It’s been a tough season for the Longhorns and their followers, so it’s an appropriate time to recall some better times — the 1969 Shootout between No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Arkansas. One of the most entertaining games in the history of college football.
Did you remember that it came toward the end of a Monday Night Football game? Below is a well done retrospective by ESPN Outside the Lines. Well worth the 10 minute watch.
There is no better way to get ready for the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend of football than to take a dose of former Montana Tech football coach, Bob Green.
Or the FBI using its resources to investigate this?
The FBI shouldn’t be involved in such matters at all. But if the G-Men insist on investigating, they should be investigating why some institutions of higher education are getting away with making great wealth from their football programs while colluding to restrict the compensation paid to the predominantly black professional athletes who take enormous risk to life and limb to generate that wealth.
If Cam Newton received money to play for Auburn, I’m glad he got it and that he didn’t take the discounted payment from Mississippi State. He deserves every dime that he was paid.
A photo tour during the wonderful Texas autumn to parts of four of the seven golf courses in The Woodlands, Texas. You can download a high resolution version of the slideshow here.
As I’ve noted many times over the years, big-time college football is an entertaining form of corruption, but corruption nonetheless.
Several recent articles reminded me of this corruption and the almost pathological obsession of the mainstream media to avoid addressing it, particularly during the highly entertaining football season.
First, there was this Joe Draper/NY Times article on how the highly valuable Big Ten Network is changing the financial landscape of college sports.
Not once is it mentioned in the article that the people who are actually creating most of that value – i.e., the young athletes – are forced to compete under a system of highly-restricted compensation while some bastions of higher learning profit from the value that they create.
In their honest moments, how do the academics rationalize that sort of exploitation, particularly when much of it involves undereducated, young black men?
Meanwhile, this breathless Pete Thamel/NY Times article reports on how the regulator of this corruption – the NCAA – is really cracking down now on coaches who have the audacity of attempting to provide to the athletes a pittance of the compensation that the bastions of higher education are preventing them from receiving. Not once in the article is it mentioned that the system is exploiting these athletes for the benefit of the NCAA and its member institutions.
Finally, this William Winslade-Daniel Goldberg/Houston Chronicle op-ed thoughtfully points out the ethical issues that arise as a result of exposing young athletes to serious and often undisclosed risk of injury and loss of potential future compensation.
So, what is it about football that generates such cognitive dissonance when young professional athletes in other sports such as golf, tennis, and baseball are not subjected to such arbitrary restrictions in compensation?
Are we concerned that the sacred traditions of college football might change if the current system is altered to compensate the young athletes fairly for the risks that they take and the wealth they create? Are those traditions truly worth the perpetuation of such a parasitic system?
There is nothing inherently wrong with universities being involved in the promotion of professional minor league football if university leaders conclude that that such an investment is good for the promotion of the school and the academic environment.
But do so honestly. Allow the players who create wealth for the university to be paid directly. If they so desire, universities could establish farm team agreements with NFL teams and cut out the hypocritical incentives that are built into the current system.
Not only would such a system be fairer for the players who take substantial risk of injury in creating wealth for the universities, it would obviate the compromising of academic integrity that universities commonly endure under the current system.
So, why are the leaders of our institutions of higher learning not leading the way toward a fairer system?
Perhaps the problem is that they are really not leaders at all?
Finally, over on Cullen Avenue, the University of Houston has endured the most disheartening start of the college football season. But with that disappointment comes a fascinating challenge.
The disappointment is the college career-ending injury to QB Case Keenum, who had one of the best seasons in college football history last season and who was primed to improve on that performance this season.
After directing UH to two easy wins against overmatched opponents, Keenum blew out a knee attempting to make a tackle in the third game against UCLA and – “Poof” – the collegiate career of one of the best college QB’s of this era was ended.
To make matters worse, a hard-hitting UCLA defense subsequently ended the career of Keenum’s backup – Chase Turner – about a quarter later. That leaves a good UH team with no experienced QB going into the meat of their schedule, which is not remotely where the Cougars expected to be after four games this season.
In addition to being a fine young man and a team leader, what made Keenum so much fun to watch was his uncanny field presence. He was literally a coach on the field during the game.
UH opponents often dropped eight defenders into coverage in an attempt to slow down the Cougars’ high-flying passing attack, so Keenum simply checked-off at the line of scrimmage and unleashed Houston’s formidable rushing attack. Then, when opposition defenders crept closer to the line to stop the run, Keenum scorched them with quick-hitting passes to over a half-dozen different receivers.
With a quick release, excellent reading skills and a commanding field presence, Keenum may be that special combination of talent – similar to Drew Brees – who can overcome physical limitations (he is just a bit over 6 feet tall) to make it in the NFL. Everyone in Houston will certainly be pulling for him.
But aside from Keenum’s future, there is an interesting subplot arising from the Cougars’ troubled start.
