Texas Football Spring Game Live Blog: Because We Can’t Follow Cricket

FYI: Following the Orange-White Scrimmage, fans are invited to stay for a special screening of Disney-Pixar’s "Toy Story 3" on the videoboard courtesy of Time Warner Cable.
 
This is a last second change from A Clockwork Orange.

Can’t believe the worldwide leader is going to interrupt their bowling coverage to show Texas’ spring game. Clearly, that Longhorn Network deal is already paying off.

More of it on the way. Texas/SEC will be the dominant meme for the WWL. It will be rammed up the viewer’s asses mercilessly.

Recruiting update:
 
Brown and Cole committed to Texas according to 24-7.

That’s quite the coup, if true.

Bill Little on the mic, holla. The Dreamwagon is revving it’s formidable engines.

If we can stop the opening kick off from being returned for a touchdown we have a chance.

Mack just said it has been a “big recruting day” so signs point to awesome

DJ Monroe allowed to handle the ball on the kickoff without knowing the playbook.

Arriviste –
 
Good catch. I noticed that too.

We already did more motion in our opening run with Whittaker than Davis did all last season.

Great news on Brown and Cole. Would love to see Gray and/or one of the big OL seal the deal this weekend.

Mack said he needs to ‘have more fun’ and ‘spend more time around the kids in the dressing room’. I hope these two things aren’t connected.

DJ with skillet hands on an easy read screen.

Hey, it’s only noon on the West Coast and I’ve already got a football hard-on!

Diggs exceptional in coverage against Mike Davis on a deep ball.

Texoz -
 
Kennedy Estelle will be a Horn. A bigger get than the Brenham duo.

Case McCoy takes snaps as #2 QB in opening drive.
 
I strongly disagree with this.

Hills acting like he wants to be out there.

Gibertian throw from McCoy there…

Hills is a getting a lot of work.
 
Kenny Vaccaro bringing the wood early.

I like the longhorn network logo they keep working in.

  I was going to go to their website, but I’m reluctant to type www.getlong… anything into my browser

Maybe McCoy is getting final audition?

Same old Gilbert.

Wow that was a bad throw.

Poor throw from Gilbert. He didn’t even see the safety.

good lord.

Not even pressured and GG still throws an awful pick.

That second team OL is pretty brutal looking. And not in the good connotation of the word.

speilman is insufferable.

How is Traylon’s last name pronounced? I always assumed it rhymed with “bleed”?

Egads – GG was tied for INTs last year with Boo Jackson of Ohio.

If I was an interception-prone QB I think I’d want a different nickname than ‘Boo’.

His Mom’s maiden name was Radley.

Darius White just bailed out a McCoy moonshot.

Nice safety help on the lofted ball.

Good adjustment by White – not so much by Byndom.

Nice play by Blake Gideon there. He hasn’t filled like that in three years.

Mr. Glass down again.

Case McCoy is throwing terrible balls. But his stat line looks good.

Cobbs looks like he belongs at LB. Great speed on the edge.

McCoy’s best throw so far. Easy TD.
 
Our #1 D struggling with Patrick McNamara.

Interesting zone blitz look there by the D with Okafor dropping back into coverage with the blitzer coming from the other side of the play.

Special teams is special.

lol

Harsin trickeration

Trickery! Three holding penalties went uncalled for our greater offensive glory.

That was a pretty cool way of running an end around. The back actually heads upfield off tackle before the pitch to Davis.

Nice seal block Walters.

Texas is going to beat the Longhorns!

Nice lead block by DJ Grant. At least Harsin sensed that the 1 st O needed a change of pace and called some of the trick plays.

If Case were to go play golf he’d finish his drives behind the tee box.

Shift your weight forward and drive off the front foot son.

connor wood is in

God damn, all of our QBs suck.

Love all of the motion and constant changes of strength on offense, but Harsin’s offense is running up against years of engrained sloppiness. It’s going to take some time.

seems like dorsey is the 2nd dt so far. looks really good.

Case McCoy with the #1 offense. Ughhhhhh…….

So, does Ash throw spirals? Diaz looks calm almost restrained. Pissed they can’t hit the QB. I’m taking a 12th round flier on McNamara .

Reggie Wilson can fucking run.

Yeah, people are going to have to be very patient.

Thankfully, Longhorn fans are known for their patience!

atta way reggie. bustin his ass out there

We need to have a #1 QB the day fall practice starts and he needs to get every single fucking snap. We have so much work to do.

TEXASSSS

Patrick McNamara is a legit possession WR.

