Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 6)

[satyanash 14281]

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

(Justin Wells) Five Quick Thoughts: No. 6 OU 55, No. 21 Texas 48

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Unlike in the past when going to AstroWorld and Six Flags, this roller coaster of a Red River Shootout made you sick. After tying the game late in the contest, OU’s Kennedy Brooks took a handoff to the house with only seconds remaining to seal the Sooners’ biggest comeback over Texas in series history. Here’s my five quick thoughts following OU’s 55-48 win over rival Texas at the Red River Shootout on Saturday from Fair Park.

Texas Came To Fight. OU Came To Finish. From the first play of the game when Casey Thompson hit Xavier Worthy on a swing pass and the freshman phenom made a juke, threw a stiff arm, and went 75 yards to the house before fans were settled on their seats. It was the beginning a big day for Worthy with 261 yards receiving on nine catches, and a pair of touchdowns. Preparation and getting your team up for its biggest battle of the season is important and Steve Sarkisian gets credit for that. Thompson went 20-of-34, 388 yards, and five touchdowns in his first start vs his father’s former team, Oklahoma. Demarvion Overshown was spectacular, in the build your draft stock-type highlights. And of course, Worthy, with 158 yards receiving on four grabs and a scoring grab. Joshua Moore had 10 catches, 76 yards and zero touchdowns in the first five games of 2021. He notched 67 yards, on three catches and two scores in the first half alone. Sark had this team foaming at the mouth before kickoff and that’s a must when coaching at the University of Texas. But the other aspect of this annual fight is finishing. Stalled drives, penalties, offensive line play, taking sacks; it was a conglomeration of highs and lows. But when Xavier Worthy went up and grabbed the tying touchdown catch at 1:35 in the fourth, this game went nuts.

First Half Horns. Second Half Sooners. When you open the Texas-OU rivalry with a touchdown toss on the first play for the first time in the series history, maybe we should’ve seen it coming. Whether it’s blocking a punt, an interception from BJ Foster, four reviews, OU switching quarterbacks twice, Texas had significantly more yards in the opening quarter than the Sooners – 214 to 75), or a fox running on the 25-yard line, the opening act of the Red River Shootout gave us a little of everything. Texas dominated in the first, OU owned the second. The Sooners had over 600 total yards, many coming the last few quarters.

Oklahoma Finds New Quarterback. Even down big, early in the game, OU kept swinging with Spencer Rattler. Until the bat broke. Once they inserted former five-star Caleb Williams, who might have a hand cannon on his right shoulder, came him and instantly delivered a spark. But even after his 66-yard scoring scamper on a crucially early fourth down, Riley went back to the Rattler. OU was running the ball relatively well, so it goes without saying that Riley thought the run would set up the pass for his starting signal-caller. Wrong. Williams went 8-of-16 for 186 yards, one touchdown, while adding 86 yards rushing and another score for the freshman dual-threat. Give the Texas defense credit; they rattled the Rattler and coach PK brought the heat from all sides on Saturday.

Bijan For Heisman. If you thought the talk of Bijan Robinson’s Heisman hopes was premature, and I’m not certain you did, get ready for it now. After a 20-carry, 137-yard, one touchdown performance, including a pair of runs worthy of SportsCenter’s Top 10. He’s scored a touchdown in eight consecutive games, the most since Jordan Shipley in 2009. He went over a 100 yards in the first half, again.

Next Saturday in Austin. Texas heads home for Oklahoma State and a huge recruiting opportunity with some of the best prospects in the nation converging on Austin. From On3 No. 1 overall prospect for 2023 Arch Manning, to Earnest Greene, Jacoby Mathews, and Johntay Cook, among others, next Saturday is a pretty big deal.

(Joe Cook) Recap: Oklahoma Sooners 55, Texas Longhorns 48

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A game a year in the making had a wild beginning, middle, and end, with the Longhorns collapsing when it mattered most. The 117th Red River Shootout had an electric start, as Texas won the toss and elected to receive. On the first play from scrimmage, Casey Thompson threw a screen to Xavier Worthy. The California speedster made one man miss, evaded another tackle, then zoomed 75 yards to make it 7-0 Texas after the game’s first play. The Sooners went three-and-out on their first possession, and Texas was able to block Michael Turk’s punt, recovering it at the two-yard-line. Bijan Robinson would score to make it 14-0 very early.

Oklahoma was reeling, and may have been the beneficiary of some shoddy officiating. Spencer Rattler dropped back on third down and hit Mike Woods to escape back-to-back three-and-outs. Replay showed Woods stepped out on his own accord and returned to the field before making the catch, and the officials went to the booth to review. The call stood, and Rattler eventually maneuvered down the field, finishing the drive with a short touchdown run.

Texas went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, and Oklahoma began on its own 33-yard-line. Facing 3rd-and-3, Rattler dropped back and threw an interception hauled in by BJ Foster. There was no Sooner in the area, marking the beginning of some of Rattler’s woes. Thompson hit Worthy for 27 yards, Robinson ran for 14 to make it 1st-and-goal, and Thompson hit Joshua Moore from 10 yards out to make it a 21-7 game with just under five minutes remaining in the first.

Oklahoma went three-and-out in response, but Sooner punter Michael Turk launched an 85-yard punt to completely flip the field. Alex Grinch’s Sooner defense could not stop the Longhorns in the first, as Texas marched down the field, achieving two first downs, and scored on a 48-yard pass from Thompson to Moore to make it 28-7. As the first quarter transitioned to the second, Oklahoma faced a crucial fourth down on its own side of the field.

Needing less than a yard, backup quarterback Caleb Williams took the field for the situational as he has done several times this season. He got the one he needed, plus a lot more. Williams sprinted to the pylon, beating Texas defenders to the end zone for a 66-yard score. Texas went three-and-out, and the Sooners had an opportunity to regain some momentum. A 48-yard pass from Rattler to Jeremiah Hall put Oklahoma in position, but the Longhorn defense held and forced a Gabe Brkic field goal.

Texas had another drive sputter out, but Rattler once again cost his team when the Sooners retook possession. After moving into Texas territory, Rattler tried to run up the middle and was stripped by Ben Davis. DeMarvion Overshown, who tallied four tackles in the first half, recovered the fumble. Texas put itself in scoring position thanks to one of the most electric plays of the season by Robinson.

After stepping out at the two, Thompson found tight end Jared Wiley for a touchdown to make it 35-17.

When the Oklahoma offense took possession, Caleb Williams stood under center at quarterback on first down, and not for any sort of situational play. A deep pass to Hall helped OU get into Texas territory again, and Williams almost made a sensational play for a passing touchdown to Brayden Willis. After D’Shawn Jamison broke up a pass in the end zone intended for Jadon Haselwood, Brkic lined up and hit a 35-yard field goal to make it 35-20.

With 3:02 left in the half, Texas took possession on the 25. After an intentional grounding penalty on Thompson, he reared back and tossed a 39-yard pass to Worthy to set up a field goal attempt. After running the clock down, Cameron Dicker took the field and hit a 38-yard kick as the half expired to make it 38-20. Oklahoma began the second half with Rattler once again on the sidelines and Caleb Williams at quarterback. He picked up 17 yards for one first down, but then when facing 3rd-and-5, but could not pick up another first down after his pass intended for Woods fell incomplete.

Texas took over on the eight-yard-line, and immediately went backwards with a handoff to Robinson. A short pass to Robinson didn’t help the situation out much, nor did a false start on Derek Kerstetter. Texas was forced to punt and Oklahoma took over on the plus side of the field. After one solid run, the Sooners faced a 3rd-and-1. Williams’ skill set is different than Rattler’s and includes the ability to run the ball. He picked up the first down, then another with a pass to Mario Williams.

A wild play on 3rd-and-long ended up in Austin Stogner’s hands after Williams avoided several tacklers and was even wrapped up in the backfield. Despite the gain, Riley decided to kick a field goal after the 9-play, 30-yard drive that took 4:53 off the clock. After a Jamison return, Thompson found Xavier Worthy for a 17-yard gain on first down. A holding penalty knocked Texas back, but Robinson quickly erased the issue with a 33-yard run to put the Longhorns in Sooners territory. A screen to Jordan Whittington picked up the first down.

The Longhorns faced a 3rd-and-7 two plays later that they tried to convert with a deep pass to Marcus Washington, but his foot was just out of bounds on his attempted catch. Cameron Dicker hit a 41-yard field goal to make it 41-23 Texas with 2:45 left in the third.

The game continued to delve into absurdity. Kennedy Brooks broke free on the first play of the drive and rushed 65 yards down the field. Jamison tracked him and ripped the ball from his hands with Foster there to recover. However, Brooks was down prior to the ball coming out and the Sooners took over on the Texas 13 after the explosive play. The Longhorns eventually forced a 3rd-and-long, and Williams fumbled the snap. He picked it up and rolled right, drawing some UT defenders. He found Marvin Mims in the end zone to make it 41-30 with 1:02 left in the third.

As the third quarter ended and the fourth began, Texas faced 3rd-and-13 on its 22. Thompson looked for Moore over the middle but couldn’t complete the pass.

Dicker flipped the field with a 78-yard punt, and Oklahoma took over trailing by 11. The Longhorns forced a third down, but Williams flipped the field with a deep pass to Mims who fought off Foster for the catch for a 47-yard gain. Oklahoma moved quickly and gained a first down, but encountered another third down on the Texas 9. Williams looked for Haselwood in the end zone but could not complete the pass. OU settled for another field goal, and Brkic hit it to make it 41-33.

The following Texas drive got off to a bad start after Thompson was sacked for a huge loss. Then he was almost sacked again. Then one more time, and Texas went three-and-out. Williams gained a first down via the pass on the second play of the drive, but a holding call on second down hampered their efforts and knocked the Sooners out of field goal range. Texas then forced a loss of five to make it 3rd and 19.

Williams delivered. Stepping up in the pocket, he heaved a ball downfield for Mims, who made a tremendous play against Darion Dunn to haul in a 52-yard pass and dive into the end zone. His toe barely remained in bounds The Sooners converted the two-point attempt to tie the game at 41. On the ensuing kickoff, Worthy brought the ball out from five yards deep in its own end zone. At the 19-yard-line, Caleb Kelly stripped the ball from Worthy and gave Oklahoma the chance to take the lead.

They did one play later. Brooks followed blockers from 18 yards out to give the Sooners a 48-41 lead with 7:10 left. Texas responded with a 48-yard pass play from Thompson to Worthy to move into Sooner territory. Once they got there, the offense stalled and faced a 4th-and-11. Steve Sarkisian elected to go for it, and Thompson looked for Robinson with a pass up the middle. His throw fell incomplete and Oklahoma took over with a touchdown lead with 4:39 remaining.

The Longhorn defense forced OU into a 3rd-and-long, and held them to a minimal gain to get the ball back. Jamison returned the punt to the 40-yard-line for Texas last crack at the Sooners. It began with a short Robinson run, then continued with a short completion to Worthy to make it 3rd-and-short, but another snap infraction backed the Longhorns up. It was no matter, as Thompson found Cade Brewer for a first down.

Thompson found Worthy for another first down, but a Thompson pass intended for Moore fell incomplete on the ensuing play. His next pass found its target. Worthy’s ninth catch for his second touchdown put Texas within one with 1:23 left. Dicker hit the PAT to tie the game.

Oklahoma began its drive at the 25 and picked up nine yards with a pass to Haselwood. A second down pass fell incomplete, but Brooks picked up plenty of yards on third down to get the first and move close to midfield. Williams found Mims for another first, then Stogner for another. With 10 seconds left, Brooks took a direct snap all the way to the end zone to make it 55-48. Texas couldn’t do anything on the resulting kickoff, and the game ended.

(Bobby Burton): Snap Judgment: Defense-less

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In a game that came down to the final drive, it was the Texas defense that was not up to the task. The Horns were plagued by poor tackling, lack of a pass rush, and poor strategic decisions by the coaching staff. For Pete Kwiatkowski to not heavily blitz a freshman quarterback in the QB's first extensive game experience is unforgivable. Yet, the lack of a blitz wasn't the only issue. There were multiple instances of Texas linebackers and defensive linemen unable to get off blocks.

The Sooner run game was there all day and rarely did a Texas DL make a play to disrupt it. And there were whiffs by the defensive backs, like the one by Jerrin Thompson on Caleb Williams' long run. There is no single player to put this loss on, not a single DB, not a single OL or DL, not even Xavier Worthy, whose ill-advised return of a kick five-yards deep in the end zone and subsequent fumble gave OU the ball and eventually the lead.

**

Despite holding a 21-point lead at one point in the game, the Texas offense squandered too many opportunities in the second half itself. The Horns only scored 10 points in the half, which was clearly not enough to keep pace with the Sooners. Part of the issue was along the OL. The run game could not get going in the second half despite Bijan Robinson rushing for more than 100 yards in the first half alone. After Robinson's scintillating, Heisman-like cut-back run, the Sooners only allowed Robinson one more carry of more than 10 yards the rest of the game. And most of his touches were bottled up for no more than 3-4 yards at most.

The Texas OL was beaten repeatedly up front in the run game, especially at center (Jake Majors) and left guard (Derek Kerstetter). In pass protection, Texas was forced to help both Andrej Karic and Christian Jones, yet still gave up way too much pressure to the Sooner defense. The bottom line: the Sooner defense out-played the Texas defense. The Sooners basically had more playmakers on D than the Horns, and made just a few more plays than the Horns.

Texas desperately needs a pass rusher, and the Horns just don't have one, at least not one that opposing teams have to plan for. And the Horns need a linebacker that can truly get off a block and blow up a hole with the best of them. Texas currently has neither and Lincoln Riley exploited that routinely.

