Five big takeaways from Texas’ win over the Kentucky Wildcats

It was a little sloppy, but the Texas Longhorns got the job done against Kentucky 31-14.

The win was aided by freshman running back Quintrevion Wisner, who had a career night with a touchdown and 158 yards on the ground.

The Longhorns are now 10-1 and 6-1 in the SEC heading into their final week of the regular season.

And before we head into the Texas A&M game next week, let’s go over some key notes from this game against Kentucky.

Could you imagine saying this before the CJ Baxter injury?

But honestly, he’s earned the spot. His 158 yards and touchdown came mostly in the second half. Amidst a struggling Texas offense, Wisner maintained the lead with his run.

And while Jaydon Blue nearly reached 100 rushing yards himself, his fumble in the third quarter has heightened concerns about his ball security.

The way Wisner played made him look like the team vet. He was patient and fought for a ton of extra yardage. I think it shouldn’t be much of a consideration as to who should be the lead running back for this Texas offense. Wisner won it tonight.

It seems like Texas has only seen Golden’s way in the red zone lately.

And who can blame them, he has been extremely effective and has been the team’s best target this season (Gunnar Helm is a close second).

But against Kentucky, head coach Steve Sarkisian got him going early. Golden accounted for 53 yards and three catches in the first drive alone, which ended in a touchdown. Golden hasn’t had more than three catches in a game since Mississippi State. He finished with seven catches and 86 yards, both season highs.

When Golden gets involved, the Texas offense is a different animal. It will be important for the Longhorns against Texas A&M and whoever they play to make sure he gets plays whether he’s in the red zone or not.

The second half started on a really bad note for the offense. After a three-and-out on the first drive, Texas turned the ball over two consecutive times, including a fumble by Quinn Ewers that was returned for a Kentucky touchdown. The next drive ended in a missed field goal, and after the defense forced a punt after that, punt returner Silas Bolden dropped a fair catch, resulting in nearly another disastrous turnover before recovering it.

Luckily for the Longhorns, they had settled down well enough for the team to have a comfortable lead even with all the mistakes, and it also helped that the defense held its own to prevent Kentucky from coming back.

But Texas A&M will have a tougher time, and momentum could shift drastically at Kyle Field in the Aggies’ favor with some turnovers. We saw how that could happen against LSU. The Longhorns are better than LSU, but you can’t expect Texas to get the same result if they make those mistakes in the second half against A&M.

After not getting a sack at all this season, Moore now has 2.5 sacks in the last two games.

The linebacker’s presence in the press game has been huge for the Texas defense. His one solo sack caused a loss of 13 yards at the start of a drive. His four tackles in the game also tied for a season high.

His help in the pass rush just adds another weapon at a time when Texas desperately needs one to take the next step before the playoffs begin. Hopefully he can be for the Longhorns.

Even with a potential loss to Texas A&M, I think it would be a very difficult decision to take Texas out of the playoffs.

Ole Miss losing to Florida helps, and with the SEC not having a single team under two losses, Texas looks almost like a lock. While the argument is that Texas hasn’t played a tough schedule, the ability to take care of business has to be considered when considering the other teams in the playoffs. Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois, Tennessee lost to Arkansas, Alabama lost to Vanderbilt, and so on.

The point is, Texas could have easily lost any of the “easy” games on their schedule, but didn’t when pretty much every other team in the race has. With all those options left, Texas should be in the playoffs in almost every one of them.

The final game of the regular season will be none other than Texas A&M at Kyle Field.

The winner of the game will make the SEC Championship, while the loser will more than likely stay home.

Kickoff will be at 6:30 on ABC.

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