I'm stunned.
I feel like I've been a guy that has issued some pause and concern when discussing the Texas football team over the course of the last nine months. I knew the offense was a major work in progress. I knew Shane Buechele struggled during camp. I knew about that right tackle position.
But, I was all-in on the Tom Herman impact.
I believed him when he said the defense was going to be outstanding. I believed that the extra emphasis on special teams would pay off. I believed Todd Orlando was a difference-maker. I believed that Texas would crush Maryland.
My prediction was Texas +28 and I only ended up being wrong by 38 the wrong way.
The Texas team that took the field on Saturday was not well-coached, it was not disciplined and it was not anything close to a group that is headed anywhere close to a nine-win season. There was virtually zero difference between the team that ended the season in 2016 vs. the one that took the field for the first time in 2017.
All of the same shenanigans are still here.
Honestly, I don't know what to make of it all. Herman and his staff will need to go back to the drawing board and re-think everything it thought about this team. All jobs need to be open. Saturday was a disaster. No one should feel comfortable.
That includes the coaches.
Other thoughts on the game...
* I suppose we'll start with the quarterback play. All off-season long, I've questioned whether Shane Buechele was fully prepared to be a top-level college quarterback. It wasn't a popular notion, but I couldn't turn away from it throughout the last month. While he wasn't the biggest problem this team has to address in the next week, I don't think anyone should confuse Buechele throwing for 375 yards for actually playing at a high level. He's still a guy trying to find his light switch and the game still moves a little too fast for him. There were moments when his accuracy really stood out, but his inability to avoid bad plays, costly mental mistakes and find the end zone was a real problem. In a way, he's kind of where I expect him to be, but it's disappointing that he's not further along.
* Sam Ehlinger playing next week is absolutely in play. I think Herman knows that he can't take the toothpaste back into the tube once it is out, but Texas can't win eight or nine games with the quarterback play it received today.
* To be 1,000-percent fair to Buechele, the running game was an absolute failure, the running backs were useless, the offensive line was abysmal and it is fair to say he played at least as well as his All-American left tackle. He didn't get a lot of help outside of his receivers.
* Tim Beck... dude. Uh, welcome to Austin. You're going to find that it's a lot like Columbus if the offense looks as unprepared as it did today all season. There was very much a Shawn Watson feel to the entire afternoon.
* The importance of the tight end in the Tom Herman offense became blatantly clear on Saturday with the team's continued commitment to using Garrett Gray in that role throughout the game. With all the talent on the field for Texas, Buechele looked for Gray in critical moments on multiple occasions and came up empty each time. I'm still confused... by all of it.
* We've talked about the questions at right tackle for nine months, so when Tristan Nickelson's holding penalty wiped away a momentum-creating touchdown pass from Buechele to John Burt, it was blow to the football soul for multiple reasons, the least of which isn't the knowledge that this problem isn't likely going to go away any time soon.
* Ok, let's talk about the defense... Dear Todd Orlando, what the hell was that? The defense took poor angles, tackled poorly and flinched in every big moment of the game.
51 POINTS!!!!!! You have to be kidding me.
* The only guy on the defense that I thought played well was Charles Omenihu. Holton Hill scored two touchdowns, but I don't know that he played well. There were players that just flat out disappeared. The linebacker player was invisible and the secondary did not play like elite units.
Woof.
* Malik Jefferson flashed a couple of times in a good way, but he made way too many critical errors that led to massive plays. All of the Texas linebackers have to be better.
* Did Anthony Wheeler even play? You could say that about a lot of guys.
* Reggie Hemphill-Mapps is the truth. You could say that about a lot of guys.
* You could see that near pick-six of Buechele when the Longhorns got the ball back down 44-34 coming a mile away. He has to avoid those moments.
* Facing fourth and two at a critical point in the game, in the fourth quarter, Texas didn't run the ball because the coaches couldn't trust its running game to get two yards.
* The Tyrrell Pigrome injury with the Terps holding a three-point lead could have been a "Bookmark This Moment in the Game", but it didn't because Maryland was just better than Texas, even with a backup quarterback in the game.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey as the Wildcat quarterback? Hello! That was exciting.
* How ironic is it that the guy who scored the first touchdown of the season was the receive who game into this game kind of residing in the Herman dog-house? Someone needed to make a play and Armanti Foreman made one.
* So many penalties... so much sloppiness.
* After the opening drive of the game, Maryland outscored Texas 30-7 in the final 28:40 of the second quarter.
* Fourth down plays where the primary option is Garrett Gray? That's on Tim Beck.
* Michael Dickson's first punt of the day... 64 yards.
* Loved the idea of that doub;e-pass, but Lil Jordan might not be the guy to have throw that ball.
* Marquez Bimage, welcome to college football. The true freshman made the first tackle of the season on the opening kickoff.
