For Longhorn fans, losses to Oklahoma are almost always disappointing and sometimes heartbreaking. This year’s loss was disappointing but it wasn’t heartbreaking. It was something worse than heartbreaking. It was deflating.
How deflating? Let me count the ways.
1. With one loss before the Oklahoma, game the odds of Texas making the College Football Playoff were long but there was a chance. Of the 20 teams that have qualified since the four-team playoff format began in 2015—according to my quick research—11 of them were one-loss teams. No two-loss teams have qualified since the four team format began. Even if Texas wins the rest of their games including the Big 12 Championship game, with two losses—for all intents and purposes—they’re out.
2. After their performance in the Oklahoma game, in my opinion, there is no realistic chance that Texas will qualify for the Big 12 Championship game and win it by beating Oklahoma. Given what I saw in Dallas last Saturday, I have grave doubts about Texas even qualifying for the Big 12 Championship game.
3. Dovetailing with #2, after the Oklahoma game, I’m anticipating that Texas will lose at least one more game in the regular season. Road games versus TCU, Iowa State, and Baylor look particularly challenging. Texas Tech at home the day after Thanksgiving will be no walk in the park either.
4. The most deflating aspect of the Oklahoma loss is the loss of confidence in Tom Herman that I suspect is widespread among the Longhorn fan base. Against the Longhorns biggest rival with much more than just bragging rights at stake, Herman rolls out a flat football team with an incredibly timid offensive game plan (more on that in a minute). No realistic observer expected the Texas defense to shut down Oklahoma but the wide open running lanes for Jalen Hurts and the wide open receivers were embarrassments. After year-and-a-half of futility against Spread offenses Herman’s defensive coordinator seems as lost and as over his head as ever. There just doesn’t seem to be light at the end of the tunnel for the defense’s deficiencies.
The hiring of Greg Davis is a sick joke on Texas fans and the offensive game plan against Oklahoma was vintage Greg Davis. Why is Tom Herman getting paid $5.4 million a year and Tim Beck getting more than a million a year if they have to hire outside offensive consultants let alone Greg Davis?
Tom Herman was much sought after and hired because he was theoretically the antithesis of Greg Davis. Did Chris Del Conte approve this? How tone deaf can these guys be?
My blood pressure went up 40% writing the last few sentences.
Kansas
Playing Kansas this week is good news, bad news. The good news is Texas will probably win. The bad news is Texas fans will fine little solace in beating Kansas.
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I was thinking about this column while walking my dog this morning and the 1965 Texas-Rice game darted through my mind. In 1965 my older brother Clayton was a freshman at UT and it was the first year that I closely followed Texas football.
From 1961 through 1964, Texas was 40-3-1 winning the National Championship in 1963 and the Southwest Conference in 1961, ’62 and ’63. From 1961 through ’64 Texas’ final rankings were #3, #4, #1 and #5 respectively. They had a good run.
In 1965 Texas won their first four games and was ranked #1 when they suffered a heartbreaking loss to #3 Arkansas. Texas’ ranking fell to #5 after the loss and their next game was against Rice in Austin. Shockingly, Texas lost 20-17 and lost the week after that to SMU. Texas also lost to TCU that year and finished the season 6-4.
After the Arkansas game Texas just seemed deflated.
On that happy note . . .
Hook ‘Em,
W.E.
