Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 1)

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Collecting all the post-game analysis articles, including those behind paywalls, regarding the Maryland game here:

Wescott Eberts: Repeat of 2017 nightmare results in Maryland defeating Texas again, 34-29

The SMO: There are no refunds for this snake oil

Trey Scott: Back? Texas never really went anywhere

It’s not Tom Herman’s fault that Texas was a preseason Top 25 team. It’s not Tom Herman’s fault that Mack Brown didn’t recruit Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III or Johnny Manziel or Baker Mayfield, or that Charlie Strong lost to Kansas and went 16-21 in three disastrous seasons in Austin. Fans have been frustrated since well before Herman took over.

But it is Tom Herman’s fault that the No. 23 Texas Longhorns lost to Maryland, 39-24, on Saturday, keeping Texas in the national consciousness only as a laughingstock; a preseason Top 25 team, sleeper Big 12 pick (made only by idiots like myself), a team forever doomed to be “BACK” in only the most sarcastic of senses; Texas was down 24-7, now it’s 24-22 … Texas is BACK!

Sure, Herman loved his team headed into this 2018 season. He didn’t shy away from expectations. He loved his staff, even the one that oversaw the nation’s No. 65 unit in 2017, to not make wholesale changes. Apparently Herman is handling more of the play-calling duties nowadays, but after what we saw at FedEx field, I doubt he’d want to share that burden.

Herman, a second-year coach, was on the verge of getting humiliated by a former offensive coordinator-turned-interim coach, with Texas staring at a stunning 24-7 deficit. Texas? Back. The Longhorns rallied before the half, thanks to a fortuitous Terrapins safety. But Todd Orlando’s defensive unit — fabulous in 2017 safe for that eerie opener against, yep, Maryland — couldn’t get enough stops in the second half, and the Herbeck offensive collaboration couldn’t muster anything after a long rain delay.

It wasn’t enough time to figure out that the same sideways junk that didn’t work last year and hadn’t worked in three quarters against the Terps wasn’t going to work in the fourth. Sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger threw an interception with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. With the ball back and another chance, grad transfer Tre Watson coughed up a wet football. Yet another chance to score … and Ehlinger threw yet another interception. In a comforting way, it felt just like 2017.

All game, any offensive progress or momentum Texas was able to muster felt borne out of luck. All offseason to fix it. An offseason of hype, of dope video edits, of a recommitment by Texas boosters into the facilities. And the only clear progress, if that’s the word for it, is that a year ago Texas lost to Maryland by 10 and this season the Longhorns lost to ‘em by five. So, watch out world. For another year of jokes and memes, yes — Texas is certainly back.

Chip Brown: Good, bad, ugly from Texas' 34-29 upset by Maryland

LANDOVER, Md. — In a game eerily similar to last year's 51-41 loss to Maryland in Austin, Texas came to FedEx Field Saturday looking to show how much they'd grown from Year 1 of the Tom Herman era to Year 2 but instead fell behind, 24-7, came all the way back to take the lead before one penalty and turnover after another doomed Texas to a 34-29 loss. This one even had a 1 hour, 26-minute delay because of thunderstorms in the area.

Herman's mantra is 1-0. But for the second straight year his team is starting off 0-1 thanks to the Terrapins, who were led by interim coach Matt Canada, the team's offensive coordinator, because head coach D.J. Durkin is the subject of an internal investigation by Maryland and on paid leave.

The Longhorns didn't have a single turnover until there were six minutes left in the game, and then they committed three: two interceptions by Sam Ehlinger and a fumble by running back Tre Watson. The second interception by Ehlinger, with Texas driving in Maryland territory with 1:04 left, was reminiscent of late-game turnovers committed by Ehlinger last year in losses to USC, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

Texas committed 11 penalties against Maryland last season and committed 10 on Saturday for 102 yards, more than half of them critical defensive penalties that helped extend Maryland scoring drives and resulted in the first-half ejection of linebacker Gary Johnson for targeting (while senior Anthony Wheeler was serving a first-half suspension for targeting in last seasons' Texas Bowl).

The Longhorns made plays, led by junior safety Brandon Jones, who had a team-leading 10 tackles, including a touchdown-saving tackle for loss late in the game that kept the Longhorns in it. Jones also had a 33-yard punt return that helped set up a Texas touchdown.

But there weren't enough performances like Jones. The Texas offense got off to a terrible start with seven carries for just 10 yards after the first quarter and finished 3-of-15 on third down. Meanwhile, Maryland freshman Jeshaun Jones became the first college player since Dak Prescott to score touchdowns rushing, receiving and passing in one game.

Here is the GOOD, BAD and UGLY from Saturday's 34-29 loss to Maryland at FedEx Field ...

GOOD

Texas played some serious sudden-change defense after Sam Ehlinger was intercepted with 6:09 left, giving the Terps the ball at the Texas 47 while leading 34-29. P.J. Locke made a great play behind the line, dropping Maryland’s Taivon Jacobs for a 2-yard loss on second down. That brought up third-and-9, and Charles Omenihu got pressure, helping force an incomplete pass and punt.

The Texas defense bowed up big time on the goal line after Maryland had first-and-goal from the Texas 2 midway through the fourth quarter. Chris Nelson stuffed Maryland RB Ty Johnson for a 1-yard gain on first down. On second-and-goal from the 1, Brandon Jones made a play reminiscent of his goal-line hit on West Virginia QB Will Grier (that knocked Grier out of the game) when he stopped Maryland QB Kasim Hill for a 1-yard loss on second down. A third-down pass was caught out of the end zone, forcing an 18-yard field goal by the Terps.

Texas came out after the weather delay and went up-tempo and moved the ball from the UT27 to the MD49, converting third-and-4 on an 11-yard pass from Ehlinger to Lil'Jordan Humphrey. (But the drive stalled when Ehlinger’s pass to Devin Duvernay on third-and-3 went for a loss of 1 yard. Ryan Bujcevski’s 41-yard punt was downed at the Maryland 8 with 12:19 left.

Game resumed at 4:40 pm ET after a 1 hour and 26-minute delay due to thunderstorms in the area.

Kris Boyd recorded Texas’ first sack of the game by dropping Kasim Hill for a 9-yard loss on a first-down corner blitz late in the third quarter.

Momentum was flowing firmly in Texas’ direction until it was interrupted by an illegal hands to the face penalty on Gerald Wilbon with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

TEXAS TD NO. 4 GIVES HORNS FIRST LEAD - 29-24: A 33-yard pass on third-and-9 from Sam Ehlinger to Collin Johnson put the ball at Maryland’s 2-yard-line, setting up a 2-yard TD run by Kyle Porter on the next play. The score put Texas up, 29-24, with 4:14 left in the third quarter.

PLAY OF THE GAME CANDIDATE: Ehlinger’s 33-yard pass to Collin Johnson, setting up Kyle Porter’s 2-yard, go-ahead touchdown run On third-and-9 from the Maryland 35 (following a great fourth-down stop by Breckyn Hager), Sam Ehlinger found Collin Johnson deep down the right sideline for a 33-yard completion to the Terps’ 2-yard-line, setting up a 2-yard TD run by Kyle Porter on the next play.

HAGER FOURTH-DOWN STOP SHIFTS MOMENTUM: Breckyn Hager stuffed a fourth-and-1 rushing attempt by Maryland QB Kasim Hill, giving Texas the ball at the Terps’ 36 with 5:19 left in the third quarter, trailing 24-22. A golden opportunity.

BJ Foster got pressure on Maryland quarterback Kasim Hill on third-and-7 from the Texas 34, resulting in an incomplete pass and a punt by the Terps. It was a huge play considering Maryland started their drive at the UT49 following a 23-yard punt by Bujcevski.

Anthony Wheeler was back on the field for Texas in the second half after serving a half-game suspension for targeting in last season’s Texas Bowl. Following the safety recorded by Texas with 1:27 left in the half, Maryland kicked off out of bounds at the Texas 24, resulting in a 26-yard penalty, giving the Longhorns the ball at the 50.

TEXAS TD NO. 3 WITH :17 LEFT 2Q: After a smart use of timeouts by Texas on Maryland’s last possession, the Longhorns took over at the 50 with 1:27 left in the half and went 50 yards in five plays, capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass from Ehlinger to Collin Johnson with :17 left in the half, cutting Maryland’s lead to 24-22. The five plays saw Ehlinger run it twice for 25 yards and complete 3-of-4, including passes of 17 yards to Jerrod Heard, 6 yards to Kyle Porter and the 22-yarder in the end zone to Johnson. A two-point conversion attempt failed. Texas tried to use the same two-point conversion pass completed by Ehlinger to Cade Brewer in the USC game last year, but this time it was Andrew Beck, and he was covered. Ehlinger looked at Collin Johnson cutting across the back of the end zone but threw the ball away and the half ended with Maryland up, 24-22.

TEXAS SCORES ON SAFETY: Ryan Bujcevski bounced back from a 15-yard shank that helped set up a Maryland touchdown with a 41-yard punt that was downed at the Terps’ 3 by Josh Thompson. Charles Omenihu and Jeff McCulloch combined on a first-down stop for no gain, followed by a stop for no gain by Chris Nelson on second down. Then, Maryland’s Jake Funk mishandled the ball at the goal line and recovered it in the end zone for a safety with McCulloch closing in on him. That cut Maryland’s lead to 24-16 with 1:27 left in the second quarter.

TEXAS TD CUTS MARYLAND LEAD TO 24-14: After falling behind 24-7, Tom Herman suddenly had a play sheet in his hands and appeared to take over play-calling. The result was a six-play, 69-yard drive in just 1:35 in which Texas went up-tempo and ran the ball five times and threw it once. Tre Watson ran it three times for 23 yards and Keaontay Ingram ran it twice for 23 yards, including a 5-yard run into the end zone, cutting Maryland’s lead to 24-14 with 6:51 left in the second quarter.

TEXAS TD TIES GAME AT 7-7: After a nice, 33-yard punt return by Brandon Jones (keyed by a crushing block by Collin Johnson) to the Maryland 39, Devin Duvernay made a layout catch on a post pass from Sam Ehlinger in the end zone, tying the game 7-7 with 9:17 left in the first quarter.

Ryan Bujcevski’s first punt of the season was 56 yards, flipping the field and putting Maryland at its own 22. Cameron Dicker kicked off to the goal line to open the game and had to make the tackle on the return. Dicker lowered his shoulder too (no ankle diving)

BAD

Sam Ehlinger struggled with consistency in the passing game, going 21 of 39 for 263 yards with touchdown passes of 39 yards to Devin Duvernay and 22 yards to Collin Johnson. But his two interceptions with 6:09 left and 1:04 left did little to help him overcome the plague of late turnovers he committed in losses to USC, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech last season. Backup Shane Buechele didn't play Saturday.

TEXAS TURNOVER NO. 3: The Longhorns got a final chance to win the game after taking possession at their own 33 with 2:12 left. Ehlinger completed a 17-yard pass to Lil'Jordan Humphrey to start the drive and completed a 13-yard pass to Devin Duvernay on fourth-and-6, moving the ball to the Maryland 33 with more than a minute still to play. But two straight incomplete passes to Duvernay (when Jerrod Heard was wide open deep) and running back Kyle Porter brought up third-and-10, and Ehlinger floated a pass that was intercepted by the Terps at their own 11 with 1:04 left.

TEXAS TURNOVER NO. 2: Facing third-and-3 from the UT 43, Texas initially appeared to have a first down on a 6-yard pass from Sam Ehlinger to running back Tre Watson. But upon further review, officials ruled Maryland forced the ball loose from Watson before he hit the ground. The Terps had recovered the ball after it came loose, so Maryland was awarded the ball at the Texas 49.

TEXAS TURNOVER NO. 1: Texas hadn’t suffered a turnover all game until Sam Ehlinger, whose arm may have been brushed by a defender, was intercepted with 6:09 left to play on a pass intended for Lil'Jordan Humphrey, giving the Terps the ball at Texas’ 47.

It seemed all of Texas’ penalties on the defense were critical and led to points. But a defensive pass interference call on Kris Boyd with Maryland leading 31-29 and facing third-and-11 from the Terps’ 19 with 10:37 left was just a killer. It extended the Terps’ drive (B.J. Foster would be called for roughing the passer later in the drive, moving the ball from the UT 25 to the UT 13) and ultimately allowed Maryland to run 5:34 off the clock en route to an 18-yard field goal that put the Terps up 34-29 with 6:45 left.

Officials stopped the game at 3:12 pm ET due to severe thunderstorms in the area of FedEx Field. And then UT sent out a note reminding us the last time the Horns were in a weather delay it was the three-hour, six-minute flash-flood at TCU in 2013. (The last time Texas beat the Horny Toads, by the way.)

Last year, Maryland had a game-changing, third-and-20 conversion against Texas in the second half of the Terps’ 51-41 upset of the Longhorns. This year, Maryland was able to overcome third-and-19 (following a 9-yard sack by Kris Boyd) as Kasim Hill threw for 13 yards on third down and then ran for 10 yards on fourth-and-6. Those plays kept alive the Terps’ 11-play, 75-yard drive that ate 4:49 off the clock.

After picking up two first downs on four rushing attempts by Daniel Young for 24 yards, Texas faced third-and-9 from the UT35, and Sam Ehlinger was pressured into a 2-yard loss. Oddly, the Big 12 officiating crew called Ehlinger’s shovel pass a fumble, then later called an identical, failed shovel pass by Maryland’s Kasim Hill (recovered by Texas) an incomplete pass.

A 23-yard punt by Ryan Bujcevski from the UT26 gave Maryland starting field position at the Texas 49 on the Terps’ first possession of the second half.

On UT’s first possession of the third quarter, Ehlinger threw slightly behind a wide-open Lil'Jordan Humphrey on a deep crossing route, and Humphrey tried to trap the ball against his pads instead of catching it with his hands. The ball fell incomplete, erasing a chance for a big play. The drive ended two plays later with a 23-yard punt by Bujcevski.

Daniel Young fielded Maryland’s kickoff to open the second half when it appeared it would have gone out of bounds, giving UT the ball at its own 17 instead of the 35.

After a few nice punts to start, the freshman jitters showed up for Ryan Bucjevski as he shanked a 15-yard punt (to the right) from the Texas 5 that went out at the Texas 20.

MARYLAND GOES UP 24-7 IN 2Q: The Terps took advantage of Ryan Bucjevski’s 15-yard shank, which gave Maryland the ball at the Texas 20, and scored on the next play as the Jeshaun Jones Show continued. Jones, a true freshman who scored on a touchdown run and reception on his first two college touches, threw a 20-yard TD strike to Taivon Jacobs, putting Maryland up 24-7 with 8:32 left in the second quarter.

Three costly defensive penalties came on the same drive at the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter: Charles Omenihu was called for roughing the passer; Davante Davis was flagged for pass interference; and Gary Johnson was ejected from the game for targeting - all on the same 6-play, 39-yard drive to a Maryland 33-yard field goal that put the Terps up 17-7 with 14:26 left in the second quarter.

GARY JOHNSON EJECTED: On a play in which Maryland was called for holding, Gary Johnson was called for targeting (and ejected) after lowering his shoulder into the helmet of Terps’ QB Kasim Hill, who attempted to slide at the end of a 12-yard run. With 14:46 left in the second quarter, Texas was suddenly without two of its top linebackers, because starter Anthony Wheeler was already suspended from the first half for targeting in last season’s Texas Bowl.

In the first quarter, Texas had seven carries for 10 yards (1.4 ypc). Keaontay Ingram was Texas’ leading rusher with two carries for 4 yards.

With Maryland facing third-and-8 from the Texas 38, Davante Davis was flagged for pass interference on a deep pass near the 5-yard-line, giving the Terps an automatic first down. Davis was beaten on the play, but the ball was underthrown, so Davis, who waited until the last second to turn his head toward the ball, ran into the receiver before the ball arrived.

With Maryland fans chanting “Overrated!” … Ryan Bujcevski’s second punt of the game was nearly blocked by the Terps but ended up traveling 41 yards to the MD26 with 7:18 left in the first quarter. Kris Boyd had a Kasim Hill pass in his hands but dropped it one play before Hill hit true freshman receiver Jeshaun Jones for a 65-yard, catch-and-run touchdown.

MARYLAND GOES UP 14-7 1Q: On third-and-10 from the Maryland 35, Terps’ QB Kasim Hill hit Jeshaun Jones with a 15-yard pass against what appeared to be zone coverage by the Horns, and the wide-open Jones cut upfield with Texas’ B.J. Foster and Davante Davis the closest defenders on the play (and they weren’t that close). The score put Maryland up 14-7 with 8:52 left in the first quarter.

Cameron Dicker’s first two kickoffs were to the Maryland goal line and the MD4. They were returned 33 and 31 yards by Ty Johnson.

Texas’ first offensive possession of the season resulted in five plays for 6 yards. There was a jet sweep to D’Shawn Jamison that got stuffed and a Tre Watson run that got stuffed. Texas’ only first down on the drive came on a pass interference penalty against Maryland on a pass intended for LJ Humphrey.

After a fair catch by Lil'Jordan Humphrey on Ut’s first possession, Texas was flagged for delay of game because of an equipment/uniform violation by Collin Johnson. Johnson had to leave the field, replaced by Brennan Eagles, who then appeared to run the wrong route on an incomplete pass.

After having Maryland at second-and-10 after a batted pass by Breckyn Hager on the first play of the game, the Terps ripped off chunk yardage on a jet sweep to Taivon Jacobs for 13 yards; a catch-and-run reception by Jacobs for 23 yards and another jet sweep by Jeshaun Jones for a 28-yard touchdown run, putting Maryland up 7-0 with 12:52 left in the first quarter.

After Maryland’s first drive, the Terps were averaging 20.5 yards per carry.

UGLY

The Longhorns simply melted down in the final six minutes of a winnable game thanks to critical penalties that extended Maryland scoring drives and three turnovers.

(Ian Boyd) 5 Quick Thoughts: Crab mentality

Let's get the good news out of the way, Maryland is no longer on the schedule! A word to Chris Del Conte, week one in Longhorn football could be a smoother transition into the season if the team had a chance to get their mistakes out of the way and their legs underneath them against an overmatched opponent. (glances at future schedules)....God help us.

Anyways, that was a nightmarish week one outcome. You could scarcely have scripted it to include more horrors designed to induce the worst possible reaction from Texas fans. Maryland came out looking like they'd just come off an immensely productive offseason in which they'd nailed down their new offense while integrating fresh blood on defense. Texas came out sloppy and and lacking the kind of confidence and crisp play most of us expected after their own offseason. Naturally the ending was exactly what Texas fans have feared all offseason.

Quick thought no. 1: That was the worst possible start to the game

The Terps scored TDs on two of their first three drives against Orlando's shifting defenses, with a few big plays often aided by Longhorn errors, and Texas' offense started things off with five punts on the first six drives. Then Gary Johnson, the uber trustworthy and speedy linebacker who was often positioned deep in the robber to try and limit the damage from Maryland sweeps, was ejected after taking an ill-advised shot at the sliding Kasim Hill.

Maryland had Texas' preferred schemes covered up well, they were standing stout in the trenches in the run game, and they were working the younger DBs in the Texas secondary with a combination of misdirection plays and normal dropback concepts.

Even as the Texas D started to settle down it wasn't that the Texas offense was going to get anything going. Cowart and the Terps' Under fronts were really clogging up the tight zone runs. Ryan Bujcevksi shanked one punt and was inconsistent, much like his cousin was as a freshman before ultimately entering a cocoon before the 2017 season and emerging as Mothra. At 24-7 things were bleak.

Quick thought no. 2: The game turned on tempo and new RBs

The game flipped to 24-14 and changed on a dime when Texas came out in tempo and started handing off to Tre Watson and Keaontay Ingram. Tre Watson was out there running hard and keeping his legs going through contact while Keaontay Ingram's cutback ability was on full display.

The defense got some extra juice from that, no doubt, although the bigger factor was probably the opportunity they got to settle down and get a better feel for the Maryland tactics and gameplan. From there the Longhorns started to impose their will on the game. Collin Johnson caught a few big jump balls and the backs started to find more room against the Terp D.

