(Photo courtesy of Hookem.com)
One of the stories of the weekend was in College Station, as true freshman Shea Patterson took off his redshirt, put on a cape and helped carry his team to a win on the road.
In the process, he completed 25 of 42 for 338 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
The kid posted a 138.1 rating against an average defense and national pundits all over the place lost their minds like they’d seen the second-coming of Ron Powlus.
My reaction?
I didn’t see a damn thing that haven’t seen from Shane Buechele all season.
Amazingly lost in the midst of a roller coaster of a 5-5 season, Buechele has arguably produced the single-best freshman quarterback campaign in the history of the Longhorn program. It’s either him or Colt McCoy in 2006. Personally, I’d give the nod to McCoy, but this is exclusive territory we’re talking about.
While he currently ranks 36th in the nation in passing efficiency with a 144.6 rating through 10 games, that number doesn’t tell the full story of Buechele's season. In the last 10 seasons (2007-2016), only two quarterbacks in a Texas uniform has produced a better quarterback rating than Buechele’s this season … the 2008 version of McCoy and the 2012 version of David Ash.
Yes, that includes both the 2009 version of McCoy and the 2010 version of Garrett Gilbert.
It’s part of the reason this season doesn’t make any damn sense. If I had told you before the season that Buechele would post better passer numbers than McCoy did in his senior season, every single one of you would have assumed that this team would be playing for reasonably big things in the final two weeks of the season.
Godsends are supposed to take you to the promised land, not the Texas Bowl, which begs a simple question.
Where would this team be without him? What if he had 10 fewer efficiency points and ranked 59th in the nation? Where would it be? Given the alternatives, it’s not crazy to think that Notre Dame, Baylor and Texas Tech all flip the other direction.
Would this be a 2-8 or 3-7 team without him?
It’s easy to forget that McCoy had only one season in his final three years at Texas that was as successful statistically as his first, but unless Buechele’s playing over his head and above his natural mean, it’s not unreasonable to say that we’re watching his floor as a player right now during his freshman season.
All of this is to say that the Longhorns might have 99 problems, but the quarterback position ain’t one.
No. 2– The Kansas discussion ...
I know a lot of you are nervous about the idea of giving Texas the outright benefit of the doubt in a road game against Kansas.
Don’t be. Texas gets bowl eligible this week in the land of houses that fall on top of women.
Consider the following Big 12 ranks for the Jayhawks:
10th in scoring offense
10th in total offense
10th in field goal percentage
10th in punt returns
9th in total defense
9th in scoring defense
9th in passing offense
9th in rushing offense
9th in punting
8th in rush defense
About the only thing positive you can say about the Jayhawks is that their pass defense isn’t awful, they don't give up a ton of sacks (and sometimes can get a few), they play great third-down defense and are perfect on PATs.
A loss this weekend would represent one of the worst losses in the history of the Texas program in terms of competition.
Perhaps I’m silly for doing this, but I’m giving D’Onta Foreman 250 yards rushing and the defense its second-best day of the season in a comfortable win.
I’m probably more interested in whether TCU plays anywhere close to the level it did against Baylor in its match-up Oklahoma State, or if it's more like the team it has been for almost the entire rest of the schedule.
No. 3 – Can a 56-year-old coach learn how to get better at game management ...
I’m just asking for a friend.
For instance, instead of visiting with various schools in the offense to talk defense, could a coach spend that time with someone like … I dunno … Mack Brown … and make efforts to learn things like the importance of time outs, clock management and when to accept penalties or decline them?
Again, I’m asking for a friend.
No. 4– Scattershooting on the Longhorns ...
… Is Malcolm Roach a better true freshman in 2016 than Malik Jefferson was in 2015? Apples and oranges to some degree, but I still want to ask the question. I’m going to say that the week 10 version of Roach was slightly better than the week 10 version of Jefferson.
… True stat from Saturday: Dylan Haines had twice as many interceptions as solo tackles.
