QB1 Quinn "La Joya" Ewers - The Man The Myth The Mullet

[LTtxfan 49173]

Need to get Ewers on track... article found by @satyanash 

Ian Boyd: The missing Ewers-to-Worthy connection

Texas was eager for a change at quarterback after the 2021 season. Casey Thompson‘s long ball left a lot to be desired, Hudson Card was inconsistent throwing down the field as well, and the ultimate weapon to pull defenders away from Bijan Robinson and the run game was frequently left unfired. In several big games in which Texas blew early leads, opponents would pack the box and sit on their run game, wasting Bijan’s talent.

Heading into 2022, Texas rebuilt the offensive line with several big men taking roles across the front. They got a major boost when Kelvin Banks emerged as a fantastic left tackle, both improving that position and allowing Texas to build a jumbo package by moving Andrej Karic to tight end. Texas also developed young tight ends Ja’Tavion Sanders and Gunnar Helm while adding Jahleel Billingsley from Alabama.

Texas depth at running back is better, the offensive line is stronger and more coherent in year two of the scheme, and they can add more and better blockers around the line. Finally, despite the loss of Isaiah Neyor to an injury in fall camp, they still have 10.5 sprinter Xavier Worthy to serve as a target on play-action. This team is built to pound teams with the run game and punish overplays with deep shots, the composition is nearly ideal.

Throwing the ball? Generationally gifted thrower Quinn Ewers, who arrived via transfer in time for winter drills and spring practices. With the season and a chance at translating all of this into a Big 12 Championship with a home win over TCU, here’s the kind of defensive looks Texas is getting. 1st snap of the first half:

Eight in the box and the deep safety was playing flat-footed despite his initial depth, reading the tight end. Early in the 2nd half:

Eight in the box and now the deep safety is flat-footed at just eight yards deep. What’s the deal? Wasn’t this nightmare supposed to be behind the Longhorns?

A post away from a Big 12 Championship?

The post route is the ultimate weapon of the power running, play-action team. You get a fast receiver running down the field, breaking open at an angle, then you chuck it over the middle of the defense’s head and hit him on the move and he scores. Oklahoma State won a ton of football games over three years of Mason Rudolph throwing post routes to James Washington.

Texas is unfathomably bad at throwing the post route to Xavier Worthy. They tried a couple of times in this game, as they have in every other game, and once again came up empty.

There’s a lot that’s not great about this one which feeds into why it was caught by the other team. The ball is kinda lofted out there for one, this is window which needed to be hit with more zip. The throw arrives late, it’s apparent he threw into double coverage but Ewers didn’t have to give the safety a chance to make a play on the ball. Additionally, the ball was intercepted because it was late and behind to the cornerback, the safety couldn’t quite get there.

Here was the other attempt.

The fact you never see Worthy dive or lay out for a ball makes him an easy person to blame for these routine misses but… he was open on both of these throws and didn’t get an accurate ball into the right window. Might he have laid out and made some desperate attempt here? Possibly, but it wouldn’t actually make a difference save for making his quarterback look worse and potentially getting him injured.

Again, the ball is late and this time completely off Worthy’s line. The safety who appears in the picture late was sprinting there and only had time to arrive in the vicinity because the ball sailed. The concept on this one is “dig-post” which was OSU’s favorite way to hit James Washington down the field. Texas missed an identical play to Worthy with Card against Iowa State in 2021.

There have been similar issues with the slot fade route, which Texas attempted a few times in this game and couldn’t connect on. Ewers did hit a seam/post from closer range to Sanders (rifled that one in with perfect timing) and had some chances at throwing deeper stop routes, including one he missed late in the game throwing off his back foot.

The overall mechanics have been shaky and Ewers simply isn’t connecting on these deeper throws, the timing and accuracy isn’t there.

So what’s to be done?

I’m seeing a lot of arguments about what Texas should have done which quickly move past the “Ewers isn’t hitting the post” issue underlying the offense. This issue is actually a bit more serious and clear than perhaps we’ve appreciated. For instance:

Casey Thompson (2021): 261 passes for 2,113 yards at 8.1 ypa with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Quinn Ewers (2022): 212 passes for 1,507 yards at 7.1 ypa with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Texas’ ability to land big plays in the passing game has actually DIMINISHED since replacing Thompson with Ewers, with the obvious caveat Ewers could potentially catch up with big games against Kansas and Baylor. He could also fall further back. It’s diminished despite having Whittington healthy all year, getting Worthy more reps in the system, drastically improving pass protection, and improving the run game. This wasn’t supposed to happen and the primary variable that’s changed for the worse is quarterback.

During fall practice I noted Card was actually more effective in deeper throws because he was reading the defense and delivering with much better timing. Nevertheless Ewers got the job. He was shaky but flashed against ULM, hit a few massive throws against Alabama before his injury, and then really hasn’t been particularly good since although he makes a handful of throws every week few others can.

An interesting quirk over recent weeks has been teams refusing to respect the post from Texas.

Ewers was hitting the crossers run underneath the deep safeties when they cleared out to stop the post really well, particularly against Alabama and Oklahoma. Now defenses are making him prove he can throw the post… and it’s not connecting. Unless I’m mistaken, the only post Texas has hit to Worthy all season was by Card against West Virginia. Without the intermediate crossers or run game, Texas’ offensive well dries up.

Thus you end up with teams loading the box again as they did in 2021. They can try more spread sets but this team was built to run the dang football with Bijan and Roschon Johnson and they were doing it well before opponents went back to loading the box. What happens when they get into 11 personnel and the lack of a third receiver emerges as an issue? How much of the spread passing game can Ewers reliably execute after repping the power/play-action sets more heavily? Can this offense really work their way down the field without errors given Ewers’ struggles to read defenses and check out of bad situations?

