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2020 Texas Football Season Thread: Win or GTFO

texifornia

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49909

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3 hours ago, texifornia said:

Boyd on Thompson. There were a few players that caught my eye as I took in some games around the league.

Josh Thompson: Cornerback, Texas

One of my big questions for Texas in their move to playing a 4-2-5 this season under Chris Ash was "who's getting left 1-on-1 against vertical routes?"

Every Big 12 offense at this point, and particularly the one mentioned in the section above, is pretty darn good at finding the 1-on-1 matchup so they can throw the ball on a vertical route. If the offense gets into a 3x1 set (trips formation) they can really cause problems. A 4-2-5 defense can only shade safety help to two or maybe 2.5 receivers, someone is going to get left 1-on-1. Sometimes that's the nickel, which is a tough assignment. Especially for Texas where they're playing the 215 pound sophomore Chris Adimora in that role because of the run-stopping duties that also tend to fall to that position.

The better way is to ask one of your cornerbacks to be able to hold up 1-on-1 without help over the top. That's the route Texas took against UTEP and they left Thompson on an island fairly often. UTEP recognized it and took three notable shots at him, including this fade:

This is "solo" or "poach" coverage. The field safety is playing over the top to help the nickel and the boundary safety is opening to the field so that he can help over the top of the middle linebacker if that third receiver (from the sideline) goes vertical. This is a great coverage for protecting the nickel from slot fades without losing your help over the other slot. This is a terrible coverage for protecting your boundary cornerback from 1-on-1 deep shots, he could potentially be left isolated on a post (depends on the boundary safety and what's holding his attention) and he's definitely all alone outside of the numbers.

Obviously in this instance Texas won that matchup decisively. Thompson also broke up a backside fade playing in cover 3 and defended a post route in quarters playing to the wide side of the field.

At 6-0 and perhaps 210 pounds, Thompson is a big, powerful dude that is also uniquely fast. At a SPARQ event in high school he ran a 4.57 40 and posted a 40.4" vertical. In other words, he's explosive. He's come a long way at Texas in coverage, in their 2018 matchup with West Virginia Texas had to play Thompson in place of injured starting nickel P.J. Locke and Dana Holgorsen attacked him with motions to force him into the box against the run as well as slot fades to David Sills. Holgorsen was rewarded for that targeting and the Mountaineers won a shootout in Austin.

But if things are coming together for Thompson now as an older player, as tends to happen, it is a game changer for the Texas defense. If the Longhorns can bracket the other receivers with Caden Sterns and senior Chris Brown while trusting Thompson to hold up (big if) then they're going to be very strong on defense this season. This is perhaps the no. 1 thing to watch for in Texas' Big 12 opener against Texas Tech, who has legitimate outside receivers in T.J. Vasher and Erik Ezukanma.

 

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texifornia
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We ain't talkin' bout practice anymore. Upperclassmen-laden team, Heisman candidate QB with a first round LT, frighteningly talented DL and DBs. Time for Herman to nut up and win the the Big XII,

LTtxfan
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texifornia
texifornia

Hah, Marcus Washington's dad does good Twitter  

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49909

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1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

HaHaHaHa... 😂😂😂😂

 

Article...

https://sports.kbec.com/sterns-brothers-torch-texas-tech-secondary-for-339-yards-3-tds-in-near-upset/

Sterns brothers torch Texas Tech secondary for 339 yards, 3 TDs in near upset

Travis M. Smith 18 hours ago  Football, NCAA, Waxahachie HS

By Travis M. Smith | KBEC Sports

The Sterns brothers and Houston Baptist University are going to be a problem for Division-I defenses.  Houston Baptist University wide receivers, Jerreth and Josh Sterns, have already proven to be quite the handful for the University of North Texas and Texas Tech secondaries.

The brothers most recently combined to make 17 catches for 339 yards and three touchdowns Saturday against Texas Tech at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock. Their yardage total amounted to 56.6% of the Huskies’ 600 total yards of offense, including almost 60% of the team’s passing offense.

In just his second NCAA Division I football game, Josh set the HBU single-game record for receiving yards with 209 on five catches. He also added two touchdowns, which comes one week after he recorded two grabs for 46 yards and a score in his collegiate debut.

Jerreth, a junior for the Huskies, hauled in a team-high 12 catches for 130 yards and a score against Tech. His performance comes one week after he pulled in 11 passes for 93 yards and added two rushes for 12 yards against the Mean Green.

Unfortunately, the Sterns brothers’ assault on DI secondaries will only continue for one more game this fall due to the Southland Conference suspending its football season until the spring.  Houston Baptist opened its three-game fall season with a 57-31 road loss against the University of North Texas on Saturday, Sept. 5.

SATURDAY WAS FOR THE STERNS

The Red Raiders opened as 41-point favorites over the visiting Huskies. Through a quarter and a half, that betting line looked to be in play too. Tech took a 21-3 lead following a 1-yard run by Tahj Brookw with 6:22 to play in the second quarter.

