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2019 Texas Football Season - "#8 Go Fuck Yourself Bitch"

Xcalibur

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closetojumping

closetojumping 62597

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On 9/5/2019 at 5:48 PM, Zavala said:

Did you watch the game? It's a rivalry, and yeah, Miami has some beasts on defense and a pretty good QB, though he's a freshman. I bet Miami will shit on the ACC until they get to Clempson.

Whoops.

I saw a mediocre Miami team play a mediocre Florida team. I don't see either team finishing the regular season with more than 8 wins. 

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Junior Miller
Junior Miller

Brilliant. Sign letter of intent and transfer to Texas with zero intention of ever playing a game. Sit out year. Transfer back to USC. Sit out year. Play one bad ass season and go pro with almost zero

Junior Miller
Junior Miller

1996 and 2007 we're much different times than Jan 20, 2017 to today.  The gulf in culture is far more pronounced and cultural battle lines much more clear today.  All of you sensitive rednecks ca

Harry Ellis
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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49162

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Posted (edited)

Surprises and Good/Bad thru 4 Games...

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Article/Texas-Longhorns-football-surprises-Devin-Duvernay-Roschon-Johnson-Chris-Brown-Brennan-Eagles-Caden-Sterns-Josh-Thompson-Jalen-Green-136111793/

 

 

"What we know, what we don't know about Texas through four games"

ByJEFF HOWE Sep 25, 12:23 PM

https://247sports.com/college/texas/LongFormArticle/Texas-Longhorns-football-2019-what-we-know-what-we-dont-know-through-four-games-Tom-Herman-Sam-Ehlinger-136092268/

           ^^^^^^Howe's article is a good read...

 

 

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brojangles2

brojangles2 786

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So does anyone know if “MagnusTheGreat” from shag is over here with us now at Surly? I can’t help it, but I’m already getting mentally and hatefully prepared for ou. Who else thinks we need a modern writing of “‘Twas the Night Before Hatemas” this season? I believe the last was 2014. I’d love to see an update. Oh, and fuck the sooners. 

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Machinator

Machinator 32099

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1 minute ago, TheMailBox357 said:

WTF is Herman giving scholarships to underclassmen walk-ons??!! The only reason to give a scholarship to a underclassmen walk-on is because that particular walk-on is a legit starter or 2-deep guy.

They are probably one-year scholarships (except for Luke, his might be permanent to appease Blake and the younger Brockermeyer brothers).

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ShaggyBevo RIP

ShaggyBevo RIP 3868

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9 minutes ago, TheMailBox357 said:
WTF is Herman giving scholarships to underclassmen walk-ons??!! The only reason to give a scholarship to a underclassmen walk-on is because that particular walk-on is a legit starter or 2-deep guy.

One of his brothers his the nation’s best LT in 2021 and his other brother is having a breakout season filling for his injured twin. 

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
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Burt Macklin

Burt Macklin 19020

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14 hours ago, TheMailBox357 said:

WTF is Herman giving scholarships to underclassmen walk-ons??!! The only reason to give a scholarship to a underclassmen walk-on is because that particular walk-on is a legit starter or 2-deep guy.

Building culture. Herman has shown he wants to be like Clemson, not Bama. He’s going to reward guys who buy in and focus on developing upperclassmen over pushing out guys who don’t work out right away so he can sign large classes every single year. Chris Brown this year is better than any extra safety we could’ve signed in 2019.  Doesn’t hurt that Luke’s brothers are studs either, but he’s not just doing this because of them.

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satyanash

satyanash 14481

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Kaelen Jones: Assessing Texas' path back to the Big 12 title game

Quote

AUSTIN, Texas — There’s still a long way to go in 2019, but the No. 11 Longhorns find themselves in a favorable position coming off a bye and entering the bulk of Big 12 play. Four games into the season, the Longhorns (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) at their best look the part of a top-tier team, worthy of being considered one of the top 15 in the country. The initial performances have also helped display strengths and weaknesses.

“I know that we can stop the run,” coach Tom Herman said Monday. “I know that our quarterback (Sam Ehlinger) is as good as there is in the country at managing the game, getting us into good plays and out of bad plays. I would like to see us defend the pass better, whether it be man or in zone, and some consistency in the run game. We have had back-to-back weeks where we felt pretty good about it, so I think we’re headed in the right direction there.”

The statistics back up Herman’s assertion. Opponents average just 3.44 yards per carry against UT, which ranks 31st nationally. Ehlinger has completed 72.9 percent of his passes (14th nationally) and boasts a 15 to 1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Meanwhile, opponents average 8.4 yards per attempt against the Longhorns’ defense (99th nationally). The rushing attack, which broke out behind Keaontay Ingram against Oklahoma State, is averaging a middling 4.5 yards per carry (54th nationally), testifying to its early inconsistency.

