Game Week Thread Week 4, 2023: Texas @ Baylor

[UTEX_ME 4,754]

45 minutes ago, Duane Moore said:

I’d expect to see that strategy from most teams we play. Ball control, keep away, shorten the game with the new clock rules and limit our possessions as much as possible. OU may be the only team that doesn’t deploy that strategy against us. 

And against Wyoming it only worked on two drives against Texas D resulting in 3 points. Good luck BU 

[Horn Dogg 3,808]

Baylor deserves a major ass kicking, let’s deliver it to them!

Edited September 18, 2023 by Horn Dogg

[Ghost of LL 15,486]

8 hours ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Their LB are really bad against the run. I think you will see more of that wildcat look with Red at "QB." 

 

Two observations here:

1) LIU may have the best look in college football.  First, you got the "Sharks."  That's just a great mascot.  Who the fuck isn't scared of sharks?  And it's a mascot that works for Long Island--right, Chief Brody?

But beyond that, those uniforms are fucking great.  Yellow is an underutilized color in sports uniforms.  But when it's used--see generally, the Oakland A's, Los Angeles Lakers--it works.  But see Nashville Predators.  And matching yellow with that light blue works well.

2) That LIU running back is just painfully slow.

[GoldAppleCorps 617]

Having watched way too much Baylor football, a few things:

Baylor will want to drain the clock. Their offense is largely what they want to call "wide zone" where the OL blocks sideways in an attempt to stretch the defense laterally. The RB is supposed to find the the open gap and cut. Ideally, this gets 3-4 yards at a time, runs the play clock, and converts 3rd/4th downs to waste as much time as possible. Baylor lacks the strong power back to make this work. The QB can make hay on deliberate keepers, but isn't strong enough to improvise.

Passing only occurs when the defense over-commits to stop the run. It's usually thrown back "against the grain" to a WIDE open receiver standing by himself. The injured starter QB Blake Shapen can sort of read defenses and work a progression (I do not expect him to play). The 2nd string Sawyer Robertson is a transfer from Mississippi State. He will ONLY throw to his first read, and will stare it down.

Texas has way too much speed and power. Sweat can single-handedly blow up their OL. The danger here is getting too aggressive and jumping run fits. Texas is better at every position, and only has to play within themselves to avoid long, clock draining, possession stealing drives.

Baylor has no DL. Texas could literally run the A gap dive the entire game and win handily. Avoid the temptation to over-innovate, beat the defender in front of you, and smash your way down the field until Baylor's defense puts all 11 guys on the LOS in an attempt to push back. Any passing done is purely for fun. Don't overthink the problem.

Wyoming used a combination of time wasting and strength to give themselves a chance. Texas obliged by doing just enough dumb things to kill the precious few amount of possessions they had. It made the game a lot closer. Baylor will want to do the same thing, but Texas is bigger, faster, stronger, and more talented at every spot. Play a simple game, stay focused, and enjoy a 50% Burnt Orange stadium until halftime, after which it'll be 90%.

[gmr548 16,503]

Baylor deserves a major ass kicking, let’s deliver it to them!

Texas State already did

[Hiphopopotamos 20,865]

 

Also - after watching those clips of the Baylor LB's doing what is presumably run defense (but I can't be sure) - I'm positive this will be Baxter's first 100yd rushing game.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Hiphopopotamos

[bigcigar 1,161]

I think this is the week the Texas offense puts it together for a complete game. Zero drops, low real penalties, 500+ yards of offense. The team has to know there’s a big 12 target in their back and responds with a great week of prep followed by a dominant win.

[torre 1,284]

48 minutes ago, GoldAppleCorps said:

Having watched way too much Baylor football, a few things:

 

Nice summary.

Comments about Utah ?   Baylor had a 13-6 lead and gave up 2 TD's in the 4th Q, winner in final minutes (20-13).    Utah without starting QB but beat Florida with backup.

 

[El Squared 1,793]

We owe these fockbears plenty…I hope the coaches get the players ANGRY.