That kid has a good set of hands

Okafor is killing his guy!

Will russ’ punts are terrible. He had one good kick, but it took him an hour to get the ball off his foot. Hope Tucker is up to the challenge of handling all kicking duties

So far we can only get the ball in Mike’s hands with an end around.

Whaley needs to finish off the cheerleader on the first play and Mike Davis on the next. Wilson very active. Taylor Bible dropped 3 pounds on that pressure.

Nkwopara sighting! Someone keep an eye out for hungry looking predatory birds

Our OTs are getting worked.

Yeah, I see a large gap between Center/Guard and Tackle. Best runs have been up the middle.

Gilbert throws his first quality ball with 1:00 left in the 1st half.

Diggs is having a big day.

Yes, he is. I had him as our 2nd best recruit coming in and I feel pretty good about that still.

John Harris reminds me a lot of Sloan Thomas.

And Chet Moss continues to silence his critics.

That sack was on Gilbert. 100%

If Chet Moss continues to be unblocked for his whole career, I predict big things.

110%

With a year of starting experience, he should simply look a lot better than this. Just pick one of the remaining three and run with it.

With as shitty as our tackles are going to be this season, I wouldn’t mind see the job go to the kid who’s best at creating and extending plays with his feet (cough, Wood).

I credit that sack to grit, hustle and being a coach on the field.

Gilbert, ugh. Takes a bad sack. Then throws into coverage, short of the end zone.

I’m starting to get a Jonathan Crompton vibe.

Chet Moss is like a white Ray Lewis.

good god, scip.

not cromptycakes

Gilbert… nope.

McCoy… not really.

Woods… dunno.

Ash… dint see ‘im, but I’ve been in and out… did he get in?

Wood.

The fans are clearly more interested in where I got my BC t shirt than the action on the field.

Zero sum game?

Vasherized -
 
You should keep a bunch in your trunk and make some $$$. Congress can’t legislate that.

Even Peyton Manning would struggle in this wind!

I sold the one off my back for $50. I cut off the sleeves first.

17 picks in 12 games is quite remarkable.

Wow, wide receivers actually blocking? Where did that come from?

The Tesitore – Cam Newton lead in went nowhere with Urban. Hilarious. What channel is the booth cam on? Reggie Wilson wants snaps.

Tessitore is lost without Teddy Atlas in the booth.

QB’s look iffy so far. Diggs looks great (jammer 2.0). Wilson is going to be scary good come fall…calling it now.

OK, to echo some commentary above: Chris Spielman seems like an insufferable prick.

McNamara is the player I am most impressed with so far. Where did he come from?

Manny got bored and called a blitz.

Why is Spielman downing the backup QBs like Gilbert beat OU?

Spielman reacted pretty strangely to the notion that the team likes David Ash.

Goddamit, Case McCoy is winning this QB contest.

Fuck you clarity.

I can’t wait to unleash Jamison Berryhill on the league.

I think Spielman is just a grouchy old man. He just said, it’s a reflection on today’s society. Those darn kids!!

The unpredictable commentary of this crew is enjoyable.

Chris Spielman forgot more football than he’s supposed to remember.

I it isn’t the way to evaluate. But just based on Spring game performance which QB do you think should start?

With only that consideration, I would go with Case McCoy.

Mason Walters and Tre Hopkins look very good.

Good God, which one of you pissed in Spielman’s water?

Hopkins can block Moss!

Focus more on how a 295 pound kid is moving laterally, Blues.

DJ Monroe is actually getting some use.

TE still a black hole. Woods with a good play though.

C’mon Mack, . Straight to the talking points.

So Monroe couldn’t learn Davis’ playbook but he learned Harsin’s in two months. Got it.

Holy shit … they brought up Lyles.

The middle of the line of the 1’s is dominating the epic Cotton- Martinez tandem up front for the 2’s.

This also marks the first time the phrase “Cotton Martinez” has been uttered outside of the context of a succession of pool halls and gaming parlors in the lower RGV in the 40’s and 50’s.

That was great. Lyles may need to start looking for a new career. I’m thinking Urban and Mack had a talk this morning… Just make sure you mention Lyles Urban. Sure thing Coach. I don’t like those guys either.

Monahorns –
 
I think you nailed that. That was no coincidence.

Well, saw some good things, but we don’t have a QB right now.
 
I’ll write a wrap up tonight.

The protect-a-QB “sacks” make it a little hard to tell about “escapability”,,, Coupla those looked like they wouldn’t have been actual sacks.

