GoldAppleCorps

Psh! Keep posting it. We forgot where we came from once. We forgot what it took to get to the top. Season after season, the players rested a little bit more on what everyone else did. The coaches let them. Very quickly, we're all standing around wondering how it all happened. It happens when you're comfortable where you are. Thou art mortal.

Well, how many of those game would we have lost when the RB coughed up the ball on the edge, or the swing pass was picked, or there were 2 more minutes on the clock at the end? It's all very easy to say, "We should have tried for a first down there!". Certainly, but doing so increases the risk of turnover or easy score. The odds really ramp up when a desperate opponent starts slashing at the ball - prioritizing turnover over securing the tackle. In the past, the defense has been the Horns calling card. We were more confident stopping the opposition drive than continuing our own. In that case, we were right to milk the clock whenever possible. This season, Herman may want to revisit his calculus a bit, just because we have more plays to run that don't unnecessarily create risk. Our last offensive play Saturday was an example of that. oSu knew we would run the ball. Sam ran a protected bootleg, starting the flow one way, then cutting it back. He had multiple options, even a pass, but oSu covered everything but him. He powered forward and, surprisingly, did not slide once he'd earned the 1st down. I really think he wanted to score, but decided against dishing pain (likely knowing the coach would chew on him for it). It must be, once again, emphasized that we don't even really have this discussion if a veteran player DOESN'T ATTEMPT A DIVING FAIR CATCH of a give-up punt.

I agree that Herman is going to have to get a better feel for the accelerator at Texas, but he hasn't really gotten the opportunity in seasons previous. Our offense has typically been a liability to the point that bleeding the clock with a lead and playing defense from an advantageous position was a better strategy than risking turnovers. If our returner understood that that last punt DID NOT NEED TO BE CAUGHT at all, and that a ball rolling dead somewhere on the field under Texas' possession iced the game, then the strategy was once again valid. We do, though, now have a dynamic offense which should be trusted to get 1st downs under duress.

Sometimes people just won't do what they say, or say what they mean. In those cases, one thing leads to another...

I'm thinking the "injury report" segment is the thing that's gonna determine my mood for a few days...

This does remind me that the Texas Longhorns can exorcise another ghost of bitchassedness past on Saturday. The 2010 game against Rice in Reliant Stadium was the day the Longhorn Nation knew we had an actual problem that couldn't be ignored. The first quarter featured a 14 play Rice drive that ended with a FG. The Texas drive was 12 plays. It covered 57 yards. It ended with a TURNOVER ON DOWNS!!! Read this link: https://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=302470242 Pay special attention to the part with "1st and goal from the Rice 4", "2nd and goal from the Rice 3", "3rd and goal from the Rice 1", "4th and goal from the Rice 1", "Cody Johnson runs for a loss of 4 yards" It's your obligation as a Longhorn fan to realize that, one game after playing Alabama for a National Championship, we could not run for 4 yards in 4 tries against the Rice Owls! It's your obligation because we forgot this once. We thought that the Burnt Orange logo would make the other team move. How many players watched their talented futures crash on the Forty Acres in the ensuing seasons? How many TVs were destroyed by beer bottles? It happened once. It will happen again, unless you, yes YOU, realize the value of having really big angry men on the roster who like slamming people into the ground!

You don't need a PlayStation to use PSVue. It's an app that runs on Amazon FireTV, Android, or just in a web browser (to be cast to Chromcast if you prefer). No one gets a hate on for Rice because they're a bunch of obnoxious brainy nerds who obligingly lay down and get clobbered as a football team. It's a fun game in Houston.

Rice has an endowment large enough that they let most students go for free. They can certainly make that call any time they want and not think twice about it. Texas isn't the team that they used to be. I don't understand betting lines on games like this, because Texas can make the score anything they want (except 1-0 for you literalists out there). This will be a scrimmage game to see who's been listening in meetings. The proper result of this game is to host some recruits locally in Houston and return to Austin without adding to the injury list.

