[Video]Sam Ehlinger vs Maryland

[Ghost of Shag 2730]

It just cannot be understated how bad Collin Johnson is at blocking.

We had better never run a wide receiver screen to his side again.  Put Eagles in the game.  

[Pig Bellmont 8885]

Ehlinger will get Herman fired

[gsoda3 3362]

i've watched the game twice.  the first time we had a house full of guests so i wasn't paying the most attention to the game and the second time i was watching the anklebiter, but it seemed like we had a few plays where maryland rushed 4 and the pocket broke down really quickly.  did anyone else notice that?

[NowThis 931]

remember when a few years ago Baylor started their 4th string QB against Texas?

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

20 minutes ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Ehlinger will get Herman fired

trotting out ehlinger is just a symptom of the underlying problem: tom herman's stubbornness and ego prevent him from taking on honest self-assessment of his decisions and learning from mistakes he's made. that's ultimately what is going to get him fired. 

but as it pertains to ehlinger, you can not preach ball security as one of the two pillars of the program, and demand accountability on that front, and then continue to trot him out at QB1. that's just one reason i think herman is a complete fraud.

[NowThis 931]

in fairness, Sam did have some good throws in there , along with some bad ones.  Too much variation though , we don't need variation but stability. 

[6th Street 6688]

30 minutes ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Ehlinger will get Herman fired

Correct. He is banking his job on Tim Beck, Sam Ehlinger, and Kyle Porter. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

1 minute ago, NowThis said:

in fairness, Sam did have some good throws in there , along with some bad ones.  Too much variation though , we don't need variation but stability. 

high praise. he's the starting QB at texas...some good throws should be a given. look, Sam is going to make some great plays that give you hope he's the one, then he's going to make some terrible throws completely whiffing on his target, then he's going to rip your heart out when the game is on the line.

the scariest thing to me is that our coaches are going to ask him to be something he is not: a pocket passer. that's a recipe for failure. 

 

[ClubWhatever 12301]

31 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

Correct. He is banking his job on Tim Beck, Sam Ehlinger, and Kyle Porter. 

He's already got the 25 mil.  Do you think he really, truly gives a fuck?  I mean, he might, because you have to have something to do when you get up in the morning. 

[ButtFumble 5287]

12 hours ago, 4th and 5 said:

DD needs shots over the top. This lateral passing, invariably behind the receivers is maddening. CJ can’t or won’t block, stop asking him to.

 

that shit is the worst of the worst I hear Madden over and over in my head talking about the "none yard pass" and then even worse you mix in a receiver either moving AWAY FROM the line of scrimmage or you throw the ball to them in such a way that they are looking back over their shoulder away from the guy about to knock their head off and away from the line of scrimmage while still trying to move forward even a half of a yard on the route

basically even if the pass is perfect you still have a receiver that is about to catch it and then tuck it away and then have to look up field to see what the fuck while running pretty much directly at the sidelines

it is a route where pretty much nothing good can happen even if the pass is completed

[NowThis 931]

OU had effective sideline passes but the WR was moving forward about a yard, with momentum, when the ball was caught *AND* he had 2 other WRs holding/pushing the DBs. Remember that?  I wonder why OU went away from that as it netted about 8 yards every time. 

[future man 4]

I like Johnnie Johnson but it's looking like he raised spoiled,  entitled kids. They just aren't tough at all. 

[US183 163]

3 hours ago, NowThis said:

in fairness, Sam did have some good throws in there , along with some bad ones.  Too much variation though , we don't need variation but stability. 

We dont need no education ....

[bluto 4996]

3 hours ago, NowThis said:

in fairness, Sam did have some good throws in there , along with some bad ones.  Too much variation though , we don't need variation but stability. 

In fairness, Porter did score a TD

[You don't know me 1163]

I'd rather wash my eyes out with bleach than watch that shit show again.  Thanks anyway.

[Thiefery 5108]

Doesn't Buchele have a better connection with CJ and LJH?

[SA-KC_Horn 1298]

TH needs to add a GoPro to Sam's helmet and figure out wtf he is looking at. 

[JBJ 3825]

@1:58

We are in 11 personnel, they are covering 5-wide from 3-3 Nickel.

The play is Ohio on the top of the screen.  CJ has a go route with LJH running a quickout behind him.

On the bottom it's Slot Cross.  Brewer will run a quick cross with Duvernay running a Dig behind him.  Watson is off the camera, but he's probably running a go.

Maryland initially shows Man2, but they betray the blitz and Man1 prior to the snap.

