The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
If I were Bill Little, I might start this piece off with waxing prose about how every team is a work in progress. I might talk about how every team has its ups and downs, its good weeks and bad weeks, weeks when your opponent does some surprising things they had not shown before.
If I were Bill Little, I might even compare this team to a work of art, maybe a painting by Picasso, whose features are just beginning to take shape and find their ultimate color, form, and texture. I might say that, like a Picasso piece, it’s got a really big nose, only one ear, a left arm attached to its pancreas, an eye for a navel, and only three fingers on its right hand. Or perhaps not.
If I were Bill Little, I might go on to talk about how friendly the good people of El Paso are, how hospitable they were to our players and coaches. I’d probably point out what a beautiful setting the Sun Bowl is for a football game, built into the side of a mountain, overlooking the basin in which the city proper resides, one endzone overlooked by a craggy peak onto which local citizens climb to view the game and engage in other fun activities.
Well, he sure was having a good time, anyway.
If I were Bill Little, I might talk about how happy the coaches were with the way the team “survived the surge” last night, even though UTEP’s “surge” appeared to go on well into the third quarter. I might talk about how the coaches determined our guys had the edge in “explosive” plays, and how great it was that we got to see the vaunted Q Pack on several occasions.
And finally, if I were Bill Little, I might finish the piece by talking about how lucky we all are to be Longhorn fans, about how this was the 22nd time in 23 tries that Mack Brown had demolished a very strong non-conference opponent on the road in a game that kicked off after 8:23 p.m. Central Time.
Yes, if I were Bill Little, I’d probably talk about all those things and more in this piece, because I’d still have quite a bit more space to fill.
But I’m not Bill Little, so I’m going to go to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and discuss what we really saw once the ESPN cameras finally managed to turn to our game late last night.
First, the UGLY:
- Defensive backfield - the Chinese fire drill from 2006-07 reared its very ugly head again last night, as the good guys were torched for 267 passing yards by a team that had its head handed to it by freaking Buffalo last week. We sat in a very soft zone throughout much of the game, and demonstrated conclusively we still have very little aptitude for playing zone defense. This has been an ongoing theme of Duane Akina’s career at Texas - even during the great 2004-05 seasons, when the backfield was filled with future NFL stars, they still had hell executing a zone defense. At least we can say that these guys are young and should get better as the year goes on, but given the experience of the last two seasons, the key word in that sentence is “should”.
- Pass rush - as in, “where the f*** is the goddam pass rush???” I mean, c’mon, we were playing UTEP here, guys, and we had to wait until the fourth quarter before our defensive line finally managed to put a little pressure on the QB? I have to admit that I just don’t understand. It’s not as if we don’t have extremely strong, quick and talented individuals manning that line at every position. They ought to be able to get in the QB’s face from time to time. Yesterday, I watched OU do it. I watched Ohio State do it. I watched Florida and Miami do it to each other. I watched Penn State do it. I’d love just once to see my team do it, too.
- Texas A&M - Man, these guys are awful. Just really, truly awful, in basically every phase of the game. They won, but wins don’t get a whole lot uglier than that one. Sherm is looking 2-10 right in the face with this bunch.
Next, the BAD:
- Bob Davie - given his performance last night, the former A&M/Notre Dame coach appears intent upon wresting the title of most inept color commentator on college football telecasts away from perennial winner by acclamation Dave Lapham. I’m typing this at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, and Bob Davie still doesn’t know how to pronounce our defensive coordinator’s last name. To Davie, it was ‘Mus-Kamp’ all night long, with the lone exception being the time he pronounced it ‘Mus-Kump’. I figure he was about 2/3rds of the way through that flask of Old Crow by then, so it wasn’t all his fault, but still, isn’t there anyone on the freaking ESPN crew who could take 3 seconds to correct his stupid ass? And it wasn’ t limited to Muschamp, either. Sam Acho became in Davie’s mind Sam ‘A-CHO’. Or maybe he was just sneezing, how can we be sure? Regardless, Davie is now the surprise early leader in the running for the coveted Al Derogodas Trophy that we will award in the season-ending GBU to the most annoying TV broadcaster in the nation. Keep up the awful work, Bob, you’ve got Lapham on the run.
I’m on your ass this year, Lapham!
- The Longhorn running game - Ok, we have one obvious difference-maker at tailback in Foswhitt Whittaker, and another possibility in Cody Johnson. So naturally, we had two very hard working but average backs on the field 70% of the game. I have little doubt that Vondrell McGee and Chris Ogbannaya will get the majority of the playing time all the way through the OU contest, and that is a very sad commentary on our offensive coaching staff and head coach.
- Linebacking - To use a Darrell Royal quote, just as average as a day’s wash. There were a few good, athletic plays sprinkled in here and there, and Muckelroy had a very nice game, but overall just not as much of a factor as these outstanding athletes should be, which is a shame.
- Blitz pickup - yet another chronic, year-on-year weakness for this program popped up again. UTEP is a blitzing team, everybody should know they’re a blitzing team, they have been a blitzing team for the full four years of Mike Price’s tenure. Yet, our offensive line appeared to be surprised by all the blitzes, and completely unprepared to pick them up. How in the hell does that continue to happen?
But enough of that stuff. We won this game 42-13, so let’s go to The GOOD:
- Quan Cosby - or, as Bob Davie likes to call him, Quan “Crosby”. Davie was probably trying to spot Quan’s dad, Bing, in the stands all night. Quan was, in a word, awesome last night. It was the game of his career, with 8 grabs for 154 and a beautiful TD catch. I think it’s safe to say he’s the best 39 year-old wide receiver in the country. Ok, he’s only 34, but still…
- Fozzy Whittaker - We have seen the future at tailback, and his name is Fozzy. The only question remaining is how far into the future he will become our starter there. He had 12 totes for 72 yards, and every carry was exciting. He is a guy who can make space and extra yardage for himself, which is what the Greg Davis “we-don’t-need-no-misdirection-because-we’re-Texas” scheme requires from a running back. This is the guy - will it take another dismal running performance against OU for Davis to figure it out?
- Colt McCoy - Colt played the first half of this game about as well as any Texas QB outside of Vince Young has ever played, picking the UTEP defense apart with pinpoint throws despite being under consistent pressure. But then he went into a mysterious funk throughout the third quarter. Overall, though, it was another good game.
- Special Teams - Another fine game for these guys. Quan made a very head’s up play for a 65 yard return of a missed field goal, we had not one, but two partial punt blocks from our suddenly reborn punt coverage team, and Justin Tucker’s kickoffs and John Gold’s punts continued their excellence for a second straight week. The coaches still appear to be satisfied with 15 yard kickoff returns and fair caught punts, but that is what it is, apparently. Overall, the improvement in our special teams from last year to this year is outstanding, and the coaches should be applauded for making that happen.
