With four regular-season games left on a schedule that is leaning towards having 13 games on it instead of 14, the 2019 version of the Texas Longhorns football team is riding on a train that is threatening to go off the rails.
On most occasions, a perfectly average train conductor will get the job done, but on occasions when the train is out of control and danger reaches its zenith, the Sully Sullenberger of train conductors is needed because the moment at hand doesn't demand excuses. Instead, it requires elite decision-making and instincts.
The University of Texas is paying Texas head football coach Tom Herman $27.5 million over the next five seasons, including this one, to be an elite train conductor for this program, which means that when the train is in any kind of danger, it's up to Herman to be up to the task.
This program needs Tom Herman to be elite. Right now. No excuses.
This isn't about the 2020 recruiting class or the 2020 season, and it's not about the 2021 recruiting class or the 2021 season. This isn't even about the 2019 recruiting class.
What this is about is a football team that is 5-3 through eight games and behind Appalachian State in the rankings when it was expected to be keeping much higher-ranked company after getting a glimpse of the mountaintop a year ago with a loss in the Big 12 title game and a win in the Sugar Bowl. Year three under Herman is when this program was supposed to feel more like something that might be seen under Herman's mentor instead of his predecessor in Austin.
That comparison to Charlie Strong might appear to be the rage at the moment, but it's time for Herman to be better than that. Much better.
So much has been said about guys getting hurt and missing time this season, and it's completely true that the Longhorns have been seriously bitten by injuries, but in constantly stressing the injury discussion this year a much bigger picture that is staring everyone in burnt orange in the face.
This team is being poorly coached.
It's the worst tackling team in the country and when it's not missing tackles, it does everything else on defense at historically awful levels. We've reached a point on special teams where every single return possibility is met with a coaching staff and return man absolutely terrified to do anything other than fair catch the ball. In terms of penalties, the Longhorns rank among the worst teams in the country, which drives home this team's lack of discipline.
Oh, and I haven't even banged the poor game management drum that I've been beating all year, but that's purely on Herman.
So, here we are with four games remaining and the truth of the matter is that there's still a lot to play for on paper. The Longhorns can still make the Big 12 Championship game. They can still win the Big 12 Championship, in theory. They can also still qualify for a major bowl game.
They could also finish 7-5. Or worse.
In a two-plus years of games, Herman has rarely looked the part of an elite college football coach. There's no time like the present for him to justify his heavy salary, but it's going to require him to grab this team by the neck and drag it to the finish line. It's going to require winning football in all three phases of the game, which is something we haven't seen from this team since mid-September.
For much of the season, winning and losing has unfairly been hoisted onto the shoulders of Sam Ehlinger, but the truth of the matter is he shouldn't be tasked with such a heavy responsibility.
That's Herman's job and it's time that he starts carrying the load.
The buck doesn't stop with Ehlinger. Or Todd Orlando. Or anyone else.
Just Herman.
No. 2 - If a picture is worth 1,000 words ...
This is what the bottom half of the NCAA punt return leaderboard looks like...
Meanwhile, believe it or not, the Longhorns lead the Big 12 in kickoff return average, even if we've reached a point in the season when Texas kickoff return men are terrified to do anything but call a fair catch.
What is the point of having four- and five-star prospects if you can't unleash them on special teams against teams that don't have the same level of athletes?
At some point before the season concludes, it would be nice if the Longhorns could get their act together in the return game. There's too many dynamic return weapons available to Herman and his staff for this phase of the game to be as neutered as it has become.
Just let Devin Duvernay handle everything and be done with it.
No. 3 - Fascinating development ...
Three weeks ago, Roschon Johnson looked like he was about to take over the starting running back job after recording his first 100-yard effort of the season against West Virginia and then following it up with one of the few redeeming performances at the Cotton Bowl, which included a 57-yard run that lit the spark in the running game that was dearly needed in that contest.
