Similarities to coming off of 1998: Won a bowl game Second year of new HC Improving defense Incoming sophomore QB who showed flashes the year before (when he wasn't handing off to the Heisman winner - not a similarity) Beginning of 1999: Suffer a horrendous loss to a team that was picked to finish last in the ACC Offense couldn't seem to find a rhythm in that Week Zero opener Stupid turnovers by guys who we thought were going to be relied upon The following week in 1999: Beat the everloving **** out of Stanford at home, where third stringers didn't have a problem running up the score. That Stanford team won the watered-down Pac-10, much like Tulsa could win the weak AAC. So I guess what I'm saying is that we're kind of at a point where we can choose to kick the **** out of Tulsa, or just kind of squeak by and go through the motions. Play slow and safe, or kind of open it up a little bit. Everyone in this program has been walking around on eggshells since about the 2010 season, including all three HCs. I think we have the defensive and skill position personnel to be able to accomplish this. I'm not sold on QB like I was on Major in 1999, but they can at least get a little help from the coaches about how to do this. I know the 1999 season wasn't perfect, but it was a stepping stone towards better things.
Phil, I warned people immediately after the 1999 OU game that the "killing" was coming "next year". In 99, Stoops/Leach played with ZERO WRs. Leach was using a bunch of converted RBs with stone hands during that game. I was roundly criticized by others on Fair Grounds for speaking the truth. Some of those same people saw me after the 2000 game and asked, "how did you know". Leach was gone, but Mangino used his offense to surgically dissect our defense. With WRs, it might have happened in 99. I actually talked to Bob Stoops after that debacle, and told him that after the agony and sting of being embarrassed by our biggest rival, as a football fan is was a pleasure to watch the surgical precision with which they dismantled "my team". Bobby Jack was part of that conversation and told Stoops, "Coach, believe me that there is no man on earth that it hurts more to say those words than this man here".
Interesting comparison and agree this team / coaching regime could be at major crossroads. Difference: Major could read & dissect a defense, Sam cannot.
This. Major probably called more plays at the LOS than any QB we've ever had including Colt. He knows his football.
I was thinking about the NC st loss a couple of weeks ago and wondering if TH would lose to Maryland in similar fashion this year. Although he did, the systemic issues go much deeper. Mack lost that game for one reason only, the kicking game, which he corrected immediately. He also had a much better 1st season only losing to teams with better talent. The reasons for TH's loses are multiple, but it starts with poor discipline and lack of execution and the reason for that is poor coaching. It took Mack 5 years to lose to as many teams with inferior talent as Tommy has in 14 games. I don't get the feeling Tommy is anything like Mack at all. Texas has had 30 coaches in it's history. Only 3 have had records of .500 or below. The current, the previous and then you have to go all the way back to 1936 for the 3rd one. Let that sink in as to just how far our program has fallen.
That Stanford team was way better than Tulsa. And 1998 Texas was way better than 2017 Texas. 1999 Texas is almost certainly way better than 2018 Texas as well, the NC-State game was a fluke as they got 16 points off of blocked punts.
Some more thoughts because I kept coming back to this all year: 1. We never really ended up with any awesome blowouts like the 1999 team. That team had 4 games where they completed dismantled the opponent to the tune of a 3+ score victory. This year had 1 (USC... which was probably kinda close until the 3rd quarter). Some of that, I chalk up to how the game has changed and there's a bit more parity from top to bottom in our conference than there was in 1999 with clear awesome teams and clear bottom dwellers. Some of it is just that we're not quite as good as we could be yet. 2. Our OU 2018 game is basically the equivalent of the NU 1999 game - team with national championship implications and we pull off the upset. 3. The Tulsa 2018 game is similar to the Rice 1999 game. At home, at night, didn't seem to be much of a problem on face value until it "became" a problem by being a close nonconference game. 4. Not much comparison for the other losses. The A&M 1999 loss was basically an anomaly because of Bonfire and stomach viruses. KSU was a blowout because of special teams miscues and their incredible defense. Our other losses this year were close and unrelated to anything except some time management issues and allowing the opponent to dictate what they were doing on offense, which the 1999 team wasn't prone to do. 5. Major > Sam but not by a ton. 3478-21-9 stat line made him co-offensive POY with Crouch, but he also had -189 rush yards from sacks. Sam was 3123-25-5. And he ran well. There's no chance Sam could be POY in this conference in 2018, but if you put his numbers back in 1999, I bet he'd be POY with Crouch too. 6. Our 2018 offensive pass catchers are a LOT better than 1999 - Kwame was record-setting but he and Nunez are not quite the tandem of Johnson and Humphrey. Let alone the other guys who caught the ball for us this year. 7. 1999 defense all day long over 2018. #6 in the nation vs. #68 in the nation. This seems to be the big difference between the seasons. We should have laid the smack down on some of the weaker teams we played, but didn't. Loss of guys like Ford and Jefferson from the prior season led to this, but I don't think anyone predicted it would be THIS mediocre. 8. CCG was a lot closer this year than 1999. 9. In a sick sort of way, I was right about the NCSU vs. Maryland comparison. The team didn't let an early-season loss define the rest of their season, especially after the Tulsa game and we regrouped for USC. Maryland still finished out of bowl contention, but barely. We made the championship game by the skin of our teeth and in spite of some dumb losses (A&M 1999 vs. WVU or OK State 2018). 10. If there's anything to learn about 1999 into 2000: don't let a QB controversy erupt; keep your DBs healthy; get dominant at DT; bring in the #1 recruiting class and you'll be fine.
