Let's Get Real on Texas FB (Likes, Concerns, Trends, Can Improve)

[LTtxfan 49016]

Need y'alls help..... Read somewhere how poorly Texas has been outscored in the 4th quarter of this year's games.  Please add those stats on this thread..... Thanks

My Likes : Aggressive playcalling in BlowU Game and spreading out touches to all the skill players (CJ, LJH, DD, Beck, Watson, Ingram)

Concerns:  DL, NB & LB play

IT BlowU Game Report:  

We didn't defeat many blocks. We didn't tackle well at all. We missed too many assignments everywhere but the DL. Our pass rush didn't dictate any rapid heart rate. We lost contain too often. We missed filling the correct gaps at the second level. We failed to scrape correctly too often. Worst of all we got blocked and missed tackles at an alarming rate. It is hard to explain why our backend can't get properly aligned and ready to play coverage this far into the season. I will leave it at that. 

We ran fresh out of gas at too many positions. I blame that on the staff. Rotation is not your enemy if conducted with a purpose in mind. When your defenders all look like they are running uphill against the wind it's your job to get fresh bodies into the fight---and realize you should have done that every quarter. Here are the grades:

We didn't play well enough to win on defense this week. The good news is the offense did. We need help in several areas going forward. The DL needs to go back to slashing and creating havoc regardless of the QB. We can't play conservative---it's not our style. We have a nice two deep rotation that probably goes 75-25. 60-40 might be nice number as the bumps and bruises multiply each week.

We just don't have a LB that has instincts to play the position in this league. We have one that can usually swash-buckle his way to the ball and make eye-opening plays at times. Yesterday wasn't his finest hour by a longshot. The other LB is just not developed for a Big 12 success. Except for the nickel position LB is by far the weakest position group on the team. We need to recruit this position very well because the answer must not be on campus right now---otherwise, we would be playing them right now. 

It's head-scratching how we bust so many coverages (three td's yesterday directly) because it's always the same cast of characters back there every game. With two DB coaches one would think they could get covering the wheel route and switch routes rules in place. Maybe a switch in personnel could solve the nagging problem. It's a huge problem that hasn't gone away. It ain't lack of talent. This group needs to apologize this week against them bears. They owe the offense.

Trends: Eventhough TEXAS has improved their offense performances on Late Game Closeout Drives, the Horns are being outscored in the 4th quarter of Games.  Really hope this trend changes.

Can Improve: Punt Blocking, and Punting.  Coaches rotating players more on Defense so fresher in 4th quarter.....

Edited October 11, 2018 by LTtxfan

[6th Street 6358]

Busted coverages are a big problem. If they can't play man, better to leave 1 or 2 safeties back rather than bringing them up to LOS

[LTtxfan 49016]

Another Keeping it Real:  Based on results thus far, Texas should be rated around #12.  They have the "potential" to be ranked higher if they continue to improve .....

Love how much better the 2018 HORNS are playing and improving as the Season has progressed.

So far (knock on wood) the OL/TE blocking has been great.

Can't wait to see them play a good complete 4 quarter game.

 

Edited October 11, 2018 by LTtxfan

[FloridaHorn 4735]

Biggest concern for me so far is the way this teams seems to play to the perceived level of the competition. Shitty against Maryland and Tulsa and KState but really physical and inspired against TCU and OU...it has already bitten us in the ass one time this season, and Baylor or Tech are good enough to beat us if we show up not ready again.

[LTtxfan 49016]

11 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

Busted coverages are a big problem. If they can't play man, better to leave 1 or 2 safeties back rather than bringing them up to LOS

Agree.... Thankful for Win over BlowU because Offense played well and thankfully Kyler had 2 turnovers.

Rewatching BlowU Game film showed quite a few mistakes by Texas Defense that they should not be making by 6th game of the Season.  Time for Orlando and defensive coaches to tighten up that group.... May need to give other DBs some playing time at Nickel vs Baylor.

Edited October 11, 2018 by LTtxfan

[staboner 4959]

we need a pass rush. we are well below average in that regard. i think that is by far the most glaring weakness. we can rush 5 and the QB will have a clean pocket. we counter with safey blitzes that tend to not get there either. 

outside of that its what FloridaHorn says. have to play hard every week and under Mensa was are all over the place in terms of effort

[Revolution512 1480]

We need to continue upgrading talent across the board. We have some good players, we need great players

[LTtxfan 49016]

5 minutes ago, staboner said:

we need a pass rush. we are well below average in that regard. i think that is by far the most glaring weakness. we can rush 5 and the QB will have a clean pocket. we counter with safey blitzes that tend to not get there either. 

outside of that its what FloridaHorn says. have to play hard every week and under Mensa was are all over the place in terms of effort

Great Stuff.... Lack of pass rush is scary with all the better passing teams ahead on the schedule.  Really hope Tech game is not at night.

Also, real frustrating with all the blitzing TEXAS did vs KState and not getting to QB..... Really missed BJ in that game.

