HornSports Staff
HornSports.com
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On senior night, the Texas Longhorns said goodbye to many seniors that were a key part of the program these past 4 years. I was there in 2011, when after a 5-7 season, the Longhorns opened the season against the Rice Owls. I remember the anticipation many Longhorns fans had for Malcolm Brown, Jaxon Shipley and the other new faces. I also remember that Garrett Gilbert started that game for the Longhorns.
These seniors came in as freshmen ready to establish the Longhorns back to prominence. 2010 was going to be a fluke in the history of Texas Longhorns football. Thanksgiving night, as these seniors went out of the tunnel for the last time as football players, they were reminded of what didn't happen in their time at Texas. They were not able to bring Texas back to a "primetime" level. The Texas Longhorns lost as least 4 games in each of the last 4 seasons. In each of those seasons, the schools that they grew up watching Texas dominate began to dominate them. Those 4 seasons saw Baylor and Texas A&M win Heisman trophies and in Baylor's case, win the Big 12.
The same problems that have plagued the Texas program for 4 years reared their ugly head in the worst way against TCU: miscues between quarterback and receiver; lack of a "power push" by the offensive line; lack of protection for the quarterback; and turnover after turnover after turnover.
It's tough to end your 4 year football career like the seniors did on Thanksgiving. Not to mention the draft prospects for many of them aren't that good.
But they never gave up. John Harris in his final season stepped up and became only the 6th Longhorns receiver in school history to have a 1,000 yard season. Malcolm Brown became the leading rusher and Jaxon Shipley will finish 3rd in career receptions.
While they did not re-establish Texas as the premier college football program in the state, let alone the country, the seniors did not give up. As the seniors embark on a very grey world full of uncertainty, that mindset and attitude that made them perform in these 4 years will serve them well for the rest of their lives.
Good luck seniors in all your future endeavors.
Other Thoughts on the End of the Regular Season:
- As a whole, the season is what is it is: 6-6. Texas was great in some games, terrible in others. It feels like such a long time ago that everyone was looking forward to the North Texas game and now it's all over. That's probably the worst thing about football. There will be only be 1 game for the next 281 days. Everything from this point on is preparation for the next regular season which begins Sept. 5th, 2015 at Notre Dame.
- Tyrone Swoopes had a really bad night. If anything, he must work on his consistency and be "Good Swoopes" more than "Bad Swoopes".
- The defense is losing it's best players. That's going to be the biggest storyline in 2015 - can the defense reload and get better as a unit? Malik Jefferson is going to be key for the Longhorns in this next recruiting class.
- Another big question mark in the offseason is can the Longhorns develop a consistent core of wide receivers? Big play receivers are nice but you need 1 or 2 receivers that you can rely on to make the needed catch. Possession receivers are just as important.
- Charlie Strong already created waves that there will be "competition" at the QB position. I expect these 15 practices to be intense.
- Early 2015 prediction: 9-3 with losses to Notre Dame, TCU, and Baylor.
