and rushing five times for 31 yards, including a long of 25 yards.
- With his two touchdown passes against Baylor, Thompson has passed or run for a touchdown in all eight games this season and nine straight dating back to the Alamo Bowl last season.
- Against Oklahoma State, Thompson completed 15-of-27 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown.
- The Oklahoma native had a career day in his Red River Showdown debut against rival Oklahoma, setting then-career highs in completions, attempts and passing yards completing 20-of-34 passes for 388 yards and five touchdowns.
- His 388 yards passing were the 12th-most for a Longhorn in program history, while his five touchdowns were tied for the second in UT history and were the most-ever for a Longhorn against the Sooners.
- Joined Colt McCoy and Sam Ehlinger as the only Longhorns to have multiple five-touchdown passing games.
- At TCU he completed 12-of-22 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown in leading the Longhorns past the Horned Frogs, UT's first win in Fort Worth since 2013, surpassing 1,000 career passing yards in his 12th career game.
- He garnered Maxwell Award Player of the Week and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors, was named a Manning Award Star of the Week and earned a spot on the Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8 list following his second-ever start against Texas Tech.
The X-Factor
- Texas true freshman WR Xavier Worthy leads all FBS freshmen with 82.1 receiving yards per game (33 receptions, 657 yards). Worthy's seven TD catches lead all Power 5 freshmen and is second to Corey Rucker of Arkansas State's eight in the FBS. Additionally, his 19.91 yards per catch are 11th-best nationally and tops among FBS freshmen and his 657 receiving yards rank 32nd nationally and are tops among freshmen in the FBS.
- He had a spectacular first half of his freshman campaign to land on a pair of Freshman Midseason All-America teams, earning nods from ESPN and The Athletic.
- At Baylor, Worthy caught four passes for 115 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown reception, his third touchdown of at least 60 yards during the season.
- The freshman is averaging 38.6 yards per touchdown catch (270 yards on 7 TDs).
- Worthy's seven touchdown receptions are the second-most by a freshman in UT history, while his 657 receiving yards rank third all-time for a freshman.
- Against Oklahoma State, he hauled in five receptions for 28 yards, his fourth five-reception game this year.
- Worthy's 261 yards (on nine receptions) vs. Oklahoma are the most in a game by any FBS player this season, while his three TD catches vs. Texas Tech are the third-most in a game for any FBS player in 2021, and the most by a Power 5 freshman.
- He is first freshmen in UT history to have three 100-yard receiving games in a season and the only one with a 200-yard performance.
- In his Red River Showdown debut against Oklahoma, Worthy hauled in nine receptions for 261 yards and two touchdowns.
- His 261 receiving yards against Oklahoma were a new freshman record, the second-most in a game in UT history (273, Jordan Shipley vs. UCF, 2009) and the best output ever for a Longhorn against the Sooners.
- The nine receptions against Oklahoma are tied for fourth-most by a freshman in a single game in program history.
Dynamic Demarvion
- Senior LB DeMarvion Overshown has played in 35 games and made 20 starts during his collegiate career.
- Overshown is off to a stellar start this season and has been named a Butkus Award semifinalist after racking up 61 tackles (31 solo) with 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
- He has recorded 140 tackles (80 solo), 19.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 12 pass breakups, three interceptions, three forced fumbles, three recovered and one block punt.
- At Baylor, Overshown had a team-high two pass breakups while collecting five tackles (three solo).
- Totaled four tackles (one solo) against Oklahoma State before leaving early in the second half with an injury.
- Against Oklahoma, the Arp, Texas native had eight tackles (five solo) with two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and his first career blocked punt.
- In Texas' victory over TCU, Overshown registered 10 tackles, including a career-best eight solo tackles, for his second game of 10 or more tackles on the season.
- He collected a team-high eight tackles against Arkansas, the second-straight game in which he has led the team in tackles.
In UT's season-opening win over Louisiana, Overshown registered a career-best 13 tackles (4 solo), while also picking up a half sack for a loss of four yards.
Overshown recorded 21 tackles in the first two games of the season, the most tackles for a Longhorn in the first two contests of the season since Cedric Reed had 24 in 2013.
Jamison in Rarified Air
- Senior DB D'Shawn Jamison is one of the most electrifying returners in school history, and a threat to score anytime he touches the football.
- In 2021, he has returned 10 kicks for 241 yards (24.1 ypr) and eight punts for 74 yards (9.3 ypr).
- The defensive back intercepted his first pass of the season against Oklahoma State, the fourth pick of his career and first since 2019.
- At TCU, he had three tackles (two solo) and recovered a fumble in the first quarter, the second fumble recovery of his career and first since 2019 against Oklahoma.
