Yup, I'm writing about the Texas quarterbacks.
Again.
I know it has to wear some of you guys out for this to be a never-ending-conversation, but there are a couple of things that make this the most important story-line three games into the season.
a. It's the single-most important position in a sport that is mostly defined by great quarterback play.
b. The Longhorns currently have a murky situation at this critical position.
With his performance in the fourth quarter and in overtime on Saturday night, Sam Ehlinger made Tom Herman's decision-making even trickier than a tricky situation already was. For the better part of nine months, Herman has been begging for one of his quarterbacks to emerge as the kind of alpha-male leader that will strap the team to his back when the truest of gut-check moments stares them in the face.
Ehlinger did that on Saturday night.
Yes, he turned the ball over too much. Yes, he was in over his head early in the game. Yes, there are still growing pains to come.
Yet, no matter what happened in the first 55 minutes, when the game was on the line in the final moments of the fourth quarter, Ehlinger emerged as one of the best players on the field. He stood in the face of constant pressure and made one play after another, evoking memories of Major Applewhite in Lincoln back in Mack Brown's first season.
He did something that Shane Buechele has never done ... go on the road against a very good team and carry the team to near-victory with a sterling late-game performance.
In reality, Herman doesn't have a plus-quarterback on his hands, at least not in the traditional terms by which we judge the position. For argument's sake, let's take a look at what the top-half of a crude 1-10 scale probably looks like in college football.
10 - Retire his number
9 - All-American
8 - All-Conference
7 - Borderline All-Conference/Top 40 nationally
6 - Slightly above average player.
5 - Average
Only Texas fans blinded by their burnt orange-tinted glasses would dare suggest that the Longhorns have a quarterback that warrants being listed 7 or above, which means that it's pretty impossible to dial up a definite right answer. The majority of the sample size that Buechele has delivered in 13 starts at quarterback suggests that he's probably in the 6 range. In the first part of Saturday's game on the road facing the No. 4 team in the nation, Ehlinger probably wasn't even a 5, but in the late stages of the game he played like a 9.
That leaves me in kind of the same position I felt I was in a week ago when I wrote about this, which is that I'm just not sure what the right answer is. I understand both sides of the discussion and there are fair points on both sides.
While this all gets sorted out, I feel for both guys, as neither is actually ready to be in the position he’s been forced into due to program need and what happens next will be unfair. If Buechele starts against Iowa State and doesn't lead the team to a score in two or three drives in a row, everyone in the stadium and on television will start eyeballing the back-up. The same is true if it happens to Ehlinger.
Until one of these guys emphatically claims the position, this is the world in which the Longhorns reside with respect to the quarterback position ... The Land of Uncertainty.
No. 2 – The elephant in the room going into this week ...
The long-term loss of Connor Williams is the worst-case situation actually occurring along the offensive line.
Suddenly, this team goes from having the blind-side of its two quarterbacks protected by an elite protector and feeling like it had a go-to-path in the running game to having two starting tackles on the field that make you nervous on every single play.
And the interior of the line is only marginally better.
On top of those truths, I really can't process what happens if there is even a single injury to this group moving forward.
Offensive line coach Derek Warehime has his hands full, to say the least. Somehow, some way, he has to find a way to mold a good enough unit with which this team can compete at a fairly high level.
If we're keeping it 100, this situation looms as a much bigger problem for the offense than its quarterbacks, both to the overall quality of play and to the future health of the quarterbacks.
No. 3 - USC Game Balls ...
My goodness, there were some awesome performances by Longhorns playing in Los Angeles on Saturday night. The following players were not just very good, but they were among the best players on the field ... period.
Malik Jefferson - For the first time in his career, he dominated a meaningful game in a way that would make Derrick Johnson proud. It felt like he was everywhere all the time.
Collin Johnson - Texas can't target him enough in the passing game. When he was thrown the ball and he simply decided that no one was going to stop him ... no one stopped him.
DeShon Elliott - 7 tackles, a tackle for loss, two interceptions and two pass break-ups.
Anthony Wheeler - a team-best 12 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
If each of these players can bottle up what they had going on against the Trojans for the next nine games, this team can reach its ceiling.
