David Ash Is Your New American Idol -- Give Luck Its Due

Luck is opportunity and preparation. Gilbert has never been prepared to take the helm. Practiced yes but prepared no. He does not have the intangible that a true leader needs. He wears the insecurity and lack of confidence on his sleeve. Other teams see it, our team sees it, the fans see it. Being prepared covers those flaws. Just my take.

Agreed. You make your own luck. Applewhite, Young and McCoy had those very same incompetent coaches. Gilbert just doesn’t have the mentality (mens rea) to overcome such ineptitude.

I’ve always been fond of DKR’s statement “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.” But, as I’ve grown older, and wiser (others would disagree) I’ve come to realize that preparation really has very little to do with pure luck. Is a guy that wins $100 dollars on a scratch-off game prepared? Prepared perhaps to purchase another pack of Kools and a quart of Schlitz. I think that luck simply boils down to opportunity and the fortune of maximizing the results of opportunity.

That said GG has been handed a better than average offense, with a wide range of weapons and has been ably prepared. He has failed to seize the opportunity.

What an excellent write-up, especially given the brief time of composition.

A great read, Toadvine.

Case was much better than expected for me last night, and even though I want to work as much Ash as I can into the situation, I think it takes a while to make the transfer from Case to Ash, if we fully get there this year.

Best of luck to whomever takes the helm of our team, and hopefully, a good running game to compliment their talents.

hook’em

Ash is squinting in that picture. Not a good sign!

How did you know DKR was the louded you’ve ever heard if you finished watching the game live at 4am as you said in the game thread?

I don’t buy your theory at all. I just think Gilbert is a terrible QB, period. He stares down his receivers, takes forever to get rid of it, throws into coverage when other guys are open, etc etc etc. These things would be true if Williams catches that pass.

I live abroad, but they have audio on the game feed. A false start and delay of game, plus what I heard influence my opinion. Maybe it’s also because every game I watched last year was so quiet in comparison, but it sure seemed loud to me.

I’m not saying Gilbert is good, merely wondering what he might have been.

Great insight into the demise of Gilbert Toadvine. Gilbert can win in practice, but game time has a lot of demons. I too believe it started in that MNC game with the weight of the world on him.

He also had a chance in that MNC to mount the comeback drive of a lifetime. It was a tall order, but one that would have solidified legend. He was hot with Shipley. Ulatosky inexplicably releases the defensive end and blocks no one.

That DE blind sides a defenseless Gilbert looking way down field to Shipley causing the fumble that ended the game. Not Gilbert’s fault. It did seem to set the cast though of him feeling a need to right that wrong, to make it happen, to get that pass or that drive back. That is why I believe he threw into that coverage last night instead of taking the easy 15 yards on his feet.

Let’s not taint Ash by making him into a pseudo savior. I think I just said “ash taint”.

I agree Ash is no doubt the future. But how long does it take for the coaches(Mack) to realizes that? The media is already eating up the McCoy/Shipley connection, but my yr old son throws the ball further than case.. So I don’t see him as a big time college QB

The Ash pass to Monroe was not lucky. It was skill. I think that’s convenient analysis on your part to try and fit the narrative your building. To me that throw demonstrated the difference between Ash and Gilbert.

Ash threw a tight spiral and led Monroe, setting up Monroe’s run. I think Gilbert tries to loft the ball over the defender and it’s either picked, sails out of bounds, or DJ catches but the defense has time to close in for the tackle.

Back to reading the rest of your post now.

Mack wanted to get McCoy a Heisman and played him in games where GG should have been brought in. At the NC, GG was not prepared and it showed. Shipley bailed him out time and time again and an undeserved legend was born. He should have been brought along slowly and at a pace he was comfortable with. Instead, he was instantly thrust in to being It. Not sure how many kids could do that.

Anyone but GG. But, Ash is purposely kept from throwing downfield. Only screens and option runs. When an obvious downfield throw is needed, it’s McCoy2. What do the coaches know that we don’t?

It a nice literary touch to hang everything that follows on key moments. But those moments stand out mostly because of the all the things that followed, not for the moment itself. Just as often in life, a otherwise “defining moment” ends up being just a blip in a consistent story arc, thus never becoming “defining”. In other words, I think its far more likely that Gilbert just didn’t scale up to big-time college ball.

There are many measures of a player but ultimately as far as football goes it comes down to performance. We can always speculate if this had happened or if this hadn’t happened but woulda, coulda, shoulda is a losing game. I wish the best for Gilbert. However, he no longer is inspiring confidence. Maybe someday he will. But the day belongs to the two QBs who did inspire confidence. And the rewards for doing so will be continued opportunities to lead.

Ash threw a catchable ball to White that was dropped…his only downfield pass of the game.

Actually I know it’s crazy, but since the QB now depends on packages, be it Ash, McCoy, or Wildcat QB, who gives them the best shot on 3rd +15 or more/HailMary? That’s well beyond McCoy’s effective range, Ash is still being limited to short passes & options – if they face one of these down & distances tomorrow, probably the guy who has the best shot of completing a pass downfield in an obvious long-passing down, still, is Gilbert.

My take on luck is based on Dr. Bob Rotella’s theory (golf pricks know who he is). He says that the mind cannot block the negative in a thought. So “don’t hit it in the water” is translated in the brain as " hit it in the water". Confidence breeds performance. Garrett has zero confidence.

Hate it for the guy, but he is damaged foods. This new group of coaches won’t have another QB as poorly prepared for action as Gilbert.

In every field, some people have IT.
What is IT?
Is IT luck? Is IT charisma? Is IT a magical quality that makes good things happen no matter what?
I don’t know. I don’t have IT.
Unfortunately for him, neither does Gilbert.
Does Ash or Case McCoy? Time will tell.

Malcolm Brown seems to have IT. He makes yards.
Jaxon Shipley may have IT. That one catch may have been IT in action.

Go back and watch the film of both of the picks last night – both are results of staring down ONE receiver during the entire play. GG had Shipley open under (part of the combo of routes he should be reading in that pattern) the other receiver on the first INT for an easy throw…but he doesn’t/can’t actually do the QB’s job of reading, then throwing. Same problem on the other INT that he tried deep to Davis. Safety is over the top – don’t throw the ball and GG could’ve walked for ten yards.

By the way, Ash did make a nice downfield throw last night…maybe a different receiver than White makes the catch…

Excellent, excellent read TV.

There’s little doubt in my mind that the Garrett Gilbert who first set foot on UT’s campus had more potential than we ever saw revealed, but bad luck mixed with his own weaknesses (really poor ability to read the field, an inability to shake off mistakes and an inability to inspire his teammates that was greatly abetted by the first two) wrote a sad story for him.

Very, very excited to see what Ash has in store in the coming weeks. There’s some word that the ‘Ash package’ only had five plays in it this week, so that put a pretty big limit on what they could call for him. Hope that’s up to at least 15 by UCLA. I’m hopeful on Case but I just don’t see it on most of his throws and his tendency to bail out of the pocket on nearly every play is going to cause some major problems as defenses catch on.

