Football Articles
The season started for real last night after four games that felt like an NFL pre-season. This was true not just for the good guys (that would be the Texas Longhorns) but for the entire Big 12 Football Conference.
The results of the games were no surprise at all. The only thing that came close was the score of the Kansas/Iowa State game, in which Iowa State held a 20-0 halftime lead.
This is a conference in which you bet the over, and I don’t really care what the over/under happens to be. Yesterday’s results speak for themselves: Texas/Colorado – Over. OSU/A&M – Over. Oklahoma/Baylor – Over. Kansas/Iowa State – Over. Missouri/Nebraska – Over. Kansas State/Texas Tech – Over.
On Scipio’s betting thread Thursday, I predicted if you took the over in all six Big 12 games, you’d win four of them. I underestimated by two.
This conference plays offense, and not much defense at all. Oklahoma and Texas have very respectable, maybe even very good, defenses, but that doesn’t appear to be true of anyone else. If A&M doesn’t commit a rash of turnovers, the Aggies, who are horrible on offense, would have put up more than 30 on OSU. The Cowboys would have put up over 50 on A&M in any event. Watching the offenses in the Missouri/Nebraska game was like watching a pinball machine on steroids in fast motion. The second half of Kansas/Iowa State played out as if the defenses were limited to 9 men on the field. Kansas State and Tech? Fuhgettaboutit.
No doubt Vegas oddsmakers set those 60+ point over/under lines in several of these games thinking they were pretty good estimations of what would actually happen. These folks just don’t understand what happens when teams like Tech and KSU and OSU and A&M get together.
Maybe we should just rename the Big 12 the Big Over. It’d be more descriptive of the real nature of the competition involved.
Let’s go to the GB&U.
First, the UGLY:
These guys…
- The competition for the first annual Al Derogodas Memorial Award for the most annoying and incompetent color commentary on college football games really heated up last night, as leading candidates Dave Lapham and Bob Davie found themselves competing head-to-head with one another to see which of them could annoy the most viewers in the same time slot. I really would not have believed that Lapham could top Davie’s woeful performance at the Texas/UTEP game a few weeks back, but I severely underestimated the big guy’s capacity for annoyance. Not only did Lapham resort to his standard assortment of lame, repetitive analysis points, he also stole Davie’s tactic of constantly mispronouncing Texas Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp’s last name, even adding stuttering to the routine at a couple of points. Throw in his constant reference to field commentator Jim Knox as “Knoxie” – which always brings to mind an army of Germans goose-stepping through the streets of Warsaw – and Lapham proved conclusively that he is determined to secure the inaugural Derogodas Trophy, and is not a man to be trifled with. I would throw Dave South into this competition, but he pretends to be a play-by-play guy, so doesn’t qualify. Plus, he’s more funny than he is annoying.
- The Texas running game – tailbacks only. If you just glance at the stat sheet, it doesn’t look all that bad. For the game, the Texas tailbacks racked up a total of 139 yards on 31 totes. That’s what, 4.5/4.6 yards per carry? Not too bad. But take out Ogbannaya’s 51 yard pop, and you’re left with 78 yards on 30 carries. That’s 2.6 ypc, and sadly descriptive of what we saw from this bunch against a very mediocre CU defense last night. It’s not all their fault – the line played like packed panther crap most of the night, the scheme incorporates virtually zero misdirection, and most times they’re getting the damn ball standing still. This will not move the football against Oklahoma. It just won’t. And if Colt is going to be our most effective runner next week, I fear for his health.
Next, the BAD:
- No effort to stretch the field – our passing game made zero effort to throw the ball downfield for most of the night. One of the reasons why our running game was so moribund was because CU felt quite comfortable putting 8 or 9 guys in the box since they had no fear we would attempt to throw the ball over their heads.
