Back away from the ledge!! It's not as bad as you think ....yet.

[victory88 5660]

17 hours ago, TexArcher said:

Unfortunately, this is probably right.  I'm hoping for improvement, and fast, but I think mediocre is the ceiling for this group, and they've got a ways to go to get there.

On the bright side, we should be able to get just about every OL we want for next fall's class.  You want a chance to play immediately, in the SEC, be on tv all the time, and block for a Heisman candidate?  If we can't recruit the best linemen in Texas with that pitch, it's time to worry about the next several seasons.

Yeah buddy, we basically got SMU/UH level OL recruits last year and this year may be marginally better...

[bullet 1596]

21 minutes ago, Blotto said:

I keep reading that on this site and other places, and cant help but laugh that people accept that as fact.  That shit effort I witnessed on Saturday was a coaching failure across the board. Offense, Defense, and ST. We'll know in two years if we have a good staff. Early results not overwhelmingly positive, despite whatever the $9.95 crowd pumps out. 

in reply to this comment

 

Players weren't as well prepared as the opponents.  Game plan didn't work.  Didn't appear to be any change other than QB during the game.

Sark's stubborness was not a good sign.  You don't want people over-reacting, but you don't want to ignore problems and hope they go away (a la Charlie Strong).

[ClubWhatever 12087]

19 minutes ago, Blotto said:

I keep reading that on this site and other places, and cant help but laugh that people accept that as fact.  That shit effort I witnessed on Saturday was a coaching failure across the board. Offense, Defense, and ST. We'll know in two years if we have a good staff. Early results not overwhelmingly positive, despite whatever the $9.95 crowd pumps out. 

in reply to this comment

 

Maybe if he re-qualifies that from ‘over a decade’ to ‘7 years’ you will buy it?   We had the Louisville staff followed by the Houston staff with lots of Rutgers and Nebraska mixed in.  Now we have chunks of the Washington and Alabama staff with only a little bit of Rutgers and no Nebraska.  We are at least getting winning coaches from our own division of football now.  We fans need to let the admin play the long game here and back the fuck off.  As in like for 5 years.   Yes the staff had a shitty day.  There will be more.  It’s all a building process.  

[Thatguy 8505]

2 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

@thatguy Did you see any adjustments once they realized that the game plan wasn't working? Or did they just dig in?

  They rode the horse they came on. But, don't let these guys fool you with their bitching and complaining. I mean, we all were disappointed and embarrassed, but let's look at this thing objectively. We couldn't run it because we kept missing assignments and we couldn't throw it because our QB was rattled trying to throw into the teeth of 8 defenders. No plays were working for one reason or another that had shit at all to do with playcalling. It was the players who were fucking up. Card self sacked himself numerous times when he had a clean pocket had he just stepped up. When he wasn't self sacking he was timidly holding onto the ball because the windows were tight with them dropping 8. When he did throw it he overthrew it. When he was on the money we dropped it.

 

  Bottom line, if they just simply clean up the glaring mistakes we will be pretty solid.

[Bobby Layne 266]

17 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

It appears it was Okafor that had the assignment to trap the unblocked DT. Angilau was pulling, Jones was down blocking the DE, and Majors was supposed double team the play side end and release to the 2nd level. Okafor instead ran into Majors, and no one touched the DT which allowed him unabated to Robinson.

Angilau was supposed to go block the play side safety, which if done correctly Robinson would have had a huge lane to get upfield especially if Majors could have gotten to the 2nd level and walled off the backside pursuit of either the LB or S.

So. That one play was why the Oline played shitty all night? At what point did they get pissed and push some Pigs face in? 

[Bobby Layne 266]

8 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Here is what seems to be the thing.

Sarkisian has a system he wants to run.  That's fine.  He also seems to think that he either has Alabama-level talent or Texas' alleged talent differential over the rest of the schedule (it does mostly exist on paper) allows him to scheme and gameplan as though he was still at Alabama.

I suppose at some level that is an understandable mistake.  Or something that might require a bit of an adjustment.

Herman seemed to make the same mistake, which didn't really make sense given that he'd had a couple of years of not-OSU talent at UH.  But it might have been that the talent differential of UH (Ed Oliver?  Greg Ward?) versus the rest of the AAC allowed him to continue the delusion that he/we could "impose our will" on our opponents.  And, there's the fact that he's Tom fuckin Herman.

But we know damned well that whatever the recruiting rankings say, our talent advantage is often or most times illusory, even against Big XII competition that isn't OU.

