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Texas/OSU Football Post-Mortem

Posted by Scipio Tex on October 26th, 2008 under Football

Grateful for the win.

And for the McCoy/Shipley/Cosby One Brain.

Make no mistake, we brought our A game. The notion that we did not implies that we’d look different if we played them again or that effort was lacking. We wouldn’t. It wasn’t. They’d expose us in the same exact ways; just as we’d expose them. A team that converts 11 of 14 on third down isn’t in B game mode. OSU is a very good team with top flight skill personnel and a physical mindset. They are the team you’d design in a lab to give us fits. They’re just two vials of badass short on defense. This is who we are against that team. Period. There’s a difference between playing badly and being made to look bad.

We have limitations in our back seven that we can hide against a pass-happy spread offense with packages and narrow assignments. Chykie’s absence magnified them. OSU isn’t the team where you line a guy up and say,”Go Get QB Now!” or “Just don’t let anyone deeper than you!” They’re way too versatile for that. A football team that can run and throw with equal facility demands complete football players at your hinge positions (S, LB) to shut them down.

Defense


Packages

Defensively, this game was about the limitations of specialization. We’re a team of packages. It’s a shrewd way to deal with our deficiencies. Muschamp’s ability to recognize strengths and play to them is why he’s one of the best around. However, packages, by their nature, are specific. They don’t work against versatile offenses. Sergio Kindle is a pass rushing LB and first rate hero blitzer who operates at a major deficit in a game where he must honor containment on Robinson, play a dangerous running game, look for screens, worry about the option, diagnose in space, and generally operate like a complete and totally well-rounded OLB.

Rashad Bobino and Jared Norton can be hidden – even useful – on a blitz against a Jurassic Missouri OL, but we were reminded that 4.9 40s are not ideal when paired with bad habits like running behind blocks and run blitzing the wrong gap. Blake Gideon learned that doubling Dez Bryant while also watching for shovels, slip screens, Pettigrew, and run support is slightly more difficult than watching a repetitious spread offense unfold in front of him from 15 yards deep. Oklahoma State’s gameplan robbed Muschamp of the ability to simplify. He took our crib sheet.


Why can’t I just chase a QB?

We gave up 6.5 yards per play – identical to their D’s performance against our O. Ouch. The difference in total yardage was because we ran 13 more plays. To add insult to injury, Kendall Hunter went 18-161 – a 8.9 yard per carry clip. His longest run was only 24 yards. That’s being consistently and methodically worked over in the running game.

Curtis Brown and Henry Melton played very well. I’ve long held that Curtis is a gamer and that the only way he’d improve was to get him into the mix. He’s a unique athlete. I fully appreciate that guys need to show it in practice every day, but some need the light turned on in a game so that they can have the confidence and incentive to show it in practice from there on. Now that we’ve busted his cherry at corner, let’s get him returning some kicks. Or am I getting ahead of myself? Melton did a nice job of contain on Robinson and was solid against the run. He had a career high 2 sacks.

The OSU OL was good. We had to play honest fronts because of the necessity of doubling Dez Bryant and Pettigrew and they took advantange of us. They showed our linebackers absolute disrespect, doubling our playside linemen to get a push and then counting on our MLB or Kindle to be incapable of making a play in space – Kindle paralyzed by assignment uncertainty, both MLBs by terrible instincts and limited athletic ability.

Okung played Orakpo as well as any LT to date. No guy as quick and strong as Brian minds attacking 350 pounders wearing concrete galoshes who sweat Pizza Hut. What he doesn’t like are 295 pound guys with a motor and good technique backed by a running game that must be respected. Brian made a number of excellent plays, but never dominated. Fortunately, OSU’s other OT was weak and that thwarted their offense on some key downs.

The good news is that even though Tech has its best run blocking OL in the Leach era and some very dangerous RB personnel, we’ll be playing a much simpler game in Lubbock. Specialization will return in force and we will be made better for it.

Offense

McCoy was beyond superlatives again. We only ask him to be perfect to have any chance of winning. Fan fretting over his throwing a pick and losing a fumble has me shaking my head. No one in the country is being asked to make the throws in the windows that we ask. He was our entire offense against a hard-hitting defense and was responsible for 57 plays from scrimmage. Colt was 38 of 45 for 391 yards and 2 TDs with another 2 TDs running. He’s likely to throw/run for 30+/10+ TDs his year while completing >80% of his passes. Amazing.


It takes a nation of millions to hold Shipley back

Shipley has now officially humiliated more African American males than Flavor Flav at the Source Awards. His fluidity isn’t just attributable to the predictable honky core competency of good route running and sleeping in a bunk bed with Colt – the guy has elite NFL level quickness. Jordan Shipley is a pasty Torry Holt. The Quan is still ol’ reliable and I love his heart and his mini-me Hines Ward tool kit. Dude does nothing for me (or the Longhorns) in the return game, but no one is perfect. The Quan will still graduate as one of my favorite Longhorn players of all time.

Ulatoski is playing at an All-Big 12 level.

