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Question: What sucks worse than a Hoover Vacuum Cleaner?
Answer: The Texas Longhorns!
To say that Texas is off to a horrendous start to the 2015 football season would actually kinder than the harsh truth, which is that the Longhorns are historically bad.
Sitting at 1-4 as the season approaches the midpoint is bad. Experiencing the worst start to a season since 1956 is worse. Having players ReTweet a post about transferring during halftime of a blowout loss to TCU is downright shameful. But don't let all of that fool you for even a minute. The Longhorns are just talented enough to pull off an upset this season and they'd love for nothing more than their target to be the Oklahoma Sooners.
OU fans will try to block out the majority of the memories that include the John Blake era, but they will remember him beating Texas in 1996. The lesson learned here is that any team can win this game, at any time, regardless of their record. Need I point back to Case McCoy downing the Sooners just two seasons ago?
The Longhorns are ahead of only Kansas in scoring offense in the Big 12. With an average of 24 points per game, they are producing 338 total yards of offense per game which is the worst mark in the conference. Freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard took the reins of the offense when Jay Norvell assumed the play-calling duties following the season opening loss at Notre Dame. Heard is completing 55% of his passes and has thrown for 661 yards this season, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Heard is also the team's leading rusher, with 318 yards and three touchdowns on the season, but that's not to say they don't have any running backs. D'Onta Foreman is averaging 4.8 yards per carry and Jonathan Gray 3.8. The two running backs have combined for 5 rushing touchdowns this season.
The Longhorns are last in the Big 12 in passing yards per game with 167.2, but Daje Johnson is a high-value target. He has a team-high 14 receptions and is averaging 14.4 yards each time he hauls in a pass. John Burt has caught nine passes for 222 yards, which leads the team, he also is one of three Texas players to catch a touchdown pass this season.
As bad as things have been for Texas on the offensive side of the ball, they may actually be worse on defense. Only Kansas and Texas Tech are allowing more points per game than the Longhorns average of 38.2 and the same three schools are allowing opponents to average over 500 yards of total offense per game.
Texas gives up over 200 yards per game on the ground and opposing running backs are averaging 4.4 yards per carry. The Longhorns have allowed 16 touchdowns through the air this season and opposing quarterbacks are completing 67% of their passes.
You also won't want to sleep on the Texas special teams because you may end up missing a spectacular tragedy. Shanked extra points, jacked up punts, and snaps going over the head of the kickers have become quite the norm.
Yes, this is the depth to which the Texas football team has fallen and there doesn't seem to be any hope in sight...unless they can upset the Sooners on Saturday. It's clear to just everyone that the postseason won't be a reality for UT this season so that means this will be their bowl game. Even at that, there isn't a lot of confidence coming their way, nor will there be the usual amount of fan support in the Cotton Bowl.
A 1-4 record has the Longhorns in a really bad place right now. An average loss margin of 44-5 against ranked opponents this season makes them the perfect candidate to overlook a bit, and that makes them very dangerous in my opinion.