Cougars head coach Kevin Sumlin – one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the college game – now faces the toughest challenge of his three year head coaching career.
That’s not to suggest Sumlin hasn’t faced difficult challenges before. In his first season as UH coach (2008), he somehow kept his team and coaching staff together when Hurricane Ike pummeled the Houston area and a clueless UH athletic administration inexplicably forced the Cougars coaching staff and players to play two road games while their families were dealing with the difficult aftermath of that devastation.
After enduring that, Sumlin gamely guided the Cougars to a successful season and their first bowl victory in almost 30 years, primarily on the back of Keenum and Sumlin’s innovative variation of the Spread offense. Sumlin’s scheme continued UH’s legacy of being an incubator for creative football offenses that began with Bill Yeoman’s Veer 50 years ago, then Jack Pardee and John Jenkins’ version of the Run n’ Shoot in the late 1980’s and early 90’s, and more recently, Art Briles’ idiosyncratic version of the Spread.
Houston’s successful campaign in Sumlin’s first season set the stage for last season’s even better UH team that was one of the best non-BCS teams in the nation. The Coogs beat three teams from BCS conferences, two of which (Texas Tech and Oklahoma State) ended up in post-season bowl games. Even though the season ended on down note with a close loss in the CUSA championship game and a dispiriting loss in a meaningless bowl game, Sumlin had reason to expect big things this season with Keenum and many other offensive stars returning.
Alas, with Keenum’s injury, those high expectations have been downsized considerably. Sumlin and the Cougars now must face the remainder of their schedule with two true freshman QB’s, Terrance Broadway of Baton Rouge and David Piland from the Southlake Carroll QB factory near Dallas.
Broadway got the nod in UH’s first post-Keenum game this past Saturday against Tulane and the results were about what you would expect from a freshman making his first collegiate start. Broadway generated about a third of Keenum’s usual production and had three turnovers in a 42-23 Cougar victory over a team that would probably rank about 110th out of the 120 major college teams.
To make matters worse, UH’s schedule gets much tougher quickly with SEC opponent Mississippi State coming to town next Saturday. In fact, the Cougars will probably be favored to win only two (Rice and Memphis) of their remaining eight games.
Thus, the Cougars have gone quickly from the expectation of a 10+ win season to one in which four or five wins is a distinct possibility if their freshman QB’s struggle. Moreover, Sumlin was already dealing with other issues before the injury to Keenum.
For example, Sumlin is in the initial season of working with a rearranged coaching staff. After losing talented offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen to Oklahoma State after last season, Sumlin decided to replace his defensive coordinator, John Skladany, who specialized in coaching up undermanned defenses such as the one that Sumlin inherited at UH from the Art Briles coaching staff.
Although Sumlin’s replacements are all experienced coaches (Jason Phillips and Kliff Kinsbury on the offensive side, Brian Stewart on defense), Sumlin must now also replace an effective on-field coach in Keenum with an inexperienced freshman. And three years of recruiting defensive players and the hiring of Stewart has not yet produced any better defensive performance than what Skladany generated for the Cougars with inferior talent to what the Coogs have on defense now.
Accordingly, it’s reasonable to ask whether there is any hope for the Cougars this season?
Well, except for the UCLA debacle, the Coogs’ offensive line has played capably in the first four games. As a result, the Cougars RB tandem of Bryce Beall and Michael Hayes has been quite effective. Moreover, Houston’s receivers – who also man the Cougars’ formidable kickoff and punt return positions – remain one of the fastest and most dangerous groups in all of college football. And maybe, just maybe, the Cougars defense will finally start to realize some of the potential that Sumlin and his staff have recruited over the past three years.
So, the Cougars are not without weapons. But without an experienced triggerman, will Sumlin be able to figure out a way for the Cougars to harness those weapons effectively?
The answer to that question may well be the defining moment in Kevin Sumlin’s bright coaching future. Yet another reason why this football season is shaping up as one of the most interesting in years.
Meanwhile, this week before the annual Texas-OU weekend, there is more than the usual trepidation in Longhorn circles over the big game.
Most of the concern results from the hammering that the Longhorns took last Saturday to an unheralded but underrated UCLA team. But the seeds of this discontent actually have their root in what appear to be a series of decisions that Mack Brown made after the 2006 National Championship game.
Ever since Vince Young left the UT program, it appears that Brown and his offensive coordinator, the much-maligned Greg Davis, have been attempting to move the Longhorns offensive scheme away from the Spread Zone Read offense in which Young excelled to a pro-style scheme that balances the pass with a power running attack.
Frankly, Brown’s decision was not an unreasonable one. Talents such as Young come along only once every generation and the big downside to the Spread is the injury risk that it places on the QB. Texas experienced that risk in spades during the early stages of the last year’s National Championship Game when QB Colt McCoy was injured on an ill-conceived option play. McCoy was UT’s most effective rusher last season out of the Spread.
