We were at least in the championship game so we were a good team. This year's team gave up 51 points to Maryland at home.
With Shane just getting limited reps, I'm torn on him playing even if cleared. Not throwing in the towel for this game but with conference play coming up, might be best to let the shoulder rest, especially with the K-State, OU, OkSt. gaunlet coming up.
If UT is blown out, I wonder if Herman throws his players under the bus again, after the Urban comments. Herman is a big admirer of Urban but also is supremely confident. Herman isn't used to criticism from fans or the media so it will be interesting to see what happens. If the team improves during the course of the season and Herman can buy some time, he can potentially win big. He is a talented coach.
Someone had to come out of the South so it was either us or a 7-4 Tech Team, OU and the rest of the division were abysmal that year. Nebraska was #3 and one win away from the NCG. This is a big game for Texas/USC fans but for playoff/championship implications, don't believe it has much bearing. Just my opinion.
Herman throwing his players under the bus was a media narrative. Herman's comments never implied that.
agreed 100%... not sure why the media ran with that narrative at all bc at no point did i read anything in herman's comments as "throwing his players under the bus." this was nothing more than a recruiting tactic by urban who knew he had a very public platform to throw shade at herman who has increased UT's recruiting profile tenfold since coming on board.
This game has Herman Special written all over it. Dude always brought it at UH when he was an underdog. UT will win by 2 TDs and jump to the early teens in the rankings.
We pretty much know that UT is going to lose to USC. However, it's possible they could win. Stranger things have happened. Just as an exercise, let's think about what would have to happen for Texas to win. 1) The safeties have to make miraculous improvements. This will be sophomore Brandon Jones's 4th start and he has not found any consistency to this point. He and Elliot were burned multiple times last week and Texas can't keep up with USC if they are getting quick bombs down the sidelines. Bend, don't break and increase the likelihood that USC will make a mistake. The killer is it just takes 1 wrong step against a QB like that. 2) We need a QB that can throw consistently in the middle of the field. It's an issue of accuracy with Sam and arm strength/health with Shane. He had too many weak dumps for short yardage. Sam had some good movement last week and he was able to keep the LBs honest but at least 2-3 of his throws would have been INTs against a good defense. Establish the passing game as a threat in the middle and give your WRs more freedom up the sidelines and your RBs more room since the LBs will have to play safer in the middle. 3) Warren has to be able to run 4-6 yards per attempt and you need to run him a lot. If they can consistently run it against USC then they will help whichever QB is back there and they'll minimize mistakes. I hope they finally pull Nickelson from the starting lineup. 4) You need some magic from your punt or kick return game. I think they would have to have a special teams score to keep up. 5) Luck. Hope that Darnold stubs his toe or his girlfriend breaks up with him. Hope that he makes a few bad throws and the secondary is lucky enough to be there and intercept them. Again, that's why you need your safeties not to **** up for long gains and scores. More passes means more opportunities for mistakes.
Bobby Burton posts rumors about the next UT athletic director: I feel like Mack would polarize the fan base. The TCU AD would be a fresh take since people don't really know much about him. I don't know much about him. i imagine a big part of the consideration will be who they think can help raise the money to fund the many projects in the master plan. The two biggest being the DKR south endzone and the new basketball arena next door.
Mack's a great CEO and PR type, so I could see it working. On the flipside, his biggest problem as a coach was his excessive loyalty to coaches who were friends, and his unwillingness/inability to make changes when needed. He seems like he would give any coaching hire a much longer lifeline than others would (whether that's good or bad). My opinion of him (from fairly limited knowledge of him as a coach) is that he seems like a perfect guy to lead & maximize the potential of a steady/healthy organization, but not a good one to lead one that's having problems and needs repair. That said, coaching leadership is totally different from AD leadership, so what do I know? I do think Mack is basically the perfect fundraiser.
Still think you make Luck tell you no. Wouldn't blame him if he did but think he's perfect to implement the campus master plan and navigate the next conference TV deal. Think he'd be a huge addition to UT and Big 12.
I wholeheartedly agree that the job should be his to turn down. I was just commenting on if these were the two choices. Which would you pick?