Photo via HookEm.com
MANHATTAN, Kansas – It would be easy to pick apart the areas Texas football coach Tom Herman’s team needs to improve after his team’s 19-14 road victory against Kansas State.
Yes, Texas jumped out to a 19-0 lead and did not score again. Kansas State did have players who dropped passes, including a potential touchdown reception before halftime. Wildcats quarterback Skylar Thompson did miss some throws. Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger missed throws. Some will question whether Texas running back Keaontay Ingram should have received more touches. Honestly, you can sit here on Sunday and point out multiple areas where Texas needs to improve.
Let me be the first to tell you to stop it.
Style points do not matter.
Wins are more important.
Texas is currently sitting with a 4-1 record, which is better than most Longhorn observers would have predicted. I am sure some believed Texas would have that record before the season, but most of us believed if Texas was 3-2 heading into Oklahoma, that would have been a great achievement. Heck, after the season-opening loss against Maryland, there were folks who jumped off the bandwagon, blamed Herman and the mods, and believed Texas was destined for another subpar season. A few weeks later, those folks are quietly sneaking back on Herman’s bandwagon.
In order to appreciate what Texas is accomplishing this season, it is important to remember the mess Herman inherited.
Let me just say 6-7, 5-7, 5-7.
You already know what that means. I will not take you down that dark path with specifics memories, but you know how bad those teams were. Some of you attended every game. Others screamed at their TVs during every disappointing moment. The program was at an all-time low. Herman had to address so many areas of concerns in year one.
Think about the challenge of having to improve team toughness, teaching guys how to become competitive, training them how to win, having to strengthen their bodies and stamina, installing a new playbook, teaching new concepts in practice, winning over a locker room, and other things I am probably overlooking, in one season. Imagine a renovating a home where the inside needs to be gutted, but expecting the project to finish in a few days.
That is why as we see Herman’s plan coming together this season, you cannot get caught up in every area of improvement this team needs to make.
Instead, it is important to enjoy every moment.
Texas is not Alabama right now. This is not a program that has enjoyed so much success recently, how the team wins is more important than just obtaining a victory. Again, this was a bad program two seasons ago. It is too early to place style point expectations on this program.
Instead, the most important thing is seeing Texas stacking wins, no matter how ugly it may look at times. It is better to have a 4-1 team that plays ugly sometimes than a 1-4 team that is beautiful all the time.
“At the end of the season when you look at our record, you’re not going to see half of a ‘W’ in the win column,” Herman said. “You’re going to see a full ‘W', and it’s going to count exactly the same as beating USC by whatever we beat them, and TCU by whatever we beat them. They all count the same. We told our guys that championships are won on the road. This is historically a ridiculously tough environment to play in for a lot of different reasons. Usually, it’s because coach [Bill] Synder [Kansas State] has his team really well-coached, and their fans show up, regardless of the record, and they make it very hostile.
“Yes, we’re going to enjoy this one. We've got a lot to learn. But, again, to take another step, which was finishing and winning a road game in such a hostile environment, I think was an important step.”
It is also a step the program Herman inherited was never able to take under his predecessor.
Speaking of steps, I know some will say Texas still has something to prove when it faces the mighty Oklahoma in Dallas this week.
Those folks need to take a step back.
Yes, Oklahoma is 5-0 right now. Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray is doing the damn thing. Oklahoma is ranked in the top 10. This will be Texas’ toughest game of the season – until the next toughest game of the year, followed by the next huge test, and then there will be another season-defining moment.
Sorry, Oklahoma has more to prove than Texas.
Oklahoma simply has not played anybody yet. The Sooners just have not. It would be incredibly dishonest to say Oklahoma has the advantage based on its opponents this season. Oklahoma may win this game - I will not pick the Sooners - but let us break it down for a moment.
--- Texas’ opponents have a combined record of 12-11. Oklahoma’s opponents have a combined record of 9-14. Texas has faced Maryland (3-1), Tulsa (1-3), USC (3-2), TCU (3-2), Kansas State (2-3). Oklahoma has played against Florida Atlantic (2-3), UCLA (0-4), Iowa State (1-3), Army (3-2) and Baylor (3-2).
