LAWRENCE, Kan. – The people who care about Texas coach Charlie Strong know. His players know. The support staff knows. Yes, even Strong knows.
This is the end.
Many of them were emotional outside of the locker room after Texas’ 24-21 overtime loss against Kansas. Vicki Strong, Charlie’s wife, is rarely seen on road trips. Yet, those who love Mrs. Strong embraced her as she fought back tears while enduring 33 degree weather after the game. Support staff members hugged each other outside the locker room because they seemingly knew this loss jeopardized their job security, too. Texas athletic director Mike Perrin was clearly uncomfortable, and his smile was replaced by a distraught look, as he stood near the number of people mourning.
Then there was coach Strong.
He walked into his postgame press conference with his head down, and very little to say. His answers were short. His hands shook as he spoke. Maybe it was the cold weather that left his hands shaking. Maybe the reality of knowing his tenure in Austin is about to end left him quivering.
Either way, Strong knew.
“We’re up 21-10 in the fourth quarter, we’re driving the ball, make a key stop, and they come back,” Strong said. “It’s just tough. Those guys are hurting in the locker room. Just feel so bad for them.”
As I sat a few feet away from Strong, his press conference was very uncomfortable to watch.
I have attended every Strong postgame press conference during his tenure. There was the disappointing loss against BYU, followed by another setback against UCLA in year one. Strong endured a humbling bowl defeat against Arkansas during that season. TCU scored 30 points in the first quarter against Texas in 2015. Then there was the bad 24-0 loss against Iowa State. Three straight losses after a 2-0 start this season (Cal, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma). Kansas State and West Virginia were also setbacks.
However, Strong has never looked as defeated as he did after Saturday’s loss.
When Houston coach Tom Herman knocks off one of the top teams in the nation on Thursday, and Texas losses to one of the worst teams in college football, nothing good can come of it. There is not a “red flag” that cannot be rationalized when Kansas snaps a 19-game conference losing streak against your team. Texas president Greg Fenves’ voice mailbox was probably full an hour after the loss. Strong seemingly had a small chance to save his job by defeating Kansas and TCU, finishing 7-5, and a bowl appearance.
Instead, Texas has fallen to 5-6, the Longhorns are in jeopardy of missing a bowl game for the second straight season, and Strong is guaranteed not to have a winning regular season record for a third consecutive year.
When Strong was asked if he knew how this loss affected his job status, his reply was sounded like a concession.
“No, I don’t,” Strong said. “No, I don’t.”
Honestly, if Texas president Greg Fenves is going to part ways with Strong, he should do everybody a favor and pull the trigger this weekend. Do not allow Strong to stand in front of the media on Monday and be hammered with job security questions. Strong can attempt to talk about the importance of winning the season finale against TCU to make a bowl game for the seniors, but the elephant in the room is not going away.
Once you get past Strong, players are going to be asked questions they cannot answer during media availability prior to Friday’s home game against TCU. Strong earns $5 million a year, so he gets paid to answer tough questions. Nevertheless, his players are not paid, and this administration needs to stand up and shield those guys. Fenves should protect everyone involved, step up and finally act like he is also in charge of the football program.
This is the end.
Everyone knows.
POSTGAME WRAP-UP
- Texas offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert said his unit was inconsistent and unable to execute in the first half. Gilbert said, “Obviously, the turnovers killed us. That’s something you can’t do any Saturday, much less against a team that is really hungry and played a lot of people well early and throughout games. We didn’t take care of the ball today. Our defense was playing great early on, and all the way through the game. We should have been able to get away at times, and we just weren’t because of mistakes.”
- Gilbert believes Texas quarterback Shane Buechele overthrew receiver Dorian Leonard during overtime. It was a progression read, Leonard worked back with the scramble drill, and Gilbert said it sailed high.
- After the game, Gilbert said he hugged his players, looked them in the eye and encourage those guys to keep battling. He said they need to carry this feeling into next week and know this is something they do not want to experience again.
- When asked about what is going through the coach’s minds with Strong’s future in the air, Gilbert said they will show up on Sunday, grade the film, and start getting ready for TCU.
- Buechele on his interception in overtime: “I just shot it high. It was a bad throw.”
- Buechele was taken out of the game with a neck injury, but said he felt fine and going to the locker room was just a precaution.
- When asked about the interceptions in the second quarter, Buechele said they were bad throws.
- Buechele said the team will fight for Charlie Strong against TCU.
- Texas running back D’Onta Foreman on having a huge day, but two fumbles: “That’s not a huge day. Put the ball on the ground twice, and I feel like that hurt our team. I’m a person who feels like I’m a leader of this team, leader of this offense. For me to put the ball on the ground two times, I feel like it’s my fault. I feel like if I don’t put the ball on the ground the second time, I feel like we could have gotten a score out of that drive, and possibly win this game. I’m definitely taking it hard.”
