Texas 24, Iowa State 10: Longhorn defense stifles Purdy to keep conference championship hopes alive

By Rickey Brown

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Texas' defense barely stayed afloat the last several weeks in Austin. Against Iowa State on Saturday, the unit was resurgent. 

The Texas defense suffocated a potent Iowa State attack, and the Longhorns picked up a massive victory over the No. 16 Cyclones, 24-10. 

Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Longhorns' win over Iowa State. 

Getting after Purdy

To this point in the season, Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy had not yet been truly confounded by a defense. Even when under duress, the freshman found a way to make plays and not turn the ball over. Texas defensive coordinator Tim Beck was clearly determined to change that.

Purdy was frequently under pressure, as the Longhorns sacked him six times and hurried him three times. Beck dialed up blitzes in crucial situations, leaving cornerbacks Davante Davis and Kris Boyd in man-to-man coverage with Hakeem Butler, a physical specimen and one of the top wideouts in the conference. The pair was up to the challenge; Purdy finished with only 130 yards on 10-of-23 passing, by far his worst performance of his six starts.

Ehlinger’s suffers another injury

Late in the first half, the Longhorn offense was rolling. Sam Ehlinger was 12-of-15 through the air with 137 yards in the half alone. On a run with 7 seconds remaining, Ehlinger lowered his shoulder into a defender and took a shot. He returned from the locker room several minutes after the start of the second half, and remained on the sideline for the rest of the game.

Shane Buechele was able to do enough for Texas to hold onto the lead. On the second possession of the second half, Buechele made a nice play to get the ball out to Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who broke several tackles to score. Aside from that drive, however, the Longhorns punted four times with Buechele under center.

Head coach Tom Herman said after the game that Ehlinger was diagnosed with an AC contusion, a different injury to the same shoulder Ehlinger hurt against Baylor. However, Herman explained that the injury is less severe than the one previously suffered.

Convincing victory sets the tone

Even with the 14-point victory, the game was not as close as the score may imply. Iowa State never reached the red zone until a punt return with just over two minutes remaining landed the Cyclones at the Texas 6-yard line. They gained only 210 yards on the day, and had only 3 points until a score with less than 2 minutes remaining. Only a stellar performance would be able to break a team as hot as Iowa State, and the Longhorns brought it.

It was a much-needed double digit win for Texas, who have not had a victory of that kind since Week 4 against TCU. Oklahoma State did their part in sending Texas to the conference championship, defeating No. 9 West Virginia. Now, with the two score win on Saturday, the Longhorns will need to carry whatever momentum gained into next week, where a win over 3-8 Kansas would send them to the Big 12 Championship game.

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