Perimeter blocking a must for Texas receivers as Longhorns prepare for Kansas defense

Texas senior Jordan Whittington wants a seat at the big kids' table.

In this case, Whittington is being quite literal. After throwing a successful block against an Alabama defensive lineman on Sept. 9, the 204-pound receiver posted on X, formerly Twitter, that "I got invited to the O-Line dinner." That invitation hasn't actually been sent out yet, but right tackle Christian Jones said this week that "J-Whitt, we see you."

"I got to talk to the other board of directors to see if he makes the cut," Jones said. "If he does, we'll definitely feed him and treat him right."

Added left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., "He definitely can get a spot at the table."

Texas entered this season with its eye on the Joe Moore Award — an honor given annually to the nation's best offensive line — and the Longhorns front line has played well this season. Texas ranks a respectable No. 67 nationally with the 155.8 rushing yards it's averaging per game. Quarterback Quinn Ewers has taken just seven sacks in four games, and the Football Brainiacs have recorded Ewers being pressured on just 17.1% of his drop-backs.

When asked Thursday if any of the backup linemen were making the case for playing time, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters that he's happy with his five current starters. Texas, though, isn't just relying on the quintet of Jones, Banks, Jake Majors, Hayden Conner and DJ Campbell to block. The receivers and tight ends are also asked to get their hands on opponents.

Let's consider the career-best 29-yard touchdown run by Ewers in last weekend's 38-6 win over Baylor. On the play, Banks actually successfully blocked two Bears at the line of scrimmage. But the key block was recorded downfield by tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders, who nonchalantly walked to the UT sideline to celebrate after Ewers zoomed by him and the Baylor safety with whom he was engaged.

Not that the skill players earned a perfect grade for their blocking in Waco. On UT's first offensive snap, Xavier Worthy lost 5 yards on a screen pass after fellow receiver Adonai Mitchell whiffed on a block of a Baylor cornerback.

"I was probably the most upset I was the entire game after the first play of the game," Sarkisian later told reporters.

But both the 29-yard touchdown run and the blown-up screen pass underscore the importance of blocking on the perimeter by UT's skill players. Sarkisian explained Thursday that his RPO offense works a lot better with proper blocking.

"We take a lot of pride in our perimeter blocking. We put a lot of time and effort into that," Sarkisian said. "I think our players now take a lot of pride in that, and I think that also is what spurs the long touchdown runs. I think we've seen longer runs the last couple weeks because of the commitment to block downfield, and we're eliminating that last defender to make a play on the runner because of the receivers going in to block.

"We take a lot of pride in it, but ultimately I think that's part of our culture that whatever is asked of me, I'm going to give you all that I have. Our players do that down the field, and I'm proud of them for doing that."

Jordan Whittington is leading by example

When it comes to blocking, Whittington is the ringleader of the receivers. He has caught 91 passes over his 27 career games, but his hands aren't just used for hauling in footballs.

"He's not afraid to throw himself in there. Even if it's not the prettiest block, he gets the job done," Jones said.

On that aforementioned block against Alabama, Whittington ran in motion from the left side of the field. After the ball was snapped, he became a fullback with a blocking assignment of Justin Eboigde, who's 6 feet 5 and weighs 292 pounds. Whittington is 4 inches shorter and 88 pounds lighter but was able to make his block, and Texas picked up 4 yards on the fourth-quarter play.

Last week, Whittington lined up as a fullback and recorded a 14-yard catch. On the very next snap, he lined up out wide and was the lead blocker on a backfield pass to Sanders that gained 11 yards and moved Texas into Baylor territory.

"When I get off blocks in a game, I'll give credit to J-Whitt for that," defensive back Jahdae Barron said. "He helps me, just the intent and how he comes to block me (in practice). We have our times in team run when we're going at it and he's talking trash and stuff like that. But J-Whitt, he's a hell of a player, he's a team player and everybody sees it from him."

Worthy said that "J-Whitt's kind of the standard for the (receivers) room with blocking. We just kind of want to take off and do what he's doing, like replicate what he's doing in the blocking game."

Sarkisian, however, said that Worthy has also become an example for the UT receivers to follow.

"He's blocking at an extremely high level right now on the perimeter, which I don't think we could have said that about him his freshman or sophomore year," Sarkisian said. "He's taken his game to another level."

On Saturday, No. 3 Texas (4-0, 1-0) will meet No. 24 Kansas (4-0, 1-0) in a showdown of significance at Royal-Memorial Stadium. Sarkisian described the Jayhawks as a team with a defense that "plays a physical brand of football." Defensively, the Jayhawks are allowing 22.8 points and 296.8 yards per game. Kansas defensive back Cobee Bryant was an all-conference pick last year, and safety Kenny Logan leads the Jayhawks in tackles.

In order to beat the Jayhawks, Texas will need its receivers to make plays in the pass game. Almost 64% of the team's offensive yardage and 52.9% of its total touchdowns have been earned through the air. But it is likely that Texas will need those receivers to throw some blocks in the run game as well. During last year's 55-14 win in Lawrence, Texas ran for 427 yards and scored six of its seven touchdowns on the ground.

"I mean, it's complementary football," Ewers said. "It's like they say in golf: If you take care of the course, it'll take care of you. (The receivers will) take care of each other, and the plays will come."

Saturday's game

No. 24 Kansas (4-0, 1-0) at No. 3 Texas (4-0, 1-0), 2:30 p.m., Royal-Memorial Stadium, ABC, 1300

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football team takes pride in perimeter blocking by receivers