Texas looked good defensively in taking care of business against Iowa State, partly due to some pretty simple changes. The Longhorns lost a recruiting commitment, but it's not the end of the world.
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. Sometimes simpler is better
Texas turned in a stellar defensive performance against Iowa State, and Charlie Strong said on Monday they made some pretty interesting changes that worked well.
Obviously, you have to factor in the opponent, but Strong said he basically called three or four defensive sets all game and kept it pretty simple. I would guess he's probably underselling the number of play calls and formations by a bit, but Texas definitely simplified things from what it was doing previously and it's hard to argue with the results.
Similar to what the program saw in 2013 when Manny Diaz was fired and replaced by Greg Robinson, maybe it's a case of simpler being better for the Texas defense. Sometimes it feels like college coaches try to overthink schemes and are too worried about tricking their opponents, when all that is really needed is to line up, play fundamentally sound in the front seven and the back end, and let your superior athletes do the rest.
Obviously, there are situations or teams where you're going to need to sell out against the run, or play predominantly to defend the pass, but perhaps a big part of Texas' issues was that the coaches were asking the players to process too much, which resulted in busted coverages all over the field and missed tackles because defenders were overthinking things.
The other change that seemed to have a positive impact was Texas implementing a new system to change its looks pre-snap, thanks to the wristbands the defensive players were wearing. In previous weeks, according to Strong, once the Texas defense showed its formation, offenses would adjust their play call at the line of scrimmage. Last week, Texas would line up, and as the offense checked and adjusted, the defense would make changes of its own with a new play being sent in.
Dylan Haines and John Bonney both said the simplification of the defensive signals - thanks to the wristbands - was a big help, particularly for players on the opposite side of the field who had been having troubles getting the defensive signals. I'm not sure wristbands or a limited defensive playbook are the magic cure for the Texas defense long-term, but it worked well last week and it's worth trying again against tougher opponents.
2. The loss of OL Xavier Newman's commitment has little to do with Texas' on-field issues this year
When DeSoto offensive lineman Xavier Neman decommitted on Sunday night and subsequently committed to Colorado on Monday, the immediate reaction among a lot of fans was that Newman was bailing out due to Texas' struggles on the field, and the rumors of Strong's long-term coaching stability.
Not from what I was told.
Newman has been on the fence with his commitment going back to the summer, when he nearly decommitted and switched to Oklahoma. Since that time, he had said publicly that he had firmed up his commitment to Texas, but the fact that he was still taking other official visits was pretty telling that he really wasn't that committed at all. In fact, if Oklahoma still had room, the guess here is that he probably would have decommitted a long time ago and flipped to OU. Back in the summer, I was told by a source the only reason he hadn't flipped at that time is because he didn't want to pick up the phone and make the difficult call to the UT coaches.
Losing Newman certainly isn't a good thing, but it's not catastrophic either after the strong offensive line class the Longhorns signed last year. He's a very good prospect but likely would not have played at Texas right way with so many young players ahead of him on the interior of UT's offensive line.
Everything I've heard from people close to Newman is that he's a really good kid, but the fit at Texas may not have been what he's looking for. He has one high school teammate committed to Colorado and another is likely to follow, which helped push him to the Buffs.
"Xavier has been looking for an out since the summer," a key source at DeSoto told me. "He's a great kid and to be fair, Austin is about the only place our guys haven't had any success. I think it'll work out best for both."
3. Texas isn't dead yet, but this weekend could be make or break time
Beating Iowa State isn't going to change a lot of opinions - mine included - but it does keep hope alive that the Longhorns can finish with a bang.
Of the remaining six games on the schedule, Texas is picked to win three of them by the ESPN Football Power Index. Of the three that UT is picked to lose, the only one where it's not a near toss-up is Baylor, where the Bears are given a 61 percent chance of winning.
If you're looking at the remaining schedule as a whole, it would appear that Texas will find itself in five games that should be ultra competitive. The odds of winning all five "coin-flips" ... probably not great.
