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Louisiana Tech @ Texas 7 PM 8/31 on LHN

Machinator

By Machinator
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Mother mopar
Mother mopar

Me and Mrs. MM are making the road trip from Florida to watch the game. Our first in DKR, pretty stoked to see it. Rulz and shit

Radical Larry
Radical Larry
Patricio Swayze
Patricio Swayze

Good time tonight at DKR. 1-0. I hope all you losers will shut up about Maryland now.

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MuellerHorn

MuellerHorn 4390

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2 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

That’s crazy. I can’t imagine a dorm on campus that doesn’t have cameras in the halls or at least at the entrance.

I was an RA in San Jacinto (where the players on campus live) when I went to UT. There are cameras in the common areas outside of the residential areas (lobby, main hallways, rec rooms, laundry, etc.); however, there are not any in the actual residential portions of the buildings - except for right outside of the elevators. If someone wanted to steal a bunch of stuff and go down the stairwells, they certainly could. However, based on ease of not getting caught, I'd bet it's another resident(s) who lives in the building. That would be the easiest way to not get caught. 

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Machinator

Machinator 32099

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(Scipio Tex) Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Game Preview

 

Real games offer clarity. They have a good way of cutting cleanly through the hype, conjecture and preseason bluster. We finally have one this Saturday. 

To know what Texas is and will be, it helps to know the opponent. So let's talk LA Tech. 

Skip Holtz brings a perennial Conference USA contender into Austin and he's had a nice run in Ruston. The Bulldogs have strung together five consecutive winning seasons with five consecutive bowl wins and return some of the key infrastructure of a 8-5 team that features a veteran QB, playmaking WRs outside, and a feisty and chatty Bulldog secondary. Like Maryland before them, who had the Horns at 0-1 after the last two season openers, Louisiana Tech is also a double digit underdog (-20.5). How Texas plays in Austin in similar circumstances will go a long way in telling whether this staff's previous openers were outliers or a consequence of their preparation philosophy.

DEFENSE 

The Bulldogs have shifted to a 3-4 defense under new defensive coordinator Bob Diaco (their prior DC was hired away by Manny Diaz to Miami). Diaco is a polarizing figure at every school he's ever coached. He made his bones early in his career at Notre Dame, winning a Broyles Award after fielding a dominant 2012 Irish unit (which had its flaws concealed by a favorable schedule until Alabama unmasked them in the national title game). Diaco's rising star won him the head coaching job at UConn, where he eventually failed and left as one of the more disliked figures in that school's history due to his perceived arrogance and lack of accountability. His one bright shining moment in Connecticut was a home upset over Tom Herman's undefeated Houston Cougars, who were without QB Greg Ward. Fields got rushed and press conference victory laps were taken. The Longhorn staff remembers that one for sure. After bombing out at UConn, Diaco landed the DC gig at Nebraska, where he stank, and then was a OLB coach at OU last year. 

Diaco has adjusted his philosophies over time, but he favors bend-but-don't break defense and a no-crease defensive philosophy that emphasizes owning space. If an opposing offense doesn't turn it over or make stupid mistakes, Diaco's philosophy is right there to be solved. It's really about converting 3rd downs and scoring touchdowns in the red zone. 

DL 

The Bulldogs were decimated by graduation, losing all-time FBS sack leader Jaylon Ferguson (drafted by the Ravens) and 7 of their top 9 DL. The men they return will be asked to eat space and two gap in a 3 man front and there's nothing that indicates any of them will excel at it. If the Texas OL is content to tie at the line of scrimmage, that's a win for LA Tech. If the Texas OL gets displacement at the point of attack, it will be a long Saturday for them. 

LB 

The best player in their front 7 will be OLB Willie Baker. The pass rushing specialist was moved from DE to OLB and he's a legit athlete. The other OLB is a converted safety and he''ll have both coverage and rush responsibilities. ILB Collin Scott was a productive player for the Bulldogs last year, amassing 87 tackles. He'll be joined inside by the inexperienced Trey Baldwin. 

DB 

The clear team strength of the Bulldog defense is on the back end. The Bulldogs made news when safety L'Jarius Sneed commented that:

Quote

“(Johnson), he’s on the boundary, so he’s on Amik Robertson. I know Amik press is hella good. I know he’s going to struggle with the press, he’s kind of stiff coming out of his routes."

and

Quote

"Sneed said “Well, they can’t handle the press,” Louisiana Tech senior safety L’Jarius Sneed said of Texas’s wide outs. “I know for sure we’re going to have to press them up a lot. They’ll struggle with us pressing them up and just stay on top of the routes.

