Texas is looking good with a 2-0 start, but things could get interesting with the Longhorns hitting the road for the first time.
We take a look at three things we learned over the last week, two questions that are on our mind and one prediction.
It's time for The 3-2-1 ...
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Texas is playing with fire with the offensive line injuries
The Longhorns came into the UTEP game short-handed along the offensive line with injuries to Connor Williams, Kent Perkins and Tristan Nickelson. By the end of the night, fans were having to pull up their rosters to figure out who it was that was actually on the field, with a combination of second- and third-teamers holding down the fort.
After keeping Notre Dame away from Shane Buechele and blocking well in the running game, the offensive line took a step back last week. Elijah Rodriguez really struggled in trying to replace Connor Williams. UTEP actually logged three sacks in the game and Texas averaged just 3.6 yards per rushing attempt.
In talking to people close to the program, the offensive line grades following Saturday's game were pretty poor overall. Texas was able to survive the lackluster OL play pretty easily against UTEP, but that's not going get it done moving forward.
The good news, according to Charlie Strong on Monday, is that the team's starters should be at full strength for the Cal game, meaning the Longhorns should get Williams, Perkins and Zach Shackelford back. Brandon Hodges will continue to man the right tackle spot, as we're hearing Tristan Nickelson won't be ready until the Oklahoma State game, at the earliest.
If the line is in fact healthy this week, all of this should become a bit of a moot point. But Texas needs to start having a little bit of luck with the health of its linemen as conference play begins if it wants to achieve the kinds of heights I think this team can achieve.
2. The Big 12 is there for the taking
I had a feeling coming into the season that the Big 12 would be down from where it was last year, but I had no idea it would be as bad as what we've seen through two weeks. Only three teams (Texas, Baylor and West Virginia) have made it two weeks into the season without a loss. Only Texas, OU and Baylor remain ranked after TCU and Oklahoma State both fell out of the top 25.
Oklahoma lost to Houston, but the Sooners still seem to be the Longhorns' biggest threat. Gary Patterson's TCU teams usually improve as the year goes on, but that's a club that looked way overvalued in pre-season polls. Same with Oklahoma State, who somehow let Central Michigan hang around long enough in Stillwater to steal a win on Saturday. Texas Tech is scary on offense, but that defense is one of the worst these eyes have seen in a long time.
If I'm ranking the teams in the conference right now, here's how I see it:
1. Texas
2. Oklahoma
3. West Virginia
4. Baylor
5. Oklahoma State
6. TCU
7. Texas Tech
8. Kansas State
9. Kansas
10. Iowa State
3. Jacorey Warrick is a legitimate threat in this offense
I think it's been three years straight we've heard in the off-season that Jacorey Warrick was making plays. This year, as a senior, he's carrying it over to the field.
Warrick had a key mistake last week in fumbling into the end zone (it was actually a pretty good play by the UTEP defender more than a mistake by Warrick), but he has been one of the offense's most productive and consistent players through two weeks. Warrick led the team with 7 receptions last week and now has 9 for the season, which also leads the team.
When Warrick was recruited out of Cy Falls, he was regarded as a versatile player who could make plays on offense and special teams with his quickness. If I'm being honest, through the first three years of his career, I never really saw those traits carry over to the college game.
Warrick had 16 career receptions coming into this season, but something just looks different with him this year. He seems to have a suddenness about him that I don't remember seeing in the past, and his ability to get upfield after the catch and make players miss has been as impressive as any receiver on the Texas roster.
Most fans haven't really gotten to know Warrick because he hasn't had a star-studded career thus far, but as a guy who covered him quite a bit as a recruit, I don't mind admitting that I'm thrilled to see him having success. Charlie Strong mentioned on Monday how he loves coaching Warrick because Warrick just keeps quiet and goes about his business. In my experiences talking with Warrick, it's hard to think of a recruit over the years who was more polite and respectful every time we spoke.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. Did the defense take a step forward against UTEP?
Aside from one big run by UTEP's Aaron Jones, the Texas defense played a terrific game on Saturday night. In fact, take that 51-yard TD out of the equation and the Miners averaged just 2.6 yards on 60 snaps.
So has the Texas defense turned things around after a disastrous 2015 season and a pretty tough start to the 2016 season against Notre Dame?
I'm not there yet.