So, the issue is whether Steve Sarkisian can pull his head out of his ass and realize he isn't in Tuscaloosa anymore and whatever alleged talent advantage Texas has is not going to permit him and his staff to ignore the talent and development shortcomings of the roster he actually has.  Herman never really did.

The parallel with Herman is very disturbing.  I think we all see it and it gives us watery bowels.

But here's something that may give us some hope.  Tom Herman behaved in a lot of instances like an active alcoholic.  A fundamental aspect of that is a refusal to accept the world as it is and a series of ongoing futile attempts to shape it into what he wants it to be, coupled with a lot of frustration and intoxication when the drunk cannot bend the world to his will.

Assuming Sarkisian has been in recovery for most of the last six years, he should be more malleable than that.  Make no mistake, it's a character trait that an alkie has to fight the rest of his life and it's not exactly easy.  But, there is some reason to believe that Sarkisian may come to accept what he's got on the roster and make do with it.  And then make the changes that he can, via recruiting and scheme, until he has something that actually fits his vision.

 

 

Interesting. Too sane for surly, but interesting. 

[Thatguy 8505]

9 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Here is what seems to be the thing.

Sarkisian has a system he wants to run.  That's fine.  He also seems to think that he either has Alabama-level talent or Texas' alleged talent differential over the rest of the schedule (it does mostly exist on paper) allows him to scheme and gameplan as though he was still at Alabama.

I suppose at some level that is an understandable mistake.  Or something that might require a bit of an adjustment.

Herman seemed to make the same mistake, which didn't really make sense given that he'd had a couple of years of not-OSU talent at UH.  But it might have been that the talent differential of UH (Ed Oliver?  Greg Ward?) versus the rest of the AAC allowed him to continue the delusion that he/we could "impose our will" on our opponents.  And, there's the fact that he's Tom fuckin Herman.

But we know damned well that whatever the recruiting rankings say, our talent advantage is often or most times illusory, even against Big XII competition that isn't OU.

So, the issue is whether Steve Sarkisian can pull his head out of his ass and realize he isn't in Tuscaloosa anymore and whatever alleged talent advantage Texas has is not going to permit him and his staff to ignore the talent and development shortcomings of the roster he actually has.  Herman never really did.

The parallel with Herman is very disturbing.  I think we all see it and it gives us watery bowels.

But here's something that may give us some hope.  Tom Herman behaved in a lot of instances like an active alcoholic.  A fundamental aspect of that is a refusal to accept the world as it is and a series of ongoing futile attempts to shape it into what he wants it to be, coupled with a lot of frustration and intoxication when the drunk cannot bend the world to his will.

Assuming Sarkisian has been in recovery for most of the last six years, he should be more malleable than that.  Make no mistake, it's a character trait that an alkie has to fight the rest of his life and it's not exactly easy.  But, there is some reason to believe that Sarkisian may come to accept what he's got on the roster and make do with it.  And then make the changes that he can, via recruiting and scheme, until he has something that actually fits his vision.

 

 

   I understand the frustration brother, but I think your comparison is off base. Let me tell you why because I was dead set against Herman and it did not have to do with stubbornness or attitude. Coaches like Herman and Sark got where they did because of their philosophy and playbook. They are NOT about to change their philosophy when its literally the reason they are where they are. Thus, you have to choose a coach who best fits the situation your organization is putting him in.

  Tom Herman is an Urban Meyer disciple. Urban Meyer's offense needs an absolute dynamo at QB to be successful, and even then its still a struggle. However, Urban Meyer's offense isn't why everyone wants him. It is his recruiting that makes him. In his 7 years at Ohio State his recruiting classes dropped out of the top 5 one time, and that one was still ranked number 7. However, despite having a huge advantage in recruiting he only won one NC there. The reason is what we saw with Tom here. The system just depends on the QB too much, and if that one person has an off day you are toast. Being that we are in the big12, where scoring is high, you are always within striking range with that offense. You can never fully put teams away. And sure as shit if that's not what we saw with Tom. Letting teams hang around and ultimately losing became are calling card. Lastly, Tom's offense wasn't going to entice top QB recruits to come here and take the beatings you take in that system. That was the problem with Tom and HIS playbook.

  Sark is different. He runs traditional shit that QBs looking to go to the NFL are looking for. Every QB Sark ever coached got a look in the league. At USC. At Washington. At Bama. That is something you can sell. Sark isn't known as the recruiting monster, he is known as the QB whisperer and playcaller. Nothing he calls is special, it's the sequence in which he calls them that is what people respect him for. His stuff translates to the NFL. He doesn't use his QB as a battering ram.