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The exploits of Worthy in this game were legendary. But just as Worthy stepped up, so, too, did Marvin Mims of the Sooners. Josh Moore also had a breakout game - or at least a breakout half. After snaring two TDs in the first half, Moore only caught a couple of balls for minimal yardage in the second.

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As always, there were too many ebbs and flows in this rivalry game to recount. If Steve Sarkisian didn't know it before today, at least he should know now. This game is different.

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Texas lost a big game, a game that was winnable, one where the team held a 21-point lead. It stings. But the Horns can not let this game affect next week, not if the Horns want to earn another shot at the Sooners in the Big 12 championship game.

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Taylor Estes) FINAL: Oklahoma takes down Texas, 55-48

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DALLAS — All eyes are on Dallas this weekend as No. 21 ranked Texas takes on No. 6 ranked Oklahoma inside the Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns and Sooners are set to meet for the 117th time as the two teams battle it out for the Golden Hat trophy. Texas enters the game as a 4-point underdog to Oklahoma, but as history has shown, all bets are off when these two teams face off in one of the most historic rivalries in college football.

Horns247 is on the scene at the Cotton Bowl and will provide live updates from Saturday's Red River Showdown between Texas and Oklahoma.

FIRST QUARTER UPDATES

14:46 left in Q1: The Longhorns got off to a huge start against the Sooners. One the first play from scrimmage, Casey Thompson connected with Xavier Worthy, who took it 75 yards down the field for a touchdown.

Texas 7, Oklahoma 0 (Longhorns' scoring drive: 1 play, 75 yards, 14 seconds used)

13:07 left in Q1: Texas found the end zone for the second time in less than two minutes. After DeMarvion Overshown blocked an OU punt, which Brenden Schooler recovered on the Oklahoma 2-yard line, Bijan Robinson took over from there when he ran in a two-yard touchdown to go up 14-0 on Oklahoma.

Texas 14, Oklahoma 0 (Longhorns' scoring drive: 2 plays, 2 yards, 9 seconds used)

9:14 left in Q1: Oklahoma is on the board. The Sooners took a 10-play drive that ended with Spencer Rattler running in a 2-yard touchdown.

Texas 14, Oklahoma 7 (Sooners' scoring drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 3:53 used)

4:39 left in Q1: The Longhorns have extended their lead over the Sooners. Safety B.J. Foster came up with a big interception thrown by Rattler, which set up the Texas offense at mid-field. Casey Thompson led the offense into Oklahoma territory and found Joshua Moore in the end zone for a 10 yard touchdown.

Texas 21, Oklahoma 7 (Longhorns' scoring drive: 3 plays, 51 yards, 1:14 used)

1:02 left in Q1: Texas is rolling in the first quarter against Oklahoma. The Longhorns only needed six plays to find the end zone when Thompson hit Moore on a deep pass that sailed 48 yards right into Moore's hands for a touchdown.

Texas 28, Oklahoma 7 (Longhorns' scoring drive: 6 plays, 80 yards, 1:55 used)

END OF 1ST QUARTER: Texas 28, Oklahoma 7

SECOND QUARTER UPDATES

14:45 left in Q2: The Sooners had a QB change and it paid off on the first play of the second quarter. Redshirt freshman QB Caleb Williams entered the game and took it 66 yards to the house to mark Oklahoma's second touchdown of the game.

Texas 28, Oklahoma 14 (Sooners' scoring drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:17 seconds used)

12:00 minutes left in Q2: The first field goal of the game came in the second quarter when the Texas defense forced OU to kick a 40-yard field goal, which was good.

Texas 28, Oklahoma 17 (Sooners' scoring drive: 5 plays, 52 yards, 1:07 used)

6:41 left in Q2: Texas extended the lead over Oklahoma. After the offense struggled on back-to-back drives, the Longhorns got rolling again when Bijan Robinson put up an impressive 50-yard run to the 2-yard line and set up Thompson to connect with Jared Wiley for a two-yard strike.

Texas 35, Oklahoma 17 (Longhorns' scoring drive: 3 plays, 55 yards, 1:29 used)

3:02 left in Q2: The Sooners have added three to the board. Oklahoma drove down into Texas territory, but senior CB D'Shawn Jamison came up with a huge pass breakup in the end zone that led to the Sooners settling for a 35-yard field goal.

Texas 35, Oklahoma 20 (Sooners' scoring drive: 10 plays, 58 yards, 3:39 used)

00:00 left in Q2: Texas added three more to their lead over the Sooners right before halftime. The Longhorns drove into OU territory late in the second quarter to set up Cameron Dicker's first field goal attempt of the game, which he sailed 38 yards through the uprights to extend the lead.

Texas 38, Oklahoma 20 (Longhorns' scoring drive: 9 plays, 55 yards, 3:02 used)

HALFTIME: Texas 38, Oklahoma 20

THIRD QUARTER UPDATES

6:22 left in Q3: The Sooners are back on the board. The Oklahoma offense put up a 9-play drive that ended with the Sooners settling for a 29-yard field goal.

Texas 38, Oklahoma 23 (Sooners' scoring drive: 9 plays, 30 yards, 4:53 used)

2:45 left in Q3: Texas has extended the lead on Oklahoma. The Longhorns drove the ball 53 yards down the field but an incomplete pass by Thompson on third-and-7 led to Texas having to settle for a 41-yard field goal.

Texas 41, Oklahoma 23 (Longhorns' scoring drive: 8 plays, 53 yards, 3:31 used)

1:02 left in Q3: The Sooners have cut the Longhorns' lead. Oklahoma RB Kennedy Brooks ran the ball 65 yards down the field on first down to put the Sooners in Texas territory. QB Caleb Williams finished the drive for Oklahoma when he connected with Marvin Mims for a 14-yard touchdown.

Texas 41, Oklahoma 30 (Sooners' scoring drive: 4 plays, 78 yards, 1:36 used)

END OF 3RD QUARTER: Texas 41, Oklahoma 30

FOURTH QUARTER UPDATES

11:38 left in Q4: It's a one possession game inside the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma cut Texas' lead early in the fourth quarter when the Sooners hit a 26-yard field goal.

Texas 41, Oklahoma 33 (Sooners' scoring drive: 9 plays, 71 yards, 2:59 used)

7:25 left in Q4: Oklahoma has tied it up. The Texas defense got the Sooners to 3rd-and-19, but Williams answered when he threw a deep ball to Mims in the end zone for a 52-yard touchdown.

Texas 41, Oklahoma 41 (Sooners scoring drive: 5 plays, 60 yards, 3:11 used)

7:10 left in Q4: The momentum continues to roll in the Sooners' favor. Texas WR Xavier Worthy fumbled the ball on the kick return after OU tied it up, which was recovered by the Sooners at the Texas 18-yard line. Oklahoma followed it up with a touchdown on the first play when RB Kennedy Brooks ran in an 18-yard score to give the Sooners the first lead of the game.

Oklahoma 48, Texas 41 (Sooners' scoring drive: 1 play, 18 yards, 7 seconds used)

1:23 left in Q4: The Longhorns are back in it. QB Casey Thompson hit Xavier Worthy for a 31-yard touchdown to make it a tie ball game.

Texas 48, Oklahoma 48 (Longhorns' scoring drive: 6 plays, 60 yards, 1:32 used)

00:03 left in Q4: After the Longhorns tied the game late in the fourth quarter, the Sooners came through when it mattered most when Kennedy Brooks ran in a 33-yard touchdown with three seconds left in the game.

Oklahoma 55, Texas 48 (Sooners' scoring drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 1:20 used)

FINAL: Oklahoma 55, Texas 48

 

[satyanash 14281]

Chip Brown's Quick Takes: First-half dream turns into second half nightmare for Longhorns in 55-48 loss to Oklahoma

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DALLAS — The second half of the Red River Shootout turned into a nightmare for the Longhorns as UT’s offense bogged down, the defense couldn’t get off the field and started getting punctured for big plays, including a 52-yard TD pass with 7:25 left, followed by a fumble on a kick return by Xavier Worthy, who decided to try to run the ball out after catching it 5 yards deep in the end zone in the Oklahoma end of the Cotton Bowl.

After Worthy was initially ruled down, review showed that Worthy fumbled the ball, and Oklahoma recovered at the Texas 18 with 7:17 left to play and the game tied, 41-41, after a 52-yard touchdown pass from OU quarterback Caleb Williams (who replaced starter Spencer Rattler in the second quarter) to Marvin Mims and a two-point conversion pass from Rattler to Drake Stoops. After Worthy was ruled to have fumbled on the kick return, Kennedy Brooks took a direct snap and ran almost untouched for an 18-yard touchdown, giving OU its first lead of the game - 48-41- with 7:10 left to play.

Texas appeared to have some life after Casey Thompson hit Worthy on a 48-yard pass to the Oklahoma 23 with roughly six minutes to play. But two Bijan Robinson runs on first and second down went for minus-2 yards and 1 yard, and Texas threw incomplete on third-and-11 and fourth-and-11. The Texas defense managed to get a three-and-out, giving the ball back to the Longhorns' offense at the UT 40 with 2:55 left.

Texas managed to overcome a snap infraction by Jake Majors on third-down thanks to an 11-yard pass from Casey Thompson to tight end Cade Brewer to the OU 45. After a 14-yard pass from Thompson to Worthy and an incompletion, Thompson threw his fifth touchdown pass of the day - a 32-yard strike to Worthy, who finished the game with nine catches for 261 yards and two touchdowns.

That touchdown made it a 48-48 game with 1:23 left. But a Texas defense that played well in the first half, forcing two turnovers that helped the Longhorns take a 28-7 lead and limiting two OU drives inside Texas' 20 to field goals, couldn't come up with a stop to force overtime. Oklahoma backup quarterback Caleb Williams led OU right down the field, hitting Jadon Haselwood for 9 yards, followed by a 12-yard run by Kennedy Brooks on third-and-1, before Williams hit Marvin Mims for 10 yards and tight end Austin Stogner for 11 yards to the Texas 33 with 10 seconds left.

Oklahoma took a timeout, and Texas needed to make something happen to at least force a long field goal by OU kicker Gabe Brkic, who was 4-of-4 on the day from 40, 35, 29 and 26 yards. But OU came out of the timeout and seemed to catch Texas by surprise by running the ball on a direct-snap play to Brooks, who raced through the UT defense for a 33-yard touchdown with :03 left. Brooks scored on the same play - from 18 yards out - for a touchdown run that gave OU a 48-41 lead with 7:10 to play.

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The Texas defense, which had no answer for the spark Oklahoma received from backup quarterback Caleb Williams (15-of-24 passing 211 yards, two touchdowns and four carries for 88 yards, including a 66-yard TD run),  gave up 370 yards in the second half, including 190 yards rushing on 19 carries (10 yards per carry), and gave up 662 yards total. Williams replaced starter Spencer Rattler, who finished 9-of-16 passing for 112 yards with a fumble and interception, late in the second quarter, although Rattler returned to the game and thew a two-point conversion pass to Drake Stoops that tied the game 41-41.

The Sooners were able to convert 5-of-9 on third down (56 percent) in the second half after Texas was able to hold OU to 4-of-10 on third down (40 percent) in the first half. Oklahoma ended up running 81 plays (compared to Texas' 61) and possessed the ball for 17:55 compared to Texas' 12:05.

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The Longhorns’ offense completely bogged down in the third quarter and much of it was due to penalties on the offensive line that UT couldn’t overcome. At the end of the third quarter, Texas had five penalties and four of them were on the offensive line, including three in the third quarter. Derek Kerstetter was called for a false start on third-and-12 from the Texas 6 on UT’s first drive of the third quarter, and the Longhorns couldn’t convert third-and-15.

Texas was able to overcome first-and-20 after a holding penalty on Junior Angilau on UT’s second drive of the third quarter thanks to a 33-yard run by Bijan Robinson. That drive ended with a 41-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker that put Texas up 41-23. But the Longhorns couldn’t overcome a snap infraction by Jake Majors that turned a second-and-8 into a second-and-13

On third-and-4 from the Texas 47 in the second quarter, the Longhorns had a blown assignment on the offensive line that ended a drive. Right guard Junior Angilau was lined up against OU nose tackle Perrion Winfrey, and, at the snap, Angilau moved inside, toward center Jake Majors, who was handling his assignment, and allowed Winfrey a free rush at Casey Thompson, who was lucky to get the ball off while throwing it away. Thompson was visibly upset after the play while walking to the Texas sideline.

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Casey Thompson grew up watching the Red River Shootout as an OU fan. On Saturday, Thompson flipped the script on the Sooners in the first half, throwing four of his five touchdown passes (and even overcoming a jammed thumb on his throwing hand) as Texas raced to a 38-20 halftime lead. With OU’s defense selling out to stop Texas running back Bijan Robinson early on, the Sooners dared Thompson to beat them with his arm - and he did.

Thompson threw a 75-yard, catch-and-run touchdown pass to freshman Xavier Worthy on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Thompson followed Worthy down the OU sideline, looking at the Sooners as he ran, inadvertently running into an official on the field in the end zone - because Thompson wasn’t looking where he was going - before congratulating Worthy. Thompson also hit Joshua Moore for two first-half touchdowns, including UT’s first deep-ball TD pass of the season on a 48-yard connection.

The performance came as Oklahoma’s pass rush continually penetrated Texas’ offensive line and got pressure and hits on Thompson. Thompson was flagged for intentional grounding in the second quarter after OU’s Nik Bonitto pressured Thompson for the umpteenth time on Saturday, bringing up second-and-21 from the Texas 29.

On the next play, Thompson hit Xavier Worthy with a 39-yard pass down the right sideline and also converted a third-and-9 with an 11-yard pass to Jordan Whittington, setting up a 38-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker on the last play of the first half.

Thompson barely missed on a third-quarter TD pass to Marcus Washington on third-and-7 from the OU 23. Washington caught the back-shoulder pass from Thompson but couldn’t tap his foot inbounds, leading to 41-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker that put Texas up 41-23.

