so you're saying the "coach on the field" is now in a similar position, just not "on the field". I'll give it to you, those guys are gamers, but, unfortunately, look clumsy more often than not. Gideon, for example, once an upperclassman and depended on to make those stops, would get burned....but he could sometimes be in the right place for an over or under thrown football and catch it. But I think it's rose-colored glasses to get giddy over the undertalented big hearted "stars" of our 5-7 teams...I don't know if the big cigars are like yourselves, giddy over the guy the big programs really didn't want, but every natty won over the last couple of decades (if not more) was because a team was looooaaaddeed and added that one special player. That's what I'm looking for.... Having said that, I recognize that all opposed to my rants are looking at the glass as "half-full" and want to "atta-boy" to their hearts content, and I see (somewhat) the value in that. I just lose composure when I sense the "this guy is doing his best and we're going to cheer the losing records/missed tackles/interceptions because gee whiz what a guy"....
It is unfortunate that Sark is not aware of your player assessment skills. If he was, my hunch is that he would replace Kwiatkowski with you. After all, Coach K has Brockeymeyer starting, and players like the aforementioned Adeoye (4-Star), Gbenda (4-Star ILB, 2019 class) and Ben Davis — the # 1 rated ILB of the 2017 class, not starting. Are you available?
Granted, I don't know the injury status of said players or their grades or arrest records because that's privileged information. I wonder also how much the big $ people affect roster decisions. I guess I'm like any nimrod on this board and can tell when someone isn't fast enough to get to the spot or drops the interception in a key moment. I'll tell this story when it comes to not fast enough.... I was sick and tired of watching Reed Boyd miss tackles and be out of position for the 8-9 years he played at Texas (or was it Dusty Renfro or Scott Derry). I would watch games on tv and when he'd whiff I'd yell at the tv "GD-it, REED BOYD!!!!" Every once in a while I'd think "it's just a game, he's just a kid, maybe I'm too hard on him". I was actually at a game that year and Reed whiffed again and a dude in front of me said "GD-it, REED BOYD!!!!". Have to say, I smiled and thought "Guess I'm not the only one"...
Well, now we're not where we want to be yet, but this is no 5-7 team. 7-5 at worst, probably a lot better.
8-4, 9-3, but when we talk about the best players on this team, oh crap, I told Horn In Chicago I'd stop....
We've seen some nice misdirection and general unpredictability. On Saturday, I think we'll see more new and creative things to confuse the Sooners - on both sides of the ball. We've got to get to Rattler, and the OU OL has their side of the Red River a lot more worried than we worry about our blocking this year. Look for PK to dial up plenty of blitzes and pressure from unexpected places. OU also looks uncharacteristically poor at tackling in the open field this year. Against Bijan, J. Whitt, and the other Robinson, that's not a good look.
He’s an ST coach for us now. While he’s no Michael Huff he’s not a bad player - UT fans need to get over the one bad freak play he had in 2008 against Crabtree.
I worry most about not getting enough pressure on Rattler. He is an accurate passer. Plus we are going to need to shadow him when he is back to pass.
Some people keep crying about it while ignoring the **** show that was the majority of that game that put Gideon in that place in history. It’s beyond moronic.
We didn't play very well yesterday but won the game. That's an improvement from the last few years when we would have probably found a way to lose the game, gotta give the coaches some credit for that. We definitely need talent upgrades at multiple positions. The next 2 games will tell us a lot.
Just rewatched the game. I think the D played pretty well outside of a couple of missed tackles (including Overshown on there last TD drive) some BS unsportsmanlike/late hit plays and some good plays made by TCU. Also agree that Brock plays well with the talent he has and is heady but is a tad slow even when not hampered by injury. I wondered about the shoulder brace (which limits his reach) just before the first TD and, sure enough, he wasn’t able to fully grasp Evans when he had him dead to rights. Haven’t seen the game stats but even with that damn 99 yard last drive I believe we held them to a respectable number.