Would love to blast them into oblivion, but they are already in Waco , so there’s no point.

Will take any victory that overcomes the zebrahoes.

Edited September 18, 2023 by El Squared

[Jiggy-Z 3,432]

3 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

Two observations here:

1) LIU may have the best look in college football.  First, you got the "Sharks."  That's just a great mascot.  Who the fuck isn't scared of sharks?  And it's a mascot that works for Long Island--right, Chief Brody?

But beyond that, those uniforms are fucking great.  Yellow is an underutilized color in sports uniforms.  But when it's used--see generally, the Oakland A's, Los Angeles Lakers--it works.  But see Nashville Predators.  And matching yellow with that light blue works well.

2) That LIU running back is just painfully slow.

Mascot should be the Nurse Sharks. Harmless docile bottom feeders not dangerous to humans or bears.

[Hard Times 299]

1 minute ago, torre said:

Nice summary.

Comments about Utah ?   Baylor had a 13-6 lead and gave up 2 TD's in the 4th Q, winner in final minutes (20-13).    Utah without starting QB but beat Florida with backup.

 

I don't know who played vs FL, but the 2nd string Barnes made Case McCoy look like Payton Manning. The due was 6/19 and I probably coulda done better. They finally put in the 3rd stringer Johnson half way through the 4th Qtr and immediately scored 2 TD's. Even a bad Ewers should be able to move the ball on Bailor.

[Duane Moore 5,236]

6 hours ago, UTEX_ME said:

And against Wyoming it only worked on two drives against Texas D resulting in 3 points. Good luck BU 

But the game was also 10-10 at the start of the 4th quarter. A lot of teams that we play would love that result and take their chances on what happens in the 4th. 

[gmr548 16,503]

Nice summary.
Comments about Utah ?   Baylor had a 13-6 lead and gave up 2 TD's in the 4th Q, winner in final minutes (20-13).    Utah without starting QB but beat Florida with backup.
 

That revolves entirely around Utah’s QB issue. They made the switch to the younger third stringer and knifed through Baylor. The Baylor defense had very little to do with Utah’s score line.

[Longhornlove 4,779]

We should give them a dose of their own medicine and rape them(metaphorically).

[6th Street 6,357]

Can't have any wasted possessions where we go 3 and out after heaving it incomplete on 1st down and run for no gain on 2nd down leaving us in a tough 3rd and long.  

[GoldAppleCorps 617]

14 minutes ago, torre said:

Nice summary.

Comments about Utah ?   Baylor had a 13-6 lead and gave up 2 TD's in the 4th Q, winner in final minutes (20-13).    Utah without starting QB but beat Florida with backup.

 

Utah is the #12 team with Cam Rising. Without him, they're barely average. The backup QB they used against Baylor was pitifully slow. Any player with even moderate D-1 speed would have flipped the field several times.

Baylor got the ball back after giving up the tying TD with around 3 minutes left. They were deep in their own end. I forget the exact sequence, but the Bears faced 3rd and 12 with like 50 seconds left on the clock.

During the play, the QB (Robertson) was pressured. He threw blindly across his body into the center of the field for an easy INT. Had he simply eaten the sack, Baylor could have punted and defended a field with no time left. OT was a virtual certainty. Instead, Utah ran several dive plays (already in FG range) to kill the clock. They ended up scoring when a Baylor player deliberately threw the RB into the endzone. A fairly astute move.

On the ensuing possession, Utah let a single receiver run behind them (yes, they were in umbrella coverage - it was comical) catch a deep bomb to give Baylor a final shot at a TD pass from the 12 yard line. The fade was on target and likely should have been flagged for DPI. It wasn't.

The game was a mistake filled slog with 2 teams trying to kill off the clock. If Texas false starts, holds, and plays with concrete handed receivers trying to execute a technical work of art, Baylor can drain the clock and make it interesting. If Texas plays high school football concepts with their size, strength, speed, and skill advantages, Baylor will be done by the middle of the 2nd quarter.

