Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 6)

[satyanash 14281]

 Collecting post-game analysis articles regarding the blOU game here:

(Gerald Goodridge) No. 12 Oklahoma 34, No. 3 Texas 30: Three things we learned

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The Red River Rivalry is often one of the best games of the year and this game turned out to be no different, but for the final time in the Big 12, the Oklahoma Sooners came away with the Golden Hat with a win over the Texas Longhorns. Jeff Lebby and the Oklahoma offense was able to move the ball relatively at-will for most of the game, with Dillon Gabriel’s feet being one of the biggest difference makers for the Sooners. However, on the final drive of the game, Gabriel relied on his arm and casually drove the Sooners down the field to score.

1. The defense is fallible

The unit that has been the strength of the team for the whole year was picked apart on pivotal drives and pivotal plays by Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel. On the decisive drive of the game, Gabriel operated the Sooners’ offense like a machine, going 4-4 for 58 yards and the game-winning touchdown. He also threw a smart pass to draw a pass interference call on Texas to put the Sooners in positive field position and put the Longhorns’ defense even more on its heels.

It wasn’t just his arm, but his ability to avoid Texas defenders both on called runs and on broken plays, racking up 113 yards and a touchdown, averaging 8.1 yards per carry. For most of the game, Gabiel was the leading rusher and if not for Jonathon Brooks’s 29-yard touchdown run he would have finished the game as the leader.

2. The red zone woes have yet to be solved

Going into the game, Texas was No. 108 in the country in offensive red zone touchdown percentage. On one of the most decisive drives of the game, Texas took the ball down to the Oklahoma one-yard line after a 28-yard reception from Jordan Whittington took the ball to the one-yard line. The Longhorns had four chances to get one yard and were unable to punch the ball in, in spite of putting their big formation in. Texas got a second chance at life after Oklahoma missed a field goal and failed to extend its lead.

On the game, Texas was 1-3 in the red zone, with two turnovers that marred the performance, and the only score coming on the foot of Bert Auburn. After some scares against the Alabama Crimson Tide, Wyoming Cowboys, and Baylor Bears, the chickens came home to roost and had a lot to say about why Texas lost the game.

3. Texas can’t always survive the slow starts

It was nothing short of a disastrous first quarter for the Longhorns Texas was unable to overcome what has become a trend for them. Texas turned the ball over two times in the first quarter of the game, including the opening drive in which the Sooners essentially stole the opening possession of the game after electing to kick the ball. Oklahoma finished the game with 12 drives to Texas’s 11, in a game that turned into a matchup of whoever had the ball last would win. Truly, the Sooners got two extra possessions, with the Longhorns’ final drive turning into a scramble to set up for a last-second Hail Mary.

Texas managed to get things going late and Ewers shrugged off the terrible start to operate the offense well in the second half, but ultimately it was too little, too late for Texas. The Longhorns will be favored in every game for the remainder of the year, with a well-timed bye week following the rivalry game. Texas will need to rebound quick and put the week off to good use if they want to reach the presumptive rematch in Arlington at the end of the season.

Steve Habel: No. 12 Oklahoma’s late-game magic lifts it over No. 3 Texas in wild Red River Rivalry dustup

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DALLAS – Oklahoma quarterback Dylan Gabriel hit Nic Anderson with the game-winning, three-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds remaining as the No. 12 Sooners made the plays they needed in a final, decisive drive in a 34-30 win over No. 3 Texas on Saturday before a sun-splashed capacity crowd of 94,000 in the venerable Cotton Bowl on the grounds of the State Fair of Texas.

Gabriel finished with 398 total yards, passing for 285 and a touchdown and rushing for 113 more and another score, and was unflappable in Oklahoma’s final drive, moving the Sooners (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) 75 yards in just five plays to secure the win. Texas had a last-gasp possession but quarterback Quinn Ewers’ desperation pass into the end zone as time expired fell to the turf, setting off a raucous celebration on the Oklahoma side of the stadium.

Ewers finished with 346 yards and a touchdown passing but also was intercepted twice, fumbled once and endured five sacks. Still, it looked like the Longhorns (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) had done enough to pull out a victory when they took a short-lived 30-27 lead on a 47-yard field goal from Burt Auburn with 1:17 to play. But then Gabriel and the Sooners produced their magic in stunningly easy fashion to win a battle of unbeaten teams that were playing for the final time in the regular season as members of the Big 12 Conference.

Texas had plenty of highlights. Jonathon Brooks reeled off 129 yards on 22 carries to record his fourth straight 100-plus yard game. Jordan Whittington racked up a career-high 10 catches for 113 yards and Xavier Worthy hauled in eight of Ewers’ throws for 108 yards. In the end it was the turnovers, nine penalties for 70 yards and the failure to score and stop Oklahoma from scoring in the red zone that doomed the Longhorns.

The Sooners took advantage of Texas’s early case of nerves and an interception by Gentry Williams on the game’s second snap to move smartly to a Gabriel nine-yard TD run and a 7-0 lead at the 13:11 mark of the first quarter.

The Longhorns pushed for the equalizer, with Jordan Whittington running 20 yards on a fake punt to convert one fourth down and short yardage running back (and former high school quarterback) Savion Red passing 25 yards to Gunnar Helm to move the chains on a second. That drive ended with a second interception of Ewers, this one on a pass tipped by Ja’Tavion Sanders near the goal line and intercepted by the Sooners’ Kendel Dolby at the OU 10.

It was Ewers’ first game with two interceptions since the loss to Oklahoma State in week 8 of last season. Texas held on three snaps, forcing a Sooners punt that was blocked in the end zone by Kitan Crawford and picked up for a touchdown by Malik Muhammed for the tying score. Oklahoma reassumed the lead on a 27-yard field goal by Zach Schmit with 14:14 to play in the second quarter at the end of a 78-yard, 13-play drive.

The possession was kept alive by a running-to-the punter penalty and highlighted by a 43-yard pass from Gabriel to Jalil Farooq. The Longhorns responded with a 22-yard TD pass from Ewers to Helm, again on fourth down, to take their first lead of the game, 14-10, with 9:27 to play until halftime. Oklahoma countered with a one-yard Tawee Walker scoring run to cap a 75-yard march and retake the advantage at 17-14 with 5:23 remaining before the break.

Texas moved to the OU 5 before settling for a 24-yard FG by Bert Auburn with 1:53 to play in the half that tied the game at 17. That gave the Sooners enough time produce a drive that ended in a 26-yard field goal by Schmit and a 20-17 lead at intermission. Oklahoma added to its lead on the opening possession of the third quarter, again driving 75 yards to a one-yard touchdown run by Walker with 10:21 to play.

The Longhorns jabbed back with a 45-yard Auburn field goal to pull to within 27-20 with 1:53 to play in the third. The Longhorns were denied on four snaps from the OU 1 early in the fourth quarter, when three runs by Brooks and a fourth-down pass to Worthy could not get the ball into the end zone.

Oklahoma immediately came off the goal line with a 12-yard run by Walker, kept its march alive with a 12-yard scramble by Gabriel on third down and 11 and moved into Longhorns’ territory when Gabriel got loose again for a 44-yard run up the middle. The drive ended at the UT 27, from where Schmit was short on a 45-yard field goal attempt with 7:55 to play.

That gave the Longhorns some momentum and they used it well. Brooks got loose around left end for a 29-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 27 with 6:10 to play, setting the table for the furious finish. The Longhorns will have 13 days to lick their wounds before traveling to Houston to face the Cougars on Oct. 21.

Sam Khan Jr.: How Oklahoma handed Texas first loss of season in wild Red River Rivalry game

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No. 12 Oklahoma upset No. 3 Texas 34-30 on Saturday in the 119th edition of the Red River rivalry and the teams’ last as Big 12 foes. Here’s what you need to know:

• Oklahoma (6-0) QB Dillon Gabriel completed 23 of 38 passes for 285 yards and rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, including a 44-yard run midway through the fourth.
• Texas (5-1) quarterback Quinn Ewers had three turnovers, including two interceptions, as he went 31-of-37 passing for 346 yards.
• The Longhorns tied the game thanks to Jonathon Brooks’ 29-yard touchdown run with 6:10 to play in the fourth, and Texas kicker Bert Auburn hit a go-ahead 47-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the game. But the Sooners stormed back with a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to retake the lead with 15 seconds left.
• Oklahoma’s special teams struggled in the contest, including allowing a fake punt, having a punt blocked for a touchdown and coming up short on a 44-yard field goal attempt.

How Oklahoma got it done

Gabriel is the Sooners’ MVP in this one. His patience and movement in the pocket kept Texas’ defense off balance all day. The Longhorns tried to pressure him from the inside and every time they did, Gabriel found a way to get outside the pocket and get positive yards or at least avoid big negative plays (Texas sacked Gabriel only once for a loss of 1 yard). His designed quarterback runs gave OU a running game presence it needed to win this game — he finished with a team-high 113 yards. And he engineered the game-winning drive with precision. People could quibble with Oklahoma’s schedule before today, but after taking down Texas, it’s time to give Gabriel his due. — Sam Khan Jr., Texas senior writer

All the credit in the world goes to Gabriel, who missed out on a 49-0 stomping at the hands of Texas a year ago due to a concussion. But with all the momentum swung in Oklahoma’s favor after Auburn drilled the 47-yard field goal to put Texas up 30-27 with 1:17 left, the Longhorns defense was nowhere to be found on the last and most crucial drive.