HBU quarter Bailey Zappe (30-49, 567yds, 4TDs) and the Huskies’ offense promptly took over the ball game roughly one minute later. Zappe found DJ Dormeus for a 65-yard score to cut the score to 21-10, which would carry into the halftime locker room. The passing touchdown, which was the first of four for Zappe, proved to be the final HBU passing score that was not tagged to one of the two Sterns brothers.

The Huskies came out of the break and added a 44-yard field goal by Gino Garcia to pull within a single possession, 21-13, with 8:25 showing on the third-quarter clock. From that point on, it was the Sterns’ show in Lubbock.

Josh, the true freshman, was the first to find the end zone. The 2020 Waxahachie graduate pulled in a 65-yard Zappe pass for a touchdown with 5:40 to play in the third. His grab, combined with the extra-point kick, pulled the Huskies within one, 21-20.

The Red Raiders then found the end zone twice to build a 35-20 lead as the game turned toward the fourth quarter.

But that’s when Zappe again hooked up with Josh — this time for a 75-yard pitch-and-catch — to cut into the Red Raider lead. The freshman’s second score pulled the Huskies within 35-27 with 11:19 remaining in regulation.

Five minutes later, the Huskies again found themselves with possession and an opportunity to upset their Big 12 foe. Zappe quickly connected with Josh for a 45-yard completion and eventually found Jerreth for an 8-yard touchdown. The score capped a 96-yard drive and cut the Tech lead to two, 35-33, with 3:36 to play. Unfortunately, the two-point passing attempt sailed on Zappe and ended the HBU upset bid.

UP NEXT

The Sterns brothers and HBU will wrap up their shortened fall season against Louisiana Tech Saturday at 6 p.m. Saturday at Joe Attel Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana.

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Katfid54

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17 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

Jacquess  is really damn good at reading the run game, but he doesn’t drop in zone well and wouldn’t hold up well chasing RBs and TEs in man. We really need Overshown to take to the position quickly and the first game was an encouraging sign. 

I have some concerns that UTEP did have some success throwing the ball up the seams and on shorter slant routes.  My initial reaction was that a lot of that was caused by LBs not finding their drops correctly, leaving windows open across the middle of the field.

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Burt Macklin

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1 hour ago, Katfid54 said:

I have some concerns that UTEP did have some success throwing the ball up the seams and on shorter slant routes.  My initial reaction was that a lot of that was caused by LBs not finding their drops correctly, leaving windows open across the middle of the field.

Yep. Our LB drops were not good, especially on RPO action. 

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Burt Macklin

Burt Macklin 19211

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1 hour ago, texifornia said:

 

Look at 45 on that first play. He held like a motherfucker all night and was never called for it.

I know people felt we should get more pressure with our DL, but UTEP was getting the ball out quick, calling a lot of max protects/heavy protection, and there were at least three blatant holds that I can remember that likely would have been sacks. I’m willing to bet there were quite a few more I missed live. 

Edited by Burt Macklin
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Burt Macklin

Burt Macklin 19211

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13 minutes ago, WBT said:

Well that's reassuring.  No way anyone gets away with holding against our pass rushers in Big XII play!

You joke, but these UTEP holds were on another level.  I don’t anticipate other opponents consistently getting away with holds that blatant. 
 

11 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

UTEP's right tackle held the entire game. It was infuriating to watch. 

At some point, Herman needs to get vocal about this shit. The ref is standing one foot from this play and the RT just tackles Leitao. 

 

The NFL called drastically less holds in Week 1 than usual. It’s possible CFB emphasized that point too. The other factor is that the game was an absolute blowout, so there was probably an aspect of letting that stuff go in favor of UTEP just to get the game over with. 
 

 

 

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Hiphopopotamos

Hiphopopotamos 21158

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5 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

You joke, but these UTEP holds were on another level.  I don’t anticipate other opponents consistently getting away with holds that blatant. 
 

The NFL called drastically less holds in Week 1 than usual. It’s possible CFB emphasized that point too. The other factor is that the game was an absolute blowout, so there was probably an aspect of letting that stuff go in favor of UTEP just to get the game over with. 
 

 

 

*fewer

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Hiphopopotamos

Hiphopopotamos 21158

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20 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

UTEP's right tackle held the entire game. It was infuriating to watch. 

At some point, Herman needs to get vocal about this shit. The ref is standing one foot from this play and the RT just tackles Leitao. 

 

Watching the game live - I got the impression that the Refs were showing UTEP some mercy. 

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Wulaw Horn

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6 hours ago, Katfid54 said:

I have some concerns that UTEP did have some success throwing the ball up the seams and on shorter slant routes.  My initial reaction was that a lot of that was caused by LBs not finding their drops correctly, leaving windows open across the middle of the field.

That and lack of pressure from front 4 (which may we’ll have been by design) were my only two slight quibbles with that game. 

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