Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 1)

[satyanash 14611]

Collecting post-game $9.95-er articles from the Rice game here:

(Gerald Goodridge) Texas 37, Rice 10: Three things we learned

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After an offseason full of high expectations, the Texas Longhorns’ opening game of the season left something to be desired in spite of the lopsided victory over the Rice Owls.

The offense needed a while to get going but finally managed to find its stride in the second half, while the defense played strong for most of the game, giving up its only touchdown of the game on a long drive mostly featuring the second unit. With Alabama on the horizon, there are some clear lessons Texas can take into the week of preparation.

The offense needs to find its rhythm and focus on intermediate passing

Fans had an opportunity to groan early as Steve Sarkisian dialed up deep shots and then was unable to convert on them, unable to ignore the similarities to last year’s efforts. Quarterback Quinn Ewers missed Worthy and AD Mitchell deep early and the longest pass of the first 40 minutes of the game was a swing pass to running back Jonathon Brooks in space that he took 47 yards for a score. In the second half, Texas managed to string together back-to-back TD passes from Ewers, a nine-yard touchdown completion to Mitchell and a quick pass to JaTavion Sanders that he turned into a 44-yard score by outrunning the defenders.

For the game, Ewers was 0-7 on attempts longer than 15 yards, while completing 9-10 on passes between 5 and 14 yards. In fact, 174 of Ewers’ 260 yards came on intermediate routes, which was clearly his and the offense’s best bet for consistency.

Third downs are still a problem for the offense

A year after finishing the year 38.79% on third downs, Texas was more or less the same team in 2023, finishing the game 6-15 on the money down. The Longhorns started the game 0-2 on third downs and managed to rattle off three consecutive conversions on a late first-half drive to finish the opening 30 minutes 3-9. Texas managed just one drive longer than 10 plays, a 16-play, 66-yard drive that stalled in the red zone and ended in a field goal. That being said, Texas turned several of their short drives into points, with seven scoring of their 12 drives ending in scores.

Perhaps part of the problem for the Longhorns was their inability to put themselves into third-and-manageable situations. When the starters were pulled in the late third quarter, Texas had an average distance to go of 9.3 yards, leading to their 5-12 conversion rate at that point.

The defensive line can be a dominant force

Speaking of expectations, a group that was expected to be a strength for the Longhorns, the defensive line, truly shone against the Owls. We saw the Longhorns’ defensive front regularly reset the line of scrimmage and play in the backfield, keeping the Owls off-balance and swinging the advantage in favor of the defense. When Texas pulled the starters at the start of the fourth quarter, Rice had amassed just 25 rushing yards, without removing sack yardage, for a 1.5 per-rush average. Their ability to create havoc can be exemplified by a play by Alfred Collins, who on a critical passing down beat his blocker, rushed Rice quarterback JT Daniels forcing a bad throw, then jumped up to bat down the pass and end the Owls’ threat.

The defensive front routinely played on the Rice side of the line of scrimmage, with the starters finishing with six tackles for loss for 28 yards and two sacks for 19 yards. Sophomore Ethan Burke, who Texas will need a big season from, led the charge for the defense, accounting for 1.5 of the Longhorns’ two sacks on the day.

Joe Cook: Dominant defense and enough offense powers No. 11 Texas to victory

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Week 1 comes before Week 2, and No. 11 Texas had to dispatch Rice before it could focus on what’s ahead in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian disseminated the message of focusing on Rice to his team effectively, with nary a word said by his players throughout the week about Sept. 9’s matchup with the Crimson Tide. Texas knew it had to go 1-0 before any thought about winning in Bryant-Denny Stadium could enter its head.

That task of keeping focus was pretty easy according to linebacker Jaylan Ford, who recorded five tackles and an interception during Texas’ 37-10 win over Rice. “I brought the team up before we went out there and made an emphasis that the last time we took the field was December 29,” Ford said. “We didn’t have the outcome we wanted, and 247 days later, now it’s time for us to go out there and show everybody what we’ve been working for this whole offseason. I think there was a lot of energy, and I think we came out strong.”

Ford led a dominant defensive effort that limited Rice to 176 total yards and eight total first downs in 51 plays. Rice was unable to put together a drive of longer than six plays in the first half, and the Owls didn’t score their first touchdown until the game was more than decided in the fourth quarter.

The Longhorn defensive front, led by T’Vondre Sweat, Byron Murphy, and Ethan Burke, made gaining yardage for JT Daniels and the Owl offense a task as difficult as going to the moon.That side of the ball’s prowess was needed, as the Longhorn offense took some time to get going.

“I think the majority of the people that walked into the stadium thought that game was going to go a certain way, when in reality our defense played a fantastic football game,” Sarkisian said. “And there’s not always a lot of talk about how good we are defensively.”

More numbers illustrate how rough life was for Mike Bloomgren‘s team. Average yards per carry for the Owls? 1.1. Average yards per play? 3.5. Turnover differential? Minus-three thanks to Ford’s interception, a pick by Austin Jordan, and a fumble recovery by Jett Bush.