Burrow was going to have to ace the master class in playing spread to win. He did. Texas and LSU played one heck of a rough game in the non-con. We need more schools willing to schedule these matchups. Here's the ugly part. If both schools keep playing like this, we're either going to play each other again, or the selection committee is going to have to really screw someone over.

Texas uses their DBs for everything because, at some point, there's just a bunch of DBs on the field. It really just becomes a breakdown of nomenclature. There's certainly a DT. He's designed to cause a traffic accident in the middle of the field. After that, all bets are off. Might be some DEs. Might be up to 3 LBs, but probably 2 or 1. At any rate, they just kind of look like bigger safeties, which is OK, because the safeties a pretty big, too. Really, the genius of Orlando's D is that anyone can do anything. The offense doesn't know what's coming until the ball is snapped. The guard can be absolutely blocking the LB only to find two safeties (or nickel, or joker, or whatever) running by him. The run called for "4 in the box" suddenly finds 7 defenders run blitzing. Texas plays with the same 11 players. It has its vulnerabilities. However, if you're not POSITIVE what you're seeing, a "quick pass" becomes a turnover.

<emphasis added> This is a thought. The analyses I've seen (very good ones) seem to show Burrow's success almost exclusively off his primary read. Burrow is clearly not a tomato can. He obviously studies film and knows the process. His mechanics aren't terrible. When the play happens the way he thought it would, he can execute it. When GSU managed to muddle his first option (either by design or blind luck), his decision making seemed to devolve. The passes floated. His mechanics got goofy. Worse, he seems to always want to make a play - and that play should be in the middle of the field (after all, that's where you have the most guys, right?). Sam's biggest advancement last season was the realization that sometimes the defense wins. Burn the ball out of bounds (no problem missing long on a back shoulder fade - use the sideline to your advantage). Tuck it and bash. Heck, taking a sack reserves the right to another play. What makes the spread so deadly is the progression of options. If the defense took away option #1, well, they don't probably have enough guys for option #2. That option tripped on his shoelaces. Option #3 got blocked by his man. At this point, a good spread QB knows he's out of time. If option #1 hasn't miracled himself open, then aim for the Gatorade table.

No realistic Texas fan doubts the LSU defense. This may be the most complete defense we've seen in a long time. Last week, Texas fans saw that their OL could hold up against token competition. This week, of course, limits will be tested. No one expects a flawless performance. LSU's defense will win a fair amount of plays. What you need to remember about the spread is that the play is won before the snap. The spread, well, spreads out the defense. The QB is in shotgun. The offensive alignment is designed to stress every area of the defense, and isolate them into 1 on 1 matchups. When the defense aligns, the QB and receivers are supposed to recognize the alignment. When the play is run, the QB attacks the part of the defense where the offense wins the matchup. The 5 Texas OL don't have to win battle after battle against 5 LSU defenders. They will add TEs or sweeps until LSU spins down another defender to attack outside with swing passes. They just have to be credible. The secret to defending the spread is to not stop moving. The offense wins before the ball is snapped by reading alignments. If the defense doesn't align, the offense can't read it. UGA learned this last year against a vastly inferior (we allege) Texas OL. Texas would not win against a straight up, push-them-around, he-man football. Fortunately, we don't aim to pit strength on strength. I'm in no way predicting an easy day for the Texas offense. Quite the opposite. This will be a long, grueling effort focused on ball security and first downs.

During the course of a game, the OL is probably going to let someone get by. That happens. Sacks are no fun, but at least you usually still have possession of the football. What that video shows, and maybe it's an isolated incident or I'm not seeing the whole picture, is Joe Burrow burying his head in the face of pressure and hucking the football towards his last known good passing option. This is a cardinal sin in the spread offense! The spread doesn't come free. It operates on QBs reading the defense, WRs reading their coverage, and both knowing (without overt communication) what the route is supposed to be. Things happen REALLY quickly once the ball is snapped, so this has to be evident before the snap. Once the ball is snapped, a good QB will read his keys to confirm what he knew, then execute the play (either run or pass) that the defense presented. Things are bad enough when a WR blows his assignment. There's a decent chance that the defender followed him, and the QB just fires a pass into dead air. However, when a QB (typically under pressure) just guesses and wings the ball into the middle of the field, count on hearing the other school's fight song in short order.

