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2018 game 1 thread :: Texas @ Maryland :: Exiting the Wilderness

Hagbard Celine

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Publiushorn
Publiushorn

I which one of our players--say Kyle Porter-- would've died in the offseason from heat exhaustion. So at least I would know they were doing shit.

Runs with booze
Runs with booze

I have a message for our beloved sips in teatown.I want to tell them that I admire them. I admire the fact that they are better fans than we are. I admire them because they've been through so much the

SurlyBDR
SurlyBDR
Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Posted

7-7 now.  Someday you guys tell me what your fucking fascination with this guy is.  I ain't seeing it.  Oh wait, give hime.  This team is going to be 1-5 going into the Bayloe game.  2-4 at absolute fucking best.  

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satyanash

satyanash 14637

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Bobby Burton: Snap Judgments

The scene was all too familiar. Texas ball, down by one score with Sam Ehlinger at QB, with plenty of time to pull out the victory. But the same result happened. Again (interception no. 1). And again (Tre Watson fumble). And, finally, again (an ill-advised chuck by Ehlinger). Four times Texas had the ball with a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter. And the Horns never scored. What's more, three straight turnovers on three straight possessions, including two ill-advised and poorly thrown passes by Ehlinger, doomed the Horns.

**

Ehlinger’s fourth-down throw to Devin Duvernay was clutch. So was Duvernay’s catch. Of course, it was all for naught. Ehlinger airmailed a ball two passes later for the third turnover in three possessions.

**

Texas is not snakebit. Texas is bringing these problems on itself. And Ehlinger still can’t seem to stop turning the ball over when it counts the most.

**

How is Texas causing these problems? Well, let's start with an offense that didn't even make a real first down until midway through the second quarter. The first six possessions yielded just one score. And the only first down the Horns earned during those possessions actually was given to them by a Maryland defensive holding penalty. The offense looked so bad that it reminded me of Shawn Watson’s effort against Notre Dame.

**

Even after the poor start, Texas had a chance to come out and take the lead to start the second half. But they didn't. Instead, they sputtered when they needed to be pressing on the pedal.

**

Todd Orlando made some nice defensive adjustments as the game wore on. BJ Foster changed the Horns’ defense when Orlando started putting Foster closer to the line of scrimmage. Foster is this year’s version of Jason Hall. And he is going to be very good long term. And so will Caden Sterns for that matter.

**

The goal line stand in the fourth quarter by the Texas defense was outstanding. A lesser defense let’s Maryland easily go up by two scores. Brandon Jones’ stop on the QB and Sterns’ contention of the play-action pass helped Texas stay in the game. Likewise, the Horns’ three-and-out immediately following Ehlinger’s interception gave the Horns hope. Following Tre Watson’s fumble, Texas held up yet again for another three-and-out (that's three key stops if you're counting). Now, Maryland was being vanilla on the final two drives. But the Texas D did what it needed to in the game’s final minutes. We can’t say the same about the Texas offense.

**

The Texas OL is better this year. But it’s all relative. While better, the OL still can’t get a push up front with any sort of consistency against a middle of the road college defense.

**

Calvin Anderson held up particularly well in pass protection. Sam Cosmi subbed in some for Derek Kersttter but otherwise the OL unit remained the same the entire game.

**

Kris Boyd dropped a sure interception in the first quarter with the game tied 7-7. The very next play? A long touchdown pass by the Terrapins which put Texas chasing for just about the rest of the game.

**

Texas has found its punt returner. If it’s anybody other than Brandon Jones for the rest of his career.

**

The Texas offense was held scoreless the entire fourth quarter. With the game on the line, they produced nothing. Nada.

**

It's clear Malcolm Roach was not prepared for the jet sweep. He mis-played it multiple times in the first half. So much so that he had to come out of the game. Outside of that, the Horns D played fairly well considering Gary Johnson was out of the game so early.

**

Hindsight is 20-20 but Tom Herman going for two near the end of the first half was the wrong call. But it wasn't necessarily the decision to go for two that I had a problem with. It was the play call. Texas had begun to beat Maryland on the ground during the second quarter. But instead of staying on the ground, Herman and staff reverted to what was designed as a throwback pass to the TE that worked against USC a year earlier.

**

Texas can be a good team this year. But until Ehlinger stops turning the ball over, and until the offense gets a "good" start instead of an abysmal one that puts the defense behind the eight ball from the very start, it's going to be more of the same from last year.

**

I thought Maryland did a nice job of accentuating its team strengths early on offense, and really throughout the game. On the other hand, I left this game wondering what the true strengths are of this Texas offense even are. And that's a problem that the Horns either need to figure out, or there are going to be even more Ls this season.

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satyanash

satyanash 14637

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TL;DR We're basically the laughingstock of CFB. This article is on the front page of 247Sports

Trey Scott: Back? Texas never really went anywhere

 

It’s not Tom Herman’s fault that Texas was a preseason Top 25 team. It’s not Tom Herman’s fault that Mack Brown didn’t recruit Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III or Johnny Manziel or Baker Mayfield, or that Charlie Strong lost to Kansas and went 16-21 in three disastrous seasons in Austin. Fans have been frustrated since well before Herman took over.

