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The Kansas Jayhawks are coming to town and they’re packing their top-25 ranking with them, which means the Texas Longhorns won’t be taking them lightly.
“They’re 4-0 for a reason, it’s not by a fluke,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “They’re playing very good football.”
This is exactly the type of game that has given the Longhorns problems in the past. In fact, Kansas beat Texas 57-56 in overtime the last time they visited Austin in 2021.
“That game definitely broke me,” said right tackle Christian Jones. “Yeah, broken, so broken afterwards.”
Jones has since rebuilt himself into one of the best tackles in the Big 12 and a future NFL player. But the memories of the loss still haunt him – and fuel him.
“I want to say that was also a turning point in my career here, and for the rest of the team not wanting to experience that again,” Jones said. “Yes sir, definitely, definitely broke me though. Man, I gave up a sack fumble and they scored on that and I always think about that and have to live with that.”
It stands to reason that the 2023 version of the Longhorns, which are a much better team now, won’t be taking the Jayhawks, who are also a much better team, lightly.
And that’s a good thing because this Texas team is already thinking about the college football playoffs even if they won’t admit it. But it’s entirely possible that Texas needs to win the rest of its games if it wants to be in the playoffs this year.
There can be no repeats of Kansas from 2021.
The college football playoff race this year may be the tightest ever. As of now, there are ten teams atop the Galey Poll (the only poll that matters) that are undefeated and legitimate playoff contenders. The next three teams all have one loss but would also have a legitimate claim to the playoff should they win out. Which makes it all one big muddled mess.
Let me try to clear up the picture for you. Let’s take a look at each conference that will be fighting to land at least one of the four spots in the CFP … and what that could mean for Texas if the Horns stumble along the way and end up as a one-loss conference champ.
THE PAC-12 …
The West Coast conference certainly saved its best year for the last year.
WASHINGTON
OREGON
UTAH
USC
(maybe?) WASHINGTON STATE
All of these teams are highly ranked and should they win out, will almost certainly land one of the four playoff spots.
In all likelihood, these teams will probably knock each other off as they battle each other to win the conference. And without divisions in the Pac-12 now, they’ll have to face one of the best teams in the country again in the conference championship game.
The only scenario that would benefit everyone else hoping to make the playoffs is that the Pac-12 championship game features one team with one loss and another team with two losses and the two-loss team wins.
But if the Pac-12 champ is undefeated or even survives that brutal league play with only one loss, they would get in over a one-loss Texas team. The fact is, this is a pretty down year for the Big 12 and the Bama win can only carry you so far. Whoever wins the Pac-12 will have at least one comparable win and maybe more. Plus, the committee would undoubtedly reward them for surviving play in that brutal league.
Not insignificantly, there’s also a good chance the Heisman winner comes from out West. Caleb Williams already has one Heisman on his shelf and is playing well enough to win another. Throw in the likes of Michael Penix Jr, Bo Nix and even Shedeur Sanders and it’s not hard to imagine the Heisman staying out West this year. I only add that because having a Heisman winner on your team would probably be appealing to the CFP committee.
So, you can almost guarantee yourself that the Pac-12 champion is going to get one of the four playoff spots.
THE BIG TEN …
The Midwest powerhouse of a conference has three teams that are all very highly ranked, very good and would be very attractive to the CFP.
MICHIGAN
OHIO STATE
PENN STATE
Ohio State has already picked up one marquee win with its victory on the road over Notre Dame last weekend. The Buckeyes moved up two spots in the AP poll after the win. They do still have to play Penn State in three weeks and they close out the season with Michigan. But the rest of the schedule is very manageable … even for a soft team like OSU.
Michigan does not have a marquee win to boast about and it won’t play a team with a real pulse until it takes on the Nittany Lions on November 11. Then of course there is “The Game” against Ohio State at the end of the year. The Wolverines are hosting the Buckeyes so they should have a little bit of an advantage in that one. Win those two games and the CFP committee probably won’t hold it against Michigan that the rest of their schedule was against down Big Ten teams and schools like UNLV and Bowling Green. Win out and they’re in.
Penn State is in the same boat as Michigan. Win out and it’s a no-brainer that they’ll be in the CFP.
You have to assume that at least one of these teams will be in the playoffs. The nightmare scenario for a one-loss Texas team is if the Big Ten plays out like the 2008 Big 12 where you have Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State all with one loss. In that scenario, one of them would be in the playoffs while the other two would be pointing to the fact that they only had one loss all season and they too would have a marquee victory over one of the other Big 3.
The REALLY nightmare scenario for a one-loss Texas team is if Ohio State is the school with one loss that didn’t make it to the Big Ten Championship Game. In that scenario, the Buckeyes could claim a big win over Notre Dame as well as one of either Michigan or Penn State. If that were to happen, Ohio State would have a very good argument to be the second Big Ten team in the CFP which would mean two of the four playoff spots would be gone.
