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Game Week, Rice edition

Wulaw Horn

By Wulaw Horn
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Longboard Horn

Longboard Horn 41405

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Posted
On 9/14/2021 at 5:18 PM, Horn Dogg said:

I love Casey’s attitude.  I have no doubt we’re going to get his 100% effort on the field.  Whether or not he can get it done is another story, but he’s sure as hell not going to take this opportunity for granted and will fight to the end to make the most of it.  If I were his teammate I could get behind him pretty easily!

Casey balls out and throws 5 TDs in the first half. You heard it here first!

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Longboard Horn

Longboard Horn 41405

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Posted
6 minutes ago, Tylerocks said:

Don't let their first half against Arky fool you, Rice is bad.

Like, bad bad.

I know there is a lot of PTSD around here, but Texas should win convincingly.

I'd take Texas -23 or whatever the line is.

 

Arky was caught looking ahead to Texas and Rice capitalized off early mistakes. 

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satyanash

satyanash 15659

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(Ian Boyd) Inside the gameplan: Adjusting against Rice

Quote

If Steve Sarkisian wanted to take a stab at re-establishing the Texas offensive identity this would be the week to do it. Through two games, the Texas offense has shown only two positive dimensions, the 20 personnel package utilized to generate a spread passing attack for Hudson Card against ULL, and then Casey Thompson’s running against Arkansas. The spread passing sets would do favors for Thompson while Card is certainly no slouch as a runner, but the identity for Texas right now is fairly thin, tends to only show up on third down, and is noticeably lacking a key dimension…running the ball with Bijan Robinson.

It’s no great surprise this early in the season and Sark tenure, but much of what this Texas offense does best is what they did well under Tom Herman. There’s no bevy of Alabama offensive players, largely recruited and developed by Lane Kiffin and other coaches following his formula under the supervision of Nick Saban (and observed by Sark himself). There is a superstar running back though and a chance to mix in some more familiar looks for this Texas team.

Getting Bijan going against the Owls

This shouldn’t really be terribly difficult. Bijan has already shown an amazing knack for generating positive gains under bad circumstances in Weeks 1 and 2 and there should be some good circumstances when the Texas offensive line is blocking the Owls’ front. The million dollar question is the extent to which the Texas offense will look different when Thompson is at the helm relative to what we’ve seen with Card.

Against Rice, I wouldn’t necessarily expect too many differences, but we’ll see. What this offense needs right now is to get some easy wins and build some confidence. If Sark wanted to lean into some quarterback run schemes (pending how many are even in the playbook), there’s some potential to break some big runs in this game. Thompson has some breakaway speed and the spread-option has always been a big part of his game since he was a star sophomore running for 1,000 yards in Southmoore, OK.

A potentially instructive point of comparison here would be Texas’ game against San Jose State in 2017. Shane Buechele injured his shoulder in the humiliating debacle against Maryland so true freshman Sam Ehlinger got the start.

Texas then proceeded to trot out some 12 personnel looks and run power and a little play-action on the Spartans. Why not? There was nothing SJ State could do about it. The following week Buechele was also expected to be out and they had a very different gameplan. Texas ran 11 and even 10 personnel heavily against the USC Trojans on the road in the Coliseum and Ehlinger got 19 carries while also attempting 40 passes.

Included among those carries were some zone-read plays and then quarterback power schemes Tom Herman had been sitting on until he needed them for a big game. How much does Sark have in the playbook for maximizing Thompson’s legs and how much are we likely to see against Rice? The answer to the first question appears to be, “more than he’s been letting on.” Obviously Texas has a zone-read game because Card scored with it against Louisiana. Then they also have this tweak they showed against Arkansas:

That’s not a zone-read, watch Bijan’s track, he’s blocking all the way and so is Cade Brewer. You could call this “zone follow” but ultimately it’s “quarterback power.” It’s actually roughly the same play Iowa State stopped against Texas last year on 4th-and-1, but with some misdirection (it presents like their read play Card scored on the previous week) and they don’t try to run it at Mike Rose. I’m curious if Casey is stepping up to the line to check to “quarterback power” from a zone-read to make sure they have the numbers they need.