- Offensive line play – just was not good at all. No holes in the ground game, and repeated breakdowns in pass protection with CU bringing only 4. In their defense, the laughably rudimentary nature of the rushing scheme and refusal by the OC to emply misdirection in any effective manner means they’re always going to be outnumbered at the point of attack. It’s hard to create much space for the backs when you have 3 trying to block 5 down after down. But the breakdowns in the pass protection and four sacks surrendered to this bunch does not bode well at all for Dallas.
- Kickoff coverage – ugh. Not good at all, despite kickoffs that continue to be high and deep. There is something missing here – these kicks are very coverable.
- No Fozzy. Is this “bruised knee” ever going to heal? He is desperately needed for next week.
On to the GOOD:
- Defensive intensity – this aspect of the defense has ramped up noticeably with each passing game. Last night these guys came out with steam curling from their ears. This is how Texas defense should be played. The most fun part of it is watching our LBs and DBs making tackles downhill, rather than sideways or chasing a guy down from behind.
- Defensive line play – outstanding. Orakpo and Miller were purely dominant. CU’s running game made the Longhorns’ look positively efficient by comparison. For the night, the Buffs totaled 49 yards on 28 carries. Even factoring out the 25 yards lost on 3 sacks, that doesnt look very pretty.
- Pressure on the QB – Cody Hawkins is a very lucky man this morning. He’s very fortunate he plays in a 3-to-5 step drop, quick release passing game, because otherwise he might have awakened in a hospital bed. The Longhorn defense may have recorded only 3 sacks, but the pressure on Hawkins was constant and relentless all night long.
- Defensive backs – again, just like last week, there was a noticeable uptick in the confidence and abandon with which these guys played last night. Chykie Brown’s terrific block of the game’s first pass set the tone, and the DBs made play after play after play. Earl Thomas and Blake Gideon are turning into a very good set of safeties.
- Other defensive standouts – Roddrick Muckelroy is the obvious one. He is the man among the LBs, and once again led the team in tackles. This is getting to be a trend.
- Offensive standouts – Colt McCoy, despite throwing two bad picks, had another efficient night. Quan Cosby continues to show tremendous hands and an absence of fear in traffic. And Chris Ogbannaya obviously had a career night with 71 yards rushing, 116 yards receiving, and two big touchdowns.
- Special teams continued to be fine, with the exception of the kickoff coverage mentioned above.
- Defensive Player of the Game – Roy freaking Miller. He’s a man.
- Offensive Player of the Game – Chris Ogbannaya.
- Special Teams Player of the Game – John Gold. Again.
Now, it’s on to Dallas and the #1 Oklahoma Sooners. OU brutalized Baylor yesterday, running out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and then coasting to an easy 49-17 win. They’ve pretty much brutalized every team on their schedule so far, so that was no surprise. Like Texas, they’ve played one representative team, TCU, and ran up 21 first quarter points on them as well. TCU came into that game with the nation’s top-ranked defense. They left that game with something less than that.
Unlike Texas, when an opposing defense comes into a game with the intent of putting 8 or 9 guys in the box and stopping the run, the Sooners simply let Sam Bradford drop back and air it out. The Sooner offense is very potent, and very balanced. Unlike Texas, their rushing scheme is very sophisticated and employs plenty of misdirection to keep opposing defenses off-balance. DeMarco Murray is a stud.
Oklahoma will probably open as a 6 to 9 point favorite in this game, and deservedly so. That doesn’t mean Texas can’t compete with OU, and it doesn’t mean Texas can’t win the game. It does mean that Texas will have to play its very best football in all phases of the game, and hope the Sooners make some mistakes.
The Longhorns’ in ability to stretch the field in the passing game is especially troubling going into this game. One gets the feeling that any big plays we might have in the passing game will come when plays break down and Colt improvises. That’s not a good game plan. One also gets the feeling that this could be another Texas/OU contest in which the Texas tailbacks average less than 2 yards a pop. That might change if Fozzy Whittaker miraculously recovers from his four week “knee bruise”, but even if he’s healthy, one wonders how much the coaches will be willing to use him, given his lack of experience and playing time this year.