Texas went with a prevent defense, only rushing three or four on OU’s lightning-quick drive and Gabriel was provided with enough time by his offensive line to make the clutch throws necessary to move the chains. For a team with no timeouts and 75 yards to go, the Sooners looked like they’d run that scenario drill a million times in practice while Texas looked lost and allowed OU simply too much cushion underneath.

What went wrong for Texas

The Longhorns simply made too many mistakes to beat the Sooners. Three turnovers proved costly. Texas committed nine penalties. And they couldn’t impose their will up front when they needed to do so. An offensive line that pushed Alabama around in Week 2 had trouble doing the same to Oklahoma. Losing center Jake Majors in the first quarter certainly impacted that. But no series defined Texas’ difficulty today quite like the early fourth-quarter sequence when the Sooners stuffed three Texas rush attempts from the 1-yard line, then stifled a bubble screen to Xavier Worthy that resulted in a turnover on downs.

Are the Sooners back?

A year ago, Oklahoma lost this game 49-0. Gabriel was injured and didn’t play, the Sooners were a sieve on defense and Oklahoma looked to be experiencing a far drop-off after the departure of Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams. One year later, after a massive roster overhaul aided by the transfer portal and recruiting, the Sooners out-toughed and beat the No. 3 Longhorns to cap the quick road back.

Despite a bevy of special teams miscues, the Sooners were the stronger team in the trenches, highlighted by a goal line stand and five sacks of Ewers. This Oklahoma team has its share of holes and flaws, but Saturday’s performance is exactly what the Sooners expected when they hired Brent Venables from Clemson. Now it’d be a shocker if these teams didn’t meet again in the Big 12 championship game.

What the loss of Red River means for the Big 12

As much as the Big 12 has rightfully celebrated its expansion and newfound stability moving forward, Saturday afternoon was a prodding reminder of just how much the conference is losing when Texas and Oklahoma depart for the SEC next season. We all understood the league was being stripped of its two marquee brands, but then both emerged as the clear class of an otherwise diminished Big 12 through the opening weeks of this season, doubling down on that impact.

Saturday’s Red River Rivalry commanded the attention of college football in a way that, frankly, no other teams in the conference can come close to at the moment, and the programs feel destined to meet again in Dallas for what would be an awkward title matchup in a couple of months. If that’s not bad enough, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey’s peacocking presence Saturday was a little added salt in the wound.

Big 12 fans are understandably quick to point out the recent parity and how long it’s been since the Longhorns have won a conference championship. The league, now more aligned than ever, will plow on without Texas and Oklahoma and the accompanying narcissism. In time, new Big 12 powers and rivalries will be established. But until then, the shine from showdowns like today will unquestionably dim.

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: OU wins the Red River Shootout

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Dillon Gabriel will go down as an Oklahoma legend after that game. The Sooner quarterback played hero-ball in the Cotton Bowl, turning 38 pass attempts and 14 carries into 398 total yards, two touchdowns, and crucially, zero turnovers.

Nearly everything went according to plan for Oklahoma early. They scored two massive early turnovers in either red zone on Texas’ first two possessions and were able to establish some rhythm on offense that sustained them throughout the game. They were also fortuitous with injury luck. Ja’Tavion Sanders was clearly limited and unable to exploit Oklahoma in the passing game and the Longhorns also lost valuable veterans Jalen Catalon and Jake Majors early in the contest.

Yet down the stretch Texas’ depth still bore out and allowed them to adjust on defense and dominate late in the game. The Longhorns erased a 27-17 deficit by scoring 10 unanswered points to take the lead with only 1:17 left on the clock. Then the Texas defense allowed the Sooners to pitch and catch down the field and finish with a score in the end zone to ultimately secure a huge 34-30 victory with a rematch in Arlington come season’s end looking extremely likely.

Quick thought no. 1: OU had a decided gameplan advantage

As it turned out, Sanders wasn’t healthy enough for Texas to give Oklahoma the Alabama treatment. Texas’ uber spread sets with flex tight end alignments, quick tempo, and loads of early down passing weren’t a go with their NFL tight end limited by his ankle injury.

Perhaps worse for Texas, who still had loads of weapons in their arsenal, the OU defensive gameplan took them by surprise. Rather than planning on trying to disrupt the Longhorns with a dizzying array of dangerous but exploitable blitzes, the Sooners played a lot of base defense and coverage. Brent Venables had clearly taken advantage of the lack of a marquee non-conference matchup and the overall ease of the schedule to get in a lot of productive Texas work. The Sooners were all over Texas’ tendencies like it was 2004 and played their best game of the season defensively by far.

Texas was able to adjust with time and still pile up 527 yards of offense but not before a shaky start flustered Quinn Ewers into throwing a pair of interceptions, fumbling on an over eager scramble, and taking five sacks.

On the other side of the ball, Texas’ gameplan coming in made sense and was executed decently… but proved wrong. The Longhorns played their two-high quarters coverages and accepted the trade-off of losing their against the run due to Oklahoma’s wide splits. They were successful in denying the deep shots to OU, who hit only one on the game, and in forcing the Sooners to run and chuck the ball down the field with modest gains.

Then Oklahoma did exactly that, using tempo to their advantage to wear out Texas’ big D-line and a deep bag by Jeff Lebby to formation their way to alignment advantages and space. It probably wouldn’t have been sufficient but for repeated playmaking by Gabriel using his legs and hard running by running back Tawee Walker who had only 46 rushing yards at 3.1 ypc but avoided negative plays and scored twice.

Quick thought No. 2: Texas’ adjustments nearly carried the day

The obvious adjustment after Oklahoma came out in the third quarter and marched down the field yet again with quick passes, modest running gains, and Gabriel running was to knock the Sooners off their pace. Throw in some blitzes, change some coverages, and prevent the rhythm which could allow Oklahoma to get into their bag and up-tempo.

They did exactly that and were wildly successful. After going 11-18 for 163 yards at 9.1 ypa in the first half, Gabriel went 12-20 for 122 yards at 6.1 ypa in the second half. Those numbers don’t even speak to the success Texas had, because Gabriel was 4-4 for 58 yards with a touchdown and defensive pass interference on the last drive. Before that final drive, his second half line went 8-16 for 64 yards at 4.0 ypa. Pretty terrible, but they figured out the right plan too late.

Offensively, Texas accepted the run game wasn’t going to be steady for them with their starting center (Jake Majors) out and one of the potential replacements (Cole Hutson) already lost to other injuries. They were still able to loose Jonathon Brooks for 129 yards on 22 carries at 5.9 ypc with a touchdown, but only by setting it up with the passing game and wearing the Sooners down. The biggest adjustment was to starting mixing in their new brand of Ezekiel’s wheel, throwing several complete glance routes on the new version of the concept, and otherwise throwing the ball to Jordan Whittington.

The senior slot came to play with 10 catches on 10 targets for 115 yards. Overall Ewers had an extremely sharp day going 31-37 for 346 yards at 9.4 ypa with a touchdown and two picks, settling down after the disastrous opening.

Quick thought No. 3: Texas lost the game on the goal line

If I told you on Friday that Texas would blow scoring chances in the red zone again and also volunteered the information that “Sideshow” Bert Auburn would attempt three field goals and one of them with the game on the line, you might have assumed that missed kicks doomed the Longhorns. In fact, Auburn came to play with three good kicks, two of them from 45 or more out and the would-be game-winner from 47 yards out.

What killed Texas was an interception on the second drive and a humiliating series in which Texas got four tries from the Oklahoma one-yard line, sent in T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy to lead block, and came up short four times in a row.

While Texas probably still should have won the game with a better defensive effort on the final Sooner possession, it’s hard to say you deserve to win a game when you get four chances on the doorstep and can’t knock your rival out of the way to punch it in. With the game on the line they struggled to control the Sooner defensive tackles in the A-gaps and move aside the Sooners in order to pick up the crucial yard.

Quick thought No. 4: Second guessing late game decisions…

Most all of the goal-to-go play-calls by Steve Sarkisian on the aforementioned, ill-fated possession were pretty understandable. Even the quick screen to Xavier Worthy, which came up just inches short, was basically the play-call the New England Patriots used with Julian Edelman to secure their dramatic comeback victory against the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl. It was executed fairly well but the Sooners seemed to recognize what was coming and stopped it.

The other plays, running the ball behind Murphy and Sweat, were very reasonable, high probability calls. The Longhorns really struggled at the point of attack having to throw young Connor Robertson in to snap the ball and help control the middle of the line in such a big game and tough atmosphere. They were behind the 8-ball on the three short-yardage runs due to struggles inside.

The 4th-and-4 decision to kick a field goal was an interesting one. It guaranteed the Sooners would have some time on the clock. Ultimately it looked good when Auburn rewarded the trust with a made field goal (he was very sharp in this game) but the Sooner defense was gassed and you have to wonder if Texas should have kept their foot on the gas both on 3rd down and that 4th down and trusted Quinn to pick up the first down throwing the ball. OU never gets a final possession if you successfully hold the ball.

Defensively the final possession was truly ugly. The first half and early third quarter had already demonstrated that OU was hell on wheels if you let them play pitch and catch underneath with speedy wideouts and a veteran quarterback who can call his own number. Texas needed to challenge routes and force good throws to win that game. Gabriel came up big on the touchdown pass, feigning a run before throwing a dime out of constricting pocket, but Texas needed to make him start earning it much earlier on that drive.

I suspect the Longhorns will look back with great dissatisfaction on how they approached that final stand and if they get the chance, play Gabriel differently in a rematch.

