2011 Texas-BYU Post Mortem: Offense

I’ve asked this on other threads with no reply so I’ll ask it here. Does it appear McCoy is bailing from the pocket to get some field vision and find some throwing lanes or is it just hardwired into him from high school?

I’m also worried about his ability to stretch a a defense vertically, but his two intermediate throws had adequate zip on them.

There are a lot of players open in our passing game, and this offense will start to hum if we can get someone to actually survey the field and find them. 166 yards against a good BYU front 7 with no real passing game to speak of is impressive.

I saw the same game.
I was delighted on replay to rewind when I saw Harris and Dom Jones celebrating away from the play and discovered the reason.
Given our MO for our next few games, which is basically going to be ground and pound, Harris should see a lot of snaps. A big receiver who is that physical in the running game and will hold onto the ball is worth so much more. Especially when we already have a PA deep threat in Mike Davis.

Both of Gilbert’s INT’s were bad. On the latter, the FS bailed to cover Davis and Gilbert didn’t notice but had time to roll out and survey the field at which point the safety was on top of Davis. Then he throws anyways. Really baffling. I hate to lose his arm throwing downfield to Davis but clearly his overall play destroys the offense.

Bobby: It looks like he has his brother’s sense that if you bail out of the pocket you can create open receivers if you don’t see them from the pocket. Dangerous game, especially if the scrambling threat isn’t there.

I do suspect though that McCoy’s arm may be adequate to attack enough of the field to have an offense. Obviously if we run what we did against BYU against Stoops he will shut us out but there is time to develop.

The question then becomes what does a defense do if a team brings in a QB to be a running threat and a deep ball thrower? It would seem that one hampers the ability to defend the other unless a defense can stop a run game with it’s front 7, believes it can get to the QB before he can let it go with pressure, or trusts it’s corners enough to not support them with safety help.

I think between the wildcat/fly option looks, QB read option run game and play action and boots off of both that we can manufacture enough offense to suffice in most of our games until Ash is ready to read college defenses.

Does anyone happen to have a youtube link with time stamp for the Harris/Jones celebration? I saw the Irby thing happen but missed the delayed payback.

Bobby -
 
I think the answer is both. Flushing from the pocket is consistently rewarded in small town West Texas football and Case is 6-1 so I know it helps his sight lines. The problem is that he’s not a run threat. As a DC with time to prepare, I’m going to tell my DE’s to play hard contain, bring inside pressure, and man up outside to prevent a quick throw from pre-snap recognition. I’m going to dare Case McCoy to stand strong in the pocket and beat me downfield. I predict that I win. Unless Harsin schools me with some unexpected twist. Which is possible.
 
Those two throws were pretty direct lines and I have no concerns for that sort of throw from Case. He throws a catchable ball when he can keep distances under 25 yards. It gets adventurous when he attempts something beyond that.
 
Nickel Rover -
 
Thanks. Yeah, you just can’t let GG expose your defense like that in close games. GG may offer a theoretically full offensive package, but in games it just doesn’t happen for him. Gotta make the move, even if means a dumbed down O.

Huck -
 
3rd quarter 12:20 mark game time.

Harris!

Damn. You watched the exact same game I did. I was hoping to be the first to point out the Harris block and celebration. . . glad I wasn’t the only one to enjoy it.

Ash definitely made the offense go. I had the same thought, so I went back and checked the play-by-play during a boring teleconference this morning.

Here are some stats I cobbled together:

Plays of 2 or fewer yards:

McCoy at QB and Ash at QB both at ~40%; Gilbert at 80%.

Plays of 8 yards or more:

Ash: 37% of his snaps; McCoy 14%; Gilbert 7%.

Plays of 20 yards or more:

Ash 16%; McCoy 4%; Gilbert: 0%.

I like what McCoy did on Saturday, but this offense really needs Brown and Ash, imo. If Ash is as good as promised….man, I don’t even want to think about it.

If you look at the replay on the 14 yard hurdle catch, that ball was spot on. Shows the trust between these two. I love ESPN3 have watched these pass plays several times. As far as Case moving the pocket and not being a running threat, mostly true. I remember Brother Colt wasnt a runner for the most part until his Jr year after some serious weight room time. He liked rolling out also. I think it opens up the field of vision for them. They both rolled out in high school. Case is plenty fast enough, you will be suprised the first time he decides to pull it down and run on one of those roll outs. Ash has got the running game down, i cant wait to see him throw some more. If he has a head for the passing game like Case seems to have we are in great shape at QB.

mature risk-aversion that’s exactly how i see it. and it’s a testament to his youth and why we are fortunate to have a staff who are bringing him up quickly but appropriately.

that subtle move by malcolm at 9:25 does require a few rewinds. actually, it is noticeable if you look for the little ‘vapor trail’ of field pellets at the moment he adjusts his path. almost imperceptible but very telling. that’s the first move i’ve seen him make that said ‘ced benson’. thank is all kinds of exciting to see because that was the one thing — given his coming in trim — that i felt was missing. this kid is special.

good review. thanks much.

