The Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Breaking down Week 1 college action across Texas

[caption id="attachment_18018" align="alignright" width="350"]Photo by Charlton Gladden Photo by Charlton Gladden[/caption] College football is finally back, and Texans have a great slate to open the season. From Rice's kickoff in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to the final whistle on the 40 Acres following the Notre Dame vs. Texas clash, we'll give you our thoughts on the best and the worst (and sometimes, the absolute worst) of the weekend. Jump To...Texas 50, Notre Dame 47 (2 OT)Houston 33, Oklahoma 23TCU 59, South Dakota State 41UTEP 38, New Mexico State 22Texas Tech 69, Stephen F. Austin 17UTSA 26, Alabama State 13SMU 34, UNT 21Texas A&M 31, UCLA 24 (OT)Texas State 56, Ohio 54 (3 OT)Baylor 55, Northwestern State 7Western Kentucky 46, Rice 14Texas 50, Notre Dame 47 (2 OT)The Good: This is a make-or-break season for the Longhorns and head coach Charlie Strong. If this opening salvo is any indication, things are about to get a lot more fun on the 40 Acres. Sure, freshman QB Shane Buechele lived up to the hype, playing a composed and savvy game, but the run game powered the Longhorns during some of their most important stretches. Whether it was D’Onta Foreman, Tyrone Swoopes or Chris Warren III, Texas found a way to keep barreling down the field, to the tune of 237 yards. The Bad: Well, look, Notre Dame is really good, and has a stellar QB in DeShone Kizer, but the Texas defense gave up its fair share of points, and for a very long stretch in the second half, got bulldozed by the offensive line of the Fighting Irish. Undoubtedly, Strong won’t be super thrilled with his defense the rest of the way if it gives up over 400 yards, especially since this group was touted as a year older, a year wiser, a year better. Never forget, this group surrendered 38 points in regulation to Notre Dame just a year ago. It was 37 in regulation on Sunday. There’s plenty of work still to be done, but like Strong said afterward, this is one to enjoy. [caption id="attachment_25062" align="alignleft" width="350"]Photo by Diana Porter Photo by Diana Porter[/caption] Houston 33, Oklahoma 23The Good:Houston needed a signature win to build momentum towards a berth in the College Football Playoffs. Done. The Cougars dominated on third down, as quarterback Greg Ward Jr. morphed into a true dual-threat quarterback against the defending Big 12 Champions. Houston weathered an early storm and capitalized on a special teams touchdown to outlast the Sooners. Defensively, Houston improved against the run as the game progressed and figured out a way to get more pressure on Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. Houston’s last two wins are against Florida State and Oklahoma, and frankly, neither was close by the fourth quarter. Tom Herman’s team will be favored in every game for the rest of the season. An undefeated season is possible and the Cougars have the signature win against a P5 team for the resume. The Bad:I’m not here to rain on the parade. Houston played fantastic, beating a bigger and more talented Oklahoma team. The Cougars did struggle to run the ball. Duke Catalon and Ward figure to become a lethal duo, but it is something worth watching moving forward in the season. The offensive line needs to play better in a matchup with Louisville, but that's way down the road. There's plenty of time to improve, especially on a  stellar start like this. - Mike CravenTCU 59, South Dakota State 41 The Good: The Horned Frogs won, which isn’t something every Big 12 contender can say after Week 1 of the football season. It wasn’t an inspiring performance for Gary Patterson’s team. The offense was a bright spot, especially in the first half. TCU started slow, scoring just seven points in the first quarter and needing a punt return for a touchdown to jumpstart things. But as things settled down, quarterback Kenny Hill improved as the game went on. Hill responded well from a shaky first half. He finished with over 430 yards passing and 45 yards rushing, accounting for five touchdowns. Taj Williams had 11 catches for 158 yards and one touchdown. The Bad: Kenny Hill can’t win every game through the air. The running game didn’t supplement the passing game and that’ll hurt the Horned Frogs against better competition. Hill was forced into 49 passing attempts and no TCU player rushed for more than 60 yards in the game. Hill was the team’s second leading rusher and only one player managed a run for longer than 20 yards. Patterson is okay with his quarterback being the focal point, but he needs Kyle Hicks to average over four yards per carry, which he didn’t do in the win. The