The offense more or less looked like we thought it would, mixing a diverse spread run game with matchup-based work for Lil'Jordan Humphrey and the occasional deep shot to Collin Johnson or Devin Duvernay. It's not terribly explosive and still not quite clicking consistently enough for the ball control approach to really get humming but there's an identity there to build on. They had some good ways to create matchups out wide that yielded some easier reads and throws. But of course, there were fresh September horrors for Texas still to come.

Quick thought no. 3: New horrors

The Texas D seemed to have things pretty well nailed down but then the ultra-fast speed sweep was hitting the edge before Hager even knew the ball was snapped and the Terps managed to squeeze enough juice out of that play to retake the lead and pad it slightly just before and after the lightning delay.

It's impossible to know whether the lightning delay or the soaking of the field in rain aided or hurt the Longhorns although given the fact that Texas was at a deficit and trying to work the comeback, it was probably a net negative. Overall Texas had plenty of chances and worked a few wrinkles off the delay that helped move chains and spark life into the comeback so the delay really served mostly to prolong the agony and anxiety for Texas fans. I can't even imagine how sick the people who attended the game live must feel.

The fumble...that was one of the QB run RPOs I was harping about all offseason and hoping to see this year. Ehlinger reads a defender and if he chases the motion it's a downhill QB run while commitment to the box means a quick flip to the perimeter. Ehlinger's execution on RPOs in this game wasn't very sharp, he's just not hitting the ball to the right spots to really maximize the spacing. It's an area where he can improve but it's the kind of thing that probably requires a lot of reps to really get right since it's just a precise, mechanical point. Additionally, the ball placement on the RPOs was typically less of an issue than the blocking.

In this instance the blocking was good, Watson secured the ball and hit a crease for a first. During the tackle the ball got knocked loose and he may or may not have secured it before hitting the ground and losing it again. Honestly it looks like he mostly had it but not enough to maintain possession to the ground and withstand that final collision. The whistle was blown dead and Watson secured his helmet before making a late stab at trying to recover the ball that a Terrapin was already landing on.

Naturally the officials determined that the obvious spot was probably worth a second look and took advantage of these new Patriot Act powers to make a ruling on the fumble and hand the ball back to Maryland. The Longhorns seem to be accumulating an eventual storm of good officiating fortune with every successful offensive play that is reviewed in the Tom Herman era. Or maybe they're still paying off a string of good luck in the Mack Brown era.

The Texas D held up their end with a quick three and out and then Brandon Jones made an amazing punt return to put Texas in position for a final, game-winning drive. Things were proceeding quite well.

Maryland was treating Texas' matchup based passing attack with 2-man under coverage and then a spy on Ehlinger to avoid the problem that plagued Oklahoma (Ehlinger scrambles). Texas didn't have great answers for this other than Ehlinger hitting check downs and hoping to watch his backs break a tackle or else Ehlinger running around and finding someone on the move. That was enough to convert a big fourth and five that will now be memory-holed with a number of other big conversions by the young QB in fourth quarters past. Then Ehlinger overthrew a somewhat gimpy LJH with a spy bearing down on him again and for some God-forsaken reason the Maryland nickel was positioned behind the throw to pick off the errant pass.

I'm sure that play will be the focal point of a dozen horrible conversations this week. It's worth noting that Ehlinger was pressured, throwing to his favorite target who happens to be 6-5, and it was third and 10 so there was more than a little pressure to make something happen. The execution was bad, the punishment was an L in the standings. If not for last season, and the last decade really, it would have been an unfortunate ending and a relatively minor stain on Ehlinger's record. Instead, it'll be a talking point for the coming week if not the full season. Joy.

Quick thought no. 4: Shoutout to Brandon Jones and the 2018 class

The freshman made a few mistakes here and there but the D really locked it in down the stretch against a speedy and crafty offense. We saw Ryan Bujcevksi, Cameron Dicker (I saw that game opening tackle, Cam), Anthony Cook, Caden Sterns (strong showing), B.J. Foster (full-time joker once Gary Johnson went out), Keaontay Ingram (needs 150 carries this year), Joshua Moore, D'Shawn Jamison, and Joseph Ossai all got snaps. Of course some of them may still get redshirts, it'll be customary across the country for teams to use up some of the four games early on guys before shutting a few down to go hit the weights at positions of depth.

Brandon Jones had a fantastic game. He had at least 10 tackles (at least one of which saved a TD and made a comeback possible) as well as three punt returns that netted 56 yards (the last of which included multiple broken tackles and made a comeback possible). One of the early TDs occurred when they brought Jones on a blitz and there was a busted coverage behind him...

Anyways, he played a brilliant game and seems to be on the DeShon Elliott track to "breakthrough junior year player."

Quick thought no. 5: The biggest difference between a team occurs between weeks one and two

That's a favorite adage of stat-wiz Bill Connelly and his podcast partner Steven Godfrey. The obvious conclusion from last year's opener was that Texas was going to be atrocious again on defense. This year it'll be that the offense is still garbage and that Ehlinger will always throw the game away in the fourth quarter.

Every realistic goal for the season is still on the table, of course. They didn't need to spot the L column a game in which they were favored by two scores, especially given the opponents coming up on the schedule, but then they were always going to have to scrap like mad to get through this early stretch.

The team looked much stronger when they were able to attack with the run game and in particular when they ran some QB option. The speed (slow?) option play they utilized after the delay was pretty devastating and in general it's obvious enough that most of this team's talent and ability is centered around their ability to attack in the run game. Shane Buechele could bring some upgrades in the RPO game but I doubt they'd make up for the loss of Ehlinger's QB run game offerings or scrambles, particularly without a more explosive WR corps. They need answers for the "two man under with a QB spy" gameplan for Ehlinger, I suggest the QB draw with an H-back leading up to the spy.

Clearly the D is going to be just fine this year and probably better than fine. All of the usual suspects were flashing and the young DBs like Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster have plenty of untapped upside. Heck, the team didn't even have Gary Johnson for much of this game. The veterans all looked strong, the Texas DL was completely dominant, and let's all pause to note the humor in the fact that Kris Boyd is currently leading the team in sacks.

The biggest issues I saw in this game was the slow start on both sides of the ball and the undisciplined play that led to numerous penalties. Texas spotted Maryland a lot of points early with a multiple game plan that wasn't doing much to confuse the Terps but sure seemed to confuse the 'Horn defenders. They also spotted Maryland 105 yards in penalties and 2.5 quarters without Texas' best LB on the field due to bad decision making.

I'll also happily be the only guy to quibble with the fact that Ehlinger finished the game with only seven carries. Maybe we'll be glad he's fresher later in the year but that was an effective tool that Texas didn't utilize much in a close loss. Presumably the staff figured that he'd get a higher number of carries via scrambles but that eventuality was taken away by the Maryland spy.

I don't know why Texas tends to start slow in week one games. I'm sure it's fairly common across the game and perhaps a handful of Maryland's 200 odd fans felt they started a bit sloppy as well. The current makeup of this team though points to a clear weekly gameplan for accumulating victories.

Score early, run the crap out of the ball, play great D, don't put yourself in position to have to out-execute the other team down the stretch. It's the formula that TCU followed en route to 10 wins and a B12 title appearance last year and it depends on the Longhorns ending this horrible fascination with slow starts. This team is good enough and talented enough to put teams away in the fourth quarter without having to try and launch dramatic comebacks with multiple passing down conversions.

Look alive, Texas fans, Tulsa comes to town in a week.

Eric Nahlin: Thoughts after a disappointing Maryland loss, take two

There's no excuse for the team no-showing versus Maryland. The total lack of readiness can only fall on the shoulders of Tom Herman and as far as I could tell he fell on the sword in the press conference.  The team played incredibly slow and you could even see it in their timid movements early on. They were running in mud because they were thinking slowly -- again. 

For the second year in a row the defense was ill-prepared for the motion run-game. PJ Locke again had his struggles, as did the linebackers. In the game thread many lamented the quiet game of Hager and Omenihu, but they aren't going to shine in this game, at least not with pressure on the quarterback. While the front was struggling with the run, we saw some familiar breakdowns in the passing game. Notably, true freshman BJ Foster got caught out of position. But that was a 3rd and long play where you might just want to play it more straight up and keep guys in front of the sticks rather than expecting a true freshman to rotate to help.

Coordination in the game will be much better dissected by others, but one thing that irked me on offense was it seems like Herman/Beck are too jumpy to capitalize on a play that works, rather than just keep running the play that works. Make Maryland REALLY commit to stopping something before trying to punish them. The reverse to Jamison was a drive killer. They also tried to hit some play actions off the run game when they should have just kept running the ball.

I firmly believe the offensive line is improved over last year. We saw that more clearly in pass protection. They were sometimes aided by Maryland dropping guys into coverage, but not always. Again I felt the coordination was off. Texas was trying to throw into loaded secondaries and run into loaded boxes. That's backwards. Are we sure they're counting numbers out there?

Refusing to use the quarterback run game really put the offense behind the 8-ball. Obviously they have Sam on a pitch count but he has no chance of being a difference making quarterback if he's not allowed to run. He may not even be average if he can't run. At least run it early and make them defend it. The negatives are obvious and there are more I didn't list. Penalties -- egregious. Turnovers -- egregious (Watson's was a terrible call despite what some on here think they saw). Tackling -- embarrassing. No wrapping up. 

Some positives:

Brandon Jones was really good. That was an All American type of game. He was stellar as a returner -- he ran with strength, quickness, speed, and determination. He showed range as a tackler.  Keaontay Ingram showed the promise evident from his high school days. When Texas briefly grabbed momentum in the 2nd quarter he was a big part of it. He's nifty on the cut-back. Wait until he's not running cautiously. Then wait until he's doing all this at 215 pounds. 

D'shawn Jamison as a returner showed sparq. He'll break one this year, but as he gets stronger with the ability to run through trash without losing much speed he'll be even more dangerous.  The offensive line in pass protection was good. I bet it looks better running the ball in the Big 12 than it did today. The line was absolutely horrendous last year versus Maryland. 

Offensive variation was much more than what we saw last year. It didn't flow very well at times, or build sequentially, but there's a lot more in the playbook than last season. A couple of players on defense seemed to play well. McCulloch missed a bad tackle in space, but for that being his first real action at linebacker since his freshman year? Not bad. TQ Graham did some things too. Even playing from 4i he was able to beat OT's to the outside a few times. Davante Davis was playing well before he went out with what looked like a stinger.

Last year after the disheartening loss to Maryland I blamed the coaches. This year one would be hard pressed to not do the same, but these players have to show up more mentally prepared. There's no way that's entirely on the staff. Following Maryland last year was San Jose State and USC on the road. This year it's very similar with Tulsa and USC at home. 

Herman said in his press conference he knows this team is better than last year. We should already definitively know that answer but will have to wait a while to know for sure. Even then, how much better? Better isn't good enough.

Jeff Howe: Inexcusable slow start had Texas chasing Maryland from the jump

LANDOVER, Md. — The finish is where the focus is going to be placed on another Texas season opener that felt more like a kick in the teeth as opposed to a celebration of football being back and soaking in the hope that comes along with the start of a new season.

Whatever promise existed for the second year of the Tom Herman was washed away — not by the rain and severe weather that battered a badly-aging FedEx Field to the point that the press box was taking on water during a near hour-and-a-half rain delay — by the tidal wave of energy and fury Maryland brought with it to the home of the NFL’s Washington Redskins on the roughly seven-mile trip from College Park.

The concern following a soggy, muggy afternoon where 23rd-ranked Texas squandering three chances in the fourth quarter before succumbing to the Terrapins, a 13-point underdog, 34-29, should reside in the fact that a lethargic start played just as much of role in the demise of the Longhorns as the sloppy ending.

Maryland, playing a de facto home game and still reeling from the offseason death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair, should’ve been expected to come out swinging now that the focus for the players could be solely on football. With first-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada serving as interim head coach due to allegations of player misconduct stemming from McNair’s death and a subsequent investigation landing D.J. Durkin on administrative leave, the Terrapins entered the season opener as a perceived wounded animal embroiled in turmoil, but ready to hit the Longhorns with everything they had.

Texas, with an entire offseason to learn lessons from last season’s 51-41 deflating home loss to a Maryland squad boasting much of the same personnel this time around, wasn’t prepared. Even though the Longhorns fought back admirably to the tune of 22 unanswered points en route to taking a 29-24 lead into the fourth quarter, the fact that Herman’s bunch was down 24-7 midway through the second quarter — much like last year’s defeat when Maryland raced out to a 30-14 halftime advantage — is one of most inexcusable occurrences in a run since the start of the 2010 season where there’s been far too many to count.

“Obviously, we need to protect the football to win,” quarterback Sam Ehlinger said after throwing two fourth-quarter interceptions on a day when his 21-for-39 passing effort for 263 yards and two touchdowns won’t do much to inspire confidence from the burnt orange faithful that he’s the answer behind center. “But before that, we should have never been in that situation. We should have taken care of the game from the beginning. We started too slow. We started hesitant and I think this is a great learning moment for us.”

The Longhorns had nearly a full calendar year to learn from the mistakes they made against the Terrapins to begin Herman’s tenure. They had an entire offseason to train, to prepare for a season opener with a ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 next to their name (that won’t be there when the new poll comes out) and put forth a performance worthy of inspiring confidence that this might finally be the year when the Longhorns get things going like they were in the program’s halcyon days under Mack Brown.

When it came time for the rubber to meet the road, with was more of a continuation of a decade where Texas is now 53-49 as a program as the Longhorns found themselves sideswiped by a group of hungry Terrapins. Maryland, at one point in the first half, held the Texas offense to 15 yards of total offense on 12 plays (all drives that went three plays and out) while going through Todd Orlando’s defense like a hot knife through butter to the tune of 276 total yards on its first 35 plays from scrimmage (7.9 yards per play).

“The slow start is on me,” Herman said. “I felt like our guys were trying too hard to be perfect because they wanted this so bad. We’ve got to find a way to relax our guys coming out of the tunnel.” Chris Nelson, the senior team captain who played a tough game at nose tackle and finished with five tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, agreed with his head coach. “A lot of guys came out and tried to do everything right,” Nelson said. “It doesn’t work like that. You have to play loose and play free.”

Charles Omenihu couldn’t put his finger on what happened when the Longhorns finally hit the field more than nine months after a win over Missouri capped a 7-6 season. The senior defensive end, who recorded six tackles and a pass breakup, admitted, however, that something was amiss at kickoff. “It may be first-game jitters, I don’t know,” Omenihu said. “(Maryland) was ready to go and at the beginning, we weren’t. You can’t have that — you’ve got start fast and finish better.”

If there’s a good answer as to how Texas could have avoided a slow start, someone should have shared that with Herman prior to kickoff. What it could be is a couple of things that need to change because, if the Longhorns do manage to get something cooking at some point this year, they’ll face this again.

Herman took a loss in his 40th game as a collegiate head coach (he’s 29-11 overall and an even 7-7 on the Forty Acres). There’s a maturation process all coaches go through but, not unlike Charlie Strong (53 games in a head coaching role prior to his stint on the Forty Acres), Herman is having to cut his head coaching teeth on the job, which ideally isn’t how it should be done for the head coach of the Longhorns.

To that point, Herman has made a few decisions that, in hindsight, point to a coach still trying to figure out how to best prepare his squad. Just as he did ahead of last year’s regular season finale against Texas Tech, Herman toned down the physicality of practice this week, apparently having players dress in only spider pads and helmets on Wednesday, which is usually the final day of physical preparation ahead of a game, followed by a practice on Thursday that lasted only 12 periods in an effort to keep the team fresh for Saturday’s contest.

What’s good about the program from a unity and culture standpoint is Longhorns are buying into Herman’s message. Players echoed his sentiments following the game about momentum being an illusion, about the team’s goal of competing for the Big 12 title in the month of November still being on the table and how this loss doesn’t feel like any of the six that occured last season (even though five of the seven losses under Herman have seen the Longhorns unable to hang onto a lead in the fourth quarter). Perhaps toning down the physicality leading up to games sends the wrong message to an impressionable bunch about what the coaches feel toward the upcoming opponent.

If Texas had won, Herman would likely be getting praised for coaching a team not suffering from tired legs. That didn’t happen, so that might as well be one of the many things that appear to be in need of an evaluation.

Nevertheless, a preparation issue on behalf of the staff could definitely be the culprit. That goes for both sides of the ball where the Longhorns didn’t find any sort of rhythm until Keaontay Ingram and Tre Watson got things going on the ground on an up-tempo, 6-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard scoring run by the true freshman (the Longhorns didn’t appear to go back to an up-tempo attack and didn’t go back to Ingram, who didn’t record a carry following a 2-yard gain for a first down late in the second quarter).

The defensive staff isn’t alone in that, either. Canada, known for his heavy use of the jet sweep, used the play to jump on the Longhorns early with a 28-yard scoring run by Jeshaun Jones on Maryland’s opening drive en route to a 143-yard rushing performance (the fourth-most rushing yards allowed in Orlando’s 14 games calling defensive signals). “We struggled to stop the jet sweep,” Herman said. “We prepared for it, we adjusted for it. Hats off to them; they did a really good job.”

Maryland, for the second year in a row, did a really good job of coming out with a game plan that required a lot of a across-the-board adjustments by the Longhorns. Herman took the blame for the forgettable start to another disappointing non-conference loss to a Power Five foe, but Nelson put a lot on he and his teammates to bring the required energy level right out of the gate to prevent what unfolded on Saturday.

“At the end of the day, we just have to go out there and play ball,” Nelson said. “All that stuff that happened out there today, we prepared for everything. To me, the game felt easy, so we just have to let everything go and just play.” If the Longhorns had done that from the opening kickoff, the burnt orange faithful would feel a heck of a lot better about where the season (and the program under Herman) is headed.

Joseph Cook: Despite offseason emphasis, familiar failings finish Texas, 34-29

LANDOVER, MD - Develop and finish. Those two words were placed around the practice fields, inside the facility, and even on t-shirts for players to wear in the offseason. Texas lost several close games last year because they could not take advantage of opportunities to get ahead before the final whistle. To open 2018, Tom Herman’s Longhorns had the same failing.

Sophomore Sam Ehlinger led an offense that turned the ball over in each of its final three possessions, the last an interception trying to force a play on 3rd and 10 with more than a minute to go. Maryland freshman Jeshaun Jones added passing, rushing, and receiving touchdowns in the Terrapins’ 34-29 victory. “To end the game with three straight turnovers, it’s not good,” Herman said. “It’ll get you beat.”

Texas battled back after falling 24-7 through a quarter and a half. Jones ran for the first touchdown, caught the second touchdown, and found Tavion Jacobs for a 20 yard passing score after taking a handoff on a sweep. Touchdowns for the Longhorns from junior Devin Duvernay and freshman Keaontay Ingram brought the game within 10, and the Longhorns cut it down to a two point game with a safety and a touchdown late in the first half. 

The Longhorns took the lead with a Kyle Porter run late in the third, but Maryland took it right back in the first minute fourth quarter on another touchdown run. Right after that score, the game was sent into a one hour and 26 minute delay. Texas had plenty of time to think about not only how to finish, but how to avoid losing to a team without it’s full-time head coach.

“We relaxed,” Herman said. “We knew we only had 14:45 left to play. Your possessions are going to be limited. We did not get great field position in that fourth quarter. I think we started at our minus-15 or our minus-10 a couple of those drives, which is pretty disadvantageous when you talk about percentages of scoring.” Maryland added a field goal with just under seven minutes left to make it a five point game. Texas took the ball over, and Ehlinger followed a 10 yard rush with an interception after a defender made contact with his arm.

Texas forced a punt and got the ball back with 4:35. On third down, senior Tre Watson caught a pass reached the first down marker. Upon review, Watson was ruled to have lost the ball prior to being down and Maryland was given the chance to ice it.

The Texas defense made one more stand to give the offense the ball back with no timeouts. After driving to the Maryland 33, Ehlinger was faced with a 3rd and 10. He tried to force a ball into a window, but he overthrew it into the arms of Antoine Brooks.  “It’s awful to have three turnovers in the last three drives,” Ehlinger said. “The first one, arm got tipped. Second one, a fumble. Third one, I had to take a chance. Obviously, we need to protect the football to win, but before that we should have never been in that situation.”