Gilbert’s inability to grasp the mental part of playing qb is something a thorough evaluation in high school would have revealed, imo.

Ash takes out 2 defenders – 11:20 game time in the clip in Scip’s comment. A couple wow runs from Brown on that drive too.

Since you’re probably not doing a ST post-mortem I’ll throw this out here – we know Ship can catch and has quickness, shake, etc. Now we know that Diggs can catch, has speed, etc. Since Shipley will be so valuable to our O and we don’t want to risk injury, does it make sense to have Diggs catching punts? We’re going to receive a lot of punts this year. I think they both have plus ability to do it, this is more about who’s more valuable/we don’t want injured.

Texastough -
 
I’m definitely doing a ST post-mortem. Goes with defense.
 
We’ve had the block on for the majority of our punts. I expect his ops will increase over time. Rice and BYU both had high level punters, too.
 
Interesting question on punt returns. Jaxon seems pretty good at protecting himself. How is I dunno for an answer?

Didn’t see the Rice game, but I had a momentary thought while watching this game that stuck out even more in watching the videos above, Brown looks so small! He looked like such a beast compared to other HS players that I just took for granted that he we was a sizeable dude, but he looks slight out there and thinking he could survive 30 carries a game seem hopeful.

With McCoy’s PT increasing dramatically, I wouldn’t be surprised to see increased targeting of TEs and backs in the short passing game, but I still expect McCoy to look for his roomie Shipley a lot — there is a definite connection there.

the biggest problem i’ve had with our offense so far is the lack of getting malcolm brown involved early. he’s only gotten 3 carries in the first half this season. i don’t think we should be force feeding brown the ball 25-30 times a game with all the other options we have and the packages we can use them in, but getting brown involved early would be a really easy way to try to remedy the slow starts the offense has had.

case isn’t fast enough. no. no, he’s not.

that Harris decleat is awesome.

awesome writeup. can’t wait to see what happens w our o next

Ricky -
 
He’s a legit 215. He’s just well put together.

timmy -
 
Watch the UCLA game. You will be a happy man.

“210 pound John Harris crashes down on the 240 pound Pendleton on another Brown run and decleats him, much to the delight of Dominique Jones”

Please watch Pendleton on the play right after…he looks to his left about 17 times pre-snap and even after the ball is snapped…not that I blame him. Vicious.

Great, great review. Thanks. So much to discuss but I’m short on time. Just wanted to say, with respect to Harris v Pendleton, Harris also beat Pendleton’s ass head up on a wide receiver screen in the second quarter I believe. I totally missed the crackback though, so thanks for bringing it to light. Point blank, Harris needs to play a bunch regardless. I love this team.

Someone that plays said the QBs by talent went Ash/Wood/Gilbert/McCoy. I was pleased to see that McCoy was undersold.

the thing i like about Case (although i want Ash to be the guy soon) is that he throws a catchable ball and seems to anticipate where the receiver will go and leads it there appropriately. GG had a knack of throwing the ball at places where WR’s could barely make a play on and if they did they had no chance of actually making any YAC’s.

i sort of fear for Mike Davis however… obviously he and GG had a good connection and Case luv’s shipley… i just hope Davis remains a strong option for Case since i think team’s will start to zone in on shipley soon and take that option away.

such is life in a meritocracy.

There’s such a pronounced, conspicuous shift here. I would love to know the details of how reversing the largely bloodspilt-based operating philosophy engrained into Mack’s mindset for so long was reversed. What was the actual process? Humbling, self evaluation and realization with a dose of fresh perspective? Blunt force bludgeoning from external forces? Sailor-organized civil disobedience marches on Mack’s compound? Some combination of the above?

Thanks, Scip for your efforts. This is an exciting transformation to watch.

Irby’s story is great and he is everything we want in a player at Texas, but he still needs a lot more reps with his blocking. I remember him as a much better blocker before he got hurt. Not saying at all that it’s a result of his injury, other than that he’s still rusty. On the other hand I really like D Jones as blocker and Grant brings a downfield threat (though we haven’t seen it yet). Mack said in his presser that the first play of the game was a seam route to Grant and sure enough at the snap there he goes trucking down the field. But Gilbert holds the ball way too long. (It’s as if Gilbert does not have an innate sense of anticipation that enables a QB to throw before the player actually breaks open.)