- Defensive Player of the Game - Rod Muckelroy, who really stood out on an otherwise pedestrian defensive night with 14 total tackles. This guy is developing into a true dominant player.
- Special Teams Player of the Game - Quan Cros, er, Cosby.
- Offensive Player of the Game - Quan Cosby.
Next up, the Arkansas Razorbacks, who had to stage a furious 4th quarter rally to overcome UL Monroe. Before you start chuckling too much, you might want to look at the box score of this game, which was played against a team at least as good as the one the Longhorns took on last night.
Arkansas out-gained ULM by 506 to 341. We were outgained by UTEP. Arkansas had a statistical edge in every category, and while they struggled throughout the first half, they really got things going midway through the 3rd quarter. Casy Dick threw for 323 yards on the night, and Michael Smith had 157 yards rushing, more than our entire team.
It may be that Arkansas is as bad as they looked for the first 6 quarters this year, or it may be that Dick and his offensive teammates just began clicking in the Bobby Petrino offense in the 3rd quarter last night. I’m kind of leaning towards the latter, but then, I’m a worrier.
Seriously, I just remember the last time Arkansas came to Austin. We were heavy favorites in that game, and got shoved all over the field in a very dismal loss. I sure hope no one associated with the Texas football program is thinking this is going to be an easy game.
Last night’s game with UTEP was, overall, a very distressing revelation of just how vulnerable this team is. The defense has tons of holes and needs dramatic improvement over the next month to be able to compete with Oklahoma and Missouri. Coach MusKa, er, Muschamp definitely has his work cut out for him.
Hook ‘em!!!
September 7, 2008 at 6:29 am
Nice read, but honestly that QB was under pressure all night. No sacks till late, but there were DT’s, DE’s, LB’s and DB’s running free into the Miners’ backfield all game. No one was actually making the sack, but there was pressure.
September 7, 2008 at 6:48 am
UTEP’s qb was under pressure all night and we were in the back field making him make adjustments all game. He did make throws while on the run - see your point about secondary. Our secondary will cost us one, probably two games this year because of youth.
September 7, 2008 at 7:03 am
Good write-up. I too will be baffled if Fozzy hasn’t taken over the starting RB position for the Arky game. I know we are a very young defense, but I got suckered in to all the orangeblood’s hype regarding the miracle Muschamp was going to perform. Maybe by the bowl game we will be performing like a top tier SEC defense rather than a bend don’t break big 12 D. I can live with bend-don’t-break as long as we keep winning.
September 7, 2008 at 7:12 am
Spot on!
I agreed with every item. The most puzzling to me are:
1. Why no pass rush? ever, regardless of DC.
2. Texas requires a super RB in order to be effective in a Greg Davis offense.
September 7, 2008 at 7:15 am
The play not to lose Mack is back. I figured he would at least get through the non-conference schedule, but I was wrong. I look to forward to a spirited Holiday Bowl game.
September 7, 2008 at 7:15 am
One Good you overlooked: punt blocking efforts. We didn’t get a clean block but we had a least one partial block and we were around the punter all day. I expect a good year and wouldn’t be surprised if I punt block saves out ass in a Big 12 game.
September 7, 2008 at 7:20 am
FWIW the secondary, although repeatedly torched was in the vacinty, which is an improvement ove last year. Oddly enough, I thought our defense improved when we stopped blitzing and started dropping everyone into coverage. But I also had half a dozen red striped in me, so your mileage may vary.
And what’s the deal with Colt’s happy feet returning?
September 7, 2008 at 7:29 am
UTEP runs a confusing 335. Greg Davis only knows how to call plays by guessing the defense. Since he has no clue about this defense, our playcalling was substandard even or him and Colt had to run around a lot.
September 7, 2008 at 7:29 am
We can all hope that Bob Davie was right (not likely) and Muschamp is not showing anything to future opponents bc we did look pretty vanilla all night. LBs did look poor in coverage and our zone was awful. Kindle and Orakpo and Miller looked good. Our pass rush did get there but they just couldn’t finish the job, which in itself is a bit of a concern. I think the “UTEP outgained us” is a little overblown, they got 80 yards on the last drive against our 3rd team and it’s kinda like beating Tech by 30 and getting outgained. It just happens sometimes.
Thanks for not singling out Earl Thomas in the Bad. I read all the reviews last week and now I finally got to see the errors for myself. Gideon does look good though. The PI call on Chykie was a travesty.
I think Aaron Williams got that 2nd punt block.
September 7, 2008 at 7:46 am
It seemed to me that our D had no problem getting through the line, but once they did they couldn’t even get close to the QB or RB. They came busting through the line and continued into the back field past the QB giving him the extra time to either throw the ball away or find a WR. Texas has always had problems with over pursuit and it looks like this year is not an exception. Hopefully, our pass rush will work on taking better angles to the ball and not run themselves out of position.
September 7, 2008 at 8:09 am
I dont understand the comment we were outgained by utep?
September 7, 2008 at 8:10 am
Besides all the other drivel spewing from Bob Davies mouth, he actually called Greg Davis “a genius”….(imagine the cartoon sound when Scooby shakes his head in disbelief).
September 7, 2008 at 8:11 am
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The offense is predictable and the personnel decisions are baffling. RB’s aside, how many players have to be decapitated before Mack realizes Ulatoski’s best position is The Pine?
The defense is exactly the same: The line gets no sacks, the secondary is terrible, they rarely force turnovers and our lb’s disappear more often than not. [who on earth stole Norton’s jersey last night–a wino? That was miserable].
Special teams are mediocre. Same old insistence on using the least elusive guys on the team as returners.
Missouri, Tech, OU will all be bloody. Daniel, Harrell and Bradford will dislocate their shoulders throwing for 700 yards while our db’s look at each other in puzzlement.
Same old team, same old coaches.
September 7, 2008 at 8:16 am
Oh, and can we quit talking about the Q package now? It either doesn’t exist or we don’t know how to run it. Either way, I would anticipate Chiles to transfer after this year and who could blame him?
September 7, 2008 at 8:19 am
Q Pack exists - we were in it several times last night. We just don’t do anything effective out of it, yet. Hopefully, Davis is holding stuff back for more important games, though we should not just assume that, giving past experience.
September 7, 2008 at 8:20 am
“I dont understand the comment we were outgained by utep?”
We had 404 total yards, UTEP had 412. Any more questions?
September 7, 2008 at 8:41 am
Ransom hit it right on the head. O-Line play is weak…Ulatoski is below average, No playmakers on the return game, no explosive players on Offense except for Whittaker who doesn’t start. Mack is staring down another season with no CC which will make him 1 out of 11. Does anyone really believe that Mack would still have a job had he not signed one player?
September 7, 2008 at 9:06 am
Ransom you might as well stop watching football because you get little to no joy out of it.
September 7, 2008 at 9:09 am
This team is just like every other team (with the exception of VY years ‘04 and ‘05) in the Mack Brown era–talented but under-motivated players, clueless/uninspired coaches. It’s the same year after year after year.
