Texas vs. Iowa State - Post-Game Discussion Thread

Steady improvement each week which is very nice to see after lasts years debacle. Not sure they will beat OU but it should be a competitive game and if they can stop the run and put some pressure on L Jones and force a few turnovers they may have a shot.

Sure looks like Harsin is trying to get Ash more #1 snaps, which is what I thought would happen. Its a shame Gilbert didnt work out, I hate to put last year on him, but if we had just had a servicable QB I think we would have been at least 7-5 and this year we would be that much better.

The future beyond this year looks bright.

7-5 and we’re letting GD “re-tool” his “record setting” offense. Last year we broke the eggs. But this year we get some omelet.

Gilbert should be thanked for his services, either direct or indirect. It’s so refreshing to watch this team. Even if we’re not driving it every time we get the ball, you see and have faith that there is a coherent plan.

I’ve got to disagree with you somewhat, VA. If we had gone 7-5 last year I don’t think we have the massive overhaul in the coaching staff.

I always hear we need to stop the run first and usually I agree but just wondering why we don’t worry about the pass first against ou since they seem to live and die by the pass. I’d think our first priority is to get overwhelming pressure on Landry Jones and then worry about everything else. Not being an expert, what am I missing here?

I was awestricken the whole game, mainly because of the 180 degree turn the team has taken since last year. The beauty of the Harsin offense is that the players don’t have to execute exceptionally well to have success (unlike GD offenses). I was pleased with the defensive effort, everyone ball-hawking and disciplined. The O-line still needs some work, mainly in the dealing out violence category. Searels was on them early! I didn’t like Case’s fit and it was refreshing to see Mack ass-chewing him instead of coddling him. Lastly, I’m glad some 2s got in on both sides of the ball, but they do need to clean it up and give max effort regardless of circumstance on the field. A good “vague” win for The Horn, bring on Mobilehoma!

Great win, and Ash’s performance, in particular, was nice to see. Still, there was not the kind of improvement on offense I was hoping for heading into OU week. If turnovers are even I give (pull out of my ass) the Horns a 20% chance to beat OU. Hopefully the D can continue to trend of winning that battle for us.

I couldn’t watch whole thing. Will someone recap the “case fit” / “Mack ass-chewing” thing? What happened?

The thing that strikes me about the first four games is we often look chaotic. Running around all over the place. Out of sync. Which makes our opponents look the same. And, I guess, is the game plan.

That’s what this team has become. Tons of shifting and motion. Lots of personnel changes. Seven defensive players seem to be in motion just before the snap — and of course the O-line can’t find its desired targets and 1-2 defenders are running free. Our offense is over here, no, we’re over there. Who’s got the ball? How’d he get so open? Damn, 15 yards, first down, and we’re already lined up to go again with five different players at the skill positions.

I can’t help but think Harsin, in particular, is flying by the seat of his pants. By the time opposing defensive coordinators figure out what we’re doing — by the time our offensive starters figure out what we’re doing — Harsin has moved on to something else. I’m not always comfortable with what he’s doing, or Manny’s crazy blitzes and the resulting holes in the D.

But you can’t argue with the results. And they players are REALLY PLAYING HARD. We might have been 13-1 two years ago, but only on occasion did I see the level of effort I’ve seen the first four games of ’11.

I enjoyed the game, but the gap between Texas and Iowa State last night seemed far smaller than the gap on the scoreboard. We were the beneficiaries of every bounce, every call, every break… The early turnovers seemed like the difference in the game to me. Whether it was ISU playing sound defense or us failing to execute, our offense was not as pretty as I was hoping for after the UCLA game and a bye week. It was interesting to see touches for Marquis and DJ flip, again. I totally disagreed with Malcolm Brown and Jaxon Shipley being in the game midway through the 4th, and I expected to see a 3rd string QB (or WR) get snaps. I was expecting us to give OU more wrinkles to chase their tail preparing for this week — Did I miss them?

Love the way Gideon and Vaccaro are playing

Very pleased overall. A couple of things in particular — we are so young at QB and both guys made some fundamental mistakes (each could have easily had an INT) but Ash improved a lot yesterday. We are putting them in good positions and not asking too much from them, which is a refreshing thing to see.

Really good to see the 2-deep on defense and O-line get time. That’s something we haven’t always done well, getting young guys key time, but we seem to be doing it this year. I like to see it.

The DEs improved dramatically in the second half. They let Jantzen and the ISU backs break contain a lot in the first half but did a better job in the second. Good to see.

Our secondary continues to improve, although there were some dodgy missed tackles on White. Plenty to chew ass over in run support there, but a nice job overall.

DJ Grant, unfortunately, had a bad game last night. He alligator-armed an Ash throw and seemed to show lack of effort on at least one other I can remember.

Fozzy was really outstanding last night — he ran very, very hard. Monroe was quietly effective. Brown and Bergeron both did their jobs and ran hard. Good production out of those guys against a tough defensive front that was loaded up to stop the run.

OL struggled a lot, especially first half. Someone more knowledgeable will have to tell you why, but I think maybe they were being out-quicked to the gaps? And maybe second half the quicker guys wore down? Not sure, but they struggled but improved as the game went on.

MLB spot struggles in run support. Probably will all year. I bet we see more Edmond there as the year goes on, especially on running downs. Otherwise, LBs played OK. Hope Hicks is alright.

WRs blocked well on the edges and mostly did what we wanted. Good showing from them.

Lots of good displays and plenty of teaching points. Big road win is good for the team. the fact we did it without playing lights out is even better. They are getting better, which is all you can ask of a team this young. It’s really fun to watch again.

Thoughts:
Gideon had a great game. Best interception I’ve seen from him. Solid tackling in the open field. Got to the QB on the blitz.
TFL given up by the offense on the early downs was discouraging.
Ash/McCoy. Both need to play. Both are working through their problems.
Fozzy threw a nice ball. Really nice discipline of ISU to not blow the coverage on that.
I still love Edmond, and the other fish backups flashed some as well.
ISU needs some more players from Texas. Maybe they can snag a few Aggy commits. Gotta like how Rhoads’ teams play.

Perfect result. The game was in-hand far sooner than even the coaches expected it to be. The last razzle-dazzle on the TD before the end of the first half was the nail in the coffin. The rest of the game plan offensively was to keep it safe and to prevent injuries. The defense’s goal was to get a shutout (just let that sink in!) until we started revolving in some of the 2deeps.

