Well, we barely eeked out a win against Cincy (as we are prone to do). Primed for a letdown against a crappy UT team next week...
But Texas didn't deserve to be ranked 7th to begin with. Texas didn't look like a top ten team in any of their wins this season. UCLA definitely deserves to be ranked ahead of UT.
Texas' problem is very simple. They have a lack of quality talent / experience at every skill position on offense. RB, WR, TE, and QB - all of them have major problems. The defense struggled today, but I'd say that's more aberration than anything else (the tiredness excuse doesn't work, because their worst drive was right out of the gates at halftime). But the offense - there aren't really any good solutions. Colt and Shipley covered up a lot of problems, but we saw this the first part of last year as well. The receivers can't catch. The running backs are pretty mediocre as a group. And the QB either has problems with touch or with inexperience. Compounding the problem, unfortunately, is Greg Davis. Davis does fine with QB he trusts, but until he trusts them, he makes a mess of things. We saw this going all the way back to the playcalling with Applewhite vs Simms. When he has Vince or Colt, he trusts them and has some pretty good playcalling. When he doesn't trust his QB (Simms, Gilbert), he puts them in some pretty bad positions. To be fair to him, they struggle when given the opportunity to make plays, which reinforces his decision not to trust them. But ultimately, you have to let them sink or swim, but he doesn't really do that. Texas has a lot of growing up to do - and fast. OU will be tough, but at least they have their own struggles. Nebraska could be a total mess.
God, if one more idiot says "He can be a good NFL QB even though he's short... LOOK AT DREW BREES!" I'm going to slap a ho.
All of this. Throw in a lack of leadership too. In no way should Kirkendoll have felt it was appropriate to showboat after his worthless TD in the 4th (if anyone was still watching then). The fact that he did this without a second thought seems to speak volumes about the make-up of this team.
Great points Major. It seems to me that Texas's offense work best when they have a mobile QB, like VY or Colt, so why would they court a guy like Gilbert who, even though he is a 5 star recruit, isn't a mobile quarterback? I'm not going to judge Gilbert yet, he's shown flashes of good play. The offense last season stunk a lot early in the season also. The receivers this year are not showing up. I wonder if Mike Davis is ok.
Boise State vs. Oregon State is getting a little nasty. I've don't remember seeing Boise players lose their composure like this.
UT is overrated, and I feel have been for two years. Yes, I know that the Longhorns made it to the national title game last year but it was only due to their preseason ranking and their weak schedule. I was never really impressed by them. Their two biggest games, vs. OU and Nebraska, they struggled to barely win, and those two teams weren't even that good.
Quick, UT's having a down year, everyone come out the woodwork and kick them while they're down! In last year's bowl games, an injury-plagued OU beat a Stanford team with Luck and Heisman candidate Gerhart; Nebraska blew out Arizona 33-0. What terrible pair of teams. Texas definitely didn't deserve to be in the Title game over TCU or Cincinnati, lawl.
Has anyone ever heard of Arizona State's QB (Threet) before today? This guy is throwing like a superstar. That was a perfect TD pass into double-coverage. 24-14 ASU over UO right now.
