Austin, Texas ? Reeling from last week’s 24-point, shutout loss at Iowa State, the Texas Longhorns knew they needed something to spark them and win back the faith of the burnt-orange posse that packed Darrell K Royal-Texas Stadium for Saturday’s game against Kansas.
That something came on the Longhorns’ first offensive play, in a 59-20 victory over the Jayhawks: an 84-yard bomb from quarterback Jerrod Heard to wide receiver John Burt, who got behind KU cornerback Marnez Ogletree, wrestled the ball away from him at the KU 30 and then kept his balance and cruised into the end zone to give Texas a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
“We know he can throw the football,” said Texas coach Charlie Strong of his young QB. “It’s just a matter of him having the confidence to release the football.”
The Heard-to-Burt connect was not the only big play of the night for the Longhorns. Far from it.
Sophomore running back D’Onta Foreman broke the game open with a 93-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter and back-up quarterback Tyrone Swoopes factored in on a couple of 40-plus yard TDs, the first a pass to Armanti Foreman and the second a 44-yard run 1:29 later.
In all, UT’s offense, which racked up 598 yards, popped Kansas with eight plays of 20 yards or more. What’s more, Texas topped the 50-point mark for the first time since the opening game of the 2013 season, ending a streak of 33 games without reaching the half-century mark.
“We had to go dominate this team,” Strong said. “It’s just fun to see the team back where it should be.”
Saturday’s victory was one of those get-right nights for a lot of Longhorns. Swoopes scored four touchdowns on four carries. And Foreman rolled up 157 yards on 12 carries for his third 100-yard game of the season.
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