The young WRs took two steps forward last week…..and one step back this one. We need them to take another two steps in Lubbock. Some team is going to wise up and demand that other players beat them and they’ll even place them in favorable matchups to do so.

Vondrell McGee played a nice ballgame in limited action and Ogbonnaya was good out of the backfield though he made some uncharacteristic errors in blitz pick up. Seeing he and Ogbonnaya try to make lemonade out of running game lemons was difficult. We basically have two running plays now: the counter that is not one and a simple zone play. Oh, and a QB draw that Colt gets drilled on. Teams watch film. Time to add another wrinkle. No better time to diversify a running than Texas Tech.

Special Teams

No improvement on kick coverage or kick returns from last year. Our goal here is clearly to hold serve and it’s failing. We have at least two guys on the kickoff coverage squad that are contact shy and I have no idea how they’re surviving the scrutiny of the eye in the sky. I hope Mack gives this some special attention because Akina isn’t getting it done and it could have easily cost us the football game. Teams are also preferentially kicking to Cosby. There’s a reason for that. I have a bright idea – move Shipley there before the kick. Or try Fozzy, Curtis, Vondrell. I’m not sure why Quan needs the pounding.

Parting Thoughts

Expectations are odd. They rise with the tide of success; then we pretend that the water was that depth all along. We’re 8-0 and overachieving. OSU was damn good and designed to give us fits. Be happy for the win. Lubbock will be another hard test. This is the most important football game in Texas Tech’s history. There will be a mania surrounding it like nothing West Texas has ever seen. It will be our fourth game in a murderer’s row and Oklahoma State was the most physical test of the season: we’re banged up, tired, and the fuel tank is running a little low.

And there’s no team in the country I’d rather send in there than this one. Should be fun.

Do your part by performing a Santeria ritual to heal Chykie Brown’s ankle…

Be sure to also read Eyes’ G, B & U and BON’s Post Game React.

And yes! HenryJames has EVEN more great thoughts on the big win.

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62 Responses

  1. ArmTackler said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 10:26 am

    Thank you for addressing the ridiculous headlines I’ve been reading on Yahoo, such as, “#1 Longhorns Win Despite McCoy’s Mistakes.” Please. I might could understand that kind of negligent, sophomore journalism if the game wasn’t worth watching. But we’re #1. Everyone watches our game, all the way through. Even Stacy Dales. Who is outstanding by the way. Speaking of worth watching.

    Bring on the Desert Aggies.

  2. Redfoot said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 10:30 am

    Great write up.

  3. Wulaw Horn said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 10:52 am

    This website is brilliant, inciteful and hysterical. Thank you so much for all your insightful posts Scipio, Eyes, CA, Dedfischer etc.

    I’ve been lurking for a year or so and will not post again due to the fact that I have absolutely nothing to add but my thanks.

    One and only one minor nit to pick: is there anyway that steven can be stopped from posting? He is an ignorant troll that adds nothing and makes us as a fan base look retarded. Obviously this site is not a homer website as the team gets lambasted when they deserve it. They just haven’t deserved it at all this year. Weaknesses are definately honestly dealt with here but on balance this has been a great ride. I hope we have enough in the tank to take down the pirate, but I’m honestly nervous. I’m hopeful to force 3 TO’s or punts or turnover on downs in lubbuck, but that means we’ll have to be almost perfect on offense (again) and not settle for 3’s instead of 7’s. This team has been phenominal at that and hopefully the ride can continue.

  4. kevwun said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 10:53 am

    Make that a fist covered in burning fireants.

  5. Scipio Tex said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 11:04 am

    ArmTackler:

    I saw the same stuff. I’m not sure there’s a lazier group on the planet than sports journalists. That’s why the good ones are so refreshing to read.

    Wulaw:

    Thanks for the nice words. Agreed on our little friend. We’ve begun an orgy of steven deletions and it’s fairly enjoyable.

  6. Phil said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    Wait, are the fireants on fire? Wouldn’t that discount the use of fireants, as their not going to be able to do anything if their on fire?

  7. 8straight said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 11:13 am

    I understand our back seven deficiencies but when you consider the youth in DBs and the limitations of the LBs it is amazing that we did what we did against the best trio at RB, WR and TE in the Big 12.

  8. kevwun said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am

    No, their special fireants that can still bite while on fire.

  9. Orangechipper said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 12:13 pm

    I’m also worried that we may too banged up after this track meet.

    Let me ask you guru’s this. With us so consistently throwing the 5-10 yd passes to Quan & Shipley, why can’t it be stopped? Why can’t that be outschemed? Isn’t that basically what we’ll be trying to stop Tech from doing??

  10. doog said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    If you noticed, OSU was blowing huge holes on the left side. A TE would block Orakpo, and the LT would go to the 2nd level and wall off our LBs. Kendall Hunter was running untouched for 5 yards every time he got around ‘Rak on the edge.

  11. Horn_of_Plenty said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 12:56 pm

    Scipio: Another great write up. And we do have to focus on the issues here, as every game is huge now.

