Barking Carnival

It’s an odd thing when a 6-0 football team decides midseason before its two biggest road games to bench three offensive starters, modify its base set, demote 2/3 of the starting receiving corps, change the best WRs position, tacitly admit a failure of offensive philosophy, and all but confess that late last year and over the summer defenses did the scouting on us that we should have been doing on ourselves.

Who could possibly guess that teams would play pass-first and develop specific packages for us? Averaging 307 yards per game against three Big 12 defenses is a cold slap of reality. So now we begin to do the work we should have started in April.

That we are having to do this now, mid-season, after being stoned by three Big 12 defenses is incredible. We returned nine offensive starters including our All-American QB, 4/5 of our OL, tons of experience at WR and RB, and yet every Saturday we’re a gibbon trying to hump a greased water balloon. If you contrast that with the optimization and maximization on the defensive side of the ball where Muschamp had so many more questions to address, you can only shake your head.

So welcome to…

The New Offense

1. Goodwin, Williams, Shipley start at WR. Buckner is first off of the bench in a four WR set. Shipley is now a slot WR again. Goodwin and Williams outside.

2. Extra Blocking Surface Greg Smith now gets heavy reps as we go to a 3 WR, 1 TE base set.

3. On the OL, Tray Allen now sees heavy work at right guard.

4. We’ll feature the running game more and attempt more downfield play action off of it to increase our pathetic 9.8 yards per completion average. A greater focus on quality over quantity in the passing game.

5. Misdirection will not go away (and we will add more play-action off of of it), Colt will run 10+ times per game, and you’ll also see a heavier dose of man-blocking.

Comments

Greg Smith gives us the worst starting TE in the Big 12. That written, if he can he block nominally (our TEs were miserable in pass protection last year) and catch one first down per game off of a boot without a volleyball set interception or fumble, we do have a chance at an improved running game if teams play us honestly.

They won’t.

If they bring up an extra man and ignore the TE, as I expect they will, we still have three real players at WR with threat potential. It also places Shipley inside where he is particularly adept at finding seams and exploiting teams that try to cover the slot with a LB/safety stack. Goodwin and Williams outside are far more threatening to a defense than Chiles/Kirkendoll.

So that’s some of the flavor of what we’re going to try to do.

The fundamental issue here, beyond our incapacity for candid self-reflection, is that our offensive coaches – specifically at OC, OL, WR – too often settle for a “reliable” marginal player that requires minimal coaching over a developmental great athlete. We used to do this on defense. Not anymore. Maybe it stems from laziness, maybe it’s how Mack evaluates them, maybe they don’t have the ability to assess the true nature of risk. I don’t care to get in their heads.

The problem is that the butcher’s bill always comes. You can pay it early – and harmlessly – with inexperienced studs playing against Wyoming with a couple of busted assignments and a drop with teachable moments after (and growth) or you can pay it against Oklahoma when you roll out mediocrities on the edge, your unit is completely humiliated, and you cement Colt McCoy’s Big 12 passer rating beneath Austen Arnaud.

We’ve now we’ve pissed away half of a season of development for guys that need it. The guys you need to win the games that matter.

Does anyone give a damn that John Chiles can catch 5 balls for 50 yards against Wyoming? He then goes 6 catches for 22 yards against Colorado/OU combined. The purpose of playing a Wyoming is to get reps for the kids that need it.

David Snow has totally regressed from his freshman year. Generally, OL don’t get worse with age and experience. Tray Allen is our next sacrificial lamb at RG splitting time with Michael Huey. MacWhorter completely ignored Allen’s development for three years as a mental knowledge of assignments is more crucial than the physical ability to perform them. In basketball terms, MacWhorter would start Tommy Penders Jr over J’Covan Brown.

Bobby Kennedy is a very solid WR coach from a teaching standpoint, but same story, different verse. Another who values reliability over upside. Clearly, there’s a balance, but we make little attempt to strike it.

I don’t pretend to know the role that Major Applewhite plays in all of this. He’s the most junior member of the offensive staff, but if I could guess from his demeanor as a player and GA, he doesn’t suffer fools.

In any event, I expect to see us try to make this work @ Mizzou. It should be interesting.

Article Tags:

College Football, Colt McCoy, Depth Chart, Greg Davis, Mack Brown, Malcolm Williams, Marquise Goodwin, Midseason Do Over, Offense, Scheme, Texas, Texas Longhorns

135 Responses

nbmisha said:

October 20th, 2009 at 4:31 am

Being nearly clueless in modern football tactics myself, I’m impressed that these moves were so widely forseen, or urgently recommended, by numerous posters here and elsewhere. It is depressing that the paid help is less adept or less motivated than these posters.

At any rate, I support your conclusion. This should be interesting.

For a 6-0 start, this has been a uniquely annoying season so far.
SydneyCarton said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:05 am

Let me see if I understand this correctly. Coaches openly admit this week that perhaps the Greg Smith decision was an act of pants shitting, and we then decide to move forward with him getting a majority of the snaps in our offensive series moving forward. Simply because he was a semi-warm carbon based body on the field against OU and we “showed improvement” running the football. Despite the fact the was responsible for at least 2-3 blown assignments that got our backs hammered.

In a week of admitting mistakes and claiming to recognize some problems we’ve had, does this STILL not seem like going in the wrong direction here? I guess the 2 steps forward with Williams and Goodwin and 1 step back with Smith is still forward progress, but I’ll be goddamn if it doesn’t remove a hell of a lot of the relief of change and replace it with a heavy dose of Facepalm. We can’t win for loosin’.
parlin said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:21 am

Scipio, you may be being too pessimistic about the possibility of TE production. In the past, Nebraska has turned some very average TEs into real weapons simply by having them mutter: “This is not the receiver you’re looking for . . . . You don’t need to cover me . . . You can go about your run coverage.” An almost imperceptible wave of the right hand later and it’s six.

Admittedly, this scenario depends on the semblance of a running game.
EyesOfTX said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:44 am

Taking Buckner off the field just numbs my mind. If Smith were a better blocker, I could see it, but he is not a better blocker than anyone, much less Buckner.

And as you say, this is just another in such a long line of instances that demonstrate that Davis simply has no sense of self-awareness, and no ability – or apparent desire – to scout his own offense.

This is far from the first time we’ve had to engage in such a mid-season offensive correction. In Mack/Davis’s 11 years in Austin, I’d be willing to bet this is at least the 8th time this has happened.

Unreal.
Levander Williams said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:51 am

Second (or 11th) verse. Same as the first.

Like I said before, we don’t change our playcalling & tactics until mid-way through games; why would we expect anything different in the context of the season overall?

The offensive staff is complacent and uninspired, and we’re stuck with them. I see no catalyst for change on the horizon.
Turn the page, Fred said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:53 am

Barrett Matthews….what happened to that kid? When I’ve seen him in games he’s looked hella more interested in finding someone to block than Ahmard Howard, and I think he has more upside than EBS. Something tells me Matthews hands are better than EBS’s, too.
Meursault said:

October 20th, 2009 at 6:29 am

I’m optimistic. I hate it when that happens.
srr50 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 6:30 am

Teachable moments.

Against UTEP Alex Okafor got suckered inside on a slant and UTEP had one of their few positive run plays right over him.

