Football Articles
I hope I have established enough credibility over the ten years or so that I have been writing these weekly football season missives that none of you readers consider me to be a common cheerleader fan. I think all of you will probably agree that I am not prone to overly-positive hyperbole about this program and its coaching staff. In fact, I imagine all of you will agree that that is something of an understatement.
Eyes is not a Pollayana fan.
So I hope that, given all of the above, you will all take it in the proper vein when I say this:
I am in awe of this team and this coaching staff after Saturday’s systematic demolition of a very strong and talented Oklahoma State football team. Absolutely in awe of them. In every phase of the game – offense, defense and special teams – Texas dominated the Cowboys on their home field before a very vocal and hostile crowd, and a national television audience.
You had to love the manner in which the staff prepared the Longhorns for this year’s contest. There was none of the old “survive the surge” horse manure they’ve shoveled out to the players in years past, none of the touchy-feely softness that has at times permeated and probably hindered this program from achieving greatness.
The coaching talk this week was all about wanting the players to go into this game with a swagger in their step. It was about how they have earned their place in the upper end of the national rankings, and their need to learn from the last-second loss in Lubbock last year and make sure that doesn’t happen again. It was about the continuing need to play tough, physically and mentally, and to not give OSU or any opponent the feeling at any point in the game that they might be able to pull off an upset.
On Saturday in Stillwater, the OSU Cowboys might have felt like they could pull off the upset for about 6 minutes and 31 seconds of clock time. The Cowboy offense took the opening kickoff and moved the ball efficiently down the field, eating up 54 yards on 14 plays before stalling out at the Longhorn 27. Dan Bailey proceeded to miss a 45 yard field goal attempt, and it was all downhill for the home team after that.
What developed from that point forward was a complete defensive domination of the best offensive team on this year’s Longhorn schedule. The final stats weren’t quite as impressive as they could have been, thanks to a junk-time, short field TD by the Cowboys late in the 4th quarter, but as the clock expired, everyone in the stadium knew this had been a butt-kicking of epic proportions.
OSU QB Zac Robinson, who threw 2 pick 6’s and was intercepted 4 times on the night, told the press after the game that the Texas Defense was most likely the very best defense he had gone up against in his entire collegiate career. That is high praise from a hell of a football player who has faced some fine defensive units in the last few years.
And he’s probably right. This is without any doubt at all the best defense the Longhorns have put on the field at least since the great squads from 1990-91, and perhaps even since 1983, when Texas fielded what was most likely the finest defense in the history of the program. There probably aren’t as many sure-fire NFL prospects populating this year’s Defense as there were on the 2005 team, but the 2005 team didn’t have Will Muschamp as their coordinator.
Coaching matters, and the Texas defense continues to prove that old adage with each passing week.
Let’s go to the Good, the Bad and the Ugly:
Ugly: Game announcers Sean McDonough and Matt Millen. Matt Millen is almost as adept at calling a football game as he is at running an NFL franchise, which is to say he is the head and shoulders leader in this season’s Ugliest Color Commentator of the Year contest. This guy makes 10 time UCCY defending champion Dave Lapham look positively brilliant by comparison. In fact, I found myself longing for Lapham to come into the booth, beat the shit out of Millen, and take over the game-calling before the first quarter had ended. I am still longing for that to happen this morning. I wanted to throw a shoe through the TV screen early on when he looked at the vicious helmet-to-helmet shot the OSU DB put on Dan Buckner and repeatedly claimed the back judge had made a bad call in flagging it as a personal foul. McDonough was no better. He and Millen both spent a full hour bitching about the replay official not reviewing a non-fumble by Marquise Goodwin, going on and on about what a huge turning point that might have been in the game. It was only when they came back from halftime – no doubt after someone in the booth had gotten to the morons – that they both managed to figure out and acknowledge that might not have been such a big turning point after all, given that the ball was recovered by TEXAS. There were so many other examples of massive inanity and stupidity spouted by these two simpletons that I could literally write a book about it, but I’m afraid my head would explode before I got past the first dozen or so pages. So enough. Let’s move on to…
You can find his photo in your Webster’s dictionary under “doofus”.
Bad: [Edit: Ok, I take it back - apparently the game was on FM 103.7, whose signal is just too weak to be picked up in the Heights.]No radio coverage for a Texas Longhorn football game in the Houston market. No, really, I’m serious. AM 610, our normal football home in this market, was carrying a Rockets game, and its website contained no announcement regarding an alternate station that might be carrying the Longhorn game. Someone posted on one of the many Longhorn internet boards that Craig Way had said that the game would be carried on some FM station, but folks, I repeatedly went up and down the entire AM and FM dials during the first half, and could find no station carrying this game. If it was on an FM station in Houston, I was not able to pick it up at my home in the Heights, just 2 miles from downtown. It is mind-boggling to me that the people at Bellmont would allow such a situation to exist. And it royally pissed me off, because it left me with no choice but to listen to the TV guys.
Good: Game officials. Basically every call made on the field by Referee Greg Burks’ crew was the correct call, despite the moronic protestations by McDonough and Millen, who wouldn’t recognize good officiating if it snuck up and bit them in their fat asses. The one and only call that was really even questionable was the non-fumble call on the catch by Kirkendoll. That was a pure judgment call – his forward progress had clearly been stopped and he was being pushed backwards by multiple defenders when the ball came out. At that point, the play should be deemed over, and it doesn’t matter if an official has blown his whistle or not. The line judge determined the play to be dead. In addition to that, his knee may well have been on the ground when the ball came out – the replays could not clearly show that one way or the other.
Good: Speaking of officials, I noted to a group of Longhorn fans on Thursday that I have not seen the infamous El Guap…er, Karl Richins call a game all year long. You all remember Mr. Richins, don’t you? He was officious and possibly legally blind little clown who called our games last year with Oklahoma and Texas Tech. You know, the guy who obviously does not understand that offensive holding is an infraction of the rules subject to a 10 yard penalty. Coming back to you now? Anyway, the fact that I haven’t seen him this year is a very good thing. It would be even better if the reason I haven’t seen him is that he is no longer a Big 12 referee. I’m truly hoping that is the case.
