Texas Football: Making sense of all the drama for the Longhorns

So much is flying around on the field and on social media surrounding Texas football that reeling focus back in for Week 10 could be tough.

Nothing is helping the off the field drama of late for Texas football-post the loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road on Oct. 27. That loss to Oklahoma State triggered a firestorm going the way of the Texas Longhorns

Per Awful Announcing, the former Texas football player Emmanuel Acho had some harsh words for his old squad during the Week 9 loss. Oklahoma State came out ready to go and Texas did not, with a large undertaking to come back after a large first quarter deficit. In the end, Texas fell short by only three points when trailing by a three possession lead for the Pokes at one point.

That did not help all the drama that would happen on, and off the field, for the Horns beginning at the end of the fourth quarter in Stillwater on Oct. 27. It all started with a boneheaded play from senior defensive end (and ironically a captain) Breckyn Hager.

While Oklahoma State was lining up in the “victory formation” to knee out the remaining clock to win the game, Hager targeted wide receiver Tyron Johnson and started a scuffle after the play. Whether Johnson did something under the radar that triggered Hager to react that way doesn’t really matter given the circumstances.

However, the criticism from Acho stretched from how the Horns were playing down in the first half all the way to picking apart performances from individual players. Senior cornerback Kris Boyd was picked on by the Oklahoma State passing game, namely sophomore receiver Tylan Wallace. Acho specifically targeted Boyd’s play, including where he was “Mossed” by Wallace.

Boyd kept the feud between him and ESPN’s college football analyst Acho going by posting a story on Instagram to clap back from the criticism. This is not the first time that Boyd got involved in social media issues off the field either (tracing back to his freshman season).

With so much turmoil growing around the Texas football program right now, it’s up to head coach Tom Herman to keep his locker room together with a big game looming in Week 10. But, even Herman got into a spat with Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy on the field when the scuffle with Hager and Johnson broke out.

The off-season even had some drama when former Texas football safety DeShon Elliott posted some information on Twitter about how he felt Herman handled his situation in departing the Forty Acres one year early. All in all, it just does not look great for Herman the Horns locker room chemistry right now.

Patterns are emerging from players with fiery personalities, a head coach with regular drama, and alumni with public voices. Fans of this team can take anything they want to away from this drama, but the fact of the matter is that this team needs to be focused and ready for West Virginia. Reel in the mindset for key seniors like Hager and Boyd and get back on track in practice in the coming days.