I feel like I've been a guy that has issued some pause and concern when discussing the Texas football team over the course of the last nine months. I knew the offense was a major work in progress. I knew Shane Buechele struggled during camp. I knew about that right tackle position.
But, I was all-in on the Tom Herman impact.
I believed him when he said the defense was going to be outstanding. I believed that the extra emphasis on special teams would pay off. I believed Todd Orlando was a difference-maker. I believed that Texas would crush Maryland.
My prediction was Texas +28 and I only ended up being wrong by 38 the wrong way.
The Texas team that took the field on Saturday was not well-coached, it was not disciplined and it was not anything close to a group that is headed anywhere close to a nine-win season. There was virtually zero difference between the team that ended the season in 2016 vs. the one that took the field for the first time in 2017.
All of the same shenanigans are still here.
Honestly, I don't know what to make of it all. Herman and his staff will need to go back to the drawing board and re-think everything it thought about this team. All jobs need to be open. Saturday was a disaster. No one should feel comfortable.
That includes the coaches.
Other thoughts on the game...
* I suppose we'll start with the quarterback play. All off-season long, I've questioned whether Shane Buechele was fully prepared to be a top-level college quarterback. It wasn't a popular notion, but I couldn't turn away from it throughout the last month. While he wasn't the biggest problem this team has to address in the next week, I don't think anyone should confuse Buechele throwing for 375 yards for actually playing at a high level. He's still a guy trying to find his light switch and the game still moves a little too fast for him. There were moments when his accuracy really stood out, but his inability to avoid bad plays, costly mental mistakes and find the end zone was a real problem. In a way, he's kind of where I expect him to be, but it's disappointing that he's not further along.
* Sam Ehlinger playing next week is absolutely in play. I think Herman knows that he can't take the toothpaste back into the tube once it is out, but Texas can't win eight or nine games with the quarterback play it received today.
* To be 1,000-percent fair to Buechele, the running game was an absolute failure, the running backs were useless, the offensive line was abysmal and it is fair to say he played at least as well as his All-American left tackle. He didn't get a lot of help outside of his receivers.
* Tim Beck... dude. Uh, welcome to Austin. You're going to find that it's a lot like Columbus if the offense looks as unprepared as it did today all season. There was very much a Shawn Watson feel to the entire afternoon.
* The importance of the tight end in the Tom Herman offense became blatantly clear on Saturday with the team's continued commitment to using Garrett Gray in that role throughout the game. With all the talent on the field for Texas, Buechele looked for Gray in critical moments on multiple occasions and came up empty each time. I'm still confused... by all of it.
* We've talked about the questions at right tackle for nine months, so when Tristan Nickelson's holding penalty wiped away a momentum-creating touchdown pass from Buechele to John Burt, it was blow to the football soul for multiple reasons, the least of which isn't the knowledge that this problem isn't likely going to go away any time soon.
* Ok, let's talk about the defense... Dear Todd Orlando, what the hell was that? The defense took poor angles, tackled poorly and flinched in every big moment of the game.
51 POINTS!!!!!! You have to be kidding me.
* The only guy on the defense that I thought played well was Charles Omenihu. Holton Hill scored two touchdowns, but I don't know that he played well. There were players that just flat out disappeared. The linebacker player was invisible and the secondary did not play like elite units.
Woof.
* Malik Jefferson flashed a couple of times in a good way, but he made way too many critical errors that led to massive plays. All of the Texas linebackers have to be better.
* Did Anthony Wheeler even play? You could say that about a lot of guys.
* Reggie Hemphill-Mapps is the truth. You could say that about a lot of guys.
* You could see that near pick-six of Buechele when the Longhorns got the ball back down 44-34 coming a mile away. He has to avoid those moments.
* Facing fourth and two at a critical point in the game, in the fourth quarter, Texas didn't run the ball because the coaches couldn't trust its running game to get two yards.
* The Tyrrell Pigrome injury with the Terps holding a three-point lead could have been a "Bookmark This Moment in the Game", but it didn't because Maryland was just better than Texas, even with a backup quarterback in the game.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey as the Wildcat quarterback? Hello! That was exciting.
* How ironic is it that the guy who scored the first touchdown of the season was the receive who game into this game kind of residing in the Herman dog-house? Someone needed to make a play and Armanti Foreman made one.
* So many penalties... so much sloppiness.
* After the opening drive of the game, Maryland outscored Texas 30-7 in the final 28:40 of the second quarter.
* Fourth down plays where the primary option is Garrett Gray? That's on Tim Beck.
* Michael Dickson's first punt of the day... 64 yards.
* Loved the idea of that doub;e-pass, but Lil Jordan might not be the guy to have throw that ball.
* Marquez Bimage, welcome to college football. The true freshman made the first tackle of the season on the opening kickoff.
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