This is who Steve Sarkisian is.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,229]

7 minutes ago, tokamak said:

One aspect that's interesting to me is that Sark has gotten a lot of credit, and rightly so, for rebuilding our lines quickly and to an SEC standard. But Washington by and large won the LOS on both sides last night. Not sure what to make of that.

Scott Huff OL Washington won OL Coach of the year this year and showing to possibly be best OL coach in the country. All the guys last night were recruited and developed out of high school by him.

[horn4life 3,759]

First let's talk about the game-    Here's the deal. Sometimes the other guys are really good and they can make plays as well.  Penix was making great throws, and to be honest our coverage was tight most of the time early, but the receivers were making fantastic catches!  Hell if you look at our players offensively the stats are good individually but not cumulatively. Running Blue 6.6 ypc, Baxter 7.1 ypc, passing Sanders 12.5, Whittington 17.5, Worthy 22.5, Blue 11.3 with Baxter 19.5 yard per catch.  The anomaly is Mitchell at 5 ypc.

But Ewers completes only 55% of his passes.  The complete ones were solid, the running game was solid, what was weak was completion percentage and fumbling the ball away. Even then you have to remember that one of Washington's TD's was a tip, And one 3rd down completion was a tip that took heat off a ball that would would have been overthrown.  We also got lucky with the early muff.

But let's talk about Sark. Bottom line is we nearly won a game with our QB only completing 55% of his passes against an undefeated #2 team in the country.  The fact we came back at the end was a testament to the type of mentality this team has developed!  The most difficult thing for a head coach to do is build a culture.  At first coaches have to come in and be not only the coach, but the head disciplinarian and head motivator.  And it's never, ever, ever successful... at least at first.  Winning coaches develop a culture within the team where team leaders are the motivators, and largely take over the role of disciplinarian of the players producing accountability to the team and each other.  THIS is the secret sauce to success over time.  Sark has added this secret sauce to our team and now we are in a good position moving forward from an accountability and team unity perspective.  And that my friends is light years from where we were, at 5-7 with us finding a way to lose and players not looking past the tips of their own noses in many cases.

Today we have a solid two deep at every position like we have not seen in decades.  OF course there are some holes to fill, but it's been a long time since we had backups of a high enough quality level to step up and step right in.   Sark has in essence rebuilt the program. In his own image no less.  I think that one of the things that I like most about Sark is his relationship with the players.  You hear time and again how he genuinely takes an interest in their lives beyond football, and that's how he spends most of his time interacting with players on an individual basis.  His past very public missteps also make hime more relatable to kids.  As opposed to the dishonest "just be perfect" mindset so many coaches project, despite the reality.  I think this makes Sark approachable and makes players and equally as importantly a player's parents comfortable with him.  This has allowed him to kick ass high school recruiting.  The other thing I LOVE about Sark is he realizes that continuity is so very, very important in maintaining a culture.  He has been very selective in bringing in portal players, because he understands how one or two very talented bad apples can start a rot in the whole barrel.  This is perhaps the most overlooked quality that I think Sark possesses.  

We had disappointment last night. But Sark has earned his money and we are in a very good spot going into the SEC in 2024.  Imagine what might have been with 58% completions and only one fumble... If you are not happy with Sark you are a fucking moron.

 

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,388]

We're Rocky I right now. Rocky II is next season.

[TOR 5,528]

3 minutes ago, horn4life said:

Ewers completes only 55% of his passes. 

UW scouted the hell out of Quinn and picked up something that let them bat down too many of his throws.  

[Dahobbs 17,526]

8 minutes ago, hobbes2702 said:

That was my read also. My issue with it was 1) don’t check down, just throw it at his feet 2) the fake toss to start the play just wasted time and took Quinn’s eyes away from downfield 

Yeah, no one was biting on the play action there. In hind sight, I don't think a run on 3rd or 4th down would have been that crazy. 

[hobbes2702 13,029]

4 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Yeah, no one was biting on the play action there. In hind sight, I don't think a run on 3rd or 4th down would have been that crazy. 

I also hate that we ran everything that series to the narrow side of the field with no shots the opposite side

[Helobious 9,451]

7 minutes ago, TOR said:

UW scouted the hell out of Quinn and picked up something that let them bat down too many of his throws.  