    It was just scary watching our MLB play yesterday. Is there a way to fix it? I have never understood our inability to recruit a bunch of linebackers. Think about our defense without Muckelroy, its frightening.

    I am stunned by the kick coverage, and I am happy that its just 2 guys. Presumably, the coaches know it too now. It was annoying before, now it could be deadly. Interestingly, we seem to be incapable of kicking it out of the endzone, which we could do earlier in the season. are the kickers tired or hurt?

    I thank you Scipio for reminding everyone that we have not played like shit yet this year. We were made to look human (not bad) by OSU. Alabama has played poorly this year a couple of times, LSU has played like total dog shit a couple of times. USC has coasted and it cost them 1 game. We are 8-0, arguably going through one of the toughest runs in CFB history, and we have brought our A game in every game.

    I hate to say it, but if we don’t score early, the Tech game could turn into their version of the 1990 UH game, which I still have down as my second favorite game of my lifetime (2nd to MNC of course).

  12. AustinYankee said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    “Expectations … rise with the tide of success; then we pretend that the water was that depth all along.”

    Couldn’t agree more. It’s hard not to lose perspective with how well our team has done.

    The importance of our upcoming game is off the charts now – if we lose to Tech, we’ll need them to lose two of final three (though OU and OSU should be tough) in order for Texas to go to Big 12 championship game.

  13. p said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    “Shipley has now officially humiliated more African American males than Flavor Flav at the Source Awards.”

    As an African American, I can tell you that you don’t know how funny that is!!!

    “Let me ask you guru’s this. With us so consistently throwing the 5-10 yd passes to Quan & Shipley, why can’t it be stopped? Why can’t that be outschemed? Isn’t that basically what we’ll be trying to stop Tech from doing??”

    I have asked myself the same question. We appear to have a unique combination of receivers who do not drop passes, effectively keeping us ahead the sticks, and QB/receiver mind meld that prevents teams from jumping the routes. The Quan, Ship, and Colt look like they have been playing together since they were about 7. I don’t think I have seen it’s equal. Too much cushion, and they break off the route. Squat on the route, and they run by you. Zone, and they settle in the gaps. All it takes is one drop or missed throw, and we are in long yardage situations……but we just don’t do that. It is how a spread was designed to be executed.

  14. Scipio Tex said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    p:

    I think you nailed it in your response. Theoretically, you could totally shut us down if you had two elite corners and a really good pass rush, but I’m not sure if that team exists.

  15. Groundhog Day said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    Great write up as usual, Scipio….absolutely brilliant. A few thoughts/questions.

    Keenan Robinson should play a lot more while trying to move Muckleroy back to MLB. The guy has star written all over him.

    Blake Gideon can hit but is very limited athletically. What is up with Ben Wells?

    Why isn’t Aaron Williams playing more? I thought he played great against OU.

    Major props to Curtis Brown.

    I love Quan as much as the next guy but he should not be returning kicks. We actually have holes in the return game that he can’t accelerate through. Why we don’t have Curtis Brown, Fozzy, Hales, or Monroe returning kickoffs is beyond me. I have no problem with Quan returning punts as I want someone extremely sure handed, but he should not be returning kickoffs. And we have yet to cover kickoffs well this season. I wonder who our special teams coach is…hmmmm.

  16. Shadow said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    One complaint about our last offensive series is the play call on fourth down. We have the ball on the one inch line. A QB sneak or another give to Cody puts the game out of reach. Instead we roll out to the right…wide side of the field where a DE, LBer and a Safety and lined up waiting. Colt has to throw the ball in the dirt and they take over with a chance to win.

  17. p said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 1:56 pm

    Scipio:

    I have been watching the other good Teams, and the only one I see that I think could do it is Bama. Saban has them in man coverage a lot, and they might be able to handle it to an extent. The problem is Quan, and Ship are so small and shifty, it’s hard to get your hands on them to jam them. Once they get off the line cleanly you are hard pressed to jump any routes, because they run them so crisply. To jump routes you need either to be quicker than the receiver, or them to “round off” the route, which they don’t do. Even if you are on their hip Colt is accurate enough to fit it in there anyway, as shown on the trillion slant passes we have thrown.

  18. lawdog13 said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 2:04 pm

    I wrote in another thread last night that I thought we won with our B game. I probably should have said our B+ game. We were not flat, but nor did we play with the intensity of the second half against OU (what I view as our A game) or of the first half against Missou (our A+ game). Our tackling was not very good last night, we dropped some passes, and our run game clearly took a big step backwards. Some of those obviously have to do with the opposition – I totally concur that OSU is damn good – and some have to do with not playing to our own very high standard; hence my very minor quibble with your premise.

  19. p said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 2:07 pm

    Guys I am looking forward to seeing next year…..

    Keenan Robinson…… He has shown he can make plays.

    Aaron Williams…. Athletic as hell, and not afraid to get his jersey dirty. He plays with a little attitude.

    Chykie and Curtis…. obvious reasons.

