Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 2)

[satyanash 14281]

Collecting post-game analysis articles regarding the Arkansas game here:

(Joe Cook) Recap: Arkansas Razorbacks 40, Texas Longhorns 21

Quote

Texas won the coin toss to open the game. It went downhill from there. The Longhorns and Razorbacks traded punts on each of their first two possessions, but offensive line problems quickly surfaced for the Longhorns. Texas struggled to get anything going in the run and pass. Bijan Robinson had to avoid Arkansas defenders in the backfield, and Hudson Card rarely had a clean pocket to pass from. This lasted for most of the first half, even against a three-man Arkansas rush.

Arkansas’ third drive ended in a 24-yard field goal by Cam Little. Texas defense covered everyone but quarterback KJ Jefferson, who picked up several chunk plays on the ground during the drive. For the first few plays of the series, Alfred Collins’ lined up at 3-technique for the Longhorns. His teammates eventually made a stand in the tight red zone, and Little made the game 3-0.

As the first quarter crossed into the second, Texas faced a 2nd-and-5 on the Arkansas 24. Card was sacked, then a delay of game led into an incomplete pass intended for Jordan Whittington, who broke free in the end zone but could not haul in the pass despite it hitting his hands. Steve Sarkisian sent out Cameron Dicker for a 52-yard field goal, but he missed it wide right.

With a short field, Arkansas drove to the Texas five with a 22-yard rush from Treylon Smith and the work of Jefferson moving the Razorbacks down the field. On 3rd-and-4 from the Texas five, Jefferson handed off to Dominique Johnson, who avoided Jacoby Jones and fell into the end zone to make it 10-0. This was one play after Arkansas’ center fumbled the snap to Jefferson, who handed it off as if nothing happened.

The ensuing Texas possession was fruitless, and bordered on disaster. Dicker dropped the snap on the punt, and Jake Yurachek blocked the secondary attempt. Mataio Soli returned it to the Texas 14, and Arkansas had all the momentum. The Longhorn defense stood and forced another field goal to make it 13-0, with BJ Foster making a deflection worth four points on third down. Card returned to the field again, with Casey Thompson remaining on the sideline. He went 3-and-out, and Arkansas drove down for another Little field goal to make it 16-0.

Card was joined by Robinson and Roschon Johnson on the next series and the duo helped Texas pick up its third first down of the game. Card then had Whittington open on 2nd-and-9, and hit him in the hands once again. And once again, Whittington could not come down with the football. Texas was forced to punt, and Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman was content to enter halftime with a 16-0 lead.

The second half began with Texas going 3-and-out for the fifth time in seven possessions. Arkansas was on the precipice of 23-0 on the second play following the punt, but Foster again made a huge play. He deflected Jefferson’s pass to an otherwise wide open Treylon Burks into the air and hauled it in, moving up to the Arkansas 26. Card engineered a 25-yard drive to give Texas 1st-and-goal from the Arkansas one. Behind a beefy personnel package, Robinson followed his blocking into the end zone to make it 16-7.

Texas had a chance to keep momentum, but squandered it. D’Shawn Jamison let Tyson Morris get behind him for a 45-yard gain. Johnson rushed 19 yards then 12 yards to put Texas under its own goalposts again. On the one-yard-line, Smith leaped over the pile to make it 23-7 just 1:56 after getting the ball back. Texas moved the ball down the field despite missing two deep shots to Xavier Worthy and Joshua Moore. They were faced with a 4th-and-1 on their own 43. A handoff to Robinson from Card went nowhere. Jefferson led Arkansas inside the four again on the ensuing drive, but Texas’ defense held and Little made it 26-7 late in the third.

Disaster struck on the very next possession, as Card fumbled the ball on a roll out on the very first play of the series. The very next play, Raheim Sanders rumbled 26 yards to make it 33-7. That margin was enough for Sarkisian to pull Card and plug in Casey Thompson. Thanks to a personal foul on Arkansas, Texas moved into Razorback territory. A run by Thompson and a run by Robinson set up a 2nd-and-2 on the nine, and Thompson scrambled into the end zone to help Texas reach double-digits and make it 33-14.

Rather than onside, Texas kicked it deep with over 13 minutes left in the fourth. Arkansas took the ball and went on a methodical 8-play, 75-yard drive culminating in an AJ Green 30-yard touchdown. The extra point made it 40-14. With the game well out of reach, Texas moved into Arkansas territory as the clock reached the halfway mark of the fourth. Facing a 3rd-and-2, Thompson completed a pass to Worthy to move to the 30-yard-line. A few plays later after several Arkansas stuffs, Thompson rolled right and couldn’t find an open man. He rumbled into several Hogs on the way to the end zone to make it 40-21.

Texas couldn’t wrangle the onside kick from Dicker, and Arkansas ran out the remaining 2:22 to seal a 40-21 win.

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Flop in Fayetteville

Quote

Steve Sarkisian's discussion of this game as a great test of taking on an SEC opponent with SEC size in the trenches in an SEC atmosphere echoes now in the wake of an absolute thumping delivered to Texas by Arkansas. The Hogs live to beat Texas when they get the chance. The last occasion was in 2014, the one and only bowl game of the Charlie Strong era (Texas Bowl), and the outcome was actually pretty similar. In the Texas Bowl, a Bret Bielema Hog team with a big, talented defensive line (Darius Philon, Trey Flowers) and a power run game completely obliterated Texas 31-7 and it wasn't even as close as the score.

This time around, it was Sam Pittman at the helm facing Sark, but again the Hogs were far and away the bigger, more physical team. Arkansas was playing through the whistle early and Texas didn't quite seem up for it. Nor did the coaching staff, Arkansas befuddled Texas on both sides of the ball with their gameplans. There were moments where the Texas strategy was apparent and plausible for brief moments but always foiled by poor execution before the Arkansas way reasserted itself and controlled the game.

The final score was more or less chosen by the Hogs. The real stat of the game was: Texas: 41 carries for 124 yards, 3.0 ypc, three rushing touchdowns. Arkansas: 47 carries for 333 yards, 7.1 ypc, four rushing touchdowns. Overall it's hard to imagine this game going worse for Texas.

Quick thought no. 1: A great chance to win the game slipped away early

After trading punts, Texas had a chance to break the game open early when Arkansas' punt return man dropped the punt in front of Kitan Crawford. The Texas defensive back immediately scooped up the ball...with a toe out of bounds. Instead of getting the ball inside the Arkansas five, the Hogs were able to run some offense and protect field position with a booming kick.

As it turned out, special teams went decidedly against Texas despite Pittman misidentifying which no. 5 returned punts for the Longhorns. Cameron Dicker missed a 52-yard field goal when the game was still in doubt and had a punt blocked which helped erase any questions about who would emerge victorious. The blocked punt only resulted in an Arkansas field goal rather than a touchdown, but the Hogs would make up those points later on after softening up the Texas defense with repeated body blows in the run game.

Quick thought no. 2: Texas couldn't land any throws to protect Bijan

The lack of RPOs in Texas' approach against Arkansas and Louisiana has been a bit disconcerting. It's hard to protect the running game against certain styles of defense if you can't make safeties pay for closing on the run downhill after the snap. There was seldom any doubt from the Hog linebackers about what Texas was up to and it took some herculean efforts by Bijan to even make any gains early in the game.

The nature of the flyover defense with three deep safeties appears to invite runs, but it's a trap. When the safeties are flying downhill in quarters behind hard-charging linebackers then what appears to be a bubble in the front to run the ball into quickly becomes a swarm of bodies. Getting into 12 personnel doesn't help you because the extra bodies are coming downhill from depth and are hard to pick up. You're either washing out the D-line to make big enough creases the "flyover" defenders can't fill them, or you're getting stopped for minimal gains and facing a lot of third downs.

In this case, it was a lot of third downs. As I noted in the preview though, Arkansas' preferred coverages can be had when they turn into man coverage down the field. You have a chance to take some shots then and Texas did so in this game with a number of double moves and play-action attempts...nearly all of which were missed. Hudson Card misfired on a few deep throws, often seeing his throws sail to the right, and Jordan Whittington dropped a deep corner route which hit him in the hands. There were a number of points left on the board in this game simply from the lack of connection on deep throws, to say nothing of how landing some of those could have opened up angles for Bijan Robinson.

Quick thought no. 3: Pete Kwiatkowski's gameplan wasn't on point.

As I wrote on Thursday, one of the main challenges of the "veer and shoot" offense invented by Art Briles and operated currently by his son for Arkansas is defending the alleys. The extra wide splits by the receivers open up a lot of space off tackle and the power run game will fire big, physical backs downhill into those alleys if you don't have a schematic plan to position overhangs there to make stops. The best option is typically either to drop eight so you get extra defenders to perform this task, or to play man coverage outside with a single high safety to get an extra defender in that fashion.

Pete Kwiatkowski instead played a lot of two-high, quarters coverages in order to have the nickel (or occasionally the Mike linebacker) as an overhang defending the field alley. The downside of this approach? Well there were a few downsides. One significant downside was it left Texas to defend the Hog run game with a 6-man box and they were not up for it. The menacing Texas defensive front we've been waiting to see was mauled by the big, Hog front and despite the care paid to having overhangs the edges were often played poorly.

In particular, Texas was often gashed in the spaces between defenders over-aggressively setting the edge and the defenders inside of them trying to maintain the point of attack. An easy way to understand the issue is to consider Arkansas was matching Texas' 220-pound linebackers with a 250 pound running quarterback and 270 pound blocking tight end in the box. Getting isolated in the box, mano a mano, was not a good plan. They tried to adjust later by playing two nose tackles inside (T'Vondre Sweat and Keondre Coburn) but were routinely bowled over between the 20s.

Another problem was Texas' off coverage in quarters yielded a number of easy throws underneath for K.J. Jefferson. The big man connected on 14-19 passes for 139 yards at 7.3 ypa with zero touchdowns and a bad pick to B.J. Foster.

Texas' plan was obviously to play bend don't break and make their stops in the red zone...which was actually happening for much of the game, but they couldn't keep it up. A better plan would have been to smother the Arkansas run game and dare Jefferson to beat man coverage with accurate passing. He may not have done much damage to Texas with his arm but he could have done MUCH more damage to Arkansas with a different approach by the Texas defensive staff.

Quick thought no. 4: Quarterback controversy will likely lead Rice week

Casey Thompson's work in this game, while valiant, was basically mop up duty. It doesn't appear Sark is particularly interested in making Thompson the man behind center this season given his refusal to play him when games are really still in question. However, because Thompson was able to go out there and earn a few touchdowns in garbage time, the quarterback battle will be the talk of town. Now Texas heads into the Rice game under circumstances in which quarterback questions will dominate a lot of the coverage. The Owls are unlikely to help Sark make the decision either and he'll have to feel confident and stick by his choice when they face Texas Tech and then Gary Patterson and the TCU Frogs.

Offensive line questions are going to be the bigger challenge for this team. Arkansas' nose tackle John Ridgeway looked no worse the wear for coming off an appendectomy and the Hogs manhandled Texas' O-line at times. The Longhorns are going to need much better, more physical play in the run game while also cleaning up some of the pass protection issues. The latter is a fairly normal issue for a line in a new scheme, the former issue is crucial for a staff who wants to feature Bijan Robinson so the quarterback behind center doesn't have to be the savior.

Quick thought no. 5: Narrative disaster for Texas

Texas really wanted a statement win coming off the SEC announcement. The Longhorns will head to the SEC soon and would have liked to have fired a warning shot in this game, albeit against a team which has struggled in the SEC West for years.

Instead, Sark's comments about how the SEC atmosphere is hostile and their trench players big and powerful read less like comments aiming to prime a Texas triumph and more like a warning shot to his own fanbase. Texas certainly wasn't ready to go toe to toe with Arkansas' big men in the trenches. This may or may not be a major issue in the Big 12 this season but it's a problem which will need a solution when the SEC move does occur.

