Texas-Rice Football Post-Mortem 2010: Defense Special Teams

I liked the way Christian Scott nearly decapitated the Rice receiver who strolled by Chykie while he was trying to decide whether McHargue’s eyes are blue or more of a sea-foam green.

I didn’t like the way Dustin Earnest hilariously blew his assignment on Rice’s two successful QB keeps of the zone read (I think it was Earnest on both, I know one for sure). I suspect Muschamp warmed his ears a bit.

BEHorn-
 
Earnest got benched along with Dravannti after that little hiccup.
 
We’ll see more zone read the next two weeks to prove if we have learned.

I think the most surprised I was all game, other than when Chiles made that snag, was when I saw Cobbs come in at safety. Any idea on the thinking on that? Are we that thin there that we’d put a freshman ATH going through a position change in against Rice when we could otherwise shirt him?

Toadvine -
 
The thinking is that Cobbs is a better safety than running back. It’s not a depth call. And our staff philosophy is moving away from redshirting, which I disagree with in some instances.
 
You also have to realize that we recruited like dickheads for two years after our MNC and that we have to fill that void.

Nice write-up. What did you think of the DT spot next to Randall? I at least noticed Howell when he was on the field, but can’t say there was any production from the position. I think Bible should get 5 snaps a game just for the conditioning work of running from the sideline to the field and back.

Was the PI on Chykie legit? I watched it a few times on TV and didn’t see anything, but maybe it was the camera angle. His other two mistakes you mentioned were horrendous, though.

Watched Dr. Johnson a lot because we haven’t seen as much of him. Even if you wanted to ignore his misplays of the QB reads, I didn’t think he showed much to get excited about. Compare the way he played the ball carrier when left unblocked by a tackle blocking down and the way Reggie did in the last series.

Okafor got less snaps than I expected, especially when Higgins and Calvin Howell didn’t appear to be impacting the game. Any futher thoughts on the tackle rotation opposite Kheeston?

ultralight -
 
Forgettable play from all of them. That’s probably why we’re running so much 3-4. Agree with you on Bible. He might actually be able to contribute real snaps when the weather gets cooler.
 
Bobby -
 
No idea. Probably. Our staff didn’t react.
 
Dravannti is young and inexperienced. Rice gave him a look he wasn’t expecting and he panicked and it made him think instead of play. It happens. He’ll play through it.
 
We’re playing quite a bit of 3-4 for a reason. The other DTs had zero game impact. Maybe one will come on.

I agree that the D played well, better than the scoreline. Furthermore, the most encouraging thing is that there was lots of room for improvement across the board, even from our superstars.

Good reads, Scip.

Khees is gonna make himself some money this year. I’m sure Casey Hampton was proud as he watched the action from the sidelines. I think Casey must have eaten Nkwopara as part of his pre-game spread. Either that or he’s expecting another little one shortly. Same goes for Taylor Bible…..

I liked what I saw from Hicks on special teams. Dude can fly and was down there head hunting with Vaccaro. Can’t wait to see him crack our already stout LB rotation.

Was at the game so didn’t have the benefit of replay, but did the dude actually cross the plane on the tipped gift at the end of the first half? Not that it matters, but was just curious if replay actually worked in that instance.

Robinson has a lot of work to do in the run game. He’s not physical at the point of attack and was easily blocked or ran himself out of play yesterday a few times. He made a couple highlight plays in the passing game that have covered up his poor performance in the running game.

Also I haven’t seen anyone mention it but Muschamp did not use the same personnel grouping on different drives along the DLine or the Secondary once in the 1st half. He was in full experiment mode with the players. Vaccaro never actually replaced anyone in the first half. It was just a different personnel grouping that Muschamp had planned to trot out there the whole time.

I agree with your assessment on the Big Nickel and Vaccaro vs. Chykie but after watching the game again I would rather leave Chykie on the field and remove Gideon. I know it will never happen b/c he’s the chosen one but he brings nothing to the table. He’s extraordinarily weak in run support (McGuffie dragged him 4 yards on one play) and can’t play the safety position correctly in the pass game, the “freak” play to end the first half should have been an interception if he was playing the ball and not trying to make a highlight hit (Watch it again).

I would rather have Chykie’s inconsistency than Gideon’s kind of consistently bad. Also until Robinson improves in the run game Vaccaro and Scott need to be on the field together.

Good thoughts Scip

yeah, that gideon “highlight hit” was garbage, not sure what the fuck he was doing there. the ball was deflected in the air and he’s diving under it and still missed the hit…

I’m convinced that if Scott kept his grades together last year we would have never heard from Gideon again.

Our protection on kicks and punts was suspect. we had one blocked and two others nearly so. just an offhand observation, but I think we need to correct something.

marqroid – I don’t think he crossed it, but the replay wasn’t straight down the goal line, so it wasn’t obvious. One of the announcers (Cunningham?) said he thought it was obvious that he didn’t cross the line, FWIW.

Nice write up, Scip. Agree with almost everything – the 75% expectancy for a kicker from 40-49 seems really high, though. I’d think 2/3 would be fine from that range.

I’ve never thought about it before, but Walter was actually right about the toe.

This site is brilliant, and Scip is the finest writer in sports today – and it may go beyond sports to all writing in general. Surprised at what a nerdy dufus he sounded like on the podcast though.

Tucker has a very. very wide sweep in his swing, an often opens his hips too much on his placekicks, so his plant foot ends up pointed to the left. Watch his misses, and even some of his makes, and you’ll see that he routinely drifts to the left, either as a push that way or an out and out hook – both are caused by opening the hips too much before contact. This will cost us at some point from the left hash down the line. Has a great leg though, although kicking indoors is a crime against football in general.