Quick thought No. 5: What now?

Another Red River Shootout is in the books, another “boy the underdog really showed up” outcome and more huge plays and wild swings early which had both teams staggered and trying to recover. It’s hard to believe there’s a better game in all of football than this rivalry battle with its intense physicality, momentum swings, and high stakes.

Of course for Texas, the stakes are diminished by the Big 12’s “top two play for the title” rules for determining champions. There were major shades of 2018 here in which the superior team got down early, adjusted, and made a fierce comeback only to give the game away on a two-minute drill against a hot quarterback. In that instance, the superior team (Oklahoma, if you don’t recall) was able to adjust the gameplan for round two and pull away in a hard-fought game. Texas’ brilliant 2018 victory against the Sooners was lost in time in many regards when the Sooners still got the championship hardware in the end.

Texas could still make the playoffs this season, but the goal is still and always needed to be winning the Big 12 conference before exiting for the SEC. The league appears to be pretty down aside from Texas and their northern rival across the Red River, the Longhorns need to get healthy over the bye week and prepare to run the table from here on out to salvage the season.

 

[satyanash 14281]

(Scipio Tex) 2023 Oklahoma Sooners Post Mortem: Offense

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I wanted to start with the Texas defense, but I gave myself 1:17 to write it and I choked. I’ll try not to start off with an obligatory negative throw outside to Worthy either. Well, my opening line was pretty negative, so fail. I’ll have plenty to say about the Longhorn defense later, but for now I’ll tackle a slow-starting Texas offense that won a majority of its battles but still lost the war because of critical errors when it mattered most.

Three turnovers, five sacks, a grab bag of penalties and 1 for 3 in the red zone are not typically the recipes for offensive success. Even when your QB goes 26 of 28 passing over the last three quarters of the game, your bell cow runner tops 163 yards from scrimmage and two different receivers break 100 yards.

Credit is due to a Sooner coaching staff and football team that didn’t make any game-jeopardizing or major decisional errors, while Texas had some on the field and a few on the headsets. Outside of not having turnovers, Oklahoma didn’t play a perfectly clean game either – I can see that’s already the talking point forming – but they had a dropped touchdown, a blocked punt touchdown, Jerrin Thompson dropped a pick in the end zone, they shotgun snapped a ball to the moon and Dillon Gabriel missed a pair of 2nd half open out routes on critical downs.

Key distinction: Oklahoma’s defense FORCED two turnovers with hard hits and they jumped a route for another INT. Turnovers are not just distributed by the turnover fairy. You can cause them. The Texas defense was in little danger of doing that. Despite an excruciatingly slow start, the Horns settled in as Texas drove up and down the field amassing 527 yards at 6.8 yards per play, but somehow ended up with only 23 offensive points to show for it.

The Longhorns and Steve Sarkisian struggled horribly in the red zone, including a jaw dropping four down failure from the half yard line while down 27-20 in the fourth quarter. Three unsuccessful runs behind a backup center from a jumbo package featuring Murphy and Sweat and a Worthy pass for no gain cost the Horns 7 points. Oklahoma overplayed the jumbo set with every Sooner firing up the field and then seemed to know exactly what Sark was going to dial up on 4th down from spread personnel.

The importance of that failed possession eclipsed a prior failed red zone excursion at the end of the first half. On 1st and goal to go from the 10, Texas began with a 5 yard run on 1st down. On 2nd down, with OU’s normal personnel still on the field and unable to sub to their goal line defense, Sark decided to flip it to Whittington on an ill-conceived short side toss attacking an unblocked edge, resulting in a 5 yard loss. Shades of the Adonai Mitchell failed reverse against Kansas.

A bad play call at the worst possible time. Naturally, 3rd down became a throwing down, Ewers scrambled for a couple, and the Horns settled for 3. Oklahoma then drove 67 yards against awful end of half defense (foreshadowing) with 1:53 on the clock for their own field goal and the 20-17 lead. A bad goal to go play call may have led to a 10 point swing before the half.

But that wasn’t the game’s most critical offensive sequence for Texas. That would be the play that Sark didn’t call. The 3rd and 9 call that preceded the clutch 47 yard Auburn field goal was important if you want to understand the difference between coaching convention and fighting for the most probable win outcome. It was also game context deaf.

Effectively, Sark asked his kicker and defense to win the game for him by laying down on 3rd and 9 and having Auburn kick a difficult 47 yarder despite 1:17 left on the clock with college clock rules and a defense that had been less than impressive.

From a win outcome percentage standpoint, Sark’s chances were better attempting to convert the 3rd down in the passing game. OU had no remaining timeouts and were helpless to stop a running clock with the ball in Longhorn hands, who could then decide the final outcome by a touchdown or a (much closer) field goal. There’s nothing that Oklahoma can do there if Texas gets a first down. The game is over. They may have even tried to let Texas score a touchdown, praying for another possession. Beyond the opportunity for OU to drive the field and win, as they did, remember, OU also ties with a field goal forcing a 50/50 overtime win outcome.

The percentages are even more stark if you factor in the larger game context. Ewers was on fire and seeing the field well, OU was down an injured starting corner (they were playing a strong safety there) and you’re putting the game in the hands of the unit that had been performing. Even if Texas did not convert, Ewers had the opportunity for a productive check down and a still doable field goal attempt.

Sark put it on his kicker to make a very difficult kick under pressure and for a confused passive defense to come up huge against a Sooner QB who would finish the day with just shy of 400 yards of total offense against them. Auburn delivered. The defense didn’t. I had little confidence in-game that this improbable betting sequence would deliver. I’m not sure why Sark did. Sark’s bets went about as well as Texas -4.5.

Quarterback

After a terrible first-throw double-clutch for an interception on double slants that set up an Oklahoma touchdown and a rough first quarter under pressure (#3 started 5 of 9 for 13 yards and two picks), Ewers found his stride over the rest of the game. The pressure settled and so did #3. Quinn was an extraordinary 26 of 28 for 333 yards over the next three quarters, slicing and dicing a Sooner secondary terrified of getting beaten over the top and incapable of matching Texas receivers in space.

He was also credited with three turnovers. The first interception was all on Quinn and a costly error, but the second was a terrific hit by Billy Bowman forcing Sanders to volleyball set a likely touchdown. The fumble at midfield was a great strike on the ball by Peyton Bowen on a Ewers scramble. 2 of the 3 turnovers were of the tip-your-hat-to-them variety.

Quinn played long stretches of terrific football, including an outstanding final three quarters. It’s very unfortunate that he wasn’t allowed to try to win the game with the ball in his hands on the Sooner end of the field when he was in a great rhythm.

Running Back

 

Brooks was great. He finished with 22 carries for 129 yards and added another 5 catches (including a beautiful one-handed grab) for 34 yards. He totaled 163 yards from scrimmage and played really hard all game. His patience on the 29 yard touchdown run was a thing of beauty. CJ Baxter had 7 carries for 22 yards and never really got going. Some of his runs looked like he was dipped in molasses. Still dinged up. The bye could be very helpful for him.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Oklahoma focused coverage heavily on Worthy and Mitchell when it was clear that Sanders was at 50% and Whittington was the primary beneficiary, torching soft coverage underneath for 115 yards on 10 catches. Worthy eventually got loose, particularly in the second half, totaling 108 yards on 8 catches. Gunnar Helm played very capably as a pass catcher, notching 4-67 and a touchdown when OU lost him near the goal line and he caught a big 4th down conversion from Savion Red for 25 yards.

JT Sanders wasn’t close to 100% and it showed as a blocker and pass catcher. He also had to limp out periodically throughout the game. Both he and Helm gave up a sack. Malik Agbo had a couple of really solid hustle blocks, including on the Brooks touchdown scamper.

Offensive Line

Losing Jake Majors early was a major blow and redshirt freshman Connor Robertson was forced into an incredibly tough spot given the environment facing a multiple, blitzing defense. He gave his best, but he struggled mightily with penalties, zone blocking pass-offs to the guard and pass protection. Tough break for Texas there. The Texas OL had some real struggles – mostly early – but some of those were coverage sacks or Quinn not negotiating the pocket early. On a few, they just got flat out beaten. Quality of play improved over the last half of the game.

Final

Down center Jake Majors and with Sanders made irrelevant by injury, Texas has plenty of opportunities for excuses on offense, but whatever Texas had was all they needed to win the game. I mean, watch the game and look at the box score. Unfortunately, Texas didn’t get it done in critical junctures and on the year, they are a horrendous 11 of 24 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. There’s something much deeper there than bad luck.

Hopefully, that will be a source of introspection for this offensive staff rather than just postgame bewilderment. Similarly, from a game management perspective – on both offense and defense – Sark needs to realize that on game day he isn’t just there to be the offensive coordinator. Get right and win out. Hook ’em.

Bobby Burton: The pain of a tough loss in the Cotton Bowl

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I woke up this morning with a pang in my gut. The best word I can think of to describe the feeling: empty. I feel empty after what I saw in the Cotton Bowl on Saturday. Despite a deplorable first quarter, despite a four-time failure from the one-yard line, despite allowing Dillon Gabriel to rush for more than 100 yards, the Horns still held the lead going into the final 75 seconds of the game.

But Gabriel and the Sooners would not be denied. The Sooners outplayed Texas for much of the game. They defended their goal line better, they caused the turnovers, they got more pressure on the quarterback and they confused the other team’s quarterback. The Texas loss was no fluke. The Sooners won fair and square.