UCLA is going to be a hell of an interesting game.

Champions define their own moments. They don’t hang their whole identities on one throw, one play, one game, or even one season.

So Williams dropped one in a title game. So what?

It would be a lot more reasonable to say that after breaking Graham Harrell’s state records, winning two state titles, becoming Gatorade and PARADE Player of the Year, a five-star recruit, and a kid who was widely cited as one of the top two quarterbacks in the nation in his senior year of high school…

…Garrett Gilbert already had all the identity definition he would ever need.

Gilbert’s problem is not about identity or confidence. It’s about not being able to improvise well in a complex offense that forces him to evaluate and execute, over and over in just a few seconds, in a way he didn’t expect to when the ball was snapped. He simply cannot think on his feet well enough and it shows. Flustered, uncertain, he flubs it about half the time.

The argument that Ash got a bit lucky last night, and McCoy much moreso re those magical receptions of Shipley, has a lot more weight to it.

The fact that the BYU LB missed the INT by 6 inches was not luck. Just like when you nail a 3 pointer an inch over the outstretched arm of a defender, that’s not luck either. The good ones work with that 6 inches, no pun intended.

Longhorn Josh nailed it with the first comment, Gilbert doesnt have the intangibles, 14 starts should tell us that. See Harsin’s post game comments on MB.com, he basically says that McCoy has “it” when the lights come on, even if he can only throw 15 yard passes and he loves Ash’s toughness.

If McCoy and Ash can protect the ball and they start getting M Brown involved early I think the offense can be productive, they cant keep putting the defense in a hole, OU or OSU would have been up 21 zip and the game would have been over last night.

Please reassure me that Gilbert will not start against UCLA.

I was on the NYC-to-DC bus during the game (was recording it on my FIOS DVR) but when I checked the score on my phone and saw the 13-0 score in the 2nd quarter, I was shocked. Then I saw the game summary listing 2 INTs for Gilbert and that pretty much explained everything. Even so, I felt confident Texas could/would win if McCoy and Ash were given the chance. And while my faith/reasoning is not always accurate, it was vindicated last night after getting home and watching the recorded game. What a great and hard-fought comeback win.

I’m thrilled that Ash will (surely?) get a chance to play a lot more this season, but thought he showed suboptimal decision making when he did keepers on 3 or 4 plays in a row during the 4th quarter. Hopefully Harsinwhite will remind David that football is not a one-man show and that he needs to trust the RBs more to let them make cuts and take the hits instead. David is a great athlete but (if the JS reports are accurate) he will make his mark using his arm more so than his feet.

Case to Jaxon was both awesome and reminiscently comforting to see. Case’s key 4th down conversion was clutch. The Shipley-to-Ash 3rd down conversion was also nails. Hopefully the coaches are done with the GG experiment once and for all, but we still owe Garrett sincere thanks his efforts (actual results notwithstanding).

"I just thought we needed a spark," Harsin said. "That was the main reason we made the change. Next week, if Garrett practices well, do I have a problem with sticking him back in there? No. I think Garrett is a good quarterback. He’s been a good quarterback for us. So we’ll see what the film says and what practice says next week."

i love it when a poster starts by railing on mack for playing a kid at qb. tells me i can safely skip the rest of that post.

good win against a very appropriate opponent for us right now. we’ve grown in both games in different ways. i really like that we’re playing the ooc opponents we are this year. it’s when you struggle appropriately that you get stronger. we’re going to be a better team this year than some are expecting.

i’d like to know how dorial and nelson and their fams view how this is going.

ps: not commenting on any post here. just in general.

I don’t think that they were keeping Ash from passing downfield. I was understanding that they only had 5 plays in the “Ash” package and quickly ran through those. Look for more plays from him next week as I hope he’s getting many more snaps in practice as Mr. Grape’s decline.

Excellent post, TD. Agree with 100% of it.

In making a good/great QB lets first assume all candidates have decent physical measurables. Next, the mental aspect of sports, which can’t be overstated. However, you can overstate the “make your own luck” element, which is a part of the equation of a making a great QB. The other parts are preparing that QB by giving him adequate guidance and adequate tools to succeed. Finally, you find a pace to bring him along with real game time experience.

Over the last few years think about how much REAL game time experience, nay, ANY, game time experience our QBs have had. Right off the bat, have not been prepping QB #2 or #3. Last season Gilbert had every pass attempt except three, two by Fozzy and one by Case. In what universe is that a good way to develop QB#2 and QB#3. QB#2, Sherrod Harris, left because of that lack of PT. In 2009 with Colt here Gilbert did get 66 attempts (30 complete, 4 INT, 2 TDs), but most of that was garbage time IIRC. As I look back, maybe those 4 INTs in 30 attempts should have been a warning sign. Without reviewing the tape it’s hard to say, but I do recall that the playing time wasn’t in the 1st or 2nd Quarter like we gave Ash and McCoy in game #1 of this season.

Another item I find appalling in the “development” of Gilbert was the Kansas State game of last year. Gilbert had 5 INTs and I think 3 of them were consecutive possessions. I’ve watched a lot of football in my life and I don’t recall ever seeing a QB NOT get pulled at least for one series when it was so obvious they were drowning. It was like watching a wildlife film were the antelope is wounded by a pack of hyenas and the hyenas were slowly killing the animal with painful little bites.

Gilbert came here with a ton of talent and he was skull-fucked by his coach and not given the surrounding talent to have modest success. If you doubt the the talent issue, let me know how many graduating Longhorns on offense from the 2010 and 2011 seasons will be playing in the NFL.

We may never know what kind of college QB Gilbert could have been if he had been better prepared (for 2009) and given better tools in 2010. Maybe if he is unburdened with the responsibility of starting QB his mind will unwind from the obvious knot that ties up his situational processing on the field. A relaxed, non-pressing Gilbert might be the QB we had expected.

Have to completely disagree that luck plays much of a role in Gilbert’s decline.

Gilbert has poor judgement. From his frosh season it was obvious that his number one priority had to be minimizing picks and fumbles. He has not progressed and continues to bypass open short targets to try to wedge the ball into higher risk/higher reward targets downfield. Maybe it would have been different if he had had a redshirt season but probably not. Gilbert’s dad played QB many years in the NFL and had to have tried to drill into his son the concept of never throwing into double coverage. It didn’t take.

Maybe the shock of getting benched will get Gilbert to improve his judgement but I doubt it.

The horns now have serious issues at QB. Ash’s set of plays is minimal so it is easy for a D to prepare for Ash. Case is physically limited. It looks like Gilbert is a 5 star flop. Connor Wood was a 4 star flop at UT. It is going to be tough to recover from that amount of fail (of Gilbert and Wood) at the critical QB position.

Just had an afterthought. Screw conventional wisdom. I know CW is that you need a starting QB that is allowed to “get into the flow” of the game. F that. Have 3 starting QBs, Gilbert/Ash/McCoy and rotate them like you rotate your RBs & WRs.

