Texas has finished under .500 for three years straight. Texas lost to Kansas last year. Kansas, lest we forget.
Due to his own inexperience at this level, Herman rode into town somewhat cocky and overconfident. The media bolstered that. Texas fans bolstered that. I think even he thought he was going to walk in here and start ringing up the W’s. He’s young and he still has a lot to learn, and his learning will be done on Texas’ dime. That’s the choice Texas made when scarfing up this young coach.
The #23 ranking infuriated me to no end. The name “Texas” set us all up to be disappointed, but mostly Herman was set up to fail. Of all the Tom foolery that took place on the field, nothing irritated me as much as that ridiculous ranking that the media cursed us with right out of the gate.
And then there’s Charlie running his mouth about having “baked the cake”. Let’s get real, if Charlie had even assembled a single layer of half-edible devil’s food, he would still be here. There is no semblance of “cake” with this group of players, and there won’t be anytime soon. Texas fans need to accept this. I won’t even comment on the fact how DKR fans graciously patronized 3 years of Charlie’s bumbling ineptitude, but immediately have a hissy fit when Herman doesn’t win Game #1. Ok, so I did comment.
My biggest concern: Orlando’s 3-3-5 defense. I’m not sure Orlando is ready for this level. What defensively works in Conference USA (or whatever) will likely not work in P5. True, we need more talent, but scheme is part of this. Facing a B1G style opponent is precisely not what the doctor ordered for Orlando’s defense which is geared to stop 2-star Texas HS players and pass-happy Texas HS offenses. Once he comes up against someone with a running back, this scheme is toast. And once the run is established, the passing game opens up. Orlando was lost.
Meanwhile, Herman has got to hold this thing together. I’m sure in his mind he realizes that he doesn’t have the talent here to wave a dead fish. Herman had to tell these guys to sit up in their chairs on day 1. They cried like babies when Charlie was let go. I’m sure most of them still regret Charlie leaving, especially since last Saturday. So anyway, for now Herman’s got to put lipstick on this pig, because recruiting is the only thing that will eventually bail this thing out. And to attract recruits, the program has to appear solid.
Now the shocker, I still predict we will win 7 games this season. And frankly, I predict the same for South Florida.
