Texas Longhorn's Bye Week Musings: Guaranteed Not to Lose This Saturday!

Needless to say, this season has been a disappointing one for the Texas Longhorns and their fans.  There were high hopes that the Longhorns would be able to compete for a shot at the BCS Title this season or, at the least, win the Big 12 and play in a major bowl game. 

Texas fans enjoyed the fact that their team was in the top 25 the longest of any other team in college football which was up until this past Sunday when they were knocked out of the poll after their loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River rivalry.

Let’s take at issues as the Longhorns are off this weekend and don’t have a game until next Saturday.

If you read the popular media you will see that there are those out there who feel that Mack Brown has worn out his welcome at the university and that it’s time for him to go. 

It’s amazing how people turn on the coaches as soon as they start losing.  Granted, Texas has a long and proud history of winning, but the coach doesn’t need to be fired after a two game losing streak. 

Teams have down years, they have problems with recruiting and sometimes injuries end up taking toll but this is the first time that Texas has had a bad stretch of games in a long time. 

It’s not time to call it quits with Brown.  At least not yet.

And worrying about whether or not assistant coach Will Muschamp is going to leave the program is a little too premature as well.  Muschamp is, in essence, the coach in waiting (waiting to take over after Brown leaves) and some fans feel that if things don’t start going well for the Longhorns, Muschamp may start to look for employment elsewhere.

Granted, Muschamp is a great coach and needs to be retained but it’s doubtful that he will start looking for another job unless things completely fall apart this season and Texas doesn’t win another game.  In fact, if Texas doesn’t win another game in 2010 Brown could be on his way out the door but for right now, with just two losses, his job is still pretty safe.

So how many more wins will the Longhorns get this season?  Let’s take a look at the remaining games on their schedule and see how they may finish up the 2010 season.

At Nebraska: This is going to be a tough game for the Longhorns.  Nebraska is playing great football right now and it’s going to be hard for the Longhorns to beat them.  Look for Texas to earn their third loss in a row here.

Iowa State: The Cyclones have been playing some pretty decent offensive football but this game is a home game for the Longhorns and their defense should be able to shut them down.  Look for Texas to win this game and gain some confidence back.

Baylor: Baylor is another team that isn’t playing too bad right now but the Longhorns should be able to get a win against them and get back to respectability.

At Kansas State: Kansas State shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the Longhorns as long as they get over the issues that they have on both sides of the ball.  Look for a much improved Texas team to go up to Manhattan and come back with a win.

Oklahoma State: Here is a team that has been playing great football as of late and are undefeated (at this time).  Unless the Longhorns get things turned around they probably won’t win this game.  Look for them to take a loss against the Cowboys here.

Florida Atlantic: Texas will get a guaranteed victory against Florida Atlantic at home in late November.  The only way that they could lose this game would be if they were in a complete shambles on both sides of the ball so look for a win here.

Texas A&M: The Longhorns will finish the season with another home game (their third in a row) and hopefully having the kind of year that A&M is having right now, the Longhorns will be able to win this game.  Perhaps they will even get to be bowl eligible.

Finally, the big question is will the Longhorns win enough games this season to be bowl eligible?  Remember, this is still a good team despite the fact that they are not in the top 25 right now. 

They can still get to a bowl if they get six more wins, but a major bowl berth is almost completely out of the question.

That’s too bad for a team that had such high hopes coming into this season.