It’s like wiping your ass with a wagon wheel–there’s no end to it. And every year some of the posters are saying that GD is holding the good stuff in reserve, not showing the whole playbook until the right time. Like in a big dick contest, you don’t show the whole thing, only enough to win. Harrumph!! Now it’s suggested that Muschamp is doing the same thing. Yeah, right. So far, I’ll grant that Muschamp is enthusiastic and energetic and flails around like a maniac on the sidelines, but I’m unimpressed with the results of his coaching.
September 7, 2008 at 9:11 am
I’m more concerned about our rush defense than I am our pass defense. Jackson, Thomas and Palmer averaged 5.5, 8.5 and 7.0 yards per carry against the Horns, respectively. That’s piss poor. On the other hand, we only gave up 5.8 yards per attempt. For comparison, the Horns gave up nearly 7.0 ypa last season.
And, yes, we should fully expect to hear a litany of excuses from Mack as to why Fozzy spent the afternoon of Oct. 11 sitting on the sidelines watching the Longhorn offense eke out an anemic 2.1 yards per carry in another pathetic Greg Davis Dallas shitfest.
September 7, 2008 at 9:14 am
I should also add that our paper-thin D-line was even further depleted with the suspension to Houston in last night’s game. Our rush D was much more impressive last week, so I will reserve judgment until after the Arkiesaw game.
September 7, 2008 at 9:17 am
And, yes, we should fully expect to hear a litany of excuses from Mack as to why Fozzy spent the afternoon of Oct. 11 sitting on the sidelines watching the Longhorn offense eke out an anemic 2.1 yards per carry in another pathetic Greg Davis Dallas shitfest.
========================================
I expect to hear that he didn’t start because Vondrell is so great at blitz pickup and Ogbannaya has soft hands.
September 7, 2008 at 9:21 am
Don’t forget that freshmen make mistakes and, in a big game, you can’t rely on freshmen. Did I mention that, according to rigorous empirical studies by the prestigious Joe Paterno Institute for Football Platitudes, a football team can expect exactly as many losses as it has freshman starters, irrespective of any other factors (such as the talent of the freshman starter, the talent of the upper-classman he replaces, the chemistry of the team, the quality of the opponents, etc.)? That’s a FACT. There is no disputing it, and we’d hate to play a freshman against OU and lose twice to the Sooners in one game. It’s better to play the mediocre upper classman and just lost once.
September 7, 2008 at 10:11 am
I’m sick of this “Q Package in reserve” business. It’s like saying a pitcher has got a screwball hidden away to use in game seven of the world series.
If we are going to use it, use it and get good at it. Otherwise it’s just a gimmick that looks cool against Rice, never to be seen again until the holiday bowl.
I know, you know, Bob Stoops knows the Q package is smoke.
September 7, 2008 at 10:57 am
Wow. The Debbie Downers are out in full force today.
Were there that many signs of doom? From the comments, you’d think we looked bad the whole game.
September 7, 2008 at 11:04 am
“Nice read, but honestly that QB was under pressure all night. No sacks till late, but there were DT’s, DE’s, LB’s and DB’s running free into the Miners’ backfield all game. No one was actually making the sack, but there was pressure.”
You obviously don’t know what what “pressure” is. Having our DE’s run upfield and wave at the quarterback on their way past him is not “pressure”. That’s not keeping containment. Making the quarterback move his feet is not “pressure”.
“Pressure” is forcing the quarterback to throw off his back foot because he is about to take a shot to the teeth. “Pressure” is knocking the QB on his ass on a regular basis. “Pressure” is getting more than 1 sack in 2 games.
A quarterback stepping up in the pocket and throwing to an open WR in a soft zone is not a quarterback under pressure.
If we are not going to get pressure against FAU and UTEP, it is going to be harder to come by against the better teams on our schedule.
September 7, 2008 at 11:10 am
Exactly.
September 7, 2008 at 11:37 am
The Q Package is only meant to keep Chiles in Austin. It is bull-shit. We need a backup QB, so Mack is stroking Chiles. If Chiles was smart, he would transfer now because Next year Colt will still be QB, and there will be a new 5-star recruit that will probably be getting 2nd string snaps.
September 7, 2008 at 12:51 pm
A good GBU. Colt and Quan were magnificent, the secondary was frightening, and Fozzy was great. Bob Davies needs to find another line of work. And you are dead on about Arkansas. Their last visit here was a cluster, and we cannot afford to be underestimating them. Muschamp has 5 days to get his defensive house in order, or we are going to be reading some ugly barking here next Sunday.
But as you note, we won handily. I just wonder how much is really in reserve and how much people thinking we have stuff in reserve is just wishful thinking. We will know a lot more by Saturday evening. Hook Em.
September 7, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Reasons for optimism-
McCoy is really playing well.
Whitaker looks like a much-needed playmaker. We knew we needed a young player to step up, and so far he is it. Hopefully a receiver will, too.
In quarters 1, 2, and 4 (garbage time), the Miners ran 64 plays for 359 yards, for 5.6 yards/play. In the 3rd quarter, they ran 13 plays for 53 yards, a 4.1 average. I don’t know if Muschamp made any adjustments, but I can hope.
September 7, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Good write up. After two whole games, I offer the following wild-ass-guess prediction on how the remainder of the season will play out:
Ark–Texas wins in solid but not-clicking-on-all-cylinders fashion. Game is settled by the beginning of the 4th quarter
Col: Texas loses in a similar game to KSU 2 years ago.
OU: After a week of dire predictions of a 60 point loss, texas fights hard and loses a close game in similar fashion to last year
Mizzou: Texas rebounds after OU loss per usual in Mack Brown era and wins in a shootout.
Rest of the season: Win one and lose one out of Tech and KU and win the rest culminating in a pounding of a terrible A&M team. Win the mediocre bowl game unless it is a terrible matchup.
September 7, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I love to eat and beat pig, and my tailgating bud(ATX Hornsfan) is cooking a whole one in the box for our party Saturday morning. Remember to hide your underage children as well as your animals and undersized t-shirts and sweats as the inbred nation is in the process of plugging tires and radiator hoses and filling trashbags with urine for tossing in order to start their way to God’s country after prayer meeting Wednesday. In order of dislike, Ou sux bunch, sheep culters and then the Deliverance crowd as far as I am concerned. Remember it would have been the teeth brush but for its invention in Arkansas to get their cousins’ pubes out of their teeth.
September 7, 2008 at 3:30 pm
This did remind me of the Holiday Bowl against Wash. St. Everyone knew they were going to blitz but our coaching staff seemed surprised when they did and were not capable of handling it.
Still waiting for that attacking defense from those future first rounders.
September 7, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Good read. Generally agree.
My optimistic view is that UTEP had a good surge, which we dealt with. Then we just dominated 20 of the first 30 min of the game.