Cody Daniel: Initial thoughts from Texas’ 40-21 blowout loss to Arkansas

Quote

The Texas Longhorns returned to Fayetteville in hopes of renewing the old SWC rivalry in style, but instead, were completely manhandled by the Arkansas Razorbacks in what was probably the most embarrassing Longhorns loss since Kansas in 2016. This was a game I’m sure most would love to move on from sooner than later, but first, here’s a few initial thoughts from Texas’ 40-21 loss to Arkansas.

Texas has a ton of work to do in the trenches. That goes for both sides of the ball. The offensive line is a complete mess right now and Kyle Flood almost has to try new bodies in his starting unit, particularly in place of a severely-struggling Denzel Okafor. No matter how good Bijan Robinson is or how much upside Hudson Card has, it almost doesn’t matter until Texas’ offensive line can become even respectable. On the other side, a Texas defensive line that was supposed to be the strength of the team was completely overwhelmed, allowing Arkansas to gash the Horns for one chuck gain after another.

Steve Sarkisian probably should have made a change at quarterback way before he actually did. Sark switched from Card to Casey Thompson near the end of the third quarter, but it was probably way too late. Card missed a few deep throws, but it might not have made much of a difference, as he was simply in a no-win situation with how horribly his line played. Given that, and the fact that things just weren’t working offensively even into the front end of the third quarter, Sark could have benefited from switching to the more dynamic runner in Thompson before the game was effectively over at 33-7. But, he didn’t.

We’re probably going to hear plenty of fresh talk of a quarterback battle this coming week. Sarkisian probably made the right decision to name Card his starter, and as noted, Card was essentially in a no-win situation on Saturday with porous offensive line play and a few key drops from Jordan Whittington that could have changed the dynamic of the game. But after he led just one scoring drive on a short field and finished with just 60 total yards of offense in nearly three quarters, Thompson tallied more yards — 101 — and twice as many touchdowns in just two series. So, whether it’s fair or not, we’re probably going to hear plenty of quarterback talk in Austin until next Saturday. Prepare yourself.

Pete Kwiatkowski has to put a better product on the field. Much of that has to do with Texas getting completely overmatched in the trenches, which allowed for wide-open running lanes, but the second line didn’t do them any favors by failing to fill the gaps, and the Texas secondary simply got ran past a couple times. In total, Arkansas ran all over the Longhorns defense to the tune 333 rushing yards a four touchdowns to headline a 40-point showing.

Texas isn’t SEC ready just yet. Disregard the hostile crowd and the impact that has, Texas got completely out-played, out-classed, out-executed, out-coached, out-everything by a Razorbacks squad that won three games last season and will likely finish at — or below — .500 this year. Nearly any way you slice it, this was an embarrassing loss for Sarkisian’s Longhorns. Whatever your expectations for this season were, it’s probably wise to lower them just a bit. This will probably be a long season. That is all. Now, with one of Texas’ worse performances in years now in the rearview, burn the game tape and move on.

[bigcigar 1161]

Fuck sark

[satyanash 14281]

Bobby Burton: Snap Judgments

Quote

This was no fluke. Texas was marshmallow soft up front, and Arkansas drove that point home with authority. The Texas offensive line couldn’t have looked worse from the outset. Hudson Card was routinely flushed against a three-man rush. And the Texas OL always seemed a step slow in the run game. Meanwhile, the defensive front (the DL and LBs) couldn’t even pretend to hold up against the run from the second quarter on. It was a brutal game to watch because, physically, the contest wasn’t even close. Texas got blown off the ball on both sides of scrimmage. They looked soft. They lacked explosiveness.
**

Casey Thompson provided a legitimate spark for the Horns in the fourth quarter. Some will say the game was already out of hand - and it was - but Thompson’s running ability gave the Texas O some much-needed life.

**

Does Steve Sarkisian open the QB battle once more? The first-year Texas coach clearly doesn’t have the same pieces to the puzzle at Texas that he did at Alabama, not on the OL, not at WR or TE. The question is whether the added dimension of Thompson’s feet gives Texas a chance at a better season than Card’s arm? Additionally, Card lacked some composure in the pocket and got happy feet a few times. Yet it’s also important to remember that Thompson, because of the score at the time he entered the game, never truly faced a blitz and the Razorbacks weren’t doing as much to disguise their defensive calls. There just wasn’t as much pressure on him as there was Card.

**

Regardless, this game was neither won nor lost by Card or Thompson. The Horns got their butts whipped up front. Period.

**

I expected a better defensive gameplan from Pete Kwiatkowski. It was disappointing at best. There’s no way Kwiatkowski should have let an Arkansas team that struggles to throw the ball rack up 300+ yards rushing.

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Chip Brown) Instant Analysis: Sarkisian waited too long to bring in QB Thompson in 40-21 loss at Arkansas

Quote

With Arkansas’ fans still on the field after a 40-21 beatdown of Texas, Steve Sarkisian was asked what his quarterback situation is going into a game next week against Rice. Starter redshirt freshman Hudson Card was pulled after nine possessions the produced six three-and-outs (including five of UT's first seven drives), a missed 52-yard field goal attempt, a failed fourth-down, a fumble and one-short-field touchdown set up by an interception.

Redshirt junior Casey Thompson entered the game with 1:50 left in the third quarter and led two straight, double-digit-play touchdown drives, converting 2-of-2 on third down after Texas opened 2-of-10 before he entered the game. “Pretty early to ask that question,” Sarkisian said of his quarterback situation going forward. “We’ll have to look at it.”

***

Thompson came in and led two straight, double-digit-play, 75-yard touchdown drives, capped by his own running touchdowns - one an easy, 5-yard jaunt, the other a blood-and-guts-2-yard-Sam-Ehlinger-special, making contact with four defenders, before slamming his way into the end zone. By the time Sarkisian brought Thompson into the game - the game was all but over with Texas down 33-7 in a simply chaotic atmosphere.

“It was a gut thing,” Sarkisian said when asked why he waited so long to bring in Thompson. “Hindsight is 20-20. We did it when we did it. I was proud of Casey.” When Sarkisian was asked what he was seeing in the first nine drives that kept him going with Card, Sarkisian said, “It’s not just about the game. I thought Hudson had a good week of preparation. It’s easy to praise the quarterback when things are good, and it’s easy to criticize the quarterback when things go poorly. But you need 11 to perform collectively.”

***

On Thompson’s two touchdown drives, he was 5-of-8 passing for 57 yards with seven carries for 44 yards (6.3 ypc) and two touchdowns. On his first scoring drive, which covered 75 yards in 10 plays and took 3:17 off the clock, Thompson was 2-of-3 passing and was opportunistic with his legs, running four times for 24 yards (6.0 ypc), including the 5-yard TD run that capped the drive.

On his second scoring drive, a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown march that took 6:01 off the clock, Texas was able to convert third-and-9 from the Arkansas 32 (because Cade Brewer dropped a well-thrown pass from Thompson on the play). On the second drive, Thompson was 3-of-5 passing while running four times for 22 yards (5.5 ypc), capping the the last two plays of the drive with runs of 8 and 5 yards. Thompson helped Texas convert 2-of-2 third downs after UT went 2-of-10 on third downs prior to Thompson entering the game.

***

What on earth does it say about Steve Sarkisian’s relationship with quarterback Casey Thompson that it took 10 possessions (and a 33-7 deficit in front of a rabid, sellout crowd) to bring in the fourth-year player when redshirt freshman Hudson Card was clearly struggling? Either Sarkisian was serving up some word salad when he said Card and Thompson had a battle close enough in fall camp that Sarkisian said his quarterbacks would both play in the opener and be evaluated from there. But Thompson got only garbage time in a 38-18 win over Louisiana and got only garbage time in a rout by Arkansas.

It's clear Sarkisian's man is Card - come hell or high water - or Sarkisian would've put Thompson in after the third, three-and-out and Texas already trailing 10-0 (which seemed like the right time to me). After the third, three-and-out by the Texas offense, it seemed like the right time to bring in your fourth-year quarterback to see if Casey Thompson might handle the atmosphere and see things better than Card, who was clearly holding the ball too long (even when he had time to throw and often with one of his reads wide open).

The fact Sarkisian went for it on fourth-and-a-long 1 from the Texas 43 midway through the third quarter - trailing 23-7 - BEFORE giving Casey Thompson a look at quarterback is simply head-scratching.

***

On a failed fourth-and-a-long-1 from the Texas 43 midway through the fourth quarter, Steve Sarkisian opted to run Bijan Robinson behind Denzel Okafor, who has struggled for two games to get the right fit on defensive linemen. Robinson was dropped for a 1-yard loss.

***

The Texas defense ended up allowing Arkansas to run 47 times for 333 yards (7.1 ypc). But Sark praised the defense for its play in the first half limiting Arkansas to two field goals after deep drives into Texas’ red zone and for B.J. Foster’s interception in the third quarter that led to a short-field touchdown for UT’s first points of the game.

***

Hudson Card had time to throw and missed wide-open receivers on deep balls on consecutive plays midway through the third quarter (on first and second down). He missed Xavier Worthy (led him too much) on a post route in the middle of the field, and then missed Joshua Moore by leading him too far toward the sideline. Both plays would’ve gone for 30-plus yards.

***

Arkansas had first-and-goal from the Texas 6 midway through the third quarter and Texas sophomore defensive lineman Alfred Collins got absolutely run over on consecutive plays - a 5-yard run by Trelon Smith to the Texas 1 and then on Smith’s 1-yard TD run on the next play.

***

On Arkansas’ 30-yard touchdown run on third-and-2 midway through the fourth quarter, Texas blitzed nickel Anthony Cook off the edge from the opposite side of the play, and end Ovie Oghoufo, who was unblocked, got way upfield and lost containment, allowing Arkansas freshman A.J. Green to run right by him on a simple outside zone play, putting Arkansas up 40-14 with 8:27 left.

***

After the Texas offense went three-and-out for the fifth time in seven possessions to start the second half, senior safety B.J. Foster finally provided a spark for the Longhorns by setting up a short-field touchdown. Foster tipped a pass to himself and intercepted it, returning it 9 yards to the Arkansas 26 with 12:48 left in the third quarter. Texas ran the ball five times on a six-play, 26-yard drive, but the only pass - a 9-yarder from Card to running back Roschon Johnson on third-and-5 from the Arkansas 10 proved to be the biggest play of the possession. That set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Bijan Robinson that finally got Texas on the board - trailing 16-7.

***

The first half was an absolute nightmare for the Texas offense with an uncharacteristic blunder on special teams as well. With Texas trailing 10-0, punter Cameron Dicker dropped the snap, then had his punt blocked and recovered by Arkansas at the Texas 14. The Texas defense limited that damage to a 24-yard field goal by the Razorbacks, but Texas was down 13-0 and it felt two scores worse than that. Dicker also missed a 52-yard field goal attempt wide right in the first half after a seven-play, 41-yard drive that would’ve tied the game 3-3 with 13:43 left in the second quarter.

***

Four of Texas’ six, first-half possessions went three-and-out as redshirt freshman quarterback Hudson Card looked flustered, holding the ball while receivers ran wide-open. On second-and-9 late in the first quarter, Card found freshman Xavier Worthy for a 25-yard gain. In the second quarter, with the game still close, Card threw a nice pass downfield to Jordan Whittington, who dropped what would’ve been a 38-yard gain to the Arkansas 24.

***

After Arkansas had first-and-goal from the Texas 10 in the first quarter, Josh Thompson came off his receiver and moved up on the line of scrimmage and shot in to drop KJ Jefferson for a 1-yard loss. DeMarvion Overshown stuffed RB Trelon Smith for a 2-yard gain on second down, and Brenden Schooler and Jacoby Jones dropped receiver Treylon Burks for a 3-yard gain on third down, forcing a 24-yard field goal.

