Texas-Wyoming 2010 Post Mortem - Defense/Special Teams

Good stuff as usual, Scipio.

I’ll be honest, I was a bit frustrated with the Gideon penalty, not so much because it was Gideon who committed the foul, but because it induced a Rambo: First Blood-style flashback to the Killebrew years. Targeting, late hit, flag icon on screen, Vietnamese forced-shave, water hose, Killebrew, Desert Swarm, OH MY GOD WHERE AM I!?!?! To his credit, Gideon is bringing the wood, and against Wyoming, he was particularly impressive. I suspect he currently feels (and may through the rest of his football days) like he has something to prove, and if this is the way he gets back at naysayers, so help them (opposing ball carriers) god. Just let me know beforehand if I should expect slacks, shirts, or both.

And a serious question, what do you make of the series of missed opportunities on ACS? I’m referring to the sequence when A Williams, Earnest(?), and _ all whiffed on would be sacks of Austyn. Clearly, he’s a slippery dude with some damn good instincts. Chalk it up to a quick QB, early in the season, still getting the hang of hitting sort of deal? Should we just expect a couple of these plays against the mobile QBs?

Overall, yes, this defense, more please.

Anybody who rewatched the game closely…how did Hicks look? I worry that come conference play only E. Acho and Keenan can be counted on at LB. Kind of thin when you think about it. We all know Earnst can’t be on the field much agaisnt most Big 12 teams.

Scipio, you’re a much better writer when you’re writing about defense. I know because I’m so much more relaxed.

I LOVED it when Christensen called the zone read thinking the leftside DE would blow past and leave a huge gap to run through like in the Rice game…and we STUFFED it in the backfield. Beautiful!

JJ plays with just a touch too much emotion and not enough control. He has a nasty demeanor to go along with all that talent. In fact, he’s so damned talented it makes me weep watching him play because I know he’ll be gone in a couple years. His imminent early departure to the NFL fills me with the kind of pre-loss longing that Keanau Reeves had for Charlize Theron in Sweet November. Ok, that was waaay to g-a-y (my wife conned me into watching it with her for future considerations during football season…whew, good save).

Saw some plays by Earnest, but not Norton. Some solid play by Okafor but not enough Reggie Wilson.

And Blake Gideon doing his best Christian Scott impression…hooo-leee shit the safeties on this team! All of them will flat clean your clock. Borderline sadistic mo-fos every one. Their pan of scrambled eggs at the pre-game meal must be set aside from the rest of the team and be seasoned with glass and nails.

And that hit by Gideon that drew the flag? That was a statement. That was a hit designed to influence future plays. It was effective.

I’ve been waiting for this thread so I could ask the experts. Or Scipio.

At some point during the game after ACS was tackled for a loss on the read the announcer said (paraphrasing) “Randall is playing the 3 tech, and ACS is supposed to read the 3 tech on the zone read. He made the wrong call there.”

First, I thought the QB was supposed to read the 5 tech. Second, I’m pretty sure Randall was playing the 1 tech. I didn’t think it had as much to do with a bad read as it did with Randall just blowing shit up.

“I’m referring to the sequence when A Williams, Earnest(?), and _ all whiffed on would be sacks of Austyn”

The one you are missing is Chykie.

Both Randall and Sam Acho have really impressed with their athleticism this year. Even with all of the talk about Acho the last few years, I always viewed him as a great program guy, great complementary DL player, but not dominant like Orakpo or Kindle. Wrong. He’s been absolutely tearing shit up so far. Decent chance of breaking the TFL season record this year.

Glad we faced 2 zone read offenses early in the season as early prep for what Nebraska is now doing.

I’m pretty sure the broadcaster said that in that play you’re usually not concerned with reading the [I can’t remember if it was 3-tech or just DT or what he said] on the zone read. Simply pointing out that Randall blowing through the Line like that isn’t supposed to be something that the QB has to factor in.

Scip, should there be any concern for a lack of Aaron Williams impact plays? Hardly noticed him on defense Saturday, and you didn’t mention his name regarding the defense above. Obviously we will need him to come up big against Tech.