… TCU averages slightly more sacks per game as a defense than Texas does, which means I think we’re going to see two hurried quarterbacks in a couple of weeks.
… Texas is the best punting team in the Big 12, which is a great thing when you consider it has punted more this season than all but two teams in the conference.
…. UT’s longest punt return this year is 22 yards. Its longest kickoff return is 33 yards. In 10 games.
… Texas ranks ninth in time of possession, while Baylor ranks 10th in time of possession. Must be an Art Briles offense thing.
… With the TCU game just six days after the Kansas game, should Sterlin Gilbert limit D’Onta Foreman’s workload against the Jayhawks? I don’t know that you can ask him to carry the ball 60-70 times in the span of six days without there being some impact on his play. The kid is only human.
… Most ominous negative stats for the Kansas game: Kansas ranks first in the Big 12 in red zone defense, while Texas ranks eighth in red zone offense.
No. 5 – Buy or sell …
BUY or SELL: After the Kansas game, a decision will be made public and if they keep Strong they give him a 1 year extension?
(Sell) There’s a zero-percent chance that happens.
BUY or SELL: D' Onta stays?
(Sell) This is going to be an incredibly difficult decision for him to make with his brother on the roster, but surely he knows that his stock can’t get much higher and that if he’s going to be taking 300 touches next year, he needs to be getting paid for it because the shelf life of a running back carries on a four-year expiration date in the NFL on the average.
BUY or SELL: A decision on Charlie has already been made?
(Sell) There are leanings, but no final decision.
BUY or SELL: Regardless of the outcome, we put together a game reflecting the cumulative improvement you'd expect to see across a season and play our best game of the year against TCU.
(Sell): In the last month Texas has lost to Kansas State, beat Baylor by one, beat Tech and lost at home to West Virginia. The best game of the year? It’s possible, but wishful thinking at this point based on what has actually happened this season.
BUY or SELL: Texas hires an assistant head coach/game management coordinator and keeps Charlie another year?
(Sell) Think about what you just suggested. You’re suggesting he hire an assistant coach that helps him count and stuff. The moment you have that thought, the decision that needs to be made is clear, at least it should be.
BUY or SELL: Win against Kansas and lose to TCU (close game) gets Charlie fired?
(Sell) It’s a soft sell, but the bar keeps dropping every time Charlie needs it to drop.
BUY or SELL: Feelers have been put out to other coaches for 17?
(Buy) Texas has looked around to a small degree. It knows Herman will take the job if offered in about two seconds.
BUY or SELL: Texas has to be a top-10 destination when you take everything into consideration about the school?
(Buy) It can be argued that is closer to the No. 1 job than just a top-10 job.
BUY or SELL: Some overestimated Sterlin Gilbert's prowess as an offensive coordinator?
(Buy) I think a lot of people, including myself, have forgotten at times that this is a coach that is still a work in progress. He might know the system, but he’s learning on the job just like his boss.
BUY or SELL: Shaka's post-game remarks on the election were a mistake?
(Sell) I will not accept that his place is to not have a viewpoint that he can share. I would suggest that not tolerating other views is exactly what put us in a situation where the country appears to be split right down the middle on almost everything. The only way to come together is to tolerate it each other.
No. 6 – College Football randomness ...
… If I had a vote that mattered …
1. Alabama
2. Louisville
3. Michigan
4. Ohio State
5. Washington
6. Clemson
7. Wisconsin
8. Oklahoma
9. Colorado
10. Washington State
… Big 12 Power Poll
1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma State
3. West Virginia
4. Kansas State
5. TCU
6. Texas
7. Baylor
8. Texas Tech
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas
… The quality of play across the country has taken several steps backwards this season.
… The stakes in Ohio State/Michigan game actually grew with the Wolverines’ loss over the weekend.
… You know we’re not done with the madness that is college football. More contenders than the loser of “The Game” will fall before we get to a four-team playoff. No one outside Alabama is safe.
