I like Baxter. He showed signs of being a good back as a freshmen. There was also a lot of "meh" in there also. To be honest, I am not sure what to make of Baxter. He is a very good football player. He blocks at a high level, has good hands, and by all reports has a great attitude. The issue is health. Even as freshmen it felt like he left half the games at some point for some kind of minor injury. I am not sure we have ever seen him at 100% (remember him leaving in the Rice game). No reason to write him off, but at the same time it is really hard to write his name with pen on the depth chart. Kind of view him as a call option for this season.
Niblett is poor man's Blue, but with a great attitude. He is great if your OL is dominating and his speed becomes a huge asset. Outside of that fairytale, he is going to struggle. Texas has to find someone outside of Wisner that can fall forward and has the vision to find holes vs legit defenses.
The staff has to figure out a solid #2 in this group for this year. I like Baxter, but its just hard to depend on him this year. Simon is leading the team in Yards/Rush, but he has 3 carries the last 2 games, so you cannot make any kind of judgement based on that. He looked vs UTEP and SHSU, but I would like to see it vs a P4 opponent. Might need to use this UK game to figure out/develop the #2 RB. Clark seems to have the best cutting ability of the group, but he tends to cut to nowhere. He has 2 carries the last 2 games. Wisner wore down last year. They need to find someone to help carry the load. I wouldnt mind seeing Wisner getting a light workload vs UK (assuming the score allows it). HE probably could use it after OU.
"Yet, Oklahoma was able to accumulate 25 pressures on Arch Manning. That is down 10 total pressures from the trip to Gainesville, but remains a level of pressure that is borderline unsustainable for the Texas quarterback to find functionality on a given snap."
That is classic lipstick on a pig, since Texas had at least 12 more drop backs vs Florida. OU is a better pass rushing group, if you are looking for a positive. MSU and Kentucky are 14th and 15th in sacks in the SEC, so there is some time to improve until Texas sees a team that can bring pressure. Vandy 4th, I did not expect that.
Love Brooks' motor. Even when he misses blocks he keeps looking for work. I hope it becomes contagious, and we see this kind of effort from the entire OL all year.
I think the Florida game was on the staff. Defensive game plan was just as bad. No idea what was with all the man coverage and contain rushes vs a hobbled QB. Manny being out hurt, which made the man coverage stuff even more perplexing. Lot of max protect and deep routes vs Florida, which I think I saw only 1 vs OU and that led to a sack.
Manning was 15 of 17 for 155 yards when throwing from straight drop back. He was 14 of 15 when kept clean vs OU..
He is actually eally good in straight drop back.
can we stop bringing up Quinn in this thread? That goes to more than Derka. Not sure why anyone felt this was an appropriate time to delve into this again.
I think that is bit tougher than people think. He is running under center and turning his back. He needs to throw that with touch, because 22 in under the route. There is room there to do it. He just cannot throw it on a line. It is a missed opportunity, but I would rather he forego it than completely miss the defender under the receiver and turn it into a turnover.
I think in the short game, 1st read Ewers was elite. His throws in the screen game were great. Ewers was not great in the intermediate last year at all. Arch was struggling in the intermediate, but that has gotten better so we shall see.
OU DL is very good, but they dont really anchor well. They are movement-based DL. All those line games make them vulnerable to zone concepts. The crazy thing i noticed in this game is how many times Brooks is 20+ yards down field. That guy can fucking move given how big he is. Funny to see a 6'7" 350 chasing the RB just busting his ass trying to find more work.
I dont think the results would have been much different. Lot more sacks and a few more completions. I do not think the gameplan would have been the same though.
he did that with 25 pressures on 27 attempted passes, that is what was impressive. Even with the dink and dunk offense, he wasnt throwing from a clean pocket. Those 25 pressures only netted a single sack on the day
You can only assume he pumped it, because he thought 22 was under the route in the window. He has to throw that over him, there is room. Think that was more a confidence thing, than not seeing it. He hit that same play for a TD to Livingstone earlier this year.