Muschamp pulls him out, gets in his grill for about two plays — and then sends him back in.

To me, a great example of paying the “butcher’s bill” early.
SydneyCarton said:

October 20th, 2009 at 6:33 am

I’d literally forgotten about Barrett Mathews, who by all accounts is comparable to David Thomas. Good lord.
hopefulhorn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 6:41 am

Well stated, as usual, Scipio.

Williams and Goodwin over Chiles and Kirkendoll has to be a plus even with some learning curve. So is returning Shipley to the slot as you note. With real deep threats outside of him it should be harder to double him with opponents’ better cover people.

It is also a plus not to have to play another defensive front seven as stout as OU’s, though Missouri’s defense is above average as Huck’s preview shows.

Eyes is right about replacing Buckner with Smith. Why couldn’t we play Buckner as a motioned H-back with blocking/route-running options….wait, too much to ask from Greg Davis.

In the running game, we should be open to suggestion at this point regarding the reach blocking scheme. More man blocking can’t be worse. It is clearly time for McWhorter to retire.

Please keep the misdirection from Saturday.
Bartoncreek said:

October 20th, 2009 at 6:48 am

Damn, we are being optimistic today. I’m from Missouri on this one. While the changes at WR were obvious to anyone with a fb IQ north of 80, until I see it on the field……Like Eyes said though, we have just taken our second best player on offense through 6 games and replaced him with an extra blocking surface that doesn’t really block surfaces very well. Not sure where this all leads. I will be watching nervously on Saturday.

Fozzy and Cody were our two best backs not named Ogbnaynnkalaa last year and nothing has changed this year. It took our coaches 6 games to figure that out? I don’t know if I should laugh, be excited or vomit. My first reaction is to vomit. But as you have said numerous times, it isn’t the backs that are the problem. You optimism for a change in running game philosophy is both stimulating and curious to me. What gives you this hope?

It will be interesting to see how Allen does. If he does well, we should make every O-lineman spend a couple of weeks with Muschamp’s group. At this point he (Boom) is the only reason I have hope for our offense. How sad is it that your best hope for the offense making progress is for your DC to start shaking things up? Without Muschamp on our staff, we lose that OU game without a doubt. I think he has to be behind some of these changes on O. Greg and Mack don’t change until we lose a game. This is uncharted territory for us to actually make some changes after a win.
bullittx said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:03 am

maybe this is a wake up call for Buckner. Block better and play more. sooner or later he has got to step up whether he stays as a wr or moves to te.
Monahorns said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:08 am

I guess I can see the other side of such late changes. Yes, it would be nice if we could anticipate how our opponents will adjust to our O gameplan, or if we would even respond more quickly. However, the point I want to make is that, this may be an advantage at least for this year. Assuming that these changes all lead to improvement (I know not a good assumption), the coming teams will have less film of us and how others defend it. If we had started in game 1 with the “new offense”, teams would already be just about adjusted to it already. We might have a had a little better performance against OU, but from there the advantage would start to diminish.

What I am really hoping for, is that the use of EBS doesn’t work so well (but well enough to win) and that there is another mini-adjustment going into the A&M game. That way there is still some “new” left when we get to our bowl game.
JP said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:11 am

More snaps for EBS??
Let’s continue the theme we started with Goodwin and see what Barrett Matthews or (maybe?) Dominique Jones have in their bag. They’re both inexperienced and undersized but by all accounts they are extremely aggressive blockers with mean streaks. Besides, this may be the only way we get to see a kid named Matthews help our blocking..
Art Vandelay said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:17 am

Great read Scipio.

Moving Shipley inside is huge. It’s not fair to compare him to Wes Welker, but I’m going to anyway. You didn’t see the Pats move Welker outside after a huge season did you?

Getting the best talent on the field is step in the right direction, and making a “pro-active” midseason change like this is another chapter in the evolving Mack Brown story.
nordberg said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:33 am

So Shipley gets to be Shipley 08 again, and it’s up to Goodwin to be Quan 08.

It’s interesting that we started this season by intentionally neutering ourselves, and taking away a good portion of what made our offense so successful last year. Moving Shipley inside and making the QB a threat to run again is a good start.
lawdog13 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:37 am

Scip, no excuses for the inadequacies you’ve noted, but you would be howling even louder if they continued down the prior path after last week’s offensive train wreck (and our astute demands for personnel changes). And in fairness, I’m not sure anyone could have predicted Colt’s persistent bout with Whooping Cough this Fall. The Smith announcement remains a head scratcher. I’m not going to get too upset about that one, though, until I see how this actually plays out on the field. I’d be more than a bit surprised if we have been entirely candid about our game plan for Saturday.

One of the problems of a cupcake schedule is that it doesn’t enable you to actually experience what your intuition is telling you until you are thrown into the crucible. We would have been a lot better off this year playing someone meaningful in September.
nordberg said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:39 am

I thought that’s what Tech was for. Anyone more meaningful than them and we’d be 5-1 right now.
lawdog13 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:55 am

Had a bit of the same thought after I posted nordberg. One other change that might not have been anticipated is the Big 12’s re-recognition of offensive holding as a penalty. Tech seems to be adjusting satisfactorily, but I wonder if the decline of Big 12 offenses is at least in part due to a return to real football.
AeroHorn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 9:05 am

Also, in the tradition of borrowing a play from sooners, I expect the “pass to Murray behind the blocking receivers” to be eagerly adopted by Greg Davis as it satisfies the two criteria he looks for: a play that worked against Texas and it is a east-west pass.
Horncasting said:

October 20th, 2009 at 9:25 am

We run a similar play, but to a WR instead of a RB. Ours just looks like crap. Williams is the best blocking WR on the team so hopefully that will help.

Fozzy was split out a few times so maybe they throw it to him in this capacity at some point.
Scipio Tex said:

October 20th, 2009 at 9:52 am

nbmisha:

It has been in some respects, but in many other ways so gratifying. I’m a big defense/special teams guy so seeing what we’re doing there is very fulfilling.

Sydney:

Two steps forward, one step back nails it. Hey – at least it’s some acknowledgement that the coaches are seeing some of the things we are.

parlin:

You’re absolutely right. You can manufacture TE production with simple scheme. We’ve done it with Mike Jones, for instance.

Eyes:

On the positive side, on offense we’re at least doing our post-OU shuffle as if we’d lost. Which essentially that unit did. Meanwhile, the defense hums along kicking ass and taking names.

Levander:

Your catalyst for change is named Will Muschamp.

Turn the Page:

I love Barrett. He will be a player for us. But he’s also 6-0 225. He doesn’t have the size to hang with a real live 260 pound DE yet. We may see him though.
ghostofagroundgame said:

October 20th, 2009 at 9:58 am

It is hilarious that, other than the Greg Smith thing, most of us on this board asked for just these changes. Me personally, I’d like to see more two-back sets also, but these are mostly changes I can live with. Williams and Goodwin need to stay on the field — like it or not, they give us the best chance to score points. Now we have to see if Colt will throw to these guys.

Splitting Fozzy out is a bad move. Slipping him out on screens is a great move.

I would make these changes (though I’d stick with Buckner), add some CJ/FW two-back sets, and start working on tailback screens. We are going to see more and more linebacker, cornerback, and even safety blitzes like the ones OU hit us with and we have to be able to counter that will the ability to throw screen passes to our tailbacks.