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After freshman receiver Xavier Worthy had three drops last week at TCU, Texas needed to get Worthy going early against OU. How about a 75-yard, catch-and-run touchdown on UT’s first play from scrimmage on his way to three catches for 141 yards in the first half? Worthy was lined up in a stack formation on the left side behind receiver Marcus Washington. At the snap, Worthy took a step back and caught screen from Casey Thompson.

Worthy got a great block from Washington and then stiff-armed cornerback Jaden Davis and stepped through a tackle attempt by OU safety Delarrin Turner-Yell and went racing down the sideline. Worthy caught a 27-yard pass that extended a first-quarter TD drive.

In the second quarter, Worthy caught a 39-yard deep ball down the right sideline and then had a 7-yard run on a jet sweep handoff on third-and-2 - both of which helped fuel Texas’ drive to a field goal just before the half. Texas teammates said Worthy, who finished with nine catches for 261 yards and two touchdowns, will bounce back from the fumbled kick return at Texas' 18 with 7:17 left to play that helped set up a touchdown by Oklahoma that gave the Sooners a 48-41 lead.

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Bijan Robinson , who finished with 20 carries for 137 yards (6.9 yards per carry) and a touchdown, gave the whole country a glimpse of what he’s all about on a 50-yard run in the second quarter. On second-and-7 from the Texas 48, Robinson took an outside zone handoff to the right before cutting back to his left, causing three OU defenders to collide trying to change direction. As Robinson got to the edge going back to his left, he stiff-armed an OU defender into the turf before finally getting run out of bounds at the OU 2. That set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from Casey Thompson to tight end Jared Wiley, giving Texas a 35-17 lead with 6:41 left in the half.

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Texas senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown had a dream first half of his final Red River Shootout, posting a third-down sack, blocking a punt and recovering a fumble. Overshown recovered a fumble by OU quarterback Spencer Rattler that was caused by a great-effort swipe at the ball by UT outside linebacker Ben Davis at the Texas 45 with 8:10 left before halftime.

Overshown came up with a third-down sack on OU's first possession that forced a punt and then blocked the punt, which was recovered by Brenden Schooler at the OU 2 and set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Bijan Robinson that put Texas up 14-0 less than two minutes into the game. Overshown, who had one sack, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries, finished the game with eight tackles (second only to Luke Brockermeyer, who had a team-leading 12 tackles),

***

The Texas defense forced two turnovers and nearly came up with a third when it appeared D’Shawn Jamison stripped OU running back Kennedy Brooks of the ball at the Texas 13 after a 65-yard run, and it was scooped up by UT safety B.J. Foster and returned 10 yards to the UT 23 late in the third quarter. But the ruling on the field of a fumble was overturned upon review, which determined Brooks’ knee was down before the ball came out. Oklahoma ended up scoring on the drive on 14-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Williams to Marvin Mims on third-and-11, cutting Texas' lead to 41-30 with 1:02 left in the third quarter.

***

Texas converted an interception by B.J. Foster at the Texas 49 with 5:53 left in the first quarter into a three-play, 51-yard TD drive thanks to a 27-yard pass from Thompson to Xavier Worthy; a 14-yard run by Bijan Robinson; and a 10-yard TD pass from Thompson to Joshua Moore on a corner route, putting Texas up 21-7 with 4:39 left in the first quarter. It was Moore’s first TD catch of the season.

***

Alfred Collins is continuing to get better and better push up front and came through with a third-down sack in the first quarter. Lined up at defensive end, Collins outmuscled OU tackle Tyrese Robinson and clawed his way to OU quarterback Spencer Rattler, dropping him for a 7-yard sack on third-and-13 from the OU 22 in the first quarter, forcing what turned out to be an 85-yard punt by OU’s Michael Turk.

***

Texas’ ability to make game-changing plays on special teams continued in the first two minutes of the Red River Shootout. After a brilliantly timed blitz on third-and-7 by DeMarvion Overshown resulted in a 9-yard sack, Overshown blocked OU’s punt, and it was recovered by Brenden Schooler at the OU 2. Two plays later, Bijan Robinson took an outside zone handoff to the left side and practically walked into the end zone for a 14-0 lead with 13:07 left in the first quarter.

 

[satyanash 14281]

😥

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Jeff Howe) Instant Analysis: Second-half collapse sinks No. 21 Texas in heartbreaking loss to No. 6 Oklahoma, 55-48

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DALLAS — When Cameron Dicker knocked home a 41-yard field goal with 2:45 to go in the third quarter to put No. 21 Texas ahead of No. 6 Oklahoma by 18 points, 41-23, the furthest thing from the minds of the burnt orange faithful was that the Sooners would come back and win the game. When Saturday’s 55-48 thriller ended, everyone who baked in the sun at the Cotton Bowl witnessed an unforgettable Red River Showdown that was equal parts epic collapse by Texas (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) and improbable rally by Oklahoma (6-0, 3-0) with the Sooners scoring 25 unanswered points en route to their first lead of the game with 7:10 to play, part of a second half where they outscored (35-10) and outgained (370-171) the Longhorns.

Instead of Steve Sarkisian’s series debut following the opening script of an onslaught (Texas had a two-score lead, 14-0, 117 seconds into the game), the head coach has to take stock of why the Longhorns couldn’t run the ball when it mattered (27 yards on 10 carries in the second half), which lead to the offense stalling out while the Sooners mounted their comeback. Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense was obliterated by the run (190 of Oklahoma’s 339 yards rushing were churned out after halftime with the Sooners averaging 10 yards per rushing attempt) in high-leverage situations, leading a late-game tidal wave that washed away Texas’ upset bid and has the Longhorns merely hoping they can get another crack at the Sooners in the Big 12 title gets decided at Arlington's AT&T Stadium in December.

— The most gut-wrenching aspect of Saturday’s loss (the 10th for Texas in the program’s last 13 meetings with Oklahoma) is that the Longhorns took the fight to the Sooners from the outset were relentless out of the blocks. Outset can be applied to Saturday in the truest sense of the word — Sarkisian’s decision to receive the opening kickoff after winning the coin toss, putting the ball in the hands of Casey Thompson (20-for-34, 388 yards and five touchdowns) and the offense to open the game, set the tone for a high-octane first half where Texas looked primed for a memorable day in Dallas (214 of the 516 yards the Longhorns racked up on Saturday came in the first quarter with Thompson and Co. averaging 14.3 yards per play after the first 15 minutes of action).

A tremendous block by Marcus Washington helped transform a screen pass from Thompson to Xavier Worthy (nine receptions for 261 yards and two touchdowns) on the Longhorns’ first play from scrimmage from a safe play to get a first-time starting quarterback in the series into a rhythm into a 75-yard haymaker that knocked Oklahoma to the canvas after Worthy made Jaden Davis and Delarrin Turner-Yell miss point-blank attempts to get him on the ground. A DeMarvion Overshown (eight tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries) blocked punt and a Bijan Robinson (137 yards rushing on 20 carries) 2-yard touchdown run further paced the Longhorns to an 18-point halftime lead, 38-20, lead thanks to Thompson’s four touchdown passes and Robinson’s 98 yards on the ground, including a Heisman-worthy 50-yard run that electrified the burnt orange-clad supporters who were in the house to watch the 117th chapter of the rivalry.

— What’s interesting when sorting through the rubble of this debacle is examining Sarkisian’s bold decision to take the ball to start the game, which might’ve played a role in the Longhorns not further extending their halftime lead over the Sooners. With Oklahoma getting the ball to start the second half, Sarkisian seemed caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of wanting to put points on the board while not wanting to give the Sooners the ball back with enough time to go down and get points before intermission.

Texas had a second-and-10 at the Oklahoma 32-yard line with 37 seconds left, but the clock ticked down to 14 seconds after a 1-yard run by Robinson before Sarkisian called a timeout. An 11-yard strike from Thompson to Jordan Whittington moved the chains on third-and-9, but the only thing Sarkisian could do was call a timeout with two seconds on the clock to get Dicker onto the field (he made his 38-yard try on the final play of the half) before the clock expired. Is this nitpicking? Certainly, but in a game where the Longhorns needed to maximize every scoring opportunity they had, putting the ball in the end zone could’ve broken Oklahoma’s will for good (even if a 22-point lead wasn’t going to be safe at the end of the day).

— For the second year in a row, Oklahoma beat Texas after Lincoln Riley was forced to bench Spencer Rattler (9-for-16, 112 yards, one interception and a fumble) after his two first-half turnovers led to 14 points for the Longhorns (Thompson’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Moore capitalized on a B.J. Foster interception while a Ben Davis forced fumble Overshown recovered led to Thompson connecting with Jared Wiley for a 2-yard touchdown). Before Riley made the switch for good, Caleb Williams (15-for-24 for 211 yards and two touchdowns; 88 yards rushing on four carries) raced 66 yards to the end zone on the first play of the second quarter on fourth-and-1 from the Texas 34-yard line, opening a performance where the nation’s No. 1-ranked quarterback prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle made the difference in the game with his ability to extend plays and turn negative plays into positive snaps for the Sooners.

 

[satyanash 14281]

Joe Cook: A wild beginning, middle, and finish ends in heartbreak for Texas in the Red River Shootout

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DALLAS — Where to begin? The beginning of the 117th Red River Shootout that saw Texas take a 28-7 lead in the first? The middle when Caleb Williams replaced Spencer Rattler at quarterback for the Sooners? Or the end, when Kennedy Brooks’ 33-yard touchdown run capped a monumental Oklahoma comeback and sealed a 55-48 victory for those in crimson and cream? Wherever you look, Texas’ annual matchup with Oklahoma had a lot of crazy. Over 1000 total yards and 103 points, the most in series history. Wild, game-changing chunk plays, punctuated by several replay reviews. An 85-yard punt from Oklahoma later countered by a 78-yarder from Cameron Dicker.

Heisman-caliber runs from Bijan Robinson that lingered as the game went on. 261 receiving yards from Xavier Worthy, a handful short of the Texas single game receiving yardage record, but also a pivotal turnover that set up Oklahoma’s first go-ahead score midway through the fourth. An inspired 20-of-34, 388-yard, five-touchdown performance from Casey Thompson against his father’s team with his father wearing burnt orange as one of the 92,100 in the stands.

Those crazy plays were matched step for step by the Sooners, even though it took a little while for them to get going. A disastrous first quarter that saw Texas score on the first play from scrimmage, block a punt, and score again before two minutes elapsed was followed by three glorious 15-minute segments for an Oklahoma program that has seen plenty of glory in recent years. Marvin Mims tapping his toe in bounds by millimeters to tie it late acts as one of the standout events prior to Brooks’ winning jaunt.

But if you looked in the trenches, you wouldn’t see much crazy. In fact, you’d see a consistent outcome. Texas, despite 48 points, was dominated along the line of scrimmage. While the offense put up 48, the defense allowed more. More yards. More points. More opportunities. It wasn’t just the line, though. The Longhorns’ linebackers, even with 22 combined tackles, were part of an effort that allowed the Sooners to tally 339 yards on the ground in order to make things as easy as possible for Williams during his first extended, meaningful game action.

Brooks’ 25th carry was his most important, but the other 24 were normally of high quality. He rushed for 217 yards and two scores, constantly acting as a menace to Longhorn defenders. When they opted to go through the air, Oklahoma converted those plays, too. Williams was 15-of-24 in relief for 211 yards and two touchdowns, both to Mims. Williams brought a different skill set to the Sooner quarterback position. Rattler rarely runs, but Williams ability to tote the rock is one of the hallmarks of the former five-star’s game. He rushed four times for 88 yards, his early second quarter 66-yard run as the main source of his production.

The secondary wasn’t blameless, either. BJ Foster turned over Rattler with an interception prior to his second benching in two Red River Shootouts, but then Foster got lost on a downfield 50-50 ball at a crucial juncture in the game. But Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley knew his team had the advantage up front. The only question was whether OU had enough time left in the game for that rushing onslaught to pay off.

It did, with seconds to spare. It capped a wild comeback the rivalry, and even Oklahoma’s program, had not seen before. The clock ticked and ticked and ticked. Brooks ran and ran and ran. The last moments of possession for the Sooners capped a day that saw them win the time of possession battle 35:23 to 24:37, encapsulating what was an exhausting day not just for Pete Kwiatkowski, but for his defense too.

The Sooner defensive line feasted as well. Nik Bonitto tallied five tackles, including 1.5 sacks. Isaiah Thomas and Perrion Winfrey notched two TFL. Play after play, the Oklahoma defensive line made life tough for a new-look Texas O-line. When Thompson found opportunities, he typically made the most of them. But more often than not, he was running away from white jerseys. And in the end, there were enough crazy plays outside of the trenches that went the Sooners’ way for those traveling north to head home from the Cotton Bowl to return victorious for the third-straight year.

The result is a heartbreaker in multiple ways. First, the obvious of losing a 21-point lead. Then also the sting of a first loss in the Big 12 standings, and a difficult pathway toward 10 wins if that was something considered feasible. Also, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian mentioned Jordan Whittington injured his clavicle late, while Jacoby Jones missed most of the game after leaving with an early leg injury.

And the Texas players hurt. Whether it was Joshua Moore, who caught two touchdowns, Robinson, who rushed for one, or Thompson, who played a heck of a legacy game, there was pain in their voices after the game. But the Longhorn players held onto one small glimmer of hope as they left the grounds of Fair Park and begin preparation for Oklahoma State. They think they can see this Sooner team later in the year in the Big 12 Championship game and envision doing what it takes to get there.

The next step is a week from today versus the Cowboys.

 

[satyanash 14281]

Bobby Burton and Justin Wells

 

[satyanash 14281]

Eric Nahlin: Was that supposed to hurt?