Now we’re going into Dallas with a lot for OU to chew on and we’ve still got some powder dry. We didn’t need it all last night, fortunately, and we can now unleash it on our hated enemy.

edsp, if you think that offensive chaos is a bad thing, you mustn’t have been watching much Stanford or Oregon last year. IIRC, they had pretty damn good offenses.

Gameday will be in D.

I missed the game last night, however as soon as I got home I read the play-by-play and was actually disappointed. Seems to me like we never established the run, allowed them to move the ball when we weren’t turning it over, and never consistently moved the chains ourselves, relying on turnovers and big plays to rack up the points.

Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled with the win, but when I heard it was 34-0 at halftime I was starting to dream about beating OU. That has been a little bit tempered having read the play-by-play. Great progress by this team though, and a wonderful job by them and the staff, but I still think we will get a true measure of the progress over the next 2 weeks. I couldn’t guess whether we will be 6-0, 5-1, or 4-2 by then.

you could just feel the life in the stadium go after we got up 20- except for the idiot Cyclone behind me claiming that you are not allowed to hit a punter even if you touch the ball. Everyone, including the players and coaches on both sides, just wanted to get out of there after that, so I would not put too much stock in the 2nd half.

On the bright side, Fozzy just walked up to my kids and offered them his gloves. Vince and Colt just moved down to 2 and 3 in the stuckinmn kids all time Longhorn player rankings.

Offensive line was awful in the first half. Boatloads of penetration that caused plays to go for litte/no/negative gain. On 4th down when we didn’t convert on Cody Johnson’s carry, the second left tackle (there were two+ a guard lined up left) was two yards in the backfield. ISU was getting penetration on outside zones and sweeps that were bottling up plays. The O line has lots of work to do to shore that up. We’ll need to run the ball better against OU.

Hookem

The defense will face a real test against OU. The Diaz approach will prove itself or raise questions. It’s hard to predict how it will go. Texas has not played anybody yet that could throw beyond passably well. However, I like the trend of this defense. They bend some, but they are always around the ball, and they have given up very little in the way of big plays. Not many sacks or tackles for loss, but good on turnovers and against scoring. They’ll have to tackle well in this game. OU’s skill people are good enough to make us pay if we miss them.

Iowa State may give OU some ideas on how to deal with our running game. We made Iowa State pay with some big plays in the passing game, but we weren’t very consistent about it and some luck was involved. We will have to execute the passing game much better against OU to win, or they will overload the running game.

Our special teams worry me. They aren’t very special. That is to say, we gain no edge from them at all. The potential is there, but somehow it just hasn’t clicked yet. Punt return average is good, but on only 5 returns. Kickoff returns are abysmal. Punting is mediocre. Kick coverage is spotty.

To my mind, the game will turn almost entirely on whether or not our defense can disrupt Landry’s timing. If we give him time to pick his targets, we are toast.

Lurker – you are dead on about the special teams. OUr kickoff coverage continues to stink. I worry that OU will take one to the house.

Two observations made by Scipio during the game yesterday stand out and have obvious implications for OU:

1) ISU finally ran the “Case McCoy Defense” : Press man outside, outnumber the run. Scipio predicted opposing teams would eventually show this, and ISU beat OU to the punch. The inherent advantage of Ash is emerging, and the progression seen up through ISU is encouraging.

2) “Read this really fucking slowly. We are playing six in the box most of the time. Manny is telling ISU to try to drive 80 yards on 14 plays using Jantz as a runner. They can’t so far. You may not like it aesthetically, but there it is.” If we can minimize big passing plays by OU using a similar approach, and with ou having one less rushing threat (Jantz >> Jones), we may have a chance.

"Read this really fucking slowly. We are playing six in the box most of the time. Manny is telling ISU to try to drive 80 yards on 14 plays using Jantz as a runner. They can’t so far. You may not like it aesthetically, but there it is."

Yeah, I didn’t understand some of the criticism of the defense I was reading. I guess people want to see TFL, TFL, sack, punt or something. The first team defense gave up 3.7 yards per play by my calculation, which is pretty good.

Seems to me some of th players are reading too many press clippings. McCoy thinks he’s “the man” and is upset at being switched out. DJ is TE of the week and just mails in the attempt.

The second half I was thinking, "I hope Harsin is going vanilla because we’re up and we don’t need to show OU more than we have to. Also, “Hunh, I see names in the defense I normally don’t see. Okay, 14 points is on 3rd string. I hope.”

It’s great so many freshmen are getting real playing time, rather than 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. However, that first game of the RRR always results in wide-eyed frosh. I’m a bit nervous for Saturday – but not depressed if we still had the same old gang in the booth.

4-0 is better than 2-2, regardless of how we get there.

We are a Top 10 team – it’s official:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/polls

A great win. The O is young, but fun to watch. I don’t think we are 34 points better than ISU, and we are not likely to beat blowu.

I trust Harsin to make it interesting to watch and Manny to keep us from being embarrassed. 6 wins are by no means a given, but I feel so much more confident we will get the needed extra reps that come with a bowl game.

Scip’s quote really nailed it and is consistent with what has been predicted here since pre-season camp. Reality is most teams can’t execute their offense that flawlessly on a length of the field drive and almost none can do it consistently throughout a game. We also have good enough athletes on defense that we are going to make our share of disruptive plays.

The entitlement in some of our fanbase is really ugly. They act personally offended when we don’t score in 5 plays on offense or go TFL, TFL, sack, punt (thanks for that bigdukesix) on each defensive possession.

Special teams are going to kill us against OU.

That’s the overriding negative coming out of last night’s game. Tucker’s kickoffs were progressively shorter and shorter and his punts were in the 35-yard range with little hang time. Skilled return players are going flip fields in a hurry — or take it all the way to the house — unless/until we get it fixed.

Everything else seemed to be the progression of a young team learning new systems.

Hook ’em.

I think everything we saw last night was for OU eyes.