It is depressing that it always takes GD until mid-season to realize that changes need to be made, but at least a victory over OU necessitated the change this year. And in the past these mid-season changes have been effective. Remember when we “simplified” the playbook for VY and started running zone-option reads mid-season???
Scipio Tex said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:01 am

srr50 –

Great example. Muschamp has also been very proactive getting snaps for Acho and Robinson and we’re already seeing the pay-off. We also got quite a bit of work for Calvin Howell. It’s night and day.

Hopeful -

In fairness, I’ve not seen anything from Buckner that shows me that he can block any front 7 athlete. The coaches see Greg Smith as a better blocking bet and, judged purely from that perspective, they’re right.

Barton –

Overall, I’m optimistic that we’re at least demonstrating some self-awareness.

As for what gives me hope in the running game, you saw it on Saturday against OU: misdirection, Colt carries, diversity in run play selection. If that simply goes away, I don’t what to say.

Art & Nordberg –

Word.

Horncasting -

Malcolm is a really good blocker and I don’t doubt for a moment that part of his elevation is because of that. Goodwin is a willing blocker, but pretty small. As a blocker, Shipley is…a good receiver.
fritz said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:12 am

I don’t get the Greg Smith thing, either. I’d rather see two backs and 3 WRs.

Is Buckner hurt? Would that explain his lack of PT lately (and being left out of this new offensive scheme)?
HenryJames said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:21 am

OU did a three man rush on one play, and they lined McCoy up at end over Smith with Fozzy helping. Smith completely whiffs on McCoy leaving Fozzy one on one. At that point Fozzy probably saw his life flash before his eyes.
Tom said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:21 am

We’ve seen this movie before. At least this time its following an OU win, and not a loss. This has been a pattern with Mack about 5-6 times following the OU game.

On paper, we will look more like a SEC team. Optimistically, I see Major’s finger prints on this.
nordberg said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:23 am

I’m thinking that if we win out and get Florida or Alabama, our best chance at a NC involves Earl Thomas and Aaron Williams returning INT’s for TD’s, and us winning another 16-13 type game.
98 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:29 am

Buckner supposedly has been nursing a sore knee. Explains why he kept hobbling to the sideline after every play.
Sailor Ripley said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:32 am

@ nordberg:

I’m thinking that if we win out and get Florida or Alabama, our best chance at a NC involves Earl Thomas and Aaron Williams returning INT’s for TD’s, and us winning another 16-13 type game.

Agreed. Should be a defensive struggle like OU beating FSU:

Scipio made that comparison back in the summer: The 2000 Sooner Defense
houstonearler said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:36 am

Never understand why we lined fozzy out wide. If he is going to motion to a receiver, he should be inside.

If we need extra protection, I would rather line up Cobb with Whitaker/Johnson as a split back. He would be in a better position to pick off whoever breaks free at the QB. Plus, he is an actual, sure-enough receiving threat.
whoopspat said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:37 am

98, I’m not sure if it’s due to a sore anything. I’m pretty sure he just walks like that all the time.
magnusbleuveigner said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:43 am

I don’t know why everyone is so happy. We lead the nation in scoring. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
magnusbleuveigner said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:45 am

One M. Williams drop or missed assignment and he’ll be behind Fitzhenry on the depth chart for Ok. St.

I’ll stick by what I said yesterday, I think we’ll kill Mizzou Saturday night.
ghostofagroundgame said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:49 am

Colt was extra-pissy about drops back when he was a Heisman contender. A couple of sweet pick-6 throws to lurking cornerbacks on 20-yard horizontal outs has relieved much of that Heisman pressure. Maybe thatt’ll chill him out a bit when a couple of guys who haven’t gotten nearly enough game-time reps make the inevitable mistakes.

A lot of Colt’s problem this year seems to have been this Heisman thing. That is over, at least.
Bartoncreek said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:54 am

Interesting point r.e. Major. Maybe so. Or maybe Kennedy said enough of this bullshit. Hell, I guess it could have been anyone, but again, this is new ground. I can’t recall Davis/Mack ever making any proactive changes. Whatever, it is a promising sign that winning is not always the measuring stick. It is how you play that matters. Accountability is a beautiful thing.

I was resigned to our offense sucking for the rest of the year. I will still believe it when I see it with regularity. I always go back to the time we pulled a guard and actually trap blocked someone with Hayter (maybe) running the ball. It was a solid running play and we ran it about 8 times in one game with much success. We never saw that play again, ever. Please don’t do it to me again Greg. The motion and misdirection are good things. Let’s hope we continue with them and dare I say, build off of them.

I’m like the dumb dog just hoping to get a bite and Davis is the punk ass kid pulling the treat away just as a lunge for it. I’m not falling for it this time. Oh fuck it, I am. What is the point of being a fan if you can’t hope that this time it will be different?
Scipio Tex said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:54 am

A lot of Colt’s problem this year seems to have been this Heisman thing.

No.
nordberg said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:55 am

I don’t think his Heisman chances are over, at all. Voters love QB’s on undefeated teams.
ctex80 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:59 am

agree with Magnus, this Mizzou game should be a woodshed affair.
Travis said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:05 am

Scip- This is great news, this shows that Mack is looking at that game as a loss, and he won’t let greg davis sit there and lean back and say ” 6-0 , baby don’t change nothin “…

To me the whole not letting Malcolm play has been a complete face palm anyway, if you throw him 4 passes he might drop three of them, but there is a great chance that the otherone is going to be a 60 yard touchdown. To me his problem has been that he feels he has to do something HUGE with every catch because he knows he won’t get another shot, so he forces and thinks to much and then misses an assignment or drops a pass but if knew that he was going to stay out there I think the game would just come to him – Plus the simple fact that a defense will have to account for him either way because he stretches the field in a direction that kirkendoll and chiles know nothing about..

If colt runs more that will not only open up the defenses, it will single handedly give colt some confidence and a chance to get his timing right on his passes. If our new offense can find away to score 24 points on its own, and not give up touchdowns or short fields then we will get our “style points ” going through the rest of our schedule, because our D will bring it everyday, and hell there is a good chance of special teams and Defense scoring 14 points a game on its own.
Cincohorn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:06 am

I’m not sure where you get this crap Scip, but you are good at spining it. Unlike years past, we are seeing changes after a big win rather than after an embarassing loss

Williams is back after his stint in the doghouse. Lets see if he gets better. Kirk has replaced him in the doghouse and may not get back on the field the way Marquis is playing the game. Kirk belongs in the doghouse, Williams deserves a second chance given that Chiles has been ineffective. These WR machinations are not bad problems to have. We have alot of talent there to work with, but if it takes riding pine to get guys serious and dedicated, so be it.

The OL woes are notable. Trey Allen has worked his way back, David Snow has worked his way into backup. I think we’re better with Allen, but this still comes down to the injuries we had in the beginning (Huey and Walters). Absent injuries, this move is not made.

I think the G. Smith deal makes sense but I also like alcohol more than reading books with Xs and Os in them. I was impressed with G Smith’s hands for whatever reason against OU. I think he’s more serviceable than Buckner who’s very shy to block, doesn’t always complete routes, is gimpy and has no actual backup on the team. Certainly he fits the new strategy much better.

