College Football: 3 Things we learned from Week 1

Texas remains Texas….and that’s not a good thing.

When Texas took the field against Maryland on Saturday, the Tom Herman era was supposed to wash away everything that happened in the Charlie Strong era. That didn’t end up happening. Instead what did end up happening was the Texas Longhorns played like Strong never left. Terrible defense, inconsistent offense and moments of absent-mindedness. Texas got off to the worst start possible in the Tom Herman era and now for the time being, Herman (even if for one game) is linked to Strong.

Tom Herman was going to have doubters when things got bad at UT. It was shocking to see just how bad and lethargic the Horns were from the jump against Maryland. It doesn’t matter if you play Maryland or some slack FCS school to start the season when you’re Texas. They had an advantage at virtually every single spot across the board and they allowed 50+ points against them in the game.

Texas returns 10 starters on defense and still had a shameful showing at home. When you add in the inconsistent offense, it’s not going to end well. While it was a big positive to see Shane Buechele throw for 375 yards, the Horns lacked balance thanks to a stiff Terps defense as Texas was held to 98 yards on the ground.

Yes it is one game, but all the buildup to Herman’s debut at Texas ended with a complete nose dive in the first game. The Longhorns’ rebuild remains firmly at square one. Luckily for Herman, this is game one for the regular season and not a conference game. Texas has a chance to give Herman his first win against San Jose State this coming Saturday.