Ultimately this offense doesn’t work until they can connect on throws down the field. Every offense has a limit if you can’t force good safeties to back off.

Perhaps next week the dam breaks and Ewers hits the post or other vertical routes multiple times, but it’ll likely have been too late for 2022. Texas is clearly invested in Ewers’ talent and future, it’s easy to see why, but in a year in which the league was down and ripe for conquest the Longhorns probably just wasted another opportunity for a title. Now they’re pot committed to developing his talent. A big offseason looms for Steve Sarkisian and Ewers.

[C-Man 27217]

5 hours ago, Thatguy said:

  I just wanted to chime back in because I am not sure people here know what they are looking at. A lot of the deep throws he is missing are Worthy being pushed off his route, which goes along with what the walk on QB who wanted to remain anonymous said about him. He said X gets moved off his route to easily. Look above at the vertical route. He starts on the numbers and Quinn throws it to his outside shoulder. By the time the ball lands X is damn near on the sideline and the ball is inside about 2 yards. The one that was double coverage is a bad route too even though it was underthrown. You have to keep that route skinny on the break. Flattening the route allows the other defender to catch up to you as well as the DB on your hip to undercut the route. Someone needs to chart what Ewers' completion percentage is outside of Worthy these last few games. I would be interested to see that. Between drops, lack of effort, and bad routes I bet it is much better extrapolated out. 

I bet it's not. We've scored six points (two FG's) in the last six quarters of game play. Explain that. It's not all Ewers -- most of us have been saying that from the beginning -- but he's a big part of the equation.

 

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Rational fans should have expected some up and down from Ewers, and, really the team more broadly.

The somewhat shocking thing is that we saw lots of up early and now we're seeing a lot of down, and uninterrupted, continuous down.

 

I 100% agree with this.  You would expect the green line but it seems more like we're seeing the red line:

[Fondren & Main 6712]

13 minutes ago, Brothahorn said:

 

So besides waiting for the next Roy, BJ and Sloan to show up on campus how do you fix this?

Get his ass in the weight room for one.

[OU Sucks 8810]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

I'm not sure your vectors are spot on there, judging from the lead foot.

But odds are decent that if X makes an adjustment there, 1 plows him over or at least gets tangled up with him and DPI.

He did make an adjustment there...it was just a step later than HT and he got taken out by the other DB right as he was trying to make a play on the ball.  We're still talking about a ball that was both short and behind him, with very low probability of resulting in a completion unless it was a perfect throw.  If it were Casey back there throwing all these ducks and forcing the ball into double and triple coverage when there are other targets who are wide open, would this board be like "why didn't WR1 break up that INT?!" and "why didn't WR1 at least try to dive for it?!".  I doubt it.

Edited November 15, 2022 by OU Sucks

[satyanash 14481]

15 hours ago, Thatguy said:

1) 1st play of the game X jumps backwards 3 yards for some reason to catch a ball giving up the room the DB needs to knife right in front of him. If he just stops and catches it that won't happen.

This is a massive reach bordering on desperation. Worthy is running an out route. He's not supposed to stop. The ball is supposed to be on time and not behind him.

[gmr548 16576]

What about the 49-0 blowout of OU?  Not sure what you point is.  Preseason expectations don’t really mean anything do they.  Overall the team is better than last year.  The defense is significantly better and the offense is very inconsistent with a true freshman QB and young oline.  It is what it is.  Quinn started out great then got hurt and then opposing defenses figured out were his weaknesses are.  This team is so inconsistent I wouldn’t be surprised if they go 3-0 or 0-3 the next three games.  If I had to choose I would easily go with 3-0.  

I will remember 49-0 for the rest of my life because it was a great day. Historic beat down, perfect weather, etc. Easily one of the most enjoyable Texas football moments since 2010. At the end of the day that’s what’s about as a fan. Enjoyment and memories.

But as far as chalking it up as some huge, signature win… I mean come on, they didn’t have a QB. Anyone preseason would say OU should be crushed in that situation. So my point was that “all of you would have taken this in the preseason!1!1!” is a bit of revisionist sunshine pumping.

[KeysPhoneWallet 807]

   This is the correct answer. 4 or 5 wide forces teams to declare what they are in, and then you can see what mismatches you have. A lot less reading to do. It's hard to throw when you have 3 against 7. We should spread them out and try to run from 11 personnel. 

With 21, if you have two good pass catching tight ends, you can go from run heavy sets to 5 wide all pre snap.

[C-Man 27217]

43 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Need to get Ewers on track... article found by @satyanash 

Ian Boyd: The missing Ewers-to-Worthy connection

Texas was eager for a change at quarterback after the 2021 season. Casey Thompson‘s long ball left a lot to be desired, Hudson Card was inconsistent throwing down the field as well, and the ultimate weapon to pull defenders away from Bijan Robinson and the run game was frequently left unfired. In several big games in which Texas blew early leads, opponents would pack the box and sit on their run game, wasting Bijan’s talent.

Heading into 2022, Texas rebuilt the offensive line with several big men taking roles across the front. They got a major boost when Kelvin Banks emerged as a fantastic left tackle, both improving that position and allowing Texas to build a jumbo package by moving Andrej Karic to tight end. Texas also developed young tight ends Ja’Tavion Sanders and Gunnar Helm while adding Jahleel Billingsley from Alabama.

Texas depth at running back is better, the offensive line is stronger and more coherent in year two of the scheme, and they can add more and better blockers around the line. Finally, despite the loss of Isaiah Neyor to an injury in fall camp, they still have 10.5 sprinter Xavier Worthy to serve as a target on play-action. This team is built to pound teams with the run game and punish overplays with deep shots, the composition is nearly ideal.