    Desean Hales…… wanna see the kid return kicks. We haven’t had a guy that scared anyone there since 31 left the 40 acres.

    Hardy, Buckner, Williams, and Fozzy. I hope these kids learn as much as they can from Ship, and Quan!!

  20. dedfischer said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    I’ve got my Kansas post mortem up with a couple of tidbits regarding our game this week:

    http://www.tortillaretort.com/?p=19

  21. Phenomenal Smith said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    Your steven deletions have caused him to rant over at Atomic Teeth. A couple weeks ago steven had never even heard of Mizzou and now he’s holed up at a Mizzou site with a sniper rifle, pack of smokes, and a list of names. Doesn’t UT have a decent bell tower for guys like steven?

  22. Stuck in MN said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    old days at BC- read article, read comment one, read comment two, continuing in order, ocassionally glancing left to discern the author of the comment if it strikes my funny bone or makes a particularly salient point.

    present day at BC- read article, use peripheral vision to determine size of 1st comment, is it shorter than 2 paragraphs? If yes, go ahead and read as it is not a total waste of time to read, if no look left to determine author. Is it by steven? If yes, skip, if no read it.

    I miss the old days.

  23. Scipio Tex said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    GroundHog Day:

    - I’m totally with you on moving Muck to MLB and Robinson to WLB
    - I don’t think Wells has the X’s and O’s savvy that Blake does

    Shadow:

    Call me a GD apologist, but I really didn’t have a problem with the play call per se. It would have worked but apparently someone ran the wrong direction.

    p:

    Agreed with every word you wrote. The problem is that Alabama has a pretty poor pass rush and they have to blitz for pressure. Not a good thing against Colt.

  24. Sasha_Is_A_Longhorn_Dog said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

    I was in the stands, so I couldn’t tell everytime from my vantage point, but it seemed to me that our guys couldn’t tackle anything at some points. They did a good job of getting a hand on a player, but just couldn’t finish it out at times.

    Definitely not the best football the guys have played this year, but now people can stop saying they haven’t “faced adversity,” whatever that is supposed to mean.

    Oh. And time management/play calling at the ends of halfs. Going into half time, I couldn’t figure out what in the world they were trying to do. And how how how how how do you not make a TD at 4th and 1? Wasn’t it even 3rd and really short?

  25. Scipio Tex said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    lawdog:

    I don’t think we’re that far apart. I guess my broader point is: we haven’t played a bad game all year and the problems that we manifested are at the very least explicable with many of them addressable against the remainder of our schedule. Oklahoma St is just a bad matchup.

    ded:

    We’ll be talking and cross-linking a lot this week.

    Phenom:

    We gift him to you in an act of Big 12 Brotherhood. You may return him when you win the Big 12 Title Game.

    StuckinMN:

    We’re already sell-outs. It used to be about the music, man. The music.

  26. Scipio Tex said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 3:05 pm

    Sasha, nice point about time management at the end of the first half. I meant to mention it in my write up. Had we run the play with fifteen seconds on the clock and assuming CO would have still been sprung on the shovel, we would have had a cheap field goal. That would have come in handy later in the game.

  27. Cimarrones said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 3:42 pm

    Great recap, Scip. You’re worrying me a bit though with the “The Quan” references. My concern is that you’re going to slip into full TO Ag mode here. Incidentally, we should tell Steven about Texags or one of those other aggies sites so that he’ll leave the Mizzou-ites alone.

    You knew this kind of game was going to happen – at some point. I seriously underestimated OSU this season. I now think they’ll beat OU this year. And, Tech still has to play them.

    Great site and really enjoy what you guys have done over here.

  28. Scipio Tex said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 3:46 pm

    Cim:

    You’ll know I’ve gone fully TO Ag when I start referring to players as “Aggie man-flesh” or QBs as “gridiron field generals” who “throw laser lances of pigskin” to “supple hands.”

    I just want to beat Tech and win this thing. Really badly.

  29. RansomStoddard said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    I think Monroe is redshirting. As much as I like this team, I think we are one badass LB and one shifty Ramonce-ish guy away from an MNC.

  30. horncasting said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

    Great writeup as usual. My only issue is with:

    “There’s a difference between playing badly and being made to look bad. ”

    I give tons of credit to OSU, but the kickoff coverage and poor tackling was more us playing badly than them making us look bad.

    I still think Cu. Brown will struggle to cover real receivers running real routes. Bryant was a matchup made for him and his freakish athletic abilities.

  31. Scipio Tex said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    horncasting:

    That’s fair comment on special teams.

    I actually think Curtis is potentially pretty special and I think you’ll be surprised with how well he holds up in a tough environment.

  32. horncasting said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 5:12 pm

    Scipio – agree on Curtis, I just don’t think he is there yet. Using Akina vernacular, he still seems to be thinking too much, and I don’t think they can give him a big set of responsibilities right now. Maybe I’m way off. Either way it was a thing of beauty watching him run stride for stride and actually jump with Bryant.

