Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 7)

[satyanash 14281]

Collecting post-game analysis articles regarding the Okie Lite game here:

(Justin Wells) Recap: Oklahoma State Cowboys 32, Texas Longhorns 24

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Last week, the defense could not hold up its end of the deal. This week against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Texas Longhorn offense was unable to do much of anything, going without a first down on its last five drives. Here’s a recap of the action that started with a lot of gas for the Longhorns, but sputtered and broke. Hard.

Texas won the toss and elected to start with the football. Bijan Robinson gained a first, then Keilan Robinson picked up another on a 25-yard gain. Bijan Robinson moved the sticks again with a long pass from Casey Thompson and Texas set up in the red zone. The Longhorns made it 1st-and-goal with a pass to Joshua Moore, and scored on 3rd down when Bijan punched it in from one yard out. On Oklahoma State’s first possession, the Cowboys missed a downfield shot and had a gain of one to set up a 3rd-and-long. Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy elected to run for it but Jaylen Warren was ruled just short and the punt team then took the field.

The Longhorns began their second drive with a holding penalty, then could not move past the sticks on the next three plays. Texas appeared to do the same, but a 15-yard penalty on Keondre Coburn extended the OSU drive. A pass from Sanders then a run from Warren put OSU inside the 30, then another pass to Martin made it 1st-and-goal for OSU. The Cowboys could not score six and settled for three to make it 7-3.

Another penalty started Texas’ next drive, a false start on Bijan Robinson. But Texas was able to move deep into OSU territory on a 58-yard pass from Thompson to Marcus Washington. The Longhorns couldn’t find the end zone as Thompson’s attempt to find Kelvontay Dixon was unsuccessful. Cameron Dicker hit a 28-yard field goal to make it 10-3.

The Cowboys began their drive with a chain-moving pass to Braden Cassity, then moved the chains again as the first quarter ended. OSU had less luck to begin the second, as their drive stalled after a penalty and a 3rd down incompletion.

UT had nothing doing on its next series, going three-and-out. Oklahoma State did the same. The Longhorns took over their own 34 with 10:35 remaining, and moved to the OSU 40 on the first play of the drive thanks to Bijan Robinson. After an OSU pass interference, Texas moved the chains on the ground with Robinson and Roschon Johnson, then scored on a wheel route from Thompson to Robinson to make it 17-3.

These drives were made amid several changes on the OL throughout the first half of the game. Christian Jones – Junior Angilau – Jake Majors – Tope Imade – Derek Kerstetter was the initial grouping, but Andrej Karic eventually replaced Jones and Hayden Conner did the same for Imade ahead of of Robinson’s second touchdown.

Oklahoma State could not do anything on the next drive, and in fact turned it over. Sanders threw a third down pass to D’Shawn Jamison, setting up Texas with a short field on the OSU 44. Texas picked up one first down with a pass to Xavier Worthy, then another with a Thompson strike to Moore to put Texas in the red zone. But Oklahoma State countered. Jason Taylor II read a Thompson pass perfectly and returned it 85 yards to make it a 17-10 game with 5:13 left in the half. And on the following drive, Texas went three-and-out.

On their drive to end the half, Oklahoma State moved down the field converting a few third downs and moving into field goal range. Tanner Brown hit a 39-yarder to make it 17-13 just before the halftime whistle. The Cowboys’ first drive of the half began on their own 32 after a nice return. Then, they moved into Texas territory with a pass to Cassity. They would not advance any further after nice plays from Jaylan Ford, Jahdae Barron, and Ovie Oghoufo.

Texas started on its own 20 and moved to midfield with a long completion to Worthy. Thompson then picked up a first down on his legs to move inside the 40. From there, it was simple: give the ball to Bijan. He took it 38 yards to the house to make it 24-13. That would be Texas’ final first down of the game.

After Alfred Collins’ second down tackle, OSU faced another 3rd-and-long. They went to the run play well once more, but that well was dry and Texas forced a punt. The punt from Tom Hutton traveled 60 yards and went out of bounds at the UT 7. A false start stifled the drive and Texas went nowhere, and OSU took over on the Texas 47. Texas thought they were off the field, but a roughing penalty on Ray Thornton continued the drive. On 3rd-and-11, a well-timed screen pass to Dominic Richardson put the Cowboys inside the 10.

But the Texas defense held and forced an OSU field goal to make it 24-16.

OSU’s defense held Texas to a three-and-out on the following possession, and the Cowboys took over on its own 20 after a Dicker punt. The Cowboys moved down with a first down pass and a pass interference penalty, but elected to punt after crossing midfield. The Hutton punt traveled 27 yards. On the first play, Casey Thompson took a shot trying to get rid of the football and was forced to leave the game for one play. When he came back, he could not move the sticks and Texas recorded it’s third straight three-and-out as the third quarter ended.

Sanders completed a pass to move the Cowboys to the OSU 34 as they took possession. A long Warren run moved the Cowboys inside the Texas 35. They picked up another first to move to the 20, then another to make it 1st-and-goal. Sanders then found Brennan Presley in the end zone, but the ensuing two-point attempt was denied to keep it 24-22 Texas with 10:16 left.

On the next Texas drive, after a nice Jamison return, Texas put together its fourth straight three-and-out. Oklahoma State picked up a huge chunk with a reverse to move 17 yards into Texas territory. A personal foul on Moro Ojomo moved OSU even closer, but Texas held on third down near the end zone once again. The ensuing Brown field goal gave OSU a 25-24 lead with under 5:00 to play.

Brown then sent the kickoff out of bounds, and Texas started on the 35. Robinson picked nine on first down but was stuffed with a yard to go. Texas could not pick up that yard with three more tries, and OSU took over with 3:12 to play inside the Texas 50. Sanders later scored with permission from the Texas defense to make it 32-24 with 2:18 remaining. When Texas returned, the offense received some help in the form of an offsides penalty, but it mattered little. Thompson threw an interception to effectively end the game.

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Texas loses another lead

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There was a point early in this game where Texas was already in position to put the Cowboys away. They were driving down to the OSU goal line already sitting on a 17-3 lead. Sure it was 3rd-and-10 so settling for a field goal seemed imminent, but first Texas tried to throw an under route they’d already converted on a previous trip to the goal line and Oklahoma State safety Jason Taylor saw it coming and housed it for seven points.

It was a 10-point swing on the scoreboard and a massive momentum changer for the game. Texas was never able to maintain control of the game again and completely unraveled on offense with four 3’n’outs, then a 4’n’out, and finally a bad interception to close the game. A lot went wrong late in the game for Texas, nearly all of it on offense, while Mike Gundy painted a masterpiece of conservative game management.

Quick thought no. 1: Mike Gundy protected his quarterback better

Spencer Sanders wanted to give the game away to Texas but his head coach wouldn’t let him. After a terrible early interception, Gundy sought to eliminate the chance of Sanders losing the game for OSU by letting the air out of the ball and trusting his defense. Running back Jaylen Warren got 33 carries for 193 yards, and until a few late runs against a worn down defense, was getting stopped short of the marker as often as not. Then he found a few creases late as Gundy kept adjusting his receiver splits and pounding away with the repeated opportunities he was given against Texas’ defense.

