Jump to content

Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 8)

satyanash

By satyanash
in Football

 Share

Recommended Posts

satyanash

satyanash 14281

Posted
Posted

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

Steve Habel: Longhorns make lemonade out of lemons, outlast determined Houston 31-24

Quote

No. 8 Texas got a 16-yard touchdown run from freshman CJ Baxter with 5:37 remaining to make lemonade out of lemons in a wild 31-24 victory over Houston on Saturday in a Big 12 Conference game played before a capacity crowd of 42,812 at TDECU Stadium in the Bayou City.

It wasn’t pretty in any way outside the final score but a win is a win, even in a contest that will be mostly forgettable for Longhorns’ followers. Texas, with quarterback Quinn Ewers on the sidelines for the entire fourth quarter with an injury, made the plays it needed down the stretch and bounced back after a loss to Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry on Oct. 7 and a bye week.

The Longhorns (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) dominated the game’s first 17 minutes when they roared to a 21-0 lead but sputtered thereafter, with Houston tying the contest at 24 on a Jack Martin 40-yard field goal halfway through the fourth quarter.

That set the stage for Baxter and his deciding scoring run as Texas ground out a 53-yard touchdown march that featured five runs and just one pass, a strategy dictated by the injury to Ewers that occurred on a hard hit on a scramble late in the third quarter. Houston (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) drove to the UT 10 but Donovan Smith misfired on a head-scratching fourth-down-and-1 pass with 1:03 to play.

Ewers finished 23 of 29 passing for 211 yards and two TDs in the win. Jonathon Brooks led Texas with 99 yards on 20 carries and added eight catches for 51 yards. Smith passed for 378 yards and three touchdowns but also had a fumble and an interception.

Texas wasted little time lighting the scoreboard, marching 75 yards in 11 snaps on the game’s opening possession to a 14-yard Ewers-to-Adonai Mitchell TD pass and a 7-0 lead. Ewers hit Worthy with a 16-yard pass on fourth down and 2 from the UH 30 to set the table for the score. After a Houston three and out, the Longhorns struck again with Ewers dropping a perfect deep pass into the bucket to Worthy for a 42-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 6:56 to play in the first period.

Texas’s Wildcat quarterback Savion Red scored on a 1-yard plunge at the end of a 58-yard, nine-play march with 12:49 to play in the second quarter pushed the Texas lead to 21-0. Houston responded with a 32-yard TD pass from Smith to Matthew Golden to cut the Longhorns’ lead to 21-7 at the 6:07 mark of the second quarter. The Longhorns failed on a fake field goal pass on the UH 26 late in the second quarter, flipping the momentum back to the Houston, which pulled to within 21-14 on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Joseph Manshack IV with 26 seconds to play until halftime.

While Texas dominated the first 17 minutes of the game, the Cougars ruled the final 13. The Longhorns racked up 240 yards in the half, 198 of those in the first quarter which Houston countered with 156 of its 169 first-half yardage in the second quarter The Cougars tied the game at 21 on the first possession of the third quarter on a 2-yard TD pass from Smith to Golden that came two snaps after Manjack hauled in a 35-yard pass at the UT 1.

Texas retook the lead on a 25-yard Bert Auburn field goal 24-21 at the 3:17 mark of the third quarter, capping a 31-yard, 11-play possession. The Longhorns inherited the short field after Jaylan Ford forced a Smith fumble that was recovered by Vernon Broughton at the UH 38.

Houston drove to the UT 28 early in the fourth quarter but stopped itself when Smith uncorked an interception by the Longhorns’ Michael Taaffe on a pass into the end zone. The Cougars then knotted the game at 24 on their next possession via Martin’s 40-yard field goal with 7:43 remaining, with the key play in the drive a 51-yard pass from Smith to Samuel Brown.

There are plenty of questions to be answered – perhaps more than any time this season – before the Longhorns return home to play new conference foe BYU on Oct. 28. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

(Gerald Goodridge) No. 8 Texas 31, Houston 24: Three things we learned

Quote

It was an ugly game for the No. 8 Texas Longhorns, but they managed to come away with a victory over the Houston Cougars. Texas jumped out to a big lead but had to hold on late, with a late touchdown from CJ Baxter giving them the go-ahead touchdown in the closing minutes of the game. Texas still needs to win out to make its way to Arlington, but a win is a win regardless.

The two-headed RB attack looks to be back

For the last several weeks, Jonathan Brooks has been the featured back in the offense following an early-season injury that slowed Baxter down and took away some of that depth. Coming out of the bye, Baxter looked healthy and Texas benefitted from it. While Brooks still took the lion’s share of the carries, a 20-6 ratio, Baxter chipped in six key carries, averaging seven yards per touch and the go-ahead score - his only carry of the second half.

The offense benefitted from his fresh legs, but Brooks was also his usual consistent self in the game. Brooks finished the game with 28 total touches for 150 yards, averaging 5.36 yards per play, with 37 of his 99 rushing yards coming in the final frame. With Quinn Ewers’ injury casting some uncertainty on the offense, having those two at the top of their games for the late-season push will be crucial for Texas.

Savion Red may be the short-yardage solution

One of the biggest issues in the loss to the Oklahoma Sooners was the Longhorns’ inability to score touchdowns inside the 20, which ended up being the difference in the game. Against Houston, Texas went 4-4 in the red zone, three of which were the seven-point variety, with some fresh wrinkles to the offense.

The Longhorns lined up in the wildcat formation with the do-everything player Savion Red as the quarterback more than they had all year and Red rewarded Sarkisian’s faith in him and made the most of the opportunity. Red took a direct snap on three occasions in the game, all three short-yardage situations, and Texas converted on all three of them.

Three carries – two fourth down conversions and a red zone touchdown. If the Longhorns can get that kind of consistent production out of the former three-star recruit, every week, fans with concerns about the short-yardage situations may breathe a bit easier.

The defense needs to both tighten up and heal up

The Longhorns came out of the bye week banged up defensively and got more so throughout the matchup against the Cougars. Donovan Smith once again had a career day against Texas, setting a career-high passing total and tossing three touchdowns in the contest. The Texas secondary struggled to contain Matthew Golden and Joseph Manjack, something few teams have managed to do this year. Until Michael Taaffe came up with the big pass breakup and seemingly injured Manjack, five of the sophomore’s last six catches had gone for either first downs or touchdowns, exposing the back end of the Texas defense on several occasions.

After looking like a championship unit for five consecutive games, the Texas defense was eight yards away from its second-consecutive 400-yard outing and was a drop away from giving up another back-breaking fourth-quarter touchdown. If Texas is going to make its way to Arlington, it needs to figure out what ails it, both physically and performance-wise, before hosting BYU next week.