But that doesn’t mean Texas should hang its head low. Texas fought back, the Horns overcame a 10-point second-half deficit, the offense moved the ball almost at will, and they still have so much left to play for. Only the sting of this loss and the idea of an undefeated season are what was really lost here.

Take these 13 days to regroup, refocus, get healthy, and perhaps make some tweaks or changes that have been brewing for the past few games, like Derek Williams playing more snaps, like heavier use of Malik Agbo to key the run game, or heavier use of the RPO that Quinn operated so cleanly.

In short, Texas is six games into the season, sitting at 5-1. They need to figure out who they really are, rely and build on that, and then go out and win every game left on the schedule like they are very much capable of. Only that will remove the empty feeling this team surely has this morning.

Steve Habel: Longhorns’ red zone failures, on both sides of the ball, are crucial in loss to Oklahoma

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Two weeks ago after a 38-6 win over Baylor, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and members of the Longhorns lauded their success in the red zone – both stopping the Bears from scoring and scoring themselves when they drove inside the 20-yard line. On Saturday against No. 12 Oklahoma, the Longhorns got their comeuppance, as the Sooners dominated when they were the goal line and produced a stirring goal line stand that made a huge difference in a 34-30 win over No. 3 Texas in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

This game was not for the feint of heart, as the lead changed hands twice in the final 1:17 and ended with the Sooners’ fourth touchdown – on a three-yard pass from Dillon Gabriel to Nic Anderson – with 15 seconds remaining. Oklahoma ran plays inside the Texas 20-yard line on six drives and scored on all six of them, adding field goals on the other two.

“We had the plan in place to stop them but the quarterback was able to get away a few times and we didn’t execute in a few others,” Texas linebacker David Gbenda said. “We know we have to get better and we will get back to work and fix what we need to fix.”

Conversely, the Longhorns had three drives into the red zone and scored only once. The other two ended in a Quinn Ewers interception and the aforementioned failure to score from the OU 1 on four snaps early in the fourth quarter.

“We just got to game plan better and we’ve got to execute better – it’s pretty simple,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I thought we showed a lot of resiliency on a couple of those drives inside the five you know – they score the one on a third down, we were hanging in there we just couldn’t keep them out. And then the last one I think is busted coverage. I gotta look at the tape, but I think we didn’t guard the guy so that’s unfortunate when you just don’t guard him. So you know, Oklahoma took advantage of mistakes and then that ultimately is a lot of what football is when two good teams play. When one team makes a mistake can you capitalize on that error? It felt like they capitalized on areas when maybe we weren’t right where we needed to be whether it was a run, fit, or in coverage.”

Asked about Texas’s failed four plays from the OU one-yard line in the fourth quarter, Sarkisian said the team’s goal line package has been very effective for it over the years. The Longhorns brought in their jumbo package for the first three snaps, all runs by Jonathon Brooks, and a fourth-down pass to Xavier Worthy could not get the ball into the end zone.

“We take a lot of pride in it and we wanted to do what we do and execute the plan that we had,” he explained. “We thought we had a good plan. I think the first down play looked like the linebacker kind of shot the gap – why we didn’t block him is hard to tell. The second down play kind of got strung out a little bit. Third down play looked like they got some penetration again and then on fourth down, we went to a play that we felt really good about. Bang-bang, right? We don’t score by about four inches, you know, so it was tough play for Xavier trying to get in right there. So we got to reevaluate.”

 

[ClubWhatever 12087]

I'm not sure I agree with Scipio about the 3rd and 9 run call.  With the way we were protecting there's a big risk of an incompletion or sack, which makes the FG more of a crap shoot or takes it off the table.   If your defense can't prevent a TD in 1:17 you deserve to lose.  

Edited October 8, 2023 by ClubWhatever

[RichUT 1791]

Scipio is bang on and it’s his focus on looking at that situation through the lens of win probability that really resonates. If you pick up a first down there, win probability sky rockets. It could have swung things from 50/50 to 95%+. When one play can have that sort of impact, you have to make the right call. Sark didn’t.

[Foosters 17730]

13 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

Even though he made the kick, having Auburn kick a 45+ yard FG was a lot riskier than trying to convert a 3rd and 9 or a 4th and 4.  We don’t have Justin Tucker, and if he misses OU only needs a short drive for a game winning FG.  Adding in that OU had no timeouts - which is meaningless for their hurry up offense when they have the ball, but which would allow us to run the clock down with a 1st down so only we have a chance to score - and I think it’s a pretty clear decision.  I was still hoping we really were going for it on 4th down, and even if OU had their normal defense and not the kick block unit.

I agree 100% 

Wasn't Auburn like 2 for his last 8 from 40+?

Going for it there is absolutely the right call. Especially if you already know your defense is simply going to give 15 yard cushions when OU gets the ball back. 

[CurlyDumps 4439]

20 minutes ago, RichUT said:

Scipio is bang on and it’s his focus on looking at that situation through the lens of win probability that really resonates. If you pick up a first down there, win probability sky rockets. It could have swung things from 50/50 to 95%+. When one play can have that sort of impact, you have to make the right call. Sark didn’t.

100% this. Sark is usually aggressive in those situations. Seven Win Steve showed up and choked in the most critical moment.  Tucked his dick between his legs and loyally carried on the Mack Brown tradition - the Red River rollover.

[BigHorn'13 3352]

This has already been discussed on its own thread but that play call was the proverbial nail in the coffin. I really hope Sark woke up this morning or even better yet, right after the FG thinking "fuck!" 

The guy is an OC at heart. He needs to stop with the whole "complementary football" bullshit. Especially in games like this. Other than the goal line stand, he had the offense rolling in the second half. Quinn finished, what, something like 31 of 37? And Brooks had another 100+ yard outing?

Fuuuuck this shit sucks. 24 hours later it still fucking burns. 

[GreenspointTexas 9564]

To me, the discussion about fg vs going for it on 4th down pales in comparison to the absolute coaching malpractice of not milking the clock earlier in the drive

 

thats what we need to be bitching about. Hiking the ball with 22 seconds left on the clock 5-6 times lost us the game in the end. Fin

[BigHorn'13 3352]

6 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

To me, the discussion about fg vs going for it on 4th down pales in comparison to the absolute coaching malpractice of not milking the clock earlier in the drive

 

thats what we need to be bitching about. Hiking the ball with 22 seconds left on the clock 5-6 times lost us the game in the end. Fin

Oh absolutely. The only thing I can surmise is that Sark wanted to keep ou on their heels. That shit should've stopped though once the ball crossed the 50.

[CurlyDumps 4439]

49 minutes ago, BigHorn'13 said:

I really hope Sark woke up this morning or even better yet, right after the FG thinking "fuck!" 

Me too, because he was vigorously defending the call in the post game presser.

[Atticus 3922]

I thought we were gonna be aggressive the entire way through when they were doing that. If we failed to convert, we still had timeouts and maybe a chance to get the ball back. 
 

I was even more certain we were going for it when he ran the ball on 3rd and 9. 
 

on 4th and 4, we went out there and they were showing a heavy box, turned out we were only trying to draw them offsides. Even after the timeout, i figured we had something we could execute for 5 yards to put the game in our hands. 

[Atticus 3922]

1 minute ago, CurlyDumps said:

Me too, because he was vigorously defending the call in the post game presser.

It was the conservative thing to do, which isn’t always a bad thing. Our defense was doing well against DG and Quinn had already turned the ball over 3 times and we had a backup center out there with no JT. 
 

It’s the kind of call that is only “right” if it works out in the end. 

[Codaxx 5601]

2 minutes ago, Atticus said:

It was the conservative thing to do, which isn’t always a bad thing. Our defense was doing well against DG and Quinn had already turned the ball over 3 times and we had a backup center out there with no JT. 
 

It’s the kind of call that is only “right” if it works out in the end. 

I going to disagree with this spin. 
Quinn had been on point for about 3Qs. I think he had 1-2 incompletions in the second half. OU had lost their starting CB and Safety in the last 2 series. Hitting the kick was less than a coin flip. Bert came in 3-8 outside of 40 yards. He hit both (good for him), but I had more confidence in Quinn getting a first down. Not to mention OU came out in FG block on 4th down 
 

Defensively it’s tougher to argue. Texas was coming off 4 straight stops, but that was vs a different scheme 

[Atticus 3922]

I believe he should have gone for it. I can also see why he went for the FG. 

[Horn of Gabriel 1590]

30 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

To me, the discussion about fg vs going for it on 4th down pales in comparison to the absolute coaching malpractice of not milking the clock earlier in the drive

 

thats what we need to be bitching about. Hiking the ball with 22 seconds left on the clock 5-6 times lost us the game in the end. Fin

This narrative needs to die, it's wrong.  Ewers and the offense was in rhythm with the hurry up and it was keeping OU on their back foot.  It was also negating a Venebles strength of matching the defensive call to our alignment and tendencies, plus subbing.  You give much of that up when you slow it down.  The assumption baked into your comment above is that we would still have moved the ball down the field by going slow, which is NOT a given.

The thing to get annoyed with is the flip from aggressive (staying with the hurry up) to conservative (kicking a FG and not going for it when they're in FG block alignment on 4th and 5 and we come out in the offense).  Still, we took the lead.  This loss is a team loss but the defense is more on the hook.  Playing prevent is playing for OT with 1:17 left.  Gabriel really only had to drive 35 yards for a FG which is not a problem in soft zone.