[kwood4408 756]

Nice summary.
Comments about Utah ?   Baylor had a 13-6 lead and gave up 2 TD's in the 4th Q, winner in final minutes (20-13).    Utah without starting QB but beat Florida with backup.
 

The UF/Utah game was on crack. UF could not get out of their own way so no idea how good Utah actually is based on that game.

[Brothahorn 10,085]

45-20

[bad_teammate 13,132]

56 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

 

Also - after watching those clips of the Baylor LB's doing what is presumably run defense (but I can't be sure) - I'm positive this will be Baxter's first 100yd rushing game.

Backup QB... fuck

[gmr548 16,503]

If Texas false starts, holds, and plays with concrete handed receivers trying to execute a technical work of art

So you do expect a close game then

[Js1 85,104]

3 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

Backup QB... fuck

We literally just faced one who managed to throw for 136 yards and 1 INT on our defense.

And that backup QB and the Wyoming team would probably beat Baylor by 10+

[WinningIsHard 4,017]

It would make my day if Sark walked up to the podium after we shit stomp baylor and said "there's only two things I hate in this world, one is people who are unwilling to forgive people for making mistakes, and rapists." lol 

[Atticus 3,922]

14 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

Backup QB... fuck

He’s pretty bad, so naturally he’s gonna put it all together against us. 
 

Good thing we offered him though. 

[The Dog 43,802]

 

[Js1 85,104]

Just now, The Dog said:

 

That’s because every member of the hateful 8 would rather go 1-11 if that one win was Texas. They hate us more than they like themselves 

[ousux 5,586]

 

I'll switch over to antenna for this one. Better picture and zero streaming lag.

[Hank_Hill 18,488]

1 hour ago, 6th Street said:

Can't have any wasted possessions where we go 3 and out after heaving it incomplete on 1st down and run for no gain on 2nd down leaving us in a tough 3rd and long.  

We could have multiple of these and still win. They’re shit. But yes I would like not to.

[ousux 5,586]

That’s because every member of the hateful 8 would rather go 1-11 if that one win was Texas. They hate us more than they like themselves 

aggy syndrome. No amount of vaxxing and masking will stop the spread. /CR

[closetojumping 62,231]

2 hours ago, GoldAppleCorps said:

Having watched way too much Baylor football, a few things:

Baylor will want to drain the clock. Their offense is largely what they want to call "wide zone" where the OL blocks sideways in an attempt to stretch the defense laterally. The RB is supposed to find the the open gap and cut. Ideally, this gets 3-4 yards at a time, runs the play clock, and converts 3rd/4th downs to waste as much time as possible. Baylor lacks the strong power back to make this work. The QB can make hay on deliberate keepers, but isn't strong enough to improvise.

Passing only occurs when the defense over-commits to stop the run. It's usually thrown back "against the grain" to a WIDE open receiver standing by himself. The injured starter QB Blake Shapen can sort of read defenses and work a progression (I do not expect him to play). The 2nd string Sawyer Robertson is a transfer from Mississippi State. He will ONLY throw to his first read, and will stare it down.

Texas has way too much speed and power. Sweat can single-handedly blow up their OL. The danger here is getting too aggressive and jumping run fits. Texas is better at every position, and only has to play within themselves to avoid long, clock draining, possession stealing drives.

Baylor has no DL. Texas could literally run the A gap dive the entire game and win handily. Avoid the temptation to over-innovate, beat the defender in front of you, and smash your way down the field until Baylor's defense puts all 11 guys on the LOS in an attempt to push back. Any passing done is purely for fun. Don't overthink the problem.

Wyoming used a combination of time wasting and strength to give themselves a chance. Texas obliged by doing just enough dumb things to kill the precious few amount of possessions they had. It made the game a lot closer. Baylor will want to do the same thing, but Texas is bigger, faster, stronger, and more talented at every spot. Play a simple game, stay focused, and enjoy a 50% Burnt Orange stadium until halftime, after which it'll be 90%.