Edited October 11, 2018 by LTtxfan

[GreenspointTexas 9568]

Gonna catch flak for this but I think outside of OU, we havent played a very good team yet. OU is elite on offense, but their D is horrible

 

TCU and USC are 8 win teams and KSU is trash. Im happy with the wins, but I also think the conference is having one of its worst years, ever. We absolutely must take advantage... 10 wins would be HUGE

Edited October 11, 2018 by GreenspointTexas

[Dbeasy 14992]

Biggest concern for me so far is the way this teams seems to play to the perceived level of the competition. Shitty against Maryland and Tulsa and KState but really physical and inspired against TCU and OU...it has already bitten us in the ass one time this season, and Baylor or Tech are good enough to beat us if we show up not ready again.

That may show how much our coaching schemes are factoring into the wins and losses. We can’t yet out-athlete teams, particularly on the DL and OL. The coaching staff has been saving scheme moves for bigger games, and trying to just get by on talent against lesser opponents. Now that most of the schemes have been unveiled, from here on out it’s going to get tougher to consistently win against good teams. This is the Herman formula. It’s why at Houston he lost to Navy and SMU. We are still two great DL and OL classes from consistent, high performance, like OSU, Georgia and Alabama.

[Pato del Muerto 52365]

You know tech is lobbying to the networks for a night game against us. 

[texifornia 56568]

10 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

Biggest concern for me so far is the way this teams seems to play to the perceived level of the competition. Shitty against Maryland and Tulsa and KState but really physical and inspired against TCU and OU...it has already bitten us in the ass one time this season, and Baylor or Tech are good enough to beat us if we show up not ready again.

Baylor sure, but Tech is legit solid this year. If we don't show up for that, that's just a complete failure of motivation.

[Katfid54 8593]

9 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

Biggest concern for me so far is the way this teams seems to play to the perceived level of the competition. Shitty against Maryland and Tulsa and KState but really physical and inspired against TCU and OU...it has already bitten us in the ass one time this season, and Baylor or Tech are good enough to beat us if we show up not ready again.

I think there are a few different answers to that.

I think we tried to play way too vanilla against Maryland and Tulsa, thinking that we were good enough to "save" new wrinkles for the USC/TCU/OU games.  In hindsight, we probably weren't wrong, but the lack of focus/aggression from our coaches may have resulted in a similar lack of effort/aggression from our players.

Against KSU, I think it was a different issue.  We almost purposefully self-sabotaged offensive drives numerous times in order to make sure we got something on film that OU would have to prepare for.  Think of all the reverses, double-passes, and trick plays that we ran for seemingly no reason.  Why did we do that?  To make OU have to spend time preparing for them and accounting for them on the field.  In fact, a lot of our success on bubble screens against OU was probably due to the pass that we've run a "fake" bubble screen double pass twice this year.

I think now that we're out of the gauntlet portion of our schedule, you'll see much more consistent play calling on our side.

[staboner 4959]

2 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

 

That may show how much our coaching schemes are factoring into the wins and losses. We can’t yet out-athlete teams, particularly on the DL and OL. The coaching staff has been saving scheme moves for bigger games, and trying to just get by on talent against lesser opponents. Now that most of the schemes have been unveiled, from here on out it’s going to get tougher to consistently win against good teams. This is the Herman formula. It’s why at Houston he lost to Navy and SMU. We are still two great DL and OL classes from consistent, high performance, like OSU, Georgia and Alabama.

 

yes. we have jags basically on both lines and if we have someone special they are young. this is where the difference is talent wise from us and the current dominant teams. 

if Herman can figure out how to turn Texas into an OL and DL factory like an SEC/Big10 team then he will dominate the Big 12

[LTtxfan 49016]

Just now, GreenspointTexas said:

Gonna catch flak for this but I think outside of OU, we havent played a very good team yet. OU is elite on offense, but their D is horrible

 

TCU and USC are 8 win teams and KSU is trash. Im happy with the wins, but I also think the conference is having one of its worst years, ever

No flak here..... Agree Texas is better, but I'm not ready to think we are bound for the B12 Championship yet....

Okie Lite, Tech, WVU, and even Iowa State could all beat TEXAS this year

Really enjoying this Season, but don't want to assume anything with this Team for rest of 2018....

Curious, if TEXAS only loses to WV, and WV only loses to BlowU thereby creating a 3-way tie...... Who goes to B12 Championship Game?

[Vertigo 20273]

I take some of this with a grain of salt. Some of our issues are magnified by the fact that we have played 3 ranked teams in 4 weeks. TCU and OU in particular put your defense into a ton of conflict with great play callers, speed, and tempo. OU is for my money the best and most complete offense in the country. WVU and Tech still make me nervous, but I feel like WVU is a bit of a paper tiger, as they seem to always be early in the year. Tech is just a wildcard as usual. 

I think our LB play has been solid against the run, but we need more negative plays out of base packages. We seem to play better out of a 4 man front, and Omenihu and Hager are far more effective that way. I would like to see us use that more. 

I would like to have Boyd and Davis with some over the top help more often, as they are prone to mental errors, but we have had to generate pressure through blitzes and that leaves them on an island more. I don't feel like we will need to do that as much through the back half of the season as our level of competition goes down and we can out athlete people more. 

[LTtxfan 49016]

12 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

I think there are a few different answers to that.