But if you take the schedule one game at a time, there's not a contest that Texas won't have a decent chance of winning. It almost has a tournament feel ... the Longhorns simply need to put one foot in front of the other, survive and advance.
Last week wasn't exactly an automatic win, but the real test to save the season - and save Strong's job - starts this week. Beat Kansas State on the road, and the Horns' chances stay alive. There will still be a lot of work to be done, but there will be a light at the end of the tunnel that will be shining a bit brighter than it was two weeks ago. Should the Longhorns lose to K-State, you'd have to guess that the odds of all those other coin flip type games going UT's way are very slim. If Texas is going to get to eight wins, this is pretty much a must-win game.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. Can Texas string together back to back weeks of solid defensive play, and is the defense turned around?
I expect another solid outing from the Longhorn defense this week, mostly because K-State's offense is not very good and the Wildcats could be playing without a healthy starting quarterback in Jesse Ertz, who was injured last week.
Bill Snyder said on Monday that he's anticipating Ertz will be available this week, but after leaving last weekend's game with an injury to his throwing shoulder, one would think Ertz will be playing at less than 100 percent, if he's able to go at all.
Even with Ertz in the game, K-State isn't exactly an offensive powerhouse, and the Wildcats will likely employ a similar game plan that Iowa State tried to use - pound the ball on the ground and try to chew up clock. Kansas State has the worst statistical offense in the Big 12 (fifth in rushing) and Ertz is the worst starting QB in the conference in terms of passing efficiency and passing yards per game.
This should be another contest in which the Texas defense is able to play well, both statistically and on the scoreboard.
Does that mean the Longhorns have officially turned the corner on D? Not quite. As I said last week, I'm not going to buy into the defensive turnaround until I see Texas do it against the likes of Baylor, Texas Tech or West Virginia. Another solid outing this weekend will tilt the scales a bit more in the direction of Texas having it figured out, but I'll still need to see a bit more before I'm officially a believer.
2. Why so long on the defensive changes?
If the defensive changes that were implemented on Saturday did in fact get the Texas defense pointed in the right direction (I'm still not convinced they did), it begs the question of what in the heck took so long?
One of the criticisms Strong has absorbed is that he sometimes waits too long to take changes that are necessary to even the most casual observer. Strong appears to have finally pushed the right button on offense with the hiring of Sterlin Gilbert, but the move to hire an aggressive OC came two seasons too late and is one of the biggest reasons Strong is on the hot seat. On defense, Strong again waited until his back was squarely against the wall before stepping in, and if the fixes were as simple as "dumbing down" the defensive game plan and slapping some wristbands on the defenders so they can all get the calls, isn't that something that should have been discovered a long time ago?
The comments from Haines and Bonney that is was sometimes hard for the backside corner to get the play call was pretty alarming and if that's true, it's an issue that should have somehow been resolved after the first game in which it happened. In fact, it should have been resolved after the first series in which it happened.
If the wristbands and defensive simplifications work moving forward, Strong will receive some much-deserved credit for figuring out what was causing so many defensive breakdowns, and it could help springboard Texas to an incredible run down the stretch. But even that success will have people wondering why it takes Strong so long to identify obvious issues within his team that can be fixed pretty easily.
ONE PREDICTION - Texas goes on the road and gets a win this week
I haven't really poured through the match-ups on this week's game against K-State so I'll go ahead and reserve the right to change my mind, but my gut feel early in the week is that the Longhorns are going to head to Manhattan on Saturday and pick up a much-needed road win.
The Texas offense has been pretty sluggish in the first half in the past two weeks, so I'll play the odds that Sterlin Gilbert's crew won't shoot itself in the foot against a good KSU defense and will do a better job in the first two quarters. The weather is expected to be damn near perfect, and the UT offense should be able to make a fair amount of plays over the course of the game.
Defensively, I expect another solid effort against a KSU offense that's average at best.
Historically, the Longhorns have struggled with K-State and Texas hasn't won in Manhattan since 2002 (it's only time to win there). But people are giving this K-State team way too much credit and this is a very winnable game for Texas. I'm just not sold on KSU team as being that good, and I think the Longhorns built up enough confidence last week that it carries them to a win.
