By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas’ attention to its culture and the way its policed will not change, according to Longhorns’ coach Tom Herman.
Even after the benching of three players in the first quarter of its 38-35 loss to Oklahoma State last Saturday could be directly attributed to substandard play by Texas during that stretch.
The Longhorns sat starting cornerbacks Davante Davis and Kris Boyd for the first quarter against the Cowboys on the road after they broke team rules. Texas surrendered 260 of total offense to Oklahoma State in that quarter, the second most the Longhorns have allowed in one quarter in the past 15 years.
Wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey was also benched against Oklahoma State, but only for a series.
“It doesn’t matter if we were playing Week 1, or Week 10, or who the opponent is, or if it was Oklahoma State or Oklahoma or Tulsa or San Jose State, ” Herman said Monday in his regularly scheduled Monday media availability, “We have standards to uphold and when those standards aren’t met, there’s consequences for that.”
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Creating Culture, Creating Depth
The loss to the Cowboys dropped Texas (6-2, 4-1 in Big 12 play) from sixth to 15th in this week’s Associated Press poll and into a tie for first place in the conference race with No. 7 Oklahoma (which the Longhorns have already defeated) and No. 12 West Virginia, a powerful and balanced squad that ventures into Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“We don’t love them any less,” said Herman of Davis, Boyd and Humphrey. “When you ground your kid, it doesn’t mean you love them any less. It doesn’t mean your feelings have changed for them. Our culture needs to be reinforced on a daily basis so that moving forward especially our young guys know that it doesn’t matter who you’re playing or what your name is.”
To make sure the dropoff that doomed Texas in Stillwater doesn’t happen again, the Longhorns need to make sure they build the depth that teams that are stalwarts at the top of the rankings can employ.
Herman knows that his squad’s top 30 players can match up well against any opponent – but understands that there’s work to the done with his reserves and situational players.
“I think most places outside of about three in the country probably feel that way to be honest with you,” Herman explained about his depth. “Guys are starting for a reason and it’s because they are playing better than the other guy. Any time you have a starter go down, by definition, the quality of play might go down a little bit.
“That’s why it’s so important when your number is called, that when you’re ready. We’re on our way in terms of, you know, creating some depth, but we’ve certainly got to accelerate it.”
Mountaineers to Climb
Herman said he expects the Longhorns to bounce back well from the loss to Oklahoma State, saying the team can continue to define its season by the way it responds.
Last time there was an urgency for a strong and sustained response, Texas took it to multiple Top 25 teams in defeating USC, TCU and Oklahoma.
Now it’s time for the Longhorns to show they’re ready to move on to the Mountaineers.
“We responded fantastically to the opening season loss (to Maryland),” Herman said. “I don’t think anybody can dispute that. And so this is very similar. So now, we’re going to figure out, you know, what’s really inside of our guys.”
No. 15 Texas (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) hosts No. 12 West Virginia (6-1, 4-1 Big 12) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FOX in matchup of first-place teams in the Big 12 Conference. Both schools enter with 4-1 conference records, tied atop the standings with Oklahoma. West Virginia is coming off a 58-14 win over Baylor last week, and the Mountaineers’ lone loss of the season came at Iowa State, a 30-14 setback to the Cyclones on Oct. 13.
News & Notes from Monday’s press conference:
♦ An updated injury report: Herman said defensive end Breckyn Hager suffered “a pretty severe right SC sprain. I think that’s the sternoclavicular joint up here (collarbone), so he’s kind of day-to-day.”
♦ Herman also said wide receiver D’Shawn Jamison has a mid-foot sprain and that he’s day-to-day.
♦ The good news is that linebacker Malcolm Roach , who Herman earlier his season said would miss the rest of the year with a broken foot, could be back for this week’s game and is expected to play next week against Texas Tech.
“We’re going to see how today and tomorrow go, and Malcolm might be able to do a little something at practice this week,” Herman said about Roach. “Again, he has progressed to the point of everything except football drills on that foot. So we’ve got to see how that goes here in the next couple days. Barring any setback we’re counting on having him next week. If things happen faster than that, we might be able to see him this week.”
♦ Herman called Boyd’s Instagram response to criticism of his play against Oklahoma State by former Texas linebacker and current ESPN college football analyst Emmanuel Acho “an ill-advised attempt to actually prove that the only people whose opinions really matter are the ones in the team meeting room and in the locker room.”
Herman called it another learning moment for Boyd and the Longhorns.
“Yeah, we talked about it, and again, you know, you want to silence any critic, the best way to do that is keep your mouth shut and go play really good,” Herman added about the social media dustup. “If you’re concerned about the critics, then you’ve probably got bigger issues. So, it was a learning moment.”
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