Inside the Numbers - Texas vs. BYU

Really, if you watched this game at all, there's nothing the numbers are going to say that didn't see with your eyes. And here at Inside the Numbers, we generally try to avoid just looking at gross numbers as indicative of what happened. But against BYU the gross numbers really do tell the whole story. All you need to know is the 550. 550 is what got Manny Diaz "reassigned". And if the defense doesn't miraculously turn around under Greg Robinson, 550 will be seared into the brains of Texas fans for a long, long time.

This game was really simple, and the Inside the Numbers will be very simple. We'll just highlight a few of the gaudy statistics the BYU offense posted, and point out the few Longhorns who deserve a little credit for showing up and battling their asses off.

72 - 550 (7.6) - 4: BYU rushing attempts - rushing yards (yards per carry) - rushing TDs

99 - 679 (6.9) - 40: BYU total plays - total yards (yards per play) - total points

17 - 259 (15.2) - 3: Taysom Hill rushing attempts - rushing yards (yards per carry) - rushing TDs

30 - 182 (6.1) - 0: Jamaal Williams rushing attempts - rushing yards (yards per carry) - rushing TDs

Rushing. Lots of rushing. The BYU offense ran first, ran second, and ran third. And at a crazy pace. The 99 total plays is more than any regulation game I can recall. For reference, the 2010 Texas vs. Kansas State debacle, when Bill Snyder unveiled Collin Klein to the world, Texas was at least able to hold KSU to 261 yards on 50 attempts (with the token 9 pass attempts in the game). Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams...tip of the cap to you gentleman. You came to play.

If you'd like to find one thing the Texas defense wasn't an abject failure in, it was "holding" the BYU offense to 4 FGs on the evening....so, uhh, silver linings, I guess.

19 - 34 (55.9%), 251 (7.38), 2 - 0, 16 - 34 (3-16): David Ash completions - attempts (comp %), pass yards (YPA), pass TDs - INTs, rush attempts - net rush yards (sacks-yards lost)

13 - 90 (6.9) - 0: Johnathan Gray rush attempts - rush yards (yards per carry) - rush TDs

8 - 114 (14.25) - 2: Mike Davis receptions - receiving yards (yards per catch) - receving TDs

8 - 105 (13.13) - 0: Jaxon Shipley receptions - receiving yards (yards per catch) - receiving TDs

8 - 43.8 - 4: Anthony Fera punts - yards per punt - punts inside 20

I wanted to come up with a list of guys who came out and showed guts and competency, and this list of five was about as far as I could get.

David Ash battled his tail off. Despite being under constant pressure with only 3 and 4 man rushes, Ash managed to complete more than half his throws for a solid yards per attempt, came down with 2 TDs and 0 turnovers. He took a lot of hits (that 16 rushing attempts is way too high, and a good portion of those were him scrambling for his life), and managed to limit the damage to only 3 sacks. His health against Ole Miss, and the rest of the season, is the biggest concern moving forward.

Johnathan Gray, despite not having any room to run most of the game, managed a solid performance against BYU. His 37 yard second half scamper certainly helped the average, but he was able to make something out of nothing most of the not and only had 2 yards lost on the ground.

Mike Davis took advantage of a favorable matchup with 2 deep TDs over off coverage. The first was a perfect throw from Ash when the game was still in doubt, and the second an impressive grab in traffic. He pulled up on contact a few times, and had a few drops, not fully healed from that hernia surgery. Unfortunately, Saturday was a night he needed to go for about 20 catches and 250 yards.

Jaxon Shipley was the other side of the passing game coin, taking the easy candy underneath all game long. It's a comfort he hasn't always shown with Ash, and will definitely be needed with the passing game needing to shoulder a heavily load moving forward.

Anthony Fera has turned out to be a pretty good punter. There hasn't been a field goal attempt on the season, but his 43.8 yards per punt average (an average hurt by a 29 yard punt inside the 20), against BYU and 4 punts inside the 20 on 8 attempts would be hugely helpful if the defense could stop a nosebleed. Good punting this year will likely continue to be wasted if the defense doesn't improve at all.

In this doom and gloom week, here's to hoping an offensive rebirth under Major Applewhite, good health for David Ash, a speedy recovery to Daje Johnson, and all the good mojo under the sun to Greg Robinson. Hook 'em.