THE SEC …
The simplest outcome for the SEC is if Georgia wins out and is the lone representative for the SEC in the CFP. However, that may not be the best case for a one-loss Texas team.
You could make a case that the best-case scenario for Texas would be if Alabama wins out (including the SEC championship game) in which case a one-loss Big 12 Champion Texas team would have a very strong argument for getting into the playoffs over a one-loss SEC Champion Alabama team by virtue of their head-to-head win in Tuscaloosa.
You also can’t rule out LSU winning out and taking a playoff spot as the SEC champion as well. If that were to happen, then LSU would have an obvious claim to a CFP spot and a one-loss Georgia team would be clamoring to get in as well.
Still, overall this is a down year for the SEC and if ever there was a year when they didn’t get a team into the CFP, this may be it.
THE ACC …
Florida State is the standard bearer for the Atlantic Coast (+ soon-to-be Pacific coast teams Stanford and Cal) Conference.
The Seminoles already have a big win over LSU in week zero having beaten the Tigers 45-24 in a “neutral” site game. The better LSU plays from here on out, the better that game looks for FSU.
The Noles also just picked up a big win over Clemson last week in Death Valley. No, this is not the same ‘ol Clemson team that we’ve seen in the past, but they are still very good and beating them in Clemson is never easy.
Florida State may also have the easiest schedule of any of the contenders still in play. The Noles have only Duke, Miami and Florida as “tough” games left on the schedule. I put tough in quotation marks because I’m honestly not sure how good any of these teams are.
Still, the point is, FSU looks like a good bet to make the CFP.
NOTRE DAME …
Yes Notre Dame lost at home to Ohio State last week, but I don’t think their playoff hopes are necessarily dead.
The Golden Domers still have Duke on the road, USC at home and Clemson on the road to make a good impression. The USC game alone will vault them up the rankings if the Trojans are still able to win the Pac-12.
IN SUMMARY …
If Texas does pick up a loss along the way but still wins the Big 12 Championship, then they may be squeezed out by teams with better resumes.
So as you can see, the math to make the playoffs if Texas stumbles along the way gets very, very tight. The best thing to do is to do is to listen to Adrian.
KANSAS JAYHAWKS
I know talking playoffs when Texas is about to play only its second of nine conference matchups may seem a bit early to you, but it goes to show just how important each and every one of these games is.
The Jayhawks come in with an undefeated record having beaten two decent teams in Illinois and BYU.
Certainly the Jayhawks have earned their praise and their top-25 ranking. But if you scratch the surface, you’ll see a Jayhawks team that hasn’t been truly tested.
Kansas has defeated FCS Missouri State (ranked 100th in total team defense in the FCS), Illinois (ranked 113th in total team defense in the FBS), Nevada (ranked 129th in total team defense in the FBS) and BYU (ranked 44th in total team defense in the FBS).
The Texas defense will present a challenge the Jayhawks have yet to see.
"Tough kids," Kansas head coach Lance Leipold said. "It’s definitely a different team and a huge challenge for us and one that we’ve got to have our best week of preparation yet."
The Texas defense has excelled under coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski at making teams one dimensional. That will be the challenge this week as well facing off against Preseason All-Big 12 quarterback Jalon Daniels.
"The thing that he does is he's a real dual-threat," Sarkisian said. "I think the natural thing is we think about the runs that he has for explosive plays, but he throws the ball all over the place and they've got great schemes and concepts. It's not by any means, is it gimmicky? They're running real pass concepts that stress your coverages and then they have the run concepts with his legs as an added element to it."
Daniels’ ability to pick up yards even when the pass isn’t there has enabled the Jayhawks to stay out of 3rd and long situations. As a result, Kansas is second in the country when it comes to 3rd & 4th down conversion rates. The Texas defense is going to have to be on their game early in order to force more 3rd and longs.
"I'd say the main thing that we need to do is just keep having that mentality or keep doing what's making our defense unique," said Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford. "I think the level of physicality we play with, the level of communication we have, running to the ball, the effort and essentially just being a solid unit all around."
In talking with Henry Greenstein, the KU beat reporter for the Lawrence Journal-World on the “Get Your Horns Up” show on OB Live Wednesday, he said that one of the problem areas for the Kansas offense this season has been the interior of its offensive line. Opposing teams have been able to get pressure going up the middle.
I don’t care how good of a quarterback you are, if you are facing pressure up the middle, then it is going to be hard to have a successful day.
T’Vondre Sweat, Byron Murphy, Alfred Collins and the rest of the d-line should be licking their chops at the prospect of being able to get after Daniels through a soft middle.
In watching the Kansas versus Illinois and BYU games, the KU defense is a physical unit. They revel in making hard hits. However, just like the KU offense hasn’t been challenged, their defense hasn’t faced a tough opponent yet either. Illinois is the highest ranked offense at 69th in the country followed by BYU at 109 and Nevada at 118.