“Hey he has a low release point on his throws, remember to get your hands up if you have the chance” 

[dcar00 14,154]

24 minutes ago, Spider2YBanana said:

With the talent we're accumulating, 8-9 wins would be a letdown. Top classes shouldn't just win 8-9 games a year. That's for Ole Miss to do. We better be better than that. 10 wins should be mandatory with our talent. We're only behind Bama and Georgia currently in recruiting , and we've shown we can beat Bama. I believe we can beat Georgia as well. I'm sure we'll lose a few games in year 1, but year 2 I expect 10 win seasons. 8-9 ain't going to cut it. Aggy wins 8 games, we should be better than that with Sark. That's when recruits start looking away. We have the talent to win 10 games. If we start dropping off, so do the recruits to Bama, LSU, Georgia, and even Ole Miss. 

we have the new auto win with SEC schedule.  below is what I think based on JB and Quinn being back.

games we have to win - CSU, ULM, UTSA, at Vandy, Miss ST, Kentucky, FLA

should win - at Ark, At aggy

50/50 - Georgia, at Mich, OU

10 wins would be winning all the must and should and one of the 50/50 games.  I'm a little concerned about losing Murphy and Sweat and how that affects the run D.

 

 

[General Colt 120]

On 12/11/2023 at 9:17 PM, TreatyOak said:

If I were the AD, I would immediately sign him to a contract extension that pays him $78M if we fire him. The number could decrease somewhat each year but still be much higher than any other buyout. However, I would make sure the extension allows him to leave for any other job. I know this seems like poor financial management, and is unprecedented, but it demonstrates our commitment to our success. 

Edit: I’ve been hesitant to share this, but it’s really been bugging me that we didn’t present him w a future championship trophy at his opening press conference. We could have left the date blank. It would have been a beautiful gesture that would have been really respected by all the other schools. 

[hookem48 4,687]

30 minutes ago, tokamak said:

One aspect that's interesting to me is that Sark has gotten a lot of credit, and rightly so, for rebuilding our lines quickly and to an SEC standard. But Washington by and large won the LOS on both sides last night. Not sure what to make of that.

our oline was so over rated it's crazy

[tbone_ 14,112]

our oline was so over rated it's crazy

Maybe, but they have improved massively. Just think back to how fucking completely ineffective the OL was for years up until he took over. It was a total joke for a decade.

I’m good with the progress. Hope it keeps up.

[hookem48 4,687]

1 minute ago, dcar00 said:

we have the new auto win with SEC schedule.  below is what I think based on JB and Quinn being back.

games we have to win - CSU, ULM, UTSA, at Vandy, Miss ST, Kentucky, FLA

should win - at Ark, At aggy

50/50 - Georgia, at Mich, OU

10 wins would be winning all the must and should and one of the 50/50 games.  I'm a little concerned about losing Murphy and Sweat and how that affects the run D.

 

 

at Ark, if we fuck something up next year that will be it.

[Dahobbs 17,526]

1 minute ago, hookem48 said:

our oline was so over rated it's crazy

How was our oline overrated? It was a solid line, but hasn't been anything world beating this year. I thought generally we did ok on o line. Rushing stats certainly back that up. Pass protection wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad either. We just kept beating ourselves with penalties and fumbles on offense. 

[hookem48 4,687]

1 minute ago, tbone_ said:

Maybe, but they have improved massively. Just think back to how fucking completely ineffective the OL was for years up until he took over. It was a total joke for a decade.

I’m good with the progress. Hope it keeps up.

no doubt they've improved thank god but every pre game announcers saying one of the best in the country was laughable.

[troph 24,781]

42 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Dude, the first down call wasn't supposed to go to blue. That was a check down under pressure. 

And blue has the shake to get that to the 5 it wasn’t stupid it just didn’t work out. Game of inches sometimes.

[hookem48 4,687]

1 minute ago, Dahobbs said:

How was our oline overrated? It was a solid line, but hasn't been anything world beating this year. I thought generally we did ok on o line. Rushing stats certainly back that up. Pass protection wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad either. We just kept beating ourselves with penalties and fumbles on offense. 

because every game they got talked about like they were one of the best in the country, they were not.

