Connect with your Facebook Account

• Contact

Football Articles

63

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Texas 33, Tech 39

Posted by EyesOfTX on November 2nd, 2008 under Football

When you get right down to it, no team can continue playing these nailbiters against very good football teams week after week and come away unscathed. A combination of some poor catching skills, a horrific, brain dead first half by the Texas offense, and an outstanding game plan by Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach and Defensive Coordinator Ruffin McNeill finally caught up to the Longhorns and tagged them with their first loss of the season.

The loss did not come until the Longhorns, having spotted the Red Raiders 19 points before the offense managed to scratch, clawed their way back to take a 33-32 lead with 1:21 of clock time remaining. Several of us doing last night’s Live Blog speculated that would be too much time, and unfortunately turned out to be right, as Tech QB Graham Harrell guided his team down the field for the final winning score, a sideline pass to the great Michael Crabtree, who took the ball at the 5, shook off two Texas defenders, and waltzed into the endzone as the clock ticked down to 1 second.

So the pirate genius Mike Leach has his Red Raiders firmly implanted in the Big 12 and national championship hunt, at least for the next week or two, and possibly beyond. Their next two games against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma - both of whom looked extremely formidable yesterday - will quickly determine Tech’s fate. I’d like to think they have a good chance of running their own gauntlet, but as Texas found out last night, one bad half of play by one unit of the team against a well-coached, well-prepared, high-quality opponent, and the streak is over. Tech can expect OSU and OU to match the latter description - they damn sure did when they played Texas.

The Longhorns have their own schedule to play out, and much left to play for. This loss does not by any means eliminate the good guys from the conference title hunt, with Tech, OU and OSU still having their own round-robin to play out, and also does not by any means eliminate Texas from national title contention. They’re now longshots, but being a longshot is better than having no shot at all, and we saw last year how all sorts of bizarre stuff can happen in the season’s final weeks to allow a team everyone thought had no chance to roll into the BCS National Championship game at season’s end.

We’ll look at that in some detail later. Right now, let’s go to the G, B and U.

First, the UGLY:

  • Offensive game plan. Or more appropriately put, what offensive game plan? This team suffered through at least eight games in 2007 in which Greg Davis entered the game with a “plan” that apparently consisted of scripting the first 15 plays and not much else. Last night was the first such game this season. What a time for that to happen, for our OC to get lazy on us. Tech came in to last night’s game with three solid weeks of film off of which to determine our tendencies since the loss of Blaine Irby, and Davis stuck loyally to each and every one of them. Ruffin McNeill’s kids spent virtually the entire first half anticipating and jumping every inside route we ran from their cover two/man under scheme. It must have felt like shooting ducks in a pond. How we could come into what had become the biggest game of the season with no apparent plan to attack the opponent at hand is just mind-boggling, but there it is.
  • Officiating. This was the same crew of officials who called the Longhorns’ game with Oklahoma. The game they called last night was every bit as bad as the one they called in Dallas. These guys do not call holding. They just don’t. Tech’s linemen tackled Orakpo and Miller on pretty much every down, and never got called on it a single time. My complaint is not that the officials are biased against Texas, because I don’t think they are - there were a couple of horrific calls that went our way in this game - but that our coaching staff hasn’t caught onto the fact that in the Big 12, offensive holding is no longer a penalty in any meaningful sense. We were told this week that this particular crew of officials is considered by the Big 12 to be some sort of “super crew” of former and future NFL officials, so obviously they are calling the game the way the Big 12 wants the game called. OU has caught onto this reality, OSU has figured it out, as have Missouri and Kansas. It may be time for our guys to figure it out and take advantage of it as well.
  • First down from your own 2 yard line. It’s your first possession of the game. You’re playing in an incredibly hostile environment against an extremely fired up defense. What play do you call? If you’re Greg Davis, you line up in the I formation against an 8 man front, and tell your QB to hand the ball off to your slowest tailback on a very slow-developing ISO play. The net result is the easiest safety in Texas Tech Red Raider football history. Brilliant.
  • Offensive first half fright night. With about 3 minutes remaining in the first half, the Texas offense had racked up a grand total of 15 yards on 19 plays. The offense ran a total of 8 plays in the first quarter, leaving the Texas defense on the field pretty much continuously and exhausting them in the process. At one point, UT receivers dropped four consecutive Colt McCoy passes, all of which were thrown right on the money. I counted six drops in the first half alone. Again, we got used to seeing this sort of brain-dead offense last season, but this was the first time it reared its ugly head in 2008. It was like Halloween had come a day late.
  • Nebraska’s first 5:33 against Oklahoma. 5:33 is how long it took the Sooners to rack up their first 28 points of the game. If that’s not a record, it has to be close to one.

