The Texas football team is a work in progress.
Period.
It's really important that you understand this.
On a day when the Longhorns won in Manhattan, Kansas for the first time since Chris Simms played the hero at quarterback for Texas, there will be a rush for some that can't help but live for the emotional roller coaster ride that comes with changing your opinion about a team from week to week based on whatever highs or lows are experienced over the course of 60-minute sample-size to diminish the importance of a win without many style points.
Don't fall into the trap. Kansas State might not be very good, but this was a good win for the Longhorns. When you've been stuck in 6-6 or 5-7 land for a full presidential cycle, any win is a good win and that's where we still are with this team.
The bottom line is that Texas is 4-1 and headed to the Cotton Bowl with a date against Oklahoma with a myriad of possibilities in front of it.
Texas will need to be better on offense. Texas will need better quarterback play from Sam Ehlinger. It will need better coaching from Tom Herman, especially since nothing about today can be pinned on Tim Beck.
I'll be honest, I don't want to watch this thing a second time, as once was more than enough. However, don't get caught up outside of this one simple truth.
All that really matters is the final result.
(Other thoughts ...)
* Basically, we watched the Tulsa game all over again ... mostly complete domination for one half and too much ineptitude in the other. Both of these teams left points on the board, but on a day when Kansas State played the wrong quarterback for 30 minutes and still came away needing only six more points to win the game, the Longhorns have to feel a major sense of relief.
* The offense must open up next week in the passing game. Sam Ehlinger was seemingly efficient in the pass game in completing 29 of 36 passes, but he averaged an anemic 5.6 yards per attempt, which is unacceptable. That's not all on Ehlinger, although his missing throws down the field that are wide open for him to be made is an issue. The aggression that the coaching staff showed in the first 15 minutes of the game disappeared in the final 45 minutes, which is how an offense fails to score a single point in the second half against one of the worst defenses in the Big 12.
* Ehlinger finished with a 138 game rating. That's a big step back from what he did a week ago. This team will win games when he plays like he did a week ago and it will lose or nearly lose games when he's less than that. Today is a reminder of what that snapshot looks like.
* Ehlinger left points on the field on the first drive of the game when he missed Devin Duvernay, who was more wide open than any Texas receiver will be all season. It was the kind of miss that you just can't have, but I give Ehlinger a ton of credit for coming back in the second offensive series of the game and making a number of key plays, including a really nice read and throw on third down, in a drive that finished with seven points. There's still a lot of room for growth, but that drive was evidence that some growth is absolutely taking place in real time, although not enough of it.
* Keontay Ingram might be the best player on the Texas offense and he was a complete afterthought for much of the game. Somehow the Longhorns were midway through the third quarter and Ingram had been given only four carries, despite averaging 7.3 yards per carry. That can't happen against Oklahoma. The best back on the team needs to be getting 15 rushes each week at a minimum and today he had 10 total carries. That's not Tim Beck's fault.
* What happens if D'Shawn Jamison doesn't take a punt return 90 yards to the house? That play was a reminder that scared money makes no money. That's why you play the the freshmen if they are better than the rest of what's left.
That's why you give Ingram 12 carries in the first half next week.
* The play in the second half by the entire team left a lot to be desired.
* The best player in the game during the first half was senior defensive end Charles Omenihu, who has five tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss and a safety in the first 30 minutes. Off the top of my head, that's the best 30 minutes of his career that I can remember.
* The best player on the field in the second half might have been senior Breckyn Hager. One of the real monster plays in the second half occurred with the Longhorns protecting a 19-7 lead, as Hager came up with his biggest play of his season so far in a strip fumble sack that ended what appeared to be a promising KSU drive. Then he started making plays all over the field, including a play along the goal line for a stuff and a tip ball on a third down play late in the game. Texas needs that from him every week.
* This was a second quarter stat posted by Brian Davis of the Statesman (BDavisAAS)
K-State total yards: 55
Texas penalty yards: 80
Pretty much the a snapshot of those first 30 minutes in less than 10 words.
* Texas didn't have a single player on offense average more than 12.8 yards per catch. It's almost like Tom Herman has turned the idea of a three yards and a cloud of dust running attack and morphed it into his passing game at times.
* Kansas State seemed to believe attacking Kris Boyd was where its bacon could be cooked. Boyd has had better days for sure, but his play didn't cost this team dearly like a potential bad day by your best cornerback probably would on most days.
* This is one of the last weeks of the season when the Longhorns will be playing inexperienced or outright crappy quarterbacks. Ready or not, here they come.