So there you have it. I’m sure you don’t see the logic going forward for a couple of slight reasons and will continue to bash our OC until he’s gone. But my bet is that poor Mack and poor Greg keep winning games at Texas somehow. Must kill some of you how long he’s now been getting away with just winning games and BCS games and the like.
ghostofagroundgame said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:08 am

Scip and nordberg —

His Heisman chances should be over. And I think he was pressing and trying too hard because of it.
Sugarpants said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:18 am

Barrett Matthews got called for a personal foul, I think against UTEP on special teams, and I don’t think he’s seen the field yet. It was a stupid penalty but we need to run him out there at some point.

Next year we will be sick at TE with Irby back (hopefully).
Sugarpants said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:18 am

make that “seen the field since”
Sugarpants said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:20 am

Colt’s Heisman hopes would be over if anyone else in the country was worthy of the trophy. But when a DT is getting serious Heisman run… Colt is still alive. He just needs to breath through his eyelids. Does anyone have a garter belt?
TXinDC said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:30 am

Ghost -
His Heisman chances started to fade last season in the 2nd half of the season. If he rights his own ship this season, there’s still plenty of time to make a case for himself. Your prognostication at the halfway point is silly.
Scipio Tex said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:42 am

Oh No Cinco:

I’m not sure where you get this crap Scip, but you are good at spining it.

I pointed out that Chiles and Kirkendoll weren’t answers back in August and recommended more PT for Williams and whatever other WR can step up. I also posited that our offense would fall off substantially this year because of defensive adjustments despite everyone else believing that we’d dominate everyone. I first predicted this after the Fiesta Bowl, reconfirmed it in Spring, and reaffirmed in August. Do you even know what the word “spin” means?

Unlike years past, we are seeing changes after a big win rather than after an embarassing loss.

Yes, this is an underlying premise of my essay. I’m pleased that you recognize our offensive coaching staff has traditionally only changed after a crushing loss rather than coach to a standard of play irrespective of opponent. A ringing endorsement, sir!

We have alot of talent there to work with, but if it takes riding pine to get guys serious and dedicated, so be it.

The difference between Marquise Goodwin and John Chiles as football players is not “seriousness.” Nor is that the difference between Malcolm Williams and James Kirkendoll. Try words like “ability”, “talent”, “speed”, “skills”, and “size” on for starters.

The only difference between me and Peyton Manning as a QB? Seriousness.

I think we’re better with Allen, but this still comes down to the injuries we had in the beginning (Huey and Walters). Absent injuries, this move is not made.

Gerald McCoy thinks you’re on to something.

I think the G. Smith deal makes sense but I also like alcohol more than reading books with Xs and Os in them.

You could have full stopped after the words “I also like alcohol more than reading books.”

I’m sure you don’t see the logic going forward for a couple of slight reasons and will continue to bash our OC until he’s gone

Your logic is the fabric of faked balloon incidents.

But my bet is that poor Mack and poor Greg keep winning games at Texas somehow.

In 2009, somehow = Will Muschamp and special teams.

Must kill some of you how long he’s now been getting away with just winning games and BCS games and the like.

Yes, when I stood in the crowd at both Rose Bowls exultant after Vince won those games or I stood cheering at the Fiesta Bowl after Quan’s end zone dive, I shook my fist at Greg Davis and Mack Brown and vowed my revenge. One day I’ll get you, I muttered.
CloseToJumping said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:43 am

I do enjoy the optimism, but this feels like the typical stuff we see every year. I find it sad that we know more about this team and its tendencies than Greg Davis. The beautiful part of that sadness is that it is written out there for anyone to review in case they think it’s hyperbole.

I am grateful that the Greg Davis bullshit is going to end soon. I believe by 2011, he’ll be gone. I am sacrificing all kinds of small, domesticated mammals in an effort to see that come true.
Scipio Tex said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:49 am

I believe by 2011, he’ll be gone. I am sacrificing all kinds of small, domesticated mammals in an effort to see that come true.

You’re going to kill Minnesota Horn?
Gene Claude said:

October 20th, 2009 at 11:58 am

Bet the under this Saturday. Two offenses in greater disarray than Somalia
Gene Claude said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

The difference being that your offense is just ineffective, as opposed to actually providing points to the opposing defense. The expected value of UT points from its defense Saturday is 14.7. The expected value of MU points from its offense is 1.3.
Richard Gere said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:06 pm

“I am sacrificing all kinds of small, domesticated mammals in an effort to see that come true.”
Me too..
CloseToJumping said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:06 pm

I don’t expect us to struggle on offense this Saturday. History tells a sad story for the Texas opponent following the OU game under Mack Brown.
BatesHorn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:12 pm

I WANT to be optimistic about this, and given the changes that brought in the zone read and during the OU game last year, I believe it can happen.

I also remember that trap play with Hayter and the Nebraska game where we threw the ball to Ivan Williams repeatedly and burned their blitzes. And then it all went away.

Which brings me to my next point: How hard is it to try a swing pass to Whittaker or Monroe?

Also:

I was watching the Denver/SD game last night. Denver’s Bubble screen works. And by works, I mean that the WR blocking hold’s up enough for the play to gain positive yards.
NY Horn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:15 pm

It seems like we are beginning to transition into a complete SEC team. These moves look like they are geared to help eat clock and minimize turnovers as much as they are to score points.
Gene Claude said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:18 pm

Close, do you mean like 2004, when you almost lost to Mizzou at home and VY had to be benched?

Your opponents since then have been CU, BU, ISU, MU. Hardly a murderer’s row of defenses. Don’t you think UT’s offensive prowess “following the OU game under Mack Brown” might actually be a result of “shitty defenses faced following the OU game under Mack Brown?”

I don’t really have much in the way of positive expectations going into this game. But I would be surprised if you raced up and down the field on us. I just can’t see us putting together any sustained drives at all. I see something like 31 – 9 happening.
texoz said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:20 pm

“I don’t know why everyone is so happy. We lead the nation in scoring. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

I didn’t look at the other teams in the Top 15 of scoring, but I bet most, if not all, don’t have as many special teams (30) or defensive points (6) as UT. Total = 36

From a offensive scoring only perspective, UT would be scoring 35 points per game instead of the current 42.
trkhorn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:24 pm

The offense peaked last year during the Mizzou game, but the upward rise began basically from the first game of the year, w/UTEP and CU as kind of “running in place” games.

My best optimistic spin is that our rise begins w/this Mizzou game and the peak occurs during the bowl game. It needs to happen, because at some point(I would predict the OSU game) we are going to face a talented offense firing on all cylinders and it is going to take more than just a stout D and ST to pull out a win.

On that note, I hate everything about this upcoming OSU game – Halloween, at night, crazy atmosphere, nationally televised, possibility of Bryant and Hunter returning – again the O will HAVE to step up in this game.
nordberg said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:25 pm

“I see something like 31 – 9 happening.”

Me too. I said 34-13 to someone earlier.
Bartoncreek said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

Funny thing, watching that Denver/SD game with my 10 year old. He says, “How come when they run that play it works and when we run it, it doesn’t?” Maybe he should self scout for Davis.
CloseToJumping said:

October 20th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

Gene–

We were coming off the worst offensive performance of the program in two decades and we put 28 on you. Do you really think we’re going to score less than 35+ on your defense? Offensive alone will score more than 4 touchdowns.