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. Sometimes simpler is better
Texas turned in a stellar defensive performance against Iowa State, and Charlie Strong said on Monday they made some pretty interesting changes that worked well.
Obviously, you have to factor in the opponent, but Strong said he basically called three or four defensive sets all game and kept it pretty simple. I would guess he's probably underselling the number of play calls and formations by a bit, but Texas definitely simplified things from what it was doing previously and it's hard to argue with the results.
Similar to what the program saw in 2013 when Manny Diaz was fired and replaced by Greg Robinson, maybe it's a case of simpler being better for the Texas defense. Sometimes it feels like college coaches try to overthink schemes and are too worried about tricking their opponents, when all that is really needed is to line up, play fundamentally sound in the front seven and the back end, and let your superior athletes do the rest.
Obviously, there are situations or teams where you're going to need to sell out against the run, or play predominantly to defend the pass, but perhaps a big part of Texas' issues was that the coaches were asking the players to process too much, which resulted in busted coverages all over the field and missed tackles because defenders were overthinking things.
The other change that seemed to have a positive impact was Texas implementing a new system to change its looks pre-snap, thanks to the wristbands the defensive players were wearing. In previous weeks, according to Strong, once the Texas defense showed its formation, offenses would adjust their play call at the line of scrimmage. Last week, Texas would line up, and as the offense checked and adjusted, the defense would make changes of its own with a new play being sent in.
Dylan Haines and John Bonney both said the simplification of the defensive signals - thanks to the wristbands - was a big help, particularly for players on the opposite side of the field who had been having troubles getting the defensive signals. I'm not sure wristbands or a limited defensive playbook are the magic cure for the Texas defense long-term, but it worked well last week and it's worth trying again against tougher opponents.
2. The loss of OL Xavier Newman's commitment has little to do with Texas' on-field issues this year
When DeSoto offensive lineman Xavier Neman decommitted on Sunday night and subsequently committed to Colorado on Monday, the immediate reaction among a lot of fans was that Newman was bailing out due to Texas' struggles on the field, and the rumors of Strong's long-term coaching stability.
Not from what I was told.
Newman has been on the fence with his commitment going back to the summer, when he nearly decommitted and switched to Oklahoma. Since that time, he had said publicly that he had firmed up his commitment to Texas, but the fact that he was still taking other official visits was pretty telling that he really wasn't that committed at all. In fact, if Oklahoma still had room, the guess here is that he probably would have decommitted a long time ago and flipped to OU. Back in the summer, I was told by a source the only reason he hadn't flipped at that time is because he didn't want to pick up the phone and make the difficult call to the UT coaches.
Losing Newman certainly isn't a good thing, but it's not catastrophic either after the strong offensive line class the Longhorns signed last year. He's a very good prospect but likely would not have played at Texas right way with so many young players ahead of him on the interior of UT's offensive line.
Everything I've heard from people close to Newman is that he's a really good kid, but the fit at Texas may not have been what he's looking for. He has one high school teammate committed to Colorado and another is likely to follow, which helped push him to the Buffs.
"Xavier has been looking for an out since the summer," a key source at DeSoto told me. "He's a great kid and to be fair, Austin is about the only place our guys haven't had any success. I think it'll work out best for both."
3. Texas isn't dead yet, but this weekend could be make or break time
Beating Iowa State isn't going to change a lot of opinions - mine included - but it does keep hope alive that the Longhorns can finish with a bang.
Of the remaining six games on the schedule, Texas is picked to win three of them by the ESPN Football Power Index. Of the three that UT is picked to lose, the only one where it's not a near toss-up is Baylor, where the Bears are given a 61 percent chance of winning.
If you're looking at the remaining schedule as a whole, it would appear that Texas will find itself in five games that should be ultra competitive. The odds of winning all five "coin-flips" ... probably not great.
But if you take the schedule one game at a time, there's not a contest that Texas won't have a decent chance of winning. It almost has a tournament feel ... the Longhorns simply need to put one foot in front of the other, survive and advance.