But it is Tom Herman’s fault that the No. 23 Texas Longhorns lost to Maryland, 39-24, on Saturday, keeping Texas in the national consciousness only as a laughingstock; a preseason Top 25 team, sleeper Big 12 pick (made only by idiots like myself), a team forever doomed to be “BACK” in only the most sarcastic of senses; Texas was down 24-7, now it’s 24-22 … Texas is BACK!

Sure, Herman loved his team headed into this 2018 season. He didn’t shy away from expectations. He loved his staff, even the one that oversaw the nation’s No. 65 unit in 2017, to not make wholesale changes. Apparently Herman is handling more of the play-calling duties nowadays, but after what we saw at FedEx field, I doubt he’d want to share that burden.

Herman, a second-year coach, was on the verge of getting humiliated by a former offensive coordinator-turned-interim coach, with Texas staring at a stunning 24-7 deficit. Texas? Back. The Longhorns rallied before the half, thanks to a fortuitous Terrapins safety. But Todd Orlando’s defensive unit — fabulous in 2017 safe for that eerie opener against, yep, Maryland — couldn’t get enough stops in the second half, and the Herbeck offensive collaboration couldn’t muster anything after a long rain delay.

It wasn’t enough time to figure out that the same sideways junk that didn’t work last year and hadn’t worked in three quarters against the Terps wasn’t going to work in the fourth. Sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger threw an interception with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. With the ball back and another chance, grad transfer Tre Watson coughed up a wet football. Yet another chance to score … and Ehlinger threw yet another interception. In a comforting way, it felt just like 2017.

All game, any offensive progress or momentum Texas was able to muster felt borne out of luck. All offseason to fix it. An offseason of hype, of dope video edits, of a recommitment by Texas boosters into the facilities. And the only clear progress, if that’s the word for it, is that a year ago Texas lost to Maryland by 10 and this season the Longhorns lost to ‘em by five. So, watch out world. For another year of jokes and memes, yes — Texas is certainly back.

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TexasBeta

TexasBeta 1266

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We have larger problems in my opinion. Who could we get to coach if we dumped Mensa? And number two - recruiting is everything. That snake oil salesman in CS is going to be a problem if we can’t right this ship. I’m at a loss as to why we can’t get a quarterback to play for the flagship school of Texas. My patience is run out.

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satyanash

satyanash 14637

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Chip Brown: Good, bad, ugly from Texas' 34-29 upset by Maryland

LANDOVER, Md. — In a game eerily similar to last year's 51-41 loss to Maryland in Austin, Texas came to FedEx Field Saturday looking to show how much they'd grown from Year 1 of the Tom Herman era to Year 2 but instead fell behind, 24-7, came all the way back to take the lead before one penalty and turnover after another doomed Texas to a 34-29 loss. This one even had a 1 hour, 26-minute delay because of thunderstorms in the area.

Herman's mantra is 1-0. But for the second straight year his team is starting off 0-1 thanks to the Terrapins, who were led by interim coach Matt Canada, the team's offensive coordinator, because head coach D.J. Durkin is the subject of an internal investigation by Maryland and on paid leave.

The Longhorns didn't have a single turnover until there were six minutes left in the game, and then they committed three: two interceptions by Sam Ehlinger and a fumble by running back Tre Watson. The second interception by Ehlinger, with Texas driving in Maryland territory with 1:04 left, was reminiscent of late-game turnovers committed by Ehlinger last year in losses to USC, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

Texas committed 11 penalties against Maryland last season and committed 10 on Saturday for 102 yards, more than half of them critical defensive penalties that helped extend Maryland scoring drives and resulted in the first-half ejection of linebacker Gary Johnson for targeting (while senior Anthony Wheeler was serving a first-half suspension for targeting in last seasons' Texas Bowl).

The Longhorns made plays, led by junior safety Brandon Jones, who had a team-leading 10 tackles, including a touchdown-saving tackle for loss late in the game that kept the Longhorns in it. Jones also had a 33-yard punt return that helped set up a Texas touchdown.

But there weren't enough performances like Jones. The Texas offense got off to a terrible start with seven carries for just 10 yards after the first quarter and finished 3-of-15 on third down. Meanwhile, Maryland freshman Jeshaun Jones became the first college player since Dak Prescott to score touchdowns rushing, receiving and passing in one game.

Here is the GOOD, BAD and UGLY from Saturday's 34-29 loss to Maryland at FedEx Field ...

GOOD

Texas played some serious sudden-change defense after Sam Ehlinger was intercepted with 6:09 left, giving the Terps the ball at the Texas 47 while leading 34-29. P.J. Locke made a great play behind the line, dropping Maryland’s Taivon Jacobs for a 2-yard loss on second down. That brought up third-and-9, and Charles Omenihu got pressure, helping force an incomplete pass and punt.