That defense was needed as the Longhorn offense was not at its best in the opening portions of the game. Texas faced a 4th-and-2 on its first drive, and Sarkisian decided to go for the line to gain while on his own 33-yard-line. A pass from Quinn Ewers fell incomplete and Rice took over, only able to net three points out of the short field.

The Longhorns would respond with an explosive scoring play off a screen pass to Jonathon Brooks, but there was some disjointedness to how the entire unit, from quarterback, to receivers, to backs, to O-linemen, played together. False starts occurred. Sacks were surrendered. Pass attempts were unconverted, specifically a number of deep passes.

“It’s going to feel good when we do hit them,” Sarkisian said of his deep passing attempts. “We have to do it because we have to be able to make people defend all three layers of the field: the line of scrimmage, then that intermediate throw, then the deep shot. We have to make them defend that.”

Some of those difficulties had to do with being surprised with how Rice played defense. Sarkisian said there were coverages Rice ran that the Longhorn staff’s preseason film study did not uncover. Some of the early struggles could be attributed to the surprising schematics, but there were other aspects that had more to do with Texas than with Rice.

“We’ve got a lot of things to clean up, which is understandable coming out of the first game,” Sarkisian said. “Now we have to make sure we identify those things really well as a coaching staff, get our players bought into what needs to get cleaned up and get fixed so we can improve our quality of play.”

To be sure, the Longhorns got things going on offense and were able to more closely match the defense’s performance in the second half. Texas scored a touchdown on its first three drives of the final 30 minutes, with Adonai Mitchell and Ja’Tavion Sanders hauling in touchdown passes and Ewers rushing for one around right tackle on his final play of the afternoon.

When the final whistle rang, Texas had done what it needed to do against Rice. And with that task complete, the Longhorns could finally begin to turn their attention toward surmounting Nick Saban‘s program in a rematch of a thrilling 2022 contest.

“The end of the day, it’s a heck of an opportunity,” Sarkisian said of playing his former boss’s team. “We’re playing a great opponent. We all know that. The reality of it is we have to acknowledge the opportunity that we have and then we’ve got to get right back to being present with our preparation. Part of our preparation is fixing stuff from today, and dialing into what we need to do day in and day out to prepare to play.”

That was reiterated postgame by Xavier Worthy, who led the longhorns with seven catches for 90 yards.

“Right when we got into the locker room, Sark’s after game speech was ‘my feet aren’t in Bryant-Denny Stadium.'” Worthy said. “I feel like we need to match his energy and be where he’s at.”

Said Sweat, who tallied five tackles, 0.5 TFL, and two hurries, “we’ll go to work Monday and we’ll go from there.” Sarkisian relayed how his assistants and support staff were able to work on preparing for Alabama, something he wanted his team to have no part in. At least not knowingly.

“Sometimes, throughout training camp, you work on some things for games that might be down the road so they get some exposure to that, and when that first week comes you dive back into what you need to work on for that first game,” Sarkisian said.

Those were all methods where the purpose was left unmentioned. Sarkisian and company repeated time and time again in the leadup to the contest versus Rice that Rice was their opponent, and they couldn’t look past the Owls.

They may not have played their best game, but they played a winning game. Over the course of Labor Day weekend, the Longhorns can turn their attention toward doing something no team from outside the SEC has done since 2007 and win in Tuscaloosa.

 

[satyanash 14611]

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Texas steams Rice

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Texas’ 2023 season opener against the Rice Owls wasn’t exactly what fans hoped it would be. Expectations had Quinn Ewers burying the Owls early and naming the score late while Maalik Murphy and Arch Manning competed to see who could make the most of garbage time opportunities. Instead the Longhorns needed a sharp third quarter to put safe distance between themselves and the academics from Houston.

Yet ultimately the game was never really in question for the simple reason the Texas defense completely overpowered JT Daniels and the Owl offense. Even when Rice did manage a few early drives with a touch of promise they typically ended in turnovers well short of the goal line. Final tally: Texas 458 yards, Rice 176. Texas had 6.1 yards per play, Rice a mere 3.5. In the end it was a dominant win, it just wasn’t exciting and didn’t look as expected.

Quick thought no. 1: The offense was sloppy

In the first half in particular Rice had defenders running free to make big tackles in crucial moments, they had a pair of sacks on Ewers, and they held Texas to a 6-15 day on 3rd down with a brutally poor 1-3 day on 4th down. Most of it was simple sloppiness. Texas didn’t pick up Rice’s movement very well in their pressure package, their timing was off on a few throws and reads, and just when freshman CJ Baxter finally got going in the run game he went down with an injury.

A lot of this can be attributed to a new lineup on the offensive line involving true sophomore DJ Campbell and the certainty we all have that Texas was clearly looking ahead to next week’s contest. Texas’ deep shot passing from Ewers to Xavier Worthy was still off point though which is a major concern. Surely they’ll eventually get the timing right but today Ewers struggled to find his range and left a number of big plays on the field. Ewers also bounced a throw off an unsuspecting JT Sanders when his tight end was executing his out break on an option route. Eventually they settled in for the 3rd quarter and mixed in a heavy dose of RPOs to take over the game before the back-ups came in and the sloppiness resumed.