--- Texas has faced three teams that currently have winning records (Maryland, USC, TCU). Oklahoma has played against two teams with winning records – Army and Baylor. Just for the record, Baylor’s wins are against Abilene Christian, UTSA and Kansas. Yeah, exactly.
--- Texas has wins against two ranked teams this season. Oklahoma has not played a ranked team this year.
Obviously, we know Oklahoma has a good program, and Lincoln Riley is a very good coach.
However, this will be Oklahoma’s first big test of the 2018 season.
Texas has been able to get rid of several demons this year. The Longhorns knocked off USC, avenging last year’s loss. Texas snapped a four-game losing streak against TCU. Texas snapped its losing streak in Manhattan, Kansas.
Again, it has not always looked pretty this season, but it does not have to.
“To take nothing away from coach Snyder and the job that his team did, but we won ugly,” Herman said. “But the key word in there is won. They’re all going to look pretty on Sunday morning when you wake up. They’re going to look pretty on the flight home. Like we’ve said before, the flight is shorter, the food tastes better, you get better sleep, you sleep in a little later when you win. Again, we did not play our best. We didn’t, but we found a way to do so in critical times, which I think was important.”
Style points do not matter.
Wins are more important.
Photo via HookEm.com
Postgame Notes
TEAM NOTES
• Texas improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference with the victory. It marks the first time since 2012 that the Longhorns have begun 4-1.
• It is Texas’ first four-game winning streak since winning six straight in 2013.
• The victory improved Texas’ all-time record to 9-10 against Kansas State, and 2-7 in Manhattan. It was the Longhorns’ first win at K-State since 2002.
• Texas improved to 18-5 (.783) all-time in Big 12 road openers.
• The Longhorns shut out Kansas State in the first half, and led 19-0 at halftime, their first-ever halftime lead on the road in Manhattan.
• It was the first time they’ve shut out an opponent in the first half in 2018, doing so against San Jose State, Iowa State and West Virginia in 2017.
• Before K-State’s TD with 11:13 left in the third quarter, the Longhorns’ defense had not allowed a point in 57 minutes, 31 seconds, since a third quarter TCU field goal last week.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
QB Sam Ehlinger
• Was 29-of-36 for 207 yards and a touchdown. It was his 11th career 200-yard game, tied with Garrett Gilbert (2009-11) for eighth-most in school history.
• Became the 15th quarterback in school history to pass for 3,000 yards in a career. Now has 3,100 career passing yards, 14th-most all-time.
• Became the ninth QB in school history with a streak of at least 100 pass attempts without an interception. Currently sits third all-time with 128 straight passes.
WR Collin Johnson
• Caught four passes for 51 yards, including his touchdown reception in the second quarter.
DE Charles Omenihu
• Had five tackles, including three tackles for loss, and two sacks in the victory.
LB Jeffrey McCulloch
• Made his first career start, totaling three tackles including one TFL.
WR/PR D’Shawn Jamison
• Returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown, the fourth-longest in school history.
• It was the 31st all-time punt return for a TD in school history and the first since Reggie Hemphill-Mapps’ 91-yard return against Maryland.
WR Devin Duvernay
• Caught a career-high six passes and had 43 yards in the win.
RB Keaontay Ingram
• Matched his career high with 10 rushing attempts and had a career high 68 rushing yards.
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
After a night out with @drunk randoke
Since Kawhi is no longer with the Spurs, I am probably safe to post this
The Texas win against TCU was bigger than any of us thought:
If you let a guy in a suit and tie attempt to kick something off your head, this is the likely outcome
Sports On A Dime
1. Kansas State coach Bill Snyder owes Herman an apology for how his players behaved before Saturday’s game. Snyder’s players were on Texas’ side of the field with the sole intent of agitating Herman’s squad. Snyder had a player dropping the n-bomb on Andrew Beck, which made no sense. Imagine the reaction if Beck dropped the n-bomb on that K-State player. Snyder needs to take ownership of his player’s disrespectful actions.
