The Texas Longhorns enter their open week with plenty of fixes on their check list as the rest of college football approaches the midseason.
After beating Tennessee to open conference play, the Longhorns get Oklahoma next. But that’s not all our guys are talking about.
Columnists Cedric Golden and Kirk Bohls tackle the sport’s biggest storylines in this week’s Take Ten segment.
1. What’s the biggest fix for the Texas Longhorns?
GOLDEN: The offensive line. It rained cats and dogs to start the weekend in Austin, but the Longhorns have a Flood problem. Kyle Flood’s offensive line played one of its worst games in Tennessee and somehow the Horns left Neyland Stadium with a win. Arch Manning can’t take six sacks and the running game cannot average 1.7 yards per carry if the Horns are going places in the SEC and beyond. They’re one of the most vulnerable No. 1 ranked teams in recent memory, but they’re capable of so much more if the big uglies start moving bodies.
BOHLS: Penalties, but I’m not exactly sure how to do that. Steve Sarkisian has already told his players don’t do it. Not sure if he punishes them if they keep doing it. But penalties are within a team’s control, and that might be the one phase that helps give Oklahoma a chance next week. Texas ranks 90th with 25 whistles for 250 yards through four games.
2. If the Protect College Sports Act becomes a law, who’ll benefit the most and who’ll be hurt the most?
GOLDEN: It would bring some uniformity to the process by taking decision-making power from the 50 states (a dynamic that was a tremendous failing by the NCAA). And if HBCUs receive $180 million annually, that would be a nice switch, but why are they so hellbent on keeping young people from maximizing their ability to earn NIL money? Coaches won’t stand for capping their salaries so why try to limit the players who are putting their bodies at risk every Saturday, many of them people of color from underserved communities? This is a free marketplace. Allow them to reach their complete earning potential while they can because many of them won’t see one day in the NFL.
BOHLS: It would help the players get more money because revenue-sharing – legally speaking – would double and dedicate more dough to women and Olympic sports. It would hurt agents, whose commissions would be capped at 5% so they can’t gouge athletes any more, and multiple transfers who love having seven alma maters.
3. If you’re Oklahoma, what are you cooking up for a potential Texas upset next week?
GOLDEN: Brent Venables was an elite defensive play-caller for coaching legends Bob Stoops and Dabo Swinney so his first goal should be to rattle Texas quarterback Arch Manning (or better yet, the guys protecting him) to disturb the Longhorns’ offensive rhythm. This Sooners’ offense will be lucky to score 17 points against the SEC’s stingiest defense – the Horns give up only 13.3 points per game – so the goal should be to turn over Manning and create short fields for struggling quarterback John Mateer and Co.
BOHLS: I guess it’s too late for transfer portal additions. Maybe Brent Venables could bring in Bob Stoops as an offensive consultant. Promise the defense free tickets to Disneyland if they shut out Texas. Otherwise, I got nothing.
4. Should the officiating crew from Texas’ win at Tennessee be punished for the onside kick fiasco?
GOLDEN: I would sit the crew for one game. They weren’t exactly having a great day at the office even before they showed America they didn’t know the rules governing onside kicks. Texas is fortunate they didn’t flag running back Raleek Brown for his disgusting jock sniffing celebration after Texas’ final touchdown, which would have resulted in the Horns kicking off from their own 20 with 5:14 left.
BOHLS: Absolutely. It’s imperative that the officials know the rules. But they should also be reprimanded and docked at least one game because of general atrociousness. Worst I’ve ever seen.
5. Will Lincoln Riley be back at USC next season?
GOLDEN: He’s in trouble but that massive buyout reported to be $60-70 million should save him for another year. The Trojans could get away with up-and-down play when they were in the Pac-12, but now that they’re rubbing elbows with Big Ten heavyweights like Ohio State and Indiana, the heat has been turned up.
BOHLS: Yes, he will. Barely. Just because of a huge $60-70 million buyout. USC could win eight games but hasn’t finished higher than fourth in the conference, and I don’t see him turning around the Trojans and getting them in the CFP.
6. Did Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck go too overboard by smearing a player’s blood on his face after the upset win over Washington?
GOLDEN: I’ve heard of blood brothers, but this was taking it a step too far. Fleck said he didn’t know television cameras were on him, which doesn’t make sense. Even if the TV guys were gone, there were thousands of cell phone cameras in the stadium. It isn’t the safest celebration but it’s also another example of what’s cool about college football.
BOHLS: Of course, he did. Draw the line, my man. You aren’t a caveman. What is this, a remake of Braveheart?
7. What is your college football lock of the week?
GOLDEN: Give me Florida laying the 4½ points at Missouri. The Gators are a legitimate SEC title threat after a lost 2025 season. Somehow Missouri stayed inside the top 25 despite a lackluster 27-17 win over Troy – which lost to 0-3 Utah State – and a 31-24 loss at Mississippi State. The Gators will win by double digits.
BOHLS: As tempting as it was to take desperate South Carolina minus 3 over Kentucky, I’m going with surging, offensively potent Texas State minus 8½ over San Diego State.
8. Does No. 16 Mississippi State pull the upset of No. 7 Alabama?
GOLDEN: The Tide is ripe for the taking, and Bulldogs quarterback Kamario Taylor is the most overlooked quarterback in the country. StarkVegas will be rocking after Hail State takes a 27-24 win behind a late TD and enters the top 10 for the first time since QB Dak Prescott and Co. rose all the way to No. 1 in 2014.
BOHLS: No, but the Bulldogs will come close. I don’t see much improved Mississippi State toppling the Crimson Tide, but Kamario Taylor and those annoying cowbells will make Bama sweat before losing 32-28.
9. List the five coolest college mascots
(And Kirk, you can’t say Texas Raider Red because your son Zach won national awards in that costume).
GOLDEN: I’ll go with Colorado’s Ralphie – something that big and fast should have a license plate on its butt – Bevo, the Oregon Duck, USC’s Traveler and West Virginia’s Mountaineer.
BOHLS: Sorry, Raider Red always comes in first, followed by Bevo. You going to argue with someone with horns that big? My next three would be Colorado’s Ralphie, Michigan State’s regal Sparty and Oregon’s pushup-hungry duck. Hey, I’m from Taylor.
10. Which coaching legend – living or dead – would you pay to hear speak at a banquet?
GOLDEN: I would have loved to have spent an evening listening to Spike Dykes tell old stories. I met him at a Texas High School Coaches Convention in Dallas back in the early 1990s when I was working at the Tyler Morning Telegraph and he was the head coach at Texas Tech. I asked him about a local player named Brian Giddens, who played at John Tyler. “Giddens?” he asked. “I love him. He’s crazier than a tree full of owls.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
BOHLS:
This article originally published at Should Tennessee vs Texas officiating crew be punished? Golden, Bohls tackle top question.
About the Author