In the second half, we have to give Price his due. He made some nice adjustments, and it was hard for us to keep doing what we had been doing. It took us a while to figure them out, and I think that the Longhorns thought that UTEP would fold. UTEP did not fold, and the horns had to try to get serious, which they did.
Look, the safeties look like they are freshman, which they are. I am worried and pretty sure that we will generally be exploited here. I just don’t understand what the coaches can do about it, other than “coach them up”.
As for the Ransom Stoddard view that we are making bad decisions of playing time, he has some good points. But on Brown’s side of the argument, we already have a green secondary and a green running back. How many more freshman do we have to play? There should be some premium placed on lack of turnovers by the kickoff and punt teams, which is what Mack is doing with quan and shipley. Clearly, Ransom prefers the higher beta freshman…I think that reasonable minds can differ here. Over the course of the year, I am hopeful that we can work the young fast guys in. We probably do need them ready for OU and games like that.
I am pretty happy with this win. See you guys at Arkansas! I always think of Tony Jones catching the winning pass in 87, what a game, and boy did we suck that year.
HOP
September 7, 2008 at 3:52 pm
More ugly: The continued mismanagement of the backup QBs. Yes, the Q package is a joke, but it’s worse than that. We do nothing to give the backups quality reps, even after the outcome is no longer in doubt against the crappy competition Mack loves to play so he can Win 10, Baby! Hell, Harris can’t even get any reps in warmups, and I still think he’s a better QB than Chiles.
Running back: Vondrell and Chris have spilled their blood and waited their turn. Barry Sanders couldn’t beat them out until after OU. Only when GD needs a scapegoat for another debacle will Fozzy become the man.
As for the defense, we’ve created a culture of crappy defense that would take a great DC a couple of seasons to correct, even with great talent and assuming everything went right. A lot of bad muscle memory needs to be “unlearned.” I doubt Muschamp will stick around long enough because the obstacles to success are too pervasive. It’s not an accident that we’ve changed DCs so often and continue to suck on that side of the ball.
We are what we are: Soft, coddled, complacent, underachieving. In short, a typical Mack Brown team.
September 7, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Again, my point is that we see and hear the same thing, year after year after year. “Davis is being bland on purpose to catch OU by surprise” and “Our defense is really not that bad, it’s just young”. It has nothing to do with my happiness level, it’s just reciting the facts.
And btw, I watched the OU replay today and they are really really good and are clicking on all cylinders. Their offense will put up 50+ on our D. Their defense is not quite up to the last couple of years but they are fast and big. McCoy will chew up Ulatoski and spit him out.
September 7, 2008 at 7:15 pm
did anyone think that utep might just be a pretty good team, yea i know that they lost to buffalo, don’t know what to think about that, but i will say this, for all the hype that the b12 qb’s get, i’ll bet that vittatoe probably has a better shot at making the leaque than just about any of them, the guy just seemed to have an unreal canon for an arm, one that is accurate as well, and also utep has a wide out, i think his name was moturi, a walk on they said, who at least for that game looked as talented if not significantly more talented than any wideout that texas fielded that night. could it be that mack isn’t joking when he talks about increasing parity, cause utep from what i saw looked like a talented team. anyway, aside from all that i was estatic last night cause texas found its savior at rb. one that this offense sorely needed. and he may just be the type of teenie weenie physical scat back who can be successful squeezing between those big lumbering lineman for ou and running by them.
September 7, 2008 at 7:26 pm
“big lumbering lineman for ou”
Is this a linebacker you’re talking about? Because OU’s DL averages 274 across. The biggest DT is 302 lbs.
I think Stoops, Castiglione, or Boren must have some sort of blackmail/leverage on UT, because even I’ve noticed that UT waits until after the OU game to make all of their most necessary, most valuable changes. It’s just ridiculous.
September 7, 2008 at 8:30 pm
take a breather okie, i meant big lumbering as in a figure of speech, no offense to fat people in oklahoma on football fields intended, after all it would not be a stretch to say that anyone who is over 300lbs and moving is said to be lumbering, no matter how fast they maybe be moving. i would suppose a descriptive figure of speech could even be applied to fat boys who happen to play for the okies.
September 8, 2008 at 1:24 am
Wow based upon some of these replies I’ve got to say (and I cannot believe I’m actually doing it) I agree with Mack Brown about our fan base. Some you people are just whiney asshats. Am I the only one who watched our football team last year? We would have been damn lucky to WIN this game last year. And even then it would have been a disgusting 35-31 kind of win. Did anyone really feel threatened during this game? I didn’t.
Now I come on here and I see people getting pissy about our DC after his SECOND game. Are you s-h-i-t-t-i-n-g me? Second game?
Eyes there was a pass rush. I suggest that if you recorded the game you go back and watch it. We consistently made their QB reset his feet and take his eyes off his WR’s. That’s pressure. We consistently got hands and hats on the QB. The problem isn’t the pass rush the problem is no QB is going to get sacked if every freaking receiver is open. When they’re allowed to man up our corners (aside from Death Ewok) have shown they can be tremendous. Unfortunately our bumbling head coach and former defensive co-ordinator don’t trust them. That sucks. Hopefully Muschamp can scare them into submission and correct that. As for the safties…well it’s going to take sometime for them grow up.
All in all I’ve got to say the best thing about the first two games this year is how quickly the season has turned into “My God are we going to suck I hope we don’t lose like 7 games” to “My God we suck because we can barely cover the spread.” If that kind of spoiled attitude isn’t a testament to the success that Mack’s had here, I don’t know what is.
September 8, 2008 at 2:48 am
monkeyass - why don’t you save all the cheerleader nonsense for orangebloods, ok? If you don’t want to hear anything at all negative about the team or coaches, Hornfans is also available. Thanks.
September 8, 2008 at 3:33 am
On D, we primarily rushed 4, and–given that–we applied decent pressure. I don’t think you’re going to read any articles saying their QB had lots of time to throw.
Earl Thomas made some laughably incredible mistakes…some we paid for, some we got lucky and the WR dropped the ball.
September 8, 2008 at 5:33 am
steven
September 7, 2008 at 7:15 pm
did anyone think that utep might just be a pretty good team,
No.
September 8, 2008 at 5:44 am
UTEP maybe the worst team in CFB this year. Please dont defend the way we played in El Paso it just makes you look bad. And no, we did not apply pressure. I imagine the people who say we did are the same who think we don’t run zone read as our base offense and VY is a pro bowl QB its just that his recievers are bad and lack of talent surrounding him. I see a mythbusters special coming up.
September 8, 2008 at 5:45 am
We get these two comments in the same post from monkeyass:
1: “Wow based upon some of these replies I’ve got to say (and I cannot believe I’m actually doing it) I agree with Mack Brown about our fan base. Some you people are just whiney asshats.”
2: “Unfortunately our bumbling head coach and former defensive co-ordinator don’t trust them. That sucks.”
