Lest you think that the only baseball and the Stros are the only sports subjects addressed on this blog, we bring you a review of the first weekend of college football. I generally ignore football until the National Football League pre-season games are concluded because they combine all the tedium and meaningless nature of baseball’s spring training games without the charm.
The Texas Longhorns pounded North Texas in their first game, but the Chronicle provides Oklahoma some little needed bulletin board material as columnist Richard Justice predicts a UT victory already in the annual Texas-OU game. Given UT’s futility with Oklahoma over the past several seasons, can’t everyone just shut up about Texas-OU until the game is played?
Meanwhile, things are not going well with the transition from the R.C. Slocum era to the Dennis Franchione era at football-obsessed Texas A&M. After putting up a 4-8 mark in his first season last year, Coach Fran’s crew allowed Utah to cream them this past Thursday night on ESPN’s nationally televised game. That went over like the proverbial turd in the punch bowl in College Station, and Texas’ best sportswriter — the Chronicle’s Mickey Herskowitz — is not impressed with some of the contrived efforts of Coach Fran:
If you had played as poorly as the Texas A&M Aggies did against Utah, wouldn’t you be glad not to have the names on the back of your uniforms?
This was one of the many questions that emerged from the ashes of A&M’s 41-21 loss in its opener on national television.
Coach Dennis Franchione removed the names to make a point about playing as a team.
Sadly, the Aggies missed the point, along with a boatload of passes, tackles and blocks.
So the ploy did not work. In the best interest of Aggie survival, we implore coach Fran: please, please, give them back their names.
This isn’t the 1970s, when a few teams still thought that identifying the players might cut into their program sales.
The blank space on the back of the A&M jerseys seemed to merely reinforce the feeling that the Aggies didn’t know who they were or what they were doing in Salt Lake City.
They appeared not to know where the football was, which can cost a team dearly and did. The Aggies had the Utes backed up to their own 10, and you saw at the start they had no intention of trying to blitz or put pressure on the quarterback, Alex Smith.
So right there, Smith hit a pass for 12 yards. Going without a huddle, he connected with Steve Savoy on a short pass that the receiver turned into a 78-yard touchdown.
Just like that, the Aggies were doomed.
Moving on to the Houston Texans, the local media, which generally fawns over the Texans, has its usual puff pieces as the team prepares for the opening of its third National Football League season. As a grizzled veteran of observing football at all levels, I am skeptical that the media’s optimism is justified.
The Texans have a great owner in Bob McNair, but after that, all I see are question marks. The defense — which is the foundation upon which solid NFL teams are built — was awful last season and the Texans still do not have the potentially dominant defensive front that is essential to a top flight NFL defense.
Moreover, on the offensive side, the left side of the offensive line is inexperienced and quarterback David Carr, coming into his third season, has shown little (admittedly, on undermanned teams) to indicate that he is a top tier NFL quarterback. Finally, Coach Dom Capers is a capable NFL coach, but my sense is that he is defensive coordinator masquerading as a head coach. Accordingly, I do not believe that the Texans will break out into a playoff caliber NFL team under him.
But Mr. McNair is a great guy and deserves a winner, so I hope I’m wrong on my forecast for the team.
Finally, the best game of the first weekend will take place this afternoon in Houston at Reliant Stadium, where the University of Houston and Rice tangle in their annual game for the Bayou Bucket Trophy. The Cougars hung a 48-14 pounding on the Owls last season, so the Owls will be primed to make this one a more competitive affair. The Coogs are a 3 1/2 point favorite in the 4 p.m. kickoff at Reliant.
I don’t quite agree with your assessment of the rest of the team (I think you’re too pessimistic for such a young team), but I do agree that Dom Capers may not be the best guy for the job. There have been some really questionable calls in the past that can be accurately blamed for the loss of games.
I expect the team to improve this year, and make it to playoffs in the next two or three seasons, but a Super Bowl bid may be out of the question with Dom Capers at the helm.
Fair enough. I’m just skeptical that the Texans can leap out of NFL mediocrity without a dominant defensive front. Inasmuch as their two best defensive linemen (Walker and Payne) have been hurt much of their first two seasons, perhaps that part of the team has underperformed as a result. However, teams ran the ball far too easily on the Texans last season, and unless they can remedy that weakeness, I do not see the Texans getting to a .500 record, much less the playoffs.
When does Casserly began to get some criticism?
I realize the Texans are a startup franchise, but the NFL is designed for quick turnarounds these days, and the Texans definitely benefitted from an empty salary cap and extra draft picks.
If they don’t hit .500 this season, is that more on Casserly or Capers?
Please no flames, I’m just asking what folks think.
I think this is a fair point, Kevin. The Texans’ drafts to date have been a mixed bag, and that is probably the best way to evaluate Casserly’s job performance.
At this juncture, the use of the number one pick in Texans’ first draft to take Carr has to be questioned. Although he has played behind generally deficient offensive lines, particularly in his first season, Carr has accomplished little that indicates that he is a franchise QB. This is clearly a key season for him to emerge.
The Boselli deal blew up in the Texans’ face, although it may have been worth the risk anyway given that they picked up Walker and Posey in the same deal. However, wasting a third round draft choice in the team’s first draft on Charles Hill was a major blunder.
The Texans’ second draft was pretty good, with one major exception. Taking Andre Johnson in the first round was a great move, but the Joppru pick in the second was a major reach and has turned out to be a bust. Getting Dominick Davis in the fourth round of that draft was a major plus, and picking up Tony Hollings with a supplemental pick also rates as a very good move. Also, risking a sixth on Drew Henson in that draft has turned out to be a good move, as the Texans got the Cowboys third round draft choice in the 2005 draft in return and Henson has not made much of a dent in the weak Dallas QB depth chart.
Finally, the 2003 draft was about as uneven as the previous two drafts. Only four of the nine draft picks made the roster, although two of them are starters (first rounders Robinson and Babin). No offensive linemen were taken in the 2004 draft, which is a questionable move for a team that is not well-established in that area.
Accordingly, I think it is fair to evaluate Casserly’s performance to be solid, but not outstanding. However, if the Texans underperform, the reality of the situation is that Capers will likely be let go before Casserly.
Well said, Tom. I disagree a little bit on your assessment of Carr-I think he’s shown something. Not, to be sure, that he is Peyton Manning, but playing behind generally deficient OLs, to me, he showed that he may have “it,” or at least enough of “it” to be a successful, if not superstar NFL QB.
But I do agree in your overall assessment: the overweening optimism this season is not justified. The Texans are not going to sneak up on anyone this season. I think 6 wins.
Milton, I agree that Carr showed great character and courage in standing up to the pounding that he took behind the Texans’ horrid offensive line during their first season. That was cruel and unusual punishment, and Carr endured it like a champ. That is certainly worth something.
However, my concern with Carr is that his TD to interception ratio did not improve last season (9/13 in 2003 compared to 9/15 in 2002) even though he was playing behind a better offensive line and had better receivers. Although he has a live arm, I have not seen the accuracy, particularly in the short and intermediate routes, that I would expect from a top tier NFL QB. He is still young and he could develop these attributes, so we’ll see. This is a big season for him. Absent a marked improvement in production, I will remain skeptical that Carr was worth a no. 1 pick in the draft.