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2024 Season Thread and all the shit in between games


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Is there a thread with picks for regular season wins & losses, floor/ceiling, etc?  If that goes here, I'm gonna predict Texas goes 10-2.  This is based on my exhaustive review** of the strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies of each of our SEC and nonconference opponents.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  1. What areas must Texas continue to improve throughout the 2024 season for a chance to make the playoffs?
  2. What Horns backup players will show the most improvement and play critical roles this season?

 

1.  I'll start with areas by bringing up special teams.  Kick coverages need to get better.  Our punter looks shaky.

2.  Jelani McDonald and Liona Lefau

 

 

Edited by LTtxfan
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1 minute ago, Doc Daneeka said:

I don’t like worrying about kick coverage again. 

Yeah Sark mentioning that our kicker was involved in 2 tackles last Saturday is not good.

Scary that on offense,  WRs, RBs and o-line can all get better as the season goes along. 

Also interested to see Niblack and D.Moore get more receptions as the season moves along.

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54 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:
  1. What areas must Texas continue to improve throughout the 2024 season for a chance to make the playoffs?
  2. What Horns backup players will show the most improvement and play critical roles this season?

 

1.  I'll start with areas by bringing up special teams.  Kick coverages need to get better.  Our punter looks shaky.

2.  Jelani McDonald and Liona Lefau

 

 

pass rush is still a weakness.  one sack.  

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1 minute ago, thrillhammer said:

pass rush is still a weakness.  one sack.  

Definitely work-in-process.  Glad we have a lot better talent there to work with.

Teams with better o-lines are gonna challenge our interior DL with the run.

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One of the most satisfying thing to see with Sarks Offense is the ability to get the ball into space and a ton of one on ones to our playmakers.  
 

Thinking back over the years , even back to GDGD, we have never seen our speed guys in space like we are seeing now that Sark has the team offensive speed like he has now.  All the throws to the backs are majority guys catching the ball in front of them and moving forward.  The screen game is amazing, the reverses , throws to TE, the scheming is outstanding and allows our guys to make plays.  
 

one thing we have not done all this year , and I can’t say im Disappointed, is the long horizontal throw to a WR standing still.  Seems like a high % throw but it’s almost entirely based on one or 2 WR blocks to be successful.  x housed it a couple years ago but it’s such a low % play.  

Ramonce, DJ Monroe , daje, all had speed but I don’t recall our OC ever maximizing the speed advantage like Sark. 
 

OU under all those exceptional OC’s ate our lunch with it in Dallas. How many times did their rb catch the ball in the flat and have a one on one.  They killed us on short 3rd down and Distance nice to see this on our side 

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38 minutes ago, MIkeHoncho said:

2nd play of the game, that misdirection throwback screen is starting to worry me.  It seems like QE is starting to get a bit too comfortable and throws without looking.  I'm always scared the defense is going to sit on it and pick-6. 

 

Same.  Was wondering if we’d see it at Michigan and it went as bad as I’d feared , could have easily been picked.  

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5 hours ago, MIkeHoncho said:

2nd play of the game, that misdirection throwback screen is starting to worry me.  It seems like QE is starting to get a bit too comfortable and throws without looking.  I'm always scared the defense is going to sit on it and pick-6. 

Yeah, my son commented that Sark uses that play early in games a lot and it's predictable now... may need to take it off the playsheet for awhile.  

 

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2 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Yeah, my son commented that Sark uses that play early in games a lot and it's predictable now... may need to take it off the playsheet for awhile.  

 

More likely he’s going to fuck OU or UGA with something built off it. We’ll see. 

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40 minutes ago, Doc Daneeka said:

More likely he’s going to fuck OU or UGA with something built off it. We’ll see. 

Yep.

They've run a couple variations of it over the last couple of seasons..

I know they've run a similar play to what San Francisco ran a couple seasons ago...

The fake double screen and TE releases up the seam..it's glorious. 

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Way too early in the season with only two games under our belt and a RB room that is only going to shrink as the season wears on, but I'm getting tingly feelings about this team I haven't had in like ..16 years or so?

Actually better than 16 years ago, but I can't quite go back 20 years to 04-05, but not too far away from that either.

A long season still ahead, and longest ever unless shit goes really sideways, but I'm liking what I've seen so far. I knew the offense *should* be a WMD this season based on returning players+quality transfers, but so far they've wildly exceeded expectations. Our defense is also seems improved in spite of losing our interior beef and a veteran LB, who knew passes could actually be defended instead of simply tackling the receiver after they catch the ball? Run defense is still a work in progress. As in either feast or famine..stop the runner for little or no gain, or let them rip off a 10+ yarder. I think if we figure that part out and our young DB's mixed with older experienced players start to mesh we'll be fine in stopping most teams from outscoring us, if not dominant on D.