UTEP wasn't going to present much of a challenge even it was fully healthy. Playing without quarterback Zach Greenlee pretty much guaranteed that the Miners would field the worst offense Texas would face all season.
Things will get much tougher this week, and I'm expecting Cal to put up some pretty big offensive numbers.
The good news is that there were signs of progress. Youngsters Malcolm Roach and Breckyn Hager played very well and the defensive line has been better than I expected it would be through the first two games.
I do expect this defense to get better as the season goes on, and it should wind up being much better statistically than the one the team fielded last year, but there's still quite a bit of room for improvement despite what was shown last week.
2. Can Texas actually play well on the road?
The Longhorns were absolutely atrocious last year in true road games, going 1-4 and being outscored by opponents 173-47. The team faces its first road test of 2016 on Saturday night at Cal, and I'm expecting things to look a lot different than last year for a couple reasons.
First off, this team just has a different feel to it than last year and so far, it has shown a different mental make-up. A year ago, had Texas gone on the road and Cal jumped out to an early lead, it would have likely been game over. If that same scenario unfolds this weekend, which is possible, my guess is that this year's Longhorns will have the mental toughness to battle back.
Another reason I'm expecting a stronger showing from Texas boils down to one player ... Shane Buechele. He's a freshman making his first road start, but I've seen nothing from Buechele that makes me think he'll be even a little rattled. He and the entire Texas offense should continue to play well this week, and the guess here is that the Longhorns head back to Austin 3-0.
ONE PREDICTION - Sterlin Gilbert is back in Austin in 2017
I've seen the talk already that first-year UT offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert may leave Texas after one year to become a head coach, possibly even at Baylor.
I get it. Gilbert has been phenomenal through the first two games and his offense is the single biggest reason there's so much optimism surrounding this year's Longhorn team. He's already a hot name, and deservedly so.
Maybe it's just my nature to take things at a slower pace than most, but I'm not quite ready to jump on the Gilbert to Baylor train. In fact, I'm still several miles away from the train station.
Let's slow this talk down a bit and let the season play out. Any speculation about Gilbert even being a candidate to leave seems WAY premature to me. I don't doubt that Gilbert can and will be a successful college head coach at some point, but my guess is that it won't be in Waco next year and Gilbert stays in Austin for at least a second season.
Texas fans should hope I'm right.
We take a look at three things we learned over the last week, two questions that are on our mind and one prediction.
It's time for The 3-2-1 ...
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Texas is playing with fire with the offensive line injuries
The Longhorns came into the UTEP game short-handed along the offensive line with injuries to Connor Williams, Kent Perkins and Tristan Nickelson. By the end of the night, fans were having to pull up their rosters to figure out who it was that was actually on the field, with a combination of second- and third-teamers holding down the fort.
After keeping Notre Dame away from Shane Buechele and blocking well in the running game, the offensive line took a step back last week. Elijah Rodriguez really struggled in trying to replace Connor Williams. UTEP actually logged three sacks in the game and Texas averaged just 3.6 yards per rushing attempt.
In talking to people close to the program, the offensive line grades following Saturday's game were pretty poor overall. Texas was able to survive the lackluster OL play pretty easily against UTEP, but that's not going get it done moving forward.
The good news, according to Charlie Strong on Monday, is that the team's starters should be at full strength for the Cal game, meaning the Longhorns should get Williams, Perkins and Zach Shackelford back. Brandon Hodges will continue to man the right tackle spot, as we're hearing Tristan Nickelson won't be ready until the Oklahoma State game, at the earliest.
If the line is in fact healthy this week, all of this should become a bit of a moot point. But Texas needs to start having a little bit of luck with the health of its linemen as conference play begins if it wants to achieve the kinds of heights I think this team can achieve.
2. The Big 12 is there for the taking
I had a feeling coming into the season that the Big 12 would be down from where it was last year, but I had no idea it would be as bad as what we've seen through two weeks. Only three teams (Texas, Baylor and West Virginia) have made it two weeks into the season without a loss. Only Texas, OU and Baylor remain ranked after TCU and Oklahoma State both fell out of the top 25.
Oklahoma lost to Houston, but the Sooners still seem to be the Longhorns' biggest threat. Gary Patterson's TCU teams usually improve as the year goes on, but that's a club that looked way overvalued in pre-season polls. Same with Oklahoma State, who somehow let Central Michigan hang around long enough in Stillwater to steal a win on Saturday. Texas Tech is scary on offense, but that defense is one of the worst these eyes have seen in a long time.
