Ponders
Strength of schedule
Texas’ first three opponents had a bad day last Saturday. Notre Dame lost at home to football powerhouse Duke 38-35, UTEP lost to Southern Mississippi 34-7, and California lost to Arizona State 51-41. The combined record of Notre Dame, UTEP, and California is 4-8. Do we all agree that beating Notre Dame wasn’t such a big deal after all? Did you know that UTEP lost to Army a couple weeks ago 66-14? Could it be that we don’t know yet how competitive Texas will be for the balance of the season?
Coordinators
In 2015 the Texas offense ranked 100 out of 128 teams nationally. Not so good. Charlie Strong brought in a new and ballyhooed offensive coordinator in Sterlin Gilbert accompanied by new offensive line coach Matt Mattox, who worked with Gilbert at Tulsa. Voila, the Horns offense, through three games in 2016, is 22nd nationally averaging 44.7 points per game. The offense scored 41 points in a loss to California. No, that’s not a typo. Remember, Texas scored two points on a safety which resulted from a blocked punt. A hyper-analytical reader might say, if you’re not including defensive and special teams scores in total offense statistics, Texas is averaging 44 points per game. Right.
In 2015 the Texas defense was ranked 106. Again, not so good. Strong didn’t make defensive staff changes for 2016 standing pat with defensive coordinator Vance Bedford and most of his defensive assistants. So far this year based on total defense statistics, Texas has improved to 66th nationally. Still, the defensive is under-performing allowing 34.7 points per game which is 107th nationally.
Strong the football coach
Could Charlie Strong upgrade the defense the way the offense has been upgraded by replacing defensive coordinator Vance Bedford? If so, what is Strong, a defensive specialist, bringing to the table in fundamental football coaching? We can be pretty sure Strong is an excellent recruiter and talent evaluator but is he so overwhelmed by head coaching responsibilities he cannot coach up the defense and make positive contributions in game-planning and in-game adjustments? I guess we’ll find out because Strong has said in his last two press conferences that he is re-evaluating his defensive coaches and will become more involved in defensive schemes and game planning. I’m not holding my breath.
Kent Perkins
If the truth be known, I wouldn’t want to be judged by my behavior at age 21. Maybe not at age 41 either for that matter. Still, it’s a head-scratcher that a senior starter and team leader could be so drunk that he fell asleep in a fast food drive through and blew a .178. I was a little surprised that he only drew a one-game suspension from Strong. Did Strong lower the bar for Perkins because he’s a valuable player and his job security would be at risk if his team suffers a meltdown this season? I’m not sure, but playing devil’s advocate, perhaps because Strong has had almost three years to get to know him, he’s already made the judgment that Perkins is a solid citizen who deserves leniency for a first offense.
Quarterback Shuffle
During the second half of the California game, the Texas offense gained 219 yards scored 10 points compared to 359 yards and 31 points in the first half. The biggest factor in the second half drop off was two holding penalties that wiped out a first and ten at the Cal 7-yard line, and a first and ten at the Cal 13-yard line, and two false start penalties that stalled drives resulting in punts. Surface analysis puts the blame on the offensive linemen who committed the penalties and maybe that’s where all the blame belongs, but something else was going on during these drives that may have disrupted the rhythm of the offense. Texas changed quarterbacks six times during these drives. Watching the game in real time and reading the drive chart just a minute ago it just seems dumb. Considering the manic quarterback shuffle and that Sterlin Gilbert called no running plays on Texas’ last drive of the game, I think the game got away from him in the second half. Hopefully, he’ll be a better in-game manager going forward.
Oklahoma State
This game will provide Charlie Strong a legitimate test of his vow to get the defense fixed. Oklahoma State with veteran quarterback Mason Rudolph is the eleventh ranked passing team in the country averaging 340 yards per game. The game is in Stillwater and Strong is 1-5 in his last six road games, his only victory coming in Waco against a depleted Baylor offense. Last week I said I didn’t like night games on the road against passing teams. Kickoff this week is 11am. Under Strong, Texas is 3-4 in games starting at 11, 1-3 on the road.
Texas is a two -point underdog in this one which looks about right to me. I see Mason Rudolph having a big game against a not yet fixed defense with the Texas offense keeping the Horns in the game but eventually falling short. Call it 44-42 OSU.
Upon Further Review
I joined a Writer’s Meetup Group this week so I was reviewing the Willie Earl archives for a writing sample to bring to my first meeting. I sure have been writing about a whole lot of losing and frustration during the last three years and we know it wasn’t much better the three years before that.
Here’s to all of us living long enough to see the Longhorns winning big again and to see the Mopac improvement project completed.
Hook ‘Em
W.E
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