Photo via USA TODAY
Stop me if you heard this before.
Texas football coach Tom Herman lost more than the season opener against Maryland on Saturday.
The Longhorn fan base believed Herman would reverse every negative they were forced to watch during the Charlie Strong era. They believed Herman’s attention to detail would help their team win more games. He hired assistant coaches who were supposed to get more out of their players than the previous staff. The silly penalties you only see from an undisciplined team were supposed to be a thing of the past. Longhorn fans never excepted to see inexplicable errors on special teams. More importantly, this team was not going to lose to lessor teams, like Iowa State and Kansas, in the new era.
Herman had every Longhorn observer drinking the burnt orange Kool-Aid this offseason. They heard about how physically and mentally strong this team became because of the strength and conditioning programming of Yancy McKnight. Everyone drank up the 1-0 concept Herman implemented during workouts and offseason practice. He was praised for his attention to every little detail. Most college football observers believed eight wins would be the floor. Some Longhorn followers believed nine and 10 wins was easily achievable. Others believed this team could compete for a national championship in Herman’s first year. The days of losing to teams like Iowa State and Kansas were gone.
Now, Herman faces the uphill battle to restore hope among Longhorn fans.
For my loyal readers, I do not expect you to remember every column I write. I know many of you take notes when it comes to predictions, but I definitely do not expect you to have my columns bookmarked because you enjoy my writing, or laughing at the occasional editing mistakes. Yes, I know some of you are just here for the funny videos.
However, if anything I wrote at the beginning of this column sounds familiar, there is a good reason why.
That was the beginning of last year's column after the season-opening loss against Maryland.
Yeah, that is a problem.
It is a problem that the same things I wrote, and you observed, in that 2017 season opener are familiar talking points one year later. It is crazy to think the University of Texas is at a point where beating Maryland is impossible for a second straight year. A Maryland team that had to overcome the emotions of a teammate dying this summer, seeing its head coach removed, and forcing Matt Canada to take the job a few ago. Sure, Canada was on staff throughout this offseason, but the guy literally had a few weeks of on-the-job training as a head coach before facing Texas. Hey, maybe Maryland will emerge into a surprise team this season, and Texas will feel better about the loss.
However, Texas fans do not want to feel better about losing.
Longhorn fans want to win.
Right now, it is hard to believe Texas can win many games this season with Sam Ehlinger or Shane Buechele. It is quite possible that is just a typical week one overreaction to a loss. Maybe Ehlinger gets hot against Tulsa and carries that momentum into USC two weeks from now. Sure, anything is possible.
That being said, Ehlinger continues to make mistakes late in games that contributes to losses.
Texas committed turnovers on its final three possessions. Texas running back Tre Watson fumbled once, while Ehlinger threw two interceptions. On the first interception, Maryland’s Tre Watson (yes, they have the same name) jumped in front of a pass attempt to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey that was underthrown. Two possessions later, Ehlinger missed the throwing window when Humphrey was wide open. After the delay, Ehlinger forced the throw, and it was intercepted by Antoine Brooks Jr.
Ehlinger has appeared in 10 games for the Longhorns, and the team is 5-5 with him in command. He has thrown 13 touchdown and nine interceptions in those games.
Here are two stats that jump off the page.
- In those five wins, Ehlinger has thrown only two interceptions (Kansas State, 1; West Virginia, 1)
- In those five losses, Ehlinger has thrown seven interceptions (USC, 2; Oklahoma State, 1; Texas Tech, 2; Maryland, 2)
“I’ll evaluate it on video,” Herman said after the game. “I don’t have any doubt it has what it takes.”
There is a lot of doubt surrounding offensive coordinator Tim Beck.
Not only is Beck the offensive coordinator, he is Texas’ quarterbacks coach. Right now, Beck has not developed one quarterback at Texas into a guy who can lead this team. Buechele may have had a great training camp, but he did not progress enough to beat out a sophomore quarterback. After an offseason of hearing about Beck working with Ehlinger to improve his decision-making, his quarterback made the same mistakes during crucial moments.
