Game Week Thread Week 2, 2023: Texas @ Alabama

[BurntOrange&White 39,934]

Saban on injuries + some injury commentary

 

[Red Five 40,862]

I was rewatching the Rice game last night and I have a random, old school comp for Jaydon Blue: Chris Samuels. Same number obviously, but also a very similar running style. 

[LTtxfan 49,230]

Decent video clip...

 

[Domedriver 655]

32 minutes ago, Red Five said:

I was rewatching the Rice game last night and I have a random, old school comp for Jaydon Blue: Chris Samuels. Same number obviously, but also a very similar running style. 

Funny, as I rewatched the game I thought that Brooks reminded me of AJ Jam Jones!

[South Austin 52,518]

Jaydon Blue mostly closely resembles Vai Sikahema.

[crash_davis 23,113]

I'm all in on Sark. The questions on his play calling and schemes are warranted because they are inconsistent as fuck. However, like we saw last year in the Bama game, Sark and the team were dialed, for sure when Ewers was in there and somewhat with gimpy Card.

I think we'll see the same Sark and team this week against Bama, or at least I'm praying like a mofo that we do. This team wants Bama, this team knows they should've beat Bama last year, this team knows they can beat Bama this year.

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

14 hours ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

Of all the teams in the entirety of college football, Texas is uniquely prepared for this vs Alabama. Bring it.

stop.

[Fud 9,552]

I think all three Bama DBs who got banged up (Koolaid, Moore, Key) got hurt in special teams when the game was already far out of hand 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

14 hours ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

You living under a rock? Texas is literally the first program in the modern composite rankings era of college football to have a perfect 1.000 ratingrating QB backing up another perfect 1.000 rating QB. We literally have the perfect backup QBs for this situation, we statistically could not ask for a better backup. As in, our backup QB situation is literally unprecedented, and mathematically impossible to be better.

Get smart, dipshit.

ah, it's a bit, my bad.

moving on...I'm sure it's been mentioned but us not having a QB that can scramble for yards when things breaks down puts so much pressure on the offense to execute. In this day and age, if your QB can't get yards with his legs, he better be so elite in the pocket as a passer. I think we were all hopeful with his rating coming out of HS that QE would be that elite as a pocket passer but his touch, footwork, mechanics, progressions, etc. are not very good.

[TexArcher 37,908]

16 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

I'm all in on Sark. The questions on his play calling and schemes are warranted because they are inconsistent as fuck. However, like we saw last year in the Bama game, Sark and the team were dialed, for sure when Ewers was in there and somewhat with gimpy Card.

I think we'll see the same Sark and team this week against Bama, or at least I'm praying like a mofo that we do. This team wants Bama, this team knows they should've beat Bama last year, this team knows they can beat Bama this year.

I agree with this.  

I still have my doubts with Sark, especially his tendency to turtle with 14-pt leads when we didn't have the defense to get away with it (not that it's ever a great idea anyway).  

But, I don't doubt his ability to get his team up for the biggest games.  Herman's teams showed up scared, and Strong's teams showed up lost.  Sark's team came out looking for a fight in the two biggest games last year -- Bama and ou.

Now, again, I expect our guys to believe that those are equals on the other side, not superiors, and for Sark to put our guys in position to make big plays.  I don't know if we'll win, but I know we won't show up scared, and that alone is a hell of an improvement.

27-20 Texas.  Fuck it, I'm in.

[crash_davis 23,113]

7 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

I agree with this.  

I still have my doubts with Sark, especially his tendency to turtle with 14-pt leads when we didn't have the defense to get away with it (not that it's ever a great idea anyway).  

But, I don't doubt his ability to get his team up for the biggest games.  Herman's teams showed up scared, and Strong's teams showed up lost.  Sark's team came out looking for a fight in the two biggest games last year -- Bama and ou.

Now, again, I expect our guys to believe that those are equals on the other side, not superiors, and for Sark to put our guys in position to make big plays.  I don't know if we'll win, but I know we won't show up scared, and that alone is a hell of an improvement.

27-20 Texas.  Fuck it, I'm in.

[Yuk 1,536]

I'm interested to see how Malik Murphy plays when Quinn gets cheap-shotted in the first quarter.