 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
satyanash

satyanash 14281

Posted
  • Author
Posted

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Early Halloween in H-town

Quote

Halloween came early to Houston for Texas fans as the Longhorns eked out a 31-24 victory on the road against the Cougars in a harrowing contest. The Longhorns won the game despite losing star quarterback Quinn Ewers after an ill-conceived scramble for the sticks resulted in a jarring shot from 250-pound defensive end David Ugwoegbu (former Sooner) that also shook up the Cougar defender.

Ewers proceeded to make a few attempts on the goal line despite the injury before getting checked out. He didn’t return to the game. Instead the defense managed to make a few stops, including two red zone stands (interception and the final turnover on downs), and Jonathon Brooks and Cedric Baxter took it home in the run game. Close call, but Texas escaped with a win.

Quick thought no. 1: Red zone victory!

Texas won this game in the red zone. They made four trips to the red zone and scored on all of them, three of those trips ending in touchdowns. The only red zone trip by Texas that didn’t end in a touchdown was the one in which Ewers was shaken up and apparently injured.

The main solution by Steve Sarkisian for Texas’ red zone woes was to run the football. Houston wasn’t really up for it against Texas’ run game when things got tight. Brooks was a yard away from rushing for 100 (20 carries for 99 yards) and Baxter looked very fresh and healthy in this game with six carries for 42 yards at 7.0 ypc and a score. Savion Red added three carries which yielded a touchdown and a pair of short-yardage conversions.

The “Redcat” formation (Wildcat with Red as the quarterback running the ball) appears to be what Texas has zeroed in on as their main short-yardage package and he rewarded that choice in this contest.

Meanwhile, Houston was 2-3 in the red zone and threw an interception from the Texas 28-yard line into the end zone that cost them crucial points. Texas’ defense wasn’t very good between the 20s when Houston elected to throw but those two stops made all the difference.

Quick thought no. 2: Texas pass defense woes

The Cougars ran the ball 19 times for 14 yards in this game and their backs Parker Jenkins and Stacy Sneed had a combined 12 carries for 28 yards at 2.3 ypc. A pretty good showing by the Texas defense in that regard, and the dreaded quarterback run game with Donovan Smith was not a factor as Houston wisely chose to invest in other places.

But it wasn’t a good day for the Texas defense. Missing Ryan Watts, Jahdae Barron (for the first half), and Jalen Catalon the Longhorns were shredded by Smith and the Houston passing game. Smith was 32-46 for 378 yards at 8.2 ypa with three touchdowns and an interception. Houston observed the success of Wyoming and Oklahoma in previous games and made a living lining up slot receivers in the boundary where they’d be matched by a dropping Buck, a conflicted linebacker, or a deeper safety. This went very poorly for Texas.

Cougar head coach Dana Holgorsen was also dialing up crossing patterns (especially for boundary slots) and other man-beating concepts to get after Texas when they tried to get away from the zone coverages which struggled to get all the defensive backs in sync. It was an ugly showing. Texas tried a number of solutions and struggled to get traction with any of them.

However, after halftime a dinged up Barron rejoined the action and looked like his normal self despite whatever was ailing him heading into the contest. He had three tackles and played in multiple alignments all over the field, including as a cornerback on the final play when Houston foolishly targeted him for a pick play on their fateful 4th down attempt at the end of the game.

Texas has some work to do in order to patch up this weakness teams keep hammering, some of it will be come naturally as they get healthier and some of it will require more work.

Quick thought no 3: Houston’s Flyover gambit

The Cougars decided to ditch their normal, 4-2-5 press-quarters defensive plan in favor of playing the dreaded 3-3-5 Flyover with three deep safeties. They had no vain ambitions of being able to run with Texas’ receivers and instead chose to keep coverage over the top and force Texas to beat them down the field with the run game and check downs before having to convert in the red zone.

That was certainly a smart plan although I had doubts about their ability to execute it. It went poorly early, started to look better as Texas’ run game struggled and Cougar defensive backs began to close more effectively on the check down throws, then ultimately they wore down against Texas’ power run sets.

It was very fortunate for the Longhorns Houston didn’t have a better front which could hold up when they played their six-offensive line packages and powered the ball on straight ahead runs. Houston did pretty well taking away the explosive plays Texas has relied on to score in previous games but they couldn’t bow up in the red zone or short-yardage. This will be something to keep an eye on when Texas plays better competition, assuming the Longhorn offense isn’t meaningfully impacted by whatever happened to Ewers.

Quick thought no. 4: Texas is very beat up

Somehow Texas appears to be coming out of their post-bye game in worse shape than they were in previously. Multiple players suffered injuries of various degree in this game and were dropping like flies. Alfred Collins left the game and was replaced by a strong performance by Vernon Broughton and Jaray Bledsoe. Terrance Brooks made a big stop on 2nd down but left the game after finishing the tackle and Gavin Holmes had already been knocked out at an earlier point with some sort of ailment. The degree to those injuries will be important topics in the coming week but obviously the really big one is quarterback.

From the fact Ewers went out of the game after the big hit to his right shoulder and had his arm in a sling and pads gone after a trip to the locker room, it’s hard to believe he’ll be in great shape particularly soon. There’s a wide range of possible injuries which could have occurred, some much worse than others, but it’s at least not unlikely Texas will need to play someone else at quarterback next week against BYU.

In fact, given the quality of the Cougars this season, Texas would probably be tempted to use a back-up even if Ewers can be rushed back into action next weekend. Maalik Murphy wasn’t particularly sharp in this game thrust into a tough situation but he kept the offense on track. There’s also the possibility of Arch Manning mania, particularly if we see Ewers out for an extended period of time.

Quick thought no. 5: The Big 12 Championship

Here’s the shape of things.

  1. Oklahoma: 4-0
  2. Iowa State: 3-1
  3. Texas: 3-1
  4. Oklahoma State: 3-1
  5. Kansas State 2-1 (as of writing, but likely to be 3-1)
  6. A bunch of teams with two or more losses…

Texas is still in command of their destiny and will play two of the other three teams currently tied with them in the standings. They get Kansas State at home in two weeks and two weeks after that have a road trip to Iowa State. With Ewers healthy and at the helm Texas will continue to be a favorite throughout the season with a chance to put together a more complete team down the stretch as they get defensive backs healthy. Without Ewers they still have a chance at a Big 12 Championship but it’ll be a particularly wild ride. And now we wait…

 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Codaxx

Codaxx 5601

Posted
Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Boo-hoo. Show me a definitive shot of the ball crossing the 9, because that's what you need to overturn. 