I think we tried to play way too vanilla against Maryland and Tulsa, thinking that we were good enough to "save" new wrinkles for the USC/TCU/OU games.  In hindsight, we probably weren't wrong, but the lack of focus/aggression from our coaches may have resulted in a similar lack of effort/aggression from our players.

Against KSU, I think it was a different issue.  We almost purposefully self-sabotaged offensive drives numerous times in order to make sure we got something on film that OU would have to prepare for.  Think of all the reverses, double-passes, and trick plays that we ran for seemingly no reason.  Why did we do that?  To make OU have to spend time preparing for them and accounting for them on the field.  In fact, a lot of our success on bubble screens against OU was probably due to the pass that we've run a "fake" bubble screen double pass twice this year.

I think now that we're out of the gauntlet portion of our schedule, you'll see much more consistent play calling on our side.

How much does this only being Herman's 2nd year factor into early struggles against both Maryland & Tulsa??  Herman learning how to best coach this group of players...... And frankly the current group of players still trying to learn how to both Win, and "Win On The Road".

While this group of players may still have some fragile confidence and belief about Winning especially on the Road (Only 1 Road Win this Yr), I am thrilled to see their progress and improvement so far....

Edited October 11, 2018 by LTtxfan

[gmr548 16533]

The defense just isn't as good as it's talked up to be. That isn't to say it's bad, because it's not. But it isn't the dominating force it was last year. It's an above average unit that is prone to mistakes and has benefited from a number of unforced errors by opponents. Missing Dickson is a part of that but there are just very few difference makers on the field. Sterns and Gary Johnson are probably the only guys that are playing all conference level football. Guys like Jones, Foster, Charles O, and Nelson have shown flashes but have been inconsistent (Jones/Foster) or just lack the ability to take the next step (Charles/Nelson). The corners have been plain bad. I didn't expect it to be as good as last year but I did expect it to improve some over the course of the year. Instead they've been pretty much the same. Hopefully a confidence booster vs Baylor and the bye will set the stage for the defense to turn it up a notch because the level they're at now will bite this team when the offense has an off day.

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[pacman 7331]

Locke/Wheeler need to ride the pine. They are keeping this defense down, having us play 9v11.

[6th Street 6358]

Just now, pacman said:

Locke/Wheeler need to ride the pine. They are keeping this defense down, having us play 9v11.

Both of those guys are stiffs that are poorly suited for the pass heavy Big 12. They need to be at a place like Wisconsin or Iowa.

[LTtxfan 49016]

8 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

The defense just isn't as good as it's talked up to be. That isn't to say it's bad, because it's not. But it isn't the dominating force it was last year. It's an above average unit that is prone to mistakes and has benefited from a number of unforced errors by opponents. Missing Dickson is a part of that but there are just very few difference makers on the field. Sterns and Gary Johnson are probably the only guys that are playing all conference level football. Guys like Jones, Foster, Charles O, and Nelson have shown flashes but have been inconsistent (Jones/Foster) or just lack the ability to take the next step (Charles/Nelson). The corners have been plain bad. I didn't expect it to be as good as last year but I did expect it to improve some over the course of the year. Instead they've been pretty much the same. Hopefully a confidence booster vs Baylor and the bye will set the stage for the defense to turn it up a notch because the level they're at now will bite this team when the offense has an off day.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Solid Stuff...... Glad to see "Keeping it Real" post on Texas Defense

I think Brandon Jones has played well this Season.....

Edited October 11, 2018 by LTtxfan

[Pato del Muerto 52365]

I think the first tiebreaker is overall record, so ou and wv would play in the ccg at 11-1 in that scenario. 

We would get a good bowl at 10-2 and that’d be a great season, but if ou still won the conference and especially if they got into the playoffs again, then they’d still have had the better season. 

[gmr548 16533]

Solid Stuff...... Glad to see "Keeping it Real" post on Texas Defense
I think Brandon Jones has played well this Season.....

He has been really good in run support but still gets caught clueless in coverage way too often. He did play well vs OU though. His INT was a great play and it was huge.

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[Machinator 32098]

Likes:

The OT play. We went from having some of the worst tackles in the league to the best. Cosmi has been outstanding and was an A+ job by Herman and co in terms of evaluation and development.

Playcalling is generally much better. The committee still has brain farts at inopportune times, but in general we're playing to our strengths, and building in wrinkles and adjustments that build off them and take advantage of our opponents' weaknesses. Having a competent OL is helping us out here.

Since the Tulsa game, personnel deployment on offense has improved. Shortened WR rotation, less Kyle Porter, more Ingram. Still hate that Daniel Young toss on 4th down against TCU.

Across-the-board player development on offense, especially at QB.

Dicker the Kicker.

Overall team physicality, especially at WR. CJ doesn't even look like the same player that he did against Maryland.

The way our offense has closed out games post-Maryland (and by close out, I mean the final meaningful drives, not the entirety of the second half, which has been a mixed bag).

The freshmen: the banner 2018 class is as advertised. Ingram, Sterns, Foster, Dicker, Josh Moore, and Jamison have all made key plays in victories this year. Cook looked good in relief of Davis against USC.

Building off that, the graduate transfers. We are not 5-1 without Tre Watson and Calvin Anderson.