I will be shocked otherwise, yes. It also won’t alter my feelings about this offense and Greg Davis, as it never does.
magnusbleuveigner said:

October 20th, 2009 at 1:07 pm

texoz,

That was more a play on the forum pertaining to moronic Longhorn fans. I’m happy as shit with the changes and am forcing myself to be optimistic.. I see these changes as our only chance at winning it all (unless we get def/st scores). Kind of like Tiger Woods changing his swing, it might take a while to click, but when/if it does we’ll be tough to beat.
utexex said:

October 20th, 2009 at 1:13 pm

To be succinct, I love that the staff is aware that we have problems. That’s a step in the right direction, and one they historically hesitate to take.

But I basically doubt anything comes of it. What got them there, keeps them there. If it’s not personnel, it’s schemes. If it’s not schemes, it’s injuries or attitude, or not having fun. Other than Muschamp, they don’t seek to improve the causes for their problems…only the effects.

I apologize for the negative take, but it is a negative situation.
dedfischer said:

October 20th, 2009 at 1:16 pm

You guys need one of these in the backfield:

http://baronbatch.blogspot.com/
dedfischer said:

October 20th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

That guy loves God.
Travis said:

October 20th, 2009 at 1:35 pm

dedfischer – his dream was a little bit different than crabtree’s ” i dreamed it and it happened”
dedfischer said:

October 20th, 2009 at 1:51 pm

I prefer football players who dream of beating someone’s ass, but Batch does a good job of running with Jesus’ thundar, so I guess I can live with that too.
dedfischer said:

October 20th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

I knew nothing good was going to come about around here from picking up 10 yards a carry on the first two running plays. That was fuel on BC fire, right there.
coolhorn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 2:11 pm

Nominally, I’d rather have a staff that’s willing to admit something’s not working, and make changes, even if those changes come late in the game, so-to-speak.

Preferably, I’d like to see us have an offensive staff that’s proactive, in the spring and summer, at making needed changes, rather than being reactive during the season, and in effect, changing horses in mid-stream.

This has been done to death, and nothing said here is gonna change Mack’s mind, but I would love to see him be as intent on changing the offensive culture of the Horns as he was on changing up the defense a few years ago. Greg Davis is not the worst OC out there…occasionally, he makes some play calls that are inspired. He’s still not the right fit at OC for the Horns. There are some talented and hungry offensive coordinators that would LOVE to coach the Horns. There are some receivers coaches, line coaches, and tight end coaches that would too. I would love to see Mack do an offensive makeover to rival the defensive makeover the Horns accomplished five years ago.

Enough daydreaming…Davis isn’t going anywhere until Coach Boom takes over, nor MacWhorter, or anyone else on the offensive staff. The Horns will continue to be passive early in games, and continue to have to make adjustments, rather than forcing other teams to adjust.

It’s a good thing that changes have been made to our offense after last week, but I can’t help but think it’s like closing the barn door after the cow’s already out.
Kyle Field Crickets said:

October 20th, 2009 at 2:13 pm

Where is that bubbly little ag_intx person? I miss him and his unbridled optimism..
Gene Claude said:

October 20th, 2009 at 2:25 pm

I would put the over under somewhere around 30 – 35 for UT’s score.

At home, against CU and TT you scored 38 and 34. I think our defense is better than CU’s and on par with TT’s.
Vasherized said:

October 20th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

You need to generate some turnovers to keep it in the 30s and the problem is Mizzou has only forced nine this year.
t1climb1 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 2:43 pm

At home, against CU and TT you scored 38 and 34. I think our defense is better than CU’s and on par with TT’s.

We also did that while our own coaches admitted we were playing with one hand tied behind our backs from a schematic and playcalling standpoint.
gohornsgo90 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Something that has been scaring me the last few weeks is what is going to happen to our offensive recruiting with these kinds of offensive troubles (idiocies) and schemes?

Darius White looked like all but a lock for us and now looks very not like a possibility. What was the last time we had a heralded receiver prospect? Malcolm was up there, but nothing ridiculous. Sweed was the same situation. M. Johnson and Timmons…vomit. Do you have to go all the way back to Roy and B.J. to find a top echelon WR that worked out?

Lache Seastrunk is going to be another miss, even the people at Hornfans and OB don’t think we have a shot and that’s saying something. We have a run of Ricky, Ced, and JC, then all of a sudden can’t find anybody better than Vondrell McGee to start the opener for two years in a row? The other two guys in that class that we were after were Moody, who we lost to USC despite their having five or more 5*s ahead of him, and Mike Goodson, who we essentially stopped recruiting after Moody originally committed. I was never a fan of Moody’s from his tapes (and though he’s not one of the top guys for UF, I still think he’s a decent player), but Goodson was the real deal. Anybody who can look good with that O Line blocking for them at A&M is the real deal. Speed to burn and jukes for days. We forewent C. Michael in favor of Chili Dog Whaley last year, who now looks like he’ll end up playing either FB or DE.

At O Line we just lost Jake Matthews because his dad thinks our O Line schemes suck. He’s not wrong. Maddening to see your schemes be the reason for losing a kid, then hearing he’s going to A&M instead. What a slap in the dick.

Ironically, QB recruiting has gone well with GG and Connor Wood, a far cry from the days of missed opportunities with Perrilloux, Sanchez, Mustain, Mallet, and Stafford. Nice to have that position locked up for the next few years.

On the other hand, on just the defensive side alone THIS YEAR, we have Tevin Jackson and Reggie Wilson as the flag bearers for this year’s class, with a solid shot at Jeffcoat and Hicks.

Look at the defense compared to the offense. Who are the players you would call “monsters?” Malcolm definitely has the most talent on offense. Buckner is pretty good too. Shipley is a great player, but he’s no wunderkind talent. Even Colt is pretty mediocre when it comes to physical skills and ability. There’s certainly nobody at RB that is all-world, and don’t get me started on the O Line. On defense, it’s more like who ISN’T a freakish talent? Obviously you scream GIDEON in your head immediately (or, if you’re like me, you’d scream it out loud), but after that it’s a pretty sick squad. Kindle, the Achos, A.J. Williams, the Browns, Thomas, Randall, Robinson, Okafor, and Jones are a damn talented group. How does the disparity become so great? Obviously recruiting…

So the question is how do recruits think when they see this inept thinking and lack of originality or willingness to change on offense, despite overwhelming evidence that it needs to occur?

There are probably a bunch of people who will bash me for this, but I think it’s a legitimate point to bring up.
Gene Claude said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:00 pm

And you all seem quite comfortable that changing the scheme midseason is a recipe for success…..

The turnovers are a good point. We have explicitly played a bend but don’t break this season, which I think matches up very poorly with an accurate passer. We can’t count on Colt to kill drives on his own.

I would say the efficacy of our offense will have more of an impact on UT’s score than anything else, and I’m not all that confident.

So, you are saying, if you were a committed Missouri fan, you would look at a team whose offense has been underwhelming enough that it feels like it has to change scheme and personnel; whose QB has a balky thumb; and you would say “obviously, this team will put up a 40 spot?” Why in the world are you suddenly that confident in your offense? You have a huge struggle against CU, an abysmal performance against (an admittedly very good defensively) OU, and suddenly you feel good about putting up 40? You sound like A&M fans.

