The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
West Virginia
Football preview: West Virginia
09.26.2022 | Football
The Longhorns host West Virginia on Saturday for the first Big 12 home matchup of the season.
Texas (2-2) vs. West Virginia (2-2)
October 1, 2022
Where: Austin, Texas
Stadium: Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: FS1 (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman)
Radio: Longhorn Radio Network/LEARFIELD (Craig Way, Roger Wallace, Will Matthews)
Spanish Radio: Longhorn Radio Network/LEARFIELD (Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva, Arturo Mata)
THE OPENING KICKOFF
• The University of Texas continues its 130th season of football on Saturday when the Longhorns play West Virginia in the Longhorns' first home conference game of the 2022 campaign.
• Last week, Texas (2-2, 0-1) fell in overtime at Texas Tech, 37-34, dropping the Big 12 Conference road opener for the first time since 2016.
• West Virginia (2-2, 0-1) arrives in Austin fresh off a road victory over Virginia Tech, 33-10, last Thursday for its second-straight victory of the season.
• Texas has won five of the last six conference home openers.
• This week's game marks the second time Texas opens the home portion of the conference slate against West Virginia and the first time since 2012.
• Texas currently boasts 930 all-time wins, tied for the sixth-most in college football history. UT holds an all-time record of 930-387-33 (.701).
The All-Time Series
• Texas is set to face off with West Virginia for the 12th time in program history on Saturday, and for the seventh time in Austin.
• The Longhorns are 5-6 against West Virginia all-time, and 2-4 when the teams face off at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
• Texas and West Virginia have split the last four meetings in Austin.
• West Virginia is the only current member of the Big 12 that Texas does not hold a winning record against.
• Last season, West Virginia topped Texas, 31-23, in Morgantown to snap the Longhorns' two game winning streak over the Mountaineers.
A Texas Win Would ...
• Be Texas' 931st victory all-time, the sixth-winningest program in college football history.
• Give Steve Sarkisian his 54th victory as a head coach and eighth at Texas.
• Mark Texas' 391st win at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and 537th overall home victory
• Be the Longhorns 144th victory in Big 12 Conference play and improve their all-time conference record to 144-76.
Sarkisian Era Enters Second Season
• Texas Football Head Coach Steve Sarkisian begins his second season at the helm of the Longhorns and his ninth season as a head coach overall.
• Last season, the Texas offense ranked 18th in the nation and second in the Big 12 Conference with 35.5 points per game, the third-straight top-18 scoring output for a Sarkisan-led offense.
• The offensive showing also marked the eighth top-30 scoring offense in Sarkisian's career.
• Bijan Robinson rushed for 1,127 yards in 2021, marking the 10th consecutive year a Sarkisian coached offense has had a 1,000-yard rusher.
DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium Shines
• The Texas-Alabama game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium drew record-setting crowds to the Forty Acres.
• A total of 105,213 packed DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, topping the previous record of 103,507 established in 2018 in the Longhorns' victory over USC.
• It marked the 30th game in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium history to draw more than 100,000 fans.
• Texas drew over 100,000 fans to a home game for the first time since 102,498 Longhorn faithful packed the house for UT's 24-10 victory over Iowa State in 2018.
Drawing a Crowd
• A week after setting the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium attendance record, the Longhorns drew another huge crowd with 102,520 Longhorn faithful packing the house, the third-largest crowd in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium history, and the 31st crowd of 100,000-plus.
• It marks the first time since 2018 that Texas has drawn back-to-back crowds of over 100,000 fans.
• The combined attendance of 207,733 (105,213 vs. Alabama; 102,520 vs. UTSA) over the last two games is the largest two-game total in stadium history.
• With four home games left to play, Texas has drawn multiple home crowds of 100,000 fans in a season for the first time since 2018 (three games) and for the second time since 2013.
The Eyes of College Football are Upon Austin
• Nearly 10.6 million viewers tune into FOX for Texas Football's game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 10, the most-watched college football game of the 2022.
• The broadcast averaged 10,595,000 viewers on FOX, peaking at over 15.1 million viewers, and was the fourth-most watch regular season college football matchup in the network's history.
• It marked the 30th game in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium history to draw more than 100,000 fans.
• In addition to the record-setting crowds on the Forty Acres, FOX College Football announced that the game was the most streamed regular season college football or NFL game in FOX Sports history.
• ESPN's College GameDay drew its top Week 2 viewership in over a decade for the pregame show's live coverage from Lyndon B. Johnson Library Lawn.
• The show averaged 2,104,000 million viewers, an increase of 26% from 2021's Week 2 total.