Spencer Sanders got several carries late and finished with 10, including a long draw on 3rd-and-17 which set up another chip shot field goal for kicker Tanner Brown. On the day he was only 19-32 for 178 yards at 5.6 ypa with one touchdown and one interception. No additional turnovers though.

Meanwhile, Texas floundered on offense on nearly every possession after the pick-6 and only managed to run Bijan Robinson 21 times for 135 yards at 6.4 ypc with two rushing touchdowns and another one through the air. Casey Thompson had a solid start to the game but finished 15-27 for 179 yards at 6.6 ypa with a touchdown, two interceptions, and three sacks. The final two Texas possessions were heavy on Thompson and were short-lived and ineffective.

Quick thought no. 2: Texas lost the game on the second to last possession

Oklahoma State took a 25-24 lead and Texas got the ball back with over four minutes to try and work their way down the field for a game-winning field goal. First down they ran outside zone into the boundary for Bijan Robinson and picked up an immediate nine yards as he fought off tacklers. On second down they tried a bubble screen to Xavier Worthy open in the flat, but Casey left it out too far out ahead of him and Worthy had to race into a big hit to secure a catch.

This set up 3rd-and-1, where Texas hurried into a quarterback zone-follow play which closely resembled the same call on fourth and short against Iowa State in 2019 and suffered a nearly identical fate. Oklahoma State’s star outside linebacker Brock Martin blew the play up from the outside in and Thompson had no lanes inside to push ahead for a first down. In fact they lost two yards. So it came down to 4th-and-3, Texas ran a quick spot play and when the first read was covered up, Thompson quickly pulled it down for a scramble but OSU was sitting on it in zone and easily closed on him well short of the marker.

The offensive line had a rough day while rotating different players at virtually every single position except left guard, Thompson had a rough day after his pick-6 (and after a huge shot he took), and yet on 2nd-and-1 and 3rd-and-1 with the game on the line Steve Sarkisian did not turn to Bijan Robinson to make the play. This was a big mistake.

Quick thought no. 3: The defense had a great gameplan and played well

Pete Kwiatkowski clearly caught Oklahoma State unprepared for their gameplan, the game was eerily reminiscent of the 13-10 loss in Austin back in 2017. In that game, Texas shocked OSU with the 3-2-6 “lightning package” and ended up playing the dime scheme as their base defense when it was clear the Cowboys had no answer for it. This time it was the opposite, a true 3-4 scheme with Ovie Oghoufo staying on the field at Sam linebacker rather than using a nickel. With outside linebackers crashing either side backed by quarters safeties, Texas was able to set hard, reliable edges against the Oklahoma State zone and zone-option schemes and force the ball back inside for the defensive tackles and linebackers.

DeMarvion Overshown left the game early with an injury but Jaylan Ford had 12 tackles, one for a loss, and showed great situational awareness to stuff a running back flat pass on an attempted two-point conversion. Luke Brockermeyer added nine more tackles with two TFLs. Ray Thornton feasted with three TFLs, and Alfred Collins was a revelation in the pass-rush. Spencer Sanders was starting to absolutely wither under the pressure and the ground game could get nothing going.

However, for the second week in a row the opponent was able to wear out the defense simply by virtue of offensive ineffectiveness. They ran 82 plays to Texas’ 60 and held the ball for 33:43. No defense can hold out forever under such circumstances and the gameplan was wasted.

Quick thought no. 4: The deep shots were badly missed

Much like their in-state counterparts, the Oklahoma State Cowboys made it a point to load the box against Bijan and didn’t give up on it despite Texas’ early leads. The Longhorns only even attempted one deep shot for the whole game, a connection to Marcus Washington early on which set up a touchdown, and didn’t get another one off.

Part of the issue was clearly protection, Oklahoma State managed three sacks and hurried Thompson on several throws. Another issue was Thompson’s pocket presence, he’s clearly uncomfortable when the pocket is pushed and he can’t hitch up into throws. For good reason too, his final interception came when he tried to hit a corner route off his back foot and floated a ball out a sinking corner (probably unseen) was able to get under for the game-sealing turnover.

Texas is going to face loaded boxes in many a future game if they can’t protect their run game and the best way to do so is with shots over the top in the passing game. Sark never seemed comfortable doing so in this contest. They tried a lot of sweeps and underneath throws and didn’t dial up as many shots as you’d normally see from a Sark gameplan, particularly against a team with shallow safeties.

Quick thought no. 5: A long bye week lies ahead

What was the reason for the lack of vertical aggression in the passing game? Was it a matter of Casey Thompson’s thumb limiting his ability to grip it and rip it? If so, they should have considered Hudson Card. Was it a matter of Thompson’s limitations as a vertical passer? Then they should consider giving Hudson Card a chance to win the job in the bye week ahead. Giving Thompson every chance to win this game was a justifiable move by Sark after his fantastic play against Oklahoma, but those chances didn’t yield much. It appeared as though he’d turned a corner in the Cotton Bowl but Texas is now 2-2 in Big 12 play and Thompson is 2-2 in terms of putting in winning performances (TCU and OSU were bad outings).

Was it simply a lack of protection? Then they need to finally nail down who the best five linemen are in this bye week so they can avoid more protection miscues in future weeks. Either way, Texas didn’t manage this game well. They regularly played to their own limitations on offense rather than their strengths and were dragged into a game management contest with Mike Gundy and his upperclassmen they were nearly destined to lose.

Sark now has to make the most of a huge recruiting weekend before a tough and important bye week ahead. Two losses doesn’t disqualify Texas from the Big 12 Championship game at this point but the Oklahoma schools each have zero, hold tiebreakers over Texas, and the Longhorns still have a road trip to Ames ahead. There’s no margin for error left.

(Bobby Burton) Snap Judgments: No fluke

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Just like a week ago Saturday in Dallas, the Horns' defense wilted under the Texas sun in the fourth quarter while the Texas offense couldn't get anything going for nearly the entire second half.

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Oklahoma State was the more physical team on both offense and defense. They certainly tackled better and more disciplined while also being aggressive on defense. And it paid off. The loss was no fluke. The better team won.

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Some may point to a couple of officiating calls that tilted the game in the Cowboys' favor. But realistically, the game probably turned the most on the pick-six from Casey Thompson. The Horns were driving to go up by three scores in the second quarter when Casey Thompson failed to see a safety undercut a route. The outcome of that play was at least a 10-point swing in favor of OSU.

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This was Thompson's worst game as a starter. Thompson was inaccurate on a couple of key passes, muffed at least one exchange on a third down, and simply seemed happy-footed in the pocket. Was he injured? Or did Oklahoma State just have his number? Maybe a bit of both. But Thompson was clearly never the same QB after the pick six. He just couldn't brush it off.

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Part of the reason for Thompson's issues came because Texas simply could not muster a running attack in the second half. While Bijan Robinson again ran wild for much of the first half, in the second half Oklahoma State keyed on him and challenged the Texas receivers and Thompson to beat them one on one. Neither Thompson nor any Texas receiver answered the bell. And neither did the offensive line. Twenty-four points in a Big 12 game is just not going to get it done.

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The Texas linebackers started losing their run fits in the second half. David Gbenda, in particular, was the culprit on multiple occasions. Jaylan Ford, meanwhile, was a rare bright spot for Texas. He was a sure tackler and filled the hole better than any other LB.

