Didn't go to Game #1, but the UCLA game was the greatest college game I have seen. Spiro T Cotton was just clutch, and faster than anyone in their secondary.
I wanted to begin this week's column with a call for reason.
I wanted to tell you that as big as this week's game against LSU is, it's still the second-most important game on the schedule behind Oklahoma and possibly the third-most important game of the season should the Longhorns earn a trip to the Big 12 Championship game.
I wanted to tell you that while ESPN's GameDay is coming to town to witness this rare battle between two top-10 teams at DKR, it's only the second game of the season and will be played between two teams that almost certainly haven't worked all of the cobwebs out of their systems 60 minutes into the season.
Then I saw K'Lavon Chaisson's comments about Sam Ehlinger on Sunday and pretty much thought, "To hell with that! This is the biggest game of all-time! Hype it up! Hype it up! Hype it up!"
Ok, that wasn't an exact thought, but it's pretty close. While I might be preaching calm and a larger perspective, there's no getting away from several really important things.
a. It's only the third time since Rashaan Salaaam came to town in 1994 that the Longhorns have faced a top-10 non-conference opponent at home.
b. It'll be one of the only games all season, involving a battle of top-10 ranked teams playing in a non-conference game. The entire country pretty much lost its collective minds on Saturday night when Auburn and Oregon played and neither team was ranked in the top 10.
c. In terms of recruiting, it might be the biggest home game in the history of the program, as a who's who of the best players from 2020, 2021, 2022 and (probably) 2023 will on hand to watch the game. It's the showcase Tom Herman has been dreaming of.
d. A strong performance might just put Ehlinger in the early pole position for the Heisman.
e. I'm expecting the greatest pre-game atmosphere in the history of the Texas football program. Yes, the Longhorns have played in monster home games in the past, but this city has never seen the Louisiana Cajuns come to town in the modern era of the sport. The food and drinks are going to be out of this world. So, will the trash-talking.
f. A win would immediately give this entire program/fan base justification for ... dare I say ... dreaming big in 2019 with regards to playoff aspirations.
So, yeah ... the sun will rise on Sunday for both the winner and loser of this game next week, but there's no running from the stakes in this contest against the Tigers, so rather than run from it, I'm just going to embrace all of it. My head might be telling me to put the foot on the break, but every other part of my body and soul are telling me to crank it up.
It's official - "This is the biggest game of all-time! Hype it up! Hype it up! Hype it up!"
No. 2 - About those comments ...
The last time K'Lavon Chaisson played against Sam Ehlinger on a football field, Chaisson's North Shore team turned Ehlinger into a high school mortal in a 21-14 state championship winning game.
Ehlinger passed for 201 yards and rushed for 78 more, but generally speaking, he looked overmatched at times against the speed, athleticism and playmaking that the North Shore defense brought to the table that day. Forget that Ehlinger had Westlake in a position to win the game in regulation in the final seconds before a blocked field goal led to overtime.
The truth is that Ehlinger wasn't better than the North Shore defense that day.
I suppose if I was talking to Chaisson this week, I'd be telling him two really important things - it's not 2015 and this isn't the same Sam Ehlinger that he played four years ago.
Also, this time he'll be surrounded by elite-level athletes in a way that he could have only dreamed of when North Shore and Westlake played at NRG Stadium. Before Chaisson's comments, I was already planning to talk about his play on Saturday night against Louisiana Tech because I found it to be one of the most relaxed and dialed-in performances of his entire career.
Usually, I feel like Ehlinger plays with the softness of a blunt object trying to crash its way through the body and mental will of his opponent. Those Tim Tebow comparisons have historically been pretty spot on, yet on Saturday night, I thought Ehlinger looked much more like the 2008-version of Colt McCoy.
Inside of a very vanilla game-plan, Ehlinger seemed completely at ease inside of his performance, delivering dimes in the short passing game as if he was playing with his eyes closed, while at the same time not opening himself up to the kind of body destruction that he usually invites.
The light switch is on. Him finding the glow as the master of college football might not be far behind.
Careful, K'Lavon, you're dealing with a different animal than you faced in 2015.
Just ask Georgia.
No. 3 - Three concerns coming out of La. Tech ...