Teams will have expectations for each QB package, but all three QBs are capable of doing all the requirements of QB, just each one has their own strengths and weaknesses. All three of these QBs are football smart, very much so. We’ve already seen two games where we’ve rotated QBs like a Kardashian at a Lakers party.

I say, “Bring on the three-headed Hyrdra! Gilashcoy!”

• that should be Hydra, not Hyrdra.

Thanks for getting the taste of the open thread out of my mouth.

Ace needs to put a big animated playbook in DJ’s right arm.

L’am Jones: it’s easy to say that Gilbert should have had confidence and identity but the reality is that every human on this earth struggles with insecurity at some point, not least of all 18 year old young men.

If you can say that you never needed some encouragement or a good break when trying any new endeavour in your life than maybe you could make that case. I bet people close to you would say otherwise because we are all guilty of this.

Would you say all of this about Vince Young’s career in the NFL?

Texoz: You can’t include Gilbert in that QB rotation mix. Defenses read him like a book and he kills any momentum the team has with his poor decision making skills. On top of that, the entire offense seems to be uninspired when he’s under center.

Expand the playbook for Ash, so when 3rd and long comes along, it’s not always Case on the field. On Ash’s lone long throw of the night, he displayed good power and accuracy. White has the case of the Malcolm Williams and dropped the pass. I don’t mind the McCoy-Ash rotation at all, as long as our team is fired up and plays hard for them.

Just rewatched the game this morning. It is pretty clear to me that Harsin manufactured a win for us. Mack wanted an offense that could run out the clock primarily on the ground and that is exactly what we got. A strong ground game will unburden both of our young quarterbacks in their continued development so that they don’t feel the need to win the game all by themselves. Which, by the way, Gilbert never had last year. I honestly feel that Ash and McCoy are excellent team players and will not be discouraged by sharing snaps going forward. Both add a different skill set and are complementary. Both will see their practice reps continue. Both appeared excited after the game. If we can keep winning (at least until OU) then we will be fine. Winning is truly the great elixir.

Football is the game of hard knocks. Gilbert might benefit from a bit of adversity and more negative reinforcement. The lack of hitting in practice, while preserving QB’s health, probably hinders their development. At QB, you have to be mentally tough, you have to be able to deal with adversity, you absolutely have to have good judgement.

agree with many here. particularly want to mention texoz. i think what he envisions is about what to expect from harsin. bryan likes garrett and believes he can get some work from him. wouldn’t surprise me that we approach the qb position as an amalgam of talents this year unless somebody makes an obvious ‘case’.

i can see garrett morphing into a package role where the harsinwhite offense uses him at his best advantage. that would take huge pressure off him and might dislodge some mental blocks that are doing him disservice. i think he has a lot of growing to do before he can be a serviceable qb in general, and that sort of approach might open him up to that.

i have very much faith in our qb coach to maximize this situation. dude is a wizard and deserves the hat if we can find one.

Practice Gilbert > McCoy/Ash > Game Gilbert. We shouldn’t totally give up on Gilbert yet. When losing his starter role in practice this summer, he found the fire to earn it back. All 3 QBs made quite a few mistakes yesterday. Gilberts mistakes looked like they were caused by something in his head going “Don’t mess up. Don’t mess up. Don’t mess up.” And it seemed the cloud of doubt grew, fueled by the crowd’s beligerant boos. This is McCoys and Ash’s shot now and im excited for them. Good luck.

I actually have another take on Gilbert. I don’t think he makes terrible reads. I was in the stands, so it is a littler harder to guage. First int, I don’t think the read was that bad. Problem was the ball was late. 2nd pick, he pump fakes it and then throws it. WR was open had he thrown the ball instead of giving the fake. Gilbert seems to wait until the wr is “definitely open”, instead of anticipating him getting open. That gives DBs time to recover or time for help to come over. He is afraid to making mistakes. I still think with 3-4 shots of tequilla he could be the best QB, but sober not so much. Either way I wish him luck, because I am sure it is going to be a tough week for him coming up

I was at the game and there was a definite contrast between GG and Ash in terms of body language. Ash looked confident and thrilled to be playing, whereas GG looked tentative. Going back to the Alabama game, I recall reading that GG’s teammates on offense noticed that his eyes looked glassy when he entered the huddle for the first time. Of course, the stakes were much higher in that game compared to the BYU contest, but I believe that Ash would have felt more comfortable if he had been placed in that situation. I guess it comes down to something akin to the “it” factor — Ash is relaxed out there whereas GG is not.

This guy makes his own luck.

Image post fail.

I feel sorry for the kid. He’s only 20 years old; what kind of a screw up was I at that age! Although he’s played with better talent than most college QBs, last year’s team underachieved terribly across the board, and the coaches contributed greatly to the problem. (Isn’t it amazing to watch great coaching for a change!) But none of that changes the fact that Gilbert has two fatal flaws: he doesn’t see the field well and he panics. No one can win at a place like Texas with those two flaws. I don’t see any rallying of Gilbert at this point. If, God forbid, one of the other QBs gets hurt, Gilbert will probably play again, but I don’t see him being any more effective. As for the QB controversy, I was convinced before last night that we should go strictly with Ash. But after last night, I’m just not sure he’s ready to completely take on the offense. I think we’re going to continue doing what we did last night, with some mixed results. I keep waiting for disaster to strike with McCoy in the game, but maybe he does have IT. Hope so.

Gilbert’s responsibility or lack thereof for our lackluster offensive showing with him under center is irrelevant. It spans three seasons. It has spread from the confines of his noggin and now is in the heads of 10 other guys whenever GG takes the field. Fair or not, it is time to give Gilbert our thanks, a headset, a prime piece of pine real estate, and permission to look for other opportunities elsewhere. Thank you, Garrett, and to you a fond and bittersweet farewell.

Interesting muse. Nice to read a subtle review of how luck may have affected character which, in turn, may have developed into an “it” factor for Gilbert. I don’t think that Toadvine is attributing everything in Gilbert’s college career to that single moment, merely giving that moment its possible due. Sports and lives in general don’t operate in some clear-cut, black-white context of cause and effect. There are many causes, many effects and they weave themselves into a tapestry that is difficult to read.

I think Gilbert will have a deep passing package in the HarsinWhite offense. Perhaps his unlucky moment will set up a redemptive moment somewhere down the line. If so, no doubt some of those dedicated and committed to running the kid down will post the same things on that thread as they have here.

Nice historical perspective to Gilbert’s time at UT. Only thing wrong with it — as others have offered — is that it’s historical fiction.

What package are yall proposing rotating Gilbert in on? Punts?

I enjoyed this read. Thanks, Toadvine. I think you’re right to highlight how easy it is to be set on a self-reinforcing path in sports, and life more generally.

I do think Gilbert has been dealt a tough hand at Texas, and lord knows having to face the ire of all of Texas every week probably doesn’t help him. He walks out there every week desperate to prove himself acceptable to a fanbase that is impossible to please. So, I really feel for the kid, and I would still love to see him pull it together.