On Gold’s first punt, it looked like he was lined up about a yard or so too close to the LOS. Agree with above that the ball stays on his foot a beat too long, and that will cost us down the line as well. Hadn’t seen someone get that close to a punt since NC State in 99. Could have sworn Mack would pull the up-man fake on 4th and 3 from about our own 35 in the second quarter…no doubt we’ll see it at some point very soon.

Muschamp is a genius. I actually thinks it’s his M.O. to sandbag on the first drive to see what the other team is going to do, and then says, “Okay, fuckers, that’s what you want to do, thanks for showing me.”

This defense is violent, exceedingly so. We are going to kill someone out there, or at least make them believe it could happen and therefore get into their heads. Never seen anything quite so brutal in our uniforms. If only we had that same instinct form Humpty Dumpty’s box up in the rafters…we’d be the modern-day version of UCLA basketball in the 60s.

MCGUFFIE!!!

It seemed like there were a few times when the LBs (and sometimes the DL) were a bit confused and struggling to get into position before the snap. One time that sticks out in my mind was the play right before the fluke TD pass. I’m pretty sure one of the LBs was almost turned side ways talking to the other LB. And I’m not talking about presnap shitfs to confuse the offense. I mean straight up confusion by the 1s. Did anyone else notice this? Was it happneing a lot (for a Muschamp led D with many Jrs and Srs) or is just a few plays that are sticking out in my head?

Obviously our D did pretty well against Rice even if this was going on. But there were a few plays I was glad we weren’t playing OU or Ttech because I’m pretty sure they could have taken advantage of that confusion.

Oh, on the kicking game. I was down near the field getting pictures of Bevo, Muschamp, Mack, ect before the game. During the warmups I saw one of the kickers take a warm up kick off, and he booted it through endzone with apparent ease. I thought, “Awesome, maybe we really can kick it in the endzone now.” Of course the first kick is high and hits about the 5. I’d say it is definitely a coaching thing.

i pray that more running backs this season attempt to reverse the field on our defense mcguffie-stlyle.

I know it’s all fashionable to beat the shit out of Gideon here, but that crazy fluke play is not all on him. The pass was clearly on target and it hit the receiver in both hands. As a closing safety, it’s reasonable to assume he’s going to catch that ball unless you jar it loose with a good hit. He didn’t make contact because the receiver not only got alligator arms from fear of being sandwiched between two Texas defenders, but he dove straight for the turf.

Keep in mind he’s closing at top speed, so the time to make a decision is well less than one second. It’s easy to complain in retrospect, but the thing happens very fast in real time.

Multiple complaints about Gideon, but not a single complaint about Scott who had a clear shot at the receiver (got both arms around him) who ended up catching the tipped pass but failed to bring him down quickly enough?

It is late, and I am having trouble stringing everything together. I like having Monroe and Goodwin back for kick returns. Jones did well fielding the kicks, but if we think people will try to kick away from them often, should we put any of Hales, Fozzy, or any of our other speedy skill guys on that second level from the back? If the ball is being kicked short it doesn’t matter that those guys aren’t the best blockers we can put out there. It would also be nice to see Goodwin and Monroe use that speed to get up field fast and make a block when the ball is kicked short. I’m pretty sure they blocked zero Rice players total between the two of them during all 4 kick offs.

Eddie Jones finished sixth in total yards with 41. That says a lot about our offense’s performance.

marqroid -
 
I thought he was tackled on the 6 inch, but we deserved it for playing that last play a little recklessly. We don’t like the score on the stat column, but it may serve to remind our safeties what no man past you means.
 
mib -
 
I noted Robinson’s overruns. I disagree on his not being physical.
 
Gideon is an average player. I’ve accepted that he must bring something to the defense in terms of organization or Muschamp would make the move. Will isn’t a really sentimental dude.
 
Fritz -
 
Fair point. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Hunter Lawrence.
 
Bill Paxton -
 
Walter was right. He was right throughout the movie on most things.
 
Casual Observer -
 
Thanks? Chalk up my first podcasting adventure to novelty. I’ll get better. I’m actually not a super-doofus.
 
Good point on Tucker. He might benefit from addressing the ball at less of an angle.
 
UT-06 -
 
All of our kickers can kick it into the end zone. However, they can’t kick it there with hang time. It would be a line drive. That increases the chances of a big return. We kick it directionally to the 5 as a means of hoping the other team starts on the 25. Rice never had great field position all game.
 
sessamoid -
 
Any play past the safeties on a Hail Mary play is on them when there are offensive players past them on the field. It’s a no-no. Gideon didn’t do his job. He should have been at the top of the screen, not trailing.

I am no Gideon defender. However, I’ve re-watched that play like 20 times now. Both Scott and Gideon were deep coverage with neither receiver past them. They were in good position, imo. Gideon’s man got behind him only because Gideon stopped covering him when the ball was inbound towards the TE. He left his guy to try to make a play, like he’s supposed to. It was a flukey thing, and was 99.99% shitty luck. Seriously, Gideon has his problems but I think it’s wrong to blame this particular touchdown on him not being back.

As someone else mentioned, I didn’t see Okafor much on the field. I have a bad memory, but he may have logged more snaps last year in the first game than this one. I’m not sure what to think of this.

Thanks Skip. It’s hard to find a coherent discussion on the interwebs, but somehow you always manage to do so.

seems our punt return team likes to take a few extra risks. i think there were two other times where punts could have been muffed, and i wasn’t surprised to see them finally fuck one up.

was it eagerness? most sane coaches don’t want their return men making risks on wobbly, rolling, or out of range balls, so i have to think it was just a case of being over eager and trying too hard to make something happen.