2011 Texas-UCLA Post Mortem: Defense Special Teams

Oh, baby.

This stuff is great – thanks for rewriting even after the crash. A question – are we going to see any pass rush out of our DEs this year? I had high hopes for Jeffcoat, Wilson, and Okafor. I’d also be interested to hear your opinion of Randall so far – has he lived up to expectations?

“As much as we talk about Manny Diaz’s pressure and creativity on 3rd down, the key to the defense is that it’s very difficult to get an easy scores on a big play.”

Persactly. Make them earn it with a lot of plays and try to force some off schedule plays along the way where you know you have a decided advantage. Frankly, I didn’t think we’d progress this quickly and I certainly didn’t expect open field tackling to be one of our unit strengths.

I’ve been thrilled to see the good tackling from our back 7. Their ability to prevent creases from becoming big plays in the running game makes a tremendous difference.
I singled out Hicks and Vaccaro as guys needing to help Acho and Robinson chase down runners in my Longhorn kickoff piece and they’ve been exceptional.

Really glad you tracked Fauria, I noticed the 2 play bit from Vaccaro but I had totally missed how that impacted Fauria’s play over the course of the game. Really great stuff.

TLR -
 
Thanks. No problem.
 
DEs – it was a game plan thing. It makes a lot of sense to keep UCLA’s QBs in the pocket throwing the ball. When that yields QB hits and four turnovers, it’s hard to complain.
 
Randall has played well.

The secondary is so young and already looks so good. If Vaccaro comes back next year that group could be frightening.

Great writeup, thanks Scipio. Really good observation regarding Vaccaro on Fauria. I sure hope Kenny stays for his senior year, because next season Texas can be a contender.

I trust you write and save your post-mortem write-ups in separate text (or Word) files before posting them to your server.

Is Edmond going to get more playing time at mlb as conference play starts to begin (especially against run first teams)? Or is it that we are satisfied or confident in our current starting lb’s to stop the run, specifically interior runs.

I’d like to see him get in more, i think the guys a beast capable of doing some serious work down the middle.

I was worried you had written the post-mortem off, and I had already begun the grieving process. I was in the midst of the anger stage and was in the process of drafting a strongly worded letter when I put down my old fashioned quill pen that I use to write all of my angry letters on parchment scrolls to check the site again, just in case. Lo and behold, there it is. I exaggerate not when I say tears of relief streamed down my face (okay, I exaggerate a tad. I just got a little misty) Thanks for your commitment to recreating what was lost.

LHS -
 
Very surprised at the high quality of our tackling. Diggs, Byndom, Phillips, Vaccaro have the willingness to stick their heads in there, but they’re also athletic enough to get a good angle.
 
Nickel -
 
I had Fauria pegged as their X Factor (and I think Neuheisel did too) but Vaccaro really took away a whole facet of their offense with that hit.

bigduke -
 
I’m afraid Mr Vaccaro is playing himself right out of Austin. Wood-bringing safeties who can cover man without help are coveted creatures.
 
Poofy -
 
That would be the wise thing to do. No one has accused me of wisdom.
 
l24nico -
 
We played him while the game was still in doubt. I’d expect those reps to continue.
 
burntorangejuice -
 
I had a dark moment when I lost my first one, but I knew I couldn’t deprive you of the trenchancy of my mediocre observations.

The RRS has been pretty violent in recent years but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw it step up a notch this year. Our defense is actually even more physical than Muschamp’s goon squad and the offense is buyin in as well.

And then OU, they were nasty against Florida State. Knocked out two starters and seem to have blatant disregard for the new targeting penalties.

Anyone know if Fauria is related to CHristian Fauria that played TE at Colorado in the 90s and then the NFL?

Hypothetically, if Aaron Williams would have stayed for his senior year, what would the secondary have looked like?

Thanks.

I think the high point of the ass end of my work week is your preview of the upcoming week and the high point of my monday ish afternoon is the post mortems.

These are terrific.

Because in real football, people can knock you unconscious. t

This.

I’m shocked by the difference in how physical we were this year against UCLA vs. last year.

topo—

Christian is his uncle. He also played for Neuheisel.

topo gigio -
 
Joe is his nephew. Christian Fauria was a badass TE. I still remember him pancaking our DEs about forty times in Austin when Salaam rushed for 11 billion yards.
  
Wulaw -
 
Thanks.

Scipio, is that the guy you mentioned on a podcast with Blake last year?

That’s the one.

Thank you so much for these writeups.