[BigHorn'13 3352]

30 minutes ago, Atticus said:

Our defense was doing well against DG

You serious, Clark?

Out of the 12 possessions ou had, only 5 didn't result in points scored, with 1 of the 5 being a missed FG. Gabriel had 398 total yards against our defense. 

Not great, Bob. 

[GreenspointTexas 9564]

10 minutes ago, Horn of Gabriel said:

This narrative needs to die, it's wrong.  Ewers and the offense was in rhythm with the hurry up and it was keeping OU on their back foot.  It was also negating a Venebles strength of matching the defensive call to our alignment and tendencies, plus subbing.  You give much of that up when you slow it down.  The assumption baked into your comment above is that we would still have moved the ball down the field by going slow, which is NOT a given.

The thing to get annoyed with is the flip from aggressive (staying with the hurry up) to conservative (kicking a FG and not going for it when they're in FG block alignment on 4th and 5 and we come out in the offense).  Still, we took the lead.  This loss is a team loss but the defense is more on the hook.  Playing prevent is playing for OT with 1:17 left.  Gabriel really only had to drive 35 yards for a FG which is not a problem in soft zone.

At worst, u go to OT

 

the “we had em on their heels so we need to rush on offense” is outweighed by the cons of doing so. Vastly. We should have won on an Auburn fg

[ClubWhatever 12087]

Going 4 down territory potentially gives them the ball in the same place as a missed field goal.   I'm sorry but your defense should be able to stop a team from going 75 yards in a minute.  That pisses me off way more than any supposed turtling. 

[Michael Knight 12891]

Satya could not wait to engage in ritual cutting, he had this shit locked and loaded

[BigHorn'13 3352]

7 minutes ago, Horn of Gabriel said:

This narrative needs to die, it's wrong.  Ewers and the offense was in rhythm with the hurry up and it was keeping OU on their back foot.  It was also negating a Venebles strength of matching the defensive call to our alignment and tendencies, plus subbing.  You give much of that up when you slow it down.  The assumption baked into your comment above is that we would still have moved the ball down the field by going slow, which is NOT a given.

Yeah but once you've crossed the 50 with less than 2 minutes left and only 1 TO on their side, snapping the ball with anything other than 1 second on the play clock is football negligence. Plus there was this little factoid I was unaware of

2 hours ago, satyanash said:

OU was down an injured starting corner (they were playing a strong safety there)

A fucking safety was matched on either Worthy or Mitchell! Like, wtf man?!

Seriously, anyone not doubting the FG, please read this Scipio's post mortem section:

2 hours ago, satyanash said:

But that wasn’t the game’s most critical offensive sequence for Texas. That would be the play that Sark didn’t call. The 3rd and 9 call that preceded the clutch 47 yard Auburn field goal was important if you want to understand the difference between coaching convention and fighting for the most probable win outcome. It was also game context deaf.

Effectively, Sark asked his kicker and defense to win the game for him by laying down on 3rd and 9 and having Auburn kick a difficult 47 yarder despite 1:17 left on the clock with college clock rules and a defense that had been less than impressive.

From a win outcome percentage standpoint, Sark’s chances were better attempting to convert the 3rd down in the passing game. OU had no remaining timeouts and were helpless to stop a running clock with the ball in Longhorn hands, who could then decide the final outcome by a touchdown or a (much closer) field goal. There’s nothing that Oklahoma can do there if Texas gets a first down. The game is over. They may have even tried to let Texas score a touchdown, praying for another possession. Beyond the opportunity for OU to drive the field and win, as they did, remember, OU also ties with a field goal forcing a 50/50 overtime win outcome.

The percentages are even more stark if you factor in the larger game context. Ewers was on fire and seeing the field well, OU was down an injured starting corner (they were playing a strong safety there) and you’re putting the game in the hands of the unit that had been performing. Even if Texas did not convert, Ewers had the opportunity for a productive check down and a still doable field goal attempt.

Sark put it on his kicker to make a very difficult kick under pressure and for a confused passive defense to come up huge against a Sooner QB who would finish the day with just shy of 400 yards of total offense against them. Auburn delivered. The defense didn’t. I had little confidence in-game that this improbable betting sequence would deliver. I’m not sure why Sark did. Sark’s bets went about as well as Texas -4.5.

This isn't arm chair quarterbacking and I'm not even going to pretend to know more about the game than Sark. This is decision making within context and Sark brain farted.

[Horn of Gabriel 1590]

11 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

At worst, u go to OT

 

the “we had em on their heels so we need to rush on offense” is outweighed by the cons of doing so. Vastly. We should have won on an Auburn fg

So tie game you go 3-and-out after burning a minute and they get the ball back same place they got it anyway with the same or more time left on the clock.  Your comment reads "if in hindsight we would have done this other thing and it would have worked perfectly and we won that would have been great."  yeah no shit

[BigHorn'13 3352]

11 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Going 4 down territory potentially gives them the ball in the same place as a missed field goal.   I'm sorry but your defense should be able to stop a team from going 75 yards in a minute.  That pisses me off way more than any supposed turtling. 

Absolutely and no one's letting the defense off the hook here.

But sometimes, one side of the ball is not performing as good as the other. Remember every other game this season (minus bama)? The offense predominately sucked in the first half. 

We needed to kill clock and score points. The defense can't do that and hadn't proven capable of anything other than the opposite of what was needed yesterday and up to that point. 

[Levi 2576]

Still think Scipio’s opinion on the up tempo is only halfway right. If the goal is to be the last drive of the game then why are we in a hurry with over 3 min on the clock? We’re splitting hairs with the play call decisions on 3rd & 9 and 4th & 4 when in reality better clock management would simplify that decision, if it were to arise. Slow down and if you have to kick a field goal, at least make it 45 seconds or less for OU. 

I also think he’s being to over dramatic with the defense inefficiency’s through out the game. They got 4 stops in row before ou’s final scoring drive. You’re telling me that Sark was wrong in thinking that PK couldn’t at least get their offense to a second down? Ou went 1st down, 1st down, 1st down, 1st down, 1st & goal, and finally 2nd & goal. That is a meltdown of epic proportions. The defense played a bad game but gun to my head before they start that drive I would bet OU faces at least one 2nd down. 

[Codaxx 5601]

28 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Going 4 down territory potentially gives them the ball in the same place as a missed field goal.   I'm sorry but your defense should be able to stop a team from going 75 yards in a minute.  That pisses me off way more than any supposed turtling. 

Giving up the TD was unlikely and just a cluster fuck.  Giving up a FG attempt was not. After too many years of watching football, DCs almost always play conservative until an offense reaches the 40-50 yards out. 

[Atticus 3922]

46 minutes ago, BigHorn'13 said:

You serious, Clark?

Out of the 12 possessions ou had, only 5 didn't result in points scored, with 1 of the 5 being a missed FG. Gabriel had 398 total yards against our defense. 

Not great, Bob. 

At the time, they were actually playing well enough to get him off the field. They were stuck at 27 after the first drive of the second half. 
In total, the defense didn’t do well against him at all. 

[Monahorns 34]

21 hours ago, satyanash said:

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: OU wins the Red River Shootout

 

Ian has huge blindspots about football in general that affect anything he writes.   He thought OU was going to go 6-6 this year.  

[RichUT 1791]

At the time, they were actually playing well enough to get him off the field. They were stuck at 27 after the first drive of the second half. 
In total, the defense didn’t do well against him at all. 

But they weren’t. The previous three OU drives came up empty due to execution issues. There was the easy pitch and catch on 4th and 2 that Gabriel blew by throwing it behind Stoops. Then there was a missed FG followed by a failed 3rd and 5 where OU had the TE but DG threw a missile that the Stogner couldn’t handle. The D was never disruptive and was simply keeping things in front of them well enough for OU to finally miss a few opportunities.

[Monahorns 34]

Kwiatkowski should have been fired after year 1.  His defenses are good and then all of sudden horrible.  You can't win championships like that.  If he was really the answer at DC Texas is riding a 3 game win streak against OU.  

 

Running a jumbo formation from the 1/2 yard line is the right call.  Doing it a couple of times is also the right play call.  The fact that it was not successful is do to poor strength training, poor motivation, or poor execution.  The OL should be able to push the pile into the end zone with that type of formation.  Sark is good at setting up an offense but he has glaring holes as an HC.

[Codaxx 5601]

8 minutes ago, Monahorns said:

Kwiatkowski should have been fired after year 1.  His defenses are good and then all of sudden horrible.  You can't win championships like that.  If he was really the answer at DC Texas is riding a 3 game win streak against OU.  

 

Running a jumbo formation from the 1/2 yard line is the right call.  Doing it a couple of times is also the right play call.  The fact that it was not successful is do to poor strength training, poor motivation, or poor execution.  The OL should be able to push the pile into the end zone with that type of formation.  Sark is good at setting up an offense but he has glaring holes as an HC.

Also highlights how much Texas misses Rojo. There just isn’t a short yardage RB in the room

[BigHorn'13 3352]

23 minutes ago, Levi said:

If the goal is to be the last drive of the game then why are we in a hurry with over 3 min on the clock?

Because we started on their 15.

23 minutes ago, Levi said:

We’re splitting hairs with the play call decisions on 3rd & 9 and 4th & 4 when in reality better clock management would simplify that decision, if it were to arise. Slow down and if you have to kick a field goal, at least make it 45 seconds or less for OU. 

Once we got close/ crossed the 50? Absolutely. 

