Fact or Fiction: Tom Herman is in big trouble at Texas
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. Tom Herman is in big trouble at Texas.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. Yes, Texas miraculously won at Texas Tech, but Herman is in trouble, right? Wrong. All that matters is the record and the Longhorns are 2-0 last time I checked. If they lost, I’d say he’s in trouble, but they still look perfect on the scorecard and sometimes it doesn’t matter how ugly it looks, you just need to win.
If the Longhorns continue to play down to opponents as they did against Texas Tech, things will get ugly but right now all I see is an undefeated season. That’s the reality.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Texas Tech beat Houston Baptist by two points and scored 35 points in the season opener. Houston Baptist went on to lose, 66-38, at Louisiana Tech this past weekend. All that means the Red Raiders are not a good football team and yet Texas needed late-game miracles and overtime to beat them in Lubbock.
That matchup might be the easiest game Texas has left on its schedule other than Kansas, so I would say unless the Longhorns get much better, much faster, Herman is in trouble because a lot tougher opponents are coming up.
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2. The Sooners are out of the college football playoff.
Farrell’s take: FACT. In a shortened season, a loss to Kansas State early is a killer and something the Sooners likely can’t overcome. There aren’t enough good teams in the Big 12 on the schedule to push the Sooners up by the end of the season and with the Big Ten back, and included in the playoff conversation, a spot that was there a few weeks ago is gone. With Clemson running through the ACC and likely one from the Big Ten, I can see two from the SEC before Oklahoma with this awful loss on their record.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Last year, Oklahoma lost to Kansas State in late October, didn’t look sharp through much of November and still made the College Football Playoff. Why would this season be any different?
My bet is that the Sooners right the ship immediately and coach Lincoln Riley knows he needs convincing wins to get back in the good graces of the committee. Every Big 12 opponent is going to feel Oklahoma’s wrath. Like usual, the SEC champ, the ACC champ, the Big Ten champ and the Big 12 champ will make up the playoff, so Oklahoma is still perfectly fine.
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3. UNC keeping Diego Pounds is a sign of things to come.
Farrell’s take: FACT. We aren’t as high on Pounds as some others and I don’t see him as a huge in-state keep for UNC except for one thing — he was all Penn State until the last week or so. That shows that UNC can recruit with the best as we know and players are much less likely to leave the state than they have in many years. When elite teams like Penn State come into your state and you can beat them back, it’s a big deal.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Only one time since the 2015 class has North Carolina finished with a better recruiting class than Penn State. That was last recruiting cycle and the Tar Heels also are ahead of the Nittany Lions early in 2021, but let’s not get too overheated about UNC yet.
The Tar Heels have not landed the state’s top player since 2015, missing out on stars Will Shipley and Payton Page to Clemson this recruiting cycle. Coach Mack Brown and the UNC staff are doing an absolutely phenomenal job recruiting, but it’s premature to say just because Pounds picked UNC over Penn State that it’s a sign of things to come.