The Texas defense made its second stand in the red zone after punter Cameron Dicker dropped the snap and suffered a blocked punt recovered by Arkansas at the UT 14. After giving up a 7-yard run on first down, Josh Thompson made a nice play on second down, and B.J Foster broke up a pass into the end zone on third-down, forcing a 24-yard field goal that put the Hogs up 13-0 midway through the second quarter.

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Hudson Standish) Arkansas submits Texas; Three stats that underscore 40-21 loss

Quote

In my pre-game prediction, I theorized Arkansas was dangerous in the same way that a Heel Hook or Toe Hold submission are dangerous in an MMA fight. Essentially that they were a respectable opponent, but if Texas handled business they should be able to separate in the second half and start to flex their muscles.

Welp. That’s about how tonight looked and felt. The Horns were physically dominated on both sides of the trenches and plenty of players looked like they tapped out of the action. Here are three stats for your rage-posting or wallowing pleasure. God that was brutal.

Arkansas ran for 340 yards on 45 carries

The Hogs averaged 7.5 yards per carry, and had SIX ball carriers average 6 or more yards per carry. All 6 of those same ball carriers had a rush for at least 19 yards as well. I’ll use some more advanced metrics below but this rush defense statistic is as damning as it is simple to understand. The Texas defensive line got consistently whipped against an OL that isn’t all that good.

EPA Report: Arkansas 14.51 Texas -10.28

https://gameonpaper.com/cfb/game/401282057

I gave a brief breakdown of Expected Points Added in my Wednesday piece. However, it doesn’t take a data analyst to realize that being negative ten in an “expected points” metric is bad news. A negative play earns negative points so as the negative plays stacked up for the Horns so did our abysmal EPA. Cameron Dicker’s punt miscue (-2.75 EPA), Hudson Card’s fumble (-4.46 EPA), and KJ Jefferson’s 2nd & 11 45 yard bomb while up 16-7 (3.26 EPA) were the turning points of the game according to Absolute EPA.

Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson’s passing EPA was -4.95, meaning Arkansas would be expected to lose 5 points for every 20 times he put the ball in the air. Unfortunately, baby Briles realized there was no need for the “Shoot” and just decided to “Veer” 45 times with relative ease.

Bijan Robinson- 0 Targets in the passing game

A week after catching 4 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, Texas didn’t attempt to get the best player the ball in the passing game. Bijan instead spent most of the night fighting off tacklers in the backfield before muscling or spinning his way to 2-3 yard gains against light boxes. Going forward the staff has to find ways of getting Robinson the ball in open space or getting the QBs to check down to him more often.

 

[satyanash 14281]

Devon Messinger: No. 15 Longhorns stunned on the road, fall to Arkansas 40-21

Quote

 On Saturday, the Longhorns looked lost in Fayetteville as the Razorbacks trounced Texas with a 40-21 win. Having fallen behind 16-0 by halftime, and not showing much promise in the second half, it would be difficult for the Longhorns to hang their hat on any aspect of Saturday's contest.

From Texas's opening drive, the Longhorns struggled to get anything going - on the ground or the air - as the offensive line struggled to get a push against Arkansas's defensive front. However, Texas's passing game in and of itself was inconsistent throughout the night as redshirt freshman Hudson Card was unable to find his groove. In fact, Steve Sarkisian ultimately pulled Card in favor of junior Casey Thompson who provided the team with two rushing touchdowns in just over a quarter of play.

Card finished Saturday's game completing 8 of 15 passes for 61 yards, while Thompson added 57 yards through the air on 5-8 passing. In addition to Texas's performance through the air, the team's ground game struggled as well as Bijan Robinson had to scrap his way to 69 yards and a touchdown rush. Thompson's 44 yards on the ground helped the Longhorns eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark as the team ultimately rushed for a total of 124 yards.

While the offense had its share of issues, the Longhorns defense allowed the Razorbacks to rush for a stunning 333 yards and four touchdowns. Throughout the course of the game, Arkansas's rampant running game wore down the Texas defense, killing any chance of a late comeback. The bright spot for the Longhorns on defense was senior defensive back B.J. Foster's interception in the third quarter. Next Saturday, the Longhorns will host Rice with kickoff set for 7 P.M. in a game which will be aired on the Longhorn Network.

QUICK GAME NOTES

- Longhorns scored three rushing touchdowns against Arkansas, improving to 8-for-8 in the red zone after two games this season
- Casey Thompson participated in two drives for Texas and guided the Longhorns to two TD's in both drives
- BJ Foster's interception in the second half was the third of his career at Texas and first since the 2019 season
- LB Demarvion Overshown led the team in tackles with 8 against the Razorbacks
- Cameron Dicker missed a 52-yard FG but was 3/3 in extra point attempts on the evening. Dicker's career scoring improved to 309 points, positioning him at fifth on the all-time scoring list at Texas (third all-time among UT kickers)

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Bobby Burton) Sunday: Waking Up

Quote

If you woke up this morning still smarting from last night’s butt kicking, you’re not alone. While logic tells us any single performance is never as bad or as good it seems, it’s hard to think about just how fundamentally wrong last night went and still be “logical” about anything.

The Horns got beat up front. On BOTH sides of the ball. I half expected the offensive line to be average. But the defensive line has surprised me. They should be a team strength yet they are not, at least not in the dominating way one would hope. Furthermore, as Paul pointed out in his Post Mortem, the defensive play-calling did not adequately address or respect Arkansas’ offensive strengths.

And at quarterback, Hudson Card never really got going. He clearly didn’t feel comfortable in that environment, nor is he always acting with the urgency needed to get down and distance with his legs. I’m sure Arkansas dropping eight into coverage while still getting pressure with three didn’t help matters, which only brings us back to the abysmal play of the OL. Then we have the curious case of Cameron Dicker. He has the leg. But he lacks accuracy. And apparently he can’t catch all that well either.

I’m telling myself it’s never as good or bad as it looks. But convincing myself of that is a different story because what I saw last night was mediocre effort and mediocre execution.

Joe Cook: Arkansas heeds call of the hogs in dominating performance versus Texas

Quote

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Minutes before kickoff at every Arkansas football game, the Razorback faithful who fill Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium call the Hogs. Saturday night, most of the 74,531 in attendance donned cardinal and white and exclaimed “Woo! Pig! Sooie!” prior to the Razorbacks taking on the Longhorns. Upon hearing the call, the Hogs arrived and delivered an ass whoopin’.

The Longhorns were thoroughly outplayed on both sides of the ball, predominantly in the trenches. Arkansas rushed for 333 yards and four touchdowns on 47 carries. Texas toted the rock 41 times for just 138 yards, with two of the three rushing scores coming from late-game Casey Thompson scrambles. No matter who was at quarterback, be it Thompson or starter Hudson Card, Texas couldn’t overcome Arkansas’ domination along the lines in a 40-21 defeat.

Texas’ star back, Bijan Robinson, tallied 69 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Twenty of those 69 yards came on a single carry. The other 49 yards were a result of 18 carries, good for 2.72 yards per carry. Robinson often had to elude defenders in the backfield as a result of a porous offensive line. When Robinson couldn’t get going, Card struggled to overcome the Razorback rush paired with the down-and-distance. Texas was often in third down situations, and failed often in those situations. The Longhorns were 4-of-13 on third downs, and five of their 12 drives ended after three offensive plays.

“Well, I think the story of the game, we just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Sarkisian said postgame. “The three-and-outs and the inability to win on first down inevitably put us in third-and-long, and the execution wasn’t quite there on third down.” Arkansas’ three-man front wreaked havoc on its own, but it paved the way for a stellar night for Razorback linebackers. Hunter Henry, Grant Morgan, and Bumper Pool all had double-digit tackle totals.

On the other side, any Razorback who had over seven carries rushed for more than 50 yards. Four players had over seven carries. Trelon Smith led the way with 75 yards and a score, with quarterback KJ Jefferson not too far behind with 73 yards. Texas was held scoreless in the first half and scored its first touchdown of the game early in the third as a result of a short field created by a BJ Foster interception.

But Arkansas, with its 16 points in the first half from a Dominique Jackson touchdown rush and three Cam Little field goals, had plenty left in the tank for their ensuing touchdown response. And the following one. And one more in the fourth quarter. “Over time, they kind of wore us out,” Sarkisian said. “We couldn’t sustain any drives offensively, so our defense was on the field to a point to where they kind of wore out. Forty-seven rush attempts, we never put any pressure on them to feel like they had to throw the ball.”

Jefferson attempted 19 passes and completed 14 of them for 138 yards. Those pedestrian numbers didn’t matter, as Arkansas offensive coordinator Kendal Briles didn’t seem concerned with passing the ball. He happily took 7.1 yards per play rushing the football. There was no need to look to the air to score. When Arkansas did complete chunk passes of 20-plus yards through the air, they were parts of eventual touchdown scoring drives.

The domination the Arkansas offensive line put on display throughout the 3:11 affair was analogous to the performance of Razorback defensive coordinator Barry Odom’s line. Often with three-man pressures, the Hogs made life miserable for Robinson, Card, Thompson, or whoever was situated behind the line of scrimmage. “We were a little jittery for whatever reason,” Sarkisian said of his blockers. “I don’t think it was about the looks, that we weren’t prepared for them. We just didn’t play to our standard, to our capability.”

Thompson entered the game down 26 points in the third quarter. He engineered two fourth-quarter scoring drives and completed both by crossing into the end zone with his legs. He finished 5-of-8 passing for 57 yards plus 44 yards on the ground. Card’s stat line read 8-of-15 for 61 yards, while rushing for 13 yards. “It was a gut thing,” Sarkisian said on the timing of inserting Thompson. “Hindsight is 20/20. Maybe you look back and do it earlier but we did it when we did it. I was proud of Casey and the way he competed.”

Outside of praise of Thompson, Sarkisian offered little comment about the quarterback situation going forward. He acknowledged Card could have performed better, but that acknowledgement was then applied to multiple positions. “Could we have blocked better? No question,” Sarkisian said. “Could Hudson have maybe played better? Sure, he could have. Could we have ran better routes? Yes. So everybody takes a part in this thing, coaches included. We have to get back to work and understand that the way we played tonight was not good enough for us to win.”

The loss was demoralizing after a promising Week 1 win, but it also carried some measure of big picture embarrassment outside of the results on the field. Arkansas fans chanted “S-E-C, S-E-C, S-E-C” not so much out of conference pride, but as a jab to their former, and now future, conference brethren. Then they stormed the field and called the hogs in celebration of their victory over the No. 15 team in the country.

It was a celebration filled with excitement after the sheer physical domination that preceded it. Domination that surprised Sarkisian. Domination he and his assistants are tasked with addressing ahead of next week’s matchup with Rice, and also Big 12 play. “This was not a performance I was anticipating, but we’ll find out about ourselves and what we’re made of,” Sarkisian said. “Because I really believe this game is not going to define us, but we’ve got work to do. That’s for sure.”

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Scipio Tex) 2021 Texas-Arkansas Postmortem: Defense/Special Teams

Quote

A run-first Razorback offense totaled 471 yards at 7.1 yards per play. Pretty good deal for them. On a risk-adjusted basis, that's like a treasury bill returning 38%. That requires very special market conditions, which Texas was happy to provide.

I don't know what offense Pete Kwiatkowski thought he was game planning for, but it wasn't the Arkansas Razorback veer-and-shoot led by 245-pound dual threat KJ Jefferson, coordinated by Kendal Briles, son of Art. I've seen a lot of questionable game plans from Texas defensive coordinators, but this was one was bad not only for the poor understanding of what Arkansas wanted to do, but for the inability to adjust when Arkansas started doing it. Either they stock the G2 with extra dumb at the Texas football offices or our heralded defensive coordinator spent all week watching film of Bobby Petrino's offenses in 2010.

Texas elected to defend that spread-to-run offense with a six man box, no real meaningful pressure packages, murky containment responsibilities, with no attempt at forcing KJ Jefferson into making accurate downfield throws under duress. Nor did Texas outnumber the box to force negative plays on the Arkansas running game and put the game on Jefferson's arm and brain, particularly as the game began to get away.