The task for UT remains to build off and sustain its strengths, while mitigating deficiencies and preventing them from being regularly exploited. Only one opponent currently ranked in the Top 25 remains ahead, but considering the diversity of the Big 12, there are bound to be instances where it’s easier said than done. Let’s take a look at the road to a potential berth in the Big 12 championship game, where Texas fell to Oklahoma last year, as well as assess what road blocks could lie ahead.

Week 6: at West Virginia (Oct. 5)

Biggest obstacle: Surviving a true road environment

The Longhorns’ first of just two trips out of state this season somewhat conveniently follows their first bye. After enjoying three home contests in addition to a home-like atmosphere in Houston against Rice, UT faces its first true road test. “(For) a lot of these young guys, it will be the first time they get on an airplane to go to a game,” Herman said. “It will be the first time we are in a true ‘hostile’ environment for them, and this venue is a very difficult one to play in.” Two years ago, Herman picked up his first win against an AP-ranked opponent as UT’s coach when he guided the Longhorns to a 28-14 against the Mountaineers. Things will be different this time around. Most of the key offensive stars who helped WVU win a wild one 42-41 last season in Austin are gone. And coach Neal Brown, who replaced Dana Holgorsen after eight seasons, gets his first shot at UT.

The Mountaineers try to get their playmakers in space and boast a redshirt junior in Austin Kendall who’s capable of getting the ball to them. Despite facing a depleted secondary — the Longhorns will be without starting cornerback Jalen Green, safety B.J. Foster (hamstring) only recently recovered from a hamstring injury and safety DeMarvion Overshown (back) has also missed time — Kendall has his work cut out for him. Leading into the bye, UT held Oklahoma State’s offense to three touchdown-scoring drives on 14 possessions. WVU’s offense doesn’t present the same weapons, which suggests that so long as the Longhorns play at a comparable level on both sides of the ball, they should come away with a victory.

Week 7: vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (Oct. 12)

Biggest obstacle: Jalen Hurts’ arm and legs

Last year, the Longhorns managed to overcome Kyler Murray and the Sooners’ explosive offense in the Red River Showdown. This year, they’ll have to find a way to slow down Jalen Hurts, whose offensive prowess has skyrocketed him to the forefront of the Heisman Trophy discussion. Hurts has been electric. He’s surrounded by great playmaking talent, too, such as receivers CeeDee Lamb, Charleston Rambo and Jadon Haselwood. They are seemingly capable of ripping off huge gains just about any time they touch the football and they’re part of the reason why OU’s offense once again ranks among the most efficient and explosive in college football. Entering Week 6, the Sooners averaged 10.2 yards per play, which is a full two yards better than the second-best school in the category, Alabama.

Against LSU in Week 2, the Longhorns struggled to slow down the Tigers’ passing attack, which tallied 13 gains of 15 yards or more. While they had much better success against Oklahoma State, cutting the total down to six, there was still a matter of stopping Spencer Sanders outside of the pocket. The Cowboys quarterback was responsible for six carries that gained 10 yards or more against UT. Hurts, who possesses a similar skill set that’s more polished, will threaten to produce in a similar manner. There’s also the matter of slowing down Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks, who make up OU’s talented backfield.

Week 8: vs. Kansas (Oct. 19)

Biggest obstacle: Pooka Williams

Luckily for the Longhorns, their success against Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard suggests that they could perform comparably against the Jayhawks’ backfield. Williams is Kansas’ best offensive weapon. With Khalil Herbert likely away from the team for personal reasons, it leaves Williams as the Jayhawks’ lone playmaker. KU’s offense has struggled to sustain drives, averaging 58.6 plays per game. The Jayhawks entered Week 6 ranked 127th in time of possession, having accrued 128 minutes with the ball over five contests (25.6 minutes per game). That bodes well for a UT defensive unit that entered the week tied for 100th nationally in third-down percentage, with opponents converting at a 43.1 percent clip.

Week 9: at TCU (Oct. 26)

Biggest obstacle: Jalen Reagor’s big-play ability

By the time the Longhorns face TCU, they’ll have already gone through a series of tough matchups with all-conference caliber wideouts, such as Oklahoma State’s Tylan Wallace and OU’s CeeDee Lamb. Similarly to Wallace, Reagor is clearly his squad’s No. 1 option, although Dylan Thomas, TreVontae Hights and Tevailance Hunt are a solid collection to surround him with. TCU is a bit more creative in its usage of Reagor, getting him the ball as a ball carrier, out quickly on the perimeter, as well as in the deep game. However, so long as UT’s secondary slows him down, it should have a much easier time dealing with the Horned Frogs offense. Running back Darius Anderson, who ranks 13th nationally in rushing, should be a handful, too.

