Who's to blame for the recent Texas football collapse? This Longhorn puts it on players

Linebacker Justin Cryer hasn't even been a Longhorn for a full year, but the Florida State transfer understands how things work when Texas football starts losing.

Fans get angry, reporters ask questions and the pressure ratchets up on those in charge, such as head coach Steve Sarkisian, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and special teams coach Jeff Banks.

"I've got to watch coach Sark, I've got to watch coach Muschamp, got to watch coach Banks, right?" Cryer said Monday in the aftermath of the Longhorns' loss to Florida, their second straight SEC setback. "They have to step up and take responsibility for our performances that we don't do so well, and that really drives me. Because as much as they get to prepare us throughout the week, it's our job to go out there every week. Coach Muschamp can't go out there and tackle for us, right? So, as much as everyone likes to point fingers and play the blame game, we are the ones out there doing it."

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Trevor Goosby: Coaches ‘can't make plays for us'

In all fairness to Cryer and his teammates on the defensive side of the ball, much of the blame for the tumble from the top of the polls for No. 19 Texas (4-2, 1-2 SEC) falls at the feet of the offense. The defense leads the SEC with 257.3 yards allowed per game in conference play while the Longhorns' offense ranks in the bottom quarter of virtually every category in league play.

But that's part of the blame game for Cryer, who ranks third on the team with 38 total tackles. It's a team effort when it comes to winning or losing, said Cryer. And for the senior from Katy, the effort he worries about the most is his own.

"There has to be a level of responsibility that comes from the players if we want to get this thing right," he said. "I appreciate coach Sark and the coaching staff. But it has to come from a point of accountability and taking ownership of the fact that these performances are coming from us on the field. Coach Sark can't make a throw; (linebackers coach Johnny) Nansen can't tackle for me. We have to all do our job, and we have to own our performances that we're going out there and putting up."

Left tackle Trevor Goosby agreed, saying "at the end of the day, the players have to go out and make plays. The coaches can't make plays for us."

But what can the Texas coaches do to help Cryer, Goosby, quarterback Arch Manning or any other player on the field?

Last week, Sarkisian said the Longhorns "had their best practice of the season," yet the team gave up a 17-3 first-half lead in a 27-24 loss to the Gators. Two weeks ago at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas led 17-7 at half before losing to Oklahoma 27-24.

"We have to do a better job taking practice to the game and having a sense of belief and confidence that what you're doing is the right thing to do," Sarkisian said. "When there's a standard and expectation of performance, sometimes we can try too hard and we can start chasing plays as opposed to just executing the play that you have. I think we need to settle down a little bit offensively and just execute the play and let the flow of the game happen. Do it at a high level but just execute the play. We don't need to chase the play."

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Steve Sarkisian: Coaches must come up with ‘better schemes'

But Sarkisian also acknowledged that issues in any facet of the game starts with the coaching staff, specifically at the top.

"We've got to come up with some schemes that put our guys in more optimal situations," he said.

Closing the gap between those schemes and the players' performances dominated some tough talks between the coaches and players on Sunday, Sarkisian said.

"I credit our players, and I and our staff for that matter, of being receptive to those conversations, being coachable in those conversations, and them understanding we all need to be part of the solution," he said. "Because it's easy to listen to the outside noise and the sky is falling and the season is over and what are we going to do next year? Hey, man, we're 4-2, OK? Let's be part of the solution. Let's go 1-0 this week, and let's get to 5-2."

Manning said the players still have faith in the play-calling while the coaches still trust the players. Texas faces three ranked teams over the next five weeks, starting with Saturday's visit from No. 7 Ole Miss. Win Saturday, Manning said, and the Longhorns will get right back on track for a College Football Playoff berth.

"I think we're fully capable," he said. "We got the players, we got the schemes, and we got the mindset. I think we've had a good year of practice, and we've got to translate to the games. We let these two teams (Oklahoma and Florida) win; they shouldn't have won."

This article originally published at Who's to blame for the recent Texas football collapse? This Longhorn puts it on players.