Game Thread Texas vs. Mississippi State - 3:15pm on SEC Network

[CptnJiggleBits 915]

Glory to the glory hallaelu 

 

Edited September 29 by CptnJiggleBits

[BachelorTrek 2,967]

Red River Shootout Game Week Thread starts now and runs for 2 weeks instead? Lulz. 

[Enemy07 288]

13 minutes ago, hornian said:

Agree. Rewatched it. We would have at least 10-14 more points in the first half without mistakes (Blues fist fumble, Cook’s drop), not to mention the weird decision to take 3 points off the board (and that FG was due to back-to/back penalties on Helm). That’s at least 13-17 points right there, and that’s not even counting Blue’s 2nd fumble. 

This. Plus wanted to post this again. Hook 'em!

 

[MirrOlure 14,760]

The penalties, fumbles and poor tackling tell me that we got a head start on the bye week and didn’t have a great week of practice.

Understandable and forgivable as long as it doesn’t happen again!

[Modessit 5,598]

I didn’t hate the decision to go for it. We were averaging like 9 yards a play at that point and were facing very little resistance. The call was just poor. Have a higher percentage play ready. I’m pretty sure we ran that exact stupid play on 4th down against UH last year and it was also incomplete.

I think he planned to go for it before the false start. Then we kicked and they had a penalty to get us back to 4th and short. Unfortunately, we weren't in rhythm anymore. The play call wasn't bad, but Arch waited too long and then tried to rainbow it. If he throws it earlier as a dart, it most likely works.

I would have rather seen a play-action or zone-read option with an inside slant, though.

[Murfdogg21 4,412]

1 hour ago, Longboard Horn said:

You’re good. Usually we put the Texas game on, but more people wanted to watch Oklahoma Auburn, and on the other TV people were watching the Colorado game and we had a few people in from Milwaukee that wanted to watch the Brewers afterwards.

 

[Hookem2147 21,200]

Just now, Modessit said:

I think he planned to go for it before the false start. Then we kicked and they had a penalty to get us back to 4th and short. Unfortunately, we weren't in rhythm anymore. The play wasn't bad, but Arch waited to long and there tried to rainbow it. If he throws it earlier as a dart, it most likely works.

I would have rather seen a play-action or zone-read option with an inside slant, though.

He said postgame that they already planned on going for it if it was 4th and less than 5 following the 3rd down play, so once the offsides made it 4th and 3 there was no hesitation. Added he won’t apologize for being aggressive in those spots because that’s the mindset he wants the players to have.

Hindsight is always 20/20. We convert and score a TD and everyone loves the decision or forgets their uneasiness about it.

It was just a very poor play call for the situation. 

[Wilcox Cummingtonite 2,937]

2 hours ago, Wilcox Cummingtonite said:

God our fans are so stupid. I got to experience the dipshittery live today in the Touchdown Club. Probably some of you posting here right now.

Overheard in section 16C today from the dipshits behind me-

“Texas will probably lose 3-4 games after this”

”Arch NOT SEC ready, inaccurate and slow”

”Please don’t say OU sucks when we aren’t playing OU”

”We look like a fringe top 25 team, not even top 10”

”Getting embarrassed on national TV, we will be #5-6 tomorrow”

”Georgia would beat this team by 40”

 

[Carl Spackler 3,479]

3 hours ago, Gut Wagon said:

I didn't have as big a problem with taking those points off the board as I often do. MSU wasn't really moving the ball, and if we got 7 points after converting, they were pretty much done. Turned out they were done anyway. 

While it's true that MSU hadn't scored many points up to that point (6), neither had Texas.  Moreover, the Horns's offense had been very sporadic and, to that point, MSU's energy and fight had exceeded that of the Horns, IMO.  The game was still in doubt -- all it would have taken is one freak play and MSU would have been in a position to tie the game.  In a game like that, i.e., where you're having trouble sustaining drives and scoring points and the game is still in doubt, you take the 3, you make it a two-score game (which really ratchets up the pressure on MSU to have its inexperienced QBs start passing more), and you build on that momentum.  Taking the points off the board was a bad decision.  Fortunately, it didn't end up biting Texas, and it was counterbalanced by what I thought was some pretty good playcalling by Sark for much of the game.