The identity of this team is forming as a physical 4th quarter wear you down number. Cody and Berryhill coming at you for 4 quarters, with MB behind them, can tend to make you want to “get back in your canoe” as you nicely put it. So the whole key to getting to the 4th is to not turn the ball over and get enough production early to not let a team with a better O run away from you. Just body jab, body jab, body jab, and then right left hook. Ash is part of that identity and he must play more and more.

“I would love to know the details of how reversing the largely bloodspilt-based operating philosophy engrainded into Mack’s mindset” . . . How does going 5-7 and being forced to fire your OC sound for details?

“with respect to Harris v Pendleton…”

BYU should have settled that one out-of-court…

[/law humor]

Scip – Much has been made over McCoy’s lack of arm strength. Now that issue is on the forefront, can you quantify what we’re dealing with? Even though the new scheme puts a premium on down field throwing, Kellen Moore and Zebransky hardly showcased NFL arm strength. Is Case throwing ducks in practice or what?

Oh yeah. Great write up as always.

How does going 5-7 and being forced to fire your OC sound for details?

That is the beginning of the story. I’m interested in the subsequent acts.

i think mack asked for and got an education that he paid attention to from his off-season advisors. he has re-worked vast parts of his approach to the game to splendid effect.

ace: I seem to remember js teasing a big backstory piece months back…

Am I missing an inside joke regarding the spelling of Trey Hopkins name?

Great write-up as usual. Lots of praise for John Harris’ blocking on the interwebs. I guess losing his starting spot to Goodwin is more about getting another playmaker on the field.

Also glad you pointed out the descrepancy in field position in the first half. DJ Monroe doesn’t seem to be adding much as a returner going back to last year. Bonehead play to field the opening kickoff – only getting to the 11. Tucker’s punts really scare me….if Gilbert could throw as catchable a ball as Tucker punts, he’d still be the starter.

Skipping over to the kickoff team, I cant recall his name,number 33 the 255 pound freshman middle linebacker is a beast. He punished the return man in this game.

Great write-up. I enjoy the insight from people who understand this athletic whatnot and such.

“I guess losing his starting spot to Goodwin”

our starters on O depend on the play call

Monty, that would be Steve Edmond, who needs a nickname asap

On an Austin news replay of that middle-of-the-field catch by Shipley, it sure appeared he one-handed it with his right hand, bringing it all the way in before assisting with his body or left hand. I haven’t tried re-playing with my DVR of the game feed, so maybe it’s there, too. But sure looked like almost a 100% one-hander. And in the air while coming down with it in traffic.

I was at the game (both games) and this writeup mirrors in detail and tight focus what I was seeing on a big scale from my upper deck view. Excellent analysis in every respect.

yes, the whole concept of ‘starter’ is getting turned on its ear.

The eneregy and noise level at DKR Saturday night was amazing and consistent with your point in the opening graph re: key step in the program’s reinvention. Gilbert was not getting it done, the coaches responded appropriately and both sides of the ball picked it up.

Thanks for highlighting MB’s run and Harris’ block. My moment of the game was the balls-of-steel play call on Ship’s end-around pass to Ash that sealed it on our last possession.

This young team will be no fun to play by November but a lot of fun to watch all year. I love it.

It is heartening to see a WR actually trhow a block. Shades of the Quan.

Scipio, great write up. I feel that we are coming full circle on what was outlined/predicted in the off-season to what we are now starting to see on the field. It’s great to see the effort the team is putting forth. Hook’ Em!

“Ash wasn’t going to reverse field position trying to be a hero. What some people characterized as selfish, I saw as mature risk-aversion.”

What? Honestly? Did we honestly see the same game?

I believe as much as the next guy here Ash will be a great starting qb someday but seriously?

“our starters on O depend on the play call”

So we are tipping our hand to the first play of the game by changing which player is at the top of the depth chart?

Lovin Harris more and more as I watch him earhole that BYU player

I think we all really hope we witnessed a turning point that ends up in BCS glory in 2012-2013. The idea of meritocracy is a theme throughout the SOTU. McCoy and Ash, Malcolm Brown, DJ Monroe, John Harris, Paden Kelley, Dominique Jones, Jaxon Shipley. These are just the guys on offense who are getting are getting more playing time due to production. I like it.

