Strong talks defense, OU, moving forward

AUSTIN — It was a sunny, 77-degree Monday morning in “the cesspool of…Austin, Texas” when Charlie Strong diplomatically sidestepped ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit’s critique of the football culture on the 40 Acres.

Strong was “set up to fail at Texas,” Herbstreit chirped last Saturday in front of thousands of screaming Aggies.

But if Strong gets drained from “the cesspool” at season’s end, it will be because he failed to effectively synchronize all three phases of the game.

“I don’t hear half the conversations,” Strong said of Herbstreit’s rant. “My whole focus is this football team and to make sure that, if I take care of business, then everything else will take care of itself.”

Problem is, Strong has yet to put it all together in 2 ½ seasons.

The offense is now clicking at a record pace. Even special teams came up big in the 45-40 loss to Oklahoma. The bitter irony is that the best thing Strong had going for him during his first season was a pass defense that ranked among the nation’s top 15.

These days, a Keystones Cops secondary, the worst scoring defense in school history and, certainly, one of Texas’ poorest-tackling teams, is torpedoing one of the program’s top offenses.

“Everything is about fundamentals and techniques,” Strong said. “I told the players that it’s a simple game that we make so complicated.”

Herbstreit’s diatribe was, presumably, directed at a culture that stems from the overreach of big-dollar boosters into an administratively hamstrung Athletic Department. His Game Day colleagues observed the situation is hardly unique to The University of Texas. But it’s just as obvious that Strong’s game-day woes have primarily to do with a defense so woeful that it would make John Mackovic blush.

The defense still cannot get off the field on third-down as OU converted six consecutive third downs in the decisive second half.

Most of all, it continues to give up chunk yardage through the air. At least 200 of Oklahoma’s 390 passing yards came on just six plays, by Strong’s count.

“It’s all big throws that are hurting us right now,” Strong said, despite the fact his program now has two DB coaches.

Inexplicably, the defense “makes those plays in practice” against an exceptional group of receivers, Strong said. But the productivity has yet to transition from the practice field to the playing field.

By now, the defensive deficiencies are well-documented. So, it may come as a surprise that Texas’ 41 points-per-game, offensively, currently ranks No. 5 all time in UT history.

It all ranks just ahead of the 2009 Colt McCoy-led, Big 12 champ. If Sterlin Gilbert’s crew can add just 1.5 points to its average, his scoring offense would trail only the 2005 national champions. In addition, D’Onta Foreman is the nation’s second-leading rusher with 145.8 ypg.

The flipside is the offense mustered just three points off of four turnovers against OU.

Saturday was a mixed bag for true freshman QB Shane Buechele. His 245 passing yards rank No. 8 all-time against Oklahoma in school history while this three TDs tied Vince Young for the most-ever against the Sooners. Yet, Buechele underthrew many receivers and overthrew (a still catchable toss) to a w-i-d-e open John Burt. His 3rd-and-2 INT at the Oklahoma seven late in the third quarter was a dagger. (The kid is all-class and continues to show maturity beyond his years)

During Monday’s availability with print/internet media, Buechele shouldered an inordinate amount of the blame; he attributed the loss to “bad throws and bad execution on my part” while commending the “great routes” from receivers and “great play calls” from the bench.”

The 18-Wheeler package needs to be overhauled, Strong acknowledged. No defense left on the slate can match OU’s physicality, but even lesser teams can load the box against the predictable scheme.

“We’re seeing a lot of ‘zero coverage’ (against the formation) where they overload the outside,” Strong noted. “We can make some changes. We’ve been successful with it. If people see it enough, they can adjust to it.”

CBs Davante Davis and CB Kris Boyd (despite showing some flashes) have been mired in a sophomore slump. Davis got torched on the longest TD-pass in series’ history when Dede Westbrook blew past him for 71 yards. Later, Boyd halted just long enough to allow Dahu Green’s 51-yard catch.

“(QB Baker Mayfield was scrambling around, and (Westbrook) runs a post route and goes vertical on (Davis),” Strong said. “(You’ve got to) keep your eyes on the coverage and get him out of the backfield. That happened a lot, not just with (Davis) but a lot of our defensive backs are losing their eyes. Once you lose your eyes, you’re going to lose your man.”

At this point, how may more losses can Strong withstand before losing his job?

Texas must win at least win six of its next eight before therecan be “a whiff of a conversation” about Strong returning for a fourth season, a source with longstanding ties within the program told me shortly after the OU game.

An 8-4 record still might not be enough, my source said, before adding: “We fired an 8-4 coach (Mack Brown), and he had a national championship. We could run the table, go 9-3 and finish the season in the Top 25, (but) that would be the only scenario, I think, where Charlie would absolutely return.”

Strong does his darndest to shield players from outside clutter, but they’ve heard it before. Seniors like SS Dylan Haines has now heard it for two Longhorn head coaches.

“Guys obviously talk about it,” Haines said. “I’m not gonna sit here and say it doesn’t affect us.”

For the third straight season, Strong vowed to get it “fixed”, assured fans that he shares in their “frustration” and looked toward the day “when we get this turned.” It’s just that Strong would have to win six of his next eight just to have a .500 record at Texas.

The program will turn; it has before and it will again.

The only question is whether Strong will still be in Austin to see it happen.