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There were no TE targets the entire game by the Texas offense, in part because the Texas offensive tackles needed so much help in pass protection. Yet the Cowboys still seemed to affect the pocket with regularity.

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And when the Cowboys put pressure Thompson, he really reacted insufficiently. The Cowboys dared Thompson to beat them, and he couldn't do it. Thompson hit just one downfield throw - to Marcus Washington - but he also only attempted just one the whole game.

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Texas drops to 4-3. The game was winnable, but I still believe the better team won. Texas had no answer, on either offense or defense, after the first five minutes of the second half.

Cody Daniel: Initial thoughts from Texas’ 32-24 loss to Oklahoma State

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The Texas Longhorns are now in danger of entering free-fall mode, as Steve Sarkisian’s team collapsed for the second time in as many weeks, falling to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 32-24, despite holding an early 14-point lead. Here are a few initial thoughts.

The Texas offense collapsed... again. After managing just 10 second-half points last weekend, which forced the defense to spend much more time on the field and thus, wear down as Oklahoma started cruising, it was much of the same for Sark’s offense on Saturday against OSU, only worse. Once on pace to take a commanding 20-3 or 24-3 lead late in the second half, the momentum changed entirely late in the second half when Casey Thompson threw an 85-yard pick six. The following drive — three-and-out. Then, after a lone successful drive on their first possession of the second half, spearheaded by none other than Bijan Robinson, the offense completely stalled, producing an almost-laughable two yards on the next four drives, going three-and-out each time.

Yet, after all of that, trailing 25-24, the offense had a chance to go win the game with 4:37 left, but failed to move the chains even once. And even again, trailing 32-24 with a chance to go tie the game with one last chance, the offense lost the game with Thompson tossing another pick on the first play. All told, Texas’ offense was completely incompetent outside of Robinson.

Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense mostly responded. After sacrificing 55 points and nearly 700 yards of offense to Oklahoma, the Longhorns defense fared far better against Oklahoma State. Of course, the caliber of the opposing offense wasn’t quite the same, and they did allow a few third and long conversions that will certainly be discussed during film reviews. But all in all, they swarmed the ball, tackled well and forced the Cowboys to kick field goal after field goal, not allowing an offensive touchdown until just before 10 minutes remained in the fourth quarter, and at that point, you couldn’t blame them after the Longhorns offense essentially kept them on the field after one three-and-out after another. The final score will reflect a defense that allowed 25 points, but that number is likely cut in half had the Texas offense not completely collapsed and forced the defense to spend so much time on the field.

Texas’ season, for all intents and purposes, if effectively over. That is, unless you’re really looking forward to a Texas Bowl, or some other relatively meaningless bowl game. Texas controlled its destiny entering the afternoon, and now, they’d need lots of luck and a prayer to get that rematch against OU they were eyeing, and that’s assuming they don’t stumble again elsewhere, which is likely to happen. So, realistically speaking, Texas is out of the Big 12 title hunt with five more games to play, and the best outcome is an Alamo Bowl appearance.

Fair or not, we might be headed for some QB controversy. After one bad game against Arkansas, Sark pulled the plug on the Hudson Card project and made the change to Casey Thompson. Prior to Saturday, it was a mostly fruitful move. But then Thompson had the first bad performance of his career, completing just 15-of-27 attempts for 179 yards, one touchdown, but two costly interceptions. And, he was clearly playing in some pain with the thumb on his throwing hand being wrapped from an injury against Oklahoma. Texas has a bye week upcoming, but it will be interesting to see how he handles the quarterback position moving forward, especially now that Texas isn’t contending for a conference title.

The recruiting impact could be frustrating. It remains to be seen just how much of an impact this has on Texas’ recruiting efforts, but this largely, boring display capped by an all-out offensive collapse took place on Texas’ biggest recruiting weekend of the season, with elite targets like Arch Manning, Evan Stewart, Malik Agbo, Ernest Greene and many others on hand to witness it. A win, especially a convincing one as it appeared Texas was headed for early, could have done wonders with prospect who could become game-changers in Austin. Instead, they watched another embarrassing loss for the Longhorns.

 

[satyanash 14281]

Chip Brown's Quick Takes: Texas lets go of another double-digit lead in second straight loss as Oklahoma State wins 32-24

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After a second straight game in which Texas gave up a double-digit lead - this time in a 32-24 loss at home to No. 12 Oklahoma State - Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said his team "can't play cautious" with a lead and will work on changing that mindset during the team's upcoming off-week before facing Baylor in Waco on Oct. 30. Texas (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) led Oklahoma State 17-3 in the first half and 24-13 with 11:43 left in the third quarter before being outscored 19-0 by the Cowboys (6-0, 3-0) to end the game.

Texas led Oklahoma 28-7 after the first quarter and 41-23 late in the third quarter last week before losing 55-48 to the Sooners. “To get where we want to go, we can’t have the mindset of trying to hold on,” Sarkisian said. "I feel like we did that the last two weeks. We’ve got a great challenge ahead of us to play to our capability. Today we didn’t do that. So the bye is coming at good time.”

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Texas knew it would need a solid day from its offense against No. 12 Oklahoma State’s defense, which hadn’t given up more than 123 yards rushing in a game all season and led the Big 12 in getting off the field on third down. The Longhorns scored two touchdowns and a field goal on three of their first five drives, and then lost its mojo after an interception of Casey Thompson in the red zone turned into an 85-yard pick-six with 5:13 left in the second quarter.

Texas went from building on a 17-3 lead to giving new life to an Oklahoma State team that finished the first half on a 10-0 run and trailed only 17-13 at intermission. The Longhorns responded early in the third quarter as UT’s defense forced a punt on OSU’s first drive of the second half, and UT’s offense went on a five-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 38-yard scoring run by Bijan Robinson, putting Texas up 24-13 with 11:43 left in the third quarter.

But that would be the Longhorns’ last score as the offense suffered four straight three-and-outs, followed by a failed fourth-and-3 attempt from UT’s 42 with 3:12 left and Texas trailing 25-24. “We came out in the third quarter, and we were productive,” Sarkisian said. “But you can’t relax. You can’t have four straight three-and-outs.” Oklahoma State needed just three plays to score its final touchdown on a 10-yard run by Spencer Sanders with 2:18 left, putting OSU up 32-24.

The Texas defense seemed to let Sanders score, hoping the Longhorns’ offense could generate one last TD drive. But after an offsides penalty on OSU gave Texas first-and-5 from its own 29, Thompson dropped back, looking to his left and attempted to loft a pass to Xavier Worthy, but it was picked off by OSU safety Tanner McCalister and returned 13 yards to the Texas 32 with 1:57 left.

Oklahoma State converted third-and-6 from the Texas 28 on a 8-yard run by Jaylen Warren, and that allowed the Cowboys to run out the clock on a 32-24 victory - their sixth win in their last seven trips to Austin. “We can’t go three-and-out four times in a row and expect the defense to keep holding on,” Sarkisian said.

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Texas lost linebacker and leading tackler DeMarvion Overshown to injury on the last play of the first quarter. Steve Sarkisian said after the game Overshown suffered a concussion.

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Casey Thompson, who threw for five touchdowns in a heroic effort in a 55-48 loss to Oklahoma last week, had his worst game as a Longhorn, completing just 15 of 27 passes (56 percent) for 179 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions, including the 85-yard pick-six. Thompson left the game with 42 seconds left in the third quarter after being driven into the turf after letting go of a pass by Oklahoma State linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez.