I know we have a solid opponent before OU, but us fans are afforded the luxury of looking ahead. I recall one time when the D shifted a few counts before the snap and was snickering as their OL blocked ghosts while the play was crushed. Someone noted in a previous post how Landry is dependent on pre-snap reads and I wondered how these shifts would affect their offense. Surly OU see’s game tape and knows we do this – but can they implement a counter measure?

Thanks again

Aside from noting that its possible, after watching an average Utah team destroy a BYU team we struggled with, that 3-0 is Fool’s Gold, I continue to be amazed that our kickers are so bad. It boggles the mind that at a university of 50000 kids, we cannot find one single person who can kick the ball out of the end zone off a tee with no pressure and a running start. Seriously?

Nice write up, as usual.

The early turnovers were huge—setting up scores and preventing a score after a turnover. None of them were routine. This defense seems to be playing at a very high level of alertness; they seem to be a half-step quicker on everything. I hope they can keep that up.

haven’t seen much made of byndom getting burned on the one play where he was to the qb’s left, widest out. was that his fault or a zone beater etc? thoughts?

General question regarding kickoffs… later in the UCLA game, Texas started kicking the ball high and (only) semi-deep, ending in a fair catch by the UCLA mid-level upbacks at about their 30 yard line. Seems like the Longhorn coaches deemed that to be a safer play than kicking off deep and and hoping that UCLA wouldn’t break another long return.

My question is this, if you are allowed to do a fair catch the ball on kickoffs, why doesn’t every team do it when receiving onside kicks? The only reason I can think of is that a fair catch signal doesn’t count if the football touches the ground (which will happen on most onside kicks).

So Scip, would you say your Wisdom is in the below average 7 or 8 range? I have heard your Strength and Charisma are both nearing a legendary 18. We all know your Intelligence is off the charts. What is your preferred weapon? With your name, I would imagine you wielding a short sword (+2 against thieves and milkmen) but perhaps you go for the axe and a bundle of rods.

sorry you lost your first effort at this, and very much appreciate that you worked it up again. really a good and pithy read.

i clearly recall the sharp ‘crack’ that kenny’s collision made, but i didn’t realize that was fauria. i bet that hit was a factor in the later fumble.

Poofy: I’m pretty sure you can’t fair-catch a ball that has already touched the ground, which is one of the reasons why kickers bounce the ball off the ground on onside kicks to create the big “hop.” It would be easier for them to get the ball airborne by just chipping the ball straight up in the air like they were swinging a lob-wedge, but then the receiving team could just fair-catch it (plus, even if they didn’t fair-catch it, the kicking team would still have to allow them to catch the ball or else face a “kick-catch interference” penalty").

Or maybe I’m just completely wrong about all of this, which is a distinct possibility. Wouldn’t be the first time!

Great write up and I’m jazzed about what the offensive PM is going to read like. Dream weavin’ about 49 points on 20 passes and 50 rushes. Yeah, buddy!

Defense is gaining confidence and Kenny V is completely in charge of the whole unit, IMO. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating. Michael Huff with a much nastier disposition.

Special teams (sigh). How long, oh Lord! Didn’t I hear Mack say that he’s taken charge of the special teams this year? If so, then we have our answer to “WTF are we trying to do”? Mack needs to stay far away from any aspect of actual coaching. He has done that it seems for the O and D, and needs to do the same for ST if my assumption is correct.

Our guys are winning the fourth quarter with energy to spare on both sides of the ball, or so it seems. They are noticeabky better conditioned and they look almost as physical overall as the 2005 team. Amazing what having an Honest to God S&C coach can do! One of my favorite sideline shots is Benny just standing over there with them funky shades on, looking like the cut, badass mofo he is.

Hoping The Jesus, Big Cigar and The Asset didn’t get devoured by the bots or assassinated by joey.

“i clearly recall the sharp ‘crack’ that kenny’s collision made, but i didn’t realize that was fauria. i bet that hit was a factor in the later fumble.”

To add to that, I watched the fumble forced by Phillips on Fauria a few times: Right as Gideon recovered the fumble, you can see Kenny lay yet another shot on Fauria just as he got up to chase the ball. You can also barely see him take a knee afterwards. Love the physicality we are playing with.

i gotta check that out, boozeman. thanks for pointing it out.

we made it plain that we intended to play a rough game. the db that got unhatted by our 5-9 receiver may have been slipping around the edges of respectable play. i thought at the time that that play looked like payback/message type physicality.

just saw the play, bozeman. great catch. appreciate your sharing it.

kenny absolutely nailed him and the guy had no heart whatever to participate further in that play. i’m going to hazard a guess here that ucla doesn’t think we are soft.