A TH defense would not have done better against TCU. Our offense compliments the defense with time of possession, that is how we will beat OU. To me OSU is the bigger threat! They look like a team that can beat Texas.
this game is always a crapshoot, although ou has won the last three against us. I don’t think our defense is going to stop them, even though it looks like ou is having problems. Tcu was having problems the week before our game too and we squeezed that game out, I suspect both these teams are looking a week ahead and it’s disrupting their game. Rest assured, ou isn’t going to have any issues on game day. I expect us to lose again cause we just aren’t ready yet, and I look at our schedule and it doesn’t look easy at all except for Kansas. I’m just looking for consistency, if we lose one or two more, that it’s because the other team played out of their mind cause it was their Super Bowl. We already lived through one with tcu, they only play one game a year and they lost it. The rest of our schedule is going to be no different, these kids are going to have to scrap and fight taking the best shot from every team on the schedule. But I think it will prepare them well for the rematch against ou in the championship if it plays out like that.
Actually, it is such a crap shoot, that Texas won in 2018, the "Dicker the kicker" game. So, not the last 4, not that it is any consolation.
I don't think those ratings: "66th / 71st" mean much at all. Where do we rate on the offense side of the ball? In the top 25 I'm guessing. How many of those teams ahead of us play in the Offensive minded B12? TTU and TCU have lots of talent on offense at skill positions. Their O coordinators are all gas no brakes for four quarters. Same for most all the teams we'll play. Those ratings (unless you are comparing B12 defenses against one another) are comparing apples to oranges for the most part.
I don't give the defense a pass because the offense is good. Sooner or later the offense will stall and we'll need the defense to save the day. The defense needs to improve.
Vol CAN they improve? What will it take? You can't improve quickness which might have put them in the right position/ angle to tackle instead of grasping and missing
I don't know know much about the xs and os stuff. With the exception of the piggie game, we've done enough to win. Hopefully we improve each week. Hopefully we recruit to our shortfalls. And as much as I cringe at some of the things I'm seeing, the team is winning and progressing. Based on what I've watched for the past ten years I'm happy. Are we Alabama or Georgia? No. But we're not (name some bottom dweller in any conference, and especially gaggie) so I'm pleased.
agree they don't get a pass. i do think context matters though. i've already said this, but i think the 4th quarter was well coached. we were up a couple of scores. we kept the ground game going and played bend, don't break defense. lots of yards and one TD. ...and we won. That's a head coach deciding that trying to win is better than trying to be awesome and getting burned. when our offense is cooking, expect some safe bend don't break defense. here's what i continue to see... *our DL formation could be tighter up the middle or we need a better LB plugging that hole. *our safeties (I know Zucker!) need to be better in pass defense.
The offense is down Okafor. So the OLine will be key on offense. Protecting CT and making holes for BR, KR, and RJ. If our OLine performs well, I think Casey will pass much better than last week. If so we can put up 40+ on OU. If we have to rely on BR like last week, more like 30-34 points. So again, it comes down to OLine play against OU's DLine. TCU appears to have a better D than OU from what I have seen. On D. Seems like Texas is getting better. TCU at home is a tough contest. Lucky to win that game. I thought it was going to be much easier. This week, I think OU will test the D more than TCU did but I recall our D rising to the occasion lately against OU. I see that happening again and getting the W. Hopefully Josh Thompson plays well off of that injury last week.
I think we'll also see more of K Robinson with the ball on Saturday. But, back to the topic, I think we'll see Kwiatkowski dial up every pressure, blitz, stunt, etc. he's got, along with some new confusing looks (to confuse Rattler). OU's OL ain't what it used to be. We may also see more of the (relatively) lighter, quicker DLs like Murphy and Ojomo, although Sweatt has performed pretty well.
That question I'm not smart enough to answer. I just can't figure out how we have top 10 recruiting classes most years and we still end up with a walk on linebacker starting and a secondary that can't cover receivers.
Fair point. But as I noted in a response to this issue earlier, Brockermeyer is starting and three highly regarded players at the position — 4 and 5 Stars — are not, including the # 1 rated ILB of the 2017 class. Which leads me to believe that what Luke lacks in physical tools he compensates for with savvy and passion. I tend to believe that the D-line has quite a bit of talent. I think players like Collins, Murphy, Oghoufo and Jones are on the verge of stepping up. And I haven’t mentioned Coburn, Ben Davis or Ojomo, perhaps the best of the group. Let’s hope that Saturday is when it all comes together.