Texas at West Virginia

[longhorn320]

WV only favored by 3

See this is where I always get into trouble betting on football

I would take WV and give the 3 points

It really seems like a sure thing bet

I predict WV beats UT by at least 3 TDs

we looked absolutely awful last Sat

[BrownCounty]

Why is Perrin still hanging around?

I thought he was interim?

We suck.

If Charlie was a 2 then Herman is a 3.  Maybe 4.  Except I thought we were Texas.

We suck.

[CousinFreddie]

If you can get Ehlinger back, and playing like he was the first half of the season, I think it's a toss up.  Otherwise probably a fairly clear WV win - but I wouldn't go as far as 3 TDs. 

Remember Texas did hold what turns out to be a pretty darn good ISU to 7 on the road.  They are capable of shutting down good offenses, even away.

[utee94]

Texas is regressing.  And also not fun to watch, either.  Honestly, the only games I've enjoyed watching this season were the OU game and the USC game.  The rest have been pretty brutal.

[BrownCounty]

I am beginning to think Cougar High has built in advantages.  They play in G5, and they have the city of Houston to raid for talent that most G5 schools don't have access to.  I'm not so sure a coach that wins at Houston has necessarily proven anything.  UCF and USF have this similar advantage in Florida.

Charlie made us desperate.  We wanted to bail, and bail fast.  Three straight losing seasons, we fielded the worst defenses in Texas history, and we lost to Kansas.  After Baylor zapped one up, A&M zapped one up, and then here came the next wonder child coach out of Houston.  Briles was the goods, Sumlin not so much, and Herman is not showing me anything.  Applewhite will probably start steam-rolling down there shortly.  Again, Houston recruiting in a G5 conference.  Piece of cake.

I'm not giving up.  Herman gets his 3 years.  Herman is a cut above Charlie, I will allow that - and I say that mostly because our special teams are not a 100% embarrassment (just 50%), and we did beat Kansas.  Charlie lucked into a decent offense with Sterlin Gilbert, and Herman seems to have lucked into a good defense with Orlando.  I will say in 10 years, Herman may be a decent coach, whereas Charlie is Charlie.

It will take more than recruiting to win in P5, but obviously recruiting is where Texas needs to start.  The meddle of a coach is demonstrated in situations like where Texas is right now - low on talent - low on alternatives - but still finds a way to compete.

Now I will yield that Herman's Longhorns have been competitive in a few games against superior opposition this year.  That's really all I can hang onto right now.  But Texas needs a statement win, not a moral win.  I will allow West Virginia as a qualifier for this.

Herman needs to come out with this team ready to play in Morgantown.  Not only that, but we need to see something out of Beck that works.  We can't just line up and run into brick walls week after week.  It's time to cook up something - that's why they are paid the big bucks.

I want a Texas win next week.  Is that a fair request?  Probably not, but the thing is - it should be a fair request, and given that we have not yet made up for the Maryland debacle.

Herman's got to give me a glimmer of something this next game, his shine is tarnishing fast.  And he doesn't have the charisma to mesmerize me.

[MikeDeTiger]

That really just goes to the point that hiring the right cfb coach is hard.  

Despite your thoughts on Houston there are other reasons to have believed in a lot of upside for Herman.  Whether or not he will work out remains to be seen, but I think UT did as good of a job in their coaching search as you could reasonably expect at the time.  Finding the next Mack-prime or Royal or whoever is as much luck as skill.  

I also still suspect there are things I don't know about behind the scenes that need to get cleaned up at Texas before anybody is going to reach their full potential there.  

[longhorn320]

If we win another game we will be 6 and 6 for the year

just what did you guys expect

weve played 4 top ten teams this year at the time we played them

we arent a top ten team so theres 4 losses right there

so dont bail on TH just yet 

we will be a much better team next year

for those who have no patience take up a hobby or wash you car or something

[CharleyHorse46]

The coaching carousel is a cruel two step backwards three step forward process when it works and an even more cruel three step backwards process when it doesn't.

On paper I couldn't see much difference between Strong and Herman - other than their age and experience.

Now that I've seen both I can tell you the differences.

