Three-Point Stance: Coaching situations at LSU, Texas

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with a look at the Texas and LSU jobs, what made him the happiest in a blowout weekend and the best recent in-season commitments in recruiting.

MORE: Should Orgeron land permanent LSU job?

So try this on for size. What if neither the Texas nor the LSU job comes open at the end of the season?

It could happen, although the chances are still slim.

However, those odds appear a whole lot better than they did a few weeks ago. Why? Texas has won two in a row, a big win over a top-10 Baylor team and a win once again on the back of the amazing D’Onta Foreman this past weekend against Texas Tech.

I know what you’re saying – Baylor was so overrated and Texas Tech couldn’t stop anyone defensively, but it doesn’t matter. Charlie Strong now has his team at 5-4 and they have a gimme win on the schedule against Kansas. That means, at the very least, the Longhorns are bowling. Add in home games against West Virginia and TCU and you could have a 7-5 Texas team at the end of the season, an improvement over his first two years at the helm. And 8-4 is certainly possible as well.

Without a new athletic director in place and with the pressure from the media who continue to root for Strong and hammer the boosters despite his awful coaching, you could have Strong back for season four.

LSU is less likely to hand over the reins to Ed Orgeron due to the loss to Alabama, but what if the Tigers play as spirited defensively for the rest of the year and just good enough on offense to beat Arkansas, Florida and Texas A&M to finish 8-3? It could happen, and Orgeron could still earn this job.

Houston coach Tom Herman is out there for both teams to consider and could still be a factor, but back at the beginning of October when Texas had back-to-back losses to Cal and Oklahoma State and LSU was fresh off firing Les Miles, everyone was thinking national coaching search and perhaps a bidding war for Herman.

Now? The situation is much more interesting and both programs could make major mistakes by hanging onto the guys currently roaming the sidelines.

Aside from the Alabama-LSU game and a couple of others, there were several outright blowouts Saturday which made the weekend somewhat boring. One such game was the Ohio State-Nebraska game in Columbus, which was a bloodbath.

But something happened in that game that scared the heck out of me and then led to my most joyful moment of the college football slate. The injury to Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. midway through the second quarter was an awful moment to watch. In what appeared to be a routine scramble and leg hit near the sidelines, Armstrong landed on his head and was suddenly prone on the ground.

I’m sure any college football fan has seen it by now and I initially figured he had his bell rung and was knocked unconscious. But when the medical staff from both programs cut off his pads and jersey and the back board came out, I’m assuming I was like many others in thinking the worst.

Watching his fiancé in tears and the look of concern on his father’s face made me feel ill. Armstrong gave a thumbs up as he was carted to the ambulance, but even that wasn’t enough to settle my stomach. After reports surfaced that all the medical attention was more precautionary than anything else I felt better, but when the ABC cameras showed Armstrong returning to the stadium still wearing his hospital pants and then seeing him encourage and coach up his teammates during what turned into a rout, I felt we saw a special moment.

From the Ohio State fans joining the Nebraska fans in prayer and the student section chanting his name to his return to the sidelines, a potentially catastrophic situation turned into one of the feel-good moments of the season.

Armstrong’s development and maturity have been a huge reasons for the turnaround at Nebraska and his leadership has been unquestioned. Armstrong won’t go down as the best quarterback in Nebraska history despite breaking some records, but he will certainly go down as one of the highest character leaders of the program and thankfully should be back on the field soon.

Commits trickle in slowly during the football season, but here are five that happened very recently that will be key for certain teams.

WR Chad Terrell – South Carolina – The Gamecocks need help on offense and a big target for Jake Bentley and Terrell could be just what the doctor ordered. His catch radius is large and he can work the middle of the field and high points the ball well.

LB De’Andre Wilder – Miami – I loved Wilder on film the first time I saw him. He’s a little undersized in person, but he can fly to the ball and loves to hit. He will be a nice complement to a young and talented linebacker group at Miami.

DE Andrew Van Ginkel – Wisconsin – The JUCO end is a freaky athlete and someone I could see turning into a dominant force at the Big Ten level. He’s big and could do much of his damage standing up, but you can bet he will have his hand on the ground at times as well. His motor never stops.

LB KJ Britt – Auburn – A downhill thumper, Britt isn’t that long but he’s big and can cover a lot of space. Auburn’s defense has become one of the best units in the country and Britt will lead the linebacker corps down the line.

CB Jaylon Johnson – Utah – Utah commits don’t get a ton of attention, but this is a huge commitment for the Utes, who play pretty good defense in the wide open Pac-12. This is a tall, shutdown corner who will take away half of the field if he keeps developing and make Utah and even tougher out than they are now.