1. We beat a team on the road that (A) whipped us at home last year and (B) definitely came into that game expecting to beat us again.
2. We did not play great football and showed a lot of things on film that will require focus this week to get fixed. I think the team will understand that OU won’t give as many gifts as we got yesterday from ISU. Practice will be intense this week.
3. That said, I think this young Texas team goes into RRS expecting to win next weekend. It may not happen but the confidence has to be building. It won’t be overconfidence. It will be just the right amount of confidence.
4. Our depth chart on defense got a major workout in live snaps yesterday. I swear that we started putting in 2012 commits late in the fourth quarter. Did they get gashed a bit? Yes, but injuries always happen in the RRS and those snaps for the backups are like gold. We actually have film on those guys (and identified plenty of areas for improvement). Plus we got to see who is "ready" (Steve Edmond, anyone?) I don’t consider those garbage time minutes either because their first team was still in and still playing to win. The other major benefit is that everybody shows up at practice this week paying attention because you now know that your number can/will be called.

Any worries? On the one hand, not really. I never expected this game to be competitive this year. I’m not expecting a win but I now expect it to be competitive and I think a win is definitely possible. That’s amazing. That’s fun… The only major heartburn that I have is our kickoff team.

We seem to be getting progressively worse in this department as the year goes on. I expect by the A&M game that every kick will just be onside because that’s as far as Tucker can kick it anyway, so why not? Seriously, we must be close to last in the nation in whatever kickoff statistic there is that measures net yard of kick divided by yard of return multiplied by number of open run lanes… or something like that.

The big question is, why no improvement? Why no change? Can’t Mykkele Thompson boot a kick into the end zone? What about David Ash? Sedrick Flowers? Seriously—and I’m assuming that we score enough to warrant multiple kickoffs next weekend—we are putting our D in a hole if we kick line drives to the 18 yard line and OU catches them on a full sprint. They will start every drive at the 50. I see improvement everywhere I look in this team except for this one area. That’s a bummer.

Other than that, I’m very excited to see our boys compete next week. Hook ’em.

Very few teams are going to both outnumber you in the box and do press coverage because it invites the big play and radically reduces the ability of the DBs to do run support.

It was really surprising to see Case get upset at the end of the first half, evidently because he was not playing. IIRC, it was 3rd and 2, which is an obvious Ash down due to Ash’s running ability.

Ash took a big step forward in the first half (when the game was determined) last night. If he has time, he throws the deep ball accurately (though it seems like it takes him a long time to get rid of the ball, like he is really aiming).

UT OL did not inspire confidence.

BrickHorn, thanks for posting this thread. It gives everybody a chance to discuss the game while the more artistic posts are being created.

Horns should run the Wild Fozzy a bunch vs OU. Love the 225 pound Ash as a blocking WR and sometime passer in the Wild Fozzy. Would like to see the WRs who don’t block well replaced in the Wild Fozzy with receivers who can block well to see how much it improves the run game.

Could have and should have been a much closer game. ISU has two TD’s called back because of WR holding. IMO, one should’t have been called. We got seriously gashed in the run. I don’t buy that it was part of our strategy. The same holes that UCLA had (they could have trounced us with a committed run) were there for this game. I think we see a lot of S.E 33 against OU especially if Hicks is hurting.

 Could it be possible to see Robinson slide over as an OLB with Acho, with Edmond controlling the middle?

I’d keep Ship in the Wild Fozzy because he is a triple threat (catch, run, pass). Would replace Davis with Onyegbule in the Wild Fozzy.

How many of you realistically thought we’d be 4-0 at this point? How many of you believed we’d have a snowball’s chance in hell of beating OU before the season started? From reading the game thread late last night, it appears most of did, for some reason.

Offensively, we continued to stay with the run last night and, when you take out McCoy (3 for 2 yds) and Ash’s (3 for 17) stats, our real running attack ran the ball 34 times for 160 yards, or 4.7 per attempt in a very hostile environment. We only threw it 14 times, folks. Brown averaged 4.2, Fozzy 5.9 and D.J. 6.2. At some point in time, we are going to use Malcolm Brown on a fourth and short—I can’t wait! Would I like to have seen more scoring in the second half? Yes, but we were a makeable field goal away from scoring 40 or better two weeks in a row with what is still an offense very much in progress. Also, we spent the second half taking advantage of the lead and continuing to expand David’s reportoire. That may not be as fun to watch as scoring 50, but it’s better for the program down the road.

Defensively, Scipio’s post is spot on. We did exactly what we wanted to do and all they got were some garbage time points against guys in clean unis who needed to get some PT. Phillips’ fit, wrap and strip of their humongous TE was technically textbook perfect and caused a punt and the fact that Digg’s name is rarely ever spoken speaks volumes. I’m very happy for Gideon and hope last night is a harbinger. Kenny V, as good as we thought he was, is getting even better before our eyes.

 Kickoff coverage still inexplicably sucks, but we are asking a lot of that unit to get far enough downfield to cover weak kickoffs that are neither very high nor very deep. Root cause, IMO. On the other hand, we found our old familiar friend, the blocked punt. Welcome home stranger, we’ve missed you! Anyone notice it was nordberg’s buddy, Y2K, a true frosh, who got the block with another true frosh taking it to the house. Good stuff!

McCoy is a coach’s son and his behavior was inexcusable. It worries me. I guess he actually believes botched intercetions that wind up in his receivers’ waiting arms and exceptional bail outs by Shipley of his downfield throws are the result of his magically inhereted “it” (?) factor.

My real bottom line—-we played our first conference roadie in a hostile place against a very well coached team one week before the biggest game of our season, and we won it in stride. I am so encouraged about what I see from this team and this coaching staff. As much as I’ll be pulling for it to happen, I don’t think we’ll beat OU. But I’ll wager that we don’t quit either and still manage to keep getting better even if we come up short. This team and staff are right on track toward putting our football program back where it belongs. We may very well be 4-2 by this time two weeks from now, but we are giving our kids a fighting chance to win every game and the difference in effort and attitude is like night and day.

Any word on Hicks’ injury?

Big win. Nice. We didn’t finish as strong as I would of liked to see, but at least we didn’t aggie it up the second half. Lot’s of talk about Ash’s arm strength compared to McCoy’s although many underthrown balls by Ash including Shipley’s nice td reception. Of course Longhorns beat Sooners, I’m always suprised when they don’t.

Steve Edmonds is great at MLB but it was surprising to see him get tired so quickly. Sometimes that happens when you have an adrenalin overload.

