2011 Texas-Rice Game Preview

The owl in the cartoon has man hands. Unlike the Rice defense.

And seems to be using the secret power of the Hornwater against us.

I’d like to know the answer to the last question as well….

ESPN 3?

The MOB halftime show could be more enjoyable than the game given the multitude of targets to skewer….Longhorn Network (and its thousands of viewers), Aggy leaving for SEC, another Aggy running for president. Likely one of the easiest scripts they ever wrote. Hopefully Time Warner gets on board and I get a chance to see it.

Obviously that Owl is getting his watering done before the Stage 2 watering restrictions take effect on September 6.

Joke is on him though… that longhorn is filled with bong water.

We water the astroturf at DKR with Brawndo. Its got what plants crave.

Wow, those were extremely impressive cleans by Solomon. He just exploded through those lifts.

By the way, where the hell are we supposed to watch this?

How many Slingboxes can BFLT’s FIOS connection support?

Chip Brown said this morning that the BYU game may be moved from ESPN2 to the LHN if they can’t work out a deal with Kansas or Kansas St. This enrages me.

No chance of an internet stream?

Anyone tailgating in Paris that I can meet up with? Do they have FiOS there?

“By the way, where the hell are we supposed to watch this? "

How about at DKR?

nordbergeron – that is exactly what all of the UVerse, Dish, DirecTV, and Comast customers need as it applies immediate pressure to get a deal done. For ESPN, it’s about having content that people want, and this fits the bill.

Should be interesting to watch the LB’s in pass coverage vs. the army of Flexer’s & the wildowl.

^ it would theoretically be interesting if I were able to see it, rather.

Yeah, I picture him trying to jump over Desmond (“you might also know me from my earlier work as a witch-king in Angmar”) Jackson.

In this scenario, I believe McGuffie’s social life goes bye-bye.

Indefinitely.

So far LHN is pissing us all off, not just the Aggies. No web streaming to had that I can find, and here in VA, if you ask Comcast about LHN they go “huh?”.

How many Slingboxes can BFLT’s FIOS connection support?

One’s enough, if he streams it to justin.tv – I don’t know if ESPN is gonna take a hard line on this and shut off streamers, under the circumstances.

This is also a place where ESPN might want to consider moving into streaming in a rational way. I for one would be willing to pay a subscription to access LHN on the ’net… you?

I’ve been peppering DISH with emails and calls for several days. They know I’m itching to drop them if I can find anyone who’ll carry LHN. Yeah, I’ll toss the baby out with the bathwater…I need to see this game!

My problem is I live in a rural area where my options are satelitte TV or wireless Internet feed.

Scipio, your preview talked me out of putting a boatload on Texas in Vegas this weekend; previously it seemed to me that Texas is undervalued, and that a -23 spread against a 4-8 team at home, with Mack looking to make a statement, might have been a good value. Sounds like Rice’s offense is competent enough that a 31-17 UT win is quite possible.

I’d pay $5-10/month to stream LHN off ESPN’s website.

Onjab, Texas beat Rice 34-17 last year in a complete clusterfuck of a game. If we only win 31-17, get ready for a long, f’ing season.

MCGUFFIE!!!!

Anybody got a link on Rice (allegedly) mocking the Texas O-line for being soft after/during the last game against them?

parlin -
 
It was unclear to me why a household water hose could knock a steer topsy turvy, almost as if the world of caricature doesn’t obey the laws of physics. I’m going to look at it some more.
 
 Ralph -
 
Agree.
 
TKO -
 
Yes, he did. A 421 power clean is real freaking strong.
 
Arriviste -
 
Agree. It’s irritating to me that Rice has two TEs that would start for us, however.
 
Ojnab Bob -
 
I hear you. Rice can score, but that defense should be foul. I still feel good about a 42-14 type of win.

So, based on your assessment of their offense/defense disparity, we should expect a final score of 54-49?

“I expect it to be purely executional: dropped balls, bad passes, stupid penalties or turnovers.”

I agree completely. I must be a masochist but I rewatched every offensive play from 2010 again. If am as concerned with the execution of our wide receivers as QB or the mess ups that will naturally occur because everything is new. Hell if we just catch the damn catchable balls and fall down we win 2 more games last year.

Based on last year and the experience level of Shipley and White and Harris I fear our wideouts are grossly overrated. Hopefully Mike Davis turns out be what most people seem to believe he can be. So far he looks like he has slightly above average speed, is not powerful like the Ok State type receivers or quick enough to consistently get off the line and separate, and he drops way too many passes. He killed a number of drives lasty year. White barely caught relatvely few passes in High School and is still learning the position. Shipley should be good but getting hit by Division 1 players is an eye opener for any freshman ; he will understandably have some down moments.

We have a QB that desperately needs a Cosby, Shipley type back stop….I just don’t see the probability being in his favor. Let’s hope for the best!

Will the MOB somehow totally skewer us over the 2010 campaign and make us beg for more? I’m prepared for a wholesome collegiate depantsing.

The Owl represents communism- note the monochrome gray farming utensils crossed in hammer and sickle fashion while the pleasantly content Rice farmer waters the grass of illusory progress, unaware that the water itself is derived from the gilded horns of the upended capitalist Longhorn society, and that his hose is too short for large scale, meaningful irrigation. Very deep, imo.

As far as the game I just want to a) see it and b) witness the polar opposite of this.