• The final hour of the show, broadcast live from inside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. CT, drew 2.7 million viewers.
• ESPN College GameDay's viewership of 2.1 million was the highest Week 2 total for the show since 2010 and the best for a September episode since 2016.
Non-Offensive Touchdowns
• Texas has made scoring non-offensive touchdowns a habit, registering at least one in 13 of the last 14 seasons.
• The Horns wasted no time this season when Keilan Robinson scored on a D'Shawn Jamison blocked punt to close out the first drive of the season opener by ULM.
• Jamison secured a defensive score with a third-quarter, 69-yard interception return against ULM, giving UT multiple non-offensive touchdowns in a season for the fourth time in six years.
• UT added a third for the 2022 campaign when Jahdae Barron intercepted a pass against UTSA at the Roadrunner 44-yard line and took it to the house for the first interception return of his career.
• Josh Thompson tallied a 27-yard interception return against Texas Tech last season that marked the fifth-straight season in which the Longhorns had a non-offensive touchdown.
• D'Shawn Jamison's 100-yard kickoff return against Oklahoma State in 2020 was the second of his career and fueled the Longhorns comeback from an 11-point deficit at the sixth-ranked Cowboys.
• Texas has scored a non-offensive touchdown in 15 of the last 16 seasons.
• Thompson's touchdown was the first for the Texas since defense since Anthony Wheeler's 38-yard fumble return in the 2017 Texas Bowl.
• It was the first interception returned for a touchdown since DeShon Elliott's 43-yard return at Baylor, also in 2017.
• The score was the 79th interception returned for a touchdown in UT history.
• UT finished 2017 with eight non-offensive touchdowns, tied for the most in the country. It was their most since registering 11 in 2009.
Defense Bringing the Heat
• The Texas defense came up huge in the 20-19 defeat at the hands of Alabama in week two, the first matchup between the storied programs since the 2010 BCS Championship Game.
• Texas' defense limited the high-powered Crimson Tide offense to 20 points, just the seventh time in the last eight seasons that Alabama has been held to 20 points or fewer.
• In the first half, Alabama rushed for 94 yards on 12 carries, with 81 of those yards occurring on one play.
• Following the 81-yard run, Texas forced Alabama to punt on each of the next six drives.
Finding the End Zone
• In the Longhorns' season opener against ULM, Keilan Robinson returned a blocked punt for a touchdown, D'Shawn Jamison returned an interception for a score and the Texas offense scored three rushing and two passing touchdowns.
• It marked the first time since the season opener against Maryland in 2017 that Texas scored a touchdown on offense, defense and special teams.
• In the 2017 game, Holton Hill had a 31-yard interception return and returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown, and Reggie Hemphill-Mapps scored on a 91-yard punt return. Shane Buechele added a pair of touchdown passes to Armanti Foreman and Collin Johnson and ran in for another score.
Heisman Hopeful: Bijan Robinson
• Texas has a strong Heisman tradition when it come to the running back position with two of the greats - Earl Campbell (1977) and Ricky Williams (1998) hailing from the Forty Acres.
• Additionally, the Longhorns have had 10 running backs or fullbacks place in the Top-10 in Heisman Trophy voting, most recently D'Onta Foreman in 2016.
• Current Big 12 Conference programs have produced five Heisman Trophy Winners from the running back/tailback position: Campbell, Williams, Billy Vessels (1952), Billy Simms (1978) and Barry Sanders (1988).
• The last three running backs named as the Heisman Trophy winner have been sophomores or juniors: Reggie Bush (2005), Mark Ingram (2009) and Derrick Henry (2015).
Robinson By the Numbers
• Bijan Robinson has been one of the top performers in the FBS this season, ranking second in total touchdowns (8), scoring (12.0 ppg) and points scored (48) and third in rushing touchdowns (7), while also ranking 14th in all purpose yards per game (141.50) and 17th in rushing yards (412) and rushing yards per game (103.0).
• He leads the Big 12 Conference in rushing touchdowns, all purpose yards per game, scoring, total points scoring and total touchdowns, while ranking second in rushing yards and rushing yards per game. Additionally, Robinson is third in the conference in yards per reception (19.25) and fourth in yards per carry (6.15).
• This offseason, Robinson focused on maintaining his speed for 90 yards (instead of the 40-yard dash), and was clocked at 22.3 mph on the GPS.
• Robinson has a history of not only making people miss and getting the tough yards, but also breaking big plays as both a rusher and receiver. For his career, Robinson has 33 plays (23 rushes/10 receptions) of 20-plus yards and that includes seven of 50 or more (all runs).
