Hey PK -- What would you say you do here?

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,803]

4 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

I think it beyond a talent thing. There were just too many wide open receivers in this game. Back 7 has a hard time locating WRs coming into their zone. They generally stare at the QB and cover grass. 

It's where the blame lays is questionable. Most of the plays with wide open receivers there was a Texas player who pretty clearly should have had responsibility looking lost.

[Dahobbs 18,324]

7 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

I think it beyond a talent thing. There were just too many wide open receivers in this game. Back 7 has a hard time locating WRs coming into their zone. They generally stare at the QB and cover grass. 

Well, I agree it isnt just talent. They don't know how to play zone. While it probably is a teaching problem. At some point I have to believe it is also a player problem. Some of these guys just aren't capable. 

[MirrOlure 15,274]

In the end the defensive line won this one. Offense did them no favors. 

Absolutely. Those guys were beasts. Having a D backfield comprised of a walk-on and backups, and a regular who’s broken arm obviously affected his ability, is what kept last night from being a comfortable win

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

1 hour ago, Jkwellborn said:

As bad as the defense was under Vance, it was better than the shit PK trots out wasn’t it?

Not remotely. He seemed to manage about 80 plays, 450 yards and 28ish points given up. 
 

Pk definitively does some things better, and our defense has improved. He’s just bad a situational football, substitution practices and attempting things that defend the middle of the field on money downs. 
 

I suspect we try to lure Jimmy Lake to Austin this offseason to help make the back end right for PK since the current coaches can’t do that and coordination seems to be of lesser importance to our DC. 

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

38 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

Texas made Adrian Martinez look like an All Conference passer  

We’ve kinda been doing that for two years. QB’s can count in UT being in two high on nearly every down, and the middle of the field being porously defended in high school level zone execution. Most P5 QB’s will feast on that situation. Particularly when we struggle to rush the passer and the officials struggle to call holds. 

[tonedeaf 56]

11 hours ago, longhornmatt said:

If you ignore everything before the last play, then sure, defense won the game.

468 yards, 329 yards passing, and over 9 yards per pass attempt to Adrian fucking Martinez is ass.  The offense had its typical second half hibernation as we do under Sark, which obviously is a problem, but the defense is the clear weak link on this team.  Watching our LBs play in coverage is like Mystery Science Theater 3000 level absurd.  They will move in absolutely any direction except toward a receiver actually coming into their area.  

If the D wasn't on the field it wouldn't be an issue.  Teams will score points.  Players will make plays.  We have way way way too much offensive ammo to have only scored 6 fucking points in the second half of the last 2 games.  Apparently sark struggles making adjustments to the other teams adjustments. 

[LTtxfan 50,005]

10 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

 I suspect we try to lure Jimmy Lake to Austin this offseason to help make the back end right for PK since the current coaches can’t do that and coordination seems to be of lesser importance to our DC. 

Doubt CDC will allow Jimmy Lake to coach at Texas because of his issues in mistreating players...

Another player incident at Washington...

Quote

The Times, citing five eyewitness sources who gave similar accounts of the incident, claimed Lake accosted receiver Quinten Pounds during halftime of Washington's Oct. 12, 2019 game vs. Arizona. Washington confirmed in a statement that it had been made aware of the alleged incident while conducting its investigation into Lake.

"Lake comes in on just a complete rampage pretty much, picks up Quinten Pounds and throws him into a locker," one witness told the Times. "Those lockers there (at Arizona) were wooden lockers, and it was violent. It really caught everyone by surprise. It was really unprompted. He just kind of did that and then went on a tangent about how the offense needs to start playing better."

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/jimmy-lake-washington-fired-off-field-issues/1ga3iwig4yuxh1fzf2bmjne8tc

[tonedeaf 56]

14 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

 

 

I suspect we try to lure Jimmy Lake to Austin this offseason to help make the back end right for PK since the current coaches can’t do that and coordination seems to be of lesser importance to our DC. 