Conditioning has been talked about as an issue with Edmond for over a year now. Sure looks like he could be in better shape. Right now just looks like a country strong athlete who hasn’t put much time into conditioning or the weight room.

Also, hope this doesn’t step on anyones toes, but is EyesofTexas doing the G,B and U anymore? If so, can you point me to the website/blog? Thanks

Two unrelated notes.

(1) I would have loved to have seen Bo Pellini in the lockerroom after getting physically dominated by Wiscy. They ain’t Kansas, Bo!

(2) Fear the CFKABS (Cadaver Formerly Known as Bill Snyder)!

Love the win but really wanted to establish some sort of offense other than pulling rabbits out of a magic hat to score TDs. Maybe this is our offense until we have a QB that can lead the team.

i’ve thought all along we’d be 4-0 right now, and i expect to see 5-0. how ’bout dat?

nobody but me would remember, but i predicted months ago that programs all over the nation would be itching to replace staff to try to replicate what we are doing right now.

Bergeron keeps looking good in limited duty: 28 yards on 4 carries for 7 ypc.

Hope the horns unveil an efficient screen game next week because it is doubtful that the horns’ OL blocks well straight up vs the OU front 7. Horns will probably have to run wide and pass short to set up the inside runs.

“Maybe this is our offense until we have a QB that can lead the team.”

That and an above average OL and our offense could reach dominant levels.

“Conditioning has been talked about as an issue with Edmond for over a year now. Sure looks like he could be in better shape. Right now just looks like a country strong athlete who hasn’t put much time into conditioning or the weight room.”

You may be right but it would be amazing if his conditioning is that bad, especially with Benny Wylie in charge of conditioning.

Back in the day, many football players played every down of the game: offense, defense, and kicking/punting downs.

Edmond has the “it” factor. He has to be on the field for us against the Sooners.

"You may not like it aesthetically, but there it is."

Scoreboard is for losers. Football is about the decorative balance of form and function.

Boy some of y’all are over playing the so called fit, Mack actually patted him on the shoulder. non of us have any idea what was said and its pure speculation until someone named Mack or Case address it. I personally think its nothing to worry about. Case will play this week.
I would like to see Bergeron a little earlier in the game. For some reason Cody looked a little tentative hitting the hole on the first 4th down play.
Im glad Ash got some meaningful playing time in the passing game. He lost 17 yards running around back there. That should get addressed this week in practice. Fozzy is a heck of Wildcat QB. I expect a win against OU. Mizzou played them well, i believe we are better than mizzou. OU front 7 were gashed in that game.

The second half offensive performance is pretty hard to judge: the coaching staff seemed to be doing the same things, calling aggressive plays and playing starters. However, it seemed like the effort and execution was off, which is pretty common for Mack Brown teams in this kind of situation. What the hell does he tell them at halftime?

I hope the Horns find a kicker because it sure would help the defense if they had a full field to defend. One thing I saw with Iowa State is that their line couldn’t really run a non-huddle or hurry up offense. I wonder if our young guys are going to be able to be disciplined enough to line up quickly and adjust on the fly. I know they’ve been working on this defensively since this is a concern every year.

The offensive line got beat in long stretches. If they have similar lapses, it won’t take much to turn the ball over.

OU’s defense is quicker getting to the edges but I think that they can be passed on and I think they can be run on over four quarters.

Back in the day we didn’t live in air conditioning, kids did not spend their days playing video games, and practice was easy because of the work they did at home outside.

That is true, Davey.

We are doing what we are supposed to do — getting better each week. The young guys, like Edmond and Bergeron, are getting good experience and not costing us a game to get it. We are 4-0. How many expected that? (Frankly, I did but didn’t want to say so because everyone would say I was crazy.) Most people were saying 2-2 before the season started.

So how much better should it be? None. We have gotten about as much out of this young team as anyone could ask. Can they go all the way? I don’t know. Not many expect that. But only 4-0 teams get to ask the question.

Tackling will have to improve to have any chance of beating OU. Despite the fact that ISU was playing from behind the entire game, they still had over 100 yards rushing.

Before this season started, I thought the Horns had a better than 50-50 shot at being 4-0. I based that almost entirely on the upgrade in coaching. I’ve always thought if Boise had 4 and 5-star recruits running their offense, they’d be invincible.

But I also thought before the season, and still do, that the Horns have very little chance at being 6-0. If UT goes into Kansas week at 5-1, they’re ahead of schedule. Yet even at 4-2, assuming competitive games against OU and Okie Lite, they’re doing fine.

Overall, you have to be pleased with these kids and the quantum improvement in attitude and effort vs. last year.

“The same holes that UCLA had (they could have trounced us with a committed run)”

Ha, are you sure you were watching this years game?

That’s not a very informed comment

Yeah whatever happened to the G, B and U? Good question

Ash played a lot more snaps yesterday and was the man in the meaningful 1st half. Has he moved ahead of Case in the QB race? Ash has a clear edge on the deep pass and running. Case has the edge in reading defenses and short passing. Which skills are more important vs OU?

My worry is that UT is not able to make first downs efficiently vs OU and the UT defense wears down.

Monty, case waved his right arm in digust as he came off and was clearly pissed. Go back and watch him as Ash comes running in from the sideline on 3rd and 2 and what Case does as he’s leaving the field.

yeh, I admire your optimism, my friend.

Most important area of improvement is finding a second clutch receiver. Unfortunately that’s the kind of thing that develops in games. Hope someone steps us. Too many drops. Old festering problem for us. Grant and Davis were teed up for it but both had bad drops against ISU. We won’t go past the Alamo bowl without a gamer not named Shipley.

Here is the link, for GBU, no updates since mid August

http://gbu-eyesoftx.blogspot.com/

I agree with Monty, I think the “fit” could have been Case being upset at himself for throwing a bad ball, as soon as the play was over the camera showed him tapping his chest, as in “my bad”

1. ISU got caught up in the “Beat Texas” frenzy and was unfocused whereas we were the exact opposite. Gotta give credit to Mack, he often seems to turn these hostile road game atmospheres into an actual advantage.

2. Defense doesn’t give up big plays unless there is blatant holding. Despite our lazy recruiting over the years we still have elite athletes running around on that side of the ball. When well-coached as we most certainly are, teams like ISU and most of the B12 are going to have difficulty scoring points against us.