30 minutes ago, Levi said:

They got 4 stops in row before ou’s final scoring drive.

One of which was a missed FG but yeah, they finally started to show the tiniest bit of life. 

19 minutes ago, Atticus said:

In total, the defense didn’t do well against him at all. 

Agreed. 

13 minutes ago, RichUT said:

But they weren’t. The previous three OU drives came up empty due to execution issues. There was the easy pitch and catch on 4th and 2 that Gabriel blew by throwing it behind Stoops. Then there was a missed FG followed by a failed 3rd and 5 where OU had the TE but DG threw a missile that the Stogner couldn’t handle. The D was never disruptive and was simply keeping things in front of them well enough for OU to finally miss a few opportunities.

Troof. Which is again why you wanted to keep them off the field at all costs-- even a potential failed 4th down conversion against their special team's unit when the game is tied. 

5 minutes ago, Monahorns said:

Kwiatkowski should have been fired after year 1.  His defenses are good and then all of sudden horrible.  You can't win championships like that.  If he was really the answer at DC Texas is riding a 3 game win streak against OU.  

Disagree. He's proven to be one of the best in the country. Going against good hurry up offenses is something he clearly needs to work on, however. 

[Levi 2576]

39 minutes ago, BigHorn'13 said:

Because we started on their 15.

Once we got close/ crossed the 50? Absolutely. 

One of which was a missed FG but yeah, they finally started to show the tiniest bit of life. 

Agreed. 

Troof. Which is again why you wanted to keep them off the field at all costs-- even a potential failed 4th down conversion against their special team's unit when the game is tied. 

Disagree. He's proven to be one of the best in the country. Going against good hurry up offenses is something he clearly needs to work on, however. 

Replying to mine, we started on our 15 with 4:42. We should not be in hurry when we’re on their 49 with just over 3 min. Same thing for the second. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by Levi

[sith_horn 2370]

57 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

Also highlights how much Texas misses Rojo. There just isn’t a short yardage RB in the room

Perhaps Savion Red. We don't see him enough to have a good handle on it, but he's impressed me at times making tough yards. Brooks has as well, but whereas his patience and vision waiting for blocks to develop pays dividends, there are instances where hitting the hole quicker would have been the better move. I don't care how powerful a runner is, if he's caught standing virtually still behind blockers, he isn't going anywhere.

Baxter seems to be almost perpetually dinged up of late. Big as he is, he will still benefit from another year of S&C and his body maturing.

Goal line stands are pretty unique though with LBs and DBs timing the gaps, punching through is a crapshoot. And we were missing our starting center as well.

[Rockethorn1978 6061]

The only way we could have won that game was a FG attempt with 3 seconds left. Ou would have moved the ball down the field even if they had 30 seconds. Two passes and a FG and the game would have been tied. We were in soft prevent which still blows my mind hole. Pk had his head way up his ass on that series. And before the half. 

[Hookem2147 20931]

We ran the normal offense (with some tempo) until we crossed the 40, at which point OU started burning their timeouts.

Trying to burn clock when you aren’t even in FG range yet would have been pretty stupid imo and potentially prevented you from even getting in range.

Edited October 8, 2023 by Hookem2147

[LTtxfan 48966]

 

 

 

[LTtxfan 48966]

Sunday afternoon...  Oct 8th

Player Perspective | Bouncing Back After Tough Losses | Derek Williams | On Texas Football

[Treefidy 1463]

5 hours ago, Horn of Gabriel said:

The thing to get annoyed with is the flip from aggressive (staying with the hurry up) to conservative (kicking a FG and not going for it when they're in FG block alignment on 4th and 5 and we come out in the offense).  

This is correct

Running clock seems right in hindsight, but it was the tempo that was effective keeping them backed up and off balance.   Keep your foot on the gas and try to move the ball well within FG range (or even better a TD) while taking time off the clock while they burn all their timeouts.  That was <50% territory for Bert, and our defense showed what it could do with <2:00 left in the 1st half.

even the run play on 3rd wasn’t the worst call, but they should have had a real play dialed up on 4th with the defense in disarray.  

[bschoolprof 6232]

4 hours ago, BigHorn&#x27;13 said:

Going against good hurry up offenses is something he clearly needs to work on, however. 

How in the world is a DC in 2023 not prepared for a hurry up offense? This is not some new fad invented last year. Pk is an enigma to me. 

[Levi 2576]

8 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

How in the world is a DC in 2023 not prepared for a hurry up offense? This is not some new fad invented last year. Pk is an enigma to me. 

Watts was out and replaced with a true freshman. PK also lost his starting safety quick into the game and was replaced by a true freshman. Hurry up offense can limit a dominant dline and put pressure on the secondary. Our weakest unit during the game on the defense was our secondary. Could be argued they are in each game. It’s not hard to realize why we struggled, especially defending the pass. Hell, even Thompson dropped an interception that he had a perfect read on. 

[BigHorn'13 3352]

26 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

How in the world is a DC in 2023 not prepared for a hurry up offense? This is not some new fad invented last year. Pk is an enigma to me. 

Because of how quick they're going in between plays and what @Levi said above. PK likes to sub a lot and just speculating, he probably can't call the play he wants that quickly based on what the offense is showing. 

But you're right. It should be something he could handle most of the time. 

[satyanash 14281]

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

Quote

The Texas defense lost to a play style. In a game where the calculated aggressor is often rewarded, it generally pays to sucker punch first and ask questions later. There is a massive risk to neutering Longhorn defenders by game plan when the opponent's game plan is already premised on sowing hesitation and doubt to mask their own weaknesses. That’s how an OU offense that was unremarkable against Cincy and SMU managed to hit a superior Texas defense for 486 yards at 6 yards per play, 6 for 6 in the red zone, over 200 yards rushing (they only broke 200+ against Arkansas State prior) and 34 points (with a missed field goal and a dropped Walker touchdown pass).

Of course, all with the understanding that they have had a “Texas Day” of practice every week since August. Well, it worked. Fast pace and formational diversity transformed 11 attackers into observers. Texas lost the initiative early and never regained it. Here’s one of many examples where confusion creates easy opportunity:

Watch Catalon and the backer. You don’t vacate the middle of the field on goal to go. Nor do you have five cover three pre-snap. Note also that three Texas edge defenders are rendered useless by the play call. Look how far they are from the ball. That’s candy for a Brilesian offense.

Unfortunately, Texas indecision foiled aggression, forced no turnovers, got little pressure and had scant few hard hits on an OU game plan that featured a 5-10, 195 pound quarterback carrying the ball 14 times. Gabriel dropped back another 38 times with nary a touch. Gabriel was never made to feel his usage rate. Gabriel’s history is that you must make him feel the burden of the game physically and mentally, not just solely focus on narrowing one aspect of his passing game options.

Cut the head off of the snake. Don’t spend your time positioning bite shields everywhere. Comparably, Oklahoma’s defense got absolutely sliced and diced everywhere but the red zone once Texas got their bearings on offense, but they forced three huge turnovers, held up in the red zone and were default aggressive. Not always in terms of scheme, but in how their players rallied to the ball.

Understand that when I write about aggression, it doesn’t mean a zero blitz on every play from press man. It means starting the play – no matter the call – with a bias towards action. Zone defense or off man coverage is actually premised on delivering hard tackles, rallying to the ball and being decisive. It’s not passive unless you play it that way.

Watch Longhorn defensive body language during the game. It tells you a lot. Calm is contagious, but unfortunately, so is uncertainty. When the pressure ramps up, uncertainty compounds.

By game’s end, the odds of Texas getting a critical stop were zero, particularly when the first two plays of the Sooner possession revealed confused grass guarding, an undermanned, disinterested containment rush, multiple open receivers and a Texas defensive coordinator who had completely lost the plot of what a three point lead means with 1:17 on the clock. That’s actually Sark’s fault, but he seems to let his DC run game strategy when it’s the defense on the field.

College coaches routinely struggle with the eternity that 1:17 represents when an offense is allowed to gain chunk yards with a stopped clock for chain reset, even without time outs. You can easily get off 8 plays if you’re gaining yards, folks. Oklahoma only needed 5 to go 75. This places a massive disincentive on classic NFL style prevent defense. For OU, hurry up is their happy place and they are not subject to pre-snap time-wasting, killing seconds with slow sideline relays, or any of the other frictions that occur when slow-paced teams try to go fast.

PK (and Sark) effectively ran a defense as if the Horns were up by 14 and not by 3. I’m not even sure I like it then. Once Oklahoma realized that Texas wasn’t going to pressure or guard anything but geometrical slices of lawn, their win was nearly guaranteed.

The final touchdown throw (oh, now PK brings pressure…cool, cool) enabled by a simple pre-snap motion and panicked coverage allowed a wide open receiver in the back of the end zone rendering the blitz irrelevant. It was the final unraveling and a fitting culmination for a defense that had completely lost its plan and its composure.

Emptying the notebook here: No, Texas didn’t play good second half defense… Texas got two stops in the 2nd half from Gabriel missing two open 5 yard outs on money downs. If surrendering 255 yards on six Sooner drives at 6.5 yards a pop is good defense, including that game-winning debacle, I’d hate to see bad defense. Oklahoma began the second half with a 13 play, 75 yard methodical touchdown drive. Right after going 67 yards at the end of the first half. Adjustments?