Week 10: Bye

Week 11: vs. Kansas State (Nov. 9)

Biggest obstacle: Outlasting Chris Klieman’s feisty team

Each of the past three matchups between UT and Kansas State have been decided by six points or less. The Longhorns have won the last two meetings under Herman. There’s good reason to believe that they’ll be successful again. Wildcats quarterback Skylar Thompson isn’t as dynamic as some of the other quarterbacks in the conference. Similarly, the skill players currently surrounding him, such as receiver Malik Knowles, are talented, but likely not considered as dangerous as others.

Defensively, KSU has been good, ranking 35th overall in total yards per game allowed. The Wildcats have been particularly stout against the pass, ranking seventh in team passing efficiency defense entering Week 6. They also do well getting off the field on third down (opponents have converted 20.5 percent of their attempts, which ranks third nationally), suggesting that UT must be careful to avoid getting in its own way in early downs.

Week 12: at Iowa State (Nov. 16)

Biggest obstacle: Brock Purdy’s arm on the road

The Cyclones have relied on Purdy’s arm this season, and thus far, he’s delivered. He doesn’t have as dynamic weapons around him as he did last year, but has still managed to rank among the best in several quarterback statistical categories, including pass yards per game (332.8, seventh), yards per pass attempt (9.05, 18th) and completions per game (25.5, tied for 10th). Purdy appears to be improved from when he last visited Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium as a true freshman (initially without star running back David Montgomery, who was suspended for the first half). This year, he’ll get the benefit of facing UT at home in Ames, where he’s posted a career completion percentage of 70.4 and a 15 to 4 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Not to mention, he’s 8-1 as a starter at home. Even if the Longhorns’ secondary is fully healthy, Purdy is likely to still give ISU a shot at competing.

Week 13: at Baylor (Nov. 23)

Biggest obstacle: Charlie Brewer’s arm

Similarly to Purdy, Brewer has been relied upon heavily by his team. Entering Week 6, Brewer still hadn’t thrown an interception. His adjusted pass yards per attempt was up a full two yards from his mark in 2018, sitting at a healthy 9.8. Brewer has benefitted from a strong rapport with leading receiver Denzel Mims, whose 24 receptions (fourth in Big 12), 355 yards (fifth) and five touchdowns (tied for third) each rank among the top in the conference. The Longhorns will have faced a slew of the Big 12’s top quarterback-receiver tandems by Week 13. The result could likely be determined by their ability to slow Baylor’s down.

Week 14: vs. Texas Tech (Nov. 29)

Biggest obstacle: Finishing strong

Texas Tech is retooling under first-year coach Matt Wells and is currently still looking for its first win against a Power 5 opponent. Tech lost sophomore quarterback Alan Bowman for several weeks to a shoulder injury suffered in a loss to Arizona. Texas doesn’t have to head to Lubbock this season, wrapping up its regular season in Austin on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

TBD:

The Longhorns’ road to a potential Big 12 title is set. Despite suffering an early season nonconference defeat to LSU, UT’s long-term goal of reaching the conference championship game in Arlington, Texas remains a strong possibility. They control their own destiny, at the very least, in this respect.

 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49162

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Thx @satyanash,

(Horns247 Staff) Eyes of Texas

WORKING ON RELATIONSHIPS’

Last week in the Eyes, we talked about which Texas team would show up in Fort Worth to face TCU? For three and a half quarters, with Texas leading 20-13, the Longhorns were doing enough to win against the Horned Frogs. But then TCU scored on four of its next five possessions, with 10 of those points coming off Sam Ehlinger interceptions, as TCU pulled away for a 37-27 victory.

A win might’ve quieted the murmurs of discord inside the Texas locker room, according to sources, that appeared to be occurring between older and younger players. Sophomore receiver Brennan Eagles was suspended for the TCU game after missing practice for personal reasons last Tuesday after allegedly airing some grievances about inconsistency in the way some players are being treated by Herman. Sophomore receiver Jordan Pouncey entered the transfer portal Thursday, the same day his younger brother Ethan, a four-star cornerback recruit, de-committed from Texas.