There’s no doubt Thompson has years of experience on box counts and quarterback runs in the spread offense. Here was another interesting play from Texas, which could be an obvious upside of playing Thompson heavily.

A bad whiff by Derek Kerstetter obscures what is otherwise a reasonably well-blocked play. Jake Majors shines in this scheme and Christian Jones has the quickness to make reach blocks on the back end. Junior Angilau looks awkward lunging at his man here but he does seal him outside and allows for the cutback.

Way back when Gary Kubiak was mentioned in connection with Texas I mentioned the obvious fit between this scheme and the Texas roster. It’s downright impossible for a backside contain player to force a “give” read by a quarterback with Thompson’s speed on any outside zone-read play and still make the tackle on the running back, so you can always get a numbers advantage. You won’t get angles and numbers THIS good…

split-OZR-vs-Hogs.jpg

…but you’ll help your team out. As has been emphasized for months now, this is also the run scheme in which Texas’ O-line clearly has the greatest comfort. They spent 2020 working on it and it suits the quickness of players like Jake Majors, Christian Jones, and Andrej Karic. Sark could easily scheme some outside zone plays from the shotgun for Bijan which don’t even ask Thompson to pull the ball down much, if at all.

No defense is excited to stop the Texas outside zone game by giving away a backside edge to a fast quarterback, the Owls may scheme up some disguises but Texas needn’t overly involve the quarterback run. An outside zone-heavy approach, perhaps mixing in Andrej Karic at right tackle, could allow Bijan to dominate the Owls and pile up gaudy stats. This would then build confidence for the rest of the offense.

Moving forward on offense

A bigger question here is what Sark intends to do after the humiliating performance by his offensive line against the Hogs? Keep running the same offense and just take an opportunity to get better? Or zero in on some spread schemes leftover from the previous era and let Thompson cook in the offense he was recruited and developed to execute for three seasons? Speaking of offense suited to Thompson, these were also familiar concepts.

These were both Greg Davis staples. The bubble screen seems like a predetermined read and not a true RPO, but Brewer blocks it well and Jordan Whittington was recruited by Herman for his ability to be a flex running back on concepts like this. The second play is whip-dig, inside receiver runs a whip route and the guy outside of him runs a dig behind him. The idea is to hold the inside linebacker with the whip so the dig can get open behind him with a big passing window. Arkansas obliged and Thompson has an easy pitch and catch to his top receiver for a big gain on third down.

Again, you won’t get looks this good very often, but these are simple spread concepts which pair well with a zone-option run game and Texas’ personnel. Texas worked the whip-dig combination very heavily back in 2005. The threat of the zone-option run game and Vince Young scramble tended to occupy the minds of defensive coordinators and consequently there was typically a lot of space to attack with two-man route combinations to the field involving tight end David Thomas and the slot (usually Billy Pittman).

To what extent will Sark adjust his approach this season to run something closer to the Herman offense or a simpler, zone-option spread? We may not fully know until Texas Tech, if then.

However in many regards, this offense has the makings of a strong Herman offense. Brewer is arriving at Andrew Beck levels of effectiveness after returning for a fifth year and cutting some weight. The offensive line found an identity at the end of 2020 which has carryover into this season. Casey Thompson and Hudson Card alike have years of experience in this sort of system (remember they ran this at Lake Travis). Jordan Whittington is a close proxy to what Devin Duvernay and Lil’Jordan Humphrey offered as volume receivers in the slot. Finally, Bijan Robinson is the star running back Herman has lacked ever since he waived goodbye to Ezekiel Elliott with a hand adorned by a National Championship ring Zeke helped place on his finger.

Sarkisian has his own system he wants to get to, emphasizing downfield shots and quarterback play in the pocket. To make the most of his time at Texas, he may need to borrow more from his predecessor’s plan until the roster has been reworked in his image. The goal has to be to clear space for Bijan Robinson to run in. Whether this happens due to vertical play-action shots, RPOs, outside zone, or even inside zone, determining the best course needs to be Sark’s priority if he wants to avoid embarrassments in Big 12 play.

