Horns switch play-callers after rout by Notre Dame
Longhorns coach takes decisive action to address ailing offense.
While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:
1. Charlie Strong took a stan d Tuesday night. A necessary and proper one. The second-year Texas head coach was emotional but resolute when he announced he had demoted pl ay- c aller Sh awn Watson an d given his duties to wide receivers coach Jay Norvell. Norvell was in that role for four of his seven years at Oklahoma before joining the Texas staff last January. Again, Strong gets it. He wasted no time, acting decisively after the loss to Notre Dame, and na med Norvell his new offensive coordinator. Watson will remain on the staff and handle the quarterbacks, Joe Wickline will focus solely on the offensive line, and Norvell will call pl ays beginning this week against Rice. So basically Wickline got stripped of the play-calling duties he never had. Some might say it smacks of desperation. I say it smacks of smarts.
2. The two San Antonio Jay football players who
mugged the umpire in last Friday’s game need to be suspended from all UIL activity for the rest of their high school days. Umpire Robert Watts should file assault charges against the duo to establish the precedent that such behavior won’t be tolerated.
3. I put Texas A&M in the top 10 on my AP ballot and might have the Aggies too low. Yeah, they jumped out to a 5-0 start last season before regressing, but every year is a new season. I’ve never been above making drastic changes to my ballot, especially in the early weeks, which is one reason I bumped Notre Dame up from No. 16 to No. 3. The preseason poll is based on predictions. Every poll after that should be based on results.
4. Malik Zaire might be just that good, not that we could tell exactly bec ause Texas put next to zero pressure on the Irish quarterback making just his second start. Linebacker Malik Jefferson and defensive end Naashon Hughes were two of the few bright spots for Texas. By the way, I’m calling it a 38-9 loss. Nick Rose deserved credit for those two 52-yard fifield goals he kicked before Brian Kelly’s very rude two timeouts negated them. I just hate the rule that allows coaches to call a timeout nanoseconds before the snap. I’d
alter the rule and force coaches to ask for a timeout before the center grabs the ball. Just patently unfair to kickers.
5. Didn’t care for Breckyn Hager’s mouthing off against the Irish in the final minute. Neither did linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary or coordinator Vance Bedford, who gave the freshman linebacker an earful. That said, I absolutely loved Hager’s fifire. The defense needs much more of that attitude. I didn’t really see those qualities from anyone else, save for Jefferson and Hughes ... Sedrick Flowers was guilty of losing his composure as well when he was shoved late by a Notre Dame player and responded by throwing a punch. He should be suspended for a game, though the Big 12 told the Statesman that he won’t be. The senior offensive guard did take ownership of his mistake, saying, “That’s not my character at all. Coach ( Joe) Wickline told me I need to stay composed. You can’t do that.”
6. Texas has really mucked up its search for a new football sports information director. UT let John Bianco go in early June but still hasn’t announced a successor. The sports public it y staff is down four people who either quit or were fired, and now Texas fifinds itself in the second week of the 2015 season without a football SID. The office appears to be in disarray, too. There was little to no interaction with the media at the Notre Dame game, and there were no postgame Texas notes available for the fifirst time in memory.
7. Don’t look for Notre Dame to reappear on Texas’ schedule after 2016. Heck, Big Ten teams won’t show up on the Irish’s schedule except for already booked remaining games with Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue. Asked if Notre Dame might line up future games against Michigan, Irish spokesman John Heisler said, “I think both have moved on.” Notre Dame is perfectly happy with its ACC connections. The school linked up for a minimum of four games a season with ACC schools and five in most years.
8. The Round Rock Express have only 10 players who were listed on their opening day roster, including starting pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez, who will face Oklahoma City in Wednesday’s playoff opener. The Express have endured a franchise-record 245 roster moves and have used 41 different position players and 40 different pitchers. Great for program sales.
9. Was entranced by “Kill the Messenger,” an outstanding treatment of the reall ife drama in which a San Jose Mercury News reporter broke the story that exposed the CIA for its role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and fifinanci ng the operation by importing cocaine. Jeremy Renner was terrific as the reporter, whose life unraveled after a smear campaign. Gave it eight ducks.
Crazy prediction: Jerrod Heard will play more snaps than Tyrone Swoopes against Rice.