3. Kickoffs and KO coverage is a time bomb. It’s bizarre at this point because it’s been half-ass for years now. Yet when there are badasses like Mykelle Thompson on ST there is still the potential for game-changing plays in our favor. If we had a rock solid kicking-punting game we might be a legit top 5 team right now.

4. The offense is so refreshing to watch now that it’s hard to be judgemental. I do think the Ash running threat is a bit overrated.

I was hoping that UT runs the ball efficiently vs the OU front 7 and forces OU to frequently have to put 8 men in the box to stop the UT running game. That would significantly reduce the pressure on the UT QBs. I now doubt that UT will run efficiently on the OU front 7 unless UT significantly improves the short passing game and runs wide a lot more to set up the inside running game.

Both the short passing game and wide running will benefit from skill players that are good blockers.

OU will be much less vulnerable the big play than ISU.

.

Has Ash run for positive yards yet?

Can some explain why we use a “heavy” package on kick returns? Why are
the running backs doing kick returns.

Ash has run 14 times for a net of 16 yards. Case has run 5 times for a net of 4 yards.

I love the win, but it just seemed like we were kinda lucky yesterday. It’s also disturbing that we left so many points on the field that will kill us against OU.

The duel QB thingy is not going to work, long term. We need continuity and we need McCoy to be at least as mature as Gilbert has exhibited. I’m convinced that Ash is our man and needs his game time reps – period. Ash just has more upside than McCoy.

Edmond ran out of gas and was begging to be taken out of the game – this is not good.

I don’t believe that OU will score the points that most of you think they will. Diaz is brilliant and just has his shit together.

Finally, OU sucks!

“Ha, are you sure you were watching this years game?”

Read this: http://www.shaggybevo.com/board/showthread.php/97629-Texas-run-D-vs-UCLA-(pics-included)

“hardlymarvin said: October 2nd, 2011 at 12:05 pm

I agree with Monty, I think the "fit" could have been Case being upset at himself for throwing a bad ball, as soon as the play was over the camera showed him tapping his chest, as in "my bad""

Nope. Different play. The fit was looking up at Harsin and waving his arm in anger when he saw Ash come in. Look at it. Also,when your head coach is talking to you for an extended period of time, you at least look him in the eye at some point or acknowledge what he’s saying. Again, watch the interchange, or lack thereof.

Ash’s best game rushing so far was against BYU: 9 carries netting 36, long of 13, and 4.0 ypc. For any single game this year, that is significantly more productive than Case or Gilbert.

Ash only had 2 rushing attempts at UCLA and none at Rice. Rushing also didn’t appear to figure very prominently Ash’s game plan against ISU. You could look at Ash’s productivity vs BYU as a fluke, or the relative lack of it the last two games as purposefully emphasizing Ash’s development in other areas. I suspect there’s more there than what we’ve seen.

I think Jake is probably right. At the time I was struck by the fact that Case was not looking at Mack the whole time Mack was talking to him. It seemed very weird to me. Let’s see if it happens again.

We’ll need far more sideways passes, bubble screens, and predictability to beat OU.

Jake i never thought about Harsin in the booth, yes he was waving at him ! I love competitive kids as long as it doesnt go over the top, this wasnt imho. Kind of reminds me of a kid named Applewhite.

It is doubtful that the inside zone read play where Ash has the option to run inside or hand off to the TB to run outside will work well against OU. My guess that the reason they are having Ash run the option play less is that now there are only 2 scholarship QBs on the roster and they want to protect them more.

In an ideal world, the QB running would mostly be used as a fake to set up the blocking for the OL and the running by a back or WR. One problem is that a defense is always going to be much more concerned about Monroe (for example) running than Ash running. The other big problem is that the option gives the defense an opportunity/excuse to light up the QB (did you notice how hard UT was hitting Steel on the option play, even though he did not have the ball anymore?).

It seems obvious that the easiest, least risky way for a QB to make a defense move laterally is to roll out with the threat to pass the ball. If the QB then immediately (after a couple of steps into the roll out) hands off to a TB running the opposite direction, the defense will be wrong footed and the blocks will have been set up nicely for the OL (same effect as a counter play or reverse). The roll out can be done by both Case and Ash (you wouldn’t want Case running the option because he might get hurt).

Re Kafka: “My guess that the reason they are having Ash run the option play less is that now there are only 2 scholarship QBs on the roster and they want to protect them more.”

It also certainly figures to not run the QB when we post sizeable first half leads in consecutive games since BYU and doing so without use of the QB option. Inside zone read with Ash may not work vs OU as a pillar of the offense, but employing it more unpredictably at key moments could prove pivotal.

After reading a lot of Texas boards the last 24 hours, I can see why Scip has to keep reminding us that GD is no longer the OC anymore…

Great point TripleHorn. Unpredictability definitely improves the chances of success. Colt never liked the QB option play that much but was great on ad hoc opportunity draw plays.

The horns started rolling out a bit yesterday, I hope they do it a lot more vs OU because it should be easier for Malcolm to run inside after a fake roll out gets the sooners running the wrong way.

Kafta, i believe you worry way too much about Case getting hurt. IF Case did run a option he wouldnt be doing it more that a couple of times a game. We have Fozzy for that kind of stuff anyway, hope he doesnt get hurt, hope Monroe doesnt get hurt, Hope Ash doesnt get hurt. and the list goes on.

TXPride
“After reading a lot of Texas boards the last 24 hours, I can see why Scip has to keep reminding us that GD is no longer the OC anymore…”

I don’t understand that. Most Texas fans are super happy that Harsin has replaced GD. Why would there be any need to keep reminding us that GD is no longer the OC?

“Unpredictability definitely improves the chances of success.”

This has been the biggest thing about this offense that I’ve had to get use to this season…

I think we as Texas fans have became conditioned to the idea, as a result of watching a decade of GD’s offense, that if we saw a flaw in our offense, chances were that those flaws weren’t going to get fixed. (Hence all the freaking out, even when we won big or with relative ease.) We had to hope that our talent and athleticism would help us squeak past decent to good opponents…

1. on the Coaches and USA Today polls
2. on the AP

shhhhhh, don’t tell the team.