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,178]

2 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

we have the new auto win with SEC schedule.  below is what I think based on JB and Quinn being back.

games we have to win - CSU, ULM, UTSA, at Vandy, Miss ST, Kentucky, FLA

should win - at Ark, At aggy

50/50 - Georgia, at Mich, OU

10 wins would be winning all the must and should and one of the 50/50 games.  I'm a little concerned about losing Murphy and Sweat and how that affects the run D.

 

 

Brooks isn't coming back. Bobby said he's headed to the NFL. It sucks, but we have a stable of capable backs. And you and I are in agreement regarding the 10-wins. They absolutely should win 10 games with our schedule, and we will beat Michigan. They're losing almost all of their upperclassmen. I believe we can beat Georgia, especially with Carson Beck starting. Ewers should be significantly better next season. I'm going with 11 wins with a loss to some mid like Kentucky, but we win against UM and Georgia with Beck starting. 

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13,578]

59 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

Perhaps Majors is just not effectively learning?

Too often fans have asked "is our Majors learning?"

[markstanco 12,571]

Asking here, but is there another thread where somebody such as @Huckleberry or @BurntOrange&White kind of goes through what the CURRENT situation is on the depth chart for next season?  I know, portal etc. will change it slightly. 

[dec3169 501]

48 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

Joseph is the guy that I feel like needs to go. Gideon actually has developed Taafe into a serviceable player and has brought Williams along in a nice way this season into being the unquestioned starter heading into next year. Taafe, Thompson, and Crawford are a mixed bag of massive limitations either athletically or mentally, and Thompson was just dog shit this year. I think PK had to alter his defense to hide the safeties almost all season, but our technique on balls in the air from our defensive backs is just inexcusable. There is no reason long corners like Watts and Brooks cant turn around to make plays on the ball in the air. 

100%.  Taafe had some pretty good plays this year, but Texas should be able to do better than that.  Honestly though, we were fairly lucky that he stepped up, so thanks Taafe.

I got tired of watching yet another play go well for Washington, and seeing Thompson standing there.  I've had my issues with Brooks all season and was actually looking forward to Watts coming back off injury at one point.  I don't know what happened to Watts, but you are right about him not turning around at all.  Am I wrong that he looked really good early in the season - before his injury (I've slept since then)?  Unless he is not yet 100% I'm not sure what happened.

[BurntOrange&White 39,930]

38 minutes ago, tokamak said:

One aspect that's interesting to me is that Sark has gotten a lot of credit, and rightly so, for rebuilding our lines quickly and to an SEC standard. But Washington by and large won the LOS on both sides last night. Not sure what to make of that.

4th year
4th year
2nd year
4th year
3rd year

2nd year
3rd year
4th year
2nd year
5th year


They are a far more experienced line than us with not just classification but playtime. That matters especially with their center being the youngest of the bunch with the fewest starts.

[troph 24,781]

41 minutes ago, tokamak said:

One aspect that's interesting to me is that Sark has gotten a lot of credit, and rightly so, for rebuilding our lines quickly and to an SEC standard. But Washington by and large won the LOS on both sides last night. Not sure what to make of that.

I’m not sure they did. We got pressure nearly had 3-4 sacks, Penix is NFL caliber at evading the rush. We stuffed the run. Our DL played well. On the OL Ewers was confused all night. Their blitz / no blitz packages were money.  They know Ewers isn’t great at going to 3-4 progressions as a sophomore and that’s what they made him do or they brought overloaded blitzes that require a quick read. He just never got in sync. 

[dec3169 501]

37 minutes ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

We're Rocky I right now. Rocky II is next season.

 

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,178]

2 hours ago, UTEE97 said:

I put a lot of blame on Gideon and Joseph for our DB play all year. I know we are lacking talent there, but the position coaches should be able to develop the talent they have and our DBs have not showed any improvement throughout the year. We play with bad technique, which to me, is the coaching. When was the last time our secondary looked nack to track the ball? I won't mind seeing one or both of these coaches getting replaced.