Quinn Ewers, Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Jonathon Brooks, Kelvin Banks and the rest of the offensive line will be a big step up from what they’ve seen before.
“He (Ewers) is an excellent quarterback, he’s going to be a high draft pick,” said Leipold. “It’s the weapons as well, so disrupting, keeping him out of a rhythm, getting him in longer down and distance. That’s the huge challenge.
“I think we’ve talked and we’ve gotten some recognition or compliments on our diversity of our offense and how we spread it around, well, they do it as good as anybody as well. When you look at the people that get touches and how they do it and some of the stuff they’re doing off of it. Trying to keep them off rhythm is going to be very important.”
The Kansas team has also averaged more than seven penalties a game the last two weeks. Leipold acknowledged that it was the penalties against Texas in 2021 that helped the Jayhawks pull off the upset. They’re going to have to play much cleaner this week than they have the past few weeks if they want to repeat the road upset.
The same is true for Texas as well. Don’t beat yourself. Keep playing the same way you’ve played all season. Don’t turn over the ball. Limit the penalties. Put the opposing team in bad field position so that they have the drive the length of the field to score.
That’s hardly the sexiest formula for success, but you don’t need much more than that to win on Saturday.
Do that each week and then it won’t be premature to start talking about the playoffs with this Texas Longhorn team.
THE GALEY POLL …
Screw the AP and the Coaches poll … the ONLY poll that matters is the Galey poll. This is my official/unofficial ranking of college teams following week one games.
THOUGHTS ON MY POLL: (and yes, I hear it … )
There is a natural desire to want to move Ohio State up into the top four after winning, on the road in South Bend, against a Notre Dame team that I’ve already explained is still a playoff-caliber team. However, that would mean bumping out Georgia, Texas, Florida State or Washington.
Georgia, as I’ve said before, is number one until they lose based off talent alone. It’s not their fault (the players and coaches) that their schedule is this weak. They should have had a win over Oklahoma already but that game was cancelled because of OU’s move to the SEC.
Texas still has probably the best win of the season by any team. I know the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame, but they needed a ND red card to put them down to 10 men in order to pull it off.
Florida State’s win over Clemson wasn’t pretty, but they still exorcised a big demon by being able to win in Death Valley for the first time since 2013.
Washington may be the best team in the country. Period. They are simply destroying every team they face and they’re making it look easy.
So, Ohio State sits fifth.
However, you’ll notice that I have Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State lumped together in the poll. Anytime you see that, you can assume that I view them all very similarly. One of those teams will win the Big Ten and be in the playoffs. Another will likely finish with one loss and could very well be in the playoffs. The third team may also have only one loss and will scream and bitch like the Cal-era Aaron Rodgers about being left out.
I have also lumped Oregon, Utah and USC together (see the note above). Oregon looked damn good against Colorado. I expected the Ducks to score a ton of points, but I did not expect them to basically shut out Shedeur Sanders and the CU Buffs. That was impressive.
Utah is undefeated and doing so without their star quarterback Cam Rising. As of now (Wednesday), Rising is practicing again but has not yet been cleared to play … and the fact that he’s splitting reps with Nate Johnson leads me to believe he may not be ready by Friday.
USC’s offense is exactly what you would expect from Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams. USC’s defense is exactly what you would expect from Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch.
I’m not penalizing Notre Dame too much for their loss to Ohio State just like I haven’t penalized LSU or Alabama for their one loss either. Although, Notre Dame only lost because of poor coaching whereas LSU and Alabama were just beaten.
I know I’ve caught a ton of crap for saying Oregon State is better than Alabama. This week, I’ll eat it after the Beavers lost on the road to Washington State. Cougars quarterback Cam Ward was simply amazing in lighting up the Beavers defense like he did (28-34, 404 YDS, 4 TD’s). Frankly, I did not expect OSU’s defense to be that vulnerable. Kudos to DJ Uiagalelei for leading a comeback to make it close, but he still didn’t play great that game. But who did play great was the OSU run game (39 carries for 242 yards, 6.2 ypc).
All of that to say, Washington State looked damn good and it is going to take a great defensive performance to stop them. Oregon and Washington are the only two really tough matchups left on their schedule. It will be interesting to see how the Pac-12 race plays out the rest of the season.
I’m not sold on OU yet, but I’ll dive into that more next week.
I’m also not sold on any of the SEC teams that I could have put in the bottom of the top 25. Missouri and Kentucky make it because they’re undefeated, but they won’t stay that way. Tennessee and Florida don’t look like they belong, but they’ll have a chance to prove me wrong. Ole Miss didn’t look good against Tulane and they didn’t look good against Bama (the only two tough teams they’ve faced). Good luck with LSU this week Lane.