Karl, we hardly knew ye, and we are very grateful for that fact.
Good: Greg Davis’s game preparation and play calling. There, I said it, and I didn’t even choke over it. Are you all happy now? In all seriousness, this was the third consecutive week that the offense showed up ready to play with a credible game plan designed to attach the opposing defense. The results haven’t been overwhelming in terms of yards gained and points scored, but if you hadn’t noticed, we have been going up against some damn fine defensive teams. Last night, the offense responded immediately to OSU’s good opening drive with an 11 play, 65 yard drive of its own, moving the ball to the Cowboy 8 yard line before stalling, and putting Texas ahead with a field goal. And the offense responded in that manner all night, putting points on the board when it really mattered, and never letting OSU get the impression it was really in this game. It was a very fine performance, and Davis and his assistants deserve loads of credit.
Good: The Texas offensive line. There were still a few mind-numbing lapses in pass protection, but overall the big guys gave Colt loads of time to get rid of the ball in this game. I am not privy to such information, but I would be willing to bet that the OL grades higher in pass protection in this game than it has in any game this season. It was an excellent performance, and very encouraging for the rest of the year.
Good: Duane Akina. Coach Akina is not only in charge of this team’s great defensive backfield, he is also in charge of coaching the punt and kickoff coverage units. These may well be the three strongest units on the entire Longhorn team at the moment, which says a hell of a lot about the job Akina has done this year. The man deserves a raise.
Good: Kenny freakin’ Vacarro! Speaking of coverage teams, this guy was an absolute monster on kickoff coverage in this game. I guess he got tired of seeing Malcolm Williams be the first guy down the field last week, and decided to do something about it. It is such a great feeling to be able to write all these good things about a phase of the team that had been something of a chronic weakness.
Badass.
Bad: Michigan. The Wolverines led Illinois by 13-7 in the second quarter and had the ball with a first and goal at the Illini 4. Four plays later, they turned the ball over on downs to Illinois. From that point forward, Illinois, probably the worst team in the Big 120/1 (at least before yesterday), scored 37 straight points. Rich Rod could be in a little trouble after this one.
This is Rich, watching his defense play.
Bad: The Big 12 North. At this point it’s anyone’s guess who might win the very worst division in any multiple-division conference in the country. I still have a feeling it might be Kansas State. The Wildcats get fading Kansas and milquetoast Missouri in Manhattan in their next two games before closing out the season at Nebraska, where Husker fans can no longer assume victory over anyone. KSU could also possibly lose every one of those games, but I’m thinking they’re more likely to win them all. But it’s kind of like the old riddle: if a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around, does it really make a sound? By the same token, if Kansas State wins the Big 12 North, will anyone really care?
Bad: Losing AJ Williams to a knee sprain. We need this guy to be back for the Big 12 Championship game.
Bad: This is picking at nits, but Chykie Brown’s decision to intercept the ball at his own 1 yard line on a fourth down play in the 4th quarter cost the team about 40 yards in field position and led directly to OSU’s junk-time TD. You know that if this and the game announcers are the worst things I have to complain about, it was a really good game. But, bat the damn thing down next time, Chykie. Your teammates will thank you for it.
Good: Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley. This combination basically dominated the first half offensively, and helped secure a big enough lead to really clinch the win by halftime. If there’s a more dominant passing combination in the country, I’m not aware of it. We will sure miss these guys when they’re gone.
Good: Malcolm Williams’ continued development. Both of the big guy’s catches were outstanding, and the TD was a spectacular play. Thank goodness he is finally getting a real shot at playing. He and Marquise Goodwin have made a huge difference in this ‘new’ offense’s effectiveness already.
Good: The DBs. If it seemed as if everybody in the secondary was intercepting Zac Robinson last night, it’s because they were. The two Pick 6’s by Earl Thomas and Curtis Brown give the team NINE non-offensive touchdowns this season, six by the defense. The media needs to quit saying that Texas has the highest-scoring offense in the country. What we have is the highest-scoring TEAM in the country.
Good: The whole defense, really. I watched a replay of our 2008 game with Oklahoma State on Friday, and one of the most stark differences between this year’s defense and last year’s is speed at the LB and DL positions. One play really stood out last night, as Emmanuel Acho chased OSU’s Hubert Anyiam all the way from one side of the field to the other and just blew up a reverse play to him for no gain. That play last year would have been wide open. Rod Muckelroy had another huge game, and the DTs were stellar in the running game. Kindle and Sam Acho were once again just blowing shit up all over the place. These guys are a joy to watch.
Defensive Player of the Game: Muck.
Special Teams Player of the Game: Vacarro.
Offensive Player of the Game: Colt.
Mack likes to talk about how he and his staff have essentially divided this year’s schedule into three mini-four game seasons. The team kind of sputtered and spat through the first mini-season, as the coaches decided to restrict Colt’s running, start the wrong guys at WR and RB, and hide about 2/3rds of the playbook from Oklahoma. That was kind of frustrating to rabid fans who want to see massive blowouts and bleeding opponents every week, but so be it. We got out of it 4-0, and that’s really all that mattered.
The second mini-season was the critical one, consisting as it did of four conference games against Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri and Oklahoma State. This was the real guts of the schedule, and the stretch where a loss for this year’s Longhorns loomed most likely to take place. The coaches have done a masterful job of preparing the team to play each of these opponents, and the team has jelled at exactly the right time.
Texas went into this second mini-season ranked second nationally almost by default, and not really deserving that ranking based on performance to that point. The Longhorns come out of this stretch of games probably still ranked third nationally, and deserving to be ranked higher. Like, number one.
At this point, Texas is clearly the best team in the country in terms of all around performance. The Longhorns are the only one of the top ranked teams that excel in every phase of the game. Texas pretty clearly now has the best defense in the country, as well as the best special teams. Hell, we might even have the best offense, although Oregon might want to argue that point after last nights thrashing of Southern Cal.