Correct. That is view from behind. Most of this is based on a former Sooner, Spencer Tillman, losing his shit over the spot in the booth 

Edited by Codaxx
  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
WBT

WBT 20418

Posted
Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Boo-hoo. Show me a definitive shot of the ball crossing the 9, because that's what you need to overturn. 

Spot looked good to me.  Parallax is a bitch.  Internet posters are bitching because Brando cried so much about it.  And based on his multiple botched calls he's either senile or blind.

Edited by WBT
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
StrippersAndNobelPrizes

StrippersAndNobelPrizes 831

Posted
Posted
27 minutes ago, WBT said:

Spot looked good to me.  Parallax is a bitch.  Internet posters are bitching because Brando cried so much about it.  And based on his multiple botched calls he's either senile or blind.

This. These dipshits understand nothing about geometry and needing an absolute perpendicular unobstructed view to be able to determine anything, but hey, don’t let that stop these idiots from bitching!

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
satyanash

satyanash 14281

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Sam Khan Jr.: Texas’ Quinn Ewers injured shoulder in win over Houston, finishes game in sling

Quote

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers suffered a shoulder injury after taking a big hit against Houston in the third quarter Saturday. Here’s what you need to know:

  • Ewers was hurt following a tackle on a third-down rush attempt on a drive that later ended with a Texas field goal. After going back to the locker room with trainers, Ewers reemerged on the Texas sideline with his right arm in a sling.
  • Backup Maalik Murphy, a redshirt freshman, entered in Ewers’ place and finished with one completion for seven yards.
  • The Longhorns led 24-21 at the time of Ewers’ injury after starting the game up 21-0. They went on to defeat the Cougars 31-24.
  • After the game, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Ewers injured his shoulder and will be further evaluated Sunday.

What happened to Ewers

On a third-and-6 from the Houston 19 with 4:51 left in the third quarter, Ewers sprinted in hopes of getting a first down but was hammered by Houston edge rusher David Ugwoegbu. Ewers braced himself for the contact, lowering his left shoulder and Ugwoegbu hit Ewers hard in his midsection, sending Ewers to the turf. Ewers bounced back up and played the next four snaps but Ugwoegbu was injured on the play and left the game.

When Texas got the ball early in the fourth on its next offensive possession, Ewers could be seen on the sideline clutching his upper chest area with his right hand while Murphy took over. Ewers later went into the tunnel and to the Texas locker room for further evaluation. — Sam Khan Jr., senior college football writer

What they’re saying

Sarkisian said Ewers tried to play through the injury, but the team didn’t feel comfortable enough with his ability to continue to play. The coach added that if Ewers is forced to miss time, Murphy would step into the spot, while Arch Manning would be next on the depth chart after Murphy.

“I thought Maalik showed great poise and composure,” Sarkisian said. “He’s got a lot of belief in himself and he understands our system. If it’s him (starting) this week, I know he’ll prepare really well and he’ll get the majority of those reps and I think he’ll play good football. And I think Arch will be ready. Both of those guys … have really put in a lot of work to play good football for us. Ultimately if the situation arises that (Ewers misses time), we’ll have the utmost confidence in them to play good football.”

 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31268

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Sam Khan Jr.: Texas’ Quinn Ewers injured shoulder in win over Houston, finishes game in sling

 

Doesn't sound like a collarbone, don't think you can really play through that.  Not sure a separation is much better in terms of recovery time.  Stinger?  Bruised pec or something?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Monahorns

Monahorns 34

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, satyanash said:

Quick thought no. 4: Texas is very beat up

Waaaaaa Waaaa Waaaa Ian.  Jesus Christ.  Blame everything but the crappy DC Kwiatkowski.  This moron was talking about how Muhammad and Brooks were "running the routes for WRs" in summer practices.  It was sniffing fart comment after sniffing fart comment about how much talent was in the defensive backfield.  During the season we see that Barron is awesome and the other 4 are okay except for any deep throw where they are either too slow or completely blow a coverage.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mdhorn

Mdhorn 5911

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, DixonHur said:

Show those fucks a reel of all the missed holding calls in this game.  

Or that they got exactly 1 call on them all game, and it involved ripping off the helmet of the opposing player.  Houston can't complain about the refs.  

Edited by Mdhorn
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
satyanash

satyanash 14281

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Steve Habel: Turnovers in fourth quarter make the difference in Longhorns’ win over Houston

Quote

There was a time early in the third quarter and then late in the game of No. 8 Texas’ 31-24 win over Houston on Saturday at TDECO Stadium when the Longhorns looked dead in the water, the product of a lethargic performance after a scintillating first 17 minutes. The Longhorns had just allowed Houston to tie the game with 21 unanswered points and had resorted to a relatively unproductive running game and a dink-and-passing attack that gained just 104 yards of offense in the second and third quarters combined.

But that was when the Texas defense came to the rescue, as it has for all but a final Red River Showdown-deciding drive against Oklahoma on Oct. 21.   The Longhorns’ defense forced two Houston turnovers over the final 23 minutes – a fumble forced by Jaylan Ford and recovered by Vernon Broughton that led to a 25-yard Bert Auburn field goal that gave Texas the lead with 3:17 to play in the third quarter and an interception by Michael Taaffe with 12:41 remaining.

“The two turnovers today defensively were huge for us,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said after the win. “Obviously the pick in the end zone negated points in a key possession and time in the game. And we finally forced a fumble, which was great to see because we’ve been harping on it so much. So the ball was loose today. We were around it more than we’ve been in the previous couple of weeks and that’s what it’s going to take. You’ve got to keep finding a way to create these turnovers.”

Add to that a final stop on fourth down at the UT 10 with 1:03 left and Texas found a way to beat a determined Cougars team that was a few plays away from winning.

“We have a determination to find a way to win games that we didn’t last year, and that shows the maturity of this team and the grit that these guys have,” Sarkisian said. “Happy to have won the ballgame, not gonna apologize for that. But lesson learned of what we need to do moving forward and how we can play better football for four quarters. That’s going to be needed as we continue to go on this journey. At the end that killer instinct has to come out in us. All phases have to come together to make us the team we know we can be. We had to find a way to win and doing that on the road in these game and in this conference gives us confidence.”

Ford credited the entire team for the win and lauded the Longhorns’ next-man up mentality. “What you saw in the second half was just us playing our game,” Ford explained. “People had to step up when other went down. So this was a full team effort. That said we need better execution and communication from the guys in the back end. I think we will go and watch the film and find those ways we need to get better.”