Let's do it.  

[Codaxx 6,254]

11 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

We’ve kinda been doing that for two years. QB’s can count in UT being in two high on nearly every down, and the middle of the field being porously defended in high school level zone execution. Most P5 QB’s will feast on that situation. Particularly when we struggle to rush the passer and the officials struggle to call holds. 

I gave them a pass last year, because the run defense was so bad. This year is a different story. Babers had that tweet saying that coming into the KSU game, Texas is giving up 77% completions on slants, posts, and glance routes the last 2 weeks. Those are some of the easiest completions in the game. 

[tonedeaf 56]

5 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Doubt CDC will allow Jimmy Lake to coach at Texas because of his issues in mistreating players...

Another player incident at Washington...

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/jimmy-lake-washington-fired-off-field-issues/1ga3iwig4yuxh1fzf2bmjne8tc

Alright.  It's a violent game played by angry men.  Been a long time since we've had angry men playing for my beloved Longhorns.  They (and some of us) have become pussified.  Fuck that.  Let Jimmy and Bo have it.  🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

22 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Doubt CDC will allow Jimmy Lake to coach at Texas because of his issues in mistreating players...

Another player incident at Washington...

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/jimmy-lake-washington-fired-off-field-issues/1ga3iwig4yuxh1fzf2bmjne8tc

That Twitter video does nothing to dissuade me. Meh. 
 

The report from the locker room is more damning. But I’d say we hired a recovering alcoholic to be our HC so Lake’s image can be rehabilitated if he can. 
 

That particular eventuality may not play out, and I confess ignorance to those accusations before positing that opinion, but I think we’ll be looking for more on defense. We don’t have to play complex zone, but we better figure out how to play competent zone amongst our other issues. 
 

Our continued spot dropping and not understanding down and distance versus threats tells me that our players largely do not comprehend what they are doing. 

Edited November 6, 2022 by Bobby_Batronic

[pacman 7,508]

As you all have pointed out, we got to the QB (32 pressures and 4 sacks) is a good night.

As Sark eluded to after Tech, there remains a disconnect in coverage between the safeties and linebackers/DEs. They were targeted 20 times for 17 completions and 209 yards, 2 TDs.

This has been the case all year. It comes as a surprise in some cases, assumed O would be adept in pass coverage. In other cases, it is not a surprise because we knew our safeties were slow and a weakness (Cook out didn't help).

 

[FreeHorn 1,327]

Jimmy Lake was the perfect partner for PK. PK is laid back while Lake was the fire that didn’t mind really getting after players. Lake also had the back end in synch with the front and produced several studs who are balling in the NFL. I doubt it would happen but I’m going to send Mr. Lake a DM on Twitter and ask him to go on an apology tour so we can say he has been rehabbed and hire him. 
 

In a perfect world we hire Lake but if not I’d like to see us make the call to Corey Raymond. That Florida thing doesn’t look to good or Kerry Coombs. Coombs can’t DC a team but he for sure can coach the position. 

[pacman 7,508]

Having said all that, our pff ratings are all significant improvements from last year, and best since 2014?:

2nd in the Big 12, overall defense (21st in the nation)

1st in the Big 12, run defense (12th in the nation)

4th in the Big 12, tackling (41st in the nation)

1st in the Big 12, pass rush (9th in the nation)

3rd in the Big 12, coverage (56th in the nation)

 

3rd in the Big 12, scoring defense (28th in the nation)

Horrible at turnovers and getting off the field on 3rd down.

7th in the Big 12, 3rd down defense (90th in the nation)

10th in the Big 12, turnovers forced (111th in the nation)

[LTtxfan 50,005]

K-State game

#plays          TEXAS  71        K-state   71

Turnovers           2                        2

Sacks made        2                        0

FGs made           2                         2

 

[LTtxfan 50,005]

Nice to see Defense get the stop for the WIN

 

[Burt Macklin 19,230]

5 hours ago, Jkwellborn said:

As bad as the defense was under Vance, it was better than the shit PK trots out wasn’t it?