If we are being honest, Beck does not have the reputation of making quarterbacks into elite passers. Here is a list of passers Beck has worked with since becoming an offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach:
2011 – Taylor Martinez, Nebraska (ranked seventh in the Big Ten)
2012 – Taylor Martinez, Nebraska (ranked seven in the Big Ten)
2013 – Tommy Armstrong, Nebraska (ranked 13th in the Big Ten); Ron Kellogg II (ranked 14th in the Big Ten)
2014 – Tommy Armstrong, Nebraska (ranked fifth in the Big Ten)
2015 – Cardale Jones, Ohio State (ranked 13th in the Big Ten); J.T. Barrett (ranked 16th in the Big Ten)
2016 – J.T. Barrett (ranked fifth in the Big Ten)
2017 – Sam Ehlinger (ranked sixth in the Big 12); Shane Buechele (ranked 11th in the Big 12)
At this point, Beck is a liability for Herman.
Beck is a questionable play-caller, unless you are really sold on the collaborative effort. It is hard to see how any quarterback at Texas has improved under him. Beck is in charge of recruiting in the DFW area, which is the biggest area of weakness for this program.
This might be beating a dead horse, but I still cannot understand why Beck did not force Jerrod Heard into the quarterback room on day one and work with him. Heard is not an impact receiver, but has the traits Herman wants at that position. It is somewhat criminal that Heard was tossed to the side after one season. Yes, former head coach Charlie Strong switched Heard to receiver, but allowing Heard to waste his talents on the sidelines remains perplexing to me.
Heck, maybe Heard never develops as a quarterback under Beck, but it would have been nice to eliminate the guesswork.
At some point, Herman needs to take over this offense, and if Beck does not improve, find his replacement after the season. Herman just cannot afford two straight seasons of offensive struggles. If we learned anything from Strong, if a coach waits too long to make necessary coordinator changes, the situation usually gets worse.
Honestly, if I am Herman, Kansas coach David Beaty receives a basket of Edible Arrangements from me every week until he is fired. Then I immediately give Beaty the offensive coordinator position at Texas and place him in charge of the DFW area, but call every play next season.
Strong and Herman were highly successful coaches at other programs before arriving at Texas. The biggest on-the-field difference is Texas is losing close games instead of getting blown out. Strong was 6-8 through his first 14 games at Texas. Herman is 7-7. This is not the beginning anyone anticipated.
The beginning of this season is reminiscent of last year.
Yeah, that is a problem.
Photo via HookEm.com
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
These videos are usually funnier after a win:
This is just wrong
I would have darted out this coffee shop so fast
Cats can be so evil
Sports On A Dime
1. During our recent podcast, I questioned what this Texas defense would like without Michael Dickson burying opponents in their own territory. I even asked Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando about it. Well, Ryan Bujcevski averaged 37.7 yards per punt, and Orlando’s defensive gave up 407 yards. Orlando’s defense must figure out how to excel without the luxury of Dickson.
2. Texas recorded only one sack on Saturday, and it was cornerback KrIs Boyd. The Longhorns did not have any quarterback hurries, according to the stat sheet provided to media members after Saturday’s game. Needless to say, Orlando’s challenge is getting the right players to pressure opposing quarterbacks this season.
3. Herman was not sold on Texas linebacker Gary Johnson’s targeting penalty. It will be interesting to hear his thoughts on Monday after reviewing the film this weekend.
4. If I hear anything about a team meeting this week, I will throw my laptop against the wall. Whenever I hear about players only meetings, it is obvious the team is destined for a bad season.
5. Texas should have known it was going to be a long day when their team received a delay of game penalty on the opening drive. After nine months of preparation, there is no way Texas should have been unprepared on its first offensive drive.
6. I know Herman hates to be questioned about his decision, but he will be asked about this again on Monday
7. When writers who cover the team start digging up stats like this, it is not a good sign for the program
8. I think Geoff Ketchum nailed it perfectly - Maryland freshman receiver Jeshaun Jones appears to be the second coming of Percy Harvin. It has been a long time since I have since a freshman receiver who was this impressive. If his performance against Texas becomes the norm, Jones will be a guy we hear about for several years.
9. I am guessing ordering pizzas during a weather delay was not something on Herman’s radar, but this is pretty weird.
10. Texas cannot afford a close game against Tulsa. It just cannot happen.
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