Should the Page Even Be Turned Yet at QB?

by Smokey III on Apr 3, 2025 11:53 PM CDT

I don't want to take too long making this point, because it seems to me to be a simple one.

David Ash has only had 3 months and 14 practices since the Holiday Bowl.

Framed another way, he has had the same number of months and about 45 fewer practices than he had between the punch-in-the-gut that was the OU game and the Holiday Bowl. This may seem obvious to a lot of people, except for the fact that, well, it doesn't seem to seem obvious to a lot of people. As much as we wish it to be, it is not next season yet. We live in real time, and it is April 3. More importantly (or less, depending on your priorities) David Ash also lives in real time, and he is still enjoying his Freshman year at the University of Texas.

Thankfully, most of our burnt orange brethren have calmed down since November, and the general paranoia toward the quarterback position has subsided noticeably. It's encouraging to be able to scan a comments section without some Chicken Little wanting us to start Connor Brewer by the beginning of October, as if our problem last year wasn't having a true freshman QB trying to call audibles against an OU overload blitz. But there are those out there who write stuff on the internet and other places who wonder if Ash has made the requisite progress yet.

The way I see it -- though feel free to correct me if I'm missing anything -- is if Ash has made this much progress in the past 3 months (and also the 3 months before that), then I'm as excited as hell to see what he will look like in 18 months leading an expected-to-be-loaded team into the 2013 Red River Shootout with hopeful hopes of a national championship.

[Yes, I know how learning curves work, but still, his physical tools in most respects are at least as good as Colt's, and he is improving mentally. Plus, how good will he really have to be with that backfield and defense? Greg McElroy anyone?]

In summary, I guess my ultimate point is this -- sometimes the big picture can be surprisingly comforting. I suppose this applies to other areas of the team as well.

Be excellent to each other.

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Comments

Thanks for your thoughts, Smokey

The way I see it:

1. Ash is our best option on the roster
2. We didn’t participate in the offseason QB transfer wooing for Crist or Danny O’Brien et al, so our coaches must feel like we can work with what we have
3. He looks better
4. Most of his issues were simple inexperience and understandable overwhelmedness
5. His surrounding personnel were pretty weak

Most QBs at FBS schools have the requisite physical attributes, but the mental piece, emotional composition, and the ability to throw a ball through tiny windows hitting people in stride in front of 85,000 while being chased by 300 pounders with bad intentions is the differentiator.

by Scipio Tex on Apr 4, 2025 3:05 AM CDT reply actions

"Most QBs at FBS schools have the requisite physical attributes"

True, though unfortunately we boasted one notable exception to that last year….

During the season I usually played the realist, telling anyone who would listen that Ash was the only feasible option until at least 2013. Realistically, if he was a bust, then we were screwed and there was no way around it. Supporting him was the only rational choice.

That’s still the case (no pun intended, really), but I now think we have actually seen enough from Ash, between the bowl game and reports during the Spring, that legitimately warrants cautious excitement for the longterm future. I really don’t understand anyone who can say anything strongly to the contrary, especially when you consider he is only a few steps down that path. Those steps are looking as good as you could realistically hope for, and I will wait until my eyes tell me differently before I start to let any real worry (outside of depth) bother me.

by Smokey III on Apr 4, 2025 3:44 PM CDT up reply actions

That said,

McCoy’s sudden ability to throw a post route was a pleasant surprise from the Spring Game. Maybe he got a kick in the pants when nobody (reportedly) wanted him to transfer, but it looks like he can be a serviceable backup who can possibly stretch the field just enough to create some running space.

On a similar note, I told my friends up until the Baylor game that McCoy’s no-interception streak was a shocking mixture of luck and throwing the long ball so poorly that not even defensive backs had a chance to catch it. His last two games have justified that view.

by Smokey III on Apr 4, 2025 3:49 PM CDT up reply actions

With you on McCoy.

I think he’s not as bad as people make him out to be. He can make most of the throws a college QB needs to make. But, and this is really crucial, he cannot do so consistently. For every line drive that falls into the hands of a receiver running a deep out or post there’s a duck that valiantly struggles against the softest breeze before settling lazily to rest 25 yards downfield, ideally not in the hands of the opponents.