I guess whiney asshat replies are in the eyes of the beholder. :rolleyes:
September 8, 2008 at 6:00 am
“If I were Bill Little, I might talk about how happy the coaches were with the way the team “survived the surge” last night…”
So prophetic. Little Bill does, indeed, talk about “the surge” in his weekly spinfest, released this morning:
Bill Little Commentary: While You Were Sleeping
September 8, 2008 at 6:16 am
DBH:
Running back: Vondrell and Chris have spilled their blood and waited their turn. Barry Sanders couldn’t beat them out until after OU. Only when GD needs a scapegoat for another debacle will Fozzy become the man.
——–
Is it just me or does the box score show Fozzy with 12 carries, Vondrell with 6 and Og with 1?
If this changes (as in the best back doesn’t get the majority of carries), it is a huge problem. However, based on the evidence of a single game, they kept giving it to the hot hand.
September 8, 2008 at 6:16 am
I take issue with the notion that we have a “Greg Davis shitfest” to look forward to come October.
I think we can start to look at the persistent culture of the program, the consistency of the decisions that are made year after year, the stated priorities and team goals (explosive plays, bend don’t break, minimize mistakes, execution is more important that skill, etc.), and, thing that we see the most of: the results on the field, and start to call these “Mack Brown” shitfests.
We need to stop clinging to these conspiracy theories about Davis, Akina, whichever former SEC DC happens to be be renting a home in Austin this year, and the rest of the staff. They are not rogue agents implementing their own policies.
Mack is a control freak, his hands are on every detail of the program (for good, bad, and ugly), and it is at his door that all shitfests should be laid.
September 8, 2008 at 6:44 am
That was a really awful write-up. In case you’ve forgotten, Fozzy was making his COLLEGIATE DEBUT and had been injured for several weeks leading up to the UTEP game. And yet, you act is if he was relegated to a handful of carries while Vondrell toted the ball all evening.
None of us had any idea what Fozzy was truly capable of, and he made an immediate statement which I guarantee will be rewarded accordingly this weekend.
Also, where the fuck is the hate from Chris O. coming from? His receiving ability out of the backfield has been a consistent boon from the day he started getting meaningful PT.
You don’t just turn on a time and replace a transcendent player like Jamaal overnight. Thus far, we have done a very respectable job of sharing reps and seeing what each RB has to really offer in a featured role so that the best players on the field can be in a position to succeed come October.
Say all you want about the porous secondary or Norton having the worst game of his collegiate career, but it’s a bunch of bullshit to hear this “GD shitfest” bellyaching when our offense has run like a well-oiled machine most of these first two games.
September 8, 2008 at 7:13 am
Dr. Venkman I guess I can agree. Although we cannot let GD off the hook but maybe Mack is the constant. In exploring the problem in further detail I understand that we will have these brainfarts more often than not as long a Mack is here. And he is here for a while. No matter what new blood comes in its ends the same. So is it that Mack is a control freak or is he just lazy or a combination of both? I would say both, its easy to get compacent when you know you have nothing to prove and no incentive to do better. He maybe the smartest man in America, he can get 10 wins in his situation every year somehow make a 2nd tier bowl and win against a inferior opponent. State we are back only to have the problems persist and keep his job and in some cases recieve a raise along with his staff and Cleve and Co. One would think he would be embarassed about the annual OU beat down and want to change something but he can always go back to Lake Travis and Barton Creek for a quick gettaway. In effect we have created a stagnent culture that does just enough to stick around. Which is very dangerious when it comes to national relevance and prestige.
I want to touch on recruiting: Every year I hear of how bad ass our the next class will be and that Texas is loaded in talent for 2009, 2010, or fill in the blank, only to see us start out as #1 to end up around #10-15 or so. When you think about it thats all we had as an advantage earlier in the Mack years and we still had only 10 wins. Now the playing field is slowly becoming for level for our apponents. No more Roy, DJ, Ricky, although we do have some studs in the secondary. But I want heisman contenders. I just amazes me when I see that we have actually slipped a bit in recruiting just 2 years from the MNC. Is it too much to demand Florida and USC classes year in year out? I don’t know but when you make 3 mill a year I have a hard time of saying “next year” every year. I just think what would happen if we were able to bring in Saben or even Slick Rick and see what could really happen. For those of you that think Slick Rick is a liabitlity he won his lawsuit against Washington and has only recieved a few minor slap on the wrists I can live with that he is smart and has a law degree the man know whats he’s doing and would no doubt make Stoops a little more uncomfortable on the throne of the Big 12. Just a thought Hookem,
September 8, 2008 at 7:24 am
“Is it just me or does the box score show Fozzy with 12 carries, Vondrell with 6 and Og with 1?”
Fozzy was the 3rd TB into the game. Just wondering, in your viewpoint did Fozzy earn the starting spot with superior results? Or, does McGee continue to start due to seniority?
September 8, 2008 at 8:42 am
I’d never suggest that Mack Brown is either lazy or incompetent. I don’t know him, I’ve never met him, so what position am I in to judge his work habits?
I am in a position to judge the results he gets, cause I watch ‘em 13 time a year, and that’s what I’m talking about.
Hold Mack accountable for those results. He may not call every play, but he’s responsible for the culture of the program and its overall performance.
I don’t see this as a sky falling sort of game. It was an early season game, on the road, eccentric opponent, etc. blah-blah…
Since they don’t really have a strong “test game” on the out-of-conference schedule, we’ll have to look at the first month of the season as a whole in order to determine if this game was an aberration or the start of an ominous pattern.
September 8, 2008 at 9:19 am
I was disquieted rather than discouraged by the UTEP game.
Colt’s interception was mostly the fault of Dan Buckner. Dan needs to be much more aggressive on 50-50 balls. The major reason to play him is because he can win 50-50 balls. Colt was right to ream Dan after the play.
Quan showed how a 50-50 ball is won on one play where he was very slick in his footwork to get inside position, skying up to where he could compete for the pass, and then agressively grabbing it when it arrived. Outstanding.
The DL is pretty close (literally) to applying effective pressure. We’ll see steady improvement on DL pressure. Wonder if DC has considered teaching these guys to do a jump stop before they hit the QB so that it is not so easy for the QB to dodge them at the last instant. Big hits are great but not when it means that most of the time you swing and miss.
The D was exhausted (especially Sergio) at the end of the 1st half when they gave up the TD. Need to substitue more. Altitude might have played a role. I hope the team goes up to Boulder a few days early for the Colorado game (to get acclimated).
Fozzy is awesome. Would actually like to see him played in the slot quite a bit so he can get several short passes/game and to get a second explosive guy on the field (i.e. in addition to the TB). Fozzy will be awesome in space.
The concept of the Q package is a joke. As long as Colt is the QB, all of the necessary plays already exist to utilize Chiles at WR or TB. Throw Chiles some passes. Let Chiles run some end arounds. Let Chiles throw a halfback pass or two. All the plays are already defined, they just need to be practised during the week and run during the game.