The Texas defense bowed up big time on the goal line after Maryland had first-and-goal from the Texas 2 midway through the fourth quarter. Chris Nelson stuffed Maryland RB Ty Johnson for a 1-yard gain on first down. On second-and-goal from the 1, Brandon Jones made a play reminiscent of his goal-line hit on West Virginia QB Will Grier (that knocked Grier out of the game) when he stopped Maryland QB Kasim Hill for a 1-yard loss on second down. A third-down pass was caught out of the end zone, forcing an 18-yard field goal by the Terps.

Texas came out after the weather delay and went up-tempo and moved the ball from the UT27 to the MD49, converting third-and-4 on an 11-yard pass from Ehlinger to Lil'Jordan Humphrey. (But the drive stalled when Ehlinger’s pass to Devin Duvernay on third-and-3 went for a loss of 1 yard. Ryan Bujcevski’s 41-yard punt was downed at the Maryland 8 with 12:19 left.

Game resumed at 4:40 pm ET after a 1 hour and 26-minute delay due to thunderstorms in the area.

Kris Boyd recorded Texas’ first sack of the game by dropping Kasim Hill for a 9-yard loss on a first-down corner blitz late in the third quarter.

Momentum was flowing firmly in Texas’ direction until it was interrupted by an illegal hands to the face penalty on Gerald Wilbon with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

TEXAS TD NO. 4 GIVES HORNS FIRST LEAD - 29-24: A 33-yard pass on third-and-9 from Sam Ehlinger to Collin Johnson put the ball at Maryland’s 2-yard-line, setting up a 2-yard TD run by Kyle Porter on the next play. The score put Texas up, 29-24, with 4:14 left in the third quarter.

PLAY OF THE GAME CANDIDATE: Ehlinger’s 33-yard pass to Collin Johnson, setting up Kyle Porter’s 2-yard, go-ahead touchdown run On third-and-9 from the Maryland 35 (following a great fourth-down stop by Breckyn Hager), Sam Ehlinger found Collin Johnson deep down the right sideline for a 33-yard completion to the Terps’ 2-yard-line, setting up a 2-yard TD run by Kyle Porter on the next play.

HAGER FOURTH-DOWN STOP SHIFTS MOMENTUM: Breckyn Hager stuffed a fourth-and-1 rushing attempt by Maryland QB Kasim Hill, giving Texas the ball at the Terps’ 36 with 5:19 left in the third quarter, trailing 24-22. A golden opportunity.

BJ Foster got pressure on Maryland quarterback Kasim Hill on third-and-7 from the Texas 34, resulting in an incomplete pass and a punt by the Terps. It was a huge play considering Maryland started their drive at the UT49 following a 23-yard punt by Bujcevski.

Anthony Wheeler was back on the field for Texas in the second half after serving a half-game suspension for targeting in last season’s Texas Bowl. Following the safety recorded by Texas with 1:27 left in the half, Maryland kicked off out of bounds at the Texas 24, resulting in a 26-yard penalty, giving the Longhorns the ball at the 50.

TEXAS TD NO. 3 WITH :17 LEFT 2Q: After a smart use of timeouts by Texas on Maryland’s last possession, the Longhorns took over at the 50 with 1:27 left in the half and went 50 yards in five plays, capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass from Ehlinger to Collin Johnson with :17 left in the half, cutting Maryland’s lead to 24-22. The five plays saw Ehlinger run it twice for 25 yards and complete 3-of-4, including passes of 17 yards to Jerrod Heard, 6 yards to Kyle Porter and the 22-yarder in the end zone to Johnson. A two-point conversion attempt failed. Texas tried to use the same two-point conversion pass completed by Ehlinger to Cade Brewer in the USC game last year, but this time it was Andrew Beck, and he was covered. Ehlinger looked at Collin Johnson cutting across the back of the end zone but threw the ball away and the half ended with Maryland up, 24-22.

TEXAS SCORES ON SAFETY: Ryan Bujcevski bounced back from a 15-yard shank that helped set up a Maryland touchdown with a 41-yard punt that was downed at the Terps’ 3 by Josh Thompson. Charles Omenihu and Jeff McCulloch combined on a first-down stop for no gain, followed by a stop for no gain by Chris Nelson on second down. Then, Maryland’s Jake Funk mishandled the ball at the goal line and recovered it in the end zone for a safety with McCulloch closing in on him. That cut Maryland’s lead to 24-16 with 1:27 left in the second quarter.

TEXAS TD CUTS MARYLAND LEAD TO 24-14: After falling behind 24-7, Tom Herman suddenly had a play sheet in his hands and appeared to take over play-calling. The result was a six-play, 69-yard drive in just 1:35 in which Texas went up-tempo and ran the ball five times and threw it once. Tre Watson ran it three times for 23 yards and Keaontay Ingram ran it twice for 23 yards, including a 5-yard run into the end zone, cutting Maryland’s lead to 24-14 with 6:51 left in the second quarter.

TEXAS TD TIES GAME AT 7-7: After a nice, 33-yard punt return by Brandon Jones (keyed by a crushing block by Collin Johnson) to the Maryland 39, Devin Duvernay made a layout catch on a post pass from Sam Ehlinger in the end zone, tying the game 7-7 with 9:17 left in the first quarter.

