Some perspective is in order

Agreed. Great season so far, but it still hurts. If thats not enough, it looks like one more coaching door for Muschamp has opened up. Looks like Fulmer is out. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3679810

I’m really excited about the following:
1). The young secondary. I’m beginning to think this secondary can be better than the 2005 unit depending on how we look at Gideon’s safety spot in the next 2 years. If Ben Wells or Christian Scott can surpass him, I think we look really good here.

2). The unleashing of Fozzy Whittaker. I know the coaches are ready to turn him loose. They were ready to mortgage the game on him with 7 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and were rewarded. I’m expecting at least 12-15 carries against Baylor. I still think Ogbonnaya has some great uses and I love McGee for cutting up field but Fozzy has to be the featured back on running plays.

3). Malcolm Williams: Yes. I had no idea the switch could be flipped so quickly with this guy. He’s fast. He made 2 huge tackles in the kicking game early that I think revved up his confidence. His speed and deep ball skills are incredible.

4). No more I-Formation on the goal-line. After a few near-misses I think the safety spelled the end of the Cojo as FB I-formation that has sucked so hard this season. Of course, the worst possible damage has already been done.

5). Angry Mack/Texas will be back. The team started the year angry, started getting focused and then fatigued. I think angry under-appreciated team is going to be back and I think the emergence of Fozzy and Malcolm is going to give them even more weapons with which to bludgeon the Big 12.

The statesman had an idiotic comment about how Texas, after giving up 400 yards passing to Harrell, now needed to worry about the best freshman in the country, Baylor QB Robert Griffin. I don’t know how you watch that game and come away thinking that we have a weak secondary that is ready to be exposed by Baylor. I’m 1 million times more concerned with his scrambling than him throwing it to whomever they line up at receiver.

word up

We’re 8-1. But otherwise, you speak the double truth, Ruth.

It’s still an awfully good time to be a horn football (and soon basketball) fan.

I had Tech pegged as my pre-season favorite to win the south. I may back off that a bit as it’s more likely to end up in a three-way tie – in which case I’m still partially correct. But, I didn’t see us in a three way tie – - – - thought we’d end up with two conference losses.

Good post.

Be careful, Rollo, there are some sensitive people around here regarding Gideon. I made a post last week that stated he was weak in coverage and his upside is limited due to his athleticism. Had it not been for a sensational play by Ben Wells early in the 4th quarter Gideon would have been burned for a game clinching TD. I still stand by the statement that while being a good hitter and a smart player, his upside is limited. However, how can one not be excited about Aaron Williams. This guy is a star already. And I’m very excited about Chykie Brown and Ben Wells.

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about this football team next year. One glaring weakness and problem will be the loss of Roy Miller. We have nobody on our roster right now that can replace him. In fact, we are extremely thin at that position. We have enormous depth at DE so that doesn’t worry me as much. The future is indeed bright, but we better hope we sign McFarland and hope he can make a similar impact that Tommie Harris made at OU.

Sorry, meant to say Earl Thomas in the above post.

HJ,

I thought Kindle played a great game. He, Miller, and Aaron Williams had a great day defensively. The d played incredible in the second half and we could have won a game we had no business winning if any number of things had happened that we have all rehashed from dropped balls to awful clock managment. The staff has done a great job this year, but I still take issue with some of the personnel decisions on both offense and defense.

I certainly have some problems with some personnel decisions as well. But I predicted this team to lose 4 games, and we’re sitting here 8-1 ranked #4 in the BCS. It’s the big picture I’m getting at.

Maybe this team was underrated this year. Football is won in the trenches and our D-Line has been a strength all year and the O-Line has played well except for the first half against tech. There is a lot of talent on this team. Jordan Shipley might be the most underrated player in the country. Williams and Fozzy need to play more and I think Robinson needs to see more time.

This team still has a chance to improve before bowl season. We need to develop more playmakers, and Fozzy Whitaker and Malcolm Williams look like good candidates.

Look at HenryJames counting our blessings with this team. Do you realize how good we have it?

Great post, BTW.

The thing I love about this team is just watching them grow. Coming into the season, there were question marks everywhere, but so far our guys have proven that they are more than capable of answering those questions. The growth of the secondary, the OL, the young receivers and the consistency and hard work by Quan, Ship, Colt, and the front seven has been a pleasure to watch.

Kindle’s not lazy, if that was directed at me.

I was angry that early in the second quarter, the offense had stunk up the place so badly that the defense was already tired.

I was expecting 1-2 losses, so we’re right there. IT was the way the game went down, and the fact that we lost to the worst of the Big 12 south contenders that made it suck.

Hell, I still expect to be in the conference title game.

how isn’t Aaron Williams starting? that kids needs to be on the field at all times. He made play after play once he was in full time on sat.

Scout says Blake runs a 4.6. Not exactly a burner.

Look at HenryJames counting our blessings with this team. Do you realize how good we have it?

Henry, we Missouri fans have had many conversations about expectations. I don’t know that I buy this “we started the season with X expectations and therefore we should be happy” stuff. Expectations are fluid. You don’t freeze them Labor Day weekend and then judge the season relative to those expectations.

The flip side of the coin is that all fans should recognize when a team has exceeded initial expectations and take a chill pill or four. I imagine that is the intent of your post.

Also, although I would much rather play TT in the championship game, I am sincerely sorry for your loss. Very painful, and I was hoping if anyone was going to run the table this year, it would be you guys. Good luck, and I hope to see you guys in KC. Going to be painful for you to root for OU…..

They’re certainly fluid. Before this season I did not expect this team to get to a BCS game. Now I do, and I will be disappointed if they don’t.

You gauged my intent correctly. Some of our fans need to chill out and enjoy a pretty damn fulfilling season thus far.

I think the way in which we played in the first half, and the way we clawed our way back into the lead with 1:30 to go makes it even tougher to take. However, I still think we have a shot to go to the Big XII Championship game, and this season has been a tremendous amount of fun.

It will be interesting to see how Tech handles the pressure that they have never felt before. If they win out, they go to Miami.

I’m chill. Now its the really interesting time of the season.

Nice stuff HJ – agree on every point. This has been one of the most satisfying Texas Longhorn seasons I can remember. I am thrilled to death with what this team has accomplished this year, and what it remains likely to accomplish before it’s over.

This 2008 Texas Longhorns team reminds me of the 2006 Sooners. Underrated and phenomenally well coached. Except with a infinitely more competent QB (McCoy v. Thompson) and an infinitely less competent RB (All UT RBs combined v. Peterson).

Exceeding expectations is an 11-1 on a 10-2 rinse/repeat when I was fully expecting a 9-3 or so this season.

We do have an entrenched albatross in the system, you know.

Nate, (UT RB’s vs. Peterson), Peterson only played 6 games in the regular season. He broke the collarbone the week after Texas. Allen Patrick broke through after the AD injury.

If you want to give props to the coaching of that team, remember that Big XII champion started a WR at QB and JACOB GUTIERREZ at RB for two or three games.