Monty,

I agree that if Fozzy runs the option instead of Case, we don’t need to worry about Case getting hurt running the option play.

Rolling out is much less risky than running inside for a QB. So far the coaches have not had Case run the option play, probably to preserve his health. Case has rolled out. So Case can be incorporated into the run game with less risk by rolling out than running inside. Ash’s much superior physique (compared to the somewhat scrawny Case) need not be an insurmountable advantage wrt to incorporating Case into the run game.

When you are down to 2 scholarship QBs with 9 games remaining, you have to scheme to protect the QBs.

Kafka,

I saw you post after I submitted the one below it. Does that answer your question?

I still see a lot of Texas fans on other boards freaking out about flaws in the offense. Where I keep thinking that if they ever actually read Scip and Jesus, they might be a little more at ease. Every game I come away amazed at how dead on the info coming from this board has been. I’m even more amazed that I haven’t had to pay a dime for it…

“I think we as Texas fans have became conditioned to the idea, as a result of watching a decade of GD’s offense, that if we saw a flaw in our offense, chances were that those flaws weren’t going to get fixed. (Hence all the freaking out, even when we won big or with relative ease.)”

It is probably more that there are some flaws that even Harsin can’t fix schematically and that even Harsin can’t fix everything instantly. The only area where fans seems to not trust Texas coaching is in kickoff coverage (not coached by Harsin).

Perhaps…but after 4 games, I already have more faith in Harsin’s ability to utilize our talent and correct (or work around ) our flaws then I ever did with Davis.

I agree completely about kick-off coverage.

Non sequitur alert:
“Perhaps…but after 4 games, I already have more faith in Harsin’s ability to utilize our talent and correct (or work around ) our flaws then I ever did with Davis.”

Have you found any Texas fans who disagree with that statement?

Everyone else has covered all of my thoughts pretty well. The only thing I want to say is, I’m pretty much over Case McCoy. He won me over in the UCLA game, but his hissy fit after being swapped for Ash turned me back into an Ash proponent real quick. Give me Ash. Maybe Case can join Adam James in the electrical closet.

I said: “The only area where fans seems to not trust Texas coaching is in kickoff coverage (not coached by Harsin).”

TxPride said: “I agree completely about kick-off coverage.”

This means that you agree that Texas fans trust Texas coaching in all areas besides kickoff coverage. If so, why would you think there is a need to remind Texas fans that Harsin has replaced GD? It just seems like a gratuitous, unwarranted insult to Texas fans. We get that Harsin is better than GD.

Kafka,

You’ve completely misinterpreted my intentions and my comments…

I was making an observation based on what I’ve seen on other boards…If you take that personally, then I don’t know what to tell you. You’re picking a fight for no reason…

TxPride:
No problema, tranquila.

For some reason Cody looked a little tentative hitting the hole on the first 4th down play.

Maybe it’s just me, but the mental image I have of Cody hasn’t changed a heck of a lot this year. He’s in better shape, sure, but it seems like on the short-yardage play, he’s always had a tendency to run straight at the pile, shuffle his feet a little, and dive right into it. I’m not sure I want to see him on 3rd/4th and short much more – at least, not with the ball in his hands… although maybe that turns into PA and he slides right through the line and is wide open over the middle.

Has Berryhill carried at all? Any word from practice about him getting some runs? He’s hot shit blocking, for sure, and I’ve noticed him lighting some people up on kick coverage.

I was looking for us to be 3-1, maybe 4-0 at this point. I kinda thought we might drop one of BYU or UCLA but not both. We have a fair chance to top the ‘Clips, We have to play error-free, and even or on the plus side of turnovers to make that happen – the kicking game absolutely MUST improve, particularly kickoff coverage. I have a feeling there are several things we’ll see from the offense that have barely, or even not, been hinted at in games so far. Thinks: we gonna see the Tebow package, ain’t we? We gonna see DJ, Marquise, and Fozzy in the same backfield, ain’t we? We gonna see Mykkele on O, ain’t we?

Yeah, a 19 year old getting pissed for coming out pf the game is just unheard of. I can’t fathom that happening.

We need both to win games.

4-0 and in the top ten. Not bad for a bunch of rookies. Let’s see how they handle the next two weeks.

I’d love to get some feedback/insight on how something as flawed as the kickoffs and punts are being addressed by the coaching staff. They’re watching the same game as everybody else. How can Tucker continue to kick off and punt?

Sure would like to hear with the Asset and/or Big Cigar have to say. Heysus?

Paul Rhoads is the real freaking deal. And Texas did have ..more talent on the field yesterday, but…. this was all about TEXAS having out-freaking-coached a great-freaking-coach.

When the hell was the last time anybody remembers that happening?

I don’t remember it happening in the Mack Brown era; Mack has put together some great teams and gone out and beat the snot out of some other great teams, but outcoached? No.

It for damned sure didn’t happen under Mackovic. He outguessed Solich, but Solich was an overrated hack, so I don’t really count that.

It didn’t happen under McWilliams or Akers, and therefore, if it happened, it was before my time on the 40 acres.

I heart me some Harsin and Diaz. Unbefuckinglievable. I iz in serious MAN LOVE with these two mad scientists.

Oklahoma has a better team than we do, and anybody who doesn’t know that is a moron. But TEXAS has a chance, because no matter what else happens in Dallas next weekend, I know for 100% certain TEXAS will do a better coaching job than Oklahoma.

That’s almost worth as much as a ‘W’ to me. Paul Rhoads > Any Stoops Brother. And Harsin/Diaz >>>> Paul Rhoads. Hell yeah.

I expected to be 4-0, especially after all the news from the Asset and Cigar over the last 6 months. BYU and UCLA don’t have the talent or discipline to match Texas.

I was really disappointed with the kick coverage. The kicking is terrible for one but that is even a different issue. Mack has to find someone with a stronger leg or at least have one of the other kickers do kick-off. It looks like everything is starting to suffer now.

But even worse is the coverage itself. The little amount I was able to see showed that the coverage team is more-or-less staying in their lanes, which is good. The problem is they are flat out getting blocked. On each kick I watched there were multiple either missed tackles or potential tacklers right there but getting blocked. They either are putting out the effort to fight off a block (my opinion) or they aren’t getting sufficient coaching about how to fight off a block. It is getting really bad. ISU was so unconcerned that they had upbacks fielding and returning the pooch kicks because Texas can’t get defenders that short distance with a high kick.