We are redshirting our freshmen at OL, DL, and QB, like a healthy program should.

There have been a few lapses, but generally, the safety play has been very good from Sterns, Foster, and Brandon Jones.

Fewer bad snaps, whether it's Shack or Rodriguez.

Andrew Beck has played beyond my expectations. He blocks well and is a credible threat in the pass game when flexed out. I can't wait until Brewer is ready to assume his role. Good TE play transforms this offense.

Davante Davis might not be CB1 on an elite defense, but he is playing confident and physical. I think he has been fully un-Jennings'd. In general, I love the way our outside corners play the run.

McCulloch, when given a chance, has played well. He will factor into next year's LB group prominently, I think, and as I note below, he should play more this year.

Even though we're not connecting on the deep shots, I like that we're trying to use Duvernay more.

The second-team DL has had their moments, especially TQ. I'd like to see more of them down the stretch.

The home game atmosphere. Praise CDC. 

 

Dislikes

The Maryland game was still a major disappointment that should never have happened.

Hager and Omenihu have done their job, but it's not been complete disruption like we were led to believe in the preseason. Omenihu has shown real potential at times, at least. Some of this is a result of what Orlando asks them to do.

Nelson has been outstanding against the run, but is just a body on passing downs And that's not a slight against him; he is who he is. But just as everyone suspected, there's no true replacement for Poona Ford on this year's roster.

DL jumping offsides. Hager and Graham have been guilty of this multiple times, and it needs to stop.

In general, too many penalties.

Jamison at slot isn't doing much for us. He is only a threat on the jet sweep right now, and opponents are keying in on it when he's in the game. PR TD aside, he needs to make better decisions fielding punts, sometimes.

Wheeler is a major liability. He just looks stuck in molasses out there against spread, up-tempo offenses. I would like to see McCulloch get more reps at Mac.

Roach at Mac LB was a disaster, and he wasn't that great at B-backer either when healthy. I really hope he and the coaches realize that DE is his future.

In general, LB play has not been up to standard, and our defense has suffered for it. Orlando-coached defenses are at their best when that unit is excelling. Gary has had an up-and-down season thus far, and I think he benefited from having Malik alongside more than some people would like to admit.

Too many lapses by Kris Boyd, and the double move has gotten both him and Davis multiple times this season. Also, senior DBs lining up at the same depth should never happen, but it's already burned us twice this season.

I'm ready for Locke to graduate. Unlike Wheeler, though, I'm not sure we have a ready-to-go replacement right now. Thompson is the heir apparent, but he had his share of lapses against Tulsa.

Brandon Jones' ball skills are still shaky. Fortunately, he's had some gimmes thrown his way of late, and he's made the play.

The punter just doesn't look very good right now. The punt blocking has been even worse.

I don't think we are playing with less effort per se, but it's clear that in games where we have the victory in hand or where we are clearly the better team, we don't demonstrate that same killer instinct that we do at other times. This is a mentality thing, and I think it has caused our execution to suffer late in games, such as the holds that torpedoed drives against OU in the fourth quarter. The coaches and players need to go the full 60.

Sam has improved a lot this season, but he still has a few WTF throws every game. To his credit, they are no longer WTF decisions, but just poor throws that sail out of bounds, over the heads of open receivers, or into the ground short of the target. We can survive those, and have, for the most part. His placement on the deep ball is not there yet, though.

Every game, Dicker seems to have one kickoff that gives the opponent a chance to return (in an attempt to "coffin corner" I guess), and our coverage team looks shaky taking care of it.

Edited October 11, 2018 by Machinator

[LTtxfan 49016]

4 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I think the first tiebreaker is overall record, so ou and wv would play in the ccg at 11-1 in that scenario. 

We would get a good bowl at 10-2 and that’d be a great season, but if ou still won the conference and especially if they got into the playoffs again, then they’d still have had the better season. 

 

Wonder if it's based on CFP Committee Rankings??

 

Edited October 11, 2018 by LTtxfan

[bluto 4895]

Penalties... ESPECIALLY first down after kickoffs. 

I think the pass rush vs ou was chill due to Murray containment. Not saying we're ok in that dept but we looked very deliberate on some plays. 

Rather see young get backup snaps behind ingrams lions share. Newton is JAG, very brett robin.

Even tho ksu, really don't have much confidence in Jamison's decision making fielding punts, cost us 15 vs ou letting one drop, very lucky it wasn't 20+

Ready to see josh Thompson get some burn, dude is high energy and crazy athletic. 

[gmr548 16533]

As for getting real on offense... O line/ground game in general is talked about like it's really good but it isn't. Now, that Q2-Q3 stretch was a level we haven't seen all year. If they replicate that then we have something, but it had been pretty damn pedestrian up until last week. When the offense inevitably stops protecting the ball at a superhuman level the ground game will be what's needed to pull out Ws.

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[bluto 4895]

3 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

As for getting real on offense... O line/ground game in general is talked about like it's really good but it isn't. Now, that Q2-Q3 stretch was a level we haven't seen all year. If they replicate that then we have something, but it had been pretty damn pedestrian up until last week. When the offense inevitably stops protecting the ball at a superhuman level the ground game will be what's needed to pull out Ws.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Generally agree their performance has been exaggerated but also think that's due to holding Sam back until big games/situations. Also, Ingram is so far and away the best RB on O. I don't think it's a great run O, but it's effective and solid when Sam is given the green light. 