 

Gideon and. Joseph should have been gone yesterday, but I'll give them credit for getting Filsame + JJR + Jelani Mcdonald and Muhammed + Warren Roberson + Wardell Mack + Kobe Black (Sark gets credit for Santana Wilson). After NSD2 Sark should show them the door and go make a high level hire. Those two are holding us back. In 3 years we have not seen any improvement. That's fireable. 

 

The bolded would be Akina

Edited January 2 by Spider2YBanana

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,388]

7 minutes ago, dec3169 said:

 

Adrian's Revenge!

[Bevo 13,568]

54 minutes ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

Before the season started, I saw some stat about 4 and 5 stars that Georgia and Alabama had, vs Texas, at every position. And the take away from the article was that, while Texas is recruiting extremely well lately, it's only really a recent trend that it's bearing fruit on the field. Texas always recruited well, but our players would usually be big busts from their hype, and thus would eventually fall out of rotation. Alabama and Georgia were treated as the gold standards, as they basically had two-deep of 4 and 5 stars at every position. The point of the article was that it would take Texas a few more recruiting rounds before they could bully anybody in the country all day and night like Georgia and Bama normally can. I think that's what we saw last night, the limits of our current depths.

Like, imagine what this game would have looked like had we had, say, Jonathan Brooks available.

He was at the game.

[Jiggy-Z 3,432]

49 minutes ago, Zeus said:

Does Steve lose 2 fumbles?

Offense played great, defense was not good on the back end or pass rush. 

Prior to the game, I never thought that the pass rush was going to get home against UW, and not because of great blocking or poor defensive execution.

UW usually just gets the ball out very fast and picks their spots for the slower developing stuff. Think OU, only faster and with a better line.

Very difficult to defend with our scheme and personnel in the secondary.  UW style allows them to play their game when they want to.

[Horn Dogg 3,874]

54 minutes ago, horn4life said:

First let's talk about the game-    Here's the deal. Sometimes the other guys are really good and they can make plays as well.  Penix was making great throws, and to be honest our coverage was tight most of the time early, but the receivers were making fantastic catches!  Hell if you look at our players offensively the stats are good individually but not cumulatively. Running Blue 6.6 ypc, Baxter 7.1 ypc, passing Sanders 12.5, Whittington 17.5, Worthy 22.5, Blue 11.3 with Baxter 19.5 yard per catch.  The anomaly is Mitchell at 5 ypc.

But Ewers completes only 55% of his passes.  The complete ones were solid, the running game was solid, what was weak was completion percentage and fumbling the ball away. Even then you have to remember that one of Washington's TD's was a tip, And one 3rd down completion was a tip that took heat off a ball that would would have been overthrown.  We also got lucky with the early muff.

But let's talk about Sark. Bottom line is we nearly won a game with our QB only completing 55% of his passes against an undefeated #2 team in the country.  The fact we came back at the end was a testament to the type of mentality this team has developed!  The most difficult thing for a head coach to do is build a culture.  At first coaches have to come in and be not only the coach, but the head disciplinarian and head motivator.  And it's never, ever, ever successful... at least at first.  Winning coaches develop a culture within the team where team leaders are the motivators, and largely take over the role of disciplinarian of the players producing accountability to the team and each other.  THIS is the secret sauce to success over time.  Sark has added this secret sauce to our team and now we are in a good position moving forward from an accountability and team unity perspective.  And that my friends is light years from where we were, at 5-7 with us finding a way to lose and players not looking past the tips of their own noses in many cases.

Today we have a solid two deep at every position like we have not seen in decades.  OF course there are some holes to fill, but it's been a long time since we had backups of a high enough quality level to step up and step right in.   Sark has in essence rebuilt the program. In his own image no less.  I think that one of the things that I like most about Sark is his relationship with the players.  You hear time and again how he genuinely takes an interest in their lives beyond football, and that's how he spends most of his time interacting with players on an individual basis.  His past very public missteps also make hime more relatable to kids.  As opposed to the dishonest "just be perfect" mindset so many coaches project, despite the reality.  I think this makes Sark approachable and makes players and equally as importantly a player's parents comfortable with him.  This has allowed him to kick ass high school recruiting.  The other thing I LOVE about Sark is he realizes that continuity is so very, very important in maintaining a culture.  He has been very selective in bringing in portal players, because he understands how one or two very talented bad apples can start a rot in the whole barrel.  This is perhaps the most overlooked quality that I think Sark possesses.  