 

  

Edited September 29 by Carl Spackler

[Jkwellborn 6,695]

He said postgame that they already planned on going for it if it was 4th and less than 5 following the 3rd down play, so once the offsides made it 4th and 3 there was no hesitation. Added he won’t apologize for being aggressive in those spots because that’s the mindset he wants the players to have.
Hindsight is always 20/20. We convert and score a TD and everyone loves the decision or forgets their uneasiness about it.
It was just a very poor play call for the situation. 

There’s aggressive and there’s stupid. Taking points off the board there was stupid. They couldn’t move the ball enough to score and really all they were able to do was run it. Texas needed to put a little more distance between them on the scoreboard and force them to try and pass. State isn’t good at that.

[Fastbreak 3,984]

The playcall was not good. It’s a 50/50 play at best. Just throw a quick slant to bond or an out to helm. Those are a 90/10 plays. Hell, roll arch out on and have him run it if there is nothing there.

[Dahobbs 17,527]

5 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

The playcall was not good. It’s a 50/50 play at best. Just throw a quick slant to bond or an out to helm. Those are a 90/10 plays. Hell, roll arch out on and have him run it if there is nothing there.

Arch and Helm seem to have zero connection. He has been a non factor since Arch took over. 

[Firemans4Horn 18,036]

5 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Arch and Helm seem to have zero connection. He has been a non factor since Arch took over. 

He had 5 catches today. That’s a ton for a college tight end. 

[Jersey Man10 3,528]

Lots of takes here, wrong ones, but takes nonetheless.

[Wilcox Cummingtonite 2,937]

1 hour ago, Dahobbs said:

Arch and Helm seem to have zero connection. He has been a non factor since Arch took over. 

Were you one of the guys sitting behind me today? 

[Hank_Hill 18,796]

1 hour ago, Firemans4Horn said:

He had 5 catches today. That’s a ton for a college tight end. 

Guy has one 100 yard game and folks think he’s our WR1 now

[bluto 4,915]

5 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

He said postgame that they already planned on going for it if it was 4th and less than 5 following the 3rd down play, so once the offsides made it 4th and 3 there was no hesitation. Added he won’t apologize for being aggressive in those spots because that’s the mindset he wants the players to have.

Hindsight is always 20/20. We convert and score a TD and everyone loves the decision or forgets their uneasiness about it.

It was just a very poor play call for the situation. 

Nah, I’d still be callin it what it was, really fucking dumb and arguably arrogant (some of which is maybe necessary as play caller). Given the situation and how undisciplined the OL was, getting a hold there knocks em out of FG range. Not to mention what did happen

[Bevo14 8,303]

3 hours ago, Jersey Man10 said:

Lots of takes here, wrong ones, but takes nonetheless.

New motto

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

5 hours ago, Wilcox Cummingtonite said:

Overheard in section 16C today from the dipshits behind me-

“Texas will probably lose 3-4 games after this”

”Arch NOT SEC ready, inaccurate and slow”

”Please don’t say OU sucks when we aren’t playing OU”

”We look like a fringe top 25 team, not even top 10”

”Getting embarrassed on national TV, we will be #5-6 tomorrow”

”Georgia would beat this team by 40”

 

Who the fuck are you to be complaining about ridiculous takes during a game? You posted the dumbest one of all in the first quarter of our CSU game this year. 
 

On 8/31/2024 at 3:21 PM, Wilcox Cummingtonite said:

This is not a playoff team.

 

[6th Street 6,390]

They need to use the bye week to clean things up. Way too many big plays negated by holding calls. False starts were also problematic.
 

And Jaydon Blue should be moved down to RB3 after Wisner and Gibson. Two fumbles is inexcusable.

[Biff Tannen 45,666]

Just now, 6th Street said:

They need to use the bye week to clean things up. Way too many big plays negated by holding calls. False starts were also problematic.
 

And Jaydon Blue should be moved down to RB3 after Wisner and Gibson. Two fumbles is inexcusable.

Agree with all of this. Sadly, about Blue too. He has flashes of brilliance, but has always had problems with ball security. Can’t have that as a liability if you want to contend. 

[GTJ1982 378]

After today OU game may be the only one where the refs don’t try and fuck us over in SEC  play.  

[Billy Pilgrim 1,960]

29 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

They need to use the bye week to clean things up. Way too many big plays negated by holding calls. False starts were also problematic.
 

And Jaydon Blue should be moved down to RB3 after Wisner and Gibson. Two fumbles is inexcusable.

Did anyone ask Sark about Blue getting benched during the postgame presser?