At any rate, and by any rational measure, the Longhorns are really, really good. Saturday’s game was, at least in my opinion, the single best overall game a Texas team has played since 2005. It was the kind of methodical, balanced dismantling of a good opponent that championship teams put together.
These Longhorns are making a habit of turning in such performances. I am in awe of them.
Hook ‘em!!!
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BEHorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:48 am
Good work as usual, EoT. The Aaron Williams injury is troubling, for sure; hopefully not serious, and at least we have a couple of games where resting him isn’t particularly worrisome.
We were getting a fair amount of run for #1 from the ESPN talking heads in college football wrap last night. Will be interesting to see if, and how, that translates to the human pollsters.
Given your frustration regarding the absence of Houston radio coverage, how would you feel if you were an Aggie and couldn’t see most of your games on television?
BEHorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:48 am
And I should add that you’ve been in awe of Greg Davis’ offense before …
… just not for quite the same reasons as last night.
texasengr said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:49 am
Corrections: Illinois is in the Big 11, not the Big 12.
Questions: What’s the typical recovery time from a knee sprain?
I checked out the adjusted stats this morning, and Texas is not #1 defensively. In fact, in most metrics, Texas is #3. Can you support your claim?
The General said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:52 am
Texas plays offenses with strategies developed after 1985.
Minnesotahorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:53 am
“In fact, I found myself longing for Lapham to come into the booth, beat the shit out of Millen, and take over the game-calling before the first quarter had ended.”
That’s seriously funny stuff. Good work all around here.
Glenn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:55 am
<100 yds net rushing .
Gotta improve in that area if we make it to the MNC.
Otherwise awesome energy and performance.
pfc said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:59 am
I disagree on the ‘good’ officials, I’m a UT fan and I was embarrassed by the calls in that game in the first half. Hit on Buckner seemed like good football to me. The fumble was obvious, the judgment was already made by the official, no one blew he whistle or raised their hand, therefore the play was not dead. Then on the drive the personal foul of a hand to Colt’s face was questionable as well and that gave us another shot at the touchdown. The question about the Goodwin fumble was valid, should have been reviewed.
I feel like I missed out on a good football game that we would have won.
EyesOfTX said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:00 am
I don’t believe I ever said Texas has the #1-ranked defense in the country. I said Texas has the best defense in the country, and I’m happy to stand by that.
whew.
Hook ‘em!!!
The General said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:04 am
Defensively, something very interesting happened last night.
Up to this point in the season, we had dominated by using our front four and some select blitz’s to obliterate crappy offensive lines. This is a good strategy.
OSU has a very good offensive line. They were able to keep our pass rush in check, though Robinson didn’t usually have time to set up camp, we did not sack him once.
Their OL could not control our front four enough to untrack their running game. So we basically played sound football in all phases and converted that into dominance by winning matchups in the secondary.
And our offense gave up short field position twice, once on a muffed punt that the D turned into a three and out and once mainly because Chykie surprisingly caught the football.
We converted sound football execution in all phases into a blowout win on the road. This leaves me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Tangent Orange said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:04 am
Quote: ” This is picking at nits, but Chykie Brown’s decision to intercept the ball at his own 1 yard line on a fourth down play in the 4th quarter cost the team about 40 yards in field position and led directly to OSU’s junk-time TD. You know that if this and the game announcers are the worst things I have to complain about, it was a really good game. But, bat the damn thing down next time, Chykie. Your teammates will thank you for it.”
Eyes I agree was all you said but this. I know what you mean, but you can’t tell your defensive backs to swat a sure INT away. Go get some RID.
Tangent Orange said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:05 am
Dammit I hate how you cannot edit you post, it should say “Eyes I agree with all that you have said but this”…..
texasengr said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:07 am
Eyes,
How do you (or I) argue that they have the best defense in the country? How do you stand by it if you can’t support it?
Perhaps the stats are hidden in the averages from the past ~3 games? (comparing Texas to UF and ‘Bama)
hp said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:10 am
The Goodwin fumble was recovered by Texas anyway, why bother reviewing it.
ghostofagroundgame said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:16 am
Eyes -
I’m in the Heights too — equally bummed about the radio situation. Millen is not qualified for anything really.
I actually thought the offense regressed a little bit — still too much Kirkendoll and too much focus on Shipley. It’s not coincidence that our two biggest plays of the night went to Malc. Also, I think we need to move away from the empty back sets and get into a position where we can throw some screens to a blocking back who slips out. Everyone knows we are going to pass, Colt takes five-step drops in 5WR sets, and people are blitzing us like crazy. The besy way to beat that is to let Foswhitt burn them for 25 yards three times a game.
It was a good win. Any word on A. Williams? I hope it’s not too serious. Chykie Brown makes me really, really nervous.
ghostofagroundgame said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:23 am
Oh yeah —
Let me state clearly: Earl Thomas should be in the conversation for best safety in the country. And best safety to ever wear burnt orange. Love that dude.
ransomstoddard said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:25 am
I got mental whiplash when you typed that “coaching matters” and then followed that up by praising the horrible, misshapen mass of goo that is Greg Davis and his single digit IQ. Then you went on to eat my brain like a Zombie by typing that the offensive line was “good”. Oh, man.
The offensive gameplan was horrible. All but one of the downfield passes were simply the result of Colt doing what he always has to do and that is, improvise. The offensive line was again manhandled by a team of 2 and 3 stars. They gave up 2 crushing sacks and could manage less than 100 yards rushing against a very mediocre OSU defense [2.9 yards/carry by the tailbacks]. There was an interesting addition to the running game involving misdirection that looked promising but our tailbacks don’t understand the play and repeatedly missed the hole. Check out Fozzy on the first series of the second half. On the first play, the hole opens up and he steps into it, then runs out of it and tried to stretch it wide. Absolutely braindead. This offense remains a sputtering, coughing and choking ‘59 Rambler.
