I really hope Sark is successful. I like listening to this guy more than any Longhorn coach in memory. No ********. No joking around. No sarcasm or belittling of reporters. Just honest information and opinions of where the team stands.
Summary of scrimmage items I have seen so far: defense played well D-line will lead the team secondary is talented and experienced but still tinkering with the pieces to find the best fit linebackers are Overshown and then everyone else - he better not get injured offense was a work-in-progress QBs played sub-par - someone will need to step up in scrimmages 2 and 3 to earn the starting spot; it's not so much about practice reps as performing under the lights WRs played sub-par - we are very thin at WR; we need Moore to be Mr. Consistent, Omiere to stop playing tentative, and Whittington to finally show his 5* swagger. RB - will lead the offense O-Line - seems like there is experience and depth but, like secondary, still tinkering to find the best fits Anyone heard anything different
Wow...dude was real cool...til he wasn't. I don't know...but I did just get a PeptoBismol ad on here.... Hope that isn't in any way related to our upcoming season.
I think the defense will be the key to us winning games especially in the first half of the season. The offense will be rolling going into the red river classic. Both teams 5-0 going into that game. It will come down to turnovers but i think OK pulls it out. Their o-line against our d-line will be a battle royale.
The question is what do we consider a "successful season." All the educated commentators I am listening to put the over/under at 8.5 wins. The bullish guys are at 9-3 and the pessimists are at 8-4. Not prognosticating but I can see 3 losses to the group of OU, TCU, Iowa State, and Louisiana. For me a 4th loss would be a pretty bad loss i.e. OSU or Arkansas, Anything outside of those is downright terrible. So I say 9-3 is a success. 10-2 is great. What say ye about a "successful season"?
I can see your line of thought. IMO, 9-3 is the "reasonable expectation." I want to expect a bit more than "reasonable" - so I'm thinking 10-2, with close losses to Zero U and Iowa State. I think it's very important for Sark to reverse the recent history against TCU, so I call that a "must win" game. And I also think that the Sark era needs to start with a W, so I'm putting Louisiana in the W column. I also feel the Horns need to get into a top-tier bowl game and win it, which would make the final record 11-2 - a very good first year for Sark, which should have good ramifications for recruiting.
For me it largely depends on how we lose. Are we (players AND coaches) channeling the Charlie Strong experience - doing stupid **** and pulling defeat from the jaws of victory? Or are we playing clean, sound football but losing due to inexperience (forgivable mistakes) and/or simply getting beat because we don't have the roster we need just yet? If I can ascribe losses to the second category, then I am OK with losing 4 this season. I am afraid, perhaps due to many recent seasons of harsh experience, we will have at least one game that harkens back to the Charlie Strong experience. There are two others where I can see us coming up short just because we don't have the roster. So for me, 9-3 feels right, with the distinct possibility of a one or two game swing in either direction due to injuries and/or other surprise factors that cannot yet be predicted.