[LTtxfan 49016]

14 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Likes:

The OT play. We went from having some of the worst tackles in the league to the best. Cosmi has been outstanding and was an A+ job by Herman and co in terms of evaluation and development.

Playcalling is generally much better. The committee still has brain farts at inopportune times, but in general we're playing to our strengths, and building in wrinkles and adjustments that build off them and take advantage of our opponents' weaknesses. Having a competent OL is helping us out here.

Since the Tulsa game, personnel deployment on offense has improved. Shortened WR rotation, less Kyle Porter, more Ingram. Still hate that Daniel Young toss on 4th down against TCU.

Across-the-board player development on offense, especially at QB.

Dicker the Kicker.

Overall team physicality, especially at WR. CJ doesn't even look like the same player that he did against Maryland.

The way our offense has closed out games post-Maryland (and by close out, I mean the final meaningful drives, not the entirety of the second half, which has been a mixed bag).

The freshmen: the banner 2018 class is as advertised. Ingram, Sterns, Foster, Dicker, Josh Moore, and Jamison have all made key plays in victories this year. Cook looked good in relief of Davis against USC.

Building off that, the graduate transfers. We are not 5-1 without Tre Watson and Calvin Anderson.

We are redshirting our freshmen at OL, DL, and QB, like a healthy program should.

There have been a few lapses, but generally, the safety play has been very good from Sterns, Foster, and Brandon Jones.

Fewer bad snaps, whether it's Shack or Rodriguez.

Andrew Beck has played beyond my expectations. He blocks well and is a credible threat in the pass game when flexed out. I can't wait until Brewer is ready to assume his role. Good TE play transforms this offense.

Davante Davis might not be CB1 on an elite defense, but he is playing confident and physical. I think he has been fully un-Jennings'd. In general, I love the way our outside corners play the run.

McCulloch, when given a chance, has played well. He will factor into next year's LB group prominently, I think, and as I note below, he should play more this year.

Even though we're not connecting on the deep shots, I like that we're trying to use Duvernay more.

The second-team DL has had their moments, especially TQ. I'd like to see more of them down the stretch.

The home game atmosphere. Praise CDC. 

 

Dislikes

The Maryland game was still a major disappointment that should never have happened.

Hager and Omenihu have done their job, but it's not been complete disruption like we were led to believe in the preseason. Omenihu has shown real potential at times, at least. Some of this is a result of what Orlando asks them to do.

Nelson has been outstanding against the run, but is just a body on passing downs And that's not a slight against him; he is who he is. But just as everyone suspected, there's no true replacement for Poona Ford on this year's roster.

DL jumping offsides. Hager and Graham have been guilty of this multiple times, and it needs to stop.

Jamison at slot isn't doing much for us. He is only a threat on the jet sweep right now, and opponents are keying in on it when he's in the game. PR TD aside, he needs to make better decisions fielding punts, sometimes.

Wheeler is a major liability. He just looks stuck in molasses out there against spread, up-tempo offenses. I would like to see McCulloch get more reps at Mac.

Roach at Mac LB was a disaster, and he wasn't that great at B-backer either when healthy. I really hope he and the coaches realize that DE is his future.

In general, LB play has not been up to standard, and our defense has suffered for it. Orlando-coached defenses are at their best when that unit is excelling. Gary has had an up-and-down season thus far, and I think he benefited from having Malik alongside more than some people would like to admit.

Too many lapses by Kris Boyd, and the double move has gotten both him and Davis multiple times this season. Also, senior DBs lining up at the same depth should never happen, but it's already burned us twice this season.

I'm ready for Locke to graduate. Unlike Wheeler, though, I'm not sure we have a ready-to-go replacement right now. Thompson is the heir apparent, but he had his share of lapses against Tulsa.

Brandon Jones' ball skills are still shaky. Fortunately, he's had some gimmes thrown his way of late, and he's made the play.

The punter just doesn't look very good right now. The punt blocking has been even worse.

I don't think we are playing with less effort per se, but it's clear that in games where we have the victory in hand or where we are clearly the better team, we don't demonstrate that same killer instinct that we do at other times. This is a mentality thing, and I think it has caused our execution to suffer late in games, such as the holds that torpedoed drives against OU in the fourth quarter. The coaches and players need to go the full 60.

Sam has improved a lot this season, but he still has a few WTF throws every game. To his credit, they are no longer WTF decisions, but just poor throws that sail out of bounds, over the heads of open receivers, or into the ground short of the target. We can survive those, and have, for the most part. His placement on the deep ball is not there yet, though.

Every game, Dicker seems to have one kickoff that gives the opponent a chance to return (in an attempt to "coffin corner" I guess), and our coverage team looks shaky taking care of it.

Great Post "Machinator"....

Many things I had not considered.  Really hope punting & blocking on punts improves because otherwise Okie Lite will probably block a punt.

Hope to see the "Killer Instinct" to closeout games and Win each Quarter becomes a habit for this Team. ....

.

