Texas Tech Coach Joey McGuire Praises Texas Longhorns 'Home Run' Offensive Line
Texas' offense has stars all over the field, but there is one position group that doesn't get talked about enough is the offensive line.
Under Tom Herman and even in Steve Sarkisian's first year on the job, the offensive line was not a strength by any means. In fact, a couple of seasons ago, the Longhorns deployed what looked like a hockey line change at times to try and find the right combinations. Offensive line coach Kyle Flood and the staff put a major emphasis on finding and developing the best linemen possible, and now as Texas is ranked No. 7 in the country and is 10-1, they are seeing their hard work pay off.
Ahead of their regular season finale against Texas Tech, Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire raved about the Longhorns' big men up front and how well they have done both in recruiting and development.
"If you go through anything and say ‘what has Texas done?’ They’ve hit home runs in their offensive line," McGuire said. "I mean home runs. You’ve got young guys that are playing that are sophomores. If one of their tackles came out this year, which he can’t, he’d be a No. 1 draft pick as a sophomore in college. Coach Flood and Coach Sark have done a great job recruiting and developing those guys."
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian congratulates Texas Longhorns offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. (78) after a score in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game
Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman-USA TODAY NETWORK
He didn't stop at complimenting the offensive line either, as he also made sure to show some love to Quinn Ewers and Ja'Tavion Sanders.
“Offensively they’re as good as anybody we’ve played," McGuire said. "They’ve got an NFL tight end. They’ve got two to three NFL receivers. They’ve got a quarterback that will play in the NFL. They’ve got an offensive line that’s huge."
Their Friday evening game has extremely high stakes, as Texas has no room for error in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee. It also happens to be the last time that the two teams will play one another as conference foes, and with complications in scheduling, there is no telling if and when they will play again.
The Longhorns are heavy favorites at 12.5 points, with ESPN giving them an 86% chance of winning but when it comes to rivalry games, all bets are off.