Still, even with those very real and troubling concerns, there is something about this Longhorn team, some intangible feeling that these guys have come to a point, especially on defense, at which they are true believers in their coaches and what they’re being asked to do, that makes me think they will find a way to give Oklahoma one hell of a football game next Saturday.
I really like this team, and I know pretty much all of you do as well. It’s a great time to bleed burnt orange.
Hook ‘em!!!
Share This
32 Responses
Leave a Reply
Related Articles
-
46
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Texas 38, Colorado 14
By EyesOfTX on October 11th, 2009 -
11
Colorado names starting tailback
By HenryJames on August 18th, 2008 -
26
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
By EyesOfTX on August 31st, 2008 -
56
Texas/Colorado Football Analysis
By Scipio Tex on September 29th, 2008 -
22
Barking Carnival’s Colorado Football State of the Union
By Scipio Tex on August 23rd, 2007
Activity
-
Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Top Ten Reasons Why Cal Can Beat Duke 59 minutes ago
This would probably go a bit better if you read it in your Bobby Knight voice and it had two decades worth of goodwill built up from its gratuitous appearance on a popular late night television show. But oh well.
1) Interior Worries. As in the Bears shouldn’t have any defensively
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Round 2 Saturday Recaps 1 hour, 56 minutes ago
We talked about the upset of the decade in this post, but I watched some other great basketball today I’d like to comment on.
For me, the theme of the day was well-played basketball. I’m not only talking about what Northern Iowa did, I’m talking about the other seven games being really well
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Madness Magic: Northern Iowa Upsets Kansas 2 hours, 9 minutes ago
Just a phenomenal game.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Recapping The South 2 hours, 20 minutes ago
Udoh was a fargging beast in that game. Very athletic player.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout 2 hours, 44 minutes ago
Jesus. I think I see four horseman on the horizon.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Madness Magic: Northern Iowa Upsets Kansas 2 hours, 48 minutes ago
Today reminded me why I love this tournament so much. A good friend of mine mentioned to me that college basketball is the great equalizer of all athletic endeavors. At least of the sports we care about. He’s right.
For instance, you can have a 40 inch vertical, be Iverson quick,
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
Patrick,
Unless you’re completely retarded, you know precisely what I meant. The closest any Big 12 team has gotten to winning the infamous Fuller Cup is the 2007 Texas squad. I can’t remember a team being that horribly undisciplined as a whole aside from the insane OU teams of the 80’s. That’s not
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
Patrick,
Unless you’re completely retarded, you know precisely what I meant. The closest any Big 12 team has gotten to winning the infamous Fulmer Cup is the 2007 Texas squad. I can’t remember a team being that horribly undisciplined as a whole aside from the insane OU teams of the 80’s. That’s not
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Sailor Ripley wrote a new blog post: This Is Sparta! 3 hours, 4 minutes ago
Please make yourself welcome and Adam will be by shortly to keep you up to date on all Michigan State Spartan happenings.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 3 hours, 9 minutes ago
I suppose anyone could be your “favorite Longhorn basketball player” but Ford did more than just about anyone…although Durant is clearly better. Ford’s supporting cast was better than Durant’s in his sophomore year. Durant’s had more talent (Augustin, James, Abrams) but Ford’s was more developed (Boddicker, Ivey, Mouton, Thomas) and had worked with him for
-
Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Bradley or Hamilton? 3 hours, 15 minutes ago
Crazy Joe, your thoughts intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
-
Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Bradley or Hamilton? 3 hours, 18 minutes ago
This notion of Hamilton as being a disaster area on defense is all a bit much. He rebounds extremely well which, if it wasn’t obvious, is extremely important in this game since it secures possession of the basketball. Winning in basketball is achieved through the scoring of baskets and it’s necessary to possess the basketball
-
Ojnab Bob commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 3 hours, 28 minutes ago
I posted earlier about how Collins’ effort just crippled Kansas today, but what amazed me the most was his complete inability to stay in front of his man on defense. UNI got a LOT of good looks out of penetration/pass after one of UNI’s modestly gifted athletes blew right by Sherron. The best
-
Scipio Tex wrote a new blog post: Best Opening Round I Can Remember 4 hours, 40 minutes ago
At least it’s shaping up that way if Sunday delivers.