We had disappointment last night. But Sark has earned his money and we are in a very good spot going into the SEC in 2024.  Imagine what might have been with 58% completions and only one fumble... If you are not happy with Sark you are a fucking moron.

 

I’m a fucking moron and I am still happy with Sark!

[Bevo 13,568]

26 minutes ago, Spider2YBanana said:

Brooks isn't coming back. Bobby said he's headed to the NFL. It sucks, but we have a stable of capable backs. And you and I are in agreement regarding the 10-wins. They absolutely should win 10 games with our schedule, and we will beat Michigan. They're losing almost all of their upperclassmen. I believe we can beat Georgia, especially with Carson Beck starting. Ewers should be significantly better next season. I'm going with 11 wins with a loss to some mid like Kentucky, but we win against UM and Georgia with Beck starting. 

Bobby is probably right, but it means Bobby knows more than Brooks knows. Brooks wants to see how his recovery is going and how the NFL views him, now.

[Jimmy Two Times 795]

1 minute ago, Jiggy-Z said:

Prior to the game, I never thought that the pass rush was going to get home against UW, and not because of great blocking or poor defensive execution.

UW usually just gets the ball out very fast and picks their spots for the slower developing stuff. Think OU, only faster and with a better line.

Very difficult to defend with our scheme and personnel in the secondary.  UW style allows them to play their game when they want to.

Yes, this was the main concern before the game and played out pretty much exactly as expected. Washington has a sixth year QB and 3 veteran WRs all of whom are ready to play in the NFL right now. Taafe, who has produced better than you should expect for a walk on, and Thompson will be working in cubicles. We were a very good team this year but there's still work to do to raise the talent level of the roster - next year should be better in that regard. 

[dcar00 14,154]

30 minutes ago, Spider2YBanana said:

Brooks isn't coming back. Bobby said he's headed to the NFL. It sucks, but we have a stable of capable backs. And you and I are in agreement regarding the 10-wins. They absolutely should win 10 games with our schedule, and we will beat Michigan. They're losing almost all of their upperclassmen. I believe we can beat Georgia, especially with Carson Beck starting. Ewers should be significantly better next season. I'm going with 11 wins with a loss to some mid like Kentucky, but we win against UM and Georgia with Beck starting. 

yeah I know JB is likely gone.  He hurts less than Quinn would given our depth at RB.  Baxter seems glassy though.  WR is going to be interesting.

[ajax 2,607]

I love Sark. I loved this hire from the very beginning. But he makes some bone-headed decisions in game. The bright side is that he admits his mistakes and he is willing to learn. 

My hope is that in the coming years Sark becomes as great of a game day coach as he is a program builder.

 

[Tex Long 4,383]

57 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Sark, definitely should have moved away from the script.

Was just looking for an opportune place to make this point.

Sark needs to learn the difference between a script and a flowchart.

He has a Surly reputation for being stubborn, and it is pretty well deserved. The question is, is it purely so or is it a steadfast following of a Game Plan Script regardless of results?

 

[Stunns38 3,460]

our oline was so over rated it's crazy

Nah, it’s just that our best players are still young. Majors and Jones while improved were not the answers. We will improve with experience, S&C, and proper recruiting which we haven’t seen in almost 20 years(the NC class) on the O line.

[Surly Bevo 24,908]

1 minute ago, Tex Long said:

Was just looking for an opportune place to make this point.

Sark needs to learn the difference between a script and a flowchart.

He has a Surly reputation for being stubborn, and it is pretty well deserved. The question is, is it purely so or is it a steadfast following of a Game Plan Script regardless of results?

 

The "script" IS a flow chart.  It isn't "run this place first, run this play second, run this play third, run this play fourth" it is a set of plays for down and distance.  The script thing is so overblown.  

