Well there certainly is plenty to be disappointed in. So was it Swoopes? Nope, he fell like a rock last year, what would make you think he was going to be much better... Offensive line? 2 freshman starters... enough said Backs and receivers? Did they even play tonight??? Defensive line? Disappointing for sure, but was playing against one of the top offensive lines.... D backs? Absolutely the worst ever and biggest disappointment. Could not stay within 5 yards of a receiver and could not tackle when they did get close. Thought they would keep us in a few games this year. That is looking pretty doubtful... And worst of all, the DC is the D Backs coach. Thought he was a lot more substance than mouth... Hope I'm wrong. Brightest spot... Linebackers. Finally have some linebackers that have a real feel for the game and the talent to do something about it.. like knowing when to shoot the gaps and the ability to run down the backs from behind.
We were in cover no one defense all night, I dont think there was a Texas DB near a WR on a single pass all night. That is unacceptable. Swoopes is Swoopes, why anyone is shocked at his stat line tonight is beyond me, he's a good kid who is just not a D1 QB period and an off season hasnt changed that fact.
Most disappointed we played what seemed to be scared. The pit, Moorer, etc., all the BS talk of how tough we will be. BS, a bunch of panty waists. Whole team ought to be in the pit along with some of the staff.
Strong deserves the lion's share of disappointment. The team was just unprepared. Teams that have a modicum of talent and are actually prepared to play don't lose by 5 TDs, regardless of the opponent. Being unprepared is something that is reserved for teams like Baylor from 1999 to 2009. Strong had 8 months to dwell on Arkansas and figure out what would motivate and prepare a team to at least be competitive. Those damn group interventions with players didn't seem to do a thing. Find a coaching staff who actually watches film and figures out what works for their team. You're allowed to steal plays if you like them. You're allowed to find blitz packages that have worked against teams on your schedule. Just stop with the ******** and get your damn team ready to play. For all the Briles bashing that Strong did over the past couple press conferences, I'd give a testicle to have someone with the coaching skill cajones that Art displays.
When your motto is We Are Texas you feel like you have arrived. This team doesn't know where they are or where the destination is. We'll see if they make the jump from week 1 to 2, but Strong and cast are on the short bus out of here if they can't figure out how to even make this thing watchable over this season. My hopes are tempered until we see an offense that looks like it can compete with the likes of Sam Houston St.
I agree with this. Especially if you insert "surprising" disappointment. Actually I was shocked at how WIDE OPEN the ND receivers were all night long. they just were not contested at the point of the catch.
We looked nothing like DBU last night I don't think duke Thomas needs to play the nickel spot he is our best corner he needs to be on the #1 guy and why was hill and Boyd restricted to special teams only I say devante Davis get in late in the game but it was a lost cause
My only surprise with Swoopes is that when on the sidelines he wasn't talking to the offense, discussing adjustment to make, what the D is doing on this or that side of the ball, who's getting open and so on. He was more hang dog than anything. He fell right back into the same issues he had at the end of last year. He's not the answer.
Swoopes never was the answer, unfortunately. It was supposed to be Ash playing the Trent Dilfer role last year (hand it off until the cows come home) and then Heard taking over this year. Swoopes was going to be a career backup at QB, or at best, a convert to TE. The biggest flaw in all of this is that Heard hasn't developed. I understand that he got hurt yesterday, so it's tough to hold that against him, but he hasn't shown even a hint of what made him so successful in HS. He can't beat out Swoopes. Let that sink in. I think we burn this season to the ground. Play everyone at every position on the line to see if **** sticks to the wall. Throw to all the younger receivers, particularly Burt and McNeal, and leave the nonperforming Mack recruits behind. Hell, play Locksley and run a trick play every 1st down. We need to bide our time until Buechele arrives and start over again in 2016. We're not going to improve as a program until Strong stops doing what he's been doing for his first 14 games.
I really hated seeing some of our guys argue with coaches when they were being reprimanded for their mistakes.
They must have been really frustrated too. Nobody was having fun but that may be part of the growing pains.
Definitely. I don't know the answer right now, but I really want to believe in Coach Strong, and I am going to continue to give him the benefit of the doubt until the system is entirely his.
Strong is the coach and I still support him; however, he needs to address the flaws in the program starting yesterday and determine what the causes of the substandard play are. Could be player attitude, lack of on field discipline, schemes, program, game planning and so on. He must hold those folks responsible for the issues accountable and either make changes to eliminate the flaw or change the coaches responsible.
The defense was my biggest disappointment. Really no part of it played even half assed. We had some experience on the line and they were pushed around. Jinkens is still bad, and the dbacks were not anywhere close to the receivers. Like I posted in another thread, we are not seeing improvement.