 

I think Blue is our most explosive back but fumbling twice today and his critical fumble in the sugar bowl are hard to forgive and forget 

[Gut Wagon 8,065]

5 hours ago, Carl Spackler said:

While it's true that MSU hadn't scored many points up to that point (6), neither had Texas.  Moreover, the Horns's offense had been very sporadic and, to that point, MSU's energy and fight had exceeded that of the Horns, IMO.  The game was still in doubt -- all it would have taken is one freak play and MSU would have been in a position to tie the game.  In a game like that, i.e., where you're having trouble sustaining drives and scoring points and the game is still in doubt, you take the 3, you make it a two-score game (which really ratchets up the pressure on MSU to have its inexperienced QBs start passing more), and you build on that momentum.  Taking the points off the board was a bad decision.  Fortunately, it didn't end up biting Texas, and it was counterbalanced by what I thought was some pretty good playcalling by Sark for much of the game.

 

  

Fair points. I'd have been fine with keeping the points. However, I also was fine with the confidence Sark showed in the offense. As poorly as we were playing, I never doubted we'd still win comfortably. I just assumed we'd get stronger as our depth kicked in against an inferior opponent on our field. That ultimately occurred, though not nearly as smoothly as we'd have all preferred. Just glad we don't have to ponder all that in the wake of a narrow Hermanesque loss. 

[6th Street 6,390]

24 minutes ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

Did anyone ask Sark about Blue getting benched during the postgame presser?

 

I think Blue is our most explosive back but fumbling twice today and his critical fumble in the sugar bowl are hard to forgive and forget 

 

 

 

[BurntOrange&White 39,930]

27 minutes ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

Did anyone ask Sark about Blue getting benched during the postgame presser?

 

I think Blue is our most explosive back but fumbling twice today and his critical fumble in the sugar bowl are hard to forgive and forget 

He may be our most explosive back but Gibson is our best back followed by Wisner

[JFKFC 4,878]

12 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

He may be our most explosive back but Gibson is our best back followed by Wisner

I am a big Gibson fan, but Wisner was trucking people. He looked like a cyborg Csonka on some plays. Dude ran angry.

[Leanderman 2,275]

Give them both a couple more years to learn and get stronger and..............watch out.

[Rickylovesweed 14,262]

It will be interesting what PK does against better competition because he is rotating a lot. There can't be many teams playing their backups as much as us. 

 

 

[Rickylovesweed 14,262]

OU is not good. 

Really should have lost to a bad Auburn team. Outgained 482 yards to 291 yards but somehow won. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,448]

In hindsight, -37.5 wasn’t a good number. While I appreciate the respect Vegas, Purdue at fOSU is the only conference game that can cover a spread that big. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,448]

4 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

OU is not good. 

Really should have lost to a bad Auburn team. Outgained 482 yards to 291 yards but somehow won. 

The pick 6 didn’t help. 

[Rickylovesweed 14,262]

The spread was that high because Mississippi State normally plays uptempo. 

Like CSU, they completely changed how they played against us. Ran the ball a lot and just tried to control time of possession. I guess only losing by 22 is a win for a SEC school.

[Rickylovesweed 14,262]

2 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

The pick 6 didn’t help. 

Plus 2 missed field goals. 

OU might not be favored in another SEC game this year. Maybe against South Carolina but I'm not even sure about that. OU was lucky to escape with a win yesterday or going winless in the SEC was 100% on the table. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,448]

3 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Plus 2 missed field goals. 

OU might not be favored in another SEC game this year. Maybe against South Carolina but I'm not even sure about that. OU was lucky to escape with a win yesterday or going winless in the SEC was 100% on the table. 

I could see them knocking off Misery on the road, and Cracky Venables pounds his chest on a SEC signature win for 10 months.

Auburn blows them out if Arnold was still OU’s starting QB. Given what they’ve invested in Arnold, it gives some pause that Cracky could be somewhat approaching competence. A dumbass like Freeze or Napier would ride Arnold all year and just hope it gets better. 

 

[TrashMaster G 17,551]

2 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

Who the fuck are you to be complaining about ridiculous takes during a game? You posted the dumbest one of all in the first quarter of our CSU game this year. 
 

BURN!!!!

[DigglerontheHoof 21,183]

23 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

The spread was that high because Mississippi State normally plays uptempo. 