I'll concede that most, if not all of those SEC teams would likely beat James Madison. But the Dukes are undefeated so far in their second season of FBS football and I don't know that they'll lose a game all season. They could end up being the best of the Group of Five this year.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW …
As Texas embarks on its last season in the Big 12, I’m keeping track of questionable calls against the Horns in every game officiated by a Big 12 crew.
TEXAS VS. BAYLOR
BIG 12 CREW:
Referee: Derek Anderson
Umpire: Michael Henderson
Linesman: Doug Moore
Line judge: Quentin Givens
Back judge: Daniel Young
Field judge: Gabriel DeLeon
Side judge: Mark Graves
Center judge: Brian Alos
Replay Official: Marcus Marsden
For the second game in a row with Big 12 officials, I have very little to complain about. I only saw one play in the entire game that I thought was even close to being suspect and, frankly, I think you can make an argument against throwing a flag here (although I do believe it was holding). I just don’t believe that the refs didn’t call this a holding because of some kind of conspiracy against the Longhorns.
This one happened at the 9:20 mark in the third quarter.
Now, while I don’t have any real complaints against the officiating in the Baylor game, the same can not be said for OU (who is also in their last season with the Big 12).
Check this out from their game against Cincinnati last week.
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WYOMING VS. TEXAS
BIG 12 CREW:
Referee: Kevin Mar
Line Judge: Bret Bascue
Umpire: Marlow Fitzgerald
Back Judge: Lyndon Nixon
Linesman: Bradford Edwards
Field Judge: Randy Smith
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RICE VS. TEXAS
BIG 12 CREW:
Referee: Tutashinda Salaam
Line Judge: Kelly Deterding
Side Judge: Eric Hartman
Umpire: Bill Bishop
Back Judge: Christopher Alston
Linesman: Matt Burks
Field Judge: Rich Almeroth
TWEETS OF INTEREST …
Speaking of the new Big 12 … this is a truly excellent inside look at how Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark …. (pausing for the boos to die down) landed the Four Corners Pac-12 schools; Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.
Truth be told, there were probably a hundred different inflection points where if ANY of them had broken the other way, the Pac-12 would be alive today and this article doesn’t exist. It took every single one of those decisions to break in exactly the wrong way for the Pac-12 to die and that’s exactly what happened.
Some of that is made clear in this excellent piece.
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I look at Colorado’s schedule and I see a 6-6 season coming down the pike for the Buffaloes. But that is a phenomenal turnaround job for Deion Sanders. I love the job he’s doing up in Boulder and I love how he manages his players.
Think Deion doesn’t know what it takes to be an elite player? He’s trying to teach that to his guys … even someone like 5-star DB Cormani McClain needs to put in the work if he’s going to see the field.
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Coach Prime has Matthew McConaughey’s attention as well. The Minister of Culture will be on hand to watch Colorado take on USC this week … instead of being in Austin for the matchup of top-25 teams, Texas and Kansas.
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Statsowar is a good follow for advanced stats. This is how he sees the Kansas vs. Texas game shaking out.
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The Texas/OU game is nearly upon us … and this is just a reminder of how strong rivalries can be. If the Rio Grande Rivalry generates this kind of heat, just imagine what happens to the players battling in the Red River Shootout?
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Frankly, this is long overdue. It’s not like pot actually enhances someone’s ability to play. And the fact that it is now legal in many states means it’s time to stop wasting money on testing for THC. Stick to testing for performance-enhancing drugs.
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This town must really be living up to its name.
Collin County now is officially the high school football stadium king of the world.
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And who am I to not give into the Swift/Kecle mania?!
YOU!
Now is your chance to sponsor the column. Our previous sponsor paid for more than three months of sponsorship fees in the first two weeks of signing up. That can be you! Contact @BlakeSkaggs if you want that kind of successful promotion for your business. Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity!
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The Kansas Jayhawks are coming to town and they’re packing their top-25 ranking with them, which means the Texas Longhorns won’t be taking them lightly.
“They’re 4-0 for a reason, it’s not by a fluke,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “They’re playing very good football.”
This is exactly the type of game that has given the Longhorns problems in the past. In fact, Kansas beat Texas 57-56 in overtime the last time they visited Austin in 2021.
“That game definitely broke me,” said right tackle Christian Jones. “Yeah, broken, so broken afterwards.”
Jones has since rebuilt himself into one of the best tackles in the Big 12 and a future NFL player. But the memories of the loss still haunt him – and fuel him.
“I want to say that was also a turning point in my career here, and for the rest of the team not wanting to experience that again,” Jones said. “Yes sir, definitely, definitely broke me though. Man, I gave up a sack fumble and they scored on that and I always think about that and have to live with that.”
It stands to reason that the 2023 version of the Longhorns, which are a much better team now, won’t be taking the Jayhawks, who are also a much better team, lightly.