No news is great news when it comes to corners, Art.

Scip, nice write up as always.

I agree with all your points so I’ll keep this post brief.

My biggest 2 D/ST concerns are the lack of a punt return and the lack of turnovers.

Shipley was the master at punt returns, he took a couple back last year, but almost importantly Ship gave Texas consistently productive returns. Ship wouldn’t let the ball drop inside the 10, and he was good for 15-20 yards a return. Ship consistently put our offense in good field position.

The lack of turnovers is where the Texas D misses Earl the most. If a quarterback made a bad pass over the middle, Earl went and got it and often times took it back for a big return or 6. Pick 6 was our bread and butter last year. It destroys the psyche of the other team and deflates crowds. The Texas D is more vulnerable over the middle now, scheme and personnel adjustments need to be made.

Almost as important, turnovers get the defense off the field. Wyoming had some long, frustrating drives against Texas. It reminded of 2008 when Texas would be a hair away from a sack on 3rd down, and then the opposing quarterback makes an impossible pass to pick up the first down and extend the drive. That has to stop. Finish the sack, get picks, tackle for no YAC.

The strip, scoop and score was nice against Rice, but fumble recoveries for scores are not as dependable as pick 6s in defensive scoring. Curtis or Aaron please take one back and get the BALL HAWK mojo going.

Tech is a good test, but you have to like our defense against their offense. I’m not impressed.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if Will had Chykie purposely faking the bite and letting these plays happen two games in a row just to set- up the dirt robbers… that could happen right?

Oh and where did Kenny V disappear to?

Aaron Williams should stay another year to work on that.

This game was of almost no value for evaluating the defense (or offense). Wyoming is terrible. They will get blown out by 50 by Boise. Maybe Peterson lets of the gas and keeps it to around 40. 45-3.

Aaron Williams has added no value to the return game that I can see. Curtis is better suited for it, but the best player suited, that I can tell, is Mike Davis. Usually you wouldn’t want a true Freshman back there, but I think we can all agree, he’s not your typical rookie.

Art, Williams has definitely not taken advantage of some of his big play opportunities, but that shouldn’t be cause for concern. Why challenge him or Curtis when you can go at Chykie?

I thought Gideon played his best game yet. He’s taken some heat, but I was raving about him after the game. He’s definitely tackling with more explosiveness than he has in the past.

Guh, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Boise State lost some of its wind from the VTU win. With a blow out of Wyoming they’ll say “Look what we did and look what Texas did…” No way Peterson let’s up on the gas. Could be 56 – 3.

Gman -
 
Are you predicting that Petersen won’t have Kellen Moore sneak it on 2nd and 1?

I’ve seen both Boise St. and Wyoming and I don’t think Boise is capable of beating them 56-3. The line is -23 and that sounds about right.

…and our line was around 29 or 30 so we have to be better.

This is maybe too esoteric a point, but I was slightly annoyed with Gideon when he dived to intercept a ball on 4th down in the latter stages of the game. It was around 20 yards downfield from the LOS — he makes that grab (which he didn’t, fortunately), and he loses us 20 yards. Most will recall he did this vs Bama too, picking off a fake-punt instead of batting it down and losing us about 20 yards as a result. I hear so much about this kid’s smarts, I would think he’d have this really basic concept down by now, and it was kind of a drag to see him dive for that ball and almost make the same mistake again.

edition -
 
Great point. I had the same thought. He needs to focus less on stat padding and think about what best serves the team.

can anyone get footage of muschamp freaking out on the sideline after one of our defensive pentalties last weekend? they put him on the jumbo tron and the crowd loved it.

Stat padding? I don’t believe that’s it at all. I think dude is a robot after he probably did 6 months straight of tip drills after Lubbock ‘08. I"m not sure he’s got any idea of what the down and distance is when he sees the ball in his area.

Of course he does have to be smarter than that.

Anybody see Gideon pull a defender out of the neutral zone on a FG attempt? It was awesome, he was lined up out wide, saw what was going on, and raced to the middle and ass collared a big boy and brought him back across the line.

