Fact or Fiction: Texas is in big trouble
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. Texas is in big trouble.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. Yes a loss to TCU isn’t a good look after struggling with Kansas and the Longhorns appear to be playing down to opponents, but recruiting is still going very well and some of the depth issues you see now won’t exist in a few years. Is Tom Herman still the solution? He is, although Texas has been disappointing this year.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Texas lost to TCU this past weekend, needed what some are calling a “friendly clock” to beat Kansas and lost to Oklahoma again to make it a pretty miserable October. It’s not just the losses and close win, either, but how the Longhorns look. The defense is dealing with injuries but is there no legitimate depth? Special teams is a big issue.
Remember, this is a team that beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and had momentum heading into this season, but that has all slipped away. Now Texas has to play Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor in its next three games. The Longhorns are good enough to win all those games, but they’ve shown they’re average enough to lose them all, too. Herman gets paid big bucks to have a national contender and the Longhorns are nowhere near that.
2. Minnesota could win the Big Ten.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. But the fact that we are even talking about this is a compliment to P.J. Fleck and his staff on the job they have done this year. Minnesota has Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin left on the schedule (and Northwestern, but it doesn't count) and the Gophers will upset one of them. Just watch. They have a good chance to win the Big Ten West and play either Ohio State or Penn State in the title game, but they will likely lose there. But what a great season they are putting together.
Gorney’s take: FACT. I don’t think Minnesota is going to win the Big Ten, but it’s certainly possible even though the schedule gets very, very real in the closing month. Still, the Golden Gophers have 1,700 pounds of mass on the offensive line and the average starting offensive lineman weighs 340 pounds. That’s a lot to handle and reminds me of the really good Wisconsin teams that are tough to beat.
There are only two teams outscoring Minnesota in the entire Big Ten and it’s Ohio State and Penn State (but the Nittany Lions have only one more point this season). The schedule gets really challenging in the closing weeks, so I don’t think Minnesota wins out and wins the conference, but the pieces are in place to make it a possibility.
3. Trenton Simpson will end up at Clemson.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. When is it ever a good idea to bet against Clemson for a North Carolina prospect? And Trenton Simpson just visited Death Valley for Clemson’s dominating win over Boston College this past weekend. The problem? Clemson hasn’t offered and even if the Tigers do, he’s leaning towards the Tar Heels. North Carolina is where the comfort is and despite passing up a Tar Heels home game to visit Clemson, I still think he stays home. If Clemson offers soon, it could get interesting, but this one is over in favor of North Carolina in a couple weeks.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. I don’t think Clemson can ever be counted out and if the offer comes, the Tigers could emerge as a front-runner. But Simpson wants to go to North Carolina and that’s what will happen. He decommitted from Auburn for a reason and it was to play closer to home. The Tar Heels make a lot of sense here.