And that’s a good thing because this Texas team is already thinking about the college football playoffs even if they won’t admit it. But it’s entirely possible that Texas needs to win the rest of its games if it wants to be in the playoffs this year.
There can be no repeats of Kansas from 2021.
The college football playoff race this year may be the tightest ever. As of now, there are ten teams atop the Galey Poll (the only poll that matters) that are undefeated and legitimate playoff contenders. The next three teams all have one loss but would also have a legitimate claim to the playoff should they win out. Which makes it all one big muddled mess.
Let me try to clear up the picture for you. Let’s take a look at each conference that will be fighting to land at least one of the four spots in the CFP … and what that could mean for Texas if the Horns stumble along the way and end up as a one-loss conference champ.
THE PAC-12 …
The West Coast conference certainly saved its best year for the last year.
WASHINGTON
OREGON
UTAH
USC
(maybe?) WASHINGTON STATE
All of these teams are highly ranked and should they win out, will almost certainly land one of the four playoff spots.
In all likelihood, these teams will probably knock each other off as they battle each other to win the conference. And without divisions in the Pac-12 now, they’ll have to face one of the best teams in the country again in the conference championship game.
The only scenario that would benefit everyone else hoping to make the playoffs is that the Pac-12 championship game features one team with one loss and another team with two losses and the two-loss team wins.
But if the Pac-12 champ is undefeated or even survives that brutal league play with only one loss, they would get in over a one-loss Texas team. The fact is, this is a pretty down year for the Big 12 and the Bama win can only carry you so far. Whoever wins the Pac-12 will have at least one comparable win and maybe more. Plus, the committee would undoubtedly reward them for surviving play in that brutal league.
Not insignificantly, there’s also a good chance the Heisman winner comes from out West. Caleb Williams already has one Heisman on his shelf and is playing well enough to win another. Throw in the likes of Michael Penix Jr, Bo Nix and even Shedeur Sanders and it’s not hard to imagine the Heisman staying out West this year. I only add that because having a Heisman winner on your team would probably be appealing to the CFP committee.
So, you can almost guarantee yourself that the Pac-12 champion is going to get one of the four playoff spots.
THE BIG TEN …
The Midwest powerhouse of a conference has three teams that are all very highly ranked, very good and would be very attractive to the CFP.
MICHIGAN
OHIO STATE
PENN STATE
Ohio State has already picked up one marquee win with its victory on the road over Notre Dame last weekend. The Buckeyes moved up two spots in the AP poll after the win. They do still have to play Penn State in three weeks and they close out the season with Michigan. But the rest of the schedule is very manageable … even for a soft team like OSU.
Michigan does not have a marquee win to boast about and it won’t play a team with a real pulse until it takes on the Nittany Lions on November 11. Then of course there is “The Game” against Ohio State at the end of the year. The Wolverines are hosting the Buckeyes so they should have a little bit of an advantage in that one. Win those two games and the CFP committee probably won’t hold it against Michigan that the rest of their schedule was against down Big Ten teams and schools like UNLV and Bowling Green. Win out and they’re in.
Penn State is in the same boat as Michigan. Win out and it’s a no-brainer that they’ll be in the CFP.
You have to assume that at least one of these teams will be in the playoffs. The nightmare scenario for a one-loss Texas team is if the Big Ten plays out like the 2008 Big 12 where you have Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State all with one loss. In that scenario, one of them would be in the playoffs while the other two would be pointing to the fact that they only had one loss all season and they too would have a marquee victory over one of the other Big 3.
The REALLY nightmare scenario for a one-loss Texas team is if Ohio State is the school with one loss that didn’t make it to the Big Ten Championship Game. In that scenario, the Buckeyes could claim a big win over Notre Dame as well as one of either Michigan or Penn State. If that were to happen, Ohio State would have a very good argument to be the second Big Ten team in the CFP which would mean two of the four playoff spots would be gone.
THE SEC …
The simplest outcome for the SEC is if Georgia wins out and is the lone representative for the SEC in the CFP. However, that may not be the best case for a one-loss Texas team.
You could make a case that the best-case scenario for Texas would be if Alabama wins out (including the SEC championship game) in which case a one-loss Big 12 Champion Texas team would have a very strong argument for getting into the playoffs over a one-loss SEC Champion Alabama team by virtue of their head-to-head win in Tuscaloosa.
You also can’t rule out LSU winning out and taking a playoff spot as the SEC champion as well. If that were to happen, then LSU would have an obvious claim to a CFP spot and a one-loss Georgia team would be clamoring to get in as well.
Still, overall this is a down year for the SEC and if ever there was a year when they didn’t get a team into the CFP, this may be it.
THE ACC …
Florida State is the standard bearer for the Atlantic Coast (+ soon-to-be Pacific coast teams Stanford and Cal) Conference.