But yes, coaching does matter and the defense is incredible. I continue to be amazed at the speed on this side of the ball. Check out Brown’s interception and watch Robinson run stride by stride with him down the sideline. Good grief. Even when we’re out of position we make up for it with pure speed. There is not a faster defense in college football.
A special shout-out to Randall, Alexander and Houston. A pre-season position of great concern has turned into a position of strength. These guys just continually wreak havoc on centers and guards.
I also thought it was funny that the announcers came on after the half and sheepishly ate their words about the missed calls. Classic tv.
parlin said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:35 am
Great write-up, Eyes.
The t.v. commentary was awkward. If anything could get me to think less of Barry Sanders’s achievement, it’s Matt Millen with a “my little back Checkers” speech.
The North is indeed a mess, and KSU could well win out. It’s been established that Bill Snyder is the love child of Dr. No and Mr. Potter from “It’s a Wonderful Life.” If KSU makes it to the Big 12 Championship, he’ll coach from a wheelchair with a gameplan built around loan foreclosure and confiscatory rates of interest.
EyesOfTX said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:36 am
Ransom: I normally agree with you on the offense, but I disagree that it regressed at all. OSU’s defense is a hell of an upgrade over Missouri’s, and I think that accounted for the drop in overall output week over week. The offense was very effective at key points in the game.
Hook ‘em!!!
Bob in Houston said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:39 am
103.7. It was in the paper and everything.
Steve Bartman said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:39 am
You never, ever, never intercept a ball on fourth down unless you have a pick 6 staring you in the face. And you damn sure don’t do it on your own one yard line.
kafka said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:40 am
Great game, great post.
I’m usually more pessimistic than most UT fans but I was nearly certain that UT would put a whuppin on Ok State (but my prediction was only 34-20). Great point about the 4th down interception.
UT is the best college team in the country. Well rounded, efficient, with awesome athletes at WR and on D. Excellent power running by Cody.
I disagree a tiny bit about GD’s.play calling. It would be really great if he never called for the 5 WR formation again. GD could also help the OL a bunch if he would develop a serious short game featuring screens, outlet passes to the TE and TB, quick pitches (maybe out of the pistol formation) to the TB running wide, quick crosses and quick slants.
Helluva TD catch by Malcolm.
p said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:43 am
texasengr -
I am gonna go out on a limb and say we face the most dynamic offenses out of anyone in the top 5 in total D, yet we are ranked 3rd.
Hawkman said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:45 am
Would you naysayers please point out to me the games you are watching where the offense always calls the correct plays and the teams score on every possession???
Truck's Son said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:46 am
The game was on 103.7 FM in Houston.
EyesOfTX said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:47 am
“103.7. It was in the paper and everything.”
I quit buying the Houston Chronicle about 2 years ago. 103.7 must have an awfully weak signal. Thanks for the info, though.
Hook ‘em!!!
NY Horn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:49 am
Do we know why we went back to the 5 wide so much in this game? I guess Greg was absorbed with OSU’s pass D ranking. I’d like to see us operate mainly out of 11 personnel with Buckner coming in on key situations. I don’t think our offensive line is good enough to run block without EBS out there. I also missed the Monroe package.
We can’t complain too much I guess since the offense was pretty productive. I think we only ran 56 offensive plays to OSU’s 70 something, and had 2 less yards. However, all in all, this was the defense’s win - those two pick sixes crushed OSU’s soul.
knightfd said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:50 am
Minor point, but the game was on 103.7 FM in Houston. I only knew this because I checked David Barron’s column in the Chronicle on-line. Good write up as always.
Bob in Houston said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:54 am
I’m not surprised that you didn’t hear 610 tell anyone where to find the Horns, but if they didn’t, it was just dumb. It’s not like a UT fan would come upon the Rockets pregame and say to himself, “Ah, no Horns. Guess I’ll stick with the Rockets.”
On the other hand, if they did, I wouldn’t expect them to say every 15 minutes between 6 and 8 where to find the game.
EyesOfTX said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:56 am
Bob in Houston: But wouldn’t you expect AM 610 to put a note about the station change up on its website? That doesn’t seem like too much to ask, does it?
majnunredfoot said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:57 am
texasengr- You must also add into an overall rating, the ability of the Texas D’s to score.
BrickHorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:00 am
I don’t know what to think about the offense’s performance last night. It wasn’t really dominant in terms of total yards, yards per play or points. On the other hand, in the first five drives, the O nabbed two TDs and two FGs on drives of 65, 53, 80 and 57 yards. Out of the first seven drives, the offense scored on 5 (3 TDs, 2 FGs). It’s hard to complain about that efficiency. But the rushing numbers were atrocious - 3.1 YPC. Overall, it was a sound performance and one of those games where the big picture statistics are misleading.
Bob in Houston said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:03 am
No, EOT, that’s not too much to ask. In fact, UT’s station list says to check the KRLD website to find the game when there is a conflict there.
The only time I’ve heard 610 put down bread crumbs is when they can put the game on another station within the company. As I said, it’s petty, and borderline stupid. But it’s how the business appears to work.
panchoclaus said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:16 am
Michigan’s D = Greg Robinson
whoopspat said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:19 am
Good post. I’ll have more thoughts when I get on a real computer but how about this for a ‘Good’: Kevin Durant representing on the sideline. Showing spirit in the land of thr enemy saying all the right things, and doing so genuinely. Gotta love KD.
Art Vandelay said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:20 am
I feel very similar to what you typed Eyes. This team is growing into their talent and that points to good coaching and leadership.
My beef of the day is the national media (no surprise). Example: the Sunday Sports Reporters on ESPN this morning. After 15 minutes talking about the World Series and Brett Farve they cut to a commercial showing Earl Thomas’ pick 6 and John Saunders says “when we come back, did the Longhorns do enough to get into the National Championship Game last night? Hook ‘em Horns.” After the commercial break they talked about whether the TCU Horned Frogs could play in the BCS Championship game. They didn’t say one word about the Longhorns.