• Over his last 16 games, his ratio of long plays is even more impressive. During that time, he has 28 plays (19 rushes/9 receptions) of 20-or-more yards, including five runs of 50-plus. He's accomplished that in just 320 plays (281rushes/39 receptions) in that 16-game span, or a play of 20-plus yards on average about every 11 plays.
• In four games this season, he has seven plays (4 rushes/3 receptions) of 20-or-more yards, including touchdown runs of 78, 41 and 40 yards.
• In 10 games last season, he had 12 plays (9 rushes/3 receptions) of 20-or-more yards, including two of 50-plus, with five touchdowns.
Bijan Brings It
• Robinson has been on a roll the last two games of the season, combining for 285 yards on 36 carries (7.9 ypc) with 5 rushing TDs, while also hauling in a pair of passes for 41 yards.
• Against Texas Tech, the junior carried the ball 16 times for 103 yards and two scores, including a 40-yard rushing touchdown, and opened the game with a 22-yard reception on the first play from scrimmage.
• With a pair rushing TDs against the Red Raiders, Robinson notched his sixth career multi-rushing TD game in 23 games played.
• The scores also game him nine multi-touchdown games (rushing or receiving) in his career.
• He has scored a rushing touchdown in four-straight games and has reached the end zone in five consecutive games overall.
• His 100-yard effort against the Roadrunners was the 11th of his career in 23 games.
• The two rushing TDs brought his total to 22 for his career.
• Robinson has scored a combined 29 touchdowns (22 rushing, 7 receiving).
• Robinson rushed for a season high 183 yards on 20 carries in Texas' victory over UTSA and equaled his career high with three rushing touchdowns.
• It marked the third time in his career that he rushed for 180 yards in a game.
• He also has three career games of three rushing touchdowns and five games of three combined rushing and receiving touchdowns.
• Robinson rushed for scores of 78 and 41 yards against the Roadrunners, the first Longhorn to have multiple touchdown runs of 40-plus yards in a season since D'Onta Foreman (4) in 2016.
• He is the first Longhorn to have multiple touchdown runs of 40-plus yards in the same game since Jamaal Charles had two (40, 88) against Nebraska in 2007.
All About Zay
• Sophomore WR Xavier Worthy opened his 2022 campaign with a solid outing against ULM and a standout performance against No. 1 Alabama to move past 1,000 career receiving yards and climb closer to 100 career receptions.
• Against Texas Tech, Worthy caught three passes for 50 yards, including a 39-yard reception for the 13th touchdown of his career before leaving the game with an injury.
• The three catches brought his career total to 76 and extended his streak of receptions to 16 games.
• In the Longhorns' 41-20 victory over UTSA, Worthy hauled in four receptions for 41 yards.
• Worthy caught five passes for a game-high 97 yards against Alabama, including a diving 46-yard reception at the end of the first quarter.
• He had a pair of receptions for 24 yards against ULM and also returned three punts for 33 yards, including a career long 21 yard returned, and ran the ball once for seven yards.
Ford Foundation
• Junior LB Jaylan Ford has emerged as a crucial member of the defense during the 2022 season.
• At Texas Tech, he recorded 13 tackles (four solo), his third-straight game with 10-or-more tackles, and had a forced fumble.
• Ford was a force against UTSA, posting career best numbers with 15 tackles, 10 solo tackles and his first forced fumble.
• He had a breakout performance against No. 1 Alabama, posting a team-high 10 tackles (six solo) with two tackles for loss and one sack, helping hold the Crimson Tide to 20 points.
Jerrin's Jumpstart
• Junior DB Jerrin Thompson has become the field general of the Longhorn secondary, starting each of the first three games of the 2022 campaign as a focally leader of the defense.
• At Texas Tech, Thompson established career highs with nine tackles and eight solo tackles, while also breaking up one pass.
• Against UTSA, he had four solo tackles in helping UT pick up the win.
• Thompson registered one of the best games of his career against Alabama, tallying seven tackles (four solo) against the Crimson Tide.
• That effort was preceded by a four tackle (two solo) performance against ULM in the season opener.
Anthony's Cookin'
• Super senior DB Anthony Cook has become a leader in the Texas secondary, pacing the defensive backfield with 32 tackles (22 solo) through the first four games of the season.
• Cook had a career game at Texas Tech, recording personal bests with 14 tackles and 11 solo tackles, while also adding a pass breakup.
• He tallied six tackles (three solo) in UT's win over UTSA, the 11th game of his career with five or more tackles.
• Against Alabama, he collected nine tackles (six solo) and had a career-best tying two tackles for loss.
