Photo via HookEm.com
Take a deep breath. Tell Alexa to play some mediation music. Get your CBD oil. Now is a great time for a mimosa. Check out TD Jakes online if you need to. Do whatever it takes to relax.
The buildup for Texas-LSU was fantastic this past week. Longhorn fans drove from all over the state to be in the ESPN College Gameday audience. The Undertaker showed up. Matthew McConaughey stole the show. Our OB tailgate was packed. Longhorn fans believed their team would defeat LSU. Everyone, including coaches and players, left the stadium knowing Texas should have knocked off LSU. It was another early-season gut punch.
Once again, the conversation about a Longhorn season has shifted. Coaches and players will talk about still being able to achieve their goals. We will hear about the importance of winning a Big 12 Championship. For some, it will feel like settling for the runner-up trophy instead of the grand prize (college football playoffs).
However, it is important to realize one thing.
Texas lost a game, not the season.
Do not get me wrong. This team has some issues, and we are going to get them in a few moments. In no way am I attempting to put a spin on what we saw on Saturday. This team showed weaknesses that none of my sources believed existed prior to this game. They have to improve in every area or risk getting tripped more than once during conference play.
Let us just take a big picture perspective for a moment before we point out the necessary areas of improvement.
LSU is a damn good football team. They are well-coached. You might question the cramping that conveniently occurred when Texas had the ball. That being said, if their guys were faking to avoid using timeouts, the strategy worked.
Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow might be in the Heisman conversation after his performance against Texas. LSU receivers Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase and Terrance Marshall Jr. looked like Washington’s Art Monk, Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders in 1989. Linebacker K’Lavion Chaisson took over at one point in the second half. LSU looks like a team that could be the college football playoffs this year.
Now think about this.
Texas is not going to face another team with that much talent on both sides of the ball during the regular season.
Sure, Oklahoma is good, but the Sooners are not stacked on defense. Outside of Oklahoma, Texas is better on paper than every other team it will face this season.
Texas junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger finished with 401 passing yards and four touchdowns without a run game. Ehlinger became unstoppable in the second half and picked apart a really good secondary. Devin Duvernay has emerged into the team’s best receiver. Brennan Eagles is arguably the second-best receiver. If Ehlinger needs to carry this team, he can.
Plus, if you take an objective view of this game, it was a seven-point loss. I would be more concerned about Texas if LSU beat the Longhorns with a baseball bat. That did not happen. Clearly, moral victories only count for losers, and there is not a category for “barely lost” in the win-loss section.
I do give Texas a lot of credit for fighting back after a disappointing first quarter, which hurt this team, and climbing back into the game after trailing 23-14 and 30-21 in the third quarter.
“Yeah, really proud of our guys,” Herman said. “It was, what, 20-7 at halftime. We knew that the first half was not indicative of how well we could play. I thought our guys responded to the occasion. Sam certainly did. I thought he was much more aggressive in the second half.”
Let us talk about the issues.
--- Ehlinger is a good quarterback, but he missed open players too often. He also needs to improve his consistency on deep throws because his receivers are getting open.
--- The defensive line is not getting enough penetration, and that is a problem. Burrow had plenty of time to pick apart this defense because of the lack of consistent pressure. Texas cannot continue to operate with little-to-no pressure from the defensive line.
--- Jalen Green had a rough night, but at least he was in a position to make plays. It seems like Green’s issues can be corrected. However, there needs to be an open competition for the other starting position this week. Secondary coach Jason Washington has to get the best players on the field because the cornerbacks did not play well on Saturday.
--- Receiver Collin Johnson has to find a way to get open and have an impact. We always hear about what other teams do take Johnson out of the mix instead of how he beat the coverage, like those LSU receivers did on Saturday.
--- Clearly, Ingram cannot have another game like that again this season.
What about Herman?
Look, Herman is a risk-taker, and this is not going to change. He is probably going to go for it on fourth-and-short instead of kicking a field goal. Herman will force a team to take a timeout by faking a 58-yard field goal. He got this far because he likes to take risks. That is just a part of him.
I know Herman does not like being second-guessed, but throwing a jump ball to Collin Johnson or Malcolm Epps around the goal line instead of the always running Ehlinger should be considered. Herman explained why he blitzed on 3rd-and-17 after getting a sack on the previous play, but that ending up being a costly decision. Maybe Herman makes safer calls in the future, but if you look at his success on offense against LSU, I think this is just who he is, and Texas fans will have to live with the good and bad.
Texas plays against Rice on Saturday. That game is really about getting prepared for Oklahoma State. Yeah, the team that has won four straight games against Texas.
If Texas can correct its issues, the conversations we were having before this game can resume in November.
Texas lost a game, not the season.
Photo via AP
TEAM NOTES
• Sam Ehlinger passed for a career-high 401 yards, the sixth-most passing yards in a game in Texas history.
