Every time I do one of these I try to limit it to stray thoughts and let the game speak for itself. Every time I fail. I'll try to keep this one under 7,000 words. Looks like it's cold today. Go time.
They announce that Toss Reesing is KU's all-time leading passer. As a sophomore. KU football!
Modern spread offenses make team defense so important. Roy Miller hasn't been blocked in a month, but it doesn't matter because it's not possible for one guy to make a difference anymore. I think the best way to go about things for now is the way Tech does it. Simple schemes, just 11 guys on the same page playing hard.
We end another drive with a sack. Thank god for our pass rush. Orakpo, Houston, and Chykie Brown were all on the bench for that drive.
Fozzy gets the start again. Sometimes you can tell right away when a kid has it.
One way to stop Colt? Tackle his receivers before the ball gets there.
We just ran the play that Vince beat KU with in 2004. I think Greg Davis is fucking with Mangino. I hope Colt coverts a 4th and 17 at some point.
KU's weakness all season has been their anemic pass rush, and it's been lacking so far. Colt should have a huge day. Pass rushers usually lose effectiveness as the day wears on.
Vondrell is a RB that needs a crease, but if you give it to him the kid can wiggle through. That combo reminds me of the Jamaal/Young pairing. One electric slasher, one wiggly picker.
We are not getting any quick pressure on Reesing. We'll see what happens as Mangino opens up the offense. All we need to do is contain him, I think.
Three and out. I'm going to avoid predicting anything because we have a nasty habit of starting fast then trailing off after 14-0.
Watch how we squeeze our down linemen over the center to try and get Miller isolated on on OL. It's probably our best chance of pressure without Orakpo and Houston. Just cover the guards 46-style and let Miller loose.
I don't think Colt's thrown an incompletion yet, outside of the interference.
It's always fun when the fans start getting whipped up about a fumble that was clearly after the whistle. We follow that up with a karmic fumble from the I formation, which is like arming our military with bows and arrows.
OK, I lost internet connection or something and half of what I wrote is gone. Probably for the best. The highlights were that KU is slow but extremely well coached, and it's easy to look good when you're playing 14 white kids from small Miswestern high schools.
Also, we are playing into KU's hands running the zone. Their strength is their team discipline and their LBs. Spread them out and run counters, draws, and screens.
Colt runs a draw and goes back first again. Where did he learn that?
I think in recent weeks we've relied too heavily on Colt, not doing other stuff to take pressure off of him. As usual we rectify that problem at the absolute wrong time. Our advantage over KU is in talent and speed, their is discipline and plugging up gaps. Therefore, we will run plays designed to take advantage of poor gap control on important swing downs like 2nd and 6, while Colt is 8 for 10 or something. Explain that to me.
A problem that is not Davis created is that teams are locking up Quan and Shipley on 3rd and short. We've seen a lot of drops from the new guys, and Ogbonnaya right there, leading to punts. I think we should make the alternative read a long pass to Williams or something instead of underneath to less reliable receivers. Our offense works because of an insane efficiency. If you move away from that, move it to more risk taking. There is no upside to throwing across the field to a RB for 2 yards.
That's a fumble, obviously. If there was no whistle, that's an enormous break.
Mack Brown just high-fived Muschamp. Tell me enthusiasm isn't infectious. Every staff should have a Muschamp. Except Clemson and Tennessee.
4 yard dump to Whittaker. That is a run game. Let them defend that.
3rd and 6 slant to Kirkendoll, incomplete. These aren't bad players, but we're not putting our best foot forward on 3rd downs (or our 2nd down "run game" for that matter). We have something really special with the McCoy/Quan/Shipley thing. You can force it to a certain degree. They can't double everybody.
That was just good defense. No complaints from me.
It's actually nice to see a defensive battle for once. I'm tired of 45-35 games. I say that as KU gets a 20 yard corner route.
Kindle is abusing his guy like some taxi-squad scrub. He's just tossing that poor guy aside the way a big brother would shove his little brother. Miller hit Reesing as hard as you can hit that elusive bastard.
A couple QB draws (scrambles, I know, but it's the same principle) and a screen and we're in business. This is not rocket science.
I don't think there has been one handoff yet. Maybe we're out of our early-game script. Or Major is Dance Dance Revolution-ing in his own plays now.
Colt forces the TDless Whittaker to block for his easy TD. Fozzy should go punch McCoy in the arm now. 14-0.
Gideon is slow but I love how he plays. He wants to kill everyone. There is a role for him on this team, even as other guys get better. We are slaughtering KU right now. Our defense really needed it's swagger back. Thanks, white boys!
Michigan is horrible. I know their QBs suck ass but what excuse do the rest of them have? They'll be good once they coral a QB, but I feel bad for them right now. They deserve better. The fans and players, I mean, not Rich Rodriguez.