The protection call doesn't matter at this point.  It becomes Solo, man blocking.  It's not an easy pickup: the LG is out leveraged, and the RG/RT have to cross a defender to pickup their men.

Snap.  Blitz comes and is picked up nicely.  The safety rolls down to cover LJH, he looks late but the camera cuts it off. More on this in a second.

Focusing on Brewer.  If this were zone, he's supposed to just immediately go into his cross - getting across the field as soon as possible and settling in past the LB. In man, he's got to run it more like a quick-in, which he does.

There's nothing particularly beautiful about the route if it were just run like that against grass.  It's not particularly crisp, he bumbles through the stem, and he takes like 5 stutter steps to break down.  But what he does right is play the defender: he pressures the outside shoulder, gives a quick jab to turn the defender's hips, and crosses his face at a sharp angle.  He actually comes out of the break deceptively fast for how slow he went in.  The result is open and room to run.

Back to Sam: his progression is (1) CJ if he wins off the line - and eyeing the safety, (2) LJH on the out, (3) Brewer over the middle, (4) Duvernay in the space behind Brewer, (5) Watson whatever he is doing.

 

When CJ doesn't look clean, Sam should immediately hit LJH.  I don't think the safety gets there in time, and there's a beautiful passing lane.  LJH has no room to run, but it was a simple pitch and catch.  Maybe Sam is just at another level and knew the safety abandoning the deep half with the mismatch on Brewer was destined for 10+ yards. Maybe the safety was closer than the camera allows us to see.

For whatever reason - and it works out for us in the end - he finds Brewer more open with no deep help, hits him perfectly, and Brewer's off to the races as much as a TE can be.

Edited September 5, 2018 by JBJ

[Tex Long 4661]

16 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

I think our offense would've hummed if we ran more option, but I guess we didn't want to David Ash young Sam.

There's no excuse for that. There's an actual QB behind Sam. This would be his first year with a line that can even spell  pass-pro, so we don't yet have any idea what his capabilities really are.

[kevwun 16437]

5 hours ago, 6th Street said:

It is puzzling to see Herman actively seeking to tie his career to the Beck/Ehlinger/Porter triumvirate. 

It will get him fired quicker, so I say keep it up.  His love of the smell of his own farts will work in our favor in that regard.

Edited September 5, 2018 by kevwun

[XYZ 2154]

4 hours ago, 6th Street said:

Correct. He is banking his job on Tim Beck, Sam Ehlinger, and Kyle Porter. 

Why do you say Porter? He only had one carry and four times thrown to.

[6th Street 6688]

3 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Why do you say Porter? He only had one carry and four times thrown to.

With the game on the line in the 4th, Herman turned to Porter who proceeded to drop a key 3rd down pass

Edited September 5, 2018 by 6th Street

[Longboard Horn 41351]

I can’t believe I watched that. I want those 8 minutes of my life back. 

2 things about this:

1. Sam should run more, especially when Maryland kept dropping 8 and only brought 4 men.

2. I think I’ve said “God dammit Sam!” more than I have from any of the previous season’s games.

[Longboard Horn 41351]

44 minutes ago, kevwun said:

It will get him fired quicker, so I say keep it up.  His love of the smell of his own farts will work in our favor in that regard.

It’s like Herman is a mixture of David McWilliams and John Mackovic 

[OU Sucks 9381]

19 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Why do you say Porter? He only had one carry and four times thrown to.

Which is 5 targets too many.

[Zavala 1384]

https://www.barkingcarnival.com/2018/9/5/17822800/sam-ehlinger-on-playing-with-tempo-texas-longhorns-football

[4th and 5 5005]

2 hours ago, JBJ said:

@1:58

We are in 11 personnel, they are covering 5-wide from 3-3 Nickel.

The play is Ohio on the top of the screen.  CJ has a go route with LJH running a quickout behind him.

On the bottom it's Slot Cross.  Brewer will run a quick cross with Duvernay running a Dig behind him.  Watson is off the camera, but he's probably running a go.

Maryland initially shows Man2, but they betray the blitz and Man1 prior to the snap.

The protection call doesn't matter at this point.  It becomes Solo, man blocking.  It's not an easy pickup: the LG is out leveraged, and the RG/RT have to cross a defender to pickup their men.

Snap.  Blitz comes and is picked up nicely.  The safety rolls down to cover LJH, he looks late but the camera cuts it off. More on this in a second.

Focusing on Brewer.  If this were zone, he's supposed to just immediately go into his cross - getting across the field as soon as possible and settling in past the LB. In man, he's got to run it more like a quick-in, which he does.