• Devin Duvernay and Brennan Eagles each finished with over 100 yards receiving, which is the 16th time Texas has had pair of 100-yard receivers in a single game.
• Devin Duvernay and Brennan Eagles became the first pair of receivers to have 100 receiving yards since Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Devin Duvernay against West Virginia in 2018.
• The 19-play, 86-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter was the longest touchdown drive by Texas since the 2010 season (previous 22 plays, 80 yards at Texas Tech in 2010).
• Saturday’s game vs. LSU featured a sell-out crowd inside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, marking UT’s fourth sellout since the start of the 2018 season (USC, WVU, Iowa State).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
QB Sam Ehlinger
• Tied a career-high with five total touchdowns (4 pass/1 rush). Previously accounted for five touchdowns (2 pass/3 rush) against Oklahoma on Oct. 6, 2018.
• Passed for a career-high tying four touchdowns for the second-consecutive game and the third time in his career. Has accounted for four total touchdowns in a game five times.
• The game marked the 10th time in the last 15 games that he has passed for a touchdown and rushed for a touchdown.
• Over his last 15 games, he has thrown 31 touchdowns to only three interceptions.
• He has thrown for at least 200 yards in 18 career games, tying Chris Simms (1999-2002) and Peter Gardere (1989-92) for fourth in school history.
WR Devin Duvernay
• Had a career day, with 12 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns (all career highs).
WR Brennan Eagles
• Caught a career-long pass of 55 yards for a touchdown. Finished with career highs in catches (5) and receiving yards (116).
WR Collin Johnson
• Extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 29 games, which is the fifth-longest stretch in school history.
WR Jake Smith
• Caught his first career touchdown and finished with one catch for 20 yards.
TE Reese Leitao
• Caught the first pass of his career and finished with one catch for seven yards.
LB Joseph Ossai
• Recorded an interception for the second consecutive game. The interception was the second of his career.
• Registered his first sack of the season and the second of his career.
DB B.J. Foster
• Recorded a career-high two sacks and finished with a career-high nine tackles.
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
As always, these videos are funnier after a win.
I appreciate Tom Herman’s “1-0” consistency, but Montana Tech’s Bob Green is winning in media interviews
The former football players on OB will appreciate this
I cannot imagine Thanksgiving at this house (grandma has super bad language)
This kind of encounter would never happen at H-E-B
Sports On A Dime
1. Here is LSU coach Ed Orgeron’s response when asked about the game-winning touchdown on 3rd-and-17: “Yeah, thank God. Thank God. I knew when they get the ball back, we couldn't stop them. Just to be honest, we couldn't stop them. I think if they'd have got the ball back I think it would have been a different story. It was a phenomenal call, a phenomenal catch, a phenomenal play.”
2. Orgeron on the second half against Texas: “I think it was a matter of a lot of things. Schematically they had us, we wasn't getting enough rush, we were getting beat one-on-one, guys were wide open. We've got to go back and look at what we did and evaluate what can we do better. There was people wide open, there was too many penalties, there was not enough rush, overall I don't think we were very good on defense. We know that. We didn't tackle well in space. We couldn't stop them.”
3. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow played is a much better quarterback than I imagined. His performance against Texas was masterful. If Burrow continues to step up in big games, he is going to be a guy NFL covet in the draft.
4. It was hard not to feel bad for Texas sophomore running back Keaontay Ingram after that loss. Ingram dropped a wide-open pass, which could have been a 2-yard touchdown reception, in the first quarter. He followed that by fumbling, but was ruled down and Texas avoided the turnover. In addition, Ingram fumbled in the third quarter and was immediately replaced by Roschon Johnson. He did eventually return, but it was a rough night for the young man.
5. Speaking of Johnson, I was very impressed by his performance against LSU. For a guy who only started playing running back a few weeks ago, Johnson looked natural as a runner. I give him credit for putting the team first by switching position. I also give him credit for the progress he has made in a few weeks.
6. LSU game up 409 passing yards. Texas allowed 471 yards in the air. It is time for current players of both schools to stop talking about DBU. Only the defensive backs before them should be allowed to have that conversation until these guys prove themselves.
7. If you are looking for a positive, Texas did not have an offensive play over 50 yards last season. Longhorn fans got to see an explosive play when Brennan Eagles had a 55-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. The streak is over.
8. Devin Duvernay made some money on Saturday night. He has gone from undrafted to a potential late-round pick. His draft stock can continue to improve with more strong performances like we witnessed on Saturday night.
9. Well, at least there is this, Texas fans
10. The moment Oakland released Antonio Brown, you just knew it would be a matter of minutes before New England signed the receiver. It is like Bill Belichick just waits for talented players like Brown to fall from the sky. I expect Brown to fall in line because he will want to prove Oakland and Pittsburgh wrong. It just does not seem fair.
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