Yet, the Texas coaches have clearly re-established Keaontay Ingram as the favored back in the Texas offense in the last two games. Just look at the volume of work given to Ingram, as opposed to Johnson.
Last two games...
Ingram: 30 carries for 172 yards and two touchdowns
Johnson: 16 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown
At one point on Saturday against TCU, the Longhorns had run the ball with the running back 12 times and Ingram had 11 of them.
No. 4 - Maybe, just maybe ...
It might be time to go all-in on the Texas volleyball team for the rest of the season.
The ladies are 8-0 in Big 12 play, just punked No. 1 Baylor in the middle of the week and have lost only one game in their last eight games.
Plus, no sport on the 40 Acres does Twitter better than the official Texas women's volleyball account.
No. 5 - Five Players I'm Still Thinking About 24 Hours Later ...
Devin Duvernay: Where would this team be without Duvernay? You could make a case that the Longhorns would be 2-6. That might sound crazy, but the Longhorns have been in a lot of one-possession contests since the Rice game and Duvernay has been awesome in almost all of them. Even when Sam Ehlinger has been just okay, Duvernay has been mostly sensational. His all-time season is the best thing about the 2019 Longhorns.
Brennan Eagles: The drop off from John Burt to Eagles is massive and not having Eagles available meant TCU was able to minimize match-up problems and focus on the pair of Duvernay and Collin Johnson. That is costliest missed practice that I can remember in the Texas football program in a long, long time.
Sam Ehlinger: Since September 22, here is a look at Ehlinger's last four game ratings: 122.2, 114.8, 172.1 and 99.1. These are hardly the numbers of a quarterback that is poised to help the Longhorns run the table.
Juwan Mitchell: You can make a case that he's gone from mostly forgotten to one of the team's three most important players on the defensive side of the ball. He's becoming the player that Jeffrey McCulloch was supposed to be this season.
Jake Smith: It might be time to take Smith off of punt returns for the rest of the season. Just a thought.
No. 6 - If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. LSU
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Clemson
5. Penn State
6. Georgia
7. Florida
8. Oregon
9. Oklahoma
10. Auburn
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) We're talking about a guy that started 28 career games (including two on a Big 12 championship team) and has his T-ring. He's more than earned the right to say whatever he wants.
(Sell) I didn't think it was a good idea at the time. Herman had zero leverage when that extension was given. It's not like he was going anywhere if the decision-makers at Texas had simply waited another six months to see how things would unfold.
(Sell) Frankly, I thought Sam looked as mobile on Saturday as we've seen all season.
(Buy) If it worked with Teddy Bridgewater at Louisville, it likely would have worked with Murray at Texas.
(Sell) He's not a better player than Sam.
(Sell) Keep asking me this question because I might "Buy" before the end of the season.
(Buy) He's a total scoundrel, but he's an elite college head football coach.
(Sell) No way he's going anywhere.
(Buy) His initial coaching staff, which is still all together, wasn't elite at Houston and isn't close to being elite at Texas.
(Sell) Come on ... The most important players on this team are Sam Ehlinger and Devin Duvernay, and neither has missed a game. None of the players that have missed extensive playing time this year have played like all-Big 12 players this season.
(Sell) I can't punish him in recruiting this year for mistakes made in the past. He's earned an A-grade in recruiting for the work done in both 2020 and 2021. I won't dispute the other grades, though.
(Sell) They just knew that TCU at home was the better team.
(Buy) He'll start next year and he knows it.
(Sell) Every poster on the 40 Acres could smoke crack every day for a year and still be more rational than what's found in our very own message board cesspool.
(Sell) I'm selling if you mean replace him at the end of this season because I don't think the Longhorns athletic department is ready to make that kind of change. I don't think Chris Del Conte and those that would help him vet a new coach have so much as given it a single thought at this point, which means that a change now might result in Texas getting caught with its pants down, while still owning Herman more than 20 million. Call it whatever you want, but Texas doesn't live in a world where eating 20+ million dollars right after eating Charlie Strong's final two years. What needs to happen is that Del Conte and Co. need to get their ducks in a row, while giving Herman his fourth season, which would allow his first recruiting class to enter its senior season. If you're going to make a change, you have to know what your next five moves on the chess board are and I don't believe Texas knows what its first chess move would make at this stage. Man, I know where you're coming from... trust me, I do... but I'm just not convinced the landscape is quite ready for that.