    Sure would have been nice if he’d redshirted last year.

  33. Groundhog Day said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    Ransom,

    I think the badass LB you refer to is Keenan Robinson. I agree we lack the homerun threat on O which would make life a little easier. There are a couple of freshman who fit that description but might not be mature enough to handle the responsibilities.

  34. Phenomenal Smith said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 6:01 pm

    Scip, you just gave us the extra motivation we need.

  35. hopefulhorn said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 6:12 pm

    Very nice review. Agree completely on being grateful for the win.

    I didn’t like the feel of this game all last week. Thought OSU would be better than Mizzou and they exceeded my expectations, particularly on offense. Now, their games with Tech and OU take on some real interest. At this point, I like them in both if Gundy can avoid late-game brain-lock.

  36. HornBorn55 said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 6:15 pm

    I don’t think that TTU is registering this OSU game outcome correctly, other than we may be tired and bruised. Their 63-points has made them feel very powerful and ready for us. Yes – we could get embarrassed in Lubbock and it has happened in the past. If we are talking “packages” here, if TTU’s OL is all-powerful, them Muschamp better keep the same plan. I saw no blitzing of any import against OSU, and TTU doesn’t have a Hunter. Could it be that the same approach would work against Mr. Conceded? [Harrell.]
    We’ll see. They smell blood, but it is the result of our downing three giants. We may be bloodied, but we are unbowed.
    Hook’em!

  37. Crown & Coke said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 6:33 pm

    Scipio,

    Excellent write-up as always. I am interested in hearing your thoughts/analysis on Deon Beasley’s efforts the past two games.

    In my opinion, he hasn’t shown a lick of development this year and is becoming an increasingly large liability against strong, physical WRs like we saw with Okie Lite and Miz.

    In addition to his height being exploited in jump-ball scenarios, he has proven to be equally atrocious as a tackler.

    When you consider the fact that Aaron Williams has played like an absolute man possessed whenever he’s seen this field this year, I can’t help but think it’s time for a shakeup.

    Please correct me if I am off-base here.

  38. p said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 7:11 pm

    You know it is funny when you are feeling a little “unsure” going into a game how some stats can be quite comforting. Here are some I think you all will like!! Here is how our defense has done against the teams’ average.

    …….run…..yds pr rush…total yds…pts
    FAU….-90……. -2.5 …….. -68 …. -8.1
    UTEP…+15……. +.5 …….. +37 …. -18.1
    RICE…-119…… -3.3 …….. -127…. -30
    ARK….-117…… -3.6 …….. -170…. -9.1
    CU…..-73 …… -1.4 …….. -35 …. -4.6
    OU…..-107…… -2.3 …….. -107…. -13.3
    MIZZ…-126…… -3.7 …….. -169…. -16.4
    OSU…. -8 …… +.3 ……… -74 …. -19.6

    The negatives are how far we held them under their average. As you can see no one scored more than their average, and only 1 team got more yards than their average. So we are holding teams below what their offenses are usually capable of.

  39. Scipio Tex said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 7:24 pm

    C&C:

    I’ve talked about Deon in a number of post-mortems and I’m not interested in beating on a college kid who plays for the good guys, but he needs to resolve himself to being more physical.
    Before the year, I thought he was going to be major factor for us. I’ve been very disappointed. We’ll need all five of our corners against Tech – maybe we can lock him on Eric Morris. He should have no trouble roughing him up.

    p –

    That’s an interesting stat line. Thanks for that.

  40. Callkevin said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 7:25 pm

    p, did you remove the numbers from the Texas game before looking at those averages? We’ll look even better at that point.

  41. Huckleberry said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 7:31 pm

    Kevin -

    You will be ecstatic to learn that my new ratings are based on what p did above. Basically the power ratings start with how a team fares compared to the opponent’s average performance. It goes through the entire schedule and then assigns a new value to each team’s offense and defense. Thankfully, because computers are quick these days, it then iterates enough times until the ratings stabilize.

    I’m working on getting the formatting for the output files legible at this point. Should be good to go by tomorrow. Some interesting results. Based on how you fare compared to your opponents’ normal abilities, and of course accounting for your opponents’ opponents ad infinitum, Texas is the #3 defensive unit in the nation.

  42. Scipio Tex said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 7:50 pm

    Damn.

  43. p said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 7:51 pm

    “p, did you remove the numbers from the Texas game before looking at those averages? We’ll look even better at that point.” -Callkevin

    Those are after the Texas games. Which bodes well for us. The point was to let everyone know we are accomplishing something on that side of the ball. I hope we can get another season out of coach Champ. We could be down right nasty next year. The kids coming through the ranks have some freakish athletic ability. Even little DJ ran a 10.33 100 meters.

  44. p said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

    Well, Huckleberry………… at least I did mine by hand!!

    Showoff!!!!

    :)

  45. Huckleberry said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    Ha. No, I’ve been interested in that kind of analysis since the late, great PhxHorn analyzed our 1998 team’s performance in the same manner.

    I’m not messing with yards, though. You can have that one all to yourself.

