Christmas Eve in Austin....

"Do not be furious, O Lord,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!"
Isaiah 64:9

Eventful council meeting last night.  Our original plan had been to discuss it today, but it's late and we feel like talking about Football instead.  If you don't like it, start your own blog.

Obviously, tomorrow marks the beginning of the Tom Herman era.  We honestly don't know how we feel about it.  We'd love to believe the optimistic case, but we hope you'll pardon us if we've heard the hype machine before.

For the Longhorns to be successful this season, the following needs to happen:

• Shane Buchele needs to stay healthy.

• They need to learn to convert first downs in medium yardage situations; this was a consistent shortcoming during the previous coach's tenure.

• With Swoopes and D'Onta Foreman gone, they also need to establish the short yardage game.

• On defense, they need to dramatically improve their coverage of the middle of the field.

• Malik Jefferson needs to become A LOT more consistent...but we have a funny feeling Breckyn Hegar is going to be the one everyone's talking about at the end of the year.

• The pass rush has been the one pleasant surprise the past few seasons; this needs to continue.

• Finally, most important of all: THEY NEED TO STOP TAKING STUPID PENALTIES AND GIVING AWAY SLOPPY FUMBLES.  This is a team that lost five games last season by less than a touchdown.  If they had simply take care of the penalties and turnovers, they would have won several of those games.
• Note: This is where you'll know if Tom Herman has made a difference.

Bottom Line: We'll see, but we don't think we're gonna be able to sleep tonight.

The Charlie Strong era is mercifully over

"Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
Matthew 7:20

Well...it's over.

The Charlie Strong era can best be summed up by the fact that, in a year where they saw the second best single season rushing performance in program history, the team only managed to win five games.  It seems impossible for those two facts to exist side-by-side.  Nevertheless, that's where we are.

As to yesterday's game, it was the same mix of bad penalties, terrible special teams play, and bizarre play calling that have unfortunately marked the past three years.  5 trips inside the red zone only produced 9 points.  That Shane Buchele threw a pick on the final play of the season encapsulates everything.

On the other hand, D'Onta Foreman did become only the second running back in program history to rush for over 2000 yards.  For as much as the team struggled this season, Foreman's individual performance was a sight to behold.  The play that put him over 2000:

But Foreman's performance was merely a silver lining in what was otherwise a listless and uninspired performance from a team following a coach whose body language throughout the game indicated the degree to which he had become resigned to the status quo:

Bottom Line: Tom Herman, at least on paper, appears to be walking into a pretty good situation.  He simply needs to take the flashes of brilliance and have them execute more consistently.  Time will tell, but sports is cyclical.

So Long Charlie....

"Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
Matthew 7:20

Following back-to-back gutsy wins that had returned the discussion of his future to a close call, Charlie Strong's Longhorns blew yet another winnable game this afternoon against West Virginia at DKR.

Shane Buchele and D'Onta Foreman continued to lead the way.  The defense looked better.  Unfortunately, even 536 yards of total offense and four turnovers were insufficient in the face of ongoing sloppiness...which is why those four turnovers only begat seven points.

The strange playcalling and clock mismanagement continued as well, with essentially zero rhyme or reason behind going for it/kicking a field goal on fourth down.

Burnt Orange Nation sums up our feelings:

Texas had plenty of opportunities for win this game, but the result and the struggles were all too familiar — special teams mistakes, problems on third down on both sides of the ball, and the inability to take advantage of turnovers.

Oh yeah, and the typical game management mistake or two from its embattled head coach.

Bottom Line: We're long past the point of moral victories or progress despite losses.  Nobody denies that this team has flashes of brilliance, but consistent execution just isn't there and there's no reason to believe it will emerge under the status quo.  To quote the old MTV show, "NEXT"....

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Longhorns First Touchdown:



Longhorns Second Touchdown:



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Then again, at least WE BEAT BAYLOR!!!