Those comments angered Texas fans and players. Based on 2018 tape, Sneed has a point. Johnson and LJH did struggle with press last year. If the new starting Texas receivers want to change their scouting report, they have the opportunity to do it on the field this Saturday. The Bulldogs are pretty good approximation of a Big 12 secondary and this is game film that Big 12 offensive minds will view with considerable interest. Johnson's improvements, Burt and Eagles' size and ability to run, and Duvernay in the slot should change the press calculus pretty quickly though. 

CB Amik Robertson headlines the secondary and the quick risk taker has accumulated nine interceptions over the last two years. The Bulldogs return four secondary starters overall, didn't allow a 300+ yard passing performance in 2018 and surrendered just over six yards per passing attempt. It should be noted, however, that they faced only three FBS passing offenses ranked in the Top 50 overall. Sam Ehlinger will be eager to test that. 

OFFENSE 

The Bulldogs are a 3/4 wide receiver base offense that likes to throw the ball around. They struggle to run the ball without favorable numbers or a light box. They rely on fine talent outside and inordinately on the spotty playmaking of QB J'Mar Smith. 

OL 

LA Tech returns three interior senior starters and that should offer some modicum of stability. They're green outside, starting a new pair of massive OTs in Willie Allen (6-6, 345) and Gewhite Stallworth (6-8, 320). Allen was a former four star recruit but neither gentleman is particularly swift afoot. Texas would do well to run some games on both tackles and test their inexperience and athleticism. La Tech's offense struggles to convert in the red zone and the OL is a large reason why.

QB 

J'mar Smith is a career 57% passer over more than two years of starts and averaged less than 7 yards per passing attempt last year despite having the best wide receiver in Conference USA. He's a willing runner and not easy to get on the ground, but it would be hard to call him a dynamic dual threat. He does do a decent job of buying time in the pocket though, more with phone booth slides or stepping up than wild scrambles. If Texas can't line up right or panics at the sight of novel formations paired with play action, he's certainly capable of hitting a big throw. So save the "I thought he wasn't good, huh?" comments on the game thread if he hits a wide open receiver while the Texas defensive backs are still looking at the sideline when the ball snaps. Smith runs hot and cold and Texas would do well to choke off early success. If the Texas D plays up to its potential, Smith will turn it over. This Bulldog offense ranked 97th out of 130 teams in FBS last year. Smith's inconsistency was a major reason why. 

RB 

Israel Tucker will get the start. He's whatever and averages 4 yards per carry over his career. LA Tech struggles to run the ball consistently in general. Bobby Holly (6-1, 255) is their motion H-Back and fullback when they want to incorporate that facet of their offense. 

WR 

The best unit on their team. Adrian Hardy caught 75 for 1145 last year and scorched LSU in Baton Rouge. He's joined by former four star recruit and TCU transfer Isaiah Graham. Griffin Herbert is a big possession wide receiver (6-3, 215) who will look for creases underneath when Hardy and Graham garner attention. Pay attention to waterbug Smoke Harris (5-6, 170) when he's on the field. He's not a complete receiver, but he does gadget stuff. This is a nice test for the Longhorn corners and for the passing defense to show that they've evolved in their understanding of game situations and in how to play against an offense that gets the ball out quickly on timing. 

Parting Thoughts 
1. The Bulldog secondary and wide receiver group are fine unit level challenges for our wide receivers and defensive backs. Those units levels challenges are something I always watch closely when Texas plays inferior opponents.
2. Texas enjoys major advantages up front on both sides of the ball.
3. Louisiana Tech is mature, even at the spots where they lack starting FBS experience. This is a JUCO laden squad. Age does help them narrow some athletic deficits.
4. The Texas defense has struggled with simply lining up right or reading keys in the last two openers. Some of that was Maryland putting the LBs and DBs under stress to play both the option run game and play action pass. The Bulldogs can't really do that credibly, but they can go tempo and run a lot of looks to test basic assignments. I want to see some base comfort defensive calls when we get sped up.
5. Texas should be able to stop the run with honest numbers, double Hardy, and then use dime and nickel blitzes to test the Tech offensive tackles and J'mar Smith's ability to read defenses on key downs.
6. LA Tech will want to start Smith off well. Expect a lot of window dressing disguising easy confidence throws leading up to some big 3 step drop timing shots downfield.
7. The Texas offense needs to start fast, press their advantages up front, allow the D to play with a lead, then finish the game.
8. Texas RB preservation needs to be front of mind. Everyone that isn't injured is hurt. If that means throwing late, so be it.