  46. p said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 8:01 pm

    “Ha. No, I’ve been interested in that kind of analysis since the late, great PhxHorn analyzed our 1998 team’s performance in the same manner.

    I’m not messing with yards, though. You can have that one all to yourself.”-Huckleberry

    Your analysis does not go unnoticed, thank you!

    I too enjoy crunching the numbers, and watching the tape. It helps to pass the time until next Saturday comes around. For a long time I thought I was alone. I am glad I found this site. It’s good to be around others who take their football seriously!! Thanks Huck!!

  47. goosehorn said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 8:58 pm

    Dude, nice work.

    A poster on Hornfans mentioned that after the half in the Mizzou game, the Tiger staff made adjustments involving modifying their spread by shortnening the gaps between linemen. I thought this was a great observation and it requires, IMHO, some consideration from a guru. One question I do have regarding this adjustment though is this… did Mizzou do better because of these adjustments or was it because we had started playing more 2nd teamers?

    So, with this point being brought to your attention Scip… do you think Tech will modify their spread as it translated to a positive effect against our defense? Does this occurring also put Harrell in a position where he must perform in a modified system that is out of his comfort zone?

  48. Jason Rogers said:

    October 26th, 2008 at 9:45 pm

    What the f*** has happened to Jared Norton? He looks so much slower this year. Less instinctive, too.

  49. TaylorTRoom said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 3:34 am

    I’ve always thought OU’s 2000 Red October was the gold standard for a team surviving a gauntlet. They beat highly rated UT, NU and KSU teams in a row. I remember that they really struggled to keep top performances all three weeks, and were kind of running out of gas at the end.

    Well, we have now made it three weeks, and need a fourth. I hope that we can hit our stride one more time in Lubbock.

  50. Colin1497 said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 3:46 am

    OSU fan here. Nice writeup. McCoy is playing at an amazing level. Shipley is the man. Your offense keeps clicking like that an you’re unstoppable, but as you said, you are looking for perfection. Hope you can keep it up this weekend. You guys should beat Tech soundly.

    As for A game/B game, we think we had our B game, too, but as you said, it has a lot to do with what the other guys do. Our offense hasn’t been clicking for a few weeks, unfortunately, but there was no way you guys were going to let us get going. That was one hell of a game.

  51. jonestopten said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 6:09 am

    “Blake Gideon learned that doubling Dez Bryant while also watching for shovels, slip screens, Pettigrew, and run support is slightly more difficult than watching a repetitious spread offense unfold in front of him from 15 yards deep. Oklahoma State’s gameplan robbed Muschamp of the ability to simplify. He took our crib sheet.”

    Scipio: fantastic work, one of my favorites.

    Kudos aside, you didn’t intend to do this, but you have, in the above quote, explained exactly why Michael Huff deserved the Thorpe Award and will go down in history as one of the most underrated players ever to play at Texas.

  52. Laz said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 6:31 am

    Thanks for the great analysis, useful as always.

    Perhaps, no line rocked more than this one:

    Shipley has now officially humiliated more African American males than Flavor Flav at the Source Awards.

  53. Colt McCoy is Mortal « Last Row said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 6:32 am

    [...] for expert analysis go to Burnt Orange Nation and Barking Carnival. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Colt McCoy has Tebow’s BackRoses and Plants [...]

  54. BatesHorn said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 6:35 am

    Our clock management in the second half was shaky as well. In looking at the fourth quarter drive charts and from my own recollection we routinely left 9-10 seconds on the clock (assuming you snap at the 2 second mark on the play clock) and sometimes as much 20 seconds. Compounded over the course of the quarter, we probably left at least a minute and probably more like 90 seconds on the game clock.

    This is not unique to us. Teams with leads do not, in my opinion, start running clock soon enough in the second half.

  55. Art Vandelay said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 6:38 am

    First of all much thanks to whoever is taking the time to delete the steven posts. Is there somewhere we can contribute to the cause? Someone should develop steven pop-up blocking technology and sell it to MSFT. They could include it in the next release of IE.

    Regarding the game – if OSU was a little smarter they could have won that game. I do think the post game perception would have been a little different if the refs hadn’t totally botched the 3rd and goal play at the end of the game. Replayed it numerous times on my DVR and OSU lined up offside, then jumped offsides before the ball was snapped. At a minimum offsides should have been called, and we could have taken a knee and run out the clock at the goaline. The penalty was not called, but Cody then scored and the ref spots him down at the one. Should have been a booth review, and at least mentioned by the announcers. I guess the argument from the refs would have been that his forward momentum was stopped…. But when was the last time a runner was ruled down on the goal line when he is clearly not down… and still struggling for yardage? Roy Miller pulls him into the end zone for what should have been a TD. Play reminded me of USC against ND a few years ago with Reggie Bush pushing Leinart across the goal.

    Finishing the game in the Victory formation, or winning 35-24 would have felt a lot better.