Hudson Card came into the game and handed the ball off to Bijan Robinson before Thompson came back into the game. “I’ve seen Casey play better,” Sarkisian said. “I saw him play better in the first half. I've seen us play better as a team, and I've seen us coach better. We have to find a way to get him (Thompson) back to the execution piece of it when things aren’t going our way. And it’s not just Casey, it’s everyone involved.”

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Playing without Jordan Whittington (clavicle), UT’s most productive receiver on third down this season, the Longhorns converted just 4 of 14 on third down (29 percent).

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Bijan Robinson scored all of Texas’ touchdowns. Robinson had 21 carries for 135 yards (6.4 ypc) and touchdown runs of 1 and 38 yards while also catching three passes for 38 yards, including a 13-yard TD pass.

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The Texas defense struggled to stop the run in the fourth quarter and hurt itself with third-down penalties, but the Longhorns’ D came up big in the red zone, holding OSU to three field goals after the Cowboys had first downs at the Texas 9, 8 and 11. The Texas defense held Oklahoma State to two, 21-yard field goals after the Cowboys had first-and-goal from the Texas 9 in the first quarter and after the Cowboys had first-and-goal from the 8 in the third quarter. UT also held OSU to a 29-yard field goal with 4:37 left to play after the Cowboys had first down at the Texas 11.

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Texas desperately needed a good start to the second half after being outscored 10-0 in the final 5:13 of the second quarter. And the Longhorns got it. After giving up an 18-yard pass on first down, the Texas defense got Oklahoma State off the field in four plays, including a nice third-down rush by Ovie Oghoufo, forcing a punt. The Texas offense then put together a five-play, 80-yard touchdown drive - mostly on the ground - capped by a 38-yard TD run by Bijan Robinson, putting Texas up 24-13 with 11:43 left in the third quarter.

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Oklahoma State’s first points of the game and first points of the second half were made possible by third-down penalties on the Texas defense. A completely unnecessary horse-collar tackle by Keondre Coburn on third-and-8 from the OSU 37 in the first quarter extended an OSU drive to a field goal. On the play, Alfred Collins was chasing OSU quarterback Spencer Sanders toward the sideline for what would’ve been a 7-yard sack.

But Coburn, who didn’t even need to touch Sanders because Sanders was literally one step from running out of bounds, grabbed Sanders by the collar and pulled him down, drawing a 15-yard personal foul and extending OSU’s drive, which ended with 21-yard Tanner Brown field goal, cutting UT’s lead to 7-3 with 3:41 left in the first quarter.

In the third quarter, Ray Thornton was called for a questionable roughing the passer penalty when Spencer Sanders threw the ball while in Thornton’s grasp and then Thornton, who couldn’t see that Sanders had thrown the ball, tackled Sanders to the ground. That call extended OSU’s drive, and then the Cowboys converted third-and-11 from the Texas 32 on a 24-yard, catch-and-run on a screen pass. But the Texas defense came up big, holding OSU to a 21-yard field goal after the Cowboys’ had first-and-goal from the 8.

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An 85-yard pick-six by the Cowboys with 5:13 left in the second quarter completely swung the momentum in the game. When it looked like Texas was about to build on a 17-3 lead with the ball at Oklahoma State’s 18, OSU safety Jason Taylor II read Casey Thompson’s eyes, came off of his coverage of UT tight end Jared Wiley and stepped in front of Thompson’s third-and-10 pass intended for Joshua Moore and raced 85 yards for a pick-six touchdown that cut UT’s lead to 17-10.

The play ignited the Cowboys, who outscored UT 10-0 to close out the first half after doing next to nothing offensively for the first 25 minutes of the game. Up to that point, OSU was 1-of-6 on third down, including an interception by Texas cornerback D’Shawn Jamison on a third-and-4 pass by Sanders with eight minutes left in the second quarter. After the pick-six by OSU, Texas’ offense went three-and-out on its next possession, which included a pass from Thompson to Worthy for minus-1 yard, followed by a 6-yard sack of Thompson on second-and-11and an incomplete pass to Worthy on third-and-17.

After a 52-yard punt by Cameron Dicker gave OSU the ball at its own 30 with 3:47 left in the first half, streaky Cowboys’ quarterback Spencer Sanders got hot - hitting 5-of-6 passes, and OSU converted a third-and-9 from its own 41 with a 9-yard outside zone run by Jaylen Warren, en route to a 40-yard field goal with :08 left in the half, cutting UT’s lead to 17-13 at intermission.

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Pete Kwiatkowski mixed it up on third down in the first half. Kwiatkowski dialed up a nice third-down blitz by Anthony Cook when OSU had third-and-11 from the Cowboys 48 early in the second quarter. Cook got pressure, and Sanders threw the ball away, forcing a punt.

When OSU faced a third-and-16 from the OSU 28 in the second quarter, Kwiatkowski rushed three and dropped eight. Byron Murphy played nose on the play and did a good job of pushing his man back into the pocket, Spencer Sanders threw the ball high, it glanced off the hands of OSU receiver Rashod Owens and Texas cornerback D’Shawn Jamison tried to make a one-handed interception and couldn’t come down with the ball.

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Josh Thompson showed textbook technique on playing through the receivers hands on a fade route in the end zone on a third-and-goal pass from the 4 from Spencer Sanders to Tay Martin. Martin appeared to have the ball momentarily, but Thompson got his left hand between Martin’s hands and knocked the ball away, forcing OSU to settle for a 21-yard field goal with 3:41 left in the first quarter.

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UT’s second possession of the game was the picture of self-destruction. Morice Blackwell Jr. was called for holding during a punt return by D’Shawn Jamison, causing UT to start on its own 15. Right guard Tope Imade, making his first start in his six-year career, was then called for holding, bringing up first-and-17 from the Texas 8. On the next play, Joshua Moore ran a route over the middle (that Jordan Whittington normally runs) and dropped the pass on what would’ve been about a 10-yard gain. On third-and-15, Casey Thompson was called for intentional grounding after tripping over Bijan Robinson’s foot as he was trying to throw a pass (which sailed out of bounds).

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Brenden Schooler got the start at safety over Jerrin Thompson against Oklahoma State, as Pete Kwiatkowski opened the game with a two stuck with a two-high safety look featuring Schooler and B.J. Foster. The Cowboys tried to get D’Shawn Jamison on a double move to start the game and had Tay Martin open behind Jamison, but Martin dropped the pass from Spencer Sanders. On third-and-9 from the OSU 26 on OSU’s first possession, the Cowboys ran a counter play (that OU used so successfully against Texas) and nearly picked up the first down, coming up about six inches short, resulting in a three-and-out for the UT defense.

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Texas went to a two-back set in its first drive with Keilan Robinson joining Bijan Robinson, and Steve Sarkisian getting Keilan Robinson involved early. Keilan Robinson lined up behind the guard on the right side and took a flip pass from Casey Thompson and went around the left end for 25 yards.

 

[nineliveslost 2710]

but my balls are still sore from being kicked in 

[satyanash 14281]

Eric Nahlin: Sark and QB handling

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For whatever reason this is an emotionally charged topic so I’ll try and handle it as delicately as possible while still being authentic.

