Mack's gotten nothing but praise from us and the majority of Longhorn fans for all the great things he's done and continues to do for this program.
This loss, however, is the worst in his tenure here. Losing at home, on senior day, to a freaking average Texas A&M football team... well, that's not acceptable.
It's not as if Texas A&M came out on fire and caught lightning in a bottle, a la Kansas State. And it's not as though the Aggies dominated Texas via an unstoppable player, a la Troy Smith.
Texas lost today because it played an injured quarterback, rode him to the ground via three interceptions, and failed to generate a real running game to compensate. And Texas lost because it's defense could not stop the Aggies from picking up third down rushes. Part of the credit goes to Texas A&M, McGee, Goodsen, and Lane - all of whom played their hearts out. But part of the blame must go to the defenders who failed to get them off the field, via poor angles to the ball, missed tackles, and undisciplined gap management.
Plenty of blame for all three coaches - Mack Brown, Gene Chizik, and Greg Davis. And, I think, some questions:
- Did Colt fool the coaching and medical staffs during the week? It was obvious early in the game that he wasn't anywhere near full strength. Who's decision was it to let him play? And to let him continue to play? If you check the BON game comments, there was chatter about him looking injured early on.
- If the decision was made that a semi-injured Colt was better than a 100% Jevan Snead, then we have to ask why the offense failed as a unit to establish a meaningful running game. Twenty-three rushes for 90 yards does not constitute an adequate rushing attack. Not when you call 31 pass plays.
- Texas A&M rushed the ball 51 times. Gene Chizik: Did you not practice gap control, discipline, and outside contain this week? I'll offer you a memo, however late: Stephen McGee can't pass.
- Should I be more gracious to the Aggies in defeat? Maybe. I'll give them credit for executing a brilliant game plan by shortening the hell out of the game and limiting our possessions. Kudos to them for getting it done. But... they still suck. We just sucked harder today. They can celebrate their win all they want. But they're still the same crappy football team they were this morning before kickoff. We were just crappier today.