The Sooners added another 72 yard drive in the 4th quarter that ended with a missed field goal that began on their own 1/2 yard line. Their first play out of the end zone was a telegraphed 12 yard run against a 7 man Texas box where a late arriving Jerrin Thompson served as the 7th man next to a confused David Gbenda. PK schemed up a 1st down honest box against a Sooner offense standing in their own end zone paint with Texas down 27-20 with the chance to get a safety, force a shallow punt having already blocked one (get another block or OU is in punt safe max protect, guaranteeing a long Worthy return from the OU 45) or simply just win field position. Still backed up a couple of plays later, Gabriel ran a draw to convert a 3rd and 11. Two plays later, he went for 44 yards right up the middle of the field past paralyzed Texas defenders. Then…a missed field goal. Good D.

Dillon Gabriel killed Texas with his legs, with 5 of his 14 runs going for either a new set of sticks or a touchdown. He averaged 8.1 yards per carry overall (that’s with a sack included) but 4-37 came on scrambles. Those scrambles hurt Texas, but more consistent pain was inflicted on nine called runs between the tackles, where he averaged around 10 yards per carry. Given OU’s lack of run game push, those were scheme wins. See the goal to go clip above. Texas 2nd and 3rd level defenders stood and watched on multiple QB runs, as if mesmerized, and overloaded Longhorn fronts stationed extra men uselessly on the edge against wide splits.

Why? Don’t know. Only one OU receiver really hurt Texas –Jalil Farooq. 5 catches for 130 yards on only 5 targets secured on five different Longhorn defenders at an average of 26 yards per catch. Was he picking on anyone in particular? No. Schemed up throws to a talented player.

OU deception happened before the snap by formation, but everything else was fairly meat and potatoes unless you’re awed by toss sweeps to Drake Stoops. They threw play action on less than 1/3 of their drop backs and they actually underperformed when doing so. So deception wasn’t integral to any aspect of of their passing game success. That makes sense. Play action exploits aggression.

Gabriel averaged 6.4 yards per attempt when blitzed. 7.9 yards per attempt when not. While Texas successfully limited him to only one successful deep shot (Farooq on Catalon for 43) he threw well in the intermediate game, going 6 of 9 for 106 yards. Gabriel’s short game was an unremarkable 16 of 23 for 136 yards, but the combo of that with his legs kept the chains moving. Ultimately, it was his legs and intermediate throws that hurt Texas and sustained OU enough to fuel Gabriel’s nearly 400 yards of offense.

Extra man pressure, when brought, was almost always an extra DB or LB lined up outside. Given OU line splits, that ain’t real close to the QB. An odd choice given that OU blocking is most vulnerable inside, Gabriel was running and scrambling almost solely between the tackles, OU’s tackles are high level pass protectors and the Sooners use trips and a flexed tight end to interfere with outside blitzer’s get off.

That extra man was as useless as a library in Edmond. How about bringing Hill screaming up the middle from a bear front (guards and center covered by interior DL) on a 5-10 QB while the edges contain?

Special Teams

Proud of the unit’s preparation and aggression demonstrated by the fake punt conversion with Whittington and the terrific Kitan Crawford block and Muhammad score.

Absolutely awesome performance by Bert Auburn under major pressure. Only 2 for 6 from 40+ coming into the game, Auburn nailed a 45 yarder easily and then followed it up with a pressure-packed 47 yarder right down the middle that would have been good from 55+. 3 for 3 on the game. Outstanding. Will Stone did a really nice job on kick coverage, notching a tackle and forcing another OU returner into the sideline. You don’t want to praise your kicker for kick coverage, but it beats the alternative.

I don’t understand why Worthy keeps fair catching punts on the 5 yard line. This is a no-no. Basically, a football taboo. Does anyone communicate this to him? Does he just laugh and say,”I don’t care. It’s fun to do bad things.” Do I have a dinosaur perspective and the new cool thing to do is catch it on the 5? Help me.

Brushing the OU punter and allowing a new set of downs was a tough deal on a bang-bang play. There’s a benefit to ST aggression, but there will be a cost. You hope the former exceeds the latter. Texas won on the final ledger here. Two uncalled face masks on Longhorn kick returners was…weird.

Defensive Line

Man, Oklahoma held a lot. The interior Longhorn DL played better on review than the live watch suggested. Collins played really well, notching a batted ball and three pressures. Good against run, too. He needs to keep his feet when he breaks through and not dive at a scrambling QB. Stay in the hunt in case the QB stops and tries to reset for a throw. Sweat flashed several times with some run stuffs, 2 hurries and a batted ball. Murphy had a pretty good game, but missed a tackle.

Sorrell had a couple of decent pass rush efforts, but not enough. The others were totally shut down as pass rushers. I’m not sure if they lost interest in pass rushing by design or they got tired of losing to Guyton and Rouse. At times it was difficult to tell the difference between our defensive plan and confusion.

Linebacker

Anthony Hill played hard and well (8 tackles, a sack, another tackle for loss). Probably not a coincidence given that he just fires and goes. The rest of the linebacker corps was inconsequential to bad. Jaylan Ford got picked on in the passing game (targeted 7 times, 6 completions, 67 yards) and he was sedentary on Gabriel run plays and his scrambles. Feet in concrete. Weirdly, he was good on OU’s traditional inside runs. #41 was very hesitant. The idea of Gabriel running more in this game seemed like a foreign idea to some of our key personnel. Gbenda was played as a traditional linebacker rather than as a chaser/blitzer and that accentuated all of his weaknesses. A bystander.

Defensive Backs

The absence of Ryan Watts robbed the Longhorn secondary of a naturally aggressive player and a physical force against the WR screen game. Tackling wasn’t very good across the board. Bad angles, particularly as the defense started to crack under pressure. OU receivers consistently defeated Texas DBs when blocking, mostly out of…wait for it…better aggression and commitment. Barron was the exception and his typical self, notching 11 tackles to lead the team. Good in coverage as well. Gave up one 18 yard pass but OU otherwise avoided him. Holmes wasn’t targeted much, but Oklahoma found success in all of them.

Final

Oklahoma ran 81 plays and Texas created very little disruptive havoc on any of them. No turnovers, only a few hard tackles, sporadic pressure, weird hesitation, useless extra man edge alignments, five tackles for loss and one sack on 43 drop backs. Texas was not well prepared for Sooner pace or formations and there were clearly choices made to discourage resetting the line of scrimmage with penetration. On some other snaps, I honestly can’t tell if the Texas defenders are just really confused or they were actually told to do that.

Oklahoma lacks multiple elite skill players around Gabriel and the QB has plenty of faults of his own, but they were obviously good enough to support Gabriel’s One Man Gang effort to victory. If they had their normal supply of Mark Claytons, DeMarco Murrays and a vintage level OL, it would have been ugly.

Eric Nahlin: Scattershooting in the aftermath of Texas-OU

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It was a tough day to be a Texas fan but a great day to love college football. The crowd was bonkers throughout, swinging wildly with the play on the field. I was fielding texts from friends I hadn’t heard from in a while who are only passive fans. That game delivered for the average fan and it was a great way to end the Big 12’s hold over it. The result wasn’t ideal but the pageantry and entertainment value over-delivered.

I’m disappointed to be sure but the better team won. That’s a tonic that makes it easier to swallow, at least for me. The Sooners were the better coached and more physical team. They played like they wanted it more. Credit to the Sooners coaching staff. That was all gas, no brakes. The game never seemed to get on a normal, predictable path. By the second quarter both coaches were throwing haymakers at each other like a heavyweight bout. The players left it all on the field while the coaches emptied the playbook.

It’ll be easy for some to fall prey to the recency bias trap after that one but I’m not going to be altering my opinion much based on a three hour sample size. That written, that game should be a wakeup call for all involved. I figured there would be a ‘probability’ loss at some point but the coaches need to make sure that’s exactly what that was while also diagnosing what went wrong. Specifically, how did OU win the line of scrimmage?

That proved to be mine, and many people’s, worst assumption about the game. I didn’t think OU had the size and athleticism to win the battle in the trenches but they proved me wrong. A frustration I’m sure many of you share is just how good this team can be at times but consistency within games remains a weakness. Just as Texas had been playing complementary football this season, they struggled yesterday as a team. The offense didn’t pick up the defense enough and vice versa.

Somewhere there’s a little OU fan whose first memory of this game will be that goal line stand. Similar to my first big memory being Stonie Clark’s game saving tackle in 1994. That was not a scenario I would have found fathomable until I saw it play out, seemingly in slow motion. That sequence could not serve as a better microcosm for Texas red zone woes. You can bet Sark will be scheming up ways to scheme the red zone better over the bye week. He has too many weapons, not to mention a high functioning run game, to struggle where it counts most.

This was the first time Texas was truly tested in the fourth quarter. That revealed some questions regarding Sark’s in-game decision-making. I think like minds can both understand Sark’s choice to play it safe for the field while being somewhat surprised he wasn’t more aggressive in that situation. Brent Venables put the ball in Dillon Gabriel’s hands to win. Sark put it on Auburn’s foot. Hell of a kick, though. Poor Auburn has some clutch late-game kicks that gave gone for naught.

I don’t think there’s ever been a bye week where fans didn’t mention it’s coming at a good time, but given Texas’ injury situation the bye week is coming at a good time. We’re trying to get updates on Jake Majors and Cole Hutson.

Justin Wells: Top PFF grades from No. 9 Texas' 34-30 loss over No. 5 Oklahoma

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After the No. 9 Texas Longhorns’ 34-30 loss to No. 5 OU on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Inside Texas takes a look at the Pro Football Focus grades on offense and defense after the Longhorns moved to 5-1 in the 2023 season.

