Two Quarterbacks
Much to my chagrin, Charlie Strong has unequivocally named Tyrone Swoopes the starting quarterback for the Notre Dame game. He clearly beat out Jerrod Heard. Swoopes is the man. He’s impressed Strong, Watson and his teammates. So why, with Swoopes so firmly established as the starter, is Strong planning on playing Jerrod Heard against Notre Dame as well? There are three reasons that I can think of, two of them are bad.
Reason #1: Strong is placating Texas fans who aren’t happy with Swoopes starting. The Longhorns are in big trouble if the head coach makes football decisions based on fan sentiment.
Reason #2: He wants to diversify the offense by playing quarterbacks with different strengths. In this scenario, Swoopes is the passer and Heard is the runner. This is a really stupid idea. If Swoopes is moving the team, why would you disrupt that by inserting Heard? If Swoopes plays poorly, sure, go ahead and bring on Heard in relief, but don’t arbitrarily play two quarterbacks. There’s a pretty good old football cliché, “If you have two quarterbacks you have no quarterback.”
Reason #3: He wants Heard to have game experience in case Swoopes gets injured. It’s a good idea to give the number two guy real game reps, but doing it in against a good Notre Dame team in South Bend seems like a bad idea. Why not wait one week and work in Heard against Rice at home?
Maybe the reason is all of the above.
Perhaps Swoopes will play well and Heard doesn’t play against Notre Dame. In any event, I think it’s a bad coaching strategy to arbitrarily play two quarterbacks. We’ve seen right here in River City (Simms, Applewhite) the problems associated with that strategy. I would prefer there be less ambiguity about our quarterbacks.
Pain, Agony, Defeat
Notre Dame has been the source of much pain for the Longhorns and Longhorn fans. It doesn’t get much more painful for a 15-year old Longhorn fan than to be shoveling 18 inches of snow from your driveway in the dusky gloom of Vestal, N.Y., on New Year’s Day 1971, after your beloved Longhorns have just had their 30-game win streak ended—and had lost the National Championship* to boot—by losing to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.
It was a cold if not sunny day in Dallas on January 2, 1978, when Texas lost the Cotton Bowl Game to Notre Dame and again the National Championship after what had been one of the most glorious Longhorn regular seasons ever. At least for me, there was ironic humor in that after the game, I was obliged to drive my friend Joe and his Notre Dame roommate from Fair Park in my Longhorn festooned white Mustang—amidst celebrating and taunting Notre Dame Fans—to their motel room in Dallas.
The 1995 loss in South Bend was the least painful of all the Notre Dame losses, because it was early in the season, Notre Dame was highly ranked, and up-and-coming Texas led by James Brown played lights-out until the fourth quarter.
Losing to Notre Dame, once again, on the return engagement in 1996 in Austin was one of the most bitter Texas losses in memory. I think I cried. I was 41 years old.
This doesn’t seem like the year that the Longhorns will salve the Notre Dame wounds with a victory. I do think that this game, being the first of the season for both teams, works in Texas’ favor. So who knows? It could happen.
How It Could Happen, Five Keys to Victory
1. Tyrone Swoopes and/ or Jerrod Heard play well. For this to happen, the offensive line has to protect them and open at least a few holes so Texas can get something positive from the running game.
2. Texas running backs have to break tackles. I’m talking to you, Jonathan Gray.
3. Texas pass receivers have to catch the passes thrown to them. Reports from practice say dropped passes have been prevalent. Texas can’t have this in South Bend on Saturday night.
4. Texas defenders have to limit the damage done by Malik Zaire’s feet. The Notre Dame quarterback is a big, strong, and elusive runner. He’s going to get some yards running and extend some passing plays by eluding defenders. If Texas is to win, they can’t let Zaire’s running define the game.
5. Texas can’t afford even small breakdowns in kickoff or punt coverage. Punter Michael Dickson, whoever he is, has to average around 40 yards net per punt. A nice kickoff or punt return by Daje Jonson wouldn’t hurt either.
HooK ‘eM.
W.E.
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