The offseason emphasis was developing and finishing. Herman said after the game he didn’t think the team failed in the development area, but it was difficult to see evidence of that with a late turnover once again costing the Longhorns. “Our last three possessions, down by one score, we turned the ball over,” Herman said. “A lot of people are going to want to say this feels a lot like last year. It doesn’t to me.”

Because of the failings in the area the team worked so hard to address, this one might have been tougher than any of the six losses in 2017. “It hurts,” said senior Collin Johnson, who had three catches for 59 yards and a score. “Finish was a huge word for us in all of the offseason. Things didn’t turn out the way we expected it and the way we wanted it to turn out, obviously. But being a mature team, we have to move forward and not look back at it.” Texas faces Tulsa next weekend in Austin.

[satyanash 14488]

Easier-to-read format for the paywalled articles

Trey Scott: Back? Texas never really went anywhere

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It’s not Tom Herman’s fault that Texas was a preseason Top 25 team. It’s not Tom Herman’s fault that Mack Brown didn’t recruit Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III or Johnny Manziel or Baker Mayfield, or that Charlie Strong lost to Kansas and went 16-21 in three disastrous seasons in Austin. Fans have been frustrated since well before Herman took over. But it is Tom Herman’s fault that the No. 23 Texas Longhorns lost to Maryland, 39-24, on Saturday, keeping Texas in the national consciousness only as a laughingstock; a preseason Top 25 team, sleeper Big 12 pick (made only by idiots like myself), a team forever doomed to be “BACK” in only the most sarcastic of senses; Texas was down 24-7, now it’s 24-22 … Texas is BACK!

Sure, Herman loved his team headed into this 2018 season. He didn’t shy away from expectations. He loved his staff, even the one that oversaw the nation’s No. 65 unit in 2017, to not make wholesale changes. Apparently Herman is handling more of the play-calling duties nowadays, but after what we saw at FedEx field, I doubt he’d want to share that burden.

Herman, a second-year coach, was on the verge of getting humiliated by a former offensive coordinator-turned-interim coach, with Texas staring at a stunning 24-7 deficit. Texas? Back. The Longhorns rallied before the half, thanks to a fortuitous Terrapins safety. But Todd Orlando’s defensive unit — fabulous in 2017 safe for that eerie opener against, yep, Maryland — couldn’t get enough stops in the second half, and the Herbeck offensive collaboration couldn’t muster anything after a long rain delay.

It wasn’t enough time to figure out that the same sideways junk that didn’t work last year and hadn’t worked in three quarters against the Terps wasn’t going to work in the fourth. Sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger threw an interception with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. With the ball back and another chance, grad transfer Tre Watson coughed up a wet football. Yet another chance to score … and Ehlinger threw yet another interception. In a comforting way, it felt just like 2017.

All game, any offensive progress or momentum Texas was able to muster felt borne out of luck. All offseason to fix it. An offseason of hype, of dope video edits, of a recommitment by Texas boosters into the facilities. And the only clear progress, if that’s the word for it, is that a year ago Texas lost to Maryland by 10 and this season the Longhorns lost to ‘em by five. So, watch out world. For another year of jokes and memes, yes — Texas is certainly back.

Eric Nahlin: Thoughts after a disappointing Maryland loss, take two

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There's no excuse for the team no-showing versus Maryland. The total lack of readiness can only fall on the shoulders of Tom Herman and as far as I could tell he fell on the sword in the press conference.  The team played incredibly slow and you could even see it in their timid movements early on. They were running in mud because they were thinking slowly -- again. 

For the second year in a row the defense was ill-prepared for the motion run-game. PJ Locke again had his struggles, as did the linebackers. In the game thread many lamented the quiet game of Hager and Omenihu, but they aren't going to shine in this game, at least not with pressure on the quarterback. While the front was struggling with the run, we saw some familiar breakdowns in the passing game. Notably, true freshman BJ Foster got caught out of position. But that was a 3rd and long play where you might just want to play it more straight up and keep guys in front of the sticks rather than expecting a true freshman to rotate to help.

Coordination in the game will be much better dissected by others, but one thing that irked me on offense was it seems like Herman/Beck are too jumpy to capitalize on a play that works, rather than just keep running the play that works. Make Maryland REALLY commit to stopping something before trying to punish them. The reverse to Jamison was a drive killer. They also tried to hit some play actions off the run game when they should have just kept running the ball.

I firmly believe the offensive line is improved over last year. We saw that more clearly in pass protection. They were sometimes aided by Maryland dropping guys into coverage, but not always. Again I felt the coordination was off. Texas was trying to throw into loaded secondaries and run into loaded boxes. That's backwards. Are we sure they're counting numbers out there?

Refusing to use the quarterback run game really put the offense behind the 8-ball. Obviously they have Sam on a pitch count but he has no chance of being a difference making quarterback if he's not allowed to run. He may not even be average if he can't run. At least run it early and make them defend it. The negatives are obvious and there are more I didn't list. Penalties -- egregious. Turnovers -- egregious (Watson's was a terrible call despite what some on here think they saw). Tackling -- embarrassing. No wrapping up. 

Some positives:

Brandon Jones was really good. That was an All American type of game. He was stellar as a returner -- he ran with strength, quickness, speed, and determination. He showed range as a tackler.  Keaontay Ingram showed the promise evident from his high school days. When Texas briefly grabbed momentum in the 2nd quarter he was a big part of it. He's nifty on the cut-back. Wait until he's not running cautiously. Then wait until he's doing all this at 215 pounds. 

D'shawn Jamison as a returner showed sparq. He'll break one this year, but as he gets stronger with the ability to run through trash without losing much speed he'll be even more dangerous.  The offensive line in pass protection was good. I bet it looks better running the ball in the Big 12 than it did today. The line was absolutely horrendous last year versus Maryland. 

Offensive variation was much more than what we saw last year. It didn't flow very well at times, or build sequentially, but there's a lot more in the playbook than last season. A couple of players on defense seemed to play well. McCulloch missed a bad tackle in space, but for that being his first real action at linebacker since his freshman year? Not bad. TQ Graham did some things too. Even playing from 4i he was able to beat OT's to the outside a few times. Davante Davis was playing well before he went out with what looked like a stinger.

Last year after the disheartening loss to Maryland I blamed the coaches. This year one would be hard pressed to not do the same, but these players have to show up more mentally prepared. There's no way that's entirely on the staff. Following Maryland last year was San Jose State and USC on the road. This year it's very similar with Tulsa and USC at home. 

Herman said in his press conference he knows this team is better than last year. We should already definitively know that answer but will have to wait a while to know for sure. Even then, how much better? Better isn't good enough.

(Ian Boyd) 5 Quick Thoughts: Crab mentality

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Let's get the good news out of the way, Maryland is no longer on the schedule! A word to Chris Del Conte, week one in Longhorn football could be a smoother transition into the season if the team had a chance to get their mistakes out of the way and their legs underneath them against an overmatched opponent. (glances at future schedules)....God help us.

Anyways, that was a nightmarish week one outcome. You could scarcely have scripted it to include more horrors designed to induce the worst possible reaction from Texas fans. Maryland came out looking like they'd just come off an immensely productive offseason in which they'd nailed down their new offense while integrating fresh blood on defense. Texas came out sloppy and and lacking the kind of confidence and crisp play most of us expected after their own offseason. Naturally the ending was exactly what Texas fans have feared all offseason.

Quick thought no. 1: That was the worst possible start to the game

The Terps scored TDs on two of their first three drives against Orlando's shifting defenses, with a few big plays often aided by Longhorn errors, and Texas' offense started things off with five punts on the first six drives. Then Gary Johnson, the uber trustworthy and speedy linebacker who was often positioned deep in the robber to try and limit the damage from Maryland sweeps, was ejected after taking an ill-advised shot at the sliding Kasim Hill.

Maryland had Texas' preferred schemes covered up well, they were standing stout in the trenches in the run game, and they were working the younger DBs in the Texas secondary with a combination of misdirection plays and normal dropback concepts.

Even as the Texas D started to settle down it wasn't that the Texas offense was going to get anything going. Cowart and the Terps' Under fronts were really clogging up the tight zone runs. Ryan Bujcevksi shanked one punt and was inconsistent, much like his cousin was as a freshman before ultimately entering a cocoon before the 2017 season and emerging as Mothra. At 24-7 things were bleak.

Quick thought no. 2: The game turned on tempo and new RBs

The game flipped to 24-14 and changed on a dime when Texas came out in tempo and started handing off to Tre Watson and Keaontay Ingram. Tre Watson was out there running hard and keeping his legs going through contact while Keaontay Ingram's cutback ability was on full display.

The defense got some extra juice from that, no doubt, although the bigger factor was probably the opportunity they got to settle down and get a better feel for the Maryland tactics and gameplan. From there the Longhorns started to impose their will on the game. Collin Johnson caught a few big jump balls and the backs started to find more room against the Terp D.

The offense more or less looked like we thought it would, mixing a diverse spread run game with matchup-based work for Lil'Jordan Humphrey and the occasional deep shot to Collin Johnson or Devin Duvernay. It's not terribly explosive and still not quite clicking consistently enough for the ball control approach to really get humming but there's an identity there to build on. They had some good ways to create matchups out wide that yielded some easier reads and throws. But of course, there were fresh September horrors for Texas still to come.

Quick thought no. 3: New horrors

The Texas D seemed to have things pretty well nailed down but then the ultra-fast speed sweep was hitting the edge before Hager even knew the ball was snapped and the Terps managed to squeeze enough juice out of that play to retake the lead and pad it slightly just before and after the lightning delay.

It's impossible to know whether the lightning delay or the soaking of the field in rain aided or hurt the Longhorns although given the fact that Texas was at a deficit and trying to work the comeback, it was probably a net negative. Overall Texas had plenty of chances and worked a few wrinkles off the delay that helped move chains and spark life into the comeback so the delay really served mostly to prolong the agony and anxiety for Texas fans. I can't even imagine how sick the people who attended the game live must feel.

The fumble...that was one of the QB run RPOs I was harping about all offseason and hoping to see this year. Ehlinger reads a defender and if he chases the motion it's a downhill QB run while commitment to the box means a quick flip to the perimeter. Ehlinger's execution on RPOs in this game wasn't very sharp, he's just not hitting the ball to the right spots to really maximize the spacing. It's an area where he can improve but it's the kind of thing that probably requires a lot of reps to really get right since it's just a precise, mechanical point. Additionally, the ball placement on the RPOs was typically less of an issue than the blocking.

In this instance the blocking was good, Watson secured the ball and hit a crease for a first. During the tackle the ball got knocked loose and he may or may not have secured it before hitting the ground and losing it again. Honestly it looks like he mostly had it but not enough to maintain possession to the ground and withstand that final collision. The whistle was blown dead and Watson secured his helmet before making a late stab at trying to recover the ball that a Terrapin was already landing on.

Naturally the officials determined that the obvious spot was probably worth a second look and took advantage of these new Patriot Act powers to make a ruling on the fumble and hand the ball back to Maryland. The Longhorns seem to be accumulating an eventual storm of good officiating fortune with every successful offensive play that is reviewed in the Tom Herman era. Or maybe they're still paying off a string of good luck in the Mack Brown era.

The Texas D held up their end with a quick three and out and then Brandon Jones made an amazing punt return to put Texas in position for a final, game-winning drive. Things were proceeding quite well.

Maryland was treating Texas' matchup based passing attack with 2-man under coverage and then a spy on Ehlinger to avoid the problem that plagued Oklahoma (Ehlinger scrambles). Texas didn't have great answers for this other than Ehlinger hitting check downs and hoping to watch his backs break a tackle or else Ehlinger running around and finding someone on the move. That was enough to convert a big fourth and five that will now be memory-holed with a number of other big conversions by the young QB in fourth quarters past. Then Ehlinger overthrew a somewhat gimpy LJH with a spy bearing down on him again and for some God-forsaken reason the Maryland nickel was positioned behind the throw to pick off the errant pass.

I'm sure that play will be the focal point of a dozen horrible conversations this week. It's worth noting that Ehlinger was pressured, throwing to his favorite target who happens to be 6-5, and it was third and 10 so there was more than a little pressure to make something happen. The execution was bad, the punishment was an L in the standings. If not for last season, and the last decade really, it would have been an unfortunate ending and a relatively minor stain on Ehlinger's record. Instead, it'll be a talking point for the coming week if not the full season. Joy.

Quick thought no. 4: Shoutout to Brandon Jones and the 2018 class

The freshman made a few mistakes here and there but the D really locked it in down the stretch against a speedy and crafty offense. We saw Ryan Bujcevksi, Cameron Dicker (I saw that game opening tackle, Cam), Anthony Cook, Caden Sterns (strong showing), B.J. Foster (full-time joker once Gary Johnson went out), Keaontay Ingram (needs 150 carries this year), Joshua Moore, D'Shawn Jamison, and Joseph Ossai all got snaps. Of course some of them may still get redshirts, it'll be customary across the country for teams to use up some of the four games early on guys before shutting a few down to go hit the weights at positions of depth.

Brandon Jones had a fantastic game. He had at least 10 tackles (at least one of which saved a TD and made a comeback possible) as well as three punt returns that netted 56 yards (the last of which included multiple broken tackles and made a comeback possible). One of the early TDs occurred when they brought Jones on a blitz and there was a busted coverage behind him...

Anyways, he played a brilliant game and seems to be on the DeShon Elliott track to "breakthrough junior year player."

Quick thought no. 5: The biggest difference between a team occurs between weeks one and two

That's a favorite adage of stat-wiz Bill Connelly and his podcast partner Steven Godfrey. The obvious conclusion from last year's opener was that Texas was going to be atrocious again on defense. This year it'll be that the offense is still garbage and that Ehlinger will always throw the game away in the fourth quarter.

Every realistic goal for the season is still on the table, of course. They didn't need to spot the L column a game in which they were favored by two scores, especially given the opponents coming up on the schedule, but then they were always going to have to scrap like mad to get through this early stretch.

The team looked much stronger when they were able to attack with the run game and in particular when they ran some QB option. The speed (slow?) option play they utilized after the delay was pretty devastating and in general it's obvious enough that most of this team's talent and ability is centered around their ability to attack in the run game. Shane Buechele could bring some upgrades in the RPO game but I doubt they'd make up for the loss of Ehlinger's QB run game offerings or scrambles, particularly without a more explosive WR corps. They need answers for the "two man under with a QB spy" gameplan for Ehlinger, I suggest the QB draw with an H-back leading up to the spy.

Clearly the D is going to be just fine this year and probably better than fine. All of the usual suspects were flashing and the young DBs like Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster have plenty of untapped upside. Heck, the team didn't even have Gary Johnson for much of this game. The veterans all looked strong, the Texas DL was completely dominant, and let's all pause to note the humor in the fact that Kris Boyd is currently leading the team in sacks.

The biggest issues I saw in this game was the slow start on both sides of the ball and the undisciplined play that led to numerous penalties. Texas spotted Maryland a lot of points early with a multiple game plan that wasn't doing much to confuse the Terps but sure seemed to confuse the 'Horn defenders. They also spotted Maryland 105 yards in penalties and 2.5 quarters without Texas' best LB on the field due to bad decision making.

I'll also happily be the only guy to quibble with the fact that Ehlinger finished the game with only seven carries. Maybe we'll be glad he's fresher later in the year but that was an effective tool that Texas didn't utilize much in a close loss. Presumably the staff figured that he'd get a higher number of carries via scrambles but that eventuality was taken away by the Maryland spy.

I don't know why Texas tends to start slow in week one games. I'm sure it's fairly common across the game and perhaps a handful of Maryland's 200 odd fans felt they started a bit sloppy as well. The current makeup of this team though points to a clear weekly gameplan for accumulating victories.

Score early, run the crap out of the ball, play great D, don't put yourself in position to have to out-execute the other team down the stretch. It's the formula that TCU followed en route to 10 wins and a B12 title appearance last year and it depends on the Longhorns ending this horrible fascination with slow starts. This team is good enough and talented enough to put teams away in the fourth quarter without having to try and launch dramatic comebacks with multiple passing down conversions.

Look alive, Texas fans, Tulsa comes to town in a week.

Chip Brown: Good, bad, ugly from Texas' 34-29 upset by Maryland

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LANDOVER, Md. — In a game eerily similar to last year's 51-41 loss to Maryland in Austin, Texas came to FedEx Field Saturday looking to show how much they'd grown from Year 1 of the Tom Herman era to Year 2 but instead fell behind, 24-7, came all the way back to take the lead before one penalty and turnover after another doomed Texas to a 34-29 loss. This one even had a 1 hour, 26-minute delay because of thunderstorms in the area.

Herman's mantra is 1-0. But for the second straight year his team is starting off 0-1 thanks to the Terrapins, who were led by interim coach Matt Canada, the team's offensive coordinator, because head coach D.J. Durkin is the subject of an internal investigation by Maryland and on paid leave.

The Longhorns didn't have a single turnover until there were six minutes left in the game, and then they committed three: two interceptions by Sam Ehlinger and a fumble by running back Tre Watson. The second interception by Ehlinger, with Texas driving in Maryland territory with 1:04 left, was reminiscent of late-game turnovers committed by Ehlinger last year in losses to USC, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

Texas committed 11 penalties against Maryland last season and committed 10 on Saturday for 102 yards, more than half of them critical defensive penalties that helped extend Maryland scoring drives and resulted in the first-half ejection of linebacker Gary Johnson for targeting (while senior Anthony Wheeler was serving a first-half suspension for targeting in last seasons' Texas Bowl).

The Longhorns made plays, led by junior safety Brandon Jones, who had a team-leading 10 tackles, including a touchdown-saving tackle for loss late in the game that kept the Longhorns in it. Jones also had a 33-yard punt return that helped set up a Texas touchdown.

But there weren't enough performances like Jones. The Texas offense got off to a terrible start with seven carries for just 10 yards after the first quarter and finished 3-of-15 on third down. Meanwhile, Maryland freshman Jeshaun Jones became the first college player since Dak Prescott to score touchdowns rushing, receiving and passing in one game.

Here is the GOOD, BAD and UGLY from Saturday's 34-29 loss to Maryland at FedEx Field ...

GOOD

Texas played some serious sudden-change defense after Sam Ehlinger was intercepted with 6:09 left, giving the Terps the ball at the Texas 47 while leading 34-29. P.J. Locke made a great play behind the line, dropping Maryland’s Taivon Jacobs for a 2-yard loss on second down. That brought up third-and-9, and Charles Omenihu got pressure, helping force an incomplete pass and punt.

The Texas defense bowed up big time on the goal line after Maryland had first-and-goal from the Texas 2 midway through the fourth quarter. Chris Nelson stuffed Maryland RB Ty Johnson for a 1-yard gain on first down. On second-and-goal from the 1, Brandon Jones made a play reminiscent of his goal-line hit on West Virginia QB Will Grier (that knocked Grier out of the game) when he stopped Maryland QB Kasim Hill for a 1-yard loss on second down. A third-down pass was caught out of the end zone, forcing an 18-yard field goal by the Terps.

Texas came out after the weather delay and went up-tempo and moved the ball from the UT27 to the MD49, converting third-and-4 on an 11-yard pass from Ehlinger to Lil'Jordan Humphrey. (But the drive stalled when Ehlinger’s pass to Devin Duvernay on third-and-3 went for a loss of 1 yard. Ryan Bujcevski’s 41-yard punt was downed at the Maryland 8 with 12:19 left.

Game resumed at 4:40 pm ET after a 1 hour and 26-minute delay due to thunderstorms in the area.

Kris Boyd recorded Texas’ first sack of the game by dropping Kasim Hill for a 9-yard loss on a first-down corner blitz late in the third quarter.

Momentum was flowing firmly in Texas’ direction until it was interrupted by an illegal hands to the face penalty on Gerald Wilbon with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

TEXAS TD NO. 4 GIVES HORNS FIRST LEAD - 29-24: A 33-yard pass on third-and-9 from Sam Ehlinger to Collin Johnson put the ball at Maryland’s 2-yard-line, setting up a 2-yard TD run by Kyle Porter on the next play. The score put Texas up, 29-24, with 4:14 left in the third quarter.