Gerry Hamilton: The Big 12 weekend that was, and a look ahead

Quote

The Texas Longhorns certainly survived and advanced Saturday with a spot in the Big 12 Championship remaining the goal. The same can be said for Oklahoma holding off UCF 31-29. On the flip side, Mike Gundy continues to prove he is as good of a coach as the conference has seen on a consistent basis.  Left for dead following a 33-7 blowout loss to South Alabama and a 34-27 loss at a struggling Iowa State team, the Cowboys have run off wins over Kansas State, Kansas and at West Virginia to stay in the thick of the Big 12 race. Inside Texas takes a look at the Big 12 standings after the weekend that was and offers a look ahead at next week’s schedule.

Big 12 Standings

  1. No. 6 Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0)
  2. Iowa State (4-3, 3-1)
  3. Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1)
  4. No. 8 Texas (6-1, 3-1)
  5. Kansas State (5-2, 3-1)
  6. Kansas (5-2, 2-2)
  7. BYU (5-2, 2-2)
  8. West Virginia (4-3, 2-2)
  9. Baylor (3-4, 2-2)
  10. TCU (4-4, 2-3)
  11. Texas Tech (3-5, 2-3)
  12. Houston (3-4, 1-3)
  13. UCF (3-4, 0-4)
  14. Cincinnati (2-5, 0-4)

Notes from the weekend games

Oklahoma beat UCF 31-29. The Sooners recorded 30 first downs, 442 yards of offense and were 7-16 on third downs. The Sooners missed first half field goals from 38 and 43 yards. UCF totaled 397 yards in the loss.

Oklahoma State went into Morgantown and scored 48 points in a two touchdown win. Former Euless Trinity High standout Ollie Gordon will be your Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 282 yards and four scores on 29 carries. Former Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman hit on 24 of 36 passes for 210 yards and two TDs. Former Pleasant Grove two-way star and Pokes sophomore linebacker Nickolas Martin totaled 17 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss for Oklahoma State.

BYU beat Texas Tech 27-14. The Cougars may be the college football’s best smoke and mirrors 5-2 team. BYU won a home game over the Red Raiders with 12 first downs and 277 yards of offense. BYU hasn’t put up more than 300 yards of offense in three consecutive Big 12 contests. But Texas Tech turned the ball over five times, played a third string quarterback making his first start, and committed nine penalties for 80 yards in defeat.

Kansas State dominated TCU 41-3. The Wildcats put up 587 yards of offense to 300 for TCU. The quarterback combination of Will Howard and Avery Johnson hit on 15 of 26 passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, and combined to rush for 135 yards on 20 attempts. Kansas State rushed for 343 yards on 6.6 per attempt, and converted 10-13 on third down. TCU’s Josh Hoover made his first ever start on the road.

Week nine Big 12 Schedule

No. 6 Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0) at Kansas (5-2, 2-2) at 11 a.m. central on FOX
Houston (3-4, 1-3) at Kansas State (5-2, 3-1) at 11 a.m. central on ESPN2
West Virginia (4-3, 2-2) at UCF (3-4, 0-4) at 11 a.m. central on FS1
BYU (5-2, 2-2) at No. 8 Texas (6-1, 3-1) at 2:30 p.m. central on ABC
Iowa State (4-3, 3-1) at Baylor (3-4, 2-2) at 2:30 p.m. central on ESPN+
Cincinnati (2-5, 0-4) at Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1) at 7 p.m. central on ESPN2

 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
satyanash

satyanash 14281

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Eric Nahlin: Where does Texas go after being hit by the injury bug?

Quote

The Texas program should be soul searching after struggling to win against a poor Houston team despite being up by 21 points early. Both sides of the ball struggled and that extends well beyond the players and onto the headsets.

On top of all the ‘football’ issues in desperate need of resolution, the team was hit extremely hard with injuries. A permanent aftershock that can’t be fixed with a week of practice is the injury to starting quarterback Quinn Ewers. The rumor is he’s going to miss at least a handful of weeks with a shoulder injury. We’re not reporting this as fact, injuries are tricky to cover for a number of reasons, but we hear it’s a Grade II separation. Ewers will have an MRI today and we’ll await official word from the program unless we hear something more concrete.

Where does Steve Sarkisian go from here? I was not surprised to see Maalik Murphy play in relief of Ewers even though Murphy and Arch Manning have split second team reps this season. However, Murphy entering the game in that situation doesn’t necessarily signal he’ll be the starter against BYU just six days from now. That could be determined by the week of practice. It’s a safe bet Sark will keep the starter a mystery until game time.

Our sources have indicated Manning does a better job of protecting the ball and getting to his second and third receiver, or checking the ball down when no better option is presented. That written we have all seen Murphy’s talent. Yes, he was clearly amped up yesterday which hurt his touch, but that’s to be expected. Receiving more reps this week than normal should help him out.

Sark doesn’t have a ton of time to get his quarterbacks comfortable but it’s much easier to scheme a young quarterback with a week of preparation rather than the spur-of-the-moment situation Texas was in yesterday. Thankfully the run game did enough to seal the win late. Sark will want to lean heavily on that run game. Ideally, they’d be able to win by running the ball and playing great defense. But…

Another huge negative from yesterday besides the obvious of losing a quality starting quarterback, the performance killed a lot of confidence in the team being able to lean on stout defense. Specifically the pass defense in the middle of the field was routinely exploited in ways we haven’t seen since early last season. The defense of course has its own injury concerns, especially in the secondary.

You find out what teams are made of when adversity strikes. We’re going to learn a lot about Sark’s program against BYU. They need to have an exceptional week of practice with an executable game plan that minimizes lack of QB experience. BYU isn’t going to beat itself, Texas is going to have to play much better than it did yesterday if it wants to win.

 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
satyanash

satyanash 14281

Posted
  • Author
Posted

(Bobby Burton) Sunday: A Spine

Quote

The game was ugly. Pure and simple. Old problems reared their heads. The inability of the offense to move the ball against a three-high safety look, the offense going just 1-of-5 on 3rd-and-4 or shorter attempts, communication breakdowns in the secondary, poor coverage from safeties and linebackers alike, a lack of a consistent pass rush, etc.

The list of inadequacies is long. Too long for my taste and for that of most discerning Texas fans. However, down their starting quarterback, their secondary resembling a MASH unit and looking completely lost for two full quarters, this Texas team showed a spine on Saturday afternoon. It's a spine we haven't seen often enough the last several years. And what's most important, the effort came from all aspects of the team.