Throwing the ball? Generationally gifted thrower Quinn Ewers, who arrived via transfer in time for winter drills and spring practices. With the season and a chance at translating all of this into a Big 12 Championship with a home win over TCU, here’s the kind of defensive looks Texas is getting. 1st snap of the first half:

Eight in the box and the deep safety was playing flat-footed despite his initial depth, reading the tight end. Early in the 2nd half:

Eight in the box and now the deep safety is flat-footed at just eight yards deep. What’s the deal? Wasn’t this nightmare supposed to be behind the Longhorns?

A post away from a Big 12 Championship?

The post route is the ultimate weapon of the power running, play-action team. You get a fast receiver running down the field, breaking open at an angle, then you chuck it over the middle of the defense’s head and hit him on the move and he scores. Oklahoma State won a ton of football games over three years of Mason Rudolph throwing post routes to James Washington.

Texas is unfathomably bad at throwing the post route to Xavier Worthy. They tried a couple of times in this game, as they have in every other game, and once again came up empty.

There’s a lot that’s not great about this one which feeds into why it was caught by the other team. The ball is kinda lofted out there for one, this is window which needed to be hit with more zip. The throw arrives late, it’s apparent he threw into double coverage but Ewers didn’t have to give the safety a chance to make a play on the ball. Additionally, the ball was intercepted because it was late and behind to the cornerback, the safety couldn’t quite get there.

Here was the other attempt.

The fact you never see Worthy dive or lay out for a ball makes him an easy person to blame for these routine misses but… he was open on both of these throws and didn’t get an accurate ball into the right window. Might he have laid out and made some desperate attempt here? Possibly, but it wouldn’t actually make a difference save for making his quarterback look worse and potentially getting him injured.

Again, the ball is late and this time completely off Worthy’s line. The safety who appears in the picture late was sprinting there and only had time to arrive in the vicinity because the ball sailed. The concept on this one is “dig-post” which was OSU’s favorite way to hit James Washington down the field. Texas missed an identical play to Worthy with Card against Iowa State in 2021.

There have been similar issues with the slot fade route, which Texas attempted a few times in this game and couldn’t connect on. Ewers did hit a seam/post from closer range to Sanders (rifled that one in with perfect timing) and had some chances at throwing deeper stop routes, including one he missed late in the game throwing off his back foot.

The overall mechanics have been shaky and Ewers simply isn’t connecting on these deeper throws, the timing and accuracy isn’t there.

So what’s to be done?

I’m seeing a lot of arguments about what Texas should have done which quickly move past the “Ewers isn’t hitting the post” issue underlying the offense. This issue is actually a bit more serious and clear than perhaps we’ve appreciated. For instance:

Casey Thompson (2021): 261 passes for 2,113 yards at 8.1 ypa with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Quinn Ewers (2022): 212 passes for 1,507 yards at 7.1 ypa with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Texas’ ability to land big plays in the passing game has actually DIMINISHED since replacing Thompson with Ewers, with the obvious caveat Ewers could potentially catch up with big games against Kansas and Baylor. He could also fall further back. It’s diminished despite having Whittington healthy all year, getting Worthy more reps in the system, drastically improving pass protection, and improving the run game. This wasn’t supposed to happen and the primary variable that’s changed for the worse is quarterback.

During fall practice I noted Card was actually more effective in deeper throws because he was reading the defense and delivering with much better timing. Nevertheless Ewers got the job. He was shaky but flashed against ULM, hit a few massive throws against Alabama before his injury, and then really hasn’t been particularly good since although he makes a handful of throws every week few others can.

An interesting quirk over recent weeks has been teams refusing to respect the post from Texas.

Ewers was hitting the crossers run underneath the deep safeties when they cleared out to stop the post really well, particularly against Alabama and Oklahoma. Now defenses are making him prove he can throw the post… and it’s not connecting. Unless I’m mistaken, the only post Texas has hit to Worthy all season was by Card against West Virginia. Without the intermediate crossers or run game, Texas’ offensive well dries up.

Thus you end up with teams loading the box again as they did in 2021. They can try more spread sets but this team was built to run the dang football with Bijan and Roschon Johnson and they were doing it well before opponents went back to loading the box. What happens when they get into 11 personnel and the lack of a third receiver emerges as an issue? How much of the spread passing game can Ewers reliably execute after repping the power/play-action sets more heavily? Can this offense really work their way down the field without errors given Ewers’ struggles to read defenses and check out of bad situations?

Ultimately this offense doesn’t work until they can connect on throws down the field. Every offense has a limit if you can’t force good safeties to back off.

Perhaps next week the dam breaks and Ewers hits the post or other vertical routes multiple times, but it’ll likely have been too late for 2022. Texas is clearly invested in Ewers’ talent and future, it’s easy to see why, but in a year in which the league was down and ripe for conquest the Longhorns probably just wasted another opportunity for a title. Now they’re pot committed to developing his talent. A big offseason looms for Steve Sarkisian and Ewers.

Seems to be a much better and balanced illustration of what is happening to the Texas offense right now, at least much better than @Thatguy's bizarre desire to completely absolve Quinn Ewers of Texas' ails.

[Thatguy 8687]

33 minutes ago, satyanash said:

This is a massive reach bordering on desperation. Worthy is running an out route. He's not supposed to stop. The ball is supposed to be on time and not behind him.

  That's not why that happened. Worthy doesn't like to catch with his hands so if the ball is upper chest high he will jump to basket catch it. Because he jumped when he didn't have to his momentum carried him backwards. It's as simple as that. The ball was perfectly catchable. A ball doesn't have to be right on time to be caught. Most receivers catch that, including J-Whitt. 