Next, The BAD:

  • A healthy Fozzy Whittaker doesn’t see the field until midway through the third quarter. Why? This is our one true high-grade talent at RB, and it takes 38 minutes of utter failure in the running game before someone has a lightbulb go off over his head and say, hey, what about trying something different? On the night, Ogbonnaya averaged 2.3 yards on his 6 carries, McGee averaged 2.7 on his 3 tries, and Fozzy averaged 7 on the 6 balls he ran from scrimmage. Any questions?
  • Tech has first and goal from the 3, leading 5-0 at the end of the first quarter. Texas lines up in a 4-2-5, and leaves a gap between its tackles of about 4 yards, with no middle LB. Harrell could have taken the shotgun snap and trotted in to the endzone himself, but decided to be generous and hand it off to Batch, who eased in for the TD unmolested. Nice.
  • Blake Gideon’s dropped last minute INT. Man, oh, man.
  • Bad calls, bad calls everywhere. As mentioned above, this crew of officials lit up the night with an array of bad calls and no-calls that worked in each team’s favor. On Jordan Shipley’s TD punt return, one official correctly called a Texas block in the back, and then mysteriously picked up the flag. On another, the field judge made a very bad offensive pass interference call against Crabtree that I believe cost Tech four points. So Texas fans whining that we got jobbed by the officials in this game need to factor those 11 gift points into their calculations.
  • Musberger’s attire. That powder blue jacket looked like something he bought off the rack at TJ Maxx. Dude, seriously.
  • Injury to Quan. Musberger and Herbstreit commented that Cosby had worn the green shirt in practice all week, indicating he was nursing an injury of some sort. After getting his bell rung on his first catch of the game, he became a non-factor, denying the offense on of its most productive players.
  • The Texas offensive line was dominated all night long. The pass protection was fairly decent, but the run blocking was just atrocious. So much for the thought that ours was one of the best OLs in the country. It might be in the top 5 in the Big 12. Maybe.

Finally, the GOOD:

  • Malcolm freakin’ Williams. Made two HUGE catches in this game, one to set up UT’s only score of the first half, and another long scamper down the sidelines for the TD that cut Tech’s lead to 29-26. He finished the game with 4 catches for 182 yards, by far the Longhorns’ most productive offensive weapon of the night. This guy is developing into a monster talent.
  • Tech’s defensive performance. They manned up on our under routes most of the night and caused great disruption in our passing game. Their defensive linemen dominated our offensive line from the word go. Their LBs proved to be more athletic than anticipated and were outstanding at keeping plays in front of them. I had been skeptical all year about how much Tech’s defense had really improved, given the mediocre schedule they had played. Last night they proved they were not the same old Tech D. Good for them.
  • Justin Tucker’s rugby-style punts. With John Gold’s punting having been a team strength all year, this phase of the special teams seemed a very unlikely candidate for an upgrade. But Tucker has developed an amazing ability to guide the ball down the sideline and roll out of bounds or stop inside the 20 yard line. Gold must be standing on the sidelines wondering how in the world he appears to have lost his starting job, but damned if the results aren’t impressive so far.
  • Fozzy Whittaker. Had he played the entire game last night, the outcome might have been different. Maybe not, but it sure would have been nice to know. He’s so elusive that he might even have been able to get that first play out of the endzone. That alone could have been a game changer.
  • Jordan Shipley. Yeah, he dropped that first ball, and it too could have been a game-changer. But he came back to make several big plays in the passing game, and his punt return made me wonder why he hasn’t been back there doing that all year long?
  • Tech Head Coach Mike Leach. When I put up the post on Thursday talking about how he is the perfect coach for Tech, I wasn’t kidding. He has now put together a heck of a staff and a damned fine football team, without question the best Texas Tech has seen in many moons. You have to respect that.
  • Colt McCoy. His Heisman hopes took a hit, but I’m not sure he can be counted out just yet. He led a very stirring second half comeback and finished with a very respectable stat line, which is all most Heisman voters are going to see anyway. Given the horrid performance of his receivers and poor offensive line play, Colt played a hell of a game last night. I thought he got rattled a bit in the second quarter, but he really came on strong after that.
  • Offensive Player of the Game: Malcolm Williams.
  • Defensive Player of the Game: Justin Tucker
  • Special Teams Player of the Game: Jordan Shipley.

This loss will probably drop Texas down to sixth or seventh in the BCS rankings, behind Alabama, Penn State, Florida, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and possibly Southern Cal. This means we are still in the hunt for the BCS championship game, folks. Of the teams in front of us, two are certain to lose at least one game: Alabama will likely play Florida in the SEC Championship Game, and Tech and OU must both play each other as well as Oklahoma State.