DJ not too bad. Cody looks slim and trim (compared to last fall) still hitting hard and ran around a pile or two. Hills not shabby.

OL showing progress, especially given how shallow the depth is.

Not fantastic, but some reasons to think it will def be better this fall.

I’m not hugely gruntled, but I’m not puffed up like a toad, either.

Was there an Irby sighting?

If we learned anything, it’s that Gilbert cannot be the answer. I’ll be happy with either McCoy or Wood starting.

/ilbert could certainly be the answer- it depends on the question. I will take qb’s that need a metric shit ton of work to be average D1 players for $1000 alex

If we learned anything, it’s that Gilbert cannot be the answer. I’ll be happy with either McCoy or Wood starting.

Case had better numbers, but his mechanics were poor. Wood and Ash weren’t really given a chance to show much. Gilbert looked like crap. Yet the ESPN guys proclaimed Gilbert the starter at the end. I smell the same ol’ Mack.

McCoy’s footwork was bad…a glimpse of hope every once in a while. Gilbert still seems a little shady on his vision. Wood showed the accuracy then non-accuracy we have been hearing about. Ash really get turned loose which makes me think he shirts no matter what. If I had to choose right now, I would stick with gilbert since the run looks a little better. Come fall though, it would ALL change.

That’s not what happened, blueshorn, in fact one the ESPN guys (urban, I think) said during the second half “they haven’t even gotten a clear #1 yet”

Woodash didn’t get much of a look, but what little there was seemed to have more potential than McCoy. Agree, Gilbert not looking like the GatorAde hero – at least he actually looked off a couple of times, but still some poor decisions and some badly thrown balls. Maybe the first shot soured me – nice runback, 0-3 and a FG. Shit.

The ESPN crew was riding Gilbert’s jock like Slim Pickens on that nuke.

The Bad: our O is still a Work in Progress.

The Good: there actually is some Progress.

I didn’t see anything to change my pre-game opinion that we can look forward to a 2, 3, or 4-game turnaround this fall, anywhere from 7-5 to 9-3 depending on continued Progress.

I heard nothing about how many people showed up. Does anyone know what the turnout was at DKR?

I just don’t see Gilbert getting much better as a QB, he should own the other guys since he has so much more experience, but he obviously isn’t doing that. At least with Wood or McCoy there’s a slight chance they might actually improve over time.

That’s not what happened, blueshorn, in fact one the ESPN guys (urban, I think) said during the second half "they haven’t even gotten a clear #1 yet"

Um…right as they were signing off, they proclaimed Gilbert the winner of the starting sweepstakes, Urban included.

They did this while they were showing the graphic that clearly showed Case’s stats were better. Now, most of us realize Case isn’t the answer. The truth of the matter is, as Scipio said, we don’t have a QB, right now. But Mack has a QB and his name is Gilbert.

they proclaimed Gilbert the winner

If you run that through the Secret Decoder Ring, you will find the true meaning revealed: “What a clusterfuck. I guess if I had to play tomorrow, I’d start Gilbert but be ready to yank him if McCoy got warmed up in time,.,”

If there were more than 25K people there I’ll give everyone a free lifetime sub to barking carnival.

The Gilbert puff at the end was straight from Mack. Kid does not have it.

What happened to the posters on this site ? Used to be more variety. Guess spring game is not is compelling or they are on other sites.

Texas fans lived up to billing as most of them left at halftime. QB could not be more unsettled. Didn’t see any signs of leadership on offense.

Mack wants it to be Gilbert, that’s for sure. Give him a shot at redemption to complete the narrative. But he looks like the same guy. I don’t love the thought of McCoy, but he looked the most comfortable and made the best decisions with the ball.

Gilbert could have won the job this spring, he didn’t. I have to figure out if I’m more concerned about OT or QB now.

Urban/Mack 1 for 2. Nice bit on Lyles. Gilbert fellation questionable for any who actually watched.

I think we are potentially in deep shit at QB. However, the offense is brand new and GG really has no more experience in it than Wood or McCoy and the only WR he or the others have any real time with is Davis. I’m underwhelmed across the board. I lliked the goal line runs and we seem to get a lot of blockers out on the sweeps. Overall, I think the line has improved and we are strong up the middle, but OT is going to be an adventure. Greenlea better be ready to play as a Fish.