Last week, recruits Princely Umanmielen, a four-star defensive lineman from Manor, and Joshua Eaton, a four-star cornerback from Aldine MacArthur, de-committed after offensive lineman Javonne Shepherd entered the transfer portal. There’s rumbling of more drama to come in terms of the portal and/or possible de-commitments. Tom Herman’s tough love culture isn’t for everyone. In fact, he tells recruits during the recruiting process not to expect him to be their friend.

Herman acknowledged after practice on Wednesday, however, he and his players had a “heart-to-heart team meeting Tuesday” in an effort to work on “relationships.” "We’ve got a lot of older veterans and lot of young guys and we’ve got to find some of those bridge guys from the older group to the younger group,” Herman said. “Last year, when Andrew Beck spoke, people listened, and one of the reasons why was we had a sophomore named Sam Ehlinger who could relate to the older guys. Right now, we’re talking to Joseph Ossai, Keaontay Ingram, Keondre Coburn, Junior Angilau - those kind of guys - to make sure we bridge that gap and the younger guys have the same sense of urgency as the older guys.”

So how was all of that received? “It’s been positive,” Herman said. “There’s been a ton of accountability. Human nature, when you don’t get the outcome you desire, is to blame others, complain about your circumstances and defend yourself. Blame, complain, defend. We had a good heart-to-heart team meeting on Tuesday about how we can’t have that. You have to fight human nature. If you want the outcome to change, you have to change your response. The old adage is, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, and keep getting what you’ve got.’ So we have to crank the sense of urgency up for some and the attention to detail for some others. But I think they are very keenly aware there’s a lot of football left to be played.”

Herman said everyone in the program understands “we have not performed to our standards the last few weeks but still have plenty of football left to play. Our backs are against the wall or on the ropes — however you want to say it — and we’ll find out what kind of fighters we have. I think Malcolm Roach said it best after the game: ‘The only thing we’ve trained for is to come together and fight.’ We’ve got to get better fundamentally, schematically, get better as coaches and punch our way off the ropes. I really love the energy we’ve had at practice.”

According to sources, Herman is allowing players to leave campus after practice on Friday, returning Sunday. Herman said players he expects to return from injury for UT’s home game against Kansas State Nov. 9 include: Safety Caden Sterns (knee), safety B.J. Foster (shoulder), safety DeMarvion Overshown (shoulder), linebacker Jeffrey McCulloch (shoulder) and running back Jordan Whittington (sports hernia).

Getting those players on the field should make a difference, especially on a defense that has given up an average of 14.8 points per game in the fourth quarter this season (including a season-high 24 points in the fourth against Kansas).

Herman often serves as the crazy-eyed drill sergeant for his tough-love culture while having assistant coaches serve as the shoulders for players to lean on in tough times. That formula will always be tested in times of adversity like the 5-3 Longhorns are experiencing now after losing two of their last three. Actions, of course, speak louder than words. And until Texas can get back on the field Nov. 9 against Kansas State, Longhorns’ fans are hoping any more transfer portal news or word of recruits de-committing quiets down and the winning resumes. If that news doesn’t quiet down, there may be more to this story than players struggling to get through a rough patch of the season with a severe case of blame, complain and defend.

(Chip Brown)

***

MORE INTEL ON THE POUNCEY BROTHERS

As Horns247 reported earlier Thursday, redshirt sophomore receiver Jordan Pouncey intends to enter the transfer portal, with the news coming moments after his younger brother, four-star cornerback commit Ethan Pouncey, making the decision to de-commit from Texas. After speaking with multiple sources with insight about the situation, Jordan Pouncey’s decision to leave the Forty Acres is in an effort to land at another University with hopes of seeing more playing time.

The elder Pouncey’s decision to leave Texas made a direct impact on his brother’s decision to de-commit from the Longhorns, as Jordan’s decision played a significant factor on Ethan’s de-commitment, multiple sources confirmed Thursday. Ethan Pouncey has missed his senior season with an injury that is expected to require surgery, sources told Horns247, but the brother’s plans, as it stands, is to find a school that will take both of them so that they can play together at the college level.

(Taylor Estes)

***

WHITTINGTON LOOKING GOOD

Talked to a few team sources about the progress of five-star freshman running back Jordan Whittington, and there is a lot of optimism about Whittington’s ability to help the offense. “He looks great,” said one team source. “I think he can make an immediate impact, even coming off the injury.” Whittington has done work in individual drills only up to this point but should be cleared for contact in team work by next Tuesday, Tom Herman said.

Whittington showed in the spring, as an early enrollee freshman, and again in fall camp, he’s an explosive runner and dependable pass catcher who plays with a physical, tackle-breaking style. “The biggest thing I think he brings to the offense is his toughness and his fiercely determined attitude,” said one team source. “And that kind of attitude is contagious.”