[C-Man 27217]

5 minutes ago, KeysPhoneWallet said:

With 21, if you have two good pass catching tight ends, you can go from run heavy sets to 5 wide all pre snap.

And Sanders/Billingsley should fit that mold.

[Thatguy 8687]

Just now, C-Man said:

Seems to be a much better and balanced illustration of what is happening to the Texas offense right now, at least much better than @Thatguy's bizarre desire to completely absolve Quinn Ewers of Texas' ails.

  You guys are like children. When did I "completely absolve" QE from having a bad game? 

[shadow_operative 15932]

3 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

  You guys are like children. When did I "completely absolve" QE from having a bad game? 

you're making more posts than anyone else in this thread, and every one of them places blame for quinn's poor play at something/someone besides quinn. so.

Edited November 15, 2022 by shadow_operative

[Thatguy 8687]

9 minutes ago, KeysPhoneWallet said:

With 21, if you have two good pass catching tight ends, you can go from run heavy sets to 5 wide all pre snap.

 

3 minutes ago, C-Man said:

And Sanders/Billingsley should fit that mold.

  You mean 12 personnel? Anyway, we did that in the second half with much better success. 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

3 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

you're making more posts than anyone else in this thread, and every one of them places blame for quinn's poor play at something/someone besides quinn. so.

I have been posting a lot also saying it’s not all Ewers fault.  Ewers definitely had some terrible throws.  The INT was a misread and a late throw.  Missing Bijan for the wide open TD was a terrible read.  He fucks up.  Guess what?  He’s a freshman.  That is going to happen.  Maybe it happens the rest of his career and he never gets better. That would make him a huge bust, but follow me here for a second, maybe just maybe he improves over the next year or so.  I know that never happens with a QB but if it does I think Ewers will be just fine.  Worthy dogging a lot of those plays and the O line sucking at blocking is a bigger issue at this point.

[C-Man 27217]

5 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

 

  You mean 12 personnel? Anyway, we did that in the second half with much better success. 

It should probably be our base package. Do what Gundy did to us when the running lanes got clogged -- throw repeated WR screens quick and wide until it opens up the middle. It ain't sexy but it can be very effective in the right situations. All I know is what we've been doing the last three weeks is mostly piss.

Edited November 15, 2022 by C-Man

[Codaxx 5731]

3 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I have been posting a lot also saying it’s not all Ewers fault.  Ewers definitely had some terrible throws.  The INT was a misread and a late throw.  Missing Bijan for the wide open TD was a terrible read.  He fucks up.  Guess what?  He’s a freshman.  That is going to happen.  Maybe it happens the rest of his career and he never gets better. That would make him a huge bust, but follow me here for a second, maybe just maybe he improves over the next year or so.  I know that never happens with a QB but if it does I think Ewers will be just fine.  Worthy dogging a lot of those plays and the O line sucking at blocking is a bigger issue at this point.

That one was more bad luck. He looked at Bijan, he was covered, and then checked to his 2nd read in Sanders. If he was slower in his read, he would have seen the defender fall down. It was that kind of day. Ewers was slow when, he needed to be fast. He was fast, when he needed to be slow. 

[Thatguy 8687]

1 minute ago, shadow_operative said:

you're making more posts than anyone else in this thread, and every one of them places blame for quinn's poor play at something/someone besides quinn. so.

  First, the last person on this board or probably any sports board anywhere in the world who gets to chime in is you. I could make a bullshit post everyday for the next 10 and never crack the surface of the shit you've put out there over your time as a poster. So you can fuck right off with that bullshit my guy. 

  I've said QE had a bad day. I am just not all on the "this dude is a fraud" train that you and others are on. Simple as that. I said he got sped up, like freshmen do, but his receivers aren't doing much of anything to make matters better especially your guy. Case in point. On the Bijan missed throw QE himself said that he saw the LB take Bijan and came off that read to the next. So that tells you he is going through them just his clock is going too fast. He came off the read to early. That happens with freshmen that, you know, got blown up and injured, and then routinely get hit by a guy who comes through the line untouched. He can get past that, and for now he could get some help from his guys around him, you know, by catching the balls he does get them, and then maybe his confidence will come back and we can get about the task of winning. 

[Thatguy 8687]

5 minutes ago, C-Man said:

It should probably be our base package. Do what Gundy did to us when the running lanes got clogged -- throw repeated WR screens quick and wide until it opens up the middle. It ain't sexy but it can be very effective in the right situations. All I know is what we've been doing the last three weeks is mostly piss.

Agreed. That is what I said earlier. No one is doing right by the kid at this point. Running game disappears. Line letting guys blow up their QB untouched. Receivers not catching balls. Sark not calling Card's offense for Ewers. 

[C-Man 27217]

13 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

  First, the last person on this board or probably any sports board anywhere in the world who gets to chime in is you. I could make a bullshit post everyday for the next 10 and never crack the surface of the shit you've put out there over your time as a poster. So you can fuck right off with that bullshit my guy. 

  I've said QE had a bad day. I am just not all on the "this dude is a fraud" train that you and others are on. Simple as that. I said he got sped up, like freshmen do, but his receivers aren't doing much of anything to make matters better especially your guy. Case in point. On the Bijan missed throw QE himself said that he saw the LB take Bijan and came off that read to the next. So that tells you he is going through them just his clock is going too fast. He came off the read to early. That happens with freshmen that, you know, got blown up and injured, and then routinely get hit by a guy who comes through the line untouched. He can get past that, and for now he could get some help from his guys around him, you know, by catching the balls he does get them, and then maybe his confidence will come back and we can get about the task of winning. 

