Longhorns Update: A Long Way To Go

Consider this series of events and let me know if you’ve heard it any of it before …

The Longhorns go into an early season game as 30 point favorites. They essentially don’t show up (read: miss the bus to the game) for the first quarter, leaving themselves only three quarters to get their heads in the game. They subsequently give up a few quick points in the process. They manage to right themselves, doing as little as possible to accomplish this, and escape with a win. And leave as many question marks as they had before the game.

How many times did this occur last year? It was a regularity. And I will guarantee this – too many of these first quarter slumbers, especially against quality opposition, and we are doomed.

The Longhorns went into the off-season with a number of problems to resolve. And, imagine this, nothing has changed. Funny how players change, but the scenario (and the coaching staff) doesn’t. Coincidence? I suspect not. The starting rotation is typically full of “the best players of August” (i.e. Cody Johnson, James Kirkendoll), but as we all know, national championships are not won in August.

The deja vu was rampant. Where do I start?

How about we begin with the running game – or lack thereof. The leading rusher of August, Cody Johnson, the starter, the man who was supposed to lead the charge – had a lackluster game. He couldn’t punch it in from 4 yards out. Tre Newton, the man that should have been the starter from the end of last season forward, showed some great moves and versatility and was the leading rusher – with 61 yards. Yes, that’s it – 61 yards against Rice. Yes, Rice. No, not Texas A&M – Rice.

What happens when we play Oklahoma?

After you are done mourning the absence of the running game (yet again), take a peek at the passing game. In the national championship game last January, the coaching staff kept Garrett Gilbert under wraps (for all intents and purposes) until the second half. They didn’t adjust the game plan until then, and he paid the price for it. If they had taken the training wheels off a little earlier, the game could have been won. He had a fine second half against Alabama.

But much like the national championship game, the coaching staff kept the training wheels on Gilbert. For the first 24 plays, 17 were rushing plays. There was that focus of “establishing the running game” – and oh how I hate that phrase. Of the remaining 7, Gilbert was 6 of 7 for 40 yards. When do they start to realize that perhaps the passing game would have opened up the rushing game? Especially with some confidence in the athleticism of your starting quarterback.

The story wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the defense. Two. Dropped. Interceptions. Simple. They gave up 17 points to Rice. That’s about 42 to Oklahoma on a bad day, 35 on a good day. This defense is smoking fast, but, again, you can’t just give away two pick-sixes. Those need to be in the end zone and on the scoreboard.

I just don’t get it. Coaches are getting paid a lot of money to come up with this game plan. The problem doesn’t lie in the athletes, or having the right athletes. Let’s face it, Texas recruits the cream of the crop from a talented in-state pool of players. And somehow, this problem doesn’t exist to the same degree on the defensive side of the ball. The problem lies in the coaching staff – or at least certain aspects of it.

Before you rant and rave about the offensive game planning back when Vince Young was the savior of the Forty Acres, hold on a second. Let’s state the truth here – Vince Young put that team on his back, regardless of the play-calling, and in spite of it.

What makes all of this worse is that we’ve waited since January to see how the coaches had re-worked the game plan, had adjusted to the problems of a year ago. And as it stands right now, it looks like a solid 7 or 8 months of little to no change. And that is what concerns me most.

A 34 – 17 win is still that – a win. But it has a context. It was against Rice. And it was but a few weeks from the start of conference play, a very difficult game against Texas Tech at Lubbock. When the Horns play there, it’s always like something out of the Twilight Zone. I can’t even count the number of strange things that have occurred on that road trip over the years, most noticeable of which was the staggering loss to Tech two years ago.

Of course, we should probably take a look at what else happened in college football. We could have looked like Florida – anemic at best. Or we could have played like Ole Miss in a loss to, ummm, Jacksonville State.

With that in mind - bring on Wyoming!

Photo credit: hagerman