OFFENSE

QB – Quinn Ewers, 71.2

Ewers was a mixed bag on Saturday, with mostly goodies. He went 31-of-37, 346 yards, and one touchdown, but committed three turnovers, including two interceptions on the first two possessions. His third quarter fumble was brutal.

RB – Jonathon Brooks, 70.6

The redshirt sophomore continues to pace the tailbacks. He burst for 129 yards on 22 carries and one scoring run at almost six yards per play, and logged 69 snaps. Brooks also caught five balls for 34 yards as he remains the constant in the Texas offense in 2023.

WR – Xavier Worthy, 67.7, Jordan Whittington, 71.6

The duo of Worthy and Whittington were productive on Saturday, but weren’t able to find the end zone. Whittington had a career-high 10 catches for 115 yards on 38 snaps, while Worthy added 108 yards on eight catches in 71 snaps.

TE – Gunnar Helm, 80.4

With starting tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders playing but banged up, Helm rose to the occasion. He collected 67 yards and one touchdown on four grabs in 63 snaps, leading the tight end group.

OL – Christian Jones, 72.1, Kelvin Banks, 65.4

Again, super senior Jones led all the offensive linemen with a 72.1 overall grade on 79 snaps and 75.9 on pass-blocking. Banks added an OL-high 76.2 on pass-blocking on 79 snaps as well from a unit that helped the Longhorns garner 527 total yards of offense.

DEFENSE

DL/EDGE – T’Vondre Sweat, 74.4, Alfred Collins, 75.9, Byron Murphy, 69.8, Ethan Burke, 72.5

Sweat (37 snaps) and Murphy (39 snaps) once again led the defensive interior, while Collins added a defensive-high 75.9 on 39 snaps, and Burke was solid with six tackles and .5 tackle for loss on 72.5% grade on 49 snaps.

LB – Anthony Hill Jr, 74.8, David Gbenda, 67.2

The true freshman Hill Jr led the linebacking defensive effort on Saturday, notching eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and one sack on 41 snaps. Gbenda added four tackles on 39 snaps, and Jaylan Ford notched eight stops and one tackle for loss on 81 snaps.

CB/N – Jahdae Barron, 67.2, Gavin Holmes, 62.9

Holmes replaced the injured Ryan Watts and added three tackles on 52 snaps. Barron played well, notching a team-high 11 tackles and one tackle for loss on a team-high 82 snaps.

S – Jerrin Thompson, 69.2, Derek Williams, 54.4

Thompson (64 snaps) and Williams (49 snaps) led the safeties with a combined nine tackles, and Thompson added two pass-breakups on Saturday in Dallas.

Coach V: Good, bad, and ugly in the Red River shootout

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By: Mike Venable – It’s always difficult to write a positive report after a tough loss and this week is a prime example. There were some definite positives in that gut wrenching loss yesterday and after watching the rerun twice more it’s not as bad as my first reaction during the live portion where I might have uttered a few adult words about our play. I’m sure there will be plenty opinions concerning individual players, coaching decisions and other what-nots but I think attempting to tell it like I saw it is my best bet in a very uneven effort by our bunch.

I think we don’t have to go farther than our QB1 to tell the good with the bad. Yes, Quinn (3) had two passes picked off and a lost fumble but it’s only fair to mention one pass was tipped (could have been our reception) and the fumble was a big hit by the defender with Quinn’s mechanics (ball cradled under arm) in perfect order. Three ugly turnovers often leads to a really bad game but the fact of the matter is Quinn graded exceptional the rest of the game. He gave us a chance to win and that’s all you can ask of a QB.

Jonathon Brooks (24) gave us a ground game with explosive plays and juked defenders grabbing grass in another terrific game. He makes plays period. We thought the drop-off from Bijan and Roschon would be felt big time but that dog ain’t hunting. Brooks is carrying most of the load by himself but could benefit from a second back shouldering more of the workload.

Jordan Whittington (13) had his best game going over 100 yards and some timely blocking. Xavier Worthy (1) also went over 100 yards with another solid effort. Gunner Helm (85) had his best day receiving along with a touchdown catch on a corner route. Malik Agbo (80) had a good game sealing the edge and closing down with movement.

All six (OL) had at least one bad play with most having two or more. Connor Robertson (62) played most of three quarters at center after Jake Majors (65) left with an ankle injury. Robertson had a snap penalty (holding up Jake’s signature move) and a couple of missed blocking assignments on pass protection. Majors had a good effort going before getting rolled up on his ankle. Both OT’s, Banks (78) and Jones (70), didn’t have their best games but played well enough to win. Campbell (52) had a false start and a whiff but also drove a few defenders off the LOS. Connor (76) didn’t have his best game.

I was most disappointed with our defensive effort and/or plan. Our best plays were when we called aggressive actions (blitz-stunt-press) but unfortunately they were few and far in-between. We got next to nothing from our edge play and we lost the edge too many times on sweeps. I saw too many plays where we just started inside and never made contact—just disappeared. Our DT rotation had a few stuffs but OU just didn’t particularity want to run much inside. We seldom moved Gabriel off his plant foot and when we did he torched our butts with positive scrambles. Both QB’s had great overall games but theirs didn’t have any turnovers and that was the difference.

I wish I could skip this next paragraph but I will just try to keep it to how I saw it three times. Anthony Hill (0) had a really good game for a freshman. He made plays all over the field. Yes, a few mistakes but he was our best on this day. Ford (41) had his worst day period and that’s being kind. Gblenda (33) didn’t play as much but never really got into the flow—he usually stayed on the outside looking around. Bush (43) made a small appearance with one good tackle and Blackwell (37) had a small series without much contact. We were fresh out of LB’s (save Hill) yesterday.

We made damn sure we weren’t going to be beat (deep or short) most of the time but we still managed to give up one bomb (11) by Catalon one play before he got injured. Our corners (8) Brooks, Holmes (9), and Muhammad (5) made a few tackles but also had some whiffs on basic short routes. Derek Williams (2) took over for Catalon (11) most of the snaps and made some terrific reads/reactions with a few big hit tackles. He’s definitely the future. Thompson (28) had a end zone drop and several MT’s while Taaffe (16) had two good tackles but also a couple of bad angles. Crawford (21) had a TD saving tackle and a few more good plays but angles still give him problems. Barron (23) is still the best player in our secondary and he played well.

We may have great athletes in our back five but the fact is they don’t tackle well (as a group) and they often take poor angles and they don’t utilize the sideline as a 12th defender. They often have communication problems with the various degrees of motion (short, quick, across) and are late to alignment and therefore responsibilities are often blotched (Thompson on GL).

I still believe we are much better playing free, loose, and wheeling and dealing as opposed to the bend but don’t break catch the blocks and limit the gains. Our personnel seems better suited to making and/or breaking a drive with a off-schedule big play instead of allowing them to drive the field. We seem to overcome most adversity with big plays from our faster athletes. We rally slow to the point of attack when we read and key as opposed to firing bullets at the snap. Just another internet opinion. Get well guys.

Mike Venable is a retired coach who had a 30 year career coaching football at Lancaster, Duncanville, Gladewater, Pasadena Sam Rayburn, R.L Turner and The Colony.

 

[ClubWhatever 12087]

Scipios defensive post mortems usually make PK seem like an idiot.  

[Hookem2147 20931]

11 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Scipios defensive post mortems usually make PK seem like an idiot.  

I enjoy a lot of his stuff, but like everyone who has some fan in them, he seems to let preconceived notions cloud his view at times.

I don't agree at all with his assessment that Gabriel missed two easy 5 five yard outs to force punts in the second half. The one to Stoops on 4th down wasn't a great throw but the 3rd down to Stogner was going to be short of the sticks even if he caught it.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2724]

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I don’t understand why Worthy keeps fair catching punts on the 5 yard line. This is a no-no. Basically, a football taboo. Does anyone communicate this to him? Does he just laugh and say,”I don’t care. It’s fun to do bad things.” Do I have a dinosaur perspective and the new cool thing to do is catch it on the 5? Help me.

This has been driving me insane.  Why they field anything inside the 10 is beyond me.  

[Atticus 3922]

Because if the coverage team is there, then you’re starting at the 1 yard line instead of having some breathing room. 

[Dark Horse 2263]

Yeah, that punt in particular would have been downed at the one unless it takes a Texas bounce. 

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2724]

Most of the time the balls bounce forward.  If he's at the 5 IIRC and let's it go it most likely gets into the EZ.  

[JBJ 3649]

Scipio is correct in that it is dinosaur thinking. You used to squat on the 10 and let everything else go.  Punters are better now - especially on shorter punts.  The length the punt travels in the air is actually more determinative than the yardline it lands at for predicting wherher it rolls to be a touchback. 

If a guy boomed a punt from the 30 and it lands inside the 10 you probably still let it bounce because the punter has less control of the bounce and the coverage team has no chance.  But you field short and high punts differently now.

[RichUT 1791]

53 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

I enjoy a lot of his stuff, but like everyone who has some fan in them, he seems to let preconceived notions cloud his view at times.

I don't agree at all with his assessment that Gabriel missed two easy 5 five yard outs to force punts in the second half. The one to Stoops on 4th down wasn't a great throw but the 3rd down to Stogner was going to be short of the sticks even if he caught it.

Right. And we had been tackling so well all game, so it would for sure have come up 1-2 yards short. And OU is definitely not the type of team to go for it on 4th and short.....