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... I don't know what else to say about the Astros other than to see them flip an 0-2 deficit into a 3-2 lead all on the road is the stuff of an all-time great team. Now just finish the deal.
... Dear Jim Crane, it took you over a week to do the thing that should have been done in less than 24 hours. Be better, man.
... Dear Washington Nationals, never intentionally walk Alex Bregman ever again. It just makes him mad and you won't like him when he's mad.
... Nothing about Kansas State's win over Oklahoma was flukey. The Longhorns better wear their big boy pants in two weeks.
... It's Joe Burrow's Heisman to lose. I'm not even sure who is the rightful No. 2 at this point.
... An LSU/Ohio State national championship game would be something else.
... Ohio State has three legit Heisman candidates, which might mean it really doesn’t have one great one.
... LSU's Derek Stingley Jr. might be the best freshman cornerback I've seen in at least a decade.
... Is Jim Harbaugh's Q-rating suddenly higher among the Michigan fan base than Tom Herman's among the Texas fan base? How did that happen?
... This is how it's done.
... This is how it's not done.
... The Green Bay/Kansas City game was one of the most entertaining games of the year and Patrick Mahomes didn't even play.
... The 49ers are freaking good.
... Playing against Christian McCaffrey in fantasy football sucks.
... How the hell did the Cowboys lose to the Jets?
... Man, I know it's early, but Golden State looks awful.
... Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods, y'all....
... Christian Pulisic has officially arrived as a Chelsea player
... Liverpool has taken 28 of 30 points through the first 10 games of the Premier League season, but it played its best game of the season on Sunday against Tottenham. Although the Spursa remained dangerous at times on the counter, Liverpool simply pinned the Spurs into its own final third, spaying shots from all angles for much of the game after the Spurs scored in the first minute of the game. Man, I love this team.
... Austin = Soccer City USA?
No. 9 - The List: Top Star Wars Scenes ...
I don't care what any of the haters say, I can't wait for the ninth and final edition of the Star Wars series and the final trailer for The Rise of Skywalker has me all-in.
In honor of the conclusion of the series, not including any future Rogue One-level spin-offs, I give you my 10 favorite scenes in the history of the Star Wars franchise.
Let the debating begin.
10. Luke Flexes on Jabba The Hut
(Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)
This was the moment when we realized Luke had become a different kind of cat.
9. Darth Vader Kicks Ass
(Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)
I might actually have this scene underrated. It's the most bad-ass the baddest-ass character in cinema history has ever looked.
8. Yoda Trains Luke
(Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)
Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.
7. Vader Saves Luke (Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)
With one quick flip of the Emperor over the ledge, all of the evil stuff that Vader has ever done is forgiven ... kind of.
6. “I love you.” “I know.”
(Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)
The cockiest, most mack-daddy moment from the greatest mack-daddy of them all.
5. Han shot first
(Episode IV: A New Hope)
Sorry, George Lucas, I refuse your decision.
4. Darth Maul vs. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan (Episode I: The Phantom Menace)
The best fight sequence in all of the Star Wars movies. Rest in peace, Qui Gon Ginn.
3. The original Cantina scene (Episode IV: A New Hope)
This is going to be No. 1 for many of you and I won't argue too hard against you.
2. “I am your father.”
(Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)
It's the best and most shocking scene from the best movie in the entire series.
1. Luke blows up the Death Star
((Episode IV: A New Hope)
It's the moment Luke first uses the force. Han comes in to help save the day. The Death Star explodes. It's the scene that sets the stage for everything that follows.
No. 10 – And Finally ...
After a weekend when there wasn't a lot of positivity, I end with this.