I felt it would have made sense to bench Hudson Card in the 2nd or early 3rd quarter in Fayetteville, but I still would have given the young QB who just won a month long position battle the opportunity to grow versus Rice and Texas Tech. TCU would have been the first real chance to evaluate Card after futility in Fayetteville. Certainly by Oklahoma at the latest, Sark would have a much better idea of what he had at the position.

Sark elected to make the change permanent after the Arkansas game which hurt his optionality down the road, possibly even today. Casey played great versus Rice and Tech, to be expected, then less so versus TCU. He played well versus OU, especially when the overall offense, including Sark, was clicking. Today he was terrible but also clearly hurt.

There’s no reason for Sark to have stuck with Casey through a statistically HORRENDOUS second half. I don’t know the exact numbers yet but it was one three and out after another. Casey was clearly struggling on the field, and not just with the injury. He was a tick slow and not getting the ball out quickly. His accuracy was off. His feel in the pocket was off.

We’ve seen him play much better so I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. I will not extend that same benefit to Sarkisian who sat idly watching it all unfold. Sark was even gifted with the chance to put Card in and leave him and elected not to. The offense needed a spark. When in-game, you do what you need to do to give that spark. Forget next week and whatever controversy may arise.

I don’t agree with Sark’s process of handling the quarterback situation earlier in the season, but it’s entirely independent of my thoughts today. We can disagree on the former, but if you watched the second half, I doubt we’ll disagree on the latter. The shorter version: After 7 games Texas hits the bye week and Sark still doesn’t have clarity on his quarterback position. Not ideal. Not very whisper-y.

 

[Atticus 3922]

16 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Eric Nahlin: Sark and QB handling

 

Summary: Give my investment another chance please!

Edited October 16, 2021 by Atticus

[formermav43 4599]

He’s right in this instance, though. Thompson was clearly off. I’d have given Card a shot too, and when he had to come in anyway there was the perfect opportunity to at least give him a series or two. 

[satyanash 14281]

Joseph Cook: Texas surrenders another second-half lead due to paltry offensive production vs. Oklahoma State

Quote

With 11:43 left in the third quarter, Bijan Robinson took a handoff from Casey Thompson, ran left, cut upfield, made a couple of Oklahoma State defenders miss, and ran into the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown to make it 24-13 Texas. That would be the final first down the Texas Longhorn offense achieved in the game.

Texas punted on its next four drives before turning the ball over on downs with 1:25 left, then giving the ball back to OSU via a Casey Thompson interception. Spencer Sanders would then kneel out the clock to seal a 32-24 come-from-behind win. “This has been two weeks in a row where we’re just trying to hold on as opposed to attacking,” Texas head coach Sarkisian said. “We have to get it rectified because you can’t play the way we played the second half of this game or the second half of last week’s game and be the team that we want to be.”

For the second week in a row, Texas surrendered a second-half double-digit lead to a school from Oklahoma. Texas took the lead on its first drive with a Robinson touchdown run, added a Cameron Dicker field goal to make it a 10-3 game in the first, then took a two-possession lead when Robinson scored on a wheel route midway through the second. Up until that point, the Texas offense was getting the job done. The game then turned on its head in the span of a few seconds.

Threatening to go up 24-3, Thompson dropped back and looked for Joshua Moore in the Cowboy red zone. Jason Taylor II knew Thompson would look for Moore, broke on the pass, picked it off, and ran 85 yards for the score, turning what was almost a three-score game a one-score game.

From that point on, Texas achieved just three first downs. It scored one touchdown, the aforementioned run by Robinson. Cowboy defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and his experienced 11 were constantly in position and made the plays in front of them. On Texas’ last six drives, the Longhorns accumulated 14 yards.

“I do think that we did have a lot of self inflicted mistakes that we continue to have every week that we need to clean up,” Thompson said. “We can’t take turns making mistakes, whether it’s the offensive line, me as a quarterback, the running back, or the receiver, we can’t take turns making mistakes every drive.”

As a result, the amount of time the Longhorn offense spent on the bench meant the Texas defense was on the field often. That same defense lost star linebacker DeMarvion Overshown due to a concussion ahead of the halftime break, which only made things worse for Pete Kwiatkowski’s side of the ball.

Oklahoma State ran all over the Longhorns in the second half, just as Oklahoma did, just as TCU did. Cowboy running back Jaylen Warren tallied a significant chunk of his 193 yards in the second half. In total, Oklahoma State rushed 33 times for 170 yards in the second half, suffocating a Longhorn defense that was already gasping for breath. “You can’t go three-and-out four times in a row and expect those guys to keep holding up and keep holding on,” Sarkisian said. “Ultimately the dam broke, they got the lead, and we just couldn’t execute enough offensively to get it back.”

Despite Robinson’s three total touchdowns and 135 yards on the ground, the Longhorn offense was held to one rushing yard in the fourth quarter. Texas ran 17 plays total in the second half. The offensive line couldn’t hold up against the OSU defensive front, and Thompson could not do anything to truly threaten the Cowboy secondary down the field. So OSU keyed on the run, and they keyed hard. No matter what combination Sarkisian and Kyle Flood utilized on the offensive line, and they used three different combinations, none of them worked against a stout OSU front.

“It’s little things that we really need to focus on,” Robinson said. “Because you see when you don’t, things like this can happen. It always sucks because the defense was doing really good, but we couldn’t score the ball on a lot of the drives.”

The opposite played out for the Cowboys, who exacted a measure of revenge for their loss at the hands of the Longhorns at home as a top 10 team in 2020.“We did not play very good complementary football again late into the third quarter and into the fourth quarter,” Sarkisian said. “We just didn’t.”

The Longhorns hope the upcoming open week will allow them time to address the issues hampering the offensive product. It will allow for Robinson, who has touched the ball 160 times through seven games, to recuperate somewhat. It will allow for Sarkisian and staff to try and fix the problems affecting both sides of the ball. And to try to put together plans that prevent the Longhorns from giving up 662 total yards like against Oklahoma, or from tallying zero first downs across the last six drives like against Oklahoma State. Or from giving up another double-digit lead.

 

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2630]

Stark if a good coach. Y’all losers should be quiet. 
 

one yard in the fourth says all 

Edited October 17, 2021 by Xian

[taybo20 2815]

1 hour ago, formermav43 said:

He’s right in this instance, though. Thompson was clearly off. I’d have given Card a shot too, and when he had to come in anyway there was the perfect opportunity to at least give him a series or two. 

This is that same type of peculiar thing we always had with a dinged up Sam for his 4 years. Like, was it always our best option, maybe not, but the coaches always felt better having the starter than anyone else. Idk if that’s the right call or not, but losing games always makes you question it

[formermav43 4599]

Just now, taybo20 said:

This is that same type of peculiar thing we always had with a dinged up Sam for his 4 years. Like, was it always our best option, maybe not, but the coaches always felt better having the starter than anyone else. Idk if that’s the right call or not, but losing games always makes you question it

We kind of forget after having him for 4 years, but Ehlinger wasn’t entrenched like that in year 1. He and Buechele both started due to injury and performance issues. 

So regardless of whether it would have been better to have him sit when banged up the last couple of years, the situation now is more like 2017. We’ve already swapped QBs once. Thompson isn’t proven enough to get a free pass to play through persistent struggles (especially since it seems likely it’s injury related), even if your philosophy is to lean that way with a veteran starter.

