On a day when the difference between two ranked Big 12 teams seemed to be incredibly small, it seems appropriate that Saturday's game between the Texas Longhorns and West Virginia Mountaineers would be decided by a point.
Unfortunately for the Longhorns, the implications of the loss are potentially season-changing as it relates to earning a spot in the Big 12 title game.
Suddenly, the Longhorns will become really big West Virginia fans in the near future because when West Virginia plays Oklahoma, an Oklahoma loss would allow the Longhorns to have a tie-breaker edge in a battle for second place in the conference.
An Oklahoma win would make West Virginia a two-loss team with a tie-breaker advantage over Texas.
Oh, and this is assuming the Longhorns can win out in the final three games, which is an assumption that probably can't be made when you consider the shape of Todd Orlando's defense.
It was a great game full of great players and moments, but Texas used its get out of jail card last weekend and failed to earn another at home against a team it seemed to have on the ropes in the second half.
The amount of disappointment that exists is significant, for many reason, the least of which isn't the fact that a once seemingly storybook season is turning into something a little less than that.
(Other thoughts on the game)
* Dana Holgorsen has guts, man. I would have kicked the PAT and played for overtime. No guts, no glory, I suppose.
* I wrote earlier in the week that Sam Ehlinger would have to raise his level of play if the Longhorns were going to beat the Mountaineers on Saturday and it wasn't a slight on his play as much as it was an acknowledgment of how many points it would take for the Longhorns to win the game. Well, Ehlinger answered the call in a monster way, completing 24 of 35 passes for 356 yards and three touchdowns. I thought he was better than Grier today, even if he didn't come away with the win.
That's a 182.3 efficiency rating and it still wasn't enough. Unreal.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey was the best player on the field tonight and I'm not sure he got enough touches, even though he caught 9 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown. He was Roy Williams-level good today.
* The defense was bad in almost every way a defense can be bad. It couldn't stop the run, really never stopped the pass, couldn't get to the quarterback and didn't force a single turnover. Yes, there was a lot of starters missing from the line-up today, but this is the fourth time in nine games that Todd Orlando has had the other team's offense run circles around his unit.
If this was Tim Beck's side of the ball playing this poorly, there would be riots in the streets. Point blank - Orlando has to do a better job and his players have to play better. In particular, his position group was awful today.
* Tre Watson would warrant a game-ball had the Longhorns won, as his two-touchdown performance was the stuff of a senior trying to send a point to anyone watching. Attaboy, Tre.
* Devin Duvernay (six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown) was another guy that deserved to enjoy a win tonight. It might have been his most complete four-quarter performance of his career
* I thought the Texas offensive line was really, really good today. I thought Sam Cosmi was sensational. I expect his performance to grade out very well.
* I've seen the play a couple of times now and I can't believe the officials didn't take a look at the spot at the end of Sam Ehlinger's "14-yard" run on third and 15 in the fourth quarter. Texas needed seven points more than it needed three in that spot and I'd have pushed for the replay if I was Tom Herman.
* Down by four points and driving inside the Texas 20-yard line at the end of the third quarter, the worst thing that could happen to West Virginia is that it found itself in a 2nd and 1 situation. The Mountaineers seemed to change their identity for three straight plays in pursuit of that single yard and when the Longhorns made a stop on fourth and one to end the quarter, it proved to be pretty monumental.
* West Virginia contained Keontay Ingram better than anyone on the Texas schedule so far this season ... 13 carries for 30 yards (2.3 yards per carry). His slow start and Tre Watson's best game as a Longhorns player meant very little action for the true freshman in the second half.
* Texas can't run enough wheel routes with its running backs. It took them a while to incorporate it into the offense, but that play is red-hot with both Watson and Ingram.
* Caden Sterns had a rough day, as he was involved in several touchdown plays that could have been prevented if he had been in better position in coverage or not missed a tackle. He's hit a bit of the freshman wall in the last 5-6 weeks.