Moreover, Brown has been recruiting top defensive talent to Texas for years in large part on the premise that the players will be schooled in an pro-style defense that will prepare them for the NFL. It makes sense that Brown would want to recruit offensive players in the same manner. He can’t do that running the Spread, which will likely never be an effective pro offense.
Inasmuch as McCoy replaced Young and was quite comfortable in the Spread, Brown’s grand plan was delayed somewhat over the past four seasons. However, particularly last season, it was apparent that Brown and Davis were attempting to implement – with limited success – a more straight ahead power running attack than the the delay and trap blocks that are the hallmark of the Spread.
Now, this season, with sophomore QB Garrett Gilbert at the helm, Brown and Davis began the season firmly committed to implementation of the pro-style attack. However, as the offense sputtered through the first four games, Brown and Davis frantically find themselves trying to integrate the pro-style scheme with the Spread scheme that the players appear to feel more comfortable with. The result has been a mess, punctuated by UCLA shutting down the UT offense completely this past Saturday.
Not exactly the kind of warm and fuzzies that the Longhorn fan base wants to feel leading into this Saturday’s showdown with Oklahoma. Or the Horns’ next game two weeks later against no. 6 Nebraska, which is still itching from arguably favorable treatment that the Horns received from officials at the end of last year’s Big 12 Championship Game.
Inasmuch as Brown pretty much has the pick of the best assistant coaches and the best Texas high school players each season, how does he find himself in this situation?
Well, each football team has an identity, but every football program develops a culture that transcends a particular team’s identity. Brown is now attempting to change the offensive line culture at Texas from a Spread blocking unit to a power running unit.
The physical requirements and techniques are considerably different for blocking in the Spread than in an power running scheme. Changing the blocking techniques, the type of lineman recruited and sometimes even the assistant coaches doing the teaching takes time. Texas remains in the process of this cultural shift.
That’s why it sometimes appears that Brown and Davis are attempting to place a square peg – i.e., a bunch of Spread blocking offensive linemen – in the round hole of a pro-style power rushing attack. Add to that a group of running backs who are not dominant and before you know it, the Horns are not well-equipped to run either the Spread or a pro-style power rushing scheme.
So, what should UT do?
My sense is that the Horns should play to their strength, which is their defense. Play ball control on offense, limit turnovers, punt well, play excellent special teams and try to win as many games as possible by scores of 17-10 or 20-14. Heck, UT’s secondary is so talented that they are probably good for a score a game if the Horns emphasize field position and place the opposition’s offense in difficult positions.
This is clearly a rebuilding year for UT, so a 3-4 loss season is certainly not out of the question. On the other hand, the Longhorn’s defense is really good and will keep the Horns in games in which the UT offensive mistakes don’t give the opposition too many easy scores.
For example, the Horns are quite capable of beating Oklahoma, which has also struggled during much of its first four games. But the Horns will not beat the Sooners if the Horns’ offense and special teams give OU the field position that UCLA enjoyed in the first half last Saturday.
Long term is another issue. Brown and Davis clearly need to re-assess the type of offensive linemen that they are recruiting if they want to complete the cultural shift to a pro-style offense. But even more troubling is that Texas is not attracting the top running back talent anymore — Texas does not have one of the top five RB’s in the Big 12 South on its current roster. Getting back to attracting dominant RB’s has a way of making even difficult transitions look better.
Given the Horns and Sooners’ problems, this may just be the season that one of these two teams finally wrests control of the Big 12 South title away from the Texas-Oklahoma stranglehold. The Oklahoma State-Texas A&M ESPN Thursday night game tonight should be a highly entertaining affair with yet another interesting subplot.
First-year Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen – who helped Kevin Sumlin develop the University of Houston’s devastating version of the Spread during the 2008 and 2009 seasons – is pitted once again against first-year Texas A&M defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, who was formerly at Air Force. Holgorsen and DeRuyter matched wits during three Houston-Air Force games during the 2008-2009 seasons.
DeRuyter clearly got the better of Holgorsen in their most recent matchup, which was Air Force’s decisive 2009 Armed Services Bowl victory when the Falcons forced UH QB Case Keenum into six interceptions and held UH to a relatively paltry 331 yards of total offense.
However, Holgorsen got the better of DeRuyter in the two previous games. One was Houston’s 2008 Armed Services Bowl victory when the Cougars rolled up over 400 yards of total offense. The other was the earlier game that season (a 31-28 Air Force win) that UH’s clueless athletic administration at the time inexplicably forced the Cougars to play in Dallas while Hurricane Ike was devastating the Houston area. Even with that distraction, Holgorsen’s Cougar offense ran up over 500 yards in total offense on DeRuyter’s defense in that game.
