With a month to go in the regular season, the Big 12 is getting a little crazy.
All it took was for Oklahoma to reveal itself to be the team we thought the Longhorns would be playing in the Cotton Bowl a few weeks ago and the league is suddenly a free-for-all.
Five teams sit atop the conference with a 4-1 record and four of them will play each other on Saturday.
Bedlam, indeed.
As it relates to the Longhorns, it's not out of line to call Saturday's game against Kansas State a critical contest. If the Longhorns want to make the Big 12 Championship game, they simply can't lose to Kansas State because a loss would mean that the Longhorns would be in a tie-breaker disadvantage against two of the four teams they’re fighting against to make the title game.
It wouldn't be a death blow, but it could be close, considering what would be left on the schedule for all of the teams involved following this weekend.
Meanwhile, what a difference a week has made for the Sooners. Forty-eight hours ago, the Sooners were thinking about making the playoffs and now they are in a position where they will be playing for their Big 12 Championship game lives in Stillwater against a Mike Gundy team that has won four in a row.
We all know that Brett Yormark would desperately love to see the Longhorns and Sooners shut out of the title game and the Wildcats and Cowboys have a chance to give him an early Christmas gift by 6 p.m. on Saturday. Can you imagine how good the wine will taste on Saturday night if the Longhorns and Sooners are tied for fourth place at 4-2?
In that situation the Longhorns would be in fifth place because of the loss to the Sooners at the beginning of the month. As good as this season has been through eight games (first 7-1 start since 2009), the feel-goods will vanish quickly if the Longhorns end up boxed out of the Big 12 title game.
It's a lot of responsibility for Maalik Murphy as he prepares for his second start. Hell, it's a lot of responsibility for everyone in the program, from Steve Sarkisian to Jaylan Ford to Jaydon Blue. This is a must-win week.
My mantra for this season called for the Longhorns to be better in October than they were in September and better in November than in October. I can't say that the Longhorns finished the month of October as an improved team from September. We can't find ourselves asking this question at Thanksgiving.
It's time for the best version of the Longhorns to emerge. If the Longhorns don’t achieve that, the first eight weeks of this season could all be for nothing.
No. 2 - The remaining schedules ...
(Remaining Schedules for the top 5 in the Big 12)
Iowa State: vs. Kansas, at BYU, vs. Texas and at KSU
Kansas State: at Texas, vs. Baylor, at Kansas, vs. Iowa State
Oklahoma: at Oklahoma State, vs. West Virginia, at BYU and vs. TCU
Oklahoma State: vs. Oklahoma, at Central Florida, at Houston and vs. BYU
Texas: vs. Kansas State, at TCU, at Iowa State, vs. Texas Tech
It's hard to know what to expect when you look at what remains for all five teams, but the two Oklahoma teams have the easiest remaining schedules following the upcoming weekend.
The Longhorns are going to have to navigate a tricky next three weeks. All three games will see Texas enter the action as favorites, but none of the games are sure things if the Longhorns don't bring at least a B+ level of football.
If they win out, they'll be in the Big 12 title game. If they lose even once, all bets are off.
No. 3 - Sark Should Give Up Play-calling? ...
Man, if you want to go down a rabbit hole for 10 minutes, go do a search of "Sark play calling" on the site formally known as Twitter.
It's something else.
It just goes on and on and on...
Several thoughts ...
a. I feel like it'll be over Sark's dead body before he ever admits that his play-calling is an issue holding this team back and gives up control of his offense to someone else.
b. Sark was hired largely for his play-calling. His reputation across the country is that he's one of the best play-callers in the country. As recent as a couple of weeks ago, opposing coaches were saying things like this in TheAthletic.com:
“Sark is the best play caller I’ve ever faced," one Big 12 coach said. "He hardly had any tendencies going in, and if he did, he broke them during our game. He really keeps you off balance. They have a great chance to make a deep run.”
c. For the record, of course, I believe that Sarkisian should remain the play-caller. Taking play-calling away from him is literally not something I have ever once considered. I think it’s crazy talk. Who are you hiring that is better?
d. He needs to do a better job the rest of this season. While everyone seems focused on the red zone offense, I'm more concerned about the fact that the Longhorns have gone into an offensive funk in the last two games once Texas comes off of the opening-game script.