The Seminoles already have a big win over LSU in week zero having beaten the Tigers 45-24 in a “neutral” site game. The better LSU plays from here on out, the better that game looks for FSU.
The Noles also just picked up a big win over Clemson last week in Death Valley. No, this is not the same ‘ol Clemson team that we’ve seen in the past, but they are still very good and beating them in Clemson is never easy.
Florida State may also have the easiest schedule of any of the contenders still in play. The Noles have only Duke, Miami and Florida as “tough” games left on the schedule. I put tough in quotation marks because I’m honestly not sure how good any of these teams are.
Still, the point is, FSU looks like a good bet to make the CFP.
NOTRE DAME …
Yes Notre Dame lost at home to Ohio State last week, but I don’t think their playoff hopes are necessarily dead.
The Golden Domers still have Duke on the road, USC at home and Clemson on the road to make a good impression. The USC game alone will vault them up the rankings if the Trojans are still able to win the Pac-12.
IN SUMMARY …
If Texas does pick up a loss along the way but still wins the Big 12 Championship, then they may be squeezed out by teams with better resumes.
- Pac-12 Champion
- Big Ten Champion
- Georgia (undefeated)
- FSU (undefeated)
- Another Big Ten team that only has one loss
- Another Pac-12 team that only has one loss
- A one-loss Georgia team that didn’t win the SEC
- A one-loss FSU team
So as you can see, the math to make the playoffs if Texas stumbles along the way gets very, very tight. The best thing to do is to do is to listen to Adrian.
KANSAS JAYHAWKS
I know talking playoffs when Texas is about to play only its second of nine conference matchups may seem a bit early to you, but it goes to show just how important each and every one of these games is.
The Jayhawks come in with an undefeated record having beaten two decent teams in Illinois and BYU.
Certainly the Jayhawks have earned their praise and their top-25 ranking. But if you scratch the surface, you’ll see a Jayhawks team that hasn’t been truly tested.
Kansas has defeated FCS Missouri State (ranked 100th in total team defense in the FCS), Illinois (ranked 113th in total team defense in the FBS), Nevada (ranked 129th in total team defense in the FBS) and BYU (ranked 44th in total team defense in the FBS).
The Texas defense will present a challenge the Jayhawks have yet to see.
"Tough kids," Kansas head coach Lance Leipold said. "It’s definitely a different team and a huge challenge for us and one that we’ve got to have our best week of preparation yet."
The Texas defense has excelled under coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski at making teams one dimensional. That will be the challenge this week as well facing off against Preseason All-Big 12 quarterback Jalon Daniels.
"The thing that he does is he's a real dual-threat," Sarkisian said. "I think the natural thing is we think about the runs that he has for explosive plays, but he throws the ball all over the place and they've got great schemes and concepts. It's not by any means, is it gimmicky? They're running real pass concepts that stress your coverages and then they have the run concepts with his legs as an added element to it."
Daniels’ ability to pick up yards even when the pass isn’t there has enabled the Jayhawks to stay out of 3rd and long situations. As a result, Kansas is second in the country when it comes to 3rd & 4th down conversion rates. The Texas defense is going to have to be on their game early in order to force more 3rd and longs.
"I'd say the main thing that we need to do is just keep having that mentality or keep doing what's making our defense unique," said Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford. "I think the level of physicality we play with, the level of communication we have, running to the ball, the effort and essentially just being a solid unit all around."
In talking with Henry Greenstein, the KU beat reporter for the Lawrence Journal-World on the “Get Your Horns Up” show on OB Live Wednesday, he said that one of the problem areas for the Kansas offense this season has been the interior of its offensive line. Opposing teams have been able to get pressure going up the middle.
I don’t care how good of a quarterback you are, if you are facing pressure up the middle, then it is going to be hard to have a successful day.
T’Vondre Sweat, Byron Murphy, Alfred Collins and the rest of the d-line should be licking their chops at the prospect of being able to get after Daniels through a soft middle.
In watching the Kansas versus Illinois and BYU games, the KU defense is a physical unit. They revel in making hard hits. However, just like the KU offense hasn’t been challenged, their defense hasn’t faced a tough opponent yet either. Illinois is the highest ranked offense at 69th in the country followed by BYU at 109 and Nevada at 118.
Quinn Ewers, Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Jonathon Brooks, Kelvin Banks and the rest of the offensive line will be a big step up from what they’ve seen before.
“He (Ewers) is an excellent quarterback, he’s going to be a high draft pick,” said Leipold. “It’s the weapons as well, so disrupting, keeping him out of a rhythm, getting him in longer down and distance. That’s the huge challenge.
“I think we’ve talked and we’ve gotten some recognition or compliments on our diversity of our offense and how we spread it around, well, they do it as good as anybody as well. When you look at the people that get touches and how they do it and some of the stuff they’re doing off of it. Trying to keep them off rhythm is going to be very important.”