Some other games of note remaining on these teams’ schedules: Alabama must play at LSU this week, and then finish with games against Mississippi State and Auburn. The LSU game appears their most likely loss prior to the SEC Championship game.

Penn State has the easiest remaining road: at Iowa next week, followed by home games with Indiana and Michigan State. The Nittany Lions probably have about an 80% shot at finishing the year undefeated, thanks in large part to the Big Ten’s lack of a championship game, and any teams other than Ohio State that are worth a shit.

Florida has the toughest road of any of these teams. In addition to their likely SEC Championship game matchup with Alabama, the Gators have road games remaining with Vanderbilt and Florida State, and home games with the Citadel and South Carolina. None appears to be a likely loss, but FSU and SC are capable of an upset if Florida has a poor game. But the Gators are awfully good, and Texas most likely has to hope that Alabama drops a game to LSU or Auburn and then somehow beats the Gators in order to have a shot at moving past them both.

If Southern Cal jumps ahead of Texas, the road becomes much, much harder. The Trojans’ defense has become dominant and the fact that they play in a make-believe conference certainly helps their chances. They have home games remaining against Cal and Notre Dame, and road games with Stanford and UCLA. Geez.

So at this point, you probably have to assume that Penn State will be one of the two teams in the season’s final game, and that the Longhorns need a series of strategic losses by the other teams in front of them in order to get the second spot. Unlikely, sure, but certainly not impossible - we have seen far more improbable scenarios play out in several recent seasons, 2007 being the most recent of the bunch.

This loss to Tech was certainly gut-wrenching and hard to take, but it’s also far from the end of the world. A possible conference championship and berth in a BCS bowl remain well within reach with just a little help from other Big 12 South contenders, and the national championship game remains an outside possibility.

That’s pretty damn heady stuff for a team that began the year being picked to finish third in the Big 12 South Division. This team has much to be proud of, and a hell of a lot left to play for.

Congratulations to Texas Tech, and Hook ‘em!!!

Article Tags:

, , , , ,

More from this Barker


Share This

  • StumbleUpon

63 Responses

  1. Horn_of_Plenty said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 8:47 am

    Yes, this team can’t get down on itself. It has 3 more regular season games, and all of those teams will bring their A games. We have to remember that UT has a precision passing game and a crappy running game. We need to be up for our games or we can lose to anyone half-decent.

  2. Soldier of Orange said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 8:53 am

    Except for the heroic effort of a game bunch of Longhorns, I’ve buried the rest of last night’s game. Time to kick the shit out of the Bears (or stop them in their tracks with a Bow Knife at 50 yards) and start the upset/elimination game/polls/computer watch.

    Hook ‘em

  3. Aggie Lurking said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 am

    Hell of a game to watch if you didn’t have a dog in the fight. About the non-holding calls - Do you realize that tech was not called for holding in our game either? That’s 109 pass plays without a hold not to mention their rushing plays pretty incredible coaching there.

    I thought Colt was a little tentative early and the receivers dropping balls didn’t help. I also believe the way to defend tech is to rush 3 and drop 8 (with 2 shadowing Harrel and the middle and 2 playing the deep ball),limit the long passes and pick a few off. Good news is you still have a chance at the title game and are almost a BCS lock. Bad news despite how poorly you started you should have won.

  4. EyesOfTX said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 9:08 am

    Aggie Lurking: agree on the way to defend Tech. Harrell consistently burned our asses whenever we tried to blitz.

  5. EyesOfTX said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 9:09 am

    Some mixed news in the polls:

    We are 7th (bad) in the coaches’ poll, but 5th in the AP, ahead of OU and USC. Let’s hope the Harris poll follows the AP’s model.

  6. Bobby Jack Akina said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 9:20 am

    Well, the coaches poll makes perfect sense. Clearly, we should be ranked 3 spots below OU.

    WTF?

  7. LonghornGuy said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 am

    There is still a lot of football to be played. Have to win out first and foremost and then hope that tech loses twice, or we are in a position to win whatever tie breakers there are in case of a 3-way tie.

  8. Sasha_Is_A_Longhorn_Dog said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 9:32 am

    My biggest problem with the lack of holding calls is exactly what it led to: an injury to one of our players.

    Refs are there to ensure a fair game AND to make sure that nothing is going on that can lead to unnecessary injury if it is stopped.

    Regardless of the outcome of a game, when an official not doing their job correctly can lead to one of these kids getting hurt, someone somewhere needs to do something. I realize that officials will make mistakes here and there, but a repeated error usually means something is seriously wrong.

  9. hopefulhorn said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 9:41 am

    Good review, as always, Eyes.