Ogbonnaya is a useful player. He is an excellent blocker and pass receiver and much better at running than last year. He’s an excellent guy to pick up a blitzer and Colt is going to be blitzed a lot this year. Players who can block initially and then release for a safety valve pass make it tough for a D to blitz effectively.
Colt was 14 of his first 16 passes. He was 6 of his last 14 passes. The pressure got to him. He hates being blitzed. Might be a good idea to reduce the number of guys in pass routes and hold them in for blocking (before they release for safety valve pass reception). The 3 and 4 wide targets are useful only if Colt is efficient in locating them (which he isn’t when there is a lot of blitzing pressure). Having fewer initial targets will make it easier for him to process the targets (and improve the blocking).
Against FAU, Colt threw 15 of his 28 completions to running backs and TE. Against UTEP, Colt threw 4 of 20 completions to running backs and TE. The short passing game helps Colt steady himself and reduces pressure when the D is blitzing him a lot. There was a strong reliance on short passing game against FAU and Colt looked great.
Against UTEP, the short passing game was abandoned and Colt closed out the game weakly (6 of his final 14 passes).
Would love to see more planned rollouts by Colt (he throws well on the run) and running plays off of the rollout action.
The biggest worry to me about the 2008 horns is how well the secondary will play. Muschamp is an outstanding coach but how much can these young DBs learn in one year?
September 8, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Eyes: First off, I wasn’t really including you in my “whiney asshats” comment - that is until your reply. I can handle negative criticism where it is warranted. Unlike you and Ransom however I don’t necessarily feel that every weakness we have is a foreshadowing of doom. Every damn team in the country has some areas of weakness. Based upon some the comments after the game I can only assume that there is a large contingent that are shocked - SHOCKED - that we have any. Don’t know about you but I’m not all that surprised. In fact given my level of expectation coming into this year I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised. Does that mean I think we won’t get our faces raped by ou? Absolutely not. But it does mean that I can allow myself to enjoy a surprisingly good football team and forgive them a few errors against a team like UTEP, especially since we won by 29 points. I’m sorry if you disagree with my (rosey in you mind, realistic in mine) attitude but as far as telling me where to go with my attitude, you can go fuck yourself, king of the internet. I’ll go where I goddamn please with whatever goddamn attitude I please . If you have a problem with my commentating on your post, then don’t post.
And DBH - I guess unlike yourself I’m actually a complex human being who can grasp the idea that while I may disagree with many of Mack’s opinions, that doesn’t entirely dismiss everything the man has said or thought his entire life. Even any idiot can be right. For instance I’m sure you’ve been right on some occassion. That our fan base consisting of whiney asshats is such a glaringly obvious fact that even Mack Brown, the man who has kept Greg Davis employed for over a decade, can point it out, is just sad.
September 8, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Wow
September 8, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Flaming,
I think our fanbase expects more than one CC in 10 years and the fact that we don’t have more is bit frustrating while our chief rival continues to dominate the Big 12. By the looks of it we won’t have one this year either. This coming from a school that has every possible advantage to be absolutely dominant in football.
What are the reasons? Overhyped recruits, not landing on a consistent basis the absolute bluest of blue chip players and I’m not talking about getting the 8th best player in the state, player development, schemes, coaching, motivation, etc? It’s probably a combination of all the above.
However, the one constant is Mack Brown and he is not going anywhere so we have to accept what Texas Football is. And if you don’t know what he gives you then you haven’t been watching texas football. Without the signing of VY then things might be different but MB did get him on campus so give him credit for that.
I am hoping for great things this year and there are hopes for optimism, but realistically this team lacks the weapons and explosiveness on offense to be taken seriously and our line play is still shoddy. If Charles, who I think is the most underappreciated player at Texas in recent memory, had come back things might have been different. Defensively, I’m excited about the potential of the front 7 but we know and have witnessed that the secondary is too young to hold up with the offenses we have coming up. The positive is that we are actually playing them. So enjoy the season knowing what we are and hope that we have taken a step forward from last year’s team.
September 8, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Groundhog Day thank you for a reasonable, well-thought out opinion. I agree with you on pretty much everything. I think a coach would have to be borderline retarded not to have some success at UT given all of the amazing advantages we have. This means that a) Johnny Mac might have been the worst coach ever and b) Mack is above borderline retarded. That’s not exactly a glowing endorsement.
I cannot express how frustrated I am that every year since ‘99 and with the exception of ‘05 I’ve basically written the ou game off in my mind. Basically in 8-9 years I’ve been pleasantly surprised once. And frankly it frustrates me that winning that damn game should come as a SURPRISE.
All this of course comes down to the same question though and that is who else can Texas get as Head Coach? I’m not asking that to be a prick, I’m asking in complete sincerity. I mean, Bob Stoops is a great coach. He’s a total dickhead, but he’s a great coach. I’m not sure how many coaches could line up a team against him once a year for a decade and produce a winning record. I’d love to have that guy but I’m just not sure I see him anywhere on the football landscape. Is it Jim Grobe? Mangino? I’m just waiting for a canidate to support.
It’s not that I even think Mack’s not a “good” coach. I think UT deserves better than “good” though I think we deserve “great”.
Having said that I refuse to go along with the notion that every weak facet of this football team lies upon Mack’s shoulders. Or rather, I should say, do I think that there is a coach alive who can produce a football team that’s not going to have some areas of improvement. For those who would like to point that there are other coaches who work on those areas better than our current crop, I’m right there with you. It’s extremely tiresome to see the same areas pop up week after week and year after year. However it’s also tiresome to see some fans never give the coaches their due when they actually due improve those areas. For instance one of the things that everyone (myself included) harped upon last year was a seeming lack of effort out of guys almost every week. Well since the bowl game (I know, I know only 3 games thus far) the effort’s been there. We might be experiencing some trouble executing but at least the guys’ hearts have been into the game. I give the coaches (especially Muschamp) credit for that.
Ultimately I’m excited about this group because of that one thing alone. If the kids play hard they’re going to make up for some of their mistakes, even if they aren’t able to make up for some of our coaches. And maybe, just maybe, Mack will see the change and results a new hire can have and make the one we’ve all been waiting on. I doubt it, but considering the alternative is to turn into some grumpy old fart who gets no joy out the game, it’ll have to due for now.
September 8, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Texas could recruit like the USC’s and the Florida’s, but I doubt if Mack will choose to do so. If you listen to Mack he prides himself on doing things the right way, at least to whatever extent practical limitations allow. Now Mack wants to win like everyone else, but he is not a “win at all costs” type of person, he is probably better termed as a “win at some costs” person. That Mack was able to win a MNC with an attitude such as that, kudos to him. Now if he loses or cannot recruit certain players because of that, he and Texas are willing to take that loss and that is the way the institutional environment at Texas likes it. I am guessing the air surrounding the USC and Florida programs are a bit different and that they have a different set of priorities.
