Saturday night was the ultimate glass half full/empty situation for the Texas fan base.
For those full of optimism, they'll take tonight's win and enjoy as much as they can because there haven't been enough wins in recent years to take any kind of win for granted.
For those soaking in pessimism, they're going to look at tonight's game and cringe that the Longhorns were involved in a one-score game with Tulsa in the fourth quarter ... a one-score game that had witnessed Tulsa leave enough points on the field to potentially turn this game into something else on a night when their special teams might not have been a flat out disaster.
It was the kind of night when Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte seemed to issue an ominous comment about the state of Texas football, even if he didn't mean to.
Asked for his thoughts on the state of the football he'd seen through three quarters, all while watching the Texas defense allow a touchdown to narrow the lead to 21-14, Del Conte remarked, "I like what we're seeing as long as we're winning."
Oh.
Given that it was the home opener and the events before the game in and around the stadium had been so universally commended, it's amazing that such a moment could even occur. Yet here we are.
The reality is that the Texas football program isn't nearly as good as its coaches believed it was when the season started. The reality is that the Texas football program isn't nearly as good as its fans believed it was when the season started. The reality is that the Texas football program isn't nearly as good as most of the local and national media believed it was when the season started.
This is a Texas football team that isn't ready for prime time quite yet. All three phases of the game have been just kind of "meh" through two games.
As someone that went back and forth between thinking this team might win seven or eight games this year, but always had serous doubts about the coaching and personnel, I'm not really surprised that this team looks a lot more than the team that finished 6-6 a year ago than any actual good team you'd want to compare it with.
Most troubling is that Tom Herman isn't proving to be special at this point. We're 15 games into his tenure and Texas is still rolling around on the field with the likes of Tulsa for four quarters.
Even the most optimistic of folks like Del Conte were left wondering how optimistic one can be when the likes of USC, TCU and Oklahoma loom in the near future because if this team doesn't start playing a better brand of football, a 2-4 or even a 1-5 start is possible.
"I like what we're seeing as long as we're winning..."
Double oh.
Other thoughts...
* Sam Ehlinger posted a 176.0 quarterback rating and made some big runs, but something still isn't completely clicking, which is one of the reasons why the offense operates like a squirt gun at times. As the Longhorns head into the teeth of their schedule, it's still tough to know exactly what they have at the quarterback position. No interceptions was a decent little moral victory.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey can't get enough touches. I'm not sure Texas wins this game without him.
* Texas ran for 241 yards on Saturday and very quietly, the offensive line has been perhaps the best bright spot on the entire team if we're talking about position groups.
* It almost doesn't make sense that Texas is struggling on offense when you consider the line isn't the issue. The pass protection through two games has been really good and the run blocking has been good enough.
* This team dearly misses Malik Jefferson, Poona Ford and DeShon Elliott. The playmakers on defense all seem to be the freshmen and that's not how teams win championships.
* I say it every week, but Caden Sterns might be the best player on this team by the end of the season.
* Shades of Bryant Westbrook...
* Ryan Bujcevski will have some ups and down as a freshman, but in the long-term the Longhorns have themselves quite a player on their hands. AUSSIE! AUSSIE! AUSSIE!
* I would never offer a non-Aussie punter again if I'm a college head coach. You're just doing it wrong by going American.
* Over the course of the next three to four seasons, we're going to look at this play as the moment when Keontay Ingram announced his authority as the best running back on the roster.
* Ingram averaged more than six yards per carry, but had only 10 carries. That can't keep happening. Tre Watson was good tonight, but he's not better than Ingram.
* Sophomore Josh Thompson was an impact player tonight. I thought tonight was a little bit of a coming out party for the young man, even if he should have been beaten for a touchdown in the third quarter.
* On the second drive of the game, the Texas offense stalled out because the running game just couldn't get it done inside the five-yard line, which reminded me of the Texas spring game when Texas got the ball on the goal line and threw it multiple times instead of just knocking the damn door down when you're inches away.
The consequences of these failures is that when Texas was facing a 3rd and 2 with 8:20 left in the second quarter from the Tulsa 40-yard line, Tom Herman/Tim Beck throw the ball (incomplete deep) because they don't trust the running game to get two yards against Tulsa..
In the third quarter, the Longhorns faced a third and two situation on the opening drive, but when the coaches went to the running game, the team lost yardage and needed to punt.
This is a problem that feels rather ominous heading into tougher competition.
* Over on the defensive side of the ball, the inability to generate a pass rush with its front four is another ominous dark cloud. If this defense is going to keep Texas in games against good competition, it has to get better play and production from the likes of Breckyn Hager, Charles Omenihu and Taquan Graham. Period. That trio off the edge hasn't been good enough.
* I'm going to have Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" playing in my dreams tonight after 834 Longhorn Network promos for the Texas volleyball team. Mind you, I'm not complaining.
* From the Department of Things I Didn't See Coming:
I think Del Conte might just work out...
