Texas Football: What Longhorns Must Fix During Bye Week

Even with a bye, there's not much the Longhorns are going to be able to fix before their final two games.

After shooting themselves in the foot with a 38-20 loss to West Virginia, the 4-6 Horns have a tough finish ahead of them. They get the bye this week but will have to beat both Texas Tech and Baylor in order to reach a bowl. 

There's no magic formula for getting it done. No matter what the coaches do, this is still going to be a young team. An extra week with the offense isn't going to turn Jerrod Heard into Vince Young, nor offensive coordinator Jay Norvell into Bill Walsh.

The Longhorns are 4-6 for a reason, and fixing that will take much longer than a bye week. 

But there are some things Charlie Strong and his staff can do to make these last two games more palatable. Most of that will involve getting healthy on defense, sticking to an offensive identity and eliminating silly mistakes.

The Run Defense

Eric Gay/Associated Press/Associated Press

Jefferson (46) is one of several Texas defensive players working to get healthy.

Getting healthy and fixing the defense are one in the same for Texas during the bye week.

The Horns have given up at least 192 rushing yards and four yards per carry to their last three opponents, one of which being Kansas. In three of their previous four games before that, the Horns had held their opponents to less than 150 yards on 3.6 yards per carry or less.

At least some of these recent struggles can be attributed to a rash of injuries on defense. Super freshman Malik Jefferson has been dealing with a stomach illness for the better part of three weeks, defensive tackle Paul Boyette and cornerback Davante Davis missed time against West Virginia and early-season standout Edwin Freeman is just now getting right from the shoulder injury he suffered against California.

That's four of Texas' better players who have been slowed down recently. And all are important to the defensive rotation, especially Jefferson, one of the team's few players who excels on all three downs.

Whatever the ailment, these guys need to get right and fast. Texas Tech's DeAndre Washington and Baylor's Shock Linwood are two of the Big 12's top three rushers (per CFBStats.com), and they'll feast if the Horns continue to give up chunk yardage on the ground.

The Offensive Identity

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MORGANTOWN, WV - NOVEMBER 14: D'Onta Foreman #33 of the Texas Longhorns rushes in the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the game on November 14, 2015 at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Get

Texas has been maddening to watch this season, and that's putting it lightly.

As Horns Digest's Chip Brown has expounded on, it's hard to figure out what the Longhorns are trying to do. D'Onta Foreman has three runs of 65 yards or more this season, but has been out-carried by Johnathan Gray in all but two games.

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Foreman is over 100 yards already but after this drive I’m sure he will ride the pine for the next one. #Nonsense#Scheme#Rotation#HookEm

@thatsean, Nov 14 2015

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The play-action deep ball to John Burt has been money in the bank since the opener, but the Horns refuse to feed him. He has only two games this season with more than two catches, and three games with one catch of 37 yards or more.

And then there's the 18-Wheeler package, out of which Tyrone Swoopes has nine rushing touchdowns this season.

Power running, play action to keep the defense honest and "call Tyrone" when you need a tough one. Texas' offense does these three things well, and it's obvious to everyone who watches it. And this attack was working against West Virginia, right up until the coaches tried to get cute.

As Brown notes, Foreman's fumble came when he was asked to pitch the ball on a reverse to Daje Johnson. Swoopes' fumble came when he was asked to handle a full drive rather than his specialized role. Jerrod Heard's second interception came on the first play of a drive with a short field. 

That's three turnovers on plays when these guys were asked to do something out of the norm for them. 

If Texas is going to beat Texas Tech and Baylor, it's going to be with power, play action and Swoopes' short-yardage brutality. If they stick to that, maybe the Horns can make this an interesting finish.

The Silly Mistakes

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MORGANTOWN, WV - NOVEMBER 14: Kris Boyd #2 of the Texas Longhorns fumbles on a kick return in the second half against against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the game on November 14, 2015 at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo b

Texas had the right plan for beating West Virginia, but penalties and ugly turnovers doomed the Longhorns to their fourth blowout loss on the road this season.

The Longhorns outgained the Mountaineers 439 to 379, Heard averaged nine yards per passing attempt and Foreman ripped off 147 yards on the ground. The Horns even held Football Outsiders' 14th-ranked team in the nation (by S&P+) to four third-down conversions in 13 tries.

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Would you believe it if I told you that #Texas committed a costly penalty on offense? 3rd and 1 false starts makes it 3rd and 6.

@SBN_Wescott, Nov 14 2015

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But the Horns still found a way to lose, thanks to five turnovers and untimely penalties. Prior to this game, they'd only given it away seven times in nine games.

What should hurt this team the most is that they still had a chance to win this one late. Even after Kris Boyd fumbled away a kickoff to make it 31-20, Texas got the ball back at its own 43 with over seven minutes to play. Of course, Heard's throw on a questionable first-down call iced it, but the opportunity was there.

Some sharpening up by both the players and coaches would have meant a huge win for the Longhorns. Now, they get a bye week to get it together for one last push.

Unless otherwise noted all stats and information courtesy of TexasSports.com.