  Texas isn't overly difficult to recruit at. What it needs is competency on both sides of the ball. What it needs is to quit bringing in hapless position coaches and coordinators. The last two coaches both put themselves behind the 8 ball by bringing in coordinators who were not good fits vs the big12. Charlie had a good eye for NFL type players but he brought Shawn Watson and Vance Bedford with him. Tom Herman brought his bullshit, low scoring offensive philosophy and Tim Beck with him. Sark seems to have brought solid coaches with him. What remains to be seen is if they can haul in the talent we need.

[TwiceHorn 31283]

22 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

   I understand the frustration brother, but I think your comparison is off base. Let me tell you why because I was dead set against Herman and it did not have to do with stubbornness or attitude. Coaches like Herman and Sark got where they did because of their philosophy and playbook. They are NOT about to change their philosophy when its literally the reason they are where they are. Thus, you have to choose a coach who best fits the situation your organization is putting him in.

  Tom Herman is an Urban Meyer disciple. Urban Meyer's offense needs an absolute dynamo at QB to be successful, and even then its still a struggle. However, Urban Meyer's offense isn't why everyone wants him. It is his recruiting that makes him. In his 7 years at Ohio State his recruiting classes dropped out of the top 5 one time, and that one was still ranked number 7. However, despite having a huge advantage in recruiting he only won one NC there. The reason is what we saw with Tom here. The system just depends on the QB too much, and if that one person has an off day you are toast. Being that we are in the big12, where scoring is high, you are always within striking range with that offense. You can never fully put teams away. And sure as shit if that's not what we saw with Tom. Letting teams hang around and ultimately losing became are calling card. Lastly, Tom's offense wasn't going to entice top QB recruits to come here and take the beatings you take in that system. That was the problem with Tom and HIS playbook.

  Sark is different. He runs traditional shit that QBs looking to go to the NFL are looking for. Every QB Sark ever coached got a look in the league. At USC. At Washington. At Bama. That is something you can sell. Sark isn't known as the recruiting monster, he is known as the QB whisperer and playcaller. Nothing he calls is special, it's the sequence in which he calls them that is what people respect him for. His stuff translates to the NFL. He doesn't use his QB as a battering ram.

  Texas isn't overly difficult to recruit at. What it needs is competency on both sides of the ball. What it needs is to quit bringing in hapless position coaches and coordinators. The last two coaches both put themselves behind the 8 ball by bringing in coordinators who were not good fits vs the big12. Charlie had a good eye for NFL type players but he brought Shawn Watson and Vance Bedford with him. Tom Herman brought his bullshit, low scoring offensive philosophy and Tim Beck with him. Sark seems to have brought solid coaches with him. What remains to be seen is if they can haul in the talent we need.

You are more knowledgeable concerning the football than I.  So I couldn't argue with you if I was inclined to, which I am not.

I'm just going on what we or I saw from Herman, which included a massive element of stubbornness in a bunch of different facets of the game, and what appeared to be an ability to ignore cold hard truth staring him right in the face and a refusal to make simple changes to address it.

Saturday looked an awful lot like that.  And with that piece of information, we're finding parallels between Herman and Sarkisian from the past.

None of us knows what Sarkisian will do going forward.  We're all afraid he's going to keep doing the same ol' shit like Herman.

I think we all accept that coaches have their philosophies and are going to do things in keeping with them.  But they also need some flexibility and adaptablilty.  I'm hoping Sark has more than Herman.

[Whiskey Tango Foxtrot 43]

Sports Illustrated: "Texas just underscored that the only elite element of its program at present is in spending and making money."
Fuuuuckk, he's not wrong.
https://www.si.com/college/2021/09/13/cfb-which-teams-should-panic-after-week-2-miscues

He's a dipshit who writes the "hot take. Less than a month ago he wrote that Sark was a gamble hire who needed time to build his program. The guy is one of 10000 hacks who write for clicks... We need to do better recruiting trained killers in the trenches, period. Until then, play a QB who can execute while running for his life...

Sent from my motorola edge plus using Tapatalk

[Thatguy 8505]

39 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

You are more knowledgeable concerning the football than I.  So I couldn't argue with you if I was inclined to, which I am not.

I'm just going on what we or I saw from Herman, which included a massive element of stubbornness in a bunch of different facets of the game, and what appeared to be an ability to ignore cold hard truth staring him right in the face and a refusal to make simple changes to address it.

Saturday looked an awful lot like that.  And with that piece of information, we're finding parallels between Herman and Sarkisian from the past.

None of us knows what Sarkisian will do going forward.  We're all afraid he's going to keep doing the same ol' shit like Herman.