As disappointed as I was in last year’s opening weekend of March Madness, this one is exceeding all expectations. Putting aside the fact that my bracket now resembles Kabul after the Taliban rolled through in ‘96 – a map of ordered failure –
-
J commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 5 hours, 7 minutes ago
Thanks for the kind words, Trips.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
J commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 5 hours, 8 minutes ago
You know who’s bitter and angry as fuck? This guy —> ME.
I can only hope our returning players (whoever that may be) remember this and realize they need to play motivated EVERY FUCKING GAME and put forward 40 MINUTES of effort each game.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Raoul Duke commented on the blog post Rumor Alert–TMG 5 hours, 39 minutes ago
Kid seems like a fantastic collegiate player. I haven’t seen any NBA info. Is he a legit prospect?
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Raoul Duke commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 5 hours, 46 minutes ago
Tough day for Sherron on O and D.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
GoHornsGo90 commented on the blog post Bradley or Hamilton? 6 hours, 30 minutes ago
To leave or stay?
-
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 6 hours, 31 minutes ago
KSU moving on led by a hot shooting Pullen. BTW, White Mormons can shoot FTs. 22 for 25, I think. Imagine if we could shoot like that.
Wake’s coming back on Kentucky. They’re within 25 right now…..
-
Trips Right commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 6 hours, 49 minutes ago
Just wanted to say I feel for you guys. As a Texas fan I know how this feels even if it’s from a football perspective.
I still think you’re the best basketball team in the country, and unfortunately you ran into a team that packed a Villanova circa 1985 type game today. Meaning they
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 6 hours, 59 minutes ago
Wow. Wake won’t break 50. Not surprising really — we should have beaten Wake and they are not a very good team.
-
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 7 hours, 4 minutes ago
Kentucky doing their best to beat Wake by half hundred. Close call….
-
RRR wrote a new blog post: Survive and Advance 7 hours, 8 minutes ago
We really struggled in the first half, but battled through it to get a tough win against Jacksonville. On to Oxford!
Forget what conference they play in, Jacksonville is a very good basketball team, and they got to Lubbock not because of a crazy bank shot at the buzzer in Phoenix, but by playing aggressive, intense defense for
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”http://tortillaretort.fantake.com/1969/12/31/” });
-
ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 7 hours, 25 minutes ago
The shamrock is on his left shoulder. The Griffin looking thing is on his right.
-
ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 7 hours, 34 minutes ago
Everytime I see a Gumbel brother I think of “Gumbel to Gumbel”
-
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 7 hours, 47 minutes ago
Kentucky starting to pile on Wake. That would have been our fate…..
KSU just killing the Mormons on the glass…
-
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 8 hours, 14 minutes ago
10 point lead for the Mormons again…
-
ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 8 hours, 29 minutes ago
This is the first-time Frank Martin has ever met a Mormon who wasn’t on a bicycle.
-
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 8 hours, 33 minutes ago
Does that mean he gets to pick his wives first???
Sixth Street said:
October 5th, 2008 at 6:43 am
OU’s running game sucks.
BrickHorn said:
October 5th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Another ugly: pass interference calls. Can someone please tell me what in the hell qualifies as pass interference? The call that accompanied CU’s final touchdown was putrid. It ended up being irrelevant, but the fact that it was called is horrifying. That kind of shit could end up costing us a game (see Aggy, 2006).
EyesOfTX said:
October 5th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Yeah, I’ve given up trying to figure out what does and does not constitute interference. I’m afraid the officials have as well.