Like CSU, they completely changed how they played against us. Ran the ball a lot and just tried to control time of possession. I guess only losing by 22 is a win for a SEC school.

yep.  my concern is MSU had solid success running it right up the gut.  that really ate up clock. arch can't be arch on the sidelines.  KY used the same approach on UGA and Ol Miss.  I imagine we can expect this strategy to be used against Texas the rest of the year.

Edited September 29 by DigglerontheHoof

[Dahobbs 17,527]

6 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:

He had 5 catches today. That’s a ton for a college tight end. 

 

5 hours ago, Wilcox Cummingtonite said:

Were you one of the guys sitting behind me today? 

Just to be clear, this wasn't a criticism of Arch or Helm. Just an observation that Helm and Ewers seemed to be really in sync and that is pretty clearly missing with Arch (not unsurprisingly). 5 catches for 23 yards isn't much of am impact. Ewers was really utilizing Helm as an intermediate threat and he was averaging over 20 yards per reception. That has gone away with Arch and I expect it to return as soon as Ewers gets back. Part of that may simply be Ewers being more comfortable with RPO (we don't run it much with Arch right now). 

[Rickylovesweed 14,262]

1 minute ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

yep.  my concern is MSU had solid success running it right up the gut.  that really ate up clock. arch can't be arch on the sidelines.  KY used the same approach on UGA and Ol Miss.  I imagine we can expect this strategy the rest of the year.

Did they have success?

They ran the ball 50 times for 150 yards. Some decent runs mixed in with a lot of negative plays behind the line of scrimmage. PK seemed content just letting Mississippi State be conservative and keeping the ball in front. 

 

[DigglerontheHoof 21,183]

3 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

 

Just to be clear, this wasn't a criticism of Arch or Helm. Just an observation that Helm and Ewers seemed to be really in sync and that is pretty clearly missing with Arch (not unsurprisingly). 5 catches for 23 yards isn't much of am impact. Ewers was really utilizing Helm as an intermediate threat and he was averaging over 20 yards per reception. That has gone away with Arch and I expect it to return as soon as Ewers gets back. Part of that may simply be Ewers being more comfortable with RPO (we don't run it much with Arch right now). 

I'm sure as hell no QB expert but it probably has a lot to do w/ Ewers going through his progressions on a more consistent basis.  

[DigglerontheHoof 21,183]

Just now, Rickylovesweed said:

Did they have success?

They ran the ball 50 times for 150 yards. Some decent runs mixed in with a lot of negative plays behind the line of scrimmage. PK seemed content just letting Mississippi State be conservative and keeping the ball in front. 

 

They were successful in running clock. By doing that it limited Texas' possessions and made the turnovers more painful.  Texas was never going to lose this game but a similar approach by a better team like KY could be problematic w/ that same amount of running success. 

[Dahobbs 17,527]

2 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Did they have success?

They ran the ball 50 times for 150 yards. Some decent runs mixed in with a lot of negative plays behind the line of scrimmage. PK seemed content just letting Mississippi State be conservative and keeping the ball in front. 

 

Yeah. Teams can run that against us if they want. But it isn't really a threat to score much and essentially just concedes the game. 

[TwiceHorn 31,440]

8 hours ago, Modessit said:

I think he planned to go for it before the false start. Then we kicked and they had a penalty to get us back to 4th and short. Unfortunately, we weren't in rhythm anymore. The play call wasn't bad, but Arch waited too long and then tried to rainbow it. If he throws it earlier as a dart, it most likely works.

I would have rather seen a play-action or zone-read option with an inside slant, though.

I think also that Sark was trying to jerk a square knot in the team's ass.  He seems to get frustrated when the team is not performing to its potential and I think it colors his judgment.  He did kind of inexplicable shit like that the first couple of years with Herman's croots, who chronically underachieved. Like "if I can only get them to score/convert here, it will turn them around."

[Hank Kingsley 20,908]

Blue was overrated by our fanbase heading into this season. Even before Baxter got hurt, I was surprised to see so many people think he was THE playmaker in the running back room. 

It seems a lot of his issues are mental. Even though he is a weapon in the passing game, he has too many drops. Obviously fumbles are a big problem. He lacks awareness of the first down sticks and goes down too easily in between the tackles. He should be a complimentary/situational back, even with us being thin at RB. 

Assuming all 3 backs are healthy in 2 weeks, Wisner and Gibson combined should definitely get the majority of handoffs moving forward. 