Instead, Texas played a defense designed for a traditional spread team, most horrifyingly displayed when the score went to 33-14 and Texas still had a theoretical chance of winning with a full quarter left to play. When Texas should be bringing the kitchen sink on the running game, Pete dialed up an honest box with zone coverage safeties deep like Tom Brady was wearing a helmet with a pig on it. Arkansas ran the ball every play down the field for a TD. 8 plays, 75 yards. On the field at defensive tackle for much of the drive? True freshman Byron Murphy and Vernon Broughton.

That's how you give up 333 yards rushing to an offense as interested in KJ Jefferson throwing the ball down the field reading progressions as our staff was in watching film of Arkansas. Was there a Lonesome Dove marathon on or something this week? Seriously, what did I miss? What were they doing? Does Gus still die?

Watch Ovie there. Why is he so far up field? Why does the backside linebacker (Gbenda) pursue ahead of the ballcarrier?

A little counter action attacking the alley. Jones and Brockermeyer are split and Jones gives up the edge. Look at #99 inside. What technique is that? Stand up, briefly hand fight, watch play.

Poor job setting the edge all game. Gave up a 32 yard run setting the edge with Schooler on a blitz while Jett Bush got double teamed play side. There are many things wrong with that sentence. Setting the edge with a DB blitzer - very Todd Orlando. Ovie Oghoufo played sparingly and when he did, he blew containment on the 26 yard Razorback TD as the Texas defense overran outside zone. Ovie did it again later on the same play. 4th and short early in the game? Blew containment on a KJ Jefferson zone read for an easy 13 yard run.

DL

Frankly, a lot of them seem weak, they aren't very technical, and I see a lot of high pads and hand fighting instead of attacking with a purpose. Maybe they're being asked to read and react rather than force the issue on the other side of the line of scrimmage. I can't explain it. Keondre Coburn is a problem for about five snaps a game (including a great walk back of an Arkansas guard that led to an early TFL). Too bad there were 62 other snaps. T'vondre Sweat had 5 tackles and hustled, but he's contesting with Vernon Broughton for president of the aim-high pad level club. Moro Ojomo had a nice TFL and had some good hustle tackles, but he's not being used to attack gaps. Alfred Collins played, so that's cool.

This defensive front needs better coaching and a re-evaluation of what the Horns are trying to do with them.

LB

Overshown and Brock are finesse linebackers who range around and clean up. They need cover to be effective. They combined for 12 tackles, but if the Texas DL isn't re-establishing the line of scrimmage and creating ugly pictures for the running back, they'll lose to physics. Jaylan Ford got some run and notched four tackles, but same deal.

DB

I actually thought they tackled very well early in the game and put in good effort. Things got sloppier late, but most of that is on the scheme allowing Arkansas a running game. We never really got to see how they'd do against the Razorback passing game. Anthony Cook played well. Nice solo hit on the tight end, a strong pass break up in the end zone.

BJ Foster's interception jumping a slant and then batting the ball to himself was absolutely terrific athleticism and instinct. Good stuff. I wonder how many more plays like that were available if Pete Kwiatkwoski had been interested in having Jefferson throw the ball? D'shawn Jamison gave up a 44 yarder in man coverage. Good solo tackles from Josh and Jerrin Thompson in the first half. Schooler didn't play the edge well a couple of times in run support. These guys played adequately overall.

Special Teams

 

Overall

Pete Kwiatkowski played marshmallow anvil to the Razorback hammer. There's a lot more football left to be played, but Texas needs to show dramatic improvement.

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Jeff Howe) Recap: No. 15 Texas bullied in humbling road loss to Arkansas, 40-21

Quote

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian’s best quote that summed up how the 15th-ranked Longhorns were beaten from pillar to post in a humbling 40-21 loss to Arkansas on Saturday in front of an electric crowd of 74,531 fans came long before the opening kickoff at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. While meeting with reporters on a Zoom call following Thursday’s practice, Sarkisian offered a blunt, point-blank reply when asked to expound on what it means to face a roster built to compete in the SEC.

"I just think, in general, it's a big man's league and there's a style of football in that league that is a physical brand that when you cross over to play them, you have to be ready to play that style of football or you'll get your ass knocked off,” Sarkisian said. “That's the way it goes.”

And that’s pretty much the way it went for Texas (1-1) in the first loss of Sarkisian’s tenure, the largest margin of defeat for the Longhorns since a 31-9 loss to TCU on Nov. 25, 2016, which Charlie Strong’s final game as head coach in 2016. Sarkisian suffering a worse loss than any of the 18 over Tom Herman’s four years on the job (a 24-7 road loss to the Horned Frogs on Nov. 4, 2017, was Herman’s largest margin of defeat) feels somewhere between regression and a reality check that the Longhorns, quite simply, have a lot of work to avoid the program’s first season with fewer than four losses since 2009.

An Arkansas program that lost 24 of 28 games before snapping a 20-game SEC losing streak in the second game of the 2020 season has won five of their last 11 under head coach Sam Pittman and looked like the kind of formidable outfit Sarkisian described. The Razorbacks bullied Texas to the tune of 333 yards rushing (7.1 yards per attempt) and on a night when Sarkisian’s offense tallied only 256 yards (four yards per play) and was a lowly 4-for-13 on third down, the Longhorns didn’t play anywhere close to the kind of complementary football they needed to get the program off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2012.

It was over when...

Bijan Robinson (69 yards and a 1-yard touchdown on 19 carries) was stuffed on fourth-and-1 from the Texas 43-yard line in the third quarter. An interception by B.J. Foster (five tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass breakup) put the offense on a short field and they cashed in on the good field position with Robinson’s touchdown plunge capping a 6-play, 26-yard drive that got the Longhorns within nine, 16-7, with 10:17 to go in the third quarter.

That’s when Arkansas struck back with a haymaker of an answer as quarterback KJ Jefferson (14-for-19 for 138 yards; 73 yards rushing on 10 attempts) connected with Tyson Morris on a 45-yard shot down the field to kickstart a 6-play, 81-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Trelon Smith (12 carries for 75 yards). In an attempt to respond and remain in the game, Robinson tried the left side of the line on the failed fourth down.

The play never had a chance and, like how a lot of running plays ended on a futile night for the Longhorns trying to move the ball on the ground (138 yards, 3.4 yards per attempt), Robinson had an Arkansas defender in his face before ever got close to the line of scrimmage. The defense held the Razorbacks to a field goal on their ensuing drive (the fourth and final boot through the uprights for Cam Little on a perfect 4-for-4 night), but blindside pressure applied to Hudson Card (8-for-15 for 68 yards passing; 13 yards rushing on eight attempts) by Arkansas’ Zach Williams resulted in a fumble recovered and Greg Brooks Jr. and a Raheim Sanders 26-yard touchdown run one play later was the Razorbacks effectively slamming the door on the Longhorns.

“I thought for the most part, especially in the first half, our defense was giving us a chance. They were getting stops in the red zone with short fields,” Sarkisian said. “I thought we got a little momentum going there in the third quarter and then the two drives right there in the third quarter, I think kind of sealed the game with the turnover on downs and then, obviously, the fumble.”

Top Offensive Performer

Robinson earned everything he got on Saturday, finishing the game with only one explosive run (a 20-yard gain late in the first quarter) while seven of his carries (not including the touchdown he scored) went for two or fewer yards. On a night when Sarkisian admitted the Longhorns “just couldn't get anything going offensively,” he noted that the offensive line wasn’t locked in from an assignment standpoint, which was obvious to anyone who watched things unfold on the field.

Robinson acknowledged the evident issues while publicly showing confidence in a group in front of him that had to have whatever confidence they came to Fayetteville with zapped by the aggressive, hungry Razorbacks.

“We just missed some assignments,” Robinson said. “We didn't execute to the best of our ability. When they (Arkansas’ defense) came in a rush, I had to find something that I had to do to try to at least get back to the line of scrimmage, but I just feel that our line is in a progressing state and I feel that they're all confident and very intelligent guys that understand their jobs. We just were in a hostile environment tonight and we just had to execute on some things that might have been a little different or might have been faster than our normal tempo. I just know that we have a lot to learn and I know that we're going to execute going forward because we need games like this to understand our team, to understand our offense. I feel that we'll be OK going forward and we've just got to keep executing.”

Top Defensive Performer

Foster’s interception not only led to the first touchdown of the game for the Longhorns, but he also had a pass breakup that forced Arkansas to settle for an early field goal. Like the defense as a whole, Foster made plays that kept Texas hanging around until the Razorbacks, as Sarkisian acknowledged, eventually wore them down; six of Arkansas’ runs that were explosive in nature (12 or more yards gained) accounted for 135 of their 187 yards rushing in the second half.

“We couldn't sustain any drives offensively, so our defense was on the field to a point where they kind of wore out,” Sarkisian said. “I mean, 47 rush attempts (by Arkansas) — we never put any pressure on them to feel like they had to throw the ball. They were throwing the ball when they wanted to, but they were running the ball, they were leaning on us and, over time, runs started spitting. But, again, I think part of that was we just didn't get it done offensively to take any pressure off of our defense.”

Reasons to feel optimistic

— Even if might cause a full-blown quarterback controversy, which it probably will anyway (at least in the court of public opinion), the fact that Casey Thompson (5-for-8 passing for 57 yards; 44 yards rushing and two touchdowns) played well when he came into the game has to mean something. The fact that Sarkisian waited until the Longhorns were down by 26 points in the third quarter to put Thompson in the game (one series after Card’s fumble) speaks volumes about how he views both quarterbacks, even though he admitted to thinking about going to Thompson before the Longhorns’ fate was sealed.

“Hindsight is 20/20,” Sarkisian said. “Maybe you look back and do it earlier, but we did it when we did it. I was proud of Casey and the way he competed.”

— Other than the red zone possession that ended the game with Arkansas kneeling on the ball, the Razorbacks had to settle for field goals on three of their five meaningful possessions in the red zone. Three drives that started in Texas territory netted Arkansas 13 points, further highlighting how Pete Kwiatkowski’s held up as long as they could until the dam broke in the second half.

“I thought we were tackling pretty good early on,” Sarkisian said. “Again, I think fatigue set in. I don't think there was a lack of fight or effort, but, inevitably [Arkansas has] tougher for people to get on the ground and these guys — they had a good change of pace with a smaller back to a bigger back to the quarterback. We knew what this game was going to be. This was going to be a physical game. They were going to try to lean on us and they were able to do it. Inevitably, we started to miss those tackles, we started to have some breakdowns and some things started to spit out. We're going to have to be better moving forward, that's for sure.”

Reasons to feel pessimistic

— At the end of the day, Texas got pummeled by Arkansas where it mattered most — in the trenches. Yes, the defense was on the field too long in the first half and, yes, the offensive line appeared to be the root of the offense’s issues, but the Longhorns were lost the physicality battle in dominating fashion in a game where they knew they had to match Arkansas’ physicality and failed miserably to do so as a group.

Overall, nothing Texas did in any of the three phases of the game added up to a win. Even in the kicking game where Cameron Dicker missed a 52-yard field goal and had a punt partially blocked (both in the second quarter) and Kitan Crawford was denied a fumble recovery of an Arkansas muffed punt because his foot was out of bounds, the Longhorns failed to put a winning performance on the field and took the program's worse loss in nearly five years as a result.

“Unfortunately, I don't know how much of it was what they did as opposed to what we didn't do,” Sarkisian said. “They're a good football team. I think Sam's done a nice job with their team, but I think the majority of what happened was we didn't play great. We weren't locked in from an assignment standpoint up front blocking. We didn't execute great in the passing game. We had some mishaps that we didn't have last week, clearly. We dropped the snap on a punt (Arkansas to started its ensuing drive at the Texas 14-yard line as a result of the botch) — things happened in this game that we didn't have to deal with last week. There's always your concern when you go on the road, in a hostile environment, at night of keeping your temperament of your team right so that you can go out and perform and execute. Clearly, that didn't happen tonight. That's the thing that is probably the most disappointing that we've got to make sure that we get back right moving forward.