As far as QB, my hope is that our game planning and scheme on that side will make it less of a necessity to have a one man team back there. Defensively, we are going to be very good on the edge. Oak was outstanding and Reggie Wilson ran down DJ (how did I get so smart so quick) Monroe on a sweep. I predict Rak II for Reg, only a couple of years sooner. Chet Moss made Reed Boyd and Scott Derry proud today. Hicks isn’t worried, IMO. Quandre Diggs will be to defense what The Quan was to offense before he’s done. Just a play maker, pure and simple. Great coverage on the early fade to Davis, actually tight on the WR while picking up the balll in flight. Wow!

Irby got some snaps today, which was nice.

Our punting sucks, but what else is new. I can’t remember when we’ve had more potentially explosive (in a good way) kick returners. This means, of course, that Mack will put Brian McNamara deep on punts and DeMarco Cobbs and Blake Gideon deep on kickoffs.

Just a great victory for Texas over the Longhorns!

Has Estelle Kennedy commited yet?

I’m as interested in the potential QB controversy as anyone, but first things first:

Did Woody and Buzz escape Sunnyside?

My take away from today’s game was we should expect to be introduced to a new term in the near future….“the Gilbert apologist”. He is going to explain to us in his best Mack Brown impersonation why Garrett “deserves” to be the starting QB at Texas. It’s already clear to me Mack is going to do his best to cram Gilbert down Harsin’s throat as the starter this season. The question is what will it take for Mack to realize the emperor has no clothes?

Case McCoy was the only QB who acted like he was enjoying himself. But we still don’t have a QB. Or a RB. Revising prediction from 8 wins to 7. Reggie Wilson looked good.

I predict that if Mack doesn’t leave Harsin and Diaz alone they will be gone in 2 yrs. Looking at
the Spring game I see a 7 win season. Harsin may have to insert Ash because GG is so bad
and Case and Wood are inconsistent..just no leadership (which you obviously have to have for
chemistry to develop).

The nicest thing to say about that mess on the field is that its 5-7 talent, learning new systems and we really really really need a great QB recruit. I am struggling to find 6 wins for this team next year

Anyone else notice on the running TD with Wood in at QB, that when the offense came of the field, McCoy basically congratulated everyone coming off the field except Wood?

Ransom struggling to find 6 wins means we win 9.

Wow. I just watched the game on DVR and I felt encouraged. Shit folks. We went fucking 5-7 last year and what we say today looked like legitimate football. Real running plays and motion and tight ends contributing. Who knew that shit was legal? Ransom’s pessimism is awesome. 6 wins. Greatness from you….again.

No we do not have starting QB. But in all honesty we did not have one last year either. But I thought the line played better than my expectations. Perhaps that was because I was predicted complete and total Chinese (no racism) fire drill from them. How about those inside traps from Hopkins? How about Snow demolishing Dorsey/Bible on running plays? Fuck me. We need to find one more tackle this fall to have a 1,784% improvement from last year from the line.

Mike Davis. Dude…..

We also have the best defensive ends in the conference. Depth be damned.

How about some Diggs at CB?

Lots to be encouraged about now with the progress being made. Understand encouraged does not mean BCS predictions.

Gilbert is terrible. I know we’ll trot him out there to start the season, but he’s terrible. What I found most disturbing about his INT is how not one single player came over to say anything to him. This team is not his.

I think McCoy will lose you the fewest games, and that’s something I never would’ve considered saying before today. I’m not saying he’s a star. I like Wood’s pocket presence, but I don’t think he throws that great.

If you want to seriously make a run in 2012, I think you should start Ash. The team certainly sounds like they’re his.

But I know we’ll start Gilbert, and that makes me :(.

Fozzy looked like he had the best vision and was hitting the cutbacks. Wish he could stay healthy. Think he’d be a nice compliment to Brown. Hills also showed something.

I see 4 losses next year. I think we lose one of BYU/UCLA, lose to ou, lose one of Ok State/Robert Griffin III, and then finish by losing one of K-State/aggy.

More if Goober Gilbert is our QB.

I hope we’ll go through with the full program makeover, but Gilbert’s the last domino that needs to fall. And I’m not seeing that.

ESPN site is stroking Little Coy.

And Newy, I am encouraged. I’m still bullish on our future.

It’s why I think we should start Ash in the fall. True freshman, shmeshman.

Let him take his lumps, get the reps in Harsin’s mad science laboratory, and come into 2012 with a QB who currently is getting buy-in from his teammates, who can move and run, with a backfield of Brown and Gray at-law, and a D starting to get seasoned, and I think we could have a very fun year.

I definitely see signs of improvement everywhere other than QB. Just wanted to be clear.

I saw lots to like today.

I’m confident we’ll improve each week next year, which is more than I would have ever expected with GDGD calling the shots.