I too liked how Ash held onto the ball on the read option plays. It looked kind of funny. He would trot beside the back for a few steps before making a decision, but it was key because he was waiting to make the defense commit. Good stuff. I also liked his attitude about the WR pass to him. On the radio, he said he was totally focused on making the catch. You could tell he had a healthy sense of fear about it but it didn’t lead to desperation it motivates him. He feeds off it. I hope his learning curve has a slope of 100,000 over the next couple of weeks.

At the same time, I have really become impressed with Case. I agree that he needs to learn to stay in the pocket more. He needs to scramble only if needed. But he makes plays. It will be interesting to see just how much of the field he can use, but he is accurate. I even think his pass to Shipley when there were 3 defenders around him was fine. I don’t think Jaxon bailed him out. There were 3 defenders but they were all a yard or so away and flat footed. Case threw it in there pretty quickly. Jaxon just had to catch the pass coming right to him. Still, will his range be sufficient and will his scrambles continue to be beneficial. Time will tell.

I have been telling everyone I know who is into football about Malcolm. I love his vision and ability to shift into a hole. I don’t know what else to call it. It’s not quite a hop. He doesn’t turn or cut. He just runs straight and when he sees the hole he shifts to one side or the other into the crease without losing speed.

I would like to see the offense with all the play makers on the field the optimum amount of time. The first 2 games, we spent half the time with personnel or strategy that wasn’t working. Will we get to 30+ against UCLA?

That Harris decleating tells me a lot about this Longhorn team. They are a team, and they’re having fun. Last year, not so much on either count.

As a WR you have to love those moments. Almost as good as a great catch or TD.

And as BillyParham pointed out, those kind of blocks put a defense on its heels. Add in some unpredictable play calling and you’ve got a defense that’s got no idea what to expect or where to look.

Just an interesting tidbit for y’all:

Watching the game for a second time on DVR as I try and get some work done. My wife saw the ridiculously athletic leaping/hurdling catch by Shipley – she’s not a huge football fan but she enjoys sports in general and can appreciate athleticism. I explained to her that Shipley’s older brother had a great career with Texas, and how we really lucked out that we got another Shipley that’s actually more talented. My wife, who has a Master’s in Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology and is currently working on her doctorate, said, “Oh, duh.”

Upon further questioning, my wife told me that it’s generally well-known and accepted among researchers that, when it comes to athletics, the second (and third, etc.) child is always significantly more talented that the first, all else being equal (there are no significant physical hindrances, deformities, etc.). This is due to a number of factors, but the primary trigger is that the younger child grows up immersed in athletics, whereas it took the first child at least 4-5 years to become involved in sports (at a minimum). Plus, the older child often wants a playmate, and so recruits the younger ones to play.

All of that to say, make your babies listen to game tape in the womb.

No. We’re using certain personnel packages depending on what that first play call is. That doesn’t tell the D what the play is. We did it for the entire second half last night so I’m not sure how doing it on the first play would be any different.

Terrific write up. Ash can throw the long ball. Unfortunately, White can’t catch it. Shouldn’t White be demoted this week? We have too many guys who can catch to play ones who do not.

My highly scientific score estimation done on my Commodore computer is 23 points for UCLA. Can we post 24 points??

I bet Ash gets to throw a couple of deep balls this week. All this game film of him running the football is a sure setup for a deep route. While im at it one other prediction, Case takes off on roll out, and he will remind you of Colt when he does.

Steel Horn – please please please tell me you’ve hacked a Commodore to run statistical college football game simulations. And then tell me you’re Angelina Jolie from the movie Hackers and that hacking the planet is in progress.

And if you just played Tecmo Bowl…on a Commodore? Really? Someone needs to take you to a Best Buy or something.

FWIW, I don’t think we’ll get 24. But I don’t think UCLA will get 23 either.

yan zi = adbot, please ban

Having rewatched that 7 yard gain at the 9:25 mark many, many happy times in a row now… there are actually 2 unblocked BYU defenders who would have been expecting to make a legitimate no gain (or better) stop against most runners, and a 3rd who would have expected to shed his block for a 1 or 2 yard gain.

MB slipped past all three so quickly I had to rewatch five times before I was sure I wasn’t imagining it.

We have ourselves a legitimate running back, gentlemen. I don’t know when the Heisman hype will start, but this kid has it. No guarantee he’ll pull the trophy back to the 40 acres, but he will be in the conversation multiple years.