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by Yuk

[crash_davis 23,113]

1 minute ago, Yuk said:

I'm interested to see how Malik Murphy plays when Quinn gets cheap-shotted in the first quarter.

 

[6th Street 6,412]

Sark showed up ready for Bama and OU but was asleep at the wheel for TCU 

[RomaVicta 29,927]

I think we could have named the score with Rice, but Sark had different goals.

Someone here commented that Sark was dumb going long when the short game was there all night. Does this person not think Sarkisian saw this opportunity. Of course he did.

The long ball is the dagger we need against quality opponents. I think it was wise to work on it against Rice. Even if it never looked very good, those game reps and film study afterwards will pay dividends down the line unless you think that Ewers just cannnot connect on the long ball ever. 

We will see the short game this week against the Tide. We will see a lot of shit. If they work, then the long ball is poised to punish Alabama for playing too close to the line. Receivers downfield will likely be a little more open with room to adjust. Not saying Rice has a better secondary. Am saying Rice saw a lot of long balls and played it.

I expect Ewers to be sharp. I expect the whole team to be focused for this contest. 

I feel like we take them, but I would not bet a penny on it. 

[BachelorTrek 2,992]

20 minutes ago, Yuk said:

I'm interested to see how Malik Murphy plays when Quinn gets cheap-shotted in the first quarter.

 

That calls for a contract on the BamaJelly QB1 by a squad player during the game. FAFO.  Lulz.

[Longboard Horn 40,326]

[Js1 85,372]

43 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

But, I don't doubt his ability to get his team up for the biggest games.  Herman's teams showed up scared

??

I hated the shit out of Thomas Herman III, but no, getting his team up for a big game is basically what he did best.  His teams didn't show up against lesser opponents - Maryland, losses to meh TCU teams, Tech his first year.  Same shit he did at UH. 

2017 - 3 point loss @ #4 USC, 5 point loss to #12 OU, 3 point OT loss to #10 Ok State, won the bowl game
2018 - dominating wins over #22 USC, #17 TCU, #16 Iowa State, beat #7 OU in the Cotton Bowl and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl
2019 - 1 possession loss to #6 LSU and #6 OU, beat #16 KSU and #11 Utah in the bowl game
2020 - 4OT loss to OU, beat #6 Ok State, 3 point loss to #13 Iowa State, destroyed Colorado in the bowl game

[Js1 85,372]

1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

I'm all in on Sark. The questions on his play calling and schemes are warranted because they are inconsistent as fuck. However, like we saw last year in the Bama game, Sark and the team were dialed, for sure when Ewers was in there and somewhat with gimpy Card.

I think we'll see the same Sark and team this week against Bama, or at least I'm praying like a mofo that we do. This team wants Bama, this team knows they should've beat Bama last year, this team knows they can beat Bama this year.

Also, same. 

I fucking hated Tom Herman.  Charlie was a good guy, but god damn, it was hard to justify his stupidity at times (botched coin toss, jfc), but the players liked him.  I want Sark to succeed - love his recruiting, like his playcalling and scheme, just needs to all come together. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

3 minutes ago, Js1 said:

??

I hated the shit out of Thomas Herman III, but no, getting his team up for a big game is basically what he did best.  His teams didn't show up against lesser opponents - Maryland, losses to meh TCU teams, Tech his first year.  Same shit he did at UH. 

2017 - 3 point loss @ #4 USC, 5 point loss to #12 OU, 3 point OT loss to #10 Ok State, won the bowl game
2018 - dominating wins over #22 USC, #17 TCU, #16 Iowa State, beat #7 OU in the Cotton Bowl and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl
2019 - 1 possession loss to #6 LSU and #6 OU, beat #16 KSU and #11 Utah in the bowl game
2020 - 4OT loss to OU, beat #6 Ok State, 3 point loss to #13 Iowa State, destroyed Colorado in the bowl game

Yeah that was a head scratcher of a comment. To his credit though, it's best not to remember the Herman years.

[stork642 4,498]

19 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

I think we could have named the score with Rice, but Sark had different goals.

Someone here commented that Sark was dumb going long when the short game was there all night. Does this person not think Sarkisian saw this opportunity. Of course he did.

The long ball is the dagger we need against quality opponents. I think it was wise to work on it against Rice. Even if it never looked very good, those game reps and film study afterwards will pay dividends down the line unless you think that Ewers just cannnot connect on the long ball ever. 