Ryan Bujcevski’s first punt of the season was 56 yards, flipping the field and putting Maryland at its own 22. Cameron Dicker kicked off to the goal line to open the game and had to make the tackle on the return. Dicker lowered his shoulder too (no ankle diving)

BAD

Sam Ehlinger struggled with consistency in the passing game, going 21 of 39 for 263 yards with touchdown passes of 39 yards to Devin Duvernay and 22 yards to Collin Johnson. But his two interceptions with 6:09 left and 1:04 left did little to help him overcome the plague of late turnovers he committed in losses to USC, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech last season. Backup Shane Buechele didn't play Saturday.

TEXAS TURNOVER NO. 3: The Longhorns got a final chance to win the game after taking possession at their own 33 with 2:12 left. Ehlinger completed a 17-yard pass to Lil'Jordan Humphrey to start the drive and completed a 13-yard pass to Devin Duvernay on fourth-and-6, moving the ball to the Maryland 33 with more than a minute still to play. But two straight incomplete passes to Duvernay (when Jerrod Heard was wide open deep) and running back Kyle Porter brought up third-and-10, and Ehlinger floated a pass that was intercepted by the Terps at their own 11 with 1:04 left.

TEXAS TURNOVER NO. 2: Facing third-and-3 from the UT 43, Texas initially appeared to have a first down on a 6-yard pass from Sam Ehlinger to running back Tre Watson. But upon further review, officials ruled Maryland forced the ball loose from Watson before he hit the ground. The Terps had recovered the ball after it came loose, so Maryland was awarded the ball at the Texas 49.

TEXAS TURNOVER NO. 1: Texas hadn’t suffered a turnover all game until Sam Ehlinger, whose arm may have been brushed by a defender, was intercepted with 6:09 left to play on a pass intended for Lil'Jordan Humphrey, giving the Terps the ball at Texas’ 47.

It seemed all of Texas’ penalties on the defense were critical and led to points. But a defensive pass interference call on Kris Boyd with Maryland leading 31-29 and facing third-and-11 from the Terps’ 19 with 10:37 left was just a killer. It extended the Terps’ drive (B.J. Foster would be called for roughing the passer later in the drive, moving the ball from the UT 25 to the UT 13) and ultimately allowed Maryland to run 5:34 off the clock en route to an 18-yard field goal that put the Terps up 34-29 with 6:45 left.

Officials stopped the game at 3:12 pm ET due to severe thunderstorms in the area of FedEx Field. And then UT sent out a note reminding us the last time the Horns were in a weather delay it was the three-hour, six-minute flash-flood at TCU in 2013. (The last time Texas beat the Horny Toads, by the way.)

Last year, Maryland had a game-changing, third-and-20 conversion against Texas in the second half of the Terps’ 51-41 upset of the Longhorns. This year, Maryland was able to overcome third-and-19 (following a 9-yard sack by Kris Boyd) as Kasim Hill threw for 13 yards on third down and then ran for 10 yards on fourth-and-6. Those plays kept alive the Terps’ 11-play, 75-yard drive that ate 4:49 off the clock.

After picking up two first downs on four rushing attempts by Daniel Young for 24 yards, Texas faced third-and-9 from the UT35, and Sam Ehlinger was pressured into a 2-yard loss. Oddly, the Big 12 officiating crew called Ehlinger’s shovel pass a fumble, then later called an identical, failed shovel pass by Maryland’s Kasim Hill (recovered by Texas) an incomplete pass.

A 23-yard punt by Ryan Bujcevski from the UT26 gave Maryland starting field position at the Texas 49 on the Terps’ first possession of the second half.

On UT’s first possession of the third quarter, Ehlinger threw slightly behind a wide-open Lil'Jordan Humphrey on a deep crossing route, and Humphrey tried to trap the ball against his pads instead of catching it with his hands. The ball fell incomplete, erasing a chance for a big play. The drive ended two plays later with a 23-yard punt by Bujcevski.

Daniel Young fielded Maryland’s kickoff to open the second half when it appeared it would have gone out of bounds, giving UT the ball at its own 17 instead of the 35.

After a few nice punts to start, the freshman jitters showed up for Ryan Bucjevski as he shanked a 15-yard punt (to the right) from the Texas 5 that went out at the Texas 20.

MARYLAND GOES UP 24-7 IN 2Q: The Terps took advantage of Ryan Bucjevski’s 15-yard shank, which gave Maryland the ball at the Texas 20, and scored on the next play as the Jeshaun Jones Show continued. Jones, a true freshman who scored on a touchdown run and reception on his first two college touches, threw a 20-yard TD strike to Taivon Jacobs, putting Maryland up 24-7 with 8:32 left in the second quarter.

Three costly defensive penalties came on the same drive at the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter: Charles Omenihu was called for roughing the passer; Davante Davis was flagged for pass interference; and Gary Johnson was ejected from the game for targeting - all on the same 6-play, 39-yard drive to a Maryland 33-yard field goal that put the Terps up 17-7 with 14:26 left in the second quarter.