There's nothing particularly beautiful about the route if it were just run like that against grass.  It's not particularly crisp, he bumbles through the stem, and he takes like 5 stutter steps to break down.  But what he does right is play the defender: he pressures the outside shoulder, gives a quick jab to turn the defender's hips, and crosses his face at a sharp angle.  He actually comes out of the break deceptively fast for how slow he went in.  The result is open and room to run.

Back to Sam: his progression is (1) CJ if he wins off the line - and eyeing the safety, (2) LJH on the out, (3) Brewer over the middle, (4) Duvernay in the space behind Brewer, (5) Watson whatever he is doing.

 

When CJ doesn't look clean, Sam should immediately hit LJH.  I don't think the safety gets there in time, and there's a beautiful passing lane.  LJH has no room to run, but it was a simple pitch and catch.  Maybe Sam is just at another level and knew the safety abandoning the deep half with the mismatch on Brewer was destined for 10+ yards. Maybe the safety was closer than the camera allows us to see.

For whatever reason - and it works out for us in the end - he finds Brewer more open with no deep help, hits him perfectly, and Brewer's off to the races as much as a TE can be.

 

 

This guy fucks.

 

AND HE KNOWS THE FORMATION, TOM!

Edited September 5, 2018 by 4th and 5

[SpiralOut 1964]

I ain't no QB coach, but it seems like the first fucking thing you should drill into your QBs head is how to throw the ball way the fuck out of bounds when the play isn't there.  Sam never seems to have gotten that lesson.  Dude just heaves it the fuck up, triple coverage be damned.  

As bad as Sam is though, his receivers really aren't doing him a ton of favors.  A couple of nice snags on misplaced/high balls, but the drops and nonexistent blocking are frustrating.

Yet for all that, Sam never should have been in that position in the first place.  If you're a coach worth your salt, you know the kid is inconsistent (to put it nicely) and so you, ya know, stick to handing the rock to a guy averaging over 5 yards a carry instead of asking your QB to heave-ho it over and over.  Guess that's a step too far for Mensa.

[Tex Pete 21486]

I am sick and fucking tired of watching Special Sam roll out and release the ball at the sideline, throwing it 3 yards out of bounds.

Your receiver isn't 12 feet tall, dumbass. He can never catch that ball in bounds, so quit fucking throwing it there. Throw it in bounds or throw it completely away.

[Alien Octopus 665]

The boy ain't right. There are short throws open on almost every play and not the flat screens either. Why the fuck can he not throw a slant, ever? If he is not accurate enough or cannot check down he should fuck off. Also, he never throws to a guy in stride, ever. Whatever no-read spread he was running in High School they should adopt or he should find another position. Herman starting to piss me off. Still pissed I guess.

[Hiphopopotamos 21191]

I can’t believe I watched that. I want those 8 minutes of my life back. 
2 things about this:
1. Sam should run more, especially when Maryland kept dropping 8 and only brought 4 men.
2. I think I’ve said “God dammit Sam!” more than I have from any of the previous season’s games.

Maryland playing 12 on defense would help to explain some things.

[GTNY 284]

The play at 2:34 stuck out to me live. How do both lineman whiff that fucking badly on the screen?  It is set up so nicely 

[JBJ 3825]

@4:37

1 and 10.  Lets say Maryland is in Cover 3, even though it may be a blended coverage to keep Duvernay doubled.

The play isn't clear as LJH gets walled hard and CJ is never on camera.  Let's just assume Maryland is blanketing everyone downfield.

Maryland is bringing a 4-man pressure and the protection is slide left.  At the snap, the blitzer has a freakout moment, but he comes late.  The guard does give him a healthy check. However, he and the DE eventually flush Sam out of the pocket.  It was about a 4-second pocket.

Watson's responsibility on this play is to pick up a blitzer from the right side.  If none come, he is released into a route based on the play.  Here he runs a Gut, which is the RB version of a 5-yard stop.  This was open a lot and we only hit it once in the 2-minute drill before half.  It is wide open, 4 seconds of pocket time is plenty to checkdown graciously.

It's 1st and 10, 5 to 7 yards is plenty to get set up next play.

Instead, Sam flushes right and throws an ill-advised ball right along the sideline in that bizarre white stripe area where it sometimes get picked off.

Edited September 5, 2018 by JBJ

[Bevo 13870]

15 minutes ago, JBJ said:

@4:37

1 and 10.  Lets say Maryland is in Cover 3, even though it may be a blended coverage to keep Duvernay doubled.

The play isn't clear as LJH gets walled hard and CJ is never on camera.  Let's just assume Maryland is blanketing everyone downfield.