I was also disappointed in the offense, mainly in the 2nd half. It was sloppy. The line was unaggressive. It seemed like the rested even more in the 2nd half. That could have been due to getting more backups some experience. If so I feel a little better but I would hope the 2nd teamers would be able to put a TD drive or 2 together. Maybe they were looking ahead to OU, I don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t a bad as it seemed but didn’t Texas greatly outgain ISU last year? I prefer this year’s game for sure but yardage does tell you something.

For the defense I was pleased. The 2 TD drives of the 4th quarter was with 2nd and 3rd teamers in, so I understand what was happening there. That and some players with little experience got some dumb penalties that sustained the drives.

I think we need to see more from the Oline and Ash and McCoy, if we are going to beat OU.

Monahorns pretty much covered my thoughts…though I didn’t watch the STs as closely as he did.

I wonder if our ST problem is an issue of ‘want’ or an issue of ’can’t’, or a little of both. I haven’t watched to see who the personnel is but in the past the best ST guys were often the freshmen. We were fielding talented guys who were relishing their chance on the field. This year’s freshmen have much bigger fish to fry and are getting major playing time during the game. Maybe they aren’t hungry for field time and just aren’t going 100% on STs. Or is it that since the freshmen are playing, it means that the STs personnel have too many guys who just weren’t good enough to start or even crack the 2-deep and therefore we don’t have enough talent on the kick teams? Perhaps Monahorns or someone who has watched the return team can shed a little more light on just who is on the field when we are returning kicks.

That said, our problems might just be that we don’t kick the ball far enough or with enough hang time to allow our guys to be in the proper position…

Great win for the Horns! Although I realize there is room for improvement I know a lot of these guys are freshmen and untested. Guys, ISU didn’t cross the 50 yard line until halfway through the 2nd Qtr and didn’t score until we were substituting playing. Take this win and enjoy it.
We have a great chance against OU. If Harsin could beat OU with less talent at Boise he can defiintely work with this crew.

Interesting, Sagarin’s BCS ratings has us 5th! http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt11.htm

Ricky, I haven’t noticed the personnel on coverage. Every time I think to look it is too late. What I noticed this time was defenders in position to make the tackle but either was a step late, missed a tackle, or couldn’t get off a block.

We need a Beau Trahan, Michael Ungar type to take a leadership role on the kick off team. So far punt coverage hasn’t been as bad. Keeping fingers crossed against OU.

" this was all about TEXAS having out-freaking-coached a great-freaking-coach.

When the hell was the last time anybody remembers that happening?

I don’t remember it happening in the Mack Brown era"

OU 2008

" this was all about TEXAS having out-freaking-coached a great-freaking-coach.

When the hell was the last time anybody remembers that happening?

I don’t remember it happening in the Mack Brown era"

Nebraska 2010 comes to mind…but then I guess Pelini shouldn’t be considered a great coach…He definitely has the ‘freaking’ part working though.

So the odds makers are saying 9.5 points OU. Hell, I think we’re going to surprise a lot people. I think da Horns can win this one too. Come on Horns, you fellas are on the big stage now.

Bo definitely brings great freak. But his offense stank, and his defense only outcoached GDGD.

It’s great to be 4-0 and all, but those 4 teams are pretty lousy. The schedule gets real starting next Saturday. And the talent gap between us and ISU is much less than that between us and ou. We will have our hands full from here on out with every team except possibly Kansas.

With regard to ou, I don’t think 9.5 points is near enough if that is the line. They have better talent at every position on offense, with the possible exception of rb which is a push. But all other positions on offense are heavily weighted in ou’s favor, especially at qb. No one, but no one, is lying awake at night worrying about Case McCoy. Nice kid and all but nowhere near a championship Div I qb, at least not yet.

We were told our front 7 is the “best in the Big 12”. Riiiiigggghhhhhttttt….. Our secondary may be good some day but we have no one on the team that can cover their top 3 wr’s.

Our special teams are horrid. Absolutely horrid.

All in all, not exactly the recipe for a win in Big D. This one is 34-13 ou, and likely not that close.

Looking forward, we need to find at least two more wins somewhere. It won’t be Osu, at MIzzou, BU or A$M, so it needs to come from KU, KSU and Tech.

Really cool app on rivalries including Texas-OU

Www.si.com/rivals

“This one is 34-13 ou, and likely not that close.”

It’s certainly possible. Anything’s possible at this point. We don’t yet have any idea how good this team is. The measure so far has been imperfect.
Whatever happens, I just want to see great effort and attitude. If we lose, let it be because OU has a superior team, not because they wanted it more.

Looking forward, we need to find at least two more wins somewhere. It won’t be Osu, at MIzzou, BU or A$M, so it needs to come from KU, KSU and Tech.

Christ, dude. I know your shtick is ridiculous hyperbolic negativity, but this is way too much for me. You honestly think this team will struggle to get to 6 wins?

I am bookmarking this thread, so prepare to eat crow in two months.

All in all, not exactly the recipe for a win in Big D. This one is 34-13 ou, and likely not that close.

Ha, I skimmed over this part. You’re too much Ransom.

RS -

You taking any action on OU -21?

I haven’t read the comments, so this has probably been addressed. I’m very well satisfied with the coaching and the effort being given by the kids, both offensively and defensively. I realize we have some depth issues and will suffer some from inexperience with so many young players. I can live with that. The one thing that drives me insane is our punting and our short kickoffs. I just can’t believe we don’t have someone on the roster who can do better on both counts. I smell Mack Brown meddling with personnel to reward someone who has bled for the program.

RS —
That’s a pretty gloomy summary. The remaining stretch may be as disappointing as you prognosticate. But lets look at the accomplishments.

Rice — Texas and Baylor were their biggest challenges with both games a 25 pt mov. And Texas’ victory showed much better defence with that same mov.

BYU — Texas and Utah were their biggest challenges. Utah runs away with this comparison. But we also made a pretty severe transition in that game to a new set of QBs. BYU won the rest of their schedule.

UCLA — Texas put a bigger hurt on them than Stanford did. That isn’t bad company. UCLA also has a close loss to Houston and a couple wins.