Here’s a link to a full version of the Texas/BYU game, if anyone needs it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb2v2N536oE

Pretty good quality, too. Also, I think McCoy is vastly underrated. Maybe he can’t throw a 70 yard pass, but he has the quick intelligence and determination to win games. I think it’s kind of funny listening to everyone downgrade him, because it’s exactly what everyone was saying about Colt at first, too. I’m not saying he’s the second coming of his brother – yet – but he did very well Saturday night, made good decisions (if you watch the replay, he only threw to Shipley in such tight coverage because Shipley gave the wave and he trusted him and his own accuracy), didn’t turn the ball over, moved us down the field consistently, and according to Shipley he also rallied the team and gave them confidence. All of those qualities are exactly what we need right now, plus the big one: HE NEVER CAVED UNDER THE PRESSURE. Hell, he never even seemed stressed. He kept it together and made things happen. Even if you don’t think he’s going to be our long-term guy, I don’t think it’s right to discredit what he did for our team Saturday night.
Ash also deserves major credit – for a true freshman he is incredibly talented already, and I look forward to watching them play together and grow up in the next few games. But saying he should just start immediately, or even soon, seems selfish to me. That’s a lot of pressure for someone experienced, let alone someone just coming in, and Harsin doesn’t seem the type to ruin brilliant young talent like Davis did, or even take the chance to do so if not absolutely necessary. Let the kid grow up – he’s gonna be great.
Malcolm Brown is a BEAST. ‘Nuff said.
As for Shipley…my god. He VAULTED that guy, snatched the ball, landed as gracefully as a gazelle, and would have kept going if he hadn’t gone out of bounds. Guvnah said he might be a Jedi on a different thread, and I think he hit the nail on the head: the kid’s a fucking Jedi warrior, and this week his Force is going to have the effect of a raging Death Star on UCLA. The fact that he’s just going to get (somehow) even BETTER is just mind-blowing.
And I wish Garrett Gilbert the best. He’s played his heart out for Texas, and I hope he finds his confidence and his groove again. He stuck with it and tried his hardest through a season that would have made many people quit, and he deserves our respect even if we don’t believe he’s our best option for starting QB. I appreciate his effort, and above all else, I respect his dedication to UT.
HOOK ‘EM!

by yardage UCLA is ranked 18th on offense, Texas defense is ranked 20th. Should be a good guage for our defense. UCLA does not have much of a defense stat wise. But Houston may have skewed that somewhat.

Corners all sorts of nasty? Makes you wonder why it took so long to offer Diggs a scholly considering he’s now starting and playing at a high level.

Dagga,

A huskier Angelina, that rocks at Tecmo. So, 19-16 Texas…

Monty,

Could the Houston game also have skewed their offensive stats?

“So we are tipping our hand to the first play of the game by changing which player is at the top of the depth chart?”

Our coaches have turned over a new leaf; its time for our fans to do the same. GD had no clue what self-scouting is. Its written in Harsin’s DNA. We don’t need to hide anything because we use the plays we run in the last game as a tool – to set up the next opponent to think they know what we’re doing based on tape.

So the short answer is, no. We are setting the D up and using their drilling to tendency against them.

Houston and SJSU surely aren’t skewing UCLA’s offensive stats too

I hope they are

I have a serious man crush on three of our players and none of them are on the offensive side of the ball. I can’t wait to read the defensive post mortem.

Hornsoplenty -
 
That’s what the practice reports suggest. And Kellen Moore throws a great deep ball.
 
cyanidesin -
 
Did I discredit what Case did in your view? I thought he played well. I also have longer term concerns. One doesn’t impact the other.

Scip, I know you are a fan of the Paul Rhodes experience. I assume you watched the Battle for the [redacted] Cy Hawk trophy. I am much more concerned about the ISU game than I am for the UCLA game. Their D will cause us as much trouble as BYU and we will have to score more points against them than we did BYU.

dick -
 
Yeah, but get through UCLA and we get two weeks to prepare. We need that. And I’m not selling UCLA short. You think we’d know better by now.

Great stat about the horns running for 7 ypc with Ash at QB. A running QB definitely improves the efficiency of the run game.

The design of the zone read play that Ash runs could be improved. The problem with the QB and TB running right next to each other going the same direction for so long is that it doesn’t put much pressure on the D to make a decision quickly, it does give the D time to fly to the ball, doesn’t make the D take a step in the wrong direction, and thus does not set up any blocks for the OL.

I’d like to see Ash running a sprint draw option where Ash sprints out and has the option to either hand off to the TB for a draw play (or to DJ on the jet sweep) in the opposite direction or Ash can keep it on the roll out with a run/pass option. If the “options” are predefined, it will cut down on errors and set up the OL’s blocks.

DJ Monroe needs more touches.