… It’s not crazy at all to think that a two-loss Oklahoma could sneak into the playoff if it wins out.
… How in the hell does Clemson get outscored 9-0 in the fourth quarter at home to lose to Pittsburgh? How in the hell does that happen?
… Oddly, Washington was also was outscored 9-0 in the fourth quarter by USC to cement its first loss, also at home. While we’re asking questions, how in the hell did that happen?
… If Wisconsin played in the Big 12, I think it would be ranked No. 2 in the country right now and likely headed for the playoff.
… Pooooooooor Aggies.
… Really hated to see Seth Russell’s career potentially end in such fashion. He seems like a good dude who was having a solid season and then … poof … it’s over.
… Would Western Michigan win the Big 12 or be another 8-4ish team?
… Washington State might be the most underrated team in the country.
… LSU might be 6-3, but I could argue that there aren’t five teams in the country playing better than the Tigers right now.
No. 7– The good, bad and the blah of season-openers ...
As far as season-openers go, Shaka Smart’s second team in Austin played a nice little scrimmage against pesky Incarnate Word.
There was some good to build on, some ugly to stew on and a bunch of sloppiness that I won’t even count in the ugly because it’s the thing you can most expect in a scrim … er … season-opener.
It must have been frustrating for Smart to watch his team turn the ball over like it was playing on ice in the first half (11 turnovers), only to semi-correct that issue in the second half and turn into an Andrew Bynum-with-the-Cavs-in-practice kind of team in terms of shot selection. While there was effort all over the floor, this is clearly a team that won’t see it’s best basketball until this godforsaken year of death is in the ground.
Here are a few things that stood out outside of the first-game first-gameness.
A. Freshman supernova Jarrett Allen made putting the ball in the basket easier than anyone else on the team by a large margin. He played with such control and his touch around the rim was as natural as it could be. I don’t know how many touches/shots per game he needs each night, but he needs more than the 11 shots he took in 36 minutes. Texas got into trouble when it stopped feeding Allen in the post and started to throw up threes like the Longhorns had found $100 outside of their car in the street.
B. I really dig Allen’s fro.
C. Fellow freshman Jacob Young impressed off the bench, as he let the game and his offense come to him without forcing much. If anything, he probably should have looked for his own offense a little more in the second half.
D. I really can’t wait to see Tevin Mack and Kerwin Roach get back on the floor.
E. Rim protection was a problem in the first half and is probably going to be an issue when Texas faces teams that possess the ability to throw the ball down into the post with great effectiveness. The backside help is probably going to be a strength in that area of the floor because of the length, but mass and muscle will be issues going straight to the rim.
F. My favorite part of the game was in the final minutes when Allen threw himself on the floor to grab a loose ball that he was responsible for, took control of the ball and called time out in what was a 68-67 game at the time. That told me what I needed to know about the kid.
No. 8 – Dak Boy is Good!
@*%$ yeah!
As a Dallas fan, I kind of feel like I’ve been sitting back and enjoying the ride that the 2008 Longhorns fan felt after the Oklahoma win. It’s rare for a fan of a team that always has the highest expectations to have zero expectations going into the season, but I’ve believed Tony Romo would break at some point early in the season since January, so this entire football season has been like finding $100 bill outside of an IRS building.
It wasn’t until a week ago that it dawned on me that this team is playing the best football in the NFC … and in theory … you know what that means.
So, all week I was waiting for this trip to Pittsburgh to bring all of silver and blue back to earth because the Cowboys haven’t won in Pittsburgh since the 1997 season-opener and they had never won a game at Heinz Field. With the Steelers needing this game a little more than the Cowboys, I’ve expected the worst all week.
Of course, all the Cowboys did was pull off one of the most memorable wins of the last 20 years for Dallas, headlined by the rookie duo of Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliott, meaning that the ride us Cowboys fans are on not only continues tonight, but as a fan I feel like I’ve been invited into the Playboy Mansion by Hugh, himself.
