The college football weekend just concluded with an array of games that featured close games and surprising comebacks.
On Saturday, Penn State came from behind and beat USC in Los Angeles, 33-30. Alabama trailed but scored late and held on to beat South Carolina 27-25 in Tuscaloosa. Meanwhile, LSU rallied late and shocked Ole Miss 29-26 in overtime.
Elsewhere, in a game that went back and forth, No. 3 Oregon outlasted No. 2 Ohio State, 32-31.
In the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, No. 1 Texas destroyed No. 18 Oklahoma, 34-3. We don’t know what gave Sooner fans more indigestion, the final score or the multitude of fried food consumed outside the stadium at the Texas State Fair.
This Saturday, the Georgia Bulldogs travel to Austin to play Texas in the top national matchup of the day. Other games of local interest include Baylor visiting Texas Tech and Texas A&M traveling to Mississippi State.
Turning to the NFL, both Texas teams were in action on Sunday, with very different outcomes.
In Foxborough, Massachusetts, the Houston Texans improved their record to 5-1 with a convincing 41-21 victory over the New England Patriots. With the victory, Houston remains in first place in the AFC South with a two-game lead over the Indianapolis Colts. Next up for the Texans will be a trip to Green Bay and a date with the Packers.
Having said all of that, it is the Dallas Cowboys who we will devote the rest of this exercise to ponder.
As I’m sure most of you must know by now, on Sunday, the Detroit Lions embarrassed the Cowboys, 47-9, in Arlington. Now anybody can have a bad day, but blowout losses at home are becoming the norm for Dallas. Dating back to last year in the playoffs, Dallas has allowed 48 points to Green Bay; this season 44 points to New Orleans, 28 points to Baltimore and now 47 points to Detroit. All were losses.
At this rate, Dallas may ask the NFL permission to play all their games on the road.
The problems are numerous.
First, Owner-General Manager Jerry Jones painted himself into a colossal corner by resigning quarterback Dak Prescott to a four-year, $240 million contract. Serving as a reminder, Prescott’s record in the post season is a paltry 2-5.
Prescott is a good quarterback, but certainly not elite. Jones was faced with the decision to either resign Prescott, which basically ensures more seasons of mediocrity, or let him walk, resulting in tanking a season or two, which would give Dallas the chance to draft a top young quarterback for the future.
Frankly, Jones should have allowed Prescott to walk.
The money paid to Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, and the upcoming deal for Micah Parsons, will effectively prohibit Jones from building a Super Bowl caliber roster.
Better to start over, like Houston did when the Texans drafted C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson.
The Cowboys can’t possibly trade Prescott for prospects. Nobody in their right mind would take Dak and his contract.
With Prescott, the team will continue to win enough games to guarantee that Dallas will also continue to draft late in the first and succeeding rounds in the draft.
In other words, Dallas is like a gerbil in a circular treadmill, where the little animal keeps running but never gets anywhere.
Besides Prescott disappearing in big games, Dallas has a problem at running back. Retread Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle are not the answers. Jones will surely draft a running back next April.
To be fair, the Dallas defense was ridiculously short-handed against the Lions. Parsons, Marshawn Kneeland, DeMarcus Lawrence, Eric Kendricks and DaRon Bland were all injured and missing in action, and Detroit took full advantage.
However, injuries don’t explain the defensive collapse in the last four home games.
There is another problem for Dallas. Division rival Washington appears to have struck gold with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has been spectacular for the Commanders. Daniels promises to be a major thorn in Dallas’ side for many years. Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia isn’t going anywhere, either.
Of course, the ultimate Dallas problem is Jerry Jones himself. Long ago, Jones should have hired a dynamic general manager and then got out of the way. Jones the owner is not going to fire Jones the general manager.
Head coach Mike McCarthy will be fired sooner or later. After all, Jones fired Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson, so McCarthy’s turn is coming.
Mike, instead of eating that fried food at the fair, better get plenty of antacids.
Michael J. Lorino is a Kerrville resident. He has a BA in Journalism from Texas Tech and has worked in the banking and insurance industries.