Longhorns Football: Magic, Dominance and … Uncertainty

The Texas Longhorns have lost their last two games basically the same way, and there’s plenty of blame to throw around entering a bye week

Steve Sarkisian and his offense can do some magical things. The Texas Longhorns and their defense can do some dominant things.

So why the uncertainty about holding it together for 60 minutes?

And why do Longhorn fans feel like they’ve seen all of this before?

Texas built a 28-7 lead against Oklahoma last weekend in Dallas and the Longhorns blew it.

Texas built a two-touchdown lead at home against Oklahoma State and the Longhorns blew it.

It’s that simple. The Longhorns blew two winnable games that would have put them in the driver’s seat of the Big 12 race. Can you imagine a world where Texas is 4-0 in Big 12 action, and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State each have a loss to the Longhorns?

Of course, you can. But that’s all you can do right now — imagine it.

And, yes, Sark is seven games in with the Longhorns, and culture change takes time, yada, yada, yada. Do you really think THESE boosters are patient?

Texas risks wasting another generational talent — running back Bijan Robinson — if this team and this staff can’t figure out how to hold a lead.

Wanna blame the defense? Go for it. The unit gave up 19 points in the second half. They gave up chunks of big plays at the worst possible time. The concussion to DeMarvion Overshown didn’t help, but major programs like UT should have the talent to overcome that.

But … This defense only gave up 398 yards of total offense to OSU. Sure, the OSU offense isn’t quite what we usually expect it to be. But, holding a Big 12 team to under 400 yards of total offense? Most defensive coordinators will take that every week in league action.

The Texas defense slowed the Cowboys down, forcing them into long drives to have to score those 19 second-half points. When you get the offensive support, that can work.

“I think our defense held on as long as they could,” Sarkisian said after the game.

So, about that offensive support … Robinson had another great day. Quarterback Casey Thompson was solid. Toss out the second interception — he was trying to get the Longhorns into position to tie the game. That first pick, the pick-six? They’ll pick that apart in film. And it was costly.

But … the Longhorn offense fell into the same trap they did last week. They built a controllable lead in the second half and their offense … just … sputtered. I think all of us gave the offense a pass after the OU game because it set records. But, after that Robinson touchdown to start the third quarter, the Longhorns went three-and-out four straight times.

Look at the play mix — one Robinson run on each of the first three drives, and then two Thompson passes. On the fourth drive, the Longhorns went with two Robinson drives, and Thompson was sacked.

All of that was followed a four-and-out drive, with a Robinson run, two Thompson passes and a Thompson run.

It’s obvious the Cowboys put more players in the box and dared Texas to pass. It’s also clear that nothing Texas did worked. The offense left the defense without support for a second straight week, and you can’t blame the defense for everything that happened on Saturday, which is easy to do in a close game.

No, some of that blame must be hung on the offense, which just couldn’t sustain what it had built for the first two-thirds of the game. And some of that blame has to fall to Sarkisian, too, and his play-calling.

But, after the game, Sarkisian seems focused on the Longhorns and how they’re handling the game mentally. Self-doubt seems to be creeping into this team right now. Two straight losses — and losing those two games practically the same way — will do that.

“For us as a team to go where we want to go, we can’t just hold on because a couple of things don’t go our way,” Sarkisian said. “We have to think that something good is right around the corner. And the only way that happens right now is if we execute our jobs well. Right now, we’re in a space where we get a lead, something doesn’t go our way and we harbor those negative thoughts and ultimately those negative thoughts creep in with cautious play, uncertainty, and ultimately errors.”

All Gas and No Brakes is this team’s motto this year.

It’s time for Sarkisian to tap the breaks and figure this out. Fortunately for Texas, it’s time for a bye week.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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