PLAY OF THE GAME CANDIDATE: Ehlinger’s 33-yard pass to Collin Johnson, setting up Kyle Porter’s 2-yard, go-ahead touchdown run On third-and-9 from the Maryland 35 (following a great fourth-down stop by Breckyn Hager), Sam Ehlinger found Collin Johnson deep down the right sideline for a 33-yard completion to the Terps’ 2-yard-line, setting up a 2-yard TD run by Kyle Porter on the next play.

HAGER FOURTH-DOWN STOP SHIFTS MOMENTUM: Breckyn Hager stuffed a fourth-and-1 rushing attempt by Maryland QB Kasim Hill, giving Texas the ball at the Terps’ 36 with 5:19 left in the third quarter, trailing 24-22. A golden opportunity.

BJ Foster got pressure on Maryland quarterback Kasim Hill on third-and-7 from the Texas 34, resulting in an incomplete pass and a punt by the Terps. It was a huge play considering Maryland started their drive at the UT49 following a 23-yard punt by Bujcevski.

Anthony Wheeler was back on the field for Texas in the second half after serving a half-game suspension for targeting in last season’s Texas Bowl. Following the safety recorded by Texas with 1:27 left in the half, Maryland kicked off out of bounds at the Texas 24, resulting in a 26-yard penalty, giving the Longhorns the ball at the 50.

TEXAS TD NO. 3 WITH :17 LEFT 2Q: After a smart use of timeouts by Texas on Maryland’s last possession, the Longhorns took over at the 50 with 1:27 left in the half and went 50 yards in five plays, capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass from Ehlinger to Collin Johnson with :17 left in the half, cutting Maryland’s lead to 24-22. The five plays saw Ehlinger run it twice for 25 yards and complete 3-of-4, including passes of 17 yards to Jerrod Heard, 6 yards to Kyle Porter and the 22-yarder in the end zone to Johnson. A two-point conversion attempt failed. Texas tried to use the same two-point conversion pass completed by Ehlinger to Cade Brewer in the USC game last year, but this time it was Andrew Beck, and he was covered. Ehlinger looked at Collin Johnson cutting across the back of the end zone but threw the ball away and the half ended with Maryland up, 24-22.

TEXAS SCORES ON SAFETY: Ryan Bujcevski bounced back from a 15-yard shank that helped set up a Maryland touchdown with a 41-yard punt that was downed at the Terps’ 3 by Josh Thompson. Charles Omenihu and Jeff McCulloch combined on a first-down stop for no gain, followed by a stop for no gain by Chris Nelson on second down. Then, Maryland’s Jake Funk mishandled the ball at the goal line and recovered it in the end zone for a safety with McCulloch closing in on him. That cut Maryland’s lead to 24-16 with 1:27 left in the second quarter.

TEXAS TD CUTS MARYLAND LEAD TO 24-14: After falling behind 24-7, Tom Herman suddenly had a play sheet in his hands and appeared to take over play-calling. The result was a six-play, 69-yard drive in just 1:35 in which Texas went up-tempo and ran the ball five times and threw it once. Tre Watson ran it three times for 23 yards and Keaontay Ingram ran it twice for 23 yards, including a 5-yard run into the end zone, cutting Maryland’s lead to 24-14 with 6:51 left in the second quarter.

TEXAS TD TIES GAME AT 7-7: After a nice, 33-yard punt return by Brandon Jones (keyed by a crushing block by Collin Johnson) to the Maryland 39, Devin Duvernay made a layout catch on a post pass from Sam Ehlinger in the end zone, tying the game 7-7 with 9:17 left in the first quarter.

Ryan Bujcevski’s first punt of the season was 56 yards, flipping the field and putting Maryland at its own 22. Cameron Dicker kicked off to the goal line to open the game and had to make the tackle on the return. Dicker lowered his shoulder too (no ankle diving)

BAD

Sam Ehlinger struggled with consistency in the passing game, going 21 of 39 for 263 yards with touchdown passes of 39 yards to Devin Duvernay and 22 yards to Collin Johnson. But his two interceptions with 6:09 left and 1:04 left did little to help him overcome the plague of late turnovers he committed in losses to USC, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech last season. Backup Shane Buechele didn't play Saturday.

TEXAS TURNOVER NO. 3: The Longhorns got a final chance to win the game after taking possession at their own 33 with 2:12 left. Ehlinger completed a 17-yard pass to Lil'Jordan Humphrey to start the drive and completed a 13-yard pass to Devin Duvernay on fourth-and-6, moving the ball to the Maryland 33 with more than a minute still to play. But two straight incomplete passes to Duvernay (when Jerrod Heard was wide open deep) and running back Kyle Porter brought up third-and-10, and Ehlinger floated a pass that was intercepted by the Terps at their own 11 with 1:04 left.

TEXAS TURNOVER NO. 2: Facing third-and-3 from the UT 43, Texas initially appeared to have a first down on a 6-yard pass from Sam Ehlinger to running back Tre Watson. But upon further review, officials ruled Maryland forced the ball loose from Watson before he hit the ground. The Terps had recovered the ball after it came loose, so Maryland was awarded the ball at the Texas 49.

TEXAS TURNOVER NO. 1: Texas hadn’t suffered a turnover all game until Sam Ehlinger, whose arm may have been brushed by a defender, was intercepted with 6:09 left to play on a pass intended for Lil'Jordan Humphrey, giving the Terps the ball at Texas’ 47.

It seemed all of Texas’ penalties on the defense were critical and led to points. But a defensive pass interference call on Kris Boyd with Maryland leading 31-29 and facing third-and-11 from the Terps’ 19 with 10:37 left was just a killer. It extended the Terps’ drive (B.J. Foster would be called for roughing the passer later in the drive, moving the ball from the UT 25 to the UT 13) and ultimately allowed Maryland to run 5:34 off the clock en route to an 18-yard field goal that put the Terps up 34-29 with 6:45 left.

Officials stopped the game at 3:12 pm ET due to severe thunderstorms in the area of FedEx Field. And then UT sent out a note reminding us the last time the Horns were in a weather delay it was the three-hour, six-minute flash-flood at TCU in 2013. (The last time Texas beat the Horny Toads, by the way.)

Last year, Maryland had a game-changing, third-and-20 conversion against Texas in the second half of the Terps’ 51-41 upset of the Longhorns. This year, Maryland was able to overcome third-and-19 (following a 9-yard sack by Kris Boyd) as Kasim Hill threw for 13 yards on third down and then ran for 10 yards on fourth-and-6. Those plays kept alive the Terps’ 11-play, 75-yard drive that ate 4:49 off the clock.

After picking up two first downs on four rushing attempts by Daniel Young for 24 yards, Texas faced third-and-9 from the UT35, and Sam Ehlinger was pressured into a 2-yard loss. Oddly, the Big 12 officiating crew called Ehlinger’s shovel pass a fumble, then later called an identical, failed shovel pass by Maryland’s Kasim Hill (recovered by Texas) an incomplete pass.

A 23-yard punt by Ryan Bujcevski from the UT26 gave Maryland starting field position at the Texas 49 on the Terps’ first possession of the second half.

On UT’s first possession of the third quarter, Ehlinger threw slightly behind a wide-open Lil'Jordan Humphrey on a deep crossing route, and Humphrey tried to trap the ball against his pads instead of catching it with his hands. The ball fell incomplete, erasing a chance for a big play. The drive ended two plays later with a 23-yard punt by Bujcevski.

Daniel Young fielded Maryland’s kickoff to open the second half when it appeared it would have gone out of bounds, giving UT the ball at its own 17 instead of the 35.

After a few nice punts to start, the freshman jitters showed up for Ryan Bucjevski as he shanked a 15-yard punt (to the right) from the Texas 5 that went out at the Texas 20.

MARYLAND GOES UP 24-7 IN 2Q: The Terps took advantage of Ryan Bucjevski’s 15-yard shank, which gave Maryland the ball at the Texas 20, and scored on the next play as the Jeshaun Jones Show continued. Jones, a true freshman who scored on a touchdown run and reception on his first two college touches, threw a 20-yard TD strike to Taivon Jacobs, putting Maryland up 24-7 with 8:32 left in the second quarter.

Three costly defensive penalties came on the same drive at the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter: Charles Omenihu was called for roughing the passer; Davante Davis was flagged for pass interference; and Gary Johnson was ejected from the game for targeting - all on the same 6-play, 39-yard drive to a Maryland 33-yard field goal that put the Terps up 17-7 with 14:26 left in the second quarter.

GARY JOHNSON EJECTED: On a play in which Maryland was called for holding, Gary Johnson was called for targeting (and ejected) after lowering his shoulder into the helmet of Terps’ QB Kasim Hill, who attempted to slide at the end of a 12-yard run. With 14:46 left in the second quarter, Texas was suddenly without two of its top linebackers, because starter Anthony Wheeler was already suspended from the first half for targeting in last season’s Texas Bowl.

In the first quarter, Texas had seven carries for 10 yards (1.4 ypc). Keaontay Ingram was Texas’ leading rusher with two carries for 4 yards.

With Maryland facing third-and-8 from the Texas 38, Davante Davis was flagged for pass interference on a deep pass near the 5-yard-line, giving the Terps an automatic first down. Davis was beaten on the play, but the ball was underthrown, so Davis, who waited until the last second to turn his head toward the ball, ran into the receiver before the ball arrived.

With Maryland fans chanting “Overrated!” … Ryan Bujcevski’s second punt of the game was nearly blocked by the Terps but ended up traveling 41 yards to the MD26 with 7:18 left in the first quarter. Kris Boyd had a Kasim Hill pass in his hands but dropped it one play before Hill hit true freshman receiver Jeshaun Jones for a 65-yard, catch-and-run touchdown.

MARYLAND GOES UP 14-7 1Q: On third-and-10 from the Maryland 35, Terps’ QB Kasim Hill hit Jeshaun Jones with a 15-yard pass against what appeared to be zone coverage by the Horns, and the wide-open Jones cut upfield with Texas’ B.J. Foster and Davante Davis the closest defenders on the play (and they weren’t that close). The score put Maryland up 14-7 with 8:52 left in the first quarter.

Cameron Dicker’s first two kickoffs were to the Maryland goal line and the MD4. They were returned 33 and 31 yards by Ty Johnson.

Texas’ first offensive possession of the season resulted in five plays for 6 yards. There was a jet sweep to D’Shawn Jamison that got stuffed and a Tre Watson run that got stuffed. Texas’ only first down on the drive came on a pass interference penalty against Maryland on a pass intended for LJ Humphrey.

After a fair catch by Lil'Jordan Humphrey on Ut’s first possession, Texas was flagged for delay of game because of an equipment/uniform violation by Collin Johnson. Johnson had to leave the field, replaced by Brennan Eagles, who then appeared to run the wrong route on an incomplete pass.

After having Maryland at second-and-10 after a batted pass by Breckyn Hager on the first play of the game, the Terps ripped off chunk yardage on a jet sweep to Taivon Jacobs for 13 yards; a catch-and-run reception by Jacobs for 23 yards and another jet sweep by Jeshaun Jones for a 28-yard touchdown run, putting Maryland up 7-0 with 12:52 left in the first quarter.

After Maryland’s first drive, the Terps were averaging 20.5 yards per carry.

UGLY

The Longhorns simply melted down in the final six minutes of a winnable game thanks to critical penalties that extended Maryland scoring drives and three turnovers.

Easier-to-read format

Edited September 2, 2018 by satyanash

[satyanash 14488]

Joseph Cook: Despite offseason emphasis, familiar failings finish Texas, 34-29

Quote

LANDOVER, MD - Develop and finish.mThose two words were placed around the practice fields, inside the facility, and even on t-shirts for players to wear in the offseason. Texas lost several close games last year because they could not take advantage of opportunities to get ahead before the final whistle. To open 2018, Tom Herman’s Longhorns had the same failing.

Sophomore Sam Ehlinger led an offense that turned the ball over in each of its final three possessions, the last an interception trying to force a play on 3rd and 10 with more than a minute to go. Maryland freshman Jeshaun Jones added passing, rushing, and receiving touchdowns in the Terrapins’ 34-29 victory.n“To end the game with three straight turnovers, it’s not good,” Herman said. “It’ll get you beat.”

Texas battled back after falling 24-7 through a quarter and a half. Jones ran for the first touchdown, caught the second touchdown, and found Tavion Jacobs for a 20 yard passing score after taking a handoff on a sweep. Touchdowns for the Longhorns from junior Devin Duvernay and freshman Keaontay Ingram brought the game within 10, and the Longhorns cut it down to a two point game with a safety and a touchdown late in the first half.

The Longhorns took the lead with a Kyle Porter run late in the third, but Maryland took it right back in the first minute fourth quarter on another touchdown run. Right after that score, the game was sent into a one hour and 26 minute delay. Texas had plenty of time to think about not only how to finish, but how to avoid losing to a team without it’s full-time head coach.

“We relaxed,” Herman said. “We knew we only had 14:45left to play. Your possessions are going to be limited. We did not get great field position in that fourth quarter. I think we started at our minus-15 or our minus-10 a couple of those drives, which is pretty disadvantageous when you talk about percentages of scoring.”

Maryland added a field goal with just under seven minutes left to make it a five point game. Texas took the ball over, and Ehlinger followed a 10 yard rush with an interception after a defender made contact with his arm. Texas forced a punt and got the ball back with 4:35. On third down, senior Tre Watson caught a pass reached the first down marker. Upon review, Watson was ruled to have lost the ball prior to being down and Maryland was given the chance to ice it.

The Texas defense made one more stand to give the offense the ball back with no timeouts. After driving to the Maryland 33, Ehlinger was faced with a 3rd and 10. He tried to force a ball into a window, but he overthrew it into the arms of Antoine Brooks. “It’s awful to have three turnovers in the last three drives,” Ehlinger said. “The first one, arm got tipped. Second one, a fumble. Third one, I had to take a chance. Obviously, we need to protect the football to win, but before that we should have never been in that situation.”

The offseason emphasis was developing and finishing. Herman said after the game he didn’t think the team failed in the development area, but it was difficult to see evidence of that with a late turnover once again costing the Longhorns. “Our last three possessions, down by one score, we turned the ball over,” Herman said. “A lot of people are going to want to say this feels a lot like last year. It doesn’t to me.”

Because of the failings in the area the team worked so hard to address, this one might have been tougher than any of the six losses in 2017. “It hurts,” said junior Collin Johnson, who had three catches for 59 yards and a score. “Finish was a huge word for us in all of the offseason. Things didn’t turn out the way we expected it and the way we wanted it to turn out, obviously. But being a mature team, we have to move forward and not look back at it.”

Texas faces Tulsa next weekend in Austin.

 

[satyanash 14488]

(Bobby Burton) Snap Judgments: Second Verse, Same As the First.

Quote

The scene was all too familiar. Texas ball, down by one score with Sam Ehlinger at QB, with plenty of time to pull out the victory. But the same result happened. Again (interception no. 1). And again (Tre Watson fumble). And, finally, again (an ill-advised chuck by Ehlinger). Four times Texas had the ball with a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter. And the Horns never scored. What's more, three straight turnovers on three straight possessions, including two ill-advised and poorly thrown passes by Ehlinger, doomed the Horns.

**

Ehlinger’s fourth-down throw to Devin Duvernay was clutch. So was Duvernay’s catch. Of course, it was all for naught. Ehlinger airmailed a ball two passes later for the third turnover in three possessions.

**

Texas is not snakebit. Texas is bringing these problems on itself. And Ehlinger still can’t seem to stop turning the ball over when it counts the most.

**

How is Texas causing these problems? Well, let's start with an offense that didn't even make a real first down until midway through the second quarter. The first six possessions yielded just one score. And the only first down the Horns earned during those possessions actually was given to them by a Maryland defensive holding penalty. The offense looked so bad that it reminded me of Shawn Watson’s effort against Notre Dame.

**

Even after the poor start, Texas had a chance to come out and take the lead to start the second half. But they didn't. Instead, they sputtered when they needed to be pressing on the pedal.

**

Todd Orlando made some nice defensive adjustments as the game wore on. BJ Foster changed the Horns’ defense when Orlando started putting Foster closer to the line of scrimmage. Foster is this year’s version of Jason Hall. And he is going to be very good long term. And so will Caden Sterns for that matter.

**

The goal line stand in the fourth quarter by the Texas defense was outstanding. A lesser defense let’s Maryland easily go up by two scores. Brandon Jones’ stop on the QB and Sterns’ contention of the play-action pass helped Texas stay in the game. Likewise, the Horns’ three-and-out immediately following Ehlinger’s interception gave the Horns hope. Following Tre Watson’s fumble, Texas held up yet again for another three-and-out (that's three key stops if you're counting). Now, Maryland was being vanilla on the final two drives. But the Texas D did what it needed to in the game’s final minutes. We can’t say the same about the Texas offense.

**

The Texas OL is better this year. But it’s all relative. While better, the OL still can’t get a push up front with any sort of consistency against a middle of the road college defense.

**

Calvin Anderson held up particularly well in pass protection. Sam Cosmi subbed in some for Derek Kersttter but otherwise the OL unit remained the same the entire game.

**

Kris Boyd dropped a sure interception in the first quarter with the game tied 7-7. The very next play? A long touchdown pass by the Terrapins which put Texas chasing for just about the rest of the game.

**

Texas has found its punt returner. If it’s anybody other than Brandon Jones for the rest of his career.

**

The Texas offense was held scoreless the entire fourth quarter. With the game on the line, they produced nothing. Nada.

**

It's clear Malcolm Roach was not prepared for the jet sweep. He mis-played it multiple times in the first half. So much so that he had to come out of the game. Outside of that, the Horns D played fairly well considering Gary Johnson was out of the game so early.

**

Hindsight is 20-20 but Tom Herman going for two near the end of the first half was the wrong call. But it wasn't necessarily the decision to go for two that I had a problem with. It was the play call. Texas had begun to beat Maryland on the ground during the second quarter. But instead of staying on the ground, Herman and staff reverted to what was designed as a throwback pass to the TE that worked against USC a year earlier.

**

Texas can be a good team this year. But until Ehlinger stops turning the ball over, and until the offense gets a "good" start instead of an abysmal one that puts the defense behind the eight ball from the very start, it's going to be more of the same from last year.

**

I thought Maryland did a nice job of accentuating its team strengths early on offense, and really throughout the game. On the other hand, I left this game wondering what the true strengths are of this Texas offense even are. And that's a problem that the Horns either need to figure out, or there are going to be even more Ls this season.

 

[GabrielsHorn 2183]

The snake oil one from BON is spot on. It’s clear that all the words that come out of the coaches mouths are pretty much meaningless. To have this showing after a year of being embarrassed at home is just incredible. 

[Zavala 1384]

Fuck Chip Brown

[Capn81 372]

How are these places still getting subscriptions?

[taybo20 2825]

28 minutes ago, GabrielsHorn said:

The snake oil one from BON is spot on. It’s clear that all the words that come out of the coaches mouths are pretty much meaningless. To have this showing after a year of being embarrassed at home is just incredible. 

That’s where I’m at. Losing respect for coach for saying this shit. It makes him look even stupider. As a fan I feel more embarrassed than I think he feels as the main representative of the team

[satyanash 14488]

26 minutes ago, Capn81 said:

How are these places still getting subscriptions?

Recruiting. They're the primary source of recruiting info for the common man.

[Capn81 372]

Recruiting. They're the primary source of recruiting info for the common man.

Ah

[satyanash 14488]

Mike Finger: Tom Herman still smarter than the rest of us

Absolutely brutal article from the Houston Chronicle.

[Chet Steadman 940]

 

8 hours ago, satyanash said:

Mike Finger: Tom Herman still smarter than the rest of us

Absolutely brutal article from the Houston Chronicle.

What the rest of us need to realize is that Vince Lombardi was wrong. Winning isn't the only thing. And Bill Parcells misspoke when he said a team is what its record says it is.

Lulz. 

Some of us remember the reception he got when he hired Tim Beck as offensive coordinator, despite a bit of a lackluster track record, and when he hired Casey Horny as a quality control assistant, despite his longtime association with a Baylor staff apparently unaware of what was happening in its own program.  Herman's message back then was clear. He knew better than the rest of us.

Ouch.  

[LTtxfan 49189]

8 hours ago, satyanash said:

Mike Finger: Tom Herman still smarter than the rest of us

Absolutely brutal article from the Houston Chronicle.

 Sad article but true.....