We will see the short game this week against the Tide. We will see a lot of shit. If they work, then the long ball is poised to punish Alabama for playing too close to the line. Receivers downfield will likely be a little more open with room to adjust. Not saying Rice has a better secondary. Am saying Rice saw a lot of long balls and played it.

I expect Ewers to be sharp. I expect the whole team to be focused for this contest. 

I feel like we take them, but I would not bet a penny on it. 

Yeah Surly is full is national championship ex coaches.  Sark constantly throws deep to open up the underneath stuff.  Defenses are always playing the deep ball and that’s why our receivers are closely guarded on every deep pass.  Whether they connect or not it’s a message to the opposing def coordinator but sometimes it will connect or get a PI.  Just based off of percentages Texas should be inline for several long completions/PIs.  

Edited September 6, 2023 by stork642

[Rip76 4,941]

3 minutes ago, stork642 said:

Yeah Surly is full is national championship ex coaches.  Sark constantly throws deep to open up the underneath stuff.  Defenses ar

You fall asleep?

[gmr548 16,580]

I agree with this.  
I still have my doubts with Sark, especially his tendency to turtle with 14-pt leads when we didn't have the defense to get away with it (not that it's ever a great idea anyway).  
But, I don't doubt his ability to get his team up for the biggest games.  Herman's teams showed up scared, and Strong's teams showed up lost.  Sark's team came out looking for a fight in the two biggest games last year -- Bama and ou.
Now, again, I expect our guys to believe that those are equals on the other side, not superiors, and for Sark to put our guys in position to make big plays.  I don't know if we'll win, but I know we won't show up scared, and that alone is a hell of an improvement.
27-20 Texas.  Fuck it, I'm in.

I mean Sark got humiliated at Arkansas, blew an 18-point lead with 17 minutes left against OU, lost the conference opener and last ever trip to Lubbock, got embarrassed in a crucial game at OSU, and egregiously out coached against TCU. OU last year was undeniably great but everyone knew Texas was kicking them while they were down once it was confirmed Gabriel wouldn’t play.

The Alabama game is honestly the outlier in his big game history here. Credit for K State last year too, to be fair, but yeah.

Herman’s teams tended to show up and compete in big games but take stupid losses elsewhere. Like how dumb is it that 2019 LSU, an all time great team that dominated basically everyone else they played, very possibly loses to Texas if not for Orlando’s overly aggressive zero blitz on third and 17?

[Tex Long 4,401]

4 minutes ago, stork642 said:

Yeah Surly is full is national championship ex coaches.  Sark constantly throws deep to open up the underneath stuff.  Defenses ar

You spelled "arrrrrrr" wrong, Cap'n Sparrow.

[Fud 9,552]

If you're in the weeds on the player stuff, Bammer boards seem to think that if NB Malachi Moore can play but S Jaylen Key can't, they'll move Moore to S, move CB Terrion Arnold to NB, and start Louisiana transfer Trey Amos at CB

[Hookem2147 21,327]

Hey how about we don't rehash all of Tom Herman's losses 72 hours before we play #3 Alabama on the road!

Edited September 6, 2023 by Hookem2147

[stork642 4,498]

1 minute ago, Tex Long said:

You spelled "arrrrrrr" wrong, Cap'n Sparrow.

Haha. I’m old and on my phone.  I could probably change a tire faster than typing anything.  I have an accounting degree and can’t spell worth a shit also so any grammar nazis better put me on ignore.  FYI.  Arrrrrrrrrrr!

[Fud 9,552]

7 minutes ago, Fud said:

If you're in the weeds on the player stuff, Bammer boards seem to think that if NB Malachi Moore can play but S Jaylen Key can't, they'll move Moore to S, move CB Terrion Arnold to NB, and start Louisiana transfer Trey Amos at CB

Saban says they're both practicing, so there goes that

[Tex Long 4,401]

Just now, stork642 said:

Haha. I’m old and on my phone.  I could probably change a tire faster than typing anything.  I have an accounting degree and can’t spell worth a shit also so any grammar nazis better put me on ignore.  FYI.  Arrrrrrrrrrr!

I've had fingers hit the "send" by accident plenty of times. Worse, I've been so intent on editing some of those that by the time I got through and hit "save", this shit software has timed out and tells me it's too late to edit. Sucks, but the price is right.