The Kansas team has also averaged more than seven penalties a game the last two weeks. Leipold acknowledged that it was the penalties against Texas in 2021 that helped the Jayhawks pull off the upset. They’re going to have to play much cleaner this week than they have the past few weeks if they want to repeat the road upset.
The same is true for Texas as well. Don’t beat yourself. Keep playing the same way you’ve played all season. Don’t turn over the ball. Limit the penalties. Put the opposing team in bad field position so that they have the drive the length of the field to score.
That’s hardly the sexiest formula for success, but you don’t need much more than that to win on Saturday.
Do that each week and then it won’t be premature to start talking about the playoffs with this Texas Longhorn team.
THE GALEY POLL …
Screw the AP and the Coaches poll … the ONLY poll that matters is the Galey poll. This is my official/unofficial ranking of college teams following week one games.
| 1 | GEORGIA | 1 |
| 2 | TEXAS | 2 |
| 3 | FLORIDA STATE | 3 |
| 4 | WASHINGTON | 4 |
| 5 | OHIO STATE | 6 |
| 6 | MICHIGAN | 5 |
| 7 | PENN STATE | 7 |
| 8 | OREGON | 13 |
| 9 | UTAH | 8 |
| 10 | USC | 9 |
| 11 | LSU | 11 |
| 12 | NOTRE DAME | 12 |
| 13 | ALABAMA | 13 |
| 14 | DUKE | 15 |
| 15 | OKLAHOMA | 16 |
| 16 | NORTH CAROLINA | 19 |
| 17 | MIAMI | 21 |
| 18 | KANSAS | 23 |
| 19 | WASHINGTON STATE | 24 |
| 20 | OREGON STATE | 10 |
| 21 | MISSOURI | UNRANKED |
| 22 | KANSAS STATE | 25 |
| 23 | UCLA | 20 |
| 24 | KENTUCKY | UNRANKED |
| 25 | JAMES MADISON | UNRANKED |
THOUGHTS ON MY POLL: (and yes, I hear it … )
There is a natural desire to want to move Ohio State up into the top four after winning, on the road in South Bend, against a Notre Dame team that I’ve already explained is still a playoff-caliber team. However, that would mean bumping out Georgia, Texas, Florida State or Washington.
Georgia, as I’ve said before, is number one until they lose based off talent alone. It’s not their fault (the players and coaches) that their schedule is this weak. They should have had a win over Oklahoma already but that game was cancelled because of OU’s move to the SEC.
Texas still has probably the best win of the season by any team. I know the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame, but they needed a ND red card to put them down to 10 men in order to pull it off.
Florida State’s win over Clemson wasn’t pretty, but they still exorcised a big demon by being able to win in Death Valley for the first time since 2013.
Washington may be the best team in the country. Period. They are simply destroying every team they face and they’re making it look easy.
So, Ohio State sits fifth.
However, you’ll notice that I have Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State lumped together in the poll. Anytime you see that, you can assume that I view them all very similarly. One of those teams will win the Big Ten and be in the playoffs. Another will likely finish with one loss and could very well be in the playoffs. The third team may also have only one loss and will scream and bitch like the Cal-era Aaron Rodgers about being left out.
I have also lumped Oregon, Utah and USC together (see the note above). Oregon looked damn good against Colorado. I expected the Ducks to score a ton of points, but I did not expect them to basically shut out Shedeur Sanders and the CU Buffs. That was impressive.
Utah is undefeated and doing so without their star quarterback Cam Rising. As of now (Wednesday), Rising is practicing again but has not yet been cleared to play … and the fact that he’s splitting reps with Nate Johnson leads me to believe he may not be ready by Friday.
USC’s offense is exactly what you would expect from Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams. USC’s defense is exactly what you would expect from Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch.
I’m not penalizing Notre Dame too much for their loss to Ohio State just like I haven’t penalized LSU or Alabama for their one loss either. Although, Notre Dame only lost because of poor coaching whereas LSU and Alabama were just beaten.
I know I’ve caught a ton of crap for saying Oregon State is better than Alabama. This week, I’ll eat it after the Beavers lost on the road to Washington State. Cougars quarterback Cam Ward was simply amazing in lighting up the Beavers defense like he did (28-34, 404 YDS, 4 TD’s). Frankly, I did not expect OSU’s defense to be that vulnerable. Kudos to DJ Uiagalelei for leading a comeback to make it close, but he still didn’t play great that game. But who did play great was the OSU run game (39 carries for 242 yards, 6.2 ypc).
All of that to say, Washington State looked damn good and it is going to take a great defensive performance to stop them. Oregon and Washington are the only two really tough matchups left on their schedule. It will be interesting to see how the Pac-12 race plays out the rest of the season.
I’m not sold on OU yet, but I’ll dive into that more next week.
