(AP photo; previous weekly reviews here)
Texans 42 Jaguars 28
The Texans (8-8) beat the Jaguars (11-5) junior varsity team to achieve their first non-losing season in the team’s six year history. The difference in this one was two kickoff returns for TD’s and a fumble recovery to set up another by Texans’ WR Andre Davis, who the Texans picked up off the scrap heap just before the beginning of the season. Talk about a nice bargain buy.
So, with the final game of the season in the books, now the season of unending media analysis of the Texans’ sixth season opens. The lead-up to the game prompted yet another incoherent outburst from Chronicle sportswriter Richard Justice (compare that to this largely contradictory blog post from less than two weeks ago), whose inept coverage of the Texans over the past several years (see here and here) rivals fellow Chronicle columnist Jose de Jesus Ortiz’s coverage of the Stros for sheer incompetence. For an even-handed and insightful evaluation of the Texans’ season by position, see this Lance Zierlein blog post.
Despite their 8-8 finish, the harsh reality is that the Texans have not made much progress since the end of Year Three, when they finished with a similar 7-9 record and comparable statistics versus the league. Based on the steady progress of the Texans during their first three seasons of existence, former Texans coach Dom Capers made the ill-fated decision to make several fundamental changes on both offense and defense between Year Three and Four in an effort to elevate the Texans to playoff-contention status. As we all know now, those decisions had precisely the opposite effect, leading to a disastrous 2-14 record in Year Four.
That experience prompted Texans owner Bob McNair to clean house, change the management structure of the team and effectively start over with an untested assistant coach as the new head coach. Through Year Two of the Gary Kubiak era, there is still no clear indication whether the Texans will be any more successful under Kubiak than those first Texans teams were under Capers.
On the positive side, the defense has a nucleus of young players with potential, so with proper seasoning, that unit could develop into an above-league average unit over the next couple of seasons. Similarly, Kubiak & Co. have made a number of savvy personnel moves, particularly in improving the wide receiving corps. On the other hand, Kubiak’s supposed area of expertise — i.e., the offense — has been plagued by a couple of really bad personnel decisions, initially the decision to keep QB David Carr, then the decision to go long on over-the-hill running back, Ahman Green.
Is Kubiak the coach to turn the Texans fortunes around? I don’t know, but I am impressed by his willingness to recognize mistakes and make changes, which reflects that he is not burdened with the stubborness that often undermines NFL head coaches. Inasmuch as continuity in coaching staffs and personnel is one of the most common elements of successful NFL teams, my sense is that Kubiak has shown enough that McNair would be prudent to endure the mistakes of this young coach on the hope that such stability will ultimately be rewarded with a winner. Goodness knows McNair deserves it, given the excellent facilities and support that he has always provided to the Texans football operation.
But just don’t count on big improvement next season. The better bet for a Texans playoff drive is the 2009 season.
Texas Longhorns 52 Arizona State 34
The Longhorns (10-3) dominated Arizona State (10-3) in an entertaining Holiday Bowl game that firmly established Longhorn Coach Mack Brown’s son-in-law — Chris Jessie (pictured above) — as one of the most unlikely “almost-scapegoats” in the storied history of Texas football. Despite the satisfying win, the Horns have several big issues to resolve during the off-season, such as shoring up a leaky defensive unit and replacing star RB Jamaal Charles if he elects to turn pro. The Horns are loaded with talent, but it’s unlikely that they can overtake Oklahoma in the Big 12 South without substantial improvement in their defensive unit.
Do you think it’s possible that A&M’s Alamo Bowl experience could have gone any worse?
First, an Aggie Yell Leader at a pre-game pep rally exclaimed that legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was “on his death bed” and “needed a casket.” Check it out:
The Yell Leader’s bad judgment prompted embarrassed university officials to fall over themselves apologizing to Paterno, who was gracious in playing down the incident.
Then, after taking a quick 14-0 lead in the game, the Aggies turned the ball over three times in allowing Penn State to dominate the rest of the game. The killer turned out to be a failed fourth-and-less than one yard call midway through the 4th quarter inside the Penn State five yard line. Rather than simply diving for the first down, Aggie QB Stephen McGee fell down for a loss on a busted option play while pile-driving 275 lbs RB Jovorskie Lane sat on the bench. That prompted Lane to break down crying (h/t Jay Christensen).
Thus, the demoralizing Alamo Bowl defeat was a fitting end to the disappointing Coach Fran era at A&M. New Aggie coach Mike Sherman has a number of pressing personnel issues to address, not the least of which is what to do about QB McGee, who returns next season for his senior season. A QB’s performance is often adversely affected by peer effects, so McGee’s poor showing this season may be the product of an obsolescent option offense and below-average WR’s. But my sense is that McGee does not pick up secondary receivers well enough to flourish in the pro-style passing offense that Sherman wants to implement next season. As a result, don’t be surprised to see a new QB under center for the Aggies next season.
As noted earlier here, it’s far from clear at this point as to whether former University of Houston head football coach Art Briles made the right career decision in leaving UH to take the Baylor head coaching position.
However, one thing is clear. Briles’ decision to bail out on his UH team before its bowl game — along with taking his top two offensive assistants with him — probably cost the Cougars their first win in a bowl game in 27 years. The way Briles abandoned his UH team has hurt his reputation, particularly considering that new A&M coach Mike Sherman and new UH coach Kevin Sumlin both completed their responsibilities with their current teams before assuming responsibility for their new jobs. Briles will need his good reputation if things don’t work out at Baylor, which is not an easy place to improve one’s reputation as a football coach even under the best of circumstances.
With fewer injuries and fewer turnovers, they could have been a 9-7 team and it’s not too far of a leap from there to get to 10-6. With the Texans, disaster always seems to lurk around the corner, but there are some reasons to be optimistic.