Texas Football: Longhorns Must Grow Up, and Fast

The levee broke around 8:20 p.m. CT Saturday night. What resulted was the worst home loss since "Route 66"—otherwise known as the 66-3 smack down UCLA put on Texas in 1997.

Texas' defense somehow shut down BYU's explosive offense throughout the first half, but the Longhorns offense did nothing to help.

The defense was on the field for more than 11 minutes in the second quarter alone. And when it was off, its breaks lasted an average 55 seconds.

But the floodgates opened in the third quarter when BYU scored 21 unanswered points. The team's contributions to the defense during the third quarter included two three-and-outs and a special team's fumble to give BYU the ball on Texas' 24-yard line.

It was apparent the defense was worn down, and the rest of the team struggled to do anything to help the tired unit. The outcome was a 41-7 loss to BYU.

The performance the Longhorns offense showed Saturday made it more evident than ever that there are serious issues on the depth chart.

"College football isn't like pro football. We can't go to a waiver wire," quarterbacks coach Shawn Watson said. "We've got what we have got and we've got to work with it and find our way through it. There is a great life lesson, and there will be a championship down the road to look at that this had a lot to do with it. It builds character and that fire that you've got to go through."

The offense took a major step back when Texas announced offensive linemen Kennedy Estelle and Desmond Harrison would be suspended for Saturday's game for unspecified reasons. Add in the losses of quarterback David Ash (concussion) and center Dominic Espinosa (ankle), and the offense was basically pieced together with duct tape against BYU.

Texas started five offensive linemen with five career starts; three of those starts came in Week 1. First-time starting quarterback Tyrone Swoopes' playing experience from 2014 included kneeling twice to run out the clock in Texas' home opener Aug. 30.

When one factored in the losses to injury and suspensions, and the number of inexperienced players Texas would be forced to start, it was clear the Longhorns offense would struggle against the Cougars.

But what occurred Saturday night was shocking. 

"

Charlie Strong said Saturday's loss was an embarrassment to the university. Takes full responsibility for loss.

— Taylor Gaspar (@Taylor_Gaspar) September 7, 2014"

Texas hasn't had an offensive lineman drafted since Tony Hills in 2008. And if Saturday's performance is any indication of the talent on the line, there's a possibility the Longhorns won't have an offensive lineman drafted for years to come.

The strength of the Texas offense is in running backs Johnathan Gray and Malcolm Brown. But the duo cannot do their jobs effectively unless the offensive line opens up holes to run through, which is something the line did not do against BYU.

And putting a quarterback at third-and-long 10 times in his first career-start is not a recipe for success.

There's no pardon for what occurred Saturday night. BYU embarrassed Texas for the second-straight year, but this embarrassment happened in front of the its home crowd.

And the thousands of fans who left in the third quarter was proof of how shameful the performance was to Texas faithful.

The Longhorns have to grow up, and need to do it fast with the tough schedule ahead.

Texas will face No. 12 UCLA, No. 8 Baylor and No. 4 Oklahoma in three of the next four games. If the offense cannot stay on the field long enough to give its defense time to rest, there's a possibility Texas could lose all three of those games.

Bouncing back and upsetting UCLA would be huge for the Longhorns' confidence heading into conference play. But it will require the team to mature and step-up to the challenge—something it failed to do against the Cougars.

"We are going to bounce back," senior cornerback Quandre Diggs said. "That’s what we’ve got to do and that’s what we will do. It’s game two. We’ve got another big one next week and we are just going to put our head down and continue to grind."

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Taylor Gaspar is Bleacher Report's featured columnist covering the Texas Longhorns. Follow Taylor on Twitter: @Taylor_Gaspar.