Mack mentioned that they completely changed the O game plan during the game to emphasize running rather than passing. That will continue going forward to reduce the pressure on the QBs. With relatively weak QBs, the horns will focus more on running the ball and there will be much less need for 3 true WR formations. Ship, the O MVP in the first 2 games, will play nearly every O snap. Goodwin will probably grab some of Davis’s snaps because of Goodwin’s leadership/maturity, speed/explosiveness, YAC, and ability to contribute in the running game on jet sweeps. Harris’s ability to block is going to get him PT.

The horns passing game probably will rely much more on moving the pocket or rolling out the QB to pass rather than pure pocket passing. This will support the run game by setting up OL blocks and getting the D to go the wrong direction when there is an initial pass fake followed by a run. It will also reduce the stress on the OL when pass blocking. My guess is that most intermediate and long range passes will either be play action passes or trick plays.

Case will probably run some but it will be on rollouts where he can avoid getting hit by either throwing the ball or getting out of bounds. When he is hit on a rollout, he’s more likely to be hit by a DB than a DL so he’s less likely to get hurt.

Could someone post a knife for me?

No, I’m not fixing to cut my throat (sorry to disappoint), but I do need to carve out a big slice of humble pie and choke it down.

I didn’t think much of McCoy Minor prior to Saturday night, and he proved my attitude to be shitful. I was wrong about him (so far). Mind you, he doesn’t have the Golden Arm (or the Wood one, for that matter) but he threw nice, catchable balls, and he threw them pretty much to the right guy at the right time and place. I only saw one incomplete, and it looked like he threw it away when nothing was open. I thought he played a whole lot better than he did against the Owls (and how ‘bout them Birdies? Joined the party and handed the B1G another black eye… too bad we don’t get to see Purdue knock off Corn this year).

Mind you, without the run threat from the QB slot, I think we have serious problems, but Case as a change of pace to Ash looks like a very workable bit. The success of the ‘Cat so far also gives us some solid potential for confusing oppo D’s.

The best part is that we look like we’re only going to get better, barring injuries, and the sidelines were very much into the game, unlike the last few years.

No, wait, dish me up more of the humble pie… the best part is that the players are laughing and having fun, and I damn sure haven’t seen any of that for quite a while.

Okay, got that pie gagged down now… who’s got a Fireman’s No. 4 for me?

damn. i thought i smelled cigar smoke.

agree with the throw out of bounds. thought it was pretty heady. and at least three plays looked positively coltish.

btw Scip, love hearing you gush about a rb after your patient chiding over the last couple years that the run game is about scheme and blocking and not really about who’s toting the rock. I know thats all very true, which makes you typing “apogee of RB play” that much awesomer

Scipio – No, I know you acknowledged that he played well, that comment wasn’t directed at you. It’s just disheartening to see what so many fans say about him on this site and others without even giving the kid a chance and immediately jumping to a true freshman as though Ash is Luke Skywalker swooping in to save the universe his first year on the field. I thought your post was as well written and respectful as always – I love that you keep it classy. But I admit that part of me hopes that McCoy proves the majority of people wrong and grows into an amazing starter. And that has nothing to do with his brother, and everything to do with his winning attitude and determination in the face of adversity. And hey – I’m a sucker for an underdog.

@cyanidesin
/agree

Until this thing is figured I’m just gonna skim/skip over the QB sections and just not bother with it. Either kid is a good leader and just what the team needs regardless of his athleticism or last name. 2011 will be more about D and running the ball anyhow.

IMO the QB position is on too high of a pedestal this year and I fear if influential people (in the fans/media/blogs/radio/luls-news-paper) don’t keep the hype under control we may ruin another young man’s life before his 4 years are up.

Either way keep up the good work guys.

thanks for the great writeup.

“I bet Ash gets to throw a couple of deep balls this week. All this game film of him running the football is a sure setup for a deep route. While im at it one other prediction, Case takes off on roll out, and he will remind you of Colt when he does.”

please, case is no where near as fast as colt and doesn’t have his arm strength. i know colt got bigger, every player does, but colt may be the only football player i have ever seen that actually got noticeably faster. usually they get slower as they put on weight, even muscle, but the odds on that happening again with case are astronomical. ash is the future of this program

Mileslong, the only difference between Case and Colt at this age is Case is taller and bigger. You seem to be comparing Case to the Jr/ Sr Colt. go back and look at Colt the redshirt Freshman. Thats Cases age right now. Putting on muscle does not make you slower, besides Colt was still growing. We will see if Case has his brothers dedication, thats the real unknown here. I understand Ash looks like a Texas QB should look , but there is an old hot rod saying, it aint how you look its what you got under the hood. Ash is now, Case is now, the future is here.

Go back and watch MB’s first carry of the night at the 3:30 mark of the 1st qtr. I’ve watched it 9 times and still can’t believe how easy he made it look sliding past two unblocked BYU defenders for a gain of 13.