To visualize what I'm describing, let's dissect the final 7 and a half minutes of the contest after Houston had tied the game, 24-24. First, Keilan Robinson made a stellar return, getting the ball out to the Texas 47-yard line to start the go-ahead drive. Hats off to the entire special teams group for coming through in the clutch. Just how important was the good field position? No one would have liked to seen Maalik Murphy starting inside his own 20 with the game on the line. We'd possibly be talking about an entirely different outcome of that drive specifically and the game overall. The return was key.

Next, the offense, without their starting quarterback, took the field and ran the ball five of six plays, punching the ball in on a nice run from Cedric Baxter. The running lanes absent earlier in the contest finally materialized when it mattered most. The team came together despite its offensive leader being sidelined with injury. Furthermore, the offense scored a touchdown (not three points!).

After a kickoff through the back of the end zone, the defense then took the field with more than five minutes remaining. On the Cougars' final drive, other than the first play from scrimmage - a 24-yard slant to Matthew Golden - the Texas defense largely stiffened, not allowing anything of note in the run game, while clearly defending the pass much tighter.

The Texas D caused two third-down attempts and then two fourth-down attempts. While Donovan Smith made a great play on the first fourth down. He didn't on the second one. And that was the ball game. When all the chips were on the table, the Texas "team", all parts of it, played hard, smart and together. There will be many critiques of this game. As there should be. But it should be well remembered that Texas is 6-1 this morning, not 5-2, because they made the plays when it mattered. They showed a spine.

Justin Wells: What Steve Sarkisian said after No. 8 UT's 31-24 win over Houston

Quote

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was happy to get out of Houston with a win on Saturday night. After building an early 21-point lead with 12:44 remaining in the second quarter, Houston countered with 21 unanswered points of its own. The Cougars tied it at 24-all after Jack Martin‘s 40-yard field goal with 7:43 left in the game.

But CJ Baxter‘s biggest run at Texas – 16-yard touchdown with 5:37 left – was the scoring jaunt the Longhorns needed to escape TDECU Stadium.

“First of all, I’ll say I’m happy we won,” said Sarkisian. “I can remember vividly being here a year ago, not in this exact stadium, but in this situation and two years ago and not winning this game. I think it speaks a lot to this team’s resiliency, this team’s mental toughness. The ability to finish in the fourth quarter showed up tonight. I’m really happy about that.”

“I’m happy to know when I wake up tomorrow morning we’ll be 6-1 and not 5-2,” Sarkisian said. “That’s the first part. The second part I think holds true to the way we practiced and prepared. I thought we had a great week of practice, great week of preparation, and I thought we played that way at the start of the football game to jump ahead, 21-0. But the lesson learned here is we have to have a killer instinct.”

Sarkisian knows he’s going to get everyone’s best, week in and week out. “People aren’t going to lay down against us. They are going to continue to fight. We relaxed, we didn’t execute the way we have, and a poor call on the fake field goal. (UH) got some momentum from that. Then we wind up in a dogfight tied at 21.

On the injury front, Sarkisian mentioned that a handful of players were bit by the injury bug.

“Quinn (Ewers) has a hurt shoulder,” Sarkisian said. We’ll know more tomorrow. He tried to play through it. we didn’t feel comfortable enough with his ability to continue to play. We got nicked up. A lot of guys had to step in and play. And the game came down to two possessions. We find a way to punch it in for ours, and found a way to get a fourth down stop on defense. That was a real positive.”

“Jahdae (Barron) got cleared late in the week. (Jaylon) Guilbeau had been practicing and had a pretty good couple weeks. But when the game got going, we started to get nicked up, couple corners got banged up, so we felt like we had to start to roll some more guys out there, and Jahdae was able to go. He got out there and played well. That encouraged us to keep him out there.”

At the end, a number of players made key plays to pull out the win over the Cougars. “A couple guys to highlight were Ryan Sanborn, he had a heck of a game,” said Sarkisian. “He had a couple big time punts for us there. Keilan (Robinson) with a couple big time returns to setup scores. Then Savion Red with a couple of those critical runs on fourth downs to extend drives. Obviously the touchdown run was big.”

Gerry Hamilton: Injured Texas defense will welcome a bad BYU offensive team

Quote

The Texas Longhorns have injury issues mounting on the defensive side of the ball. And to say that could even be considered an understatement. At one point late in the game Saturday, Texas was forced to move star Jahdae Barron to corner. That alone is telling to just how banged up the Longhorns are on defense after seven games.

For a beat up defense, there is not a better opponent coming to Austin than BYU. Sure the Cougars are 5-2 and 2-2 in Big 12 play, but the worst offense in the conference is headed to Austin Saturday. Inside Texas takes a statistical look at just how putrid the BYU offense has been, which includes three straight Big 12 games with less than 300 yards of offense.

Total offense

BYU is 122nd out of 130 teams averaging 301.9 yards per game. That places BYU last in the Big 12 conference.

Passing offense

BYU is 74th out of 130 teams recording 222.6 yards per game. That places the Cougars 12th in the Big 12 conference.

Passing yards per completion

BYU is 70th out of 130 teams, averaging 11.98 yards per completion.

Team Passing efficiency rating

BYU checks in at 80th out of 130 teams, with a 129.72 team passing efficiency rating.

Rushing offense

They have struggled to run the ball to the point of being 128th out of 130 teams, averaging just 79.3 yards per game. That is last in the Big 12.

First downs

The Cougars are 123rd out of 130 teams in first downs. That ranks 13th in the Big 12.

3rd down conversion percentage

The Cougars are 124th out of 130 teams, converting 28 of 93 third down’s for 30.1%. That is last in the Big 12.

4th down conversion percentage

6 of 12 for 50%

Red zone offense

A positive for BYU is they are 23rd out of 130 teams in efficiency, but only have 23 trips into the red zone in seven games.

Tackles for loss allowed

BYU is 60th out of 130 teams, surrendering 5.43 tackle for loss per game.

Sacks allowed

A bright spot for BYU is pass protection. The Cougars are 24th out of 130 teams. They surrender 1.29 sacks per game Note: A positive is BYU only has three fumbles lost, which is tied for 32nd nationally.

BYU in four Big 12 games

BYU has gone over 300 yards of offense just once in four games in conference play. And that was the conference opener against Kansas. In the last three games, BYU is averaging 271.7 yards per game. Even with the 366 yards against Kansas, the Cougars are averaging just 295 yards of offense in Big 12 play. The Cougars put up 295 yards against Cincinnati, 243 yards in a 44-11 loss at TCU and 277 yards last night in a home win over Texas Tech.

Those offensive numbers include a team that really struggles to run the ball. BYU has averaged just 2.86 yards per rush in conference play, with only 320 yards on the ground. They are averaging 16.8 first downs per game, which is 13th in the conference. And the Cougars have converted just 16 of 53 third downs through four conference games, for 30.2%.