[gmr548 16,576]

With the talent we're accumulating, 8-9 wins would be a letdown. Top classes shouldn't just win 8-9 games a year. That's for Ole Miss to do. We better be better than that. 10 wins should be mandatory with our talent. We're only behind Bama and Georgia currently in recruiting , and we've shown we can beat Bama. I believe we can beat Georgia as well. I'm sure we'll lose a few games in year 1, but year 2 I expect 10 win seasons. 8-9 ain't going to cut it. Aggy wins 8 games, we should be better than that with Sark. That's when recruits start looking away. We have the talent to win 10 games. If we start dropping off, so do the recruits to Bama, LSU, Georgia, and even Ole Miss. 

The only two teams that have run through the SEC at consistent 10+ win clips are Bama and Georgia. Recruiting at a top 5-10 level hasn’t stopped A&M or LSU from failing to hit that mark plenty of times. Especially adding a ninth league game (I’m assuming this happens here in the next couple years), when these elite recruiting programs are going to play each other more often and simple math tells you there’s more Ls to go around, I would not expect to be the Bama and Georgia of recent history. That much more so with the likes of Ohio State and Michigan on non conference schedules, and I’m sure more upper tier programs to come. If you expect consistent 10-win seasons that’s great but that’s on you when you’re disappointed.

And that’s okay The sport is changing man. 9-3 is going to be a coin flip for a playoff appearance. If one of those Ls is to a marquee OOC opponent you’re in the mix for a CCG spot. Competing for championships is the bar for me.

[troph 24,781]

1 hour ago, Dahobbs said:

Yeah, no one was biting on the play action there. In hind sight, I don't think a run on 3rd or 4th down would have been that crazy. 

PA was a waste but a designed pass to the boundary would not have been a bad call. Again, 2nd from the 12 yard line is much harder than 2nd from the 5-6 yard line. 
 

I wouldn’t run it from the 5-6 yard line but the defense has to at least account for it. From the 12 yard line it’s idiotic to run with no TOs.

plus from the 5 you can go AD on the slant, the come back to the pylon or the out way more easily with less concern about pressure because it’s a quicker throw.

the more I think about it you use first to get 5-6 yards they would give it. Then you have 2 shots from a manageable spot - basically a two point conversion. 

Edited January 2 by troph

[gmr548 16,576]

One aspect that's interesting to me is that Sark has gotten a lot of credit, and rightly so, for rebuilding our lines quickly and to an SEC standard. But Washington by and large won the LOS on both sides last night. Not sure what to make of that.

That good lines exist outside of the SEC and always have? I wouldn’t think much about it.

I also don’t think Washington won the LOS handily. They won in a critical area - pass blocking - and that was the single most important subset of the LOS battle given what Washington was bringing in terms of passing offense and what Texas was bringing in the back end. Texas defended the run well, ran the ball very well (not enough most would say), and while Washington did get home a couple times it’s not like Ewers was running for his life all night.

[troph 24,781]

14 minutes ago, Tex Long said:

Was just looking for an opportune place to make this point.

Sark needs to learn the difference between a script and a flowchart.

He has a Surly reputation for being stubborn, and it is pretty well deserved. The question is, is it purely so or is it a steadfast following of a Game Plan Script regardless of results?

 

It’s a flowchart. It’s situational. He’s not running on third and 10 because it’s the 4th play and god dammit that’s the call. He has some number of plays he wants to run to start the game based on the situation. 

[dcar00 14,154]

7 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

The only two teams that have run through the SEC at consistent 10+ win clips are Bama and Georgia. Recruiting at a top 5-10 level hasn’t stopped A&M or LSU from failing to hit that mark plenty of times. Especially adding a ninth league game (I’m assuming this happens here in the next couple years), when these elite recruiting programs are going to play each other more often and simple math tells you there’s more Ls to go around, I would not expect to be the Bama and Georgia of recent history. That much more so with the likes of Ohio State and Michigan on non conference schedules, and I’m sure more upper tier programs to come. If you expect consistent 10-win seasons that’s great but that’s on you when you’re disappointed.

And that’s okay The sport is changing man. 9-3 is going to be a coin flip for a playoff appearance. If one of those Ls is to a marquee OOC opponent you’re in the mix for a CCG spot. Competing for championships is the bar for me.

Until I see them really take SOS into account vs. how many losses you have, I don't think Marquee OOC juice is worth the squeeze.  It only worked this time because we beat Bama and Bama beat Georgia.  It hasn't really helped us before and has never hurt anyone from the SEC previously.