I dunno man, anyone else getting the feeling this team is different than any we've had in recent years? And yes, that includes last year's lineup that ultimately had 11 NFL players.

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I want mudhole early and often so we can get a little Arch Madness along with some of the Freshmen some serious playtime.

Yes, I know this won't be popular among those who think stat padding will be the difference in Quinn winning or losing the Heisman. I seriously have a waning interest in that award being too meaningful these days, and would hope the voters take into account number of snaps taken when looking at numbers.
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We don’t really play a decent team for over a month. We could really start building our depth up even more. I’d like to see a lot of our 2nd team offensive line. I’d also like to see some other guys emerge in the interior defensive line. Where is Jaray Bledsoe? It’d be nice if he could give us some closer interior pass rush snaps.

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2 minutes ago, CastHorn said:

Also someone needs to introduce the team to the rest of Boosie’s discography. They been jamming Set It Off since last fall. Boosies got at least a dozen songs that’ll make you want to beat somebody’s ass. 

I’ll let the obvious joke here be an exercise for the reader.

Still, whatever works. 

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Bobby Burton

 

I was asked a question last night by a friend. He asked if a certain player, who did not play against UTSA, was in the "doghouse".

I didn't know the answer for sure, so we checked with a couple of sources, and no, said player is definitely not in the doghouse.

But that inquiry led to a few more questions.

The answers resulted in a curious observation:

I was told there are currently not any players in the doghouse with the Texas coaching staff.

Sure, there are players who Texas coaches would like to perform better, become more physical or more dialed in, or simply raise their level of play - that's only natural - but none of them are coming from a lack of effort or off-field issues by the player, and therefore they're in the proverbial doghouse. Even some of the guys who were lagging in the pre-season or transfers who are not playing as much as they had hoped, none of them have been seen or noticed pouting.

With as many as 85 players on scholarship, how is that even possible? Usually, there are at least a few guys dragging tail.

Of course, that may not stay the same over the course of a season. And maybe being ranked the no. 1 team in the nation helps; winning cures all ills after all.

But I think there may be something deeper going on here. The term "culture" is often overused. But I think Sark and his staff have recruited guys who, by and large, love football and are dedicated to honing their craft. So when there are a few guys who are lagging, perhaps their peers are picking them up and moving them in the right direction.

I can't emphasize how impactful that can be for a team. I've seen talented teams ripped apart by poor culture, by a lack of player buy-in.

Sark has the buy-in of his players right now. And his assistants are also getting buy-in across the board, too.

**

For the olds out there (of which I partially include myself!), the following stat is going to be a little scary, in a good way.

This is the best three-game start to a season for any Texas scoring defense since 1983, which also allowed just 19 points in its first three contests of the year.

For those unfamiliar with that 1983 Texas team, the Longhorns finished 11-1 on the season while giving up no more than 21 points in a game the entire year. Texas lost 10-9 to Georgia in the Cotton Bowl and just missed out on a national championship because of it.

**

There is no QB controversy at Texas. As much as national talking heads want to make it so, there just isn't.

Sure, Arch Manning is extremely talented. But he's also extremely inexperienced compared to the extremely talented and experienced Quinn Ewers.

How can that inexperience effect a Steve Sarkisian offense?

As Rod Babers noted in the Second Watch video yesterday, Sark's usage of pre-snap motion with Arch at the helm was dramatically reduced against UTSA compared to Quinn. Sark uses pre-snap motion to not only confuse a defense and create mismatches but also to create targets-to-motion.

If that pre-snap element is minimized or reduced, the Texas offense is losing one of its more effective tools.

Look, I love where Arch Manning is headed with his career. It is literally headed nowhere but up. He's so talented, we don't even know what the ceiling is.

Yet, a three-year starting QB like Quinn Ewers who has experienced the ups and downs, he's ridden the roller coaster of college football, and he's been confronted with so many different defensive looks, from the three-high safety to max blitzes, etc., there is immense value in that which Arch simply doesn't have, and that experience means he can run the full gamut of Sark's playbook.

The bottom line for me is this:

Both of these Texas QBs are extremely talented and future first-round picks.

There is room for them both on this roster, and I think both of them being Longhorns is why Texas is currently ranked No. 1.

**

I don't know who the more impressive freshman is: Ryan Wingo or Colin Simmons.

Those two are just crazy talented, among the best talent at their positions for the Longhorns I have seen in my professional career.

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2 hours ago, jdhorn92 said:

NC St. is better than you are giving them credit for.  The wheels came off sure, but TN played lights out .

They beat Western Carolina 38-21 and Louisiana Tech 30-20. They may have been good last year and Doeren may be a good coach but through 3 games this year they are indistinguishable from a Sun Belt team on the field. 

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