Warren Roberson’s hit led to huge fumble recovery by Graceson Littleton
· Yahoo Sports
Late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win by the No. 7 Texas Longhorns over the No. 18 Missouri Tigers, the Longhorns had just missed two opportunities — the chance to execute the team’s four-minute awesome to put the Tigers away with a 27-20 lead and the chance to recover a muffed punt just before the two-minute timeout.
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Was Texas going to experience another late meltdown fueled by the partisan crowd at Faurot Field.
Not if senior cornerback Warren Roberson could help it.
With Missouri facing 3rd and 5 near midfield, Roberson was responsible for the flat in zone coverage and used his elite acceleration to drive on the football as Tigers quarterback Austin Simmons targeted his favorite wide receiver, Cayden Lee, just short of the sticks in a four-down situation.
As Lee tried to bring in the catch, Roberson launched a crunching hit on the Missouri star, jarring the ball loose and into the waiting hands of sophomore nickel back Graceson Littleton, in the right position at the right time, and the standout defender raced 44 yards, sliding at the 6-yard line to allow Texas to burn clock.
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After forcing the Tigers to burn their final two timeouts, fifth-year running back Raleek Brown sliced into the end zone from eight yards out to clinch the 34-20 victory.
“I give him all the credit for it. I told him on the field, I told him in the locker room, I know him making that play definitely meant a lot to him,” Littleton said. “But he’s a player, he stays even. So through the ups, through the downs, he stays very even. He’s a very competitive player, and he put that on tape today.”
The forced fumble came as Roberson earned his first career start after sophomore cornerback Kade Phillips was injured against Mississippi State.
“We had to make some plays in some critical moments in this ballgame and we were able to do that,” Sarkisian said. “What a play by Warren Roberson to knock it loose. What a heady play by Graceson Littleton to go down inside the 5. We try to teach all that stuff and you never really know till it comes to fruition when it shows up.”
It wasn’t always easy for Roberson, who was targeted on Missouri’s third play from scrimmage and committed a pass-interference penalty, contributing to the Tigers scoring a touchdown on the drive.
Missouri wasn’t shy targeting Roberson, who was sticky enough in coverage to only finish with one tackle in a hard-nosed performance, an effort representative of the fortitude Texas showed in a tough road environment.
“This was not perfect. I think the resiliency and the mental toughness showed up today,” Sarkisian said.