RFourie said:
October 5th, 2008 at 7:13 am
I’m still not sure just what the rule is regarding the quarterback and the line of scrimmage when making a forward pass. I wish Lapham would have explained that just one more time…
HenryJames said:
October 5th, 2008 at 7:19 am
I’m more concerned about whether or not Big 12 officials know what constitutes offensive holding.
Nordberg said:
October 5th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Idiot comment of the night, from Mark May: “Will Muschamp was brought in to improve the Texas pass defense, and he hasn’t done it. He just hasn’t done it.”
fbomb said:
October 5th, 2008 at 7:38 am
I don’t think Colt threw 2 bad picks – I think he threw one pick and had a TE (Ullman?) bounce another to the defense.
Mack Tripper said:
October 5th, 2008 at 8:00 am
The guy who brought us “face rape” repeatedly gave us “big boy ball” and “chip block” last night.
Texoz said:
October 5th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Agree with fbomb. Colt only threw a couple bad passes, one being an INT.
The 2nd INT came from Ullman turning his catch into a tip drill. Ullman’s a decent TE, but we’re going to miss Irby, especially this week. I forsee the offense having trouble moving the ball against OU and a sure-handed TE really helps move the chains.
OU will key on Quan and Shipley. It would be great if one of our young WRs has a break out game. I’m hoping that we’ve been sand-bagging a bit on that option.
Ransom Stoddard said:
October 5th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Back from Boulder. Observations: 1. Boulder and CU campus are very nice this time of year. Gorgeous gorgeous campus. 2. CU fans, including students, cordial and easygoing. 3. The odor of burning marijuana was more prevalent than food-cooking smells in the CU tailgating areas. 4. CU coeds very cute. But, Colorado law says upon graduation or the age of 23, all Colorado women must surrender all cosmetics, including hair conditioner. Ladies, your future is leathery, sun-damaged skin. 5. Stadium nice but audio-visual is worse than most high schools. 6. About 1/3 of all Texas fans have no clue what is going on in the game. Too busy texting, gossiping and going to the bathroom. 7. Whoever said our offensive line was good is nuts. These guys are average at best. Our center got his butt pushed around all night. The line has also not been taught that its actually OK to hit someone other than the guy that lines up across from you, especially if you totally whiff on your assignment-which happened repeatedly. Scary performance. 8. Greg Davis is a eunuch. 9. We have ZERO home run threats on offense. Zero. If Chris O is your best rb option, its time to change your recruiting strategy. 10. Defensive line played well but must remember it was against CU’s 2nd string OL. 11. Ryan Palmer has been playing CB for over 8 years in high school and college and has never been taught to turn and look for the ball. 12. Most of the people in my section saw nothing to change our mind about 3-4 losses before the year is over.
Texoz said:
October 5th, 2008 at 8:43 am
3 to 4 losses? I’d say yes at the beginning of the season, but not now.
I don’t see us losing more than 2 or 3 regular season games, which means we won’t play Big 12 Championship. Afterwards, we should get a team we can beat in a bowl game. That would give us 2 or 3 loses, tops.
The horns defense is getting better and better each game. They will keep us in most, if not all of the games we play. Our running game, or lack of having someone other than Colt, is the key.
bogusdude said:
October 5th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Ransom, my thoughts exactly. Funny people keep hoping for different outcomes when we continue the same offensive trends. I think our oline will have trouble with ou dline to say the least. That translates to difficult game for Colt/ us. Our D looks very much improved if mostly just attitude, which is critical to a great D. However, I think they wear down and second half is big for ou.
If we have to rely on any semblance of a running game we’re toast. By the way, never saw an olineman 2 or 3 yards downfield, always blocking down line of scrimmage. What ever happened to the idea of straight ahead pancakes? We have certainly recruited top o line so I believe its once again scheme.
Mysterious Package said:
October 5th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Does Colt know how to throw the ball downfield?