Quick thought no. 2: The defense put down the clamps

Texas’ defense completely dominated the Owls while rotating heavily well before the end of the game. Rice not unexpectedly had major issues blocking Texas’ defensive line and Pete Kwiatkowski didn’t give them many chances to pick-up first downs and run extra plays in order to try and tire them out in the heat. The Longhorns were aggressive throughout the game, often playing the 3-4 “base” defense with Alfred Collins at defensive end and Jett Bush at Sam linebacker. From that package they could routinely put five defenders on the line of scrimmage and encourage 1-on-1 blocks by Rice on various defensive tackles, which generally went very poorly.

When Rice could get the ball out the defensive backfield made tackles and plays on the ball. You can’t see the D-line dominance reflected in the stat sheets but it was plainly evident watching the game. Rice scored a meaningless touchdown late but even that score came at the cost of a big hit on Luke McCaffrey by Michael Taaffe in the end zone. The defense is safely ahead of the offense at this point and they’ll be helpful for the Longhorns in coming weeks.

Quick thought no. 3: Jaylan Ford kept the turnover train going

Ford showed the same pass dropping skills and amazing hands which helped him snag four interceptions a year ago in picking off an attempted seam route by Rice. A miscue by David Gbenda on an early shallow cross marred a terrific performance by the linebackers in coverage. Rice clearly hoped early on to generate some offense finding matchups against Texas’ inside linebacker tandem and instead came up empty.

A few Texas pass-rushers also had strong outings in roles which weren’t exactly forecast for them coming out of high school. Ethan Burke had 1.5 sacks working as a stand-up Edge after a few dominant seasons as a true defensive end at Westlake and it should have been 2.5 sacks but for Daniels giving him the slip once. Anthony Hill showed off his agility and twitch as a 3rd down Buck in a specialty package and generated a quarterback hurry and very nearly a sack or two of his own. Kristopher Ross also showed a lot of promise as the back-up Jack Edge with a quicker first step and more agility than was apparent from his high school film as a defensive tackle.

Quick thought no. 4: The offensive identity is established

Texas’ offense didn’t play great today, but their identity and roadmap ahead is still very clear. Texas was at their best in the shotgun running RPOs, which made it difficult for the Owls to find the ball or outnumber the box to stuff the run. 

Eventually Texas will play teams who cover the routes and force the Longhorns to drive the field running the ball on honest fronts, at that point their execution on the O-line will need to be much cleaner. For most games this season using some tempo and spread spacing to throw the ball around will cause major problems for opponents who can’t handle Texas’ skill athletes.

Additionally, Jonathon Brooks was a major weapon in this game with 12 carries for 52 yards, all early before Texas got more established, two catches for 42 yards and a touchdown. He should have had an additional touchdown catch but for a drop. Brooks is going to end up being a featured player for Texas this year, particularly if Baxter misses significant time, Jaydon Blue‘s hard running late notwithstanding.

Quick thought no. 5: Time for Bama

Texas probably won’t dwell on this game too much longer than the fanbase before moving on to prepare for their big Week 2 showdown with Alabama. It’s not hard to recall how sloppy and shaky Texas looked on offense in Week 1 last year against Louisiana-Monroe before (initially) lighting up Alabama in front of a stunned viewership.

The Longhorns who travel to Tuscaloosa will be better prepared and sharper in their gameplan execution than the one who hosted the Owls in the season opener.

Alabama is hosting Middle Tennessee State tonight and former Longhorn commit Jalen Milroe is expected to start. That’ll make for a very different offensive challenge for the Longhorn defense as the Tide will likely be running something akin to the Jalen Hurts offense they ran back in 2016.

An obvious concern and point of conversation will be Texas’ offensive line. Is DJ Campbell healthy? Why didn’t Cole Hutson get any action? Can they clean up their play enough to give the offense a chance against a loaded Alabama defensive line? Buckle up, the season and Bama are here.

 

[satyanash 14611]

Jeff Howe: No. 11 Texas flattens Rice behind a suffocating defensive effort

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AUSTIN, Texas — Yes, Rice was the opponent, but Saturday’s season-opening 37-10 victory for No. 11 Texas was spearheaded by a suffocating effort from Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense. The Longhorns held the Owls to just 3.5 yards per play (176 total yards on 51 official plays), which included a lowly 27 yards running the football (1.1 yards per carry) on a day when the defensive line displayed the kind of dominance Bo Davis’ group reportedly showed throughout scrimmage situations in camp. Whether it was T'Vondre Sweat, Byron Murphy and Alfred Collins getting pressure into the face of Rice quarterback JT Daniels and making it impossible for the Owls to pound the ball between the tackles, or Ethan Burke, Kristopher Ross and Co. screaming off of the edge, the Texas defensive front looked every bit the part of a unit that has a chance to be the best in the Big 12 and one of the best in the country in 2023. When the dust settled, Rice finished the day 4-for-13 on third down on an average to-go distance of 8.5 yards.