[taybo20 2815]

2 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

We kind of forget after having him for 4 years, but Ehlinger wasn’t entrenched like that in year 1. He and Buechele both started due to injury and performance issues. 

So regardless of whether it would have been better to have him sit when banged up the last couple of years, the situation now is more like 2017. We’ve already swapped QBs once. Thompson isn’t proven enough to get a free pass to play through persistent struggles (especially since it seems likely it’s injury related), even if your philosophy is to lean that way with a veteran starter.

Totally get the logic on that. 

[XYZ 2154]

2 hours ago, formermav43 said:

He’s right in this instance, though. Thompson was clearly off. I’d have given Card a shot too, and when he had to come in anyway there was the perfect opportunity to at least give him a series or two. 

Gagreed.

[satyanash 14281]

Alex Seats: Media bashes Texas for blowing second straight double-digit lead in Oklahoma State loss

Quote

Just a week removed from allowing the Oklahoma Sooners to surmount the largest comeback in Red River Showdown history, the Texas Longhorns blew another second-half lead, resulting in a 32-24 loss to Oklahoma State. Although Texas jumped out to an early asdvantage that it held through three quarters, and despite a multi-touchdown performance from star running back Bijan Robinson, the Longhorns offense folded in the second half just as defensive penalties opened the door for the Cowboys to swing momentum and escape Austin undefeated.

The day started well enough for Texas, as quarterback Casey Thompson carved up the Oklahoma State defense, completing 4-of-5 passing for 59 yards and a six-yard rush, on an 11-play, 75-yard opening drive capped by Robinson's first rushing touchdown. But even with UT playing stout defense on the other end, a litany of penalties kept Oklahoma State within striking distance, seeing several potential fourth-down situations overturned.

Texas appeared to be carrying a double-digit lead into halftime when Oklahoma State's Jason Taylor returned a Thompson interception 85-yards for a touchdown. The Pokes defense forced a three-and-out, and Spencer Sanders took it from there, leading the offense on a 12-play, 48-yard drive to set up a 39-yard field goal that cut the deficit to one score ahead of the break.

It only got worse for the Longhorns in the second half, where a number of questionable play calls, and continued miscues on defense, opened up Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian to criticism as Oklahoma State completed the comeback and surged to an eight-point victory. Here's how the media reacted to watching Texas let another slip away in the Big 12:

Just as it seemed Texas was going to knock out No. 12 Oklahoma State, the Longhorns let another lead slip away, as the Cowboys rallied back from down double-digits to extend their winning streak. The Oklahoma State defense shut down Texas in the second half, holding them to just 91 yards and one score.

While Texas looked to shoot itself in the foot on the field, the Longhorns may have also hurt themselves on the recruiting front.  Not long after Arch Manning, the top 2023 quarterback prospect, came away impressed with Alabama after a visit, the blue-chip was in the house to witness Texas drop another devastating loss in front of its home crowd.

Saturday’s win erased Texas’ two-game win streak against Oklahoma State. Although the Longhorns own the all-time series, 26-9, Mike Gundy and the Cowboys have won eight of the last 12 matchups.

Bijan Robinson accounted for all three of the Longhorns’ touchdowns, but still could have been more involved in the offense. The obvious x-factor in today’s matchup, Robinson finished with 21 carries for 179 yards and two rushing touchdowns, to go along with three catches for 38 yards and a receiving score.

Texas football faces grand expectations year-in and year-out, but has failed to live up to the hype over the last decade. It is just Steve Sarkisian's first year on the job, but it appears there is still a lot of work to be done in Austin before the Longhorns are a threat to the SEC elite anytime soon. While Texas backpedaled, Oklahoma State put itself in the driver seat. With Saturday's win, the Cowboys climb to 6-0, claiming bowl eligibility, and position themselves atop the Big 12 conference.

(Scipio Tex) 2021 Texas-Oklahoma State Post Mortem: Offense

Quote

That was a frustrating home loss against a beatable opponent. Credit Oklahoma State for fielding the more composed football team, making better adjustments over the course of the game (i.e. not beating themselves), and possibly having more players that wanted it. The game turned sharply on a single play. Up 17-3 with 6:58 left in the 2nd quarter, the Longhorns mounted a lengthy drive to the OSU 18 yard line. On 3rd and 10, this happened. Skip to 4:42

That unfortunate pick 6 was a minimum 10 point swing. It took the air out of the stadium as surely as Chinese throwing stars hummed into a pool floaty and instead of a 20-3 or 24-3 Texas lead that might result in Oklahoma State having to put more of the game on a shaky Spencer Sanders, it turned into a tight ballgame. Eventually, OSU notched another field goal to whittle the Longhorn halftime lead to 4. That doesn't disguise the fact that the Longhorn offense effectively stopped performing over the last six drives of the game. Those drives went thusly:

3 plays for -3
3 plays for 7
3 plays for 3
3 plays for -6
4 plays for 7
1 play for 5

That's 17 plays for 13 yards. Which is how this kind of quarter summary happens:

Is that players? Is that coaching? Inopportune penalties? Sure. The Texas offense just seemed to run out of ideas. No time more apparent than the second-to-last drive of the game that ended on downs, effectively ending any hope of a Longhorn rally.

When you put aside all of the formations and motion, this offense has a very narrow scope. While Sarkisian can dress up some interesting looks, the offense is currently Xavier Worthy in the passing game and Bijan Robinson everywhere else. The tight ends don't appear to be receiver eligible and the loss of Jordan Whittington as a viable third option who can go over the middle and create yards after catch with his physicality hurts. Secondary and tertiary options weren't up to the task or in the game plan, particularly when Casey was asked to go from distributor to creator. That doesn't mean other options don't exist, but they haven't evidenced themselves consistently.

At some point over the last two weeks, some time in the early third quarter, defenses realize that it's just Bijan, Worthy, and some other guys and start to defend accordingly.

QB

Casey Thompson didn't play well. The thumb didn't seem to bother him early, but after a good early start, his pick-6 really hurt Texas and a big second-half hit seemed to shake him. Even granting that he had subpar protection and receivers weren't exactly wide open everywhere, he began fading in the pocket, throwing inaccurately or well short of the sticks, and held on to a couple of balls too long while drifting, effectively creating his own pressure.

He turned it over twice in key moments and finished 15 of 27 for 179 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs. His second half was particularly tough. Should Card have gotten a series? Hard to say. The coaches have much better insight into Card's level of engagement, practice performance, etc. but Sarkisian also has to be clear-eyed about the level of play he's getting from his thrower in a tight football game where the offense is struggling badly.

RB

Skip to 6:37

This is what outside zone looks like when blocked up right by Jones and Angilau. I knew it was a touchdown when I saw only one OSU defender between Bijan and the end zone surrounded by green and a two way go. To OSU's credit- or perhaps Longhorn discredit - Bijan surrounded by a lot of green space didn't happen a lot in this game.

Bijan had a great box score (and he certainly looked good in person) but despite 21 carries for 135 yards rushing and 3 more catches for 38 yards receiving for a total of three touchdowns - a full and incredibly productive day by any standard - somehow it felt like Texas didn't get enough out of him from an in-game and game plan perspective. 175 yards and 3 scores later, there was still meat on that bone. The inability to find working combinations in the running game late and letting OSU effectively remove #5's impact from the game is frustrating.

