Texas football ranked among 5 most talented teams in 2020

All of the success on the recruiting trail for the Texas football program is definitely not paying off in terms of success in the win column this fall.

A high burden of expectations on the likes of Texas football fourth-year head coach Tom Herman and senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger have yet to pay off in what is a very disappointing start to the 2020 season so far. Texas came into the 2020 campaign with a top 15 ranking in both major polls, and was up into the top 10 by their third game of the season.

Everything started to unravel for the Longhorns in their Week 3 contest, and Big 12 home opener back on Oct. 3, against head coach Gary Patterson and the TCU Horned Frogs. Heading into that game against TCU, Texas was a double-digit point favorite hoping for a more comfortable win than they got the week prior in the Big 12 opening scare on the road against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Texas ultimately fell short to the Horned Frogs by the final score of 33-31. And then things went from bad to worse for Herman, Ehlinger, and the Longhorns last weekend. The Longhorns still went into the annual Red River Rivalry game with a top 25 ranking in both major polls, although they were the underdogs against the unranked Oklahoma Sooners on Oct. 10.

A back and forth crazy game in Red River between Texas and Oklahoma ultimately fell in favor of the Sooners in four overtimes, by the final score of 53-45. Now that Texas owns a record of 2-2 (1-2 Big 12), and is bounced from both major polls completely, a lot of heat is starting to fall on Herman’s shoulders. Ehlinger got mixed reactions from his play to start the 2020 season so far too.

There is so much unrealized potential in this Longhorns team. This is about the most experienced and talented Texas team that Herman has coached in his four years on the Forty Acres to date. But he has yet to capitalize on what this roster could do this fall.

According to a piece from 247Sports on Oct. 13, Texas has one of the five most talented rosters in the nation in terms of player experience and recruiting ranking (namely the latter of those two). With almost all of the key pieces that the Longhorns have on the roster as four or five-star recruits, this piece makes the very valid argument that Herman can’t blame this team’s problems on talent.

Here’s more on what this piece from Chris Hummer of 247Sports has to say on the subject.

"Yep, Texas is back. At least back among the most talented teams in the country. The Longhorns ranked just 13th in the Team Talent Composite during Tom Herman’s debut season in 2017. That team had a single five-star player and 35-four-star recruits. Three top eight classes later – including back-to-back No. 3 efforts in 2018 and 2019 – Texas can now claim four five-star players and 49-four stars. Their average player rating has jumped from 88.88 to 90.39.Herman had all of the pieces he needed to make a run. He can’t blame talent on Texas’ 2-2 start to the season."

Texas rings in at No. 5 in terms of the most talented teams in the nation this year. The four teams ahead of them (in order from top-to-bottom) are the Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Clemson Tigers. Notice how Texas is the only one of those five programs that isn’t even close to a College Football Playoff contender over the course of the last two years.

The only other Big 12 team even present in the top 10 rankings in terms of the most talented teams in the nation this year is Oklahoma (at No. 9). Most of the other teams in this ranking are at least within the realm of College Football Playoff and conference title contention, except for the Longhorns.

Next up for the Longhorns is supposed to be an Oct. 24 showdown against head coach Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears at home at DKR. But Baylor is dealing with a pretty massive outbreak of active novel coronavirus cases this week. They already had to cancel their Oct. 17 matchup against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Texas is currently heading into a bye week.