Edited September 2, 2018 by LTtxfan

[BrazilHorn 6608]

Those are a lot of articles and a lot of words for "Texas still sucks"

 

[Fozzz 152]

I used to respect Boyd’s opinion quite a bit, and I do think he’s fairly knowledgeable about the game, but I can’t take anything he says about Herman’s program seriously. 

[Shaggy3.0 1695]

How are these places still getting subscriptions?

Yep. $9.95ers are part of the problem.

Echo chamber stuff.

[satyanash 14488]

Bobby Burton: Texas-Maryland Grades

For the second consecutive season, Tom Herman and the Longhorns were served an upset at the hands of the Terrapins. Horns247 publisher Bobby Burton delivers his grades for the Texas offense in the 34-29 loss to Maryland.

Quarterback

His stat line doesn't look horrible (21-39 for 263 yards, two TDs and two INTs). But they don't tell the real story of Sam Ehlinger's day. Ehlinger was slow to start and finished so poorly that it brought back memories of previous losses that the Horns shouldered a year ago because their QB turned the ball over in crucial situations. Sure, Ehlinger showed some signs of life in the passing game, connecting on a deep ball to Devin Duvernay for the Horns' first score. He also connected on a pair of nice passes to Collin Johnson. His fourth-quarter fourth-down completion to Devin Duvernay was outstanding. And he managed the game ok. But it's important to note that he ultimately reverted to what he did a year ago. He threw a ball up for grabs with the game on the line. And that is THE story. Ehlinger hasn't progressed enough; he lacks consistent accuracy, a feel for situations and is often too slow making correct decisions. Better QB play and the Horns somehow escape with a win.

Grade: C-

Running back

While Keaontay Ingram flashed some talent, it was clear the Horns' staff felt like Tre Watson was their go-to back with the game on the line. And the No. 2 back with the game on the line? Well, it appeared to be Kyle Porter, perhaps because of his ability to pass protect. Not that he was called on to do much of that. Daniel Young also had a pair of nice runs. But Watson's fumble and the lack of a big play by any RB makes this grade come up short.

Grade: C

Receivers

The Texas receivers are a better group overall than they were a year ago. Duvernay, Johnson and Lil'Jordan Humphrey all have the makings of solid receivers. And they each have skills that they showcased on Saturday. But that's only part of the game. Their blocking on the perimeter continues to be horrid. Multiple times receivers missed blocks. And it wasn't just one of them, either. Perhaps the best blocker as a receiver is Duvernay, and that's despite his smaller stature than the other two starters.

Grade: C+

Tight ends

Andrew Beck and Cade Brewer shared time at tight end. Beck got the start and saw the lion's share of opportunities. Beck was a more-than-solid blocker but wasn't much of a receiving threat. Brewer had one of the few third-down conversions on a nice catch and run over the middle. It was a play that Beck probably doesn't make because he lacks the speed or fluid athleticism. Regardless, why Beck ever lines up outside the hashes is beyond me. But that's not really a problem.

Grade: C+

Offensive line

After looking uninspired for the entire first quarter, the Texas offensive front was able to help establish a semblance of a run game, gave Ehlinger more than enough time to throw and a relatively clean pocket for much of the day. Of course, the Terps weren't blitzing often or even sending more than three or four rushers all day. The best news though is that Calvin Anderson held up remarkably well in pass protection. If you're looking for an overall bright spot on offense, it's the OL, which is no longer the clear weakest link on this side of the ball. But it was far from a perfect performance. Zach Shackelford and Elijah Rodriguez still allowed too much interior push, and Patrick Vahe didn't get much movement at all. Still, it's a vast improvement from 2017.

Grade: C+

Offense

The Horns put up more than 400 yards of offense, but they were so poor out of the gate that it put the entire team in make-up mode for much of the game. The QB play was spotty at best and there were no big plays out of the RB position. The offense's utter inability to score in the final quarter was their real undoing. For sake of clarity, the Texas O got the ball exactly four times in the fourth quarter, only ever needing a single touchdown to take back the lead. Yet they didn't score a single point, and, instead, committed three turnovers on their final three possessions. Maybe it was the play calling, maybe it was the turnovers, maybe it was a QB who seems a little slow as a passer. Whatever the cause, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that the Texas O didn't make the plays when it needed to, and it had four chances to do so. So for that, the grade speaks for itself. You can't put lipstick on a pig.

Grade: F

*********

Texas' 2018 season did not start off the way the Longhorns hoped after they fell to Maryland 34-29, marking Tom Herman's second-straight defeat in a season opener as head coach. Horns247 publisher Bobby Burton delivers his grades for the Texas offense in the 34-29 loss to Maryland.

Defensive line

The defensive front played reasonably well, holding Maryland to just 3.1 yards per carry (and that yardage total includes just one sack). Ta'Quon Graham made a couple of really strong plays, as did Chris Nelson. Breckyn Hager did not have a great game. It was clear early on that the Terps had cleverly decided to mitigate and take advantage Hager's aggressiveness with jet sweeps. Charles Omenihu also played ok but his roughing the passer penalty ultimately cost Texas points. Nelson's push on a fourth-and-one play gave Texas field position inside the Maryland 40 and led to the Horns only TD of the second half.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Malcolm Roach was not prepared for the jet sweep. He was abused by it for the game's first touchdown and had problems with it every time he was in the game. Jeffrey McCulloch fared much better but even McCulloch missed a tackle on the Terps' final touchdown. Anthony Wheeler was solid in the second against the run. The Texas LBs were beat badly in the first half, mostly because of Roach's inability to defend the sweep and Gary Johnson's eviction from the game for targeting. In the second half, the linebackers gained their footing and played well. But it was the poor first half that really stands out.

Grade: C-

Secondary

Texas gave up the one big play that you can expect when you're playing two freshman safeties simultaneously. Kris Boyd also had a big pass interference penalty in the fourth quarter and dropped what should have been an easy interception in the first quarter. The play of Brandon Jones was impressive overall. Jones really filled well in run support the entire game for maybe the first time in his career at Texas. B.J. Foster and Caden Sterns also had some nice plays. Sterns' play on a play-action pass in the fourth quarter was outstanding. Davante Davis' injury forced Kobe Boyce into action. Boyce was clearly getting picked on at one point until Maryland started focusing all of its attention on running the ball in the final quarter with the lead.

Grade: C+

Defense

It wasn't a dominating performance, but the Texas D put the Texas offense in position to have the ball four times in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead, by forcing two three-and-outs and making a goal-line stand to keep it to just a one score Maryland lead. No, it wasn't a stellar performance overall by the Texas D, but it should have been enough to win, especially after such a poor first half showing against the run. For the second straight year, the Terps out-flanked Texas with speed to the outside. At least this year, it really only took Texas a half to adjust.

Grade: C

Special Teams

Brandon Jones was a breath of fresh air as a punt returner. He had two nice returns - one that set up Texas' first score and a second that gave Texas good field position on the Horns' final drive. The kick coverage unit seemed a little lax while the kick return team never really got anything going. The punting game was a mixed bag, which is what was expected given that it was Ryan Bujcevski's first-ever American football game. His one bad punt cost Texas points, but he also had a couple of nice boots, too. One of those led to a Texas getting a safety.

Grade: C+

[satyanash 14488]

InsideTexas Report Card - Maryland

We had a very inconsistent game. We slept walked thru the first quarter before joining the fight in the second. The second half wasn't our finest moment but in my opinion the biggest mistakes are very correctable if we go about it professionally. We need help both inside and outside the white lines. We had some really bright spots that are going to pay huge dividends if we can decide to eliminate the obvious and concentrate on the strong points in reference to our personnel. We shoot our own selves too damn often. We refuse to be patient at critical times. We depend on weaker personnel to make the difference instead of featuring our best options.

The Oline busted a few individual assignments but overall played winning football. Sam Cosmi had several big time drive blocks and more than held his own pass blocking. Calvin Anderson was very consistent at LT . Vahe was good with the exception of two bad pass protections. Shack had three bad plays but overall was much improved from last season. Rodriguez had his best game with only two bad plays. Kerstetter had skate problems in pass pro and run wasn't much better at times.

Beck had too many finesse blocks with too little contact but did have one nice catch. Brewer had one nice catch but probably didn't play enough plays. Johnson had a good game receiving but his blocking might get someone hurt on those screens. Duvernay had a nice game with one fantastic td catch---his blocking isn't getting the job done either. Humphrey had another solid game but did have one bad drop. LJH's blocking falls into line with the others---we seem to have a pattern unfortunately. Watch the Maryland WR blocking our guys---you can't be a complete football player if you neglect one critical aspect of your assignments.

Ingram is exactly what the Dr. ordered---raw talent that will have a few wtf's but will make some jaw breaking attaboys to make up for the inexperience. Watson has skills but might be best utilized as a part-time specialist. The best thing about both newcomers is they are willing to block a blitzing backer. Young didn't attack early---that was his strongest asset last fall. Porter is a part time specialist that is overused right now.

My only comment about the QB situation is it's obvious we need a better passer than the position offered yesterday. If we are going to run a QB oriented offense without the QB keeping off the zone we damn sure better be able to throw effectively. Maybe the staff needs to rethink exactly what they want the position to deal and deliver because right now we are very predictable and easy to defend.

We had too many plays where one individual player busted his assignment while the others graded out well. This tends to make the overall individual grades appear higher than they should be. There is hope for this offense but we must find the key to getting better at the key point of our offense. Here are the grades---remember anything lower than a B is not winning football at that position.

11---Sam---C+

21---Porter---B

32---Young---B-

5---Watson---B+

26---Ingram---A-

6---Duvernay---A-

9---Johnson---B+

13---Heard---B+

14---Moore---B

17---Jamison---B

82---Eagles---B

84---Humphrey---B+

47---Beck---B

80---Brewer---B+

52---Cosmi---A-

56---Shack---B

66---Anderson---B+

68---Kerstetter--B-

72---Rodriguez---B+

77---Vahe---B

Questions or comments are always appreciated.

**************************************************

We allowed one single play to gash our defensive plan and along with not defending an accurate passing attack very well we did not play up to our potential yesterday. It's strictly an opinion but it doesn't appear our defensive staff devises their plan as well against motion and/or option as well as wide open spreads. We didn't have the correct adjustments for the jet sweep and it killed us. 

We had too many missed tackles but when you are talking about open field space take downs you are going against the toughest assignments in the game. We failed tackles and especially angles on the jet sweep. Instead of the safe but sure angle we often undercut trying to make the big play and wound up grabbing air. We never understood that inside stunts (mugging the A gap) wasn't exactly effective versus the jet sweep or a scrambling QB. 

We had a couple of tough penalties that continued scoring drives. We screened/picked each other on a long td pass. We received big games from Brandon Jones, Kris Boyd and Davante Davis even though Boyd dropped a gimme and had a tough penalty in coverage and Davis went out with a neck injury.

Sterns had a very solid game but will give more help once he gets over the thrill of it all. Foster is a big time player that stood out blitzing and slamming runs. Foster arrived several times with a bad attitude. Locke has problems as a nickel. He's not comfortable in space, taking on and getting off of lead blocks, and is lost in pass coverage. Boyce played coverage safe and made a few nice tackles. 

We can be better in the secondary. We must improve our eliminating the big plays. Scrimmage runs must be attacked better. We must eliminate running into each other in coverage. There is too much talent to be average in our secondary.

Jeff McCulloch was our best backer yesterday. Wheeler was better than last year but is a liability in pass coverage. Roach was reduced to a spectator yesterday. We know he is an aggressive attacker (as a DL) while he watched the game yesterday as a LB. Gary Johnson missed MJ much more than many realized. Gary wasn't allowed to fly around as much and then he committed the cardinal sin. 

Chris Nelson had his best game and it was a Poona type effort. Nelson's play on the GL and short yardage is the thing that needs to be made into a training film for the how to do's. Omenihu had a costly penalty on a roughing call and a failure to get into a stance on a big third down. Hager was taken out of his comfort zone with those damn jet sweeps but did get a batted pass. Graham is a good player that needs more snaps---Charles and Hager played too many. Bimage needs more snaps---same reason. Wilbon had a good game until the hands to face penalty.  Here are the grades. 

90---Omenihu---B

44---Hager---B

49---Graham---B+

97---Nelson---A-

94---Wilbon---B

23---McCulloch---B+

33---Johnson---B

45---Wheeler---B

32---Roach---C+

2---Boyd---B+

7---Sterns---B+

11---Locke---B-

18---Davis---B+

19---Jones---A-

25---Foster---A-

38---Boyce---B

Questions or comments are always appreciated.

[Lucid 3]

10 minutes ago, satyanash said:

21---Porter---B

Edited September 2, 2018 by Lucid

[satyanash 14488]

Chip Brown: Time for one of those $5 million decisions by Tom Herman

LANDOVER, Md. — Some sequels are better than others. Godfather II? Money. Caddyshack II? Not so much. So where does that leave us with Maryland Flop II: This time at FedEx Field on the heels of Maryland Flop I: No Pixie Dust? Well, it leaves Tom Herman getting taken apart like a piñata by pundits for becoming the first coach in Texas history to open back-to-back seasons with losses to an unranked team… or for losing to a team without its head coach … or for not producing an offense anywhere close to those of rivals Lincoln Riley and Jimbo Fisher in Week 1 … (you get the point).

On days like Saturday, Herman gets paid $5 million a year to make sure he and his players tune out the noise. Just like at this time last year, after the debut of Maryland Flop I: No Pixie Dust. So it’s time for Herman to head off Razzie voters and make one of those $5 million decisions, which really shouldn't be that hard: Give junior quarterback Shane Buechele the start next Saturday against Tulsa.

And if Buechele struggles, use one of freshman quarterback Cameron Rising’s four “redshirt” games to see if he can consistently move the offense. Before Longhorn Nation melts down at the thought or thinks this is some knee-jerk reaction to yet another banana-in-the-tailpipe, upset loss by Texas to an "inferior," double-digit dog (see BYU and Cal before Maryland), hear me out.

This is about competition. It's about the great fall camps of Buechele and Rising, by Herman's own admission, and the fact Ehlinger is a football-playing warrior who could move to H-back or linebacker tomorrow and become a starter, because he's that much of a football player. Here's the bottom line: Unlike last year’s belly flop in Austin against the Terrapins (Maryland Flop I: No Pixie Dust), when Buechele played the whole game, this year’s season-opening, Razzie magnet - Maryland Flop II: This time at FedEx Field, including a 1 hour, 26-minute weather delay just to string out the drama/misery, wasn’t the fault of the offensive line. 

Maryland’s defense had just one sack, and Texas’ Tre Watson (12 carries, 52 yards, 4.3 ypc) and freshman Keaontay Ingram (six carries, 37 yards, 6.2 ypc, and a TD) had room to run thanks to the big fellas up front. The backs weren’t the problem (with the exception of Kyle Porter’s huge dropped pass on second-and-10 from the Maryland 33 on UT’s final drive … more on that in a second). And the receivers, who were often open but unspotted, weren’t the problem.

Just a bad game for Ehlinger? Who was often slightly off target even on his completions? Or a lack-of-field awareness that tends to be at its ugliest late in close games, leading to poor decisions/turnovers that could keep this Texas team from growing into what it’s supposed to become? Or maybe it's not that complicated. Maybe Ehlinger just needs a little time to watch from the sideline.

At this point, Herman, offensive guru-turned-piñata or not, Razzie nominee or not, can’t afford to guess. As Herman said after Maryland Flop II: This time at FedEx Field, Texas’ primary goal of competing for a Big 12 title is still on the table. And it is … for now. Conference play doesn't start until Sept. 22 against TCU (the last team Texas had a weather delay against — in 2013 — which also happens to be the last time the Horns beat the Horny Toads).

Because of the strong fall camps of Buechele and Rising, Herman has a relatively straightforward decision. Let me interrupt this movie review to say I don’t worry about Ehlinger as a football player, because he’s just that - a football player. Ehlinger plays quarterback with a linebacker’s mentality. Heck, if you moved him to H-back or linebacker (a la Iowa State's Joel Lanning last season), Ehlinger would be on the field, thriving as a starter at one of those positions, in no time. Football player!

Here are the facts — despite all the negatives in Saturday's Maryland Flop II: This Time At FedEx Field (here are just a few):

- The offense converting just 3 of 15 third downs …

- Kris Boyd dropping a sure interception right before Maryland scored on a 65-yard pass in the first quarter, helping turn Terps' true freshman Jeshaun Jones into the first college football player to run, catch and throw for a touchdown in a single game since Dak Prescott …

- Porter inexplicably playing in the second half instead of Ingram …

- Critical penalties by veteran defensive players, including the first-half ejection of star linebacker Gary Johnson for targeting, extending Maryland scoring drives …

Despite all of those negatives (and more), Texas played stellar sudden-change defense late in the game (including a huge stop by star defensive player Brandon Jones — announced after the game as having a high-ankle sprain — on second-and-goal from the 1), and gave the offense three straight chances to take the lead/win at the end of the game. Instead, the offense turned it over three straight times, twice on Ehlinger interceptions.

Now, when a defense knows Ehlinger has to throw, it drops eight into coverage like Texas Tech did last year in the final minutes, picking him off twice. Maryland dropped eight with Texas facing third-and-10 from the Maryland 33 on UT’s final drive, with just more than a minute left, and the Terps clinging to a 34-29 lead. Ehlinger threw it up for grabs. Interception. Game over. After the game, Ehlinger said you’re going to have to “take chances” in a situation like that, adding he simply overthrew his target.

Asked if Buechele would be back in the starting picture after Maryland Flop II: This Time at FedEx Field, Herman said, “I’m not ready to answer that.” If Buechele had the camp Herman said he did (and Rising did, too, from enough people who would know), then Herman owes it to Buechele and the team to give the junior a chance to jumpstart the offense next Saturday. If Buechele struggles, then it will be time to get Rising on the field.

Again, I don’t say this to incite a riot. From multiple sources, Rising has a football IQ and presence in the pocket beyond his years, commands the offense and runs better than you think at 230 pounds. In addition to my own eyes, there are a number of people I trust who say Rising is going to be a star quarterback at Texas. Who knows? You have to see it on the field to find out.

USC is starting a quarterback who should be a senior in high school (J.T. Daniels). So, let’s not get into glass ceilings for a true freshman quarterback possibly having to face the difficulty of Texas' schedule ahead. With solid coaching and a good plan of attack, star quarterbacks, whether a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior — reveal themselves quickly. See Alabama’s Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Tim Tebow at Florida, Jamelle Holieway at OU … the list goes on.

Give the start next week against Tulsa to Buechele. If naming Ehlinger the starter over Buechele was Herman’s hardest quarterback decision as a coach or coordinator, then Herman owes it to Buechele — and the rest of the team — to start him next week. If the offense hums and Texas wins next week, you give Buechele the start at home against USC on Sept. 15.

If Buechele handles business, you stay with the “hot hand,” the term used by Herman when talking about why — shaking my head — Texas played Watson and Porter in the second half at running back instead of Ingram, who had the team’s best yards-per-carry average (6.2). (Really shaking my head at why Herman didn't play Ingram instead of Porter in the second half, if you haven't noticed.)

If Buechele struggles next week, it'll be time to look at Rising. It's called competition. Every position has it. Only Jerry Jones believes his starting quarterback shouldn't be surrounded by another quarterback who could come in and beat the competition. While Ehlinger showed, at times, he can step up in the pocket on Saturday, he still struggles with accuracy and seeing the entire field. Even on one of Ehlinger’s touchdown passes, to Devin Duvernay, who was wide open, Duvernay had to lay out to make a 39-yard reception in the end zone.

Ehlinger had time to throw Saturday, but most of his passes, even the completions, were just off target. A 17-yard pass to Jerrod Heard on first-and-20 late in the second quarter was so low, Heard had to go to the ground to catch it, costing him yards after the catch. If Ehlinger hits Lil'Jordan Humphrey in stride on a deep crossing route to start the third quarter, instead of behind him (still a ball that probably should’ve been caught), it goes for a huge gain — if not a touchdown.

Two plays later, on third-and-6 from the UT 31, Ehlinger overthrew a wide-open Joshua Moore, leading to a 23-yard punt by Ryan Bujcevski. Maryland’s defense wasn’t as good as Texas' 3-of-15 conversions on third down. As much as I, Herman and his teammates love the grit, toughness and passion of Ehlinger, and we all do, this was a winnable game if the quarterback play was there.

