Texas left Knoxville with the win, but special teams came out of Saturday’s 20-17 result with plenty to clean up.
The Longhorns’ third phase actually moved up in the ESPN SP+ rankings, climbing from No. 25 to No. 22 after the victory over Tennessee. Even so, the tape told a messier story, especially on kickoffs and punts, where Texas took hits in field position and gave up a game-tying score.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian zeroed in on senior kicker Gianni Spetic first. His touchback rate, which sat at 77.2 percent through three games, plunged to 20 percent on five kickoffs at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee got returns of 17 and 19 yards, and one of Spetic’s early second-quarter kickoffs barely reached the 9-yard line before the Volunteers brought it back 19 yards.
The most damaging mistake came later, after Texas had just scored to take a 20-10 lead with 5:41 left in the fourth quarter. Spetic kicked the ball out of bounds, handing Tennessee the ball at the 35-yard line and instantly dulling the momentum. Texas did eventually hold, forcing a turnover on downs, but Sarkisian made clear that kind of breakdown can’t keep showing up.
“So, was that the environment? Was that something he was doing fundamentally? We’ve got to clean that up,” Sarkisian said.
According to the game notes, wind wasn’t the culprit. It was listed at five miles per hour.
The bigger blow, though, came on punt coverage. Tennessee tied the game at 10-10 early in the third quarter when Qua Moss ripped off a 57-yard punt return touchdown - the first punt return touchdown Texas has allowed since 2013.
That play exposed a chain of problems. Freshman wide receiver Kohen Brown and senior running back/wide receiver Ryan Niblett were the gunners tasked with getting Moss on the ground, but Brown was late getting through his block and Niblett never escaped his. Junior safety Jordon Johnson-Rubell, who has added 23 pounds since last season, couldn’t close the gap, and senior linebacker Justin Cryer and senior defensive end Colton Vasek also failed to stop Moss before he got outside and beat senior punter Mac Chiumento.
Sarkisian, though, put some of the blame on the kick itself.
“We’re a directional punt team. We’re always trying to punt the ball to the numbers, whether it’s into the boundary, to the field, and everyone wants to talk about the coverage unit,” Sarkisian said.
“Well, the long punt return for the touchdown, we punt the ball right down the middle of the field. That’s not ideal when you’re trying to cover punts.”
Texas did get some production in the return game from Niblett, who brought back four punts for 57 yards, but there were still missed chances. Johnson-Rubell was flagged for a block in the back on one 14-yard return, costing Texas 10 yards of field position.
Even more costly was Niblett’s fair catch signal on a 25-yard return by freshman wide receiver Jermaine Bishop, which wiped out what looked like a major gain. With Tennessee punting from one hash, Banks had anticipated a directional kick to the sideline and lined Bishop up in a double team over the gunner, then dropped the speedster deep at the snap.
Bishop made a nice over-the-shoulder catch, shook a defender, and looked ready to give Texas strong field position in Tennessee territory. Instead, the ball was placed at the spot of Niblett’s fair catch signal at the Texas 32-yard line.
“We didn’t practice that,” Sarkisian said of the fair catch signal. “All we did was practice running over and falling down, so we’ve got to do the things that we’re practicing.”
Texas also hasn’t found a block on special teams yet this season, despite affecting Ohio State’s late field-goal attempt, which missed badly. Sarkisian said that phase still has to be part of the package.
“The block game is always something that needs to be part of our repertoire, whether it’s punt block or field-goal block, so we won’t ever stop exhausting ourselves there,” Sarkisian said.
Depth is the other issue Sarkisian wants fixed. Against Tennessee, starters such as Cryer, who played 12 snaps on defense and seven on punt coverage, and senior linebacker Rasheem Biles, who logged 11 snaps on defense and seven on punt coverage, had to carry a heavy load in the kicking game. Sarkisian said Texas needs more bodies to absorb that work.
“The biggest thing on special teams we need to get is we need more depth. If Juice Cryer and Rasheem Biles and Jelani McDonald, these guys are going to play this many snaps on defense - which deservedly so - we need other guys taking some of the heat off these guys on punt, punt return, kickoff coverage, and so we need the depth to step up. I think that’s where we need to place an emphasis on who can we count on to be in those positions to play on special teams to take the load off of those guys so that they can keep being the players that they are on defense,” Sarkisian said.
Because Biles and McDonald played every snap against Tennessee and Cryer missed only one, Sarkisian’s message landed as a direct challenge to the backups and younger players. The bye week now becomes a chance for Texas to sort out a part of the game that needs work in more than one area.
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