GARY JOHNSON EJECTED: On a play in which Maryland was called for holding, Gary Johnson was called for targeting (and ejected) after lowering his shoulder into the helmet of Terps’ QB Kasim Hill, who attempted to slide at the end of a 12-yard run. With 14:46 left in the second quarter, Texas was suddenly without two of its top linebackers, because starter Anthony Wheeler was already suspended from the first half for targeting in last season’s Texas Bowl.

In the first quarter, Texas had seven carries for 10 yards (1.4 ypc). Keaontay Ingram was Texas’ leading rusher with two carries for 4 yards.

With Maryland facing third-and-8 from the Texas 38, Davante Davis was flagged for pass interference on a deep pass near the 5-yard-line, giving the Terps an automatic first down. Davis was beaten on the play, but the ball was underthrown, so Davis, who waited until the last second to turn his head toward the ball, ran into the receiver before the ball arrived.

With Maryland fans chanting “Overrated!” … Ryan Bujcevski’s second punt of the game was nearly blocked by the Terps but ended up traveling 41 yards to the MD26 with 7:18 left in the first quarter. Kris Boyd had a Kasim Hill pass in his hands but dropped it one play before Hill hit true freshman receiver Jeshaun Jones for a 65-yard, catch-and-run touchdown.

MARYLAND GOES UP 14-7 1Q: On third-and-10 from the Maryland 35, Terps’ QB Kasim Hill hit Jeshaun Jones with a 15-yard pass against what appeared to be zone coverage by the Horns, and the wide-open Jones cut upfield with Texas’ B.J. Foster and Davante Davis the closest defenders on the play (and they weren’t that close). The score put Maryland up 14-7 with 8:52 left in the first quarter.

Cameron Dicker’s first two kickoffs were to the Maryland goal line and the MD4. They were returned 33 and 31 yards by Ty Johnson.

Texas’ first offensive possession of the season resulted in five plays for 6 yards. There was a jet sweep to D’Shawn Jamison that got stuffed and a Tre Watson run that got stuffed. Texas’ only first down on the drive came on a pass interference penalty against Maryland on a pass intended for LJ Humphrey.

After a fair catch by Lil'Jordan Humphrey on Ut’s first possession, Texas was flagged for delay of game because of an equipment/uniform violation by Collin Johnson. Johnson had to leave the field, replaced by Brennan Eagles, who then appeared to run the wrong route on an incomplete pass.

After having Maryland at second-and-10 after a batted pass by Breckyn Hager on the first play of the game, the Terps ripped off chunk yardage on a jet sweep to Taivon Jacobs for 13 yards; a catch-and-run reception by Jacobs for 23 yards and another jet sweep by Jeshaun Jones for a 28-yard touchdown run, putting Maryland up 7-0 with 12:52 left in the first quarter.

After Maryland’s first drive, the Terps were averaging 20.5 yards per carry.

UGLY

The Longhorns simply melted down in the final six minutes of a winnable game thanks to critical penalties that extended Maryland scoring drives and three turnovers.

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satyanash

satyanash 14637

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(Ian Boyd) 5 Quick Thoughts: Crab mentality

Let's get the good news out of the way, Maryland is no longer on the schedule! A word to Chris Del Conte, week one in Longhorn football could be a smoother transition into the season if the team had a chance to get their mistakes out of the way and their legs underneath them against an overmatched opponent. (glances at future schedules)....God help us.

Anyways, that was a nightmarish week one outcome. You could scarcely have scripted it to include more horrors designed to induce the worst possible reaction from Texas fans. Maryland came out looking like they'd just come off an immensely productive offseason in which they'd nailed down their new offense while integrating fresh blood on defense. Texas came out sloppy and and lacking the kind of confidence and crisp play most of us expected after their own offseason. Naturally the ending was exactly what Texas fans have feared all offseason.

Quick thought no. 1: That was the worst possible start to the game

The Terps scored TDs on two of their first three drives against Orlando's shifting defenses, with a few big plays often aided by Longhorn errors, and Texas' offense started things off with five punts on the first six drives. Then Gary Johnson, the uber trustworthy and speedy linebacker who was often positioned deep in the robber to try and limit the damage from Maryland sweeps, was ejected after taking an ill-advised shot at the sliding Kasim Hill.

Maryland had Texas' preferred schemes covered up well, they were standing stout in the trenches in the run game, and they were working the younger DBs in the Texas secondary with a combination of misdirection plays and normal dropback concepts.

Even as the Texas D started to settle down it wasn't that the Texas offense was going to get anything going. Cowart and the Terps' Under fronts were really clogging up the tight zone runs. Ryan Bujcevksi shanked one punt and was inconsistent, much like his cousin was as a freshman before ultimately entering a cocoon before the 2017 season and emerging as Mothra. At 24-7 things were bleak.

Quick thought no. 2: The game turned on tempo and new RBs

The game flipped to 24-14 and changed on a dime when Texas came out in tempo and started handing off to Tre Watson and Keaontay Ingram. Tre Watson was out there running hard and keeping his legs going through contact while Keaontay Ingram's cutback ability was on full display.