As far as OU is concerned, yes it maybe true that Stoops is a better coach than Mack, but don’t forget that while Mack has his advantages at Texas, Stoops has his at Okie. Quite frankly he is allowed to cheat more than Mack, just plain and simple. And it all goes just way beyond Big Red Auto. The Calhoun kid as an example, supposedly he was the best back in Texas last year and he wanted to come to Texas, but Mack would not even consider the kid. Now what does that tell you? What coach in his right mind who wants to keep his job would turn away talent like that. Basically Mack had no choice, the kid could not get into Texas but OU could get him in. One wonders how many other star recruits have chosen OU cause OU could get them in while Texas would not. No doubt there have been many others aside from Calhoun. Its basically the same story as with Dez Bryant and Okie State. Okie can accept players that Texas cannot touch. So now the next time you bitch and moan about Mack relative to Stoops remember that point. Now some of the bitchin might have some validity and Stoops may actually be the better coach, but also remember that Stoopsie’s name is ironically appropriate for him, considering that he would be willing to “Stoop” to just about any level to win. So all things considering and given the nature and landscape of college football, I for one am happy with Mack as coach for the Texas Longhorns.
September 8, 2008 at 6:03 pm
monkeyass,
At least we agree that Texas deserves a great coach and Mack Brown ain’t him. “True believers” would consider complaints about Mack’s coddling of Greg Davis for ten years whiningly asshattish. So, your parsing of those terms to exclude yourself from their application continues to amuse me. It’s only wrong when OTHERS do it.
September 8, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Perhaps that’s because I’m neither a “True Believer” nor am I an “Eternal Doubter”. Instead I consider myself to be a realist. Do I find faults, especially those perpetuated repeadtly year after year, troubling like any fan would. I too can see how against better opponents these flaws almost invariable raise their ugly heads and bite us in the ass. (Wow that’s a cliche I really could have done without but whatever). Despite this however I’m big enough to concede that Mack has had outstanding success against lesser teams and that given the college football sample, perhaps it is his irritating methodology to which this owed. I mean we’re talking about a freaking 29 point victory in tones of varying disappointment. I understand why, but I don’t have to necessarily agree with it. There seems to be this undercurrent amongst certain UT fans that they “understand” that we can’t win every game, but if we could just win the “big” games they’d be okay with that. That notion, that losing to the occassional lower-tier in exchange for beating the big boys would be okay, is what bothers me because it’s completely hollow. There’s always going to be a group of fans unhappy with something and at Texas that unhappy troupe is almost always going to be the majority.
September 8, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Why all the Greg Davis hate out there? He seems to do a wonderful job of tailoring the offense around the talent on hand and he has done a wonderful job of developing his QB’s. Compare Colt’s development to other QB’s from his class who were rated the same or higher than him. Things could be a lot worse. His offenses while typically not spectacular at least are very efficient year in and year out and maybe that is just due to the talent on hand or Mack’s restraints on him, who knows. If Texas were to let GD go, he probably would not have any trouble finding another OC position at a comparable school. Gotta believe that GD is the brains behind the Texas offense and not Mack. GD appears to be on the introverted side and typically those guys are the ones who are the brains of the operation behind the scenes, whereas the more outgoing types, like Mack, are the ones who go out and sell and market what the brainy fellows create, and this is generally true of any operation involving people, whether in football or business.
September 8, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Vondrell might have done a better job had he not spent the night running parallel to the line of scrimmage. Davis uses a great pass play on a crossing pass that worked like a charm 15 yards down the seam and that was it for the next 6 games.
September 8, 2008 at 11:13 pm
steven, have you paid attention to Greg Davis’s offense the last 10 years? We attempt maybe one or two passes down the field a game. Have done that even when we had Chris and the big three. We are still trying to use the Vince Young offense without Vince. We lose McCoy on one of those runs and Our season is OVER. Our design of passing schemes looks like it is drawn up on the sandlots. We just line them up and out talent them until the OU game. After the OU game we start trying to figure out which second tier Bowl game we will be playing in. After the last game against a&m we try to figure which third tier Bowl game we will be playing in.
September 8, 2008 at 11:24 pm
The problem with Greg Davis isn’t necessarily one of ideas, or of creativity it is of execution. For me what’s wrong with Greg Davis can be shown in one play from last game - the touchdown pass to Jordan Shipley. Why? Well it’s a wonderfully creative play, a fake WR screen to Quan, Shipley moves to block Quan’s corner, the safety is drawn in, Shipley hits the seam - boom instant touchdown. So what’s the problem? We ran it inside the UTEP 30. WTF? A good OC doesn’t bother with a great call inside the 30 of an overmatch opponent, they just go ahead line up, run the ball and let the talent punch it in nice and easy like. A great OC calls that play inside our 30, makes Sportscenter with an 80 yard pass play to “The Truth” Shipley, and realizes that he just earned an extra two-three yards on his favorite WR screen even against teams like ou. An elite OC uses that damn from our 30 against ou in Dallas and Bob Stoops and his overactive safties shit their pants as white-boy-done-good watlzes untouched into the endzone while Stoopsie is screaming into his headset about not having seen that play.
What will Greg Davis do in Dallas, assuming we get inside the ou 30? You can bet you sister’s sweet ass we’ll see that play again. It worked once, thus Greg Davis assumes it will work everytime.
September 9, 2008 at 12:07 am
Yes, the criticisms you listed are usually the ones that I tend to hear over and over again with regard to GD. But could we still be in a zone read spread with Colt cause it still works and he is still an effective runner. Maybe not a VY but still an effective runner. Anyway besides all the scheme talk, I’m mainly concerned with the results since I do not pretend to have the expertise or inside knowledge to really make heads or tails of any of it, and the results compared to other comparable teams have been consistently good to very good over the years.
As far as Vondrell is concerned, he may have been running outside cause Utep was consistently blitzing up the middle and he had no alternative. Also Vondrell may just not have the burst, speed and quickness to be an elite back. Maybe he just gained too much weight and that has slowed him down. Not trying to take anything away from Vondrell but to me it seems as if his damn thighs are so big that they tend to slow him down. Whittaker did not seem to have any problems running the ball. He seems like a star in the making and the only true explosive threat we have on offense.
And if I remember correctly, the reasons why we lost to OU in the past is mainly because they were just more physical than we were. It had more to do with that than any issues with schemes. In some of those years schemes may have been an issue but it seems to me that they were on the defensive side of the ball, not the offensive which GD is responsible for. On the offensive end, our line just got manhandle by the OU, in much the same way the KSU defenses manhandled us during Mack first few years. Texas was probably a bit overrated in those years due to having a few big namess in a few positions, but I would say that today’s team is probably better overall than those of the past.