‌While Kwiatkowski’s bunch didn’t pile up sacks (getting the quarterback on the ground was a major point of emphasis in the offseason with the defense averaging only 1.9 sacks per game through 25 games under Kwiatkowski heading into this season) with Burke (1.5) and David Gbenda (0.5) credited with the two the Longhorns wrangled, an offseason emphasis on turnovers led to the finishing of a healthy number of plays. Interceptions by Jaylan Ford and Austin Jordan and a fumble recovery by Jett Bush added to the program’s first game with at least three takeaways since forcing three in a win over TCU in the fifth game of the 2021 season.

Quinn Ewers and the offense overcame a sluggish first half that veered into the realm of sloppiness (three drives ended in plus territory with Bert Auburn needing to use his leg to put points on the board on a 3-for-4 day) to put away Rice with three touchdowns on each of the offense’s first three possessions coming out of halftime. Ewers finished with a 19-for-30 passing performance for 260 yards and three touchdowns to go along with a rushing touchdown on a day when the things he did well (executing the bevy of run-pass options on head coach Steve Sarkisian’s call sheet and pulling the ball down with nowhere to throw it en route to two of the team’s six explosive rushing attempts, which for 16 and 14 yards, respectively) canceled out the things he got away with (missed opportunities on shots down the field chief among them) to make for a solid opener for the redshirt sophomore quarterback.

‌Ewers’ favorite target was Xavier Worthy, who gained most of his 90 yards after the catch on seven receptions. Ewers’ touchdown passes went to three different receivers with Jonathon Brooks scoring the first touchdown of the season on a 37-yard screen pass, Adonai Mitchell catching a dart from Ewers on a glance route for a 9-yard score and Ja'Tavion Sanders pulling away from the Owls on a 44-yard pop pass for the final points of a third quarter in which Texas outgained Rice 164-36 while holding the Owls to 2.4 yards per play (the Longhorns averaged 8.6) and reversing their first-half fortunes on money downs (a combined 3-for-4 effort on third and fourth down after ).

What it Means: There’s going to be a lot to work on before Texas travels to Tuscaloosa next week to face No. 4 Alabama. Specifically, the way the offense struggled in short-yardage situations and on money downs in the first half (a combined 3-for-11, including an 0-for-2 showing on fourth down) along with turning the three turnovers into just three total points are things the Longhorns can do next Saturday and expect to beat the Crimson Tide.

Star of the Game: Sweat was credited with five total tackles (two solos) and 0.5 tackles for loss, but it felt like he was around the football from the jump. He had two of the defense’s seven quarterback hurries, including a hit on Daniels (a 14-for-26 day throwing the ball for 149 yards, one touchdown and three total turnovers) that led to Jordan’s interception. Overall, Sweat set the tone for the defense's performance.

Don’t Overlook: After CJ Baxter left the game with an unspecified injury after falling awkwardly on the turf at the end of a 32-yard run in the second quarter, Jaydon Blue came in and finished with a game-high 55 yards on 10 carries. Blue showed enough burst and a willingness to finish runs that he should be in the mix for carries next week, especially if Baxter is going to be out of action beyond today.

‌What’s Next: Everybody with a dog in the fight when it comes to the Texas program can finally start focusing on the Crimson Tide. College GameDay will be a part of the spectacle in Tuscaloosa ahead of what should be an electric night at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

 

[LTtxfan 49333]

Sunday morning

 

 

Saturday Postgame

 

[Red Five 40881]

"Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian said they're getting closer to connecting on the deep throws from Quinn Ewers to Xavier Worthy."

Looks like it's on schedule to be all ironed out by September 2034 or so.

 

[LTtxfan 49333]

Position Grades and comments on players results in the Rice Game...

Longhorns Position Grades | On Texas Football | Rice Owls | Quinn Ewers | Steve Sarkisian

[LTtxfan 49333]

Sunday night livestream.  More Rice game analysis and questions answered...

Longhorn Livestream | On Texas Football | Rice Reactions | Quinn Ewers 

[Vermin 3055]

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A year after finishing the year 38.79% on third downs,

Because 3 significant figures aren't enough.

[Monahorns 34]

How about Post-mortems?

[satyanash 14611]

(Scipio Tex) 2023 Rice Post Mortem: Offense

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Texas gained 458 yards on 75 plays for a 6.1 yards per play average and put 37 points on the board, but squandered multiple scoring opportunities with an inability to hit open deep balls, a few unforced errors and a distinct lack of physicality at a few positions. Saturday is what it looks like when a potentially good offense doesn’t fully click. The question now is how quickly and effectively the staff and players can sort and solve these problems into short term easy adjustments, mid or long term player development, or figure out what’s not changing and has to be worked around.

