This game shouldn’t have been as close as it was (and it wasn’t that close). Statistically, the Longhorns dominated us both offensively and defensively. Their teams won all night long, and it probably should have been a blast if not for some timely errors from Quinn Ewers and some incredible special teams play (shoutout to Jahdae!)

But no one cares about stats and there were ways to make the game a more competitive game. Let’s break it down

ELKO

I was an ardent Elko fan from day one. But I’m not going to lie about giving up big early leads to South Carolina, Auburn and then Texas… and then that stunning decision making after the blocked punt. ..I don’t know. Tonight wasn’t Elko’s best evening. I can get down on the fourth down call early in the game (I hate the play call – more on that). BUT! You had the opportunity to leave the red zone with something, even if it was just three points, to keep hope alive, and instead you left with a timeout and demoralized. I don’t know what that was and it was really frustrating to watch

DEFENSE

If you had told me before that game that we had held Sark’s offense to 17 points, I would have said, “Hey bro, that sounds great, maybe we’d win.” But it wasn’t enough and it didn’t even have anything to do with an anemic crime. They gave up 243 rushing yards, which essentially allowed them to play keep away. There were opportunities early to get sacks, get INTs, get tackles for loss, and you didn’t do that.

On a micro level, this game is worrisome, but on a macro level, every good offense we played in the second half of the season was down low. Our actions were shitty, disgusting, bad, whatever negative term you want to use, you can use it. Giving up 40+ to South Carolina and Auburn was bad. And this game wasn’t as much about defense as the others. But still. The possibilities were there.

ATTACK

Yay buddy. Where should I start? First, let’s say the Longhorn defense is national title ranked. They are absolutely that good, and it’s understandable to play poorly against such a good offense. In addition, our personnel problems became apparent this evening. We miss Leveon Moss very much. We are lacking playmakers at the skill positions. The decision on Marcel Reed (16/23 for 146 with 1 INT and 14 runs for 56 yards) has not yet been decided. He is your only point of attack at the moment.

We can make these excuses safe.

But little…brother. What the hell are you doing running into one of the best defenses in the country in the redzone? What do you do when you’re running into the heart of the front four on a 4th down early in the game when your offense somehow gets going? I’ve seen you do pitchouts and all sorts of cool stuff on four downs, and that’s basically your decision when the game is on the line? This entire post-punt block sequence confuses me and is bigger than any personnel or QB issues or whatever.

WHERE ARE WE

Before the season I said 9 wins, and when I said 9 wins I meant I was including the bowl (which according to my group chats is a shitty way to think, but whatever), and that was with Conner and with Moss and assuming we would have AT LEAST one WR level higher. And here we have the same thing right in front of us, but why do I feel so bad?

I feel bad because we were 7-1 and ONLY needed ONE WIN, ONE SINGLE WIN, to play for the SEC Championship. Despite everything that went wrong, we just kept going and found new ways to lose games. Whether it’s defense or offense or whatever.

But I think we were delighted to be where we were in the first year under Jimbo. So do I have higher demands on Elko? And honestly, I’m losing courage to justify and argue why I don’t feel good about how this year ended, and maybe it’s just DAMN OK not to feel good about how it ended, because it finished 1-3 with three straight SEC losses.

At the end of the day we’re 8-4, which is an improvement over the last two years, but that’s where we’ve always been. But maybe you have to go back to where you were to get where you want to go.

I don’t know, man.

You have no choice but to visit the portal, make some tough HR decisions and improve. Off season, I guess.

By the way, whoever we play in the bowl.