TXinDC said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:23 am
Eyes,
I’m going to disagree on your Special Teams Player of the Game. Justin Tucker, our formidable kicker, was the last man to beat on several kickoffs, and he thankfully made some clutch blocks. I’m surprised no one has given this kid any credit.
Of course, we snuffed a number of kickoffs at the point of the catch, but those that got away were stopped by Tucker himself. That’s enough to kick your Akina review from an A to an A- in my mind. You can’t have your kicker being your last line of defense against a top-tier kick return team.
EyesOfTX said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:28 am
TXinDC: valid points. Thanks.
OldTimeHorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:32 am
Assuming texasengr stands for you being an engineer and not an engraver in the Lone Star State, you should understand the following case why Texas measurably has the best (#1) defense in the nation. As of last week (this wknd’s stats not yet being available), offenses that ran plays against us averaged an inch and a half less than 11 feet per. Only three other teams in the country-Alabama, TCU and Ohio State, in order-allow fewer than 12 feet per play. How much yardage is given up on an average play makes for a core, if not definitional, determinant of defensive quality. Texas-Number One Defense in College Football today. QED
Blueshorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:37 am
With the exception of a few plays, the Horns’ offense didn’t impress me in the least. The defense is playing lights out, and I’m happy with the outcome. Assuming we make it to the BCS title game, I hope we draw an opponent our defense can dominate, because I have no confidence in our offense against a strong D.
texasengr said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:00 am
OldTime,
I’ll buy that argument. I was simply looking for anything from Eyes.
Thanks,
The General said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:05 am
While you can bang on Greg Davis play calling and gameplan, you can’t say enough about Colt’s execution. Colt’s efficiency is what drives our offense. It is back.
Confused and Dazed said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:06 am
I’m no GD lover, but part of the reason for the reappearance of the empty set with 4 or 5 wides was the fact that OSU ranked #106 in the country against passing and 18th against rushing. We didn’t have big rushing totals because we came out throwing, playing our strength against their weakness…nothing wrong with that, IMO. I don’t know how the rusg attempts broke down, but it looked to me like we had a lot more attemots in the second half, after we had shredded their passing defense. Also, if you take out the two sacks, which were for long yardage, we probably average about 4 per carry, which against a pretty good rushing defense, isn’t that bad. That said, we have to eliminate the stupid pass protection miscues we have in every game. For example, on one of the sacks, Uly is lined up with a guy with his hand on the ground on his outside shoulder in an empty set. For some reason I can’t comprehend, he turns inside to double and ignores the guy, who goes right past him and hits Colt from the blinside in full stride…mind numbing for someone with his experience. Again, this in an empty set with no one back there to pick him up.
Oh, and great write up as always.
Blindsided said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:28 am
“For some reason I can’t comprehend, he turns inside to double and ignores the guy, who goes right past him and hits Colt from the blinside in full stride…mind numbing for someone with his experience. Again, this in an empty set with no one back there to pick him up.”
If you figure out what Uly was thinking please let me know.. That really looked idiotic.
Blueshorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:29 am
We had 176 yards passing against their 106th ranked pass defense. Despite our own great defense, OSU actually outgained us in total offense, 277-275. Our offense was very pedestrian, but running and passing.
Blueshorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:30 am
…*both* running and passing.
EyesOfTX said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:31 am
General: Agree on Colt - he made some phenomenal throws last night.
houston cooooooogs said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:40 am
Blueshorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:29 am
We had 176 yards passing against their 106th ranked pass defense. Despite our own great defense, OSU actually outgained us in total offense, 277-275. Our offense was very pedestrian, but running and passing
__________________________
Wow, what do you want us to do? Throw more while we’re up 4 td’s?
kafka said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:46 am
5 wide issues:
* Guarantees that Colt will have inadequate protection and have to unload nthe ball right away (if he does not get blind sided first)
* side with 3 WRs can be zone covered by 2 DBs and a safety deep because there are too many WRs in a small space => no incremental advantage for O in adding extra WR on that side
* D does not need to worry much about deep ball or double moves because QB has to unload so quickly
* no TB means D k nows horns are going to throw on that down
The 4 wide is much preferable to the 5 wide because there the threat of a run, extra blocing with the TB, and a relief valve target with the TB. It also makes play action passing possible.
The horns have proven they usually don’t run well without a TE. Three WRs give Colt more than enough reads to work through, probably more time to throw, improves the running game immensely, and still provides Colt 2 relief valve targets (TB and TE) if the 3 WRs are not open soon enough. The pass blocking is usually better with a TE in the game.
Blueshorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:47 am
“Wow, what do you want us to do? Throw more while we’re up 4 td’s?”
Yes. I also want our freshman backup QB to get meaningful reps running the entire offense, not mop-up duty. 41 points is hardly running up the score in this day and age. I also want a real running game that averages more than three yards a carry.
ShevisIrons said:
November 1st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
EOT, I live in Katy and could not pull 103.7. I’m sure the people that did listen to the game on the radio here in the Houston area live within 200 yards of the tower in Angelton. The rest of us were screwed.
Ragarding MM: he has a bit of a reputation of not being as “prepared” as his peers. Since I’ve worked in Sports Media over 17 years, I’ve met him several times and he always had an air of “I’m MM and you wish you had my life” about him. He just thinks he’s entitled and thus doesn’t do his homework.
java said:
November 1st, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Great write up, Eyes. Of course, we have grown to expect nothing less.
I lived in the Heights in Houston for 2 years, also about 2 miles from Downtown, and radio coverage was nonexistent. Mobile phone coverage was sporadic, as well. It was always such a mystery to the carriers…grrr.
Our defense and special teams have gotten absolutely flashy, and it appears that the offense suffers by comparison. At least, that is one explanation.
Macanudo said:
November 1st, 2009 at 1:10 pm
“The 4 wide is much preferable to the 5 wide because there the threat of a run, extra blocing with the TB, and a relief valve target with the TB. It also makes play action passing possible.”
