Had Enough

2008 Tech was probably 2nd worst behind 2015 OSU. How soon we forget. Legit NFL defensive linemen we had.

Looks like a 2 WR set. That hasn’t given us problems in the pass game. 4 man rush, 7 in coverage. Not sure we play anyone that has 2 TEs that can outrun us consistently. 4/5 wide is our issue. We don’t go dime so you’ll have a S in a tough matchup. We won’t take out Ford so if you want Hill in, it’s either LB or take out Sorrell or Burke. I’m not sure Hill is a better pass rusher than Sorrell/Burke. He’s not great in zone. If you’ve got 4 legit WRs, your best chance is a true cover guy. Personally I’m not pulling a S, but I’d prefer the additional guy be a cover guy versus the bigger body. 4-1-6 or 3-2-6. Hill provides options. We have willing tacklers in the secondary so that mitigates being small to an extent.

Good stuff. Differing opinions. Speculation. Who knows. The LBs have to respect the run because there’s limited value in a tackle at 2.5 yards so your first step is likely towards the LOS. The reason I interjected Taafe is because he’s playing relatively tight and notice his first step. He’s not Cover 2 or 3 so it’s possible quarters. So maybe Holmes should lock into Man on a single side WR. Taafe coming downhill so that’s easier for him than a LB to hit that window. Irrespective of coverage, he’s too aggressive towards the LOS given down and distance. His most immediate threat is the single side WR breaking in. Holmes actions don’t make sense either. And perhaps being pulled substantiates that as well. My thought there was that perhaps Holmes action was to bait the inside throw. Just speculation though.

This is one that you need to know responsibilities. It could be Taafe that messes up. Situational football. If you can’t stop them short of the first, it matters not if they 3, 5, or 7. Don’t bite up when your biggest threat is elsewhere. That’s Taafe on this play. The TE was open on the other side. Even if the S does cover him, he got himself too far outside to defend the pass.

The inside route was tipped. I didn’t see it on the broadcast as wobbly but that ball was wobbly and low and behind. Catchable but not easy. The deep one was catchable but also a bit underthrown. The short out breaking route was definitely catchable. But it wasn’t easy due to the throw. Wr and Qb need to help each other out. I’m not sure last week has anything to do with this week. Clean it up some and let’s win.

We were treated very well when visiting BYU. Someone anonymously bought our dinner Friday night. They were good at the game too. They must have treated Manny Diaz well too since he was not interested in defending them.

It’s possible the KSU WR blocking may be as big a deal as their route running/catching. I’d bet Barron isn’t coming off this week.

Good question. I did see Barron off ball at safety depth one play, but that may have been due to motion and rotation. And truth is the opposing offense has not had much success against that defense. Yet. Versus a KState I’m not sure I wouldn’t rather have Barron at CB. Over Holmes and probably Muhammad. But they’ll probably go with whomever best handles practice with what KState does.

Lack of replays for those of us that like replays was as bad as it’s ever been. I’m sure Estes audiology would be ok slapping their name of the replay screen.

You might consider whether we struggle in short yardage anywhere but inside the 5. If you think we do not, then you need to determine why there’s a difference.

The secondary goes as the pressure from the front goes. Barron is the most impactful player. Sometimes a big play occurs due to poor execution; sometimes it’s the player doing something a little extra. Barron is our guy that does the little extra things. He’s not infallible in coverage however. The front is the key in the pass and run. Always.

There should be.

To assume that a defense will never stuff their opponent is a You issue. You also seem to indicate that Murphys failed first pass was coaching. He had Brooks off the right side. Also, he had Worthy right in front at the sticks. That was a Murphy issue. Ewers is playing well. He’s 1-1 in games in which he was needed most. He turned it over 3 times in one. The first set the tone for the entire game. He missed two potential TDs once he broke the pocket versus OU. You can quote all the completions but tell the whole story. He’s not made a play several times that ended a drive. Just like his teammates. It’s a collective effort.

Late 80s/early 90s. That was just high school though so I’m not trying to over play it. Although I know what the hell I am talking about just like everyone else. I was about 3-5 years too early for the good stuff to start taking hold. Now I’m just a bitter, old guy.

Coach probably shouldn’t say I’d like to get Cook more playing time than not do it. Hey Cook. Next year as a starter. You get all the playing time.

I appreciate the time, effort and explanation. Genuinely. I’d like to hear Ewers thought process. I’m from a poor era of coaching but played a little QB. Some read option. That’s why I bring up the point about opening up opposite of where he wants to go with the ball. If you’re telling me he’s looking backside for the read, that is a more difficult read. It also takes longer to throw it because his hips and shoulders have to turn all the way back around. For those reasons, I don’t like it. Then Ewers actually has time to throw it and is ready to throw it but decides otherwise. I don’t think it was Mitchell’s route but could have been. I don’t think it was the edge rusher but maybe. I lean towards the safety that crept up some but never fully committed. So that’s another point from my experiences is that by reading backside you often don’t have as a good a fake because the ball isn’t as well seated because that shoulder is a bit more open. It’s just not quite as natural. I don’t pay incredibly close attention to the detail, but I’d be interested to see how many of those we look backside. In retrospect the run would have left us better off but also brings about curiosity about the pre-snap thought process from Ewers.

Actually, this has not happened at all this year. I wonder how many teams can say that. Now how much do we get up in their face? No idea. We’ve given up exactly three long TD passes. None of which were press coverage. Then one pretty much long TD. One of those TDs looks to be a busted coverage. Never mind Bama has deep ball TDs versus 4 of 5 SEC opponents. Three of those teams are top 4 in the country in sacks per game. The other two are top 30 while we sit at tied for 50. OU lit up ISU down the field. They didn’t us. Got 1 jump ball. Every one of our opponents has scored below their season average against us. There’s no indication statistically that our opponents are any more successful down the field versus us than others. Tons of discussion about us facing a 3 safety look. We’ve had 3 of the fastest safeties you’ll find on campus lately yet none have satisfied people. Both indicators about safety play. You aren’t getting consistent coverage on 10.4 100 guys or 4.3 40 guys from corners much less safeties. Any good OC hopes to isolate a WR on a safety. Just like we should go to Worthy any time that happens. That’s football today and represents a vulnerability every team has.

We weren’t up 4. So I’d just rather not go to overtime. We had the opportunity to exhaust the clock. We did not.

Then why not give to Brooks for at least a little something positive? Notice that Ewers opens up with his back to Mitchell. Then he pumps and pulls it down. Would be interesting to be walked thru that play.

This is an interesting consideration. There’s considerable access in Texas now. Lots of opportunities exist. Competition at the small schools has always been a limiting factor but less so today. I’d assume just about every program has a summer S&C program. I’m also assuming the lower rung coaches are much better, more informed than ever. Other states might not have quite the access, but they likely have more access to quality each year.

His average depth of target is at 8.3 down from 10.5 in 2022. His total time to throw is at 2.55 up from 2.44 in 2022. His completion % for 20+ is down very slightly this year. He’s up 20% on the intermediate throws. Some of his numbers are a bit like Card for 2022 more so than Ewers 2022.

Who wants sucky players on the field.

Lots of dumb shit up and until the 90s in the game of football.

I do not recall many tweets about our deep snapper or the bullpen catcher. Why not?

I’m curious about the 1st down sack on our final drive. All we really needed was one more first down. What was his read? Why didn’t he throw? The TD may be unacceptable but a FG shot was a very likely outcome.