I'm not calling Ewers a fraud. Far from it. Hell, I said he was the likely 1-1 pick in 2024 Draft just over a month ago. I won't admit that I was wrong yet. But something ain't right with him and the offense. Either he's hurt, though many have said that isn't the case, or he's not doing what needs to be done to be a top-level QB1 at a blue-blood program. His footwork sucks and he admitted as much yesterday. I'm sure Sark agrees but isn't the type to openly criticize a QB he likely had to swallow some shit to guarantee would come to Austin last December/January. (Ewers' dad sounds like that KIND of guy.) He's made a half-dozen starts to this point so there's a good chance the game is just too fast for him at the moment and Sark is not doing him many favors with his play-calling/scheming. It doesn't sound like he's sleeping with the playbook and might be trying to get by on natural talent. That approach worked for the most part at SLC but you've gotta give more at this level, which isn't easy for 99.99999% of players. Worthy has also been less-than-impressive.

Edited November 15, 2022 by C-Man

[satyanash 14481]

18 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

He fucks up.  Guess what?  He’s a freshman.  That is going to happen.

There's this thing called a "bench" where a QB can and should go when he's struggling as badly as Ewers is and you want to win games.

Mack had no qualms about benching his generational star freshman QB when he saw the offense floundering. Why does Sark? What exactly are we accomplishing by leaving Ewers out there to repeatedly flounder, other than wasting possessions?

[OU Sucks 8810]

24 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

  First, the last person on this board or probably any sports board anywhere in the world who gets to chime in is you. I could make a bullshit post everyday for the next 10 and never crack the surface of the shit you've put out there over your time as a poster. So you can fuck right off with that bullshit my guy. 

  I've said QE had a bad day. I am just not all on the "this dude is a fraud" train that you and others are on. Simple as that. I said he got sped up, like freshmen do, but his receivers aren't doing much of anything to make matters better especially your guy. Case in point. On the Bijan missed throw QE himself said that he saw the LB take Bijan and came off that read to the next. So that tells you he is going through them just his clock is going too fast. He came off the read to early. That happens with freshmen that, you know, got blown up and injured, and then routinely get hit by a guy who comes through the line untouched. He can get past that, and for now he could get some help from his guys around him, you know, by catching the balls he does get them, and then maybe his confidence will come back and we can get about the task of winning. 

Your only criticism for QE is like "sure, he was 8 for 93 but WHAT ABOUT WORTHY!?!"  You vaguely acknowledge QE has flaws every now and then, but then you won't go into detail, and instead drone on and on in detail about Worthy or make other excuses for Quinn (like we're always putting him in 3rd and long, as if Quinn wasn't the QB for first and second).  Come on, man.  We get that you hate Worthy.  Let's hear you go off on QE with the same energy you devote to X.

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by OU Sucks

[shadow_operative 15932]

if Texas was up by 1 and in victory formation with 0:03 on the clock and quinn ewers took the snap and ran out of the back of the end zone for the loss, ThatGuy would be in here incessantly explaining in detail why worthy should have tackled him. 

[Laga4 1270]

The frustration I have with Quin is he is getting worse not better.  

I know defensive coordinators have a better read on him now and can defend him better.  OK,  we have a staff too that should be dealing with that.  Maybe not.   

No one but the staff and players know how much time he puts in the film room,  weight room and with receivers  to learn his craft and get better.  

Looks to me like he isn't doing enough to get better.  

[SarkAfterDark 1688]

17 hours ago, Thatguy said:

1) 1st play of the game X jumps backwards 3 yards for some reason to catch a ball giving up the room the DB needs to knife right in front of him. If he just stops and catches it that won't happen. 

2) Ewers can't step into the deep dig Worthy is running so the ball is high but extremely catchable. Worthy gator arms it and it goes right through his hands. 

3) Bad throw by Ewers but damned if Worthy is running about 3/4 speed

4) Ewers tries him again. Worthy lets the DB push him 5 yards off his route. The ball lands right there but Worthy doesn't fight for it. 

5)  This one shouldn't have been thrown. That said a receiver needs to fight for this ball. At the very least play defender. You could end up getting a PI if you work your way back to it. Worthy makes no effort. 

6) Swing pass to Worthy for 3 yards

7) Same route Worthy ran earlier but this time he didn't jump backwards. 16yd gain

😎 shallow cross and Ewers hits Worthy who drops it

9)  Quick hitter to Worthy who is in the slot

10) 10 yard dig at the sticks and Worthy is being muscled by a DB and drops it. 

11) Quick screen to Worthy for 3 yards.

 

 

You have to be Mr Ewers with some of these tapes. You are blaming Worthy for not catching bad balls thrown by his QB. I couldn’t even get past #3. The first one is late and not thrown where its supposed to be. #2 is high and behind Worthy, and Cheetah wouldn’t have even caught up to #3. Ewers is the QB and leader of the offense he needs to start playing better and throwing better passes. 

[KeysPhoneWallet 807]

I’m on team ewers is a good qb and it will show up and everyone that agreed with “shadow_operative” will once again regret doing so. He isn’t going to go from good, to bad, to good again. That doesn’t make sense, people need to look for other explanations.

[52-80 19150]

2 hours ago, OU Sucks said:

Your only criticism for QE is like "sure, he was 8 for 93 but WHAT ABOUT WORTHY!?!"  You vaguely acknowledge QE has flaws every now and then, but then you won't go into detail, and instead drone on and on in detail about Worthy or make other excuses for Quinn (like we're always putting him in 3rd and long, as if Quinn wasn't the QB for first and second).  Come on, man.  We get that you hate Worthy.  Let's hear you go off on QE with the same energy you devote to X.

