Tom Herman tries to make sense of stunning Texas Football loss

Tom Herman was looking to make history in his first game as head coach of the Texas Longhorns Football team Saturday in Austin.

Just not this kind of history:

Tom Herman’s team gave up 51 points in a loss to Maryland. Those 51 points are the most allowed by a Texas Football team in a coach’s first game in program history.

That’s not good.

After the game, Tom Herman tried to make sense of what happened.

During his post-game press conference, Coach Herman took long pauses to gather his thoughts. There was a contemplative look and feel to him as he sat at the podium following a long afternoon in the Texas sun:

• Did he underestimate the Texas Football rebuilding project?
• Did he see this coming and hoped the team would come together?
• Are the players just too damaged from the Charlie Strong Era to push through adversity?

Tom Herman is about to find out real quick whether his team has the mental fortitude to push through a terrible start to the college football season.

They’re going to hear about it on social media and on campus that this is the same old thing that Longhorns fans are tired of seeing unfold, especially on their home field.

Will the Texas Football players fall apart, like they did against Kansas last season to seal Charlie Strong’s fate? Or, is this truly a new era under a new coach?

Tom Herman Laments the Same Mistakes from Texas Longhorns

In his post-game press conference, Tom Herman was asked to detail his thoughts as he watched the Longhorns defense give up explosive plays. Or, when the running game failed to get going. Or, when penalties killed drive after drive.

Before the season started, Tom Herman said the Longhorns have Top 25 talent. But, he wasn’t sure if he had a Top 25 team.

We saw flashes of Top 25 talent: Holton Hill had two non-offensive TDs, Collin Johnson emerged as the go-to WR for Shane Buechele, Buechele was solid as the starting QB, and the defense made key stops at some points in the game.

But, the team never seemed to come together in the 51-41 loss to Maryland. There were missed assignments on defense, special teams break downs, and too many offensive penalties.

If it’s a matter of the coaches needing to understand the players and the players needing to understand the coaches in live game settings, then perhaps this game will be a huge help.

Flip this game around. What if Texas rolled to a big victory over Maryland and cases of misalignment were swept under the rug?

A big victory would be Fool’s Gold setting up the Longhorns for a major issue down the road when Texas faces the kind of adversity they faced against Maryland.

What if this loss was the best thing that could happen to the Longhorns to expose a lack of alignment in Game 1 of the season? Now, the issues can be addressed, rather than swept away until it blows up mid-way through the season.

Related Story: Texas Football Q&A with Peter Gardere

Tom Herman and his coaching staff have their work cut out for them trying to make sense of this loss. Then, Coach Herman has to make sure his team does not fall apart. That happened too often to recent Longhorns teams before his arrival. They must remember there is a whole rest of the season left to play.