blogpoll - Draft - Week 6

I think we will agree to disagree about USC and Va Tech. I think they should be flip flopped.

TCU is ranked too high. That is not a top 10 team.

Very impressed with Neb defensive front. Suh is unreal. Looking forward to the Tech game this weekend.

Nice bounce back win from the cougars but getting thrashed by an unranked UTEP team still lingers.

Who did you have on the outside looking in? WVA, Oregon State, Auburn, Pitt, Arky,?

Va Tech lost to Bama in a good game. USC shit themselves against a not great Washington.

The consensus over the past few weeks is that there’s the top 3, and then everyone else. After this past weekend, I think Texas is in that “everyone else” category. At the top of that category, sure, but can anyone really make much of an argument that we’re significantly better than Miami, or Virginia Tech, or USC, or even Cincinnati?

I think our D would be able to limit Bama or Florida for a half or so, before their physicality just started to wear us out, particularly on the LOS. Florida essentially ran a 10 (maybe 10 and a half) on 11 against LSU in the Swamp and – score notwithstanding – never was really threatened by the Tigers. Bama similarly barely broke a sweat against Ole Miss.

Also, can you imagine what a game between us and LSU would be like? Both have tremendous defenses, and offenses that have the cohesiveness of a random number generator.

Probably a baseball score, CJD.

The Huskers could beat everyone they have left. Not saying they will but with a win this week they are in great shape till the Gooners come to Lincoln. KU in Lawrence looks more like a win than it did this time last week.

None of that changes the fact that Cody Green is egg-Zac-Lee the person they need at QB. The future is now. He has looked good so far, and I am of the opinion that if all other things are equal you play the younger guy.

Boise could get exposed Wednesday at Tulsa. However, I wouldn’t bet on it since this is the worst TU team of the past few years.

Groundhog:
 
What – no Texas nagging his week?
 
Virginia Tech has a much better resume than USC IMO.
 
As for TCU – who should I substitute? LSU? Same basic team, IMO (LSU with better athletes, TCU more cohesive). An argument can be made for Nebraska. I need to see them take care of Tech.
 
I have Auburn, Arkansas, Oregon State, Wisconsin, Pitt on the outside looking in. I have very little regard for WVU.
 
The next three weeks of football will sort out the pretenders and contenders very nicely.

“The consensus over the past few weeks is that there’s the top 3, and then everyone else. After this past weekend, I think Texas is in that "everyone else" category. At the top of that category, sure, but can anyone really make much of an argument that we’re significantly better than Miami, or Virginia Tech, or USC, or even Cincinnati?”

I don’t get it.

Colt has a great game. Our o-line struggles. GD calls a lot of running plays on 3rd and short killing our drives. Defense and Special teams dominate the entire second half preventing Colt from throwing for 350 yards.

You didn’t see the offensive stats you wanted, so now we’re some average team?

Does Florida look like an offensive juggernaut to you? haha… There’s still a clear cut top 3 IMO.

texasengr –
 
You’re right in some measure. The broader point is that of the three teams with great defenses at the top – Texas, Bama, Florida – we have the offense most likely to betray our defense and special teams in a big game against a name opponent.
 
Look at our defensive ppg allowed vs yards allowed. The two don’t marry and there’s a reason.

Scipio,

We have a real special defense and are extremely solid at 10 spots on that side of the ball. No reason to jump on the horns as enough has been written. There is something to be said for being undefeated even though we haven’t played anyone except possibly Tech. Our problems running the ball and oline comes down to problems that plagued Brown/Davis at UNC and have continued to plague them at UT. I also point to the fact that we have had some recruiting mistakes along the Oline.

I would put LSU ahead of TCU. Yes, the Neb/Tech game will tell us a lot.

Good overall poll but I still have a major problem with UH being in the top 25 after getting creamed by UTEP. But I see your point as they have beaten three decent teams.