* In general, the safety play wasn't good today, which combined with the play of the linebacker, meant that the spine of the Texas defense was poor. Hard to win in the Big 12 with a defense that can't control the second- and third-levels of the field.
* The Texas linebackers were not good today. Time and time again, Gary Johnson and Anthony Wheeler were out of position and completely ineffective in defense against the West Virginia running game.
* On the other side of the ledger, I thought Anthony Cook looked pretty damn outstanding when he was called into action after the Davante Davis injury. That kid going to be really, really good in short time.
* Is this Lil'Jordan Humphrey catch the best offensive play of the season when you consider the throw made by Ehlinger and the catch by Humphrey? Man, that deserved to be a touchdown.
* I thought Tom Herman's play-calling was much better than Dana Holgorsen's today. I thought Holgorsen fell a little too much in love with his ground game for his own good.
* He might not have defended the run well, but what a monster play that was by Gary Johnson in the first half when he deflected a pass that might have gone for a very long catch and run without his help. That might as well have counted as an interception, considering what might have happened if he doesn't touch that ball. The end game of that play was that it saved the Longhorns a ton of field position, which proved helpful because the Longhorns took over in great field position after the punt that followed and cashed it in for seven points.
* On one hand, the Longhorns allowed three points on the first drive. On the other hand, Texas only allowed three points on the first drive. That being said, the Longhorns got lucky that Kris Boyd wasn't flagged for pass interference on that drive, and if that had been called, the drive might not have ended with just three points. Of course, as I've already mentioned, the officiating was wretched all day.
For instance, West Virginia getting hit with two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after it scored to take a 10-7 lead on an upside-down Hook'em Horns signal and a shove, respectively, was just awful. It meant West Virginia had to kick off from its 10-yard line, which resulted in Texas starting its drive at the West Virginia 39-yard line and eventually a Texas touchdown. Oh, and they lost their starting left tackle. Good grief, Big 12.
* Texas has allowed points on seven of its nine opening drives this season on defense.
* Gus Johnson loves The Beverly Hillbillies, Sam Ehlinger and loud noises, but not necessarily in that order.
Unfortunately for the Longhorns, the implications of the loss are potentially season-changing as it relates to earning a spot in the Big 12 title game.
Suddenly, the Longhorns will become really big West Virginia fans in the near future because when West Virginia plays Oklahoma, an Oklahoma loss would allow the Longhorns to have a tie-breaker edge in a battle for second place in the conference.
An Oklahoma win would make West Virginia a two-loss team with a tie-breaker advantage over Texas.
Oh, and this is assuming the Longhorns can win out in the final three games, which is an assumption that probably can't be made when you consider the shape of Todd Orlando's defense.
It was a great game full of great players and moments, but Texas used its get out of jail card last weekend and failed to earn another at home against a team it seemed to have on the ropes in the second half.
The amount of disappointment that exists is significant, for many reason, the least of which isn't the fact that a once seemingly storybook season is turning into something a little less than that.
(Other thoughts on the game)
* Dana Holgorsen has guts, man. I would have kicked the PAT and played for overtime. No guts, no glory, I suppose.
* I wrote earlier in the week that Sam Ehlinger would have to raise his level of play if the Longhorns were going to beat the Mountaineers on Saturday and it wasn't a slight on his play as much as it was an acknowledgment of how many points it would take for the Longhorns to win the game. Well, Ehlinger answered the call in a monster way, completing 24 of 35 passes for 356 yards and three touchdowns. I thought he was better than Grier today, even if he didn't come away with the win.
That's a 182.3 efficiency rating and it still wasn't enough. Unreal.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey was the best player on the field tonight and I'm not sure he got enough touches, even though he caught 9 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown. He was Roy Williams-level good today.
* The defense was bad in almost every way a defense can be bad. It couldn't stop the run, really never stopped the pass, couldn't get to the quarterback and didn't force a single turnover. Yes, there was a lot of starters missing from the line-up today, but this is the fourth time in nine games that Todd Orlando has had the other team's offense run circles around his unit.