For the most part, I thought the Longhorns played an excellent game one, especially when you consider how much cleaner the team was over 60 minutes than it has been in so many openers over the last two decades. Still, there were a few things that I think could be problematic on Saturday against the Tigers, so let's discuss them.
a. The sloppiest part of the game against the Bulldogs was some of the tackling in the secondary. If that happens against the Tigers, those plays that went for 15 yards on Saturday might get taken to the house, but I'm confident the tackling will improve from week one to week two. The thing that concerns me about the Texas secondary is with the No. 2 cornerback spot. Kobe Boyce got the start and didn't impress, but I'm not sure that I saw enough from D'Shawn Jamison and Anthony Cook (who did not come in and save the day in the third quarter) to have any confidence at all with that spot going into this game. The Tigers are going to target that No. 2 cornerback all game and my guess is that Joe Burrow is going to find a lot of success there unless the play at the cornerback position for the Longhorns improves significantly.
b. Texas looks like a team that is going to be unable to deliver a pass rush with its defensive line alone this season. One of the things I tried to keep a close eye on while the defense was on the field on Saturday night was the performance levels of the defensive line while rushing the passers and while there were occasional moments of flash by the likes of Malcolm Roach, Jacoby Jones and Marquez Bimage, they were mostly rare flashes. Todd Orlando will bring the exotic looks by the bucket loads on Saturday to get pressure on Burrow and it remains undetermined the actual cost of having to make that kind of commitment. The bottom line is that Texas sacked the quarterback one time on Saturday and it will be facing an offensive line that allowed zero sacks in its opener.
c. The running back depth problems are real. The continued groin injury issue that Jordan Whittington is dealing with meant that he took exactly zero handoffs on Saturday and should probably be viewed as found money if he plays on Saturday. There's an incredible amount of pressure on Keaontay Ingram at this point and it remains to be seen whether he can handle almost all of the running back load by himself. How many carries is he going to get? 10-15? Is anyone else going to get carries in such a big game? Is Roschon Johnson trusted enough at this point? Is Ehlinger going to have to throw the ball 50 times? In a 31-point game that was already decided at halftime, the Longhorns gave their running backs only 18 carries and I'm not sure anyone should expect more against the Tigers.
No. 4 - This catch deserves its own section...
In the immediate aftermath of the game, I forgot to include this catch in my Instant Analysis. Shame on me.
Early Week Week 2 Collin Johnson prediction: 8 receptions for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns vs. LSU.
No. 5 - Five players I'm still thinking of ...
Parker Braun: Every last one of you should be super excited about the upside of this offensive line if Braun can be as consistent play-in and play-out as he was on Saturday when I thought he played like a first-team All-Big 12 type of player. In addition to constantly getting to the second level in the running game and mashing people at the first level, his pass protection was light years better than I expected after the reports of his struggles this month. I found it interesting that the Longhorns didn't consistently run the ball behind Braun and Sam Cosmi on the left side of that line because it's hard not to think that's potential bread and butter stuff for this offense. What we witnessed on Saturday night is exactly why @Alex Dunlap and I have called the suggestion of a potential redshirt season part-cockamamie, part-malarkey.
Chris Brown: I thought he was better than Caden Sterns, BJ Foster and Brandon Jones on Saturday night. Understand that I'm not saying he's better than any of those three players, but what I am saying is the Longhorns potentially have another defensive back option that warrants being discussed in the same sentence with those three. The former 5.6 three-star outplayed the five stars in the opener.
Brennan Eagles: It's only a matter of time before he's the best receiver on this team. He's not just freaky ... he knows what to do with his athletic freakiness. There's a reason he ranks as one of the highest-rated receives in the history of the program and it's only a matter of time before he's consistently blowing up.
Jacoby Jones: Gets my vote for Unsung Hero of the game after forcing a fumble in his first series of action as a Longhorn, creating pressure off the edge in the fourth quarter and finishing with four tackles, which was more than Malcolm Roach, Keondre Coburn, Moro Ojomo and Ta'Quan Graham combined. Jones was very quietly one of the best things that happened on Saturday night.
Joseph Ossai: He was a smidge of luck away from two interceptions (including a pick-six) and a sack in his first start of the season. I don't know if he'll get his hands on any more interceptions, but he has a chance to be a double-digit sack player. I think we're looking at an all-Big 12 and potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate as a sophomore.