Just like Herman left Ehlinger on the sideline last year during Maryland Flop I: No Pixie Dust, Herman left Buechele on the sideline and stuck with Ehlinger until the bitter end of Maryland Flop II: This Time At FedEx Field, and it was, just that, a bitter end. I’ve said since the middle of fall camp, Texas has two — maybe three — quarterbacks it can win with. One didn’t pass the season-opening test. On to the next two. Competition. If Buechele had started and had a game like Saturday, Ehlinger would be spitting blood for the right to start next week. Competition.

According to Herman, every position has to be won every day in practice and in every game. The solution may not sound pleasant to fans, who abhor the idea of a quarterback rotation or controversy or whatever lazy critics call competition at that position these days. But Herman gets paid $5 million a year to make sure the best quarterback is on the field. So, it’s time to make sure the best quarterback is on the field ... and that we never have a Razzie-loving movie and sequel like ... nevermind.

[ClubWhatever 12144]

Overall I think that coach Vs comments are spot on.  One lulz was the roach as spectator comment.  Having a DL at LB did not help against an offense whose goal was to attack our edges.

[ClubWhatever 12144]

Hmm.  I wonder whose job it is on the staff to teach WR blocking.  That guy must be a helluva recruiter.  

[Knoxtnhorn 5976]

8 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Overall I think that coach Vs comments are spot on.  One lulz was the roach as spectator comment.  Having a DL at LB did not help against an offense whose goal was to attack our edges.

I didn't get this either.  As previously stated, I never played organized football.  But why put a 270 player at MLB?  Especially, in the Big 12.  Makes no sense to me unless we're playing the wishbone or something.

[Red Five 40859]

Hmm.  I wonder whose job it is on the staff to teach WR blocking.  That guy must be a helluva recruiter.  

Well sure they can’t block. But at least they can’t run routes either.

[satyanash 14488]

USA Today: Don't be so surprised by the latest Texas loss to Maryland

[softlynow 1815]

6 hours ago, Fozzz said:

I used to respect Boyd’s opinion quite a bit, and I do think he’s fairly knowledgeable about the game, but I can’t take anything he says about Herman’s program seriously. 

He’s become the Tom Herman of football analysts: he knows better than you, so fuck your opinion. 

[TtomTerrific 200]

Why is PJ Locke a "lock" to start all of these games with all of the Db's that we have?

The staff's affinity for him, despite what he shows on gameday, rivals only its affinity for both Porter and Tim Beck 

[Skyline 325]

Max Olson:

 

Spoiler

Oops, Texas did it again.

The preseason No. 23-ranked (we’ll get to that) Longhorns came up short again in an exceedingly winnable game, a 34-29 loss to Maryland at puddle-covered FedEx Field. Tom Herman’s squad was granted countless chances to retake the lead in the fourth quarter. Its final three offensive drives ended in turnovers.

Herman insists this Texas team is better now than at any point last season, yet this game played out in strangely similar fashion to its season-opening loss to the Terps a year ago. But, hey, it played out like a lot more games we’ve seen from the Longhorns in recent years. Texas has 15 losses by margins of seven points or fewer since 2014. No other Power 5 program has endured more close losses. And seven of those losses have come against unranked opponents.

There’s really no point in pointing to any one thing — an 86-minute weather delay, a soaked field, a still-spotty run game, a targeting ejection for Gary Johnson, a Sam Ehlinger interception — to explain why Texas lost this one. The Longhorns played tight and timid again against Maryland and the Terps went right after them without hesitation.

“A lot of people are going to want to say this feels a lot like last year,” Herman told reporters. “It doesn’t to me.”

Maybe he’s saying that out of a belief that this team ends up being way better than his last one. But it’s not there yet. Despite talking constantly about finishing and repping two-minute drills and preparing for this exact opportunity throughout the offseason, Texas’ offense wasn’t ready to get the job done. There’s clearly plenty to clean up before the Longhorns take on USC in two weeks.

As for that preseason top-25 ranking: C’mon, voters. Quit making this silly mistake of reserving Texas a spot at the big boys’ table until it actually does something to earn it. The Longhorns are very much a work in progress, and at this point it’s foolish to confidently predict when their reemergence as a national power might occur. Just because Texas might have good, experienced players doesn’t mean it has experience winning these hard, close games.

If you watched Oklahoma and West Virginia on Saturday, you clearly saw how wide the gap remains between Texas and Big 12 title contention. The Longhorns might be a month away. They might be another year away. Maybe it’s worse than that. But regardless, the best approach with this Texas program, for the time being, should be the following: Believe it when you see it.

 

[satyanash 14488]

(USA Today) Misery Index: Trouble in Texas as Tom Herman begins second season with another flop

Quote

For most of the great coaching tenures, Year 2 is when the magic happens. Nick Saban jumped from eight wins to 10 at LSU in his second year, then from six to 12 at Alabama. Urban Meyer’s Year 2 records were 9-3 (Bowling Green), 12-0 (Utah) and 13-1 (Florida). Bob Stoops won the national title in his second season at Oklahoma, Steve Spurrier went 10-2 at Florida and Pete Carroll went 11-2 at Southern California. No matter what the roster looked like when those coaches arrived, Year 2 was when the culture took hold, the misfits were weeded out and the ultimate destination came into focus. It’s happened over and over again for a reason: For all the talk about patience, the great coaches typically only need two years to start showing greatness.

That’s a big reason why Tom Herman is going to be under the microscope in a big way at Texas this season, and why the fans’ reaction to a season-opening 34-29 flop at Maryland was so intense. It may not be time to panic quite yet, but that moment isn’t too far over the horizon.

 

[satyanash 14488]

(Scipio Tex) Texas-Maryland Post-Mortem: Defense, Special Teams

Slow and steady can't win the race against a tortoise when it's a Texas linebacker chasing a jet sweep. This opener against the Turtles was a proving ground to show that Todd Orlando's defense (or maybe our personnel) aren't peculiarly susceptible to spread option assignment football as they showed last year against Maryland and KSU and in various situational snippets throughout the 2017 season. Unfortunately, those questions still linger.

The Longhorn defense wasn't the disaster it was last year against the Terps, when they surrendered a season high 8.3 yards per play, but our Mid-Atlantic masters still gained 407 yards on 80 plays and scored 34 points, a total output that was a testament to their efficiency of opportunity (or more accurately: Texas' ability to hand them fresh downs and free yards with penalties or blown fundamentals) and evidence of a fast start that saw them up 24-7 with a lot of clock left in the 2nd quarter.

While Matt Canada's offense was easy enough to scout that I could tell you all the stuff you'd see back in June, actually doing something about it on the field requires checks and coordination between players in the moment and a larger understanding of how to stop Maryland from getting to the edge and creating assignment conflict. That's hard absent clear vocal leadership at safety and linebacker and seniors playing like seniors across the board. Malcolm Roach was clearly too inexperienced at MLB to make checks and too slow to get to the edge even when unblocked and experienced seniors like Gary Johnson, Charles Omenihu, Brecklyn Hager, PJ Locke and Kris Boyd didn't seem to understand how they were being attacked for portions of the game.

Let's look critically at Maryland's scores:

Touchdown, 7-0, Maryland. 6 plays, 67 yards. Key play: 28 yard Jeshuan Jones jet sweep. Texas gets outnumbered to the wide side. That ain't good. Hager takes a bad angle on a free release, but it's not on him. Johnson and Roach are unblocked and #32 is way, way too slow to get to the edge. PJ Locke catches fan ire here, but he's outnumbered against a runner with a two-way go and Brandon Jones is in the same boat. Easy touchdown. Maryland left half of the Texas defense unblocked and bullied the rest. Time to hit the white board...

Touchdown, 14-7, Maryland. 3 plays, 65 yards. Key play: Jones 65 yard catch. Occurred on 3rd and 10, which is particularly egregious. Locke and Davis are in man coverage. They make a fundamental mistake by lining up at exactly the same depth pre-snap, which sets them up to pick each other (Maryland's guys just cross, Boyd and Davis rub each other, there is no Maryland pick needed). These DBs should be staggered in depth or, if we want to show neutral alignment, they must know to pass off crossers. Both Maryland receivers are wide open for a TD on the play - Hill just took the easier throw.

Good news: this is easy to correct. Bad news: two senior DBs showed very poor fundamentals against a high school route concept.

Field goal, 17-7, Maryland. 6 plays, 39 yards. Key play: 3 Texas 15 yard penalties. Charles Omenihu commits a senseless 15 yard roughing penalty that puts the ball on the UT40. Davante Davis commits a PI on 3rd and 8 to put ball on UT 23. Gary Johnson commits 15 yard targeting penalty on Kasim Hill on 3rd and 8. Ejection. That's 45 yards, two third down bail outs, best LB ejected. Maryland did nothing here. Bad football, y'all.

Touchdown, 24-7, Maryland. 1 play, 20 yards. Key play: Jones to Jacobs, 20 yard jet sweep pass. Maryland gets the ball on the UT20 after a 15 yard punt. Attacks freshly inserted Kobe Boyce with jet sweep pass. Easy TD. Once you see Jones getting depth on the jet sweep, you knew what was coming. Good call. Tip your hat.

Touchdown, 31-29, Maryland. 11 plays, 75 yards. Key play: 17 yard Fleet-Davis jet sweep TD. Play side LB McCulloch is totally unblocked and blows a 1 on 1 tackle on a 230 pound RB in embarassing fashion. Boyd can only get an arm on him. Does Maryland's formation look familiar? Same play as the Jeshuan Jones TD. We schemed it right this time (we're not outnumbered), but didn't execute at all. Players gots to play.

Field Goal, 34-29, Maryland. 11 plays, 90 yards. Key play: Kasim Hill, 10 yard run on 4th and 6. Don't watch the end of the run - this play was over 1.5 seconds in. Why do I say that? Check the game situation. 4th and 6, mobile QB, blitzing both inside linebackers, playing man coverage behind. What do you HAVE to do? Contain. The QB will bounce. Nelson is our furthest man outside and goes inside move. The D lost the moment that happened. What Boyd and Foster do is irrelevant. This is situational Defense 101 and bad football. If Nelson did what he was asked and Wheeler had contain and blew his blitz assignment, then that means our other senior captain blew a key call. Or if both executed, Orlando didn't have contain assignments on an interior blitz against a mobile QB with man coverage behind. Getting the picture? While we held them to a field goal, these three points greatly influenced Maryland's game strategy late - you're not running prevent with two pass rushers while up two points with an opponent at midfield.

DL 

Maryland's entire game plan was built around neutralizing our DL, attacking our LBs and testing the football IQ of our secondary.

I love Hager as an interior mismatch inside the tackles. I like him less as a traditional outside blitzer. He's twitchy, but it's alligator speed and he's too easily influenced to get upfield against this type of offense. You can't let an opposing offense leave a playside DL unblocked and not punish them for it as Maryland did repeatedly on its jet sweep series. Our adjustments took a little too long. Omenihu had a nice batted ball and some pressures, but the personal foul was a senseless frustration penalty. Wilbon had a hands to the face penalty less illustrative of frustration but more emblematic of his hand placement and pad level on a pass rush. Chris Nelson was very good for most of the game (the 4th and 1 stop against a double team was epic), but Maryland effectively sprinted away from him for 4 quarters. He doesn't get Poona push inside, but we knew that coming in. We must see more of Ta'Quon Graham. He's good.

LB 

The general wisdom that if you have slow LBs, you have a slow defense certainly held true for Texas in Landover. Slow is embodied by both lack of foot speed to the edge (Roach) and confusion paralysis (everyone). Texas was physically slow and played slow. Jeffrey McCulloch's insertion to play traditional LB was a pleasant surprise and a stabilizing force until he blew the tackle on Fleet-Davis that allowed a Maryland score. Gary Johnson wasn't seeing things very well before his ejection, but perhaps he'd have settled down over the course of the game. We certainly could have used some speed. Roach was a statue on anything outside the tackles and that has a lot do with the lack of reals reps at the position as much as weighing 280. Wheeler was OK when he came in, but he's not increasing our "play fast" out there. Overall, this group is going to be problematic against any team that attacks the edge with deception, but the loss of #33 hurt. I also question their ability to make calls and adjustments. Malik helped there.

DB

Brandon Jones played really good football. He looks so much more fluid and decisive. The lights are on. He led the defense in tackles and he was a dynamic asset in punt returns. The unit's best football IQ may be held by a true freshman safety. You can interpret that as praise for Sterns, if you like. But there's a flip side to that. I love BJ Foster's aggression and physicality. He just needs time and experience. PJ Locke was a whipping boy for Longhorn fans on some high profile plays that weren't completely (or even partially) his fault, but he didn't play well in several other more mundane situations and his our-two-worlds-collide routine with Davante Davis gifted a 65 yard TD on a 3rd and 10. Kobe Boyce came in to replace an injured Davis and struggled early in coverage and wasn't physical in run support, but found much greater comfort in the latter part of the game.

Kris Boyd is one of the most maddening players in Longhorn history. He earned a crucial PI on a third and long, he didn't get a jam on a 34 yard slant route completion, dropped an easy interception that hit him in the chest, and his eye discipline is erratic. He also played physically, covered beautifully for long stretches on an island and made several favorable aggression plays, including a sack. The Boyd Tax is in his athletic DNA.

Special Teams

We have a true freshman placekicker and a true freshman Australian punter. What could go wrong? Bujcevski averaged less than 38 yards a punt and shanked a 15 yarder that set up a Maryland TD. His cousin Michael Dickson was shaky in his debut year as well before becoming the best punter in the NFL. Give him time. Dicker had three touchbacks, converted all PATs and had no field goal attempts. Solid debut for him, but he needs more hang time on kickoffs if he's going to do the pin and place sideline game.

Brandon Jones was terrific returning punts, averaging 18.7 per return and ricocheting off of tackles for two 30 yard returns. Jamison and Humphrey were solid as kick returners though you could see they were working out their "this is real" kinks.

Overall

The Texas D didn't handle Maryland well out of the gate. There are some legitimate excuses for that, but I question our planning around what we knew going in. Jet sweeps are not a Canada secret - it's on the dude's business card. Some turmoil was a consequence of a lack of a strong voice (and clear mind, and fleet feet) at LB to make adjustments the coaches can't make in real time and some of that was a consequence of a back 7 that had their football fundamentals exposed in key moments.

The result was an early 24-7 Terp lead and a bunch of dumb frustration penalties. The D regained composure, made adjustments and rallied to play good football and give the offense a chance, but two key Maryland drives to move the Turtles back ahead 34-29 (totaling 165 yards on 18 plays on some fundamental breakdowns) and a Texas offense unloading AK-47 clips into their own feet on three successive drives after big defensive stops meant no miracle in Maryland.

[Kenny Powers 45]

On 9/1/2018 at 8:33 PM, satyanash said:

Easier-to-read format for the paywalled articles

Trey Scott: Back? Texas never really went anywhere

Eric Nahlin: Thoughts after a disappointing Maryland loss, take two

(Ian Boyd) 5 Quick Thoughts: Crab mentality

Chip Brown: Good, bad, ugly from Texas' 34-29 upset by Maryland

Easier-to-read format

Nahlin hit the nail on the head with the running into loaded boxes and passing every time they dropped 8....that was infuriating to me. Makes me wonder how much freedom the qbs have and if Ehlinger could've switched those plays up. I know at one point he changed the play so...there's at least some freedom. 

[D_Goose 489]

This shit from Boyd on the final Ehlinger INT:

"I'm sure that play will be the focal point of a dozen horrible conversations this week. It's worth noting that Ehlinger was pressured, throwing to his favorite target who happens to be 6-5, and it was third and 10 so there was more than a little pressure to make something happen. The execution was bad, the punishment was an L in the standings. If not for last season, and the last decade really, it would have been an unfortunate ending and a relatively minor stain on Ehlinger's record. Instead, it'll be a talking point for the coming week if not the full season. Joy."

Dude needs to get the fuck out with that shit. The fourth fucking time in what, 8 or 9 career collegiate starts this QB ends a game on an inexplicably idiotic and inexcusable mistake and Boyd's like, "but, but, minor blip, but, but, favorite receiver, but, but [cock gobble slurps cock gobble slurps] under pressure [slurp slurp].

[CurlyDumps 4471]

Are these the same guys who peddled fanfic camp reports for 6 months?

[satyanash 14488]

Inside Texas Inside Scoop: 9/3/18

Let's get straight to the (bullet) points.

-- After going through the full range of emotions, the team is surprisingly calm and confident despite the opening-season loss to Maryland. After Sunday’s video session there's more optimism within the program than you might expect. They found more good than bad, and lots of small fixable things like taking better angles, tackling better, protecting the ball, and less penalties. Some cleaner play gets them out of Maryland with a win.

-- Unfortunately nobody we've talked to really knows why the team came out ill-prepared for the second opener in a row. We have queried quite a few people on that and haven't gotten a response beyond some incoherent mumbling. That's a little concerning, though in sports that happens. It's just at Texas it happens too much and it seemed like this program had moved past that.

-- Sunday was spent largely on fixing mistakes from Saturday. They didn't wear pads but they worked on little teaching points to hammer home mental fundamentals.

-- Poor tackling is said to be a byproduct of players being out of position and also not doing nearly as many tackling drills as previously. That's sort of a damned if you do moment for Tom Herman as he was trying to mitigate wear and tear on his players. Tackling wasn't an issue in practice which speaks to them not being confused in practice.

-- Injury updates: Brandon Jones was walking around on Sunday and should be available for Tulsa. It’ll be determined by how he practices this week. W'e're unsure if he’ll remain at returner for the time being. They might save him in that regard for spot duty or against USC/TCU. As for Davante Davis, he could miss a few games. With neck injuries, there’s always more precaution and Davis still has some discomfort. As of this writing there's no diagnosis on him that we're aware of.

-- Freshman Kobe Boyce was tentative in his first few series, but played better in the 2nd half. Maryland was very smart in taking advantage of Davis' injury and Boyce's soft cushion. If Davis is out awhile, expect Boyce and Anthony Cook to grab those reps.

-- Who will play for Jones if he's out is less certain. Putting BJ Foster back there would mean two true freshman. With Jones as the quarterback in the secondary that's a steep drop-off in understanding in the back end. They'd probably want to keep Foster at Joker. The staff could elect to put PJ Locke back there, and that's a steep drop-off too. We'll monitor that. Maybe Chris Brown gets a chance.

-- Malcolm Roach isn’t a MLB, which we’ve known. He was slow afoot and mentally which is a recipe for what we saw on Saturday. Wheeler is still your Mac, but expect him to get some competition from McCulloch. McCulloch also played Rover for the first time. Texas isn't deep at the position, but if they stay healthy you'll see far superior play going forward.

-- This week should look better with all the linebackers ready. Wheeler makes all the calls, checks, and plugs the middle. Johnson will be back and should help erase plays in space. McCulloch offers 'starter level' depth.

-- We saw some cramping from the players. That was less about being ill-prepared for the heat physically and more about what they wore. Some had on more performance clothing underneath their uniform than they needed and drained sweat.

-- Confidence is still pretty high in Ehlinger despite the late-game turnovers. But the lack of running was troubling. There were too many times he could’ve ran late and didn’t. Almost as if he was asked to hold back or wanted to prove he could make plays from the pocket. Recall we mentioned much less QB run game during camp. We didn't know it would disappear during games too.

-- The staff benching Keaontay Ingram after the 6:20 mark in the 2nd quarter might be confusing to some but we've emphasized how big the staff is on trust. We're not defending the staff, but there should be no surprise that occurred. Like we said during camp, he'll be your starter sooner rather than later.

-- Can you remember the last time a Texas offense scored a rushing TD, passing TD, Collin-Devin-LJH all played well, and there were 1st down converting strikes to two tight ends? Not to mention a strong debut from the offensive line? This offense is much better, but still has some fine-tuning. 

-- From the start of the 2nd quarter, the offense started moving the ball. That’s not a coincidence. Coach Herman became much more involved in play-calling. To the point, he’s probably your de facto OC. We'll have more commentary on that when the time comes. In his press conference he'll probably state the same things he's been saying about play-calling, but that cat's pretty much out of the bag. Hell, I've seen a handful of comments from people stating he called plays.