The defense got some extra juice from that, no doubt, although the bigger factor was probably the opportunity they got to settle down and get a better feel for the Maryland tactics and gameplan. From there the Longhorns started to impose their will on the game. Collin Johnson caught a few big jump balls and the backs started to find more room against the Terp D.

The offense more or less looked like we thought it would, mixing a diverse spread run game with matchup-based work for Lil'Jordan Humphrey and the occasional deep shot to Collin Johnson or Devin Duvernay. It's not terribly explosive and still not quite clicking consistently enough for the ball control approach to really get humming but there's an identity there to build on. They had some good ways to create matchups out wide that yielded some easier reads and throws. But of course, there were fresh September horrors for Texas still to come.

Quick thought no. 3: New horrors

The Texas D seemed to have things pretty well nailed down but then the ultra-fast speed sweep was hitting the edge before Hager even knew the ball was snapped and the Terps managed to squeeze enough juice out of that play to retake the lead and pad it slightly just before and after the lightning delay.

It's impossible to know whether the lightning delay or the soaking of the field in rain aided or hurt the Longhorns although given the fact that Texas was at a deficit and trying to work the comeback, it was probably a net negative. Overall Texas had plenty of chances and worked a few wrinkles off the delay that helped move chains and spark life into the comeback so the delay really served mostly to prolong the agony and anxiety for Texas fans. I can't even imagine how sick the people who attended the game live must feel.

The fumble...that was one of the QB run RPOs I was harping about all offseason and hoping to see this year. Ehlinger reads a defender and if he chases the motion it's a downhill QB run while commitment to the box means a quick flip to the perimeter. Ehlinger's execution on RPOs in this game wasn't very sharp, he's just not hitting the ball to the right spots to really maximize the spacing. It's an area where he can improve but it's the kind of thing that probably requires a lot of reps to really get right since it's just a precise, mechanical point. Additionally, the ball placement on the RPOs was typically less of an issue than the blocking.

In this instance the blocking was good, Watson secured the ball and hit a crease for a first. During the tackle the ball got knocked loose and he may or may not have secured it before hitting the ground and losing it again. Honestly it looks like he mostly had it but not enough to maintain possession to the ground and withstand that final collision. The whistle was blown dead and Watson secured his helmet before making a late stab at trying to recover the ball that a Terrapin was already landing on.

Naturally the officials determined that the obvious spot was probably worth a second look and took advantage of these new Patriot Act powers to make a ruling on the fumble and hand the ball back to Maryland. The Longhorns seem to be accumulating an eventual storm of good officiating fortune with every successful offensive play that is reviewed in the Tom Herman era. Or maybe they're still paying off a string of good luck in the Mack Brown era.

The Texas D held up their end with a quick three and out and then Brandon Jones made an amazing punt return to put Texas in position for a final, game-winning drive. Things were proceeding quite well.

Maryland was treating Texas' matchup based passing attack with 2-man under coverage and then a spy on Ehlinger to avoid the problem that plagued Oklahoma (Ehlinger scrambles). Texas didn't have great answers for this other than Ehlinger hitting check downs and hoping to watch his backs break a tackle or else Ehlinger running around and finding someone on the move. That was enough to convert a big fourth and five that will now be memory-holed with a number of other big conversions by the young QB in fourth quarters past. Then Ehlinger overthrew a somewhat gimpy LJH with a spy bearing down on him again and for some God-forsaken reason the Maryland nickel was positioned behind the throw to pick off the errant pass.

I'm sure that play will be the focal point of a dozen horrible conversations this week. It's worth noting that Ehlinger was pressured, throwing to his favorite target who happens to be 6-5, and it was third and 10 so there was more than a little pressure to make something happen. The execution was bad, the punishment was an L in the standings. If not for last season, and the last decade really, it would have been an unfortunate ending and a relatively minor stain on Ehlinger's record. Instead, it'll be a talking point for the coming week if not the full season. Joy.

Quick thought no. 4: Shoutout to Brandon Jones and the 2018 class

The freshman made a few mistakes here and there but the D really locked it in down the stretch against a speedy and crafty offense. We saw Ryan Bujcevksi, Cameron Dicker (I saw that game opening tackle, Cam), Anthony Cook, Caden Sterns (strong showing), B.J. Foster (full-time joker once Gary Johnson went out), Keaontay Ingram (needs 150 carries this year), Joshua Moore, D'Shawn Jamison, and Joseph Ossai all got snaps. Of course some of them may still get redshirts, it'll be customary across the country for teams to use up some of the four games early on guys before shutting a few down to go hit the weights at positions of depth.

Brandon Jones had a fantastic game. He had at least 10 tackles (at least one of which saved a TD and made a comeback possible) as well as three punt returns that netted 56 yards (the last of which included multiple broken tackles and made a comeback possible). One of the early TDs occurred when they brought Jones on a blitz and there was a busted coverage behind him...