    You obviously came away more impressed with Tech than I did. My initial take, somewhat influenced by sour grapes no doubt, was that OSU, OU and Missouri are all better than Tech. I agree on their coaching and game planning but not on their talent.

    My reasoning: Tech’s offense is very good, as usual, but their defense and special teams, while improved, are not as good as those other three teams and certainly not of championship caliber. Defensively, they have two very good DE’s and two better than average LB’s. Outside of that I can’t say that I was all that impressed. I read our first half offensive horror show as us playing badly as much as their being good. On special teams, they allowed a TD return and had a punt and FG attempt blocked. Not great.

    In a situation where everything was going their way (crazed home crowd, layup prior schedule, worn out and beat up opponent) they still let us get back into and almost win a game we had absolutely no business being in. Championship teams, and specifically championship defenses, don’t do that.

    Coming at this another way, can you imagine OU, Missouri, or OSU allowing the same thing to happen, particularly on their home field? I can’t.

    Again, I am willing to acknowledge that this take may be influenced by sour grapes from a painful loss. Either way, the “round robin” Tech has coming with the Oklahoma schools will tell the tale. We’ll see how they handle playing from the front with good teams gunning for them. While I must give them their due for an outstanding effort last night, I will be shocked if they beat both OSU and OU and not surprised at all to see them lose both.

    Agree that I still like our team a lot despite a horrible half of offense. All things considered, I thought we played pretty well defensively, particularly with the offense only holding the ball for 23 minutes and leaving the defense on the field all night.

  10. Facebook User said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 am

    We are working hard to ensure that the blogpoll is soon included in the BCS calculations.

  11. DBH said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 10:10 am

    As a card carrying Greg Davis-hater, it would be easy for me to focus on his incompetence last night, what with the scheme, the ridiculous safety, the atrocious running game, pitiful clock management, etc.

    Let’s not overlook, however, that Muschamp’s defense gave up more yards and first downs against Tech than any defense we’ve had in the last five years:

    Year-Yards-1st Downs

    2008 - 581 - 31
    2007 - 466 - 26
    2006 - 506 - 27
    2005 - 468 - 29
    2004 - 386 - 20

    That’s defensive ineptitude exceeding Akina/Mac Duff and Chizik, folks. The truth is, we sucked completely, as a team.

    Our only consolation is that we’ve played better than any of us expected to this point and we can still have a great season IF we shake it off.

  12. dick said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 10:23 am

    DBH,

    This seems like it is the first year that our offense did not control the game and dominate the TOP and therefore reducing the amount of plays by the Tech offense. I’d be more interested to see yards and first downs per play run by Tech.

  13. HenryJames said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 am

    Look at our yards rushing during that time frame.

    2008 - 80
    2007 - 283
    2006 - 227
    2005 - 205
    2004 - 351

  14. HenryJames said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 am

    Or time of possession.

    2008 - 23:07
    2007 - 40:12
    2006 - 31:14
    2005 - 23:59 (We had 5 Td drives under two minutes long).
    2004 - 39:13

  15. DBH said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 am

    HJ, that’s major suckage in the ball control department, to be sure. And to be fair, our defense played much better in the second half, up until the last drive.

    My point is, I think the defense certainly rates a “Bad” if not an “Ugly” in Eyes’ analysis and Muschamp isn’t immune from criticism. I still like the guy and I wouldn’t piss on Davis if he was on fire, but as I said, the whole team pretty much sucked last night.

    The good news is, I expect Tech to lose to both Okie Lite and ZeroU, so we’re right back in it if we take care of business.

  16. dawnpatrol said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 11:25 am

    I just got banned from the Double T Tech blog. Awesome!

  17. NM99 said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 11:34 am

    Speed of the game was impressive last night. I thought it was noticably faster than when you guys played OU. Both teams were having to make quicker decisions than they were used to. I think that contributed to the drops (Tech had several as well) and the sub-par passing numbers.

    I too was surprized not to see Whitaker more. And Williams’s performance was impressive. He’s tall and strong and is/will be a huge asset that teams will have to scheme around.

    Tech’s D has played like Jekyll and Hyde all season. The second half, the Dr. returned, and Texas being a good team took advantage. This was Tech’s year, playing in Lubbock.

    Hope Orakpo and Cosby are OK, and hope you guys get to kick the shit out of some SEC school in one of the BCS bowls (just not the championship game).

    Wreck ‘em Tech!

  18. Evil E said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 12:21 pm

    Count me in the HJ camp, too, DBH; when your offense has 21 total yards before its final drive of the first half, I don’t fault the defense for bending to the breaking point. We also outscored TT in the second half 27-17, despite injuries and exhaustion on the defensive side.

    Time for a reality check, people.