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,178]

1 hour ago, Dahobbs said:

Dude, the first down call wasn't supposed to go to blue. That was a check down under pressure. 

It was supposed to go to J-Whitt, I believe. 

[BevoAbyss 2,058]

The football gods lined up the stars for Sark, Ewers, and Company. Sadly, they blew it at the end. 

1. Title game in Houston, making it like a de facto home game.

2. Bama chokes, meaning Horns don't have to beat Saban twice in a season (not impossible, but surely a tall task).

3. Washington's massive gaffes on last drive literally gift us a chance to snatch the game.

4. The football gods then give us two epic completions, followed by 4 shots from inside the 15. None even close to being a score. Mind-boggling bad calls from Sark, bad passes from Ewers. We all saw it.

-- If we score a TD pass, Sark/Ewers are instant eternal Longhorn legends. If we score, I think the title game would be in the bag vs. Harbaugh's crap offense in Houston. The UT crowd energy would have been through the roof after a miraculous comeback.

That's why this game had a f*cking catastrophic ending! 

The ending of this game will trigger misery for Longhorns for decades. I think this game exceeds the Simms collapse/Colorado loss in 2001 Big 12 title game, when the stars lined up for a title chance and Mack/Simms blew it. 

It is what it is. A lost chance to play for CFP title in Houston. And title game chances are rare and must be taken when presented, especially when given by the football gods.

(And a chance to inflict apocalyptic Aggy misery!)

Edited January 2 by BevoAbyss

[dcar00 14,154]

4 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

That good lines exist outside of the SEC and always have? I wouldn’t think much about it.

I also don’t think Washington won the LOS handily. They won in a critical area - pass blocking - and that was the single most important subset of the LOS battle given what Washington was bringing in terms of passing offense and what Texas was bringing in the back end. Texas defended the run well, ran the ball very well (not enough most would say), and while Washington did get home a couple times it’s not like Ewers was running for his life all night.

I really wanted the play he runs where we are tight/bunch to the left side and the RB flares out to the left.  It is usually wide open.  we've run it multiple times.

[Beantown Express 2.0 6,559]

3 minutes ago, BevoAbyss said:

The football gods lined up the stars for Sark, Ewers, and Company. Sadly, they blew it at the end. 

1. Title game in Houston, making it like a de facto home game. The UT crowd energy would have been through the roof after a miraculous comeback.

2. Bama chokes, meaning Horns don't have to beat Saban twice in a season (not impossible, but surely a tall task).

3. Washington's massive gaffes on last drive literally gift us a chance to snatch the game.

4. The football gods then give us two epic completions, followed by 4 shots from inside the 15. None even close to being a score. Mind-boggling bad calls from Sark, bad passes from Ewers. We all saw it.

-- If we score a TD pass, Sark/Ewers are instant eternal Longhorn legends. If we score, I think the title game would be in the bag vs. Harbaugh's crap offense.

That's why this game had a f*cking catastrophic ending! 

The ending of this game will trigger misery for Longhorns for decades. I think this game exceeds the Simms collapse/Colorado loss in 2001 Big 12 title game, when the stars lined up for a title chance and Mack/Simms blew it. 

It is what it is. A lost chance to play for CFP title in Houston. 

And a chance to inflict apocalyptic Aggy misery! 

I agree with a lot of this, and it seemed like the football gods actually threw us a bone in this game and we fucked it up at the end. It definitely exceeds 2001 because we would have gotten rolled by Miami in 2001 if we did win.  That Miami team was one of the most talented teams in college football history.  If we win last night, I think we match up very well with Michigan.  Unfortunately, Washington or Oregon would have been the worst match ups for us because our secondary is so bad, and those teams can throw the ball really well and it played out that way last night. It was a team loss last night with almost everyone screwing up just a little bit at different times.  You add up the mistakes by Sark, Ewers, fumbles, penalties (the refs did screw us also) and how good Penix and their WR's were it was a miracle we had a chance to win.  

[Jiggy-Z 3,432]

6 minutes ago, BevoAbyss said:

The football gods lined up the stars for Sark, Ewers, and Company. Sadly, they blew it at the end. 