Last week wasn't exactly an automatic win, but the real test to save the season - and save Strong's job - starts this week. Beat Kansas State on the road, and the Horns' chances stay alive. There will still be a lot of work to be done, but there will be a light at the end of the tunnel that will be shining a bit brighter than it was two weeks ago. Should the Longhorns lose to K-State, you'd have to guess that the odds of all those other coin flip type games going UT's way are very slim. If Texas is going to get to eight wins, this is pretty much a must-win game.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. Can Texas string together back to back weeks of solid defensive play, and is the defense turned around?
I expect another solid outing from the Longhorn defense this week, mostly because K-State's offense is not very good and the Wildcats could be playing without a healthy starting quarterback in Jesse Ertz, who was injured last week.
Bill Snyder said on Monday that he's anticipating Ertz will be available this week, but after leaving last weekend's game with an injury to his throwing shoulder, one would think Ertz will be playing at less than 100 percent, if he's able to go at all.
Even with Ertz in the game, K-State isn't exactly an offensive powerhouse, and the Wildcats will likely employ a similar game plan that Iowa State tried to use - pound the ball on the ground and try to chew up clock. Kansas State has the worst statistical offense in the Big 12 (fifth in rushing) and Ertz is the worst starting QB in the conference in terms of passing efficiency and passing yards per game.
This should be another contest in which the Texas defense is able to play well, both statistically and on the scoreboard.
Does that mean the Longhorns have officially turned the corner on D? Not quite. As I said last week, I'm not going to buy into the defensive turnaround until I see Texas do it against the likes of Baylor, Texas Tech or West Virginia. Another solid outing this weekend will tilt the scales a bit more in the direction of Texas having it figured out, but I'll still need to see a bit more before I'm officially a believer.
2. Why so long on the defensive changes?
If the defensive changes that were implemented on Saturday did in fact get the Texas defense pointed in the right direction (I'm still not convinced they did), it begs the question of what in the heck took so long?
One of the criticisms Strong has absorbed is that he sometimes waits too long to take changes that are necessary to even the most casual observer. Strong appears to have finally pushed the right button on offense with the hiring of Sterlin Gilbert, but the move to hire an aggressive OC came two seasons too late and is one of the biggest reasons Strong is on the hot seat. On defense, Strong again waited until his back was squarely against the wall before stepping in, and if the fixes were as simple as "dumbing down" the defensive game plan and slapping some wristbands on the defenders so they can all get the calls, isn't that something that should have been discovered a long time ago?
The comments from Haines and Bonney that is was sometimes hard for the backside corner to get the play call was pretty alarming and if that's true, it's an issue that should have somehow been resolved after the first game in which it happened. In fact, it should have been resolved after the first series in which it happened.
If the wristbands and defensive simplifications work moving forward, Strong will receive some much-deserved credit for figuring out what was causing so many defensive breakdowns, and it could help springboard Texas to an incredible run down the stretch. But even that success will have people wondering why it takes Strong so long to identify obvious issues within his team that can be fixed pretty easily.
ONE PREDICTION - Texas goes on the road and gets a win this week
I haven't really poured through the match-ups on this week's game against K-State so I'll go ahead and reserve the right to change my mind, but my gut feel early in the week is that the Longhorns are going to head to Manhattan on Saturday and pick up a much-needed road win.
The Texas offense has been pretty sluggish in the first half in the past two weeks, so I'll play the odds that Sterlin Gilbert's crew won't shoot itself in the foot against a good KSU defense and will do a better job in the first two quarters. The weather is expected to be damn near perfect, and the UT offense should be able to make a fair amount of plays over the course of the game.
Defensively, I expect another solid effort against a KSU offense that's average at best.
Historically, the Longhorns have struggled with K-State and Texas hasn't won in Manhattan since 2002 (it's only time to win there). But people are giving this K-State team way too much credit and this is a very winnable game for Texas. I'm just not sold on KSU team as being that good, and I think the Longhorns built up enough confidence last week that it carries them to a win.