    I am disappointed in the fact that this one loss may have such a negative impact on our season’s outcome, but let’s be realistic — did ANYONE pick us to be in the position we were in heading into this game? Hell no. Our young secondary was bound to cost us eventually, and it took perhaps the #1 offense in the country to finally break through. That was about 5 weeks later than I thought it would happen when daydreaming back in August.

    We have just been through one hell of a month of football, arguably better than any month in the MNC year of 2005 (blowouts-a-plenty, sure, but not near the drama week-in and week-out). Let’s enjoy the fact that we got our money’s worth these past four weeks.

    Like others, I think both OU and OSU are better than TT. Unfortunately, OU — unlike OSU — will get more love than us should a multiple tie-breaker come down to BCS rankings, so we better pull for the ‘Pokes this month.

    Stranger things have happened.

    p.s. - It’s OK to still hate GD.

  19. sooner tim said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    Losing Cosby killed you. That was the difference for me. He’s a bona fide stud (OU found out the hardway) and your offense was different without him.

    We’ll try to get them back for you in 3 weeks, but I”m not terribly confident.

  20. horncasting said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm

    “Like others, I think both OU and OSU are better than TT. Unfortunately, OU — unlike OSU — will get more love than us should a multiple tie-breaker come down to BCS rankings, so we better pull for the ‘Pokes this month.”

    I’m not sure you can say either team is better at this point. OSU at Lubbock is going to be a hell of a game.

    In the 3-way tie breaker with Texas, TT and OU, we should have the edge in the computers with playing (and hopefully beating all of) the better Big 12 north schedule this year.

  21. EyesOfTX said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 1:12 pm

    Personally, I think OSU is a better team than either OU or Tech. I think they are better on both sides of the ball than OU, and a little better defensively than Tech. I’m not terribly worried at this point about OU making the championship game - they’ll have a hell of a time holding Tech under 40.

  22. Tim said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 1:23 pm

    Great write up Eyes!

    Tucker’s punting was obviously frustrating Texas Tech, you have to give UT special teams coaching credit they must have seen something on tape. Sitting in the stands what frustrated me was that we didn’t adjust to it, why not send someone from the corner and block it.

    Texas Tech’s biggest weakness is on special teams and it definitely showed as Texas completely dominated on special teams.

    I’m glad you acknowledged the penalties that helped out UT, from the stands it’s hard to watch the action and look for offensive holding. I’m sure Tech’s offensive line did hold, but they still played one hell of a game.

    Tech fans are about to get a dose of what UT has been dealing with because we are only half-way through our tough 4-game stretch. Now we have Okie State coming to town and they will give us huge match-up problems all over the field.

  23. Parlin Hall said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    “I’m sure Tech’s offensive line did hold, but they still played one hell of a game.”

    The TT/OU game is going to look like a fully-clothed roman orgy: huge bastards grabbing each other and holding on with ecstatic abandon.

    Ugly, but impossible to look away.

  24. horncasting said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    Both of Tech’s lines played a hell of a game.

    I think we’d started to wear the DL down there at the end. A few more minutes of TOP somewhere in the game could have played a huge difference.

  25. hornbymarriage said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    “These guys do not call holding…It may be time for our guys figure it out and take advantage of it.” I’ve always been a stickler for the rules. I mean, I really hate watching the NBA stars take 8 steps even if it does result in spectacular high scoring games. Having said that, after watching our outstanding DL get literally tackled week in and week out, I think we may have to get into the “holding Cold War” to keep up the other B12 offenses.

    I’m as pissed as hell about what seemed to be alot of coaching errors in this game. But let’s be honest, we probably played our worst game of the year and still almost got the win. We are way ahead of where any of us thought this team would be this year and next year looks even better. Let’s hope this team put’s this behind them and gets fired up to kick everyone’s ass from here on out!

    p.s. It’s ALWAYS OK to hate GD.

  26. I TT ON YOU said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    Great post!!

    I’m a Tech fan and I’m also a huge fan of Mack and McCoy. VERY CLASSY GUYS

    I was at the game and screamed and clapped as loud as I could from beginning to end. Your guys don’t quit, so don’t quit on them.

    Good Luck

  27. DBH said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 pm

    Our best shot at the title game is for Tech to lose to both OU and OSU. At that point, we’ve got the tie breaker over the latter two in a two-way tie, given that one will lose to the other.

    A three-way tie would be risky, since BCS ranking breaks that tie. I don’t like our odds in that scenario.

  28. RansomStoddard said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    I disagree with your premise that Crab “shook off two defenders”. Thomas went out of his way to avoid contact, for some reason no one but Akina could possibly know.

    I agree this offensive line is average at best. Which makes Colt’s season all the more impressive.

    For the second week in a row, both our lines were beaten.