I’m not saying we have a realistic chance of winning. I’m saying this is not going to be a huge blowout, and that your offense is not suddenly going to be fixed, on the road, against a good defense at homecoming. I know, I’m crazy.
Cincohorn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

Scipio – I won’t respond to the juvenile stuff. It’s like being “served” by a 14 year old master break dancer. I’ve only got some weak ass robot stuff from 1980 and I like big boobs more than big books.

Your earlier pieces did point out some flaws and chinks in the armour. To say our program is flawless even now would be absurd. But to continue to characterize Greg Davis as some idiot buffoon is equally absurd. It’s easy to make the points you are making, but I just don’t think your suggestions are as rock solid as you think. You’ve had as many missed predictions as correct ones. I’ll go with Davis’ picks on QBs and I too have to question Kennedy with the WRs and mainly Malcolm Williams. However, I acccept there are likely things I don’t know that go on behind the scenes and I’m pretty sure they had reason to pull one of their best receivers at the outset for an inexperienced John Chiles.

You are also correct that certain defenses have caught up to last year’s offensive tendencies. No doubt about it. Good thing our staff has not been complacent. Apparently, they are guys that know a crapload about football, alot more than the decent but narrow insight you provide (aka crap), and want to win every game. Crap is not necessarily a bad thing.
magnusbleuveigner said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:19 pm

If you’re going on high school reputation you can’t fault the Vondrell take and you’d have to call landing Buckner and Grant as big time.

We were losing out on Darius White before the passing woes happened this year. Chris Jones is Rivals top 100 so that’s a good verbal.

As far as rb has gone the last two years, I have no excuses for Mack and Co. Michaels should have been an obvious offer over Whaley. I’d bet just about anyone Whaley never gets 100 carries. So this year we have to knock it out of the park and what do we do? We offer two fucking rb’s. Shead is a good take……as an athlete. I can see Muschamp turning him into a monster. Shead already has a 400 lb bench with 4.5 speed, you find room to offer that. Then we pin the rest of our hopes on Lache. He’s been nothing but a pipe dream. Now as usual, we don’t have any sort of back-up plan. It wasn’t a very deep class this year, so the logical move would have been , gasp, to go out of state.

Now we’re left with a “wait til next year’s loaded crop of rb’s” mentality. As Ozzie Guillen would say, “Pfft, please.” Green’s going out of state. Malcolm Brown is going to OU with Marquise Anderson (maybe, gut feeling). We’ll probably land Bergeron if we offer. Right now we’re apparently sitting pretty with Hershel Sims, which is good. We’ll probably end up with Tevin Williams or Kenneth Farrow, and we’ll be told “they fit our system.”

Some wanted us to offer Donta Williams from Aldine. Apparently he has ‘Thug Life’ tattooed on him.

You can’t fault recruiting except at the rb position is what I’m trying to say.

I heart Tevin Jackson. Our best hope for him to be here for all four years is if Muschamp tweeners him between de and olb. I think he’s that good.
t1climb1 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:20 pm

And you all seem quite comfortable that changing the scheme midseason is a recipe for success…..

Gene, it’s not (at least in my mind) a complete overhaul we are looking at but rather a combination of adding a couple of elements that will force defenses to play us more honestly (like the misdirection and counters we saw on Saturday) as well as fielding, finally, the best 11 personnel. These are the things many on here have clamored for all season and implimenting them has mostly been done already. If we were changing from a spread to a pro style or some drastic change like that I would agree with you. The problem with our scheme/playcalling through the first few weeks is teams were allowed to play us like the one-dimensional offense we were. Hopefully that will change now.

P.S. I am still taking a wait and see approach as to how the changes are folded in because after all we have GDGD wearing the headset. I’m simply saying if he can do what he did in stretches against OU the rest of the year, the results could prove very successful. We’ll see.
Joey Bishop said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:22 pm

“Good thing our staff has not been complacent”

That’s some funny shit right there!
magnusbleuveigner said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:30 pm

t1,

Exactly.
texastough said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

“Apparently, they are guys that know a crapload about football”

Is he saying that Greg Davis coordinated the Bevo steamer in OU’s endzone? If so, thats the best scheme Davis has come up with to date.
JP said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:44 pm

magnus – I too heart Tevin Jackson and have sweet, sweet dreams of the havoc and chaos he will cause in opposing backfields the next few years. Hopefully, Mr Hicks will make his way down to the 40 and be yet another agent of pain at Muschamp’s disposal.
The Bible kid is going to whoop some serious ass as well. Good times are here and they are only going to get better….
Horncasting said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:53 pm

“Good thing our staff has not been complacent”

“That’s some funny shit right there!”

Technically backwards is not the same as complacentcy.
Horncasting said:

October 20th, 2009 at 3:57 pm

“At O Line we just lost Jake Matthews because his dad thinks our O Line schemes suck. ”

Not saying he is going to end up at Texas, or even gives them a second look, but after this last weekend I just can’t see Sr. Matthews letting his kid go to the Aggies when he has other options.
srr50 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 4:32 pm

Not saying he is going to end up at Texas, or even gives them a second look, but after this last weekend I just can’t see Sr. Matthews letting his kid go to the Aggies when he has other options.

LIke, say, USC.
bigdukesix said:

October 20th, 2009 at 4:41 pm

Now we’re left with a “wait til next year’s loaded crop of rb’s” mentality. As Ozzie Guillen would say, “Pfft, please.”

I was just thinking this earlier today. I have no inside knowledge, and don’t subscribe to any recruiting services, but based on what little I’ve heard and on past trends, I’d say there’s a 1% chance we land Green, if that. It’s a damn shame, but our success rate with big time recruits that want to take all of their visits has been negligible. Agree that Brown goes to OU as well.

Hopefully we’ll clean up at every other position.
whoopspat said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

Magnus, nice post. If you aren’t just speaking figuratively about the Dontae kid, then that’s pretty hilarious.
Orangechipper said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:09 pm

I repeat this from earlier. Yes GD is slow to make corrections… but its obvious that he isn’t the only one. TOSU, Bama, & even Florida are all having huge offensive struggles this year.

Heck, even USC could barely score 20 on the likes of Washington.

Are offenses just THAT bad this year or are the defenses just finally catching up across the board?? Yes GD isn’t great… but it appears thats par for the course throughout most of College football.
Scipio Tex said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:20 pm

Orangechipper:

Was USC starting a backup QB on the road who had never taken a college snap?

Are you comparing that singular game situation to an offense with nine returning starters struggling in two homes games and at a neutral against bad, average, and good defenses respectively?

Mentioning OSU is humorous. I’m assuming you’re kidding? Is that our peer benchmark for offensive prowess? Jim Tressel?

Alabama has run the ball at will. Saban is contented by that. In what phase of the game offensively do we impose our will?

Florida has been injured at QB and they have a bare cupboard at WR. My guess is that their offense looks better as Tebow gets better. What do you think?

Mentioning other teams problems with some generalized inference that it makes our own go away is just wrong-headed.

We’re not making massive changes on offense because what we were doing was sound – these changes are an admission of such.
Donny Boudreaux said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:28 pm

With OSU you’d think they’d be better with the next coming of VY on their team. Florida and Urban Meyer is seen as an offensive juggernaut. Surely they have plenty of talent and yet Tebow ran the ball over 20 times against the pigs.

