Texas football: Thoughts on a dominant Texas win

What stood out the most in the Longhorns 45-14 victory over Louisiana Tech?

Here are a few thoughts on the Longhorns 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech 

Jalen Green has a chance to be a shutdown corner 

All spring and summer coaches couldn't say enough good things about cornerback Jalen Green. We all got to see exactly why in the Longhorns' win over Louisiana Tech. 

Green spent most of the night matched up against the Bulldogs' best receiver in Adrian Hardy. Hardy was persona non grata for most of the meaningful snaps of the game, eventually finishing with three catches for 38 yards (two of which came in garbage time). 

Herman praised his young cornerback, but also said there was usually help with either a cheating safety or a bracket. Still, Green looked the part against a guy who could start on nearly every team in the Big 12. Having one cover guy that good opens up the playbook as a defense and makes it a heck of a lot harder for opponents to game plan.

The 'Cowboy Package' is going to make some noise around the league 

Texas shifted to an eight-defensive-back package on several third-and-long situations against Louisiana Tech in what head coach Tom Herman has labeled the "Cowboy Package". 

Guys like DeMarvion Overshown - a 225-pound safety who has the physicality of a linebacker and the speed of a defensive back - getting a chance to really shine in the formation.  

Texas held Louisiana Tech to 5-of-14 on third downs and 1-of-3 on fourth downs and much of that success can be attributed to this personnel group. 

What's more is this was likely a stripped down version of the new formation. One can only expect to see more bells and whistles attached to it as the Longhorns get into bigger games (maybe starting next week against LSU). 

It could also be a base defense when Texas takes on pass-happy Big 12 foes down the line. 

Texas is still dangerously thin at running back 

The Longhorns made the most of what they had availible at the running back position with Keaontay Ingram picking up 78 yards on 11 carries. Backup quarterback Roschon Johnson looked like a potential factor as well with seven carries for 26 yards. 

But a minor ding to freshman Jordan Whittingham showed just how thin things are there. At that point Texas had two guys who were in a realistic position to play the position, something that is dangerous when you are playing a physical team like LSU next week. 

Texas will have to balance being smart with its running backs without falling into the territory of being timid. 

Texas kept things very vanilla tonight, and still impressed  

You'll hear from everyone in the Texas building that every game is equally important, but the Longhorns were clearly saving part of their playbook against the Bulldogs. 

Both on offense - where Texas spent a good portion of the game running screens, simple zone blocking running plays and a few deep shots - and defense - where Texas didn't have to dig too terribly deep into Todd Orlando's extensive blitz repertoire. The Longhorns didn't dig too deep into the playbook ahead of a showdown with LSU. 

 But as great as they looked, some perspective is needed 

Louisiana Tech is an above average Group of Five program, but there's still only so much they can do to test the Longhorns. 

There was a clear gap in talent and depth that makes it hard to get a full gauge on just how good this team actually is. 

The good news is for better or worse Texas fans will get a much better idea in just one week's time when LSU comes to town for the biggest game of the Herman era so far. 

So is Texas a national title contender? We'll all find out together.