On the bright side, Herman seems to have a better vision, a greater attention to detail and he's more articulate.

He's also much younger which means he could potentially coach Texas a lot longer, if he gets this thing turned around- which I hope he does.  

I appreciate all those things.

I do miss Strong's good humor, humility and sense of responsibility.  He didn't make excuses.

Herman's kind of a bitchass.

[longhorn320]

One big reason for TH's success at U of H is his recruiting

It will be interesting to see how he does at UT with a full year under his belt

right now the 2018 class for UT is ranked 4th

2017 we were ranked 31st

under Strong:

2014 20th
2015 12th
2016 11th

I realize theres more to success then recruiting class ranking but still it couldnt hurt to have 
a highly ranked class

[utee94]

If we win another game we will be 6 and 6 for the year

just what did you guys expect

weve played 4 top ten teams this year at the time we played them

we arent a top ten team so theres 4 losses right there

so dont bail on TH just yet

we will be a much better team next year

for those who have no patience take up a hobby or wash you car or something

I expected 8-4 or 7-5 at worst.  The loss to Maryland where Texas was completely outmatched is pretty much the story of the season.  That game needed to be a win, for Texas to achieve my expectations.
I think the Horns are going to lose to WVU. Hopefully I'm wrong.  With two consecutive wins (statistically speaking, that is improbable), Texas will just barely meet my minimum expectations for the season.  With one loss, Texas will under-achieve to my expectations.
Texas has talent on the sideline that is not being utilized.  Texas clearly has enough talent to stay in the game against Top-10 caliber opponents.  Despite all of the o-line injuries and general offensive problems, this team had the capability to beat USC, OU, and oSu.  But this team did NOT win those games, and the coaching failed this team time and again.
Hermann gets more than one year, but so far I'm not whelmed by the coaching staff's exhibited capabilities.  Time will tell I suppose, but this season Texas had the talent to be a much better team than it has been.  That's on the coaches.

[longhorn320]

I expected 8-4 or 7-5 at worst.  The loss to Maryland where Texas was completely outmatched is pretty much the story of the season.  That game needed to be a win, for Texas to achieve my expectations.
I think the Horns are going to lose to WVU. Hopefully I'm wrong.  With two consecutive wins (statistically speaking, that is improbable), Texas will just barely meet my minimum expectations for the season.  With one loss, Texas will under-achieve to my expectations.
Texas has talent on the sideline that is not being utilized.  Texas clearly has enough talent to stay in the game against Top-10 caliber opponents.  Despite all of the o-line injuries and general offensive problems, this team had the capability to beat USC, OU, and oSu.  But this team did NOT win those games, and the coaching failed this team time and again.
Hermann gets more than one year, but so far I'm not whelmed by the coaching staff's exhibited capabilities.  Time will tell I suppose, but this season Texas had the talent to be a much better team than it has been.  That's on the coaches.

Outside of the Maryland game UT has won every game it should have
Our def has improved a lot since that game and I dont think they would run up 50 on us today
anyway 1 game short of your expectations aint the end of the world as we know it
 

[BrownCounty]

If we win another game we will be 6 and 6 for the year

just what did you guys expect

I expected 7 wins.  Which we still can do, but this Saturday stands a good chance of blowing that up.

However, we could also lose the next two, and be right where Charlie left us.

The book for this season is not yet written.  All I'm saying is I haven't liked most of the chapters so far.  We could win the next two and I will be happy with our situation.

But I don't see it.  I don't see the coaching prowess to pull out a win at WVU.  Which troubles me because I've never had a ton of respect for that Gallagher looking mofo that coaches WVU.

[BrownCounty]

The coaching carousel is a cruel two step backwards three step forward process when it works and an even more cruel three step backwards process when it doesn't.

As best as I remember, Mack was a step forward right out of the box.  I don't remember any backwards.  Until he went backwards on himself.

[longhorn320]

This is an interesting article concerning UT injuries

Not making excuses just thinking about what could have been

https://www.burntorangenation.com/2017/11/9/16629190/texas-longhorns-offense-injuries-connor-williams-tom-herman-tim-beck