 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Codaxx

Codaxx 5601

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, satyanash said:

(Bobby Burton) Sunday: A Spine

Justin Wells: What Steve Sarkisian said after No. 8 UT's 31-24 win over Houston

Gerry Hamilton: Injured Texas defense will welcome a bad BYU offensive team

 

“I’m happy to know when I wake up tomorrow morning we’ll be 6-1 and not 5-2,” Sarkisian said. “That’s the first part. The second part I think holds true to the way we practiced and prepared. I thought we had a great week of practice, great week of preparation, and I thought we played that way at the start of the football game to jump ahead, 21-0. But the lesson learned here is we have to have a killer instinct.”

 

You may want to talk to your defensive staff about this Sark. When you are up 21-0 in the 2Q and decide to play 5-7 back-ups to open up a series on defense, which ended in a TD, that it’s a killer instinct. Just me, but that kind of sends a completely different message 

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Laxtonto

Laxtonto 11929

Posted
Posted
Just now, Codaxx said:

“I’m happy to know when I wake up tomorrow morning we’ll be 6-1 and not 5-2,” Sarkisian said. “That’s the first part. The second part I think holds true to the way we practiced and prepared. I thought we had a great week of practice, great week of preparation, and I thought we played that way at the start of the football game to jump ahead, 21-0. But the lesson learned here is we have to have a killer instinct.”

 

You may want to talk to your defensive staff about this Sark. When you are up 21-0 in the 2Q and decide to play 5-7 back-ups to open up a series on defense, which ended in a TD, that it’s a killer instinct. Just me, but that kind of sends a completely different message 

 

The moral of the story seems like we can do mass subs on D, but not until we are up 35 in the 2Q and then take a touchdown off every quarter from there...

35 2Q

28 3Q

21 4Q

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31268

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Red Five said:

I don't think just "having a killer instinct" is something you can decide to do. Also, it's not a lesson that anyone at this level should have to learn. 

I think to one degree or another, the sustained lack of success for a decade or more is acutely known to these players.  

Unlike say OU, where there are team members that were on a 10-win team, there aint any at Texas and haven't been for a long time.  Hell, most of the recruits probably took their offers on the notion that they would help Texas "get back."  So, the vets have no winning tradition and have been learning a new system, the new guys are just new and young, and learning a new system.

So, I think there's a lot of room for self-doubt and a lot of pressure to execute.  And when that doesn't happen for sometimes seemingly inexplicable reasons (the whole Worthy Ewers failure last year), it gets to be kind of insidious.

For better or worse, Sark's and PKs schemes don't allow for unbridled aggression.  They have to keep their heads to succeed. 

So, Sark is in a bit of a spot psychologically.  He could try to ramp them up into pscychopaths, but they probably wouldn't execute very well.  And I think some of them may be overwound as it is trying to execute.  So, yeah, maybe do "have fun."

That's what I mean by frail.

 

Edited by TwiceHorn
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
satyanash

satyanash 14281

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Justin Wells: Top PFF grades from No. 7 Texas' 31-24 win over Houston

Quote

After the No. 7 Texas Longhorns’ 31-24 win over Houston from TDECU Stadium on Saturday, Inside Texas takes a look at the Pro Football Focus grades on offense and defense after the Longhorns moved to 6-1 in the 2023 season.

OFFENSE

QB – Quinn Ewers, 68.3

Before going down to injury, Ewers was sharp on 23-of-29 passing, 211 yards, and two touchdowns on 58 snaps. After the injury, Ewers’ right arm/shoulder was in a sling. Maalik Murphy replaced him.

RB – Jonathon Brooks, 71.3, Cedric Baxter, 70.8, Savion Red, 80.7

The trio of Brooks, Baxter, and Red notched 204 total yards and two touchdowns, including Red’s keeper in the red zone and Baxter’s game-winning 16-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. Brooks added a career-high eight catches in the winning effort.

WR – Xavier Worthy, 73.0, Adonai Mitchell, 57.5

The duo of Worthy and Mitchell were productive on Saturday, with both finding the end zone. Worthy notched 92 yards receiving on six catches and a score from an absolute dime by Ewers, while Mitchell had one grab, a 14-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring for the Horns.

TE –  Ja’Tavion Sanders, 59.8

Sanders was closer to 100% on Saturday, tallying 29 yards receiving on two grabs on 54 snaps. Gunnar Helm had a pair of catches for 13 yards.

OL – Christian Jones, 66.3, Kelvin Banks, 70.5, Jake Majors, 66.0

Offensive tackles Banks and Jones and center Majors paced the O-line attack. All three played all 69 snaps on offense. The unit gave up three sacks.

DEFENSE

DL/EDGE – T’Vondre Sweat, 72.4, Alfred Collins, 73.2, Byron Murphy, 72.4, Ethan Burke, 67.2

Sweat (36 snaps) and Murphy (35 snaps) once again paced the defensive interior, while Collins added a defensive line-high 73.2 on 20 snaps before exiting with an injury. Burke was solid in 43 snaps, adding a sack.

LB – Anthony Hill Jr, 58.6, Jaylan Ford, 69.2

The true freshman Hill Jr and the elder statesman Ford combined for 11 tackles, three tackles for loss, and one critical forced-fumble in the fourth quarter by Ford.

CB/N – Jahdae Barron, 78.8, Jaylon Guilbeau, 69.6

Barron began the game on the sidelines, nursing a recent injury but was called upon into action to begin the second half and played admirably at nickel and cornerback after Terrance Brooks went down. Guilbeau started and was strong in the first half with a pair of tackles. Both played 32 snaps).

S – Michael Taaffe, 62.8, Derek Williams, 72.6

The former Westlake walk-on played one of his best games in a Texas uniform. He tallied eight tackles, important last drive pass breakup, and a critical four-quarter interception of UH QB Donovan Smith in the end zone. The true freshman Williams added six tackles as well with strong play for the Horns secondary.

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

Quote

We’re seven games into the season and the Texas defense is regressing. Major diagnostic warts, a failure to change out failing personnel, poor opponent scouting and in-game adjustments, unit incohesion and poor secondary play were revealed against Oklahoma and the Houston game showed all of the same issues and a few new ones. Given that the defense made no progress over the bye week, I’m not sure how the coaches spent their time, but everything they did failed.

Also, the “we might be better without Ryan Watts” takes were silly before Oklahoma and they’re even dumber now. Guys who tackle and don’t blow coverages are valuable in setting the baseline for a defense.