-- For it being his first game action, Sam Cosmi was outstanding at RT. His emergence gives Herb Hand some flexibility with Kerstetter. It’ll be interesting if Derek takes snaps at an interior position this weekend. We'll of course monitor that. Just getting guys in the right position improves this team immediately.

-- We're feeling confident we'll see some depth chart shake-ups, but we're not sure if this group of starters gets one more bite at the apple before that happens. Kerstetter is probably already passed in the minds of the staff. PJ Locke is in trouble. Wheeler is the starter but McCulloch is on his heels. Look for more Ingram. You may also see Ta'Quon Graham get more run with the ones.

[utexas8 1442]

Inside Tom Herman Scoop: 9/3/18

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BigHorn'13 3363]

52 minutes ago, Kenny Powers said:

Nahlin hit the nail on the head with the running into loaded boxes and passing every time they dropped 8....that was infuriating to me. Makes me wonder how much freedom the qbs have and if Ehlinger could've switched those plays up. I know at one point he changed the play so...there's at least some freedom. 

Especially on the last drive. We had over a minute left and the convenience of stopping the clock with each first down, plus we were near midfield. If they want to go prevent you use your mobile quarterback and check the fuck down to RBs to punish them into having to go to a more conventional defense. But no... 

[Texasrocks 2134]

On 9/2/2018 at 12:55 PM, ClubWhatever said:

Hmm.  I wonder whose job it is on the staff to teach WR blocking.  That guy must be a helluva recruiter.  

I just rewatched the game and I saw exactly 1 semi-competent WR block (from LJH in the 3rd quarter that allowed a 3-4 yard gain). Those guys couldn't block for shit and yet we kept running plays that required them to do so. It's not like they were getting open either. 

[satyanash 14488]

Jeff Howe: Sobering defeat brings everything into question for Longhorns

Quote

LANDOVER, Md. — The worst thing about Texas failing to show up for the start of Saturday’s season opener against Maryland then clawing their way back into the game, taking the lead heading into the fourth quarter only to squander a chance to walk out of FedEx Field with a win is that it brings everything into question.

Everything. The long-term viability of Tom Herman as an answer, whether or not Texas has a quarterback capable of winning at a consistent level, whether the offense needs to be completely overhauled, why Deloss Dodds and Co. valued giving the burnt orange faithful a destination non-conference road trip over a gimme game when making future schedules — no entity, idea or person is beyond reproach with Texas now just four games above .500 in the current decade and optimism for things improving taking a nosedive after the latest on-field debacle.

As Texas alums and Longhorn fans across the country cope with the program continuing to be a punchline for national pundits and rival fanbases, the Longhorns are left to pick up the pieces from another deflating defeat. A 34-29 loss to Maryland, a team not void of talent (Maryland boasts NFL talent in some spots) but likely to finish no better than fourth in the Big Ten East this season (such is life when sharing a division with Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State), accounts for the program’s latest what-the-heck-was-that moment in non-conference play that’s provided a sobering dose of reality in seven of the last nine seasons.

For the second year in a row, Herman couldn’t get the Longhorns to avoid blowing out a tire before entering the freeway to begin the long journey that is a college football regular season. The beginning of Saturday’s game showed, once again, Herman and the coaches failed to have their bunch ready to roll out the gate. The second and third quarters might be the most frustrating part of the program's 49th loss since the start of the 2010 season because the middle portion of the game featured an offense that found a rhythm and some things that were working, along with a defense that settled in and put the clamps on the Maryland offense.

Like a bad movie — or the 2017 regular season for the Longhorns — nobody remembers the middle being good. If the beginning and the end were abysmal, which the open and close to the Maryland game were, the universal opinion of the product will be far from favorable.

Some might find a silver lining in Herman claiming the loss didn’t feel like any of the six from last season and his players echoed the sentiment about a five-point loss — to a team the Longhorns were favored to beat by 13 points — not being the end of the world. Regardless if that’s really the case or not, everything on the Forty Acres is now under a microscope.

Herman has lost whatever goodwill he had with the burnt orange faithful, who’ve grown tired of seeing offseason hype and internal optimism give way to in-season disappointment over and over while the players — although they’re bigger, stronger and faster than they were last season — are out of excuses as to why things didn’t work on the field. Trying too hard and citing a lack of execution isn’t a message anyone that’s been following the program through a descent into mediocrity will buy. The same goes for not letting a loss to Maryland beat Longhorns twice, which happened on Saturday for the second time in as many meetings.

To put the loss into perspective, Maryland — who joins BYU (2-1), Cal (2-0) and UCLA (2-1) as mid-level Power Five programs to own a winning non-conference record over Texas this decade — has five victories against FBS opponents since Oct. 22, 2016 and two of them have come against the Longhorns.

No matter how you slice it, Texas lost to a Power Five program that’s no better than the middle of the road in their own conference. Unfortunately, until the Longhorns prove otherwise, 30 losses in the program’s last 53 games — a run that dates back to a 30-10 loss to Baylor Dec. 7, 2013, when the Longhorns played for the Big 12 title — suggests Texas is no better.

Let’s start with Herman, who has the same head coaching record in his last 16 games (8-8) as Jim Harbaugh (feeling some heat after a season-opening loss to Notre Dame), Kevin Sumlin (parted ways with Texas A&M after the 2017 regular season and off to an 0-1 start at Arizona), Jim McElwain (now on Harbaugh’s Michigan staff after being flaming out at Florida) and Butch Jones (ousted 10 games into Tennessee’s 2017 season and now an analyst for Nick Saban at Alabama). That’s a stark contrast to Herman winning 18 of his first 19 games as a head coach (22-4 overall record at Houston). I don't think Herman is a bad coach — I watched his offense take perennial doormat Texas State to the doorstep of an FCS national title before he took it to Rice and helped with Owls win 10 games — but he needs to change some things and should be able to since he’s still early on in his career as a head coach (Saturday’s game was his 40th in charge of a program). Herman has no problem getting his teams ready to play in big games. In 12 games against either ranked or bowl game opponents, Herman’s teams are 8-4 and the scoring differential is a plus-95 in his favor. However, four of Herman’s 11 head coaching losses have come to teams that went on to finish their respective seasons under .500 (Connecticut and SMU in 2015; Maryland and Texas Tech in 2017) while two losses in 2016 came to Navy and Memphis, two teams that combined for 10 losses on the season (record of 17-10). While I don’t expect Texas to have a problem rebounding against Tulsa, or about the Longhorns putting forth a winning effort against USC, TCU, Kansas State or Oklahoma, nobody should feel good about this team’s ability to get up for the likes of Baylor, Iowa State or Kansas.

As much as Saturday’s loss is on Herman, it’s also on the players for their continued inability to be able to handle success or praise. Ever since Mack Brown’s final team went on a six-game winning streak in the middle of the 2013 season, Texas has played nine games when ranked in either the Associated Press Top 25 or the Amway Coaches Poll. The Longhorns are 2-7 in those games (wins over North Texas in 2014 and UTEP in 2016) with the seven defeats coming by an average margin or more than two touchdowns. Even last season when the Longhorns clinched bowl eligibility with a road win over a ranked West Virginia club, they returned home the following week and laid an egg against Texas Tech. This is a systemic problem that’s spanned three different head coaches and Herman needs to figure out how to keep it from happening if the Longhorns managed to find themselves ranked again in 2018.

I mentioned Herman’s offense, an attack he’s said time and again can function at a high level with doubles and singles hitters like he had with J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones (and Chase Clement at Rice before them) as opposed to a home-run hitter at quarterback. The difference is when Herman hasn't had a dynamic quarterback like Barrick Nealy (Texas State), Braxton Miller (Ohio State) or Greg Ward (Houston) who can be the offense's identity, he's had home-run threats around the quarterback (James Casey, Jarett Dillard, Devin Smith, Michael Thomas, Philly Brown and Ezekiel Elliott among them). Without either of those elements (there’s not an abundance of proven commodities at the skill positions for Texas right now), Herman's offense looks a lot like a Greg Davis offense prior to 2003 with a base 11 personnel groping and an offense that's not based on much of anything except hoping your guy is better than their guy. When you've got first-round NFL talent like Roy Williams and Cedric Benson, yours are often good enough to beat theirs. As everyone saw on Saturday, Herman doesn't have enough dynamic talent on offense for things to look as bland and unimaginative as they were. Like Herman’s mentor eventually learned to do (see going to the zone read with Vince Young or spreading things out to let Colt McCoy and his receivers work), the current offensive staff has to do a better job of identifying playmakers and coming up with ways to get them the ball as opposed to doing whatever it was that the Longhorns did throughout Saturday afternoon while trying to move the ball.

The only time during the current decade when the Texas offense had a true, clearly-defined identity was in 2016 when Sterlin Gilbert brought the veer-and-shoot to town. The attack has drawbacks, but Texas put out a competitive product utilizing tempo, which helped an offensive line lacking in legitimate NFL personnel (outside of Connor Williams) pave the way for a 2,000-yard season by D’Onta Foreman. Herman can utilize tempo in his offense and when the Longhorns did, they took 95 seconds off of the clock on a 6-play, 69-yard march to the end zone in the second quarter. For whatever reason, they never seemed to go back to what had worked, even though players after the game said they liked speeding things up because they noticed Maryland was having a tough time making calls and getting lined up. Going to the tempo well is something the offensive staff can do to find something — a tempo, a concept, a personnel grouping — to turn to and hang their hat on when things start to bog down.

It didn't seem clear coming out of camp that Sam Ehlinger was the best choice Herman and Tim Beck had for a starting quarterback, but it was likely the only choice they could’ve made considering the circumstances. Picking Ehlinger over Shane Buechele would (in theory) give the Longhorns a starting quarterback with a higher ceiling given the framework of the offense (Ehlinger is much better than Buechele on designed runs, which is a staple of Herman’s system) who could show how much he’s grown and matured over someone who the coaches know (for the most part) what he is and what he isn’t. After throwing two critical interceptions and looking inaccurate and indecisive most of the afternoon, I’m not sure what the Longhorns have in the Austin Westlake product. All I know is Maryland had two quarterbacks who looked like they would’ve been better options that either of the two proven commodities Texas could’ve put on the field.

For those wanting to find a silver lining, it wasn’t all bad for the offense in the opener. Keaontay Ingram looked like the best running back on the roster at being able to maximize runs. There was an effort made to get Collin Johnson (his 22-yard touchdown reception was a play Ehlinger checked to) and Lil'Jordan Humphrey involved and both got the ball in spots where they could make something happen (combined for nine catches for 141 yards). I also liked the shot down the field to Devin Duvernay for the first touchdown of the season, something the Longhorns should do early via play-action before conclusions can be drawn about the running game. There were also some added dimensions of the run game (an option look that at times looked like the delay power play Kansas State used to run with Collin Klein) the staff can build on moving forward.

One of my preseason talking points about Texas needing to show it was a more mature team compared to last season had to do with cutting down on penalties and turnovers. That didn’t happen as Texas was slapped with 10 penalties (five which resulted in a first down for Maryland) for 102 yards while the offense has now turned the ball over 14 times in the seven losses during the Herman era. It’s a shame because Herman’s Houston teams seemed to be disciplined and fundamentally sound across the board, much more so that what the Longhorns have been under his watch.

The Longhorns saw some of their true freshmen show up ready to play against the Terrapins. Anthony Cook, B.J. Foster and D'shawn Jamison are featured on most, if not all kicking game units with Foster and Jamison (a 26-yard kickoff return) flashing at various times (even if Foster was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty). Caden Sterns seemed be around the ball a heck of a lot more than his four-tackle debut indicated. Cameron Dicker and Ryan Bujcevski appear to have the place kicking and punting duties in good hands. Even taking note of the presence guys like Joshua Moore and Joseph Ossai brought with them to the field, it feels like only a matter of time before the coaches are forced to trust the freshmen not out of necessity, but rather because they’re the best players within their respective position groups.

Take away four jet sweep gains that went a combined 70 yards (including a 28-yard touchdown run by Jeshaun Jones and a 17-yard scoring run by Tayon Fleet-Davis) the Longhorns otherwise held the Terrapins to 73 yards on 39 official rushing attempts (1.87 yards per rush). That shows how important that one thing was to Maryland and how one concept doomed Texas. Defending the jet sweep in Matt Canada’s offense is no different than the principles used to face a slot-T, midline veer or other true option offense. It’s all about being disciplined and making the proper reads, which the Longhorns didn’t do in several critical instances. The good news is the Longhorns shouldn’t see other offense like that the rest of the season. The bad news is whatever misdirection or quick-hitting plays of a similar ilk other offenses have in the playbooks will be used against the Longhorns until they prove they can handle playing a consistent brand of disciplined football.

Todd Orlando has now seen his defense record one or fewer takeaways in five of the seven losses of the Herman era (USC and Texas Tech were losses last season where the defense forced multiple turnovers). Outside of the lack of forced turnovers (Kris Boyd dropped an interception and Maryland scored on the next play) and the inability to stop the jet sweep, it’s hard to place a ton of blame on the defense for the loss because there were plenty of moments where Orlando’s unit kept the Longhorns afloat. Breckyn Hager stopped Kasim Hill on a fourth-and-1 in the second quarter, a sudden change that was just as valuable as a turnover. Brandon Jones, who had a whale of a game with 10 tackles and a 33-yard punt return, saved his lone tackle for loss on the day when it was needed — on a second-and-goal thwarting of Hill that forced the Terrapins to settle for a field goal in the fourth quarter. Despite the unsavory moments, Orlando’s side of the ball is one I have faith in to look at what went wrong and get it resolved by the time Tulsa comes to town next Saturday because he proved last year he can make do just that.

Bobby Burton: Monday

Quote

As I sit down to write this morning, there is a problem. I have too much I want to say, too many thoughts racing through my head. It truly is amazing the number of aspects of the game and problems that we all saw that have my brain working overtime. I'm (heck, we're all) trying to diagnose what just happened. For me, this was no singular game. Instead, it felt more like a microcosm of all of the ills of last season. And that's the problem. Whether it's unimaginative play-calling, questionable personnel decisions at key times, the dreadful start on both sides of the ball or the lamest finish on offense just about ever seen with ill-timed turnovers, we've seen it all before. So what is there to do about it?

**

What to do about it?

1. Stop the charade. Demote Tim Beck. Remove the title of offensive coordinator. Let him remain as a position coach. But demand responsibility. Let the players and fans know that you (Tom Herman) recognize the problems and that your hire was inadequate. Successful head coaches make mistakes all the time. You think every hire Mack Brown made was a good one? Of course not. So own it and move on, instead of just trying to pretend you didn't make the mistake in the first place. Or because the data says that coaches who fire their offensive coordinators after one year typically don't last five themself.

It's like the 10-year old who hides his dirty clothes underneath his bed when he's asked to clean his room. You can't just hide the elephant in the room, you have to address it and do what's right. The players need accountability. So does the coaching staff to the players. And let's be honest, it's no longer like you'd truly be taking his job away from him. After the first quarter, the offense was yours anyway. By then, you had seen too much. No amount of hubris could deny it.

2. Better accentuate your positives and/or take better advantage of what assets you have. There's no legitimate excuse (save injury or insubordination) for Keaontay Ingram not to see the field the entire second half, when he is one of the two backs that helped spark the running game in the first place. If you didn't get him ready in fall camp, that's on your coaching staff. Get him ready and get him in the game because he is different than any other back on campus. He sees the cut back lanes in the zone read and has the quickness to do something about it. No other back showed it on Saturday, that's for sure. Ingram's presence even makes your QB a better run option himself.

Get BJ Foster in the game from the get-go. Foster was a difference maker on the field against the run. He was truly a heat-seeking missile. With Foster in, the jet sweeps and Maryland run game was stifled.

Get receivers like Josh Moore in space instead of Kyle Porter or Andrew Beck in space. Do you really think a Gary Patterson-coached defense is going to be caught off guard in a hurry-up attack when you split either of those guys out wide? No. They'll adjust and have their defense ready.

Passes to the flat to Lil'Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson need to go the way of the do-do bird, too. Neither of them are particularly adept runners after the catch. They just don't have the acceleration.

I think you have to get another QB ready because Sam Ehlinger may never turn the corner as a passer. He's not accurate enough nor does he see the field well enough to make snap decisions. Shane Buechele is the obvious choice as a his replacement but I'm not sure he's the right one, and neither should you, coach. Buechele has been too statuesque at times in the pocket in years past. Even if he's the guy against Maryland, maybe the Terps start blitzing instead of just rushing three. Then what happens? You better get Cam Rising ready. By all accounts, he is the single QB on campus that does ALL of what you want from a QB. It's time to stop lying to yourself and others and make sure you're putting the best player on the field.

3. Coach, you have to get your players to play smarter. Penalties killed the Texas defense. Charles Omenihu is a senior. His roughing the passer penalty was nothing more than a ridiculous show of misplaced testosterone and likely frustration. The Texas defense had SIX fifteen yard penalties. Add that to Maryland's 407 yards of offense and all of a sudden the total is a lot closer to 500 yards, which is a number that is unstustainable for the season.

4. Get your team off to a better start. I don't know what you did in the bowl game, but that's how Texas needs to start games, not sleep-walking like they did in DC. Change up your habits, change up your pre-game. Do something, do anything. Probe until you find something that makes them explode, not whimper, when the game starts.

5. Game-plan better. I got the feeling that Texas did not respect Maryland's defensive personnel or go in with a defined strategy to take advantage of any of their shortcomings. Instead, Texas was going to run its offense and see if its best players could outdo Maryland's. Well, that's not the way to start. That's not what Maryland did. They saw Malcolm Roach at linebacker and decided to run jet sweeps until you had to replace him. Your team's offensive personnel is not good enough to simply win games. You have to attack another team's weakness. And I'm not just talking about the better teams you play against. You don't have that type of roster. Not with this QB and this OL.

**

I hope Texas gets it together, and gets it together soon. The Horns are getting ready to face a gauntlet. And I don't think they're anywhere near ready.

 

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

1 hour ago, CurlyDumps said:

Are these the same guys who peddled fanfic camp reports for 6 months?

This.  

[Chet Steadman 940]

I’d really like to know what The Big Cigar is thinking right about now.  

That guy is always right on the money /s

Edited September 3, 2018 by Chet Steadman

[DaysOff 7951]

You bet

[Thiefery 4995]

what did ingram do to lose trust and playing time ?

[TreatyOak 16334]

[satyanash 14488]

(Scipio Tex) Texas-Maryland Post-Mortem: Offense

I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. - Dwight Eisenhower

We clearly had plans going in against Maryland. But I question our planning. A few big picture thoughts to start: 

A Slow Start Fixed By Tempo And Personnel

On the Longhorn's first six possessions of the game, they totaled 60 yards on 18 plays. 39 of those 60 yards came on a beautiful Devin Duvernay touchdown catch from Sam Ehlinger when they isolated him on Antoine Brooks, but the next four possessions were three and outs. In the second quarter, something shifted. On the Longhorn's next three possessions they ran tempo offense and went solely with Watson and Ingram at RB. Chunk run gains of 6, 10, 7, 18, 5, 8 ensued. During this brief window over three possessions, Sam Ehlinger was 7 of 8 for 108 yards with strikes of 24, 23 and 22 yards, including a TD to CJ. The Horns score two touchdowns and secure a safety after pinning Maryland deep. New ballgame. 

The play unlike the others in those three possessions was a -4 yard reverse with D'shawn Jamison from a random play call generator - there was not set up and it happened outside of the flow of the offense. Texas eventually punted after gaining 50 yards on 5 plays before that Jamison call.  That tempo proved temporary. 

A Tale Of Two Two Minute Drills

Texas had two end of half situations in this game, though Texas fans will only remember one. In the first half, UT got the ball on the 50 yard line with 1:27 left, down 24-16. The first play was a 10 yard QB run against Maryland's coverage D. Called back for holding. No matter. #11 converts with a throw to Heard. Maryland plays heavy coverage again. We call a QB run again. 15 yard gain for Ehlinger. The clock stops as the chains move. Maryland changes their defense and blitzes. Ehlinger throws a 22 yard strike to Colin Johnson against single coverage. Kyle Porter walk-in TD follows two plays later with 17 seconds still on the clock. 

