It's not that Matt Rhule's Baylor Bears are the worst 9-0 team in the history of the Big 12, it's that heading into the third week of November it no longer really matters.
The Bears just keep winning. A lot of these games are ugly affairs, but they keep ending with the same result.
Where it leaves the Texas Longhorns is in a pretty clear state heading into their final three games of the season, as Tom Herman's team clings to its Big 12 Championship hopes. It's as simple as this.
a. The Longhorns have to run the table in their final three games, which includes a road game in Waco in a couple of weeks.
b. As much as it will sting a lot of Texas fans to consider the idea of rooting for Oklahoma this weekend when the Sooners visit Waco, the least damaging result for the Longhorns would be an OU win because it would essentially allow the Longhorns to control their own destiny, assuming they find a way to beat Iowa State this weekend.
If the Bears beat Oklahoma, Baylor would almost certainly be locked into one of the Big 12 Championship Game slots, leaving the Longhorns in need of TCU or Oklahoma State upsetting the Sooners, while also still needing to win their final three games in the process.
Things could be better and they could be worse.
Basically, the Longhorns have to hope that Cinderella's slipper comes off as soon as possible, but it won't make a hill of beans if the Longhorns can’t deal with what awaits them in Ames. If Texas loses in Ames, Cinderella's slipper can come off at 11:27 p.m. in a drunken haze and it won't matter moving forward for the Longhorns.
No. 2 - Continuing the running back discussion from two weeks ago ...
Heading into Saturday's game against Kansas State, Keaontay Ingram had started taking running game carries over Roschon Johnson at 2:1 levels in the previous two games against Kansas and TCU.
That number increased to 3:1 levels against the Wildcats, as Ingram rushed for a career-high 139 yards on 16 carries.
For those keeping score like myself, here are the numbers from the last three games ...
Ingram: 46 carries for 311 yards and four touchdowns
Johnson: 21 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown
At Ingram's current pace (114 carries for 633 yards and six touchdowns) over nine games, he'd likely finish between 75-100 yards away from a 1,000-yard season, but if he keeps up his play from the last three weeks, Ingram still has a chance to get there.
No. 3 - Five Players I'm Still Thinking About 24 Hours Later ...
Ta'Quan Graham - Although he's never going to be an impact player as a pass rusher, he can win the hand-to-hand battle in the trenches at the point of attack and if you want to try and get physical on his side of the field, he'll be your Huckelberry. Kansas State tried to run the ball at him while he was in the game and they did not have any success.
Keaontay Ingram - I'm not sure the Longhorns beat Kansas State without him. His runs on the first drive of the third quarter completely changed the complexion of the game. For the first time all season, Ingram felt like a truly scary player for the opposition.
Brandon Jones - Jones looked like a future undrafted free agent in the first quarter when his tackling and coverage left a lot to be desired, but he hung in there and made two huge plays over the final three quarters of the game, while eliminating the awful plays in the process. Very quietly, I thought his forced fumble in the second quarter was one of the most important plays of the entire game.
Chris Naggar - Averaged 43.7 yards on his three punts in his first game as a starter, including two of the three being downed inside the 20 yard line. Herman will take that each week for the rest of the season if he can get it.
Caden Sterns - Do you even really remember him playing outside of a play or two? Me neither. However, in his first game back since the earliest portions of this season, there weren't any missed coverages or tackles that left this team in dire straits. Instead, he was rock solid all game, which represents progress from his previous form going all the way back to last season.
No. 4 - Positive First Impressions ...
Obviously, not one single person is going to make any emphatically positive remarks about the Texas men's basketball team, but the win at Purdue this weekend will look good in front of a committee in March.
It was a good win. There's so much more to prove, but it's a nice early season feather in the cap.
Here are a few things about the win that really stood out to me:
a. With 3:14 left on the clock in the second half and the Longhorns trailing by five, I wrote down that getting good shots in the final four minutes of games last year, especially on the road, was a bit of a bugaboo for this team, so this specific game situation afforded this team a chance to show a better version of closing games on the offensive end of the floor. After a Courtney Ramey three, the Longhorns followed with a Gerald Liddell jumper, a Jericho Sims dunk and a Jase Febres three-point shot followed and suddenly the Longhorns were up 64-62 with 1:25 remaining. It wasn't just that Texas made the shots, it's that the offense that created them was so easy and fluid. Nothing felt forced. Never did I cringe.