Blazing boner time. /no homo

This defense, as young and raw as they are, is giving me some serious 2005 Lysergic acid diethylamide flashbacks. The intensity that they are playing with is incredible. They’re flying to the ball, delivering earth-destructive hits, and playing all-around intimidating football.

Yes they’re young and making some mistakes but I got to say - I have been thoroughly impressed by the players but mostly by the coaching. A complete 180 degrees from last year.

HOOK’EM!!!

any reason that diggs played a lot less this game? i feel like thus far in games he’s been our best cover corner, but against ucla he basically only came in during nickel situations.

I was standing in a Rose Bowl aisle paying a vendor for widly overpriced lemonade when I heard a collision and gasps throughout the stadium. I immediately thought “bet that was Machete”.

When I got home I just kept rewinding that play and the Goodwin hit. I am not surprised Bob Davie never panned out as a coach if he told his players to only be physical enough to get the job done.

you had me at “I am not surprised Bob Davie never panned out as a coach”…..

As much as I detest Slobberin’ Dr. Lou, what Davie did to him at ND was unforgiveably self-serving.

Have never understood why we don’t offer someone who can regularly kick it for touchbacks.

A punter who could boom it would be nice too.

These things seem like “extras” until they don’t.

bob davie isn’t physical enough to get his present job done. he is going to make a good-looking cadaver, though, if he doesn’t wait too long.

Is Mack personally in charge of STs this season? We need to stick the guy who was in charge in 2009 back on it.

I don’t agree with calling Tucker a “non-tackler”. The guy was a starting safety at the 5A high school level and has shown good tackling form, knowledge of pursuit angles, and good athleticism for the position when called upon.

I fully agree that we need to find somebody with a bigger leg for kickoffs, though. Either that or squib it or sky kick it more often. I noticed we started doing that towards the end of the UCLA game, as his leg got more and more tired from all the PATs and kickoffs he was called upon to kick.

Do the Horns even work on special teams throughout the week? The game against Iowa State should bear this out since they have 2 weeks to improve on this front. The difference between this year and last is huge since the Horns have someone that can actually catch the kick and then run. And while this is a big plus (aside from the one fumble), it’s pretty standard for most teams. Did Shipley train himself kind of like a kicker does on the sidelines with a ball, tee and net? This is something that needs to be emphasized every day of the week because it’s the easiest way to deflate a team early, especially a young one.

The paragraph on Vaccaro captures all the reasons he’s exciting and effective. His tackle of Fauria was vicious. He stopped the big dude dead in his tracks and caused him to collapse in a way that reminded me of a boxer’s reaction to an unblocked kidney shot. Collapse and crumble. Kenny’s coverage instinct makes him complete. He’s not just a heat seeking missile out there.

Thanks for the write up.

i’m sure the horns work on special teams every day

I think the Goodwin block should be included on the defensive summary. He went a little high, but that can be fixed. As far as him not needing to do that much (I believe Davies said he could have just got in the way), screw that, the next time it mightbbe absolutely necessary and we know he can, just go a little lower.

As far as kicking, may be a good reason to field a men’s soccer team in spite of Title IX. Then you can always go grab a guy that can kick it out of the end zone.

We are owning the 4th quarter this year after 3 games, especially on defense. Probably goes hand in hand with being able to actually run the damned ball when want to and having MadDog busy with his Associate AD duties which don’t include S&C for the football team.

Scipio, have you seen any aTm play this year?

I ask partly because we crossed pens (rather than swords) about how to attack their 2-back attack nigh on a week ago, and partly because I live in this flea-bitten armpit of America known as College Station, and partly because no matter what else happens this year I want Texas to beat the Aggies to a pulp this season.

It seems to me that UCLA had a much better matchup vis-a-vis the run game than will said agroholics (though, admittedly, said agroholics having a passing game to balance the running game will make stopping their run more of a challenge…)

Way long way until that Thanksgiving contest, with the Alps ahead of us in the form of OU and Okie State, but the phucking Romans in the form of straw-headed pretend soldiers simply cannot be allowed to defeat Carthage this time.

And Diaz knows shit Hannibal Barca could only dream of….

Scipio, thanks for the bird’s eye view from being at the game. I’m always amazed by how much more someone sees while at a game even when they can’t rewind the tape.

I totally second you on the effect of the Pistol on our LBs. On several plays, we were back to the Rice game in terms of hesitation until the RB was already in and through the hole. You can expect the Sooners to use some 3-back formations to exploit the uncertainty when Robinson and/or Acho blitz, and if so, our secondary tacklers had better be on point or we may start to resemble Kansas against Ga Tech last week. Nevertheless, the run distribution was virtually all 3 yards or less with 7 runs of 7 yards or more. Bust with an occasional boom indeed.

