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2023 Spring Practice to Fall Camp Thread - Just hook it to my veins!

BurntOrange&White

By BurntOrange&White
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closetojumping
closetojumping

Texas is going to field the best team it's had since 2008 in the upcoming season. They will be relevant in the playoff discussion, beat Bama in Tuscaloosa, and win the conference. Take off your protec

crash_davis
crash_davis

Sir, I have over 10k posts on this site. 

Rimbo
Rimbo

nsiap   y'all gotta watch this video with sark

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Foosters

Foosters 18285

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, UncleSonny said:

This has nothing to do with anything really, but he can also fuck right off for giving us a 5th seed in his hypothetical 12 team 2008 playoff. 

 

Was there a single poll going into the bowls that had us lower than 3rd?

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gmr548

gmr548 16702

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Posted
19 minutes ago, LateAughtsHorn said:

So depressing. I'm having bad flashbacks of Mensa having a one score all-time classic against Tulsa. 

You don't have to go that far back. Texas played seven one-score games last season and went 2-5.

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LateAughtsHorn

LateAughtsHorn 588

Posted
Posted (edited)
22 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

You don't have to go that far back. Texas played seven one-score games last season and went 2-5.

Very true. It feels like a lot of our recent one score games have at least been conference games, though. I guess the fact that it was a September game against Tulsa is what made it stick out in my mind so much. It's admittedly a small sample size, but Sark seems to have no trouble handling the non-conference creampuffs at Texas thus far. 

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CashMcCoy

CashMcCoy 3415

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Texas section from Bill Connelly’s Big 12 preview article today on ESPN:

Spoiler

Is Texas back? (For real this time?) Ah, where does time go? It's already been almost five years since Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger, celebrating after a Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia, said "We're baaaaaack" to Holly Rowe and the nation. After just one ranked finish in the eight years after losing the 2009 BCS championship, Tom Herman's Horns finished 10-4 and ninth in the AP poll. This felt like a turning point.

It was. For Georgia. The Dawgs have since gone 49-5 with two national titles; Texas has gone just 28-20. After two solid but unspectacular seasons, Herman was fired. Replacement Steve Sarkisian has gone just 13-12.

Texas is indeed not yet back. But 2022 was still a step forward. Texas went 6-0 in games with multiple-score differentials, enjoying wins of 55-14 over Kansas, 41-20 over Conference USA champ UTSA and, of course, 49-0 over a briefly spiraling OU. The Horns played three SP+ top-10 teams and got outscored by a margin of just 64-63. Breaking even with top-10 teams insinuates you are one; predictive ratings certainly thought so: Texas finished fifth in FPI and seventh in SP+. Per SP+ the offense improved from 36th to 18th, while the defense charged all the way from 106th to 15th.

If you were a top-10 team on paper, and you return your leading passer (Quinn Ewers), three leading receivers (led by Xavier Worthy), most of your offensive and defensive lines and a veteran-heavy secondary, then it would stand to reason you'll probably start the next season in the top 10, too, huh?

The Horns have some legitimately impressive players in the trenches now, from sophomore left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. to 355-pound senior defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat. The secondary has a disruptive star in nickel Jahdae Barron. Cornerback depth could be an issue, but dominant play up front (and some injury luck) can paper over cracks like that.

It's a glass-half-full situation on offense, especially in the skill corps. Veteran receivers Worthy and Jordan Whittington and tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders all return, and Wyoming transfer Isaiah Neyor is a big-play threat if he is 100% fit after last year's preseason knee injury. There is a Bijan Robinson-sized hole to fill at running back, but that's generally an easier position for finding replacements, and youngsters like Jonathan Brooks and freshman Cedric Baxter Jr. have loads of potential.

So why were the Horns so bad in close games last year? Their turnover luck wasn't particularly bad. Their offense was decent on fourth down. Their special teams unit wasn't amazing but wasn't a liability.

Considering they had Robinson, though, they were awfully mediocre in the red zone (65th in red zone TD rate), and the defense had a nightmare season on fourth downs (87th in conversion rate, 115th in points allowed after conversion). And while Ewers had plenty of good moments, he ranked 97th in raw QBR in the fourth quarter and 104th on third downs. Texas outscored opponents by 179 points in the first three quarters but was outscored by 12 in the fourth quarter and OT. In theory, the weaknesses were far enough out of character -- good on most plays, bad in very important and specific ones -- that they could be fixable. But we're five years past "We're back," and both Sarkisian and Texas bear the burden of proof. So does Ewers; if he continues to falter at the wrong times, the buzz for replacing one former all-world recruit with another (freshman backup Arch Manning) will get louder and louder.

Usually like Connelly, but this was lazy. I understand not being 100% confident that Texas actually plays to the level he projects them to be at, but c’mon man show some balls. Not sure how corner depth is the biggest issue on defense when it’s one of the deeper positions on the team IMO. Edge and LB (besides Ford) seem to be much bigger question marks. No mention of impact transfers like AD or Catalon. Cap it all off with calling Arch the backup and inventing the fallacy that any reasonably intelligent UT fan wants another true freshman starting at QB.

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texifornia

texifornia 59017

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, CashMcCoy said:

Texas section from Bill Connelly’s Big 12 preview article today on ESPN:

  Reveal hidden contents

Is Texas back? (For real this time?) Ah, where does time go? It's already been almost five years since Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger, celebrating after a Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia, said "We're baaaaaack" to Holly Rowe and the nation. After just one ranked finish in the eight years after losing the 2009 BCS championship, Tom Herman's Horns finished 10-4 and ninth in the AP poll. This felt like a turning point.

