Karma for the Conference Killer

CAUTION:  If you love the University of Texas or are a relative of Deloss Dodds, reading this may prove hazardous to your health.

Saturday, Texas lost 24-21 at Kansas State.  On the surface, this is not big news given that Manhattan Kansas has repeatedly proven to be Longhorn kryptonite.  Despite always having superior athletes, Texas has lost its last 5 visits to the Little Apple.

Upon further review, Texas’  latest pratfall was most among the most distressing  in the listing Charlie Strong regime.  Texas found itself staring at a 21-7 halftime deficit.  Somehow, the KSU passing game, wanting all year, came alive in the first half, even with a pedestrian QB nursing a bum shoulder.  Maybe this is not so surprising given that the Longhorn pass defense has been a rumor all year.  Granted, Texas  had previously encountered four maestros in the likes of DeShone Kizer, Mason Rudolph, Davis Webb and Baker Mayfield.  But Jesse Ertz?!?!

Freshman Shane Buechele played a stellar QB for Texas in the 2nd half.  If Texas receivers had not developed butterfingers at key moments, he would have led the Longhorns to a stirring comeback victory.  In the 3rd quarter, Texas elected to go for it on 4th and 3 at roughly the KSU 30.  Buechele threw a perfect slant pass to Dorian Leonard for the first down and much more.  Dropped.

In the 4th quarter, I was dumbfounded to see Texas going for it on 4th and 16 from midfield.  The decision turned out to be brilliant if only Armanti Foreman could have caught the pass that hit his bread basket in the end zone.  Both passes would have been routine catches for high school receivers.

So, a Texas team that could be 7-0 skidded to 3-4.  Worse, Saturday’s loss was to a team that has far less physical talent than the Longhorns.  Bill Snyder makes do with a JC-laden roster and a disciplined, button-down approach that maximizes his limited resources.  Classify KSU as the anti-Longhorns.  It is truly sad what a bunch of highly recruited underachievers have done to Charlie Strong.  Strong is a good man and a good coach whose chief failing seems to be getting the best out of 4 and 5 star preps.

Truth be told, Texas has been living under a dark cloud ever since Colt McCoy was injured early in its last national championship game against Alabama.  At such point, Texas and Coach Mack Brown were perched on top of the world.  At about the same time, Longhorn athletic director Deloss Dodds negotiated a lucrative deal with ESPN to launch the Longhorn TV Network.   The Big 12 already had a skewed revenue sharing structure which strongly favored conference icons, Texas and Oklahoma.  Creation of The Longhorn Network greatly exacerbated angst and jealousy among its less esteemed conference members, as well as enriching the already overflowing financial coffers in Austin.   When it was announced that the Longhorn Network would show high school games, other members hit the roof as this represented an unprecedented recruiting advantage for Texas (as if they ever should need any extra help!!).

Unfettered Longhorn greed destroyed a fine conference.  When conference-shifting dominoes reached a crescendo in 2010, Colorado was thrilled to be the first to jump ship and get out from under Texas’ thumb.  The Buffaloes  felt they were a better geographic (really??) and academic fit with the Pac-10.  Missouri badly wanted out and was yearning for a bid from the Big 10.  However, the Big 10 tabbed Nebraska as their 12th member.  Texas A&M was perhaps the most repulsed by Texas’ hubris.  Jilted Missouri and Texas A&M were ecstatic to accept the life raft provided by the SEC.

All of a sudden, Texas’ fiefdom had greatly shrunk.  In improbable fashion, they contrived to make Texas A&M the “it” school in the Lone Star State as the SEC was in the midst of winning eight straight national championships.  To make matters even worse, Texas whiffed on recruiting QBs such as Robert Griffin III or Johnny Manziel.  The electric Manziel won a Heisman Trophy that  made vengeful Aggie fans giddy with joy.   Texas has fared miserably in dealing with the luminous SEC footprint in its own backyard.  In a snit fit, they snubbed Texas A&M and ended their iconic year end grudge match.   Today, the diluted Big 12 is clearly considered  the most vulnerable of the Power 5 conferences.

It seems unbelievable that Texas could fall so far in 7 years.  The KSU loss brings the Charlie Strong record to 14-18.  He will likely be fired.  However, a better solution might be an exorcism and a reminder that humility is often a virtue.  Stellar recruiting classes have not solved the problem.

Speaking of spoiled and highly touted prep recruits,  did anybody notice how hard UCLA’s offense played at the end of last week’s WSU game and the 3-TD outburst in the first quarter of this weekend’s Utah contest?  Josh “The Chosen One” Rosen was injured.  UCLA really rallied behind his less talented backup, Mike Fafaul.   Coincidence? Penn State does not seem to miss the fact that highly touted  and often unhappy Christian Hackenberg  left Happy Valley, as evidenced by Penn State’s epic 4th quarter rally against Ohio State yesterday.

So, Texas is not the only locale where maximizing the abilities of highly touted preps has been problematic.  Still, like the long-standing curses of Babe Ruth and The Smelly Billy Goat, the situation in Austin defies logic.  Maybe it would not hurt to hire a good witch doctor.

Until that time comes, when I think of Texas football, I will start humming my favorite song by Seals & Croft:  “King of Nothing.”