I’m also not sold on any of the SEC teams that I could have put in the bottom of the top 25. Missouri and Kentucky make it because they’re undefeated, but they won’t stay that way. Tennessee and Florida don’t look like they belong, but they’ll have a chance to prove me wrong. Ole Miss didn’t look good against Tulane and they didn’t look good against Bama (the only two tough teams they’ve faced). Good luck with LSU this week Lane.
I'll concede that most, if not all of those SEC teams would likely beat James Madison. But the Dukes are undefeated so far in their second season of FBS football and I don't know that they'll lose a game all season. They could end up being the best of the Group of Five this year.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW …
As Texas embarks on its last season in the Big 12, I’m keeping track of questionable calls against the Horns in every game officiated by a Big 12 crew.
TEXAS VS. BAYLOR
BIG 12 CREW:
Referee: Derek Anderson
Umpire: Michael Henderson
Linesman: Doug Moore
Line judge: Quentin Givens
Back judge: Daniel Young
Field judge: Gabriel DeLeon
Side judge: Mark Graves
Center judge: Brian Alos
Replay Official: Marcus Marsden
For the second game in a row with Big 12 officials, I have very little to complain about. I only saw one play in the entire game that I thought was even close to being suspect and, frankly, I think you can make an argument against throwing a flag here (although I do believe it was holding). I just don’t believe that the refs didn’t call this a holding because of some kind of conspiracy against the Longhorns.
This one happened at the 9:20 mark in the third quarter.
Now, while I don’t have any real complaints against the officiating in the Baylor game, the same can not be said for OU (who is also in their last season with the Big 12).
Check this out from their game against Cincinnati last week.
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WYOMING VS. TEXAS
BIG 12 CREW:
Referee: Kevin Mar
Line Judge: Bret Bascue
Umpire: Marlow Fitzgerald
Back Judge: Lyndon Nixon
Linesman: Bradford Edwards
Field Judge: Randy Smith
- 7:27 left in the 2nd quarter: Refs fail to call pass interference during a pass to Ja’Tavion Sanders.
- 4:44 left in the 3rd quarter: Refs call pass interference against Texas despite the ball appearing to be uncatchable.
- 2:11 left in the 3rd quarter: The head linesman, Bradford Edwards is standing on the 8 yard line when the Wyoming quarterback runs out of bounds at about the 11 yard line. Edwards is then run over and stands up and marks the ball at the 8 … the exact spot he was standing when Svoboda ran out of bounds yards ahead of him. You can chalk this up to the fact that Edwards was run over in the process, but the Side Judge was standing right there as well and did not correct the mistake.
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RICE VS. TEXAS
BIG 12 CREW:
Referee: Tutashinda Salaam
Line Judge: Kelly Deterding
Side Judge: Eric Hartman
Umpire: Bill Bishop
Back Judge: Christopher Alston
Linesman: Matt Burks
Field Judge: Rich Almeroth
- At 7:37 mark in the first quarter, the crew blows a replay review calling a X. Worthy catch a drop, despite the fact the ball never hit the ground.
- 4:45 in the first quarter: missed pass interference call
- 2:30 left in the third quarter, another missed pass interference call … on the same side of the field
TWEETS OF INTEREST …
Speaking of the new Big 12 … this is a truly excellent inside look at how Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark …. (pausing for the boos to die down) landed the Four Corners Pac-12 schools; Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.
Truth be told, there were probably a hundred different inflection points where if ANY of them had broken the other way, the Pac-12 would be alive today and this article doesn’t exist. It took every single one of those decisions to break in exactly the wrong way for the Pac-12 to die and that’s exactly what happened.
Some of that is made clear in this excellent piece.
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I look at Colorado’s schedule and I see a 6-6 season coming down the pike for the Buffaloes. But that is a phenomenal turnaround job for Deion Sanders. I love the job he’s doing up in Boulder and I love how he manages his players.
Think Deion doesn’t know what it takes to be an elite player? He’s trying to teach that to his guys … even someone like 5-star DB Cormani McClain needs to put in the work if he’s going to see the field.
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Coach Prime has Matthew McConaughey’s attention as well. The Minister of Culture will be on hand to watch Colorado take on USC this week … instead of being in Austin for the matchup of top-25 teams, Texas and Kansas.
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Statsowar is a good follow for advanced stats. This is how he sees the Kansas vs. Texas game shaking out.
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The Texas/OU game is nearly upon us … and this is just a reminder of how strong rivalries can be. If the Rio Grande Rivalry generates this kind of heat, just imagine what happens to the players battling in the Red River Shootout?
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Frankly, this is long overdue. It’s not like pot actually enhances someone’s ability to play. And the fact that it is now legal in many states means it’s time to stop wasting money on testing for THC. Stick to testing for performance-enhancing drugs.
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This town must really be living up to its name.
Collin County now is officially the high school football stadium king of the world.
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And who am I to not give into the Swift/Kecle mania?!
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