Ugly: The defense was atrocious. There’s really no way to sugar coat how disappointing TCU was on the defensive side of the ball. Conventional wisdom was that TCU would be much improved on that side of the ball with more experience than last year, but it wasn’t the case. South Dakota State scored 41 points and racked up 461 yards of total offense. The Jackrabbits averaged 7.1 yards per play and rushed for 128 yards, which is misleading due to sack yards being deducted. South Dakota State did what it wanted for the better part of 50 minutes of the football game and that’s concerning with Arkansas up next. UTEP 38, New Mexico State 22The Good: Aaron Jones is back, baby, and he’s running with purpose. After missing the lion’s share of the 2015 season due to a knee injury, the superstar running back showed no ill effects in his first game back, running for 249 yards and two touchdowns. But Jones (arguably) wasn’t even the best sign for the Miners. Instead, it was the emergence of QB Zack Greenlee, who was as good as UTEP has seen under center in too, too long. He completed 15 of 27 passes for 229 yards and 3 touchdowns, and showed tremendous poise in the pocket. It’s amazing to see what happens to this offense when they have a passing threat. The defense did its part, holding New Mexico State quarterback Tyler Rogers in check, getting excellent pressure at times up front and locking up the receivers. The Bad: The rush defense could use a little work. Even without their star running back Larry Rose III, New Mexico State ran for 139 yards and 5 yards per carry. And the second half didn’t start great for UTEP, who saw a 24-3 lead get whittled down in the third quarter before a 75-yard touchdown run for Aaron Jones to start the fourth quarter put the game on ice. These are nitpicks, but if UTEP has C-USA title dreams, they’re worthy topics. The Ugly: We were robbed of the Texas running back showdown of Jones vs. Rose, and for that, we have all lost. - Greg TepperTexas Tech 69, Stephen F. Austin 17 [caption id="attachment_18439" align="alignright" width="350"]Photo by Ashley Wirz Photo by Ashley Wirz[/caption] The Good: I mean…everything? It’s hard to find much to complain about when it comes to Texas Tech’s demolition of FCS Stephen F. Austin. Essentially, the Red Raiders beat SFA by technical knockout 45-3 in 30 minutes. After halftime, we got a parade of backups (and third-stringers) that made this game essentially an exhibition. But while the game was competitive, Texas Tech looked every bit the part of a conference contender. The defense is the headline here. Much maligned in 2015, the Red Raiders looked downright competent tonight. The tackling was sound; the coverages were tight; the unit thrived. And for those who immediately dismiss this as much ado about an FCS victory, consider this: last year, Texas Tech opened with Sam Houston State — another in-state FCS foe — and allowed 637 yards to the Bearkats. This year, against SFA? Just 370 total yards, almost exclusively gained in garbage time. Thierry Nguema and Keenon Ward both notched interceptions, but the real story here is the Red Raiders defense, which looked like it might — possibly, maybe, potentially — be decent. Oh yeah, the offense did stuff, too. QB Pat Mahomes was sensational, completing 30 of 43 passes for 483 yards and 4 touchdowns and adding another two scores on the ground. The receiving corps stood up, with Jonathan Giles, Dylan Cantrell, Devin Lauderdale and Cameron Batson each hauling in touchdowns, and a staggering 18 different Red Raiders caught a pass. The offensive line, still a bit of a question mark, looked solid against an overmatched Stephen F. Austin front. The Bad:Well, the backups could certainly use some polish. And frankly, it’s disgusting how many tortillas that Texas Tech fans waste by throwing them on the field. For shame, Red Raider fans! Those tortillas could’ve been tacos! - Greg TepperUTSA 26, Alabama State 13The Good: UTSA seemingly solved its quarterback question with a solid performance by former walk-on Dalton Sturm. Despite alternating possessions at times, Sturm completed 80 percent of his passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown in the game. The tight end position had to replace David Morgan – the program’s first-ever NFL Draft pick – and Shaq Williams and Trevor Stevens combined for six catches and 110 yards. The defense set a school record with six sacks, four of which came from the linebacker position. Redshirt freshman linebacker Josiah Tauaefa led the team with 13 tackles and two sacks in his first start. Defensive end Marcus Davenport added two sacks. The Bad: UTSA running back Jarveon Williams finished the game with six carries for 30 