However, as a fan of the Texas Longhorn program, that second INT last night made me want to strangle the kid.

Would not be shocked at all to see Gilbert back in the game for a specific package of plays. It is what Harsin does best to keep everyone involved in the game. However, I am not sure what package of plays that would be. He is supposedly our best deep pass option, but his interception last night would argue to the contrary. Ash is a better running threat and Case is a better short to intermediate thrower. So exactly what does he add? Barring injury to our two-headed baby monster, Gilbert needs to chill and take some slow deep breaths.

Some thoughts about the post and subsequent remarks.

GG has got to be done, barring injury to the other two. Harsin may be a wizard, but at this point NO ONE, believes in Gilbert. The fans don’t. The players clearly don’t. He has to sit and give the others a chance to grow. He appears to be the best thrower of the group, but he can’t be trusted.

I need to rewatch the game, because I seem to remember Ash’s one downfield throw that was dropped by White as being very high, causing the receive to jump for it. It still should have been caught, but a lower throw would have made for an easier catch.

McCoy didn’t look that bad to me. He doesn’t have a great arm, but he also seems to understand that. Maybe his “happy feet” are a part of what he does. He did complete 7-8 passes and that last one to Shipley was a tough throw in the middle of the field in tight coverage and though a little high, a catchable ball. Gilbert does’t complete that pass.

I also look for a bit of mysticism in symbolism in things, so I like the post. I think the dropped pass by Williams could have altered things a great deal. Could have changed the play calling, the mind set of the team. I don’t think the shovel pass INT happens. But I for one never put as much stock in the two TD passes to Shipley that others did. He looked like he was overwhelmed then and he still does now.

I think that play is an interesting reflection on both players careers at UT. Sometimes, leopards don’t change their spots.

Just to nitpick an earlier comment. It was the Alabama DE that made the sack, it was the corner on a corner blitz that everyone saw coming. Even GG said later he saw it, he just didn’t expect it that fast. Says a lot…

We have done a horrible job prepping backup QBs. We wasted Sherrod Harris, never game him a chance. I remember in 2009 being scared to death that they wouldn’t let Gilbert or Harris run the regular offense when they got in. I feared a Colt injury all year. I knew it would come back to haunt us eventually.

FF to 2011, here’s David Ash, being restricted to throwing screens. Hmm. Sound familiar. I fear for this offense if we can’t throw the ball downfield with someone other than GG.

The horns will probably focus more on running the ball than passing because:

• OL is better at run blocking than pass blocking
• QB passing limitations
• exceptional running talents of Malcolm Brown and DJ Monroe

This means the horns O players who are better at supporting the run game will play more than players who are mostly useful in the passing game but not so much in the running game. A QB who can run the ball makes it much easier to construct a running offense. Gilbert could actually be quite useful as a running QB. He has a big body and has demonstrated that he can take big hits without injury. He runs pretty well. His main problem is that he throws picks. If he throws much less, the pick problem should go way down. If he is throwing against a D that is stacked to stop the run (i.e. safeties pulled up to stop the run), that should nearly eliminate the throwing into double coverage problem.

Both QB’s were lucky last night….and that was awesome.

Will luck show up again next week in Cali? I guess we will find out. I have an odd feeling we see GG again next week, when Slick Rick brings the house at these frosh QB’s. Not saying he will play good, but I bet they end the game with GG at QB. Here’s to hoping I’m wrong…cause that means we are getting beat.

good stuff.

Kafka, I think you nailed it. I believe we’ll see GG in the game running a lot of the same plays that are currently featured in the Ash package.

Toadvine:

Your post is designed to put Gilbert’s experience in the context of the team’s experience and emphasize that circumstances shape a person and our perception of the person. I think you did so eloquently.

Ordinarily I would say the only coaching GG needs is a psychotherapist except that I’m not sure that would create better decision making. Unfortunately, therapy requires some time and the season is underway.

I don’t think we need him to throw the long ball. I think we will see Ash doing that at some point, like just in time for OU. I could be wrong but I have to believe Harsin plans extend beyond the next game.

nice tom petty reference… good love IS hard to find..

At least ESPN isn’t giving us any special treatment due to the LHN. Watching College Football Final, Mark May just said we are a .500 team at best, possibly a 7 win team if we find a may to beat a formidable opponent, and there were numerous jabs about rotating Case and Ash.

Other than that, it makes me absolutely sick to my stomach the amount of bullsh*t that showed up on the Game Thread. There were almost 900 comments on that thread, 95% of which are grown ass men commenting on how “so and so sucks, get him out of there!” Really? Grown ass men talking shit about 18-22 year old kids? I’ve always thought we have pretty good fans, but after reading that trash, it’s hard to think that. Going 5-7 really tore some people up.

Thanks to everyone that was on that thread acting appropriately and just flat out supporting the team. I almost wish we lose a few games this year, hoping it gets some of the t-shirt fans to jump off the band wagon and find another team.

Oh yea, and great write-up Toadvine. Sorry I went off on a tangent.

Sorry, don’t agree with the luck theory. My personal theory is that Gilbert never caught up to the college game. Playing QB at this level is very hard—you have to not only be able to physically handle the demands of the game but you have to have enough brain processing power to make quick/correct decisions. Confidence plays a part but if one bad outing (or one dropped pass) ruins your entire career, then you never had it to begin with. I think the game has never ‘slowed down’ for Gilbert and so he’s never advanced beyond the one-look read. I watched Case last night and (despite his well documented physical limitations and occasional happy feet) he has a pocket presence that is calm, cool, and collected. I think the game moves slower for him. I hope it does for Ash too but he’s already showing a couple of “interesting” tendencies with his zone read plays. Time will tell if his reads get better but it’s certainly not a given.

Mark May hates Texas and said that we’d be demolished by USC in ’05…

Have to agree w/Saltshaker. 3 min. left, 1st and 10 from the 17, down 24-21 with all the momentum, and Shipley willing the team to victory FROM THE WR POSITION. Enter the inexplicable 5-wide empty set and Ulatosky’s poor decision.

Had we somehow pulled that game out GG could have simply retired right then and there. That is to say, he would be a legend regardless of last seaon and this season. It was a tragedy for him and an endless nightmare for all of us.

Of course it couldn’t have hurt had Malcom caught the TD pass.

Whatever the cause, GG has had many opportunities to right his ship. All you see is mistake after mistake. The throw to White was crap. That actually would have been a completion if he throws it to the outside shoulder. The throw on the run was crap. He underthrew by 3 yds. I remember in high school accuracy on the run was one of his strong points. Then the last throw was doubly crap. First, he should have run. There wasn’t anyone open. Then if he throws to the sideline it isn’t an INT and it is probably a TD.

Whether it is luck or psyche or talent, the Texas offense doesn’t work with him in. I have been pro GG through this whole offseason, but I am done now. Any play he is on the field is one less for McCoy or Ash to develop. I’m sick of his play.