Scip- I agree with you that Our offense is the most likely to betray our defense out of the big 3, but I can’t help but feel that on any given night our offense is the most likely to drop 50 on somebody at the same time.. Only because Bama is more power running and florida is starting to actually play the same way , neither are a real threat to score in bunches.. I would not want to play either on saturday, but that is the beautiful part of not having to play them till next year. Although We will need to play at a very high level this week to even get a shot to prove that we are worthy of being in the ‘’big 3"…. Good write up as always, don’t see a team that I have a problem with at all. Will we hear from Mr Cooper on his way to Dallas this week?

Additionally, of the “Big 3” … Which offense would YOU want if you had the ball, down by a score or less, and 90 seconds to get it done?

If we would stop asking Colt to NOT run, defenses would quit loading up the box and killing our running game with interior blitzes. Unfortunately, we’ve yet to have an opponent that warranted giving Colt the freedom to put himself at risk. Last year, we didn’t feel like we had anything to lose (until mid-season), so we allowed Colt to run around during long developing passing plays.

This year, we’re relying entirely on his arm and not allowing him to take hits, and let’s face it, it’s not his arm that makes him special — it’s his mobility and his ability to make something out of nothing. Where have the 30+ yard passing TD’s with Colt scrambling out of the pocket been this year?

We haven’t taken many risks down field because we haven’t “needed” to. GD has been calling conservative, short, passes, and instead of them all being caught, our WR’s tip them into the air or Colt stares down the WR.

If we think OU will challenge us, maybe, just maybe, we’ll take the gloves off. That’s my hope at least.

Travis -
 
Scip- I agree with you that Our offense is the most likely to betray our defense out of the big 3, but I can’t help but feel that on any given night our offense is the most likely to drop 50 on somebody at the same time.
 
Yes, but who cares? You don’t get a special award for scoring 50 on UTEP and 7 on Florida. Alabama would drop 40 on UTEP and 17 on Florida and the average Longhorn fan would offer that both offenses are equally efficacious because they possess the same scoring average.
 
The difference, of course, is that one team is 2-0 and the other 1-1.

texasengr:
 
The beauty of our predictability is that when do something unpredictable, it’s wildly successful. So I can certainly hold out hope too.
 
But there are a lot of data points suggesting that this is our offense and that the only difference is how defenses are playing us.

I wasn’t disagreeing with you scip, and I also hope you dont think that i’m just an average longhorn fan, i know the difference between the two average scores there… All Im saying is that our offense can score in bunches and on any given night is just as likely to put up big numbers as we are to put up crappy numbers, but that our best night is better than anybody else’s best night. Now stats would completely say that’s retarded but I have seen way to many times Texas and Colt completely do a 180* and shock everybody. No matter what the numbers say I would take Colt against any team and bet that He would find away to get it done.

Of the teams on our schedule capable of exposing our offensive system, I didn’t think Colorado would be on that short list.

But I prefer a systemic wake up call preceding the OU game to a 40 point romp against Baylor or Iowa State where we make everything look easy.

Miami at #6 is laughable. I guess people are just way more impressed with Florida State than I am. Even with the cream puff remaining schedule Miami will lose another two regular season games this year.

Recruiting whiffs at RB have caught up with Texas although with that defense and with Colt and Ship they remain the 2nd-best team in the country behind the Gators. (And yeah CJD, I can imagine a game between UT and LSU — UT 24, LSU 10. :))

But back to the lack of talent at RB . . . does anyone believe that VonTreFoz will ever spend even one day as an active participant in an NFL training camp? Good kids, sure, talented toters of the pigskin, well, not so much. It’s hard to accept that this is the best that the same program that just in the last 11 years alone gave us Ricky and Cedric and Jamaal can put out there today. Shoot, even having the underrated Hodges Mitchell at tailback would guarantee this Texas team a shot at Florida in the national championship game. As it is, any Saturday that Colt is less than Superman then Texas will struggle offensively and could lose.

I agree, Travis.

This theory will be put to the test in about 4 days. The Colorado game says nothing about the Texas offense because it wasn’t mandatory that the Texas offense even show up for that game. And so it took a powder.

Offensive attendance, however, is mandatory for the OU game. Whatever the Texas offense does or doesn’t do in the OU game, not the Colorado game, is what should be expected from the Texas offense in a potential NC game against Florida or Alabama.

OU is the test. Has it ever been otherwise?