- Texas safety DeShon Elliott described his feelings as shock and anger after the loss.
- Here was Elliott’s response when asked about Strong’s future: “I love coach Strong. That’s my dog. I love him, but that’s not our decision. We can’t make that decision. It’s the AD and all the men up there.”
- This quote from Elliott says it all: “It’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt. No offense to Kansas, it’s Kansas. It’s going to hurt us, and we've got to just let it go by and work hard this week. This is our last game. We got to beat TCU. This is a must.”
- Here is what Texas left tackle Connor Williams said when asked if players knew how this loss would affect Strong’s future: “I don’t think we’re thinking about that right now. We’re all just going through the same thing right now.”
- In addition, Williams said, “It’s just sad. It’s saddening to be where we are right now.”
PLAYER NOTES
(provided by UT)
• D’Onta Foreman rushed 51 times for 250 yards and two touchdowns Saturday. His 51 attempts set a new school record and his 250 yards marked his third performance of 250+ in UT’s last four games.
• Foreman surpassed 100 yards on the ground for the 12th straight game, setting a new school record. Earl Campbell (11) held the previous school record. It is his 10th 100-yard game this season, tied for second in school history.
• Foreman now has 1,863 rushing yards this season, third-most in school history for a single season. Ricky Williams (1998) owns the school record with 1,865 yards through a season’s first 10 games. His 15 touchdowns this season are eighth-most in a single season.
• Foreman has rushed for 1,008 yards in his last four games, second-most in school history in a four-game stretch behind Ricky Williams’ 1,066 during his Heisman Trophy-winning 1998 season.
• Foreman now has 2,617 rushing yards in his career, good for 12th in school history. His three 200-yard games are tied for third-most for a career in school history and his three 200-yard games this season are the most since Ricky Williams had four such games in 1998.
• Shane Buechele made his 11th start on Saturday, tied for second in school history for starts among true freshman QBs with Shea Morenz (1993).
• Jacorey Warrick took a pass on the first play from scrimmage and went 75 yards for his third TD of the season.
• Edwin Freeman recorded his second career interception in the game.
• DeShon Elliott made his first career start and recovered a fumble to go along with six tackles and a TFL in the game.
• Michael Dickson punted a season-high eight times for 350 yards (43.8 avg). He downed four punts inside the 20, including three inside the 10. He had a net average of 41.9 yards per punt.
TEAM NOTES
(provided by UT)
• Texas falls to 5-6 on the season and 3-5 in the Big 12 Conference.
• Saturday’s game was the Longhorns’ second overtime game of the season. They are now 2-2 all-time in OT games.
• The Longhorns are now 14-3 all-time against Kansas and 6-3 in Lawrence. Saturday’s loss snapped a 13-game winning streak over the Jayhawks.
• DeShon Elliott made his first career start on Saturday, the 21st player to make his first career start this season for Texas.
• Texas’ freshman and sophomore classes have made a combined 206 career starts and 131 this season. UT’s freshmen have combined to make 28 starts this year.
Funniest Thing You Will See This Week
Sports On A Dime
1. Just a few weeks ago, Herman was viewed a coach running out of options. Now, the bidding war is going to begin. Timing is everything.
2. Since Texas does not have a backup plan, the Longhorns better go all in on Herman if they intend to remove Strong. If not, Texas will be forced to conduct a coaching search with an inexperienced athletic director who struggled to hire a new baseball coach.
3. If Strong does lose his job after this season, linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary is definitely a guy Herman should consider attempting to retain. Texas fans know Jean-Mary has been a tremendous recruiter throughout his tenure in Austin. That is not a knock on any other coach, but just noting a positive about Jean-Mary.
4. Buechele finally played like a freshman on Saturday. This was the game he avoided most of this season. Even though it was rough, Buechele needed to get a game like this out of his system now and learn how to rebound mentally.
5. Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver:
6. Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops sounded like a fool for calling out defensive tackle Charles Walker after his player decided to leave school before the season ended. Coaches always want to act like they care about their “kids," but Stoops had no issue labeling Walker a quitter to the media, and that is pretty low for him to insult a young man like that. Plus, coaches quit on their players before bowl games to pursue opportunities every year, and I do not remember Stoops calling his peers quitters. Stoops needs to grow up.
7. Does this mean 55 is now the new 21? He had one carry for South Carolina State and gained three yards:
8. George Costanza will understand the shrinkage these students endured:
9. Am I the only one who thought the Tony Romo concession speech prior to facing Baltimore was a little weird? His team is 8-1 and he talked about being in a dark place? That being said, there are not many quarterbacks who would have gracefully passed the torch, so I give Romo props for supporting Dak Prescott.
10. Speaking of the Cowboys, this Ezekiel Elliott video surfaced this week, and I am impressed:
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