Anyways, he played a brilliant game and seems to be on the DeShon Elliott track to "breakthrough junior year player."

Quick thought no. 5: The biggest difference between a team occurs between weeks one and two

That's a favorite adage of stat-wiz Bill Connelly and his podcast partner Steven Godfrey. The obvious conclusion from last year's opener was that Texas was going to be atrocious again on defense. This year it'll be that the offense is still garbage and that Ehlinger will always throw the game away in the fourth quarter.

Every realistic goal for the season is still on the table, of course. They didn't need to spot the L column a game in which they were favored by two scores, especially given the opponents coming up on the schedule, but then they were always going to have to scrap like mad to get through this early stretch.

The team looked much stronger when they were able to attack with the run game and in particular when they ran some QB option. The speed (slow?) option play they utilized after the delay was pretty devastating and in general it's obvious enough that most of this team's talent and ability is centered around their ability to attack in the run game. Shane Buechele could bring some upgrades in the RPO game but I doubt they'd make up for the loss of Ehlinger's QB run game offerings or scrambles, particularly without a more explosive WR corps. They need answers for the "two man under with a QB spy" gameplan for Ehlinger, I suggest the QB draw with an H-back leading up to the spy.

Clearly the D is going to be just fine this year and probably better than fine. All of the usual suspects were flashing and the young DBs like Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster have plenty of untapped upside. Heck, the team didn't even have Gary Johnson for much of this game. The veterans all looked strong, the Texas DL was completely dominant, and let's all pause to note the humor in the fact that Kris Boyd is currently leading the team in sacks.

The biggest issues I saw in this game was the slow start on both sides of the ball and the undisciplined play that led to numerous penalties. Texas spotted Maryland a lot of points early with a multiple game plan that wasn't doing much to confuse the Terps but sure seemed to confuse the 'Horn defenders. They also spotted Maryland 105 yards in penalties and 2.5 quarters without Texas' best LB on the field due to bad decision making.

I'll also happily be the only guy to quibble with the fact that Ehlinger finished the game with only seven carries. Maybe we'll be glad he's fresher later in the year but that was an effective tool that Texas didn't utilize much in a close loss. Presumably the staff figured that he'd get a higher number of carries via scrambles but that eventuality was taken away by the Maryland spy.

I don't know why Texas tends to start slow in week one games. I'm sure it's fairly common across the game and perhaps a handful of Maryland's 200 odd fans felt they started a bit sloppy as well. The current makeup of this team though points to a clear weekly gameplan for accumulating victories.

Score early, run the crap out of the ball, play great D, don't put yourself in position to have to out-execute the other team down the stretch. It's the formula that TCU followed en route to 10 wins and a B12 title appearance last year and it depends on the Longhorns ending this horrible fascination with slow starts. This team is good enough and talented enough to put teams away in the fourth quarter without having to try and launch dramatic comebacks with multiple passing down conversions.

Look alive, Texas fans, Tulsa comes to town in a week.

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satyanash

satyanash 14637

Posted
Posted

Eric Nahlin: Thoughts after a disappointing Maryland loss, take two

There's no excuse for the team no-showing versus Maryland. The total lack of readiness can only fall on the shoulders of Tom Herman and as far as I could tell he fell on the sword in the press conference.  The team played incredibly slow and you could even see it in their timid movements early on. They were running in mud because they were thinking slowly -- again. 

For the second year in a row the defense was ill-prepared for the motion run-game. PJ Locke again had his struggles, as did the linebackers. In the game thread many lamented the quiet game of Hager and Omenihu, but they aren't going to shine in this game, at least not with pressure on the quarterback. While the front was struggling with the run, we saw some familiar breakdowns in the passing game. Notably, true freshman BJ Foster got caught out of position. But that was a 3rd and long play where you might just want to play it more straight up and keep guys in front of the sticks rather than expecting a true freshman to rotate to help.

Coordination in the game will be much better dissected by others, but one thing that irked me on offense was it seems like Herman/Beck are too jumpy to capitalize on a play that works, rather than just keep running the play that works. Make Maryland REALLY commit to stopping something before trying to punish them. The reverse to Jamison was a drive killer. They also tried to hit some play actions off the run game when they should have just kept running the ball.

I firmly believe the offensive line is improved over last year. We saw that more clearly in pass protection. They were sometimes aided by Maryland dropping guys into coverage, but not always. Again I felt the coordination was off. Texas was trying to throw into loaded secondaries and run into loaded boxes. That's backwards. Are we sure they're counting numbers out there?

Refusing to use the quarterback run game really put the offense behind the 8-ball. Obviously they have Sam on a pitch count but he has no chance of being a difference making quarterback if he's not allowed to run. He may not even be average if he can't run. At least run it early and make them defend it. The negatives are obvious and there are more I didn't list. Penalties -- egregious. Turnovers -- egregious (Watson's was a terrible call despite what some on here think they saw). Tackling -- embarrassing. No wrapping up. 