So you don't like Franklin or Hall on the DL? I think they're still decent, but they don't have a lot of help. 

Some of my friends that cover the sport have been saying since Rhule left that Aranda was instilling a soft culture versus what Rhule had going on there. Aranda won the conference in Year 2 with mostly Rhule's guys, but since then, this looks like a program that is actively seeking its historic norms of being a below average shitheel.

Sarkisian has to know that this is the Baylor Super Bowl, and so should his team. They're going to come out amped up and aggressive. I'm hoping, instead of a boneheaded 3 and out, Texas runs the ball early with authority and takes the adrenaline on the Baylor end out of the equation.

 

[ztejas 43,263]

14 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

You know what that is, boys? That's bulletin board material. What he should have gone with was some rat poison, but he has committed the classic blunder of giving Sark something he can repeat in a team meeting. 

[ztejas 43,263]

2 hours ago, GoldAppleCorps said:

The danger here is getting too aggressive and jumping run fits.

I saw this happen a few times against WYO - especially early. We wound up over penetrating and missed the play because of it.

[closetojumping 62,231]

BTW, does anyone know who the ref crew is going to be yet? I don't know when those things are made clear during gameweek. That fucker Kevin Mar better not be calling our game. He's constantly fucking us, tried to screw us against Baylor last year, and is a big Nebraska fan with an axe to grind. He should be banned from covering Texas games, along with his entire shitty crew. I couldn't believe he was out there on Saturday and, sure enough, they made overt mistakes that did not look accidental.

[BurntOrange&White 39,650]

5 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

BTW, does anyone know who the ref crew is going to be yet? I don't know when those things are made clear during gameweek. That fucker Kevin Mar better not be calling our game. He's constantly fucking us, tried to screw us against Baylor last year, and is a big Nebraska fan with an axe to grind. He should be banned from covering Texas games, along with his entire shitty crew. I couldn't believe he was out there on Saturday and, sure enough, they made overt mistakes that did not look accidental.

I hope that son of a bitch doesn't call a single fucking game of ours again.

[Born Burnt 6,147]

[Vertigo 20,266]

2 hours ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

 

I am not sure I believe this. I think every team is going to pull some bullshit to try and get an edge on us. 

[gofuckyourself 8,121]

45 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

Let's peek ahead at Dave Aranda and Baylor football after the game ...

[dcar00 14,035]

we seem to have solved "the entire second half is fucked after taking a lead" problem now we need to solve the "3rd quarter is fucked" problem.

[WinningIsHard 4,017]

35 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

BTW, does anyone know who the ref crew is going to be yet? I don't know when those things are made clear during gameweek. That fucker Kevin Mar better not be calling our game. He's constantly fucking us, tried to screw us against Baylor last year, and is a big Nebraska fan with an axe to grind. He should be banned from covering Texas games, along with his entire shitty crew. I couldn't believe he was out there on Saturday and, sure enough, they made overt mistakes that did not look accidental.

That PI call on an a clearly uncatchable ball was fucking egregious. It's hard to beat a motivated team and motivated refs. I have some hope that the SEC has enough pull to reach out and articulate that if Texas or oklahoma start getting fucked that they will make that shit conference's future bleak. It's probably a fantasy, but I hope anyway. 

[closetojumping 62,231]

15 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

I am not sure I believe this. I think every team is going to pull some bullshit to try and get an edge on us. 

I'm not sure fucking with Vegas and the betting community is something any of these schools wants to do.

[SicEm Bears 0]

A lot of real-life losers chirping in this thread. Degreeless, classless, bums. 

