Holland Crew Football

Who needs tradition when you can have your own network or join the SEC and get your butt kicked for the next 20 years?

A college football rivalry that dates back 117 years is going to end tomorrow night…or at least go on hiatus until new athletic directors are hired who haven’t been locked in a two-year pissing contest over a conference collapse that never happened and a network nobody can watch.

I’m sorry, but Thanksgiving night games in coming years against Texas Tech, or even Notre Dame, won’t quite have the same feel to it. And that’s a shame.

But the ultimate disappointment may be that the final game of the rivalry — for now — will be played by an underachieving 6-5 Texas A&M team that was supposed to compete for a Big 12 title and a 6-4 Texas squad that’s wrapping up what might be their worst two-year run since 1988-89.

This will be a game about pride, because that’s really the only thing on the line tomorrow night. Pride and maybe an Meineke Car Care Bowl appearance. Hooray.

The Longhorns are preparing for A&M with a huge question mark at quarterback. But then, maybe that’s an insult to question marks.

Incredibly, a program that has experienced unprecedented success over the last decade finds itself with only two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, neither of whom could be classified as even average college quarterbacks.

So how did Texas get here? Unfortunately, it was all about Garrett Gilbert. Garrett seems like a great kid, and I hope he has a lot of success at SMU. He deserves it. But his time here at Texas, to be kind, did not work out as planned.

From a recruiting standpoint, the coaching staff went all in with Gilbert. They were certain he would be the All-American quarterback that we had seen with Vince Young and Colt McCoy before him. And they weren’t alone. Gilbert was considered by most to be one of the top two high school quarterbacks in the country his senior year along with Matt Barkley. He was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year.

But it didn’t work out. Sometimes that happens. Unfortunately, Mack Brown didn’t have a backup plan.

In 2008, the Horns did not sign a quarterback. Colt McCoy was heading into his junior season and all eyes were on Gilbert for the following year. In fact, he committed at the end of his junior season.

In 2009, Gilbert signed. The Heavens opened up. Angels sang. Grown men who follow high school recruiting way too seriously acted like we won another national title. You know the drill. Or, at least, I did.

With Gilbert set to take over as starter entering his sophomore year, you can imagine the difficulty of recruiting top-level quarterbacks in 2010. Case McCoy and Connor Wood were brought in to back up Gilbert for two years and maybe compete for playing time around 2013.

And of course, in 2011, David Ash signed. Word is that he committed to Texas with the understanding that he would red-shirt his freshman year. He asked for this. Why? Because even he knew he wasn’t ready to play this year.

If you aren’t sure of the value of red-shirting, take a look at a few Texas quarterbacks who did just that. Major Applewhite. Vince Young. Colt McCoy.

Who didn’t? Chris Simms. Garrett Gilbert. Case McCoy.

But after Wood transferred and Gilbert…um…didn’t work out again, it was left to McCoy and Ash. Ready or not.

And that’s on the coaches. Not the players.

Take a look at the quarterback statistics comparing 2010 and 2011 to the previous two seasons.

Enjoy your holiday, folks!

This would all be a little easier to take if there were some light at the end of the tunnel. But looking to 2012, we can only hope that either Ash or McCoy develops into a “passable” quarterback. It’s either that or we will rely on another true freshman next season.

But let’s not go there quite yet. I can’t stomach it.

If there were ever a chance for the Texas quarterbacks to have success, you would think it might be against the Aggies. Texas A&M ranks #118 out of 120 nationally in pass defense, giving up nearly 300 yards a game. That’s awful.

At the same time, they rank #1 in sacks. And that makes me more nervous than anything about tomorrow night. How will Ash or McCoy stand up to the pressure?

Lost in argument about how to fix a severely broken Longhorns offense is just how good the defense is playing. Emmanuel Acho is playing out of his mind at linebacker. Jackson Jeffcoat and Alex Okafor are finally living up to their pre-season hype and stockpiling sacks.

Texas is leading the Big 12 in total defense, scoring defense, pass efficiency defense and rushing defense.

Manny Diaz is earning his paycheck. And the Aggies may be without their top two running backs tomorrow. After being down to their fourth-string guy in a loss at Missouri, don’t look for any sympathy from Texas.

I think this game is close. I think if Texas defense forces a few turnovers and the offense runs the ball with success, there’s hope. And hope is important. Ask Andy Dufresne.

The problem is there are not a lot of legitimate reasons to believe Texas can pull an upset here. But if this is the last game between the schools — for now — I’m sure as hell not picking the Aggies.  Texas wins, followed by Reveille limping off to the SEC, tail between her legs, never to be heard from again.

The Pick: Texas (+8).

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Around the Big 12: Week 13

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Saturday, November 26th

11 a.m.  Iowa State at Oklahoma

Here we have two teams on opposite trajectories. Iowa State is coming off what may be their biggest win in school history, and Oklahoma just found out why Robert Griffin III should not have been recruited as a safety by Texas. No bitterness there. None. Still, Oklahoma still has a chance to win the conference title by winning this week at home and next week at Stillwater. Even without Whaley and Broyles, their offense is still explosive, but their defense just gave up 600 yards to Baylor. I like the Cyclones’ chances of keeping within four touchdowns. I also believe that if they stay within a touchdown, Paul Rhoads should be allowed to give another “I’m so proud to be your coach” speech in the locker room. This needs to happen more than once a season. The Pick: Iowa State (+28).

2:30 p.m.  Missouri vs. Kansas

Missouri tries to close their season out with a three-game winning streak an enhance their bowl status, while Kansas attempts to become the first win-less Big 12 team since Iowa State in 2008. It’s nice to have goals. The Pick: Missouri (-23.5).

6 p.m.  Texas Tech at Baylor

RGIII has two games left to impress Heisman voters, and lucky for him, Texas Tech goes out of their way to make opposing teams look good. The Red Raiders give up 36 points a game, putting them at 111th in the country. Baylor averages more than 48 points at home, where they are unbeaten and perfect against the spread. Let’s not try to over-think this one. Baylor has something special going on this season. They should drop the Red Raiders fairly easily, setting up a nice test against Texas on December 3rd. Hooray. The Pick: Baylor (-12.5).

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Last Week Against the Spread: 4-1

This Season: 37-26

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