I’d say that Holgorsen and DeRuyter have fought to a draw in their matchups so far. So, it definitely will be entertaining to see what each of them pulls out of their respective hats in the next round of what is becoming one of the fascinating personal rivalries that makes big-time college football so compelling.
We are only a month into the seemingly endless football season, but this one is already shaping up as one of the most interesting in quite awhile.
Now, note that I didn’t say the best season. Simply one of the most interesting.
Inasmuch as I am no longer posting weekly reports on the local teams, the next three posts are going to be about some of the interesting stories that are playing out during this season.
First up, the Texans.
Despite Sunday’s home loss to the Cowboys, if the Texans can figure out a way to defeat an improved but beatable Raiders team in Oakland on Sunday, then the local club will be 3-1 and ready to receive one of their best defensive players – LB Brian Cushing – back into the fold after a four-game suspension.
Even more amazingly, the Texans quick start has not appeared to trigger unrealistic expectations in Houston’s rabid and success-deprived professional football fans. Most folks seem to understand that the Texans are a curious mix of an explosive offensive team, a decent defensive front, a chaotic defensive secondary and reasonably good special teams.
That mix can definitely win some games in the NFL, but it is also prone to losing its share. Most locals seem to understand this and simply hope that a few random breaks can turn the Texans from the 8-8 team they appear to be into a 10-6 playoff contender.
A few things to watch for with regard to the Texans over the coming weeks:
QB Matt Schaub’s health. Although the Texans’ offense is impressive, one chink in its armor is the tendency of the offensive line to break down against particularly strong, bull rushing defensive fronts and Schaub’s tendency to hold onto the ball too long trying to make the long downfield throw. Those two tendencies result in Schaub taking a large number of sacks and hard hits, which in turn increases injury risk for a QB who has a history of shoulder problems. Inasmuch as Schaub’s backups (Dan Orlovsky and Matt Leinart) have, at least to date, done nothing in the NFL to distinguish themselves, an injury that disables Schaub for any appreciable amount of time would likely doom the Texans’ nascent playoff chances.
RB Arian Foster’s health. Through the first three games of the season, the undrafted Foster is one of the top running backs in the NFL. He clearly is comfortable running in the Texans’ scheme and the Texans’ OL has done a good job to date giving Foster enough daylight to excel. However, the NFL season is brutal, particularly on RB’s who are getting pounded by the opposition 20 times a game. Foster’s backup is Steve Slaton – who has inexplicably gone from a spectacular rookie season two seasons ago to resembling a miniature Ron Dayne now – so don’t count on the Texans being able to maintain their productive rushing attack if Foster gets dinged up. And if the threat of running the ball effectively recedes, the risk of injury to QB Schaub increases as the defensive fronts load up against the passing attack.
Andre Johnson’s ankle. Needs no further explanation.
The secondary’s development. It is rare for a secondary to perform as badly as the Texans’ has during the first three games of the NFL season and the team still come out of it with a winning record. Texans management made a conscious decision to go with youth and potential over experience and mediocrity in the secondary this season, so growing pains for this group certainly are not unexpected. But for the Texans to be able to win games when its offense is not clicking on all cylinders, the secondary is now going to have to fulfill that potential. Such development is certainly not impossible as NFL players now frequently show dramatic improvement over the course of a season. Moreover, a more effective pass rush – a definite possibility with the return of Cushing – also could help the secondary improve. However, make no mistake about it, if the secondary continues over the balance of the season chasing rainbows as they have during the first three games, then an 8-8 record for this Texans team would be a moral victory.
Thus, the Raiders (1-2) game this Sunday will provide key insight into this Texans team. The Raiders are likely not a playoff team, but they are strong defensively. They are challenged offensively, but it appears that even an Industrial League team could scorch the Texans’ secondary at this point. So, the Texans definitely are at risk of loss.
On the other hand, a win makes the Texans 3-1 at the quarter pole of the regular season with a quality reinforcement returning to help in upcoming games. That would seem to be enough motivation for the Texans to take another step in changing their losing culture, don’t you think?
We’ll find out Sunday afternoon. Stay tuned.
The fascinating culture of Texas A&M University football has been a frequent topic on this blog over the years. So, when a current student posted the following dilemma on an Aggie message board, hilarity ensued:
[A professor] scheduled a test on Thursday the 30th from 6-8. When we told him there is a game (Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma State) that night, he just laughed. Here are a list of options I have, please offer any advice.
- Take the test quickly and watch second half
- Record game and start from beginning when I get home, roommates would not be happy
- skip test
- fake illness
- actually get sick and go to quack shack for a university excused absence
- drop the class
Help me out TexAgs.
My favorite response came from an alum who got kicked out of class for bringing Reveille, the collie that is the Aggie mascot, to the class. He advised the professor upon leaving:
"This is your class and I will respect your rules, but please know that you are more expendable to the university than this dog."