* And finally... I leave this here without comment.
For those full of optimism, they'll take tonight's win and enjoy as much as they can because there haven't been enough wins in recent years to take any kind of win for granted.
For those soaking in pessimism, they're going to look at tonight's game and cringe that the Longhorns were involved in a one-score game with Tulsa in the fourth quarter ... a one-score game that had witnessed Tulsa leave enough points on the field to potentially turn this game into something else on a night when their special teams might not have been a flat out disaster.
It was the kind of night when Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte seemed to issue an ominous comment about the state of Texas football, even if he didn't mean to.
Asked for his thoughts on the state of the football he'd seen through three quarters, all while watching the Texas defense allow a touchdown to narrow the lead to 21-14, Del Conte remarked, "I like what we're seeing as long as we're winning."
Oh.
Given that it was the home opener and the events before the game in and around the stadium had been so universally commended, it's amazing that such a moment could even occur. Yet here we are.
The reality is that the Texas football program isn't nearly as good as its coaches believed it was when the season started. The reality is that the Texas football program isn't nearly as good as its fans believed it was when the season started. The reality is that the Texas football program isn't nearly as good as most of the local and national media believed it was when the season started.
This is a Texas football team that isn't ready for prime time quite yet. All three phases of the game have been just kind of "meh" through two games.
As someone that went back and forth between thinking this team might win seven or eight games this year, but always had serous doubts about the coaching and personnel, I'm not really surprised that this team looks a lot more than the team that finished 6-6 a year ago than any actual good team you'd want to compare it with.
Most troubling is that Tom Herman isn't proving to be special at this point. We're 15 games into his tenure and Texas is still rolling around on the field with the likes of Tulsa for four quarters.
Even the most optimistic of folks like Del Conte were left wondering how optimistic one can be when the likes of USC, TCU and Oklahoma loom in the near future because if this team doesn't start playing a better brand of football, a 2-4 or even a 1-5 start is possible.
"I like what we're seeing as long as we're winning..."
Double oh.
Other thoughts...
* Sam Ehlinger posted a 176.0 quarterback rating and made some big runs, but something still isn't completely clicking, which is one of the reasons why the offense operates like a squirt gun at times. As the Longhorns head into the teeth of their schedule, it's still tough to know exactly what they have at the quarterback position. No interceptions was a decent little moral victory.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey can't get enough touches. I'm not sure Texas wins this game without him.
* Texas ran for 241 yards on Saturday and very quietly, the offensive line has been perhaps the best bright spot on the entire team if we're talking about position groups.
* It almost doesn't make sense that Texas is struggling on offense when you consider the line isn't the issue. The pass protection through two games has been really good and the run blocking has been good enough.
* This team dearly misses Malik Jefferson, Poona Ford and DeShon Elliott. The playmakers on defense all seem to be the freshmen and that's not how teams win championships.
* I say it every week, but Caden Sterns might be the best player on this team by the end of the season.
* Shades of Bryant Westbrook...
* Ryan Bujcevski will have some ups and down as a freshman, but in the long-term the Longhorns have themselves quite a player on their hands. AUSSIE! AUSSIE! AUSSIE!
* I would never offer a non-Aussie punter again if I'm a college head coach. You're just doing it wrong by going American.
* Over the course of the next three to four seasons, we're going to look at this play as the moment when Keontay Ingram announced his authority as the best running back on the roster.
* Ingram averaged more than six yards per carry, but had only 10 carries. That can't keep happening. Tre Watson was good tonight, but he's not better than Ingram.
* Sophomore Josh Thompson was an impact player tonight. I thought tonight was a little bit of a coming out party for the young man, even if he should have been beaten for a touchdown in the third quarter.
* On the second drive of the game, the Texas offense stalled out because the running game just couldn't get it done inside the five-yard line, which reminded me of the Texas spring game when Texas got the ball on the goal line and threw it multiple times instead of just knocking the damn door down when you're inches away.
The consequences of these failures is that when Texas was facing a 3rd and 2 with 8:20 left in the second quarter from the Tulsa 40-yard line, Tom Herman/Tim Beck throw the ball (incomplete deep) because they don't trust the running game to get two yards against Tulsa..
In the third quarter, the Longhorns faced a third and two situation on the opening drive, but when the coaches went to the running game, the team lost yardage and needed to punt.
This is a problem that feels rather ominous heading into tougher competition.
* Over on the defensive side of the ball, the inability to generate a pass rush with its front four is another ominous dark cloud. If this defense is going to keep Texas in games against good competition, it has to get better play and production from the likes of Breckyn Hager, Charles Omenihu and Taquan Graham. Period. That trio off the edge hasn't been good enough.
* I'm going to have Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" playing in my dreams tonight after 834 Longhorn Network promos for the Texas volleyball team. Mind you, I'm not complaining.
* From the Department of Things I Didn't See Coming:
I think Del Conte might just work out...
* And finally... I leave this here without comment.
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