yards. He fumbled early in the game and it was unclear whether he was benched or banged up (after the game, it was revealed that an ankle injury has him day-to-day). Either way, the Roadrunners need Williams to reach a bowl game, and if he’s on the training table or in the dog house it will be hard for UTSA to establish an elite running game. The Ugly: UTSA fumbled the ball four times (losing three) and threw an interception. It also missed two extra points. Those are the types of mistakes that cost teams against better opponents. - Mike CravenSMU 34, UNT 21The Good: SMU looks like the program with a head start on UNT’s rebuilding project, but the Mean Green looked better than expected for a group that won just one game last season. Alec Morris shook off the rust to throw for 237 yards and a couple scores (but also threw three interceptions). Jeffrey Wilson had a nice night in the backfield for UNT, and Courtland Sutton was absolutely tremendous for the Mustangs. The key returners were back to their usual tricks, but they had help. That’s all positive. Mason Fine, the legendary Oklahoma high school QB who wasn’t offered by anyone but UNT, made a brief appearance at the end of the game and was sterling, completing 8-of-11 attempts for 74 yards. Keep an eye on him. The Bad: The Mustangs ran all over the Mean Green defense, to the tune of 272 yards, while rushing for just 83 yards themselves. The aforementioned Wilson had 86 yards, which gives you an idea of how it went for everyone else. UNT’s three turnovers (all by Morris) look a lot more troubling in a two-score game. SMU definitely looked like the more polished team, but weren’t quite as lucky in the injury department. The Ugly: Injuries. SMU QB Matt Davis went down with an injury, but walked off under his own power. The same for SMU RB Xavier Jones, who was the game’s leading rusher with 115 yards when he went down. With a year of promise and elevated expectations ahead of both programs, losing anyone in the first game is a nasty blow. - Max Thompson [caption id="attachment_18303" align="alignleft" width="350"]Photo by Tyler Herrin Photo by Tyler Herrin[/caption] Texas A&M 31, No. 16 UCLA 24 (OT)The Good:John Chavis is a wizard. The Texas A&M defensive coordinator put on a clinic from his booth high atop Kyle Field, pushing all the right buttons. A cavalcade of blitz packages made all-everything UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen look downright ordinary, and the secondary made key plays, including Justin Evans’ game-saving interception in the final minute (his second pick of the game) with the Bruins driving for a game-winning field goal. On the offensive side, the running game was outstanding. The reconstructed Aggies offensive front manhandled the Bruins up front, dominating the line of scrimmage and allowing running backs James White and Treyveon Williams to gash the UCLA defense. And when the game was on the line in overtime, the Aggies stood tall, scoring first in overtime on Knight’s touchdown run and stopping UCLA on its possession. All of it was enough to add up to the Aggies’ first win over a Top 20 team at Kyle Field since Kevin Sumlin arrived. The Bad:It’s unfair to categorize Trevor Knight’s debut as an Aggie as bad — he completed 22 of 42 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown — but it was decidedly inconsistent. He made a couple of throws that made you understand why he was so highly touted coming out of San Antonio Reagan (and how he beat Alabama at Oklahoma), and he also made a couple of throws that made you understand why he lost his job in Norman. His interception was a truly baffling throw, and he showed a little bit of panic at times. Can A&M win with him at the helm? They did today. But those expecting a Johnny Manziel-like season under center should probably temper expectations. Defensively, the linebackers are still a concern, but that’s more nitpick than issue. The Ugly: The fourth quarter was an unmitigated disaster for the Aggies. With 8:20 left in the game and the Aggies leading 24-9, Justin Evans hauled in a deflected pass at the A&M 3-yard line. That’s ballgame; or, it should be. Instead, A&M ‘s next three drives were a combined nine plays for 10 yards that ate up all of 4 minutes, each ending in a punt. Meanwhile, UCLA mounted a pair of touchdown drives (and converted a game-tying two-point try) to knot the game up at 24 and give the Bruins a chance to drive for the win. All’s well that ends well, but the Aggies showed a truly troubling propensity to pack it in early, and that simply won’t fly against the rugged SEC. - Greg TepperTexas State 56, Ohio 54 (3 OT)The Good: Holy cow. The Bobcats looked like a much different team than the 2015 