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Postgame Thoughts...

Longhornmaniac8

By Longhornmaniac8
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Longhornmaniac8

Longhornmaniac8 255

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Thoughts on this game after the dust has settled a bit:

-Ehlinger played easily his best game as a Horn today. He's done that a few times this year, which means he's really starting to improve. His overall management of the game, ball control, and decision-making have improved immensely from the Maryland game. He made all the right plays today, and put this offense on his shoulders.

-Keaontay Ingram is a future Heisman contender, if he can stay healthy. He has that "it" factor I haven't seen from a Texas back in while (probably Charles/Benson).

-The defense forced OU to run the ball. For most of the game, Texas' secondary was absolutely stout, not giving Murray the little windows he's used to finding. They were beat over the top once or twice, but you'd expect that against the quality of athletes that OU has at the WR and QB position. Murray can create windows to throw in by sucking the safeties up to respect his running ability. By and large, they kept the game in front of them, which was a huge boost to the overall defensive effort.

-This game was not as close as the final score would indicate. Let me be very clear, I was shitting bricks as soon as I saw the comeback begin, and Texas easily could have lost the game. In that sense, yes, it was that close. What I do mean is that Texas dominated the trenches, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. The Red River Shootout usually (not always, but usually) comes down to which team wants it more. That was obviously Texas for all but about a 5 minute stretch of the game. OU is good enough to punish that kind of lapse, but if Texas' playcalling hadn't gone into a shell with 10 minutes to go, and even despite that, if they hadn't committed a few unnecessary penalties in those sequences, we wouldn't be talking about a nail-biter for the ages, we would've been talking about a well-deserved ass kicking. There was no evidence OU's defense could stop Texas' balanced offense had they not limited the playbook, especially when they needed three stops on 3 possessions. I had a bad feeling as soon as I saw Texas running the game clock when we got the ball back up 21 early in the 4th. I knew our playcalling was going to get conservative, and being one-dimensional is a great way to let OU back into the game.

-OU is soft. I don't mean this a typical, disparaging way fitting of an arch-rival, but their whole team, save for their RBs, seems to shy away from contact. Murray folds like paper when he feels pressure. He doesn't like to step up in a congested pocket. Their defense didn't seem remotely interested in making any solid tackles. There were multiple 3rd and longs where their unwillingness to wrap-up directly led to Texas finding themselves in a 4th and short, instead of a 4th and 7 or so had they just put a decent contact on the receiver. Both of those led to points.

Honestly, it reminded me too much of Texas teams in the early 2000s against OU. Those games came down to effort; both teams were similarly stacked, and yet despite that, it was more often than not a complete ass-kicking.

In stark contrast, since Charlie Strong got to campus, Texas seems to have been playing this game with a physicality and intensity it lacked during the Mack years. Sure, we've split the last 6 meetings, but Texas came into all of those as the underdog. And every one of the last 5 games was a one-possession game. All in a dumpster-fire era for Texas.

So what's the prognosis? I've still yet to see Texas play a 4-quarter football game this year. We've played three 3-quarter games (USC, TCU, and OU), but I'm still searching for that dominant, 4-quarter performance where the game was never in doubt from the opening kick.

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49,185

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27 minutes ago, Longhornmaniac8 said:

Thoughts on this game after the dust has settled a bit:

-Ehlinger played easily his best game as a Horn today. He's done that a few times this year, which means he's really starting to improve. His overall management of the game, ball control, and decision-making have improved immensely from the Maryland game. He made all the right plays today, and put this offense on his shoulders.

-Keaontay Ingram is a future Heisman contender, if he can stay healthy. He has that "it" factor I haven't seen from a Texas back in while (probably Charles/Benson).

-The defense forced OU to run the ball. For most of the game, Texas' secondary was absolutely stout, not giving Murray the little windows he's used to finding. They were beat over the top once or twice, but you'd expect that against the quality of athletes that OU has at the WR and QB position. Murray can create windows to throw in by sucking the safeties up to respect his running ability. By and large, they kept the game in front of them, which was a huge boost to the overall defensive effort.

-This game was not as close as the final score would indicate. Let me be very clear, I was shitting bricks as soon as I saw the comeback begin, and Texas easily could have lost the game. In that sense, yes, it was that close. What I do mean is that Texas dominated the trenches, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. The Red River Shootout usually (not always, but usually) comes down to which team wants it more. That was obviously Texas for all but about a 5 minute stretch of the game. OU is good enough to punish that kind of lapse, but if Texas' playcalling hadn't gone into a shell with 10 minutes to go, and even despite that, if they hadn't committed a few unnecessary penalties in those sequences, we wouldn't be talking about a nail-biter for the ages, we would've been talking about a well-deserved ass kicking. There was no evidence OU's defense could stop Texas' balanced offense had they not limited the playbook, especially when they needed three stops on 3 possessions. I had a bad feeling as soon as I saw Texas running the game clock when we got the ball back up 21 early in the 4th. I knew our playcalling was going to get conservative, and being one-dimensional is a great way to let OU back into the game.