Seriously, @*%$ yeah!
P.S. In playing Alex in fantasy football this week, his tandem of Zeke (captained)/Dez Bryant combined for 95.4 points and I don’t even care. This team has set me free of caring about fantasy.
No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… Scattershooting on Week 10 in the NFL:
A. Down 47-25 with three minutes to go in a dreadful loss, why was Aaron Rodgers still on the field?
B. Speaking of Rodgers, former Longhorn Brian Orakpo sacked him twice on Sunday, giving him nine in 10 games this season. With 56 career sacks, is he the all-time leader among Longhorns in the NFL? Who am I forgetting?
C. Gus Bradley is toast.
D. When you haven’t won a road game and it’s week 10 of the season, you’ll take a W any way you can get it, which means if you’re a Texans fan, don’t worry about the lack of style points in a three-point win at Jacksonville. A win is a win is a win at this point in the season.
E. Houston’s point differential is -27, which is only seven points better than Jeff Fisher’s Rams.
F. Poor New Orleans. What a horrible way to lose a game.
G. I can’t imagine there’s been a worse game in the NFL this season than Rams/Jets.
H. The Falcons are exactly what we thought they were.
I. I don’t know how Dez Bryant played football one day after the passing of his father, but I hope it brought him some kind of comfort to do so. I hope the team can give him a few days to go home and be with his family without the thought of football looming.
J. Right when I was starting to believe in the Chargers, ol’ man Rivers channels his inner-Fitzpatrick and blows a monumentally important game. Sheesh.
K. FYI, Pittsburgh Steelers fans, I just want you to know that Dallas leads the all-time series between our two teams 17-15. You can taunt me with those games in the 70s all you want, but in my 40-year lifetime, the only game that mattered occurred in January of 1996. In my lifetime of being a fan, the Cowboys own a 7-4 record and a 6-2 record in the last quarter-century. Eat it.
… If you’re the USMNT, you just can’t lose a game the way it did on Friday night with poor set play defense in the final minutes. If you’re playing Mexico in that situation and it has a corner kick, you have to build a wall around the goal line border and you sure as hell can’t leave the back of the goal unattended or a ball is going to have a chance to sneak across the border and into the net. You can’t let that happen
… Geez, Jurgen, have you even checked to see if that bus you let drive over John Brooks has left anything behind?
… I’m enjoying it while I can…
… My Joel Embiid Tweet of the Weekend
… Anthony Davis is just wasting away in New Orleans. Wasting away.
… Has MLB still not announced its award winners?
… Randomness from UFC205:
A. You don’t have to like Conor McGregor, but my goodness, you cannot deny his greatness within the UFC. He didn’t just beat Eddie Alvarez on Saturday night, he demolished him as if he was Alabama and Alvarez was Mississippi State. From the first time he dropped him with that tomahawk left hand, it was only a matter of when Alvarez went out and not if. McGregor is crazy good.
B. McGregor’s Quote of the Night: "I'd like to take this moment to apologize to ... absolutely no one!"
C. I thought Tyron Woodley beat Stephen Thompson. Majority draw, my ass. I wonder if Bruce Buffer heard from his brother after that mess up when announcing the decision.
D. I fast-forwarded through the women’s strawweight title bout.
E. I’ll never be able to say Khabib Nurmagomedov’s name correctly, but that dude can fight his ass off. He looks like a future champion.
F. Chris Weidman really has to stop making these huge critical single errors in these fights or he’s never going to sniff a championship fight again. It looked like he was going to walk into a nasty knee about 10 different times before he finally let it happen and it was night night at that point in a pool of blood.
G. Frankie Edgar put on a prototypical Frankie Edgar fight in beating Jeremy Stephens. He’s basically the featherweight’s version of Urijah Faber.
No. 10 - And finally …
This year won’t stop taking our icons away from us. R.I.P. Leonard Cohen.
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