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I feel nothing, and not because I’m inoculated, inebriated, or comfortably numb. I wish I would have covered Mack Brown at the height of his tenure. I would have done my best to combat his good guy image. By that image I mean his grandfatherly Werther’s original facade. Mack was pretty cold-blooded. Sure he was loyal to a stubborn degree, but Mack had a pragmatism to him that went under-reported. If you’re long on an investment, it gives you comfort and clarity of mind through ups and downs. It takes work to become long on an investment. It takes a good understanding of fundamentals and it requires confidence in your own judgement.

I think this is going somewhere. And I think Steve Sarkisian is the man for Texas. Despite the outcome today, I feel more sure of it now than I did at 10:59 a.m. While Sark deserves blame for the loss, he schemed those motherfuckers up and had his team ready to play at kick off. This isn’t the same coaching staff that crawled in and out of Fayetteville. While the loss is irksome, it is reassuring beyond words that Texas has a schemer and play caller the envy of the coaching world. Like we say in recruiting evaluation, your defining traits have to translate, and his do. He let it rip, Casey let it rip, and it was fun to behold.

Sark seems like a nice guy and it’s an easy narrative to create because he’s so congenial. Behind that facade is the same guy, he’s more genuine than Mack Brown, but also a pragmatic, win at all costs Saban/Carroll disciple. If you’re worried about bad defensive coordination being a long term issue, I’m going to have to disagree with that. Do not fall for his laid back demeanor — he’s a competitive SOB who understands his expectations. That does not mean Pete Kwiatkowski’s job is in danger, but he won’t have a forever leash.

I’m having trouble escaping the Mack Brown parallels. As we left the game today, one letterman even quipped how it reminded him of an early Brown game. Since I have that feeling — that Sark is on a Mack Brown trajectory — it’s hard for me to get worked up over the game. I have a lot of trust in Sark. If I’m right about him, he’s not done scheming those motherfuckers up this year.

 

[dcar00 14035]

3 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Eric Nahlin: Was that supposed to hurt?

 

So I'm looking forward to a couple of black saturdays?  awesome

[satyanash 14281]

(Scipio Tex) Texas-Oklahoma Postmortem: Offense

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Much of the Longhorn recipe for big play success on offense rested on Casey Thompson’s ability to hit the critical throws that Steve Sarkisian schemed up against the Sooner secondary. Not only did Casey coolly nail a very high percentage of those throws, Sark’s play calling freed up as many wide open Texas receivers in one game as I’ve seen in a very, very long time. The 38 point, 355 yard first half destruction of the Grinch led Sooner defense was remarkable. The Sooners had no idea what hit ’em. Whether it was Texas attacking the edge on 3rd and short with receiver sweeps, a steady diet of Bijan on wide zone, red zone rub routes to spring Joshua Moore, or Casey Thompson going deep on play action to an open Moore and Worthy.

QB and play caller both like it when a game opens like this on a simple keep ’em honest throw out wide:

Washington got a strong block and Worthy humiliates Jaden Davis for a 75 yard touchdown on the first play of the game. Later…

Moore is open by eight yards, but Thompson still needs to sink the open shot. Nothing but net. Then there’s Bijan:

Wide zone with a little backside constraint blocker. Jake Majors gets a pancake, Angilau does his work, Karic seals the edge beautifully and then…well, that’s just incredible running. Texas was crushing the Sooners in every way conceivable, repeatedly attacking the edges of the Sooner defense to slow down the pass rush, create pause, and force Texas wide outs into single man coverage against OU’s weak secondary on play action.

What explains the second half?

Perhaps it’s the law of offensive gravity. What goes up, must come down. Maybe Sark ran out of tricks to flummox Sooner coverages. What’s clear is that Texas started losing 1st down when Grinch rallied his troops. The Sooner front started getting home and 1st half heat started turning into second half hits on Casey. The more time Texas spent in 3rd and long, the less satisfactory the results. Texas was 1 of 6 on 3rd down conversions in the second half and Casey Thompson spent far too much time under duress as the offense had to play in a pure drop back passing game that it wasn’t well-suited to execute, in contrast to the first half of play action wizardry and edge attacks that slowed the Sooner pass rush just enough.

Over roughly the last 16 minutes of the game, Texas was outscored 31-7.

Texas had six second half possessions (nine in the first half, scored on six). Three 2nd half possessions were three and outs – each with a significant negative play on 1st or 2nd down (-4 yard Robinson run, a Thompson sack, Majors penalty). The other three? A field goal drive to put Texas up 41-23, a drive that ended on downs on the Sooner 24 yard line, and then the tying touchdown drive to notch it up 48 all. Those last two drives were the Horns’ final efforts. The Texas offense had regained its composure late, but other units rendered that fact irrelevant.

QB

#11 was 20 of 34 for 388 yards and 5 touchdowns with zero turnovers. Thompson played his best game as a Longhorn. That’s not reliant on inference from gazing at some gaudy statistics. Remove the stat friendly 75 yard TD to Worthy that was about 70 yards of Worthy or even the Moore layup (and you shouldn’t do that – Casey made the open throw) and you’ll still find multiple good throws and relatively few mistakes while #11 got hammered. He spent a lot of time under inordinate pressure and the mistakes he made were all part of playing in a heated rivalry game taking big shots and facing moments of withering pass rush. Playing through a banged up wrist as well.

Here’s a hell of a pure ball with the Horns down 7 and 1:27 on the clock in the game.

That’s the only place you can put it. It’s also notable that this is not off of play action. Big boy pocket throw. Similarly, he hit Worthy for a big gain on a straight up timing fly route in man coverage. I could not be more proud of Casey’s effort, overall play under fire, and his ability come up big on multiple throws that he hadn’t yet connected on this year.

RB

Bijan was as good as we all expect him to be. 20 carries, 137 yards, 1 touchdown. I’ll defend our use of him for anyone grumbling. Game script. Down and distance was not the Texas offense’s friend in the 2nd half and some attempts to be stubborn with the run were not rewarded other than a 1st and 20 conversion for 33 yards. Bijan had four targets in the passing game and there were a couple of opportunities blown up that could have gone for big yardage.

WR/TE

Xavier Worthy played the best game a Longhorn freshman receiver has ever played and is living up to the DeSean Jackson comp. 9 catches, 261 yards, 2 touchdowns. Unreal. His combination of fire, playmaking, and pure ability (watching him stiff arm Jaden Davis into the ground on one catch and then point at him is exactly the right amount of chippy the Horns are missing). I’ll cover the fumbled kickoff in the D/ST writeup. Suffice to say, he should not have been returning a kick five yards deep in the end zone in that situation.

Joshua Moore had his best game of the year. 4-70-2 touchdowns. Jordan Whittington played really well until injuring his clavicle and we’ll need others to step up. Marcus Washington blocked well and made a great effort on sideline/end zone catch that could have been but for a half inch. Jared Wiley caught a touchdown and would have had another if not for an overthrow. He is the worst pass blocking tight end I’ve ever seen at Texas. Brewer caught 2-18 and competed hard in all phases.

OL

On rewatch, they did many good things (yes, really), but they struggled badly in pure, predictable passing situations. Three observations:

1. In the second half, OU was attacking Longhorn protection rules as much as individual players. Yes, you will see a play in the second half where a Sooner three man rush has both ends meet at Casey Thompson as they beat Karic and Jones and that’s got nothing to do with protection rules, but more often I saw free men outside or inside because OU had the Horn protection scheme dialed in. Specifically, how they “help” and deal with an extra man or a slant. That’s as much a coaching issue as a player issue. Bottom line: Texas didn’t get hat on hat.

2. Texas is a run and play-action passing team. Outside zone and attacking the edge with jet/fly was very good to the offense for most of the game, but it got less reliable as the game went on. At least some of that was a diminishment in motion and eye candy that helps freeze defenders. In fairness, OU also started ignoring deception and just attacking. That really showed up on a couple of play action shots where pulling Texas OL were asked to block OU DL with their ears pinned back. Those plays didn’t end well.

3. When the OL started to fall apart, rather than get reoriented and reorganized, you saw composure slip and mistakes compound for too long. Texas got it together late and may have been fine offensively in an overtime situation, but the Longhorn defense denied us an opportunity to know that.

Final

The Texas offense is an imperfect product, but Sark can scheme it, this team can score enough most Saturdays, and the offensive scoreboard in Dallas seems to agree. On balance, it’s very difficult to argue that an offense that put up 48 points and over 500 yards at 8.5 yards per play with no turnovers didn’t get it done. The second half offense felt particularly dire because the play of the Texas defense was so feeble. We shifted the entire weight of our expectations to the only unit that demonstrated any ability to perform.

Second half slowdown aside, let's be clear about what side of the ball didn’t show up.

 

[satyanash 14281]

Chip Brown: Longhorns want rematch with Oklahoma but first have to learn from third straight loss to the Sooners

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We can talk about the crazy numbers that would’ve suggested there's no way Texas could lose to No. 6 Oklahoma on Saturday.

Like Longhorns’ quarterback Casey Thompson throwing for five touchdowns; freshman receiver Xavier Worthy catching nine passes for the second-most receiving yards in school history (261) and two touchdowns; or Bijan Robinson averaging 6.8 yards per carry on 20 rushes for 137 yards against the nation’s No. 7 run defense. Oh, and Texas blocked another punt that led to a 2-yard TD run, putting the Longhorns up 14-0 less than two minutes into the game.

But we can also talk about how Texas actually scored too quickly in the first half, when, despite a 38-20 halftime lead, the Longhorns’ defense was on the field for 17:28 on a roaster of an afternoon on its way to spending 35:23 on the field (compared to the 24:37 Texas’ offense was on the field). No matter how you want to look at Oklahoma coming back from a 21-point, first-quarter deficit and from an 18-point deficit with 2:45 left in the third quarter, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and his players sounded surprisingly positive after a heartbreaking 55-48 loss.

Perhaps because the Longhorns (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) have no time to sulk with an 11 am CT kickoff next Saturday in Austin against undefeated Oklahoma State (5-0, 2-0), which was off on Saturday. “This one hurts,” Sarkisian said. “This will test our mettle. We’ll have to pick ourselves up for another quality opponent next week (Oklahoma State). But my mindset is, I’d love to get another crack at these guys (OU) - hopefully in December.”

Texas is waiting to hear if it will have receiver Jordan Whittington for the OSU game after Whittington, who had three catches for 35 yards and a big, third-down conversion run of 8 yards against the Sooners, suffered an injured clavicle in the second half against OU. “Jordan (Whittington) provides a lot for us in the middle of the field,” Sarkisian said. “I don’t know if it hindered us (without him). Marcus Washington went in the game and makes a heck of a catch on the front pylon, and unfortunately, his toe was out of bounds. Their kid (Marvin Mims) got their toe inbounds on a touchdown pass. Our guy’s toe was out of bounds.”

Bijan Robinson was asked how his Longhorn teammates were dealing with Saturday’s loss to the Sooners - UT’s third straight loss in the series. “We have a tough opponent next week and need to bounce back and understand we’re still in this and need to keep grinding and working for what we want at the end of the season,” Robinson said. “I think we’re going to be OK. We’re actually pretty positive right now. I mean, obviously this loss sucks. But we’ll bounce back and get ready for next week.”

Thompson was under pressure most of the OU game, overcoming a jammed thumb suffered in the first half. “My hand is fine,” Thompson said. “There’s nothing that will hold me out. But it was very difficult at first. I kind of had a stinger, and it’s very swollen. But there was no way I was going to come out unless they carted me out. I was going to continue to battle and continue to fight, and that’s what I did."

Coaches and teammates were also proud of Worthy, who bounced back from a fumbled kick return at the Texas 18 with 7:10 left to catch a 31-yard TD pass from Thompson with 1:32 left that tied the game 48-48. “That’s totally what he’s capable of,” Sarkisian said of Worthy’s 261 yards receiving. “How he played last week (at TCU with three drops) was totally out of character. This is what he’s capable of.

“The guy is a dynamic playmaker. I think that was a really cool moment for him to bounce back from the fumble and make such a contested catch at a critical moment for the touchdown. The guy is a great player now, but his future is even brighter. We’re fortunate to have him.”

Sure, there’s a lot to fix, including giving up a long touchdown drive late in the game for the second straight week - when the defense absolutely needed a stop. “Oklahoma definitely got a charge in the run game when they changed quarterbacks (from Spencer Rattler to freshman Caleb Williams),” Sarkisian said. “They went to more zone read and quarterback reading things, potential pulls. I thought that slowed us down some.

“I thought we were playing pretty good against the run early on. When it went to a different style of game, that’s the part we’ve got to get fixed. We’ve got to be able to make those adjustments - coaches and players included - in-game when that stuff happens.”

The Texas offensive line struggled throughout the game and was penalized on each of UT’s first three possessions in the third quarter, when the Longhorns’ offense began to bog down. “Coming into the game it was no secret these guys led the country in tackles for loss,” Sarkisian said. “They’re a penetrating defensive front. I think it’s the strength of their team, quite frankly. As much as we could control the line of scrimmage that was going to be a bonus for us. But we had a feeling coming in it might be some big-little plays. You were going to have to grind out the 3-yard runs, but then there were gonna be some runs that would hit. And that’s kind of how it went.”

Casey Thompson was asked about having to make plays despite being under constant pressure from Oklahoma's defense. "I wouldn’t say I had no time," Thompson said. "I was just trying to avoid taking sacks. I was trying to get myself in position to stay in the pocket to where I could continue to see downfield and make my reads. But OU did a good job of getting guys in my face to where I couldn’t see as well as I did early on.

"I knew the big plays and shots would be there. I just needed to be able to find windows to make throws, and I think I did that until the fourth quarter - on the last few drives. But at the end of the day, we all have to do better as a team. I never want to put the blame on anyone else. We all have to do better and there’s stuff we can all fix."

