The Rebels were simply outmatched against Texas --- just not big enough, strong enough , or fast enough at this time. But, the Rebels played hard and never quit, fighting all the way to the final horn. Had everything gone the Rebs' way ( no early pick six, no 3 interceptions, no 2 called back touchdowns, etc), the game would have been much closer for a longer time, but Texas was still a 21+ point better team than the Rebels. As the game wore on deeper into the second half, the superior offensive talent, depth, and speed of Texas was simply too much for the Reb defense to handle.
The final score, 66-31, was this lopsided not due to Texas "running up the score " as a few Rebels have suggested, but due to the fact that this Rebel team just would not concede defeat. The Rebs showed enough quick strike firepower for Mack Brown to not feel comfortable with even a 3 score lead. So, wisely, Texas played their starters pretty much till the end of the game.
Texas was very sharp offensively for the entire game. Granted, there were a few plays where the Rebs' inexperience or lack of talent made Texas look better than they were, but for the most part Texas was on top of its game. Texas' 3 big and fast running backs pounded the middle of our defense, setting up a very efficient passing game that generated a lot of big plays.
Final verdict: The Rebs weren't yet ready to handle a team like Texas. But, here is the good news for Rebel fans. There are only 2 other teams on our schedule with Texas-like talent --- Alabama and LSU. We'll see Alabama on the road in a couple of weeks, with LSU near the end of the season. The Rebs can compete well with the rest of our SEC schedule. I still think this Reb team has a reasonable chance to win 6 games this season.
Our OL needs to continue to get better. Although a couple of the sacks of Wallace were coverage sacks, the others were due to defenders getting into the backfield too quickly. And Bo Wallace needs to work on handling that type of pressure better ---- primarily by getting rid of the ball instead of taking a sack. Bo has a tendency to try to scramble out of trouble. Against teams with the speed of Texas, that won't work. And he tried to force some passes into tight coverage, which resulted in 2 of the 3 interceptions. Against the speed of the Texas DBs, the window of a receiver being open will be much narrower.
I'm not sure of what our defense can do to improve much this season, other than to work on better tackling and the DBs on better ball awareness when the ball is in the air. Many of our defensive deficiencies can only be cured with more experience and bigger, stronger, faster players. The young players need more development and we need to recruit well on the defensive side of the ball. There are no quick fixes. Our D played hard and gave great effort for 4 quarters. It just wasn't near enough against a team like Texas.
It's on to New Orleans and Tulane (Twolane
). Should be a fun trip and a good opportunity for the Rebs to regroup and get better.
