Texas-Baylor football notebook: Longhorns' run defense throttles Baylor

WACO — It didn’t take long for Texas’ defensive front to set the tone for the game in its 38-6 win over Baylor on Saturday. On the second snap from scrimmage, linebacker Jett Bush blitzed Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson from the left side and garnered his first sack of the season. Moments later, defensive tackle Byron Murphy II bulldozed his way into the backfield for the first of his two sacks.

“I feel like they were kind of stunned,” said Murphy, who had four solo tackles and three stops behind the line of scrimmage, including that pair of sacks. “They didn’t know what was going to hit them until it actually happened.”

While every defensive lineman likes a sack, Texas’ front takes special pride in stopping the run. Baylor thinks of itself as a physical, run-first team, but the Bears couldn’t muster any movement against the 6-foot-1, 305-pound Murphy, 6-4, 360-pound T’Vondre Sweat and the other interior linemen such as Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton. Baylor had just 13 yards on 25 carries through the first three quarters before ending the game with 60 yards on the ground and a paltry 1.9 yards per carry.

“The D-line makes our job so much easier as linebackers,” said All-American Jaylan Ford, who led the team with eight tackles and picked off his second pass of the season.

More: National reaction to Texas' 38-6 win over Baylor: 'Texas Longhorns are for real?'

Jonathon Brooks shines — again — as featured back

Brooks strong — again: Jonathon Brooks left no doubt who now leads the running back rotation. A week after running for a career-high 164 yards against Wyoming, the third-year sophomore had 18 of the Longhorns’ 34 carries while racking up a team-high 106 yards on the ground with two touchdowns.

That total included a 40-yard touchdown run when the self-proclaimed “slow” running back pulled away from the Baylor secondary. Brooks also flashed his receiving skills on a ball that he reeled in with one hand before twirling down the field for an 18-yard gain.

Even though Brooks now has back-to-back games with at least 100 yards on the ground, he still says freshman CJ Baxter and the other running backs play a crucial role in a ground game that churned out 175 yards on 34 carries. Baxter, who started the first two games before missing last week’s with an injured foot, returned to action and had 21 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who had a career-long run of 29 yards for a touchdown in the first half, says Brooks’ emergence comes as no surprise.

“I mean, we know what he's capable of,” Ewers said. “I think he showed out tonight, and it's an awesome way to set the tone early with that touchdown run he had.”

“I’m just, thank my O-line,” Brooks said. “And I'm not necessarily carrying the load because there's other people that's touching the ball. I’d say just the distribution of the ball kind of makes me feel happy, because we're winning, and we’re winning in versatile ways.”

A busy night from Ja’Tavion Sanders

Role reversal: Tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders seemed eager to make up for last week, when he didn’t have a catch in the win over Wyoming. Sanders drew eight targets from Ewers, double those of any other Texas receiver. He converted the opportunities into five catches for 110 yards, making him the first Longhorns tight end with a pair of 100-yard games, according to UT. When Sanders is involved in the passing game, the Texas offense just seems to hum in a higher gear.

“He did a phenomenal job,” Ewers said. “You know, he's a big-time player. He has ability to make big plays like he did tonight, so it's awesome to see.”

Said wide receiver Xavier Worthy: “JT had the hot hand. I feel like whoever has the hot hand, just feed him. JT had the hot hand tonight.”

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Sanders’ big game was more a result of Baylor’s defensive schemes than an effort to increase his involvement in the game plan.

“It’s not something predicated off the week before,” Sarkisian said. “Every game plan every game takes on a life of its own. And you know, we call plays and a lot of times the defense kind of dictates where the ball is going to go if the quarterback reads it properly. And the ball went his way today. But the beauty of our group right now, I think they love the fact that multiple people are making plays.”

Austin native Bryce Hager recognized by Baylor

Hager lauded: Between the first and second quarters, Baylor honored Austin native Bryce Hager for his All-American career with the Bears. A 2010 Westlake graduate, Hager had 322 career tackles while earning three All-Big 12 honors as well as All-American recognition as a senior in 2014 before spending seven seasons in the NFL. Hager has plenty of Texas ties, too; his father, Britt Hager, is Texas’ all-time leader in tackles, and younger brother Breckyn Hager played for the Horns from 2015 to 2018.

News and notes

Texcetera: Linebacker Mo Blackwell Jr. saw his first action of the season after missing the first three games with a knee injury suffered during preseason camp. The third-year player had three tackles. … Worthy is now 2-for-2 for 68 yards and a touchdown as a passer in his UT career. Both passes have been caught by Sanders. Worthy has also thrown two other passes that have drawn pass interference penalties and led to Texas points. … Baxter, back in action after injuring his foot against Alabama, limped off near the end of the game. … Texas muffed two punts against Baylor and fumbled the ball on a kickoff while committing a season-high three turnovers. However, the offense has still just committed one turnover all season (a fumble against Wyoming), and Ewers has thrown 112 passes this season without an interception. He extended his streak of consecutive passes without an interception to 228, the second-longest streak in UT history behind the 308 without a pick by Sam Ehlinger in 2018. ... Reserve quarterback RJ Martinez, a Westwood graduate, led Baylor with 22 yards rushing. ... Texas improved to 81-28-4 against the Bears all-time. The teams don't have any more games scheduled because UT will depart for the SEC next season.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas-Baylor football notebook: Run defense shines; Sanders sets record