So what does Thompson say to struggling teammates on the sideline? "I never want to be negative towards any of my teammates on offense or defense," Thompson said. "I always try to be positive, because I need to reflect and give them the confidence they need and make sure we all stay focused."

One of the best starts by Texas in Red River Shootout history - grabbing a 28-7 lead after the first quarter - was steadily worn away after Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley’s decision to replace Spencer Rattler at quarterback with true freshman spark plug Caleb Williams, who is going to be a problem for opponents for seasons to come.

All Williams did was run for a 66-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 en route to finishing with four carries for 88 yards. All Williams did was throw for a 14-yard TD pass on third-and-11 (after dropping the snap) with 1:02 left in the third quarter; and then throw for a 52-yard TD pass on third-and-19, helping tie the game 41-41 with 7:25 left to play. That 52-yard TD pass ended up as ESPN SportsCenter’s No. 1 play of the day.

No offense to Rattler, a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite who is probably out as the starter in Norman, but if Riley doesn’t replace Rattler with Williams, Texas probably wins Saturday’s game by 30. Really. The Texas defense had Rattler rattled after an interception by UT safety B.J. Foster and after fumbling the ball on a swipe by Texas’ Ben Davis and recovered by DeMarvion Overshown midway through the second quarter.

Both turnovers led to 14 Texas points and helped the Longhorns take a 38-20 lead into halftime. But Riley did play Williams, who ignited the Sooners and gave OU’s offense and running game a boost. "A lot of the plays they were making - and to their credit, they made the change at quarterback," Sarkisian said. "But a lot of the plays they were creating were off broken plays with the quarterback out of the pocket.

"We lost our rush contain leverage, our rush lanes, and the quarterback was able to extend plays. And I think there were three 50-50 balls that got flung up there that they made the play - even the one at the end, where the receiver gets his toe inbounds for the touchdown. That was a big one."

Sarkisian said his team has to learn how to reclaim momentum in a game. "They captured momentum late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter," Sarkisian said. "Momentum, when it mounts on you, one of the keys for us to get it back is to focus on the positive.

"We were in their end of the field with their crowd, and you feel it, and that’s where you have to really execute. You’ve got to get a first down, then two, then three to swing that momentum back, and we just weren’t able to do it quick enough. But it was a good learning lesson on that front of where our mental state needs to go when you’re in the type of game like this."

Texas linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, who had a third-down sack, a blocked punt and a fumble recovery against OU, was asked how the Longhorns can use the OU loss to grow. “We know that everything we want is in front of us,” Overshown said. “We’ve been here before. We didn’t like the taste the first time, and we don’t like it this time. I’m excited to come back to work tomorrow and Monday and see the guys put in their work, because no one likes this taste, and everything we want is still in front of us.”

 

[LTtxfan 48980]

16 hours ago, satyanash said:

(Jeff Howe) Instant Analysis: Second-half collapse sinks No. 21 Texas in heartbreaking loss to No. 6 Oklahoma, 55-48

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DALLAS — When Cameron Dicker knocked home a 41-yard field goal with 2:45 to go in the third quarter to put No. 21 Texas ahead of No. 6 Oklahoma by 18 points, 41-23, the furthest thing from the minds of the burnt orange faithful was that the Sooners would come back and win the game. When Saturday’s 55-48 thriller ended, everyone who baked in the sun at the Cotton Bowl witnessed an unforgettable Red River Showdown that was equal parts epic collapse by Texas (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) and improbable rally by Oklahoma (6-0, 3-0) with the Sooners scoring 25 unanswered points en route to their first lead of the game with 7:10 to play, part of a second half where they outscored (35-10) and outgained (370-171) the Longhorns.

Instead of Steve Sarkisian’s series debut following the opening script of an onslaught (Texas had a two-score lead, 14-0, 117 seconds into the game), the head coach has to take stock of why the Longhorns couldn’t run the ball when it mattered (27 yards on 10 carries in the second half), which lead to the offense stalling out while the Sooners mounted their comeback. Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense was obliterated by the run (190 of Oklahoma’s 339 yards rushing were churned out after halftime with the Sooners averaging 10 yards per rushing attempt) in high-leverage situations, leading a late-game tidal wave that washed away Texas’ upset bid and has the Longhorns merely hoping they can get another crack at the Sooners in the Big 12 title gets decided at Arlington's AT&T Stadium in December.

— The most gut-wrenching aspect of Saturday’s loss (the 10th for Texas in the program’s last 13 meetings with Oklahoma) is that the Longhorns took the fight to the Sooners from the outset were relentless out of the blocks. Outset can be applied to Saturday in the truest sense of the word — Sarkisian’s decision to receive the opening kickoff after winning the coin toss, putting the ball in the hands of Casey Thompson (20-for-34, 388 yards and five touchdowns) and the offense to open the game, set the tone for a high-octane first half where Texas looked primed for a memorable day in Dallas (214 of the 516 yards the Longhorns racked up on Saturday came in the first quarter with Thompson and Co. averaging 14.3 yards per play after the first 15 minutes of action).

A tremendous block by Marcus Washington helped transform a screen pass from Thompson to Xavier Worthy (nine receptions for 261 yards and two touchdowns) on the Longhorns’ first play from scrimmage from a safe play to get a first-time starting quarterback in the series into a rhythm into a 75-yard haymaker that knocked Oklahoma to the canvas after Worthy made Jaden Davis and Delarrin Turner-Yell miss point-blank attempts to get him on the ground. A DeMarvion Overshown (eight tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries) blocked punt and a Bijan Robinson (137 yards rushing on 20 carries) 2-yard touchdown run further paced the Longhorns to an 18-point halftime lead, 38-20, lead thanks to Thompson’s four touchdown passes and Robinson’s 98 yards on the ground, including a Heisman-worthy 50-yard run that electrified the burnt orange-clad supporters who were in the house to watch the 117th chapter of the rivalry.

— What’s interesting when sorting through the rubble of this debacle is examining Sarkisian’s bold decision to take the ball to start the game, which might’ve played a role in the Longhorns not further extending their halftime lead over the Sooners. With Oklahoma getting the ball to start the second half, Sarkisian seemed caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of wanting to put points on the board while not wanting to give the Sooners the ball back with enough time to go down and get points before intermission.

Texas had a second-and-10 at the Oklahoma 32-yard line with 37 seconds left, but the clock ticked down to 14 seconds after a 1-yard run by Robinson before Sarkisian called a timeout. An 11-yard strike from Thompson to Jordan Whittington moved the chains on third-and-9, but the only thing Sarkisian could do was call a timeout with two seconds on the clock to get Dicker onto the field (he made his 38-yard try on the final play of the half) before the clock expired. Is this nitpicking? Certainly, but in a game where the Longhorns needed to maximize every scoring opportunity they had, putting the ball in the end zone could’ve broken Oklahoma’s will for good (even if a 22-point lead wasn’t going to be safe at the end of the day).

— For the second year in a row, Oklahoma beat Texas after Lincoln Riley was forced to bench Spencer Rattler (9-for-16, 112 yards, one interception and a fumble) after his two first-half turnovers led to 14 points for the Longhorns (Thompson’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Moore capitalized on a B.J. Foster interception while a Ben Davis forced fumble Overshown recovered led to Thompson connecting with Jared Wiley for a 2-yard touchdown). Before Riley made the switch for good, Caleb Williams (15-for-24 for 211 yards and two touchdowns; 88 yards rushing on four carries) raced 66 yards to the end zone on the first play of the second quarter on fourth-and-1 from the Texas 34-yard line, opening a performance where the nation’s No. 1-ranked quarterback prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle made the difference in the game with his ability to extend plays and turn negative plays into positive snaps for the Sooners.

 

 

Here's 2nd half of this article.... Good points about weak personnel on defense and O-line

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Whether he was getting throws off after scooping up bad snaps (including one on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Mims in the third quarter) or getting away from would-be Longhorn tacklers trying to bring him down behind the line of scrimmage before making things happen down the field, Williams’ playmaking ability might be the single biggest factor (among many) that allowed Oklahoma to hang around long enough to eventually overtake the Longhorns. Most frustrating was the 50/50 balls Williams completed, with every one of significance feeling like it went the Sooners’ way.

— Each club had a borderline catch near the pylon that required a closer look. Both teams had fumbles that needed to be reviewed. Both of those breaks went Oklahoma’s way.

Williams’ 52-yard heave to Mims (five catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns), who beat Darion Dunn for the ball, saw the receiver barely got a toe down in bounds to complete the play, helping tie the game, 48-48, after Rattler found Drake Stoops on in the end zone for the two-point conversion. Washington, on the other hand, just missed making a similar play that forced the Longhorns to settle for Dicker’s third-quarter field goal rather that getting first-and-goal from the 2-yard line with a chance to potentially land the knockout blow.

The most significant play of the four up for discussion here was when D'Shawn Jamison (seven tackles, one pass breakup) tracked down Kennedy Brooks (25 carries for 217 yards and two touchdowns) at the end of a 65-yard run, stripping the ball from the Oklahoma running back to force a turnover (Foster recovered the fumble). However, rather than getting the ball back with a 41-23 lead on what would’ve been the defense’s third takeaway of the game, replay showed Brooks’ knee was down and three plays later, Williams found Mims alone in the end zone for a touchdown, a wild momentum swing on a day where those could be found in bunches.

While Worthy made plenty of plays that gave the Longhorns a chance to win the game, a bad decision to bring the ensuing kickoff out of the end zone following Oklahoma's game-tying touchdown and two-point play became catastrophic when an official review showed that he indeed fumbled the ball before he was down (initially declared down by rule before the ball popped loose). One play later, the Sooners called a direct-snap run for Brooks, who quickly covered 18 yards to put Oklahoma in front for good.

Whereas everything went right for Texas in the first half, everything that could've gone wrong seemingly did after halftime.

— I’ve gotten this far without addressing one of the two elephants in the room, so it's time to walk about one of them, which is the Texas defense getting gutted to the tune of a balanced 662 yards (339 yards rushing, 323 yards passing). The direct snap to Brooks (the same play in which he scored his walk-off touchdown) was a simple counter play the Longhorns in no way, shape or form fit well and was one two things the Longhorns were guilty of in the second half: either failing to get off of blocks or win at the line of scrimmage. For the second year in a row, Oklahoma entered the game searching for an identity on the ground and for the second year in a row, the Sooners found one at the expense of Texas.

— When you compare Kwiatkowski’s personnel to what Will Muschamp, Manny Diaz, Vance Bedford, Todd Orlando and Chris Ash had to work with while engineering impressive defensive turnarounds in their respective first seasons on the Forty Acres, it’s not even close how much Kwiatkowski's side of the ball lacks when comparing pure talent to that of his predecessors. Overshown and Alfred Collins (three tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss) are the most talented guys in the defensive front, but Texas doesn’t have anyone along the defensive line or at linebacker who can single-handedly wreck an opposing offense’s game plan by themselves the way the likes of Joseph Ossai, Charles Omenihu, Poona Ford and Malcom Brown could.

A lack of impact playmakers in the program and a group that's playing with a thin margin for error has shown up big in the team's two losses. Other than getting exotic and going from a defense that wants to keep things in front of them to one that’s more of a high-risk, high-reward unit, there’s nothing Kwiatkowski can do to fix the issues on that side of the ball.

The only thing he and the staff can do is coach up what they’ve got and hope that it’s enough when it matters. This group can certainly be better than it was on Saturday by season's end, but it's looking more and more like perhaps nothing about the defense is going to be elite in 2021.

— As the game wore on, Thompson faced constant pressure, Robinson had no room to operate and Sarkisian’s call sheet became exponentially limited (even though it’s strange, to say the least, that Keilan Robinson didn’t get a single touch in the game, bringing into question when Sarkisian is going to start utilizing the speedster’s playmaking ability) due to the offensive line succumbing to Oklahoma's defensive line. Alex Grinch’s pressure games and exotic looks crossed up the Longhorns in the trenches, getting an array of talented rushers free paths into the backfield as the aggressive Sooners finished the game with three sacks and six tackles for loss.

— Similar to the existing issues on defense, there’s not much Kyle Flood can do when the Longhorns are at a talent disadvantage like they were on Saturday. Sarkisian’s pre-snap movement and playing with a lead got Oklahoma on its heels and made things easier on Flood's charges, but the Sooners dominated along the line of scrimmage in the second half with Texas failing at one point to convert five consecutive third-down tries where early-down failures resulted in an average to-go distance of 12.8 yards.

The Oklahoma defensive front is likely the best the Longhorns will see the rest of the way. With that said, it's not the last good one the Longhorns will see, so scheming around the offensive line is something Sarkisian and Flood are going to have to do effectively when facing better competition.

— Saturday’s loss is going to get filed away with the many Texas has suffered at the hands of Oklahoma since the turn of the century that are too painful to go back and review down the road, even after the wound heals. There’s no way to sugarcoat how bad the defense was, how the offense hit a wall and didn’t recover in time and how the mistakes the Longhorns made added up to a loss while the Sooners overcame their miscues and, as a result, are headed back across the Red River with the Golden Hat in tow.

With that said, Saturday’s loss didn’t feel like the unsavory blowouts suffered under Mack Brown or the late-tenure losses Charlie Strong and Tom Herman endured , which provided confirmation that the end was near and the program was headed for yet another reset. It’s tough for the burnt orange faithful to catch their breath after getting kicked in the stomach so swiftly, but when they do, they’ll see that Sarkisian’s staff did enough to put the Longhorns in a position to beat a quality opponent with the product on the field looking lightyears better than it did in the still-lingering loss to Arkansas.