WVU slept dey couch.
@pleaseplaykindl

by pleaseplaykindle on Apr 4, 2025 10:13 PM CDT up reply actions

True, but perhaps even a little too generous.

He can make more throws than he demonstrates consistently, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen him throw a really good out pass, even 5 yards downfield. His only real hope to date is in the middle of the field. He has relatively week arm strength even before you account for throwing off his back foot. And I would say that his passes more than 15 yards downfield have been significantly more than 50% ducks.

I’m more optimistic of him as a backup this year than I expected, but I’d say that he was worse last year than people were making him out to be at the time. Orangebloods’ analysis on the matter was a small factor in letting my subscription lapse and signing up for Inside Texas. It made me mad.

by Smokey III on Apr 5, 2025 12:16 AM CDT up reply actions

Example.

Hard to tell what the route was, but here is an example of Case throwing a nice deep ball to the outside part of the field.

It’s not exactly inspiring that such an example is noteworthy, and I’d be willing to bet that these throws are less common than the aforementioned fowl, but he can do it. Not that I actually know what I’m talking about, but to my eye it looks like he finishes on his front foot on this play. Maybe if he could be coached proper footwork we’d see better throws like this more.

As far as Orangebloods/Inside Texas, I think you probably made the right call. As for me, I just keep sending my monthly checks to Burntorangenation and Barking Carnival and they keep letting me comment.

WVU slept dey couch.
@pleaseplaykindl

by pleaseplaykindle on Apr 5, 2025 1:15 AM CDT up reply actions

I guess you are talking about

his first throw in the clip to Goodwin?

by davey o'brien on Apr 8, 2025 12:25 PM CDT up reply actions

Yup

WVU slept dey couch.
@pleaseplaykindl

by pleaseplaykindle on Apr 8, 2025 2:41 PM CDT up reply actions

Wouldn't go so far as to say it was that impressive a throw.

Goodwin was open and he didn’t exactly have to thread the needle. If it sounds as if I am nitpicking I could have said the ball was thrown to the inside shoulder instead of the outside where it would have been away from the defender and the play by the defensive back was closer than it should have been.

What struck me watching the highlights is how Texas was able to move the ball without every throwing it very far down the field on that final drive. Why the hell where the Ags dropping so deep?

by davey o'brien on Apr 9, 2025 4:31 PM CDT up reply actions

Ash looks a hell of a lot

better than Colt, at the same age. Remember, Colt had a season of standing on the sideline wearing a headset by this point in his career, and he still looked more like a 12-year-old than anyone on campus other than Applewhite.

Ask looks positively manly, and he looks like he’s in command of the team.

I am, somewhat if not completely, gruntled.

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You Ain't Never Whipped... Until YOU Quit -- Tex Long, Seven Words of Wisdom
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by longtex on Apr 4, 2025 9:57 AM CDT reply actions

Redshirts

The Ash to Colt comparison is telling. It was crazy that we had to swap out Ash and Case every other play like that in the second game of the season.

Bad coaching and bad recruiting will haunt us for many more years. Unless a player is clearly going to The League after three years everyone needs a redshirt. It’s going to be another year or two before we can even implement that, and then another three or four years before we have real RS juniors and seniors manning the lines and so forth.

On the QB topic, I guess GG was more a matter of terrible luck than bad recruiting. I mean, few coaches would’ve turned down Gatorade All America, though maybe more coaches would’ve recognized his cracks and not pushed him to shatter like he did.

by Tackchevy on Apr 4, 2025 10:23 AM CDT reply actions

I can't wait until we've returned to our old powerhouse redshirting ways.

But that is especially true with lineman and other non-stars. I’m fine with us not redshirting 25% of our class. Maybe a little more perhaps.

And the real recruiting misstep with Gilbert was not recruiting him in itself; rather it was forsaking all other QB prospects in order to get him. There was some other bad luck as far as past transfers (Kinne, etc.), but there should have been at least another QB recruit or 2 during that time. That was the unpardonable mistake, GDGD (I think you know what the first set of GDs stands for).

by Smokey III on Apr 4, 2025 4:03 PM CDT up reply actions

Harsin

Last year Harsin didn’t know what he had. He struggled to plug Ash/McCoy into a system set up for Gilbert. Now he knows his QB and can design the offense around him. We’ll be OK.

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on Apr 6, 2025 9:21 AM CDT reply actions