If this was Tim Beck's side of the ball playing this poorly, there would be riots in the streets. Point blank - Orlando has to do a better job and his players have to play better. In particular, his position group was awful today.
* Tre Watson would warrant a game-ball had the Longhorns won, as his two-touchdown performance was the stuff of a senior trying to send a point to anyone watching. Attaboy, Tre.
* Devin Duvernay (six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown) was another guy that deserved to enjoy a win tonight. It might have been his most complete four-quarter performance of his career
* I thought the Texas offensive line was really, really good today. I thought Sam Cosmi was sensational. I expect his performance to grade out very well.
* I've seen the play a couple of times now and I can't believe the officials didn't take a look at the spot at the end of Sam Ehlinger's "14-yard" run on third and 15 in the fourth quarter. Texas needed seven points more than it needed three in that spot and I'd have pushed for the replay if I was Tom Herman.
* Down by four points and driving inside the Texas 20-yard line at the end of the third quarter, the worst thing that could happen to West Virginia is that it found itself in a 2nd and 1 situation. The Mountaineers seemed to change their identity for three straight plays in pursuit of that single yard and when the Longhorns made a stop on fourth and one to end the quarter, it proved to be pretty monumental.
* West Virginia contained Keontay Ingram better than anyone on the Texas schedule so far this season ... 13 carries for 30 yards (2.3 yards per carry). His slow start and Tre Watson's best game as a Longhorns player meant very little action for the true freshman in the second half.
* Texas can't run enough wheel routes with its running backs. It took them a while to incorporate it into the offense, but that play is red-hot with both Watson and Ingram.
* Caden Sterns had a rough day, as he was involved in several touchdown plays that could have been prevented if he had been in better position in coverage or not missed a tackle. He's hit a bit of the freshman wall in the last 5-6 weeks.
* In general, the safety play wasn't good today, which combined with the play of the linebacker, meant that the spine of the Texas defense was poor. Hard to win in the Big 12 with a defense that can't control the second- and third-levels of the field.
* The Texas linebackers were not good today. Time and time again, Gary Johnson and Anthony Wheeler were out of position and completely ineffective in defense against the West Virginia running game.
* On the other side of the ledger, I thought Anthony Cook looked pretty damn outstanding when he was called into action after the Davante Davis injury. That kid going to be really, really good in short time.
* Is this Lil'Jordan Humphrey catch the best offensive play of the season when you consider the throw made by Ehlinger and the catch by Humphrey? Man, that deserved to be a touchdown.
* I thought Tom Herman's play-calling was much better than Dana Holgorsen's today. I thought Holgorsen fell a little too much in love with his ground game for his own good.
* He might not have defended the run well, but what a monster play that was by Gary Johnson in the first half when he deflected a pass that might have gone for a very long catch and run without his help. That might as well have counted as an interception, considering what might have happened if he doesn't touch that ball. The end game of that play was that it saved the Longhorns a ton of field position, which proved helpful because the Longhorns took over in great field position after the punt that followed and cashed it in for seven points.
* On one hand, the Longhorns allowed three points on the first drive. On the other hand, Texas only allowed three points on the first drive. That being said, the Longhorns got lucky that Kris Boyd wasn't flagged for pass interference on that drive, and if that had been called, the drive might not have ended with just three points. Of course, as I've already mentioned, the officiating was wretched all day.
For instance, West Virginia getting hit with two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after it scored to take a 10-7 lead on an upside-down Hook'em Horns signal and a shove, respectively, was just awful. It meant West Virginia had to kick off from its 10-yard line, which resulted in Texas starting its drive at the West Virginia 39-yard line and eventually a Texas touchdown. Oh, and they lost their starting left tackle. Good grief, Big 12.
* Texas has allowed points on seven of its nine opening drives this season on defense.
* Gus Johnson loves The Beverly Hillbillies, Sam Ehlinger and loud noises, but not necessarily in that order.
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