[sidis 9,743]

of course this has a lot of "trap game" variables in that we will get their backup qb, baylor's season is already over in any meaningful sense, it's hard to imagine them going above .500 in conference, and the only thing possible that could give them something to be happy about for the rest of the year is winning this game so we will get the nothing to lose kitchen sink from them.  paired with texas feeling good about itself and me still not fully trusting sark and quinn, i'd normally not be able to help but feel that there's the potential for a wtf.

that said, the thing that almost always overcomes that is great line play and we should be able to dominate them there in both directions.  this would be a great game for the oline and a the rbs to get something dominant going which they obviously haven't yet.  particularly because dave has been really effective at getting at our qbs under sark in the passing game.  they will undoubtedly go three high-three down as much as possible so it's time for baxter, brooks, and blue to dominate and set some tone to the rest of the conference that 3high-3down isn't some sort of sark/quinn-defeating cheat code for the rest of the season.

this is a great opportunity for sark to demonstrate he has exorcised his seven win steve-ness since these are the games he's always screwed up and hopefully for the running game to finally shine.

Edited September 18, 2023 by sidis

[Brothahorn 10,085]

That’s because every member of the hateful 8 would rather go 1-11 if that one win was Texas. They hate us more than they like themselves 

I hope Sark and the gang understand this.

[honolulu horn 6,157]

1 hour ago, ousux said:

9 hours ago, Longboard Horn said:

 

I'll switch over to antenna for this one. Better picture and zero streaming lag.

We've all been wondering how you were planning to watch the game. Thanks for the info; now we can finally rest easy. 

[Doc Daneeka 6,769]

9 minutes ago, Brothahorn said:

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

That’s because every member of the hateful 8 would rather go 1-11 if that one win was Texas. They hate us more than they like themselves 

I hope Sark and the gang understand this.

I believe “embrace the hate” implies that they do. 

[GoldAppleCorps 617]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

So you don't like Franklin or Hall on the DL? I think they're still decent, but they don't have a lot of help. 

Some of my friends that cover the sport have been saying since Rhule left that Aranda was instilling a soft culture versus what Rhule had going on there. Aranda won the conference in Year 2 with mostly Rhule's guys, but since then, this looks like a program that is actively seeking its historic norms of being a below average shitheel.

Sarkisian has to know that this is the Baylor Super Bowl, and so should his team. They're going to come out amped up and aggressive. I'm hoping, instead of a boneheaded 3 and out, Texas runs the ball early with authority and takes the adrenaline on the Baylor end out of the equation.

 

They'll be in the right place doing the right things. They're just not big enough to make a difference. The Texas OL could just simply blow them out of the hole every play.

This isn't the Baylor teams some of us remember from the 2000s where they ran around like practice wasn't even a thing. They believe in their coaching. They'll head to the right spot and do the right thing. They're just slow and weak at every position. They lose every position battle.

Baylor's only chance is Texas mistakes. If Texas tries an intricate game plan full of reverse passes and such, the odds of mistake go up. If Texas challenges Baylor to a game of physical football, there's not much Baylor can do about it.

[Rickylovesweed 14,155]

9 hours ago, UTEX_ME said:

And against Wyoming it only worked on two drives against Texas D resulting in 3 points. Good luck BU 

Wyoming's OL is also better than Baylor's OL. 

[Rickylovesweed 14,155]

3 hours ago, torre said:

Nice summary.

Comments about Utah ?   Baylor had a 13-6 lead and gave up 2 TD's in the 4th Q, winner in final minutes (20-13).    Utah without starting QB but beat Florida with backup.

 

Utah's offense has struggled offensively without their starting QB. They only scored 31 points against Weber St last weekend and struggled a good bit. 

[Rickylovesweed 14,155]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

We literally just faced one who managed to throw for 136 yards and 1 INT on our defense.

And that backup QB and the Wyoming team would probably beat Baylor by 10+

Also, Baylor's backup QB (Robertson) definitely isn't healthy. He has a pretty major ankle issue and you could tell it was bothering him this past weekend. 

[smwhorn 481]

When is the last time we were three touchdown favorites over the rapists?  That's a serious question.  Maybe during VY's years?

[Levi 2,576]

I read somewhere that Texas is 4-1 in their last 5 games against teams that run the 3-high safety defense.