DALLAS and AUSTIN, Texas — Preparing for every possible game situation is training for a football coach, at least a good one, but even under detail-oriented head coach Steve Sarkisian, the Texas Longhorns fumbled I haven’t practiced recovering.
So when wide receiver Silas Bolden finished a 55.6-yard run with a fumble recovery in the end zone after blocking the Oklahoma Sooners’ trap cornerback in Saturday’s Cotton Bowl, it earned the label of a “culture play.” It corresponded to
With Texas leading 7-3 late in the second quarter, the Longhorns were still looking to pull away from the Sooners after a slow game with just 13 yards of total offense in the first 15 minutes. After quarterback Quinn Ewers completed a 44-yard run to wide receiver Ryan Wingo, running back Quinn Le’Veon Wisner broke a run off from left tackle into the open field and threatened the end zone.
Instead of Wisner scoring, a hustle play by Oklahoma safety Robert Spears-Jennings caused the Texas running back to fumble near the 2-yard line, sending the ball rolling into the end zone for a possible game-changing touchback. There was sex.
Instead, Bolden’s speed beat Sooners linebacker Danny Stutzman to the football and corralled the rolling prolate spheroid into the deep left corner of the end zone before finding white chalk.
In typical Cotton Bowl fashion, a game-changing burst of momentum culminated in a resounding victory for Texas. Two plays later, Anthony Hill forced Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. into a fumble, and Wisner recovered the fumble for a 43-yard touchdown. The run on the sudden change forced and recovered a fumble on the Sooners’ next play from scrimmage by Longhorns safety Derek Williams. Bart Auburn missed a 44-yard field goal and Texas was unable to end the first half with a score, but the Horns still led 21-3 against a toothless Crimson and Cream offense. It was half time.
At that point, the match was effectively decided.
Bolden’s fumble recovery there started a 14-0 run that included two forced Texas turnovers and led to a decisive draw against Oklahoma. Considering the recent history between the two programs dating back to Bob Stoops’ 9-6 win in a four-inning blowout over Mack Brown, the simple truth is that the Longhorns won the game in the Cotton Bowl. It means that he is having a hard time making changes to his play.
Sarkisian credited Bolden’s instantly iconic fumble recovery with a hustle play in which Jordan Whittington and Xavier Worthy forced and recovered a fumble in TCU’s narrow win over the Horned Frogs in late November. He gave an example of a 5-star player embodying 5-star performance. Longhorn culture built under Sarkisian.
Sarkisian’s comparison in Monday’s press conference echoed a point he made to the team during the weekly “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” meeting earlier in the day.
“I’m always looking for plays that show great effort and we take pride in the effort we play, but then I try to find what I call cultural plays,” Sarkisian said. said. “For me, it was also our culture that Silas fit in with great. In my opinion, that really gave us a kick to start the second quarter.”
So Bolden’s fumble recovery was the kind of culture play by Worthy and Whittington that Sarkisian believes changed the face of last year’s 29-26 win over TCU.
“I felt like the play that Silas made on Saturday on Trey’s touchdown run was another culture play. If you want to exemplify what this team is like, here’s a guy who blocks corners. I’m on the field and Tre’s about 20 yards away.” And there was no way I was going to raise my hand and just let that guy score. So he turned and was sprinting towards the football and ironically the ball came out and there he was, Johnny. ”
As a consensus three-star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class and ranked outside the nation’s top 1,000 players in the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Bolden is one of the more pedigreed recruits in the 2020 recruiting class than Worthy and Whittington. None However, these rankings are a reflection of Bolden’s stature, and the lack of respect from the world is due to the media and universities that did not recruit him, leading Bolden to play with heart and competitiveness. It now defines him and even becomes his characteristic. immortal play.
It was also imperative for Bolden to excel by those margins with his marginal size.
“You’re not of his stature physically, and if you don’t have a big heart and play the game with an enormous amount of courage and effort, you don’t get success at this level. “And resilience,” Sarkisian said. “And that’s what we got, we got a player who plays like that. It’s maximum effort and he oozes courage every time he gets a chance. That’s what we got. I think that’s what we’re looking at.”
Friday’s Red River Rivals hype video was narrated by Longhorn legend Colt McCoy, explaining the stakes of the Cotton Bowl.
“A lot has changed over the years, but one thing remains the same: this game, where legends are made. The plays, the moments, the memories, they are more than just history. is immortal,” McCoy said.
Bolden’s play is now one of the immortal moments in the 120-game rivalry, making him an instant Longhorn legend and his efforts never forgotten by the burnt orange and white faithful.
Just getting on the field to get a chance to play effort was a difficult journey for Bolden. As Sarkisian revealed in his postgame press conference at the Cotton Bowl, the transition to the Forty Acres hasn’t been entirely smooth since arriving in Austin in the summer after training at his home in California for six months. There wasn’t.
After leading the Beavers in receiving yards with 54 catches, 746 yards, and 5 touchdowns at Oregon State, Bolden got off to a strong start with 19 catches, 246 yards, and 3 touchdowns as a Y-wide. He had to adapt to a smaller role backing up receiver Matthew Golden. . Through the first five games, the 5-foot-8, 160-pound Bolden played only 11 snaps against Michigan State and four snaps against Mississippi State, an important step in his practice to gain the confidence of his coaches. We have entered the bye week.
“Coach (Chris) Jackson and I kept pushing him to stay positive and keep trying. He had probably his best week of practice this week since the regular season started, and that’s what made him play. He was playing faster, his effort was better, he was braver,” Sarkisian said in a press conference Monday.
Bolden capped off his performance with a 55-yard punt return midway through his final collegiate regular season, the longest of his Texas career and the second-longest of his career. His decision-making on punt returns pushed the boundaries of reliability with moments like a fumble, several unnecessarily risky returns, and ultimately an inability or unwillingness to defend a 51-yard punt. Ta. It went over Oklahoma’s head and helped pin the Texas offense deep at its own 12-yard line.
Special teams coordinator Jeff Banks’ hope is to smooth out those moments while giving Bolden some freedom, given the game-changing ability he showed on punt returns in high school.
To find more snaps in a crowded wide receiver rotation, he continued the practice routine of Texas standards that earned him a chance to see the field, making the Split Cotton immortal an instant Longhorn legend. We need to create culture plays like fumble recovery touchdowns. bowl field.
