Texas Longhorns Football

Brian @ MGoBlog Suxxxx

By Peter Bean Oct 16, 2006, 2:44pm CDT

Okay, not really (is there a better team blog in existence?). Per the norm, Brian's got a very thoughtful piece, this time touching on the Las Vegas oddsmakers' Top 25 that we discussed here last week. Everything Brian does, he does well, but this is one of those standout posts, like his defense of soccer article from June.

Once we go through the looking glass and judge teams solely based on how neato we think they are (and seriously, folks: Texas racked up 200 yards offense versus OU and rode a fortuitous turnover blizzard to the win... they aren't the #2 team in the country or anywhere close), we traipse down the road to figure skating...

...Striking a balance between style-point madness and rote you-win-you-stay is a delicate thing. While you can very plausibly argue the latter holds too much sway in the BCS selection process, the oddsmakers are the communism to our current fascism: yeah, they're diametrically opposed, but neither is a good idea. Steinbergland is a place where Doug Flutie's Hail Mary doesn't matter one damn bit. And that's not a universe I want to live in, tongueless Joe Theismann or no.

The shot at Texas' offense aside, Brian's nailed it.

But, while we're on the subject, Brian, this is the second time you've brought up the point, and it's not terribly fair. De numbers:

Oklahoma total defense: 29th nationally
Penn State total defense: 54th nationally

Texas plays, yards per play, and total yards against OU: 50 plays¹, 232 yards, 4.6 per play
Michigan plays, yards per play, and total yards against PSU: 63 plays, 312 yards, 4.9 per play

¹This is the fewest number of plays Texas has had on offense in a game since Mack Brown arrived in Austin.

We're not talking about a night and day difference here. And I agree with your assertion that Michigan's win over Penn State was dominant - the defense was spectacular. Yet, I don't understand the continued disparaging of Texas' win over Oklahoma. I'm not sure whether you watched the game or not, but my hunch is that you're drawing conclusions from the box score and whatever highlights you saw. That's often enough to get a picture of the game, but not always.

I could go on and on about the beatdown Texas put on Oklahoma in the second half of that game, but we've done too much of that in this space already.

I'll just note, in conclusion, that I do not happen to think Texas is #2 in the country, either. We've got the second spot reserved for your boys in Maize and Blue. There are lots of ways to point out why Texas should not be ranked #2 right now. Just not the one you're using.

That is all.

--PB--