T 1-G R04 Johnson, Cody rush for 1 yard to the RICE3 (Briggs, Trey).
T 2-G R03 Johnson, Cody rush for 2 yards to the RICE1 (Gioffre, John).
T 3-G R01 Johnson, Cody rush for no gain to the RICE1 (Gioffre, John;BRIGGS, Trey).
T 4-G R01 Johnson, Cody rush for loss of 4 yards to the RICE5 (Hill, Justin;BRADSHAW,
               Travi).

Admittedly a low bar. Baby steps. As far was watching the game I’m either going to scalp a ticket or read about it in one of JS’s updates. Those seem the best options at present.

I look at this game as the analog to those old North Texas battles where people like Scipio Tex were looking beyond scores to see that we had problems [See the Tim Nunez Dancing Bears]

This time I would expect a very ragged game by Texas with flashes of positive change. Looking for toughness, a true commitment to power football and the ability to play off that and create space.

In between I expect a ton of pre-snap penalties, dropped balls, a few turnovers and blown coverages. Again, looking for the flashes. This is the most I have ever looked forward to playing Rice but I am really looking for a dozen plays that will tell the story.

And I would be OK with that if I could SEE it for myself. Alas.

QB is my biggest question mark. I saw GG in highschool. FANTASTIC…and then Greg Davis got a hold of him. I look for him to surprise us all this year. His biggest problem will be mental ..due to the way his previous years have gotten. Though, if I dont see significant improvement this year I am willing to pull the plug. I want wins.

Inexperienced though we may appear, this is a very talented team. I also believe this is a smart team and will learn relatively quickly.

what is that a picture of?

Dionysus -
 
I hope they do. One cultural difference between Texas and A&M. Texas has a sense of humor about itself from outsiders. A&M, not so much.
 
Doperbo -
 
I tried to block out the petulant “Well, you want a running game, here it is” running of Cody against Rice. Thanks for bringing it back.

The first possession for each team will tell us most of what we need to know. Remember that last year Rice stuffed it down our throat and scored, and we stuffed it down their throat… and choked. After that, it was mainly the balance of talent that told the tale – player talent was all – or almost all – on our side. Rice’s other TD was a fluke followed by a refereeing gift (in my book, anyhow) – not saying it shouldn’t count, just that it wasn’t reproducible. In fact, from the 0-7 point after the Four Cody Stackup, we won 34-3 (okay, 10, but it was still fluky) despite the obvious suckitude . I don’t see any real reason to expect a whole lot of difference this year… I expect us to win by a decent margin even if we suck sideways, but I don’t see that happening. My real questions are how well we execute the HarsinWhite Cluster-O and the MadManny Relentless Attack.

I’m looking forward to some thoughtful chin-stroking while mumbling “Mmmm, okay, not bad…” rather than “Oh. My. God. We’re going to be ass-raped by BYU, UCLA, 0u, OSU, Mizzou, and A&M… and maybe by Tceh and Baylor…” I’m pretty confident, but I’m laying in a case of The Balvenie 15, as a precaution.

GD absolutely sabotaged the power running game on the first series of the season, and for that he earned an early retirement. CJ had 9 carries in the first drive. Nine. And there were no timeouts between those 4 goal line carries.

GD absolutely sabotaged the power running game on the season

FIFY

If you’re on Time-Warner in the DFW area, call 972 742-5892. I’ve been calling like a fiend to put pressure on them. Because I was getting a different response every call and because those CSRs obviously have little input to corporate, I started calling that secret number—866 563-6312—to complain about the CSRs all having a different story. They called back today (it’s voicemail only) and promised that they are now sending out up-to-date bulletins to the Reps. I got the indication that it’s suddenly becoming a big problem for them. Make those calls… pile on the pressure… get maximum dollars to the LHN.

One other thing. Time-Warner indicates the LHN will probably become part of an ESPN extras package for $7/mo. My brother who gets Verizon says he has it at no charge (tho’ they may be trialing it out). Let ‘em know we’d like LHN as part of basic service.

Scip- Let me know if you figure out a place to watch the game in SF. Blue light has DirecTV so they’re obviously out

I would be happy if they put LHN on espn3. if they want to reach households thats the way to do it fast. Reaching the consumer does not seem to be the gameplan. I would think now that Aggie is gone they would try and make the fans and recruits happy. I will be listening to the Longhorns while watching Boise i guess.

I’m actually glad to hear Rice is an improved team this year as long as the horns can come away with a win and no injuries. It’s better if UT can find and work on some obvious problems before we play UCLA and BYU.

I remember GD running Cody 9 times in that first series. Up there with his patented slow developing running play call every time we were on our own 1 (guaranteed safety) in terms of sheer stupidity.

If someone were to put together a mixtape of laughably stupid calls by GD, I would spent quite a bit of money acquiring such a thing.

With ATM leaving the Big 12, Kansas and Kansas State better bend over fucking backwards to get on the LHN. The success of the LHN is THE ONLY THING keeping them in a BCS conference.

I don’t think they have much leverage at this point.

Just another money grab by the longhorns that is going to screw most of their fanbase, I think I’ll follow the ag’s, see ya loser longhorns! Hey, ou will be on.

I am excited that Rice has good personel on offense. Diaz’s fire zone set is specifically designed to thwart a zone read offense.

Cant wait to see how we do.

Hook’em

I know you all think this is a cake walk but don’t be surprised when Rice’s D smacks you in the mouth.