I thought Jordan Hicks had somewhat of a poor game in the uncertainty department and was too frequently late in plugging the gaps left open by Robinson or Acho. Diaz’s scheme sometimes has two LB’s attacking with the third floating sideways across the back of the line to fill any gaps. This is OK I guess, but UCLA did a good job of getting off their combo blocks and into the face of a LB with no forward momentum, and this freed up most of the big runs.

I thought Byndom was unfairly credited with the blown coverage on UCLA’s 40 yard pass early in the third quarter. It was a wheel route to the running back Jordan James that was matched by Hicks but then Jordan gave up on it for some reason, and Diggs switched off his man too late. Chalk that one up to inexperience in passing off routes in a pattern matching scheme. But Hicks better expect to see that again.

To borrow a word from one of the posts above. I think this defense should be called the ‘machete’ defense.

I have seen some slow-mo replays of the Goodwin block from the backside and they seem to show his helmet hitting the chest and then coming up and pushing the defender’s hat off from underneath. If what I am seeing is accurate, then he wasn’t high on the contact, it was just so fast and violent that in real time you miss it, and the helmet coming off makes it look worse than it was.

Thanks so much for these. Condolences for your draft.

You think Christian Scott gets any playing time when he gets back from suspension? Do we even need him?

This… “Fauria could have legitimately worked us to the tune of 6 catches for 100 yards and Kenny made him irrelevant.”

Yer pro assessment of him is dead on. Is he here next year?

Nails on the ST play as well. I’ve bemoaned throughout ryegrass on here about touch backs. A simple touchback puts Broyles straight to the huddle.

Restaurant quality, sir. On a page one rewrite no less. These are not mediocre thoughts.

This just in! Dan Beebee about to be taken off life support by Big 12 Board. Texas blamed for it all for insisiting on a “do not rescucitate” clause in his 2009 contract extension.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7002818/dan-beebe-working-leave-job-big-12-conference-commissioner-report-says

Yea Goodwin aims his head at the guy’s chest, it was close enough to be clean imo, cause he for sure was not aiming at his head (see film), it was just furrrocious.

H -
 
Scott won’t see the field unless it’s special teams.
 
burnt in ny -
 
Good thoughts all. I thought the 40 yard wheel route was a shared bust.
 
sessamoid -
 
Tucker is a good athlete who wouldn’t make a single coverage team at Texas unless he was the guy kicking the ball. Thus, non-tackler.
 
Walden -
 
I’ve seen A&M play a little. I’ll watch them against OSU, obviously.
 
**
 
Goodwin’s hit was totally clean. Any tackle or block above the waist is going to have helmet clash. Think of a perfect form tackle. Even if the front of your helmet hits the guy in the numbers, the crown of your helmet will rock back his chin if you explode through it. It’s football 101. Goodwin led with his shoulder under the UCLA player’s helmet and exploded through.
 
Jackass didn’t have his chinstrap buttoned (he has his helmet knocked off in the 2nd quarter too) and the drama and violence of it flying off made the ref throw laundry. I can understand his reaction on the field, but the announcers watching it on replay should know better.
 
Clean hit. And I’d say the same thing if UCLA had done it to us.

I disagree on the Goodwin hit, his shoulder connected with the defender’s facemask, I thought.
That said, Goodwin shouldn’t be penalized for the helmet coming off, that’s on the defender and should also carry a 15 yard penalty.

Nice going on the second attempt, Scipio. Have to agree on the special teams take.

Agree with Scip. If his helmet hadn’t come hilariously flying off, no flag.

And we wouldn’t have had to endure comments from the booth like “And just think, these types of vicious hits used to be CELEBRATED on ESPN!!”. Yeah, used to be.

Must chime in on the special teams concerns. This is a glaring weakness right now which could, and probably will by Murphy’s Law, cost us a game if it’s not fixed.

I LOVE this defense: tenacious, vicious, smart, physical, confusing, opportunistic, unified, etc.
And they are so YOUNG!! (cold shiver just ran down my spine)

If anyone has a good estimation of during which quarter the Vaccaro hit on Fauria occurred, I would love to find it on DVR and watch it approx. 25 times. I missed that when watching the first time and sounds like something I need to see. I will be eternally indebted to anyone who can share that info.

it was right at the end on the first quarter. His interception ended the 1st quarter, the hit was the play before that.

The special teams stuff is really problematic, because this offense is going to bog down eventually. Mack has never shown any real proficiency in playing the field position game.