It was. For Georgia. The Dawgs have since gone 49-5 with two national titles; Texas has gone just 28-20. After two solid but unspectacular seasons, Herman was fired. Replacement Steve Sarkisian has gone just 13-12.

Texas is indeed not yet back. But 2022 was still a step forward. Texas went 6-0 in games with multiple-score differentials, enjoying wins of 55-14 over Kansas, 41-20 over Conference USA champ UTSA and, of course, 49-0 over a briefly spiraling OU. The Horns played three SP+ top-10 teams and got outscored by a margin of just 64-63. Breaking even with top-10 teams insinuates you are one; predictive ratings certainly thought so: Texas finished fifth in FPI and seventh in SP+. Per SP+ the offense improved from 36th to 18th, while the defense charged all the way from 106th to 15th.

If you were a top-10 team on paper, and you return your leading passer (Quinn Ewers), three leading receivers (led by Xavier Worthy), most of your offensive and defensive lines and a veteran-heavy secondary, then it would stand to reason you'll probably start the next season in the top 10, too, huh?

The Horns have some legitimately impressive players in the trenches now, from sophomore left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. to 355-pound senior defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat. The secondary has a disruptive star in nickel Jahdae Barron. Cornerback depth could be an issue, but dominant play up front (and some injury luck) can paper over cracks like that.

It's a glass-half-full situation on offense, especially in the skill corps. Veteran receivers Worthy and Jordan Whittington and tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders all return, and Wyoming transfer Isaiah Neyor is a big-play threat if he is 100% fit after last year's preseason knee injury. There is a Bijan Robinson-sized hole to fill at running back, but that's generally an easier position for finding replacements, and youngsters like Jonathan Brooks and freshman Cedric Baxter Jr. have loads of potential.

So why were the Horns so bad in close games last year? Their turnover luck wasn't particularly bad. Their offense was decent on fourth down. Their special teams unit wasn't amazing but wasn't a liability.

Considering they had Robinson, though, they were awfully mediocre in the red zone (65th in red zone TD rate), and the defense had a nightmare season on fourth downs (87th in conversion rate, 115th in points allowed after conversion). And while Ewers had plenty of good moments, he ranked 97th in raw QBR in the fourth quarter and 104th on third downs. Texas outscored opponents by 179 points in the first three quarters but was outscored by 12 in the fourth quarter and OT. In theory, the weaknesses were far enough out of character -- good on most plays, bad in very important and specific ones -- that they could be fixable. But we're five years past "We're back," and both Sarkisian and Texas bear the burden of proof. So does Ewers; if he continues to falter at the wrong times, the buzz for replacing one former all-world recruit with another (freshman backup Arch Manning) will get louder and louder.

Usually like Connelly, but this was lazy. I understand not being 100% confident that Texas actually plays to the level he projects them to be at, but c’mon man show some balls. Not sure how corner depth is the biggest issue on defense when it’s one of the deeper positions on the team IMO. Edge and LB (besides Ford) seem to be much bigger question marks. No mention of impact transfers like AD or Catalon. Cap it all off with calling Arch the backup and inventing the fallacy that any reasonably intelligent UT fan wants another true freshman starting at QB.

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Keep in mind that while he's a relatively level headed guy, he is an Oklahoman who attended Mizzou in the Big 12 days. All things being equal he does not like Texas.

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Hookem2147

Hookem2147 22038

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Posted
12 hours ago, CashMcCoy said:

We really have played the most close games in the entire country since 2018. Please make it stop.

One score games since Strong took over:

2014: 3 (1-2)

2015: 5 (2-3)

2016: 8 (3-5)

2017: 5 (1-4)

2018: 10 (7-3 lol)

2019: 6 (3-3)

2020: 6 (3-3)

2021: 7 (2-5)

2022: 7 (2-5)

We certainly appear due for some positive regression

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Ricky Butler

Ricky Butler 2809

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1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

One score games since Strong took over:

2014: 3 (1-2)

2015: 5 (2-3)

2016: 8 (3-5)

2017: 5 (1-4)

2018: 10 (7-3 lol)

2019: 6 (3-3)

2020: 6 (3-3)

2021: 7 (2-5)

2022: 7 (2-5)

We certainly appear due for some positive regression

Holy shit, this explains so much. We need to get better so I can enjoy more 4th quarter victory beers.

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TankedBevo

TankedBevo 2503

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

One score games since Strong took over:

2014: 3 (1-2)

2015: 5 (2-3)

2016: 8 (3-5)

2017: 5 (1-4)

2018: 10 (7-3 lol)

2019: 6 (3-3)

2020: 6 (3-3)

2021: 7 (2-5)

2022: 7 (2-5)

We certainly appear due for some positive regression

This is exactly why the only satisfying game I've been able to rewatch in the last 8 years was last year's OU game and 2018 USC. Bluuugghhhhh. Maybe hanging 70+ on Tech but even that game had the late collapse on defense that's frustrating to watch. 

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CashMcCoy

CashMcCoy 3415

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Posted
31 minutes ago, TankedBevo said:

This is exactly why the only satisfying game I've been able to rewatch in the last 8 years was last year's OU game and 2018 USC. Bluuugghhhhh. Maybe hanging 70+ on Tech but even that game had the late collapse on defense that's frustrating to watch. 

I’m at the point in the offseason where I finally rewatched the Bama game just to feel something.

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