After 3 series’ against Rice last year I was very worried about Gilbert as our QB. That feeling has only gotten worse. This kid could not be a bigger bust at this point. Play Wood or Ash. They seem to have the most upside in the future.

9 wins with any QB other than Gilbert. 6 maybe 7 with Gilbert.

I felt the same kind of fail produced in 2010 with Gilbert on the field, squinting at the sidelines, and releasing the ball after a 6 second wind up.

More than 6 wins? We have the worst qb in the Big 12 South, and its not close, who will be working in an offense that is heavily qb-dependent. Almost doesn’t matter what the D does.

There just does not seem to be any way back for Gilbert after the mismanagement of his first two years. Too much history for him. That INT today was just brutal. He may still have it in him to be a good college QB, but it won’t be here, even with a new staff. He should transfer to a nice private school (Northwestern, Vandy, Rice) or lower profile Public Ivy (UNC, Virginia), redshirt, enjoy his football, and get a degree on par with UT. I’m sure Mack feels terrible about it, but Gilbert does not have what it takes to lead a Top 10 program.

I hope you’re wrong, Ransom. I have a feeling you’re right, especially about Gilbert. But there’s nothing I want more than to copy and paste you’re comments from this blog onto a post 10 months from now… and then tell you to go fuck yourself.

Ransom predicted 7 wins right before we went undefeated in 2009. His forecasts for doom and gloom are hard to take seriously.

Thoughts:

-1st run back look scripted to get to about the 50…gets excitement from the fans and loosens up the kids.

-Bennie wears some nice shades.

-Lyles being mentioned was nice.

-Gilbert is not the long term answer, and we won’t win championships with him in the next two years…will we win one in 3-4 years if we start a different QB…not sure there, either.

-Fozzy got hurt. Shocking.

-Defensive ends look awesome…seen that before. We’ll know how the defense is as soon as the offense turns the ball over a few times and produces a few consecutive three and outs.

-The team needs some leadership as it is lacking.

-Good news, we probably won’t lose seven games. Bad news, we probably won’t win more than eight.

Not sure why so many predict doom and gloom. For as horrible as we were last year we probably win 8 if the offensive coaching staff made even the slightest attempt to game plan for the teams we faced. This season will be a work-in-progress but I don’t see the team, much less the coaching staff, collapsing like last year’s did after the Nebraska game.

That said, if there were ever a year to have had 4 non-con patsies this was the year and a couple of early losses could undermine confidence, but that is about the only way I see next season’s team not running strong by the end of the season.

so many predict doom and gloom…

I don’t see all that much doom and gloom being predicted, with a couple of exceptions.

A relatively small amount of practice in an entirely new system with almost entirely new coaches. No immediate miracles in sight, but as I said before… progress is being shown. Practice against each other can only take you so far. We now have four months of combined self-paced work and being driven like dogs by Wylie, during which time we get stronger and still better conditioned and have an infusion of new blood (albeit of the raw variety).

It didn’t look like any of the QBs had a really good handle on the playbook. I agree with those who opine that GG still doesn’t get it. McCoy Minor looks like a chip off the ol’ block. Wood and Ash both looked like they were potentially better than the first two.

The OL play looked much more together than last season’s version, and moved better, and did a helluva lot less standing around. Couldn’t really tell much about TE/HB.

D looked about as expected, given the good words about the DL and LBs. Corners looked lost at times, but that’s not completely unexpected. The New Quan looks like a four-year all-star, in every phase of the game.

I’m still looking for 7-6, 8-4, 9-3… if I had to forecast right this instant. I think it’s up from there, not down.

I was too focused on the

… dammit…

too focused on backs and receivers to pay really good attention to interior play, but all things taken together, it’s about what I expected (although, like most of you, I was hoping for a leader to emerge).

It’s almost all upside, now. The only thing that particularly was disturbing is the appearance that Mack may not be able to keep his hands off, and may yet find his way into a screwing of the pooch.

Not sure why so many predict doom and gloom.

I saw some reasons for encouragement, but then there was nowhere to go but up. The on-field interviews with Mack were typical Mackspeak bullshit. Enabling Gilbert and bragging on Case’s footwork took the cake. As long as he is the coach, he will decide who plays whether they earn it or not, Couple that with his Charmin softness and you have a recipe for mediocrity that concerns those who expect excellence. That and an alarming lack of quality talent at key positions probably explains the doom and gloom.