Texas offense .... Plays run: 52 (23 pass, 29 run) Yards. 163 First downs: 8 3rd down conversions: 2-14 Time of possession: 20:50 (1/3 of the entire game) Late in the game announcers said on Texas first 11 possessions, there were eight 3-and-outs. That's almost half the plays for the night. 24 plays just to give the Irish offense a breather and drink of water before coming back out. For those three plays the ND defense just about broke a sweat before their turn for a break and some Gatorade. Two great ND lines on both sides of the ball, not over-burdening the other. So much said about the years of falling off in quarterback recruiting, what about offensive and defensive linemen? What happened late in Mack's tenure that stopped the great line development? Did it start dropping off soon after the 2005 group left? Was it holding up all through Colt's years? If so, where did they all go after 2009? If we're following quarterback drought for years, what about lineman? Didn't all teams from Fred Akers on, for decades, always have great lineman on both sides? Everybody is so focused on skill positions these days. The spread offense has put all the attention on the eye candy positions. Notre Dame put attention on their lines, and they dominated the whole night more than I've ever seen in my life. It was like 6A Allen playing 1A, Div II six-man Follet. Kelly made it to the title game few years ago, but he's been building for 5 years and their offense is not built around Baylor and TCU skill players on the field. Don't need'em with others controlling the game.
I am equally as disappointed in our DL as ay other part of the team. All we kept hearing about was our depth and talent on the DL. They might as well have had skates on their feet. I guess since they have practiced against a bunch of marshmallows every day, they were not prepared for D1 action.
I don't think it is the players to be frank and honest. Players are good that come here and it is up to the coaches to get them in a position to succeed. I am mostly disappointed that Watson is still Watson and that Wickline has done absolutely nothing to make our O-line better. I think him moving guys around all the time is detrimental to their development. The reason is due to them not being able to learn from mistakes and concentrate on that one skill. I know when I have to keep shuffling around different jobs at work it makes me a jack of all trades but a master of none. I am also beginning to think that Bedford is not as good as he thinks he is. Just like Watson, they may be great coaches when it comes to teaching technique or skills but they just cannot perform or scheme for game day. Unfortunately, CS is like MB in regards to loyalty, we will have to endure an entire season of this mess we witnessed last night because CS does not hold his coaches accountable like he does his players.
I agree with what Military said above. In 2013 Texas finished 36th in the country in rushing yards per game averaging 196.23 rushing yards per game under Applewhite. That was with Malcolm Brown, Jonathan Gray and Joe Bergeron. The offensive line was not the best but it certainly was not terrible. (We were 81st in passing offense because Case McCoy was not as good as the revisionists would have you believe.) Strong kicked off or ran off a lot of linemen. If he wanted to build from the ground up, he could do that. A lot of people gave him the benefit of the doubt on that. The problem is, Wickline was supposed to build up a new offensive line after the North Texas game. It appears no building has occurred or progress has been made. The coaches tore down the old line, but still have not started work on the new one. Here are the rushing yards per game averages: 2008 41st 167.46 2009 61st 147.57 2010 66th 150.50 2011 21st 202.62 2012 49th 174.62 2013 36th 196.23 2014 101st 137.38 2015 110th 60.00 (so far) It comes down to the fact this coaching staff tore down the offensive line and we are waiting for them to build it back up. We all (myself included) thought Wickline was up for the task, regardless of Watson. Now I honestly do not know.
Swoopes is not a possible convert to a TE. He doesn't appear to like contact, so a blocking TE he is not. Who knows if he can catch, and he doesn't have the speed or quickness to be any type of receiver.
I'm not sure what you've seen, but pretty much all he does is invite contact by hanging on to the ball too long. He's got TE size (240-ish) and TE speed (4.8-ish). Since when have any of our TEs needed quickness? None over the past 8 seasons have, so it wouldn't be that far-fetched. Learning to catch is quite possibly one of the easiest things a WR/TE would ever need to do... it's all fingertips and timing. Wane McGarity stated that when he switched to WR from RB, the only thing he had to learn was routes. I think Mack saw TS as a project to bide time. He was an Elite-11 invite (although the worst performer at his regional Elite-11 camp), and it just looks good to recruit those guys, much like McDonald's AA's in basketball. We had McCoy, Ash, and Brewer already on the roster, and there was no chance for Swoopes to get any meaningful time at QB, almost ever. It would be Ash until further notice, and injuries made sure that the further notice happened too soon. It's a damn shame Buechele is a HS senior right now instead of a college freshman, because he'd be the one slinging it out there.
I had no idea that it is so easy to find and develop a player for TE. He needs to be a big guy, no particular quickness, and if he doesn't know how to catch, he can learn in a few practices. I have to wonder why we haven't been able to get one of these guys since David Thomas a decade ago.
Oversimplify much? You make it sound like we're supposed to recruit a David Thomas type rather than turn someone into that. Guys like Jace Amaro didn't play a true TE role in HS. If you want someone to step in and play it, then why not someone who has the measurables to play TE? And while "learning" to catch the ball (as if someone who has played offense for 12 years wouldn't already understand the intricacies) might be a stumbling block for a receiver, it's not like we've had a ton of success in that area in a while. Hell, Swaim obviously learned something over the past 8 months that no one in particular taught him at Texas. But Bruce Chambers is gone. David Thomas was a once-in-a-generation TE. I'm saying that if Swoopes is not the answer at QB (and man, is he not), and you don't necessarily need him to quit or transfer, then TE seems reasonable. No, he's not going to be a David Thomas, but neither has anyone else since David Thomas.
I don't see Swoops as a TE either. He runs like his feet are in wet cement and he is afraid of contact. Nice kid. But sorry, Football player of any kind, he aint. (Much less a straying D1 starting Qb. And I know our OL sucks. But damn...)