(Chip Brown)

 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49162

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Need some positive mojo this week.  Hope the players find their way back to being a team, and the Damn Coaching staff does their JOB!!

 

 

Did Herman & Orlando ghostwriter this article??  😀😀😀

 

"Injuries have been brutal for an inexperienced Texas defense"

Eight key defensive contributors for the Horns have missed 20 out of 64 possible games and have been limited or injured in 20 more.

By Wescott Eberts@SBN_Wescott  Nov 4, 2019, 9:37pm CST

NCAA Football: Oklahoma at TexasKevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Want a recipe for defensive struggles?

Take a defense that ranked No. 123 in the SP+ returning production metrics, pit it against the No. 15 schedule in defensive opponent adjustment through 10 weeks, according to FEI, then throw in a rash of injuries at linebacker and in the secondary.

Here’s how bad those injuries have been for the Texas Longhorns — eight key contributors, including five starters in the season opener, have missed 20 of 64 total possible games and were injured or limited in 20 others.  In other words, defensive coordinator Todd Orlando has gotten 24 healthy games from those key players, only 37.5 percent. Eighteen of those games came in the first three contests — 75 percent.

Screen_Shot_2019_11_04_at_6.53.57_PM.png

The chart doesn’t include a stinger suffered by senior safety Brandon Jones against Kansas that caused him to leave the game or a “significant” elbow injury suffered by sophomore linebacker Juwan Mitchell that resulted in him sitting out the first half against the Jayhawks.  Those are the small ones, even though Mitchell’s injury resulted in true freshman David Gbenda starting at linebacker not long after moving back from running back, the position on offense decimated by injuries.  And losing Jones wasn’t exactly ideal as the Longhorns tried to hold on late.

Here’s the perspective, though — defensive coordinator Todd Orlando entered the season after losing eight starters with the No. 123 defense nationally in returning production and has only gotten three combined games of full health from sophomore safety Caden Sterns, sophomore safety BJ Foster, and sophomore cornerback Jalen Green.  

Stop and read that sentence again.

If you were told before the season that a defense that lost eight starters would only have those three players available for three games of full health out of 24 possible appearances, would you bet on the Texas defense matching last year’s results?  That’s is an easy question.  The answer is no. Of course not.

All three players were expected to take significant steps forward and serve as the present and future of the Longhorns on defense. Instead, it’s essentially been a lost season so far for all three. Throw sophomore safety DeMarvion Overshown into that mix, too.  With those players missing games or playing through injuries, the next men up also got injured — Overshown, junior safety Chris Brown in the midst of his breakout season, and the team’s most experienced cornerback in junior Josh Thompson.

Thompson entered the season with three career starts.  Stop and think about that.  In the last three games, players from that group of nine players who have suffered injuries this season, which totals 27 possible player games, have only been close to or at full health in one of them. One in 27 — 3.7 percent.

The injuries to Green and Thompson, who had moved from nickel back to cornerback to help with inexperience there, left Texas with a group at cornerback that combined for 50 career tackles and three starts entering the season.  Arguably the most promising player from that group at the moment, sophomore cornerback D’Shawn Jamison, played offense last season as a true freshman and has had his own fair share of mistakes.  As a result of all those injuries, the season-opening depth chart against Louisiana Tech at linebacker and in the secondary was decimated by the time the Horns traveled to Fort Worth last week to face the Horned Frogs.

tcu_mark_up.png

Of the 28 starts entering the season from that entire two-deep chart, senior safety Brandon Jones possessed 23 of them. Third-year safety Montrell Estell (essentially third string) and freshman safety Tyler Owens (not listed) were the only healthy scholarship safeties left on the roster with Jones playing in the nickel. If Orlando had wanted to pull either one during the game, he would have inserted a scholarship cornerback with no experience at one of those positions or a player who arrived at Texas as a walk on.  That’s the result of limited depth caused by a transition class when head coach Tom Herman arrived and a 28-man 2016 class that was cut in half by attrition.

The bottom line is that the Longhorns lost that game and the defense struggled at times, especially in slowing down true freshman quarterback Max Duggan, but go back and look at that final column on the injury report and then consider that Texas held TCU below its season averages in scoring and total offense and well below its season average in rushing yards.  The difference in that game was junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger throwing four interception, the Horned Frogs scoring 13 points off of those interceptions, and Gary Patteron’s defense forcing the Longhorns to kick field goals in the red zone or just outside of it three times.  And Duggan made some good throws to good receivers late in the game, the type of thing that a maturing player who was ranked as the consensus No. 5 dual-threat quarterback in the country last season has a tendency to do more often with more game experience.