And there’s nothing that says, if the D doesn’t look like it’s bringing pressure, the RB can go in motion if GD really wants the 5 wide.
java said:
November 1st, 2009 at 1:35 pm
One other thing, since the winner of the South must play the winner of the North, and the winner of the North will have a miserable BCS standing, wouldn’t it be better for the representative of the South (Texas, I hope, but assume nothing) to play someone they have already played?
Apologize for the long question, but after last season, could the BCS get us even if we win out? If we play an opponent we have already played, as I understand it, we only suffer their rating once.
Yes? No? Doesn’t matter?
burnt orange outrage said:
November 1st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Nice writeup, Eyes.
While it’s fun and exciting to watch teams with point-a-minute offenses cruise up and down the field, it’s equally exciting (to me at least) to watch a truly dominant defense impose its will on an offense, and that’s what ours has become under Will Muschamp. Whether we lead the nation in this statistical category or that, I’ll take our D over any unit out there because they don’t sit back and wait to see what the offense is going to do; they aggressively go out and force the issue and basically say, “We’re stopping you and we’re stopping you stone cold.”
Our D is full of dynamic playmakers who are football smart and are a physical extension of their coach on the field. Combine the gameplanning of a brilliant defensive mind with a unit full of intelligent, disciplined athletes who love to knock the shit out of people, and you get one of the best defenses Texas has ever had. I hope they get the shutout they so badly want this season (and they might very well get it with the stretch we’ve got coming up in the next couple weeks).
Offensively, I thought we turned in a workmanlike performance. Running game was largely frustrating (continuing a seasonlong trend) but OSU should get some credit as their D is pretty stout in their own right. Colt made something out of nothing repeatedly; he still took a few too many cringe-inducing shots for my liking, but pass protection overall was serviceable.
Best part of Saturday’s games other than Texas’ win to me was USC getting faceraped by the Ducks. Maybe now all the Trojan-loving talking heads will shut up. The USC D got absolutely used by Oregon’s running game — 391 yards! Are you kiddin me?! It was a rare treat to watch Carroll actually fake a little humbleness to the media afterward. Always nice to see one of the top programs of the past decade not named Texas get embarrassed.
Oh, and nice to see the CBS announcers could get back to their usual rimjobs of St. Tebow Saturday after he looked decidedly less-than-immortal last week.
dedfischer said:
November 1st, 2009 at 2:45 pm
My only advice is that you better respect the Aggies’ speed at the offensive skill position, but that’s where it helps having a million dollar DC.
dedfischer said:
November 1st, 2009 at 2:50 pm
…and a lot of talent. I like what I see from the Texas defense much better than last year. Muschamp played the run in the backfield with Miller and Orakpo. The DTs and DEs are playing more honest and disciplined this season, which has eliminated the running lanes from last season. A 2008 Ohio State won’t be able to run the ball on Texas in a bowl game this year. No one appreciates the new strategy more than Roddrick Muckelroy.
hopefulhorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Very nice writeup, as usual, Eyes. I mostly come down on your side in complementing the offense. Williams and Goodwin continue to contribute. We are still using misdirection in running that allows productive plays and keeps defenses a bit more honest.
Most of all, the offense responded when conditions demanded it. They established a lead early. They answered OSU’s 2nd quarter scoring drive with a fine 2 minute drill that was essential in re-establishing control of the game going into halftime. Then, they opened the second half with a five minute FG drive to extend the lead.
I wouldn’t get too bent about the low yardage total. When your defense stakes you to a suddenly big lead, you not only lose possessions but it would be foolish do anything but kill clock when you are up 41-7. Unless, of course, you are Stoops and OU and you are hustling for “style points” to outrun getting beat in the RRS….
BornaHorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I saw in one of the papers I saw online (I looked at several) that Mack said he intentionally shackled GD and the offense. GD said that there were opportunities but Mack said they weren’t needed.
Does anyone buy this?
alma said:
November 1st, 2009 at 5:48 pm
As much deep zone as OSU played in the first half, I don’t think we can accurately say that the lack of downfield passes was the result of Greg Davis’s play calling. Given the presnap and post-snap looks OSU was giving Colt, it’s just as, if not more, likely that Colt was content to slowly pick apart OSU with underneath passes. I saw plenty of vertical routes, Colt just decided to throw the ball elsewhere. Which routes were his primary reads, we don’t know.
Sugarpants said:
November 1st, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I buy the argument that we don’t want to run up the score on the other guy’s turf beyond the point where more points have any meaning.
We were done at hafltime - we had proven our point to anyone who was still watching. I am pretty sure they got the message and moved on to watch USC get annihilated.
I’d rather keep Mike Gundy around. He’s very entertaining.
Confused and Dazed said:
November 1st, 2009 at 6:35 pm
What he have on defense, both on the field and on the sideline, was demonstrated several times last night. One that stands out in my mind was that, on their first series on 3rd and short, they faked an inside handoff and gave the ball to one of their wides on a reverse that caught us off guard and picked up a very large gain. Later in the game, they ran the same play on 3rd and short, but Acho. recgnizing the motion by the WR, ran all the way across the field and ran the guy down in the backfield for a loss. Great coaching, meet great athlete.
BEHorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Borna -
I saw that, but in context I thought Mack was referring to most of the second half. And in that context - yes, I do buy it. Run clock, finish game, leave with win and no more injuries. Vintage Mack with a big lead.
dasmithjones said:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Stats are for losers.
soldierhorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Great write up as usual EOT and I usually agree with you 93.2% of the time.
However, I thought the call on Bucker was a bad call. I thought the oSu player lead with his shoulder; therefore, he didn’t initiate contact with the crown of his helmet as a weapon so it was just a hard football hit – it happens. Also, once Buckner established possession of the ball, he is no longer a defenseless player and is then a runner. Can you imagine if every incidental helmet-to-helmet contact was called, esp for runners (RBs) who lead with their helmet? The game would be virtually unplayable. At that point, they might as well go back to leather helmets; that would stop a lot of that crap.