I think we all accept that coaches have their philosophies and are going to do things in keeping with them.  But they also need some flexibility and adaptablilty.  I'm hoping Sark has more than Herman.

  You have Texas Football PTSD. We all do. I sure as shit do. I had to stop watching live games the last two years and only watch after I knew the outcome. The moment we see ineptitude our eye starts twitching and the director cuts to flashbacks of bombs going off, dirt flying while we are in the fetal position in the trenches, and visions of us losing to Kansas. Sark may not be who we hope, but he is not Tom Herman. Tom Herman is a guy who had the talent to beat OU at UofH but lost to UConn, Navy, SMU, Memphis, and San Diego State. He was the same way here. Get up for Georgia lose to an also ran. Like I said before, his playbook was entirely too reliant on the QB. If the QB was a little banged up that week you were likely losing. That's why we won all our bowl games under him but couldn't put it together week to week.

[Longhornlove 4779]

5 hours ago, Thatguy said:

  They rode the horse they came on. But, don't let these guys fool you with their bitching and complaining. I mean, we all were disappointed and embarrassed, but let's look at this thing objectively. We couldn't run it because we kept missing assignments and we couldn't throw it because our QB was rattled trying to throw into the teeth of 8 defenders. No plays were working for one reason or another that had shit at all to do with playcalling. It was the players who were fucking up. Card self sacked himself numerous times when he had a clean pocket had he just stepped up. When he wasn't self sacking he was timidly holding onto the ball because the windows were tight with them dropping 8. When he did throw it he overthrew it. When he was on the money we dropped it.

 

  Bottom line, if they just simply clean up the glaring mistakes we will be pretty solid.

Good luck with that, we are on the wrong website for that. I do agree with you though. 

[jinx 2635]

5 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Bottom line, if they just simply clean up the glaring mistakes we will be pretty solid.

The story of the last 12 years. If they just stop playing absolutely shit football they could be pretty good. 

[immamac 42521]

33 minutes ago, jinx said:

The story of the last 12 years. If they just stop playing absolutely shit football they could be pretty good. 

dude, I hate this fucking take. There have been plenty of games where they actually played well and got straight up scheme fucked by the coaches. That was damn near all of last season - execution was mostly there, but playcalling was absolute dogshit as well was personnel choices. 

A lot of you fucking morons comparing anything about saturday with the last 12 years need to go watch some charlie strong coached trash games again. Buncha idiots up in here.

[927 E. 41st 1124]

2 hours ago, Thatguy said:

   I understand the frustration brother, but I think your comparison is off base. Let me tell you why because I was dead set against Herman and it did not have to do with stubbornness or attitude. Coaches like Herman and Sark got where they did because of their philosophy and playbook. They are NOT about to change their philosophy when its literally the reason they are where they are. Thus, you have to choose a coach who best fits the situation your organization is putting him in.

  Tom Herman is an Urban Meyer disciple. Urban Meyer's offense needs an absolute dynamo at QB to be successful, and even then its still a struggle. However, Urban Meyer's offense isn't why everyone wants him. It is his recruiting that makes him. In his 7 years at Ohio State his recruiting classes dropped out of the top 5 one time, and that one was still ranked number 7. However, despite having a huge advantage in recruiting he only won one NC there. The reason is what we saw with Tom here. The system just depends on the QB too much, and if that one person has an off day you are toast. Being that we are in the big12, where scoring is high, you are always within striking range with that offense. You can never fully put teams away. And sure as shit if that's not what we saw with Tom. Letting teams hang around and ultimately losing became are calling card. Lastly, Tom's offense wasn't going to entice top QB recruits to come here and take the beatings you take in that system. That was the problem with Tom and HIS playbook.

  Sark is different. He runs traditional shit that QBs looking to go to the NFL are looking for. Every QB Sark ever coached got a look in the league. At USC. At Washington. At Bama. That is something you can sell. Sark isn't known as the recruiting monster, he is known as the QB whisperer and playcaller. Nothing he calls is special, it's the sequence in which he calls them that is what people respect him for. His stuff translates to the NFL. He doesn't use his QB as a battering ram.

  Texas isn't overly difficult to recruit at. What it needs is competency on both sides of the ball. What it needs is to quit bringing in hapless position coaches and coordinators. The last two coaches both put themselves behind the 8 ball by bringing in coordinators who were not good fits vs the big12. Charlie had a good eye for NFL type players but he brought Shawn Watson and Vance Bedford with him. Tom Herman brought his bullshit, low scoring offensive philosophy and Tim Beck with him. Sark seems to have brought solid coaches with him. What remains to be seen is if they can haul in the talent we need.