I’m not defending GD, but its a weird season where it appears that almost all the big name teams are struggling with a big aspect of their offenses.
magnusbleuveigner said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:43 pm

JP- I read today that Hicks has Florida in the lead. That’s from a Florida site so take that for what it’s worth. I don’t believe it until I hear it from Hicks or his coach but he’s been down there on his own dime recently and is going back in November.

Horncasting-I think there’s a possibility Matthews looks elsewhere but what Bruce is after is NFL quality tutelage. If winning was important Texas would have had a better chance. If winning and being developed into a NFL caliber lineman were most important USC would have been the choice. I think the old man just wants him close to home and prepped for the next step. He’s a Matthews, is there any doubt the kid doesn’t spend 15 years in the league? Well, don’t look at his brother Kevin.

Whoopspat-I was being literal. I find it funny too but tinged with a bit of sadness. When he softly committed to Oregon he talked about how beautiful it was up there. He said, “ain’t nothing beautiful about where I live.” He lives 15 minutes from me, but it’s an entirely different world. I’m usually no softy but I hope the kid makes it. You gotta see Mack’s point. If he takes a leap on the kid and the guy breaks the law, Mack can’t go to his, “he’s a good kid” card. “Uh, Mack, he’s fucking got Thug Life tattooed on him.”

Scip-To further your point on Saban, he lost Glen Coffee who he tried desperately to keep, and then turned Mark Ingram in to the Heisman leader.
Austin180 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

“I am grateful that the Greg Davis bullshit is going to end soon. I believe by 2011, he’ll be gone.”

CTJ, or anyone, is it still a given that the Major will ascend to OC when GD exits?
sizzlechest said:

October 20th, 2009 at 6:37 pm

Not a given at all, IMO. Major wants to be a HC. If there are opportunities, I expect he would lean toward leaving.
magnusbleuveigner said:

October 20th, 2009 at 6:50 pm

I think it’s Applewhite. I agree that he wants to be a HC, but he’s going to have to be a successful offensive coordinator to get that opportunity. He’s not going to go from his obscure duties here to a HC job that would be better than what we could offer him. Besides, the cupboard will be so full of talent he’d be crazy to leave. He can parlay success here to a major gig. I don’t think we’d have him long.
Austin180 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:42 pm

“He can parlay success here to a major gig”
Thanks magnus. That’s funny.
My question really goes back to when DeLoss hired Will and the Major. The Major filled the RB coach slot because it was open when Rucker became the HS cooridinator. The expectation was that the Major would ascend to OC when gd departed. Is that still a viable expectation?
ghostofagroundgame said:

October 20th, 2009 at 7:54 pm

If you were an NFL running back prospect would you want to play in an offense that hasn’t had a feature back since Charles? I can’t really blame these kids for looking around.
Austin180 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 8:12 pm

I think we’re seeing the D kids coming to Muschamp and the O kids going somewhere else.
CloseToJumping said:

October 20th, 2009 at 8:57 pm

I just read “gohornsgo90″ above. I hope everyone here realizes that whatever our shortcomings are with this staff, not getting Seastrunk or his ilk will not be one of them. I no problems with the staff not playing that game. I thought we were past that one.

Whoever asked me about Applewhite above, yes, I think he’s the next OC and I am ok with that. I will be shocked if he isn’t and on that one I don’t feel like I am completely just scattershooting.
Austin180 said:

October 20th, 2009 at 9:24 pm

Do you think there is tension building between Will/the Major and gd and if Mack supports gd, Will and the Major are gone?
kafka said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:02 pm

Nothing odd about Mack making personnel changes after the OU game, in fact it is normal.

It is normal that Chiles is not a polished WR only 6 months after switching to WR. The kid has improved so much in his running since last year: he runs with power, doesn’t fumble, uses his blockers OK, and finishes the run. You ripped him for his running but never recognized his improvement.

As a newly converted WR, he caught the ball well, blocked OK, and ran with power. He is not as explosive as Goodwin but he did much better than you give him credit for. Wyoming was a tough game for a half, his catches made a difference. Anyway, no need to obsess about Chiles anymore since he is not relevant, right? Goodwin looks awesome: explosive with great hands and can run routes.

Greg Smith seemed to have pretty good hands vs OU. He doesn’t actually have many pass blocking assignments since they send him out on a route to draw a defender with him. On obvious passing downs he does not play (ths does not pass block). You really think the defense will not cover him when he goes out? Is your idea that he will drop every pass thrown his way? Absolute insanity.

It sucks that these experiments did not happen previously but I don’t remember many people clamoring for them.

The reason the coaches wanted reliable receivers is because it was a short precision passing game oriented offense, the team could not afford mistakes. Now that the offense is going to be more run oriented, play action will be possible. Malcolm will be a great fit because his blocking will be a big boost for the run game and he won’t have to be as reliable and precise as a possession receiver.

The reason the coaches did not go to a more running oriented offense previously is because nobody knew the D and special teams would be this dominant and nobody knew whether UT would have a viable TE (it is difficult to run effectively without a TE). Now the offense can take a more conservative/balanced approach and concentrate on stuff like minimizing turnovers, running clock (to rest the D, etc) and will not be required to score so many points.

I’m thrilled that UT could run effectively against OU and that Mack/GD are going to change their offensive strategy accordingly.
bigdukesix said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:08 pm

The kid has improved so much in his running since last year:

That’s because he ran like Michael Huey last year. He’s better this year, but still not very good. At all.
kafka said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:17 pm

Eyes of Texas:
You really think Buckner blocks as well as Greg Smith? Really? Greg Smith is a far better run blocker than Buckner, not close.
MerHorn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:28 pm

Mathews might only be 6-1 230 but he is the best blocking TE we have, its really not that close. That bad ass enjoys it, hell he went to North Shore so he pretty much was coached as a OT. But….it was only a few years ago that Mack was still walking around quoting JoPa on a loss for every fish you play…and when you talk about blood for the program which we all know Mack is high on Greg was asked to gain and drop weight like Oprah in her prime last year.

On the WR I really think it comes from the top, Kennedy just agrees with what he is told. Malcolm was the third best receiver all summer, right behind Ship and Collins. I know the “reliable/safe” option is correct in this case.
kafka said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:31 pm

Not good in what way, specifically? He has good hands, good size, is a fast runner, jumps well, runs with power, and blocks better than most UT WRs. He is not polished but will improve a lot (it has only been 6 months since he switched from QB to WR. He is not elusive.
kafka said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:43 pm

It is great that Malcolm is finally going to get a chance to show his stuff. I have been a huge fan of his since he got to UT.
MerHorn said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:49 pm

I just hope we are willing to live with what we know will happen…Every now and again Malcolm will drop a ball, we need to just say “fuck it” and move on to the next play because he is too good to ignore.
blackscholes said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:52 pm

Austin180, my opinion, FWIW:

“is it still a given that the Major will ascend to OC when GD exits?”

Don’t think so. Muschamp is his own man, He will respect Mack’s guidance, but a promotion for Applewhite is far from a sure thing. Time may dim Applewhite’s star; “what have you done for me lately?”. Does anyone see his hand anywhere in the offense?

“I think we’re seeing the D kids coming to Muschamp and the O kids going somewhere else.”