After going up 21-0 against Houston in the second quarter, the Longhorns went 37:12 of real game time without scoring a single touchdown.
On Saturday, the Longhorns scored a single touchdown in 40:03 of actual game time once they went up 14-0 with 4:10 left in the first quarter.
The Longhorns were able to get away with that against the likes of Houston and BYU, but that kind of meek production on the offensive side of the ball might get Texas beat in the coming weeks.
It's time for him to be at his best. His team dearly needs it from him.
No. 4 - More Texas/BYU randomness ...
... It's kind of strange that the Longhorns won the game by 29 points and had fewer first downs, passing yards and total snaps on offense, while also being outperformed in the red zone (2 of 5 vs 2 of 3).
... Here's a look at Byron Murphy's last four games:
vs. KU: 3 tackles, 1 solo, 0 TFL and 0 sacks, 0 QBH
vs. OU: 1 tackle, 1 solo, 0 TFL and 0 sacks, 0 QBH
at Houston: 2 tackles, 1 solo, 1 TFL and 0 sacks, 0 QBH
vs. BYU: 0 tackle, 0 solo, 0 TFL and 0 sacks, 3 QBH
... Running backs YPC through 8 games:
Keilan Robinson: 6.8
Jonathon Brooks: 6.4
Jaydon Blue: 5.8
CJ Baxter: 4.1
Savion Red: 3.4
a. Maybe Blue should be getting some of Baxter's reps.
b. Maybe just give Brooks the ball instead of Red in the red zone and in short yardage.
... Have a look at Jonathon Brooks' NCAA rankings...
... I don't really understand the complete lack of playing time for Johntay Cook at this point. It's not like putting him on the field is going to risk disrupting a well-oiled offensive machine. He's going to need to be a huge piece of the offense next season and I'm not sure how ready he's going to be for the task at this point.
... Is the injury to Quinn Ewers going to cost Ja'Tavion Sanders the chance to break all of the Texas tight ends records this season? Maaaaaybe.
No. 5 - Thoughts on the Final Four Opponents ...
Kansas State: The Wildcats have won their last three games by a combined score of 120-24. Whatever this team is, the Longhorns will be seeing it in its best form. Will the Wildcats play a two-quarterback system this week? They didn't do much of it in the win over Houston. Over on the other side of the ball, the Wildcats held Donovan Smith to 88 yards passing.
TCU: Is Chandler Morris going to be back in two weeks or will it be Josh Hoover? Will it even matter?
Iowa State: I don't have any idea what we should make of the Cyclones, but I'm thinking the Longhorns need Ewers to be back for the game in Ames in a few weeks.
Texas Tech: Tech has to win three of its last four games if it wants to qualify for a bowl game. Getting two of the next three against TCU at home, Kansas on the road and UCF at home might be the difference between them even bothering in the season-finale or not.
No. 6 - If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. Washington
5. Florida State
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Oklahoma
10. Penn State
(Heisman Trophy)
1. Michael Penix - QB - Washington
2. Marvin Harrison Jr. - WR - Ohio State
3. Malik Nabers - WR - LSU
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) Texas isn't playing good enough football right now for me to truly believe they win out.
(Buy) That's probably right, but I can kind of understand the deep ball stubbornness more than these red zone issues.
(Buy) Take nothing for granted going into this weekend, but there's no getting away from the fact that they've mostly outclassed the Wildcats in this series since Tom Herman arrived in 2017.
(Buy) That's where the smart money would go.
(Sell) Make what defensive plays? What plays has he made this season that would make you hold into that hope?
(Sell) I think they absolutely hope to have him back by the Iowa State game.
(Buy) That's probably a decent overview of what should happen, even if it's not realistic to think Cook will get five touches per game at this point in his career when he has a hard time getting one.
(Buy) Yes. IF.....
(Buy) Yes, he's not being used in the red zone enough.
(Sell) No.
(Sell) No, I'm not expecting the game to be that high-scoring. 27 might do it.
