Texas Football: Baylor Win Meant Nothing

Some people are pointing at Saturday’s win in Waco as evidence that Texas football is back on top. They need to think twice about making that assumption.

I ruffled some feathers last week when I suggested that it might be better for the Longhorns if they lost to Baylor on Saturday. A lot of you were understandably upset at that and some even questioned my fanhood.

I didn’t say that I was rooting against Texas, just that they might be better served by losing. In much the same way that an addict has to hit rock bottom to realize they need help, I think Texas football has to hit rock bottom as well. My fear was that people around the program and the players themselves would enter the off-season with a false sense of confidence if they beat Baylor.

Guess what? Early indications are showing exactly what I was afraid of.

I’ve read countless pieces in the past few days that echo one basic sentiment, that the win over Baylor shows that Texas is on the way back up.

Really? Seriously??

There was the gem of a tweet that pointed out that Charlie Strong defeated more Top 12 teams this year than Mack Brown did in his last four years. And another that Texas beat more Top 12 teams that four playoff contenders combined.

That may be true, but you need to put a big, fat asteriks beside that stat because it is misleading and distorts the truth that anyone who watched Texas play football this year should readily acknowledge. This team is not that good.

Yes, they beat Oklahoma and they do deserve credit for that. Oklahoma probably didn’t take Texas seriously and if they played again it would probably be a slaughter, but that is a moot point. Texas did what no one else this year has done.

And that’s it. What else can Texas hang it’s hat on? Oh yeah, they beat Baylor. Big, bad Baylor with their high octane passing game and…wait. What’s that? They didn’t have their first string quarterback or their prized freshman backup? What? They lost their third string quaterback in the first quarter? You mean the guy who “quarterbacked” Baylor most of the afternoon last played the position as a junior in high school?

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And Texas won by six points after taking a 20 point lead into the locker room at halftime. Yeah, totally a legit win. Let’s all start making plans for next year’s playoff. Texas beat Baylor. We’re back!

To be clear, Chris Johnson and Lynx Hawthorne started exactly zero of Baylor’s nine wins this year. Not. One. Baylor’s best running back, Shock Linwood, also spent most of Saturday watching from the sidelines while Baylor’s most dangerous weapons, Corey Coleman and KD Cannon were rendered useless because Baylor had no quarterback to get them the ball.

Keep in mind that on the game’s last play, needing a Hail Mary to win, Baylor let a RUNNING BACK throw the final pass instead of Hawthorne.

So if winning a game like that is all it takes to make you feel good about Texas football going forward, then that’s great. You go on ahead. I envy you because I wish that I had that level of blind optimism.

The fact is, I’ve never been more down on Texas football than I am right now, and I remember the McWilliams years. In fact, the McWilliams era is what I am most often reminded of when I watch these Longhorns. There’s just enough talent to tease you, just enough lack of talent to torpedo team and the coaching makes you want to beat your head into a brick wall at least five times per game.

Everyone thought Texas had arrived after the Oklahoma win, too. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Don’t get me wrong, there are some reasons for hope in 2016. There are also many reasons to fear that nothing much will change going forward. I have been a believer. I loved Strong’s hiring. I rode the wave last year, always looking for the silver lining. I believed that the horrible end to last year would merely motivate this team to better things.

That horse called Faith that I was riding broke a leg in South Bend. It was put out of its misery in Fort Worth and subsequently turned into glue in Ames. It’s gone and it will take more than a narrow escape against a neutered Baylor team to revive it.

I was distressed to hear Charlie Strong refer to the win as a building block in his post- game statements. No it is not. If they blow that Baylor team out on Saturday, then it’s a building block. Not nearly squandering a 20 point lead to a one dimensional team while your offense spends thirty minutes running off tackle into a wall of green jerseys.

There is nothing to build on in this game. Yes, they didn’t quit fighting. The fact that we have taken to celebrating this team for the times when they don’t quit is a sad statement. Isn’t competing for four quarters kind of a baseline expectation? We have come to the point where we as a fanbase are happy with moral victories.

Yet, had Kendal Briles not spent most of the first half channeling his inner Jay Norvell and turned to the power running game earlier, a moral victory might have been all Texas was left with.

So am I glad Texas won on Saturday? To be honest, I really didn’t care because it didn’t matter. A loss would have simply verified what I’ve known for a while, that this is a bad team. A win, given the circumstances, just meant that they played well enough to cut the legs off of an armless knight and gallop away without facing any real danger. Baylor’s handicap cheapens the win.

Texas Longhorns /

Texas Longhorns

Maybe you think a win is a win. I don’t. Maybe you believe better things are ahead. I don’t. I want to. I want to ring Santa’s sleighbell and close my eyes and whisper “I believe” and open my eyes to see the 2005 Longhorns staring back at me. Not gonna happen.

Shoot, I’d be happy to see the 2012 model staring back at me. I just want Texas football to be fun again. In the end, that’s why I’m so down on Texas right now, because bad football is not fun. Waiting for your team to crap their pants and fall on their face is not fun. Saturday’s game didn’t change that and it was never going to.

So what harm could it do? Maybe none, but if this teams spends all off-season patting themselves on the back because they feel that they accomplished something, then it might. If they listen to the pundits and the fans tell them that they are on the way back because of that one game, then it might.

Remember all that new found confidence Texas had after they toughed out wins over OU and Kansas State? Remember how quickly it faded when Iowa State punched them in mouth? What if they believe the hype and then get curb stomped on September 3 by Notre Dame. Then we’re right back where we started.

So why did I think it would be better to lose? Because now the junkie can look at his friends and smile and say “hey man, it’s not that bad. I got this under control.” It allows this team to buy into the belief that they were closer to being good than they really were. That’s the danger.

I hope I’m wrong about that. I really do. I want Texas football to be good again but last Saturday’s win isn’t proof that Texas is on the right path. It is simply proof that, if you level the playing field enough, even the 2015 Longhorns can’t screw it up. Don’t expect me to celebrate that.

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