Battle not one that is desired
Infighting among Longhorns not helping a situation in decline.
It’s not just the inmates running the asylum at Texas.
It’s the youngest inmates. And they’re running it in 140 characters or less.
Minutes after Charlie Strong did his best to try to persuade Longhorn Nation that the dumpster fifire that is his football team can be fixed, senior defensive back Dylan Haines called out the freshman players for what can only be described as a lack of commitment.
That led to a Twitter skirmish as underclassmen Armanti Foreman, DeShon Elliott and Charles Omenihu took umbrage to his comments. A good locker room scuffle behind closed doors can sometimes galvanize a team, but an online beef in cyberspace for all to see is more embarrassing than anything. It’s just the latest of several highly public blunders for this team.
Strong has been waiting for his team to show some fight for what, two years now? Now he’s getting it. Except that they’re not fighting the opponent but one another. He’s talking about getting on the same page and coming together to combat the biggest storm this program has battled in decades, but we’re seeing splinters, a real disconnect between the old guard and the young bucks.
This 1- 4 start is like a bad scene from the end of “Titanic.” Can’t you just see Strong and his assistants in the role of the orchestra that plays one last tune while the ship is sinking around them? See Charlie turn to the staff and say, “Gentlemen, it has been a privilege coaching this season.”
One of them answers: “Boss, we’re on our way to
3-9. Why don’t we save ourselves and jump now while there’s still plenty of room left on that lifeboat? Kathy Bates saved us a seat.”
If only it were that easy. Strong will fifight to avoid the looming iceberg of this season. Before 50-7, I didn’t envision a scenario in which he would be canned, but nothing is off the table now. Texas needs to go 4-3 over its last seven games for Strong to feel safe in his office. A 3-9 finish or worse and anything is possible for a coach on the hot seat for the first time.
Do any of you expect the Texas-Oklahoma game to be competitive? It’s difficult to imagine the fans at a packed Cotton Bowl biting their fingernails during the last fifive minutes of a game in which the outcome is still on the table.
The Horns will have to show us much more than they did in Fort Worth, where they went down with barely a whimper against an opponent that was thought to be wound- ed.
I know some of you are already thinking back to those fifive dark years under Mack Brown when the Horns failed to win an OU game and lost by an average score of 38-11.
This is much difffffffffffferent because those Texas teams, despite the struggles against OU, were killing everyone else. Over the same span that OU owned Texas, the Horns were 52-6 against everybody else with two bowl wins, including a 35-30 Cotton Bowl victory over Nick Saban-coached LSU.
It’s been a while since the Austin narrative going in didn’t center on the game itself. Being around it as long as I have, I think the expect-the-unexpected feeling that has always surrounded the rivalry has been replaced by an expect-the - expected vibe. That means another blowout loss for Texas.
The NFC East is up for grabs, and Dallas still has a pulse despite a spectacular pass-coverage bust in overtime that cost the Boys a big win in the Big Easy.
Here’s one bright spot: Brandon Weeden showed he belonged. He even flashed some good touch on a couple of deep throws.
The downside: The Cowboys are starting to look as if they belong in an infirmary instead of a football stadium.
While Weeden led them to within one unguarded wheel route to C.J. Spiller of winning in New Orleans, key components have continued to fall by the wayside. Third-down back Lance Dunbar is feared to be lost for the season with a knee injury while linebacker Sean Lee is hurt again (this time it’s a concussion). Add to that, wideout Brice Butler tweaked a hammy on a long catch.
The upbeat out there will point to Greg Hardy making his debut against New England on Sunday and the possible return of Randy Gregory from a high-ankle sprain.
The realist will point to the upcoming opponent. It’s the world champion Patriots, and Tom Brady is out to run the table and spit in the faces of all his Deflflate gate critics.
We’ll see two blowouts in the Metroplex this weekend.