No. 1- Losing to Oklahoma every year
Rivalry games. Nothing makes college football better than taking the field against the one team you despise more than anything. Except when you are consistently on the losing end of that rivalry. That is where Tom Herman and the Texas Longhorns find themselves. Dating back to the beginning of the decade, Oklahoma is 9-3 over their last 12 meetings, one of which was the Big 12 Championship game in 2018.
During that stretch after Herman was named head coach, the Sooners are 4-1 against Texas. While the Longhorns own overall bragging rights in the all-time series, you have to go back to 2005-2009 to find where Texas won consecutive games in the series. Vince Young and Colt McCoy led them to a 4-1 record in that stretch. The Sooners have owned that series ever since. Prior to Young’s victory in 2005, it was five years since the last Texas victory.
What this team is missing is the attitude and a take no prisoners mentality. That comes from the head coach. They need either Tom Herman to develop that mentality or find a coach who has it. Beating your rival every single time you step on the field should be your priority, the rest will come. The team needs to put up style points and that means stepping on the accelerator. All Herman has ever done is slow it down with his ‘Turtle Tom’ approach.