Often a unit is evaluated against expectations (and hype) and the Longhorn offense is a case in point. While it’s absolutely true that there are chapters of the Longhorn playbook and formations not in evidence against Rice that will be evident against Alabama (more RPOs and empty sets are coming to name a few), there is no vanilla game plan that tells the OL to blow protections or play passively, receivers to opt out of blocking and the QB to miss open deep receivers for touchdowns. These are basic effort, executional and coordination issues that supersede post-game platitudes about sandbagging.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Xavier Worthy came ready to play and was the offensive MVP. He’s the best player on the offense by a wide margin. A lot of that is talent, but a big part of it is also basic competitiveness. He was excellent on short and intermediate balls and was even robbed of a 14 yard completion by a botched booth review. He finished with 90 yards on 7 catches out of 10 targets and 45 of his yards came after the catch. Quinn Ewers missed him on two deep shots that would have likely scored. Worthy played hard, blocked hard and finished plays aggressively.

Jordan Whittington blocked well and had an efficient 4 catches on 4 targets for 43 yards. He only played 38 snaps overall. Like Worthy, Jordan came to play. I don’t expect him to come off of the field much against Bama if we have any interest in running the ball from heavy receiver sets. His only mistake was an accidental PBU in the end zone on a Ja’Tavion Sanders jump ball that would have been worth 6. Adonai Mitchell caught an easy RPO TD from Ewers, but his blocking effort was consistently awful. Above, you’ll see him let a nickel run across his face untouched on the Jonathon Brooks 4th and 1 short yardage run (3:07 mark on the video) that was stopped by his free defender. Below is another lowlight…

Same quarter, next Longhorn drive, he allowed Whittington to be blown up on a little screen action where he was the primary blocker. A complete lack of physicality or effort on his half-jog stalk block. The Rice corner weighs 173 pounds. Beyond those “wow” plays (in a bad way) he exhibited zero interest in creating second level or exterior blocking for cutbacks on ordinary run downs. Contrasting his disinterest in doing anything beyond catching passes to Whittington, Worthy or even freshman Johntay Cook was informative.

Sanders 

scored on a nice play call and his run blocking was above average. His pass blocking was substandard, particularly on play action where he’s assigned to general clean up and not a specific man. It’s kind of a tough assignment and part of the job is to just get in the way, but please also actually get in the way. Gunnar Helm didn’t catch a ball and his run blocking wasn’t great on a few too many snaps. Malik Agbo wasn’t much more effective as the jumbo TE, though in limited action. Neyor saw spot action late, catching an intermediate ball and dropping a cannon shot from Maalik Murphy. Cook (2-26) played hard in his 15-20 snaps.

Offensive Line

Interior OL play remains a work in progress and parts of this unit certainly didn’t exhibit the motor, cohesion and decisiveness expected. Here’s a compilation of Jaydon Blue runs. Watch No. 76 Hayden Conner (he plays both LG and some RG at the end when we bring in Neto Umeozulu).

How would you describe #76’s pad level on these run plays? Overall effort level? Is he delivering blows or receiving the defender on run blocks? How many times does he make initial contact and then either pull up or have the defender slide off immediately? How many blocks did he finish? How many plays end with him watching the RB or on the ground? How did he look on the pull? When covered up by a DL, does he get push or hope to stalemate? Is this player improved from last year? That’s just a representative sample across multiple runs, not lowlights per se. For what’s it’s worth, he pass blocked pretty well except for one miscue. You can also expand your view beyond guard and note overall line play. Who is moving defenders and trying to impose their will? Who is stalemating and hoping the runner does something great?

DJ Campbell too often played with indecision that robbed him of aggression and rendered him less than effective on passing downs. He gave up multiple pressures and a sack. He was better on run downs, though the promised road grading didn’t show up. As I’ve cautioned every time he has been brought up in the offseason, interior offensive linemen who give up free runs at the QB can’t be played long term, no matter their 5 star status. DJ is very inexperienced, so some time must be given for him to level up before moving him out.

On the interior OL, the coaches also have to choose from the best of imperfect options and try to coach ’em up. There is no panacea. Kelvin Banks and Christian Jones played well overall. While I can call out some individual player gaffes, the larger responsibility for the line being able to handle stunts, show technique and killer instinct and exhibit pad levels lower than the upper deck rests on Kyle Flood. I hope his pupils show better coordination in Tuscaloosa, aided by the game plan. As an aside, Rice’s #55 De’Braylon Carroll is a 5-11, 285 pound baller and they had a few guys up front who were relatively capable and played hard.

Running Back

Brooks caught a 41 yard touchdown on a nicely blocked misdirection screen and then dropped another touchdown near the goal line. He ran hard, compiling 52 yards on 12 carries. CJ Baxter had the best run of the day with a 32 yard scamper that began inside through traffic and broke outside – it looked a lot like his HS film – but he came down hard at the end of it on his shoulder/collarbone and it looks he may be out for a bit. If so, that’s very unfortunate as it limits power options with vision and tackle breaking ability. Blue ran effectively (10-55) and probably impressed me the most of the Longhorn runners given lukewarm blocking at times.