— The 45-yard completion (by far the longest of the night for Jefferson) two plays from scrimmage after Texas cut the deficit to nine. After a season in which the Texas cornerbacks left a lot to be desired in terms of their ability to play the ball in the air, the first time they truly got tested on a deep shot in 2021 resulted in a play that swung momentum back Arkansas’ way as Morris blew by D'Shawn Jamison for the longest play of the night for the Razorbacks.

“They popped a couple of runs right there and got down and went and scored,” Sarkisian said as Dominique Johnson (44 yards rushing and a touchdown on six carries) ran for 19 and 12 yards respectively the two plays from scrimmage immediately following the long pass completion. “I felt like we were going to come right back and then, again, the next two series were really the key where we have the turnover on downs and the fumble with Hudson right there. I think we got some momentum, obviously, with the interception by B.J. We went and punched it in, momentum started to get in our favor, but they got it back and then they kind of captured the game moving forward after that.”

Modest Proposal

It could be Sarkisian changing quarterbacks earlier in the game if an offensive spark is needed, which was the case since Thompson went under center long after the offense had flamed out. It could be letting Ryan Bujcevski, Isaac Pearson or even true freshman walk-on Bert Auburn handle something in the kicking game to take a little bit of the load off of Dicker since he's now 1-for-3 on the season kicking field goals and it feels far from automatic when he enters the game.

It could also be Sarkisian’s short-yardage play-calling, which left a lot to be desired on the fourth-and-1 where Robinson was stopped and before Thompson’s second touchdown run when he called three straight goal-to-go runs right into the teeth of the Arkansas defense for Keilan Robinson, none of which came close to busting a grape.

With that said, it’s far from modest to suggest that something needs to happen along the offensive line. That group as it’s currently constructed left a lot of meat on the bone in the opener and followed up that performance with a clunker on Saturday where, in the immediate aftermath, it feels like Kyle Flood has an insurmountable task ahead of him to build a championship line with the pieces he’s got right now.

“I think this was a big, physical defensive front. I think the movement that they utilized up front caused us a few issues,” Sarkisian said. “And, the reality of it is, whatever it was, when we go back and look at the tape from a scheme standpoint, putting our players in the best position to be successful, the reality of it was we weren't tonight and we weren't up front. We're going to need to have to be better than we were tonight [with our] ability to run the football. Especially when they played the style of defense that they played where they borderline dared us to run the ball and we just couldn't run it enough effectively on early downs.”

It could simply be time to see if guys like Hayden Conner and Andrej Karic are ready for prime time. Playing redshirt and true freshmen out of necessity isn't a good thing, and it's a place Texas got out of under Herman, but the current group isn't getting it done and Sarkisian can only scheme around them so much before changes need to be made to see if another combination can be more effective.

Drive of the Game

The 10-play, 75-yard drive, which started with 1:50 to go in the third quarter and ended with Thompson’s 5-yard touchdown run with 13:33 to go in the game. Granted, the Longhorns were down by 26 points when Thompson entered the game, but he started the series off with a 7-yard completion to Jordan Whittington (32 yards on five receptions) and called his own number with a 5-yard scramble one play later for a quick first down.

Two Arkansas penalties helped the drive, but Thompson getting the ball across the goal line was the final play on the offense’s first truly sustained drive of the game. It’s just a shame such consistency moving the ball didn’t happen earlier when the Longhorns had a chance to make things interesting, but Bijan Robinson was nevertheless among those who felt Thompson maximized his opportunity and gave the offense a shot in the arm.

"With Casey, he's an experienced player," Robinson said. "He's been there before, he's seen things before, so him coming in was huge. It just showed that he's competent in a lot of different situations."

Best Offensive Play

Further evidence of the offense’s struggles is a 9-yard reception by Roschon Johnson in the third quarter going down in the books as the play of the night for the Longhorns. On the drive following Foster’s interception, Texas faced third-and-5 from the Arkansas 10 and Card, for one of the few times in the game, had time to scan the field and find an open man. He found Johnson on a slow-developing out route, which he caught before turning up the field and clawing his way to the 1-yard line. One play later, Robinson punched the ball into the end zone to get the Longhorns on the board and back into the game.

Best Defensive Play

Without question, it was Foster’s interception. On second-and-11 for the Razorbacks from their own 28-yard line, Jefferson fired a pass over the middle intended for Ketron Jackson, but Foster read the play and made a great break on the ball. Foster was able to flash some tremendous ball skills as he reached back and tipped the ball back to himself with his right hand before pulling it down for the first interception by the Texas defense in 2021. The 9-yard return to the Arkansas 26-yard line set up the offense’s first (and only truly meaningful) touchdown drive of the game.

Biggest question heading into the Rice game

What’s really wrong and what’s most important on the list of priorities?

If there’s a silver lining to Saturday’s loss, it’s that every flaw and potential issue the Longhorns could face in 2021 was exposed by Arkansas and there are 10 games in left in the regular season to see how much improvement can be made. Inexperience at quarterback, the inability of the wide receiver group to consistently manipulate man coverage and win on the outside in one-on-one situations, a low-ceiling offensive line, the lack of true difference makers at tight end and at the edge positions defensively and wins by cornerbacks in man-to-man coverage coming few and far between were on display and contributed to Texas taking one on the chin.

As the Longhorns get ready for Rice (0-2) to roll into Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium next Saturday (7 p.m., Longhorn Network), it’s impossible for Sarkisian and Co. to fix all of those things. So what should be atop the priority list for the coaches?

With the offensive line in shambles, Sarkisian should head into the week looking to get Thompson more snaps and planning to start him in the Rice game wouldn’t be a bad call. When the offense is on schedule more often than not, Card’s ability to get the ball out of his hands and to the perimeter quickly and get the passing game clicking gives him the edge over Thompson, but what’s happening in the trenches could lend itself to getting Thompson on the field more where his ability to extend the play and making things happen once the play breaks down could be what the Longhorns need right now.

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Eric Nahlin) Smelling Salts: Coming to after getting knocked out by Arkansas

Quote

Hudson Standish used a quality MMA metaphor to explain the Arkansas matchup. Go check it out. Allow me another metaphor: Pete Kwiatkowski’s game plan on defense was akin to going into an MMA fight versus Mike Tyson with a heavy emphasis on taking away his spinning heel kick. The fastest way to get knocked out is a punch to the jaw. In football, the quickest way to lose is not stopping the run game. When PK comes to someone, remind him you protect your jaw at all times.

Steve Sarkisian entered the week talking about all the SEC things you normally hear about — size and physicality. That’s a worthy point to emphasize, especially since it was on display in such an obvious way the casual fan could see. But I’ll posit he didn’t understand Big 12 schemes, which Arkansas runs on both sides of the ball. To me, that was the real undoing.

Being unable to get the run game going meant Barry Odom’s defense would have to be unlocked through the passing game. Coming into this contest, I incorrectly assumed Sark carried a skeleton key that worked versus any defense. I expected some early struggles but I didn’t expect him to not have any contingency plans. Just a week prior it seemed he had a plan for everything. This was a bizarre performance from the new Texas head coach.

The game plan was bad enough, but to not make a course correction was even more difficult to stomach. That was as predictable of play calling as we saw from the last guy. Keeping in mind Ian Boyd ‘s answer to everything is to throw the ball, here he is in this week’s Game Plan:

“The temptation is to play a double tight end set and just run the ball on a team like this but it’s a trap. Your tight ends could theoretically be assigned to block the 200 pound safety 10 yards off the ball at the snap and it’d look awesome on the chalkboard but when they can’t find him or just whiff badly in space and he’s smacking your running back after a 1-yard gain it won’t look so great. The better solution is the exact sort of thing you’d be hesitant to do on the road, at night, in Fayetteville…throw the ball.”

And some more: “I’d expect the 20 personnel package and accompanying empty formations to potentially play a large role in this game if Texas can’t make hay with the run game and play-action and have to try and convert a lot of third downs as they did against Louisiana. We may look back and realize the 20 personnel set and Card’s Colt McCoy impersonations carried Texas through the early part of this season until the offensive line and play-action game really got going.”

Bijan Robinson didn’t have a single target in the passing game. However, he did receive a number of predictable hand-offs on second and 10 as Sark ran his stuff. The insult to injury for me was watching Jett Bush miscast as poorly as Breckyn Hager was. It was deja vu all over again. PK as Todd Orlando was not something I saw coming. Put Moro Ojomo back at end before expecting Bush to play an inside technique or take on a tackle/tight end combo. Moving Ojomo would actually get Alfred Collins on the field more.

There’s plenty to be frustrated about but it starts with poor game plans on both sides of the ball and it was noticeable by the 2nd quarter, if not earlier. @sherf1 ‘s post nails it. As he accurately states, Sark and PK entered the game with a “run our stuff” game plan. It was Herman-esque which goes a long way towards why the loss stings the way it does.

I won’t be hyperbolic. I’m not going to throw out an accomplished 10-year run by PK over one game. That’s absurd. Sarkisian as an offensive mind has quite a bit more leash before I‘m truly concerned, but to bring back an old meme from both the Charlie Strong and Tom Herman eras, we have a couple of data points and they aren’t good. We’re going to learn a lot about the staff in next month.

Finally, if game planning and play calling is as poor as it was, it defeats the purpose of discussing the lack of talent. Especially versus an opponent Texas clearly holds the talent advantage over. Last night wasn’t a true representation of talent level. Cuss it and discuss it all you want, but it was a tertiary issue last night behind inept game plans that gifted Arkansas numbers advantages on both sides of the ball and lack of matching Arkansas’ intensity.

 

[ClubWhatever 12087]

I don’t remember Davis being thought of as a bad coach when he was here last time. Saban hired him twice, didn’t he?  Something is fucked up with the DL coaching.  Also it’s not a good omen that our DC is either too lazy, too full of hubris, or too dumb to scheme for a well worn offensive system. 

Edited September 12, 2021 by ClubWhatever

[satyanash 14281]

 

[alphahorn 1637]

Scipio addressed my biggest WTF from last night.  I really thought the PK hire was a brilliant game changer of a hire.  The absurd game plan he rolled out and his inability to make the necessary adjustments is extremely disappointing.  Nahlin said he's not ready to throw out a brilliant 10 year PK run after one game, but I'm getting the feeling that the PK/Lake relationship was symbiotic and neither can exist at the same high level alone.  We'll know more after TCU, and everything after OU

[alphahorn 1637]

2 hours ago, satyanash said:

 

Super hard on Floyd and it's hard to argue with his case.  The Oline finished the year looking a hell of a lot better than it looks now.  Shitty recruiting on top of that, Floyd better get his shit together.  but he may be Sark's greg davis.

[justhookit 4180]

 

[ClubWhatever 12087]

That “ketch” organism is unwatchable. 

[satyanash 14281]

UTexasFootball: Many questions----not so many answers

Quote

I have a few individual questions that I would appreciate finding answers to help solve the unsolved mysteries the game last night provided. How would you like to hear the comments made this Sunday in the coaches offices? I doubt a single position coach was happy with the way their overall group played. This is the day to bond together and figure out how to progress forward.

I truly believe most feel our game plans (both sides) were poorly constructed and didn't identify any Razorback weaknesses or put stress on their game plan. I was especially disappointed in the total lack of fundamentals program wide last night. We were led to believe we had a staff of teachers that assigned detention hall slips for failure to "do it right". Last night was not a good look for supporting that assumption.

Yep, we lost this game in the trenches. Before we heat up that opinion let's also admit we lost on effort, technique, fundamentals, and preparation in addition to where the game is played---the LOS (line of scrimmage for those not familiar with my coachspeak). I'm actually more concerned about the Dline after watching a second act of desperation. They played listlessly. Too high. Too soft. Lack of proper pursuit.