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you."
John 15:16

2016 Texas Longhorns Football can be characterized as brief flashes of brilliance intermingled with long stretches of bumbling ineptitude.  Tonight, the brilliance surpassed the ineptitude by the thinnest margin possible.  But we're not gonna lie: beating Baylor was REALLY frickin' sweet and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Once again, #SugarShane Buchele (#7) and D'Onta Foreman (#33) led the attack.  Unfortunately, they were accompanied by a non-existent run defense, too many penalties/turnovers, and some flat-out strange playcalling from Charlie Strong and Sterlin Gilbert on offense.  In the end, however, an offense that can put up yards and points in bunches covers a lot of sins.

The teams combined for 1200+ yards of offense.  Baylor quarterback Seth Russell consistently owned the middle of the field, rushing for 138 yards in 15 to 30 yard chunks.  On the Longhorn side, D'Onta Foreman's 250 yard performance made him the first Longhorn running back in a decade to rush for 1000 yards.

Otherwise, some notes:

• This team has absolutely no run defense. Seth Russell has too much room to run all afternoon.  Even worse was the lack of adjustments once the issue became obvious.

•  Cornerback P.J. Locke (#11) had a pick and made several big plays on defense.

• Amanti Foreman (#3) and Tyrone Swoopes (#18) both had first half fumbles; while Foreman's goal line mishap was followed by a safety on the first defensive play, there was no way to know that would happen at the time.

• Speaking of Swoopes, the way he was used today made no sense.  Strong/Gilbert kept lining him up at running back in situations where it wasn't appropriate.  Swoopes was visibly out of sorts all afternoon which led to him coming up short on a potential game-tying 2-point conversion late in the fourth quarter.

• Fox End Breckyn Hager (#44) continues to impress.

• Shane Buchele had a mostly strong performance, including a late touchdown to Andrew Beck (#47), but he had one hand-off in the second half where he literally handed the ball to the opposite side of the runner.

• Malik Jefferson (#46) should have had a fumble recovery for a touchdown with about 14 seconds remaining, but he got hosed on the call.

Bottom Line: Charlie Strong will depart the forty acres with a winning record (2-1) against Baylor; file that away for some future bar trivia night.

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Longhhorns first Touchdown (Buchele to A. Foreman):



Longhorns Second Touchdown (D. Foreman long run):



Longhorns Third Touchdown (D. Foreman short run):



Longhorns fourth touchdown (Buchele to Beck):



Game winning field goal:



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#SugarShane, Foreman bail out WOEFULLY SLOPPY Longhorns....

"If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."
1 John 1:10

[Author's Note: We started working on this post late last night and put it down due to the late hour; we've decided to finish it as a necessary correction to the fanboyesque narrative that the press is trying to spin about last night's game.]

The short version: During the second half, Shane Buchele and D'Onta Foreman lifted the rest of the team onto their shoulders to salvage a disaster in the making against one of the worst teams in the country.  The sloppy, self-inflicted, wounds got worse.  We suppose a win is better than the alternative, but we weren't impressed.

That being said, a few specific thoughts:

• On both offense and defense, this team seems to commit a drive killing penalty with every single possible opportunity.  Like clockwork, every time they get a big play, they follow it up a play or two later with a really stupid penalty.  And it's not understandable mistakes like holding calls, it's BS like facemasks or unsportsmanlike conduct.

• Speaking of penalties, Kris Boyd needs to stop committing them or he needs to be kept on the sideline where he can't commit them.

• Charlie made several inexplicable calls related to special teams.  He declined to go for it on 4th and short a few times and had Buchele attempt a screen pass on another drive.  The point of the 18-wheeler is to use it in short yardage situations.

• Here's the weird thing about the defense: They get killed on the line of scrimmage during run plays, but the pass rush is actually pretty good.

• Jerrod Heard continues to look great as a receiver; it's a shame they don't get him the ball more often.

• D'Onta Foreman is a workhorse.

• Where would this team be without Shane Buchele?!?

Bottom Line: How many stupid penalties can one team commit in a game?!?

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Shane Buchele first touchdown to Jerrod Heard:

Shane Buchele second touchdown to Devin Duvernay:



D'Onta Foreman run for third touchdown:



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