It happens to every team at some point during the season. Adversity strikes in some form or fashion and as a team you have to figure out a way to fight through it. Adversity doesn’t discriminate and it certainly isn’t picky in when it chooses to show its ugly face and in whatever form it chooses to take.
Adversity struck Texas out in Berkeley last weekend as they fell to the Bears for the second straight year. Once again they were unable to solve the riddle of the Bear Raid offense. It started early in the game when Shane Buechele took a couple of big hits that forced him out of the game, giving Tyrone Swoopes an opportunity come in and guide the ship while Buechele was checked out in the locker room. Buechele eventually returned to action and the Texas offense rolled up plenty of yardage and enough points to win the football game, but the defense struggled all night. With the exception of the of the third quarter, Texas couldn’t slow down Davis Webb and the Cal offense.
The team, coaches, and fan base are all understandably frustrated with how things played out in California. After opening the season with the upset of Notre Dame and almost shutting out UTEP, the optimism was as high as it has been in some time in Austin. With all that said, even with the brightest of sunshine pumping, this team wasn’t going to run the table this season. While many (including myself) expected a win against the Bears, it was inevitable given the overall youth of this team that they would trip up somewhere along the schedule.
The Cal game provided many challenges outside of the actual opposition on the field that night. It was the first road trip for a young football team and it was a much later start than they normally have, playing the majority of their games in the central time zone. Throw in the variable of a true freshman quarterback making his first collegiate road start and the loss isn’t as surprising as it seems. Despite these things, Texas still found itself in a position to win the football game in the wee morning hours. In some games, inevitably teams make a few more key plays than you, and that’s what happened in the loss to the Golden Bears.
So where does this team go from here?
Win or lose the game in Berkeley, it was time to go back to work. The Longhorns soaked in a very beneficial bye week before they begin conference play in Stillwater. We are about find out about the team’s mental makeup and ability to put a loss behind them. One thing is certain, the Longhorns have no time for hanging heads or getting down on themselves as they prepare for another road matchup against a team that has the ability to put up crooked numbers offensively. A win over Oklahoma State would easily get things back on track while providing a big confidence boost before heading into Dallas to take on Oklahoma. On the slip-side, another rough day at the office turns into another loss and the team rolls into Dallas at the .500 mark.
Over the past several days I’ve seen plenty of anger and finger pointing on the message boards and I want to remind folks of one thing. The season can’t be won or lost three weeks into the schedule. Before you start calling for heads and start counting this team out, afford them the opportunity to respond moving forward. Conference play will manifest a lot. While the defense certainly needs improvement and work on the fundamentals, I am optimistic with what I have seen from the offense so far and I feel it will only improve as the season progresses. That’s more than what I was able to say say over the past several seasons as they struggled to yield consistent play from the quarterback position.
I’m not counting this team out after one loss and neither should you, despite some of your favorite reporters throwing premature parades in week three. For an accurate gauge on this Texas team, focus on conference play, as that’s when we start to figure out which teams are legitimate and which are the pretenders.