No. Not even close. That Strong/Bedford defense was god awful in years 2 and 3 with no signs of improvement. 

 

[Llewelyn Moss 220]

Here’s some poor man’s adjusted stats for you: The last 3 QBs this D has faced have thrown for their conference high yardage against UT: Dekkers, Sanders, Martinez. For Dekkers and Martinez, it was season high. (sorry if you saw this in the game week thread too)

[Enemy07 340]

The defense is near the bottom for passing yards given up and tied with Nebraska at rank 101.  And 93rd in 3rd down conversions. That is just terrible. If we had a middle of the road passing defense, I bet we are a top 10 team. The rush defense looks very good though.

[tbone_ 14,449]

This fuckstick has to go

[pacman 7,508]

34 minutes ago, Llewelyn Moss said:

Here’s some poor man’s adjusted stats for you: The last 3 QBs this D has faced have thrown for their conference high yardage against UT: Dekkers, Sanders, Martinez. For Dekkers and Martinez, it was season high. (sorry if you saw this in the game week thread too)

and, consequently, the teams had some of their worst days rushing the ball...

 

29 minutes ago, Enemy07 said:

The defense is near the bottom for passing yards given up and tied with Nebraska at rank 101.  And 93rd in 3rd down conversions. That is just terrible. If we had a middle of the road passing defense, I bet we are a top 10 team. The rush defense looks very good though.

Yet, only 37th or so in yards per attempted pass. They have defended the 5th most passes in the nation, so passing yards will be inflated.

 

all these superficial stats aside: root cause?

run defense progress is solid, with room to improve still (no second LB, or speedy safety to fill gaps)

the gaps in coverage between the linebackers/DEs needs to be addressed (LB coach? Safety coach? Both?)

turnovers? (Two years bad at turnovers, PK! We have been bad at creating turnovers for quite awhile now.)

Edited November 6, 2022 by pacman

[Hookem2147 22,033]

Thought an underrated personnel decision they made in-game was pulling Crawford early after an assignment bust and going with Taaffe the rest of the way at safety. Taaffe didn’t do anything special but seemed to be in the right places and know the calls.

On that note, my frustration with Crawford continues to mount. All the athleticism in the world but it isn’t translating at all.

[Codaxx 6,254]

2 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Thought an underrated personnel decision they made in-game was pulling Crawford early after an assignment bust and going with Taaffe the rest of the way at safety. Taaffe didn’t do anything special but seemed to be in the right places and know the calls.

On that note, my frustration with Crawford continues to mount. All the athleticism in the world but it isn’t translating at all.

Didn’t Taafe bust a TD pass also

[bschoolprof 6,343]

cross posted from the zone coverage thread:

I watched every defensive snap in the 1st quarter, stretching into the 2Q for KSU's second scoring drive.  Every pass play we gave up was against zone.  Every single one.  We didn't play man much at all.  When we did, we actually had a nice stop down at the goal line by Jamison on 2nd and 6.  

Our zone coverage was bad not only because our LBs suck in zone.  It was also bad because KSU was flooding some of our zones, with some routes by Duece Vaughn standing out.  It's beyond obvious at this point our defense has no idea how to execute pass defense.  It's just painful to watch.

 

[Hookem2147 22,033]

1 minute ago, Codaxx said:

Didn’t Taafe bust a TD pass also

The one to Warner? It was a bunch set with Werner and a TE. Taaffe carried the TE and then it looked like Jamier Johnson let Warner cross right in front of him.

[Hookem2147 22,033]

9 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

cross posted from the zone coverage thread:

I watched every defensive snap in the 1st quarter, stretching into the 2Q for KSU's second scoring drive.  Every pass play we gave up was against zone.  Every single one.  We didn't play man much at all.  When we did, we actually had a nice stop down at the goal line by Jamison on 2nd and 6.  

