A Saturday of upsets and near upsets.
Fifth ranked Oklahoma State lost to unranked Houston by two scores. Freshman quarterback Tate Forcier lead his rebuilding Michigan team to a four point victory over 18th ranked Notre Dame. Number 21 Georgia slips by South Carolina. Eleventh ranked LSU can’t put away Vanderbilt until midway through the fourth quarter. And third ranked USC needs a game saving touchdown late in the fourth quarter to beat Ohio State.
And for thirty minutes in the rarified air of Laramie, Wyoming, much of the Longhorn Nation wondered if Texas was destined to join the mighty fallen in the second week of the season.
I never hit the panic button, but I’ll confess that as the first half wore on, the seeds of doubt began to grow. Finally, in the closing seconds of the first half, Colt McCoy put together a drive, and after all the nerves and fears, Texas took the lead into halftime.
Three more unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter and one for good measure in the fourth led to a 41-10 victory.
The Wyoming Cowboys hit the Texas Longhorns with everything they had. Wyoming might not have had as much talent or depth, but on Saturday they had more heart and desire.
If not for on of the most complete games played by a Texas defense in several years, the outcome might have been different. Both of Wyoming scores are more properly attributed to the special teams than the defense, which held Wyoming to three of seventeen on third down conversions and sacked Wyoming quarterbacks five times.
About those special teams… In the second quarter, punter Justin Tucker decided to call his own number, running for the first down, and turning the ball over on downs at the UT fourteen yard line.
Later in the second, punter John Gold is blocked. The ball is recovered by Wyoming’s Ghaali Muhammad and returned for a touchdown.
Finally, in the third quarter, Jordan Shipley fakes a field goal attempt and is tackled short of the one yard needed. It’s fourth and one. Put the fat boys in the game, line up, and push it across.
Perhaps it’s time to hire a dedicated special teams coach?
A pleasant surprise on the offensive side of the ball was the running of Tre’ Newton. The son of former Dallas Cowboy Nate Newton ran eight times for 62 yards and a touchdown. He countered Texas’ horrible run blocking by hitting the hole immediately, instead of dancing around in the backfield waiting for pursuit to catch up with him.
It was also good to see Garrett Gilbert allowed to pass again. He went two of three for sixteen yards. We need him to get as much real game experience as possible.
McCoy continues to spread the ball around, with nine receivers and backs catching the ball. James Kirkendoll was the top receiver, with seven catches for 102 yards and a touchdown.
It appears that Shipley has won the punt receiving job outright. He’s certainly a big play threat in that role, but I’d hate to see him get hurt.
Sergio Kindle was a non-factor all afternoon, recording onle one solo and one assisted tackle. There were claims in the post-game conference that he was being double teamed, but it looked to me like he was being consistently beat one-on-one. So far, he’s not living up to the hype.
Fortunately, the defensive backfield is playing lights out. Chykie and Curtis Brown were amazing. Blake Gideon may have butter all over his fingers, but his coverage is outstanding.
Out highly regarded offensive line is beginning to look overrated. Several big gains were brought back due to holding. And several plays didn’t even get started due to false starts. And Wyoming was consistently getting pressure on Colt McCoy, sometimes while just rushing three players.
The officiating was just plain ugly. Some of the low-lights include:
- A phantom unsportsmanlike call against Chykie Brown.
- Resetting the game back two plays, after Wyoming had run a play thinking it was 1st and goal.
- Miscalling an obvious Colt McCoy fumble as grounding the ball, then taking several minutes reviewing the play.
- A penalty being called on #10 for Texas. I know Vince Young is having a hard year, but sheesh. Give him a break. He’s in Tennessee, not Wyoming.
I know that Oklahoma State’s loss to Cougar High hurts our strength of schedule, but it sure was fun to watch. The reality is that we need to run the table to have any real shot at the national championship game. Whether our opponents win or lose their other games won’t really effect that.
Any Saturday where Notre Dame loses is a good Saturday.
I can only hope that Texas is better prepared next weekend, as Texas Tech comes to town.
I am amazed that the poor job the of offensive line did not generate more press. I kept waiting for McCoy to get hit.
I don’t think the point of this game was the win, the point was, “how do we look?” What I saw makes me think there’s no way we’ll be ranked #2 next week. I wouldn’t be surprised to see us fall out of the top 5.
Given that Okie Lite lost to Cougar High, and USC almost lost to a team that barely beat Navy, I don’t see us dropping more than a spot (perhaps jumped by Bama). Wouldn’t be surprised if we stay were we are.