I think the visitor's bench is gonna roast during warm (!) ups and the 1st half.

I felt bad for Coburn. Firing out of his stance into a double team over and over, only to have the QB take 3 steps and pass. He was effective, since LaTech quickly gave up running at all and just started winging it to the flats. Still, I imagine it takes a lot of mental fortitude, plus a healthy fear of your position coach, to keep up those reps.

LSU has a ton of talent. Their defense is for real. The Texas OL showed up bigly against LaTech, but we'll start to find out now if it was them or the opponent. The Texas defense is no place to learn the spread. I know the Tigers fans are giddy over seeing a pass thrown and more than 2 receivers on the field at once. Here in the Big 12, we call that "Saturday". It literally happens to us every week. Every team, for the last 10 years, plays at least some type of that game in the Big 12. We've built a defense to stop literally nothing but that. The best spread offenses, collectively, live in the Big 12. A previous post said we wouldn't pressure Burrow without well timed and well disguised blitzes. You just described Orlando's standard defense. Like, every play. We're one DL and an assortment of guys ranging from fast and strong to faster and stronger. A strength of the spread offense is counting the defenders and attacking where they lack numbers. The Texas defense doesn't stand still to be counted. It's just impossible to tell who's covering or who's rushing until the ball is snapped. "Getting the ball out quickly" is all fine and good, but if you miscounted, then we'll see if Joe Burrow is faster than Joe Ossai. I'm not gutsy enough to predict an easy Texas win. The Tigers are a for-real opponent, and winning will be earned.

Not necessarily, but I have spent a lifetime doing dumb shit. As I've increased in age, I find myself looking over a new proposed venture thinking, "Wait. How can this fuck up, and what's the worst that can happen when it does?". I'm looking over a team with an established leader at QB. One with not just options but good options on the OL. A defense full of athletes, and a WR room full of 6'6" speedsters. I'm venturing into a game against an overmatched opponent - but one that won a bowl game last year. It looks like everything's in place. However, experience forces me to ask, "How can this fuck up?".

I've asserted all summer that the turnover on defense isn't as concerning as usual. I've said that this is because the players on this year's team are better athletes with better skills. Mike Tyson famously said, though, that everybody has a plan until they get hit. When the lights are shining, the crowd is cheering, and the defenders have to recognize the scheme across from them without a position coach nearby, we'll see if the head matches the physique. If they trust their training and play like they practiced, then they're a fearsome unit. If they question and think, they'll turn in circles like <last season's opener>. Last year, we saw an offense with a lot of talent, but that was hampered by the inability to block a pass rush. The coaches preferred to trust 2nd and 7 and 3rd and 3 rather than risk 2nd and 14 and lose the run option. The coach's choice of slot receiver tells me that they believe they can block that rush now. If that's true, then an embarrassment of riches will be unveiled. If not, 3 running backs might not be enough. Time to turn the key and see if this machine cranks up!

You've clearly done a good bit of research here. I think what helps us more is that Orlando's D doesn't stand still before the play. A timing route is tough to defend, but only works when both the QB and receiver are together on the call. The QB really gets the ball out of his hands quickly in a lot of those plays against LSU. He's intelligent and experienced. He reads the defense well and throws the ball to a mark. However, if Texas is moving before and after (you'd hope) the snap, then the prospect of a quick pitch and catch diminishes. If the coverage isn't what you thought it was (a DB on the LOS suddenly retreats, etc), or if you and the WR had different ideas, then bad things happen. If the QB stops to confirm his thought, then the timing is off. I say this, but yet what's killed us in our openers two years running is defenders second guessing their role. In years' past, the complexity has led to the Texas players having to think about their roles during a play. They were usually right, but too slow getting there to be of any use. I'm hoping for defense at full speed on Saturday.