 

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squeegeedegg

squeegeedegg 733

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40 minutes ago, westexhorn said:

We do have to play Texas Tech first

Wouldn't surprise me to see a similar approach from Tech's defense that we got from Arky.   Getting them at home will help a lot to defuse the energy guys like Merriweather, Jeffers, Morgenstern, Monroe, even Schooler have when playing Texas

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westexhorn

westexhorn 2167

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2 minutes ago, squeegeedegg said:

Wouldn't surprise me to see a similar approach from Tech's defense that we got from Arky.   Getting them at home will help a lot to defuse the energy guys like Merriweather, Jeffers, Morgenstern, Monroe, even Schooler have when playing Texas

yup, Arkansas laid out the blueprint.  Noone is going to deviate too much.  At the same time we know what we've got to fix moving forward.

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ClubWhatever

ClubWhatever 12324

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11 hours ago, Tylerocks said:

Don't let their first half against Arky fool you, Rice is bad.

Like, bad bad.

I know there is a lot of PTSD around here, but Texas should win convincingly.

I'd take Texas -23 or whatever the line is.

 

Their offense is pretty bad but they have a good defense.  Like no shit good.  Not more talented individually but so far better coached than ours..   They also have a QB that is faster than all but one of our defensive starters.  If we roll out another brain dead game plan then we won’t cover. 

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Thatguy

Thatguy 9455

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On 9/13/2021 at 6:00 PM, closetojumping said:

Let’s be real, though. Thompson is just as much of a JAG as Card. Neither of these guys is going to deter a star QB from committing, for sure. 

   Major, Colt, and Sam were all supposed to be Jags. We all loved the first guy, and last I checked the last two are earning paychecks in the National Football League. You never know how a kid is going to turn out until you toss em in the fire. We should've learn that lesson with Brees.

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8350

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On 9/15/2021 at 1:03 AM, ztejas said:

Yeah I counted it after the fact as well. The fact that I'm on the right side of 300 should tell you to chill. 

And I guess the rest of your comment is you attempting to deflect what I addressed? Arkansas is nothing like OU. I will not be worried about Sark coaching the OU game until he coaches an OU game. There is nothing like it on our schedule or on any other schedule in the country. 

Goddamit this is so frustrating to keep reading from you young 'uns. It is, and always has been, almost exactly like OU and until we start acting like it down here, we will be punked again and again by these assholes in the SEC. Yes every team does want to beat us but Arky is off the charts level. I don't think Mack understood it at first, either. 

What, do you find it unseemly for almighty TEXAS to have to actually concern ourselves with yet another yokel state's football team? Does the prospect of two major rivalry games in one season not compute for you? Well, get used to it because come SEC times we will be having three every year. 

 They HATE us and play like it. We dismiss them as just another opponent and get out intensitied and ratfucked. 

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Tylerocks

Tylerocks 2603

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11 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

Their offense is pretty bad but they have a good defense.  Like no shit good.  Not more talented individually but so far better coached than ours..   They also have a QB that is faster than all but one of our defensive starters.  If we roll out another brain dead game plan then we won’t cover. 

"Scares ya to death"

 

I'm not going to argue...I don't see their D as being "good". At all.

They're giving up 41/game and were beaten on the ground by Arky and through a balanced attack by UH.

We'll see...I agree with you about the game plan.

 

I think we cover by halftime, honestly.

 

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immamac

immamac 44422

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3 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Goddamit this is so frustrating to keep reading from you young 'uns. It is, and always has been, almost exactly like OU and until we start acting like it down here, we will be punked again and again by these assholes in the SEC. Yes every team does want to beat us but Arky is off the charts level. I don't think Mack understood it at first, either. 

What, do you find it unseemly for almighty TEXAS to have to actually concern ourselves with yet another yokel state's football team? Does the prospect of two major rivalry games in one season not compute for you? Well, get used to it because come SEC times we will be having three every year. 

 They HATE us and play like it. We dismiss them as just another opponent and get out intensitied and ratfucked. 

