The 411 for FBS football in Texas following a crazy and unpredictable Week 2. Texas A&M, Texas face quarterback concerns, while the Houston Cougars must pick themselves off the mat following an overtime loss to Texas Tech. Here are four truths, one prediction, and one question as we turn the page towards Week 3. 

FOUR TRUTHS 

A quarterback change is imminent: Jimbo Fisher won’t fire himself as play caller or head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies, so expect a change at quarterback ahead of the Miami game following a 17-14 home loss to App State in Week 2. The Aggies only managed one offensive touchdown in the upset defeat. Starting quarterback Haynes King was 13 of 20 for 97 yards. His longest completion was 19 yards. As a team, Texas A&M ran 38 plays and earned just nine first downs in Week 2. King averaged 4.9 yards per passing attempt and 7.5 yards a completion in the loss. 

King feels like the sacrificial lamb, even if some (or most) of the fault lands at Fisher’s play sheet. King started the first two games of 2021 before an ankle injury cost him the rest of the season. The Longview native has started four games over the past two years at this point, and he’s thrown as many interceptions (5) in those starts as touchdowns. He’s thrown for 190.25 yards per game in those four outings. For reference, Texas A&M threw for 208.58 yards per game in 2021. That number was above 234 yards per game in each of Fisher’s first three seasons at Texas A&M. It was 316.6 yards per game in 2013 at Florida State. 

There isn’t a Jameis Winston on the roster. King won the job for a reason, so Texas A&M fans shouldn’t expect a revived offense simply because Fisher makes a quarterback change. Johnson is a relatively proven commodity in the SEC, at least compared to King. Johnson threw for 2,815 yards and 27 touchdowns to just six interceptions in 2021. He threw eight touchdowns to one interception in limited snaps in 2020. He’ll likely get his chance against Miami to audition for the full-time job. If the season continues to plumet in College Station, Fisher might flip priorities to the 2023 season, which would put true freshman Conner Weigman in play. 

Quarterback depth can define seasons: Texas A&M isn’t the only program in Texas dealing with quarterback issues. Some in the state are playing backup quarterbacks already due to injury. The transfer portal era makes it harder than ever for coaching staffs to keep backup quarterbacks on campus. Almost every team pretends to have an open quarterback competition in the spring and summer to keep multiple options around, and that’s sound strategy given the evidence of the first two weeks of the 2022 season. 

Texas A&M might switch to its backup quarterback in Week 3. Texas lost starting quarterback Quinn Ewers for probably at least a month with a shoulder injury against Alabama. Texas Tech, TCU, and Rice started backup quarterbacks in Week 2 because the starter couldn’t make it through one game healthy. Football is a physical sport played by tough people. Injuries happen. Depth becomes a key. That’s already proving true for 2022. Five of the 12 FBS programs in Texas – Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Texas A&M, and Rice – likely start a backup quarterback in Week 3. 

Houston doesn’t have a problem…yet: Losing a double-overtime game on the road against a future Big 12 opponent isn’t a cause for concern. Especially as an underdog. The Cougars acquitted themselves fine in the 33-30 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday. The dream was to go undefeated in 2022, but every goal remains in front of Houston heading into Week 3. Houston lost to Texas Tech at home in Week 1 of 2022 before starting an 11-game winning streak that lasted the rest of the regular season. A similar run through American Athletic Conference play would put the Cougars at 11-1 entering the AAC championship game, presumably against Cincinnati. There is no shame in that. 

There is concern for an offense that’s only scored a combined 10 points in the first half of the first two games of the year. Houston faced 14-point second-half deficits in both games so far in 2022. The Cougars clearly miss star running back Alton McCaskill, who hurt his knee in the spring and might not play at all in 2022. The offensive line is another concern that was mentioned by head coach Dana Holgorsen following the loss at Texas Tech. 

But my biggest concern is at wide receiver. Quarterback Clayton Tune threw for 266 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the loss. He didn’t receive much help from his outside receivers. Nathaniel Dell, the team’s star slot receiver, caught seven passes for 120 yards. The team’s second leading receiver in the loss was running back Brandon Campbell. The third leading receiver was running back Ta’Zhawn Henry. Receivers not named Dell accounted for just three catches and 38 yards. The running backs and tight ends combined for nine catches for 108 yards. 

SMU looks like an AAC contender: First-year head coach Rhett Lahslee has his Mustangs purring after two weeks. The offense is averaging 46.5 points per game and the defense has only allowed 26 total points through eight quarters of action. SMU began the year with a 48-10 beatdown of future AAC rival North Texas in Denton and followed that up with a 45-16 win over FCS opponent Lamar. Tanner Mordecai looks terrific in the new offense, throwing for 644 yards and seven scores to just one interception. Even Preston Stone threw his first collegiate touchdown pass. Wide receiver Rashee Rice is averaging 149 yards a game and already has three touchdown catches. Even the running game is humming along with the team’s five leading rushers averaging at least 4.5 yards a carry. Business picks up with a trip to Maryland in Week 3 before hosting TCU in Week 4. The top of the AAC, specifically Houston and Cincinnati look beatable. 

ONE PREDICTION 

Donovan Smith keeps the Texas Tech quarterback spot: Smith is a gamer and I’m not sure how Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire or offensive coordinator Zach Kittley replace him even when Tyler Shough is back from injury. Smith was nails in the double-overtime win over Houston, even with three interceptions. Texas Tech ran 103 plays as a team in Week 2. Smith was the thrower or runner on 78 of those plays. He threw the ball 58 times, completing 36 of those for 351 yards and two scores. He also ran the ball 20 times, though his final numbers aren’t big because of six sacks. His legs and size give Texas Tech a needed dimension on offense given the offensive line struggles. 

ONE QUESTION 

Can Texas survive without Ewers? 

Texas fans held their collective breaths when Ewers, a former five-star recruit in his second start as a Longhorn, remained on the ground following a hard hit in the first half of the contest against Alabama. He immediately gripped his shoulder area and never returned to the game. Backup quarterback Hudson Card was adequate, and tough as nails, in relief, but even he looked like he was nursing an injury by the end of the game. It is cruel that the Longhorns exited the one-point loss against Alabama with so many quarterback concerns. Card might not be healthy enough to face UTSA in Week 3, and reports suggest that Ewers is out for at least a month. 

The next five weeks look like this: home against UTSA, at Texas Tech, home against West Virginia, Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl, and then back home for Iowa State. Can the Longhorns salvage the season with a 3-2 or 4-1 record during that stretch, or do injuries at quarterback derail a promising season with Texas struggling to reach the six wins required to receive a bowl invitation?