Mans printing a receipt as long as CVS…

[Thatguy 8687]

1 hour ago, SarkAfterDark said:

You have to be Mr Ewers with some of these tapes. You are blaming Worthy for not catching bad balls thrown by his QB. I couldn’t even get past #3. The first one is late and not thrown where its supposed to be. #2 is high and behind Worthy, and Cheetah wouldn’t have even caught up to #3. Ewers is the QB and leader of the offense he needs to start playing better and throwing better passes. 

   If you think 1 and 2 aren't catchable then you have the athletic ability of a toddler. Clearly you have never played football, because every football coach across this country teaches you to close the distance between you and the ball. Every. Single. One. You know what else they teach you? Not to basket catch, you catch the ball with your hands. You know what else? High point the football. Anyone here who played as low as the middle school B team will tell you that.  

[Had Enough 2081]

   If you think 1 and 2 aren't catchable then you have the athletic ability of a toddler. Clearly you have never played football, because every football coach across this country teaches you to close the distance between you and the ball. Every. Single. One. You know what else they teach you? Not to basket catch, you catch the ball with your hands. You know what else? High point the football. Anyone here who played as low as the middle school B team will tell you that.  

I’m not sure I ever caught one like 1 or 2. Never played B team middle school either. You?


1 was a very poor throw. 2 needs to be caught every time.

[BurntOrange&White 39931]

 

 

 

[DaysOff 7947]

He's made QE posts in back to back days, although this is more on AJ.

[SarkAfterDark 1688]

37 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

   If you think 1 and 2 aren't catchable then you have the athletic ability of a toddler. Clearly you have never played football, because every football coach across this country teaches you to close the distance between you and the ball. Every. Single. One. You know what else they teach you? Not to basket catch, you catch the ball with your hands. You know what else? High point the football. Anyone here who played as low as the middle school B team will tell you that.  

Never said they weren’t catchable but why are you putting more onus on a receiver to catch a bad ball instead of the QB for throwing a bad ball when it’s consistent from the QB. Also I doubt a player that normally has 2-3 yards on his defender is out there dogging it and running half speed. But Ewers is missing a shitload of throws, not sure I’ve seen a Texas QB miss so many. 

[Fondren & Main 6712]

15 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 

 

 

Seems legit.

[Codaxx 5731]

40 minutes ago, Had Enough said:

I’m not sure I ever caught one like 1 or 2. Never played B team middle school either. You?


1 was a very poor throw. 2 needs to be caught every time.

this.. The ball was late on 1 and behind, that is clearly on Ewers. There is no defense on #1 for Ewers.  Throw #2 should be caught every time, anyone arguing that it isnt a drop is a putz. The best part is we now have pages of both sides claiming the other is delusional, when it is clear you are all are bat shit crazy.

[OU Sucks 8810]

"Worthy should be diving for that throw that lands 15 feet past him!  Worthy should stop and come back to break up the INT!  Worthy should run through the defender to try to draw a PI [which would be called offensive PI, by the way]!  Worthy should be jumping for that ball 6 feet over his head!"  Cool Quinn's dad, now say something bad about QE or dissect in detail every terrible throw or bad decision he makes, complete with a video clip?

Funny how there wasn't all this crap about how Worthy sucks when Card, Casey (and sometimes Quinn) were making good throws to him.

Edited November 15, 2022 by OU Sucks

[sith_horn 2387]

2 hours ago, SarkAfterDark said:

You have to be Mr Ewers with some of these tapes. You are blaming Worthy for not catching bad balls thrown by his QB. I couldn’t even get past #3. The first one is late and not thrown where its supposed to be. #2 is high and behind Worthy, and Cheetah wouldn’t have even caught up to #3. Ewers is the QB and leader of the offense he needs to start playing better and throwing better passes. 

Worthy also does what everyone says he never does, he jumps and raises his hands to catch #2. But he's a hair too late in making his jump and getting his hands to the ball. I guess one could say he's guilty of not having quick enough recognition and reaction time on that play, but there wasn't a lack of effort.

I also think JT's first miss on the ball thrown low and behind him was on Ewers, not JT. IMO, this wasn't a case of Ewers' receiver "not helping him out". That's a difficult catch missed by one of the best sets of hands on the team. It's low, behind him and his body is traveling downfield away from the ball as he tries to make the adustment.

Billingsley's drop was inexcusable but he had a defender coming downhill on him and I doubt he would have made much if any yards after the catch. I think this was a poor game to insert him given how it was going. He hadn't played under the lights in forever.

[Nicole44 22059]

6 hours ago, stork642 said:

What about the 49-0 blowout of OU?  Not sure what you point is.  Preseason expectations don’t really mean anything do they.  Overall the team is better than last year.  The defense is significantly better and the offense is very inconsistent with a true freshman QB and young oline.  It is what it is.  Quinn started out great then got hurt and then opposing defenses figured out were his weaknesses are.  This team is so inconsistent I wouldn’t be surprised if they go 3-0 or 0-3 the next three games.  If I had to choose I would easily go with 3-0.  

 

[Thatguy 8687]

2 hours ago, OU Sucks said:

Your only criticism for QE is like "sure, he was 8 for 93 but WHAT ABOUT WORTHY!?!"  You vaguely acknowledge QE has flaws every now and then, but then you won't go into detail, and instead drone on and on in detail about Worthy or make other excuses for Quinn (like we're always putting him in 3rd and long, as if Quinn wasn't the QB for first and second).  Come on, man.  We get that you hate Worthy.  Let's hear you go off on QE with the same energy you devote to X.

