Of all the outcomes that could have unfolded in Charlie Strong’s season-two debut, the one thing that he could afford was for his team to resemble anything close to the outfit that took the field against TCU and Arkansas to end last season.
It’s possible that what happened tonight was worse than both of those nights… with all due respect to those butt-kickings.
On a night when optimism was reborn, it died a very quick and harsh death in the face of an Irish team that looked every bit like a national power, while the Longhorns looked very much like the incompetent ones we’ve all seen too often around these parts. The offense was horrendously horrendous, the defense made a boatload of glaring mistakes and the special teams…
Hey, the special teams were actually ok, so there’s that.
But, the rest of it? Uuuuugggggggghhhhhh.
It’s only one game and there’s certainly a lot of football to be played, but my goodness, for those people that wondered why I have pointed to games against California, Iowa State and West Virginia as tricky games later in the season, I think you’ll understand my reasoning. The events of tonight have revealed this team to be quite lacking and it might take some time before that truth changes.
For a program that appeared to be one big break away from some real momentum, tonight represented a ice-cold shower.
2. I’m not sure if Texas was the worse offense I watched all day, but only Stanford and Penn State deserve to be in the conversation and both of those schools were being deservedly mocked all day. On a scale of 1-10, there’s no need to even consider another number other than the lowest one available.
3. I’ve been as big of an advocate for patience as it relates to Tyrone Swoopes as there is and I’ve kept open the possibility that there’s more to his play with some development that what we’d previously seen. Now I’m an advocate for the reality that he just isn’t a plus-player at the high D1 level and the almost certainty that against the best of the best, he’s just not capable of passing the test.
4. The harshest reality to the entire UT football existence is that there likely isn’t an answer on the current roster, at least not for this year, at the quarterback position. The hesitation to use Jerrod Heard on a night when the Texas offense sewage waste says a lot about what kind of limitations he possesses, but I don’t know that you can keep repeating the same approach because it will turn the fan base against the coaching staff. They’re going to have to play Heard and we’re all going to need to see him struggle greatly before everyone truly realizes what is staring the program in the face… no sure-fire quarterback answer.
5. In UT’s first 11 offensive possessions, it went three-and-out eight times. That seems almost mathematically impossible.
6. As bad as the quarterback play was, the offensive line play was basically its twin brother. This is what it looks like when you start two true freshmen and three average players against a good front seven.
7. We knew that the Texas defense was going to miss those six departed seniors, but I don’t know that anyone ever thought that the unit wouldn’t be functional, but the front four was pushed around and the back four misses tackles, busted assignments and generally didn’t look ready for this kind of opposition. The good news is that Malik Jefferson was a manimal and made plays all over the field. The bad news is that they only have one guy like him.
8. Dylan Haines had a rough night at safety. From the late reaction on Notre Dame’s first touchdown to the missed armed tackle on the second to the blown coverage on the third Irish touchdown, it was a very tough night for the former walk-on.
9. Expect to see a lot more freshmen in the coming weeks.
10. Sedrick Flowers deserved to be thrown out of the game for that slap/punch to the face of an Irish player .
11. Kris Boyd made numerous plays on special teams tonight and his role needs to increase.
12. Johnathan Gray had 3 rushes in the first half for 18 yards and he finished the game with eight carries for 40 yards. I have no idea what kind of game-plan they were going for if it didn’t include giving him the ball as the lead horse. Pure coaching failure on the offensive side of the ball to let that happen.
13. I thought Nick Rose had a good night and might have been the second-best thing about the Longhorns on the night, but, of course, he missed the third attempt of his FG attempt to end of the half after making the first two. Nice job, Brian Kelly.
14. The first quarter had 58 seconds left in it when NBC was finally able to show the Texas starting line-up graphic. Let that sink in for a moment.
15. Honestly, the rest doesn’t get much better than what’s already been written. Every layer of this team must improve, including the coaching. This was a step backwards for Charlie Strong’s program. He’s been in charge of the program for more than 21 months and these types of losses simply must stop occurring. That’s it.
p.s. Malik Zaire came in with nothing proven as a starting quarterback, but he certainly proved he’d be the best offensive player in a Longhorns uniform if such a thing were possible.