Btw reminder:  Need y'alls help..... Read article somewhere on how poorly Texas has been outscored in the 4th quarter of this year's games.  Please add those stats on this thread..... Thanks

Edited October 11, 2018 by LTtxfan

[Pato del Muerto 52365]

The difference in the run game with Ingram vs the others is like the difference 3 years ago with foreman in vs others. Zero becomes 2, 2 becomes 5, 5 becomes 9.  If he wasn’t hurt, he may get more than 15 out of his 15 yard runs too. 

Watson gives a ton of effort, but he’s just too small to be effective on the inside runs.   But they can’t just abandon those when he’s playing in favor of stretches and sweeps and pass routes. Haven’t really noticed his blocking, which is probably a good thing. 

[LTtxfan 49016]

12 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

As for getting real on offense... O line/ground game in general is talked about like it's really good but it isn't. Now, that Q2-Q3 stretch was a level we haven't seen all year. If they replicate that then we have something, but it had been pretty damn pedestrian up until last week. When the offense inevitably stops protecting the ball at a superhuman level the ground game will be what's needed to pull out Ws.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Absolutely...... Time to rush for 250+yds on Baylor

Thx for "Keeping It Real"

[Dbeasy 14992]

Likes:
The OT play. We went from having some of the worst tackles in the league to the best. Cosmi has been outstanding and was an A+ job by Herman and co in terms of evaluation and development.
Playcalling is generally much better. The committee still has brain farts at inopportune times, but in general we're playing to our strengths, and building in wrinkles and adjustments that build off them and take advantage of our opponents' weaknesses. Having a competent OL is helping us out here.
Since the Tulsa game, personnel deployment on offense has improved. Shortened WR rotation, less Kyle Porter, more Ingram. Still hate that Daniel Young toss on 4th down against TCU.
Across-the-board player development on offense, especially at QB.
Dicker the Kicker.
Overall team physicality, especially at WR. CJ doesn't even look like the same player that he did against Maryland.
The way our offense has closed out games post-Maryland (and by close out, I mean the final meaningful drives, not the entirety of the second half, which has been a mixed bag).
The freshmen: the banner 2018 class is as advertised. Ingram, Sterns, Foster, Dicker, Josh Moore, and Jamison have all made key plays in victories this year. Cook looked good in relief of Davis against USC.
Building off that, the graduate transfers. We are not 5-1 without Tre Watson and Calvin Anderson.
We are redshirting our freshmen at OL, DL, and QB, like a healthy program should.
There have been a few lapses, but generally, the safety play has been very good from Sterns, Foster, and Brandon Jones.
Fewer bad snaps, whether it's Shack or Rodriguez.
Andrew Beck has played beyond my expectations. He blocks well and is a credible threat in the pass game when flexed out. I can't wait until Brewer is ready to assume his role. Good TE play transforms this offense.
Davante Davis might not be CB1 on an elite defense, but he is playing confident and physical. I think he has been fully un-Jennings'd. In general, I love the way our outside corners play the run.
McCulloch, when given a chance, has played well. He will factor into next year's LB group prominently, I think, and as I note below, he should play more this year.
Even though we're not connecting on the deep shots, I like that we're trying to use Duvernay more.
The second-team DL has had their moments, especially TQ. I'd like to see more of them down the stretch.
The home game atmosphere. Praise CDC. 
 
Dislikes
The Maryland game was still a major disappointment that should never have happened.
Hager and Omenihu have done their job, but it's not been complete disruption like we were led to believe in the preseason. Omenihu has shown real potential at times, at least. Some of this is a result of what Orlando asks them to do.
Nelson has been outstanding against the run, but is just a body on passing downs And that's not a slight against him; he is who he is. But just as everyone suspected, there's no true replacement for Poona Ford on this year's roster.
DL jumping offsides. Hager and Graham have been guilty of this multiple times, and it needs to stop.
In general, too many penalties.
Jamison at slot isn't doing much for us. He is only a threat on the jet sweep right now, and opponents are keying in on it when he's in the game. PR TD aside, he needs to make better decisions fielding punts, sometimes.
Wheeler is a major liability. He just looks stuck in molasses out there against spread, up-tempo offenses. I would like to see McCulloch get more reps at Mac.
Roach at Mac LB was a disaster, and he wasn't that great at B-backer either when healthy. I really hope he and the coaches realize that DE is his future.
In general, LB play has not been up to standard, and our defense has suffered for it. Orlando-coached defenses are at their best when that unit is excelling. Gary has had an up-and-down season thus far, and I think he benefited from having Malik alongside more than some people would like to admit.
Too many lapses by Kris Boyd, and the double move has gotten both him and Davis multiple times this season. Also, senior DBs lining up at the same depth should never happen, but it's already burned us twice this season.
I'm ready for Locke to graduate. Unlike Wheeler, though, I'm not sure we have a ready-to-go replacement right now. Thompson is the heir apparent, but he had his share of lapses against Tulsa.
Brandon Jones' ball skills are still shaky. Fortunately, he's had some gimmes thrown his way of late, and he's made the play.
The punter just doesn't look very good right now. The punt blocking has been even worse.
I don't think we are playing with less effort per se, but it's clear that in games where we have the victory in hand or where we are clearly the better team, we don't demonstrate that same killer instinct that we do at other times. This is a mentality thing, and I think it has caused our execution to suffer late in games, such as the holds that torpedoed drives against OU in the fourth quarter. The coaches and players need to go the full 60.
Sam has improved a lot this season, but he still has a few WTF throws every game. To his credit, they are no longer WTF decisions, but just poor throws that sail out of bounds, over the heads of open receivers, or into the ground short of the target. We can survive those, and have, for the most part. His placement on the deep ball is not there yet, though.
Every game, Dicker seems to have one kickoff that gives the opponent a chance to return (in an attempt to "coffin corner" I guess), and our coverage team looks shaky taking care of it.