No. 6 - This deserved its own section ...
I'm almost speechless at what happened in the locker room following UNC's win over South Carolina on Saturday. I'm not sure if Mack Brown even likes me because of the complicated relationship we had from 1998-2013, but I'm rooting for him in his return to Carolina for the second time.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) I don't think he has any choice. We'll learn a lot about Joe Burrow this weekend.
(Sell) First of all, Boyce has the respect of his teammates and coaches, working his ass off in a way that pushed him from third-team to first team in three weeks. On top of that, if the coaches were really leaning towards starting Cook against LSU, they'd probably have played him in the second half earlier than they did. Almost all of his playing time came in the fourth quarter. At this point, that position is a lot murkier right now than it is clear.
But, let's get back to this notion that Boyce doesn't deserve respect. Why? Because he struggled against a future NFL player in Tylan Wallace as a redshirt freshman? Personally, I think it's some kind of world a person must live in where the daily 365 grind that a football player at Texas puts in isn't enough to earn the respect of a person who is supposed to be a supporter of the players on the team, let alone someone who has climbed over players who were regarded much higher as both recruits and players coming into this season.
Has Kobe Boyce been arrested? Has Kobe Boyce been suspended? Has Kobe Boyce been anything other than a model student-athlete, complete with his inclusion to the Big 12 Academic Honor Roll?
No, no and no.
Forgive me if my tone feels harsh, but the lack of class directed at Boyce this past week was nothing less than head-shaking, good-grief kind of behavior. Imagine being that kid's family seeing the kind of stuff that went down on the Orangebloods message board this week. Why? Because he played poorly on a few plays? He didn't put himself on the field. Tom Herman, Todd Orlando and Jason Washington did.
Honestly, it all rubbed me the wrong way in a big way.
I can't help but be reminded of Cedric Griffin being treated the same way more than 15 years ago because of a few similar moments ... again ... as a sophomore. Before his career was over, the same people that spoke of him in snarky ways in 2003 were asking for his autograph by 2005.
Semi-rant over.
(Sell) Hey, I just want to see that monster wearing No. 44 on the field, so I'm totally down with the notion, but I think things would have go even more sideways at the running back position before they'd even kick that around.
(Sell) He's up there, but Sam Cosmi is ahead of him. Texas could still take @Dualthreat's idea of playing Tyler Owens at running back or my idea of playing BJ Foster. There's no one else to play left tackle in a way that's remotely close to Cosmi's level of play.
(Buy) Higher.
(Sell) They asked, but I told them I'm going to be at the Orangebloods tailgate, along with my wife and kids. They weren't happy. Oh well.
(Sell) He's receiving the proper amount of buzz for the moment. It's not like people aren't excited as hell about him.
(Buy) This is the best offensive line Texas has had since 2006.
(Sell) Saturday night's performance was the fifth-highest efficiency game rating (169.4) of his career. If he plays at a 169.4 level on Saturday night, Texas will beat LSU.
(Sell) I don't think he's so much as given a single thought about those comments since he made them. Someone will probably remind him this week and he'll shrug.
(Buy) Multiple.
(Buy) Indeed.
(Buy) Texas was vanilla by design. Think of it as an NFL pre-season game.
(Sell) Me thinks Anwar believes in the offensive line.
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... If I had a vote that mattered...
1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma
5. Texas
6. Georgia
7. LSU
8. Michigan
9. Auburn
10. Penn State
... I can't put it into words how funny it is to me that Charlie Strong's next job after failing at Texas would be at Anwar's alma mater.
... Guys, I've been trying to tell you that Jalen Hurts is very good. The Texas/Oklahoma game might be the most entertaining game in the country in 2019 and we might see it twice.
... How the hell did Oregon lose that game?
... I didn't see any team in the Big 12 outside of Oklahoma State this weekend that made me think I've understated my initial impression of each team.
... Iowa State not having David Montgomery and Hakeem Butler matters ... a lot.
... Justin Verlander really is a pitching god.
... Now that I am in love with soccer, I can no longer understand why so many people don't love it.
... I'm not a fan of my fantasy team. I've got a lot of post-draft work to do and I don't know if I care enough about it this year to pull it off.