No. 4 – Ames is everything ...
It is far from sexy on the marquee, but the game in Ames represents a major moment in this season.
Win that game and the path for a potential eight-win type of season still exists. Drop it and suddenly the weight of the looming schedule could devour this team. No one wants to hear this, but if the Longhorns can come out of the Oklahoma State game at 4-3, wins in four of its last five games would deliver an 8-win season going into the bowl game.
That would represent real progress in year one.
Personally, I'm expecting this team to answer the bell and handle its business in Ames and at home against Kansas State.
No. 5 – Buy or Sell …
BUY or SELL: Sam Ehlinger starts vs Iowa State?
(Sell) I think we're going to see Shane Buechele get the start. I think.
BUY or SELL: Tim Beck will be a problem as long as he's here?
(Sell) Is Beck a bigger problem than his limited personnel? Maybe. I think what I consider to be the most important question is whether he's a solution. If you're the OC at a program like Texas, you need to be an elite coach capable of creating solutions. I don't know that I view him that way.
BUY or SELL: Malik Jefferson continues this type of play the rest of the season. The switch has flipped?
(Buy) I don't know if he plays like he did against USC each week, but he's currently the best player on this team, along with Collin Johnson.
BUY or SELL: Someone should tell CTH to quit chewing bubblegum on the sidelines because it looks stupid?
(Buy) It's not a big deal, but it's kind of weird. There's a little bit of Les Miles to the whole thing.
BUY or SELL: We have a fighter’s chance with Anthony Cook now?
(Sell) I think he knows he's going to Ohio State.
BUY or SELL: This is TH's M.O. and his teams will always get up and play big in big games but continue to be schizophrenic and lose games they shouldn't to the Iowa States and Marylands of the world?
(Sell) It's fair to have this thought in the back of your mind after what his Houston team went through a season ago, but there's a very limited sample size in trying to make such a damning conclusion. Let's visit this later in the season.
No. 6 – The reality of the Big 12 ...
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are a cut above everyone else in this league, but there's no reason the Longhorns can't finish a respectable third this season.
Kansas State isn't all that and neither is West Virginia. TCU and Texas Tech are very unproven.
There's room for a real move up the ladder this season to take place, which would set up a potential big season in 2018.
Don't lose sight of the bigger picture.
No. 7 – If I had a vote that counts ...
My Top 10 through three weeks looks like this:
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Penn State
5. Oklahoma State
6. Washington
7. USC
8. Wisconsin
9. Michigan
10. Mississippi State
No. 8 – Mile-High beatdown ...
Soooooo, that was rather emphatic.
As someone who owns measured expectations for the 2017 Dallas Cowboys, I'm not going to get too high or too low with any result this team registers. On its best day, it can beat just about anyone and on its worst day, it can get its ass kicked by a Trevor Siemian-led team.
Sometimes you have to take your L and just move on. Sunday was such a day.
This is what regressing to the mean looks like in real life. There's no reason to panic, but you have to be realistic about the deck of cards this team is playing with.
No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... I still haven't seen Canelo/GGG, but it sounds like it was a doozy. No one that watched the Canelo/Mayweather fight could be shocked that someone had a scorecard one-sided in his favor that no one with working eyes would concur with. Oh well, if it means that we'll get a Part II, maybe the silly scorecard was good for the sport.
... Man City and Man United represent the clear early class of the Premier League. The other Big Four teams better raise their level of play because the two Manchester teams are rolling everybody in their path at the moment and racking up three points each week like Steph Curry on a heater.
... If the Raiders can stay healthy, that team is going to be a major factor in the AFC this year.
... You just knew the Patriots were going to drop a bomb on New Orleans after that Thursday night opener. I almost felt bad for Drew Brees on Sunday because of the early schedule minefield.
... Never have I appreciated Sam Bradford more than by watching Case Keenum on Sunday. Seriously, how is that guy on a roster?
... Travis Kelce was the truth against the Eagles.
... Demarcus Lawrence was the truth against the Broncos.
No. 10 – And finally …
Thinking a lot about old times in the last few days. Rest in peace, my friend.