I strongly agree with you. I was very sceptical of Sark when he was hired. While I believe in second chances, I feel like they usually have a coin flip of a chance. As the months have gone by, I've really come to like him. Even more so after todays press conference. The man is stable, smart and calm. He has confidence in his staff and didn't resort to throwing anyone under the bus. Even after Saturdays debacle I feel good about our future. 

[markstanco 12509]

I strongly agree with you. I was very sceptical of Sark when he was hired. While I believe in second chances, I feel like they usually have a coin flip of a chance. As the months have gone by, I've really come to like him. Even more so after todays press conference. The man is stable, smart and calm. He has confidence in his staff and didn't resort to throwing anyone under the bus. Even after Saturdays debacle I feel good about our future. 

I agree with all of this. True freshman qb, and an environment that I couldn’t hear myself think much less talk on 3rd down in that stadium. Locals said it hasn’t been that wild in 10+ years.

[RollLeft 5040]

More beeotching please.  I have not had enough.  

[Butch Had Not 2940]

Most of the takes are on point except the praise for Orlan_o.

 

[Thatguy 8505]

5 hours ago, jinx said:

The story of the last 12 years. If they just stop playing absolutely shit football they could be pretty good. 

  That's not true. Tom Herman was never going to get us there even if things went well for him. That scheme he runs just doesn't put enough distance between you and the opponent. The defense isn't going to be able to hold everyone to 28 or less every week.

[jinx 2635]

10 hours ago, immamac said:

dude, I hate this fucking take. There have been plenty of games where they actually played well and got straight up scheme fucked by the coaches. That was damn near all of last season - execution was mostly there, but playcalling was absolute dogshit as well was personnel choices. 

A lot of you fucking morons comparing anything about saturday with the last 12 years need to go watch some charlie strong coached trash games again. Buncha idiots up in here.

 

6 hours ago, Thatguy said:

  That's not true. Tom Herman was never going to get us there even if things went well for him. That scheme he runs just doesn't put enough distance between you and the opponent. The defense isn't going to be able to hold everyone to 28 or less every week.

First off, it was a joke based on thatguy's comment on how good we could be if we stopped making glaring mistakes (which we have done for 12 years pretty consistently). So calm down.

Second, I didn't mean just the players, the coaches are at least 50% of the problem over the last 12 years.

But if you somehow think getting blown out by Arkansas Saturday was better than losing to Cal, or Maryland, or blown out by BYU or any of the other humiliating losses we have suffered since 2010, I don't know what to tell you. I hope you guys still high on kool aid are right and Sark is the guy to fix this. BUT, his 2nd data point as head coach at Texas was not good in any way shape or form.

[Thatguy 8505]

1 minute ago, jinx said:

 

First off, it was a joke based on thatguy's comment on how good we could be if we stopped making glaring mistakes (which we have done for 12 years pretty consistently). So calm down.

Second, I didn't mean just the players, the coaches are at least 50% of the problem over the last 12 years.

But if you somehow think getting blown out by Arkansas Saturday was better than losing to Cal, or Maryland, or blown out by BYU or any of the other humiliating losses we have suffered since 2010, I don't know what to tell you. I hope you guys still high on kool aid are right and Sark is the guy to fix this. BUT, his 2nd data point as head coach at Texas was not good in any way shape or form.

   Getting beat by Maryland wasn't that embarrassing. Getting beat by them twice the same way was. There are always going to be growing pains with any big changes in personnel and philosophy. If we learn from them and move on I am not worried. If we continue to commit the same errors then that's another story. We are all battered women here. The moment a man raises his hand to scratch his head we drop down in the fetal position.

[immamac 42521]

yeah, I'd actually prefer some of you people who are just so upset to not watch Texas football at all. There is other shit to do on Saturdays, come back when the team is "good enough" which might be never. 

[6th Street 6357]

It was quite impressive actually. Sark managed to lose worse in his 2nd game than Herman did in 4 years at Texas.

 

[The Dog 43808]

31 minutes ago, immamac said:

yeah, I'd actually prefer some of you people who are just so upset to not watch Texas football at all. There is other shit to do on Saturdays, come back when the team is "good enough" which might be never. 

Not sure what you are expecting but we'd better pray that Card was a bigger part of the problem on Saturday than what most of us were seeing on TV (or that Arkansas is a heck of a lot better than expected). 

The team's performance - considering the quality of the opponent - is one of the worst I've ever seen in over 30 years watching Texas football. The only loss that I can think that is comparable was the 50-7 home loss to Baylor in 1989. 