I also wasn’t as impressed with the OL performance as you seem to be. Maybe we are just accustomed to mediocre OL play that this looked impressive by comparison. Understandably, three out of five of UT’s starters are former 3*recruits as well as backup Poehlmann mostly due to the many 4* OL washouts in 06 and 07 classes BUT with all the game experience these guys have played, they should be able to handle a 2*DT that got a TFL, a 2* soph DE that got a TFL, a 3* DE that got a TFL & sack, a 3* converted Freshman DE from TE, and a 4*sr. They were getting pressure on Colt with a three man rush – geeez - and sometimes a four man rush. By contrast, I thought oSu’s OL did a real good job protecting Zac he just made some poor decisions along with outstanding DB play. Matter of fact, I saw a couple of plays where the oSu linemen were hittin’ mean and said to myself, I wish our guys would play mean like that. It may just be perception on my part but I saw one play in particular where their tackle blocked our DL to the ground, pounced on him again, got up, and went over and knocked the snot out of the CB after the play passed him by… I kinda liked it.
Colt played real well last night, IMO, and he is starting to raise his QB rating with a solid 160 eff rating. His season eff rating is up to 144. He seemed to lose patience or confidence in his OL a few times by rolling out into rushing traffic. It is understandable, however, when 8 are dropped back into coverage and he has been hit so many times the last few games.
I do agree with you on the announcers; they just sounded plain dumb. They said several times, something to the effect, that Texas was winning on the scoreboard but they both were equal on the stat sheet – ridiculous - or the teams were playing evenly but the scoreboard didnt show it. IMO, this game was only close on the stat sheet for those that didn’t pay attention or watch the game, including the announcers. Usually a team will have 6-10 drives in a half, UT only had 4 drives in the first half and three of the four were successful (producing scores). One of the TD drives was taken over at mid-field due to a oSu fumble, which also shortens the stats. Again, the second half was much of the same. Two of three drives in the third quarter were successful and ended in points. Both drives started with good field position: 57 yard drive and 15 yard drive; again, this shortens the ability to develop stats. The fourth quarter had three drives that were mostly prevent, running out the clock and not running the score up.
MilkmanDan said:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:30 pm
How did he establish possession on an incomplete pass?
soldierhorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Milkman, that is true. I reread what I wrote and coulnt figure out how to edit or delete that part. I screwed that up.
dick said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:02 pm
You can not throw your shoulder into a guy’s head as he is trying to catch the ball or even use that move to try and separate the WR from the ball. That was an easy call to make. People on here saying that was not the right call sound like idiots.
The forward progress call was iffy but the result was correct.
Nice writeup eyes
soldierhorn said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:25 pm
shoulder didnt hit head; shoulder hit shoulder - head hit head. Even if the shoulder hit head… the rules do not say that is a foul. He didnt use his helmet as a weapon on the initial hit.
Bob in Houston said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:54 am
I can’t recall… did they say, helmet to helmet? Because you can’t level a receiver in mid-air with a hit like that unless he has the ball.
EyesOfTX said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:02 am
He didn’t have the ball, and it was helmet-to-helmet. There’s really not much mystery here at all.
Hook ‘em!!!
pfc said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:06 am
First off I’m a Texas fan and believe that we are the better than OSU. In fact I think we are the best team in the country.
However this officiating was beyond bad in the first half. Every bit as bad as the Florida-Arkansas game. It’s obvious that the leagues are protecting their cash cows (just read in the statesman that the payout for the conference is 18.3 million for a BCS bid). I’d like to see the Buckner hit again but from what I remember he after he missed the catch he curled up moving his helmet down and got hit. The defender had no where to go and probably didn’t know if he caught it or not. This is legal and why WRs don’t like going over the middle. The forward progress fumble was a no brainer. Forward progress stops when the officials whistle or raise their hands, they hadn’t.
Let’s hope next year that reffing is not controlled by the conference. This is a trend and you see it in the SEC, Big Ten and the Big 12.
EyesOfTX said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:12 am
bah.
Tim\'s Bleeding Vagina said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:24 am
pfc said: “First off I’m a Texas fan and ….”
saying it twice on this thread doesn’t make it any less false…
soldierhorn said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:48 am
BobinHouston, I believe what you are talking about is the new “defenseless player” rule and you are right, but it is not because the player is “in the air” but because as the rule states,“ concentrating on the ball” and cannot defend himself, or in the case where the pass play is clearly over and the player is relaxed. I don’t think that what happened in this case with Buckner. There are two stipulations in the NCAA rule book about a defenseless receiver:
* The pass receiver whose concentration is on the ball;
* The pass receiver who has clearly relaxed when the pass is no longer catchable;
I don’t think the first applies since the ball had already gone through and past him. The second condition doesn’t apply either since the hit happened so soon after the ball had got there and Buckner wasn’t relaxed yet on the play. DBs are trained to hit the receiver as soon as possible after he touches the ball to try and knock it loose. I don’t see how the “defenseless” player rule applies - that is just good hard football.
The rest of it talks about initiating contact with a “defenseless opponent” above the shoulders with the crown of the helmet. First, Buckner was not a defenseless player, IMO, therefore the rest doesn’t apply but for the sake of argument; secondly, the DB did not initiate contact with the crown of the helmet above the shoulders – he initiated contact with the shoulder at the shoulder. The helmet to helmet wasn’t even with the crown of the helmet but the front side of the helmet. The DB was not head hunting, IMO. Had Buckner caught the ball, it would have been a hard hit trying to knock the ball loose.
I will guarantee you one thing but there is no way to prove it, I would bet that Muschamp would not want that play calling on the DB to be the standard. That is how you teach a DB to hit. Also, if this is a foul, then Sergio should have been kicked out of the TTU game and probably suspended with the hit on Potts. Even though that was legal as well, it was a far more egregious helmet to helmet on a defenseless player (QB throwing the ball).
I guess on blogs we go by the fan rulebook: If it is against us – it’s bad; if it is for us – it’s good.
pfc said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
“Tim’s Vagina” do you think the officiating has been good this year? Like in the SEC and the Big Ten?
Sorry about repeating myself but I like watching football and not WWE and don’t think we need any help from the refs.
