By Steve Habel/Senior Editor
AUSTIN, Texas — Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the Texas football team’s rebuilding efforts won’t be a quick fix either. But knowing those parameters tempered little as the Longhorns’ 51-41 loss to Maryland was a shock to the team’s fans, and even more so to new Texas coach Tom Herman and his staff.
The Longhorns got two special teams touchdowns and another score on an interception return, passed for 375 yards and still lost to a Maryland team that is picked to finish fifth in the Big 10 Conference’s six-team Eastern Division.
“Obviously it was not the result that any of us expected or anticipated, or [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]planned for,” Herman said in his Monday press conference. “But there were a lot of positives to build on, and there were certainly mistakes that need to be corrected if we’re going to get to where we all want to get.”
Some of the 88,396 folks at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium began pelting the field with paper fans and booing midway through the fourth quarter, a sign of disappointment that the product on the field was not what they had expected to see.
“They’re disappointed. We are, too,” Herman said. “Nobody is more so than the players and coaches that are fully invested in this. This is a process and we’re in this thing for the long haul.
“These nine months of training wasn’t just to beat Maryland,” Herman added. “This was to instill and solidify a culture and a way of doing things and an attitudinal shift that I feel like we’re on our way. Did I think we were ahead of where we showed on Saturday? Yeah, I did. Hopefully, we’ll show that this week.”
Now for the bad news: Texas starting quarterback Shane Buechele bruised his right (throwing) shoulder in the loss, will not practice Tuesday and will be evaluated for availability during the week as the Longhorns prepare to face San Jose State Saturday afternoon in Austin.
If Buechele can’t go, the quarterback position will be manned by true freshman Sam Ehlinger, who pushed Buechele in preseason workouts.
Texas ran the ball just 31 times for 98 yards, with only 14 of those carries (and 52 of the yards) coming from its running backs. Herman said the offense tried to take what Maryland was giving.
When the Terrapins went up, 27-7, in the second quarter and added an extra player in the box to push the Longhorns away from the run, the Longhorns relied mostly on Buechele’s passing.
“We got to do a better job of establishing the run game,” Herman said. “Now, obviously, it’s difficult when you fall down by 20 points in the second quarter. It changes your thought process a little bit.
“The defense and the circumstances of the game dictated that more than any kind of faith that we have in the run game. I believe that being a balanced offense, which is what we want to be, does not mean we want to throw it 40 times a game and run it 40 times a game. It means we want to be able to win the game on offense the way the defense dictates us.”
A win at home versus San Jose State (1-1) would salve some of the wounds the Longhorns suffered in the loss to Maryland. It’s essential for Texas to make hay now – UT travels to USC Sept. 16 and begins Big 12 Conference play Thursday, Sept. 28 at Iowa State.
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