— Before the season started, I had Texas finishing the regular season with an 8-4 record, which included a loss to the Sooners. Again, while Saturday’s game didn’t end the way anyone hoped it would in the wake of the team’s white-hot start, the Longhorns are certainly capable of getting to eight wins before playing in a bowl game and since the Arkansas game, with the exception of Saturday’s second half, Texas has looked like a squad fit to win however many games it will take to get a second crack at Oklahoma in Arlington.

— What’s been top of mind for me in the immediate aftermath of the loss is the 1999 game meeting between Texas and Oklahoma, which the Longhorns won, 38-28, to claim an eighth victory over the Sooners in a span of 11 meetings. The first Red River Showdown for Bob Stoops saw Oklahoma squander an 17-0 lead built in no small measure to the Longhorns falling victim to Mike Leach’s infamous phony script, one of five losses in Stoops’ first season on the job, although it was clear the program was headed in the right direction after posting a 61-50-3 record over 10 previous seasons under the direction of Gary Gibbs, Howard Schellenberger and John Blake.

Texas was the better team that day and charged back against a staff perhaps not truly ready to handle the unique environment inside the Cotton Bowl, but things changed quickly. The Sooners won the national championship the following season, a run that started in earnest with a 63-14 thrashing of the Longhorns and was one of five wins in a row in the series for Stoops and Co.

I’m not implying Sarkisian is now destined to get Texas into the College Football Playoff in 2022, but don’t lose sight of where the Longhorns go from here. Even if time is needed to get all the way over Saturday’s loss.

 

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by LTtxfan

[satyanash 14281]

(Bobby Burton) Sunday: Roller Coaster

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Sometimes my articles kind of write themselves. It can be easy for me. I just start typing and what I want to say just comes out. But that’s not the way it is today. How do you say all of what you want to say when there’s so much to say? It all feels jumbled. Longhorns football can be an emotional roller coaster, that’s for sure. Yesterday is case in point. From a crazy, it-can’t-be-real start, to a deflating direct-snap finish, we all rode a roller coaster just like we were on one of the rides at the State Fair. And that’s where I am today. I just got off the roller coaster and I feel woozy, punch-drunk almost.

**

Here’s where I come out on much of it, boiled down to a few salient points:

- Sark’s offensive scheme is outstanding.

- Bijan and X are ridiculously talented.

- Casey Thompson hit a couple of deep balls and is improving in that facet. He continues to outperform expectations.

- The Texas OL is serviceable. Not as bad as what they showed at Arkansas. But not elite either.

- Texas lacks play-making talent on defense.

- Texas can not generate a decent pass rush.

- I question overall team speed and athleticism on the front seven of the defense. Outside of Overshown, it simply doesn’t exist.

- The two starting safeties do not have good speed. Thompson specifically lacks athleticism to make open-field tackles. His whiff on Williams’ long TD run stings.

- More teams are going to put up gaudy numbers against this Texas defense because there are no quick fixes.

- Not blitzing Caleb Williams was a tactical mistake.

- Texas was beat in the trenches on both sides.

I write all of that - all of it - and yet Texas came up just one TD short, and scored 48 points. Ultimately, my advice to all of us is to throw away any residual negative feelings about yesterday. Remember it, sure. But also know that the only value in revisiting history is to learn from it, not to mire ourselves in it. Instead, the Horns need to focus on what they can do to get better. Mostly that means recruiting more elite talent, not just recruiting the above average guys that fill most of the Texas roster currently.

And also remember, even if Texas accomplishes all of that, it’s still going to be a roller coaster. It’s just how it is.

 

[satyanash 14281]

UTexasFootball: Cheering and Cussing about even till the last ten seconds

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I hate reading negative posts as much as most fans. Most of us realize that a 55-48 game will feature a ton of positives for both teams. Unfortunately, there is almost as many negatives in the same game. While a quick perusal of posts and comments ran somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 negatives to 1 positive I will attempt to limit stressing the individual bad's and talk about possible alternatives going forward. I may not shine a positive light on the coaching along the way but them's the breaks.

I honestly believe coach Sark lost the "all gas" focus he displayed in the first half in the third quarter. He almost seemed more concerned about staying "safe" with the ground game and lost the edge we earned in the first half. He called too many potential "off schedule" safe plays on first down and our OL couldn't handle the OU slants. He forgot how motion and deception set us up early and stayed vanilla in the third. In this league you attack them getting off the bus and don't quit until the fat lady sings.

There is little doubt R. Johnson (2) and K. Robinson (7) are two of our best offensive weapons. I think it's a shame we couldn't find many opportunities for each in our gameplan. I realize that both are "backups" in the overall scheme of things but they aren't typical second stringers. It's no secret Bijan (5) is our stallion but he is also our best "decoy" in a two back set because he takes defenders with him anywhere he goes. Our OLine needs all the help they can get and Bijan is essentially blocking two on a fake the OLine job should become easier. Plus there is very little doubt both RB's are better blockers than one of our TE's.

I believe our offensive staff could benefit from reducing our pass protection schemes. Dealing with the threat of the run has been highly successful play action protection. We can't come in out of the rain when faced with loops, crosses, and blitzes from the defenses in pocket type pass pro. We seem to have a communication problems too often. We have huge weapons faking on play action---why not slow the rush down by honoring the run before they can rush. Just a thought.

There are about a thousand reasons a defense gives up over half a hundred points and our members have basically covered them all. I think the thing that bothers me the most is our failure to make anything close to a positive adjustment when it became obvious we weren't even slowing Arkansas and OU down with our basic gameplan. Playing a two high deep safeties might have been highly successful (with their recruited players) in other leagues but in this league it's playing 9 against 11 the way we are using it. When your two deeps are playing as cautious and slow reacting as ours have been it stretches our remaining nine thinner than a two dollar steak. It's a given those "other" safeties must have been better tacklers than ours. We can't average 50% with our guys and yet we keep playing them despite making little positive difference. Maybe the schemer needs to regroup and find other ways to get the best out of our guys.

We have a program wide problem on defense and it's spreading. Missed tackles is the culprit regardless of in space or in a gap. We have consistently read PK demands drilling fundamentals and the last time I thought about it tackling was a fundamental of the game. I understand runners are shifty and all that but that belly button is definitely going where the body goes. Players attempt highlight reel tackles when "sure" tackles are available. Wrapping up is essential. You can't body block good runners down and yet we keep throwing the same techniques out there expecting different results. Shame on the players for neglecting fundamental tackling and the coaching staff for not enforcing accountability.

We are not very creative on defense with our various alignments. We make up for that with our conditioning. We have too many players wearing out and are basically defenseless in the 4th quarter. Either we get them into better shape or more realistic use our backups a few series each week at the offending positions. OU's winning touchdown run is as embarrassing as I've seen in a UT game. Fresh legs can't be anymore embarrassing.

I have a hard time understanding how we can recruit 4 and 5 star DB's every year and can't find a coach that can teach them to make a play on the ball. Akina wouldn't teach/coach zone but he damn sure taught them how to make the plays they should make. How can any defense give up several "long" passes when they spend most of their calls in a two deep that is supposed to eliminate deep pass completions. I guess the wide open offenses are just supposed to be unstoppable but then I watch Georgia and they make offenses cry uncle.

It's becoming more apparent why we are stocking up on "edge" guys and DL's. Unless we hit big on the portal most of those guys will be forced to play next year. We are falling short of playing winning football up front and a couple of highly rated guys don't deserve the snaps they are getting. It's embarrassing to see a DL stand straight up and never move out of his shadow while pursuit is flying around him like gangbusters. Penetration is void. Pass rush is non-existent from inside or off the edge. There is room for improvement to say the least.

We may make some personnel changes due to the injury situation. We also might consider some changes in the rotation at a few spots. We scored 48 so there is a ton of good things to build on. I hate to say this but I hope we learn how to win along the way to maybe getting another shot at this football team. They will be there because they will get better---they always do after playing us. We have some talent---some are highly overrated while some are producing big time. Big week ahead.

 

[Duane Moore 5236]

2 hours ago, satyanash said:

(Bobby Burton) Sunday: Roller Coaster

 

I agree with every one of those points Bobby makes

[hookem48 4631]

18 minutes ago, Duane Moore said:

I agree with every one of those points Bobby makes

our oline is fucking trash, not servicable

[Duane Moore 5236]

13 minutes ago, hookem48 said:

our oline is fucking trash, not servicable

If it gets you to 48 points against one of the best defensive fronts we'll see all year, it's serviceable.  That's about all I can say for it and it definitely needs to get a lot better.

[satyanash 14281]

20 minutes ago, Duane Moore said:

If it gets you to 48 points against one of the best defensive fronts we'll see all year, it's serviceable.  That's about all I can say for it and it definitely needs to get a lot better.

Really have to judge this line's run blocking and pass blocking separately. The former is serviceable, the latter is very exploitable.

[Noozak 323]

32 minutes ago, hookem48 said:

our oline is fucking trash, not servicable

Our Oline is below average at pass blocking and communicating. Our oline is average at run blocking and above average at outside zone. It’s good enough to score points.
 

our defense is the least athletic i have ever seen it. Our defense is trash

[satyanash 14281]

(Jameson McCausland) Quick Thoughts and Takeaways: Texas blows 21 point lead in loss to Oklahoma

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It was a wild day at the Cotton Bowl. Let's jump right into some quick thoughts and takeaways:

    Texas was the better team for about 3 quarters, but the Longhorns faltered in the 4th quarter and that was the difference in the game. There is a lot of finger pointing that can go around, but the bottom line is Texas allowed 662 yards total yards, including 339 yards via the ground. You are not winning many football games giving up those numbers. The Longhorn defense collapsed in the second half and could not contain Kennedy Brooks, who ran for 217 yards.

    Pete Kwiatkowski and the Texas defensive coaching staff appeared to have a solid gameplan in place for Spencer Rattler and the Oklahoma offense, but once Lincoln Riley chose to make a quarterback switch it was all downhill for Texas. Caleb Williams brought a different dimension to the offense with his legs and the Longhorns were never able to adjust.

    All around, it was not a good performance for Texas defensively. The blame can go to the players or the play caller, but the bottom line is it was ugly. The number of missed tackles had to have been close to 20. The defensive line seemed poised for a big day early, but after Williams entered the game they were a complete non-factor.

    Switching to offense, Texas did enough to win the game. Yes, the Longhorns went through a scoring drought in the second half, but if you would have told me before the game that Casey Thompson would throw for close to 400 yards and 5 touchdowns, I would have said Texas won the game by double digits. Steve Sarkisian had some excellent play calls early in the first half to get the Texas offense going, and credit to Casey Thompson for connecting on several deep shots.

    The Longhorns' offensive line spent much of the second half on roller skates. Both tackles struggled mightily and the run game disappeared at a point in the game when Texas would have been happy to hand the ball to their Heisman caliber RB.

    Speaking of BIjan Robinson, he finished the game with 20 carries for 137 yards. The damage could have been far worse, but Alex Grinch decided in the second half that he was bringing extra men nearly every play. Robinson had what could have been a Heisman moment on a beautiful 50 yards run the second quarter that was nearly a touchdown, but is performance will be a side note considering how the rest of the game unfolded.

    Xaiver Worthy bounced back from a rough game in Fort Worth to haul in 9 receptions for 261 yards and 2 TD's. Worthy is a special WR and stepped up in a big way for Texas. Joshua Moore also had a good game with 4 catches for 70 yards and a pair of TD's. Overall, it was a solid day from the Longhorns WR's.

    Texas had a huge special teams play early when they blocked an Oklahoma punt, but the lasting special teams play in people's minds will be Worthy running out a kickoff deep in the endzone which resulted in a fumble. Texas was not generating any momentum in the kickoff return game and Worthy has to know to take a knee in that situation if the kick is into the endzone.

    This is going to be a tough pill to swallow for Texas. The Longhorns could easily be 3-0 in conference play and be in the driver's seat in the Big 12. Instead, they now have to turn their attention to a huge game against Oklahoma State next Saturday. If Texas is able to pull out a win, they should feel fairly confident heading into a bye week. A loss would be a huge blow to their hopes of making the Big 12 championship game. 

 

[satyanash 14281]

Wescott Eberts: What happened to the Texas running game against Oklahoma?

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Despite a slow start featuring only 26 rushing yards for the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners in Saturday’s improbable comeback victory over the No. 21 Texas Longhorns, a resurgent Sooners rushing attack controlled the game over the final three quarters, eventually finishing with 339 rushing yards on 8.3 yards per carry and four rushing touchdowns.

Oklahoma running back Kennedy Brooks was particularly dangerous with runs of 33 yards and 65 yards, gaining 217 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns. Backup quarterback Caleb Williams, who eventually replaced starter Spencer Rattler in the second quarter, made his Cotton Bowl debut with a 66-yard touchdown run on 4th 1 and to jumpstart the Oklahoma comeback from a 28-7 deficit after the first quarter.

So what happened to Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense, which became the first unit to allow more than 300 rushing yards twice in a single season since Charlie Strong’s final campaign in 2016?

Selling out to stop Williams helped produce the momentum-swinging run on fourth down, but the larger issues all revolved around Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley’s longtime signature running play — variations on Counter, often run with a pulling guard and a pulling tackle, known as GT Counter. The Sooners averaged 5.1 yards per carry against the Cornhuskers, but otherwise failed to average more than 4.1 yards per carry against other FCS opponents, including 2.0 yards per carry in the narrow victory over the Mountaineers.

While a switch to a heavier emphasis on zone runs helped somewhat against Kansas State, the absence of an effective Counter scheme was a major limiting factor for Oklahoma prior to the Red River Showdown. Before evaluating how the Sooners managed so much success with Counter, let’s look at other factors contributing to the issues on run defense for the Horns.

Injuries and time of possession

Scoring quickly in the first quarter ended up taking a toll on the Texas defense — as the offense scored three touchdowns on six plays taking only 1:37 off the clock, Kwiatkowski’s unit spent most of the opening 15 minutes on the field as Oklahoma possessed the ball for 9:25.