EyesOfTX said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:28 pm
We don’t need any help from the refs, and we didn’t get any help from the refs on Saturday. Comparing a couple of extremely marginal calls that could’ve gone either way to the atrocities that led to two straight undeserved wins for Florida is frankly idiotic, and does indeed make me wonder about your constant claims to be a Texas fan.
Overall, from what I’ve seen, the officiating in the Big 12 has been significantly more competent this year than it has been in years past, mainly because the Conference poobahs reinstated offensive holding as a rules infraction this year, and the officials have taken note of that.
Hook ‘em!!!
Tim\'s Bleeding Vagina said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
the officiating has been much better in the big 12 this year as compared to years past and comes nowhere close to the atrocities committed to keep florida undefeated against arkansas and miss st. and to keep iowa undefeated against indiana.
anyone claiming so clearly has an axe to grind against texas.
same goes for the guy above comparing it to the hit on potts. the qb is not a defenseless player, so for it to be an illegal hit it has to be helmet to helmet. don’t let the fact that every replay shows the initial contact on the potts hit being sergio’s facemask on the football/pott’s chest. the subsequent motion took sergio’s helmet into pott’s helmet, which happens on quite a few hits every week.
pfc said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Anyway, EoT always enjoy reading your takes on the GBU. Thanks for posting your thoughts.
travis said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:39 pm
How can you say that the calls were as bad in the first half as they were in florida/ arkansas game… You must be watching our games through some type of oklahoma television set because there is no comparison not to mention completely off base…
1. The calls in the florida game were in the 4th quarter of a tied football game, that changed the outcome of the game maybe even the whole national picture.
2. The florida calls were obvious and just flat out wrong, the personal foul had no merit, and the no call on the offensive pass interference was bullshit.
3. The hit on buckner was a shot to the kids face while he was in the air, if that wasn’t a personal foul, I’d hate to see what it would take for you to see one, maybe his head fly off of his body?
4. The fumble not fumble…. how long does kirkendoll have to be pushed backwards by 3 guys to consider a play dead? 1 minute.. 2 minutes… an hour? Kirkendoll had stopped doing any type of forward progress and actually was being carried in the wrong direction. Okie st even called a time out in between plays, so everybody got a good look at what happened.
It’s hard for me to even see how they were bad calls in our game but lets just say they were, and you take those away… We still win the game just not by as much as the final showed it, but if you take those calls and change them in the florida game, florida loses that game no doubt in my mind
soldierhorn said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:57 pm
EOT, I had no intention of derailing your thread. I just had a few difference of opinion points to mention.
You are correct in stating that these are marginal calls and, naturally, there will be a few every game. I don’t think there is any B12 big money conspiracy or anything. I think some games the ball bounces your direction and some games it doesn’t; the same with marginal calls. In a game such as Saturday’s game, when you are clicking on all cylinders AND the ball bounces your way… well, the results can get demoralizing.
Good write up as always, esp about the Akina & DBs and the defense. They could get scary good. I am excited, not only for this year, but in the coming years.
It’s good to be a Longhorn!
OMG… I was going to quit but…
“same goes for the guy above comparing it to the hit on potts. the qb is not a defenseless player, so for it to be an illegal hit it has to be helmet to helmet. don’t let the fact that every replay shows the initial contact on the potts hit being sergio’s facemask on the football/pott’s chest. the subsequent motion took sergio’s helmet into pott’s helmet, which happens on quite a few hits every week.”
1. Either you are wrong stating, “the qb is not a defenseless player” or the rule book under the paragraph of “defenseless players” is just adding useless phrases such as “The passer who is in the act of throwing the ball” as being definitions of defenseless players.
2. You missed my point about Sergio entirely. I guess you overlooked the part where I said the Sergio hit was “legal as well.” You are correct, the initial hit was facemask to ball, then crown to chin – legal. If one is legal so is the other; the replay of the Buckner hit also showed the initial hit was shoulder to shoulder, then side of helmet to front of helmet. These are examples of follow-on coincidental contact as a result of initial contact. If you throw your shoulder into someone, then your helmet is going to hit something. You hope it is the ball, to knock it out, but it could be the other guy’s helmet if he bends over as most players would; it’s a reaction.
hookem
Phenomenal Smith said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:13 pm
You won’t believe this one, but MNC still thinks the Longhorns suck.
HenryJames said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:33 pm
How’s having him over on Atomic Teeth working out for y’all?
TaylorTRoom said:
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:28 am
My opinion…
1. The Buckner hit. The head to head was incidental, and after the shoulder to chest contact, and in my opinion was not enough to penalize. The defenseless player aspect was a judgement call, but of the kind officials are allowed to make. The DB could have let up, but decided that he had a great chance of taking a shot at the WR, and went for it. It didn’t work out for him, but it was a total judgement call. The official had to decide if the DB could have held up, and he decided that he could have. I would not have been outraged if it hadn’t been called, and OSU should not be outraged that it was. No comparison to the Kindle/Potts hit, where Potts was actually holding the football when Kindle hit him.
2. The Kirkendoll “fumble”. Again, officials have to make judgements on when a play is over. Do you really want a game where the defenders are constantly holding up the carriers until they rip the ball loose? Are you OK if the OL charge in and turn it into a rugby scrum on every play? Because that’s what you get if the “fumble” is enforced.
Tim\'s Bleeding Vagina said:
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
soldierhorn said: “The passer who is in the act of throwing the ball”
do you comprehend the difference between this and standing in the pocket looking downfield? potts was not in the act of throwing the ball. he was in the act of imitating a statue and it almost got him knocked out. if he had been releasing the ball as sergio hit him, you would have most likely seen a flag thrown. since he was not in the act of throwing the ball, he was not a defenseless player and you have to fall back on the basic helmet to helmet rules… which we agree kindle’s hit was not. buckner was a defenseless player because he was in the act of catching the ball. the flag was thrown because of the hit on a defenseless player, which is not the same thing as the basic helmet to helmet rules.