ISU — Texas gave them their first loss. Their other wins were close but respectable opponents.

These teams aren’t great but they aren’t, as you say, “lousy”. And Texas beat them like Texas should beat them given the youth, personnel transitions, and system development that is under way.

Gee thanks, Ransom. It’s nice to have someone to tamp down expectations. I’ll tell you what. I’ll take Texas and 21 points if you’d like to make a wager.

Excellent comments otherwise. Again, I think a helluva lot of our kick coverage problems have to do with kicks that are too shallow and not high enough for our unit to get downfield far enough by the time the returner has started upfield with the ball. I admit to being much less than an expert, but so, apparently, are our special teams coaches.

Monty, I don’t think anyone on this blog has problems with a player being competitive. There’s a distinction between that and being self-centered and potentially divisive. And I haven’t seen anything from Case that makes me think he could sniff Applewhite’s jockstrap as either a player or a competitor. It may happen, but he isn’t remotely close to that zipcode at this juncture. Like Kafka, I’m hoping it was a one time thing, but he acted like a petulant child and ignored his head coach when he was attempting to counsel him about it. Real leaders don’t do that. Stop making excuses for him.

Jake Lonergan, when not watching sideline communications during Longhorn games, translates political speeches for the hearing impaired. Following is a link to some of his work.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BadLipReading#p/a/u/1/BhDhDRvHaGs

OK, that was funny.

“"Ha, are you sure you were watching this years game?"

Read this: http://www.shaggybevo.com/board/showthread.php/97629-Texas-run-D-vs-UCLA-(pics-included)"

So essentially what that post is telling you is that if we weren’t up by 21 points, we might have had to play the zone read differently. Of course we were up by 21, so we didn’t and we won the game going away.

Pretending we were tied 0-0 is silly, and saying that UCLA would have beat us if they ran the ball is also silly

Clearly, if either UCLA or Iowa State had scored more points than we did, we would not be undefeated.

Equally clearly, if the ’Clips score much more – or even a little more – than we do, we will likely not be undefeated after we lose.

Frankly, I don’t give a fuck if we win 10-9, 31-30, 34-0 or whatever… as long as we win.

Be watching for a bit of trickeration on ST. I have it on excellent authority that Bob Stoops wakes up several times a week, drenched in cold sweat and mumbling “Hook and ladder! Halfback pass! Stachoo of Liberty! Aaaaaagggghhhhhh! NOOooooo!!!”

Nobody expects the Harsinquisition.

Lurker: absolutely agree and if there is one thing we have learned in the four games to date, is this team is hungry and the new staff can motivate. I have no doubt maximum effort will be there.

Renaissance: good points. Collectively, our opponents are 9-9 so ‘lousy’ may be a bit strong. ‘Extremely average and not ranked’ might be a better description.

Overall, I’m not sure 7-5 is a bad record. Give Harsin and Diaz another year to get their players, and give the boys a year of the new systems under their belts and the future is very bright.

2 more wins and we’re bowl bound!

RS is an aggy.

I have to think the money play is on us being 4-2 after OSU. That becomes the crucial juncture. Either the coaching staff keeps the players on an upward trajectory or the season could get ugly if confidence wanes. I have no idea what happens after that.

If we split or win both, the pressure of the expectations becomes the new demon and with a young team we will risk dropping a game or two to teams we shouldn’t. I’m looking mostly at KSU, but I think a loss at Kyle to an imploded Aggie team looking for redemption, is another obvious trap.

Am I wrong in thinking that our defense matches up better with OSU than A&M? Despite the second half choke jobs, A&M’s running game is down right scary (especially between the tackles), they have a very good passing game, and can add the mobile QB dimension.

For once, I think Texas will be at least equally motivated at A&M.

Our kickoff coverages scare the daylights out of me. I remember watching a CFB game this weekend (can’t remember which schools were playing, however) and paying attention to the kickoff/coverage. All of the KO team players ran down the field spaced evenly apart in a near-perfect line, each one staying in their lane. When the kick returner advanced but was then tackled as he met the advancing human wall. During Texas kickoffs, however, I always notice Longhorn coverage guys never arrive in a line but rather in a piecemeal fashion. The fastest (one or two) Horns always arrive first and then typically overrun or whiff on the tackle, and then the KO receiver dashes upfield and finds a seam or hole to run through, going for long yards.

Instead of a “get there as fast you can and then try to make a tackle” philosophy, our KO unit needs to see the opening battle scene in ‘Gladiator’ where General Maximus leads a cavalry charge through the forest while telling his men “Hold the line! Stay with me!”. Another example is Civil War battles where each side would form long skirmish lines, never allowing them to be broken. Our guys need to think in those terms, and not allow the fastest guys to run wily nilly down the field leaving gaps in the line.

For once, I think Texas will be at least equally motivated at A&M.

Prolly – we can hope so, anyway.

One of my (relatively few) problems with Mack has been that he seems to be unable to get his teams fired up for games – which is why I think we have had way too much trouble with KState, Tech, and agy. Coach February, yeah; Coach October/November, not so much.

The line @9.5 is more about expectations of Oklahoma oil money rolling in on the bet, i would not be surprised if it falls dramatically before the game.

DJ, Marquise, and Fozzy in the same backfield, ain’t we?

Mental orgasm.

DJ, Marquise, and Fozzy in the same backfield, ain’t we?

Mental orgasm.

… and Shipley in motion across the formation… Got anything left?

RS said:
“Looking forward, we need to find at least two more wins somewhere. It won’t be Osu, at MIzzou, BU or A$M, so it needs to come from KU, KSU and Tech.”

Let me get this straight… a win against Mizzou is completely out of the question? Mizzou.

Used to know a guy named Ransom – not Stoddard. Last time I saw him, he came back from a meeting with our ScoutMaster and assistants at Scout Camp, with cum dripping off his chin. Kinda lost track of him after that. Hadn’t thought about him for half a century, until I saw RS’s name on a post awhile back. Worse than having John Jacob Jingle Hammerschmidt stuck in your ear imo.

Make. Images. Stop.

10 points is what is figured the line would be. Awesome, there is no pressure on the horns, nobody expects them to win. For the sooners, there is a lot of pressure because they are supposed to win. Anytime you have a decent chance to get to the MNC, every game is gut wrenching pressure.

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