College Game of the Week: Longhorns @ Wildcats

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Texas’ downward spiral may have finally reached its nadir. Tyrone Swoopes and the Longhorn’s offense looked hapless with only a couple real scoring opportunities and 196 total yards.

Meanwhile Kansas State continues their methodical dominance of the Big 12 this season. The running lanes weren’t as open as they normally are for the Wildcats, but Jake Waters and Tyler Lockett made just enough plays to put the game out of reach by midway through the fourth quarter for a 23-0 win.

This week's #PFFGoesToCollege Game of the Week:

Texas Longhorns – Performances of Note

Darius James, RG: -7.0

Breakdown: James played 34 snaps filling in at right guard and it was an utter disaster. It started from his very first snap where he was beaten handily by Ryan Mueller with a spin move. The redshirt freshman looked like the game was just moving too fast for him.

Signature Play: James had a Pass Blocking Efficiency of 84.2 out of 100 (current low in the NFL is 93.0).

Steve Edmond, LB: +3.9

Breakdown: One of two bright spots on the defense along with Malcom Brown (+2.0), Edmond did his best work against the run (+3.6). The senior had four stops on the day including two tackles for losses. In 60 snaps Edmond wasn’t downgraded once.

Signature Play: With 8:46 left in the first quarter, Edmond shook Glenn Gronkowski’s lead block at the goal line and tackled Charles Jones for a loss.

Tyrone Swoopes, QB: -2.9

Breakdown: Some great work with his legs, but Swoopes clearly has a ways to go as a passer. He had three interceptions dropped and just three completions targeted over 10 yards down the field. To his credit, though, late in the first quarter his best throw of the day was caught out of bounds by Jaxon Shipley who couldn’t quite time his steps correctly.

Signature Play: At Q2-11:03 on a 3rd-and019, Swoopes took a sack on a designed release route when the tight end was open and Texas was forced out of field goal range.

Kansas State Wildcats – Performances of Note

Ryan Mueller, DE: +6.4

Breakdown: Mueller feasted off the depleted right side of the Texas offensive line. At times he didn’t even use a pass rushing move and did nothing more than sprint straight around either Camrhon Hughes or Kent Perkins and they still couldn’t stop him. Seven pressures on the day for the senior.

Signature Play: On 2nd-and-18 with 55 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Mueller put a quick inside move on Perkins for a pressure that forced an errant throw.

Cody Whitehair, LT: +3.0

Breakdown: Adding to the list of impressive college left tackles we have graded this season is Whitehair. The junior was clean all day in pass protections outside of a holding penalty on Cedric Reed. Whitehair was consistently in control of his blocks in the run game and didn’t get beat cleanly once all game.

Signature Stat: Kansas State ran the ball 13 times off left tackle for a total of 70 yards.

Dante Barnett, S: +3.8

Breakdown: The old saying of ‘that’s why they play defense’ could not have been truer for Barnett on Saturday. The junior safety dropped three interceptions in what could have been a career day. He allowed just 34 yards from three completions on eight targets into his coverage.

Signature Play: The multiple dropped interceptions were all great breaks on the ball, but his signature play came at the 2:44 mark of the third quarter on a jet sweep shovel pass where he dove inside Johnathan Gray’s lead block for a tackle at the line of scrimmage.

PFF Game Ball

Even though he couldn’t hang on to any of the passes the hit his hands, Dante Barnett was always around the ball and shut down the Texas offense.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @PFF_MikeRenner