As for McCoy, both of those passes to Shipley were nice. They weren’t ugly. He just threw when there were some people around the receiver. Colt did it all the time. Actually, Colt makes a living off of it. The 2nd pass in the seam was beautiful. He knew where Jaxson was going to be and put it right where it had to be, between 2 defenders. I think McCoy is limited, but he makes plays. Play him.

Ash needs to get more opportunities to throw. They said there were 5 plays in the Ash package. I only remember 2 of them. The option with DJ and the pass to Ash. I’m sure they ran all of them, but mainly they just ran the option with DJ; left, right and used both options. Now they need to throw off that.

Eloquent post, Toadvine, on the role of luck (and fate) in the outcomes of games. But it is easy to go back and look at certain events in the past and extrapolate success or failure from that point. Would we feel the same about VY if he doesn’t make 4th-and-18 against Kansas? Before then no one was sure VY was the man to lead UT to the BCS. You can argue that play set up the great run the Horns went on for the next 4-5 years.

The problem with GG is that he hasn’t improved. That’s with at least 2 spring and fall practices. And we’re still seeing the same mistakes from him. Tough as it is, IMO the conclusion is that the game at this level is too fast for him. And I don’t know how you undo the psychological damage at this point without benching him. It’s a shame because by all accounts he’s a good kid.

We’ll go with the McCoy/Ash combo for now I bet. McCoy has a pop-gun arm but is heady enough to make plays. Ash should get an expanded package of plays as the season progresses. And then see who takes over at some point.

I was calling for him to transfer in spring. This was inevitable. Now that his worst fear has been realized, he can be rebuilt, but is there a point in exerting that much effort? I’m sure that Mack feels terrible, and that he failed a young man put under his charge, but I think it’s best he move on to a Northwestern or Virginia type program if at all possible.

While I have defended GG and thought he could be saved. He reminds me of Ken Obrien. Not sure many remember him. He was great as a Jet in his early yrs. Then o-line fell apart and they set sack records 2 yrs in a row and he never was the same again. Unfortunately, I think it is time to move on. If someone falters, GG can get another shot. I just think the best thing for the team is to commit to the young guns. 2 QBs is not optimal, but 3 is a disaster. Speaking of that I think there is Nother move that needs tobebig done. As much as people think offense changed with McCoy/ash, I think the biggest difference is when Malcolm comes in

It appears that there is a substantial chance that Gilbert starts against UCLA. This will be a fairly harmless error against the crap tha appears to be UCLA, especially if he is on a short leash. But if he continues to start against high quality opponents, we may not recover.

I actually have another take on Gilbert. I don’t think he makes terrible reads. I was in the stands, so it is a littler harder to guage.

On TV it was clear he made bad reads on both INTs …

First int, I don’t think the read was that bad. Problem was the ball was late.

He had Shipley underneath on the same side of the field about 8 yds downfield, I think he needed 5 yds for the first down. Instead he threw to the receiver he had been staring at, with three defenders around him. Bad read.

2nd pick, he pump fakes it and then throws it. WR was open had he thrown the ball instead of giving the fake.

On the replay you can see the safety ignoring the ball fake and run-fake to the left and simply running to where the ball will eventually go, almost like he knew ahead of time based on formation. Looked a lot like the play in the spring game that upset Urban Meyer so much, where GG threw into double coverage and the receiver had to make a great play (I think in the spring game it wasn’t intercepted, but it could have been).

Texas just had a big play (Ash to Monroe), nearing mid-field, really need to score here … bad judgement to make that throw.

McCoy may not have the big arm but so far he makes good decisions (who would you want tossing the 4th down throw?) and seems to be lucky too. The guys rally around him (the two Shipley catches were awesome on replay).

who texas has at quarterback is far less important than who texas has at running back. malcolm brown needs to start and get carries early. fozzy needs to be a wildcat/3rd down guy. gilbert has been handicapped early both games with a completely ineffective running game.

On the second int if he let’s it go 1 second earlier it is a big play. Safety made a nice play, but even given your position I think it is obvious he waited too long. Guys cover 10 yds a second. My pt is that delay where he second guesses himself allows the saftey to get there. Difference between indecisive QB and confident one.

I rewatched the game again this morning too. I haven’t read most of the other posts, but if it hasn’t already been said, don’t overlook the job Ashton Dorsey did. He was stout and was a revelation. He’s taken over Calvin Howell’s position and made the DL better for it.

Many of you have offered up good philosophical positions but I think it’s time to inject some sound reasoning into this discussion.

The aliens are responsible!
(carefully places tin foil hat back on head)

Did not like the job Tray Allen and David Snow did. Maybe it’s time to go with Ashcraft or Porter at LG or slide Allen into LG and set Paden Kelly at LT.

To everyone upset with the story arc and analysis here, you are missing the point of this piece: a best-spin-as-possible eulogy for Garret Gilbert’s career. Don’t pick nits, give polite applause, and move on.

“Football is the game of hard knocks. Gilbert might benefit from a bit of adversity and more negative reinforcement. The lack of hitting in practice, while preserving QB’s health, probably hinders their development. At QB, you have to be mentally tough, you have to be able to deal with adversity, you absolutely have to have good judgement.”

Yeah, hitting really helps qbs understand the speed of the game. It’s also like how boxers have to train to take hits and not just dodge and jab. I wanted it to work for GG but think that they need somebody with quicker reflexes and judgement. In watching replays of the days best plays, almost every qb that threw a td on the highlight films seems to have stared down his receiver. Sometimes, this gets too much play. Not a good habit, especially in short routes but isn’t the titanic either. Run the ball and soften the defense and those plays will be open.

I completely disagree with the theory that one dropped pass would change what GG is or how he plays. That’s just silly. GG came back strong in the second half of the MNC and he played a great game at UNL the following year. He’s had plenty of positive things happen to turn around the one bad drop.

I personally think he was pressed into a tough situation last year with poor line play, poor running scheme and horrible pass catching. At some point he started to press, he hasn’t been able to escape that mentality yet.

I still have confidence Gilbert can be a good QB. I do think right now, he’s not playing well enough to continue as the starter. Some time on the bench, away from the pressure will be good for him. I hope he takes this time to work, study film and be ready if injuries or poor play by Case or Ash provide an opportunity latter in the year,

I give you a great deal of credit in putting forth this very plausible rationale for how the destinies of fate alone can change fortunes into failures and vice-versa. And if everything went down as you saw it I’d probably agree with you. What I saw over the course of Gilbert’s career was a disturbing pattern, a pattern on display in the NC game, and probably was the cause of the dropped ball by Williams: GG’s lack of “touch” on the ball. While everyone was busy blaming EVERY SINGLE RECEIVER on the team last season for not being able to catch, why no one was refocusing on the one common element they shared, GG as QB, never made sense. He simply throws a ball that is difficult for anyone, even 4-5 star recruited WR’s to catch. Whether it’s the velocity, the rotation, the placement, it’s very possible and more than likely that he’s just slightly out of phase with the WR’s that will be his hallmark at UT. If that’s the case, then to give credence to Williams dropping the pass and Monroe catching his as being merely acts of fate that GG and DA had little to do with is to disregard the reality that sometimes you have to make your own luck. And Gilbert has not been qualified to do that since his first snap at UT, in the NC game. We excused his failures then because we didn’t know he’d still be making the same mistakes for the next 13 games of his career.

