Texas Football: 5 Key Moments That Turned the Longhorns' 2015 Season
The Texas Longhorns had themselves one wild season in 2015.
As one might expect from a 5-7 team, Charlie Strong's team hit some devastating low points. The Horns lost four games by 18 points or more, including a humiliating 24-0 loss at Iowa State.
The other three they dropped by a total of seven points, illustrating how close this team came to a nice season.
But in the midst of these losses, all of which were crushing for different reasons, the Longhorns provided reasons for optimism. That optimism stems from wins over two top-12 opponents in Oklahoma and Baylor, games in which the Horns never trailed.
Those wins take the sting out of missing the postseason. But the Horns have a lot of work to do, especially on the offensive side of the ball, which was evident from the very beginning of the season.
The following five key moments, both good and bad, illustrate the state of the program after Strong's second year on the job.
5. The Move to Jerrod Heard Pays Early Dividends
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Following a 38-3 loss to Notre Dame in the opener, Texas wasted little time in completely changing the complexion of the offense. That included a move to quarterback Jerrod Heard, who gave the team a much-needed spark.
Texas had no choice but to replace the struggling Tyrone Swoopes and play-caller Shawn Watson. The Horns scored just 20 points over their last three games, and were only getting worse the longer these two were at the controls.
So, hoping to employ some spread concepts, Strong handed the offense to Jay Norvell and Jeff Traylor. The two immediately made the move to Heard, an explosive dual-threat, for the next game against Rice. As a result, Texas immediately got back to scoring points.
Heard threw a 32-yard touchdown on his first drive as the starter, needing just over two quarters of play to put up 21 points. The redshirt freshman stayed hot the following week in a 45-44 loss to Cal, piling up a school-record 527 yards of offense.
"No QB is attacking downfield like Jerrod Heard right now. He leads the nation w/ 12.67 yards per pass attempt (min 100 snaps).
"Norvell
Texas' young quarterback struggled, statistically speaking, in his next start. But the Horns battled for the third straight week, falling 30-27 due to a special teams blunder.
Though Heard started 1-2, his insertion into the lineup appeared to provide a sense of hope for the rest of the team. He would experience more downs than ups the rest of the way, but the rising third-year sophomore proved he has some talent.
4. Ending the Season with a Win over Baylor
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A bowl appearance off the menu, Texas was playing for pride against No. 12 Baylor in the final week of the regular season.
Texas entered the matchup with a 4-7 record. With a loss, the Horns would head into the offseason with a 4-8 record, their worst since a 4-7 campaign in 1997 and the program's first eight-loss season since 1938.
That's not exactly how you want to want to enter a crucial offseason with 247Sports' 41st-ranked recruiting class.
Fortunately for the program the Longhorns responded. Tyrone Swoopes hit a big touchdown on the first drive and the Longhorns forced five turnovers, including a crucial forced fumble in the waning minutes, to win 23-17.
"#Texas upsets No. 12 Baylor. Charlie Strong goes 5-7 but w/ wins over 2 top 12 teams--as many as Mack Brown had in his last 4 yrs at Texas.
"
The win gave Texas its second over a ranked team, which should help on the recruiting trail.
3. Getting Blanked at Iowa State
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No matter what the state of the Longhorn program, nobody expected this.
Coming off huge wins over Oklahoma and Kansas State, Texas looked poised to romp its way into a bowl game. The Horns were piling up the rushing yardage, slamming the door on the opponents' ground attack and generally playing sound, physical football.
That all fell apart in Ames on Halloween.
The Horns were outgained 426 to 204, gave up 15 of a possible 24 third downs, averaged 3.8 yards per play and punted nine times. That's how you lose 24-0 to a team that finished 3-9 and fired its head coach at the end of the season.
Texas' baffling shutout loss to the lowly Cyclones cost the Horns a bowl appearance. It's also a candidate for the worst loss in a Strong era that's featured five other defeats by at least that many points.
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2. Knocking off No. 10 Oklahoma
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Everything about Texas' win over Oklahoma pointed to the turnaround that fans have been eagerly anticipating.
Behind Jerrod Heard and Tyrone Swoopes' "18 Wheeler" package, Texas jumped out to a 14-0 lead over the No. 10 Sooners. Meanwhile, a suffocating pass rush led by linebacker Malik Jefferson contained Heisman candidate Baker Mayfield.
The Sooners eventually made their push in the second half, pulling within a touchdown twice over the final 30 minutes. But an 81-yard run by D'Onta Foreman and a huge defensive stand slammed the door on the upset, giving Charlie Strong his biggest win as Texas' head coach.
Texas finished with 313 rushing yards in the game, with 100-yard performances by both Foreman and Heard. Jefferson led the way on defense, earning recognition as the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week with two of Texas' six sacks.
The win revealed a brand new physical identity on offense for the Horns that should have been able to propel them to a strong finish. It didn't quite work out that way, but it's never bad to be your College Football Playoff-bound rival's lone loss.
1. The Blowout Loss to Notre Dame
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Texas' 38-3 loss at Notre Dame certainly served as a crushing blow to the outlook for the 2015 season. And even three months later, the ripple effect of this loss is still impacting the program.
The Longhorns were thoroughly outclassed by the Irish on national television. They managed only 163 yards of offense to Notre Dame's 527, went 2-of-13 on third down and possessed the ball for less than 20 minutes.
Strong's team never had a chance, and it was painfully obvious to anyone who cared to tune in.
Over the short-term, this loss proved the Horns still had miles to go on offense. Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson refused to adapt to his personnel, cratering whatever potential Tyrone Swoopes had as the team's quarterback while ignoring Jerrod Heard's physical gifts throughout the offseason.
The loss forced Strong to immediately demote Watson, but the damage had already been done. The Longhorns had wasted another offseason on an offensive coordinator who clearly didn't fit and a quarterback who's since proven to be a backup/sub-package player.
Most of all, the Horns failed to pursue someone who could implement the kind of offense Texas needed to be successful, such as Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley, winner of the 2015 Broyles Award in his first year with the Sooners.
All of those decisions are costing the Longhorns dearly. The Longhorns are now desperately trying to find a coordinator who can develop their quarterbacks and turn the nation's No. 118 (per CFBStats.com) passing offense into something respectable. The problem is that TCU's Sonny Cumbie, their obvious top candidate, turned down their $1.3 million offer, per Horns247's Jeremy Clark.
"Go back in time and let everyone know that in 2015, an assistant at TCU won't take a promotion and $1 million to come to Texas.
"
Now the Horns have moved on to Tulsa's Sterlin Gilbert, per OrangeBloods.com's Anwar Richardson. It's unlikely that a non-Power Five assistant would turn down this job. But if he does, it'll be a crushing blow to Strong's outlook at Texas.
Maybe if Strong had acted sooner, a coordinator would be on staff that would have been able to take advantage of a top-20 rushing attack (per CFBStats.com). Unfortunately, he trusted his longtime assistant and is reeling because of it.
That decision set this offense up for failure, and the loss to Notre Dame made that apparent from the start of the season.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats and information courtesy of TexasSports.com.
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