 

   You want to know why? I don't usually go off on players who are putting in effort. I don't like Card and I have never went in on him as much as I do Worthy. QE is out there trying to figure it out and going through his growing pains like a normal freshman quarterback who is playing his first season on a team that is trying to fight it's way back to glory. I will tell you the same thing I tell my kid. You can make mistakes, just give me effort. 

  Meanwhile your boy is in his second year in the program. Word is he doesn't work hard. Not hard to see that considering the dude came back the same weight as last year. Now before you guys come at me about metabolism, this isn't high school. If you wanna gain weight someone in the organization will make it happen. Dude didn't work on his body. Didn't work on his hands. Didn't work on his release. Didn't work on being more physical. Go to the 18:13 mark of the WVU game below and watch him slow down and actually fight for the ball. Same ball Ewers underthrew but he actually tried. Go to the 25:00 mark and watch him come down with the tipped ball in the end zone. Bad throw by Card but amazing what happens when you give your all. He is an amazing athlete, but it's pretty clear to me something is going on. In the OSU game when I saw him jump but not put his hands up that was the moment I was done. 

  Now about Ewers- His footwork is all over the place and sidearm throws tend to sail. He throws off his back foot a lot. It's clear that the hit he took vs Bama is still with him because his internal clock has been faster since he came back. Because of that he is making decisions faster, which is why he is letting it fly when Worthy goes deep instead of coming off that read and looking for something else. I don't think he CAN'T read a defense, I just don't think he thinks he has time. If I were his OC I would let him run what Sark calls for Card when he is in there, and let him get his mojo back. Sark kinda did that at the end of the game and we moved the ball, but got stuck in the RZ a couple times. He is pressing, and trying to play hero ball. I see what you guys see, I just come to a different conclusion about what it means. Simple as that. 

  

[Thatguy 8687]

1 hour ago, Had Enough said:

I’m not sure I ever caught one like 1 or 2. Never played B team middle school either. You?


1 was a very poor throw. 2 needs to be caught every time.

  Ball was late but in his catch radius. There was no need to jump backwards. The only reason he did it was because he isn't comfortable putting his hands up to catch. If you can jump backwards to basket catch it you can not jump and catch it in front of your facemask. 

[DaysOff 7947]

Let it go. They both suck right now. Doesn't mean they'll suck this Saturday* or forever.






*probably this Saturday

[OU Sucks 8810]

34 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

   You want to know why? I don't usually go off on players who are putting in effort. I don't like Card and I have never went in on him as much as I do Worthy. QE is out there trying to figure it out and going through his growing pains like a normal freshman quarterback who is playing his first season on a team that is trying to fight it's way back to glory. I will tell you the same thing I tell my kid. You can make mistakes, just give me effort. 

  Meanwhile your boy is in his second year in the program. Word is he doesn't work hard. Not hard to see that considering the dude came back the same weight as last year. Now before you guys come at me about metabolism, this isn't high school. If you wanna gain weight someone in the organization will make it happen. Dude didn't work on his body. Didn't work on his hands. Didn't work on his release. Didn't work on being more physical. Go to the 18:13 mark of the WVU game below and watch him slow down and actually fight for the ball. Same ball Ewers underthrew but he actually tried. Go to the 25:00 mark and watch him come down with the tipped ball in the end zone. Bad throw by Card but amazing what happens when you give your all. He is an amazing athlete, but it's pretty clear to me something is going on. In the OSU game when I saw him jump but not put his hands up that was the moment I was done. 

  Now about Ewers- His footwork is all over the place and sidearm throws tend to sail. He throws off his back foot a lot. It's clear that the hit he took vs Bama is still with him because his internal clock has been faster since he came back. Because of that he is making decisions faster, which is why he is letting it fly when Worthy goes deep instead of coming off that read and looking for something else. I don't think he CAN'T read a defense, I just don't think he thinks he has time. If I were his OC I would let him run what Sark calls for Card when he is in there, and let him get his mojo back. Sark kinda did that at the end of the game and we moved the ball, but got stuck in the RZ a couple times. He is pressing, and trying to play hero ball. I see what you guys see, I just come to a different conclusion about what it means. Simple as that. 

You are putting a lot of hate on Worthy based on "word is he doesn't work hard" and assumptions that's he lazy/loafing/running half speed/whatever because he isn't chasing down terribly-errant throws as well as you'd like.  The Card throw at 18:13 is much different than Quinn's throw.  It's still out in front of Worthy, not short and behind him.  Worthy slowed down, but he didn't have to fight for the ball...he just slowed and jumped.  On Quinn's throw, Worthy would have to completely stop, reverse field, and pretty much tackle HT to attempt to prevent an INT.  He was a step late coming back and then got wiped out by the other DB.  Do you think there's some conspiracy that Worthy doesn't "give it his all" when Quinn is in there instead of Card?  Because you highlighted instances where you think Worthy did well, just one month ago, but now he's just some bum who doesn't try?  No, it's because a lot of these throws are terribly off target and there's nothing he can do about it.  Do you want him to dive for a ball that's 15 feet away, just so he can face plant 10 feet from where the ball lands?  He's already running full speed...he can't just make up 15 feet on a diving attempt.  I'm positive Quinn will get better at some point, and not shockingly, Worthy will start making plays again, because there will actually be catchable balls, closer to where they should be.

Edited November 15, 2022 by OU Sucks

[Darth Tron 1122]

All this talk about Quinn sucking vs. Worthy sucking. 

 

Meanwhile Sark is drawing up a foolproof deep post with some window dressing saying to himself, "On 4th and 2 they'll never see THIS coming!  I am certain that this time the players will execute."

[Dignan 356]

10 hours ago, JFKFC said:

If we finish the regular season 8-4 and win our bowl game this season has to be considered a huge success.