  29. RolloTamasi said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm

    OSU beat both our lines? I thought our 80 yard drives, blitz pick-up, and 5 sacks were pretty solid myself.
    Some people here have been holding back their hatred for Texas football until we lost to unleash it and it’s really exciting to see that come out.
    Do you (Ransom) even enjoy watching Texas? Have you ever written anything encouraging about one of our players or accomplishments? It annoys me that such a nice pseudonym is wasted on a troll like you.

  30. RT said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    I’m still too heartbroken to watch a replay to confirm this, but I thought our run blocking improved late in the game. Fozzy’s avg may have benefited from this rather than the other way around. With the way Tech’s DL seemed to tire, I can only wonder what we could have done offensively if the time of possession hadn’t been so lopsided.

  31. NYC Horn said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    Not to write this season off (a BCS bowl would be a great result for any program), but I can’t help but get excited about the future of our program. Colt as a Senior, a full year of Fozzy and Malcom looks a lot like another Williams we had a few years back that could play. The secondary and O-Line will be one year more seasoned. The future is bright folks.

    We should all take our hats off to this team. What they have accomplished so far this season in what many thought would be a rebuilding year is incredible. Oh, and Tech is damn good also. I seriously underestimated their D going into this game.

  32. Tim said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 3:20 pm

    I have to disagree this week, was hoping for more accuracy in this article.

  33. anonymous said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    The Whittaker thing is tremendously frustrating. Just coaching out of cowardice.

    That might be the silver lining out of all this, he should definitely be getting a huge number of totes from here on out.

  34. Sasha_Is_A_Longhorn_Dog said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    Someone needs to put Tim out of his misery. He is obviously too stupid to be left on his own…

    On a completely different topic -
    To the guys that write these blogs and actually know what they are talking about: Have any of you picked up the November Texas Monthly? The cover and feature article is about the Texas athletic program. I’d love to see what some of y’all think about it.

  35. Tim said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Sasha, that was rude.

  36. Colt 45 said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    Tim, not gracious in a miracle win. He’ll be the first one screaming when Tech loses to OU and OSU. Actually, in Lubbock, isn’t the proper thing to blame “biased” refs for Red Raider losses?

  37. Groundhog Day said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 4:21 pm

    I went to the game last night and just watched the replay. Observations:

    1) Tech was fired up and we did not match their intensity to start the game. The first offensive play call was horrific and set the tone for the 1st half. We haven’t been conservative all year so I have no idea why we were in that particular situation. Both coaches and players are to blame for that horrific half of football.

    2) I thought Miller and Kindle played great games. We are really going to miss Miller next year as it will be tough to replace him when we look at our depth chart.

    3) I don’t know what is wrong with Beasley and poor Curtis Brown was abused last night all night. Can someone speculate on Chykie Brown? Is he hurt or in the doghouse as some speculate. He would have made a big difference. Aaron Williams is a future stud and Earl Thomas made a lot of good plays with a few mistakes mixed in. What can one say about Gideon except that you feel bad for the guy?

    3) Fozzy Whittaker should get a lot more carries.

    4) We really missed Quan, but he should never return another kick…that is obvious. Hello Malcolm Williams.

    5) Time management at the end of the game might have cost us the game. What were we doing snapping the ball with 20 seconds left on the play clock on McGee’s touchdown run?

    6) How can one not be proud of the way the team fought back in the second half and almost won a game it had no business winning.

    7) The D played a great second half.

    Dropped passes, lack of intensity to start the game, dropped interceptions, bad clock management, etc. just proved to large to overcome this time and the magical season for now is on hold. A lot can still happen and this is one of my favorite teams the horns have trotted out in a long time, but I’m extremely disappointed.

  38. Sasha_Is_A_Longhorn_Dog said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 4:22 pm

    Sometimes rudeness is necessary to get through the thickest of skulls.

  39. Tim said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 5:43 pm

    I didn’t write that last comment. This site makes it too easy to be misrepresented.

  40. Scipio Tex said:

    November 2nd, 2008 at 6:41 pm

    Good work, Eyes.

  41. Tim's Bleeding Vagina said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 7:19 am

    I’ve stocked up on tampons for all the bleeding I will be doing this weekend after the OSU game.

  42. topo_gigio said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 7:27 am

    As for the I formation and reach blocking that led to the safety early in the game: Let me channel Allen Iverson: “Reach block? REACH BLOCK? You want me to reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block? Reach block?”