Even outside of all the injuries, it’s worth wondering how the defense is performing compared to the other 10 defenses that ranked at the bottom of the FBS in returning defensive production this season.  The answer is actually relatively heartening, especially when viewed in context with the injuries.

Screen_Shot_2019_11_04_at_5.30.01_PM.png

There are certainly defenses that have performed significantly better than Texas despite losing even more production, like Kentucky and Washington, but it’s also extremely unlikely that either program has suffered the type of injuries that the Longhorns have on defense.  Moreover, Mark Stoops is in his seventh year with the Wildcats, while Chris Petersen is in his sixth season with the Huskies — both coaches have already dealt with the impacts of taking over those jobs. They’ve had enough recruiting classes to build depth on top of depth with their own recruits.

Continuity matters.

Ultimately, despite the unsatisfying nature of results on the field for Orlando in recent weeks, Texas still ranks as the median defense from that group in SP+ and the No. 4 defense from that group in FEI.

Screen_Shot_2019_11_04_at_5.50.22_PM.png

Both unequivocally support the argument that the Texas defense is not one of the worst in the country — in fact, it’s well better than average in FEI, despite all of the injuries.  Is any of this up to the Texas standard? Of course not, and Herman and Orlando and every single one of the leaders on defense have said that publicly and will continue saying it publicly until the group improves or the season ends, whichever comes first.  The bottom line is that no other defense in the country has likely dealt with the same combination of limited returning production and extensive injuries. Feel free to try to find one if you want.

And firing the head coach won’t solve those problems — almost certainly, it would create attrition in the high-quality recruiting classes from the last two years and result in a subpar transition class. Consider that not only premature, but also a recipe for continued mediocrity.  As for Orlando, does it make sense to fire a defensive coordinator whose group ranks, at worst, just outside the bottom third nationally despite the limited returning production and all those injuries and, at best, better than average, especially when compared to the defenses facing similar issues entering the season?

That doesn’t make sense, either.

Sometimes the answer is just patience.

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nunna yo bizness

nunna yo bizness 1687

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4 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Need some positive mojo this week.  Hope the players find their way back to being a team, and the Damn Coaching staff does their JOB!!

 

 

Did Herman & Orlando ghostwriter this article??  😀😀😀

 

"Injuries have been brutal for an inexperienced Texas defense"

Eight key defensive contributors for the Horns have missed 20 out of 64 possible games and have been limited or injured in 20 more.

By Wescott Eberts@SBN_Wescott  Nov 4, 2019, 9:37pm CST

NCAA Football: Oklahoma at TexasKevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Want a recipe for defensive struggles?

Take a defense that ranked No. 123 in the SP+ returning production metrics, pit it against the No. 15 schedule in defensive opponent adjustment through 10 weeks, according to FEI, then throw in a rash of injuries at linebacker and in the secondary.

Here’s how bad those injuries have been for the Texas Longhorns — eight key contributors, including five starters in the season opener, have missed 20 of 64 total possible games and were injured or limited in 20 others.  In other words, defensive coordinator Todd Orlando has gotten 24 healthy games from those key players, only 37.5 percent. Eighteen of those games came in the first three contests — 75 percent.

Screen_Shot_2019_11_04_at_6.53.57_PM.png

The chart doesn’t include a stinger suffered by senior safety Brandon Jones against Kansas that caused him to leave the game or a “significant” elbow injury suffered by sophomore linebacker Juwan Mitchell that resulted in him sitting out the first half against the Jayhawks.  Those are the small ones, even though Mitchell’s injury resulted in true freshman David Gbenda starting at linebacker not long after moving back from running back, the position on offense decimated by injuries.  And losing Jones wasn’t exactly ideal as the Longhorns tried to hold on late.

Here’s the perspective, though — defensive coordinator Todd Orlando entered the season after losing eight starters with the No. 123 defense nationally in returning production and has only gotten three combined games of full health from sophomore safety Caden Sterns, sophomore safety BJ Foster, and sophomore cornerback Jalen Green.  

Stop and read that sentence again.

If you were told before the season that a defense that lost eight starters would only have those three players available for three games of full health out of 24 possible appearances, would you bet on the Texas defense matching last year’s results?  That’s is an easy question.  The answer is no. Of course not.

All three players were expected to take significant steps forward and serve as the present and future of the Longhorns on defense. Instead, it’s essentially been a lost season so far for all three. Throw sophomore safety DeMarvion Overshown into that mix, too.  With those players missing games or playing through injuries, the next men up also got injured — Overshown, junior safety Chris Brown in the midst of his breakout season, and the team’s most experienced cornerback in junior Josh Thompson.