[gmr548 16,580]

Hey how about we don't rehash all of Tom Herman's losses 72 hours before we play #3 Alabama on the road!

I agree.

More content to discuss if we do Strong

[Josef Pwag 1,738]

1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

I'm all in on Sark. The questions on his play calling and schemes are warranted because they are inconsistent as fuck.

I'm all in on my marriage. Sure, my wife cheats on me like crazy - she's banged everyone where she works. 

[stork642 4,498]

16 minutes ago, Rip76 said:

You fall asleep?

I wish.  

[crash_davis 23,113]

3 minutes ago, Josef Pwag said:

I'm all in on my marriage. Sure, my wife cheats on me like crazy - she's banged everyone where she works. 

NeverMarryAStripper

[BurntOrange&White 39,934]

26 minutes ago, Fud said:

Saban says they're both practicing, so there goes that

"They're able to practice just how much they're able to practice and how close they to 100% by game time will be the big question we'll have to answer and that's probably not something we can comment on until we get to that point."

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by BurntOrange&White

[TexArcher 37,908]

44 minutes ago, Js1 said:

??

I hated the shit out of Thomas Herman III, but no, getting his team up for a big game is basically what he did best.  His teams didn't show up against lesser opponents - Maryland, losses to meh TCU teams, Tech his first year.  Same shit he did at UH. 

2017 - 3 point loss @ #4 USC, 5 point loss to #12 OU, 3 point OT loss to #10 Ok State, won the bowl game
2018 - dominating wins over #22 USC, #17 TCU, #16 Iowa State, beat #7 OU in the Cotton Bowl and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl
2019 - 1 possession loss to #6 LSU and #6 OU, beat #16 KSU and #11 Utah in the bowl game
2020 - 4OT loss to OU, beat #6 Ok State, 3 point loss to #13 Iowa State, destroyed Colorado in the bowl game

Okay, that's like 7-7, and a bunch of those aren't "the biggest games."

What I was getting at is that there is a different swagger to this team than Tom's teams.  The energy we had last year for Bama and ou was unlike anything I had seen for about a dozen years.  We looked like a bunch of killers, and if not for one injury and a bunch of bad calls, we win both of those games.

No one was ever intimidated by Tom Herman's Texas teams.  I believe that Sark has brought that back. 

Edited September 6, 2023 by TexArcher

[Wilcox Cummingtonite 3,005]

18 hours ago, lemonandaturd said:

This is such an important game on the national stage for Texas' entry next year to the SEC.   I doubt Sankey is going to want a Rig 12 type referee shitshow coming down on the newest member.  SEC crew will probably call it fairly.  

[The Dog 44,060]

On 9/4/2023 at 5:08 PM, Wulaw Horn said:

The OL, especially the interior, is much more of a weak link than Ewers. 

 

3 hours ago, Bevo said:

That kind of sucks as a report. I was hoping our interior line would be much improved this year.

Pulling these over from the score prediction thread but I think the interior OL will improve over the year and with that Ewers' ability to hit the deep ball. It won't be right by this weekend but it could be enough to take the Big XII. This also goes for the running game - Bijan and Roschon covered for a lot of sins last year.

[Wilcox Cummingtonite 3,005]

Is the interior OL bad pretty much because of Herman's preference to recruit 20 WRs per class (instead of OL) or because Flood isn't developing them fast enough, or both?

I haven't been confident in our OL since 2005-2006 honestly. Those were some bad motherfuckers. After 2006, Colt was running for his life most of his time at Texas- he and Shipley were basically the entire 2009 offense. That Big 12 champ game vs. Neb was the worst OL performance I've ever seen in my life (fuck Suh though)

Edited September 6, 2023 by Wilcox Cummingtonite

[Bevo 13,577]

2 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

ah, it's a bit, my bad.

moving on...I'm sure it's been mentioned but us not having a QB that can scramble for yards when things breaks down puts so much pressure on the offense to execute. In this day and age, if your QB can't get yards with his legs, he better be so elite in the pocket as a passer. I think we were all hopeful with his rating coming out of HS that QE would be that elite as a pocket passer but his touch, footwork, mechanics, progressions, etc. are not very good.

Sark doesn't want his QB to scramble for yards. For him, scrambles are mainly to buy time in the pocket when protection breaks down.

