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GoldAppleCorps

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Everything posted by GoldAppleCorps

  1. Devin Duvernay is a luxury player that well functioning offenses use to rip the top off of a defense. When the DBs and LBs are going every which way to help cover running lanes and the mid/shallow routes, a player like Devin uses the extra time afforded to the QB to race by the entire secondary for a wide open bomb. Needless to say, none of that described Texas last season. Upfront blocking = running lanes = slower defensive rush = better pass protection = time for routes to develop = more Duvernay touches. For all the chicanery and window dressing, you still have to block an inside dive to win at football.
  2. I had to go back and check the top of the video to make sure I'd read the name right. Good God! That's a defensive back!
  3. That's a part of the Maryland article that made me smile. The writer said last year's offense did well against a top rated Texas defense. The defense that played against Maryland wasn't the 2017 Texas defense. It was the 2016 defense with different players and coach. They still played with the "better wait and see, my teammate might mess up" approach. Even though Orlando had drilled them all summer to know their role, then execute with bad intentions, the defense played that first game unsure and timid. The Texas players have put in the work to be elite. We know that. It comes down, then, to the mental aspect as sports usually does. It gets calle swagger or momentum or mojo or a bunch of other terms, but it all means conquering the mind. Once you've done the preparation, knowing that you'll act instinctively without second guessing or doubting produces championships.
  4. Rather be inside the tent pissing out...
  5. From what I've seen, Tre Watson has the work ethic and the understanding of what it takes to compete. He walks like the job is his, and it will be if none of the other guys match his focusness. Toneil Carter has the "million dollar talent and a ten cent brain" tag creeping up behind him. He can still save himself, but he has to realize that the Longhorn uniform isn't something you take off when you're done with it. The media and the fans follow you everywhere. It may be unfair, but that's your choice when you pick the Burnt Orange. There's someone there for your spot if it's too much. He should be option 1a, instead he's #3 by default. Daniel Young just does everything right. By rights, he should be a complementary or change of pace back. Thus far, overall offensive ineptitude forces him into the featured role. He's owned it through dedication. Of course, all of this is tosh if the OL can't open up a gap. Between the return of the TE to the Texas offense and new widebodies, there's every reason to believe that will happen. However, right now it's all just theory.
  6. The Maryland game had to happen. Texas has talented athletes at every position. What they lacked was trust. Someone would miss a tackle or alignment, his buddies would get to thinking rather than playing. They'd try to anticipate mistakes rather than play their position. It led to everyone getting to the ball a second too late. During last summer, the defense learned to trust the coaches and each other. They spent the whole summer learning to rely and scheme and their buddies. They were ready! Then, during the 2nd quarter of the Maryland game, they faced adversity. Someone made a mistake. The team panicked. They forgot what they'd practiced, and went right back to playing like they had the year before. As a result, mistakes created mistakes. The snowball rolled just enough that Texas stood on its own field looking like the kid who threw up at his own birthday party. I believe Todd Orlando used that tape. I believe he asked his unit to try things his way. Don't think. When the scheme is called, know your role. When the ball is snapped, execute it violently. Trust that your buddies will do the same. Mistakes will happen. Tackles will be missed. Get right back up, and go again. In the end, the opponent won't be able to match your intensity, and they'll be forced to react to the defense - rather than dictate terms. Before you're old and wise, you have to be young and stupid. It's why we like older players. They've got talent, yes, but they've already made the mistakes and (hopefully) learned. The defense had to come through Maryland in order to prove that trusting your coaches and teammates was the way to go. It's now up to the players, as they age out and new ones come in, to teach that lesson.
  7. Westbrook drew a flag for embitchifying Leland McElroy.
  8. Yeah. If that's some backup WR returning the punt, then he gets there early for a PI call, or gets there late and whiffs on the breakup. Instead, it's an All-World DB who checks the receiver, checks the pass, and instinctively gets there just as the two intersect. He aims his hit to, um, "break up" the completion.
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