I don't get this either. Texas traveled extremely well to fayettnam and it didn't matter it was louder than DKR ever gets. Texas fans need to step it the fuck up and start coming early, being loud, and making DKR a fucking scary place to be.

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Funk Doctor Spock

Funk Doctor Spock 13292

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12 minutes ago, immamac said:

I don't get this either. Texas traveled extremely well to fayettnam and it didn't matter it was louder than DKR ever gets. Texas fans need to step it the fuck up and start coming early, being loud, and making DKR a fucking scary place to be.

Until all the blue hairs die off, I'm afraid it will be awhile. It's getting closer, but God damn if those old mf'ers don't hold on to dear life 

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hobbs

hobbs 250

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5 minutes ago, immamac said:

I don't get this either. Texas traveled extremely well to fayettnam and it didn't matter it was louder than DKR ever gets. Texas fans need to step it the fuck up and start coming early, being loud, and making DKR a fucking scary place to be.

Yep, while watching the shitshow and getting abused by Arky fans around us, I kept thinking about how good their crowd was...it was rocking.  We rarely sniff an atmosphere like that, unless it's a BIG night game.  They were out for blood and we completely shit the bed.  Yes, it was a monster game for them, but their student section was berserk.

Obviously, I don't expect a raucous crowd for Rice, but we gotta get it together on the crowd front.  It's always going to be a struggle because of the West side olds (I'm one of them), but we have major room for improvement, per usual.

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Tylerocks

Tylerocks 2603

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14 minutes ago, immamac said:

I don't get this either. Texas traveled extremely well to fayettnam and it didn't matter it was louder than DKR ever gets. Texas fans need to step it the fuck up and start coming early, being loud, and making DKR a fucking scary place to be.

It's never been scary, and probably never will be a scary place to play.  At least not because the fans are loud/raucous.

 

Hell, if Rice score on their first drive, you'll be able to hear a mouse fart in that place.

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Valmy77

Valmy77 13626

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On 9/12/2021 at 10:48 AM, USNALonghorn said:

Team Casey here. At least he has some capacity to punish a defense.

I mean maybe one is a little better than the other but is a bunch of garbage time TDs against Colorado and Arky so amazing that we are jumping on teams and saying Sark is a failure if he doesn't start one? Man we are some delusional motherfuckers. Both of those dudes are unproven.

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SHOOTER12

SHOOTER12 8890

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Posted

"Everybody's a badass until they get busted in the mouth"

Is every game we play winnable? Your damn right they are. Until we take on the attitude that we are playing prime Alabama every single week we're going to have disappointments due to a lesser program sneaking up and kicking Us in the ass. There are no gimmies anymore and if we don't start taking every single opponent is serious as a heart attack we ain't going to see nothing but f****** heartbreak. It's time for a kill or be killed attitude with everyone we come across regardless of how crappy they are or small they are. End rant

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BrazilHorn

BrazilHorn 6857

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50 minutes ago, Tylerocks said:

It's never been scary, and probably never will be a scary place to play.  At least not because the fans are loud/raucous.

 

Hell, if Rice score on their first drive, you'll be able to hear a mouse fart in that place.

It has been plenty loud for big games

That night game vs Missouri was crazy loud

The LSU game was loud

The ND game was loud

Getting crazy for Rice, on the heels of getting Arky balls dragged across their face on national TV? Not going to happen.

When team is winning or it is a big game (GameDay on campus, cool opponent eg) the fans show up.

A 7-8 win Texas team playing a sub par Big 12 team or a shitty OOC team, it will never be a loud stadium for that.

 

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Enchubben

Enchubben 5600

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1 minute ago, BrazilHorn said:

It has been plenty loud for big games

That night game vs Missouri was crazy loud

The LSU game was loud

The ND game was loud

Getting crazy for Rice, on the heels of getting Arky balls dragged across their face on national TV? Not going to happen.

When team is winning or it is a big game (GameDay on campus, cool opponent eg) the fans show up.