[Thatguy 8505]

Not sure what you are expecting but we'd better pray that Card was a bigger part of the problem on Saturday than what most of us were seeing on TV (or that Arkansas is a heck of a lot better than expected). 
The team's performance - considering the quality of the opponent - is one of the worst I've ever seen in over 30 years watching Texas football. The only loss that I can think that is comparable was the 50-7 home loss to Baylor in 1989. 

Some losses aren't as bad as they seemed at the time and some wins aren't as good either. We won't know how bad a loss this is until we see how Arkansas' season plays out. If they go 8 and 4 with a couple solid wins at home it's not that bad. We just need to wait and see. I remember when we were back vs ND admit turned out they just weren't that good. ISU loss seemed bad but then they won the league.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[The Dog 43808]

1 minute ago, Thatguy said:

Some losses aren't as bad as they seemed at the time and some wins aren't as good either. We won't know how bad a loss this is until we see how Arkansas' season plays out. If they go 8 and 4 with a couple solid wins at home it's not that bad. We just need to wait and see. I remember when we were back vs ND admit turned out they just weren't that good. ISU loss seemed bad but then they won the league.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

that was kind of my point with the "considering the quality of the opponent" comment.

UCLA was 0-2 when we played them and they destroyed us. They went on to win out and be a top 5 team. 

OU blew us out in 2000 and went on to win the national title.

I don't think Arkansas is nearly as good as either of those teams. 

Additionally, for something like this to occur so early in a new staff's tenure is absolutely alarming. I don't think the staff knows what they are doing and are in over their heads (keep in mind I wasn't a fan of the Sark hire in the first place). 

 

[BurntOrange&White 39665]

57 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

It was quite impressive actually. Sark managed to lose worse in his 2nd game than Herman did in 4 years at Texas.

 

Tom had a knack for making some losses look better than they really were....

 

But hey lets only look at point differential of a final score to dictate....not to mention the absolute horrible losses Tom had to the likes of Iowa State, TCU, Oklahoma State, Tech, and Baylor.


It's still way too early to judge Sarkisian. I'm interested to see how Arkansas does the remainder of the season. 

[gurt 736]

32 minutes ago, The Dog said:

Not sure what you are expecting but we'd better pray that Card was a bigger part of the problem on Saturday than what most of us were seeing on TV (or that Arkansas is a heck of a lot better than expected). 

The team's performance - considering the quality of the opponent - is one of the worst I've ever seen in over 30 years watching Texas football. The only loss that I can think that is comparable was the 50-7 home loss to Baylor in 1989. 

I can think of at least half a dozen during the Strong era that were worse.  Top of the list being the 50-7 vs tcu where they were up 37 at half. 

[The Dog 43808]

4 minutes ago, gurt said:

I can think of at least half a dozen during the Strong era that were worse.  Top of the list being the 50-7 vs tcu where they were up 37 at half. 

TCU was a top 10 team that year. They were favored in the game even and had blown us out at home the year before. 

[Burntcowboy 1845]

Sark mentioned that Card missed some plays early and got antsy in the pocket. I remember multiple times that Card had lots of time but either couldn’t find an open receiver or no one got open. Has anyone ben able to actually look at the receivers in the first half to see if it was there lack of getting open or card just not seeing them. I think he needed to scramble sooner and pick up positive yards. 

[Dbeasy 14970]

This was a shocking loss, because of how thoroughly they whipped Texas. Herman proved in some key games that he could be a decent coach. The things that did him in were :

1. Having an offensive scheme that was too limited, relying too much on QB runs and not using the middle of the field effectively. 
2. Poor hiring choices. 
3. Arrogance, alleged drunkenness, being a PoS to players and others. Dumb cultural statements, like boot camp runny eggs. 
4.  Turtling all of the time in games. 
5. Not adjusting after the half. 

As compared to Herman, I see fewer risks with Sark, but two big ones. He has refused to embrace the use of the QB as a running threat in his scheme. In today’s game, you can find QB’s that are both great runners and passers and a great offense needs to incorporate that. He didn’t need to at Alabama because of all the 5 star talent. 

Also, Meyer and Herman learned at OSU that using particular teaching techniques allowed players to pick up the playbook faster. I wonder whether Sark and PK’s systems, which are both reportedly fairly complex, has made it too difficult for players to learn quickly enough. If so, it might take some time to see success on the field, which will damage recruiting pretty significantly. 

[Blotto 23434]

21 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

Some losses aren't as bad as they seemed at the time and some wins aren't as good either.  We won't know how bad a loss this is until we see how Arkansas' season plays out.