First, a few words of praise. Jaylan Ford and the Texas defensive tackles stopped the Cougar run game in its tracks and turned the Cougars into a one dimensional team early. For good and bad. Houston ran the ball 19 times for 14 yards (12 of those yards came on one run) and with the leftover resources that the interior triangle of dominance spared, the Horns should have been able to confound the Houston passing game with either coverage or pressure. I can’t fully convey what a gift that 3 or 4 defenders stopping an opponent running game is for a defense schematically, but Texas frittered that advantage away.

It looked like Texas might cash in on run game dominance early as Texas crushed the Cougars in the first quarter, but Houston dominated Texas through the air once Dana Holgorsen realized he could spam crossers on repeat combined with a simple WR screen and the occasional seam route to test our zone flat-footedness, offering limited QB Donovan Smith his few comfort throws and (another) career day torching Texas for 378 yards passing on 32 of 46 attempts and 3 touchdowns.

At one point, I counted five consecutive money downs (3rd and 7+) converted by the same crosser call. PK continues to love extra man blitzes from the 3rd row of the stands against a spread offense running bunch formations and flexed tight ends that puts the extra edge defender a mile and a half from the QB. OU taught him very little in that regard.

The first four Houston possessions went 15 plays for 28 yards combined, all ending in speedy punts, but once Houston realized that Texas didn’t actually know how to play their shifting coverages (we kept going Cover 2 to 1 or man to zone) and that the looks could be short circuited by the same couple of routes, it was rinse, wash, repeat.

They gained 369 yards on their next 51 plays (7.2 yards per play) amassing three consecutive touchdown drives (like Oklahoma, they dominated the coaching adjustments crucible of the middle 8; the last 4 minutes of the first half and the first four of the 2nd half) and their unsuccessful second half drives were short circuited by an interception, a fumble and a personal foul. All best described as own goals, though the fumble was a legitimate forced turnover.

The Cougar reads on crossing patterns were simple. If man, rub and separate. If zone, find space and settle. So Donovan Smith wasn’t reading our coverages – he was reading his receiver. The receiver decision was: “Are guys chasing me or just standing there?” Texas shifting coverages were irrelevant and not confusing anyone’s picture but our own. Let’s break down a few plays to understand the failures:

Zone coverage run so poorly that I actually wondered if it’s some sort of combo, but no, it’s just bad zone. About what I get from my nine year old flag football kids in Week 1 – stare into the backfield, guard grass, let receiver run past you. We’ve seen this route up the seam before. Michael Taaffe looks like the goat here, but I’m guessing that a mesmerized Kitan Crawford was supposed to carry up the receiver. Yes, Taaffe is also too slow getting over having lost his depth. At this point, he should pre-emptively anticipate Crawford blowing every situational zone rule.

Poorly executed blitz. Texas brings six and Houston can’t block it. Guilbeau takes a horrific angle inside-out instead of outside-in. An angle so bad that the running back supposed to block him is shocked. Smith is a right-armed QB who will always seek to escape – you guessed it – right. So #3 fails the assignment and the scouting report. The nickel blitzer needs to corral Smith inside and let the interior Texas DL who are all one-on-one (see Bledsoe winning) get the sack or drive Smith into his waiting arms. Instead he takes a terrible inside angle and dives on the ground. That’s how a 240 pound guy eludes a 180 pound guy in a game of tag. U of H scores an easy touchdown as Manjack smokes Crawford.

Terrance Brooks was awful all game, but here he is dipped in molasses. Note presnap that he has outside leverage but gives it up because Golden took a slight stutter step inside. Safety is inside of you, dude. Where’s your help? This is game #7. Note the rounded angle he takes in recovery.

One of many 3rd and longs converted by Houston running crossers.

The Cougar right tackle clothesline-holds Sorrell around the edge while the right guard grabs two fistfuls of T’Vondre’s jersey, but hey Big 12 ref gonna Big 12 ref. PK’s idea to stop the crosser which has been victimizing his defense for the last 20 minutes is to drop Ethan Burke into coverage (checkmate Holgo!) as Kitan Crawford absolutely ghosts his assignment to randomly chase an already double-teamed Cougar receiver. Consequently, a wide open Samuel Brown works against the grain and gathers the ball on a throw that a freshman B team quarterback can make. Credit to Taaffe recognizing what was happening from the other side of the field and reacting to Crawford’s blown assignment, but he comes in at speed with a bad overrun and Holmes misses the trailing tackle. Terrific hustle by Anthony Hill coming from the opposite side of the field…culminating in a 15 yard personal foul.

A lot to unpack on that play. Useless refs, clueless player, bad coaching.

Defensive Line

After being victimized by Dillon Gabriel in the run game vs Oklahoma, Pete decided that the QB who averages 2.8 yards per run and is only a red zone and short yardage concern warranted containment constraints on standard downs. So Texas ran almost no loops or stunts against a grabby OL badly susceptible to same and pressure attempts came from extra outside men that UH ignored while throwing to the wide open guy between the hashes on a crosser.

The interior was outstanding against the run. Dropping Burke repeatedly in the second half as the attempted solution to Nancy Drew And The Mystery Of The Crossing Route was hilarious. Less funny was watching Burke tackled behind at the knees by a Cougar OL about five yards from the ref with no flag at the end of the first half. Alfred Collins absolutely dominated before leaving with an injury. A big sack and several penetrations in maybe 20 snaps. Justice Finkley, JAG. Don’t recruit maxed-out short edges unless they run a 4.5 and have a crazy inside spin move.

Linebacker

Jaylan Ford played well between the tackles and had a nice forced fumble sack. Anthony Hill played with a lot of energy. He doesn’t understand how to play zone either, but he does it with enthusiasm and unlike some of our defensive backs, he doesn’t just randomly run to a spot or stand paralyzed when a receiver runs across his face.

Defensive Back

Jahdae Barron missed the first half. In an attempt to stop the bleed, he was inserted in the second half and was outstanding. The Cougars targeted him four times for three yards gained. Holgo understood that eventually and just ran him out of the play so he could focus on Pete’s other pupils. We can’t allow Barron off of the field. When we go 4-3 personnel, he needs to replace a safety. If your response is that he won’t know the coverages, they don’t know them either. At least he’s good and instinctive.

Gavin Holmes actually played and covered well overall despite a tackling hiccup or two. Freshman Derek Williams was by far the best safety on Saturday; having received the least amount of cumulative instruction from Texas coaches, he made the fewest errors.

The game started poorly for Terrance Brooks and got worse. He was bad in man and zone. It didn’t always get punished, though it got punished plenty. Donovan Smith left two touchdowns and an extra 100 yards on passing on the field missing open guys being trailed ten yards by #8. His best play was getting his helmet ripped off by Matthew Golden to help short circuit Houston’s attempted game tying drive.