Newy, Hopkins on the move was good, I should have mentioned that. Unfortunately, our pedestrian backs didn’t always follow him. Traylon Shead, the only guy most people had not seen much of, was not the answer. Tentative. And the QBs. Wow. Made me miss Shea Morenz. He should have stayed out of the KA basement but he could spin it. We have no one, no one, who can spin it.

I guess Spring games don’t show much. A million years ago as a kid I watched A walk-on QB named Robert Brewer and elbowed my dad repeatedly about how he was the next big thing. Applewhite threw a pretty pass to David Aaron that made you take note. Henry Melton took the stage as a DE and looked like someone who could help. But other than that, the spring has offered few insights.

Where is Malcolm Williams? I think he can be a matchup nightmare at the TE position… I also think we can ground and pound teams with our dominate guards/ center, and the combo of Shead & Brown. That should open up the middle of the field when backers get sucked in. Fozzy and Cody Johnson have had enough time to prove themselves, we Need playmaker on the field. Harsin didn’t show everything today fellas, I think coaching ALONE gets us two more wins!

Screen passes. I liked what I saw of those. I also like that the addition of the dimension of a competently run set of screens indicates things about the larger transformation of the offense. “This doesn’t work? Let’s run this.” Instead of “This doesn’t work? Do it until it does.”

Gilbert looked bad. The announcers harping on how he bounced back after throwing and interception and the need to call plays to give him confidence IN AN INTRASQUAD SCRIMMAGE just further illuminated the sadly emerging truth about GG. And I am sincere when I write “sad.”

We need a killer at QB. Maybe that’s what the players see in Ash if the announcers were telling the truth about his name always coming up when talking to players. Maybe they see the killer who doesn’t need or desire coddling, he just wants to get it on. But that’s all base speculation.

Overall, I liked what I saw of the team disposition and attitude. I don’t know about those who say they saw no leadership because I’m not sure how you can tell about such a thing from the stands or via the television machine. I think this team finds its way. I think we’ll be a tough out at the end of next season even if QB is not a strength. We won’t have an OC blathering about the QB’s inability to create “off schedule plays.” We’ll have OCs actively and intensively working to find ways to make whatever we have work on the field.

I’m not a big Xs and Os guy, but I like a lot of what I saw.

I also liked that all of our running plays looked as if they were at least designed to be successful and did not look like they were doomed to failure before the snap of the ball.

In the running game, you could definitely see the rudiments of attempting to outnumber the defense at the point of attack. My favorite play was on the goal line with the HB motioning back into the I, and left guard pulling to team up with the HB on the right side of the line for the score. There was also a nice run sprung by a cutback to the left away from a phalanx of blockers headed right. I’m undecided if the cutback was a pre-planned misdirection, but there was no hesitation to do it from the point of the handoff.

I’m not worried about the QB situation right now. I don’t believe it’s a closed competition, and I don’t believe Mack will overrule which QB plays or block a change should it be needed in the eyes of the OC’s.

triplehorn, the immediate cut-back run is a designed run. Ideally, the defense would overflow to the direction of a zone-run and open things up for a cutback that the runningback reads but the Boise offense has a run that is planned as a cutback from the start, that’s why you saw no hesitation.
Also, Cody looks for cutbacks quickly because he doesn’t like racing outside, just likes to move downhill immediately.

Methinks GG’s mojo was sucked out of him last year by a poisonous combo of a bad line, poor receivers, and having Turd Ferguson in charge of both his development and play calling. Now he’s learning a new system, and he may actually be at a disadvantage compared to Case and AshWood. Once he gets the hang of Harsin’s offense, hopefully he can regain his confidence, because you can’t do shit without it; you definitely can’t be a leader without it.

I’m not quite ready to give up on Gilbert. Remember, Harsin was able to turn Kellen Moore into a Heismanish candidate, and the only way that guy could have been on the sidelines at Texas is as a waterboy…

Also, Kenny Vaccaro = Honey Badger…

You should have watched the cricket and GG will play in the NFL (fearless prediction that nobody will remember to mock me for in 740 days time).

In all seriousness, was cricket actually available on an espn?

Receivers blocking downfield.

Unpredictable play calls that were designed to get an advantage at the point of attack.

A couple of blockers that held their block through the whistle.

A CB (true fish at that) who played a deep ball with intelligence and ability.

A fullback (1) that actually had his number called (2).

Lots of reasons for optimism.

On the downside, at this point we’re relegated to hoping our QB just doesn’t lose the game, and also that our OL gets some true fish assistance, and that the incoming RB is a savior.