[Bill Lumbergh 7,171]

22 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

my concern is MSU had solid success running it right up the gut.  that really ate up clock. arch can't be arch on the sidelines.  KY used the same approach on UGA and Ol Miss.  I imagine we can expect this strategy to be used against Texas the rest of the year.

Spoiler

 

[markstanco 12,573]

Red River Shootout Game Week Thread starts now and runs for 2 weeks instead? Lulz. 

So all we can talk about is bye until next Sunday ?

[Codaxx 5,729]

25 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Did they have success?

They ran the ball 50 times for 150 yards. Some decent runs mixed in with a lot of negative plays behind the line of scrimmage. PK seemed content just letting Mississippi State be conservative and keeping the ball in front. 

 

MSU did hurt Texas with power. Pulling and getting a numbers advantage. That said the biggest issue was tackling. Lot of times the RB was met near the LOS, broke a couple tackles, and a 2-3 yard gain turned into 5-7 yards. Clean up tackling and that number is probably 50 carries for like 80 yards 

Edited September 29 by Codaxx

[RomaVicta 29,902]

7 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

The playcall was not good.

That's why you take the points.

There's a reason it's fourth down; they've stopped us.

Take the small victory of a field goal even if the world of sportscasters has decided it's something that is "settled for." They are wrong. They are dull-minded parrots.

In this case, it puts Miss St. deeper in a hole that they're unlikely to climb out of.  Psychologically, we're celebrating while they're lamenting. Texas victory looks increasingly inevitable. And, as stated above by @Jkwellborn, they have to change their game. Instead, we fail on fourth down instead of kicking, and they're fired up while we're lamenting.

Sportscasters have also confused the words "stupid" and "aggressive." Coach is being aggressive here going for it on 4th and 2 on his own 38 yard line.  What's on the line? A first down on your side of the field (not great odds for scoring from there) versus maintaining field position and letting your defense play and maybe getting the ball around the same spot later on. 

Sark is way smarter than I am. He's made this error fewer times (only this once?) this year than last year. I hope this failure of a decision re-inforces the restraint in these situations.

It was a somewhat frustrating win that dropped me into PTSD recalling the runaway games that became shit fights with far lesser teams during the Herman era. However, we weren't desperately hanging on at the end.

We should have stopped more runs at the line where the back often squirted out of pile for extra yardage. However, we kept them from scoring much.

It had all the signs of one of those games that all teams have. Not sharp, but sharp enough. 

Hook 'Em!

Edited September 29 by RomaVicta

[Codaxx 5,729]

12 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

That's why you take the points.

There's a reason it's fourth down; they've stopped us.

Take the small victory of a field goal even if the world of sportscasters has decided it's something that is "settled for." They are wrong. They are dull-minded parrots.

In this case, it puts Miss St. deeper in a hole that they're unlikely to climb out of.  Psychologically, we're celebrating while they're lamenting. Texas victory looks increasingly inevitable. And, as stated above by @Jkwellborn, they have to change their game. Instead, we fail on fourth down instead of kicking, and they're fired up while we're lamenting.

Sportscasters have also confused the words "stupid" and "aggressive." Coach is being aggressive here going for it on 4th and 2 on his own 38 yard line.  What's on the line? A first down on your side of the field (not great odds for scoring from there) versus maintaining field position and letting your defense play and maybe getting the ball around the same spot later on. 

Sark is way smarter than I am. He's made this error fewer times (only this once?) this year than last year. I hope this failure of a decision re-inforces the restraint in these situations.

It was a somewhat frustrating win that dropped me into PTSD recalling the runaway games that became shit fights with far lesser teams during the Herman era. However, we weren't desperately hanging on at the end.

We should have stopped more runs at the line where the back often squirted out of pile for extra yardage. However, we kept them from scoring much.

It had all the signs of one of those games that all teams have. Not sharp, but sharp enough. 

Hook 'Em!

I think we are just going to have to live with Sark being over-aggressive at times. It’s just who he is as a coach. We don’t bitch when it works. He is very confident in his offense and his abilities to call the right play. It tends to work out for him over time

[Hornsome 212]

43 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Did they have success?

They ran the ball 50 times for 150 yards. Some decent runs mixed in with a lot of negative plays behind the line of scrimmage. PK seemed content just letting Mississippi State be conservative and keeping the ball in front. 

 

PK made adjustments the second half.  First half they were 28 carries for 112 yards.  Second half 22 carries for 38 yards (includes a sack -12 yards).  
 

The first half was frustrating with poor tackling and self inflicted wounds.