If I'm ranking the teams in the conference right now, here's how I see it:
1. Texas
2. Oklahoma
3. West Virginia
4. Baylor
5. Oklahoma State
6. TCU
7. Texas Tech
8. Kansas State
9. Kansas
10. Iowa State
3. Jacorey Warrick is a legitimate threat in this offense
I think it's been three years straight we've heard in the off-season that Jacorey Warrick was making plays. This year, as a senior, he's carrying it over to the field.
Warrick had a key mistake last week in fumbling into the end zone (it was actually a pretty good play by the UTEP defender more than a mistake by Warrick), but he has been one of the offense's most productive and consistent players through two weeks. Warrick led the team with 7 receptions last week and now has 9 for the season, which also leads the team.
When Warrick was recruited out of Cy Falls, he was regarded as a versatile player who could make plays on offense and special teams with his quickness. If I'm being honest, through the first three years of his career, I never really saw those traits carry over to the college game.
Warrick had 16 career receptions coming into this season, but something just looks different with him this year. He seems to have a suddenness about him that I don't remember seeing in the past, and his ability to get upfield after the catch and make players miss has been as impressive as any receiver on the Texas roster.
Most fans haven't really gotten to know Warrick because he hasn't had a star-studded career thus far, but as a guy who covered him quite a bit as a recruit, I don't mind admitting that I'm thrilled to see him having success. Charlie Strong mentioned on Monday how he loves coaching Warrick because Warrick just keeps quiet and goes about his business. In my experiences talking with Warrick, it's hard to think of a recruit over the years who was more polite and respectful every time we spoke.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. Did the defense take a step forward against UTEP?
Aside from one big run by UTEP's Aaron Jones, the Texas defense played a terrific game on Saturday night. In fact, take that 51-yard TD out of the equation and the Miners averaged just 2.6 yards on 60 snaps.
So has the Texas defense turned things around after a disastrous 2015 season and a pretty tough start to the 2016 season against Notre Dame?
I'm not there yet.
UTEP wasn't going to present much of a challenge even it was fully healthy. Playing without quarterback Zach Greenlee pretty much guaranteed that the Miners would field the worst offense Texas would face all season.
Things will get much tougher this week, and I'm expecting Cal to put up some pretty big offensive numbers.
The good news is that there were signs of progress. Youngsters Malcolm Roach and Breckyn Hager played very well and the defensive line has been better than I expected it would be through the first two games.
I do expect this defense to get better as the season goes on, and it should wind up being much better statistically than the one the team fielded last year, but there's still quite a bit of room for improvement despite what was shown last week.
2. Can Texas actually play well on the road?
The Longhorns were absolutely atrocious last year in true road games, going 1-4 and being outscored by opponents 173-47. The team faces its first road test of 2016 on Saturday night at Cal, and I'm expecting things to look a lot different than last year for a couple reasons.
First off, this team just has a different feel to it than last year and so far, it has shown a different mental make-up. A year ago, had Texas gone on the road and Cal jumped out to an early lead, it would have likely been game over. If that same scenario unfolds this weekend, which is possible, my guess is that this year's Longhorns will have the mental toughness to battle back.
Another reason I'm expecting a stronger showing from Texas boils down to one player ... Shane Buechele. He's a freshman making his first road start, but I've seen nothing from Buechele that makes me think he'll be even a little rattled. He and the entire Texas offense should continue to play well this week, and the guess here is that the Longhorns head back to Austin 3-0.
ONE PREDICTION - Sterlin Gilbert is back in Austin in 2017
I've seen the talk already that first-year UT offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert may leave Texas after one year to become a head coach, possibly even at Baylor.
I get it. Gilbert has been phenomenal through the first two games and his offense is the single biggest reason there's so much optimism surrounding this year's Longhorn team. He's already a hot name, and deservedly so.
Maybe it's just my nature to take things at a slower pace than most, but I'm not quite ready to jump on the Gilbert to Baylor train. In fact, I'm still several miles away from the train station.
Let's slow this talk down a bit and let the season play out. Any speculation about Gilbert even being a candidate to leave seems WAY premature to me. I don't doubt that Gilbert can and will be a successful college head coach at some point, but my guess is that it won't be in Waco next year and Gilbert stays in Austin for at least a second season.
Texas fans should hope I'm right.
