Listening to Todd Rundgren while wondering if you knew that Gerry Rafferty was in Steelers Wheel and how to go 1-0 during the Horns off week. Here’s what I’ve come up with.
1. Tom Herman and Tim Beck could overhaul the goal line offense starting by installing running plays with Ehlinger taking the snap under center. I’m not holding my breath.
2. Herman could study clock management as a sop to Mike Frank a longtime Willie Earl reader and my partner in football analysis for the last 40 years plus. In pure football discussions, Mike is always analytical, never emotional. Over the last four decades plus, Mike and I have had only one major disagreement that comes to mind. He was a Chris Simms man. I was firmly in the Major Applewhite camp. It is my staunch belief that if Applewhite had been the starter in the 2001 Big 12 Championship game, Texas would have won, gone on the play Miami in the BCS Championship and saved me and thousands of others from perhaps the most miserable night on record as a Longhorn fan.
Anyway, Herman’s most recent malfeasance occurred in the Oklahoma State game. With 6:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, leading 36-23, Texas took possession at the OSU 49 yard line. Instead of running the ball three times to burn the maximum amount of time off the clock, Herman and Beck called a pass play on second down that fell incomplete and stopped the clock. Instead of burning a minimum of about 2:30, the possession used 1:43. After Texas punted, OSU took over with 5:00 left. Three runs and a punt and OSU gets the ball with closer to 4:00. Huge difference.
3. Work on situational special teams. I’m glad that Herman took the blame for Brandon Jones muffing the punt late in the fourth quarter. Of course no Texas players should have been anywhere near that punt and Herman acknowledged that he should have had a word with Jones about that before the play.
I have not heard Herman acknowledge the screw up of having a #57 (Cort Jaquess) on the onside kick hands team. My brother and I noticed it before the Oklahoma State’s onside kick attempt, and obviously they did too as OSU kicked the ball right at poor #57 who muffed it. Luckily, Chris Adimora snagged it to save the Horns from a possible nightmare finish.
Details, Coach, details.
4. No DWI’s or gun possession arrests would be great. Also avoid twisting ankles and knees stumbling on stairs or over curbs and shrubs.
5. The “Goes without saying” idea is to heal quickly and avoid new injuries in practice.
Randomly
It’s nice to see Shane Buechele doing so well at SMU. They’re 4-0 after beating TCU last Saturday. Buechele has seven touchdown passes against three interceptions. This Saturday he faces South Florida and his former coach Charlie Strong.
Speaking of Charlie Strong, his team is 1-2 this year and has lost nine of their last 10 games. What’s up with that?
Speaking of former UT Football coaches, the North Carolina Mack Browns host Clemson today. Any chance Brown gets the W? . . . It could happen.
Recently
I changed up my morning routine and took my dog for a walk a little after 8 a.m. Dolly and I walked by a group of high school students waiting for the bus and of course I was chagrined but not surprised that most of them had their eyes glued to their phones. Sad, but that’s another subject.
Frequently, when I see high schoolers waiting for the bus it reminds me of waiting for the school bus on one particular January or February morning in 1972 when I was a high school junior in Vestal, New York. Before I left the house that morning, I stepped out on the front porch to see what the weather was doing. It was windless, clear and sunny, rare for a winter morning in upstate New York. I decided it was nice enough to wear my burnt orange Darrell Royal windbreaker instead of a winter coat. I really liked wearing that windbreaker. The bus stop was only three houses away and I felt comfortable in my windbreaker on the walk to the stop on that beautiful winter morning. After I greeted Barb Youngblood and Cindy Chantler who got on the bus at the stop after mine, I fixed my gaze out the bus window for the ride to the high school. My concentration on the traffic outside the window was interrupted by the weather report coming over the bus radio. In addition to happily noting that it was clear and sunny the DJ included the current temperature which was 12 degrees Fahrenheit.
It was a beautiful morning to wear my burnt orange windbreaker.
Hook ‘Em,
W.E.