I agree that we wont know how bad that was until we see the balance of the season play out, but it will take one hell of a dominant season by Arky for me to view that loss as anything but horrific. Its one thing to lose, its quite another to get fucking prison raped by a team that has been poor to mediocre for the last few seasons. 

[SA-KC_Horn 1295]

No matter how you slice it, the OL will still be the same throughout the season until Portal Kombat takes place and some bags are dropped for 4* or 5* commits.

This has been a common theme since Pistolas was taking snaps and will continue until recruiting changes are made.

[Nueces River Rat 5530]

22 hours ago, Hermanator said:

You don't judge a fighter by getting clipped and knocked down in the 2nd round after winning the first round. You judge him by what he does to respond after he stands back up. 

On the down side, that Louisiana team that returned everyone and is supposed to be legit this year just barely squeaked by Nichols State by 3 pts after getting smoked by us. So that first round may not have been as good as previously thought. 

Well... to be fair to Nichols State... They lost to UGA by two points in 2016 , so every once is awhile it occurs where they rise up in a paycheck game.  

[ClubWhatever 12087]

Arkansas is not good. They will do well to make a bowl.  Our personnel, even with our shitty ass OL, if properly coached and schemed would have beat that bunch soundly.  That’s what’s so disheartening.   We went into the game totally unprepared for what Arkansas was doing on both sides of the ball and the made zero fucking adjustments other than changing QBs. 

[runthebone 7932]

Relax, Urban should be ready to quit the NFL relatively soon

[Nivek 16861]

Arkansas is not good. They will do well to make a bowl.  Our personnel, even with our shitty ass OL, if properly coached and schemed would have beat that bunch soundly.  That’s what’s so disheartening.   We went into the game totally unprepared for what Arkansas was doing on both sides of the ball and the made zero fucking adjustments other than changing QBs. 

Arkansas has good coaches and are in their second year. Their coach is focused and delivered for the fan base. They absolutely decided this was a big game and a win here would buy them good will.

They may not be world beaters but they kicked our ass all over the field. They just need to be slightly better than last year and it will be an absolute improvement and so far they are passing the test.

[BabaYaga 15213]

What pisses me off is this notion that other teams get 'up' or 'down' for us and that has a bearing on the outcome.  This is deterministic bullshit.  We need to start exerting our wills against all comers.  Until that day, happens with regularity, all talk of us being "back" is nonsense.  I always feel like we are the ones reacting.  That needs to change.  Exerting our will and playing relatively error-free football needs to be the fucking norm, not the exception. 

[Royale with cheese 1460]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:49 AM, Handcruser said:

I wouldn’t hesitate to add a TE transfer that can block and catch as well.

And unicorns, too. Considering what we've trotted out there since David Thomas, they must be about the same thing.

[Bill Lumbergh 7170]

It was quite impressive actually. Sark managed to lose worse in his 2nd game than Herman did in 4 years at Texas.
 

Herman usually seemed to have the team prepared to play (a few notable exceptions, but by and large we looked like we belonged on the field) and often lost games we could have won due to poor in game management.

It was infuriating to watch.

We found a whole new way to lose to Arkansas by looking entirely unprepared to face either their offense or defense. We looked like we didn't belong on the same field with them. We also made poor in game decisions, but it was less clear that anything we did in game would have impacted the outcome due to how poorly prepared we were.

It was also infuriating to watch.

[LTtxfan 48980]

1 hour ago, The Dog said:

Additionally, for something like this to occur so early in a new staff's tenure is absolutely alarming. I don't think the staff knows what they are doing and are in over their heads (keep in mind I wasn't a fan of the Sark hire in the first place). 

 

 

So losing poorly in only the 2nd game coached by this staff at TEXAS is "absolutely alarming"??

NO...

If this was year 2 or 3 it would be alarming.  A terrible O-line and a poor performance by a red-shirt freshman QB starting on the road in only his 2nd game will often get you beat badly against an SEC opponent.

[ClubWhatever 12087]

You don’t think 1) running repeatedly into run blitzes on 1st and 2nd down and 2) not making their battering ram QB beat you with his arm by stacking the box isn’t alarming?   It is alarming because it’s such basic shit.  

[6th Street 6357]

2 minutes ago, Bill Lumbergh said:

Herman usually seemed to have the team prepared to play (a few notable exceptions, but by and large we looked like we belonged on the field) and often lost games we could have won due to poor in game management.

It was infuriating to watch.

