Thoughts on Texas Longhorns Spring Game

Agree on Case. I had the same “maybe case is a better game manager” thought as well initially but am not really sure why I had that thought, after re-watching the game, since his duck-ball to White would have been picked off – or at least swatted away – by any barely competent free safety in the area. (*aside, guess who WE had in the area, who was late on the play and did nothign of consequence other than to arrive late. Hint: his name rhymes with “Fake Shitty Fun” )

So perhaps my view of Case as better game manager is more based on a set of intuitive beliefs (Case knows his limits, that he can’t throw past 15 yards, and will take fewer chances) that may not actually play out when the lights are on.

Gilbert would do much better in Bama’s scheme than Harin’s, he has a solid arm and can make tough throws downfield, but he still absolutely sucks at seeing the field and making good, quick reads.

Thanks, NR. With the wealth of competent spring commentary from BC it’s getting easier to put the coming season into perspective. Like you (and unlike many commenters here), I’m not inclined to give up on Gilbert. But I have now moved past the point of head-scratching bewilderment to this query:

The criticisms of GG fall into three areas (well, four, if you include that he’s the son of a perpetual benchwarmer). One is that something between him and the coaches and/or teammates has put the kid up in the hell of his own head. Two is that some mental aspect of the game eludes him, reads for instance. And three is that his feet aren’t that good and he lacks the all-important quick release.

To buy three, you’d have to believe GG was oversold. Shepard and Luck were the other two choices that year, and I felt either would be better for our spread offense (especially Luck). When the coaches went heavily for Gilbert, I had to believe he was something truly special. He was a 5-star QB, and you don’t get that with tangled feet and overly long delivery. Or do you?

As for two, it’s a commonplace for talented QBs to fall short at the next level for failure to grasp the game’s increased speed, the more complex reads, etc. Still, with patience, these issues sort themselves out… MUCH of the time.

I’ve been more inclined to this point to go with one, guessing that something behind the scenes caused a major loss of team faith in Gilbert and/or a loss of his faith in himself.

I haven’t been as concerned that Brown seems to be overly favoring Gilbert despite the promise of true open competition for the slot. If I had a player like Gilbert, I’d be sending confidence-building signals too, to everyone. But, coming down to the wire in late summer or early season, I’d be ready to pull the plug.

There is no way to tell how this will play out, and a hunch tells me we may well yet see some memorable drama at this position, but I would definitely appreciate the benefit of your feedback on what the real problem is with Gilbert’s play.

G K Chesterton is quoted in the Main Building saying, “Tolerance is the luxury of those with no convictions.” Well, I have a conviction that we are the emergence of one QB and two offensive tackles from a serious bounceback to form, and I’m getting tired of tolerating all the naysayers. So, give me something I can bite into until the season finally arrives and settles all arguments. What’s got to be fixed on the QB front?

Luck was not a choice Gilbert’s year, having already been enrolled at Stanford.

Why is it case or gilbert? It should be Wood or we are fucked!

Re:oldtimehorn

Gilbert is pretty damn fast. I don’t see how anyone could complain about his feet. IMO that’s his best attribute. His accuracy is absolutely horrible at pretty much every thrown, his spiral is a wounded duck, and he can’t make the right read to save his life, but he’s a pretty good runner IMO.

bo&b, yer right. Thinking back, Luck was 2008. Guess I was remembering articles that said Texas was not interested (even tho he was interested in Texas) because we had our sights on Gilbert the following year.

wherelend, by feet I assume the commenters were not refering to speed (where Gilbert doesn’t compare to his immediate predecessors but is okay), but to drop, setup, mobility in the pocket, throwing footwork and balance.

wherelend: To say that Gilbert’s accuracy is poor is just a falsehood. I’ve seen him put the ball in precise locations before, where he has gotten in trouble has mostly been locking in on receivers. Not to say every ball is perfectly thrown, but his mechanices will lead to more consistent accuracy than Case’s I guarantee it.

OldTimeHorn, I agree. It’s very difficult to read Gilbert’s body language and know if he has it in him to overcome everything if the main issue is a blow to his confidence. Colt McCoy took over the team officially after the 2007 loss to the Sooners when he played well but the team came up short.

Gilbert needs some skins on the wall to really take over the mantle and have the trust of the fanbase, team, and coaches. I’m guessing the coaches want him to work it out for himself as much as possible but they are rooting for him to do so. I think he showed great persistence in leading Texas back after the shovel pass so I’m hoping that character is there but I don’t know, we’ll see what happens after the summer.

I’m thinking Wood. If GG goes down and Case tries to do the job, that should last maybe one game. So it either falls to Wood then, or possibly this August if the coaches keep their eyes open. Short of a miracle, I think it’s Wood this fall.

Colt would have been amazing in the Harsin offense.

Kenny the Maccabee?

Okay, being the heathen that I am, I had to go root around for that one:

"Although there is no definitive explanation of what the term means, one suggestion is that the name derives from the Aramaic maqqaba, “the hammer”, in recognition of his ferocity in battle."

Man, I gotta keep a damn Google link open just to read this freakin’ blog.

Yeah, NR, think it’s a case of having Hamlet at quarterback. As we yusta say in evaluating baseball talent, “The best prospects are either arrogant as hell or dumb as posts.” The game of smashmouth Texas foo’ball has very little pity for a sensitive nature.