Watch #2’s reaction after after his whiff.

This team will do itself well to feed their hard nosed running mindset with these two QB’s and play to their strength in Malcom Brown.

You can expand the offense vertically as the QB’s get more experience but it is harder to integrate hard nosed run toughness if you’ve been throwing the ball all over the yard hoping for good things and never letting the OL fire out and hit someone in the mouth.

Not to revisit old wounds but consider how many old these young guys would be riding the pine if the old staff was still employed & who would be playing. If that were the case we would be 1-1 at best & possibly headed to a 1-5 start to the season.
Thanks for the writeup. Kudos to the new staff, Mack & the players. Have fun.

Malcolm Brown reminds me a lot of last year’s freshman running back phenom, Marcus Lattimore. Despite his historical infatuation with the forward pass, Steve Spurrier figured out that feeding Lattimore needed to be the ’Cocks identity. I am not suggesting that Brown be given a Lattimore level workload, but I think it is patently obvious that he needs to get the ball early and often.

The term that comes to mind when watching Malcolm Brown is “economy of motion.”

Great write up Scip.

My biggest concern seems to be our predictability. BYU would consistently run right to the spot where we were running or throwing. Malcolm just made them miss. Garrett did not.

Is this because we keep running the same plays? As in Ash only had 5 plays to run? I hope this is a function of us just not being familiar with the playbook. Seeing BYU run an LB RIGHT to the spot of our handoff or run the safety RIGHT TOWARD the pass bootleg was VERY disturbing.

IF Byu could pick all that up… I fear what OU could do. I swear they were in our huddle during some of the GD years.

Key comment from BON: “What is it going to take to get Mr. and Mrs. Shipley back in the bedroom?”

@Jabba T. Hug

2nd children begin developing motor skills faster than their older siblings, at the cost of their verbal skills. I forget exactly why, but the differences in development start well before they turn one year old.

@spider. On theory is that the younger one is pushing to keep up with the older one physically and that the older one is able to “translate” for the younger one to take the pressure off verbally. I have most definitely seen this with my kids. The younger is far more physically adept, and we constantly have to force the older one to let the younger one speak for herself.

On the “high” pass from Ash to White?

First it looked like he SHOULD have caught it. Almost appeared he shortarmed it because he thought the throw was to a player behind him.

Scip, could you give a brief comment on what you thought of the play calling on offense over the course of the game?

why can’t we be playing for 2012?

Sasha -
 
It was good. The 2nd interception Gilbert threw wasn’t a good playcall, but that doesn’t mean GG has to throw it.
 
Playcalling isn’t an issue for us as long as Harsin is wearing the headset. We can debate individual calls here and there, but over the course of the game, it’s going to be high level. Right now we have an offense that’s going to be pretty limited, so Harsin has his work cut out for him.

Thanks. Had an Ag friend who attended the game tell me that play calling was horrible in the first half and great in the second. I tried to explain the concepts you and Longhorn Scott have talked about – how Harsin builds his play calls off each other and the need to see what we had in GG, etc. He dug in his heels, so I just wanted to see if I was completely talking from shaky ground, or if I’m actually learning from y’all.

That second interception should have been a catch, but Davis wasn’t up to making the play…..which is getting to be a habit for him. Funny how a receiver can make a good / bad play look bad / great. The TD ball Shipley caught against Rice was a bigger play mistake, but Jaxon wanted it and the Rice db is busy falling down. Would be an int 99 out of 100 times.

Gilbert can’t catch a break.

Sasha, I think you’re right on. Until the offense really starts clicking, we’re going to be a second half team. Harsin uses the first half to set up pins that he can knock down in the second half. This offense will cook once Harsin’s first half prodding starts resulting in positive plays in addition to the tendencies that make for more successful second halves. Longer first half drives might lead to truly explosive second halves, especially if he ever gets the QB situation to his satisfaction.

Sasha -
 
The average football fan thinks that plays that are stopped must have been bad play calls and plays that score must have been good play calls.
 
Harsin wasn’t trying to set anything up for later in the first half. He was trying to score and his starting QB had an existential meltdown. Had Gilbert not freaked, we would have thrown for 275+ yards pretty easily.

why can’t we be playing for 2012?

We are, mos’ def.

The real question is why didn’t we rebuild last year, when we KNEW it was a year to rebuild? I think we already know the answer to that, but I’ll be interested to hear your take on it.

hey, how about a word for mack himself.

i was just looking for something in the game, and i swear i can’t remember mack enjoying himself like he obviously is this year. he clearly trusts this staff and is eating the whole experience with a big spoon and a big ol’ grin.

and whoever you are, you want to be as open to unfamiliar and uncomfortable changes when you are his age as mack obviously is. my deepest respect, coach brown. i’m old enough to know how remarkable that is.