  56. Blazerhorn said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 7:03 am

    P and Huck –

    You likely have already seen this, and it’s been a while since I looked at it, but you both might be interested in the methodology the guys at http://www.footballoutsiders.com/ use for their DVOA (NFL only). Methodology likely has far too many permutations to be employed by college analysts, and relies on play-by-play data that may be tough to consolidate. Interesting approach nonetheless.

  57. Fake Steven said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 7:27 am

    Steven – you add little to any conversation

  58. Scipio Tex said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 9:36 am

    goose:

    I noticed Mizzou playing with their line splits as early as the third play of the first quarter. So I’m not sure a halftime adjustment was the decisive factor. I think much of their second half success was attributable to a mental letdown and their ability to exploit Coffman against our safeties and LBs. Any team with a great TE will always murder us when they have quality receiving threats outside.

    As for Tech, Leach plays with his splits too and if you allow him to widen them with impunity he’ll keep pushing them out. They’ll also bring them in if you’re giving them more middle pressure than they can handle.

    jones:

    No debate there. If VY is the reason #1 we won the MNC, Huff is reason #2.

    Bates:

    I hear ya, but we don’t need to go all Jim Tressel either. I think you stay in your natural rhythm and play football rather than overthinking clock manipulation. When a defense sees what you’re doing, they can play off of that predictability.

  59. R. Jayakrshnan said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 6:33 pm

    Am I the only one who is impressed with the astute observation on our being a team of packages? I think this was basially THE key issue in the last game. A versatile offense which did not give much for Muschamp to exploit with packages. Thanks for pointing it out and articulating it beautifully.

    R.J.

  60. Scipio Tex said:

    October 27th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

    Thanks, man. Honestly, I thought that was my most meaningful contribution to collective Longhorn knowledge for the week. I’m glad you agree.

  61. Dickey said:

    October 28th, 2008 at 6:39 am

    Excellent site and analysis…first timer here but I’ve enjoyed your analysis for a long time Scip.

    Agree on the Quan on all fronts but I do like him on punts. The guy is tremendous at fielding punts and while we likely give something up on the return side, I believe the security factor is what the coaches want. Turnovers is one of the only things I could see derailing this team.

  62. ChrisApplewhite said:

    October 28th, 2008 at 6:42 am

    I would take a fumbled punt on occasion if it meant we netted more than 3 yards a return.

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  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Thoughts on the win in Austin   ago

    Great write up. I’ll be rooting for you to keep Calipari on the schnide.

    That typed, I envy your program and hate you for it. fuckers

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  • Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches   ago

    I like my wine in a box…. I like my wine in a box GIIIRL

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players?   ago

    We commented on the lass during telecast. Thanks for, getting this up, so to speak.

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  • skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   6 minutes ago

    EP, careful those word will get you a rebuke from Peter Pan. Those words should not be heard until March if we are disappointed by this talented team. Lets wait until the season is a complete train wreck then lets file a legal brief that is in lawyeris to explain what a fuck up season

  • Mister Mike commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches   7 minutes ago

    Sailor’s sponsoring it? Holy shit…that likely means goats, togas, and lots of cheap wine.

    Welcome to the network!

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  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   10 minutes ago

    Bates, thanks man. That means a lot.

  • skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   35 minutes ago

    Yeah your right, penders teams were at least fun to watch play. Barnes offense is pretty bad not as bad as Tom’s but its all relative to who is watching the worst offense in Texas history.

    “His teams did not play D, did not box out, and were generally unsound in the fundamentals of the game.”
    Close

  • czarcw commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   37 minutes ago

    Our hoops team is the basketball version of Major League.

    Jake Taylor = Damion James
    Pedro Cerrano = Dexter Pittman
    Willie Mays Hays = Avery Bradley
    Roger Dorn = Justin Mason
    Isuro Tanaka (Major League II) = Dogus Balbay
    Rube Baker (Major Leauge II) = Jordan Hamilton

    If Craig Way starts drinking whiskey during the broadcasts, it’ll complete the analogy.

  • Farmer Ted commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches   39 minutes ago

    Nice job with this – and welcome to the network, on behalf of Better Off Red. See you at the Fantake retreat in Vegas that Sailor Ripley is sponsoring this summer!

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  • J Rog commented on the blog post Game Day: Spurs vs. Lakers Open Thread   43 minutes ago

    Fell apart in the fourth quarter again. Can’t give up 28 points to close out a game. Spurs, Longhorns….heartache once again.

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  • Farmer Ted commented on the blog post Thoughts on the win in Austin   46 minutes ago

    Nice job Hiphop. Very nice to win what is probably the toughest game on the schedule handily, although the Hawks obviously caught UT at a good time.