Those can be corrected, or so they will tell us this week. How will they convince us getting your butt blown five yards off the LOS can be corrected? Can you reteach or correct pride? I hope so, along with proper angles and not over-running the ball. I wonder how much help the DT coach gets with the "edge" guys from the DC---strictly my opinion but one Dline coach has all he can handle attempting to instruct four different individual positions.

The Oline must have missed every meeting that discussed the pig defense because we turned the world loose and free to raid our backfield. It's a good thing we must have worked on picking up stunts or we would have sure enough embarrassed ourselves. We don't believe in the catch phrase "put a hat on a hat". We would rather miss on an attempt to phantom double a widening DE than actually stand our ground against a blitzer.

QB1 had a bad game. Indecision killed his opportunities when he actually had time to produce a positive result. He never found a step ahead of the defense. Waited too long to scramble. Stayed on one receiver too long. He's also in his second game as the main character---even his beard is underage. He needed help from his teacher/play caller. That dog never hunted. Hope the critics limit their knife wounds---both QB's played under duress.

We dropped too many big play passes. We also missed wide open targets. We missed too many tackles. We failed too many assignments. We busted too many responsibilities. Either way, it all falls back to getting whipped in the trenches. Some tried too hard. Not very many but a few left it all out on the field. The players need to shoulder much of the blame. Regardless of the play call the players need to execute to the best of their ability.

There is no magic call in any given situation. Yes, there are higher percentage calls that lean on what your troopers do best but you can't call a play that satisfies everybody's strength. Somebody must rise up and go above their pay grade on every defense called. It's the calls that ask several players to overcome their weaker techniques that make you wonder what game were they scouting when decided to call a turd in a key situation.

Players play---coaches coach. Sometimes both fail each other and you get a miserable result. It happened last night. Like I said many words ago---I wish I could listen in on the conversations occurring today. The price of poker just went up because the fan base is not a happy camper today. We can fight or quit as a team. I think both the staff and the players need to take a long look in the mirror. Changes must be made program wide.

I figure Rice is smelling blood right about now. We will get their best shot. Question is will they get our best shot?

 

[Tex-19 2869]

1 hour ago, alphahorn said:

Scipio addressed my biggest WTF from last night.  I really thought the PK hire was a brilliant game changer of a hire.  The absurd game plan he rolled out and his inability to make the necessary adjustments is extremely disappointing.  Nahlin said he's not ready to throw out a brilliant 10 year PK run after one game, but I'm getting the feeling that the PK/Lake relationship was symbiotic and neither can exist at the same high level alone.  We'll know more after TCU, and everything after OU

UW 0-2 to start the year. Maybe Lake gets fired and bring him on down lol

Jokes aside, yesterday was shockingly bad from PK. Hard to believe his DB coach was that crucial and DBs weren't the problem yesterday, but who knows

[Burt Macklin 18998]

2 hours ago, alphahorn said:

Scipio addressed my biggest WTF from last night.  I really thought the PK hire was a brilliant game changer of a hire.  The absurd game plan he rolled out and his inability to make the necessary adjustments is extremely disappointing.  Nahlin said he's not ready to throw out a brilliant 10 year PK run after one game, but I'm getting the feeling that the PK/Lake relationship was symbiotic and neither can exist at the same high level alone.  We'll know more after TCU, and everything after OU

 

1 hour ago, Tex-19 said:

UW 0-2 to start the year. Maybe Lake gets fired and bring him on down lol

Jokes aside, yesterday was shockingly bad from PK. Hard to believe his DB coach was that crucial and DBs weren't the problem yesterday, but who knows

PK had good defenses at Boise before Lake got there and like Tex-19 said, it wasn't our secondary that struggled, or at least they were the lesser offenders compared to the front 7.  PK struggled the most against Stanford's power run game in the PAC, but he also didn't try to defend Stanford with 6 man boxes.  That entire defensive game plan was a total WTF.  No idea what he thought he was doing.  I agree with Nahlin that I'm not ready to throw out over a decade of very good results as a DC, but he definitely has trouble stopping power running teams and will have to prove he can adapt to that kind of offense.  He needs to do way better moving forward.  This was flat out pathetic and extremely disappointing for someone with PK's reputation.  

[jinx 2635]

I wish someone could figure out how 4 and 5 stars turn into pussies and coaches turn stupid by simply donning the Longhorn logo. 

[JimmyJames 12271]

The play calling on both sides of the ball was bad, the OL was terrible, the defense wore out, but the fact that Hudson card played terrible is not being emphasized enough. He missed on at least three touchdowns, ran in an attempt for a first down when he had no chance of getting it, checked down when there was no chance of getting the first down, fumbled the game away, and in general played like crap. If he starts next week we still win the Rice game but ultimately we’re screwed. 

[satyanash 14281]

(Scipio Tex) 2021 Texas-Arkansas Postmortem: Offense

Quote

Texas was blanked in the first half, converting 0-6 on 3rd down, while totaling 78 yards of offense. 4 of 6 Longhorn possessions in the first stanza went 3 and out and the one drive that penetrated the Razorback 50 yard line ended in a missed field goal as 2nd and 5 on the Razorback 25 yard line turned into 4th and 15 on the Razorback 35 yard line after a sack against a 3 man pass rush and a delay of game penalty on 3rd and 10. That offensive futility was the story of the game.

While the broadcast spent a lot of time on SEC physicality and the Razorbacks certainly brought it to a passive Longhorn offense, it wasn't mentioned that defensive coordinator Barry Odom was running relatively classic Big 12 defensive schemes. Odom put the Hogs in a light box (or consistently offered the illusion of a light box as safeties came crashing downhill at the snap) while bringing LB run blitzes and line slants that confounded a simplistic Texas running game that has already forgotten the outside zone execution that carried them through the end of last year and at home last week against Louisiana. Inside zone can work against a true light box, but pin n pull and outside zone can REALLY work against a light box with blitzing linebackers, as those blitzers effectively remove themselves from relevance by declaring to a gap early. Gotta know how to block that up against multiple fronts though and it looks like we don't.

I had a bad feeling before the year that Kyle Flood would look to simplify the Texas running game into his preferred mode and that's how it went down in Fayetteville.

Interestingly, Texas ran the ball fairly effectively on 1st down early on and but fell for the illusion of a light box again on 2nd. When Texas ran the ball on 1st down against the light box and had some success, our staff inevitably ran it again into an Arkansas run blitz that ended in a tackle for loss. This exact sequence happened on 3 of the first 4 Longhorn possessions.

1st Texas possession: 1st down run, Bijan Robinson 3 yard gain. 2nd and 7. Bijan Robinson run into safety run blitz. 4 yard loss. 3rd and 11.

2nd Texas possession: 1st down run, Bijan Robinson 8 yard gain. 2nd and 2. Bijan Robinson into LB run blitz. 2 yard loss. 3rd and 4.

4th Texas possession: 1st down run, Bijan Robinson 5 yard gain. 2nd and 5. Bijan Robinson into DL slant, LB blitz. 1 yard loss. Penalty. 3rd and 11.

I picked this up on our 1st possession. Knowing that Arkansas would automatic run blitz inside on 2nd down is very useful information for an offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Texas used that information to create 3rd and long for itself and cripple any ability set the early tone. Texas went from 2nd and favorable into three 3rd and intermediate or longs simply because Odom ran a blitz exactly where he thought we'd run it again on 2nd down.

Sark ran Bijan on the first play of the drive on 5 of 6 1st half possessions. His other counters to the Arkansas run blitz on 2nd down were a 0 yard throw to Juan Davis and a 6 yard throw to Roschon on the last possession of the half.

We also saw a shoddy intersection of play calling and game management. Down 23-7 in the early 3rd quarter, Sarkisian opted to go for it on 4th and 1 on the Texas 42 yard line. If you want to do that, you'd better have something interesting in your bag, right? Not a hurried inside handoff to Bijan against a stacked box with ....wait for it....both Arkansas linebackers run blitzing into the interior gaps. Tackle for loss. Arkansas ball on a short field. 26-7 Pigs. If you're going to go for it in your territory at that stage of the game, have a play call.

It's not all about the coaches. The players didn't perform. In the passing game, the OL did a poor job of handling Arkansas looks, but when they did and created great pockets, the Longhorn passing game skill players either threw bad balls or dropped them. Those shots were schemed up and called well and should have created 14 points. Nothing.

OL

Kyle Flood has his preferred method of play and OL type. That's clear. One thing worth noting on rewatch (haha, please don't): the Texas guards don't understand square shoulders or how to maintain unit integrity by not vacating uncovered space prematurely to "help" other players. Help always goes inside-out. Which defender is closest to the QB? That's who you can't allow past your face. You don't bypass a single blocked nose tackle to help a tackle with an edge guy. Nor do you turn your shoulders or chase to do it. Stay square, slide shuffle, help with a hand, while keeping your eyes on the guy who might come downhill from LB or S if they're not dropping into coverage. Multiple times I watched Texas guards (Okafor repeatedly the worst offender) vacate interior space because they weren't covered to "help" the tackle (who usually didn't need any) leaving open a massive gap inside that Arkansas linebackers and safeties blitzed through, or the Arkansas NT delighted in finding himself in 1 on 1 on an island against the center.

That's how a light front gets pressure or a delay blitzing linebacker runs completely free. It happened multiple times.

Equally concerning for me is that when an Arkansas defensive end hit a relaxed Card low and late after a referee stoppage whistle, Christian Jones stood and watched instead of attacking the Pig defender on the ground. Would that have drawn a flag on Jones? Yes. Two flags. One on Jones and one on the Razorback defender for the cheap shot. Attacking him recognizes what happened and forces the referee to throw a flag instead of a shrug. That's how it works. And you set the tone that you're not going to be intimidated.

Later in the game, the same Arkansas defensive end had another late hit on Casey Thompson (this time called) and the OL still milled around watching. Would he have done that if he'd been handled earlier?

QB

Hudson Card (8 of 15 for 61 yards, a fumble) can't be an introverted my-play-on-the-field-is-how-I-lead guy if his play on the field isn't high level. He overthrew two long touchdowns (one hard throw to Whittington, one easy throw to Worthy) and then missed Worthy again for what would have likely been a 40+ yard gain. He also threw well under the sticks twice on 3rd down and didn't take off running against drop eight defenses when there was easy yardage available. The Texas coaches, OL, or WRs didn't help him a lot, but when you're on the road and the breaks are going against you, the QB has to make throws and play decisively.

Casey Thompson was inserted and led Texas on two 75 yard 4th quarter TD drives while rushing 7-44-2 tds and throwing 5 fo 8 for 57 yards. Garbage time? Absolutely. But Arkansas was running the exact same scheme. Casey really didn't do anything remarkable, but he took what the defense offered and played decisively.

RB

Bijan ran hard and I was shocked on rewatch how much contact he took behind or at the line of scrimmage. The game plan and play of the supporting personnel was bad and rendered him irrelevant. 19 carries, 69 yards, less than 4 ypc. The Texas runners combined for 3 catches. Against an Arkansas D alternating between Drop 8 and blitzing interior linebackers and safeties.

WR/TE

Jordan Whittington dropped two balls. Our #1 WR chain-moving dude can't do that. Freshman Xavier Worthy showed flash, notching 2-41 and should have had 100+ if Card throws a better ball. I liked Kelvontay Dixon's play on 2 catches, including the catch and turn up that led to the targeting hit near the end zone that wasn't called. Joshua Moore caught as many balls as I did.

Final

Texas was thoroughly out coached and outplayed. The coaches should consider playing and coaching the best version of the team they have instead of the team they'd like to have.

Many of these complaints are worryingly familiar...

[Hozz 1012]

I don't know what his background is but Scipio is the only after-action report worth reading.  Every other one reads like Joe Dipshit just took notes from his couch while watching the broadcast feed and put up a post on his Wordpress site.