No. 8 - 3 Quick Texas Volleyball Notes ...
a. The Longhorns just keep on keeping on. After dropping the first two sets against Baylor on Thursday night, the Longhorns rolled off three straight sets to beat the Bears and then won all three sets on Friday night for the series sweep. Teams in the Big 12 keep throwing their A-game at the Longhorns and the Longhorns keep dealing with it.
b. With seven Big 12 games left to play this season, the Longhorns maintain a three-game lead in the loss department over UCF and KU. Barring an outright collapse, we're probably two weeks away from the Longhorns clinching the final Big 12 title before departing for the SEC. Up next is a two-game road trip to West Virginia (2-9 in Big 12 play). Both games can be seen on ESPN+.
c. Here's a reminder of UT's record against ranked teams this season based on the latest AVCA rankings:
No. 3 Stanford (L 3-0)
No. 6 Washington State (L 3-1)
No. 8 BYU (W 3-1, W 3-1)
No. 14 Kansas (W 3-1, W 3-0)
No. 20 Baylor (W 3-2, W 3-0)
No. 22 Houston (W 3-1, W 3-0)
That's an 8-0 record against teams ranked eighth or lower and a 0-2 record against teams ranked higher than eighth.
No. 9 – Scattershooting on anything and everything …
... Nothing about KU's win over OU was an accident. If those two teams played that game 10 times, the Jayhawks probably win with their back-up quarterback six times.
... Marvin Harrison Jr. is the difference between Ohio State being in the top three or being at the bottom end of the top 25.
... If Oregon had beaten Washington, would the Ducks deserve to be No. 1 in the polls?
... Oh, no, Mack! It's getting away from the Tar Heels in October.
... It's hard watching the Cowboys be so good like they were on Sunday, only to know what is eventually coming. Yet, it was nice kicking the Rams' ass.
... The Giants stole defeat from the jaws of victory against the Jets.
... I really don't know what the Falcons are trying to do with Bijan Robinson.
... It feels like the Rangers and Diamondbacks might be going seven. I have to admit that it's hard to watch after the Phils lost this week. It's too soon.
... Jude Bellingham is some kind of player. If only Liverpool could have closed the deal. UUUGGGHHHH!
... I don't know what you do to Marseille after their fans caused a match against Lyon to be cancelled because they attacked the team's bus, but I'm not sure a fine is enough.
... Man United is about eight tiers below Man City. That game could have been 5-0 or 6-0 fairly easily.
... This is an oldie, but this is some kind of routine.
... Movie Review in 200 Words or Less (Killers of the Flower Moon): There's another world out there where in the hands of someone else, this is a fantastic who-done-it movie. But, the who-done-it is revealed early on and what it means is that we get a long look at the done-it part of the who-done-it through the eyes of those doing the who-done-it. We're getting the POV from a wolf in sheep's clothing. It's unsettling to watch the destruction of an entire family and people. Lily Gladstone just ate up the camera when she was on screen. She is absolutely captivating. Leo is pretty fantastic and I think it's probably Bobby DeNiro's best performance in three decades. I'm not sure I thought he still had it in him. It's kind of impossible to love, even if you hugely respect it. It's like watching an R-rated snuff film. It's not a film designed for enjoyment, the way so many of Scorsese's best movies are. I'm still processing it all. I thought it was really, really good, but it's just a slooooooow burn.
... Rest in peace, Matthew Perry. You're already significantly missed. My wife is still inconsolable.
No. 10 - The List: Dwight Yoakam ...
It's been too long since I spent a week listening to Dwight Yoakam.
That is no longer a problem and I'm guessing there won't be any objections to this list.
Discuss.
Honorable mention: It's Never Alright, Sorry You Asked, Things Change, Johnson's Love and If There Was A Way
10. Ain't That Lonely Yet
This song won Best Male Country Vocal performance at the 1994 Grammys.
9. Honky Tonk Man
A personal favorite.
8. I Sang Dixie
This was his second No. 1 hit.
7. You're The One
I love a waltz. I definitely love a Dwight waltz.
6. Buenos Noches From a Lonely Room
5. Suspicious Minds
A Dallas Night Club dancing favorite.
4. Streets of Bakersfield
It's Dwight + Buck Owens. Come on, what else do you need?
3. Guitars and Cadillacs
This is the song that made him a star.
2. A Thousand Miles From Nowhere
This song reminds me of Dallas Night Club and with it gone, this song keeps the memories alive.
1. Two Doors Down
The acoustic version of this song deserves the No. 1 spot. Full stop