Meh. Definitely better than last year, but having a chance to go to the Big 12 championship and totally crapping the bed offensively just means we are still the same "team" with better players. I dunno. Hoping Sark is better in year three.

[Codaxx 5731]

Reading posts in this thread from @Thatguy and @OU Sucks is like switching back and forth between CNN and FOX. 

[Nivek 16923]

You are putting a lot of hate on Worthy based on "word is he doesn't work hard" and assumptions that's he lazy/loafing/running half speed/whatever because he isn't chasing down terribly-errant throws as well as you'd like.  The Card throw at 18:13 is much different than Quinn's throw.  It's still out in front of Worthy, not short and behind him.  Worthy slowed down, but he didn't have to fight for the ball...he just slowed and jumped.  On Quinn's throw, Worthy would have to completely stop, reverse field, and pretty much tackle HT to attempt to prevent an INT.  He was a step late coming back and then got wiped out by the other DB.  Do you think there's some conspiracy that Worthy doesn't "give it his all" when Quinn is in there instead of Card?  Because you highlighted instances where you think Worthy did well, just one month ago, but now he's just some bum who doesn't try?  No, it's because a lot of these throws are terribly off target and there's nothing he can do about it.  Do you want him to dive for a ball that's 15 feet away, just so he can face plant 10 feet from where the ball lands?  He's already running full speed...he can't just make up 15 feet on a diving attempt.  I'm positive Quinn will get better at some point, and not shockingly, Worthy will start making plays again, because there will actually be catchable balls, closer to where they should be.

You aren’t reading what he is saying. You are just twisting what he wrote and then arguing against what you think he said.

The Worthy criticism on the int is valid, if the DB can run side by side then adjust to the ball than so should the WR. Him getting blasted by the other DB is irrelevant and after the fact.

The issue I have it with Sark putting Worthy out there, if he is getting blown off his routes so easily, than he cannot do the job. If he cannot do the job assigned, than he needs a different role that he can perform. I thought Quinn should have been benched in favor of Hudson. I respect they hell out of Card. I like Quinn as well, and Quinn has some work to do. Sark needed to be benched as well. His play calling started sucking as well. His head coach should have advised him.

Worthy is a fantastic athlete, but as a WR this year, he is a paper tiger. I hope he puts it together.

[immamac 42841]

14 minutes ago, Nivek said:

You aren’t reading what he is saying. You are just twisting what he wrote and then arguing against what you think he said.

The Worthy criticism on the int is valid, if the DB can run side by side then adjust to the ball than so should the WR. Him getting blasted by the other DB is irrelevant and after the fact.

The issue I have it with Sark putting Worthy out there, if he is getting blown off his routes so easily, than he cannot do the job. If he cannot do the job assigned, than he needs a different role that he can perform. I thought Quinn should have been benched in favor of Hudson. I respect they hell out of Card. I like Quinn as well, and Quinn has some work to do. Sark needed to be benched as well. His play calling started sucking as well. His head coach should have advised him.

Worthy is a fantastic athlete, but as a WR this year, he is a paper tiger. I hope he puts it together.

This is exactly correct. It’s all sarks fault and everyone is mad at these players because this coach sucks. 

[OU Sucks 8810]

2 hours ago, Nivek said:

You aren’t reading what he is saying. You are just twisting what he wrote and then arguing against what you think he said.

The Worthy criticism on the int is valid, if the DB can run side by side then adjust to the ball than so should the WR. Him getting blasted by the other DB is irrelevant and after the fact.

The issue I have it with Sark putting Worthy out there, if he is getting blown off his routes so easily, than he cannot do the job. If he cannot do the job assigned, than he needs a different role that he can perform. I thought Quinn should have been benched in favor of Hudson. I respect they hell out of Card. I like Quinn as well, and Quinn has some work to do. Sark needed to be benched as well. His play calling started sucking as well. His head coach should have advised him.

Worthy is a fantastic athlete, but as a WR this year, he is a paper tiger. I hope he puts it together.

What part did I twist specifically?  He said "a receiver needs to fight for this ball" and "you could end up getting a PI if you work your way back to it. Worthy makes no effort."  Worthy came back to the ball and was literally grabbing at HT, but he couldn't break up the interception because the other DB is there tackling him at that very moment.  The way TG implied it, Worthy just stood there and watched the INT happen when that's not reality.

Regarding Quinn, I think the inaccuracy is mostly in his head.  He was rattled by the early missed throws and drops...kept dropping his head and after that, he showed virtually no emotion at all.  Sark should have helped him out with easier/shorter throws to get him on track, because when things are working, we've seen he's capable of making all these throws.  If he continues being cold, take some pressure off him by playing Card and putting pressure on him instead.  Trotting Quinn out there to fail drive after drive isn't going to help his mental state.

Edited November 16, 2022 by OU Sucks

[Jkwellborn 6697]

There's this thing called a "bench" where a QB can and should go when he's struggling as badly as Ewers is and you want to win games.
Mack had no qualms about benching his generational star freshman QB when he saw the offense floundering. Why does Sark? What exactly are we accomplishing by leaving Ewers out there to repeatedly flounder, other than wasting possessions?

He also let Gilbert throw like 48 picks against KState.

[Loop 1604 227]

4 hours ago, Dignan said:

Meh. Definitely better than last year, but having a chance to go to the Big 12 championship and totally crapping the bed offensively just means we are still the same "team" with better players. I dunno. Hoping Sark is better in year three.

[52-80 19150]

2 hours ago, Jkwellborn said:

He also let Gilbert throw like 48 picks against KState.

Mack shouldve Let Case Cook. 

[markstanco 12574]

He also let Gilbert throw like 48 picks against KState.

I don’t recall that, but I bet it is some kind of ncaa record.