A 7-8 win Texas team playing a sub par Big 12 team or a shitty OOC team, it will never be a loud stadium for that.

 

It was loud for the USC game a couple years back IMO.

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Hammerin Hank

Hammerin Hank 1268

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37 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

I mean maybe one is a little better than the other but is a bunch of garbage time TDs against Colorado and Arky so amazing that we are jumping on teams and saying Sark is a failure if he doesn't start one? Man we are some delusional motherfuckers. Both of those dudes are unproven.

People need to quit saying this. It was 17-10 at halftime and we were looking like shit. Not garbage time. Casey came in saved our ass. 🤘🏼

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BrazilHorn

BrazilHorn 6857

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1 minute ago, Enchubben said:

It was loud for the USC game a couple years back IMO.

For sure, didn't make an exhaustive list here but USC was loud

Ricky's record breaking run vs Aggy was crazy loud game

the Nebraska games were loud etc

We have had 10 years of shitty football and unlike some campuses where there is nothing else to do in town, Austin offers a fuckload of distractions.

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ousux

ousux 5649

Posted
Posted
I mean maybe one is a little better than the other but is a bunch of garbage time TDs against Colorado and Arky so amazing that we are jumping on teams and saying Sark is a failure if he doesn't start one? Man we are some delusional motherfuckers. Both of those dudes are unproven.
TSRH

I said before the season I was ok with whoever Sark chooses at QB, and that hasnt changed. Having said that, if Casey engineers an offense explosion that mudholes Owl, Card needs to observe with a clipboard/headset the rest of the season. Kid has some skills for sure, but Arky was too big of a stage for him at this point in his career. (Yes I'm aware the O-line didnt do him any favors, but it was the same guys blocking for Casey)
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High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter 11194

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On 9/12/2021 at 8:43 AM, DaysOff said:

I think I'm done watching sports in general. My 30 year old ass would've kicked my ass for thinking that. Wrong side of 50 makes you realize you've got 30 years left. Four hour games that are mostly commercials just aren't fun and seem like a waste of time. Let me know when VY's kid is playing. Then, maybe.

 

I'm not there yet, but its happening. I've stopped watching baseball, NBA, NFL. I'm down to college football and some college basketball. It won't be long, now.

 

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ousux

ousux 5649

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SIAP:  Forget Horns down, Rice fans will be taunting us with cheers like:
"Harass them!  Harass  them! Force them to relinquish the ball!"
There will likely  be some rude (but funny) trickeration from the M.O.B. as well.
Let the MOB do whatever they can think of. Fuck pc pussies, let them run to their safe space and pet each others wittle feewings.
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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8350

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2 minutes ago, ousux said:
53 minutes ago, El Squared said:
SIAP:  Forget Horns down, Rice fans will be taunting us with cheers like:
"Harass them!  Harass  them! Force them to relinquish the ball!"
There will likely  be some rude (but funny) trickeration from the M.O.B. as well.

Let the MOB do whatever they can think of. Fuck pc pussies, let them run to their safe space and pet each others wittle feewings.

hating on the MOB is aggy

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ShaggyBevo RIP

ShaggyBevo RIP 3873

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, ousux said:
1 hour ago, El Squared said:
SIAP:  Forget Horns down, Rice fans will be taunting us with cheers like:
"Harass them!  Harass  them! Force them to relinquish the ball!"
There will likely  be some rude (but funny) trickeration from the M.O.B. as well.

Let the MOB do whatever they can think of. Fuck pc pussies, let them run to their safe space and pet each others wittle feewings.

I'm sure the MOB will do something related to departing the Big 12

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Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 11296

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Posted
On 9/16/2021 at 7:52 AM, gmr548 said:

Nah. Texas is going to blow the doors off Rice and the kool aid will be flowing again.

No kool aid at all until 10 wins.  Period.  Never again.  I've been telling myself since the turtle debut.

Nevar.

Again.

Show me 10 wins, then I will drink freely.

Until then, Parcells.

This game tomorrow is only meaningful in negative ways.

If we cover, we did what we were supposed to but no kool aid.

Anything else, and it's not positive.

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