We found a whole new way to lose to Arkansas by looking entirely unprepared to face either their offense or defense. We looked like we didn't belong on the same field with them. We also made poor in game decisions, but it was less clear that anything we did in game would have impacted the outcome due to how poorly prepared we were.

It was also infuriating to watch.

Agreed 100%. That was some next level ineptitude that we haven't seen since the Strong days. Horrendous game plan, poor techniques, dumb mistakes, and zero in game adjustments. This dumb fuck thought he could roll in there and run the ball up the middle 40 times and win the game. Defense sat and watched Ark roll up 300+ yards with ease with zero effort from the DL.

Early returns are not good, and as it stands today it appears Sark's ceiling is Tom Herman and his floor is Charlie Strong. I think we'll get a few 7-5 and 8-4 seasons, replace a coordinator and a few position coaches, then fire Sark after 2024.

[Pam Cummings 9582]

22 hours ago, n64ra said:

Sports Illustrated: "Texas just underscored that the only elite element of its program at present is in spending and making money."

Fuuuuckk, he's not wrong.

https://www.si.com/college/2021/09/13/cfb-which-teams-should-panic-after-week-2-miscues

Media: Texas fans suck and have no patience

 

Also media: let's write this new coach off after 2 games

[BurntOrange&White 39665]

1 minute ago, Pam Cummings said:

Media: Texas fans suck and have no patience

 

Also media: let's write this new coach off after 2 games

I mean our own fan base is doing the same 

[Surly Bevo 24696]

I don’t think Arkansas will prove to be anything more than an average team. Their QB is a lumbering giant who doesn’t get to the edge all that quick and doesn’t look to be that refined a passer. Their defense will get shredded by teams who play assignment football and have a QB who is even marginally decisive.

And that’s what was a big problem here. Yes there were some toughness/physical issues but there was also a lot of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not playing assignment football. On multiple long runs for them I saw DEs just sprinting up the field and giving away the edge (their last TD I even yelled out “where are you going” as the RB got the handoff). Looked like the fucking French leaving Paris. The offensive line bumble fucking into each other multiple times has been rehashed so need to do it again but those motherfuckers have just as much or more of a problem knowing where they are supposed to be and who they are supposed to be blocking as they do actually making a tough physical block. An average team will beat your ass if you don’t stick to your assignment consistently and just meander all over the fucking field like both of our fronts did throughout the game. They don’t even have to “kick your ass” as you are not even there to have your ass kicked.

Then you couple that with a QB who obviously won such a close QB battle that he is afraid to make mistakes (throw an INT) and therefore ultimately makes no plays because indecision isn’t something that position forgives. I’d trade an INT here and there for what I saw out of Card on Saturday. He looked like somebody who has never played anything but “x count and the play is dead” football before.

Throw in some special teams bad luck (no fumble recovery) plus the continued mediocrity of Dicker (missing kicks and how the fuck you drop a punt snap)

And here we are. An average team kicked our fucking asses.

So can the staff fix that shit and back away from the ledge or do we go hurtling over it.

[BurntOrange&White 39665]

See this is another problem with our fan base:

 

we literally got the shit kicked out of us by Arkansas and yet you dipshits are writing them off…. And say stupid shit like “they treated this game like it was their super bowl”

 

@TwiceHorn

[GringoSalado 1651]

1 minute ago, BurntOrange&White said:

See this is another problem with our fan base:

 

we literally got the shit kicked out of us by Arkansas and yet you dipshits are writing them off…. And say stupid shit like “they treated this game like it was their super bowl”

 

@TwiceHorn

The available evidence outside of our game is that Arkansas is not a good football team. That may change, but that isn't the case now.

[BurntOrange&White 39665]

1 minute ago, GringoSalado said:

The available evidence outside of our game is that Arkansas is not a good football team. That may change, but that isn't the case now.

They’re 2-0 buddy. Who gives a shit about a covid season last year. They kicked our shit in and looked impressive on both sides of the ball doing it. You literally end your thought with that may change whole that dipshit up thread has already written them off. Pure stupid fucking arrogance. 

Edited September 14, 2021 by BurntOrange&White

[GringoSalado 1651]

Just now, BurntOrange&White said:

They’re 2-0 buddy. Who gives a shit about a covid season last year. They kicked our shit in and looked impressive on both sides of the ball doing it. You literally end your thought with that may change whole that dipshit up thread has already written them off. Pure stupid fucking arrogance. 

Yes they kicked our ass impressively. Are we good at football?

[6th Street 6357]

Gary Patterson and TCU are going to have a field day against this soft, poorly coached squad. And the RRS vs Lincoln Riley will be of the Mack Brown 63-14 variety.