[utexas8 1,450]

I'm interested to see how Malik Murphy plays when Quinn gets cheap-shotted in the first quarter.
 

Our luck, it’ll be right after Quinn hits his first deep ball.

[pyrohornIII 4,815]

19 hours ago, lemonandaturd said:

This is such an important game on the national stage for Texas' entry next year to the SEC.   I doubt Sankey is going to want a Rig 12 type referee shitshow coming down on the newest member.  SEC crew will probably call it fairly.  

I tend to agree with this due to the number of eyes watching more than Texas being a newcomer.  SEC wants to be perceived as the pinnacle of college football, and they can't do that if it's overly obvious that games are biased.  Not to say that there won't be some home cooking, but I don't think it will be overly egregious.  They will choose those plays that are subjective and let the calls (non-calls) benefit the Tide.

 

1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

I think we could have named the score with Rice, but Sark had different goals.

Someone here commented that Sark was dumb going long when the short game was there all night. Does this person not think Sarkisian saw this opportunity. Of course he did.

The long ball is the dagger we need against quality opponents. I think it was wise to work on it against Rice. Even if it never looked very good, those game reps and film study afterwards will pay dividends down the line unless you think that Ewers just cannnot connect on the long ball ever. 

We will see the short game this week against the Tide. We will see a lot of shit. If they work, then the long ball is poised to punish Alabama for playing too close to the line. Receivers downfield will likely be a little more open with room to adjust. Not saying Rice has a better secondary. Am saying Rice saw a lot of long balls and played it.

I expect Ewers to be sharp. I expect the whole team to be focused for this contest. 

I feel like we take them, but I would not bet a penny on it. 

I felt the same way.  The Rice game just had a scrimmage feel to it.  More about lessons and learning than scoreboard.   I think it's why we saw 30 different players take defensive snaps in the first half alone.  Also why we didn't see more of Ford, Catalon and others, letting the younger unknowns prove themselves, or in the case of Gbenda to showcase his improvements.  

[Bevo 13,577]

1 hour ago, Josef Pwag said:

I'm all in on my marriage. Sure, my wife cheats on me like crazy - she's banged everyone where she works. 

 

thanks for the heads up, smalls    Where does she work?

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

6 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Sark doesn't want his QB to scramble for yards. For him, scrambles are mainly to buy time in the pocket when protection breaks down.

[Atticus 3,975]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Hey how about we don't rehash all of Tom Herman's losses 72 hours before we play #3 Alabama on the road!

Jesus, let’s not rehash anything then!

[Codaxx 5,755]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Hey how about we don't rehash all of Tom Herman's losses 72 hours before we play #3 Alabama on the road!

If you had something better to do, you wouldnt be posting 

[Hank Kingsley 20,966]

24 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Sark doesn't want his QB to scramble for yards. For him, scrambles are mainly to buy time in the pocket when protection breaks down.

On Rewind, Sark said "I think is something you got to get used to a little bit more this year, is Quinn using his legs on 3rd down" after he ran for a 1st down. 

Galindo: "Is he comfortable there?"

Sark: "Very comfortable." 

 

 

[sith_horn 2,406]

45 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Sark doesn't want his QB to scramble for yards. For him, scrambles are mainly to buy time in the pocket when protection breaks down.

Are you sure about that? Taking easy yards when the field is open and everyone is covered isn't too risky so long as the QB isn't stupid about it. Big difference between making a defense pay for selling out to coverage vs Sam Ehlinger trucking defenders. I think Sark just doesn't want his QB's tempting fate.

[Atticus 3,975]

Quinn tempted fate more than needed on some of his scrambles, but he’ll learn. He’s definitely showing heart on his scrambles

[BurntOrange&White 39,934]

8 minutes ago, Atticus said:

Quinn tempted fate more than needed on some of his scrambles, but he’ll learn. He’s definitely showing heart on his scrambles

[Boss Hogg 808]

55 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

On Rewind, Sark said "I think is something you got to get used to a little bit more this year, is Quinn using his legs on 3rd down" after he ran for a 1st down. 

Galindo: "Is he comfortable there?"

Sark: "Very comfortable." 

 

 

Well, he fooled me. Looks pretty uncomfortable. Heavy footed. Happy to be proven wrong.