Bill Belichick has some ideas for where you can put your swagger.
 
The notion that altering a single play’s result and Gilbert’s ensuing halo of confidence magic-dust means that we might have won 9 games last year instead of 5 pretty much shits on every empirical idea ever put forth on this blog. It’s wrong. Not just factually and empirically wrong, but cosmically so. It screams I DON’T GET IT in large capital letters.
 
Players are what they repeatedly do. This coin wasn’t flipped once, but hundreds of times.
 
I appreciate the broader musing on chance, but this is all very Chuck Klosterman. I’m not a fan of ignoring reality and reams of documentation in preference for a neat literary bow to tie some themes together from the movie Sliding Doors.

Apparently you missed the word “maybe.”

Also the part about not advocating for Gilbert getting another chance. He empirically failed to perform up to the level required, and I have not said anything to the contrary.

We can discuss the required quantum of proof on the next phone conference. Perhaps I have misunderstood the point of this whole “blogging” thing? Or maybe you’re just kind of an asshole?

This thread should be published in the minutes of the Lake Travis Booster Club meeting. It will make them feel better.

Read my lips “Leadership” Gilbert does not have it.

After last night’s performance, I’m starting to think it’s a physical impossibility to “throw a catchable ball to Darius White.”

Excellent thread-starter with an insight not found anywhere else. Great job, Toadvine.

My comment is that it may have been McCoy, not necessarily young Mr. Ash, that just had his coming out party last night.

Scipio’s deterministic point of view also merits hesitation and consideration; however, I am a romanticist at heart.

Toadvine -
 
It’s an arena of ideas. If you want to wield a foam sword, wear armor.

can’t we all just get along, little dogies?

Valid point, TV, that luck plays a far bigger role in sports than we like to think because the margins are razor-thin.

That said, I think all the drama over the QB situation is over-played, If there was ever an offense that can plug and play QB’s it is Harsin’s. I have been pleasantly surprised at the relatively smooth transition our offense has made from one personnel package to another. Last night was a good example with both 2nd half TD drives a mix of the Ash package and McCoy in a more conventional set.

The coaches made absolutely the right move last night in benching Gilbert. The lift to the team and crowd at DKR was palpable. The coach’s job is maximizing available talent and Harsin has been terrific at that so far. Scip’s original point that this offense is not about the cult of individual personality is dead-on. If GG can see himself as a potentially useful piece within a prescribed role instead of starter-or-bust he can still make a contribution this season.

Scip . . . You are one witty SOB and one with whom I generally agree. In this instance, I agree on both counts.

Totally in ageement with Texoz about the Hyrdra concept for the quateback position.

Gilbert made poor reads and was slow in releasing the ball. Still, the booing was shameful.
We normally celebrate Longhorn “classiness.” Yesterday we acted like Philidelphia fans.
We shouldn’t treat our own that way. They are not pro’s. Disgusting.

Gilbert – another chance? Not in this zipcode. Did someone mention Virginia?
And listen up, fellas. Coach Rick knows how to beat us. The Rose Bowl might not be all that Rosey.

On Gilbert: He’s played enough, the luck stuff has evened out. Yesterday, he was ineffective and then compounded that with 2 bad interceptions. Harsin will be challenged to rebuild him and figure out what works, because we will likely need him again. I’d like to see the coaches film to check out if the other receivers were open, maybe someone who was in the upper deck can comment.

@il cattivo — mens rea means “guilty mind” — if this is your first semester of law school, I suggest you take another look at your crim law book.

p.s. I apologize to everyone else for getting off topic — I just couldn’t help myself.

Oh, but haven’t you heard? They were booing the coaches. Not a single one of them, contrary to all the evidence I heard and saw in the stands, was booing Garret Gilbert. They are all really wonderful people just excercising their right….to act like classless assholes.

“As for McCoy, both of those passes to Shipley were nice. They weren’t ugly. He just threw when there were some people around the receiver.”

So, just to be clear, when GG throws into multiple coverage, he gets booed, but when McCoy does it, it’s “nice.”

I honestly didn’t see anything from McCoy last night other than the name on his jersey that warranted all this praise from the fans…

At any rate, benching GG was the right decision, but I still haven’t given up on him yet.

vortic, it isn’t nice just because McCoy does it. McCoy’s passes were nice because they were accurate. Gilbert’s pass to D White for the interception was necessarily a bad decision (yes he did have Ship open). If GG throws to White’s outside shoulder it is most likely a completion. If GG throws to the sideline White most likely scores a TD. The decision making is so so but the execution is piss poor.

I was about to stick up for Toadvine’s approach to examining Gilbert’s career but on consideration the whole Alabama game really played out like you would expect given the causes that went into it. Malcolm Williams dropped that pass because that’s what Malcolm Williams and our non-shipley receivers did all year, our protection was poor because it had been so for the whole year. McCoy got hurt early in the game because Greg Davis called that terrible speed option play for the 30th time of the year and finally one of those hits it exposed Colt to hit home. Gilbert’s play in that game was consistent with what he has done throughout his career here and arguably at college as well.

Toadvine’s explanation is comparable to sports paganism vs. the scientific approach of Scipio (or Huckleberry). It’s fun to build myths in that manner but it doesn’t really lend itself to truly understanding the actual game.

Gilbert’s rise and fall and then laying fallen for a long time is such a multi-sided story, everyone can be correct in their take. I’m guessing it’s a probably a situation where even those closest to it have important aspects escaping them and completely different interpretations.

Only, I saw (or thought I did) something completely new Saturday evening. I saw a team voting their old QB out by refusing to play well and then electing a new regime by coming back strong. I expect many to differ on the point but to me it was as though though all the foot soldiers in the castle turned to the king at once and beseeched him to tell the Hamlet of the Colorado to take a hike and go dither somewhere else. Then they got on their steads and galloped along with the new prince(s) and smote the mighty Pollacks. Or Mormons in this case.

all this “incompetent coaches from last year” talk is retarded.

you can hate greg davis, bobby kennedy, mac mcwhorter, etc. everyone. the only common denominator for a crappy offense between last season and this season is garrett gilbert. you can hate on GD all u want about his play calling being predictable, he still got the job done, for the most part. anybody but GG gets the job done last year. maybe we wouldn’t win 10 games because we had no NFL talent on the offense last season. as bad as greg davis is, garrett gilbert was that much worse — even the almight bryan harsin couldn’t fix him. again, what is the common denominator in UT’s sucking? gilbert. end of story.

unproductive_me:

I think most of our writers here could write you a book on why you’re wrong about Davis and some of the other coaches.
However I have one question for you,

what did our offense do well last year? What was there to build an offense around and how did Gilbert squander it?