September 9, 2008 at 3:30 am
“Perhaps that’s because I’m neither a “True Believer” nor am I an “Eternal Doubter”. Instead I consider myself to be a realist. Do I find faults, especially those perpetuated repeadtly year after year, troubling like any fan would. I too can see how against better opponents these flaws almost invariable raise their ugly heads and bite us in the ass. (Wow that’s a cliche I really could have done without but whatever). Despite this however I’m big enough to concede that Mack has had outstanding success against lesser teams and that given the college football sample, perhaps it is his irritating methodology to which this owed.”
===========================
Ok, I misinterpreted your initial reply to this thread. Sorry. You and I are in exactly the same place regarding this program.
September 9, 2008 at 6:29 am
Flaming: Who could we get instead of Mack to produce better results? We can get anyone we want with the exception of Carrol and Meyer. I would go with, in no particular order the following:
-Stoops
-Rick Neuheisel
-Saben
-Richt
-Any young guy worth a shit including Mushchamp can run our program to a level not seen since Royal.
I believe that everyone of these canidates can do a better job than Mack. Im trying to think of who could do worse, the list doesn’t exist. By this I mean someone we offer that we want and cannot beat A&M or K-State, thats almost impossible.
Like a said before, Mack is here for a while but that does not mean I have to enjoy it. I gave the coaches a pass in 2006, 2007 was an abortion and the years leading up to 2005 with the exception of 2004(OU loss) he should have been canned for. I am tired of playing stepchild to OU, and 9 or 10 wins in 13 tries. The sooner he leaves the better as far as im concerned. And spare me the “we can’t take the same kids” and Mack “plays by the rules.” We may not be as bad as OU but its in Oklahoma and they have to cheat way more just to stay in the ballpark, but Im sure we have our ways as well. Mack is timid and takes it in the pants every year in October. I almost laugh at watching him come up with excuse after excuse, he knows his place and can’t get out of Dallas fast enough.
Truth:Mack runs a B+ program at an elite University(top 5 destination). B+ is fine for Okie state, ASU, Washington, and the like. But if this guy becomes AD and hires another Mack Im going to shit the bed.
September 9, 2008 at 7:19 am
I gave up on MB shortly before halftime in the ‘02 RRS. I realized that he is not a “championship” coach, but a “somewhere in the top ten” coach, which implies that #10 is as good as #1 or #2. Well, it’s not. I think it was Akers that said, “it’s better to shoot for the moon and hit an eagle than to shoot for an eagle and hit the ground.”
I had hopes that he saw the light after the Mizzou game in ‘04, when VY told him “Let me play!” when asked what was needed. Mack than told GD to leave VY alone, and the rest is history, through ‘05.
There was enough residual carryover in ‘06 to allow a victory over OU, but backsliding into old habits resulted in getting pimp-slapped by KSU and the Ags.
Since, it’s same old, same old. Reason: MB IS NOT A GOOD COACH. He’s a good organizer, recruiter, PR man, etc., but the man can’t coach!
Who would be better? Well, Stoops, Meyer, Richt, Saban, Rodriguez, Beamer, Grobe, Neuheisel, Nutt (he owns MB, remember), the guy at Rutgers, Belotti, Tedford,….etc., etc. And as someone else mentioned, there are, I am sure, some young Turks out there ready to move up, as was Royal, at age 32, in 1957. JMO.
September 9, 2008 at 9:18 am
I’ll be really shocked if the Horns show up as flatfooted as they did last time Arkansas came in and “shoved us” around. I don’t think Tasty Dick will have nearly the same numbers against us as he did against ULM, because hopefully we’ll treat it like a rivalry game this time around.
September 9, 2008 at 9:26 am
If you gave up on Mack in ‘02, then I guess you also happened to miss his MNC in ‘05, which was the first one UT has gotten in what 30 years or so. Posters on here seem to be awfully hard on a man who brought Texas football back into national respectibilty and relevance. Maybe the younger posters forget just how bad it was for the 12 to 13 year period before Mack got to UT. Texas football was a joke back then and it culminated in 66-3 loss to UCLA and another embarrassing one to Baylor. Back then Texas was ecking out victories against North Texas and actually getting beat by Rice and TCU, getting blown out regularly by Houston, and regularly getting embarassed in the bowl games in the sporadic years when we actually qualified to go to a bowl.
Now is Mack the best coach in the world? Probably not, but are the chances of UT finding a better fit than him high? Not likely at all. Chances are that UT would do much worse. All one has to do is to refer to you all’s list of coaches to see this. Who are on your short lists for replacements? None other than the football coaching gods of Carroll, Meyer, Stoops, Saban, Tressell and so on. Um, guys how do you know that these fellows are such better coaches than Mack. Is it cause they win more games or field more impressive teams. And I am not arguing that those fellows don’t but if you haven’t noticed it is cause they just have better and more talented players. How is any of that any evidence of superior coaching? You are suppose to field a better team with better players. And many of those supposed coaching gods showed what truly great coaches they are by getting their asses handed to them in the NFL, a place where they do not have their little built in advantages like hey have in college. Hell, that retard Les Miles just showed how unimportant and insignificant having a great coach is by winning the MNC last year. I do not think anyone would care to imply that the duffus head is anywhere near to being a great coach. Pretty much the winning formula in college football is very simple. Just get better players and just have the leverage to keep them in line so they do not embarrass or bring negative press on your University, which would bring heat on the head coach. That alone probably makes up about 70 percent of what college coaching is today.
It is probably the case that Texas has a talent deficit agianst those teams but it is due to other factors than Mack’s lack of coaching ability. Like I said above, until some of the old guard at Texas moves on, Texas will continue to choose not to recruit in ways that those other programs have no issues with. And besides this factor, some of the talent gap is also probably due to the fact that talent in the state of Texas is likely overrated. People put too much stock in those recruiting services ratings. Those services are more concerned with selling subscriptions then they are with accuracy or objectivity and even if they were, they probably do not have the expertise to make a legitimate evaluation in the first place. Think about it, how many notable NFL players originate from the state of Texas, not too many. If one watches college football with any degree of objectivity, it is fairly apparent that Florida and California produces mores recruits with elite speed and athleticism than Texas, as a matter of fact.
September 9, 2008 at 10:47 am
Steven:
Did you even read past the first paragraph in my post? Like, where I said I had hopes he saw the light after Mizzou in ‘04? He and GD left VY alone and let him play his game, which resulted in the NC. Unfortunately, after VY left, they reverted back to their old ways.
And why is MB justified on the basis of “he’s better than Mackovic”? That doesn’t mean he’s a good coach. Mackovic was better than McWilliams, but he wasn’t right for the program so he got canned.
Your contention that the recruits are overrated doesn’t hold water. Stoops is recruiting from the same pool, MB’s back yard, and shoving them up MB’s ass. Stoops is winning not because he’s a better coach but because he has better players? But aren’t these the same overrated players that MB was trying to recruit, from Texas no less?
Your logic, and your essay, are not convincing.