Our zone coverage was bad not only because our LBs suck in zone.  It was also bad because KSU was flooding some of our zones, with some routes by Duece Vaughn standing out.  It's beyond obvious at this point our defense has no idea how to execute pass defense.  It's just painful to watch.

 

I just looked and 4 of Martinez’s 6 completions on the first two scoring drives went to TE’s or Vaughn. Only two that went to receivers was a 9 yard reception by Brooks and a screen play we blew up to Warner.

They had an obvious plan in their scripted plays to target Ford vs Vaughn and their TE’s against our LB’s/safeties. Vaughn had 2 catches for 42 yards on the first two drives and then 5 catches for 44 yards the rest of the game.

Edited November 6, 2022 by Hookem2147

[Thatguy 9,368]

16 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

cross posted from the zone coverage thread:

I watched every defensive snap in the 1st quarter, stretching into the 2Q for KSU's second scoring drive.  Every pass play we gave up was against zone.  Every single one.  We didn't play man much at all.  When we did, we actually had a nice stop down at the goal line by Jamison on 2nd and 6.  

Our zone coverage was bad not only because our LBs suck in zone.  It was also bad because KSU was flooding some of our zones, with some routes by Duece Vaughn standing out.  It's beyond obvious at this point our defense has no idea how to execute pass defense.  It's just painful to watch.

 

  We can't pattern match or pass off receivers. All you have to do is bunch your receivers and flood a zone and we fold. Hard to watch. 

[Codaxx 6,254]

19 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

The one to Warner? It was a bunch set with Werner and a TE. Taaffe carried the TE and then it looked like Jamier Johnson let Warner cross right in front of him.

They all botched this. Not sure the call, but you would believe that Johnson has 1 and Taffe has 2 (inside route). Pretty good example of what is wrong with Texas zone defense. The TE and WR run a simple switch concept. Johnson’s eyes never leave the WR, who becomes #2 and leaves his zone, and never looks at the TE going into his zone. Tucker is staring at the Qb, I am guessing he should be carrying the WR up the field and passing off to Taaffe (can’t see the whole field).  Perhaps Taaffe is covering the TE, because he sees Johnson is lost, but that isn’t his man. 3 defenders and nobody is doing their assignment. (That is my guess based on that picture)

Edited November 6, 2022 by Codaxx

[bschoolprof 6,343]

Sonny Dykes watching our tape:

[Hookem2147 22,033]

7 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

They all botched this. Not sure the call, but you would believe that Johnson has 1 and Taffe has 2 (inside route). Pretty good example of what is wrong with Texas zone defense. The TE and WR run a simple switch concept. Johnson’s eyes never leave the WR, who becomes #2 and leaves his zone, and never looks at the TE going into his zone. Tucker is staring at the Qb, I am guessing he should be carrying the WR up the field and passing off to Taaffe (can’t see the whole field).  Perhaps Taaffe is covering the TE, because he sees Johnson is lost. 3 defenders and nobody is doing their assignment. (That is my guess based on that picture)

Maybe.

Also not sure why we even have Jamier Johnson, who has barely played in a month, in there during that situation. The 4th quarter had just started and we were coming out of a TV timeout so it wasn’t like guys were gasping for air.

[Atticus 4,216]

7 hours ago, Codaxx said:

I think it beyond a talent thing. There were just too many wide open receivers in this game. Back 7 has a hard time locating WRs coming into their zone. They generally stare at the QB and cover grass. 

I just think our guys lack awareness on the back end. They play like they have no ability to anticipate anything that is going to happen. Then we have super seniors like Jamison trying to pick up a fumble in traffic instead of falling on top of it. Dude has played a ton of football but still does stupid ass shit like that.

[Dahobbs 18,324]

8 minutes ago, Atticus said:

I just think our guys lack awareness on the back end. They play like they have no ability to anticipate anything that is going to happen. Then we have super seniors like Jamison trying to pick up a fumble in traffic instead of falling on top of it. Dude has played a ton of football but still does stupid ass shit like that.