It’s possible that what happened tonight was worse than both of those nights… with all due respect to those butt-kickings.
On a night when optimism was reborn, it died a very quick and harsh death in the face of an Irish team that looked every bit like a national power, while the Longhorns looked very much like the incompetent ones we’ve all seen too often around these parts. The offense was horrendously horrendous, the defense made a boatload of glaring mistakes and the special teams…
Hey, the special teams were actually ok, so there’s that.
But, the rest of it? Uuuuugggggggghhhhhh.
It’s only one game and there’s certainly a lot of football to be played, but my goodness, for those people that wondered why I have pointed to games against California, Iowa State and West Virginia as tricky games later in the season, I think you’ll understand my reasoning. The events of tonight have revealed this team to be quite lacking and it might take some time before that truth changes.
For a program that appeared to be one big break away from some real momentum, tonight represented a ice-cold shower.
2. I’m not sure if Texas was the worse offense I watched all day, but only Stanford and Penn State deserve to be in the conversation and both of those schools were being deservedly mocked all day. On a scale of 1-10, there’s no need to even consider another number other than the lowest one available.
3. I’ve been as big of an advocate for patience as it relates to Tyrone Swoopes as there is and I’ve kept open the possibility that there’s more to his play with some development that what we’d previously seen. Now I’m an advocate for the reality that he just isn’t a plus-player at the high D1 level and the almost certainty that against the best of the best, he’s just not capable of passing the test.
4. The harshest reality to the entire UT football existence is that there likely isn’t an answer on the current roster, at least not for this year, at the quarterback position. The hesitation to use Jerrod Heard on a night when the Texas offense sewage waste says a lot about what kind of limitations he possesses, but I don’t know that you can keep repeating the same approach because it will turn the fan base against the coaching staff. They’re going to have to play Heard and we’re all going to need to see him struggle greatly before everyone truly realizes what is staring the program in the face… no sure-fire quarterback answer.
5. In UT’s first 11 offensive possessions, it went three-and-out eight times. That seems almost mathematically impossible.
6. As bad as the quarterback play was, the offensive line play was basically its twin brother. This is what it looks like when you start two true freshmen and three average players against a good front seven.
7. We knew that the Texas defense was going to miss those six departed seniors, but I don’t know that anyone ever thought that the unit wouldn’t be functional, but the front four was pushed around and the back four misses tackles, busted assignments and generally didn’t look ready for this kind of opposition. The good news is that Malik Jefferson was a manimal and made plays all over the field. The bad news is that they only have one guy like him.
8. Dylan Haines had a rough night at safety. From the late reaction on Notre Dame’s first touchdown to the missed armed tackle on the second to the blown coverage on the third Irish touchdown, it was a very tough night for the former walk-on.
9. Expect to see a lot more freshmen in the coming weeks.
10. Sedrick Flowers deserved to be thrown out of the game for that slap/punch to the face of an Irish player .
11. Kris Boyd made numerous plays on special teams tonight and his role needs to increase.
12. Johnathan Gray had 3 rushes in the first half for 18 yards and he finished the game with eight carries for 40 yards. I have no idea what kind of game-plan they were going for if it didn’t include giving him the ball as the lead horse. Pure coaching failure on the offensive side of the ball to let that happen.
13. I thought Nick Rose had a good night and might have been the second-best thing about the Longhorns on the night, but, of course, he missed the third attempt of his FG attempt to end of the half after making the first two. Nice job, Brian Kelly.
14. The first quarter had 58 seconds left in it when NBC was finally able to show the Texas starting line-up graphic. Let that sink in for a moment.
15. Honestly, the rest doesn’t get much better than what’s already been written. Every layer of this team must improve, including the coaching. This was a step backwards for Charlie Strong’s program. He’s been in charge of the program for more than 21 months and these types of losses simply must stop occurring. That’s it.
p.s. Malik Zaire came in with nothing proven as a starting quarterback, but he certainly proved he’d be the best offensive player in a Longhorns uniform if such a thing were possible.
