THE TEXAS REPORT

Ranking the Texas Div. 1 schools: A&M stumbles as SMU rises up the rankings

Cory De La Guardia
Sep 12, 2019, 6:59 am
Tim Warner/Getty Images

Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!


12. RICE

This season isn't looking up for Rice after a brutal loss to Wake Forest. This is the team though with the least to prove and just want to survive this season in better shape than how they finished last year. None of that starts here this week against Texas though.

11. TEXAS STATE

So last week I wrote they probably aren't the 11th worst team in the state but they were down. Well, they stayed down and this week they play SMU and another loss basically locks them in here at the bottom of the list.

10. UTEP

At 1-1, they at least are better than Texas State and Rice right now, but the Texas Tech game was brutal and you hate to have time off after a bad loss. A lot of coaches talk about time off is the hardest thing in a season, if you're winning you want to keep playing and if you're losing then you want to get rid of that funk as possible. On the plus side you can't lose to the bye week.

9. UTSA

So UTSA lost to Baylor and honestly the only reason they didn't move down is because UTEP lost to Texas Tech so they can all stay in the same spots but be sad about it. Army's coming to town and they've been playing and playing well, so it'll be interesting to see how UTSA can prepare for the triple option offense.

8. NORTH TEXAS

They lost to SMU. They should have been a little bit better than SMU but they weren't and now Cal is inviting them to town and things don't look to get better this week. It's always hard to drop a game with a hard game on the schedule coming up, they call them "trap games" and honestly this is what happens when teams lose focus. Hopefully they can get it back this week.

7. TEXAS TECH

Like I talked about last week, they beat a team they should have beat. The expectation of a win was high and the team took care of business. The real test comes this week, on the road at Arizona. They aren't my pick to win, so an upset would certainly help their case for dominance in the best state in the country.

6. SMU

SMU came out on top, and if you tuned in last week, you saw I predicted they might. They were the team most likely to steal one from this list last week. SMU is now poised to be the darling of the list if they can keep momentum going and beat Texas State which they really should considering they are at home and coming off a good win. Although this is the one where teams can get too excited and experience a letdown. SMU is a team that can go either way this week.

5. BAYLOR

Baylor won, which was the expectation and taking care of business is expected but not rewarded, so they stay in fifth place. They're off this week so there isn't any real pressure or expectation of progress but we'll keep an eye on it.

4. HOUSTON

This might just be the up and down season that comes with starting up a new program after a failed program. They beat Prairie View which they should have, but now they face #20 Washington State and a win would be massive for this program, especially at this time in the season. If they lose though, it isn't a big upset but it's kind of how this season may go.

3. TCU

Coming up this week is Purdue, on the road at the Boiler Makers. This is a tough game but winnable and would be a program boosting win nationally. This is one to watch this week.

2. TEXAS A&M

Texas A&M went out and under performed against Clemson honestly. I thought Clemson and A&M were closer than this but it turns out they aren't. Now the real question becomes, is Clemson that much better than this many programs or is A&M worse than we thought? This week we shouldn't learn much as Lamar shows up to take a beating.

1. TEXAS

That was an awesome heavyweight fight between two programs but someone has to lose and someone has to win. Texas coming out the other side of this knows they played well and belong with the big boys this season. Rice is coming to town and that isn't a problem unless they aren't paying attention to this week which is a possibility.

Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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SCARED MONEY DON'T MAKE MONEY

Romeo Crennel lays out why he doesn't have any regrets about decision to go for 2

The Texans didn't have an answer for Derrick Henry. Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

Romeo Crennel made a valorous call that might have costed the Houston Texans from winning their second consecutive game on Sunday. Up by seven with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter, Crennel decided to call a two-point conversion following Deshaun Watson's one-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks.

During the two-point conversion, Watson had a look at an open Randall Cobb, but Titans' defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons got a hand on the ball to deflect the pass. The failed conversion allowed the Titans to take a 42-36 victory over the Texans inside Nissan Stadium. Tennessee scored 13 unanswered points, which included a seven-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill to A.J. Brown to send the game into overtime.

"I think I would do it again," Crennel said during his media availability on Monday. "You are on the road against a divisional opponent who is undefeated, and if you could get that two-point conversion — you shut the door on them. We had a guy open, but unfortunately, the ball got tipped and we did not make it. I would do it again because it was a good choice."

The decision to not kick the field goal caused somewhat of an uproar, but it is understandable why Crennel made the call. Crennel had faith in Watson to put the Texans in a position to close the game, similar to his 4th-and-4 call during last week's victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In the end, Crennel's risky decisions could stem from the lack of faith he has in the Texans' depleted defense.

Houston's defense hit an all-time low against the Titans. They gave up a franchise-worst 601 total yards — with Derrick Henry accounting for 212 yards on 22 carries. But despite their struggles against the run, the Texans' secondary were just as faulty. They gave up a total of 338 yards through the air and allowed Tannehill to go 8-for-9 down the field during the Titans' final drive of regulation.

Had Houston's defense made a stop during the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, the Texans could have ended the game 2-0 under their interim head coach.

"I wanted to go ahead and get the two points — I felt like that would have put the game out of reach for them," Crennel said. "If we had gotten it, we would have been in much better shape. But we did not get it. We did not perform well in overtime, and they [Titans] won the game."

Following Sunday's heartbreaking loss, Texans safety Justin Reid said it best, "Had we converted on the two-point conversion, this would be a totally different conversation. So it is what it is."

Up next, the 1-5 Texans will look to bounce back from defeat against the 4-1 Green Bay Packers, inside NRG Stadium on Sunday. Kick-off is at 12:00 PM CT.

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