Texas 47: Movement up, down tiers for college football programs in Texas

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We're football dorks who love big, crazy ideas here at Dave Campbell's Texas Football. The latest example of that mantra is the Texas 47 -- a tiered ranking of each of the 47 college football programs in the state of Texas from the Longhorns to Mary-Hardin Baylor all the way down to the JUCO level. We'll do a new Texas 47 each week based on previous results. Rather than ranking each team from 1-47, we decided to split the programs into tiers including national contenders, conference contenders, stock rising, holding steady, stock falling, or basement. 

Here is how it looks after Week 1. For reference, here is Week 0

National contenders

Houston (1-0) - The Cougars survived triple overtime on the road against UTSA. Clayton Tune threw for three touchdowns and the defense came up with three second-half sacks to erase a 14-point fourth-quarter lead. 

Baylor (1-0) - Blake Shapen was flawless and the running game was productive in a blowout win for the Bears over Albany. A tough test awaits in Week 2 with a trip to future Big 12 foe BYU on deck. 

Texas A&M (1-0) - Haynes King threw three touchdowns and two interceptions in his return from injury. The young defensive line looked as talented as advertised in the 31-0 win over Sam Houston. 

UIW (1-0) - The Cardinals took advantage of early breaks to build a nice lead, but how well they played in the second half was most impressive.

Mary Hardin-Baylor (1-0) - There are very few teams in NCAA Division III capable of playing within one score of the Cru, and two are in the state of Texas.

Trinity (1-0)) - A weather delay followed by a workmanlike performance by the Tigers in Week 1 was expected for a team that has adopted the focused mentality of its coach, Jerheme Urban.

Kilgore (1-0) - To win a national title, you need an outstanding defense. This Rangers defense is mean and can dominate opponents.

Conference contenders

UTSA (0-1) - A triple overtime loss to Houston does nothing to impact the Roadrunners' chances of repeating as Conference USA champions. Neither would a loss in Week 2 to Army. 

Texas (1-0) - The only thing we could learn from Texas' blowout win over Louisiana-Monroe is that the Longhorns are better than Lousiana-Monroe. We'll learn a lot more after the Week 2 game against Alabama. 

Sam Houston (0-1) - The Bearkats defensive line is as good as advertised and held their own against a solid Texas A&M offensive line.

Prairie View A&M (1-0) - It’s Trazon Connley’s offense now, and he was spectacular in a win over Texas Southern in the Labor Day Classic.

Angelo State (1-0) - The biggest question surrounding ASU this year was the offensive line, who did a great job protecting the quarterback but needs to improve their run blocking.

Hardin-Simmons (1-0) - Granted, the opponent was weak, but the Cowboys showed an attitude and a chippiness that could be the key to taking the next step this year.

Texas Wesleyan (2-0) - The Rams overcame a tough week emotionally and dominated No. 20 Arizona Christian on the road. This could be the year the Rams make the playoffs.

Blinn (2-0) - The Buccaneers have rolled over two lesser opponents this season. Cisco will provide a barometer of where Blinn really is this year.

Cisco (1-0) - The Wranglers began the John O’Mera era with a dominating 52-0 win over Gordon’s Fine Arts and Academy. Cisco had the week off before traveling to face Blinn.

Stock rising

SMU (1-0) - The Mustangs impressed in Rhett Lashlee's head coaching debut. The dominating 48-10 win might be a preview of how SMU handles the AAC after the 2022 season. 

Abilene Christian (1-0) - The Wildcats offense is set at the skill positions. However, the offensive line remains a work in progress, and the defensive secondary gave up too many explosive plays last week.

Houston Baptist (1-0) - The Huskies are improved on both sides of the ball and could begin the season 2-0 if the defense tackles better against Lindenwood this week.

West Texas A&M (1-0) - The Buffs offense was rolling against Western Colorado, but their ability to be consistent throughout the season remains to be answered.

SAGU (1-0) - How do you go from stock falling in the preseason to stock rising? With a dominating 27-0 win in the debut for coach Greg Ellis.