version. That team scored 38 points once. That team lost nine games, and only two of those losses were within a touchdown. That team seemed to get rolled over rather quickly when things didn’t quite go according to plan. This one fought, clawed, battled for every second of regulation, and then every down of three overtimes. Sure, it wasn’t one of the MAC’s better teams, but it’s a team that Texas State shouldn’t beat on paper. Everett Withers got his Texas State tenure off to a hell of a start in Athens, and quarterback Tyler Jones showed his true potential, completing 40-of-55 passes for 418 yards and four touchdowns. He even hauled one in as a receiver in the third overtime. All that concern about the receiving corps? Countered by 10 players catching passes. There's a few new reasons to be excited in San Marcos. The Bad: Going back to getting beat on paper, while the Bobcats showed a ridiculous amount of guts to scrap out this win, there were definitely some issues. Texas State showed a propensity to rack up yards on offense last year, averaging 417 per game. They lived up to that standard Saturday with 546 total yards. They also allowed around 480 yards per game, consistently getting out-gained. That happened again, as they allowed 630 yards. They turned the ball over three times to Ohio’s two, and surrendered 250 rushing yards, while collecting just 106 of their own. Despite all of that, the Bobcats won. It’s a win to savor, but there’s obviously a lot of work left to be done. - Max ThompsonBaylor 55, Northwestern State 7The Good:The Bears took care of business against an inferior team to open the season. We’ve read that script before. The Jim Grobe era began in Waco with a dominant victory over FCS program Northwestern State. The Bears jumped out to a 48-0 lead before coasting with the backups in the second half. The offensive efficiency was a welcomed site for Baylor fans worried about the offensive transition after Art Briles. Quarterback Seth Russell threw for four touchdowns and the rushing attack produced 275 yards on an average of 6.4 yards per carry. The Bad: It’s hard to find many negatives in a game Baylor led by 48 points at halftime. The Bears only scored seven points in the second half, and while a majority of that can be chalked up to the play-calling and personnel, it does speak to the lack of depth on Baylor. The first-team talent is still on campus, but the losses to the roster from attrition 2016 recruiting class could cause issues against better teams. - Mike CravenWestern Kentucky 46, Rice 14 [caption id="attachment_17851" align="alignright" width="350"]Photo by Diana Porter Photo by Diana Porter[/caption] The Bad:As will be remembered for ages (not really), the 2016 Texas FBS season was ushered in unceremoniously by Rice snapping over its punter's head, out the back of the end zone for a safety, giving Western Kentucky a 2-0 lead. It was a bad mistake, the kind you see a lot early in the season, but is never excusable, particularly when facing one of the toughest tests of your season. The Hilltoppers entered the game a 16-point favorite, and it would end up being much, much worse for the Owls than that. The Ugly: How bad? Try 552 passing yards allowed (WKU QB Mike White threw for 517, a school record) by a defense attempting to improve on last year's abysmal performance that ranked Rice 101st in FBS in passing yards allowed. Try surrendering a quick touchdown to erase any momentum built by a beautiful 80-yard drive to get the Owls back in the game at 16-7 early in the second quarter. Instead, it was 23-7 in a flash. Try losing senior offensive lineman Connor Patterson to a freak injury after the whistle had blown a play dead, after a year that he missed to injury. Try driving down the field at the end of the game to salvage a momentum score, and throwing a pick in the end zone. The Good: Well, no one was really expecting Rice to go into Bowling Green and come out with a win. Plenty of people have pegged Western Kentucky to win Conference USA, and the Hilltoppers looked every bit the part of a conference favorite. You could argue that by any measure or any result, Rice couldn't leave Kentucky on a bad note. But if you're looking for silver linings, a few peeked out. Graysen Schantz returned to the defensive line after injury knocked him out in 2015 following a promising 2014 campaign. Quarterback Tyler Stehling didn't look like a world beater, but he had some flashes, particularly with his legs. He led two scoring drives, and would have had a third, but threw the aforementioned interception. Running back Darik Dillard didn't have his usual impact, but the CBS feature on his summer internship at NASA was fun. So there was that. - Max Thompson