[TwiceHorn 31283]

4 minutes ago, Hozz said:

I don't know what his background is but Scipio is the only after-action report worth reading.  Every other one reads like Joe Dipshit just took notes from his couch while watching the broadcast feed and put up a post on his Wordpress site.

Fascinating isn't it? 

From what I have gathered. he's a UT history graduate that spent a number of years in pharmaceutical/medical device sales.  I believe he's an Austin guy that never played past high school.

His writing and analysis just seem to make so much sense and have an uncommon clarity of thought and style.

[vtaenz 601]

Is Foster ever going to learn to wrap up? It's probably just viewing bias but the tackles he was in on in the game were him throwing his shoulder... again. That or attempting to strip the ball.

[Tex-19 2869]

12 hours ago, satyanash said:

(Scipio Tex) 2021 Texas-Arkansas Postmortem: Offense

Many of these complaints are worryingly familiar...

Coaches definitely need to adapt to what they have on the roster, not what they want on it. Now they've gotten a wake up call, let's see if they do it. Outside zone needs to be our primary emphasis in the run game.

The lack of creativity on offense is truly puzzling coming from Sark. Maybe he's just not comfortable with a lot of his plays yet bc of the roster. Idk. Just weird given how creative he's been in the past.

[Duane Moore 5236]

Scipio/Paul is great, and these post-mortems are just invaluable to make sense of debacles like Saturday night. If you don’t already listen to it, he does a weekly podcast called “Everyone Gets a Trophy” with Kevin Dunn that is a lot of fun 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/everyone-gets-a-trophy/id1479624200
 

All offseason he’s been saying that we should go with Karic and run a lighter, more athletic o-line that emphasizes outside zone, which is Bijan’s strength as well. He was worried Flood was going to try and graft the Alabama model on personnel that aren’t equipped to run it and it looks so far like he was right. 

[Chuckie Finster 22600]

The 9.95ers obsession with Card is one of the strangest things I've ever seen.  I at least understand IT, as they are financially invested in him, but Ketch has spent the morning spamming the twitter feed with examples of bad games early in the careers of other QBs who ended up being stars.  Why is it blasphemy to suggest that the redshirt Freshman QB who looked petrified on Saturday might not be ready yet?  Especially when he seemingly has a competent backup?

[satyanash 14281]

27 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

The 9.95ers obsession with Card is one of the strangest things I've ever seen.  I at least understand IT, as they are financially invested in him, but Ketch has spent the morning spamming the twitter feed with examples of bad games early in the careers of other QBs who ended up being stars.  Why is it blasphemy to suggest that the redshirt Freshman QB who looked petrified on Saturday might not be ready yet?  Especially when he seemingly has a competent backup?

Card missed some big throws, but the QB debate is far down the list of what's wrong with the team. Both Card and Casey are good enough to be successful with a functioning O-line and a semi-decent WR corps, neither of which we have at this point. Fixing those two groups is a higher priority and will yield better returns than yanking QBs in and out as the season progresses.

Sark could start either one next week and I wouldn't make much of it. It's the other position groups on offense that have to shape up, and fast.

Edited September 13, 2021 by satyanash

[Tex-19 2869]

55 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Card missed some big throws, but the QB debate is far down the list of what's wrong with the team. Both Card and Casey are good enough to be successful with a functioning O-line and a semi-decent WR corps, neither of which we have at this point. Fixing those two groups is a higher priority and will yield better returns than yanking QBs in and out as the season progresses.

Sark could start either one next week and I wouldn't make much of it. It's the other position groups on offense that have to shape up, and fast.

Agree with this. Card just got flustered and showed his inexperience. He should grow out of that and has plenty of ability to win games. Just might take some time like many Freshman QBs and even veteran QBs in new systems. 

[ClubWhatever 12087]

1 hour ago, satyanash said:

Card missed some big throws, but the QB debate is far down the list of what's wrong with the team. Both Card and Casey are good enough to be successful with a functioning O-line and a semi-decent WR corps, neither of which we have at this point. Fixing those two groups is a higher priority and will yield better returns than yanking QBs in and out as the season progresses.

Sark could start either one next week and I wouldn't make much of it. It's the other position groups on offense that have to shape up, and fast.

You can't fix those other things in one season.  You can change to the more ready QB.  Not missing big throws and not losing your composure in the pocket covers a multitude of Oline and WR sins.  Of course it is not the long term fix.  The biggest lever he has on outcomes at this moment is QB.  It is a big deal that he changed, and it will help a lot.

[sith_horn 2370]

1 hour ago, satyanash said:

Card missed some big throws, but the QB debate is far down the list of what's wrong with the team. Both Card and Casey are good enough to be successful with a functioning O-line and a semi-decent WR corps, neither of which we have at this point. Fixing those two groups is a higher priority and will yield better returns than yanking QBs in and out as the season progresses.

Seeing posts on other threads that there were WRs frequently open seen by those at the game that weren't viewable from camera shots on TV, and that Card failed to see them. Not being there myself, tough to know how credible or often that was, but if so perhaps the WR group isn't so destitute. Of course, there were some drops, but also missed shots. Without a doubt, Card wasn't ready for the combination of the environment and OL play and unable to execute on those plays where he had time in the pocket. Given some of the drops, perhaps Card wasn't the only one having a tough time dealing with the pressure and hostile environment. Keep in mind, with the way Covid messed up last season, it's been awhile for even some of the seasoned players since they've dealt with that kind of crowd. If nothing else, the whole team at least has this under their belt and may be better equipped going forward in that respect.

[Burt Macklin 18998]

10 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

You can't fix those other things in one season.  You can change to the more ready QB.  Not missing big throws and not losing your composure in the pocket covers a multitude of Oline and WR sins.  Of course it is not the long term fix.  The biggest lever he has on outcomes at this moment is QB.  It is a big deal that he changed, and it will help a lot.

Yeah, satya completely misses the mark here. OL is a big problem, and WR and TE could certainly be better, but none of those is getting fixed this year. Casey has showed he has the composure and mental makeup to overcome those issues much more than Card.  Since we know the other variables won't be fixed over night, you have to play Thompson until he proves otherwise.  

On top of that, one of the things a lot of people noticed from the Spring game was Card having poor feel for the pocket and poor pocket presence.  Some snaps, he sat in there without feeling the pressure and looked to run way too late and others he escaped out of a fine pocket. He did the same thing on Saturday.  Teams like ISU will eat us up with three man rushes if Card doesn't improve on that, and we don't have time to let him try to develop on the job. Sark needs to be winning as much as possible this season.

[satyanash 14281]

Ian Boyd: Beaten down in the box

Quote

Let’s start on defense. Actually check that. Bijan Robinson had 20 touches in Fayetteville which yielded only 73 yards and one touchdown. The break down is straightforward, he caught one ball for four yards, everything else was in the run game. This was one of the worst run game performances I’ve seen from the Longhorns in a while, reminiscent of the 2019 game in Ames, IA. As it happens, they were facing a similar defensive scheme. Here’s how the game opened.

It didn’t get any better, really. Let’s break these two down and then trust me when I say it really is indicative of the issues they had throughout the game.

Example 1. Alright…the fact Bijan moves sides before the snap tells you Texas actually did their homework on the Arkansas flyover defense. The Hogs’ base defense was to play a 5-technique opposite the running back to set the edge. Iowa State does this as well and Todd Orlando finally figured it out in 2020 (too late). The other end/tackle plays in a 3-technique. When Bijan flips sides he has a chance to run at an open edge, and does!

Linebacker Hayden Henry does a good job to turn the ball back in, then Grant Morgan is flying in and Henry is working off Derek Kerstetter’s block to make the stop. Denzel Okafor doesn’t find anything productive to do here, the scheme is kind of strange. I believe it’s a form of inside zone play. At any rate, Arkansas wins playing 5-on-6 because it comes down to Henry vs Kerstetter and they win that battle.

Is this an RPO? I dunno, maybe a glance to Brewer is open there but I bet he’s just looking to block Jalen Catalon rather than running a route. Honestly, the latter is probably the right call. Any routes outside of Brewer are covered up. Down below the receiver is pressed with a safety over the top so there’s nothing doing there either. Ostensibly Texas is getting what they want, Bijan isolated on an honest box, but it’s ultimately a trap. Arkansas is happy with these angles and while perhaps it should have been a win, Hayden Henry did not prove as easy to exploit as hoped.

Example 2: This one is much worse. It’s a counter run, again targeting an apparently open edge. Texas DOES have a pass option here (RPO alert!) but Arkansas covers it in man. The alley is wide open and Texas has a guard (Junior Angilau) directed to lead block into it.

So what goes wrong? Jake Majors doesn’t block down, he literally blocks in the wrong direction. The nose tackle inside of Angilau runs free, almost beating Junior to his spot before tackling Bijan from behind. The safety blitzing free off the edge might have been an issue, probably not, but it doesn’t matter because of a simple assignment error.

Assignment errors littered this game, both in run blocking and pass protection. Texas ran mostly inside zone/gap schemes and they lost a few battles but also often just whiffed on their assignments. They were drawn into the same trap Matt Campbell’s defense will set, inviting you to try and overpower them in the box. Power hardly factored in, Texas lost their composure before it came to blows.

The Hog version of the flyover defense was even more extreme than the Cyclones’. They played Markell Utsey as the boundary end/tackle (6-foot-4, 295 pounds) and Tre Williams as the field edge (6-foot-5, 260 pounds), with Isaiah Nichols (6-foot-3, 281 pounds) at nose when John Ridgeway (6-foot-6, 320 pounds) wasn’t spelling him. Grant Morgan (5-foot-11, 222 pounds) and Hayden Henry (6-foot-2, 230 pounds) started at linebacker. Those guys were both rated below .8000 by the services, let that be another lesson (in addition to Texas’ own Luke Brockermeyer) that linebacker rankings don’t necessarily mean much.

Then the Hogs played an extra safety wide in Simeon Blair (5-foot-10, 207 pounds), his job was to play as the free safety and travel wide so B.J. Catalon could stay closer to the box. Didn’t super matter though, not against the run at least, Texas wasn’t getting past the five-man front very often. And there you have it.

So why? How? What’s next? Philosophically, Steve Sarkisian wants big bag of offensive schemes to draw from when crafting his gameplans. Ideally he’d have a wealth of tools in his toolbox to control games and attack defenses, assuming his players can actually execute it. Right now? They cannot. How close are they? Unclear.

It’s important to consider the breadth of change which has occurred. For years, Tom Herman’s philosophy was built on being able to run tight zone against any conceivable defensive front and then account for numbers in the box with the passing game or quarterback runs. It was a big deal in 2020 when they shifted to “let’s run wide zone on every defensive front” and it wasn’t until the end of the year (and after inserting Jake Majors) that they really got it right.

Sark and Kyle Flood want to run outside zone against one team, duo and counter against another, pin and pull or sweeps the next week, and sprinkle in multiple varieties of inside zone every week. Notre Dame has a similar approach these days…it takes a while to develop the O-line for it. Especially when the O-line is A) not great and B) hard-wired by years of training to run the same zone play over half the snaps.

So, is the solution to simplify around what they do best? Maybe (probably), but even then how close are they? Against Arkansas they were in the horrible space where between missed assignments or getting beat, it was hard for anything to go right.

The quarterback battle should be settled by who best sets up Bijan Robinson to win games but the answer to that question will be “no one” if Texas blocks in the Big 12 like they did against Arkansas. The “Casey Thompson gives Texas the best chance to make something of nothing” argument is a dead end. You can’t beat good teams that way, Texas needs to actually develop and execute something on offense. Given Hudson Card’s special ability to hit receivers on the move, it’s not even a no-brainer.

