Herman discusses injuries, mindset of team heading into Texas-OU

[Jameson McCausland]

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Coming off a 33-31 loss to TCU, Tom Herman will be entering perhaps the most important game of his tenure as Texas’ head coach as the Longhorns prepare to take on Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. The Sooners are coming off back to back losses to open conference play, the most recent a 37-30 loss in Ames to Iowa State. Ahead of Saturday’s matchup, Tom Herman provided numerous injury updates and discussed where his team is at heading into the Red River Showdown.

Injury updates

On the injury front, the Longhorns received some positive and negative news. WR Joshua Moore left Saturday’s game with a leg contusion but Herman described him as probable for the upcoming game. RB Roschon Johnson also was unavailable at the end of the game with a shoulder injury, but Herman said he expects the sophomore to return to practice this week and be ready to go. The biggest news centered around the return of WR Jordan Whittington, who hasn’t played since the season opening win against UTEP but returned to practice on Sunday and is on track to play against the Sooners. On the flip side, Reese Leitao (Knee), Ayodele Adeoye (Shoulder) and Tyler Owens (Knee/Hamstring) are all considered doubtful after leaving the game against TCU.

Working out issues heading into OU

Herman was quick to point out both in his conference call with fellow Big 12 coaches and in his weekly meeting with the local media that regardless of what the outcome could have been agains TCU, the Longhorns still have a lot to clean up.

“We’ve got the same issues, win or lose.”-Herman said.

The head coach did say he was pleased with how the right side of the offensive line performed compared to the previous two games, but acknowledged the defense is going through some growing paints and the coaches have to get them up to speed. The Longhorns surrendered 226 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground, including the go-ahead TD by Max Duggan on a 26-yard QB draw. The Longhorns will face another mobile QB this week in Spencer Rattler.

Current mindset of the team

The Longhorns have endured many close losses the last few years, but Herman said he is not worried about the confidence of the team following another close defeat. One of his biggest reasons was the guy they have behind center.

“We’ve had a lot of close ones around here, wins and losses in our four years.”- Herman said. “I think our guys are very confident in our ability, certainly what we were able to overcome in Lubbock added to that. Any time you have Sam Ehlinger at quarterback, you’re going to feel confident that as long as there’s a couple ticks left on the clock he’s going to find a way to get it done. We’ve always been a confident crew in tight ballgames.”

Herman also pointed to a spirited Sunday practice as a reason for optimism following Saturday’s loss.

“There was zero finger pointing unless it was right at themselves.”- Herman said about his players. “Just an overall understanding that of the things that need to happen this week and moving forward in practice for us to fix the things that are fixable. Everybody in that team meeting room and everybody at practice yesterday believes or are bought into that fact.”

Quick news and notes

• In addition to the injuries mentioned above, Herman also mentioned Marcus Washington was dealing with an ankle injury. The injuries to Washington and Moore open up the possibility of Brenden Schooler moving out to ZWR.
  
• Herman was very open in his praise for Lincoln Riley and what he has done with the Oklahoma offense. He said the Longhorns will have to find a way to prevent mismatches with Oklahoma’s tight ends, something that has hurt the Longhorns in previous matchups
  
• Herman mentioned he talked with Dabo Swinney late last week and came away with a key quote from the Clemson head coach: “It’s not the water outside the boat that sinks ships. It’s the water you allow inside the boat that does.”
  

 

[63_Texas_1]

Oh the irony of whom Herman confided. Before Strong was hired Dabo Swinney offered to bring his whole staff to Texas. I remember Ketch, all of OB, and IT made fun of the offer. One of lines by editors of both was: "Who does he think he is to bring all of his staff to Texas and what has he done?" SMH

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I found it interesting that in both the PC and the "Rewind" show, Herman said nothing about the misalignment on the play where Duggan sprinted 30 yards almost untouched, right up the middle for a TD.

There was literally no one in the middle. And CTH literally ignored it.

 

[83Dee]

I found it interesting that in both the PC and the "Rewind" show, Herman said nothing about the misalignment on the play where Duggan sprinted 30 yards almost untouched, right up the middle for a TD.

There was literally no one in the middle. And CTH literally ignored it.

It’s a fixable mistake. It will be fixed by 2022.  

 

[zion3d]

And that is the problem.  We have seen the same show for 4 years. I keep hearing "there are some things we need to clean up" and "those are issues that are fixable" but nothing ever changes.  

Clearly all of these guys on the team have been playing ball for some time now and should know that you do not line up with no one covering the middle.  Its either coaching or not caring. At this point just tell me which it is. 

 

[oldhorn2]

It’s a fixable mistake. It will be fixed by 2022.  

we are gonna have a new coach in 2022?

Sadly, I have given up all hope that Herman will fix anything.

 

[MBHORNSFAN]

Herman is Charlie Strong with a better quarterback 

 

[Baron]

5-5 in the last ten games says all you need to know.

 

[zion3d]

Well said.  But you are forgetting that Herman knows how to use excuses much better than Strong.  has anyone notice that he laid a coat of textured paint with the short offseason and lack of practice?  I can guarantee he will ride that horse all year.  Looks like Bama, Clemson, and Florida did not get the memo.  They have gone out and performed at an elite level with the same COVID drawbacks that Texas has had.  And yet Tom is using COVID as a backdrop to excuse the same crap that he has sold us for the last 4 years.  

It pissed me off when he said that that "people think that they know how to do his job" then goes into a DABO quote.  No we don't think that we can do your job but we all now when a football program is not getting better.  We can all see the mistakes year after year over and over.  Then we get the same old platitudes as to why we are not at an elite level and its never because of the head coach.  

 

[dillohorn]

UT will suck in most games this season even while eeeking out a few more wins. Should never be in this situation at UT.