Tex Long, what was there to rebuild? We were coming off the national championship game. We lost our QB and a few other very good players, but no one predicted last year’s meltdown.

Should we have fired GDGD? Should Mack have retired? Should we have signed a new QB in January?

Maybe I misunderstand your question, but I’m flummoxed how exactly we could have rebuilt after the 2009 season.

I think that Mike Davis will be fine. Drawing the linebackers in by pounding the ball with the run…. will make that quick slant deadly. Davis and Ship should both get their chances with that route. Also McCoy should make great use of his backs on routes and tight-ends. Ash will get down field shots, however I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the RRR before we turn him loose. I think we believe we can power our way through UCLA and Iowa St. without tipping our OU game plan to Stoops too much. I also fully expect to see packages where GG is lined up in multiple different alignments/positions by the OU game to scare the defense a bit and maybe open up spots on the field.

Thanks for the thoughts Scipio.

What’s interesting to me is that the BYU game defined a wrenching new reality for the coaches:

• the run game and D will be better than anticipated and will be the backbone of the team
• time to bench Gilbert
• the top 2 UT QBs now have very little game experience and will need plenty of hand holding from the coaches (as opposed to having a junior starter with more than a year’s experience)
• the horns are probably not going to be strong at QB
• the horns O is going to have to be significantly more run oriented than pass oriented
• O personnel and strategy are being urgently overhauled to accommodate new emphasis on running
• O will be more focused on making first downs and time of possession to prevent exhausting the UT D rather than scoring as soon as possible
• the passing attack will be more focused on avoiding mistakes (picks and sacks) and QBs will have less latitude in play selection
• the passing attack will focus more on setting up the run game (lots of QB lateral movement)
• the passing attack will focus more on quick, short passes to get the ball to playmakers (such as Ship, Brown, DJ Monroe, Goodwin, Fozzy, Cody) in space. The horns are going to be running a lot of screens and will do a good job of it.

One strength of Case is that he throws passes that are easy to catch. This is especially important on short passes. He does this by throwing the ball on time (in sync with the receiver), in a precise location that makes the pass easy to handle (so the receiver can catch it in stride without contorting his body), the pass is thrown with an arm motion that makes it easy to track the pass even before the ball is actually released from the QB’s hands, and the ball is moving as slowly as practicable.

This is really important on short passes because it permits Harsin to use more non WR specialists (i.e TBs, H backs, TEs, FBs) as receivers in the short passing game. This is very useful in the short passing game because it permits more efficient use of the explosive guys who get lots of YAC but have marginal hands. It also forces the D to more closely cover the H backs, TEs, and FBs who are good blockers but less skilled at catching the ball. The implication is that when the QB throws an easy to catch short pass, Harsin is able to play personnel who are optimized for the run game (either as runners or blockers) and still be proficient in the short passing game. It is like having your cake and eating it, too.

For example, DJ Monroe will benefit a bunch because it will be much easier for DJ to catch a short pass from Case than from Gilbert. This means that it just got a lot easier to get the ball to DJ in space because his hands will be much less of a liability when he is catching a short, easy to catch pass from Case than when Gilbert rifles one in. This means we don’t have to be satisfied with 4 touches for the entire game for DJ but could easily double (or more) the touches for DJ.

The screen passing game should benefit enormously from being able to deploy skill players (i.e. the players who are not interior linemen) that are excellent blockers but less skilled pass receivers than your traditional WR. Having a QB who throws a very easy to catch short pass does an offence a lot of good. Virtuous cycle, imo.

.

“The design of the zone read play that Ash runs could be improved. The problem with the QB and TB running right next to each other going the same direction for so long is that it doesn’t put much pressure on the D to make a decision quickly, it does give the D time to fly to the ball, doesn’t make the D take a step in the wrong direction, and thus does not set up any blocks for the OL.”

This.

Another guy who will benefit from having Case at QB with a passing O that emphasizes short passes, especially screen passes, is Barrett Mathew. Mathew is a bit small to block a good sized DE and does not catch the ball that well (kind of a problem for a TE) but he is strong, fast, aggressive, hustles, and runs well with the ball. On a screen pass, Matthew gets to block a DB or an LB, which is a much better matchup for him. Matthew is much more likely to catch one of Case’s short, easy to catch passes than Gilbert’s bullets, so Case throwing the ball turns Matthew back into a receiving threat.