1. Title game in Houston, making it like a de facto home game. The UT crowd energy would have been through the roof after a miraculous comeback.

2. Bama chokes, meaning Horns don't have to beat Saban twice in a season (not impossible, but surely a tall task).

3. Washington's massive gaffes on last drive literally gift us a chance to snatch the game.

4. The football gods then give us two epic completions, followed by 4 shots from inside the 15. None even close to being a score. Mind-boggling bad calls from Sark, bad passes from Ewers. We all saw it.

-- If we score a TD pass, Sark/Ewers are instant eternal Longhorn legends. If we score, I think the title game would be in the bag vs. Harbaugh's crap offense.

That's why this game had a f*cking catastrophic ending! 

The ending of this game will trigger misery for Longhorns for decades. I think this game exceeds the Simms collapse/Colorado loss in 2001 Big 12 title game, when the stars lined up for a title chance and Mack/Simms blew it. 

It is what it is. A lost chance to play for CFP title in Houston. 

And a chance to inflict apocalyptic Aggy misery! 

Preach. All true.

Really could have used a "w" here in light of afformentioned 2001 big 12 championship game, 2008 screw job and 2009 Pistolas McCoy injury against Bama.

[KingBobo81 535]

7 minutes ago, BevoAbyss said:

 

The ending of this game will trigger misery for Longhorns for decades. I think this game exceeds the Simms collapse/Colorado loss in 2001 Big 12 title game, when the stars lined up for a title chance and Mack/Simms blew it. 

 

Strongly disagree. We were obviously the better team in the 2001 game and gift wrapped it for Colorado by repeatedly tripping over our own dicks. Last night, we lost to a great team with an unbelievable quarterback. Does it hurt and suck that we didn't get that last score? Yes. Would it have been awesome to play for it all in Houston? Yes.  But frankly, Washington outplayed us for the large majority of the game and deserved to win. Misery is not something I will ever associate with last night's game - that is reserved for 2001 Colorado, Colt getting hurt against Bama, etc.

[hobbes2702 13,029]

9 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

I really wanted the play he runs where we are tight/bunch to the left side and the RB flares out to the left.  It is usually wide open.  we've run it multiple times.

Oh I like that call there

[tokamak 6,395]

30 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

The only two teams that have run through the SEC at consistent 10+ win clips are Bama and Georgia. Recruiting at a top 5-10 level hasn’t stopped A&M or LSU from failing to hit that mark plenty of times. Especially adding a ninth league game (I’m assuming this happens here in the next couple years), when these elite recruiting programs are going to play each other more often and simple math tells you there’s more Ls to go around, I would not expect to be the Bama and Georgia of recent history. That much more so with the likes of Ohio State and Michigan on non conference schedules, and I’m sure more upper tier programs to come. If you expect consistent 10-win seasons that’s great but that’s on you when you’re disappointed.

And that’s okay The sport is changing man. 9-3 is going to be a coin flip for a playoff appearance. If one of those Ls is to a marquee OOC opponent you’re in the mix for a CCG spot. Competing for championships is the bar for me.

This is a good point. NFL fans don't give a shit about going 17-0. It's all about making it to the playoffs and seeing what happens.

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,178]

28 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

yeah I know JB is likely gone.  He hurts less than Quinn would given our depth at RB.  Baxter seems glassy though.  WR is going to be interesting.

Yeah, WR worries me. Even though it shouldn't, but they're so inexperienced, but also very talented with Cook, Moore, Wingo, Golden, and Niblett. We need at least 1-2 more transfer WR'S (either special player(s) or productive upperclassman). 

 

TE is dire - Helm, Shannon Randle (Who won't be 100%). We need another big, strong receiving TE who can block. 

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,178]

46 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

yeah I know JB is likely gone.  He hurts less than Quinn would given our depth at RB.  Baxter seems glassy though.  WR is going to be interesting.

I forgot to add that we also have Wisner and Red, too. We should have used both last night in some capacity at the very least. Wisner has that juice, and Red is a tough SOB. 

I don't think Baxter is made of glass, he's just a frosh who needs to add muscle, and he was dinged up because of use. I would trade Baxter for Justice Haynes of Bama in a heartbeat. That kid is thick and electric.