Have you psychoanalyzed the Longhorns yet?  It’s the new big thing, the latest craze and if you haven’t done it yet you better hurry before nobody cares anymore.  If Texas beats Kansas State it will be generally assumed that the ship has been righted and it’ll be on to the Big 12 Championship game. If they lose there will be a general consensus that the Horns are a collective head case and the rest of the season will be just a matter of how thorough the team’s implosion will be.

My one-and-only trusted and reliable top-secret inside source whispered to me last weekend that the team—other than Sam Ehlinger—hasn’t taken ownership of their struggles. Further, they don’t have the self confidence that University of Texas scholarship athletes should have.  My source gave more somewhat titillating information that for now I’m sworn to secrecy on. 

I wonder if Tom Herman and his staff have truly sold out with total focus on achieving success in this season and this season alone eschewing other priorities such as recruiting and attention to the constant upgrading of the football facilities. I know, I know recruiting is of 365,24/7 importance to a college football program but consider how much winning a Big 12 Championship would do for recruiting versus another trip to the Texas Bowl. In my mind there is an important distinction between the football program and the football team. The program is recruiting, facilities, the marketing, ticket sales and you name it. The team is now. What kind of season are we going to have this year?  I hear Herman talk about the “program” constantly. It may be just a Willie Earl “black helicopter” concern but I wonder if the “program” has the necessary focus to win big games against tough competition in the here and now.

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I haven’t forgotten the struggles Texas has had in football against Kansas State but I still found it at least mildly interesting when I read this week that Kansas State leads the all-time series 10-9 though Texas has won three of the last four.  So what is Texas’ record against some other notable opponents?

Alabama, 7-1-1

Auburn, 5-3

Georgia, 3-1 (I don’t want to talk about it)

LSU, 9-8-1

Maryland, 3-2

Nebraska, 10-4 (the N stands for knowledge)

Notre Dame, 3-9 (that smarts)

Oklahoma, 62-48

Oklahoma State, 25-9

USC, 2-5 (January 4, 2006 is all that matters)

Texas A&M, 76-37-5 (pooorrr Aggies)

Texas Tech, 51-17 (they have tee-tee on their helmets)

TCU, 63-26

Transylvania, 1-1 (those were real bloodlettings)

Twenty-Sixth Infantry, 1-0 (it was war that day)

West Virginia 4-5 (that just ain’t right)

Kansas State @ Texas
Willie Earl’s Game Model

Willie Earl’s game modeling debuted predicting a 36-35 victory for TCU over Texas. The actual was 37-27 TCU. Pretty dang accurate if you ask me. I believe it would have been even more accurate had Sam Ehlinger’s not thrown four interceptions. No model would have predicted that given he had thrown just three over the previous seven games.

So it’s on to Kansas State.  Willie Earl’s model calls it a virtual tie. Kansas State 34.95, Texas 34.25.

Should be a good one

Hook “Em,

W.E.