One advantage of having 4 QBs that have similar ability is that you can run your QB more. If the starter gets hurt running the ball, there is not much lost when you bring in the 2nd string QB. Clearly it is much easier to run the ball when the defense has to account for the QB’s running. When the QB is a bona fide threat to run, then QB roll outs really force a defense to over react, which sets up the reverse (for DJ Monroe, for example).

For starter, pick the guy who has the fewest turnovers.

Hmmm….interesting. DE platoon looked good as did the LB corps and Diggs. Fine again on that side of the ball. The offense has some obvious question marks starting a QB, RB and OT. Much like Mike Leach, it appears Dan Hawkins has left his stamp on the conference upon exit. I’m not sure this offensive style will be doing your defense any favors in the Big 12 with regards to practice time/scout team looks.

I like people cutting bait on Traylon Shead after a few carries, behind the second team OL against the starting defense, in the spring game.

 He may not be the answer but he probably deserves a longer look than that.

Generalization is awesome

Knee jerk reactions and thoughtless predictions:
- If Reggie Wilson is 2nd string then I like what that says about the 1st string.
- Darius Terrell will be more important than Irby or Grant
- Hills is the only complete back on the entire roster.
- Gilbert’s brain just doesn’t process the speed of the game fast enough.
- Defensive line will be a huge concern in the 2nd half of games. Zero depth
- D. White runs terrible routes. No wonder QBs can’t find him.
 - Give me Harris, Davis, Hales and Shipley.
 - No clear answer at QB and the coaching staff seems equally confused as the fans.
 - We beat OU, but drop games to A&M;, Okie State, Tech and BYU,

Give me Harris, Davis, Hales and Shipley.

No. You can’t have them.

My quick reaction from having only watched two series so far (have the recording for later) is that Gilbert’s INT was such a horrendous decision that my optimism regarding his improvement was shattered.

Also, McCoy’s tendency to throw while falling away from his target will equal an INT TD return for Oklahoma someday if he plays against them.

I think you can build a case for or against all four of the QBs, which effectively leaves us no where. I think it’ll be critical to pick your #1 and #2 in the first half of fall camp and let them get reps. It’ll be interesting to see what develops this summer in terms of QBs-WRs getting on the same page (or not), and which QBs emerge as leaders. It seems like Gilbert does not have this team.

Did anyone see the expression on Mad Dog’s face when he was walking off the field after the game? He looked miserable. He’s no longer the center of the universe and his huge ego is struggling to handle it. I say he’s gone after 1-2 years, unless he can subvert his ego to the economics of his salary and pension time.

I’m still sulking that the Australian’s couldn’t make the semi’s.

wethorn: John Paul Floyd is angry and now motivated that you left him out of your comment of all the QBs being viable. Expect big waves from him in the fall.

John Paul Floyd must have been born to play the guitar. What’s he doing fucking around with football?

What’s he doing fucking around with football?
Waiting for the call from the Vatican – he’s already got the name, all he needs now is the funny hat.

The QB is going to have to be able to throw the ball on the run and Harsin is going to be moving the pocket a lot on passing downs because the OL will have a lot of trouble pass blocking vs a good defense. Screen plays are going to be a major part of the horns’ passing attack because of the OL’s inability to pass block vs good defenses. The QB is going to have to get rid of the ball quickly.

If you line up with a fullback, an H back, and use DJ Monroe at WR, that leaves only 2 true deep targets at WR. At least one of those 2 classic WRs is going to have to be an outstanding blocker on screen plays.

The OL maulers need to be together on the left side so the horns can run reliably at least to one side to set up play action passing and rollouts back to the right.

On Gilbert’s interception, he threw into double coverage but the receiver was not bracketed (the receiver was behind both defenders). The one thing Gilbert absolutely had to avoid was throwing the ball short. Of course, Gilbert threw the ball short.

UT pass receivers are going to have to be great at breaking up possible interceptions.

UT pass receivers are going to have to be great at breaking up possible interceptions.

The first thing I saw when I found the game was a receiver (Davis?) breaking up an INT thrown short in the end zone – might have been Quan on D – he had pretty good coverage, and the ball was short and prolly shoulda been INT’ed – receiver did a damned good job to keep it from happening. Then I heard “Long KO return, then 0 for 3. Here comes the FG team.” Ouch.

“If you line up with a fullback, an H back, and use DJ Monroe at WR, that leaves only 2 true deep targets at WR. At least one of those 2 classic WRs is going to have to be an outstanding blocker on screen plays.”