He didn't even look like he was trying to pick it up. Watching it live, it seemed like it didn't even occur to him it was a live ball. 

[6th Street 6,692]

Texas is ranked #93 in 3rd down defense, allowing a 42% conversion rate.

[HtownHorn 15,236]

1 hour ago, Atticus said:

I just think our guys lack awareness on the back end. They play like they have no ability to anticipate anything that is going to happen. Then we have super seniors like Jamison trying to pick up a fumble in traffic instead of falling on top of it. Dude has played a ton of football but still does stupid ass shit like that.

He overran the play, and then tried to pick it up but got beat to it by Knowles who was on the ground. If he had broke down in an effort to make a tackle he would have come under control and easily recovered the ball.

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Maybe.

Also not sure why we even have Jamier Johnson, who has barely played in a month, in there during that situation. The 4th quarter had just started and we were coming out of a TV timeout so it wasn’t like guys were gasping for air.

Yeah, we also have nonsensical substitution practices on defense. 

[DanTheHorn 5,079]

What I noticed is they had Vaughn run routes directly at Ford and Martinez would release the ball the second he reached Ford and hit him in stride between Ford and the safety. I don't know if they adjusted to it or if KSt pulled a Sark and stopped going back to easy pickings.

[Hookem2147 22,033]

2 minutes ago, DanTheHorn said:

What I noticed is they had Vaughn run routes directly at Ford and Martinez would release the ball the second he reached Ford and hit him in stride between Ford and the safety. I don't know if they adjusted to it or if KSt pulled a Sark and stopped going back to easy pickings.

I’d have to rewatch to confirm, but to me it looked like we started putting Overshown on Vaughn more when he was flexed out as a receiver after the first few drives. Overshown isn’t good in pass coverage but maybe he was able to get at least keep up with him somewhat in space to prevent easy reads.

Edited November 7, 2022 by Hookem2147

[pacman 7,508]

One other item not discussed; we have had two games in a row of extremely poor tackling. We have missed 40 tackles in these last two games.

Johnson played 4 whole plays. The DBs can't play the whole game without rest.

Kitan is better than Taafe/Blackwell even on his worst plays. Similar to Ford last year(not playing FT because of Brock), it makes no sense to limit the play of young talent, even when they struggle, by playing somebody who offers little more without any of the upside.

Edited November 7, 2022 by pacman

[Hookem2147 22,033]

2 minutes ago, pacman said:

Kitan is better than Taafe/Blackwell even on his worst plays.

This is just not true right now. And Blackwell is a LB not a safety.

Crawford is not playing good football. He hasn’t earned more snaps.

[DanTheHorn 5,079]

3 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

I’d have to rewatch to confirm, but to me it looked like we started putting Overshown on Vaughn more when he was flexed out as a receiver after the first few drives. Overshown isn’t good in pass coverage but maybe he was able to get at least keep up with him somewhat in space to prevent easy reads.

If you go back and look Ford did not try and keep up. He stayed in position and KSt knew the could exploit that space.

[Hookem2147 22,033]

Just now, DanTheHorn said:

If you go back and look Ford did not try and keep up. He stayed in position and KSt knew the could exploit that space.

Oh yeah, he was lost in pass coverage the first few drives. I think we tweaked some things after that because he had 2 long catches the first two drives and then was relatively quiet as a receiver the rest of the game. Or maybe Kansas State just didn’t go back to the well enough.

[DanTheHorn 5,079]

4 minutes ago, pacman said:

Kitan is better than Taafe/Blackwell even on his worst plays.

A football coach once told me that the further you play from the ball on defense the smarter you have to be. Kitan may be faster and more athletic but it is no good if he is behind the eight ball on how to direct the rest of the defense or has not learned where he needs to be since that has been his scouting report by the 9.95ers.