Taaffe, Crawford and Thompson were all victimized at safety to varying degrees. Taaffe made the most positive impact plays, notching 8 tackles, an interception that he wisely kneeled in the end zone and a terrific hit PBU on Manjack on a key 3rd and 2, but he was also targeted a good bit. Thompson got trucked once in the run game (see Houston’s only explosive run) and generally seemed listless. UH was a perfect 6 of 6 when targeting #28.

Kitan Crawford has blown more coverages in a three game stretch for big plays than I can recall from a Texas defensive back and I watched Kris Boyd play. But he does it without tangible upside. I’ve been documenting his torchings since Kansas and last year before that. I probably would stop playing him, but I’m not a coach.

Special Teams

Two terrific returns by Keilan Robinson. Kicking to Golden was an interesting decision. It burned us once and paid off another time. Net loss though. A ridiculously bad fake field goal call on 4th and 6. I don’t have the words.

Final

Texas plays the worst offense in the league on Saturday. Since any college offense can score against blown coverages or junior varsity level attempts at zone, the staff should play the athletes that won’t let receivers run past them. Kedon Slovis is a statue in the pocket, so we should also consider letting the rush go. Obviously, if BYU runs crossing routes, all bets are off as they cannot be defensed.

Right now, Texas is doing a very poor job of taking advantage of its strengths and has made some bad personnel decisions at the expense of continuity and schematic fluency. For two consecutive weeks, this staff has encountered the Gordian Knot and told the defense to throw down their swords and write essays about untying knots.

 

  • Hook 'Em 6
  • Like 1
  • Rage+1 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Monahorns

Monahorns 34

Posted
Posted

"Guys who tackle and don't blow coverages are valuable in setting the baseline for a defense."  Has a sentence ever been so true but so worthless?  What football player shouldn't tackle well and not make catastrophic mistakes?  For Texas we have to get a highly rated transfer from another school to get this kind of performance.  But actual coaches should be able to get this level of performance from what 70% of the players in their position group?  Starters should be those who have better athletic traits or have higher levels of execution or consistency than others.  But apparently Texas can't have a good secondary when they lose 1 guy who can tackle and doesn't lose their minds at critical times.  Damning for Texas and Wadlington's ability to analyze football.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dcar00

dcar00 14035

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Justin Wells: Top PFF grades from No. 7 Texas' 31-24 win over Houston

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

 

at what point are we going to start asking what the fuck our DB coaches are doing in practice?  

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 10756

Posted
Posted
On 10/21/2023 at 8:04 PM, WBT said:

Spot looked good to me.  Parallax is a bitch.  Internet posters are bitching because Brando cried so much about it.  And based on his multiple botched calls he's either senile or blind.

the english prem has the balls chipped and can work out 3-dimensional parallax problems in seconds

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Monahorns

Monahorns 34

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, satyanash said:

At one point, I counted five consecutive money downs (3rd and 7+) converted by the same crosser call. PK continues to love extra man blitzes from the 3rd row of the stands against a spread offense running bunch formations and flexed tight ends that puts the extra edge defender a mile and a half from the QB. OU taught him very little in that regard.

Doesn't this deserve a firing?  There has to be accountability.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Monahorns

Monahorns 34

Posted
Posted

I continue to notice the difference between what the 995ers say preseason and against Rice vs what they say once Texas is in the meat of the season.  I have no doubt BYU will look great next Saturday.  All the while Texas fans make excuses for why things are better despite what their lying eyes are saying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RabidM

RabidM 2664

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, dcar00 said:

at what point are we going to start asking what the fuck our DB coaches are doing in practice?  

I think now is when.  I thought Joseph was pretty mediocre at aggy. I remember not being happy when he left.  Of course, aggy was a bit of a train wreck at the time. 

I want Gideon to be good, for obvious reasons, but Williams appears to be the only safety worth a shit right now.  Catalon was shaped elsewhere, and has his ups and downs.  Are there really no better options than Crawford?  If there is no one on the bench who can just be assignment sound that's got to be on the coach.  If there is someone better and they're not being played, that's also on the coaches. 

Watts is good, also potentially shaped elsewhere.  Barron is great at least.  He is a big time self starter\film junkie though.  Terrance Brooks appears to be regressing badly. 

I don't know.  It seems like we should have too much talent to be this poor in the defensive backfield, even with some evaluation missteps. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 1
  • Rage+1 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
52-80

52-80 19086

Posted
Posted

parallax my ass.  guy's feet were at half yard and he was leaning/falling forward.  his hip alone was at the 1st down threshold and the ball easily cleared it.  you can cheer for the longhorns, recognize that there were missed holding calls, AND admit that houston got a hugely botched call on a critical down.

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
gmr548

gmr548 16503

Posted
Posted
at what point are we going to start asking what the fuck our DB coaches are doing in practice?  

Yeah I don’t want to absolve PK because the buck stops with him, but the Gideon/Joseph combo was not particularly impressive when hired and was put in place before the DC. PK’s defenses churned out NFL DBs at Washington yet the secondary is in year 3 of being terrible.

There’s obviously an issue; I’m assuming Sark is not going out looking for a new DC for better or worse but if the trend line continues I don’t see how you don’t take action with position coaches on the back end.
  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hookem2147

Hookem2147 20931

Posted
Posted (edited)

Muschamp recommended Gideon to Sark (he obviously played for him but also GA’d for him at Florida and Auburn for a year). Patterson also thinks very highly of Gideon after working with him last year.

I don’t think any coach is going to look good with Michael Taafee and Kitan Crawford playing significant snaps for them.

Joseph holds the title of pass game coordinator.

Edited by Hookem2147
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Atticus

Atticus 3922

Posted
Posted

Talent is certainly part of the issue, but poor communication is directly on the coaches.
Are Joseph’s recruiting connections worth his coaching deficiencies?

The front and the back are showing more signs of disconnect as the season progresses.

Injuries aren’t helping, but shortening the rotations on the back end might help bring serviceable play through reps as a unit. 
 

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Valmy77

Valmy77 13094

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, Monahorns said:

I continue to notice the difference between what the 995ers say preseason and against Rice vs what they say once Texas is in the meat of the season.  I have no doubt BYU will look great next Saturday.  All the while Texas fans make excuses for why things are better despite what their lying eyes are saying.

Surely full of too much unreasonable sunshine for you? 

It's important to remember this is the fans' fault. Of we just posted meaner things on the internet, the secondary would play better.

Edited by Valmy77
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...