Maryland is bringing a 4-man pressure and the protection is slide left.  At the snap, the blitzer has a freakout moment, but he comes late.  The guard does give him a healthy check. However, he and the DE eventually flush Sam out of the pocket.  It was about a 4-second pocket.

Watson's responsibility on this play is to pick up a blitzer from the right side.  If none come, he is released into a route based on the play.  Here he runs a Gut, which is the RB version of a 5-yard stop.  This was open a lot and we only hit it once in the 2-minute drill before half.  It is wide open, 4 seconds of pocket time is plenty to checkdown graciously.

It's 1st and 10, 5 to 7 yards is plenty to get set up next play.

Instead, Sam flushes right and throws an ill-advised ball right along the sideline in that bizarre white stripe area where it sometimes get picked off.

That is what I didn't understand. The hot route was always wide open. Why not get the free 5 yards until they decide to stop it.

[Ricky Butler 2809]

6 minutes ago, Bevo said:

That is what I didn't understand. The hot route was always wide open. Why not get the free 5 yards until they decide to stop it.

I know Watson had the bad fumble (or not fumble), but he seems to have more juice than every RB not named Ingram. Right? He might be able to squeeze a little more juice out of those in the future.

[Disco Missile 456]

10 hours ago, UTEX90 said:

Honest question.  What is the interception rate?

Ehlinger for his career has 13 TDs and 9 INTs in 314 pass attempts. His overall pass efficiency rating is 123.
Buechele has 28 TDs and 15 INTs in 604 pass attempts. His rating is 132.8.

Buechele definitely has a slight edge.

But the big difference is in the rushing stats and sacks under the respective starters.
Ehlinger has 150 more rush yards on 30 fewer attempts, and double the YPC.

As for sacks, it took me a bit of effort but I went game by game 2016-present and got these stats:

Ehlinger got sacked 12 times in 7 starts, or 1.7 sacks per start.
Buechele got sacked 48 times in 17 starts, or 2.8 sacks per start.
The sacks were usually drive enders.

While that really didn't set the two apart, I noticed that in the Gilbert/Mattox system Buechele rarely got sacked playing middle-of-the-road teams, however there were some games where he was sacked many times. For example:
4 sacks vs. Kansas in 2016
4 sacks vs. TCU in 2016
5 sacks vs. Maryland in 2017
7 sacks vs. TCU in 2017
Sam has simply never been put on his back that many times.

Looking at the overall package, Shane gives us a better passing option and Sam is more of a dual-threat.

Take your pick between more sacks given up (usually in passing situations) or more interceptions thrown.

[ClubWhatever 12301]

3 hours ago, GTNY said:

The play at 2:34 stuck out to me live. How do both lineman whiff that fucking badly on the screen?  It is set up so nicely 

Watch Jerrod Heard on that play.  Dude hates contact.

[JBJ 3825]

1st half 2-min drill (starts @ 2:54)

1st and 20: Maryland is in 5-under-Cover 3, playing way deep, and rushing 3.  Great pocket.  The sideline defender overplays the bubble route from Porter.  And by "overplays" I mean he is on the LOS instead of 15 yards deep.  It's a huge mistake for a 1st and 20 prevent. Ehlinger is free to hit an uncovered Heard on a deep out.

2nd and 3: Ehlinger misses the quick screen to Heard.  No words.

3rd and 3: Maryland has 5 in the box.  This is a called draw.  The RG and C double the NT and destroy him.  The LG is supposed to work his way to the backside LB, but that whole area is just a wall of lineman by that time.  The playside LB comes aggressively and is deflected by Porter.  Safeties are way deep, and Sam gets the easiest 18-yard run ever.

1st and 10: Pressure handled nicely.  Sam actually hits the wide open Gut route from Porter (see last post).  Easy 6 yards, but it does cost a timeout.

2nd and 4 from the 22:  Seems as good a time to take a shot as any.  Maryland brings 5 with a delayed 6th.  Max protect handles it perfectly.

It was designed as an isolation to CJ from the beginning. We put Trey plus the running back to the top of the field.  The protection scheme is called the opposite direction (away from the strength of the defense but towards CJ). This leaves 5 box defenders and 4 blockers to Sam's back, but allows us 3 blockers on 2 playside lineman.  The only other playside defender is covering CJ.  We like our odds on the jump ball and he rewards us.

[dcar00 14953]

@6:05 maybe the worst pass of all. perfect protection.  all he has to do is throw heard open to the far hash and it might be 6 and a game winner.  there is no safety to the far side.  he airmails it 10 yards over his and the defenders head on the near hash. 

every high school QB can make that throw.