[Codaxx 6,254]

30 minutes ago, DanTheHorn said:

A football coach once told me that the further you play from the ball on defense the smarter you have to be. Kitan may be faster and more athletic but it is no good if he is behind the eight ball on how to direct the rest of the defense or has not learned where he needs to be since that has been his scouting report by the 9.95ers.

It’s a bit scary with TCU coming in, especially if QJ is available. You can’t have Taaffe out there. He will get abused. I am not sure there is an answer, because you can’t bring Crawford in and just run Man Free all game 

[pacman 7,508]

That's fair, and perhaps what Taafe has to offer is simply being in the right spot. Crawford didn't really have the opportunity to fuck up last night, but Taafe certainly found himself way too close to the LOS on multiple deep passing plays. I just don't see any measurable improvement from the defense when Taafe is in the game.

Quote

Thought an underrated personnel decision they made in-game was pulling Crawford early after an assignment bust

So, which play was this? Crawford only started the first series, and all the plays were not really in his area. The QB keeper was the exception, Barron bit on the fake and tried to get to the RB allowing the QB to get outside. Crawford was covering a guy who basically ran a go route, but still managed to help limit the run to 5 yards. He was wide side of the field on the TD, where Deuce juked both Ford and Overshown to leave them covering nobody but grass.

[Stunns38 3,805]

No. Not even close. That Strong/Bedford defense was god awful in years 2 and 3 with no signs of improvement. 
 

We had some legit NFL talent on those Ds too.

[Llewelyn Moss 220]

Cook played some but was obviously on some kind of pitch count. Absolutely need him at full availability for TCU even if he’s in a cast. 
Crawford got yanked after the first TCU touchdown, I believe. Coaches obv didn’t like him in coverage. 

[Burt Macklin 19,230]

1 hour ago, pacman said:

That's fair, and perhaps what Taafe has to offer is simply being in the right spot. Crawford didn't really have the opportunity to fuck up last night, but Taafe certainly found himself way too close to the LOS on multiple deep passing plays. I just don't see any measurable improvement from the defense when Taafe is in the game.

So, which play was this? Crawford only started the first series, and all the plays were not really in his area. The QB keeper was the exception, Barron bit on the fake and tried to get to the RB allowing the QB to get outside. Crawford was covering a guy who basically ran a go route, but still managed to help limit the run to 5 yards. He was wide side of the field on the TD, where Deuce juked both Ford and Overshown to leave them covering nobody but grass.

Crawford has been one of our worst players on defense this year. Every time he’s in the game he’s messing up assignments and making mistakes. He’s unplayable. 
 

He has the athleticism to play CB, yet the staff moved him from there to a more mentally challenging position. That was always a bad sign. 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Burt Macklin

[Sawbonz 28,223]

5 hours ago, pacman said:

They have defended the 5th most passes in the nation, so passing yards will be inflated.

Or, maybe, they have had to defend against so many passes because passing works against them?

[Atticus 4,216]

11 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Crawford has been one of our worst players on defense this year. Every time he’s in the game he’s messing up assignments and making mistakes. He’s unplayable. 
 

He has the athleticism to play CB, yet the staff moved him from there to a more mentally challenging position. That was always a bad sign. 

He’s a straight line athlete. He was struggling hard to flip his hips and that’s what kept him off the field at cb. 

[Had Enough 2,120]

A football coach once told me that the further you play from the ball on defense the smarter you have to be. Kitan may be faster and more athletic but it is no good if he is behind the eight ball on how to direct the rest of the defense or has not learned where he needs to be since that has been his scouting report by the 9.95ers.

This is the shit that astounds me. Not your post but the one to which you’re responding. We have more talent than damn near every team we play, right? Even if the recruiting are off, this is likely correct.

So why is it we lost time and again? Because the less talented teams play better football maybe?

Yet we’re still so damn concerned about “talent” when it hasn’t shown to produce.