Start of the 2nd half beings with a ten yard scramble and thatquick audible to Quan for another ten. This is how you beat less athletic teams. A called QB draw this time nets 7, as Colt gets hit in the back . . . again. What is with him.
We ran that fake tunnel screen but KU must've covered it well. First time for everything. I like the call. Good time for it. 4th and . . . holy crap, Shipley. Could he always jump like that? Good call to go for it. I bet that's why we took the risk on 3rd down.
3rd and 17? Close enough.
Let's all appreciate that Quan Cosby outran KU for 15 yards and a first down. Not a lot of speed out there. 21-0.
Jered Norton, ladies and gentlemen. Killebrew would be proud.
We're going to lose the shutout now but in the most awesome fashion imaginable. What a catch.
I think the play by play guy just called Quan Cosby Jered Shipley.
Now that Colt is playing at a mortal level, we can see what our offense really looks like. I miss when teams didn't realize they could blitz us because we still run 90% stop routes, and our only deep threats are freshmen.
"You got knocked the fuck out!" Would these things happen if we were still controlling the ball for 35-40 minutes a game? Greg Davis just injured Blake Gideon. That's my view. My crazy, vindictive view.
Helmet right to the chin. Christ. It's times like this that I am glad I can tune out color analysts.
Ha, #22 just tried to do it again. Not so much. Meet Christian Scott.
Two 15 yard flags, as Texas has decided to put off letting KU back in the game for a quarter. Apparently KU can only take one, so we got a free shot on Reesing. Sliver lining!
Reesing is throwing from all sorts of awkward angles because of our pressure. I am not going to address the dropped INT. There is a dog shaped hole in my window though.
Reesing is going to get one of his ducks shot out of the air by a confused hunter. These teams are having a suck-off right now and the fans are losing.
Wow! Colt is fast! Compared to KU!
The refs are doing a really good job today. Just thought I'd mention it since it's been awhile.
Don't sleep on James Kirkendoll in the 2nd half. How many teams have been Kirkenrolled? Too many to count.
28-7 and we can breath easy now. Game's over. We are a circus catch from shutting out a good offensive football team into the 4th quarter. That's pretty impressive no matter what the weather is.
Another karma fumble. Apparently, according to Lapham, ever since the Gideon hit Muschamp has been saying "that's how you get the football back guys." No doubt his players were confused by this and chalked it up to an intensity-related brain failure.
In other news, Christian Scott? Really? Where is this coming from?
You cannot convince me Brandon Collins didn't get that penalty to add 5 more yards onto his stats. That's the same play that Shipley busted against OU, with Quan's big block. Except this time the safety chased Shipley. We really don't offer a lot of variety, I have to say. 35-7.
f to the r to the e to the e to the c to the r to teh e, d, i ,t . . . ah fuck.
Haha. Curtis Brown had an INT in his eyes and forgot to actually cover the WR. I wish we'd played these guys last year so we'd be better this year. Good thing we got Eric Jackson all that valuable experience.
Another sack. This is the most I've ever seen from a Texas team, I think. I don't count 1982 or 82 because I was 1 and 2 at the time.
Our pressure has completely ruined Reesing. Hes practically throwing submariner style now. Odd how we got so much pressure on QBs this year except for one. Odd. So very weird. Poor timing, I guess.
If the NCAA had an NIT, KU would dominate it. They might be the best bad team in the country.
Georgia is having to eke out a win over Auburn. DeMarco Farr announced that Stafford has "another two TDs!" as our play by play guy wonders aloud if Stafford will come out. Sometimes I feel like announcers don't even watch football.
We pull out a nifty misdirection screen . . . up 28 in the 4th quarter. 3rd and 4 in the 2nd quater? No chance.
Fozzy Whittaker makes me want to scream curse words at the TV, but in the good way. I love that kid.
I think, when interviewing former players on TV, Bill Little should demand to get the questions up front and give our guys time to prepare. The same should be expected of Matthew McConaghey, except we need to hire a freaking editor for that guy.
Someone should make a "Four Horsemen" poster with Fozzy, Chris O, McGee, and Colt and see what percentage of Texas fans make fun of you for it. That percentage will then be given lifetime memberships to Barking Carnival and the rest of you will have to serve us drinks.
Modern college football: spread offenses that default to 30 points, FBs and blocking TEs are a liability, and sideways running rugby kicks. RC Slocum is rolling over in his grave.
Our secondary cannot catch for crap. At least we are pummeling KU afterwards, instead of giving up 30 yard prayers into double coverage where both DBs quit.
"Reesing will option play." He option plays for ten yards. KU needs to pass attempts more down the field.
Ryan Palmer gets a late hit and I cannot get worked up about it. I can't believe this team may not even make the conference title game. We probably will but you never know. Crazy, huh?
Chykie Brown can't pick up the defense, says Duane Akina the last couple years. We paid him to say it, too. Our team is awesome. If we could have found our OC a job in the offseason like he wanted this would be my favorite team ever.