b. Hello, Gerald Liddell's development. If you don't remember Liddell playing much last season, that's because he really didn't play a lot as a freshman. Part of me wondered if the report of his availability in this game was worthy of even being pinned at the top of the Orangebloods Inside the 40 Acres board. When Royce Hamm fouled out with five minutes left in the game and with Sims sitting on four fouls, it was fair to wonder if Texas was about to cave down the stretch in the front-court. All Liddell did was check into the game, convert a three-point play with a PJ Tucker-esque move in the paint and basically hold down the fort in the front-court the rest of the way. More of that, please.
c. If you would have told me before the game that Courtney Ramey and Andrew Jones would finish with one combined made shot, I would have assumed Texas lost this game by 20. I mean ... where the hell were the points going to come from? That this team found workable answers to that question is a very positive second-game improvement.
d. Matt Coleman looked like the dude everyone thought Texas was getting when he was recruited. I don't know if that's the best game he's ever played in a Texas uniform, but it has to be in the conversation.
No. 5 - Congrats to the Oklahoma Sooners volleyball team ...
No, the Sooners didn't beat Texas this weekend in Norman, but they did grab a game against the No. 1-ranked Longhorns.
It's the first time in 10 Big 12 games that someone has been able to sneak a game away from the Longhorns. No one has taken two games from them in conference play yet.
The Longhorns just keep hammering teams. Those women deserve some added attention.
No. 6 - If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. LSU
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Minnesota
5. Alabama
6. Georgia
7. Oregon
8. Utah
9. Oklahoma
10. Penn State
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) Considering that Whittington was feeling some discomfort last week after taking part in practice, I'm kind of the opinion that we aren't going to see him this season, although I could see him playing in the bowl game. I just don't think I would chance anything if he was still having issues within the last seven days.
(Buy) There's really not a place inside of the question that allows me to straddle the fence, but I think the truth might be somewhere in the middle. I don't know that we learned much from the weekend against a very limited offense with limited quarterback play. Say whatever you want about Bryce Purdy and Charlie Brewer, but they represent much better quarterback play than Skylar Thompson did.
(Sell) Can we wait until the end of the season before we decide this?
(Sell) Maybe. But, the Longhorns were playing off for a reason and a more capable quarterback/offense might have taken advantage of that. The Longhorns could very well keep the corners up more than they have in recent weeks, but I think it will be with extreme care.
(Buy) The Longhorns might not have a choice. The good news is that this group did perform well in the second half against a very capable KSU front.
(Buy) He's in a full-on love affair with Roach.
(Buy) Of course. In what world did Saturday represent the end all with regards to the spotlight being on Orlando? Not the one I'm in.
(Sell) Gif-time!
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... My goodness, has Joe Burrow been special this season or what? He deserves all of the awards at this point.
... We all need to prepare ourselves for the fact that Alabama is making it into the playoff.
... Iowa State would have beaten Oklahoma if that game had gone to overtime. JMO.
... Baylor might not have been but a smidge better than TCU, but that team has guts. That game will bother Gary Patterson for the next year because he'll know that's one the Frogs should have had.
... Whew boy, the Saints laid an egg this weekend. That was Dallas-losing-to-the-Jets level of horribleness.
... The Chiefs might be playing on the road at Baltimore in the playoffs and they'll be cursing Sunday's loss to Tennessee under their breaths. How in the hell did they steal defeat from the jaws of victory in such a way?
... I really should have played the Ravens defense in fantasy.
... The NBA is a great Monday-Thursday league during November, but it's horrible on the weekends. I have no idea what happened.
... Just keep winning games, Liverpool, and don't bother with looking back. There was nothing accidental about Sunday. The better team won convincingly.
... One of the days, I want to catch an MLS game in Seattle. Good for the Sounders in winning the championship this weekend.
No. 9 - The List: Top Tom Petty songs ...
I'm not sure what led to it, but I was in a Petty frame of mind last week, so I thought I would update my top 10 list.
True story: I never really liked Petty until I was an adult and then he just hit me over the head like a ton of bricks.
We could all be a little more like Petty.
10. Here Comes My Girl
9. You’re Gonna Get It
8. Don’t Do Me Like That
7. Into the Great Wide Open
6. You Got Lucky
5. Breakdown
4. Stop Dragging’ My Heart Around
3. Free Fallin’
2. Refugee
1. American Girl
I went back and forth on Refugee and American Girl, and even though I personally prefer Refugee, I feel like American Girl is the quintessential Tom Petty song. Not that it matters, but Rolling Stone agrees with me.
No. 10 – And Finally ...
Put me on record as being a major proponent for the new Moody Center after it was announced this weekend that the Moody Foundation in Galveston was donating $130 million towards the project.
(Can the Moody Center adopt me?)
The 10,000-seat arena has a chance to be quite spectacular.
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