Ransom Stoddard said:
October 5th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Especially irritating is that running play where Cody or Obi runs parallel to the line of scrimmage and then turns it upfield off-tackle. It’s slow developing, we don’t block it correctly and is the wrong play to run with big backs. Yet GD called it about 10 times yesterday. Unfortunately, it worked ONE time on Obi’s long run, thus giving GD the justification he needs to use it 15+ times against blowu.
Earl T said:
October 5th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
HIDE THE WIMMIN AN’ CHILLUNS AN’ TREASURIES!
THE LAN” THEEVES IS A COMIN”!
Good gawd a’mighty! You call that an O-ffense? I was offended, awright! Two lucky plays, a fumble for a short field and “dink and dunk” ain’t beatin the OU LT’s by a long shot!
Pass Interference? Doan’ complain! Weren’t fer the refs not knowin’ what PI is, (an’ the CU kicker wettin’ his pantaloons) you woulda been down 17 -14 at HT and wonderin’ if this was OU in ‘08. Yer safeties left more early footprints on the TE’s backs than a snake has scales!
An’ as the man pointed out, yer pass rush was decent, but it was the second string out there for the Buffs. Can you imagine the Boomer Boys will play their #2 OL unit just so Stoopsie beats the spread? HA!
Suggest y’all-y’all spend the next few days in Mass; more than a few Our Fathers and Hail Marys are gonna be needed in Dallas!
blon said:
October 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
And did Know ever consider how stupid he looked running with Ralphie? I’m not sure what was worse: Knox and Ralphie or the 307 times Lapham went over the QB/line of scrimmage.
I hate announcers. I just hit the mute button and watch.
M said:
October 5th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Our OL will suddenly improve against a much better attacking D? Our vertical passing game finally appears now, when it is needed? Fozzy, our version of Lucy with the football, gets off life support and delivers us from ou evil?
Without the spin: Possible, but not likely.
CallKevin said:
October 5th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
While I want to drink all the Muschamp kool-aid, when I try to convince myself that he’s too good to allow a team to run up the score against Texas I’m forced to remind myself that his Auburn squad last year gave up 45 to Georgia, 30 to LSU, and 26 to South Florida (all losses).
I think he’s very good, perhaps great, and was/am happy with the hire–but I can’t expect him to prevent OU from running things up if our offense doesn’t do their part to keep OU off the field.
Dave Bowman said:
October 5th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Could someone provide a link to the ScipioTex’s video he made for last year’s OU game? That was great!
BiggUggly said:
October 5th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Mysterious Package
October 5, 2008 at 11:07 am Does Colt know how to throw the ball downfield?
Is Colt allowed to throw downfield?
west_coast said:
October 5th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Thank God someone else realizes that Lapham is as annoying as I think he is. The guy is as repetitive as techno pop in a euro bar. I’d rather listen to an insurance sale pitch than Dave Lapham. That, beside the fact that Fox Sports sucks in the way that they cover college football. How many times do they have their stupid spinning banner up there and miss the next play, switch from the booth to the field as the play starts or just miss a shot??
For an outfit that does a GREAT job of producing NFL games, and most other professional sports, why can’t they get college football right?
71grad said:
October 5th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
We used a very conservative running attack against Colorado. You also have to take into consideration the yardage lost on the sacks. Their d-line is the best unit on the CU team. Hypolite and Lucas will play in the NFL next year.
WE did not throw throw long ball last night. There was no need to.
I didn’t see any totally unacceptable kick-off returns. Granted he was sleep walking through the kick after the first TD, but Smith is a very good return specialist.
I would argue that most of your bad, wasn’t bad.
Nordberg said:
October 6th, 2008 at 4:46 am
There’s a lot more negativity here than I would have thought. I was pleased with the CU game, especially our defense (obviously).
Gene Claude said:
October 6th, 2008 at 6:02 am
What in the world is this comment:
I expect the mainstream media to fail to consider any and all context in judging the Missouri defense and jump to simple pre-packaged conclusions. The Missouri offense is great! They are being held back by the defense! I expect better from you guys. And moreover, did you even watch the fucking game?