    The Morningstar FT was terrible and hilarious. He said the ball was wet, which clearly means Texas was cheating somehow. Would the second chance off balance leaner

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  • Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Another night, another would-be hero   47 minutes ago

    I don’t think McCoy played anywhere near the level of Suh and the numbers make it clear that he did not. Suh had twice as many tackles (77-31), sacks (11-5) and nearly tackles for loss (22-14.5). Suh also broke up 10 passes, if he gets stonewalled on the rush he doesn’t allow it to take

  • skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   48 minutes ago

    We are bound to the past no matter how great the past is, we are bound to fail if we do not look to the future.
    The End

  • J Rog wrote a new blog post: Missed Opportunities: Spurs vs. Lakers Recap   54 minutes ago

    Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.  This game was served up on a silver platter for the Spurs and they managed to fumble it like a Minnesota Viking in the playoffs. 

    I think perhaps Will Ferrell can describe my emotions on the current state of the Spurs season better than I. 

     

    The Spurs hung around for most of the

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  • slugfest commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   57 minutes ago

    EP, I get your point, but I don’t think the fact that Texas hasn’t won a tourney came as an underdog doesn’t support it. Teams are favored because they are better. The odds that they win are greater than those who are not favored. It’s not like Texas goes into games with a secret weapon

  • Mister Mike commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players?   1 hour, 1 minute ago

    I think KU should demand an immediate investigation. Find someone to get to the bottom of this.

    I volunteer myself.

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  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Top 8 Teams in College Hoops   1 hour, 5 minutes ago

    Georgetown?

  • RRR commented on the blog post Thoughts on the win in Austin   1 hour, 5 minutes ago

    Good write up, hiphop. I love the versatitility of the Morris twins on defense. Xavier Henry is probably the key to a big run in the tournament. If he starts hitting open looks, the inside game will really open up. Post to post passing is fun to watch.

    It’s pretty nice when

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  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   1 hour, 8 minutes ago

    PB, just talking. I’m not ready to replace him but something has to change. The comment about playing 3 on 5 three quarters into the season is just astoundingly bad.

  • Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Petrino Building Fence Around Arkansas   1 hour, 17 minutes ago

    Here is more info on Frazier. He is such a great player, and Arkansas needs to land him in a big way.

    http://www.kiehlfrazier15.com/Home.html

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow1mOrMQXYw

    These Highlights are from his Sophomore year, and he had a bigger and better 2009. OH MY!

  • Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Petrino Building Fence Around Arkansas   1 hour, 17 minutes ago

    Here is more info on Frazier. He is such a great player, and Arkansas needs to land him in a big way.

    http://www.kiehlfrazier15.com/Home.html

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow1mOrMQXYw

    These Highlights are from his Sophomore year, and he had a bigger and better 2009. OH MY!

  • Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Petrino Building Fence Around Arkansas   1 hour, 17 minutes ago

    Here is more info on Frazier. He is such a great player, and Arkansas needs to land him in a big way.

    http://www.kiehlfrazier15.com/Home.html

    These Highlights are from his Sophomore year, and he had a bigger and better 2009. OH MY!

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   1 hour, 20 minutes ago

    It takes more time…unless you’re a Kentucky fan.

  • RRR commented on the blog post Mid-Season Thoughts and OU Pre-Game   1 hour, 21 minutes ago

    Thanks Trips. I’m hoping for lots of Willie Warren trying to be Sheron Collins. TMG in sync is the scariest thing to face in Norman. That or we get beat up on the boards which seems to be recurring theme of Texas Tech road games.

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  • slugfest commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   1 hour, 22 minutes ago

    I don’t think it’s a case of RB not being able to coach, or doing a poor job of coaching. If you read the entirety of Katz’ blog post, he clearly sounds like a coaching searching for answers — answers that come in the form of players contributing, doing what they are coached to do.

  • Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post John Pelphrey’s Unconventional Approach   1 hour, 29 minutes ago

    I agree that an NIT bid would be acceptable this year, but that if the Razorbacks can get to 20 wins they will have a very good chance at the NCAA Tourney.

    Our RPI is bad, and we have no signature wins.

    However, we have 8 games left on the SEC regular season schedule. If we

  • Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post John Pelphrey’s Unconventional Approach   1 hour, 29 minutes ago

    I agree that an NIT bid would be acceptable this year, but that if the Razorbacks can get to 20 wins they will have a very good chance at the NCAA Tourney.

    Our RPI is bad, and we have no signature wins.

    However, we have 8 games left on the SEC regular season schedule. If we

  • Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches   1 hour, 34 minutes ago

    TP welcome to the network.

    I like how you broke this down, and identified which positions history shows a high star ranking has proven to be important. I personally feel that after what all the recruiting sites dub their top players that there is a major falloff. We all love that the recruiting sites bring

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  • Art Vandelay commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem   1 hour, 34 minutes ago

    Groundhog Day said:
    February 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am

    “How can everyone on the team have worse basketball sense than my 5th graders? Honestly? We are the dumbest bunch I have ever seen. We weren’t earlier in the year. Hell, Bradley was smartest player, by far, in any of the summer h.s. games. Now he plays

  • Farmer Ted commented on the blog post Petrino Building Fence Around Arkansas   1 hour, 37 minutes ago

    Good stuff JA. But the Huskers call dibs on any dual threat QB named Frazier thankyouverymuch.