Some positives:

Brandon Jones was really good. That was an All American type of game. He was stellar as a returner -- he ran with strength, quickness, speed, and determination. He showed range as a tackler.  Keaontay Ingram showed the promise evident from his high school days. When Texas briefly grabbed momentum in the 2nd quarter he was a big part of it. He's nifty on the cut-back. Wait until he's not running cautiously. Then wait until he's doing all this at 215 pounds. 

D'shawn Jamison as a returner showed sparq. He'll break one this year, but as he gets stronger with the ability to run through trash without losing much speed he'll be even more dangerous.  The offensive line in pass protection was good. I bet it looks better running the ball in the Big 12 than it did today. The line was absolutely horrendous last year versus Maryland. 

Offensive variation was much more than what we saw last year. It didn't flow very well at times, or build sequentially, but there's a lot more in the playbook than last season. A couple of players on defense seemed to play well. McCulloch missed a bad tackle in space, but for that being his first real action at linebacker since his freshman year? Not bad. TQ Graham did some things too. Even playing from 4i he was able to beat OT's to the outside a few times. Davante Davis was playing well before he went out with what looked like a stinger.

Last year after the disheartening loss to Maryland I blamed the coaches. This year one would be hard pressed to not do the same, but these players have to show up more mentally prepared. There's no way that's entirely on the staff. Following Maryland last year was San Jose State and USC on the road. This year it's very similar with Tulsa and USC at home. 

Herman said in his press conference he knows this team is better than last year. We should already definitively know that answer but will have to wait a while to know for sure. Even then, how much better? Better isn't good enough.

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Treefidy

Treefidy 1469

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Colonel Mustard said:

Looks like Penn St might out-do us

Satterfield makes $425k as HC of app st. He was OC for their 3 in a row NCs. Should have given him a huge raise to come replace Beck, or someone, anyone. 

This is rounding out so much like the last experiment, except I don't see Herman demoting beck tomorrow.  And I don't see CDC jumping on a plane to chase an OC at the end of this season for a dead man walking if this season goes the way it's looking right now.  

 

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Valmy77

Valmy77 13273

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, Lobo said:

7-7 now.  Someday you guys tell me what your fucking fascination with this guy is.  I ain't seeing it.  Oh wait, give hime.  This team is going to be 1-5 going into the Bayloe game.  2-4 at absolute fucking best.  

Well he is the head coach of our favorite team...I don't think anybody here worships or anything.

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El Squared

El Squared 1813

Posted
Posted (edited)
58 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

The oline didn’t completely suck.

Surprising and true, but sadly we could not do anything with that improvement.

We have some RBs but apparently they are not needed.

Dropped passes (Josh Moore, LJH)  and a marginal QB are not a good combination.

Let's also not forget the first half point spotting by Orlando's D.....

I remember watching some Big 10 games only a few years ago where they looked so slow compared to Big 12 and SEC.

Now, we look slow.

We look like we are gassed and playing without speed or energy. 

 

Edited by El Squared
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31551

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


It’s beyond explanation.

Our program just sucks. Period.

I have been an intense Texas fan since 1984.  For 24 of those 34 years, with a couple of  minor exceptions (90 and Mackovic's two BigXIIs) we have been mediocre at best.  You can take that back about another 10 years, if you really want to (end of the DKR era).

 

Somehow or other, we have deluded ourselves that we are football royalty (I mean, over the really long view, I guess we are).  I guess I have bought into it, to a degree, myself.  But when I soberly reflect, we kinda mostly suck.  Somehow or other, I temporarily convinced myself that we would start to escape the suction today.  I was wrong.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Loco

Loco 3754

Posted
Posted (edited)

that's your problem, reflecting soberly.....   fuck sober, fuck the record, root for your fucking team  to dominate like they should....  also fuck OU, you are gonna skull fuck those land thieves /nowaxcups

Edited by Loco
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Bullneck

Bullneck 19214

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Spawn of Cthulhu said:

Don't  know why I'm so disappointed, then. The first 3 victories over them are much more relevant than the two recent losses.

I agree with you that the other losses are ancient history.  But it makes expecting to roll Maryland that much more expected.

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taybo20

taybo20 2878

Posted
Posted

It’s pretty amazing to me, that in a state where high school football means so much to almost everyone, the flagship university is such shit and non-representative of that passion for the game. 

Im at a loss, almost to the point where I have nothing but apathy for the football program

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ousux

ousux 5602

Posted
Posted
also, we had 4 turnovers.  A 10 yard punt on your own 20 is a turnover.
True, but I remember Dicko's Freshman outing was wildly inconsistent just like his cuz today. In fact the cuz may have been better in his first game than MD, but I don't have stats for that.
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Bullneck

Bullneck 19214

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

Can anyone post the presser questions? Is he getting soft balls? Does he look like Charlie with the “what the fuck is happening” looks? 

He looked terrified at first but then I thought they let him off easy.  Someone asked him a softball question and every body sort of relaxed.  

 I'm hoping a big cigar donor or two has sent him a meeting invitation.  "Subject: Direction of Football Program/Future Prospects: Location: Belmont Main Conference Room."

I have a feeling they'll expect some results for their money.

Edited by Bullneck
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