Longhorns Update: Holiday Turnovers

It was with great anticipation that we began the 2011 college football season here in Austin. What would the Longhorns look like this year? Gone were the days of Greg Davis. Will Muschamp decided that a head coaching job in the Swamp was better than waiting for Mack brown to retire. With new offensive and defensive coordinators, 2011 was a fresh start.

Although the Longhorns ended the season on a slump, they did get a big ego boost (and win-for-the-ages) against Texas A&M. A 7 – 5 record also “earned” them a bowl bid. It was onwards to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl against the 7 – 5 Cal Golden Bears.

On paper, this game looked, well, pedestrian at best. In reality, the game was, well, pedestrian at best. But this game did serve as a great season summary of the 2011 Longhorns.

The Longhorns have one thing to be proud of this season – their defense. Though they had one horrid game against Baylor – a team that you don’t want to snooze against, given they have the best college football player on the planet right now in Robert Griffin III – the defense looked solid throughout the year. They played inspired football. They blitzed. They attacked. And they held opponents to very few yards of offense.

Their headline game of the season was against Cal. How about 7 total rushing yards, and 5 turnovers? Now that is some defense. The defensive secondary looks great heading into 2012. We can all breath a sigh of relief that the Horns have found the meaning of defense once again. Manny Diaz, stand up and take a bow – and please sign a contract extension pronto. Maybe we can use Bevo to keep all the potential head coaching jobs away from Diaz. They are sure to come his way. And soon.

The first half will be known for the lowest point total in Holiday Bowl history – a yawn-inspiring 7 – 3. As for the rest of the game, if it wasn’t for Marquise Goodwin’s receptions and Jaxon Shipley’s touchdown pass, then this game would have been a complete bore. It wasn’t that the Horns were that much better – I really think that Cal just wasn’t that good. But these days, just about everyone gets into a bowl game. Chalk up a 21 – 10 bowl win, and keep your fingers crossed for 2012.

Offensively, this team was obviously built around Fozzy Whittaker. It became readily apparent when he suffered a season-ending knee injury. The offense completely lost its mojo and never really recovered for the remainder of the season. Injuries prevailed – which put the onus on the quarterbacks. Sure, Case McCoy had a well-timed run against A&M, and will always be remembered by Longhorn faithful for that feat. But with that said, he lacks arm strength. David Ash appears to be the best long-term option at this point – but is that going to be good enough to get the Horns to the next level? Are Ash’s numbers due to the lack of a supporting cast? Injuries? A ton of dropped balls (read: Mike Davis)? Or are they simply due to lack of experience?

When Bryan Harsin opened up the game plan, the Horns looked great. But then they would have moments of complacency and stagnation. There were moments of brilliance, and moments of horror. This offense had far too many penalties, and, specifically, too many “illegal formation” penalties.

It was always going to be a low year for Longhorn Nation, and we knew we’d have to expect to take some lumps this season. Is an 8 – 5 record something to springboard us into the National Championship picture in 2012? I highly doubt it. Maybe 2013. But there are some signs that we are headed back in the right direction.

Now it is time for “Longhorns Update” to focus on another Texas squad that is big on freshmen and wet behind the ears – the men’s basketball team. They have 6 freshman in the rotation. Now if we can just get them to stay in school more than a season …

Photo credits: Dolor Ipsum