In the college game, 1:27 on the clock is actually quite a bit of time, isn't it? There also appears to be an easy strategy to beating Drop 8 coverage when your QB can run. This isn't my opinion from Couch Theory Land. This is what happened during an actual two minute drill in this exact game. Shift to the 4th quarter. Texas had three possessions to end the game. All end in turnovers (the Watson non-fumble was admittedly horse ****). Time was never a factor for us, but we acted like it was. 

The last Texas possession of the game was a duplicate scenario to the first half. 2:12 on the clock, ball on the Texas 33. The Longhorns advance the ball to the Maryland 33 with 1:18 on the clock and a 1st down. Time is not our constraint here. It's yardage. What might Texas run here against Drop 8/9 coverage to get Maryland to 1) switch defenses or 2) concede 10-15 yards a pop against Ehlinger lead draws with Kyle Porter doing the actual thing he's good at- lead blocking? Instead, the drive featured Ehlinger throwing to Kyle Porter three times for a total of four yards as Maryland double covered every Horn receiver. Mind you, Porter's value here is as a pass blocker. But there's no pass rush. Take him out or let him lead on a QB draw for 10-15 easy yards and take the Turtles out of their coverage shell. Absent that, why is he in there? Ehlinger eventually throws a back-breaking pick, but the first half showed us a very different way forward. 

The Real Problem With No OC

Tom Herman is right: Game planning should be collaborative during the week. But you need one play caller on Saturdays. If Herman were managing the game instead of the offensive coaches Slack playcalling group chat, he could better see the big picture. About clock management, about our slow start, about Porter in as a blocker against a two man rush, about a tale of two contrasting two minute drills to close each half. By throwing against that Maryland Drop 8/9 defense, we allowed seven Longhorns (5 OL, QB, Porter at RB) to be neutralized by two or three Maryland DL while four Longhorns battled eight Terrapins downfield. Every Longhorn receiver is effectively double covered. 

Texas didn't press tempo despite the Maryland defense wilting against it (8.2 yards per play during the tempo heavy stretch) and having cohesion issues (deprived of coaching from the sideline) and defenders dropping with cramps (depth). Why didn't we keep it up? Because to tempo effectively you need one play caller operating with autonomy. The calls have to get in instantly. A neutered OC and crowdsourcing requires review, consideration, and rubber stamps. So we can only run it in bursts and with limited options. 

Do What Your Players Can Do

Ehlinger has accuracy issues outside the numbers beyond simple go routes (which he threw nicely against Maryland) and he struggles with touch outside. So run the offense accordingly. Why are we giving ground on a screen to Duvernay on 3rd an 2 when Sam won't deliver an accurate ball and CJ won't give an effort to block? Why throw at all when Texas didn't have a standard RB run for negative yardage in the game, you're on the Maryland 49 yard line (4 down territory) and you've averaged 5 yards a pop since the 2nd quarter? 

OL 

Clearly improved. Impossible not see it. More cohesive, fewer busts, consistent, better effort, better technique. Pad level is still not ideal, but much improved. Calvin Anderson was extremely steady at LT, Cosmi played strong at RT replacing Kerstetter (Derek was having trouble with Cowart and Aniebonam's power at DE) and the interior was competent, though they lack pop. They don't get great push, but these guys are playing hard and getting after it. Shack's holding call was totally bogus. 

Herb Hand appears to have done a fine job in the offseason. USC looms as a real test. Maryland's front was just OK, so let's not go crazy, but if you can't see improvement here, you're not looking. I also thought their conditioning was good. As with our QBs, RBs, WRs, our OL is better at certain things. We should be doing those things. 

RB

Ingram and Watson certainly looked the best on Saturday. If you don't have an OL that can get displacement at the point of attack, but is willing to stay on blocks, won't bust, and can take defenders where they think they want to go, you have to play the backs with the best vision and cutback ability and encourage them to do their thing. That's why Watson and Ingram deserve the most reps. Young actually played better after getting an opportunity to sit and watch (he had a third quarter series of five consecutive carries for 25 yards and ran with vision and a nice cutback) and he'll continue to get run in our backfield by committee. I appreciate what Kyle Porter offers as a blocker, but his presence in any two minute drill where we're not running the QB or facing blitzes is indefensible personnel management. Porter caught three passes for 10 yards on four targets and he's the least dynamic receiver of Watson, Young and Ingram. Those three combined to catch zero. 

WR/TE 

LJH dropped a ball thrown behind him and clearly ran some wrong routes. But he also led the team with 6 catches for 82 yards and he's a big powerful target when he and Sam are on the same page. Collin Johnson had a pair of deep wins on his way to 59 yards on 3 catches, but his lack of physicality in blocking can be frustrating. Duvernay had a terrific touchdown catch and a key 4th down conversion, snatching 4 balls for 58 yards. It was great to see Devin let it go. He's still a little wooden, but if he's even, he's leavin'. 

Our starting three receivers average 6-2, 217. Yet they are subpar blockers. Why? Brewer looked OK if a little slower after his knee injury and some weight gain. Beck needs to make smaller defenders feel him more at the point of contact. He caught one ball for 15 where he was effectively uncovered.

QB 

The good in Ehlinger's performance was overshadowed by accuracy issues and two crushing interceptions to end the 4th quarter. He finished that quarter 9 of 17 for 79 yards and two picks. Apparently, throwing into eight man coverages is not a percentage game. He was 21 of 39 for 263 yards overall with two touchdowns, two interceptions. 

I understand that the general consensus is that Sam doesn't have it. Or whatever. But there are a lot of QBs who lead their teams to 9 and 10 win seasons who operate with limitations and no one accuses them of having it. Some of them even win conferences and national championships. One way to achieve that outcome is to be prepared for the game - or adjust to the empirical realities of the game - and be up by 14 in the 4th quarter instead of down 5 throwing into double coverage. Ehlinger's two interceptions were hard to watch and aren't excusable taken individually, but the last one was the result of bad process as much as bad individual decision making.

Final Thoughts 

I'm heartened by the improvements in the OL. I'm disheartened by our level of preparation and ability to see the game clearly as it unfolds. This offense has the potential to be pretty solid, but we need to get out of our own way.

[satyanash 14488]

Chip Brown: Herman compares team's 'tentativeness issue' to Of Mice And Men

AUSTIN, Texas — Tom Herman actually compared his team Monday to Lennie, the mentally disabled strongman in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men who loves touching soft animals but always ends up inadvertently squeezing them to death. Stay with me here. Herman said he recommended reading Of Mice And Men to linebacker Gary Johnson, who inadvertently knocked the helmet off Maryland quarterback Kasim Hill two plays into the second quarter Saturday, getting ejected from Texas’ second straight season-opening loss to the Big Ten doormat.

Herman comparing his team's "tentativeness issue" to a fictional, mentally disabled strongman had something to do with his players wanting to win so badly for each other that they ended up playing uptight and losing on Saturday at FedEx Field. “I know that seems out there a little bit,” Herman said. It’s a good thing Texas isn’t playing Rice this season, because I can only imagine what the Marching Owl Band (M.O.B.) would do with that at halftime.

Here’s the bottom line: Last season tells us Todd Orlando’s defense will get better, even with Saturday’s clear player of the game — safety Brandon Jones — considered questionable against Tulsa with an ankle sprain. And even though it was against Maryland, the Big Ten’s worst run defense last season after giving up at least 200 yards rushing in seven games with only five starters returning this year, Texas showed promise on the offensive line and in the running game.

So then it comes down to the quarterback. (It always comes down to the quarterback.) Sam Ehlinger has started seven games in two seasons at Texas and on Saturday at Maryland, he suffered his fourth late-game turnover in a winnable game after the USC, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech games last year. When I asked Herman if he planned to rotate in junior quarterback Shane Buechele this week after Ehlinger struggled with his accuracy and after throwing two interceptions in the final 6:09 Saturday, including a pick with 1:04 left, deep in Terps’ territory,  trailing by five, Herman said there was no such plan.

“I don’t think now’s the time to do that,” Herman said. “Then, you end up in the same situation you were in last year. Sam didn’t play perfect, but no one did. And his errors weren’t egregious enough to dump him on the depth chart. You do that, and you’re going to start riding the rollercoaster, and we have a tremendous amount of confidence in Sam.”

Here’s the thing that is starting to eat at Texas fans: Herman sounds like he always knows what problems are. And while fans have seen Orlando’s defense make week-to-week improvement - all of last season - and have reason to believe he’ll bounce back and do the same this year, they haven’t seen anything close to that on Herman’s side of the ball. Even his explanation for going up-tempo after falling behind 24-7 and scoring 22 unanswered points to take a 29-24 lead begged more questions:

Why didn’t you use more up-tempo in the second half? Why, in the second half, did you stop playing freshman running back Keaontay Ingram, who averaged 6.2 yards per carry and scored a touchdown during that 22-0 run? Why is lumbering, blocking tight end Andrew Beck on the field, split out in four-wides, when you have one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the Big 12 in Cade Brewer sitting on the bench? And if Ehlinger is going to remain the starter despite an almost too-close-to-call camp battle with Shane Buechele, why isn’t Ehlinger further along with his accuracy, seeing the field and situational awareness?

Why? Why? Why? That's too many whys two years into the Herman era. For fans, the losses to inferior underdogs like Maryland on Saturday are all starting to run together (Cal and Kansas in 2016 ... Cal, Iowa State and Texas Tech in 2015 ...) But it all comes down to the quarterback.

After Saturday’s game, when asked about his interception on third-and-10 with 1:04 left in the game, when he overthrew Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who was surrounded by four defenders, and ignored open, underneath receiver Devin Duvernay as well as Collin Johnson and Jerrod Heard on the left side of the field, Ehlinger said:

“On third-down with a minute left, down five, you can’t throw the ball away. You can’t run the ball. The only way you’re going to win the game is by taking some chances. They’re going to drop eight guys into coverage in that situation. So if you want to play conservative and say, ‘Oh, shoot. No one’s open, throw the ball away.’ That’s cool and all, but time will run out, and you don’t have a chance to win. In that situation, unfortunately, you have to put the ball in risky situations where you have a chance to win. Rolling right, it was just overthrown by a little bit too much, and twenty-five (Antoine Brooks) made a great play.” When told of that response Monday, Herman, of course, corrected Ehlinger and said you can throw the ball away or run on third down. It’s fourth down when you can’t do those things.

When asked what he would say to fans who were expecting a win over nearly two-touchdown underdog Maryland, Herman said: “We expect to win every game. We’re extremely disappointed when we don’t. But the sky is not falling. The sun will come up. If it doesn’t, we’re all screwed on that deal. I’d hope they saw the same things I did that breeds confidence and some hope that if we get this tentativeness issue fixed, we’re going to be fine. They (fans) should be upset. We’re upset. We expect to win every game. There’s no one who will set higher expectations for us than us. We failed to meet those expectations for one game. It’s not Armageddon. We’ll learn from it, and you should see a much-improved team.”

The problem is, fans have no reason to believe Herman about his offense getting better. It didn’t happen all of last year. If anything, the offense regressed at the end of the regular season, when Ehlinger threw a 96-yard pick-six at West Virginia and followed it up with two, last-minute interceptions to squander a 10-point lead in a loss to Texas Tech. Even when fans see glimmers of hope on offense, like possible improvement on the O-line and signs of a running game, they see potentially bigger-picture problems on the horizon, such as Ehlinger’s psyche the next time he’s in a close, winnable, late-game situation.

With four crushing, late-game turnovers in winnable games in seven starts, the odds say fans have a reason for concern and that Herman might be best served giving Ehlinger a chance to watch for a while. A home game against Tulsa seems like the perfect time to get Buechele and freshman Cameron Rising on the field to see how well they can run this offense. You’ll never truly know until you see a quarterback in live, game action.

Here's the reality: If you end up needing Buechele or Rising during a more difficult stretch coming up — against USC, TCU, at Kansas State or against OU — and you haven’t allowed Buechele and/or Rising a chance to work with the offense in a game situation, it would seem like you’re being unfair to those players and to your team. Why? Because it’s the coach’s job to put his players in the best position to succeed — and to make sure the best quarterback is on the field.

For now, though, Herman sounds like he has a grasp on that “tentativeness issue” ailing his team. “We diagnosed the what,” Herman said. “We diagnosed the why. How do you fix the why? For us, it was to go up-tempo to stop the players from thinking so much and being so tentative. And it helped. Maybe that’s the way we start some games around here.”

[Sejjr 3246]

Fuck Chip Brown. He does not get to write an entire article using some idiotic movie analogy and then make fun of Herman’s idiotic literature analogy. 

[satyanash 14488]

Jeff Howe: Maryland loss puts into perspective how far Texas has fallen

AUSTIN, Texas — It was a Monday press conference at Bellmont Hall like so many others during the current decade. Getting off of the elevator on the ninth floor and walking through the doors of the Carpenter-Winkel Centennial Room following a Texas loss where it feels like the season is going to be a struggle based on the outcomes of a non-conference game has become far too familiar.

It’s frustrating for media members covering the program on a daily basis who have to write and talk about a mediocre program week after week and year after year, which becomes a more soul-crushing exercise with each loss. It’s disheartening for fans who tune in to watch or listen to the head coach’s weekly press conference looking for answers as to why their beloved Longhorns can’t get over the hump.

It’s hot take material for national pundits, some of whom look forward to kicking a staggering Bevo when he’s down. It’s pure euphoria for rival fanbases who get a kick out of being able to scoreboard the burnt orange faithful because of a Texas loss, not their own hard-fought win over the best the Southland Conference had to offer. Painful is what a 34-29 loss to Maryland is to Tom Herman and his players. “It was like a funeral home around our building yesterday and it should be,” Herman said. “It should be because if it doesn't matter, then you don't care.”

Nobody should doubt that a five-point loss to a team the Longhorns were favored to beat by nearly two touchdowns — a Maryland squad playing without its head coach and dealing with a boatload of distractions that’s won only five of its last 21 games against FBS opponents (two of those wins are against Texas) — hurts. The problem is that even though Herman made valid points on Monday — the issues Texas had pop up during the game would’ve still needed to be resolved if they’d won, addressing why things happened is more important than what happened, there were signs of development and positives that can be built upon moving forward, etc. — everyone who’s followed the program through one of the toughest eras ever seen on the Forty Acres (a .520 winning percentage for the 2010s that’s inching closer to the .515 mark of the 1930s as the worst decade in school history) has heard the reasoning before.

Mack Brown talked a lot over his final four seasons about needing to fix things and he was never able to fix. Charlie Strong constantly harped on getting better through fundamentals, technique and competing, three things each of his three squads put together on days that were few and far between.

While Herman’s words might rub some the folks wrong way, the blowback has every bit to do with the current head coach’s rhetoric as it does with the fact that his second season, like his first and the seven preceding that one, appears to have provided slap across the face back to reality in the month of September. The reality is that Texas, until it proves otherwise, is a mediocre program not worthy of any sort of praise or designation of being considered among college football’s elite until the Longhorns prove they deserve such recognition.

Cash flow, stadium size, fan support, the recruiting base, resources, the steer logo on the side of the helmet and four claimed national championships make the Texas brand one of the most iconic in college football. Right now, the Longhorns have more in common with Michigan, Nebraska and Tennessee — programs that prefer to cling to the past and look forward to the day when they’ll return to being a legitimate title contender — than blue-blood programs whose lulls pale in comparison to their periods of prosperity like Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

The Longhorns are playing their 13th season since winning the program’s last national championship. In the 12 seasons prior to the current campaign, Texas has as many losing seasons as those that have ended with 10 or more wins (four), which is one more than the number finishes of 10th or better in the final Associated Press Top 25 in that stretch (three), a run where the Longhorns have finished unranked in seven final AP polls.

Compared those results with how the Crimson Tide (one losing season, five SEC championships, five national titles, 10 seasons of 10 or more wins and 10 top-10 poll finishes), Buckeyes (one losing season, six Big Ten championships, one national championship, 11 seasons of 10 or more wins and 10 top-10 poll finishes) and Sooners (no losing seasons, eight Big 12 titles, 10 seasons of 10 wins or more and seven top-10 poll finishes) have done since Vince Young crossed the goal line against USC and it puts into perspective how far the Longhorns are off of the pace of the programs of a similar ilk. What Texas has done in the last 12 seasons is more in line with what the Wolverines (three losing seasons, no conference titles, four seasons of 10 or more wins and two top-10 poll finishes), Huskers (three losing seasons, no conference championships, three seasons of 10 or more wins and no top-10 poll finishes) and Volunteers (six losing seasons, one season of 10 or more wins and no top-10 poll finishes) have done in that same stretch.

Like Texas, the three programs that are 20 or more seasons removed from their last national championship (Michigan and Nebraska split the 1997 title while Tennessee was the first champion of the BCS era in 1998) enjoyed success not long after winning it all.

From 1998-2005, Michigan won the Big Ten four times, had four seasons of 10 or wins and had three top-10 poll finishes while Nebraska won a Big 12 title (1999) and despite having one losing season (5-6 in 2004) won 10 or more games four times and recorded a top-10 finish in the AP poll three times. Although 1998 marked the last time the Volunteers won the SEC, Tennessee won 10 or more games three times in the seven seasons following their last national title and recorded two top-10 AP poll finishes with one losing season (5-6 in 2005) in that timeframe.

Texas hasn’t fallen as hard as the program the Longhorns triumphed over in the 2005 Rose Bowl, a former Big 12 foe it owned while both were in the same conference and the program it once beat for the commitment of Chris Simms. The common thread between the four programs is they’ve each made a gradual descent into mediocrity while struggling to replace a national championship-winning head coach: Jim Harbaugh is the third head coach the Wolverines have employed since Lloyd Carr’s final season in 2007; Scott Frost, Nebraska’s starting quarterback in 1997, is fifth head coach to follow Tom Osborne; Jeremy Pruitt is the fourth man to lead the Volunteers since Phillip Fulmer was dismissed following the 2008 campaign.

If comparing Texas to programs that lack the recruiting base and resources the Longhorns do seems unsavory or unfair, then looking at Florida and what’s happening in Gainesville might offer the best mirror image of where things stand in Austin. Dan Mullen is the third head coach hired to lead the program since Urban Meyer led the state’s flagship school to the 2008 national championship as the Gators have recorded only three seasons of 10 or more wins, have two losing seasons, have only two top-10 AP poll finishes and haven’t won the SEC in the nine seasons since then (Florida is 61-42 since the start of the 2010 season, Meyer’s last on the sideline).

What the burnt orange faithful should have picked up through the last eight seasons is the same thing the fans of the four aforementioned downtrodden programs should’ve learned by now, which is something Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma fans shouldn’t take for granted. No program — as Texas has proven given all of the advantages of the job — is a just-add-water-and-stir gig where the elixir to competing for titles is immediately concocted upon the arrival of the next man in charge.

Herman has time to get things turned around and to get Texas headed in the right direction. But it’s time to admit, for those who haven’t done so already, that the program has been and remains broken and the Longhorns have a man at the helm in Herman, just 40 games into his head coaching career, trying to diagnose and remedy problems while figuring out, in many respects, who he is as a head coach and which buttons of his players and coaching staff are the right ones to push.

Where Herman can start, which relates to moving on from the Maryland loss and beyond this weekend’s home opener against Tulsa (7 p.m., Longhorn Network), is figuring out what he and his staff can do to get the team to perform better in the fourth quarter. Not finishing games is a systemic problem that dates back to Strong’s tenure — the Longhorns have lost 15 of their last 20 games decided by a touchdown or less, a stretch that began with a 20-17 loss to UCLA at AT&T Stadium in Strong’s third game on the job in 2014.

In many respects, the Longhorns are fighting the same battle under Herman the program ultimately lost under Strong (Strong’s last such loss was the 24-21 overtime loss to Kansas that cost him his job) in that the players have yet to figure out what it takes to get over the hump and win games that are there for the taking. “It's a work-in-progress,” Herman said of learning how to win. “I think we're much closer to having that part down than we were when we got here. Not the same problem.”

Actually, it’s the exact same problem. Until it gets resolved, everyone following, supporting or otherwise eyeballing what’s happening on the Forty Acres will have to get used to the feelings they’ve experienced 49 times during the current decade if they haven’t already done so.