When the Longhorns offense bogged down in the second half, the Sooners extended the advantage in time of possession by holding the ball for two more minutes in the third quarter and 3:41 more in the fourth quarter, establishing an overall margin of 35:23 to 24:37. “That’s a long time having those guys on the field,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said.

On a day when temperatures reached over 90 degrees in Dallas, the Texas defense wore down, in part due to the attrition suffered throughout the game. Super senior Jack Jacob Jones left the game with a leg injury and didn’t return, while junior nose tackle Keondre Coburn and super senior Buck Ray Thornton also went down on the field and needed medical attention before returning to the game. The loss of Jones and the dings to the other two starters forced backups to play more snaps than usual and likely contributed to the difficulties beating blocks late in the game.
Selling out on fourth down

When Williams entered the game on 4th and 1 to open the second quarter, the short-yardage formation with the backup quarterback forced a timeout by Kwiatkowski. But the extra time to prepare for the play didn’t keep the Longhorns from making a mistake typical in short-yardage situations — allowing a big play by selling out to force the turnover on downs.

Notice how all 11 players are within five yards of the line of scrimmage on the snap against the heavy personnel package by Oklahoma with only one wide receiver on the field.

From the backside, senior safety BJ Foster tries to crash down, but has to avoid junior Buck end Ovie Oghoufo trying to make the play in the backfield. With the inside linebackers, senior DeMarvion Overshown and junior Luke Brockermeyer, both crashing into the line of scrimmage, sophomore safety Jerrin Thompson quickly becomes the player who must bring down the 218-pound Williams to keep him from spurting into the open field.

No luck, and all Williams had to do at that point was outrun Foster, senior cornerback D’Shawn Jamison, and senior cornerback Josh Thompson to the end zone. The touchdown for Oklahoma was significant — it dropped the win probability for Texas from 92.4 percent to 81.1 percent and stole momentum from the Horns.

With the Sooners only averaging 3.4 yards per play in the first quarter, forcing Oklahoma to march down the field and score on an extended drive wasn’t entirely likely — after all, Riley’s team only scored in the first quarter thanks to a big assist from the officials to convert a 3rd and 10 when Mike Woods went out of bounds and then returned to the field of play on a 29-yard catch.

The Counter returns with a vengeance

When the Sooners went to the Counter against the Horns, it was a devastating running play.

The biggest issues started late in the third quarter with the 65-yard run by Brooks resulting in a fumble forced by Jamison and recovered by Foster before replay correctly overturned it. “They definitely got a charge in the run game when they changed quarterbacks,” Sarkisian said. “It became a little bit more of a zone read, quarterback reading things, potential pulls. I thought that slowed us down a little bit.”

Oklahoma uses a typical GT Counter read with the threat of a screen pass to hold the backside defenders. The maligned Sooners offensive line chalks up the blocks and no Longhorns defenders even get much of a shot at Brooks until Jamison finally chases him down after Thornton misses a tackle and trips up redshirt freshman defensive tackle Vernon Broughton in pursuit. Riley also hit Texas with a direct snap look on Counter that used the running ability of Williams to hold the backside defenders and motion from wide receiver Drake Stoops to get another blocker at the point of attack. Late in the game, Brooks had gains of 17, 18, and 33 yards on those direct snaps, including the final two touchdowns.

“The direct snap, they did a nice job,” Sarkisian said. “They had kind of a little window dressing with the motion. We lost our eyes a little bit at linebacker with the motion. The timing was a little bit different from a traditional play on the counter. I don’t think it was necessarily a surprise that it was coming. We just didn’t fit the run right, and he had the explosiveness to crease it and find the end zone.”

On the direct snap, Brooks fakes a toss to Williams, an action that serves a similar purpose to the read version of the play — to hold the backside pursuit, keyed by the running threat from Williams that didn’t exist earlier in the year with Rattler at quarterback. The go-ahead touchdown run by Brooks is another chalk effort by the Sooners with Stoops able to lead block downfield to Foster, the playside safety.

So Sarkisian was a little bit mistaken in the game’s immediate aftermath — Stoops isn’t just window dressing after coming in motion, he’s able to either provide the support to help clean up a block against the Texas front, a cornerback, or work all the way to the safety.

The game-winning play is another variation on Counter with a guard and H-back Brayden Willis pulling instead of a tackle and while Oklahoma doesn’t quite execute the blocks as well on this play, it still works — the pulling guard arguably commits a hold on the play, allowing Brooks to bounce outside and then find a crease between two defenders as Jadon Haselwood makes an effective downfield block to allow Brooks to find the end zone and effectively end the game.

“I’m not necessarily concerned — three of the long runs came on the direct snap play, so obviously we have an issue there. We’ve got to get that fixed,” Sarkisian said.

While it may provide some small solace that missed tackles weren’t the most significant issue on the big Counter plays broken by Oklahoma, but Texas clearly does have issues it needs to clean up getting its run fits right and beating blocks. Cooler weather and less time on the field could help there. And it’s also true that the Longhorns won’t see another opponent this season able to execute Counter as well as the Sooners.

It’s a play that presents particular challenges to defend, but there have been enough problems now in run defense that Kwiatkowski has some major fixes to make in a short period of time. Oklahoma State has struggled to run the football this year, providing some potential for reprieve, but after the bye week, Baylor will represent a major challenge and there’s no question that the Cowboys will try to scheme ways to get its run game on track in Austin next week.

(Gerald Goodridge) Inside the Numbers: Texas run defense must improve quickly

Quote

The No. 21 Texas Longhorns had an opportunity to exorcise more of their demons on Saturday but couldn’t avoid the meltdown against the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Showdown.

Texas run defense: 339 rushing yards (8.3 yards per carry), 4 TDs

Let’s start with the bad — the Texas run defense has now had its second abysmal performance of the year and, although the offense kept it from being a blowout, this was actually a worse performance on the ground for Texas. The 339 rushing yards is the highest rushing total allowed since giving up 398 to Baylor in 2016. It also cracks the bottom 20 for the worst rush defense performances in school history, edging out the 1956 Texas A&M Aggies for the spot.

This marks the first time since 2016 that Texas allowed two 300-yard rushing performances, against the Baylor Bears and the TCU Horned Frogs game that officially closed Charlie Strong’s time in Austin. This is also the second four-touchdown game in the same season, the first time that has happened since 2013. In the 99 games between 2013 and 2020 there were just five such games.

Casey Thompson: 20/34, 388, 5 TDs

Casey Thompson came to play in the biggest game of the season and rewarded the decision to name him the starer by turning in on of the best games in recent history. He became just the fifth Texas quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a game, joining Colt McCoy, Sam Ehlinger, Chris Sims and James Brown on that illustrious list. He also becomes the third player to hit that mark multiple times after his five-touchdown performance against Texas Tech, joining Ehlinger and McCoy.

However, he accomplished something none of the others have — he did it against the Sooners. After fully taking over the starting job in Week 3, Thompson has officially reached the 1,000-yard mark with 1,095 yards at the halfway mark for the year. This puts him on pace for 2,190 yards in the season, which would crack the top 25 seasons by a quarterback at Texas.

Xavier Worthy: 9 receptions, 261 yards, 2 TDs

Xavier Worthy put the whole college football world on notice, looking like not only the best receiver on the team, but someone who could grow into the best receiver in the country by the end of his career. His 261 yards is the most by any receiver in the Red River Showdown and is the second-highest single-game performance in school history. He trails just Jordan Shipley’s 2009 performance against UCF, which was also the last time a receiver hit 200 yards.

He is also in the middle of rewriting the freshman records for Texas, eclipsing BJ Johnson’s 187 yards game against Texas A&M 21 years ago for the highest single-game total in school history. With his second 100-yard game under his belt, he is now tied for the freshman record for games with 100 receiving yards at two.

 

[UTEE97 3429]

We probably should have kept Ash. His defense was beginning to turn things around with improved tackling and play calling. Granted we don't have Ossai this year but overall I think we have regressed a lot from last year.

[hookem48 4631]

36 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Really have to judge this line's run blocking and pass blocking separately. The former is serviceable, the latter is very exploitable.

if we didn't have Bijan would our run blocking look serviceable?

[Starfleet Command 441]

3 hours ago, Noozak said:

Our Oline is below average at pass blocking and communicating. Our oline is average at run blocking and above average at outside zone. It’s good enough to score points.
 

our defense is the least athletic i have ever seen it. Our defense is trash

Our defense looks like something Tech would put out. A group that has a handful of good players followed by a bunch of JAGs ad bereft of any big-time play makers. Opposing fans (and not just casuals) hardly know who any of them even are because they aren’t worth knowing. 

[satyanash 14281]

The State of the Program: Eric Nahlin & Bobby Burton

 

 

[LTtxfan 48980]

21 hours ago, satyanash said:

(Scipio Tex) Texas-Oklahoma Postmortem: Offense

 

Appreciate all these articles -- Thanks @satyanash 

 

Please post Scipio Tex Defense postmortem when available...  🤘

[Tx_2_Sc85 332]

9 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Appreciate all these articles -- Thanks @satyanash 

 

Please post Scipio Tex Defense postmortem when available...  🤘

Just put your dick on the counter and hit it with a hammer. It’d be more enjoyable. 

[LTtxfan 48980]

4 minutes ago, Tx_2_Sc85 said:

Just put your dick on the counter and hit it with a hammer. It’d be more enjoyable. 

 

[Royale with cheese 1460]

1 hour ago, Tx_2_Sc85 said:

Just put your dick on the counter and hit it with a hammer. It’d be more enjoyable. 

Yours reaches the counter? 

[satyanash 14281]

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

Quote

Texas surrendered 55 points and 662 yards at 8.1 yards per play in one of the most hapless Longhorn defensive performances in Red River shootout history.

For context, the Sooners amassed 8.2 yards per play against the least feared of all directional Carolinas – Western Carolina – in their 76-0 rout of the Catamounts. It is noteworthy that the Oklahoma offense managed only 29 points and 385.8 yards per game against their four other FBS opponents: the murderer’s row of Tulane, Kansas State, West Virginia, and Nebraska. Those four teams are a combined 9-15 so far this year.

Sooner freshman QB Caleb Williams, inserted into the game after Lincoln Riley had his fill of Rattler for the second year in a row, threw for 202 yards and ran for another 88, running the Sooner offense as if he were facing the Sooner scout team. 66 of those 88 yards came on one short yardage touchdown run bust that was a foreshadowing of what Texas fans would see again later with respect to run fits and tackling. Before Dallas, young Caleb had thrown 11 collegiate passes in spot action. Against Texas, he went 16 of 25 with two passing touchdowns and no turnovers against Pete K’s schemes. Perhaps Caleb is the key that will unlock the Sooner offense to epic levels for the remainder of the year. Or maybe OU just stopped the stupid turnovers and ran the ball against a poorly coached run defense and converted several contested deep throws against the Texas secondary?

Sooner RB Kennedy Brooks ran for 217 yards at 8.7 yards per carry, including the final kill shot touchdown run that came on the Sooners’ final play of the game. The same direct snap misdirection play that gave the Sooners the lead on a prior one play 18 yard touchdown run that would have also scored from anywhere on the field. Before this game, the Sooners were averaging 155 yards rushing per game as a team at 4.6 yards per carry. Before Brooks racked up 217 against Texas, no Sooner running back had eclipsed 100 yards in a game, much less 200. Yet, the Sooners amassed 339 yards rushing at 8.3 yards per carry as Kennedy Brooks outproduced Bijan Robinson.

It’s one thing to get lit up by a loaded Sooner offense starting 8 NFL draft picks and a Heisman QB. This wasn’t that.

This was a freshman QB leading a previously subpar Sooner running game and offensive line to an absolute destruction of the Texas defense. Did Texas get some bad breaks? Sure. There were holds. The Sooners only drew two penalties all game. A Sooner receiver ran himself out of bounds before notching a 29 yard gain. There was a pretty clear offensive pass interference on a 50/50 ball. None of it accounts for that decimation.

I could go on. And I could break down each player and unit per usual as if individual or unit performance has any relevance to what we watched. I don’t think it’s helpful. That was a total failure at the most basic levels of the game. So I’ll just plainly state (or restate) a few things I’ve been observing all year.

Texas (D)efense:

Pad levels remain poor on much of the DL. Pad level relates to coaching, anthropometry, and physical strength (the ability to stay low and generate power). I’ll let you decide if Keondre Coburn started standing up because his center of gravity changed in a year. Tackling is appalling, particularly at safety and linebacker. Texas has a number of non-useful players in its DL rotation getting equal minutes to viable players. They were/are actively taking developmental snaps from players with viable upside, namely Collins and Murphy.

The DL who are decent to good are clearly struggling to play in a methodology that puts on onus on playmaking (or play erasing) from linebackers and safeties. The middle of the field at the 2nd and 3rd levels might as well be the Russian steppe before a Mongol cavalry.

Remember under the Herman regime when the DL was underachieving and didn’t make many plays and they fired Orlando and Texas just let them gap it and go in the Utah Alamo bowl game and the front dominated and racked up sacks and tackles for loss like a sorority girl abusing Dad’s Amex? Maybe how you play the DL might influence how they play. Of course, it’s also who you play…

Vernon Broughton played snaps at both DE(!) and DT. I don’t know why. Carrying bad weight, stands straight up, too weak. Keondre Coburn has spent most of the season watching. He made a play in the early 3rd quarter and I nearly fell out of my chair. Who is #99, I thought? Oh, Coburn. Jett Bush played a number of snaps, a few of them at 3 technique (!) on passing downs. He does try hard and did draw a holding call though. You play a really light guy inside on a passing down because you’re going to play games with him and run some T/E stunts with other quickness guys. Nope. Texas instructs Bush to fire off and try to collapse the pocket. Against a guy who outweighs him by 100 pounds.

