Football on the 40: Mid-Season Report Card

The Longhorns started out great in their biggest home game of the season – Texas looked in command of the game early and poised for another dependable victory at home. Unfortunately, the game quickly slipped away with a few mental errors that cascaded into fatigue and overall poor play in the second half.

Oklahoma State remains unbeaten and in control of their destiny as they head to Ames to face Iowa State.

For the 4th time this season, Texas goes into the week unranked – this time heading into a bye week that is desperately needed. The team will have some time to rest up, regroup, and hopefully head into the second half of the season, re-energized and ready to roll.

At the end of their bye, they will face a tough Baylor team (who will also be on a bye coming off a gritty win against BYU), with a chance to salvage October with a must-win in Waco. 

We are Football on the 40, a podcast hosted by University of Texas alumni that takes a weekly dive into the Longhorn football season. These are our individualized takes for how the season has gone so far and where the rest of the season is heading.

Bowen: While a disappointing season thus far, given some of the hype that we fell into ourselves, we are relatively on track to hit where preseason projections had us falling (mostly at 8-4). I think making the Big 12 championship game is a pipe dream at best, but there is still hope for the season if we can show some growth coming out of the bye and build some momentum to finish out the season.

We’ve shown some sparks at every phase of the game but have yet to string them together when we’ve needed to the most. I expect more out of this team in the second half of the season. I give the Longhorns a solid B-.

Andrew: We are just a few plays away from a totally different narrative, but alas, the Horns are 4-3. Many will look at the previous two regimes and state that Texas has not changed. Time will be the ultimate judge, but I do believe that Texas is heading in the right direction.

Offensively, we have looked elite at times, which could not be said about the previous two coaches in their first year. Defensively, we have struggled to say it mildly.

However, Pete Kwiatkowski has schematically changed the defense and needs time to instill the type of defense that will produce success. Special teams have shown some glimpses of brilliance along with a few dumbfounding plays. Overall, I give the Longhorns a B. 

Jake: Though this is not where we wanted to be seven games into the Sark era, there are noteworthy positives to address. Offensively, we have power and meaningful flashes of success, and Texas is averaging 41.6 points per game (8th in FBS). The defense has the talent but has not produced anywhere near what should be deemed acceptable.

Also, our special teams have overperformed. Returners have generally been disciplined with only a few errors, and we have two blocked punts. Likewise, Cameron Dicker has been a star.

Stepping into the punting role for the first time, he has the greatest net punting average among all starting punters in the FBS. He is also six for six on-field goals under 40 yards and eight for nine on those under 50. With just five games to go, three of our opponents are winless in conference.

Unlike some of the others on Football on the 40, I have chosen to keep the hopes of a Big 12 Championship alive. As for a team grade, I also give our Longhorns a B-.

You can check out this week’s podcast here. (link to here when updated)