  43. dedfischer said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 7:32 am

    I’m surprised you guys haven’t mentioned more about the play of Curtis Brown in this game. He’s the best CB I’ve seen in person this year. Outside of the last play, Crab had 9 catches for 114 yards and it seemed like 2/3 of that total came on Deon Beasley. So, that’s 3 catches for about 38 yards by Brown. And nobody needs to be getting on that kid’s ass for getting beat on the last play. For facing Crabtree, he played that route about as perfect as you can. I haven’t seen Crabtree have to work that hard against a guy in a while, and Brown will be a legitimate shutdown corner by the time next fall starts. You won’t need him against Baylor or A&M.

  44. RolloTamasi said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 7:42 am

    I give him credit, I think that last play by Crabtree was phenomenal. Earl Thomas didn’t take a great angle to get there but that guy (Thomas) saved a touchdown and looks like a future Bob Sanders. If Chykie doesn’t clear himself out of the doghouse he’s in trouble because Curtis Brown and Aaron Williams are only some game experience and further Akina tutelage from being fantastic players.
    The only guy I’m down on in the secondary is Deon Beasley whom I thought would be so much better this season. The more I’ve heard about Palmer’s leadership and the more I’ve watched him work in the slot the more I’m okay with him being on the field all the time. So long as we avoid putting him on the Bryant’s and Crabtrees, and we have.

  45. Scipio Tex said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 7:45 am

    ded:

    Curtis Brown gave up touchdowns to Britton and Eric Morris as well.

  46. dedfischer said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 8:03 am

    It’s youth. The kid can play. Beasley was a joke in defending Crab. He was just pushing him on the ground as he ran by him. He had to throw every move in the book at Brown to get open, and for the most part, he hung right in there for everyone of them.

  47. TaylorTRoom said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 am

    Where does this rank in TT wins under Leach? Big wins I can think of: 2004 Holiday Bowl, 2002 over Texas, 2005 over OU, the big comeback against Minnesota in 2006, 2007 over OU…any of the wins over the Ags? the 70 point game against NU?

  48. Scipio Tex said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 9:25 am

    Taylor:

    It’s #1. Not even debatable.

  49. HenryJames said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 9:26 am

    No doubt it’s number one under Leach, but what about as a program?

  50. KevinJ said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 12:39 pm

    Can we add Earl Thomas’ positioning on the final play to UGLY? He’s doubling Crabtree, arguably the best WR in the country, and instead of running in between the play and the endzone, he jogs in front of the play and out of bounds. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Earl and think he’s going to be a star for us, but that was a Freshman mistake that should have been corrected weeks ago. Akina shares the blame.

  51. BradR said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    No one has mentioned our complete inability to cover a kick-off. This has been a constant problem for years.

    Akina coached our defense poorly and lost his job. Except for limited periods where we try to block kicks he coaches the special teams coverage units terribly.

    If Harrell doesn’t start the last drive on the 37, things may have been very different.

  52. dedfischer said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 1:06 pm

    “Where does this rank in TT wins under Leach?”

    This is the biggest win in Tech’s history. Yeah, that’s how big you are. This shit doesn’t happen to us.

  53. jerryb said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    Sorry Tech fans, but your national title hopes are just a dream, so wake up and get some water. First thing is we all know it wouldnt have happened that way in Austin and Tech will lose to Oklahoma and probably Okie State too. Even if they dont lose to both theyll still be behind us in the rankings after losing once. Even if they go to the Big 12 championship, Mizzou or Kansas wont be ranked high enough for Tech to jump us even if they win. Hell they were ranked at 7 when they were undefeated, so they sure as hell wont be ranked above us after a loss. Oklahoma will blow em out in Norman anyway, so no more thoughts wasted on them. Penn State will lose to Mich State and Bama will lose to LSU or to Florida in SEC championship. We’re the best in the nation and will be in the national title game where we belong… probably playing against Florida. Hook Em!

  54. dusk till dawn said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 2:12 pm

    actually, if Tech gets by Okie state, our chances of going to the B12C go up a ton (especially because okie state will beat OU in Stillwater). Tech wins the tie breaker and prays that Kansas wins the north.

    your bitterness is sad jerryb.

  55. dusk till dawn said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm

    Taylor,
    This is easy number 1 win in the past decade. i’d say up there is upsetting #4 Cal in the Holiday bowl and upsetting #5 Aggie in 1999 (the original goal post tear down). This just feels so much bigger because we still haven’t lost yet. Like Leach said, this isn’t nearly as big if we drop the next two games.

  56. jerryb said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    Yeah and we’ll be wiping pig shit off our windshields. No, your fantasy is embarrasing and very naive. One loss to Oklahoma drops you too far in rankings. Even a win in the Big 12 championship doesnt bring you back enough to jump us. Celebrate your fluke win (cause it wont happen again), send the refs a thank you card for not calling the obvious holding your overrated o-line commited the whole game, and hope you are ranked high enough to get in a bcs bowl.

