A Texas defense that has spent the entire off-season talking about creating turnovers finally got to sink its teeth into an opposing team, recovering their first fumble on Louisiana-Monroe’s second play from scrimmage. Defensive end Sam Acho out-wrestled quarterback Trey Revell for the football after a misplayed shotgun snap, giving Colt McCoy and the Texas offense possession at the ULM 23.
The 101,096 fans that packed Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday night could have guessed what came next. In just three plays, McCoy led the offense to the goal line, where, to chants of “Cody” from the stands, Texas’ goal line specialist Cody Johnson bulldozed through the defense for his first of three one-yard touchdown runs en route to a 59-20 Texas victory.
“It was really big,” said Acho of the early turnover. “It was good for our team to get the offense on the field quickly and score early.”
Johnson’s touchdown was just the start the Longhorns needed to quell any thoughts of an upset. They rode the early momentum to a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter following another Johnson touchdown run on Texas’ next possession. Despite a letup in the second quarter, the Longhorns ran out to a 38-10 halftime lead.
The defense wasn’t perfect, however. With ULM down 21-3 and reeling, the Longhorns briefly let the Warhawks back in the game with one big busted play. Cornerback Chykie Brown was caught with his eyes in the backfield as quarterback Trey Revell scrambled to his right and unleashed a bomb down the field, finding the streaking Luther Ambrose for a 75-yard touchdown.
The game didn’t stay competitive for too long. On the ensuing kickoff, redshirt freshman D.J. Monroe introduced himself to the Texas crowd by taking his first touch of his football career for an electrifying 89-yard return touchdown.
“It was a great feeling, it couldn’t have been any better,” said Monroe, who has undergone several position changes during his brief time at Texas. “I’ve been waiting my turn, but I had my whole team behind me.”
Monroe followed that opening act with a slew of good runs, finishing with 64 rushing yards on just nine carries. The track star-turned-running back provided the spark to lift the Longhorns out of their midgame malaise and put ULM away early.
Despite throwing an interception and getting sacked twice, McCoy had another solid, if unspectacular, day leading the offense. He finished with 317 yards and was 21 of 29 passing with two touchdown passes, including a 78-yard bomb to Jordan Shipley to help the Horns pull away before halftime. Shipley did most of his damage early as he piled up a career-high 180 yards on eight catches.
McCoy made amends for what he considered a subpar first half with a quick score on the other side of halftime, finding former backup quarterback John Chiles for a 14-yard touchdown, bringing the score to 45-10.
This success was all that was expected of the Texas offense, which finished with 568 total yards and even had time for a touchdown drive from true freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert, who scampered in for a 13-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t all smiles on the Texas sideline, though, as the offense turned the ball over three times — including two fumbles by starting running back Vondrell McGee — and had an abundance of penalties. But fumbles aside, the running game racked up the yardage and the carries, taking the ball 49 times and gaining 205 yards.
“One of the things we have to be careful with is the standards are set so high, you feel like you can’t make any mistakes,” said head coach Mack Brown. “This is the worst we’ll be. Opening games are very difficult.”
The new-look defense, meanwhile, held its own, building on Acho’s early fumble recovery and forcing three turnovers, with Acho recovering a second fumble later in the game and holding strong on several ULM red-zone trips.
Despite ULM having three possessions that started on the Texas half of the field after two turnovers and a good punt return, the defense held the Warhawks to only three points, forcing a punt and a turnover at the hands of backup safety Nolan Brewster, who intercepted Revell at the 3-yard line.
“You don’t want to give up 20 points, ever,” said defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.
“You don’t want to give up a 75-yard touchdown pass. Obviously, we have an awful lot of work… I think if you take away a few plays in the first half, we played a pretty good ball game.” "
Vondrell McGee powers through a ULM defender during Texas’ win over the Warhawks in the season opener. McGee finished the game with 78 rushing yards.
Senior quarterback Colt McCoy hands off to sophomore running back Cody Johnson during Texas’ season opener on Saturday
Courtesy of Daily Texan
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