Thompson entered the season with three career starts.  Stop and think about that.  In the last three games, players from that group of nine players who have suffered injuries this season, which totals 27 possible player games, have only been close to or at full health in one of them. One in 27 — 3.7 percent.

The injuries to Green and Thompson, who had moved from nickel back to cornerback to help with inexperience there, left Texas with a group at cornerback that combined for 50 career tackles and three starts entering the season.  Arguably the most promising player from that group at the moment, sophomore cornerback D’Shawn Jamison, played offense last season as a true freshman and has had his own fair share of mistakes.  As a result of all those injuries, the season-opening depth chart against Louisiana Tech at linebacker and in the secondary was decimated by the time the Horns traveled to Fort Worth last week to face the Horned Frogs.

tcu_mark_up.png

Of the 28 starts entering the season from that entire two-deep chart, senior safety Brandon Jones possessed 23 of them. Third-year safety Montrell Estell (essentially third string) and freshman safety Tyler Owens (not listed) were the only healthy scholarship safeties left on the roster with Jones playing in the nickel. If Orlando had wanted to pull either one during the game, he would have inserted a scholarship cornerback with no experience at one of those positions or a player who arrived at Texas as a walk on.  That’s the result of limited depth caused by a transition class when head coach Tom Herman arrived and a 28-man 2016 class that was cut in half by attrition.

The bottom line is that the Longhorns lost that game and the defense struggled at times, especially in slowing down true freshman quarterback Max Duggan, but go back and look at that final column on the injury report and then consider that Texas held TCU below its season averages in scoring and total offense and well below its season average in rushing yards.  The difference in that game was junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger throwing four interception, the Horned Frogs scoring 13 points off of those interceptions, and Gary Patteron’s defense forcing the Longhorns to kick field goals in the red zone or just outside of it three times.  And Duggan made some good throws to good receivers late in the game, the type of thing that a maturing player who was ranked as the consensus No. 5 dual-threat quarterback in the country last season has a tendency to do more often with more game experience.

Even outside of all the injuries, it’s worth wondering how the defense is performing compared to the other 10 defenses that ranked at the bottom of the FBS in returning defensive production this season.  The answer is actually relatively heartening, especially when viewed in context with the injuries.

Screen_Shot_2019_11_04_at_5.30.01_PM.png

There are certainly defenses that have performed significantly better than Texas despite losing even more production, like Kentucky and Washington, but it’s also extremely unlikely that either program has suffered the type of injuries that the Longhorns have on defense.  Moreover, Mark Stoops is in his seventh year with the Wildcats, while Chris Petersen is in his sixth season with the Huskies — both coaches have already dealt with the impacts of taking over those jobs. They’ve had enough recruiting classes to build depth on top of depth with their own recruits.

Continuity matters.

Ultimately, despite the unsatisfying nature of results on the field for Orlando in recent weeks, Texas still ranks as the median defense from that group in SP+ and the No. 4 defense from that group in FEI.

Screen_Shot_2019_11_04_at_5.50.22_PM.png

Both unequivocally support the argument that the Texas defense is not one of the worst in the country — in fact, it’s well better than average in FEI, despite all of the injuries.  Is any of this up to the Texas standard? Of course not, and Herman and Orlando and every single one of the leaders on defense have said that publicly and will continue saying it publicly until the group improves or the season ends, whichever comes first.  The bottom line is that no other defense in the country has likely dealt with the same combination of limited returning production and extensive injuries. Feel free to try to find one if you want.

And firing the head coach won’t solve those problems — almost certainly, it would create attrition in the high-quality recruiting classes from the last two years and result in a subpar transition class. Consider that not only premature, but also a recipe for continued mediocrity.  As for Orlando, does it make sense to fire a defensive coordinator whose group ranks, at worst, just outside the bottom third nationally despite the limited returning production and all those injuries and, at best, better than average, especially when compared to the defenses facing similar issues entering the season?

That doesn’t make sense, either.

Sometimes the answer is just patience.

Fuck the excuses.  Injuries alone don't explain having one of the worst defenses in all of P5 football.  You don't play defense as badly as we have without a complete breakdown in every defensive facet.  That's coaching and scheme.

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49162

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Posted

Interesting post from member on Horns247...