Awesome post. I think the staff knows Roach is better at DE (although I don’t think he’s big enough even for DE) but doesn’t feel like they have the LB depth so they stuck him there to help. I’m also not as bullish on the OT performance as you mentioned. They’ve been ok but I wouldn’t put them near the top of the league.

[GreenspointTexas 9568]

Not sure jamison should see the field, in any capacity. Dont think hes ready for the big time just yet

[Machinator 32098]

3 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

 

Awesome post. I think the staff knows Roach is better at DE (although I don’t think he’s big enough even for DE) but doesn’t feel like they have the LB depth so they stuck him there to help. I’m also not as bullish on the OT performance as you mentioned. They’ve been ok but I wouldn’t put them near the top of the league.

 

I think Cosmi is playing at an All-Big 12 level right now and Anderson has been consistently decent-to-very-good, minus a couple lapses against KSU and when he was injured against TCU. If that's not one of the top 3 tandems in the league, then there are some really good tackles in the Big 12 right now.

Edited October 11, 2018 by Machinator

[pacman 7331]

Overall - outscored 52 to 17 in the 4th. We have "lost" the 4thQ 4 times, "won" it one time, and "tied" it one time. I would argue the 4thQ cost us the MD game honestly but, otherwise, was not consequential because games were in hand. 4thQ just made them more interesting but I get coaches want to put teams away, killer instinct, etc.

1stQ - lead 48 to 41. Won 4, lost 2

2ndQ - lead 64 to 27. Won 5 lost 1

3rdQ - lead 63 to 24. Won 4 lost 2

Edited October 11, 2018 by pacman

[MonkeyDoughnut 10152]

My concern still is how little pass rush we are getting in single coverage situations. We are committing a lot of bodies but are either too slow or not able to get to the QB.

[PencilPusher 454]

43 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Gonna catch flak for this but I think outside of OU, we havent played a very good team yet. OU is elite on offense, but their D is horrible

Welcome to college football 2018. There's Alabama and everyone else. I don't think any conference has more than 1 or 2 "very good teams" so the odds of a team facing multiple very good teams this season is low. Go through the conferences to see who the very good teams are.

ACC - Clemson and ??????. Clemson has looked OK this season and they've been fortunate they have not faced another similar "very good" team this season while they transition to the Trevor Lawrence era. The rest of the ACC is hammered dogshit.

B1G- Ohio State for sure, though their defense is shaky (though not as bad as OU). Penn State is a carbon copy of OSU with worse coaching apparently (elite offense, avg to below average defense) and Michigan has navigated the easy part of their schedule since ND. Is either PSU or Michigan a very good team? Probably, though one might end up with 3+ losses before the season is done which means they were probably just a good team.

SEC- Beyond Alabama (who hasn't played anyone yet-their season really starts after Thanksgiving), there is Georgia (who hasn't played a very good team yet) and........Barn? Nope, they've already lost 2. LSU? Better than expected, but if they lose to GA this week, they aren't better than 9-3 this season. SEC has actually been worse than is perceived.....this was a year that QB play was supposed to elevate the league, but has been disappointing beyond Tagavoila. (Say, what happened to that Lock fellow everyone was talking up last December?) Maybe the SEC needs to import more Hawaiians/Polynesians. 

Pac 12 After Dark - Probably should have most of their games after dark since the only difference between the Pac 12 and ACC this year is the ACC has Clemson. Washington may be the best of a sad bunch but no very good teams here.

I think TX is a Top 15 team, but probably not a Top 5 team, even if we were to magically win out and get to the playoff somehow. We aren't elite at anything, but instead have relied on developed talent executing at a reasonably high level to succeed this season. I say reasonably because we do have Maryland, Tulsa, and K State data points to suggest that we haven't been at a high level all season. But against USC, TCU, and OU we have played at times at an elite level, though not for 4 quarters. Assuming we win this week, I think 9 wins becomes the floor (absent a rash of injuries). Sam may not be VY or Colt, but he's playing at a high enough level (coupled with an improved o-line) to get us to competing for the conference championship this year, which was a big goal this year and the right trend marker. 

[UTEX_ME 4754]

1 hour ago, FloridaHorn said:

Biggest concern for me so far is the way this teams seems to play to the perceived level of the competition. Shitty against Maryland and Tulsa and KState but really physical and inspired against TCU and OU...it has already bitten us in the ass one time this season, and Baylor or Tech are good enough to beat us if we show up not ready again.

