UT — we're not so different, you and I.

Graham · October 3, 2015

Watching Texas assume the fetal position and ride out the 4th quarter against TCU, I couldn't help but notice the glaring similarities. For the last decade, they've done they're damnedest to "establish the run", "win the time of possession battle," "play tough, physical, tenacious, (insert coach speak here) football," yet a bunch of guys that are 5'11" and 65 pounds lighter just hung 50 on the University of Texas. And they probably could've scored 50 more if they wanted to.

This is the state of college football in the state of Texas.

While the rest of the conference and, more importantly, every high school in the state has evolved offensively, UT has stuck to their game plan. And you'd think it would be hard to bury your head so far in the sand with those big, long horns...

Now let's not forget, Univ of Texas is a bonafide dynasty. Their stadium is lined with championships and bowl victories, they still churn out a dozen or more draft picks every year, they have all the facilities you could ask for, and they're sitting on more cash than the Vatican.

My point?

We are both struggling programs that are looking for answers. But that process of elimination is much easier if you're sitting in Austin instead of Denton right now. If any team is going to field a Run-First, Power offense in Texas, UT is your BEST case scenario. (And don't let a little tempo or a spread look fool you -- that's the game plan.) They have all the recruiting tools in the world and they are still failing to get the job done, both on Saturdays and on the recruiting trail.

Why? Because in this state, the offensive scheme has become the recruiting scheme and vice versa. Like it or not.

They, like us, are a program in danger of spinning off the road. And the coaches on both teams, who i assume have passed both their written and driving test at the DMV, should know that steering into the swerve is the only way to regain control.

Listen, I'd love to have a nasty Big 10 defense or a pound-and-ground SEC squad on the sidelines in Denton, but that's clearly not even realistic in Austin these days. We just don't live a hotbed of grain-fed farm boys. So if we want to attract a little more talent from our general vicinity, and have a half-decent chance of turning things around, we really only have two options:

1) fish where the fish are
2) pick up an move our 37,000-student university to the rural Midwest (Pleasanton, KS sounds nice!)

Edited October 3, 2015 by Graham Douglas

meanrob · October 3, 2015

They, like us, have spun off the road. The question is how hard will it be to get the car out of the ditch?

James329 · October 3, 2015

I guess I see what you're saying, but they'd still destroy us.

Graham · October 3, 2015

@James329 oh absolutely they would destroy us. No doubt about it.

All I'm saying is, when you see a program like UT losing at the same game, all the talk of "it's hard to recruit to Denton" goes out the window. If the prototypical powerhouse down the road can't recruit with a similar system, it should be a big, red (red-orange?) flag for our staff.