Edited by Machinator
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CfRhTxStBobcats

CfRhTxStBobcats 604

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On 8/27/2019 at 8:12 AM, bigcigar said:

 

 

This was meant to be a PSA for posts like the one above (geographic restrictions), but maybe some of us don’t have “systems” that we can add “sports” packages to. Further, it’s simply not rational to buy a tv package with a sports package for 2 games when you don’t expect to use the service for anything else.

I have uverse and can watch the game on my phone, but my wife will be with me and I don't want to be looking at my phone all night. I'm going to Scottsdale on a mini vacation because Houston isn't fucking hot enough. I appreciate the heads up by Bottlecap for the Exes watch party. Only problem is I'm just your run of the mill t-shirt fan, but I do have a pretty hot wife and can buy a table a round or 2 of drinks. Hopefully that'll get me in the vicinity of a tv. I know the rules, just never posted a pic on surly and have no idea how.

Edited by CfRhTxStBobcats
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Coelenterate Fuccboi

Coelenterate Fuccboi 13153

Posted
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1 hour ago, CfRhTxStBobcats said:

I have uverse and can watch the game on my phone, but my wife will be with me and I don't want to be looking at my phone all night. I'm going to Scottsdale on a mini vacation because Houston isn't fucking hot enough. I appreciate the heads up by Bottlecap for the Exes watch party. Only problem is I'm just your run of the mill t-shirt fan, but I do have a pretty hot wife and can buy a table a round or 2 of drinks. Hopefully that'll get me in the vicinity of a tv. I know the rules, just never posted a pic on surly and have no idea how.

Send pics; I’ll post the ones which are suitable.

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jinx

jinx 2635

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1 hour ago, CfRhTxStBobcats said:

I have uverse and can watch the game on my phone, but my wife will be with me and I don't want to be looking at my phone all night. I'm going to Scottsdale on a mini vacation because Houston isn't fucking hot enough. I appreciate the heads up by Bottlecap for the Exes watch party. Only problem is I'm just your run of the mill t-shirt fan, but I do have a pretty hot wife and can buy a table a round or 2 of drinks. Hopefully that'll get me in the vicinity of a tv. I know the rules, just never posted a pic on surly and have no idea how.

You don't have to be a grad to watch games at the Exes watch parties.  No cover required either.

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texifornia

texifornia 57232

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5 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Orlando's comments on Cook were telling. He seems to have consistency issues and it's getting to his head.

Especially compared to the way he talked about Green.

I, for one, couldn't be more excited about Kobe Boyce Redemptionfest 2019.

Did I say excited? I meant queasy.

Edited by texifornia
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BrazilHorn

BrazilHorn 6651

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15 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Gawdammit, the 123TV streaming link for LHN is down. Did somebody link it one too many times on this site? If Reddit CFB Streams go down this fall, I am proper fucked.

1st where do you live? Alaska

2nd based on your edit I’m glad South Austin’s mom could help you out. 

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ztejas

ztejas 43746

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2 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Gawdammit, the 123TV streaming link for LHN is down. Did somebody link it one too many times on this site? If Reddit CFB Streams go down this fall, I am proper fucked.

I like 123 but their streams tend to go on and off. So, if they have it up for the game, there you go. If they don't, they don't. 

I linked it because the quality is usually pretty good when it's up, and LHN streams can be hard to find. 

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bigcigar

bigcigar 1218

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3 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Gawdammit, the 123TV streaming link for LHN is down. Did somebody link it one too many times on this site? If Reddit CFB Streams go down this fall, I am proper fucked.

Just sign up for att tv now free 1 week trial if you’re poor / cheap like me.

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Vito Andolini

Vito Andolini 9141

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1 hour ago, Post Oak said:

FYI 

I called direct tv to get LHN and they have a promotion that takes it from 13.99 month to 3.99.

It's their sports package and it comes with CBSSN which I think is the channel covering Texas Rice

Might be worth looking into. 6mo commitment I think

I’ve never seen a DirecTV offer that wasn’t attached to a two year commitment, so read the fine print. That doesn’t mean something for 6 months doesn’t exist. And also be aware the cost usually increases exponentially after the first year. 

Yes, I’m a DTV vet who happily dumped it in January. 

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DanTheHorn

DanTheHorn 4971

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Tailgating question. I had parked at 15th and Colorado for years. I just purchased a parking pass at the garage next to Disch Falk field for the season since 15th and Colorado went from public to mostly pre-sold. What is the tailgating like there? Do they allow tailgating at the top of the garage for football games? So do people park at the garage and setup in grass area? PM me some info if you are familiar with the area. It would be very much appreciated since I am trying to prepare for Saturday. Otherwise I will have to just scout the area during the first game.

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