/thread

[Wally Pryor 5245]

We've pretty much eliminated the WR screen.   Given how it was run at the beginning of the season, that's an unbridled plus. 

[Katfid54 8593]

1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

How much does this only being Herman's 2nd year factor into early struggles against both Maryland & Tulsa??  Herman learning how to best coach this group of players...... And frankly the current group of players still trying to learn how to both Win, and "Win On The Road".

While this group of players may still have some fragile confidence and belief about Winning especially on the Road (Only 1 Road Win this Yr), I am thrilled to see their progress and improvement so far....



My guess is that, going into Maryland, Herman didn't expect our running game to be as improved as it was, and by the time we realized we could really pound it, our defense had already spotted them way too many points to be able to lean out that throughout the game.

Frankly, I haven't had huge beef with our offensive play against Maryland either year.  But our defense's inability to show up at all in 2017 and in the first half of 2018 was really surprising and disappointing.

[LTtxfan 49016]

5 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

We've pretty much eliminated the WR screen.   Given how it was run at the beginning of the season, that's an unbridled plus. 

I would love to see LJH spread out alone more often on Cosmi's side and run a few tunnel screens.  Cosmi is athletic enough to fly out there and make the block that would spring LJH for a 10-15 yard gain....

[JBJ 3649]

Most worrisome is the pass rush.  We aren't running a front that helps players make plays on their own, and our dialed up pressure just isn't connecting enough.

 

For offense, it's run-blocking.  Even though it's light years ahead of last year, it's what's keeping a good offense from being unstoppable.  We lean too much on manufacturing numbers in the run game (either moving Beck around or QB runs), it'd be nice to be able to get a steady 4-yards from a simple tight zone against a full box.

[LTtxfan 49016]

34 minutes ago, pacman said:

Overall - outscored 52 to 17 in the 4th. We have "lost" the 4thQ 4 times, "won" it one time, and "tied" it one time. I would argue the 4thQ cost us the MD game honestly but, otherwise, was not consequential because games were in hand. 4thQ just made them more interesting but I get coaches want to put teams away, killer instinct, etc.

1stQ - lead 48 to 41. Won 4, lost 2

2ndQ - lead 64 to 27. Won 5 lost 1

3rdQ - lead 63 to 24. Won 4 lost 2

Awesome "pacman"

BlowU 4th quarter was concerning....

Love that we have shown improvement in 3rd qtr production.... its made a big difference this Season.

Edited October 11, 2018 by LTtxfan

[Tommy Nobis 905]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

You know tech is lobbying to the networks for a night game against us. 

night games in lubbock scare you to death

[TwiceHorn 31322]

I am intrigued by this notion, put forth for the first time that i have seen, that Hermanco deliberately hides schemes (and players, perhaps?) from the softer teams to unveil against the harder ones, thereby losing an edge later in the season and jeopardizing what should be some wins over soft teams.

 

It's plausible, and provides a rational explanation for some things.  But it was such an urban legend with Mack (they're saving it for OU!), that I remain skeptical.

[sushihorn 3233]

27 minutes ago, PencilPusher said:

Sam may not be VY or Colt, but he's playing at a high enough level (coupled with an improved o-line) to get us to competing for the conference championship this year, which was a big goal this year and the right trend marker.  

It's a tremendous relief to be able to beat quality opponents without elite QB play.  That's another big difference from the Mack Brown era.

[Skipper 6107]

This is a good thread as our fanbase in general (probably all fanbases) overreacts way too much with a Big L or Big W.  We weren't going 3-9 (as some predicted) after Maryland and we don't want any part of Bama now.  Watching a replay of OU, there were certainly some great with a big mix of absolute shit on both sides of the ball.  This is an improving team that is fun to watch but we're not near ready for prime time.  Our inconsistency will almost certainly result in another L or 2.   I just want to get through this weekend with a W so hopefully the staff can step back and spend a weak refocusing on fundamentals.   As long as we don't fuck it up this weekend, our bye really couldn't come at a better time to get things cleaned up and get healthy for the home stretch.

[Katfid54 8593]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

I am intrigued by this notion, put forth for the first time that i have seen, that Hermanco deliberately hides schemes (and players, perhaps?) from the softer teams to unveil against the harder ones, thereby losing an edge later in the season and jeopardizing what should be some wins over soft teams.

 

It's plausible, and provides a rational explanation for some things.  But it was such an urban legend with Mack (they're saving it for OU!), that I remain skeptical.

It's absolutely true.  Go back and re-watch the first half of KSU.  We put so many fucking weird, trash plays on film against KSU for absolutely no reason other than that we were hoping to force future opponents to have to prepare for them (and to set up wrinkles off of them).

[LTtxfan 49016]

Just watched Orlando's media availability, and he mentioned that the poor 4th quarter trend needs to get fixed if this Team wants to be great. 🤘

[TwiceHorn 31322]

5 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

It's absolutely true.  Go back and re-watch the first half of KSU.  We put so many fucking weird, trash plays on film against KSU for absolutely no reason other than that we were hoping to force future opponents to have to prepare for them (and to set up wrinkles off of them).

Think this idea perhaps explains the over-reliance on Young earlier in the season and corresponding underreliance on Ingram?