Keilan Robinson looked great on the little misdirection flip credited as a pass reception but it was his only touch of the game. Roschon saw spot action and played fine in that capacity. I don't really buy the "put him at WR" takes as there's more involved there than just being a quick guy, but working him more fully into the game plan as a constraint threat, screen option, swing pass target, or direct snap recipient makes sense to me. This team needs more diverse weapons that can legitimately create fear in a defense.

WR/TE

Xavier Worthy came down to earth as the Cowboys gave him significant attention (5-28) and the Longhorn passing game struggled to operate in sync. Most of the throws to Worthy were at or behind the line of scrimmage without any space afforded to him to create. Credit OSU there as well. They were all over it. Marcus Washington caught a nice deep ball for 58 yards in the first half on a fine Casey Thompson throw, but Oklahoma State effectively shrugged: "Nice play. We don't think you can do that again. Guys not named Worthy aren't beating us." They were right. Joshua Moore certainly also had an opportunity to step up but was largely limited to short gains.

The tight ends continue to be a non-factor in the passing game. Blocking deteriorated over the course of the game across the board.

OL

Tope Imade got the start at guard as Angilau moved over to join Christian Jones on the left side. Karic and Conner also rotated in together on a couple of drives and were effective in run blocking. The OL won some and lost some, mostly winning in the first half, with their performance sharply declining with the rest of the offense starting around the mid 3rd quarter. Their struggles have become a chicken-egg proposition and it's getting tough to tease out causalities.

Ending the game with effectively six useless drives isn't going to fall on any one position cleanly, but you'd hope that the Longhorn running game could show the same late proficiency that the Cowboys did when they began cracking big runs by repeatedly hammering the rock, getting after it, and tinkering with adjustments. I'd like to know who owns the running game coordinator piece of the offense in-game. Actual ownership - not titles for salary. I saw our running game go stale, while another with probably more limited resources kept trying little combinations until it found late-game success.

Final

I hope Steve Sarkisian owns his own washer/dryer. Because he's not getting this mess cleaned up with only three quarters.

 

[ATLLonghorn 841]

Scipio hit on something that really bothers me. We know the offensive line is dogshit, but teams are now going to account for Worthy every where he goes on the field and the rest of the receiving corps is garbage. Whittington is the only other guy at that position who is any good and he's made of glass.

[satyanash 14281]

USA Today: Studs and duds from Texas' loss to Oklahoma State

Quote

If we are being honest, there is little to be positive about from the Texas perspective. The first quarter was a positive, as it was against Oklahoma, but after that, it was rough. The ‘All Gas, No Brakes’ mantra is coming to an abrupt end. When it seems that Texas has control, they let up in the second half.

Steve Sarkisian needed this win in order to control Texas’ destiny in terms of the Big 12 title. Their fate is now out of their hands. Where do they go from here? Sarkisian will have a tough decision to make in terms of the quarterback position going forward. Here are the studs and duds from Texas’ loss to Oklahoma State.

STUD: Bijan Robinson

When given the ball, Bijan Robinson was by far the best player on the field. He finished with 135 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and three receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown in the air. If it were not for the three losses, the Heisman may be a real discussion. During the offseason, Sarkisian said getting Robinson around 25 carries a game was going to be the goal. Saturday was the second straight game he was hovering closer to 20. Even with an average of 6.4 yards per carry, Robinson was not utilized the way he should have been, despite his great performance.

DUD: Casey Thompson

When the offseason ended, I thought discussions about who the Texas starting quarterback was going to be would be over. I could not have been more wrong. Since Casey Thompson took over as the starting quarterback, he has progressively performed worse and worse. He started out well against Rice, below average against TCU, okay against Oklahoma, and then really poor against Oklahoma State.

Thompson’s two interceptions were turning points in the game. His first was a pick-six to keep Oklahoma State in the game. The second one ended the game. When he did find receivers, it was never downfield, with Marcus Washington’s 58-yard receptions being the only deep shot of note. A thumb injury on his throwing hand may be holding him back. Even if, the quarterback play has been sub-par. Sarkisian has to reflect heading into the bye.

STUD: Oklahoma State's fourth quarter defense

Texas’ offense was good during the first half. Bijan Robinson was cooking and there was plenty of opportunities to put the game to bed. But Oklahoma State’s defense, especially in the fourth quarter, was dominant. Check out Texas’ stats after their opening second-half drive here:

Texas was held to one total yard during the fourth quarter. Yes, one. Drives in the final period were as followed: Punt, turnover on downs, and an interception. Oklahoma State’s defense is legit and won them the game in the second half.

STUD: Jaylen Warren

How good has Jaylen Warren been for Oklahoma State over the past four weeks? When some tough yards were needed to ice the game, Mike Gundy turned to his transfer running back and Texas had no response. The defense was able to contain the Cowboy rush attack early on but as the game continued, the defensive line tired. Oklahoma State never waivered from the rush attack and the dividends eventually paid off. Warren finished with 33 carries for 193 yards. He never found the end zone but was a crucial figure in breaking Texas’ defense in the fourth quarter.

DUD: Third down penalties

There were a couple of crucial third down penalties that went against Texas, giving Oklahoma State opportunities to extend the drive. Keondre Coburn committed a horse collar in the first half, leading to a Cowboy field goal. Ray Thornton was called for a roughing the passer for another three points. Six points may not seem like a ton, but keeping Oklahoma State off the scoreboard and giving the offense another chance would have been the difference.

DUD: Offensive line play

It’s easy to blame quarterback play for the offensive struggles. But Texas’ offensive line play did not help at all. Changes were made, with Tope Imade getting the start at right guard. Derek Kerstetter went back to right tackle to start the game but after a late Jake Majors injury, played center. Sadly, Kyle Flood tinkering with the five was not good enough. Oklahoma State has consistent pressure throughout the game. Thompson was scrambling, throwing a ton of balls away. Unless the ball is in Bijan Robinson’s hands, the offensive line’s struggles are going to define the struggles.

 

[Longhornlove 4779]

4 hours ago, Xian said:

Stark if a good coach. Y’all losers should be quiet. 
 

one yard in the fourth says all 

JFC are you going to post this crap in every fucking thread?

[Monahorns 34]

Sounds like Scipio is blaming Sark, which is where the blame should go.  Kevin Dunn on 104.9 was screaming into the mic about how untalented Texas is.  I think he is really off base.  Texas isn't as talented as what we expect them to be, true.  But this Texas team is more talented than OSU.  Maybe they haven't been developed as well.  But that is also on Sark.  He has had them these players since January to get bigger, stronger, faster.  He has had that long to teach and reinforce fundamentals.  Not that he can fix every problem in 9 months.  But is this team getting better?  Doesn't look like it.  

[TwiceHorn 31283]

9 minutes ago, Monahorns said:

Sounds like Scipio is blaming Sark, which is where the blame should go.  Kevin Dunn on 104.9 was screaming into the mic about how untalented Texas is.  I think he is really off base.  Texas isn't as talented as what we expect them to be, true.  But this Texas team is more talented than OSU.  Maybe they haven't been developed as well.  But that is also on Sark.  He has had them these players since January to get bigger, stronger, faster.  He has had that long to teach and reinforce fundamentals.  Not that he can fix every problem in 9 months.  But is this team getting better?  Doesn't look like it.  