Holding steady

Texas Tech (1-0) - The Red Raiders looked great on both sides of the ball in a win over Murray State but Texas Tech lost starting quarterback Tyler Shough for at least two weeks in the process. 

TCU (1-0) - Sonny Dykes' debut started slowly with a 7-6 first-half lead over Colorado before the Horned Frogs ran over the Buffaloes in a dominant second half showing. 

North Texas (1-1) - The Mean Green came back to earth in an AAC preview against SMU.  

Lamar (0-1) - The Cardinals hit two explosive plays early against ACU and will need more consistency from the offensive line moving forward.

Tarleton (1-0) - Quarterback Beau Allen is the real deal, and the Texans offensive line is very good. It will be interesting to see how the offensive line fares at TCU on Saturday.

Texas Southern (0-1) - The Tigers offensive line struggled mightily against the PVAMU defensive line, but the TSU defense was solid.

Texas A&M-Kingsville (1-0) - The Javelinas rolled in Week 1 and will easily win this week. However, a trip to West Texas A&M looms in Week 3.

Howard Payne (1-0) - The Yellow Jackets offense averaged 15 yards per pass attempt en route to 496 passing yards. However, the defense allowed 486 total yards, including 211 rushing yards.

Texas Lutheran - (0-1) The TLU offense looked better in coach Neal LaHue’s debut than at any point last year, scoring 45 points. The problem is the defense allowed 59 points. 

Southwestern (1-0) - The Pirates dominated for the better part of three quarters before needing a miraculous two-point conversion in overtime to win the game.

McMurry (0-1) - The War Hawks offense only gained a net two yards rushing on Saturday, but the defensive secondary showed promise.

Trinity Valley (1-1) - It was nice to see quarterback Darion Pearce get the start Saturday after leaving Week 0 with an injury.

Stock falling

UTEP (0-2) - The Miners fell to 0-2 in a road defeat to Oklahoma. The Week 2 game against New Mexico State is a must win for Dana Dimel's program. 

Texas A&M-Commerce (1-0) - The Lions first season in FCS will be rough if the first week was any indication after a less than impressive showing against an NCAA DII Lincoln (Calif.) team that lost 35-10 to a below-average NAIA team in Week 0.

Stephen F. Austin (1-1) - The Lumberjacks offense has been average in the first two games, with run blocking the biggest weakness. The good news is the defense was much better last week.

Midwestern State (0-1) - MSU coach Bill Maskill spoke about the inconsistency from his team before a Week 1 defeat. The Mustangs were inconsistent, but the biggest surprise was how easily the defense was gashed throughout the game.

UTPB (0-1) - The Falcons were dominated physically by Southwest Baptist last Saturday. That’s not a good sign with two tough opponents on tap.

East Texas Baptist (0-1)- The offense was nonexistent last week, averaging a mere 3.9 yards per play, while the defense allowed 426 total yards. The Tigers have a lot of work to do before playing McMurry this week.

Navarro (0-1) - The Bulldogs failed to score in a game for the first time since 1997 against a defense regarded as the best in NJCAA. Navarro had the week off to figure out its QB situation before meeting the reigning national champs, New Mexico Military.

Tyler (1-1) - The Apaches have a solid defense and talent at the skill positions for days. Tyler will win a lot this year, but the offensive line struggled against the size and speed of Kilgore.

Basement

Texas State (0-1) - The Bobcats entered the road game against Nevada as a one-point underdog. They lost by 24. 

Rice (0-1) - The loss to USC wasn't a cause for concern, but losing starting quarterback Wiley Green to injury is a bad sign for the Owls. 

Austin College (0-1) - The good news is the ‘Roos defense is pretty solid. The bad news is the offense gained 114 total yards against Hendrix.

Sul Ross State (0-1) - The loss to Trinity was a predictable result for the Lobos. The road isn’t any easier this week with a trip to Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Texas College (0-1) - The Steers put up a good fight before falling 31-12 to Arkansas Baptist College, which secured its first NAIA win in program history.

Wayland Baptist (0-1) - An uninspired effort in its home opener could be the beginning of a rough season.

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