Quarterback

Ewers ran effectively and opportunistically for first downs and a touchdown and he looked good overall in the short to intermediate game. He was particularly slick on his RPO completions to Whittington, Worthy and Mitchell. On point reads, delivery and accuracy. We’ll need to see more of that. He finished 19 of 30 for 260 yards, 3 touchdown passes, 1 touchdown run (and two opportunistic first down scrambles) with no turnovers. Not a bad day at the office in isolation, but one also has to look at what was left on the field.

A lot was left on the field. The deep ball was totally inaccurate and it looked like last year. Sometimes it was poor mechanics (bad footwork, prolonged releases starting at the hip, throwing off of his back foot or hopping unnecessarily), sometimes it was putting unnecessary air on a ball that should go on a sharper line, sometimes it was just a bad ball to the worst spot (if a guy has two steps on the sideline and you can’t put it on him, err a little inside instead of throwing it out bounds – he’ll adjust and score). He missed a half dozen shots ranging in difficulty from easy to pretty hard. I’ll reiterate my opinion that Quinn’s ability to release accurately from different angles on intermediate throws without good mechanics is a curse on deep balls as they require consistency and replicability. Aim big, miss big.

We’re back to Sark’s conundrum. If the deep shots are there, but the QB can’t hit them, do you keep trying? That’s a lot to give up in an offense if you stop. Throwing 65 yard touchdowns is valuable. It’s also a lot of wasted downs and frustration that can leak into other areas when the QB fails. Or do you just keep focus on what Ewers can do, pick up the tempo to limit defensive adjustments and concentrate on distributing the ball to a talented wide receiver group in the short and intermediate game? Should Texas try different angles on deep balls? What can Ewers throw? I don’t know the answer, but most effective OC’s ultimately craft their offense to the thrower and then baby step expanding their games. Or they go get the thrower they want.

Final Thoughts

What you are willing to tolerate becomes the standard. Don’t talk about physicality if you don’t enforce it. Heading into Alabama and moving forward, right now Texas profiles as a spread and RPO based passing team that should play at a faster tempo to limit defensive adjustments, wear out defensive linemen with short drops and quick releases, and play more within the QB’s wheelhouse of the short to intermediate game. Playing the above style without some tempo destroys a good bit of the value proposition. I don’t have an easy answer on the Ewers deep ball conundrum and neither does Sark. Ultimately, some of these problems needed to be addressed in the offseason and weren't. But one game samples are always a lie. Texas won’t always play well. Playing really hard is not an option.

 

[Duane Moore 5248]

2 hours ago, satyanash said:

there is no vanilla game plan that tells the OL to blow protections or play passively, receivers to opt out of blocking and the QB to miss open deep receivers for touchdowns.

This is my concern set in a nutshell. 

[Post Oak 20258]

@satyanash do you have the defense post mortem?  Thx

[LTtxfan 49333]

Thx for collecting articles @satyanash

[satyanash 14611]

(Scipio Tex) 2023 Rice Post Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

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The Longhorn defense was fantastic on Saturday, dominating a limited Rice Owl offense even more than the 37-10 score implied. The Owls scored a field goal on their first possession after being gifted favorable field position in Longhorn territory after a failed Texas 4th down conversion (the Owls had a 6 play, 8 yard “drive”) and then scored again on the last drive of the game against predominantly defensive 3rd teamers. A garbage score that the defense (and Horn gamblers) didn’t deserve.

For the game, Rice compiled only 176 yards of offense at 3.5 yards per play. Their longest run went for 6 yards (they totaled 27 yards altogether) and JT Daniels was 14 of 26 for 149 yards and 2 interceptions. Beyond holding down Rice statistically, the Texas D also had major impact plays, forcing three turnovers and limiting the Owls to 2 of 11 on money downs through the first three quarters of play with tight coverage and heavy pressure. The defense relented while substituting heavily in the 4th quarter, allowing Rice to gain 76 yards, convert 3 of 4 money downs and score 7 points in that final stanza. Texas played 30+ defensive players during meaningful game play and the sheer depth on display on the defensive line and in the secondary was impressive. While there were standouts on Saturday, most of the good play was the result of a swarm of seemingly endless Texas defenders simply doing their jobs.

Defensive Line

The big guys dominated up front led by T’Vondre Sweat. Big #93 is my player of the game for plays like this against the pass:

360 pounds shouldn’t close ground that quickly after a great swim move. Good clean hit on Daniels. Sweat is an incredibly impactful football player when his motor is revving. Who knew 360 pounders liked the heat? Here’s Sweat dominating against the run as Alfred Collins jacks up the playside tight end and Jett Bush shocks the pulling OL:

Notice that Sweat is so dominant, he controls the offensive lineman with only one arm and keeps his outside shoulder and right arm completely free to make the tackle. Big Sweat finished with 5 tackles, 2 QB hits and a big 4th down stop. Stud. The rest of the unit was right there with him, highlighted by Byron Murphy getting terrific push that allowed David Gbenda free run on an untouched blitz. Gbenda gets the announcer’s accolade, but Murphy made it happen:

That was a typical play for Byron and he was terrific as a penetrating nose tackle who still maintained good gap integrity. Here’s Alfred Collins looking nimble off of the edge (where he took a large number of his snaps in both 3 and 4 man fronts)

Notice that Collins doesn’t leave the ground like so many players do in that situation. He gets his hands up and closes distance, trusting his wingspan. Good coaching there. Ethan Burke notched 1.5 sacks and 4 tackles, showing good motor on all of his snaps. His best effort was getting cut down on a pass rush, regaining his feet and then completing the sack after Jett Bush funneled the QB into him. Kris Ross also had two very nice pressures and a QB hit. He’s regained weight from his self-imposed spring Jenny Craig diet and looks both stronger and more explosive at +15-20 pounds. Stop fasting and keep feasting on QBs, Kris. I’m not going to name every guy, but great effort from the whole unit. The display of depth and the intensity of play was outstanding.

Linebacker

Jaylan Ford continues to make his mark as one of the savviest and sure-handed coverage linebackers in the college game

JT Daniels certainly wasn’t expecting him to be there on 3rd and 16. Note how much deeper and more fluidly Ford gets into his drop than Gbenda beside him. Ford finished with 5 tackles overall and was a rock against the run. He has now forced a turnover in 7 of his last 8 games.

Jett Bush played very well. Extremely physical. Repeatedly shocked much bigger Owl OL. 2 tackles and a fumble recovery. David Gbenda led the team in tackles with 6 and did some good things covering ground and finishing plays. His biggest lapse was blowing a coverage on a shallow crossing route on a 3rd and 6 and surrendering a 37 yard completion. Anthony Hill was very active and now has some coachable game tape. Solid intro to college football.

Defensive Backs

Texas pretty much played the three deep and just about everyone played above average to great. Jahdae Barron was fantastic. Slot receiver Luke McCaffrey was supposed to be the focal point of the Rice offense and he didn’t catch a meaningful pass until Barron was drinking Gatorade on the sideline. Against Barron, McCaffrey had 7 yards on 1 catch on 6 targets. Domination.

Manny Muhammad is a dude. Great recovery out of his break and he isn’t shy about squatting on a route. 5 tackles and a PBU for the true freshman. They avoided Ryan Watts in the running and passing game and Terrance Brooks drew the start opposite and almost as little attention. Gavin Holmes played most of his snaps in the second half. Catalon didn’t dent the box score playing field safety. Jerrin Thompson missed a half of play but played in the second with Michael Taaffe drawing the start. Here’s a nice hit from Taaffe on Rice’s touchdown throw:

Texas is caught in a bad defense here with Bush covering McCaffrey on a double move, but Taaffe brings the wood and McCaffrey isn’t sure where he is or why there’s a football in his hands afterwards. Congrats on making the box score. Freshman Derek Williams flashed in about a quarter of play, compiling three tackles. Overall, Rice was totally outmatched against the Texas secondary and their most consequential throws of the game happened in garbage time and against a Longhorn linebacker coverage bust.

Special Teams

A clean game overall. Auburn was terrific, going 3 for 4 including makes from 46 and 49 yards. I’m not going to hold missing a 56 yarder against him. Xavier Worthy had a nice 21 yard punt return harvested off of the sideline, but the kick return game was quiet otherwise. Will Stone had 4 touchbacks on 7 kickoffs and Rice averaged only 13 yards per kickoff return. A winning performance, but I’d like to see an impact play in the return/block game.

Final

Intense and diligent. This unit got better in the offseason and the execution on money downs with coverages better married to the front were noticeable. Depth in several key areas is impressive. Expect a shorter bench in Tuscaloosa, but we’ll still see a solid rotation of the two deep on the DL and at DB. Is Rice a relatively weak offense? Yes. But beyond the obvious athletic disparities, the cohesion, physicality and individual positional improvement that Texas showed is scalable.

 

[Monahorns 34]

Thank you kind sir.

[Brothahorn 10087]

Quote

What you are willing to tolerate becomes the standard. Don’t talk about physicality if you don’t enforce it.

QFT

[Post Oak 20258]

4 hours ago, satyanash said:

(Scipio Tex) 2023 Rice Post Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

 

Thx

[satyanash 14611]

Wescott Eberts: Texas QB Quinn Ewers struggled in the downfield passing game again vs. Rice

Quote

AUSTIN — After Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers connected with wide receiver Xavier Worthy for a 46-yard gain against the Alabama Crimson Tide — just before Ewers was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury — the talented passer struggled to hit deep shots for the remainder of the 2022 season. The inability to take the top off of defenses severely limited an offense that ended the regular season unbalanced and heavily dependent on the run game, leading Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian to prioritize downfield passing in the month between the Alamo Bowl and Saturday’s season opener.