Nebraska had 3 scoring drives…the first drive of the game, last drive of the 1st half and last drive of the game (which was against scrubs, after MU ran up the middle on 4th and 5 deep in NU territory).
Nebraska’s other drives looked like this:
9 plays, 29 yards, punt
6 plays, 25 yards, punt
3 plays, -4 yards, INT
8 plays, 26 yards, punt
10 plays, 34 yards, DOWNS
3 plays, 6 yards, FUMBLE
8 plays, 30 yards, punt
I’ll now make a provocative statement: The difference between performances thus far of the Missouri defense and the Texas defense is about 95% context. These defenses haven’t performed much differently at all, except that (1) Missouri has played much more prolific opposing offenses–especially Illinois–that skews a couple stats remarkably and (2) Missouri’s offense puts the defense on the field for MANY more plays (60) and time (6+ minute difference in TOP) than does Texas’s.
For example:
Mizzou is 31st in the nation in yards/play at 4.8. Tied for 3rd in the conference. Texas is 23rd with 4.5 yards/play.
Tiger opponents rank, in offensive yards/play: Nevada 14 with 6.6 yards/play, NU 19 with 6.5, Illinois 26 with 6.2, and Buffalo 55 with 5.5.
UT opponents rank: Rice 43 with 5.8, FAU 60 with 5.4, Arkansas 60 with 5.4, and UTEP 75 with 5.2.
In particular, the MU and UT defensive stats look nearly identical if you remove the one good team–Illinois–that either have played.
I’m not saying that UT’s defense hasn’t performed very well, and honestly, it is quite likely better than Mizzou’s. However, the popular perception, mindlessly regurgitated above, that Mizzou’s defense is nonexistent is just false.
If anyone is interested, I’ve written in more depth about this earlier in the season and will update for current stats today. I’m using (and was inspired by)HenryJames’ “defensive stats that matter.” In particular, using rate stats instead of gross stats helps control for offensive time of possession context.
Gene Claude said:
October 6th, 2008 at 6:03 am
Here’s the link:
http://www.atomicteeth.com/gene-claude/the-fallacy-of-mizzous-defensive-failure/
huge said:
October 6th, 2008 at 6:08 am
davis called a good game against OU last year, so maybe there’s hope?
Bob in Houston said:
October 6th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Dave Lapham has the advantage of actually sounding like Al DeRogatis. Maybe it’s the lineman thing.
Mysterious Package said:
October 6th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Im not sure if he is allowed to or not. He checks down way to much and stays locked on Shipley for far too long at times when he is not open. That one play in the endzone he threw it to Shipley double covered and completely ignored Malcome Williams. He is efficient but come on, OU is going to jump every short passing route. We have to be able to stretch the field and I see no evidence to support that.
It is now time to put to bed the “we are saving it for OU” chant. No one in football goes through half a season with a limited play book. Thats just an assine assumption. No team holds back certian looks offensive or defensive for 5 games then decides to hang it out there when they have never done it in a game. I believe we will see very little cluster flux and the same type of looks from our D(thats fine, the D is in good shape but why does Palmer continue to get minutes?) We have conservative play calling and I would be shocked if the dink and dunk along with no running game works against the trailer trash. If Stoops does not look at film and tell every DB and LB to jump the short screen passes and mini curls he has lost his mind.
BatesHorn said:
October 6th, 2008 at 6:35 am
At what point is somebody going to discuss the disaster that was John Chiles on Saturday night.
Uncle Rico said:
October 6th, 2008 at 7:43 am
i agree with ransom stoddard
EyesOfTX said:
October 6th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Gene Claude: no, I’m not interested.
Bateshorn: what else is new?
Barking Carnival — Blog — The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Texas 38, Colorado 14 said:
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:09 pm
[...] just as lackluster a game in Boulder as they did in Austin last night. In fact, take a look at the GBU review of last year’s game with CU, and you will see the team was exhibiting pretty much the same areas of weakness then as it is [...]