I was nervous every time Case passed the ball last night. The amazing plays between Case and Jacob had everything to do with Shipley being a BEAST, and nothing to do with Case being one. I like the kid and applaud his leadership and last name, but when he throws the ball its a hope and a prayer 9 times out of 10. I am a man of faith and appreciate that Case’s prayers are answered so often, but I’ll take the devout Christian who throws a tight spiral with his feet on the ground (Ash) over the guy who throws the lucky duck. Colt was not appreciated near enough for the way he could manufacture a win from the unimaginative, nightmare that Greg Davis handed him. Case on the other hand has a fantastic game plan, but plays in such a haphazard manner as to make it seem everything is breaking down. I hope we move to Ash quickly, or I will need to buy a 5mth supply of Tums.

I was nervous every time Case passed the ball last night. The amazing plays between Case and Jaxon had everything to do with Shipley being a BEAST, and nothing to do with Case being one. I like the kid and applaud his leadership and last name, but when he throws the ball its a hope and a prayer 9 times out of 10. I am a man of faith and appreciate that Case’s prayers are answered so often, but I’ll take the devout Christian who throws a tight spiral with his feet on the ground (Ash) over the guy who throws the lucky duck. Colt was not appreciated near enough for the way he could manufacture a win from the unimaginative, nightmare that Greg Davis handed him. Case on the other hand has a fantastic game plan, but plays in such a haphazard manner as to make it seem everything is breaking down. I hope we move to Ash quickly, or I will need to buy a 5mth supply of Tums.

I actually used to feel that way about Colt before enough of his tosses hit home to help me have incredible confidence in him.
I don’t think that all of Case’ success in throwing passes without interceptions is entirely luck, he has a good sense of timing.

I wanted Gilbert to succeed because his experience and strong arm would have given us the best chance for success this season, but we’ll have to go to Plan B/C now.

Anyone remember the Nebraska game from last year? Greg Davis found a a new offensive playbook sitting by the side of the road on their way to Lincoln and decided to have Gilbert run the ball a lot more, pass a lot less. Guess what happened?

Flash forward. Guess what happens if we have Gilbert and Ash as our “running” QBs? Safeties and CBs start cheating up and then the play-action has an RB or TE sneak through the line and run a post route up the middle in a field so bereft of defenders the Maginot Line is jealous.

Just a thought.

T-9 turned Jaxon to Jacob. Hence the almost duplicate post. Stupid T-9. The misplaced commas were all T-Rav. Stupid T-Rav.

Toadvine,
Thanks for an entertaining read, but life is not that way. The top performer in all walks of life always bounces back from his mistakes and never makes that same one again.

I did not read the open game thread, but I was at the game and the fans were booing GG every time he took the field and then booed every interception and went on to boo every time he failed to please. The coaches could not let the team have to listen to that one minute longer. Point is, it is not just t-shirt fans that communicate extreme dis-satisfaction during games in the modern era.

N.R.-

I think it’s much more noticeable in Case’s case. Ha!…Anyway, if it works out the same for Case as it did for Colt, then I will gladly admit my fears were unfounded and celebrate the magic. But it won’t, so I won’t.

Well I will hardly be surprised if Case never becomes a Texas-level QB, just sayin.

I get it, and just hope SOMEONE becomes a Texas level QB.

Interesting theory, but we’ll just never know. Regardless, players are often victims of things that aren’t their fault (Colt had some pretty bad luck in his career), but the great ones will eventually respond and seize opportunities as they present themselves.

I’ve said repeatedly that Gilbert was set up to fail last season, and I think that was way more influential to his (lack of) development than Williams dropping that ball. However, while I agree he’s had some bad luck, he got his chance to start anew, and he fumbled that opportunity away with two awful picks yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc

"I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

It’s a cliche but it’s true. Part of being a great player is learning how to respond to adversity.

So, just to be clear, when GG throws into multiple coverage, he gets booed, but when McCoy does it, it’s "nice."

On the pass in question McCoy threw over the linebacker, ahead of the corner and in front of the safety and Shipley made a gutty catch for 20 yards. Reminded me of one of Aaron Rodgers’ passes in the Super Bowl that just cleared the fingertips of a defender and dropped in perfectly.

GG simply hasn’t shown that kind of touch.

I honestly didn’t see anything from McCoy last night other than the name on his jersey that warranted all this praise from the fans…

I agree he doesn’t look like the studly QB with a rocket arm we all want, but 7/8 with zero interceptions, two touchdown drives (with a lot of help from Ash) and a comeback victory over a good opponent warrants praise from most of us.

The Texas QB he reminds me of is Randy McEachern, whose arm was weak and who couldn’t run but whose main skill was moxie and the ability to hand off to Earl Campbell and get out of the way. 11-0 (before the GD Cotton Bowl and Joe Montana, still the most disappointing game of my life).

Every QB will make some bad decisions and throw some bad passes. I think that when Ash kept the ball so many times last night it was not his call. I doubt that the coaching staff is going to let a true freshman make those decisions right out of the box. I watched Ash play though high school and he does have a strong arm. He is accurate and throws a nice spiral. Does he ever throw an interception yes … but so did Colt and VY. He is also a very hard worker who demands a lot of himself and expects it from his team mates. The fact that they have not let him throw is not because he can’t I can tell you that for sure.

Take another look. On the second pick last night GG was set up by Harsin for failure. Three TE formation with only one WR. Only two Horns ran a pass route. Both guys were double-teamed. I guess GG should have thrown it away, but that leads to more boos and folks doubting him. There is absolutely no chance for success there. None by any QB dead or live, ever! Comments….

I want to drop a line on fan’s booing, because with all due respect to Jake, et al., I was one of them. I saw two absolutely confounding decisions last night. First, putting Gilbert back in following the timeout in the second quarter. Ash had just given us 2 or 3 of our most productive plays, and situationally it made no sense. I’ll forgive this though on the assumption that it had more to do with a specific play call than anything else.

More egregiously, the failure to get Brown involved in the first half. I disagree with one of the posters above, because at least last night, we seemed to pass block more effectivelynthan run block. I’m prepared to be wrong on that. Regardless, MB was so CLEARLY a superior option to Fozzy that his failure to get first half touches seemed to scream more loudly than it probably deserves.