Period.
It's really important that you understand this.
On a day when the Longhorns won in Manhattan, Kansas for the first time since Chris Simms played the hero at quarterback for Texas, there will be a rush for some that can't help but live for the emotional roller coaster ride that comes with changing your opinion about a team from week to week based on whatever highs or lows are experienced over the course of 60-minute sample-size to diminish the importance of a win without many style points.
Don't fall into the trap. Kansas State might not be very good, but this was a good win for the Longhorns. When you've been stuck in 6-6 or 5-7 land for a full presidential cycle, any win is a good win and that's where we still are with this team.
The bottom line is that Texas is 4-1 and headed to the Cotton Bowl with a date against Oklahoma with a myriad of possibilities in front of it.
Texas will need to be better on offense. Texas will need better quarterback play from Sam Ehlinger. It will need better coaching from Tom Herman, especially since nothing about today can be pinned on Tim Beck.
I'll be honest, I don't want to watch this thing a second time, as once was more than enough. However, don't get caught up outside of this one simple truth.
All that really matters is the final result.
(Other thoughts ...)
* Basically, we watched the Tulsa game all over again ... mostly complete domination for one half and too much ineptitude in the other. Both of these teams left points on the board, but on a day when Kansas State played the wrong quarterback for 30 minutes and still came away needing only six more points to win the game, the Longhorns have to feel a major sense of relief.
* The offense must open up next week in the passing game. Sam Ehlinger was seemingly efficient in the pass game in completing 29 of 36 passes, but he averaged an anemic 5.6 yards per attempt, which is unacceptable. That's not all on Ehlinger, although his missing throws down the field that are wide open for him to be made is an issue. The aggression that the coaching staff showed in the first 15 minutes of the game disappeared in the final 45 minutes, which is how an offense fails to score a single point in the second half against one of the worst defenses in the Big 12.
* Ehlinger finished with a 138 game rating. That's a big step back from what he did a week ago. This team will win games when he plays like he did a week ago and it will lose or nearly lose games when he's less than that. Today is a reminder of what that snapshot looks like.
* Ehlinger left points on the field on the first drive of the game when he missed Devin Duvernay, who was more wide open than any Texas receiver will be all season. It was the kind of miss that you just can't have, but I give Ehlinger a ton of credit for coming back in the second offensive series of the game and making a number of key plays, including a really nice read and throw on third down, in a drive that finished with seven points. There's still a lot of room for growth, but that drive was evidence that some growth is absolutely taking place in real time, although not enough of it.
* Keontay Ingram might be the best player on the Texas offense and he was a complete afterthought for much of the game. Somehow the Longhorns were midway through the third quarter and Ingram had been given only four carries, despite averaging 7.3 yards per carry. That can't happen against Oklahoma. The best back on the team needs to be getting 15 rushes each week at a minimum and today he had 10 total carries. That's not Tim Beck's fault.
* What happens if D'Shawn Jamison doesn't take a punt return 90 yards to the house? That play was a reminder that scared money makes no money. That's why you play the the freshmen if they are better than the rest of what's left.
That's why you give Ingram 12 carries in the first half next week.
* The play in the second half by the entire team left a lot to be desired.
* The best player in the game during the first half was senior defensive end Charles Omenihu, who has five tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss and a safety in the first 30 minutes. Off the top of my head, that's the best 30 minutes of his career that I can remember.
* The best player on the field in the second half might have been senior Breckyn Hager. One of the real monster plays in the second half occurred with the Longhorns protecting a 19-7 lead, as Hager came up with his biggest play of his season so far in a strip fumble sack that ended what appeared to be a promising KSU drive. Then he started making plays all over the field, including a play along the goal line for a stuff and a tip ball on a third down play late in the game. Texas needs that from him every week.
* This was a second quarter stat posted by Brian Davis of the Statesman (BDavisAAS)
K-State total yards: 55
Texas penalty yards: 80
Pretty much the a snapshot of those first 30 minutes in less than 10 words.
* Texas didn't have a single player on offense average more than 12.8 yards per catch. It's almost like Tom Herman has turned the idea of a three yards and a cloud of dust running attack and morphed it into his passing game at times.
* Kansas State seemed to believe attacking Kris Boyd was where its bacon could be cooked. Boyd has had better days for sure, but his play didn't cost this team dearly like a potential bad day by your best cornerback probably would on most days.
* This is one of the last weeks of the season when the Longhorns will be playing inexperienced or outright crappy quarterbacks. Ready or not, here they come.
