College Football

Why Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas A&M are underachieving

Published Oct. 27, 2022 10:11 a.m. ET

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What do Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Texas A&M all have in common?

Outside of being four of the most storied programs throughout college football, all four have underachieved up to this point in 2022.

Heading into this season, Notre Dame (5), Texas A&M (6) and Oklahoma (9) were all ranked in the top 10 of the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll. The Longhorns did not enter the season ranked but moved up as high as No. 21 early on.

Now, heading into Week 9 of the campaign, the four teams are a combined 16-13, with Texas owning the top record of the group at 5-3.

FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt provided an in-depth look at all four programs on the latest episode of "The Joel Klatt Show."

Klatt looked at what has gone wrong up to this point with each program, and debated whether they can bounce back and make a bowl game.

TEXAS

Record: 5-3 (3-2)

Best win: The Longhorns defeated Oklahoma 49-0 in Week 6.

Worst loss: The Longhorns lost to in-state foe Texas Tech 37-34 after leading 31-17 late in the third quarter.

What’s holding them back: Attention to detail

Remaining schedule: at Kansas State, vs. No. 7 TCU, at Kansas, vs. Baylor

Klatt’s Take: "Greatness is realized through the attention to details, and right now, Texas is falling a little bit short. It has to be frustrating to a fan base that feels like they have the talent to be 7-1 or 8-0 and on the precipice of a Big 12 title and maybe even a playoff berth. Yet here they are sitting at 5-3 and thinking to yourself ‘here we go again.’

"This is still a team that I believe is going to win most of their games through the course of the year. If they correct some of those small details, you’re probably going to see a team that ends up with eight, nine, maybe even 10 wins."

Will the Texas Longhorns end the season strong?

Joel Klatt reviews the Texas Longhorns (5-3) season so far and discusses his projections for the remainder of the their season.

NOTRE DAME

Record: 4-3

Best win: The Fighting Irish notched a 28-20 win over No. 16 BYU in Week 6.

Worst loss: Note Dame lost to Marshall 26-21 in Week 2.

What’s holding them back: Injuries at key positions

Remaining schedule: at No. 16 Syracuse, vs. No. 5 Clemson, vs. Navy, vs. Boston College, at No. 10 USC

Klatt’s Take: "Things have not gone their way, but here they are developing, getting better and trying to control the controllables. If they’re able to run the ball like they have in the last three or four games, then they will win three or four more games and go to a bowl game.

"The year is starting to trend up, and that’s why I’m not quite as worried about Notre Dame as maybe some others are."

Should Notre Dame fans be concerned?

Joel Klatt analyzes Notre Dame's season and believes the team is making steady progression.

OKLAHOMA

Record: 4-3 (1-3)

Best win: The Sooners are coming off a 52-42 victory over Kansas.

Worst Loss: Oklahoma was shutout by rival Texas 49-0 in Week 6.

What’s holding them back: The defense

Remaining schedule: at Iowa State, vs. Baylor, at West Virginia, vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State, at Texas Tech

Klatt’s Take: "Oklahoma has desperately got to get better on defense, and that’s the biggest issue by far. They have allowed 40-plus points in four straight games … all league games. Part of that is because the Big 12 is very good offensively, but they’ve got to fix that. The troubling part is that although their coach is a first-time head coach and a new first-year coach at this location, that’s his sweet spot. … Brent Venables made his name as a defensive coordinator both at OU and at Clemson, he comes in, and OU is bad on defense.

"Oklahoma needs two wins to go to a bowl. Do you think they’re gonna get that? I do. Even if the defense improves just a little bit, with Dillon Gabriel at quarterback, this is still a top 25 total offense. This is a team that’s gonna end up getting those two victories and end up being a bowl team, and I think that’s good for Oklahoma."

Can Oklahoma end their season strong? | Joel Klatt Show

Joel Klatt discusses the Oklahoma Sooners and looks at if they can finish their season strong.

TEXAS A&M

Record: 3-4 (1-3)

Best win: The Aggies defeated then-No. 10 Arkansas 23-21 in Week 4.

Worst loss: Ranked No. 6 heading into Week 2 of the season, Texas A&M fell 17-14 to Appalachian State.

What’s holding them back: Suspensions, injuries, lack of execution on offense

Remaining schedule: vs. No. 15 Ole Miss, vs. Florida, at Auburn, vs. UMASS, vs. No. 18 LSU

Klatt’s take: "Texas A&M is in a really bad place. They are much closer to 1-6 than they are to 6-3. They are just not a very good team right now. This has to get better, somehow, someway.

"Looking at the rest of their schedule, they need three wins, but this is not a team that is showing signs of growth. This is not a first-year coach. This is not a coach that his side of the ball is excelling. It is woefully falling short.

"There are programs that have hope that have been disappointing, and then there are programs that don’t really have hope. Right now, for Texas A&M, I don’t know if they have hope."

Texas A&M: Is there hope for the Aggies?

Joel Klatt discusses the Texas A&M Aggies (3-4) and if they can bounce back and make a bowl game.

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