Defensive Thoughts: Texas Longhorns @ Baylor Bears

I learned a key lesson this weekend: Never, ever, read the game thread from the end backwards if you ditched the second half to go outside and enjoy a nice fall day. You would have thought it was Route 66 all over again.

Nice write-up.
 
Agree on the Lamarr Houston love. The guy is as dominant a DT as we’ve had. Putting he and Kindle on the same side is illegal and unfair.

“Putting he and Kindle on the same side is illegal and unfair.”

If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan the mission properly.

Re: route jumping – do you guys see this as the result of the pattern-match zone concept that Muschamp talks about?

From my rudimentary understanding of the strategy, it strikes me as a hybrid of a man/zone coverage that allows for better coverage of spaces that you see with pass-oriented offenses, yet provides a way that the defender can match-up better with the receiver and create turnovers and/or limit YAC.

In any case, Muschamp is doing some nice, innovative things with his coverages – it’s not just a theory of running better athletes out there and hoping to overwhelm with talent. HJ’s right – it’s fun to watch a team with a match of great talent & great coaching.

"Putting he and Kindle on the same side is illegal and unfair."

And racist!

Bates,

This game was over after Williams’ interception. I guess we could have left the first team defense in the whole game, but Brown has never been one to find joy in pulling the wings off of flies.

“But our fans must find something to complain about so they found it in the performance of our second and third team defenses in the fourth quarter.”

Shutouts are nice, but this is a well-made investment in the future. Another hallmark of quality coaching – let the young guys learn the hard way when the consequences of mistakes are small.

Let me throw a few more defensive numbers at you.

Those 19 INTs are averaging 17 yards per return with 4 TDs.

Our ratio of INTs to opponents passing TDs is almost 2-1 (19 INTS vs 10 TDs). That’s just sick.

Finally, according to the stats, we are the best total defense.
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2009&rpt=IA_teamtotdef&site=org&div=IA&dest=O

And the rushing defensive stat is just freakish. 1.6 yards a carry.
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2009&rpt=IA_teamrushdef&site=org&div=IA&dest=O

You got to reward the guys that work just as hard. Let them play.

This year isn’t like last year, we’re not in a beauty pageant.

You know your defense is really good when a decent Blake Gideon is the worst starter on it.

19 INT’s! Do we lead the nation? What is contributing to lower sack totals?

I’m glad those back ups got quality time and the game time instruction and film room experience will go a long way in the spring and the fall.

HJ-
Yeah. When my 8 year old asked me to go outside and play nerf football, I took one look at the 40-0 score a few seconds before half and shut the t.v. off. I love UT, but I was not going to waste an afternoon watching John Chiles drop Garrett Gilbert’s passes.

I have no complaints about the 3rd team defense getting reps. Some of the players were hilariously out of position on some running plays (which is clearly inexperience). Good to blood them a little bit.

I was a bit more upset to see Kirkendoll with 6 catches, while Malc had only one look. And Goodwin had no looks at all, while Chiles had 5 catches and at least 8 looks. The personnel decisions with our receivers make absolutely no sense, as our first-team appears to be back to what it was before the OU game. It WAS nice to see Buckner getting some looks again.

ghost – your son interrupted you during a Longhorn game and asked you to stop watching it? He wasn’t watching it holding an O’doul’s with you? What the hell are you doing man?! That is no way to raise a son!

That’s Bates. I have never acknowledged any of my children, assuming they are out there.

I drop passes from the starting QB – not the backup.

There is a middle ground in the parenting vs. Longhorn football debate. I throw the nerf with my 5 year old while we watch the game. I sit in the lazy boy, he runs patterns around the living room pretending to be whatever texas player has the ball at that moment. A true win/win.

Of course, I might have to talk to him about expectations as he was near tears when Baylor finally scored.

ghost, Goodwin had at least one pass thrown to him, because he dropped it. Can’t remember exactly when the play happened.

Chit —

Was it in the 2nd half? I wasn’t watching that half nearly as closely.

They might have missed it to instead focus on Dan Beebe talking about his first time.

ghost, I think so, I just remember noticing his number since he hadn’t touched a ball all game.

If I’m not mistaken the ball that was nearly a pick six that Colt through was intended for Goodwin as well. He did drop a ball from Gilbert late in the game so he was thrown at only twice that I can remember.

This is supposed to be about defense.

I’ll be playing more when I out muscle db’s for those passes.

It’s been raining non stop in DC for 4 days. I think we were all getting a bit stir crazy. I practically decleated the boy when he tried to run past me out of sheer enthusiasm to feel sunshine.

In all fairness, I’m beginning to wonder at what level the problem is Colt, god bless him. I noticed on Shipley’s first touchdown, Colt had to thread a bit of a needle to get it there, while Buckner was doing jumping jacks by himself in the back of the endzone.

Still, I can’t imagine Colt LIKES to throw to Chiles.

Put a Kansas jersey on the boy, and then pretend he’s Todd Reesing.

But our fans must find something to complain about so they found it in the performance of our second and third team defenses in the fourth quarter. I wish I was joking. Normally you get graded on a curve when you put a walkon corner and four true freshmen on the field against an opponent who kept their first string on the field.

Including one of the mods on another site who wrote a blurb that “it was another sluggish performance by Texas in the third and fourth quarters. In fact, things were even worse this week (than vs Mizzou).”

I just don’t get how UT, or any defense for that matter, could possibly have stopped the Baylor Bears.

John Chiles is a poor man’s Kerry Meier.

Am I the only one who thought Colt had a lousy game? He put the ball in defenders’ hands a couple of times, as usual, though thanks to his throwing the least catchable picks in D-I they were dropped. He also continues to dump the ball to the short man too much. On the pass that Smith volleyed to Kirkendoll, why wasn’t that thrown to Kirkendoll? Then when he does throw deep, he underthrows Ship for the 2nd week in a row and turns a TD into a long gain.

Man it’s nice to be able to complain about stuff like this.

I told ChrisApplewhite that someone should start a business where you can send blindside blitzes against people on the street.

They are called The Mob. Been punkin’ bitches since 1883.

“Putting HE and Kindle "

Why do you do this?

"Agree on the Lamarr Houston love. The guy is as dominant a DT as we’ve had."

Yes, he is; certainly in the Mack Brown era.

I’m curious as to anyone else’s prediction on his draft value come April. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see him go in the third round, even after a superb senior season and what I’m sure will be a very good combine. As quick, strong and disruptive as he is, he should be solid first round material, but I just get the feeling he’s getting overlooked outside of the Longhorn faithful.

"Agree on the Lamarr Houston love. The guy is as dominant a DT as we’ve had."

Yes, he is; certainly in the Mack Brown era.

Casey Hampton would like a word with you two. You can bring that guy that played center at CTJ’s high school.

Houston has definitely taken it to another level this year. I think his talent might be inflated by the quality of guards he’s facing. OSU was starting some slap-dicks and I think OU started a TE at guard for a while. I haven’t paid enough attention to Baylor. I remember what he looks like against NFL talent and I’m having a hard time believing he’s in the Hampton/Rogers league.

"Casey Hampton would like a word with you two."

I’ll readily grant that Hampton was unparalleled at the point of attack and utterly dominant within a three yard radius, but Lamarr Houston is much more mobile and more disruptive over a far larger area. In our current defense, against most of our current opponents, I believe Muschamp starts Houston over Hampton.