[perfectchaos007 6780]

If this OLine is indeed improved from last year, then I would sacrifice mobility for accuracy all day. Shane should starts if the OLine is better

[Lat22 4086]

I lasted about 4:45. He just isn’t good enough to be our quarterback. Also, somebody make a freaking block!

[Enchubben 5600]

8 hours ago, perfectchaos007 said:

If this OLine is indeed improved from last year, then I would sacrifice mobility for accuracy all day. Shane should starts if the OLine is better

Just about every fan, media guy, and anyone who has watched Texas football the last two years would agree. Unfortunately for all of those people,  they get zero votes, time beck gets 1, and Tom Herman gets 2 votes. 

[Wally Pryor 5410]

23 hours ago, 6th Street said:

It is puzzling to see Herman actively seeking to tie his career to the Beck/Ehlinger/Porter triumvirate. 

It's because you're uneducated, uninformed or a combination of both.

Go ahead, ask Tom.  He'll tell you. 

[victory88 5764]

11 hours ago, dcar00 said:

@6:05 maybe the worst pass of all. perfect protection.  all he has to do is throw heard open to the far hash and it might be 6 and a game winner.  there is no safety to the far side.  he airmails it 10 yards over his and the defenders head on the near hash. 

every high school QB can make that throw.

Yup, I wanted to slam my coffee watching that play.  O-line gave him all day and Heard had his guy beat and Sam wasn't even in the same fucking universe with that throw.  It has to be so frustrating as a WR to beat your guy and then see the ball over thrown by 10 yards.  He's lucky Duvernay made a highlight dive on his overthrow for the 1st TD.  He also kept overthrowing the WRs in the flats on the screens.  Those screens will never work when the WR has to completely adjust his route/timing over a wobbly erratic throw.  

Coaches need to play to his strengths.  He's a fucking 250 lb QB.  Run him till he can't and get him some throws in the middle intermediate routes where he seems comfortable.  Mix in some deep throws to Collin on the outside.  If he gets hurt, you have the luxury of the most experienced big 12 QB sitting on the bench that has a much better winning record.

[UTEX90 589]

13 hours ago, Disco Missile said:

Looking at the overall package, Shane gives us a better passing option and Sam is more of a dual-threat.

Take your pick between more sacks given up (usually in passing situations) or more interceptions thrown.

Great info.  Thank you.

Although I think the OLine has improved I am not sure it has improved enough to mitigate the number sacks.  On the otherhand, which is easier?  Teaching Shane to get rid of the ball and not take sacks or teaching Sam to quit throwing INTs when the pressure is on?

I know sacks are usually drive killers but INTs are always drive killers.

[Tex Long 4661]

Shane's propensity for self-sacking has been driven by seriously bad pass-pro. The OL looked quite a bit better than last year. Given a choice between Sam's inaccurate throws and INTs (while not playing to his edge in running ability) and Shane's excessive self-sackage, I'd go with Shane. At least for a series or two. Not a fan of alternating QBs within a series, but if you don't give both a look, you're doing it wrong.

[Poolflood 845]

Just now, Tex Long said:

Shane's propensity for self-sacking has been driven by seriously bad pass-pro. The OL looked quite a bit better than last year. Given a choice between Sam's inaccurate throws and INTs (while not playing to his edge in running ability) and Shane's excessive self-sackage, I'd go with Shane. At least for a series or two. Not a fan of alternating QBs within a series, but if you don't give both a look, you're doing it wrong.

This and I think Maryland's D-line is vastly improved from last year.  After that shit show from Sam, Shane deserves half the snaps.  Let Sam start and play the first quarter.  Put Shane in for Q2

[BurntOrange&White 41848]

It just cannot be understated how bad Collin Johnson is at blocking.
We had better never run a wide receiver screen to his side again.  Put Eagles in the game.  

Coaching, obviously

[Bevo 13870]

25 minutes ago, Bevo VIII said:

Coaching, obviously

CTJ would shank me for this, but blocking is 100% effort. CJ could block well if he wanted to block well. I would love to see him on film when plays aren't to his side of the field. I have a gut feeling that he would be halfassing it and not selling the play at all.

[BurntOrange&White 41848]

CTJ would shank me for this, but blocking is 100% effort. CJ could block well if he wanted to block well. I would love to see him on film when plays aren't to his side of the field. I have a gut feeling that he would be halfassing it and not selling the play at all.

Blocking is 100% coaching and so is route running both of which our receivers suck at.