- Jamison moved into fourth place on UT's all-time kick return yardage list with a pair of 36-yard returns at TCU, giving him 1,155 yards for his career.
Dicker the Kicker
- Senior K/P Cameron Dicker has scored 362 points during his career, the most all-time for a Texas kicker and the third-most all-time for any position in UT history.
- Dicker is 56-for-75 on his career field goal attempts and has made 194-of-197 PATs.
- He ranks fourth in UT history in field goals made (56) and is tied for fifth in attempts (75).
- Against Baylor, Dicker scored six points, making his lone field goal attempt and all three PATs. His third point after try gave him 359 points for his career, supplanting Dusty Mangum as UT's all-time leading scorer among place-kickers.
- With success on all three of his point-after tries at Baylor, Dicker extended his streak of successful PATs to a career-best 58, the fifth-longest streak in UT history.
- His 197 career point after attempts and 194 career point after makes are each 14 behind UT's all-time leader Dusty Mangum.
- Against TCU, Dicker earned Co-Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors after connecting on a career-best four field goals and finishing 4-for-4 on the day while also making good on both of his PAT attempts to extend his streak of successful tries to 46 straight.
- In Texas' victory over Rice, Dicker was successful on all 10 of his extra point attempts, equaling the UT single-game records for both attempts and successful tries.
- The Austin native is all handling punting duties this season and added to the Ray Guy Award watch list following week eight of the season. He has punted 24 times for 1,191 yards for an average of 49.6 yards per punt, with five punts landing inside the opponent's 20-yardline.
- This season, Dicker has booted two of the six longest punts in Texas history, registering the fifth-longest punt in program history with a 78-yard effort in the Red River Showdown against Oklahoma followed by a 77-yard punt the following week against Oklahoma State.
- Against Oklahoma State, Dicker established career bests with seven punts, 362 yards and an average of 51.7 yards per punt. He tied his personal record with three punts of 50-plus yards, equaling his output of the prior game versus Oklahoma.
Full Steam Ahead
- The running backs ran wild in Texas' 58-0 win over Rice with three Longhorns breaking runs for over 60 yards, the first time in program history that three different players have registered rushes of over 60 yards in the same game.
- Junior Roschon Johnson started things off with a 72-yard jaunt for a score in the first quarter and sophomore Bijan Robinson followed with a 62-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Not to be out done, sophomore Keilan Robinson added a 65-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
- Texas finished the game with a program-single-game record 10.4 yards per carry (41 carries for 427 yards).
- The last time Texas had three different players with a run of 60 yards or more in a season was 2004. Romance Taylor had a 74-yard touchdown run in the season opener against North Texas and Cedric Benson busted a 60-yard run at Arkansas the following week. Vince Young added one of his own with a 60-yard run in the Rose Bowl against Michigan.
- Texas' previous season with at least three runs of 60 yards took place in 2015, when D'Onta Foreman had three (Kansas – 93 yards, Oklahoma – 81 yards, West Virginia – 65 yards) and Chris Warren III had one (Texas Tech – 91 yards).
- The last time there were three plays of 60 or more yards in a single game occurred against Oklahoma in 2005 when Jamaal Charles ran 80 yards for a touchdown, Rodrique Wright scored on a 67-yard fumble return and Vince Young connected with Billy Pittman for a 64-yard touchdown pass.
- In addition to three players busting 60-plus yard runs, four different players rushed for touchdowns against Rice, with freshman Jonathon Brooks joining the trio with a 17-yard score in the fourth quarter.
Breaking Big Plays
- Texas has registered 600 yards of offense in each of their two games (620 vs. Rice/639 vs. Tech). That's just the second time in school history that the Longhorns have had back-to-back 600-yard games. UT had 3-straight 600-yard games in 2005 (606 vs. Oklahoma State/645 vs. Baylor/617 vs. Kansas). The 1,259 yards over two games are the second-most yards in a two-game stretch in UT history.
- Texas rushed for 427 yards against Rice and 346 against Texas Tech, the first time rushing for more than 300 yards in back-to-back games since 2016 against Cal (307) and Oklahoma State (329).
- The Longhorns surpassed 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing on the day, which was last accomplished against Colorado in the 2020 Alamo Bowl.
Passing on Punts
- Against Rice and Texas Tech, the Longhorns did not attempt a single punt, the first time in program history that UT had not punted in consecutive games.
- Between a punt following their first drive of the second half against Arkansas and an early second quarter punt at TCU, the Longhorns went 29 consecutive drives without attempting a punt, the third longest streak since 2005.
- The Longhorns streak included 10 full quarters without attempting a punt.
- The only other season in which Texas had two games with zero punt attempts was in 2011 (vs. Texas Tech, at Baylor).