It doesn't really matter if our opening opponent is better or worse. The Texas Longhorns should be a better football team. That should make all the difference. We entered the last two seasons with gaping flaws. During the season, those flaws were fixed or worked around (largely worked around). We tried to scheme around an OL that could probably run block, but couldn't pass protect. This time last season, the QB1 battle was still hotly debated. We, of course, haven't proven anything yet. Just because the OL should be better doesn't mean it will be. These things are only judged when an angry defense pounds on it. We're replacing errbody on the defense, and they should be stronger and faster. That's no guarantee that they won't still turn in circles like they were trained by Tudor Electric Football as we've seen in the previous openers. If these things are fixed, then I can look forward to a season fighting for hardware at the end. If they aren't, it will be just another "nice" season of watching football.

So is our receivers room looking more like a Final Four NCAA bball team?

I have no doubt Joe Burrow is a good enough QB. I further believe the receivers are likewise talented. The "OL has a tough time in pass protection" is a deal breaker. You either can pass protect or you can't. If you can't, the defense sits around 7 yards from the LOS and makes your life miserable. RBs can't run misdirection because of the swarming bodies. You can't throw quick slants because there's too many DBs in your field of vision to risk a pick 6. Once again, Texas fans are familiar with this concept. You can win games this way, living off running N/S between the tackles. However, you have to play almost flawlessly on both sides of the ball, and usually your opponent has to help out a bit. Texas fans are pinning their own hopes of offensive resurgence on continuity of the OL. The redshirted players that spent a year growing and learning rather than plugging holes in the roster. When the OL can hold for a 4 count, the playbook triples in size with the same players on the field. I see LSU and Texas as both having the same ideas both offensively and defensively. I just see the Texas offense as a year further into the system.

While I agree with the sentiment and the passion, remember what offense we had last year. This wasn't the VY or Colt "fuck it, score again just to teach them their place!" offense. This was an offense that was forced to operate in a 7 yard area. The OL just wasn't good enough (and Sam usually not quite accurate enough) to threaten downfield. As a result, we had to drive the ball by mixing in and out runs with slants and QB draws. We kept the chains and the clock moving. In the 2nd half, when we had the lead, we played to kill the clock. That wasn't usually out of choice. It was out of a need not to risk cheap points to the opponent any more than necessary. We relied on a ferocious defense. We won 10 games and the Sugar Bowl last season despite not being good enough to dictate terms. Now, let's see what happens when the OL can pass protect for a 4 count and Sam can hit a seam route 20 yards in the air.

It's worth noting that Sam and Joe won't likely play each other. It's our defense's job to stop Joe, and the Tigers' job to stop Sam. I'm getting the sense that Texas fans can empathize. It's been hard to follow, but it seems that LSU has tried to remake their identity several times with several coaches over the last several years. During this time, truly dangerous WR and QB are underutilized while the rest of the offense muddles through "growing pains". Every fall, the fan base points to "with an extra year" and "in the spring they" type stuff. As Texas fans, we get it. Right down to the "OMFG! Trash everything and try to be like Alabama!" vibe. We panicked too, threw away the script, ran off a MNC winning coach (not always a bad thing), and began wandering. I can tell you a million reasons why this year's Longhorn OL is going to be the one that opens up the offensive potential, but until that happens, we are what we were. My optimism comes from familiarity. LSU's offense seems to want to be what we have in the Big 12. They want tempo, multiple attack from same look, and RPO. They may work it out this season, and truly terrify the SEC with it. However, Texas is familiar with that. Our defense sees it every week, sees it in practice, and is built to stop the best in the business at it. Our DBs know that 18" of space is open, because they play against QBs that can hit that window from 20 yards out. On the flip side (the side that does indeed worry me greatly), LSU has freakish athletes. However, I'm wondering how they'll feel when the scoreboard hits in the 20's in the first half? If the OL performs as I expect, the Tigers will need to defend the entire field for a long time. I have no doubt LSU is a team full of fantastic athletes. It just looks like they're coming to Austin to try and play our game.