In the much-anticipated 2023 debut for Ewers after an offseason built around a narrative of improvement in numerous facets of his game, the overall performance was respectable — in three quarters, Ewers was 19-of-30 passing for 260 yards and three touchdowns and zero interceptions, in addition to a short rushing touchdown. But the continued inability to hit deep shots, this time against an overmatched Rice defense, was a topic of conversation with Sarkisian, Ewers, and the wide receivers in the post-game availabilities after Ewers missed all six passes over 20 yards. In fact, the two longest passing plays — a 44-yard touchdown by junior tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders and a 37-yard touchdown by junior running back Jonathon Brooks — were a seam pass and a misdirection screen.

Worthy agreed with Sarkisian’s assessment that Ewers and the Longhorn are on the verge of executing the downfield passing game, a critical component of the Texas offense quarterbacks under Sarkisian have struggled to unlock since his arrival on the Forty Acres in early 2021. “We’re getting closer,” Sarkisian said. “It’s gonna feel good when we do hit them and we have to do it because we have to be able to make people defend all three layers of the field — the line of scrimmage, then that intermediate throw, and then that deep throw, we have to make them defend that. Obviously, I’m aware that people want to defend the deep ball against us and I think that’s why we see some of those intermediate things open.”

Sarkisian believes that the seam pass to Sanders and an explosive play by senior wide receiver Jordan Whittington were created by the attempts to stretch the field vertically. For Ewers, the emphasis during the offseason was trusting his wide receivers to make plays on the ball. For the most part, the Texas quarterback accomplished that goal with underthrows to Worthy and junior wide receiver AD Mitchell that came close to creating defensive pass interference penalties, particularly on the throw to Mitchell. “They feel better when we hit them or at least get a pass interference and I thought we might have got a PI on one,” Sarkisian said.

On another throw, however, an out and up to Worthy in the first quarter in which the speedy wideout broke open, Ewers didn’t give Worthy a chance to make a play on the ball when it drifted onto the sideline. “Obviously can’t complete a ball when it’s thrown out of bounds, so that’s got to be fixed,” Ewers said. More disappointing were signs that Ewers hasn’t completely overcome his tendency for sloppy footwork, from how he hitches at the top of his drop to coming off the ground on deep-ball deliveries to the occasional tendency for balls to sail on him thanks to his preferred low arm slot.

Ewers was willing, though, to accept the underthrown passes. “I’m not mad at the throws I think I gave my receivers chances to go up and get the ball, but that’s what has been my focus the past this past offseason, trying not to be so perfect and end up overthrowing those guys. I think it’s it’s good that I’m just giving those guys a chance,” Ewers said. That’s one important step forward for Ewers as a quarterback and if last season was any indication, Sarkisian believes enough in the need to stretch the field with shot plays that he’ll stay aggressive with it. “We’ve got to continue to stay creative as a staff and then we’ve got to continue instill belief in Quinn and the receivers that those shots are there and we’re going to make those plays,” Sarkisian said.

 

[Josef Pwag 1741]

"Every 25+ air yard attempt from Quinn Ewers"

What a fucking mess. Jesus. 

[Vertigo 20320]

2 hours ago, Josef Pwag said:

"Every 25+ air yard attempt from Quinn Ewers"

What a fucking mess. Jesus. 

It really wasn't that bad in terms of being all Quinn's fault. Two errant throws, one throw where the receiver ran a wrong route, two no call PI's (yes he hung the ball up too much), and a couple of throws that hit guys in the hands in traffic and they didn't make the play. If we get the PI calls and JT is able to pull in that end zone catch, things look very different. 

[Red Five 40881]

6 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

It really wasn't that bad in terms of being all Quinn's fault. Two errant throws, one throw where the receiver ran a wrong route, two no call PI's (yes he hung the ball up too much), and a couple of throws that hit guys in the hands in traffic and they didn't make the play. If we get the PI calls and JT is able to pull in that end zone catch, things look very different. 

It feels weird because Quinn's been taking so much this week, but if Brooks and Sanders catch TD passes that hit them in the hands, Ewers accounts for six TDs in three quarters. 

[ClubWhatever 12156]

18 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

QFT

So should we bench Mitchell?

[Tylerocks 2553]

39 minutes ago, Red Five said:

It feels weird because Quinn's been taking so much this week, but if Brooks and Sanders catch TD passes that hit them in the hands, Ewers accounts for six TDs in three quarters. 

(Narrator voice)

"And the people of surly were still unhappy and found minuscule things to bitch about."

[Chuckie Finster 22727]

1 hour ago, Red Five said:

It feels weird because Quinn's been taking so much this week, but if Brooks and Sanders catch TD passes that hit them in the hands, Ewers accounts for six TDs in three quarters. 

If we are being honest, how we played vs. Rice was pretty much the perfect scenario ahead of Saturday (except for those who had money on it, I guess).  

Game was never in doubt and drew no attention from anyone outside of Austin, but will give us plenty of shit to work on.  The third quarter allowed the team to see how fucking dominant they can be when they execute, but the first half gave them all a reminder that you actually still have to execute.

Obviously the team would never be in danger of overlooking 'Bama, but I think I prefer the mindset that a bunch of 18-22 year-olds will approach this week with now instead of if we had won 70-0.

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Chuckie Finster