Story Poster
Photo by Erich Schlegel/USA TODAY Sports

Around CFB: Porous defense puts Texas' bowl eligibility in jeopardy

October 16, 2017
21,353

There seems a national consensus that the Texas Longhorns are significantly improved on defense.

Well… Texas is indeed back… to trying to figure out how to defend the pass.

Two seasons ago, the Longhorns were 74th in the nation against the pass and allowed 24 touchdowns. Last year, they were 105th nationally and allowed 22 scores.

So far this year they’re 109th and have allowed 10 touchdowns. The 10th was Baker Mayfield’s game-winning 59-yard throw to ridiculously wide-open tight end Mark Andrew in Oklahoma’s 29-24 victory last week.

The only thing Texas covered was the nine-point spread. Mayfield passed for 344 yards on Texas, which has allowed at least 246 passing yards to four of its six opponents.

That is ominous for two reasons. First, one of those opponents was Kansas State, which is 96th nationally in passing offense but threw for 254 on the Longhorns. Second, Texas’ remaining opponents are all among the nation’s top 50 in passing offense.

The Longhorns better solve their pass defense problems quickly because two of their next three games are against Oklahoma State, which leads the nation in passing offense, and TCU (39), which leads the Big 12 standings.

Texas, which is now 3-3, could very well enter its last two games needing one more victory to clinch bowl eligibility. Those last two games are at West Virginia and against Texas Tech.

West Virginia is sixth in passing offense. Texas Tech is fifth.

Heisman leaders

Here are the weekly Heisman ratings based on how I’d vote if the ballot was due this week:

Love was held to his lowest rushing output of the season last week, but he still gained 147 yards and scored two touchdowns in a 49-7 blowout of Oregon.

1. Bryce Love, Stanford, RB: Love was held to his lowest rushing output of the season last week, but he still gained 147 yards and scored two touchdowns in a 49-7 blowout of Oregon. He only had one carry in the second half.

Love has rushed for 1,387 yards to lead the nation. He’s averaging more than 10 yards per carry.

2. Saquan Barkley, Penn State, RB: Penn State was idle last week. Barkley remains the national leader in all-purpose yards at an average of 217 per game. He’s 17th in the nation in rushing and fifth in punt returns. He can substantially boost his Heisman campaign in the next three weeks with strong performances against Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State.

3. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma, QB: He bounced back from the Sooners’ loss to Iowa State with a strong performance to lead them past Texas, 29-24. He passed for 302 yards and two touchdowns. That included a game-winning 59-yarder with 6:53 remaining in the game. Mayfield has thrown 17 touchdown passes and just one interception. He’s ninth nationally in passing and leads the nation with a .727 completion percentage.

4. Lamar Jackson, Louisville, QB: Don’t blame him for the Cardinals' 45-42 loss to Boston College. Jackson doesn’t play defense, but perhaps he should try. He does everything else. In the loss to the Eagles, he passed for 332 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 180 yards and three scores. Jackson leads the nation in total offense at 430 per game.

5. Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State, QB: He’s thrown at least three touchdown passes in five of the Cowboys’ six games and has exceeded 300 passing yards in all of them. He averages nearly 400 passing yards per game to lead the nation. He has a .667 completion percentage and has thrown 19 passes in six games.

Predicted College Football Playoff participants

1. Alabama: The Tide remains unbeaten and won’t be challenged this week against Tennessee.

2. Penn State: If coach James Franklin’s crew gets through October unscathed, it may deserve the top ranking.

3. Georgia: Only Notre Dame has seriously tested the Bulldogs. They appear headed to the SEC championship game to be face the ultimate test in Alabama.

4. TCU: Five teams are one game behind the Frogs in the Big 12 standings. TCU has already beaten two of them — Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

Week Seven notes

• Washington State’s postgame press conferences can be more entertaining than the games. Need proof? Watch coach Mike Leach’s reaction to the Cougars 37-3 loss to Cal.

• For all the big-name talent on Alabama’s roster, you can argue the best player (Okay, other than Minkah Fitzpatrick) is sometimes-overlooked running back Damien Harris. In the last four games, he’s rushed for 467 yards, while averaging 11.1 yards per carry. He’s had a 75-yard touchdown run in each of the last two games. This from a guy who blocked a punt in the season-opening win over Florida State.

• Just a week ago, the regular season-closing Apple Cup matching Washington vs. Washington State appeared to be a de facto Pac-12 championship game. Then, the Huskies and Cougars were both upset. Suddenly, Stanford, which is on a four-game winning streak, looks like it might be the best of the North Division. That will determined in early November when the Cardinal face Washington State and Washington in consecutive weeks.

• Tennessee fans love to wave orange-and-white checkered flags. They should take the orange checkers off this week. If intentional walks were a part of college football, the Vols would surrender one to Alabama.

• Fill in the blank. The worst Power Five program is… Before writing in Baylor, consider Oregon State, which is 1-6. The Beavers’ only win is over FCS program Portland State, which is winless. At least Liberty, which beat Baylor, has two other wins. The Flames also beat (2-5) Morehead State and (0-6) Indiana State. Okay, okay… go with Baylor.

• No. 8 Miami appears to be the best team in Florida. But is it absolutely certain the Hurricanes are better than unbeaten South Florida and/or unbeaten Central Florida?

• Don’t completely write off Clemson despite its 27-24 upset loss to Syracuse last Friday. Remember, the Tigers lost to Pitt last year and still won the national championship. No longer having the services of Deshaun Watson does make duplicating last year’s run trickier though.

Discussion from...

Around CFB: Porous defense puts Texas' bowl eligibility in jeopardy

15,998 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by technoviking
fessparker
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
OP, shouldn't this be on the old rivalries or recruiting thread?
Meximan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
fessparker said:

OP, shouldn't this be on the old rivalries or recruiting thread?

?w=650&h=463
(Removed:11023A)
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Not to be rude and god knows we all love watching tu lose.....but honestly, who gives a you know what about them??
Herne the Hunter
How long do you want to ignore this user?
andyv94 said:

Not to be rude and god knows we all love watching tu lose.....but honestly, who gives a you know what about them??

Did you fail to notice that there were at least 20 different teams mentioned in that article.
Lungblood
How long do you want to ignore this user?
If TA wants to engage in negative recruiting against the sips, I'm all for it. Just step it up a notch or two.
MikeyElko
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Olin, nice try, but in case you haven't noticed, t.u. is kicking our arses on the recruiting trail and it doesn't matter if they go to a bowl game or not.
FriscoKid
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Leach
BeardedWoodsman17
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Why does that matter? There is no guarantee that the players they get develop into superstars. Just look at Michigan State, they constantly get out recruited by the likes of Michigan and Ohio State yet they have gone to the college playoffs and even beat Michigan in the big house under Jim Harbaugh. The point is this, stars do not mean they are sure fire. Just look at our 2013 recruiting class, it was deemed a bust and we had loads of four and five stars.
wisdom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
So sorry to see this happening.
.

technoviking
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Can you list off the positions of the top recruits that tu is recruiting so well at?

I'll help you out: safety, safety, WR, CB, safety, WR.

I see a top heavy class with a lot of highly touted transfers in it so far.
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.