I lost count of the number of missed tackles from linebackers and safeties at the second level that resulted in an extra 200+ yards of Sooner rushing (and three long touchdowns). Jerrin Thompson, Brockermeyer, Foster, Overshown, Schooler all were victimized. They were the unblocked run force on some huge Sooner runs and they bounced off of Kennedy Brooks (or a freshman QB) as if they’d encountered a prime Earl Campbell. No other defense OU has played this year has experienced that phenomenon. Is it because the tacklers from Tulane and West Virginia wrap up?

Playing two deep safeties works when they can tackle reliably filling the alley from deep, have real lateral range, and play with anticipation. 0/3.

BJ Foster is much worse as a senior than he was as a true freshman. He’s also physically weaker. I don’t know how that’s possible when a guy eats for free and is obligated to spend time around 30 million dollars of weights. I have no idea how a classic physical box safety once full of dawg has degenerated so badly and is now being played as a two deep spectator with limited range and ball skills feebly throwing shoulders at ballcarriers expecting them to go down. He got manhandled by OU receivers (including Drake Stoops) on several runs. Stoops is a 5-10 slot receiver who looks like he has a paper route.

Don’t ever call it a 50/50 ball when a Texas DB is involved. It’s 80/20 and I know who has the 80. Speaking of player’s getting weaker and struggling to hold ground, win 80/20s, or hold low pads…strength and conditioning looks very poor. This is a physically weak defense overall. As if they spent the entire offseason screwing around with light weights and doing rate of force... ahem... “functional” training.

Special Teams

A terrific punt block early led to a huge swing of momentum and easy points. The punting game was also influenced by wind, as both punters notched massive punts when it was in their favor. Both field goal kickers were also on point. Obviously, the game swung when Xavier Worthy fumbled a late kickoff that he fielded 5 yards deep in the end zone trying to make something happen. Stud freshman try to make things happen no matter game context. That’s why they are studs. Coaches exist to inform true freshman studs that he’ll make his play on offense in the passing game and that he needs to fair catch that. Did that piece of instruction occur?

Final

Six games into his tenure, Pete Kwiatkowki and his defensive staff have failed in what they’re trying to do with the Longhorn defense. He’s locked into doing it his way. Right now, it’s the other way. Scheme, philosophy, and personnel need a major rethink, but none of that matters much without low pads, better tackling, and the right players demonstrating an understanding of the defense. That may not yield a good defense, but it will yield a watchable one.

 

[dcar00 14035]

21 hours ago, UTEE97 said:

We probably should have kept Ash. His defense was beginning to turn things around with improved tackling and play calling. Granted we don't have Ossai this year but overall I think we have regressed a lot from last year.

Ash certainly would be an upgrade. PK is out of his depth IMO.

[The Beast 584]

30 minutes ago, satyanash said:

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

 

[LTtxfan 48980]

42 minutes ago, satyanash said:

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

 

Thanks Saty !!!  

[ClubWhatever 12087]

That write up is a pretty hard pill to swallow because it’s all true.  It seems like PK might be a meathead or at best unable to manage an unfamiliar staff to get what he wants.  Not good Bob.  

[LTtxfan 48980]

22 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

Ash certainly would be an upgrade. PK is out of his depth IMO.

SARK has made adjustments on offense due to the obvious problems blocking by the current O-line personnel.

Gotta believe PK has to make adjustments on defense immediately.   Better schemes and rotations for current personnel -- can't be stubborn now because the results against Arky and blOU prove that it's not working... 

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by LTtxfan

[Atticus 3922]

Ash certainly would be an upgrade. PK is out of his depth IMO.

He’s not out of his depth, he just didn’t adjust his scheme for his personnel. We looked good against Rattler.
We need to revert to a scheme that allows our guys to do what they do best.
The linebackers are not nearly good enough to do what they want them to do on a consistent basis. They’re making a variety of mistakes.
The way we’ve performed against teams other than Arkansas and OU still has me somewhat hopeful.

Bad defenses can get punished at any level, PK isn’t a flash in the pan guy. He’s done it at a consistent level at multiple stops. This is not an Orlando leaving your defense out to dry issue. Our guys are not executing.

Baylor is the only team left that can really punish us in the QB run game. Their OL/DL also look like it could give us fits on the road.

[Bevoball 184]

We had players in position to make plays all day, problem is our players still can't make those plays. Feels like we are going to see alot of portal action after this season, both in and out. This staff has got to get rid of the dead weight on this team.

[ClubWhatever 12087]

4 minutes ago, Atticus said:

He’s not out of his depth, he just didn’t adjust his scheme for his personnel.

What’s the difference?

[Wally Pryor 5244]

OP - Continued great job amassing this stuff on a weekly basis. 

[Atticus 3922]

41 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

What’s the difference?

He had hope in the guys being able to learn the system and do enough to stop teams even without the splash plays. The linebacking play is probably worse than expected, and the DL is doing less than anticipated. We've generally been successful at doing enough on defense to win all year. The Arky game was a failure on both sides, but the defense played well enough until the dam broke. TCU only put up 27 when they had opportunities for much more. The O didnt convert on the short fields and put the onus on the D to hold it down enough. It sucks, but let's see how the rest of the games go.

[Jester 382]

53 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

What’s the difference?

Seems to me the difference is the partial quote where you leave off the OU QB switch.  You know, the QB that no one has film on in college that we likely didn't prep for in large detail.  Looks like we made adjustments, but our D players didn't play sound gap assignment for almost the entire second half.  Then we refused to tackle.  Hard to scheme for our players throwing out fundamentals.

[Sejjr 3246]

Scipio is heaping a lot of his ire onto PK and his scheme, but the fact remains, Texas' issues on defense are generally more a personnel issue than a schematic one. We have players starting at every level on this defense who should not be in the 3-deep. It reminded me of watching Jimmy Saxton playing DB against Colorado. All the schematic wizardry in the world can't account for exploitable players getting beat by better players. We have no pass rush threat at all. None. And who would you bring on a blitz that you can count on the actually get there? Add in the fact that for some reason the Big 12 refs just choose to ignore the OU holding technique, and you have the result we witnessed. 

This defensive staff is definitely guilty of the fundamental shortcomings. Poor tackling, poor pad levels, and the continuation of the 15-year plague of Texas DBs not understanding the concept of playing the ball. I expect that we will improve in some of those areas as the season rolls on, but I also suspect that Gundy and others know exactly where and who to attack in this defense and it is not really going to get much better until we can upgrade the talent, unfortunately. Sark better scheme-up a shitpile of points next week.

[dcar00 14035]

1 hour ago, Jester said:

Seems to me the difference is the partial quote where you leave off the OU QB switch.  You know, the QB that no one has film on in college that we likely didn't prep for in large detail.  Looks like we made adjustments, but our D players didn't play sound gap assignment for almost the entire second half.  Then we refused to tackle.  Hard to scheme for our players throwing out fundamentals.

they beat us on simple counter over and over. I'm not gonna fault PK too much for DB failures on 50/50 balls.  they beat our ass on simple direct snap counters.  the QB didn't do much running after the 66 yard run, which I agree was a player tackle failure.

players not playing gap sound is a significant(but not entirely)coaching failure as well.

He better get his charges shit together quick because I don't think OU is much better than OSU from an offensive perspective.  

 

[dcar00 14035]

3 minutes ago, Sejjr said:

Scipio is heaping a lot of his ire onto PK and his scheme, but the fact remains, Texas' issues on defense are generally more a personnel issue than a schematic one. We have players starting at every level on this defense who should not be in the 3-deep. It reminded me of watching Jimmy Saxton playing DB against Colorado. All the schematic wizardry in the world can't account for exploitable players getting beat by better players. We have no pass rush threat at all. None. And who would you bring on a blitz that you can count on the actually get there? Add in the fact that for some reason the Big 12 refs just choose to ignore the OU holding technique, and you have the result we witnessed. 

This defensive staff is definitely guilty of the fundamental shortcomings. Poor tackling, poor pad levels, and the continuation of the 15-year plague of Texas DBs not understanding the concept of playing the ball. I expect that we will improve in some of those areas as the season rolls on, but I also suspect that Gundy and others know exactly where and who to attack in this defense and it is not really going to get much better until we can upgrade the talent, unfortunately. Sark better scheme-up a shitpile of points next week.

eh, we changed scheme from Orlando to Ash and it got much better IMO.  we lost mostly because Herman is a hard headed dumbass.

I agree you can't count on BJ Foster or schooler on a blitz.

[burdine 522]

Do we have the personnel to execute a consistent high level Defense  i.e.  Georgia?  Definitely not.

Do we have the personnel to achieve the results that K State, Tulane, etc did against OU?  Yeah I think we do.

There are some things on this defense that no amount of coaching is going to fix without some new recruits.

Yet I think this staff should be able to field an average Big 12 defense with the kids we have.

The gap between this defense and an average Big 12 defensive performance is on this staff IMO.

Just like the gap between our offensive performance and the average Big 12 offensive performance is also on this staff but in a positive way.

Edited October 11, 2021 by burdine

[The Dog 43807]

1 hour ago, Jester said:

Seems to me the difference is the partial quote where you leave off the OU QB switch.  You know, the QB that no one has film on in college that we likely didn't prep for in large detail.  

This is being completely overlooked and IMHO is the reason OU won more than anything else.

The reason all of OU's plays suddenly started working was because we always had to be aware of what Williams was doing with the ball because he is so dangerous with his legs. It opens up EVERYTHING.

Yes, the defense played poorly in the second half, but if Rattler is in there we keep things under control IMHO and hold on to win. 

[Burt Macklin 18998]

2 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

What’s the difference?

Orlando was out of his depth. His game plans made no sense and weren’t going to work no matter the personnel.
 

PK usually has guys accounted for and better execution from the players would fix almost all of the big pass plays we’ve given up. He is definitely getting worked on the edges in the run game and needs to fix that, but you can see how PK’s defense could/should work with better personnel/execution. Having said that, he’s doing an extremely poor job working with what he’s got. Like shockingly bad. 

20 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

they beat us on simple counter over and over. I'm not gonna fault PK too much for DB failures on 50/50 balls.  they beat our ass on simple direct snap counters.  the QB didn't do much running after the 66 yard run, which I agree was a player tackle failure.

players not playing gap sound is a significant(but not entirely)coaching failure as well.

He better get his charges shit together quick because I don't think OU is much better than OSU from an offensive perspective.  

 

They were also gouging us to the strong side, which is what made the counter work. PK needs to do better, but too many people are acting like stopping the GT counter against OU is easy when it might be the most effective offensive play in all of football for the last 4 years. 

16 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

eh, we changed scheme from Orlando to Ash and it got much better IMO.  we lost mostly because Herman is a hard headed dumbass.

I agree you can't count on BJ Foster or schooler on a blitz.

Right because Orlando was a total shit show and anyone would’ve been an improvement scheme wise. Ash also inherited guys like Chris Brown and Ossai who were the two best players on our D last year.  The drop off from Brown to Foster/Schooler and from Ossai to whoever we’re playing at edge is massive.  

I agree Ash would be doing better right now and PK needs to do much better, but We lost 5 or 6 starters off last year’s team with not much in the way of replacements, so Ash would’ve been headed for a big step back from last year if he stayed. 

Edited October 11, 2021 by Burt Macklin

[dcar00 14035]

7 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Orlando was out of his depth. His game plans made no sense and weren’t going to work no matter the personnel.
 

PK usually has guys accounted for and better execution from the players would fix almost all of the big pass plays we’ve given up. He is definitely getting worked on the edges in the run game and needs to fix that, but you can see how PK’s defense could/should work with better personnel/execution. Having said that, he’s doing an extremely poor job working with what he’s got. Like shockingly bad. 

They were also gouging us to the strong side, which is what made the counter work. PK needs to do better, but too many people are acting like stopping the GT counter against OU is easy when it might be the most effective offensive play in all of football for the last 4 years. 

Right because Orlando was a total shit show and anyone would’ve been an improvement scheme wise. Ash also inherited guys like Chris Brown and Ossai who were the two best players on our D last year.  The drop off from Brown to Foster/Schooler and from Ossai to whoever we’re playing at edge is massive.  

I agree Ash would be doing better right now and PK needs to do much better, but We lost 5 or 6 starters off last year’s team with not much in the way of replacements, so Ash would’ve been headed for a big step back from last year if he stayed. 

we are in agreement(PK and his staff needs to do better, we pay him a lot of money) except I think PK is out of his depth as well but I would be happy to be wrong. we'll see.

[Burt Macklin 18998]

Just now, dcar00 said:

we are in agreement(PK and his staff needs to do better, we pay him a lot of money) except I think PK is out of his depth as well but I would be happy to be wrong. we'll see.

He may turn out to be. I really struggle to believe it based on what he did at Washington and Boise for 11 years, but what he’s done at Texas this year is so bad it’s hard to not let that outweigh his entire coaching history. 

[dcar00 14035]

35 minutes ago, burdine said:

Do we have the personnel to execute a consistent high level Defense  i.e.  Georgia?  Definitely not.

Do we have the personnel to achieve the results that K State, Tulane, etc did against OU?  Yeah I think we do.

There are some things on this defense that no amount of coaching is going to fix without some new recruits.

Yet I think this staff should be able to field an average Big 12 defense with the kids we have.

The gap between this defense and an average Big 12 defensive performance is on this staff IMO.

Just like the gap between our offensive performance and the average Big 12 offensive performance is also on this staff but in a positive way.

this.  an average(or even slightly below) unit wins this game by 1-2 TD's.

I agree that Scipio is pretty good on scheme.  IMO the S&C thing is a whatever unless you are just an idiot.  most of these guys do the same general thing.  everyone thought mad dog sucked yet we mauled people a lot for a good bit.

Edited October 11, 2021 by dcar00