  57. dedfischer said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    “Celebrate your fluke win (cause it wont happen again), send the refs a thank you card for not calling the obvious holding your overrated o-line commited the whole game, and hope you are ranked high enough to get in a bcs bowl.”

    While you lament the idiocy of your OL for being too dumb to figure out they could.

  58. jerryb said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    An old college football adage says it’s always better to lose early in the season than late. But thanks to the BCS, that line of thinking has become as outdated as leather helmets.

    Teams with 1 Loss or more in BCS Championship Game

    Year Team Lost In
    2007 LSU November (2nd loss)
    2007 Ohio State November
    2006 Florida October
    2003 LSU October
    2003 Oklahoma December
    2001 Nebraska November
    2000 Florida State October
    1998 Florida State September

    Now this doesn’t mean losses in November are suddenly a good thing. But ever since computers entered the process of determining the participants in college football’s national championship game, the quality of a loss has become just as significant as the timing of a loss. And the Texas Longhorns are hoping this holds true in 2008. Even fresh off its first defeat of the season, Texas is still well-positioned for a run to the BCS Championship Game. Although the Horns trail the undefeated major-conference teams in this week’s BCS standings, they have the best loss of all the once-beaten teams, and they also have a head-to-head advantage on two other teams in that group (Oklahoma and Oklahoma State). And if you take a good look at the remaining schedules, Texas could still be considered the favorite to win the Big 12. Unless Texas Tech can beat Oklahoma State this week and also win at Oklahoma later in the month, the Longhorns are likely to end up in some sort of tiebreaker scenario between once-beaten teams in the Big 12 South. And UT will have the edge in most of those scenarios.

    Only a two-way tie between the Longhorns and Red Raiders would definitely be bad news for Texas. But if the Horns can win their next three games, they should capture the division if either Oklahoma or Oklahoma State can also win out.

    The biggest threat to Texas among the once-beaten teams is probably Florida, which is gaining momentum with four straight SEC wins by 30 or more points, including an impressive 49-10 beating of Georgia on Saturday. If the Gators can complete their regular-season run with victories at Florida State and against Alabama in the SEC championship game, they could have enough quality wins to make that home loss to Ole Miss a distant memory to voters … and perhaps challenge Texas for a spot in the BCS Championship Game.

    Although Penn State leads Texas Tech in both the coaches’ and Harris polls, the computer boost from the win over Texas lifted the Red Raiders to the No. 2 spot in this week’s BCS standings. Last week, Tech was tied for 10th in the computers. This week, they are tied for first, even with two of their nine wins coming against FCS (I-AA) teams. That’s how powerful the Longhorns were (and still are) within the computer element.

    And if the Raiders are able to beat Oklahoma State and Oklahoma in the coming weeks, the gap between them and Penn State will only increase. That’s not exactly breaking news, of course. We’ve known for more than a month that no undefeated team from the Big 12 or SEC would take a backseat to any team from the Big Ten.

    What should be more concerning to Penn State fans is that Texas, even with a loss, is ranked ahead of the Nittany Lions in the computers. And if Florida wins out, there’s a good chance the Gators will be, too.

    So if either Alabama or Texas Tech loses before Dec. 7, and the other stays unbeaten, Penn State isn’t necessarily a lock to finish No. 2 in the BCS. This week is proof that a narrow lead in both polls isn’t always enough to hold off a team that’s superior in the computers

  59. tom said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 4:39 pm

    What’s the point of this?

  60. hornsrule_08 said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 pm

    What do you mean whats the point? I thought it was kinda interesting and is saying that we’re in! What happened to the Horns fans in here. Most of the last comments have stunk of tech fans. dedfischer and tom need to take yalls tech lovin asses to another forum!!

  61. texas curl said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 6:45 pm

    Mich state is very capable of beating penn st

    When psu joined the conference, both teams picked each other to finish their seasons
    Iow, it’s a rivalry game

    Hookem

  62. hornsrule_08 said:

    November 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 pm

    Hell yea they will drop penn state! We’re in and these Tech fans will be crying when we win the national title because theyll say they beat us. Come to Austin and lets get some refs that can see. Cause my boy Orakpo was bein held the whole night. With all the bullshit against us we still almost won! Texas beats Florida in the Nat Championship. Mark it down.

  63. EyesOfTX said:

    November 4th, 2008 at 3:50 am

    Texas curl and Hornsrule: It’s after October 15. Michigan State annually ends any pretense of being a real team after that date. If they had played one another in September or even the first week in October, I’d agree the Spartans have a shot. But they didn’t play then, they play long after MSU’s season has effectively ended.

Leave a Reply

Follow Us

Related Articles

Hot Forum Topics

Activity