Texas Football: 3 Startling Stats Through 5 Games

The Texas Longhorns are 2-3, have one of the country's worst offenses and are about to face an angry Oklahoma squad that just dropped a heartbreaker to TCU.

That should be startling enough for Texas fans hoping to see a rebound from a 28-7 loss to Baylor.

Unfortunately, the statistics show that the Horns still have a ways to go. The offense, led by Tyrone Swoopes, has been unable to sustain drives or generate big plays, putting the defense in a perilous position come the second half.

To turn things around this season, head coach Charlie Strong has to get these alarming numbers trending in the opposite direction.

Second-Half Margin: 48-80

Chris Covatta/Getty Images

Teams have simply run away from Texas in the second half.

The second half has not been kind to the Longhorns in 2014, where they have been outscored by an 80-48 margin through five games.

In each of its three losses, opponents have outplayed the Horns by a decisive margin. BYU absolutely poured it on in Week 2, scoring 35 points to just seven for Texas. The next week, UCLA enjoyed a 10-point advantage en route to its 20-17 victory.

Baylor had similar success in its win at Darrell K Royal Memorial, scoring 21 of its 28 points in the final two quarters. The Longhorns could not answer until garbage time, pushing its deficit to 45 points in losses.

The most amazing part of this figure is its stark contrast to what Texas has done in the first two frames, in which the Longhorns hold a 44-16 advantage. 

Is this a product of the coaching staff being outsmarted during halftime, or does the fault for the discrepancy fall on the players? These next figures will show that it's a little of both.

Third-Down Conversion Percentage: 32.1

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Texas is one the worst teams in the nation on third down.

Averaging just 18.4 points and 319.2 yards per game, the Longhorn offense has been bad by just about every metric.

The most illuminating, though, is its utter inability to convert on third down, where Texas has picked up a first down just 32.1 percent of the time, which ranks 114th in the FBS.

Looking at this figure, it's unsurprising that this team struggles to stay in games after halftime. The defense does its job but can only do so much when the offense isn't flipping the field or sustaining drives to give Vance Bedford's group time to recuperate.

"

Texas Defense is holding foes to 124 yards below their season averages (#9 country). Last week Bryce Petty 7-22-111 vs them.

@philsteele042, 6 Oct 2014

"

So much of Texas' defensive success starts with its defensive line, which has 29 tackles for loss through six games. When those guys can't get a break, they are going to wear down and give up the massive point totals we have seen through the first half of the season.

These last seven games will follow a similar script until Texas can start picking up first downs and sustaining meaningful drives throughout the game.

Offensive Plays of 20-Plus Yards: 16

USA TODAY Sports

Who can create big plays for Texas' plodding offense?

Big gains have been tough to come by for the Longhorns, who have generated just 16 plays of 20 yards or more this season.

As noted by the San Antonio Express-News' Mike Finger (subscription required), Shawn Watson's offense had generated just 10 of these plays heading into its Week 5 meeting with Kansas. By comparison, UCLA fired off eight in its 62-27 rout of Arizona State.

The offensive line has shouldered much of the blame for this lack of explosiveness, but Swoopes has also become part of the problem. The sophomore has overthrown open receivers deep downfield while also missing on the intermediate throws he was hitting to start the year.

"

Strong saidn [sic] Tyrone Swoopes missed Geoff Swaim wide open on the first play of the game that could have gone for a TD.

@WVWilkerson, 6 Oct 2014

"

However, the good news is that Texas may have finally found a formula that works along the line of scrimmage. Redshirt freshman Darius James replaced Taylor Doyle in the starting lineup, pushing Kent Perkins over to right guard.

The result was over 4.8 yards per carry and Johnathan Gray ripping off the longest run by a Longhorn back since Week 3.

"

Texas OL Shuffle: Kent Perkins starts at RG for #Texas with Darius James at RT. Previously, Perkins had been at RT w/ Taylor Doyle at RG.

@ChipBrownHD, 4 Oct 2014

"

Whether that combination can allow Watson to open up the playbook remains to be seen, but it's obvious that Texas needs more of these plays to hang in the Big 12.