Texas football: Tom Herman still looking ahead after first conference loss

By Darice Farris

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For the first time in seven weeks, Tom Herman addressed the media in his weekly press conference following a Texas football loss. After dropping Saturday’s matchup at Oklahoma State 38-35, Herman discussed last week’s mistakes, how the Longhorns move on and more.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the press conference.

On and off field altercations

Turmoil began in the final minutes of Saturday’s loss, as senior defensive end Breckyn Hager went after an Oklahoma State running back on a kneel. Hager's nciting a small scuffle that included jawing from both sidelines. Andrew Beck exclaimed his disappointment in the fellow captain after the game, and Herman backed his senior tight end’s comments about his teammate.

“When you’re asked a direct question, open, honest communication is the only way to go about it,” said Herman about Beck’s comments. “[Disappointed is] how we all felt.”

Off the field, senior defensive back Kris lashed out on Instagram at former Texas linebacker and current ESPN analyst Emmanuel Acho for his critical comments of the Longhorns’ defensive play against the Cowboys.

“It was an ill-advised attempt to actually prove that the only people whose opinions really matter are those in the locker room,” Herman said. “You want to silence any critic, the best way to do that is keep your mouth shut and go play really good.”

Moving on

Herman’s mantra all along has been consistent: every week is a new challenge, and every week should be taken one at a time. It should come as no surprise that he preached the importance of moving forward from the loss. Herman even doubled down, saying that this loss changes nothing on how they look ahead in the season.

“We’ve still got all our big-picture goals ahead of us,” he said. “The big picture is that we’ve still got all of our goals in terms of competing for a conference championship ahead of us.”

After the week 1 loss to Maryland, Herman discussed the importance of a response to the loss. Since then, the Longhorns rattled off a six game win streak in one of the best stretches of football in the last five years. The response to this weekend’s loss will again play a vital role in the next step this program takes.

“That game in Stillwater will only define our season if we let it. We have an opportunity to define our season in how we respond,” Herman said. “When you squeeze a sponge, what’s really inside comes out. We got squeezed on Saturday night, so now we’re going to find out what’s really inside our guys.”

The challenge next Saturday

The game following an emotional loss is never easy. The Longhorns will have their work cut out for them on Saturday, as Heisman candidate Will Grier and the No. 12 West Virginia Mountaineers come to Darryl K. Royal Stadium.

“He is super talented,” Herman said of Grier. “You can see why he’s at the top of most people’s Heisman Trophy shortlist. He’s going to make plays.”

Grier has, for the most part, torn his way through the Big 12 this year. Grier has thrown 25 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions on the season. The lone exception? His game against Iowa State, where he threw for only 100 yards on the day. Herman broke down what worked for the Cyclones against the senior quarterback.

“When they played coverage, they covered them,” Herman said. “They kind of unveiled that drop eight package last year… they’ve had a lot of success with it.

“When they did bring pressure, it was extremely effective. It hit home. They did a really good job of mixing coverage with pressure.”

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