Despite having no effective passing game, the Texans (6-10) rode a strong second half rushing performance from rookie RB Chris Taylor and another spunky defensive effort to beat the Browns and fulfill my pre-season prediction that the team would win six games. Although two straight wins with strong defensive performances to close out the season must be gratifying to Texans owner Bob McNair, this remains a team that has multiple problems to address in the off-season — generally poor pass blocking, QB David Carr, a need for a big-time running back, depth on defense, etc. The Texans will pick eighth in the first round of the upcoming NFL draft and then will rotate with the two other 6-10 teams (the Dolphins and Vikings) for the 7th, 8th and 9th slots for the remaining rounds of the draft.
Although the Texans remain far from contending for a playoff spot, they did finish 6-10 after a horrendous 0-3 start, going 6-7 over their final 13 games and 2-2 in their last four. They won their last game for the first time and won back-to-back games for only the second time in franchise history (the other time was in late December 2004). They did all this without a top notch QB or RB, three starters lost to injury in the offensive line, two starting defensive tackles lost to injury, Pro Bowl kick returner Jerome Mathis contributing for only two games and former star RB Domanick Davis not playing a lick. As Andy Dufresne says in The Shawshank Redemption, “Hope is a great thing, maybe the best of things.”
The Longhorns (10-3) avoided another major embarrassment by edging a mediocre Iowa (6-7) team in the Alamo Bowl, and the game underscored the problems that the Horns will need to address over the off-season if the Horns are going to return to becoming a true top-10 team. The two main problems are a lackluster rushing attack and inconsistent pass coverage, which again combined to cause the Horns to sweat another game against an opponent with inferior personnel. Already facing a search to replace departed defensive coordinator Gene Chizek, head coach Mack Brown has his work cut out for him over the next several months.
After staying close for a half, the Aggies (9-4) laid a major egg in folding down the stretch in the Holiday Bowl to the Cal Bears (10-3). As already noted, the Aggies’ lackluster performance has already revived skepticism in Aggieland over head coach Dennis Franchione, whose four year performance at A&M has not been particularly impressive. Although this season’s 9-4 finish was the best of Franchione’s tenure at A&M, most of those wins came against cupcakes and the only signature win came against the Longhorns in the final game of the regular season. The Aggies still struggle throwing the ball effectively and the defense remains suspect, so those are two areas that the Ags will need to address in the upcoming off-season.
In a hugely-entertaining game, South Carolina (8-5) edged the Cougars (10-4) in a Liberty Bowl shootout. Essentially, neither team’s defense could stop the other team’s offense, so the difference in this one was a Houston fumble that allowed South Carolina to score an easy TD and a key second half possession when a bad snap foiled a a third and goal situation for the Cougars at the SC five yard line. Replacing outstanding QB Kevin Kolb and upgrading the defense are the key areas that the Cougars need to address during the off-season, but this season has returned the Houston program to the college football map in Texas. The future looks bright over on Cullen Avenue.
Rutgers (11-2) easily handled a mediocre Kansas State (7-6) team in the Texas Bowl over at Reliant Stadium, but not many folks in Houston were able to watch it because the television network carrying the game — the NFL Network — does not allow Time Warner Cable, the major cable company in the Houston area, to carry the network. As noted earlier, the NFL owners are attempting to induce an outcry from cable customers over Time Warner’s failure to accede to the NFL owners’ financial demands, but what’s happening instead is that the NFL owners are coming off as being petty and greedy. I cannot imagine a worse way of marketing what essentially is a public relations product for a community than to limit the number of television viewers who can watch the game.
Although not technically a local team, the Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-5) merit a mention this week for their amazing comeback victory over Minnesota (6-7) in the Insight Bowl. Down 38-7 with less than 20 minutes to play in the game, the Raiders scored 31 straight points to send the game into overtime, and then won the game with a TD in OT. The Gophers reacted to the stunning loss by firing their coach. I know where the Gophers can find an excellent replacement.