Jake, you can only watch the same thing happen so many times before you get righteously pissed. Gilbert does not give us the best chance to win, and honestly, I couldn’t care less about arm strength at this point. Unless there’s an injury, Gilbert shouldn’t be in the game, and I will continue to boo him AND the coaches that put him in until it stops.

nickel rover:
I think most of our writers here could write you a book on why you’re wrong about Davis and some of the other coaches.
However I have one question for you,

what did our offense do well last year? What was there to build an offense around and how did Gilbert squander it?

our offense hardly did anything well last year. we were decent between the 20s, terrible in the redzone. we had a lot of drive-killing offensive penalties. hardly anything went right.

so i have follow-up questions for you:

what did garrett gilbert do this season that was good, as a result of only bryan harsin’s offense by design? versus greg davis? i saw no difference. in the rice game, gilbert didn’t suck as bad last season either. but he still sucked for what we believe a UT QB should be.

also, so you really want to chalk up UT’s offensive successes the past 12 years previous to last year to the amazing talents of applewhite/simms/mock/young/mccoy? what are the chances that UT just happens to have all these all-world QBs. mock’s statistics weren’t bad at all, either. he just had superman sitting on the bench. you put mock in last season, and we win 9 games minimum.

i’m not over here advocating how greg davis is the best OC in the world and that harsin was a bad hire. all i was saying is that the common denominator is GG for the crappy UT O we have seen.

the articles here are extreme and sarcastic and definitely very entertaining.

i don’t always like greg davis’s play calls. i also haven’t always loved harsin’s play calls. i watched a lot of boise state games. i think all the OCs at this level are pretty competent to get there, and for one to hold that job for 13 years is a really long time. yes, UT probably could get better all these GD years, but other than the very few games against OU in the early 2000s, and a few tough defensive games here and there, NU, A&M, etc, we still lost some games in which we scored 35-40 points. if anybody was averaging 30-35 ppg, it’d be hard to get rid of an OC for that. it took an abomination of a season to get rid of GD, and get new blood in. personally, i felt like our OL coach upgraded big time, our strength and condition also. (it has shown thus far this season)… but the bottom line is, even with harsinwhite, gilbert could not get the job done.

I love this website.

I have played coached or officiated sports all my life. The bottom line is some players are practice players and some are game players. It is unexplainable but some people can’t take what happens in practice to the field or court. Sometimes the player that doesn’t seem to fully understand in practice plays better when the lights are on. I believe it is almost a sixth sense. I feel bad for GG but I don’t think he has that sixth sense.

Colt has it. Jordan has it. VY had seven or eight senses. All indications are that jaxon and MB have it. It remains to be seen if case or ash has this ability. But from what I have seen both case and ash are closer to having it than Gg

If that’s the case Nick, you’re a loser, plain and simple. When you boo you accomplish nothing positive for our team or our coaches.Nothing! Bryan Harsin will decide who plays QB and who doesn’t and he won’t be swayed by your childish, classless actions. You do, however get a chance to demoralize our players and pump up the other team so, I guess you can take some comfort in that because, hey, it’s all about you, right?

“i’m not over here advocating how greg davis is the best OC in the world and that harsin was a bad hire. all i was saying is that the common denominator is GG for the crappy UT O we have seen.”

Sure, but if you compare the 2010 Texas offense vs this year’s offense, it’s clear that Harsin (and Searels) have improved Texas’ running game by leaps and bounds. Remember that DJ wasn’t allowed to touch the ball more than a few times last year because he didn’t know all of the playbook (or some stupid excuse like that). Remember how lame the wild horn was last year vs. this year, and how Mack (during the GD years) would always talk about how the run game was going to improve but it never did. Those are differences / improvements this year that can be attributed to Harsin, exclusive of the QB play from GG. And you just know that a GDGD offense would have kept Gilbert in the BYU game after the 2nd (and 3rd and 4th) interceptions, left the new QBs and Malcolm Brown on the bench (because they are freshmen) and lost the game (as Mack himself admitted). So the differences between last year’s and this year’s offense are numerous and significant.

Scipio,

That is a very clever way of answering “yes” to my last question.

Hugs,

Toadvine

Jake Lonergan —

Obviously booing doesn’t accomplish anything. But a 20-year old junior should be able to handle it without getting “demoralized” to the point where it significantly affects his performance. Unfair criticism comes with the position, Gilbert’s known that since he was 12 years old. He went 2-8 for 8 yards with 2 INT’s; I’m sure he didn’t expect a chorus of cheers from the fans.

Jake, are we supposed to sit quietly sucking our thumbs? I really don’t get what it is you have a problem with. Is your policy that UT fans should never boo? Is that the rule? Is me sitting quietly going to make Gilbert better, or get Malcolm more touches? Would like to see your answer, if you can avoid getting personal… Don’t boo me, I’m getting demoralized here.

On the second pick last night GG was set up by Harsin for failure. Three TE formation with only one WR. Only two Horns ran a pass route. Both guys were double-teamed. I guess GG should have thrown it away, but that leads to more boos and folks doubting him. There is absolutely no chance for success there

Had he thrown it away it’s 2nd & 10 on the 50. Had he tucked it & ran it’s a 5-10 yard gain. Neither of those options is “works as designed” but they’re both far superior to what transpired.

poofybevo:

“Sure, but if you compare the 2010 Texas offense vs this year’s offense, it’s clear that Harsin (and Searels) have improved Texas’ running game by leaps and bounds. Remember that DJ wasn’t allowed to touch the ball more than a few times last year because he didn’t know all of the playbook (or some stupid excuse like that). Remember how lame the wild horn was last year vs. this year, and how Mack (during the GD years) would always talk about how the run game was going to improve but it never did. Those are differences / improvements this year that can be attributed to Harsin, exclusive of the QB play from GG. And you just know that a GDGD offense would have kept Gilbert in the BYU game after the 2nd (and 3rd and 4th) interceptions, left the new QBs and Malcolm Brown on the bench (because they are freshmen) and lost the game (as Mack himself admitted). So the differences between last year’s and this year’s offense are numerous and significant.”

i don’t think unproductive_me was saying anything about personnel changes, different schemes, etc. and he obviously agrees that harsin is a better OC than davis. from what i read, he’s just saying that even with harsin’s playcalling, GG could not execute these plays against even rice, and against byu… and sure as hell would not have done it against OU or A&M later on in the year. the personnel decisions last year, according to many other sites, were on Mack. it wasn’t as if GD wanted to keep GG in all last season. from what i understand, mack didn’t want to take GG out against BYU, but he was pleased that harsin did whatever he could with mccoy/ash to win the game. that was a change at the very top with Mack Brown.

just another observation:

searles and harsinwhite improved that UT run game “by leaps and bounds” when malcolm brown is toting that rock. our run game still isn’t very consistent with anybody else touching the ball.

i also like that DJ is getting the ball a little more; however—- it should be noted that last season, when DJ got the ball, he did fumble it 1 out of like every 5 touches, which is not a good percentage. you can’t give the ball the ball if he’s fumbling it. props to applewhite on that improvement thus far.

“searles and harsinwhite improved that UT run game "by leaps and bounds" when malcolm brown is toting that rock. our run game still isn’t very consistent with anybody else touching the ball.”

Agree totally … scheme is nice but a stud RB like Malcolm with speed, balance, quickness, size and vision makes the line look much better.

the assumption that it had more to do with a specific play call than anything else.

I think it was exactly that – Gilbert was put in to throw the deep ball unfortunately it was a yard or two short. I think the call was made for two reasons – 1, he is the long ball guy; 2, Harsin is also setting up future opponents to expect this – i.e. when Gilbert comes in somewhere around midfield, he is there specifically to throw the deep ball… but at some point it’s going to be something else entirely – I’m sure we can all think of several contradictions to that. I suspect this is also the cause of Ash running multiple apparent options and keeping it every time – setting up D’s for future contradictions, and again, I’m sure we can all see several of those.

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