The Texans (2-5) returned to earth with a thud after last week’s unlikely victory over the Jaguars as Titans and former Longhorn hero Vince Young threw and rushed for a TD in a game that the Texans could have easily won if QB David Carr had shown up to play. In a curious relapse to his play for most of the past four seasons, Carr reverted to his deer-in-the-headlights look as he coughed up a couple of fumbles (one for a Titans’ TD) and an easy interception, so Coach Kubiak replaced him early in the 2nd half after the second of his fumbles. Carr’s performance on the field was bad, but my sense is that his demeanor on the sideline is even more telling regarding whether the Texans should continue hitching their wagon to him as the franchise QB.
Carr essentially looked aloof and somewhat clueless on the sideline after each incident of his poor performance. There is certainly nothing wrong with not getting overly down on oneself for making demoralizing mistakes that hurt your team and Carr certainly said all the right things after the game. But appearing not to give a damn about those mistakes during the game on the sidelines — or worse, acting as if the mistakes were not primarily his fault — is a good way to lose your teammates’ respect fast. In arguably the most important development of this game, the Texans seemed to respond to backup QB Sage Rosenfels much better than Carr, which — as John Lopez notes — is an ominous sign for Carr’s future in Houston. The Texans really needed to win this game because they don’t have much of a chance in their next two, at the Giants and at the Jaguars. Look for the Texans to be 2-7 when they have their next realistic chance for a win in Week 11 at home against the Bills.
Texas Longhorns 35 Texas Tech 31
This was the tale of two games as the Red Raiders sprinted to a 21-0 first quarter lead and then the Horns (8-1, 5-0) methodically hammered the Raiders 35-10 over the final three quarters. Although Longhorn QB Colt McCoy’s 325 yds total offense (256 yds on 21-31-1 passing and 68 yds rushing on 9 carries) was the Horns’ offensive star, this game was really decided by the Longhorns’ defensive adjustments at halftime that allowed the Horns’ defense to pitch a shutout against the high-powered Tech offense in the second half. Of course, two key 4th quarter, fourth down spot calls by the referees that went in the Longhorns’ favor were huge breaks for Texas. The Horns have a good chance of continuing to climb the BCS poll (Texas remained seventh in the latest BCS standings released Sunday, but with only .023 points separating the fourth through seventh spots) as they face Oklahoma State (5-3, 2-2) at home and Kansas State (5-4, 2-3) on the road before ending the season at home against A&M (8-1, 4-1) and then either Missouri (7-2, 3-2) or Nebraska (6-3, 3-2) in Kansas City’s Big 12 title game in early December.
The surprising Aggies (8-1, 4-1; No. 21 in the BCS standings) continued their effective balanced, ball-control offense with no turnovers and threw in true freshman RB Michael Goodson’s electrifying 64 yard TD run to break open a tied game in the 4th quarter. I don’t think that the Ags will beat both Oklahoma (6-2, 3-1) and Nebraska (6-3, 3-2) in their next two games before their annual showdown with Texas. However, the Ags just might, particularly if they can continue their exceptional characteristic of not turning the ball over.
Houston Cougars 51 Central Florida 31
My son Cody and I enjoyed a perfect Texas autumn afternoon while taking in this game, and we certainly came away entertained. The Cougars (6-3, 4-1) play a different type of game, combining a high-powered, idiosyncratic offense with a defense that couldn’t stop a hard-chargin’ marching band to provide an exciting — if at times frustrating to watch — brand of football. In this game, the Coogs burst out of the gate to take 10-0 and 17-7 first half leads, only to take a nap in the 2nd quarter to allow UCF to take a 21-17 halftime lead. Then, in the 2nd half, Houston’s offense essentially became unstoppable and, when the Cougars defense finally got a couple of stops on UCF early in the 4th quarter, the Coogs cruised to victory. Houston plays for the C-USA West Division lead next week at home against Tulsa (7-1, 4-0), and then finishes out the season against SMU (4-4,2-2) and Memphis (1-7, 0-4) on the road. One would think that the latter two games would be sure wins for the Cougars, but UH’s defense is so porous that no game is a sure win.
The Rice Owls (3-5. 2-2) were off this week before hitting the road to play UTEP (4-4, 2-2) and Tulsa over the next two weekends.