-OU is soft. I don't mean this a typical, disparaging way fitting of an arch-rival, but their whole team, save for their RBs, seems to shy away from contact. Murray folds like paper when he feels pressure. He doesn't like to step up in a congested pocket. Their defense didn't seem remotely interested in making any solid tackles. There were multiple 3rd and longs where their unwillingness to wrap-up directly led to Texas finding themselves in a 4th and short, instead of a 4th and 7 or so had they just put a decent contact on the receiver. Both of those led to points.

Honestly, it reminded me too much of Texas teams in the early 2000s against OU. Those games came down to effort; both teams were similarly stacked, and yet despite that, it was more often than not a complete ass-kicking.

In stark contrast, since Charlie Strong got to campus, Texas seems to have been playing this game with a physicality and intensity it lacked during the Mack years. Sure, we've split the last 6 meetings, but Texas came into all of those as the underdog. And every one of the last 5 games was a one-possession game. All in a dumpster-fire era for Texas.

So what's the prognosis? I've still yet to see Texas play a 4-quarter football game this year. We've played three 3-quarter games (USC, TCU, and OU), but I'm still searching for that dominant, 4-quarter performance where the game was never in doubt from the opening kick.

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hookem2010

hookem2010 2,624

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-Ingram looks like a slightly slower Charles, which is a very good thing
-Omenihu seemed to make an impact
-Dicker is the best we have had since Vera, at least
-CJ and LJH are better than the guys who cover them
-Ehlinger is making smart plays, which could be all we need to win out in the regular season
-I got drastically drunker over the last quarter of the game.
-I am higher on Texas football than I have been since being a student in '09


Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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dcar00

dcar00 14,182

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6 minutes ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

We need our punter to start getting some better kicks.  Guess I’m spoiled from last year.

this. we may need to start looking for another option.  i realize he's a frosh but he's way more inconsistent than dickson was.

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txbroadcaster

txbroadcaster 110

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I think Herman saw how Mack always tried to play down the big game and it stuck with him as he moved up the coaching ranks. Problem is he has fallen in the trap that Brown was always trying to fight. When you tell your team certain games in the season are the big ones, you then have to make sure they still show up enough in the little games. That is where UT is now. They will absolutely play to their opponent and that is great in the big games but frustrating as hell in the Maryland games of the world. 

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BigHorn'13

BigHorn'13 3,363

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56 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

this. we may need to start looking for another option.  i realize he's a frosh but he's way more inconsistent than dickson was.

You serious Clark? I saw a bad snap or two and rush getting through like it has all season. No, he's not his cousin but he's still decent, dare I say good for a freshman. Great for playing in his 6th game ever. 

 

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Ghost of Shag

Ghost of Shag 2,608

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—Yancy McKnight is earning his paycheck. We beat the hell out of them physically.

—Keontay and Sam should be an increasingly deadly duo.

—Colin Johnson’s best game as a Horn, for my money.

—BJ Foster and Brandon Jones were huge today.

—Caden Stearns didn’t have his best game. Almost seemed like he was dinged up.

—As bad as some of the late offensive calls were, we were hamstrung by the holding penalties.

—Kyler Murray is electric. OU sucks, but that kid is incredible. Glad we don’t have to see him after this year.

—Lincoln Riley is an excellent playcaller.

—Dicker.

 

Edited by Ghost of Shag
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Longhornmaniac8

Longhornmaniac8 255

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10 minutes ago, BigHorn'13 said:

Holy shit I'm on crazy pills. It's the offense's fault for giving up 21 points. Got it. 

I mean, look at the drive chart. We had punted the ball once until our offense went into conservative mode. Those two 3-and-outs and one 6-and-out completely killed any momentum we had. 

Edit: It wasn't the offense, per se, it was the playcalling.

Edited by Longhornmaniac8
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clownin72

clownin72 197

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Common sense tells you that when the offense can't sustain drives and goes 3 and out burn time off the clock, the defense is on the field alot more than they need to be. Overall the whole team needs to keep that killer intensity all 4 quarters

Holy shit I'm on crazy pills. It's the offense's fault for giving up 21 points. Got it. 
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BigHorn'13

BigHorn'13 3,363

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12 minutes ago, clownin72 said:

Common sense tells you that when the offense can't sustain drives and goes 3 and out burn time off the clock, the defense is on the field alot more than they need to be. Overall the whole team needs to keep that killer intensity all 4 quarters

 

16 minutes ago, Longhornmaniac8 said:

I mean, look at the drive chart. We had punted the ball once until our offense went into conservative mode. Those two 3-and-outs and one 6-and-out completely killed any momentum we had. 

Edit: It wasn't the offense, per se, it was the playcalling.

Ok. I would've preferred the touchdown plays on those 3 series and every series we've got the ball. But christ on a cracker if we shouldn't expect the defense to give up 21 points. 

Bottom line we won and I'm happy. I think we can all agree about that and that there was fuckery all around in the 4th.

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clownin72

clownin72 197

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Ok. I would've preferred the touchdown plays on those 3 series and every series we've got the ball. But christ on a cracker if we shouldn't expect the defense to give up 21 points. 
Bottom line we won and I'm happy. I think we can all agree about that and that there was fuckery all around in the 4th.
Totally agree, only thing that really matters at the end of the day is making ou cry. Hook'em
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