***

Alright, now let’s talk defense. Texas played decent defense in this game in the first half and up until the big play surrendered after the Longhorn offense finally scored. From there, things unraveled. The issue was the gameplan, which Pete Kwiatkowski is right to be rethinking. His plan was to play mostly “vision quarters” with some occasional blitzing, the latter of which would ramp up in the red zone. This was successful at forcing Arkansas to kick field goals.

Honestly, this would be a decent gameplan against much of the Big 12, especially with some tighter rotations on defense and continued improvements in technique up front. Anthony Cook and the Texas cornerbacks are pretty good in this scheme, they tackle well on the perimeter. Texas needs more depth at Jack linebacker, but it wasn’t the killer in this contest. Here’s two consecutive plays on the Hogs’ second drive which show some of the highs and lows of Texas’ defensive play in this game.

Example 1: This is a nasty play design by Arkansas. They send the running back flaring out to the field, who’s responsible for him? The nickel and the Mike linebacker have to wide and adjust to make sure he doesn’t beat them to the edge on a quick toss. With the Mike linebacker cleared out of the box, or at least frozen in place, the offense then runs GT counter opposite him for their 250 pound quarterback.

Here’s the problem for Arkansas. Who’s the Mike linebacker? The 2-4-5 has muddied the picture. Jacoby Jones is dropping back to play as the Mike linebacker, the 3-technique is looping to handle his duties on the edge, and Luke Brockermeyer is blitzing into the B-gap to replace the 3-technique. The Hogs don’t pick it up, Brock runs free into space left open by pulling blockers, and K.J. Jefferson is tackled for a loss. For Texas, this is basically a standard 4-2-5 Over backed by two-high quarters, but by changing just a few roles they maintain a sound, base scheme while creating a big problem for Arkansas.

Example 2: This time there’s no chicanery by Texas, they play it straight in the same defensive scheme. Arkansas uses something they worked throughout the game, getting two eligible receivers into the boundary and having them run a two-man route pattern on a running play (RPO). It’s the same stress they were trying to create in example one. Does DeMarvion Overshown honor his pass game responsibility against the flat-slant combination by the tight end and outside receiver? Or aggressively fill the open A-gap?

The right answer is A), count his ducks against the pass first by maintaining enough depth and width to rob the slant while leaving the flat route for the cornerback. This might have worked had the nose not been washed down, resulting in a wide open crease for the back to hit without hesitation. PK’s 2-4-5 hinges on having good, heavy play by the defensive tackles to slow things up inside and afford the rest of the defense time and the defensive coordinator a chance to field some speed and versatility elsewhere.

Here’s the issue for PK, why are you in two-high against K.J. Jefferson and Arkansas. Against Oklahoma who has a more limited arsenal of RPOs and (perhaps) a less physical run game? By all means, make them earn their way down the field and punch the ball in. But against Arkansas, who wants nothing to do with asking Jefferson to beat your coverage down the field, you want to reach for your other base coverage, Match 3.

In Match 3, B.J. Foster drops down in example two to take the tight end and Overshown is free to fill the A-gap without restraint. It seems PK’s thought in this game was “I bet if I make Jefferson and the Hogs earn all their points against two-high, they’ll fail to finish drives.”

A reasonable bet, but you’d have preferred something more aggressive about attacking Jefferson’s weaknesses. The other question everyone is surely asking would be, “was the Texas defensive staff lulled into believing their defensive tackles were better than they are by beating up on the Texas O-line?” With better play at defensive tackle, this gameplan looks better, although they were ultimately doomed by the play of the offense. It would have been very easy for Texas to have played better on defense and still lost.

Before we wrap up on defense, let’s look at the big defensive breakdown which arguably broke PK’s unit in this game.

Unless PK already had it in his arsenal, I think Terry Joseph may have brought this one from Notre Dame. The Irish had a blitz like this which totally befuddled Sam Howell last year. It’s clever, the nickel blitzes the edge and the strong safety comes from the boundary and replaces him in carrying the slot receiver up to the safety. When a quarterback sees a nickel blitzing it’s normal for him to try and find his slot receiver, and then Foster is robbing him.

The problem, aside from the lack fo pressure, is D’Shawn Jamison loses track of his man and lets him run by for an easy pitch and catch. Naturally this mistake came immediately after Texas had finally made some plays by picking off Jefferson (on another of their replacement blitzes) and scoring.

To my eyes the rewatch revealed a defense which is close to being able to execute a high level scheme which is likely to cause tremendous problems for Big 12 offenses. The offense is less close (although how far is unclear) from having enough mastery over their own system to allow Bijan to present similar issues for Big 12 defenses. Rice comes at a nice time, Texas needs an offensive tuneup.

 

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

On 9/13/2021 at 7:59 AM, Tex-19 said:

The lack of creativity on offense is truly puzzling coming from Sark. Maybe he's just not comfortable with a lot of his plays yet bc of the roster. Idk. Just weird given how creative he's been in the past.

It’s pretty simple. Sark’s offensive foundation is various forms of inside zone, and the RPO and PA game off of it. 

He will run some gap schemes and OZ as well, but those are largely complimentary. He doesn’t like the wide stuff because the backside end or contain player is often unaccounted for, and this makes it difficult to build his RPO and RPO looking PA passes off of them. There are a few in the Bama highlights from last year, but they are always completions near the LOS, and often the pass is completed around the arms of the free backside defender. 

Sark will also run counter plays, but much of his counter action and pulling gap stuff is largely eye candy for the defense and his RPO/PA game with a solid pocket being formed. 

I can only imagine that an RPO game built off of OZ would require consistent use of an arc blocking end, influencing orbit motion and or boot action for the QB. I’m sure there’s hay to be made there, but perhaps not the quick hitting candy with minimal decision making and coverage reading for the QB. 

There are no offenses that work well with an inept GCG combo. That must be shored up, and the run game simplified if it’s too complex with too many concepts imoho. Functional and reliable if not overly fluent should be the order of the day imoho. And then hold on until more athletic bodies that match our OL coach’s ideals are recruited or transferred in. 

Edited September 14, 2021 by Bobby_Batronic

[Texasrocks 2124]

1 hour ago, satyanash said:

The “Casey Thompson gives Texas the best chance to make something of nothing” argument is a dead end. You can’t beat good teams that way, Texas needs to actually develop and execute something on offense. Given Hudson Card’s special ability to hit receivers on the move, it’s not even a no-brainer.

Someone tell Boyd your NOT supposed to go full retard.

[LTtxfan 48980]

5 hours ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

There are no offenses that work well with an inept GCG combo. That must be shored up, and the run game simplified if it’s too complex with too many concepts imoho. Functional and reliable if not overly fluent should be the order of the day imoho. And then hold on until more athletic bodies that match our OL coach’s ideals are recruited or transferred in. 

 

The O-line is currently mentally fragile.

Flood needs to run what the current OL personnel are capable of having success with -- simplify right now and run a high number of reps in practice so this OL group knows their assignments in their sleep.   Have to generate some successes and build some confidence.

As the season progresses, gradually add more things to the playbook when the players can handle it. 

I also really hope Flood decides to make changes in the personnel, especially playing Karic more often. This OL needs more juice.

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by LTtxfan
typo

[taybo20 2815]

Ian Boyd espousing how great Card is at hitting WRs in motion after a dismal performance of doing just that is the purest form of 'conflict of interest'.

 

[jinx 2635]

On 9/13/2021 at 8:51 AM, Hozz said:

I don't know what his background is but Scipio is the only after-action report worth reading.  Every other one reads like Joe Dipshit just took notes from his couch while watching the broadcast feed and put up a post on his Wordpress site.

The early days of Barking Carnival were as good as the Longhorn net has ever been. 

[Burt Macklin 18998]

2 minutes ago, jinx said:

The early days of Barking Carnival were as good as the Longhorn net has ever been. 

Well sure they were great, but do you really think that tops Westcott Eberts in his prime at BON? 

Edited September 15, 2021 by Burt Macklin

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

 

The O-line is currently mentally fragile.

Flood needs to run what the current OL personnel are capable of having success with -- simplify right now and run a high number of reps in practice so this OL group knows their assignments in their sleep.   Have to generate some successes and build some confidence.

As the season progresses, gradually add more things to the playbook when the players can handle it. 

I also really hope Flood decides to make changes in the personnel, especially playing Karic more often. This OL needs more juice.

 

Eggzactly.  Looks like we’re trying to run 20 different concepts, most of which weren’t our strengths to begin with, and are running them poorly at best.

We’ve seen what Flood wants the line to look like. Big, ugly, mashers. Problem is we’re mostly just big and ugly. Running wide negates much of Sark’s RPO game because the backside end is usually free, but that may just have to be the price we pay until we can add marginal ability to run block inside a part of our repertoire. Maybe even get crazy and use that orbit motion to influence the end by actually getting them the ball or some 20 personnel counter draw action. Something where the line can do what it usually does and one or two players doing something else blows up the defensive keys or out leverages them. Ya know, coordinate and offense or something. 

[Texasrocks 2124]

6 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Well sure they were great, but do you really think that tops Westcott Eberts in his prime at BON? 

It's hard to believe that BON was the best Texas site for a chunk of time. That chunk of time ended abruptly when Peter Bean left.

[TwiceHorn 31283]

14 minutes ago, Texasrocks said:

It's hard to believe that BON was the best Texas site for a chunk of time. That chunk of time ended abruptly when Peter Bean left.

And what's crazier still is that Peter Bean apparently is an off-the-rails drug addict.

[Brandon 193]

Click through the thread and watch for some solid commentary on how Arkansas ran all over us. 

[gmr548 16517]

And what's crazier still is that Peter Bean apparently is an off-the-rails drug addict.

That’s actually a pretty rational response to covering Texas Football, IMO

[bigcigar 1161]

3 hours ago, Brandon said:

Click through the thread and watch for some solid commentary on how Arkansas ran all over us. 

But it was all on the offense.

[Thatguy 8505]

11 hours ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

It’s pretty simple. Sark’s offensive foundation is various forms of inside zone, and the RPO and PA game off of it. 

He will run some gap schemes and OZ as well, but those are largely complimentary. He doesn’t like the wide stuff because the backside end or contain player is often unaccounted for, and this makes it difficult to build his RPO and RPO looking PA passes off of them. There are a few in the Bama highlights from last year, but they are always completions near the LOS, and often the pass is completed around the arms of the free backside defender. 

Sark will also run counter plays, but much of his counter action and pulling gap stuff is largely eye candy for the defense and his RPO/PA game with a solid pocket being formed. 

I can only imagine that an RPO game built off of OZ would require consistent use of an arc blocking end, influencing orbit motion and or boot action for the QB. I’m sure there’s hay to be made there, but perhaps not the quick hitting candy with minimal decision making and coverage reading for the QB. 

There are no offenses that work well with an inept GCG combo. That must be shored up, and the run game simplified if it’s too complex with too many concepts imoho. Functional and reliable if not overly fluent should be the order of the day imoho. And then hold on until more athletic bodies that match our OL coach’s ideals are recruited or transferred in. 

  OZ or Wide Zone RPOs lend less throwing options than IZ. As you said, there is hay to be made there, but not sure you wanna make it a staple. Much more of the field is avail for RPOs running IZ. 

[Viper 12030]

14 hours ago, Texasrocks said:

It's hard to believe that BON was the best Texas site for a chunk of time. That chunk of time ended abruptly when Peter Bean left.

 

13 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

And what's crazier still is that Peter Bean apparently is an off-the-rails drug addict.

Is that crazier or simply explanative?

[TwiceHorn 31283]

6 minutes ago, Viper said:

 

Is that crazier or simply explanative?

Actually, I believe he left because he was admitted to the bar and became a full-time lawdog.

A few years later, the chemical problems came to light.

[JBJ 3649]

IZ doesn't block the backside edge either.  RPOs often pass-pro the backside.

The biggest benefit to having a lot of OZ in your playbook is that there's a greater variety of Zone Reads and QB runs to pair with it.  Which Sark doesn't like to run.

Edited September 15, 2021 by JBJ