"We were all pretty frustrated and down on the team after the TCU loss. So I decided to go back as a fan and see if we were being overly emotional and throwing the baby out with the bath water so to speak.
Here’s what I did.
I went back and rewatched the first half of the TCU game on silent this morning with no emotion and fresh eyes. I was watching for some specific things. Those included play calling, personnel sets, Sams performance , and the play of our DEs, and Defensive play calling.
Here are my observations:
Sam didn’t play horrible in the first half and the play calling while not dynamic just needed tweaks and a few tweaks to alignment. Overall though our offense is more talented than the TCU defense. We just didn’t show out. The plays were there a few times but our guys just didn’t connect (sometimes due to clear pass interference) . Our receivers have to learn how to play with an edge against well coached physical defenses (see Gary Patterson defense). Sams first pic was a result of the LB interfering with DDs route on a timing throw. His third pick was pretty much the same but with a safety..That’s hard to put all on his shoulders because the read wasn’t necessarily wrong. The TCU defense was well coached and not having a guy like eagles taking the top off hurt imo because even though Jake can do that too , Eagles catch radius increases the likely hood of connecting. Sam actually ran well when it was there but a big play was negated by a holding call. TCU saw the QB run coming on the goal line and played it the whole way. We tried moving the pocket some but again TCU played it very disciplined. One critique I have of Sam, he gave the ball once when the DE crashes but the safety/LB stayed home, he should have kept the ball and challenged the safety/LB because he probably beats that guy for a 3 yrd gain at worse and most likely trots for 10-15 before he gets wrangled . He is bigger and more athletic than that guy!
Ingram played well by often making something out of nothing and sifting through trash . He ran hard and I liked what I saw out of him.
So the offense and it’s players weren’t totally out of wack in the first half. A little more run game creativity and physicality from receivers and the offense will click just fine. Getting JWhitt and Eagles back with his head right will help.
Now the defense (relax it’s not all bad). Orlando actually had his weakside DE playing a five quite often in the first quarter and a half and the defense looked decent considering our DE play sucks on the weakside. I’m no longer a Roach fan. The plays he made were on occasions where he wasn’t blocked at all. He lacks the length and speed to play a weakside five at that level and the **** to play a 4i . He isn’t quick enough to get inside on the stunt and doesn’t understand how to do it anyway. In general, all of our DEs look poorly coached when it comes to reading run plays and keeping contain.
Roach, for all his bravado, actually got picked on in the run game and wasn’t smart enough to see it. He needs to shut up and play. On one of Duggans bigger run plays Bimage crashed down hard from the backside while watching the read action and left Dugan to a huge gain on the Keeper!! Again, poor DE play!! We tried putting a true freshman out there a few times at WDE but he got handled by the OT on more than one occasion.
Some of you may wonder why I’m picking on the DEs .
Hers why,
Orlando is trying (properly) to adjust to help the weakness at LB and the DEs are a HUGE part of that and why it isn’t working all that well.
On the plays where we have ossai at B (on the Los) they either run away from him or he makes the play .
If a damn DE (any of them but especially the vocal leader Roach) would hold the point of attack on the edge (forget stunts because they need to learn how to play with base leverage and backside contain first) Our LBs and safeties could stop those running plays MUCH more effectively. This is exaggerated by our injuries and lack of speed at LB. Roach is a senior who acts like Sophomore on the field , celebrating because he made a tackle when he was UNBLOCKED!!! Coburn is more of a player and more of a leader than him.
The defense went from decent to bad though when Orlando kept shifting back to a pinched down three man front with 4-5 guys in the box. TCU checked into a run every time we did that crap and had success with 7 on 5! That’a when ***** went downhill on defense.
I’ll reserve full judgement though on Todd O until after the KSU game. The injuries are making his job hard . It’s blatantly obvious. He only had two LBs , beat up safeties(or true freshman) and underperforming DEs. That’s a horrible bucket of crap to deal with!
Now, I’ll tell you the positives on defense!
One- Getting Foster, Sterns, and McCullough back can make this unit look much better!
Sterns has good instincts and ttically plays well all around. Foster is great around the LOS which takes pressure off our LBs, and McCullough plus B backers well enough to where you can put him on the LOS, have Ossai at Rover and Keep Mitchell at MAC and have a Solis linebacker corps that can play the run well with good safety support and fewer blown assignments in the back end!
Two- the DEs can be coached and should be to shut up and do your damn job and let good things happen. Roach has some potential but he HAS to be more disciplined and fight to the outside shoulder on those outside Runs. If he will do that , our returning players will help his stat line and he won’t look like a chump!
Our LB corp (if Jeff is back) is actually pretty well tooled to take on KSU (much more so than the likes of OU) if our front seven plays disciplined football, We will best KSU at home this weekend. If they don’t and Orlando plays that 3-4 man box too much, it’s going to be a long short Saturday. "

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