Longhorns & Irish Making Noise But It’s Falling Deaf On These Ears
The Horns have hooked OU. The Red River Rivalry turned burnt orange when Cameron Dicker’s 40-yard field goal soared through the goal post to give the Longhorns a 48-45 victory over Oklahoma.
It was the team’s fifth consecutive victory after a season-opening loss to Maryland.
But Texas is NOT back.
And in another part of the country, another team is on the rise. But despite its 6-0 record, Notre Dame is not. That. Good.
It’s easy for commentators, analysts and “experts” to get carried away when a team wins a few games in a row. Witness the love for LSU prior to the Tigers showing their true stripes in a loss to Florida.
I’m more of a realist.
To declare “Texas is back” is an immediate overreaction to a couple of victories. On paper, perhaps it looks good the Longhorns beat the Sooners, but Oklahoma’s defense is so bad it should not even be called a defense. “The 11 guys who stand there while the offense is on the sideline” would be more appropriate.
The Longhorns were an uninspired disaster in the first game and it took a win over hapless USC to get them pointed in the right direction. That gave Texas momentum and the players the confidence they could win. Sometimes, all it takes is that kind of springboard to get on a roll and play better than you are at the moment.
And that is where Texas is now; it’s playing a bit over it head but is no means “back” to the height of the Vince Young years.
Notre Dame is a beneficiary of its schedule. Those tho think the Irish are waking the echoes of Lou Holtz and Ara Parseghian and Knute Rockne are are accurately assessing Notre Dame’s opponents.
They think beating Stanford is an accomplishment. It’s not. The Cardinal are simply an average team at best. Michigan is not a powerhouse and Virginia Tech lost to a bunch of Monarch butterflies from Old Dominion.
Also, keep in mind Notre Dame nearly lost – should have lost – to Vanderbilt. At home.
The Irish do stand a pretty good chance of making it the College Football Playoff. After all, who’s left to beat them? Only the watered-down programs of Florida State and USC. Syracuse is looming there and heck, their season may be sunk by Navy.
This Notre Dame team is like the 2012 one, the “mirage Irish” that was truly revealed in the 42-14 thumping by Alabama in the National Championship game.
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