Whoops, forgot to account for the TB. That leaves only 1 true deep target at WR (who also has to be an outstanding blocker for screen plays). In this lineup, the one true WR will almost certainly face double coverage.

hmm . . . lessee. how many weeks have these guys been working on a brand new, very different offensive scheme with, uh, how many players recruited to run this sort of offense, and you were hoping to see what?

not speaking to you, kaffers.

When th horns lineup with a fullback, H back, and DJ Monroe at WR, the opposition DC will be sorely tempted to bring up a safety for run support and pick a run stopper to play that position. That would probably leave one safety deep, who will be focusing on doubling Mike Davis. There should be plenty of opportunities for deep passes to the FB, TB, H back, or DJ Monroe if those potential targets can catch the ball and the QB has time (for example, on a play action pass).

I brought my boys up from Houston to see the scrimmage. The team looks like a serious work in progress, but the UT marketing machine has been working overtime. The only thing they overlooked was replacing the Toy Story video with a timeshare presentation. DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium now stands at the end of the yellow brick road. Pay no attention to the team behind the curtain!

GM, could not agree more.

Back to Chris Spielman….

I kind of liked having such a crotchety guy like Spielman for this. Not that I agree with much of what he said, but it was probably good for the Texas homer in me to hear. He sort of compensated for what felt like overly diplomatic commentary by Urban and Tessitore. That said, I can’t help but think that Spielman gets a “talking to” by his ESPN bosses. Seems like a whole lot of his commentary went a little beyond just being candid, especially when you consider that they’re promoting the Longhorn Network and the people tuned into the program were largely Longhorn fans and therefore the audience for the Network. In particular, his contempt for the fans asking for Malcolm Brown’s autograph had to be making some ESPN producers (and every Texas Athletics Dept big wig) squirm. Probably not advisable to be calling your audience’s character into question…

His comment on Malcolm Brown is high comedy. He hosted a reality show that is ESPN’s answer to the Real World, called Summer Camp or some nonsense.

It was basically a bunch of highly recruited high school kids living in one house, while being filmed during his bootcamp.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_House_(television)

I’m all for honest straight talk, rather than homerisms, from the talking heads, mos def. Spielman went off the far end, my take. If these are our regular guys, I’m hoping whatever it is they’re ‘casting has a radio feed so I don’t have to listen to him.

Here’s the main thing I thought I saw, which is that the play-calling was refreshing, some of the execution was good and some wasn’t.

The outstanding lack was at QB, which I think we all expected. No one really stepped up and showed IT. We heard that the name Ash seemed to be on players’ lipe, but I didn’t think he took the reins – not surprising for a first-semester freshman buried in the pack, but it woulda been nice. Of the four, I thought Gilbert simply played just like he always has – mostly okay, with occasional good-to-great throws, and too many bad throws and poor decisions; McCoy Minor looked young-Coltish; Wood looked like he’s just a touch away from being really good, but didn’t get a lot of chance to show; and really, ditto for Ash. AshWood threw very nice balls and were really hard to tell a lot of difference between. All things considered, McCoy on top, WoodAsh fighting for backup, and Gilbert looking for a transfer to TCU – he can sit out his redshirt year and still have two years of frogshine.

his contempt for the fans asking for Malcolm Brown’s autograph had to be making some ESPN producers (and every Texas Athletics Dept big wig) squirm.

It certainly made me squirm, because it was so stupid. His stated reason for objecting was that it “says something about our society.” Okay. But what does it say?

Spielman had nothing more than a vague distaste for witnessing a kid ask for another kid’s autograph. He didn’t understand why it bothered him, or what he felt was wrong with it. But that ignorance didn’t prevent him from spouting off at the mouth on national television and, in the process, making himself look like the stereotypical crotchety old man who associates everything he vaguely dislikes with young whipper-snappers and their alleged disrespect for civilized society.

Where the hell is my write up and picture frame by picture frame analysis of why we will go 10-3? I should not have to wait this long since I pay for a tier 1 membership. You did get that money I mailed to HJ, right? Why does it need to be in unmarked bills?

Spielman’s distaste for rookies getting a lot of attention is pretty common for veteran players. He explained that rookies have not proven themselves and do not deserve a lot of attention until they do prove themselves (because a lot of rookies turn out to be busts).

BTW, Chris won the Lombardi award as the best college lineman or linebacker in the nation, made the all pro team in the NFL 4 years, and played in the NFL from 1988 to 1999.

Chris did not do well Saturday, my guess is that being paired up with the legendary Urban Meyer discombobulated Chris. The low point was when he persisted in trying to persuade Urban that Gilbert throwing into double coverage in the end zone one time was OK.

The thing about Spielman is he’s not a coach.

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