I wasn’t going to share this, but also on one play, K. Vaccarro was having to tell Chykie how to line up. Disconcerting to say the least.

magnus – Are you refering to the Wyoming game? I’ll have to go take a look.

Lark -
 
They need to make those plays, but I think ACS revealed himself to be a pretty exceptional athlete. Some guys are really tough to get on the ground and he’s a legit 215 pound guy with speed and balance.
 
fear the cow -
 
We’re trying to work him in. I’m fine with our depth at LB. Earnest isn’t a bad player and Norton can help you against teams that bang inside.
 
Art –
 
Jasper encompasses my view. And I thought his lick on the Wyoming QB near the 1st down marker was a good one. I like my cornerbacks anonymous.
 
Horncasting -
 
Nice point on Acho. I expected him to be a force, but not this dominating. In some ways the bigger OL he’ll be facing will make him that much tougher to handle when he takes a gap.
 
bill -
 
We’re averaging 13.5 a return and Curtis is averaging 17.3. It’s Game 3. What exactly are you looking for? Six TDs? And Jordan Shipley averaged 13.0 yards per return last year. I think you may be creating a little mythology.

UT-06, yes I am. South endzone. I can’t remember which quarter it was, but the game was largely played in the North endzone.

S. Acho looks to be way leaner while still having great size. He seems much more athletic than last year. He looks like a top 20 pick.

I wasn’t upset at Gideon for instinctively diving for the INT….most players do that sort of thing. What worries me is how upset he was with himself that he didn’t make the play, apparently having no awareness, even in retrospect, for the down and distance situation.

Pistolas, I was at the game and saw Muschamp on the Tron banging his hands together and screaming after the roughing call on JJ. I think he was upset at both the Ref and JJ at the same time. It was a cheap call, and more often than not, no flag comes out; however, JJ had no need to shove the guy after he had thrown the ball either so I imagine Will mentioned that to him on the sidelines afterward.

Me, I was just happy to see at least one critical call that wasn’t made from way out of position by the fucking Head Linesman. Somebody needs to hold that sumbitch up by the heels and shake the (non) cover money out of his britches. Husker envy, IMO.

“This is maybe too esoteric a point, but I was slightly annoyed with Gideon when he dived to intercept a ball on 4th down in the latter stages of the game.”

Only slightly? Maybe I have a problem…

Totally agree on Chykie. I can live with him getting burned once a week – and he will – if he gives us the solid performance we’ve seen the rest of the time week-in and week-out. Playing as much man as we do, it’s a tribute to him and the other corners they haven’t been burned more than they have.

Hook ’em!!

I’m slightly less concerned with a defense that isn’t built for INT opportunities. I would be thrilled to just watch us beat people up this year.

I still remember the game vs. OU when we still had Chizik at the defensive helm one year(2006 I think). We were doing nothing as schematically multiple or sound, we had famously bad LB play, and we still beat OU and held them to 10 points while they outgained us by 100 in total yards. It looked like our entire defensive philosophy was simply centered around the intent to beat the ever loving fuck out of their receivers or ballcarriers. Juaquin Iglesias fumbled twice, Adrian Peterson once, Paul Thompson once, and someone else too. The posture of each squad started to tell the story as the game went on. OU simply looked whooped, and we ended up with two INT’s that game anyway. That was some outstandingly brutal football. Even though we may have conceded them some things, we made them pay for any carry.

Jump to this year. We’ve got Muschamp authoring the schemes, assigning the roles, and no single group has bad play. The brain trust is aggressive and intense about incisive deconstruction of opposing offense and planning a sound defense in every aspect.

So, if we don’t have an Earl, and Chykie gets distracted by something shiny once in awhile, I don’t mind that much. I would gladly watch a defense that will bully the opposing offenses into frustration and submission. I’m even more thrilled to see a defensive staff that can do that without sacrificing meticulous attention to detail as a core precept of that intensity.

We still have to see some players go from raw aggression to calculating, assassin-style aggression. Cheap kill shots and penalties are bad all around, but if a player tries to take your space, you put the guy into the ground for the audacity of attempting that on your football field.