The SMO: Texas is running out of moral victories

Obligatory reminder: The SMO is usually an emotional overreaction based on the game events the day before. It does not deal in logic or reason.

Texas' soul-crushing losing season continued on Saturday.

The TCU Horned Frogs obliterated the Texas Longhorns, 50-7. A garbage touchdown in the final minutes of the game was the only saving grace for a team so terrible it literally had players openly entertaining the idea of transferring during halftime. Is that a new low? Probably, but to say we can't go any lower would be foolish. Texas still has Oklahoma, Baylor, West Virginia, and Texas Tech on the schedule. Finishing 3-9 is a very realistic ecord -- and I wouldn't consider Iowa State and Kansas to be "gimme wins" either.

The SMO will stray from its usual template today to discuss the general future of Texas football, because any more analysis of the TCU game might give us all an aneurysm.

Charlie Strong is now 7-11 in 1.5 years at Texas. Of those 11 losses, seven have been by three touchdowns or more. We are running out of moral victories. Strong said after yesterday's game that it was his worst day as a head football coach. I'm worried he spoke too soon.

Unfortunately, the conversation about Strong's future has already begun -- with a loud, obnoxious faction of the fanbase calling for his head at the end of the season. As the year continues, this faction will only grow stronger. There aren't a lot of winnable games left on the schedule for Strong to show his team is improving. The Big 12 is better this season than it was last season, and Texas might be worse.  Watching teams like Florida bounce back in one season with a new offensive-minded coach after canning its defensive-minded one will only fuel this fire.

I think it's fair to acknowledge Strong's struggles while still acknowledging the empty cupboard he was left to work with. The fact of the matter is, the Longhorns' upperclassmen are terrible. Texas football is hot garbage on a warm July day in Laredo. UT's best players won't be able legally drink on Sixth Street until 2017. That is an indictment on the former regime, not the current one.

The embarrassing manner by which Texas continues losing is an indictment on the current regime. We, as a fanbase, can accept losing games to better teams, but it's the humiliating fashion by which we lose that has fans so frustrated. Texas has played two great teams in Notre Dame and TCU and has been outscored 88-10. A terrible Virginia team took Notre Dame down to the wire the following week. Texas Tech dropped 52 on the Horned Frogs.

For a coach that prides himself on discipline, it is the lack of discipline that remains so blatantly broken. Penalties, turnovers, botched plays, missed assignments, players tweeting at halftime, etc. can't be chalked up to the Mack Brown era. That is an area where Charlie Strong is failing. Hiring Shawn Watson -- and then "demoting" him one game into his second season -- in a league that thrives off high-caliber spread offenses is another major mistake we can't write off to Mack Brown either. Strong has made his fair share of mistakes while in Austin.

Is he deserving of one more season regardless of the final record this year? Absolutely. The strength of schedule in the early part of this season has been brutal, and there is hope that the final six games will see vast improvements. Will he be on the hot-seat if the embarrassing losses continue in 2016? No question. You don't get to lose at Texas for three years without feeling the heat. It's the nature of the job.

For now, all we can do is sit and wait. Fans are fed up. It's been six years since Texas football has been relevant and its shown no signs that it'll be good any time soon. I'm setting the over/under attendance number for our next home game against Kansas State at 51,000 -- and I'm taking the under.

If there were any reason for optimism, it's that I am going to retire and buy a boat off these hat sales:

It might be the only thing keeping me interested in Longhorns football right now.