I don't read it that he's exclusively blaming coaching.  It's a toxic stew of talent and coaching.  He does seem to single out the run game coordinator, whoever that is, for especial scorn, though.  And that's fair.  I think.  Hard to assess how easy/difficult it is to try new little combinations when your line isn't real functional.

Edited October 17, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[Atticus 3922]

On 10/17/2021 at 12:13 AM, Monahorns said:

Sounds like Scipio is blaming Sark, which is where the blame should go.  Kevin Dunn on 104.9 was screaming into the mic about how untalented Texas is.  I think he is really off base.  Texas isn't as talented as what we expect them to be, true.  But this Texas team is more talented than OSU.  Maybe they haven't been developed as well.  But that is also on Sark.  He has had them these players since January to get bigger, stronger, faster.  He has had that long to teach and reinforce fundamentals.  Not that he can fix every problem in 9 months.  But is this team getting better?  Doesn't look like it.  

This team was held together by Sam and Ossai last year. WR talent was clearly lacking, and two of the guys we were counting on to perform last year are gone (Eagles, Smith). As much as we didn't like him. The Okafor injury hurts this year a lot. Now we have to play even more OL who aren't ready. We had 2 OL last year, now the best one we had by far is starting for the WFT. The other one is coming off an rough injury suffered late last season.

The LB play was meh last year too and one of those starters is gone now. BJ Foster has seemingly lost all will to play the game, and we rotate the other safety spot with two guys who lack athleticism and awareness. There's a big gap in the middle of our defense, so I don't really blame PK too much for not having faith in them being able to play in the box. Especially after 4th and 1 against OU.

Glasscock has his work cut out for him.

Edited October 19, 2021 by Atticus

[BornOrange 1441]

Did Scipio write about the defense?

[GreenspointTexas 9567]

On 10/16/2021 at 9:30 PM, ATLLonghorn said:

Scipio hit on something that really bothers me. We know the offensive line is dogshit, but teams are now going to account for Worthy every where he goes on the field and the rest of the receiving corps is garbage. Whittington is the only other guy at that position who is any good and he's made of glass.

Welcome to September

[satyanash 14281]

On 10/19/2021 at 11:31 AM, BornOrange said:

Did Scipio write about the defense?

(Scipio Tex) 2021 Texas-Oklahoma State Post Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

Quote

Texas unveiled a true 3-4 personnel package that saw a lot of early game success against Oklahoma State's offense. Ovie and Ray Thornton played on the line of scrimmage setting hard edges while Ojomo-Coburn-Collins lined up inside. The result was a five man front, 5-2 alignment that freed up the Longhorn DL considerably. Ojomo and Collins were able to line up in gaps and consistently attack instead of playing catch-and-watch. Thornton and Ovie (14 combined tackles) were big beneficiaries with several easy clean ups from the interior pressure created by the Texas DL. One downside of that look is that it took Anthony Cook off of the field. I'd consider removing a Longhorn safety before taking our best tackling DB out.

Oklahoma State got us out of that look by going 3 wide and spreading the field. Oddly, even when OSU clearly wanted to run the ball, Texas would go back to the 3-4 variant, but the DL would stop gapping, edge responsibilities got soft from the very clear alignment early, and the Horns went into read n react mode. Jaylan Warren would read the disposition of the front, slide laterally, make a decision, and then slip upfield for big gains. Kwiatkowski was also playing some rotations in some key moments that did not represent our best run stopping lineups. More crucially, the defense was largely back into catch-blocks mode, and the onus for run stopping was placed back on the linebackers and safeties while the edge would either sprint upfield taking himself out of the play or stand somewhat passively and get pancaked. You saw the results of that approach in the second half in Jaylan Warren's 193 rushing yards. In fact, you've seen the results of that approach all year.

Pete K clearly doesn't believe he can craft a viable defense where the DL gap and attack. Jett Bush didn't play, so the reason their run game exploded in the 4th quarter will need another whipping boy. While the Texas D absolutely did its job for most of the contest against a very mediocre Oklahoma State offense, limiting OSU to only field goals for three quarters of play, this is what the 4th quarter looked like on OSU's last three offensive drives that didn't involve a kneel down:

10-80 TD
9-51 FG
3-42 TD

173 yards and 16 points on their last three possessions (went for 2, didn't get it). 145 of those were rushing yards. In one quarter. Warren ran for 110 on those three drives and never had a run longer than 28 yards. The Texas run defense just collapsed.

LB

Jaylan Ford got the start after Overshown went down with a concussion and notched 12 tackles. #41 played well and wasn't contact shy at all, he repeatedly met Cowboy runners and blockers in the hole, but like all of our off-the-ball linebackers (and a lot of the team), he's physically weak and he got beaten down over the course of the game. Nice 1 on 1 tackle on the 2 point conversion. Luke Brockermeyer played extremely hard, notching 9 tackles, including two for loss. David Gbenda had 7 stops. Gbenda plays hard, but sometimes it's pointed the wrong way.

Ray Thornton had his most productive game as a Longhorn - 6 tackles, 3 tackles for loss. His effectiveness was directly tied to how Texas played the interior DL. Ovie Oghoufo, same. It's interesting to see how their effectiveness waned in the final quarter. Watch the Texas LB/S triangle here here:

Ford, wrong way. Gbenda, whatcha lookin' at? BJ Foster made me inadvertently giggle in his run support from deep there.

When you see an edge play like this, it's hard to even know where the disconnect is between Foster and Thornton and the overall team concept... Skip to 9:34

BJ Foster sprints up the field. Is he supposed to have the edge there? If so, why didn't he immediately flatten out? Why is Thornton playing like he has two gaps to defend there? I saw way too much of this in the 4th quarter. Skip to 8:02 Here's the entire edge just getting physically overpowered on a play that should be a zero yard gain.

A little physicality check below. Watch Spencer Sanders when he becomes a blocker after the option pitch on Ovie Oghoufo. Skip to 17:45

Hmmm.

DL

Seven games into the season, the Texas defensive coaching staff realized that Alfred Collins is talented and should have a role that plays to his strengths.

Collins drew the start and was credited with 5 tackles, a tackle for loss, and a QB hit, but his impact was felt even more than that. Oddly, our best pass rushing DL was taken off the field multiple times on 3rd and long. Moro Ojomo played well and made a number of plays where he spoiled the original run and created an easy clean up for an exterior defender. Keondre Coburn played with more energy for the second straight week, but a foolish horse collar personal foul gave the Cowboys a new set of downs. His three tackles nearly matched his output in the prior six games.

Vernon Broughton continues to play for mystifying reasons, including one stretch where Oklahoma State ran the ball all over us. Murphy and Sweat were solid.

DB

The Cowboys didn't do much in the passing game, but Texas corners playing off coverage on 3rd down with the game on the line was odd to see. The safety position doesn't need more discussion, but Schooler drew most of the snaps over Jerrin Thompson. Jamison had a solid pick on an errant Sanders throw and Thompson had a smart PI when he was beaten up the sideline.

Final

Oklahoma State has a poor to middling offense and the Texas D did its job for three quarters before unraveling against the Cowboy running game. And, if you were wondering, yes, Texas did purposefully let them score in order to get the ball back more quickly down 32-24.