The 411 on a college football weekend that's left the Longhorns spinning

[caption id="attachment_25141" align="alignright" width="350"]Texas_vs_Baylor-088 Photo by Artie Guerrero[/caption] The chaos on the 40 Acres leads the way in this week’s 4-1-1, but there's plenty of big storylines to go around. Four ObservationsBig changes in Austin The big news coming out of the weekend happened when Texas head coach Charlie Strong decided to demote defensive coordinator Vance Bedford. Strong, a former defensive coordinator himself, will take over play-calling duties and have an even bigger role on that side of the ball for the remainder of the season. A few weeks ago, us media honks were typing Texas was back. Two losses later and the entire future of Strong and his staff are in limbo. Strong is once again coaching for his job against a favored Oklahoma team. The Longhorns played inspired football in last year’s meeting with Strong, cooling his hot seat for the 2015 season. The seat is scorching once again and a loss to the Sooners makes Texas 2-3 and searching for answers. Texas Tech rolls on, but takes a hit The Red Raiders picked up a win last week, but the cost was high. All-world quarterback Patrick Mahomes left the game with a shoulder injury and is not expected to play this week on the road against Kansas State. Texas Tech played well with its back-up quarterback against Kansas. Kansas State’s defense will be a tougher test for Nic Shimonek and Texas Tech because Bill Snyder has a week to prepare for the forced change at quarterback. Kansas State held West Virginia to under 20 points in a one-point loss over the weekend. The Red Raider defense must improve with the offense likely to take a slight step back without Mahomes. The Aggies and Vols are set to clash Texas A&M’s chance to solidify itself as the second best team in the SEC approaches with College Gameday headed to College Station to watch the Aggies host undefeated Tennessee. The Aggies are already one touchdown favorites in the clash between SEC East and SEC West. Both divisions are down this year and Texas A&M is taking advantage behind a strong running game and an elite defense. Defensive coordinator John Chavis worked his magic and now very few road bumps stand in Texas A&M’s way in 2016. A victory against Tennessee sets up another national game, this time on the road against Alabama. Coogs' schedule gets a downgrade Houston’s stock took a slight hit over the weekend and it had nothing to do with the Cougars. In an instant classic, Clemson outlasted Louisville to give the Tigers the inside track to win the ACC. Houston, which plays Louisville later in the season wanted the Cardinals to win to help boost strength of schedule and eliminate a team like Clemson that would undoubtedly claim one of the four spots with a conference championship. Houston not only needs to go undefeated to reach the College Football Playoffs. Tom Herman’s program must also root for chaos. Clemson and Washington going undefeated ends Houston’s chances because the champion of the SEC and Big 10 will get one spot each. One question Will any G5 school from Texas not named Houston reach a bowl game? SMU has a shot at 2-2, but will be hard-pressed to find four more wins with its remaining schedule. The Mustangs play Tulsa this upcoming weekend. The four CUSA representatives – North Texas, UTEP, Rice and UTSA – are a combined 4-15 with the only conference win among them being North Texas’ victory over Rice. Three should enter the weekend as underdogs while Rice doesn’t play this week. Texas State at 2-2 with the Sun Belt schedule remaining might have the best shot of reaching six wins. Unfortunately for Texas State, the Bobcats know reaching the win requirement doesn’t mean a bowl will automatically follow. One Prediction Baylor wins the Big 12 championship.

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