2. For those who missed it, here was Herman’s explanation of Tim Beck’s absence after the game: “I think he’s doing really well. He had a bacterial infection in his elbow. It’s a good lesson to all of our coaches that he tried to tough it out for a week, or so, and it kept getting worse, getting worse. So much so that he started developing a fever on Wednesday. They took him to the hospital on Wednesday after practice. That infection had gotten into the bursa, and inside the actually elbow itself. Obviously, he had to be in the hospital on IV-type antibiotics, as well as he had to have surgery to go in and clean all of that infected area out. Again, not life threatening, as of now. The doctors did a good job. Again, I told our coaches that’s a lesson. You got one of those nagging deals, get it looked at because I’m sure he wished he would have. We’re happy that he did get it looked at. We wish him and Tamara our thoughts and prayers. We expect to have him back in the next day or two."
3. Texas sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger on his team’s last two offensive drives: “I think it shows our maturity, being able to overcome a lull. We obviously didn’t score as much as we would like, but a lot of offenses after that would happen would curl up at the end of the game, but we decided to finish. The last four games we’ve had the ball at the end of the game taking a knee, which shows signs of us advancing and learning. I think we know how to finish now. We know how to end the game on the field. But guys stepping up like that in big times is great.”
4. Herman on Ehlinger’s performance: “I thought he took the underneath stuff very well, and very accurately. I thought the deep shots early, and missing on those couple of them to Duv [Devin Duvernay], I take a little bit of the blame because we were playing really, really good defense early, so, I probably should have gone back to calling more of those to tell him, ‘Hey man, we’re good. We’re going to keep calling these plays.’ Then when I didn’t, we started to dinking and dunking and relying on the run game here and there, then a couple of times in the second half I did, I thought he was a bit hesitant. But he didn’t turn the ball over. His completion percentage was really high. He made some big time plays on third-down. He threw for a touchdown. Other than I got that feeling in the middle of the game, and I take a lot of the blame, we got a little bit tentative on some of the deep balls, he made some big-time throws and opportune times. He got the ball to our playmakers. I think he developed today. There were two or three plays on third-down when he checked the ball down to either the running back, or a drag route, and let his playmakers go make plays. When they cover everything deep, check the ball down, and let your guys make plays. That was something we’ve been preaching for a while, and I thought he took a step in that area, too."
5. Props to Texas receiver Collin Johnson. He is having a major impact in the passing game. If Sam Ehlinger improves his accuracy, this offense is going to be tough to contain.
6. This is not the 1960s. There is no reason for a coach to put his hands on a player. If the player put his hands of Fisher in the "heat of the moment," he would have been kicked off the team. Before anyone says how football used to be when they played, just remember there was a time when players were not given water during practice as punishment. Times have changed.
This is a bad look for Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher.
7. This young lady is a bad ass. Meanwhile, does this young man just quit football and change his identity?
8. Drew Brees is now 417 yards shy of the all-time passing record, 71,940, held by Peyton Manning. He could catch Manning as soon as this weekend. I cannot imagine there were many people who watched Brees play high school football who thought he would be one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks, but his career has been amazing to watch.
9. Maybe Dez Bryant will find a home, but he screwed himself by not signing with Baltimore before the season. If he is signed anytime soon, it will be for the league minimum, and Bryant will be on a short leash.
10. I have been looking for a way to save money on my cable bill, and HBO decided to help me, and other boxing fans. HBO is leaving the boxing business, and will transition away from the sport in 2019. I already have NetFlix and Hulu, and HBO On-Demand is incredibly weak.
Bye, HBO.
Here is a portion of Yahoo’s boxing writer Kevin Iole’s story:
“It was not an entirely unexpected decision, as HBO Sports had been far less aggressive in recent years in bidding for fights, and other outlets began spending money on boxing. In the last year, ESPN and Fox both have announced long-term commitments to boxing on television, while ESPN has also added an online streaming service that includes a significant amount of boxing coverage.
"Another streaming service, DAZN, debuted in the U.S. last week with Anthony Joshua’s seventh-round stoppage of Alexander Povetkin in their IBF-WBA-WBO heavyweight title fight, and is heavily invested in the sport. And HBO’s long-time rival, Showtime, has recently made a partnership with the Premier Boxing Champions, headed by Al Haymon."