In this modern era of offense, many have forgotten or never learned the lost art of gathering 3 or 7 points by slowly picking up field position with defense and special teams. It takes time and effort and occasionally backfires, and is not the flashy style of football that creates audition tapes for the League.

“Someone noted in a previous post how Landry is dependent on pre-snap reads and I wondered how these shifts would affect their offense. Surly OU see’s game tape and knows we do this – but can they implement a counter measure?”

I think they will use a heavy dose of hurry up offense to limit our ability to do a lot of pre-snap stuff.

Thanks, stuckinmn. May the gods smile upon you and see fit to free you from your midwestern enslavement.

Defense is a team strength, and that’s probably due in large part to recruiting and player development not falling apart on that side of the ball. DT isn’t as thin and DB isn’t as green as we had feared. These guys tackle like they’re stamping their names on the ballcarrier’s ass. Prince probably felt like Alyson Hannigan had ridden him cowgirl style and had to take ecstasy for PTSD.

Is ST Mack’s Last Stand?

I’ve seen it written that Mack owns ST, and that Major, Akina do.

Given that the absurd fake FG / Pooch punt against Nebby in 2010 was acknowledged to have been called by Mack, is there any reason he still should have anything whatsoEVER to do with ST?

Dammit, we MUST get better coverage on kicks and planning of some sort on returns. That idiot K-O return by Donald Junior against BYU should have been the last straw for whoever it is that is coaching that group. I don’t care if it’s Mack or the Blessed Major, it’s gotta stop.

Bateshorn and Tex Long,

Agreed. In a tight game, repeatedly giving away field position results in cheaply earned points for the other side.

Strangely, the ST lapses seem to fly beneath Mack Brown’s radar of weaknesses to resolve. Over the years when asked, he has typically responded, “Yeah, we need to take a look at that”.

If this seems to critical of Mack, rewind to the 2005 opener with Ohio State game at the Shoe. Our NC team repeatedly allowed tOSU to return kickoffs to midfield and beyond. I believe the last one was to our own 43.

Tucker was the primary reason the pooch kick against Nebraska resulted in a complete bust. Tucker kicked a low trajectory ball directly to the return man — before our coverage could get set up downfield containment — not that they ever contained well. Tucker is not a great punter. His punts/kick-offs either have distance with no hang time, or hang time with poor distance. We need a punter/kicker that can produce hang time and distance — averaging Net Zero on return yardage. Then we don’t have to rely as heavily on coverage/containment.

Tucker was the primary reason the pooch kick against Nebraska resulted in a complete bust.

Sort of – but the call was fucking brain-dead in the first place, and sending him out on the field without grabbing him by the throat a la Woody Hayes and threatening to rip his windpipe out if he kicked the ball anywhere near the returner was inexcusable.

Ball was on what, 34, I think? That’s a 51-yard FG, with a decent bit of wind at your back and a 14-point lead, with three minutes left. Very makeable attempt, and very little downside to a miss… why the FUCK would you put a team of blockers – not tacklers – on the field and then punt the ball? Unbefuckinglievably stupid. Hell, it would have been a much more rational call to fake the FG and run for the 1st down.

With reference to DJ’s field-width run across the 5-yard line… was that just a brain-fart by DJ, or was it the ST coach insisting on following the planned Return Left? Either one is bad, and it turned out that DJ got yanked for it. Seems in either event like poor coaching… and not functionally different from all the times last year punts were fielded inside the ten or allowed to bounce and roll another 20 yards: seems like poor coaching. PR seems to be doing much better, but I’m afeared it’s only because J. Shipley’s actually a student of PR and a damn good athlete to boot.

Yeah, it’s prolly poor form for us to complain about parts of the game while we’re winning, but as pointed out above, these are the kinds of things that will rudely and savagely penetrate our anal sphincters in a close game. Needs to change, and sooner rather than later.

The second Vacarro hit Fauria at 12.40 in the fourth was a great catch.

TE is woozy from a helmet to helmet and you know he’s struggling to get a bearing on the loose ball. Watch Vacarro’s helmet as he comes into the picture: like the predator scanning for the loose ball, identifies two friendlies, moves on to a threat, then targets. Watch his legs as he loops out a little bit, avoiding a block in the back but more importantly makes for a far more vicious hit. Worth rewatching, thanks for that bossman.

Fauria had a good series, but instead of being an integral part of their offense, Vacarro transformed their strategy. Ha! Is there no end to my mirth?

MBG -

Great catch. I hadn’t noticed that. Looks like Kenny V decided to make Fauria his own special project last Saturday.