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 Texas Home Games of All-Time ...
How big is Saturday night? Well, it's only the eighth time since 1957 (DKR's first season) that the Longhorns have played a home game against a top-10 non-conference opponent (in both major polls).
Hell, it didn't happen at all between 1971-1992 and there was a 10-year lapse between the Ohio State game in 2006 and Shane Buechele's first start as a true freshman in 2016 against Notre Dame.
It only happened once (2006) in the entire Mack Brown era in Austin. It's kind of crazy to think about.
Anyways, here's the list ... (AP ranking is listed first, Coaches Poll second)
10. 1966 - Unranked Texas vs. #9 USC - (USC wins 10-6)
It wasn't one of Darrell Royal's best teams and it wasn't one of John McKay's best teams, but Royal vs. McKay still happened in front of 42,000 a mere 53 years ago. Raise your hand if you were at the game and tell me something about it. Did the song girls make the trip?
9. 1993 - Unranked Texas vs. #6/#4 Syracuse (Tie 21-21)
All I remember from this game was that Mike Adams returned a punt for a touchdown and I was convinced he was the second-coming of Anthony Carter.
8. 1990 - #22/#20 Texas vs. #20/#18 Colorado (L 29-22)
My memory as a high school freshman had this game as a match-up of top-10 teams, which means I was only wrong by about 10 spots for each team, but what a damn game this was. Considering the Buffs won the national title that year, you can make a case that Darian Hagan and Co. were the best team that has ever travelled to Austin as a non-conference opponent.
7. 1994 - #16/#11 Texas vs. #4 Colorado (Colorado wins 34-31)
It was sooooooo hot on the field. I'm talking 130-degrees on the sidelines because of the turf. Rashaan Salaam rushed for 317 yards, as the Longhorns gift-wrapped the Heisman to him that day.
6. 1984 - #4/#3 Texas vs. No.11 Auburn (Texas wins 35-27)
Better known as the day Jerry Gray tracked Bo Jackson down from behind and broke him. It represents the most significant non-conference match-up in the Fred Akers era. (see 55-second mark of video)
5. 1964 - #1/#1 Texas vs. #10 Army - (Texas wins 17-6)
This was the most significant home non-conference win of the Royal era and it's the only time a No. 1-ranked Longhorns squad played a fellow top-10 non-conference team at home. After trailing 6-3 at halftime, the Longhorns scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to win the game and maintain their No. 1 ranking.
4. 1996 - #6/#8 Texas vs #9/#9 Notre Dame (Notre Dame wins 27-24)
Better known as the day that Bryant Westbrook murdered Randy Kinder on the field, it's also only the second time in the last quarter-century that a top-10 Texas team faced a top non-conference opponent at home. Keith Jackson said of the play, "The important thing right now is to make sure that Randy Kinder can find a place to lay down."
3. 2016 - Unranked Texas vs. #10/#10 Notre Dame (Texas wins 50-47)
The greatest moment at home in the history of the Charlie Strong era.
2. 1970 - #2/#2 Texas vs. #13 UCLA - (Texas wins 20-17)
Yes, the Bruins weren't a top 10, but they played like it against the Longhorns that day, taking a 17-13 lead into the fourth quarter. The Longhorns preserved a national championship season when Eddie Phillips threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Cotton Spreyer with 12 seconds left on the clock. How is this moment not talked about more in the history of Texas football? It's basically this program's Immaculate Reception. (2:25 mark in the video)
1. 2006 - #2/#2 Texas vs #1/#1 Ohio State (Ohio State wins 24-7)
I'm not sure that we've ever fully appreciated the magnitude of this game, even in a losing cause, because of the events that transpired between 2004-05 and 2008-09. It's the only time since 1957 that the No. 1-ranked team in the country has travelled to Austin to face the Longhorns, while the Longhorns were ranked No. 2, and it's the only time a team ranked as high as No. 3 ever made the trip. It was a Buckeyes team that ran the table in 2006 and produced a Heisman Trophy winner ... and for a half it was a fantastic football game. That the Buckeyes imposed their will on the Longhorns doesn't change the magnitude of this incredibly rare non-conference moment.
No. 10 – And Finally ...
I really, really liked this moment.
The crowd went wild.