“Gilbert needs some skins on the wall to really take over the mantle and have the trust of the fanbase, team, and coaches. I’m guessing the coaches want him to work it out for himself as much as possible but they are rooting for him to do so. I think he showed great persistence in leading Texas back after the shovel pass so I’m hoping that character is there but I don’t know, we’ll see what happens after the summer.”

This.

I don’t think that Gilbert could have won back all of the confidence he needs even with a stellar performance in the Spring Game. I’m still in his corner, because I think his redemption is tied directly to the re-emergence of this program.

He’s received coaching by the new staff for exactly one spring in an attempt to offset the worst introduction to the college game that I have seen to this point. I mean, the kid had thrown 25 passes before being inserted into the MNC game. We followed that by “implementing” a downhill running game to give him time. That turned into a typical GD clusterfuck, so we resorted back to the QB does it all offense.

Let’s give it some time. We aren’t playing for the MNC next year, and I don’t want McCoy 2 running our offense from what I’ve seen.

I don’t think that Gilbert could have won back all of the confidence he needs even with a stellar performance in the Spring Game.

Disagree somewhat. I kinda think he would have, with a couple or three nice TD passes and a few good reads… but we’ll never know.

But really, it’s more than the on-field performace. For me, the most important aspect has been his reaction after fucking up, which is to go sit by himself and agonize, ignoring the team. This is not what the Leader does, and unless / until he turns that around, he’s not going to be the guy we all thought he could be. It looks like all three of the other QBs have much more in the way of leadership qualities than Gilbert.

Do we need to go Tin Cup on Gilbert? Give him a kicker’s helmet, Lb’s neck role, two knee braces, a left shoulder sling, and black face him with eye paint to get him to quit thinking and just play?

I haven’t quit on him yet. McCoy does little for me, and Wood, while looking athletic, wasn’t allowed to show anything in the Spring Game that would allow me to put my unrealistic expectations, hopes and dreams onto his shoulders.

Lotta’ Lake Travis fans posting on this thread ! Sorry, the slipper does not fit.

“I’ve been more inclined to this point to go with one, guessing that something behind the scenes caused a major loss of team faith in Gilbert and/or a loss of his faith in himself.”

Something behind the scenes? I think it was the ball of suck he rolled out last year and the 20+ picks for everyone to see that caused this.

Yer right, Newy25. That wouldn’t be behind the scenes. But I remember feeling, and I was far from alone, that things were shaky while edging out our early, weak competition. Eight first downs and less than 200 yards thru the air against Rice was on the inauspicious side, and the vibe of the team said something wudn’t right beyond mere execution.

Gilbert looks miserable. I hope the light goes on for him if only so he can have fun with an opportunity few get.

The glimpse of Wood afforded by the Spring game showed me a guy who will probably tuck it and run it a lot. He did not look comfortable going through progressions. It’s possible no one was open (ever?).

“A man does not know what he is saying until he knows what he is not saying.”

Gilbert K. Chesterton

Wood only played with the 2nd team offense, correct? I don’t think I saw him with the 1st team. And the 1st team defense was in his backfield more than not.

As fans, we put too much stock in a spring game, especially this year with most other spring practice closed, because it is all we see. Hopefully the coaches have seen more.

I actually thought it went pretty well, but it looked like it was at about 3/4 speed. Lots of players I know say that is just how spring games are, especially with a new playbook, about which the guys are not yet 100% certain.

Anyway, good post.

Thanks SwimTexas, and Connor did get some chances with the 1st team later in the game but then Reggie Wilson made it where he didn’t get much chance there either.

TKO, for the record they said in the spring game broadcast that Vaccaro was referred to as “the hammer” by his teammates.

Nickel,

Yep, I know his teammates call him “the hammer,” just didn’t know the etymology of the word Maccabee. Figured it had something to do with his nickname, but looked it up out of curiosity. Cool reference, by the way, and I dig that BC writers bring a respectable measure of literacy to their posts.

There sure are a lot of Gilberts running around this thread. If ours happens to wash out maybe he has a future as a theologian.

Given GK’s prodigious girth, deft footwork, and obvious intellect, he would have made one hell of a lineman (or BC blogger).

He definitely had the size, roach, but not sure he could remember the plays. Chesterton was famous for wandering around in a perpetual daze, taking the wrong train, and even having to telegraph his wife to inquire why he was where he was and if he wasn’t supposed to be there, where was he supposed to be.

And, yes, TKO, I’m constantly pleased with Barking Carnival’s polish (in contrast to other blogs) at delivering facts, opinion and humor. I started out thinking here’s a resource I can check now and then for Texas sports news. It swiftly became a multi-time a day addiction.

TKO, didn’t mean to underestimate you, it just occured to me that many readers would not know that Kenny had that nickname on the team. Glad you enjoyed the reference.

Lots of Johhny Gilberts here. Sorry but most people with two eyes and a memory believe Gilbert is not the answer. If he is starting come BYU Mack hasmailed it in

OTH, the BC bloggers are very bright and well educated. Too bad they don’t go by their real names.

MP, I agree that Mack will be telling the world that he has lost it if GG is his starter this fall.

NR, sorry for the change in IP address. It is not my doing. My employer is security driven to the extreme. I probably get a new IP address every other month or so.