Yes and no. The kids we’ve recruited have been pretty much a function of program and staff. The results on the field speak for themselves, yes, but Muschamp has yet to go into a top prospect’s home and leave with a commitment. I think this is the one area he will need to develop; if it’s ultimately not in him it is something that can be addressed with the right staff hire(s). Continuing Mack’s general legacy and putting a top-flight defense on the field would be more than sufficient for me.

The White recruitment is not an indictment of Davis, as among his many sins he is almost a complete sloth when it comes to recruiting. A virtual nonentity, unless he runs into them in the hall on his way to the can. Amongst our offensive issues – most of which have been better discussed here already – is that every year we strive to recruit the top athletes in the state. We often do this with little to no strategic plan, which results in two problems: athletes who may not be particularly suited for whatever flavor of scheme Davis tries to draw up based on that summer in 2003 when he hung out with the Broncos, or the fact that the talent in any given year at a certain position may not truly be elite. As a case in point, this is how you end up with the myriad talents of Johnson, Whittaker, Newton, McGee, Whaley et al at running back, struggling to find a dependable contributor.

“Do you think there is tension building between Will/the Major and gd and if Mack supports gd, Will and the Major are gone?”

There is no scenario in which this would occur. Mack is a smart man, and Greg Davis is a sloth, and sloths don’t like controversy. In SAT terms – for no particular reason – a sloth in a tree is to Greg Davis in the press box. They just don’t have it in them for much more activity than that.
kafka said:

October 20th, 2009 at 10:57 pm

Yeah, he is going to screw up some. He already turned an easy pass into an interception earlier this season. Stuff happens. Nonetheless, he is our best blocking WR and is going to win most of the deep 50-50 passes he is contesting.
Flamingmonkey said:

October 21st, 2009 at 2:06 am

“Muschamp has yet to go into a top prospect’s home and leave with a commitment.”

No Muschamp, no Wilson or Jackson, IMO. Also no Muschamp and I don’t think we even sniff Hicks, I doubt we’d still be in the running for Jeffcoat. Perhaps Coach Boom isn’t a closer, and I think there’s definetely signs that point to him taking the occassional flyer on overachieving 2 or 3 star instead of battling for a more ego driven four or five star; but that’s not anything that Mack himself hasn’t been guilty of doing. Let’s be honest, as long as you avoid pissing off the high school coaches and/or the UT boosters, the program itself is a pretty damn good recruiter. I think one of the things that excites me the most about Muschamp is his seeming ability to understand his own shortcomings. Based upon what I’ve seen, if Muschamp isn’t able to improve his own technique as a recruiter, he’ll go out and get someone who can recruit for him.
Amnesiac said:

October 21st, 2009 at 5:56 am

If you were an NFL running back prospect would you want to play in an offense that hasn’t had a feature back since Charles

Not to defend the foolishness that is the offense, but that was all of two years ago.
nordberg said:

October 21st, 2009 at 8:25 am

“There is no scenario in which this would occur. Mack is a smart man, and Greg Davis is a sloth, and sloths don’t like controversy. In SAT terms – for no particular reason – a sloth in a tree is to Greg Davis in the press box. They just don’t have it in them for much more activity than that.”

This was awesome.

And anyone who still refers to Applewhite as “the Major” needs to be kicked in the balls 11 times.
ghostofagroundgame said:

October 21st, 2009 at 8:35 am

Amnesiac –

That’s true. But he was also a physical freak who actually fit the zone-read set-up but not he NFL.

A better point, and what I meant, is if you were the kind of back with an actual NFL future, at least a potentially productive one, would you come to an offense where you rarely have a tightend, have to start from a dead-stop, never have a lead blocker, rarely get a screen pass, and usually have to run horizontal 10 yards before you can get downfield?
Nimitz said:

October 21st, 2009 at 9:43 am

“Let’s not wake anybody up, it’s probably just a flock of birds”…

Radar Technician Gregory Davis Sr., 06:15 December 7, 1941.
CloseToJumping said:

October 21st, 2009 at 10:23 am

I don’t think people realize how tight Applewhite and Muschamp are these days. They’re the only guys seeing clearly right now, or that’s what they’re possibly telling themselves.
Amnesiac said:

October 21st, 2009 at 11:01 am

would you come to an offense where you rarely have a tightend, have to start from a dead-stop, never have a lead blocker, rarely get a screen pass, and usually have to run horizontal 10 yards before you can get downfield

Probably not, you do have a point- but then the mind of a high school football player works in mysterious ways.

I mean, presumably, a prized high school DT would see a program’s recent history of producing outstanding NFL caliber DT’s and its fire-eating defensive coordinator, as net positive, outweighing the moral outrage resulting from the sight of young nubiles “romancing each other” – but apparently, not so for a Victorian sensibiliti’ed Lufkin DT of recent vintage.
ValhallaRising said:

October 21st, 2009 at 4:54 pm

Your offensive shortcomings are a failure of oversight on the part of Mack Brown. It is shocking to say the least that, as you say, you return 4/5 of lineman, yet as I watched the game Saturday, your O-Line leaked more oil than the ‘82 Crown Vic sitting in my neighbors driveway. Your offensive troubles really begin and end with the O-Line. There is no down hill lean to them. They are being asked to zone block, but they are not equipped to do that. Nor are your backs built to start left to the 5 hole, see that its plugged, and end up going to the 4 hole on the right. Anyway, shore up the O-Line, and your close wins will become blow outs.
It is still a pitiful indictment on Brown that this is even being discussed in October.
texastough said:

October 21st, 2009 at 5:06 pm

“I don’t think people realize how tight Applewhite and Muschamp are these days. They’re the only guys seeing clearly right now, or that’s what they’re possibly telling themselves.”

I’m ignorant, but does anyone know whether Applewhite would be qualified to take over at OC in the next couple of years? All I know is that he played and has primarily coached under the flan-sucker-punch OC. Lets send him to the Colts for a couple of years before we promote him.
java said:

October 21st, 2009 at 10:33 pm

Is my memory faulty? Didn’t Applewhite spend a year or two as the OC at Alabama before he took the position of RB coach here? This thread has been a good read. Interesting, to say the least.

Hook ‘em!
Levander Williams said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 7:08 am

Applewhite OC’d a spread offense at Rice that helped get them to a bowl game for the first time since the Cretaceous Period, in addition to sharing the job at Bama under Saban.

I think he can the OC job at Texas.
gohornsgo90 said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 9:15 am

I don’t think the question should be whether he is qualified to be OC at Texas, but whether is GD qualified. The answer to that question is a resounding “no.” It’s not like Major could be any worse, so I don’t really care who we put at OC as long as he isn’t named Greg Davis.
Mysterious Package said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 9:15 am

Nordberg- 100% correct. “the major” sounds like a two year old spin off, Applewhite, Major, or perhaps Opie is fine.
AndGoHorns said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 12:09 pm

You see, this is my biggest problem with you guys…you don’t offer a solution. You know why? Because you don’t really understand it and don’t know what to do. Do you know why? Because you are UPS workers, electricians, or real estate agents. Any fool with eyes can see a problem. But do you know all the reasons why the play didn’t work, why we’re using that personnel to begin with, why we’re in that formation, who was the primary, secondary, and check down options? Big no to all of those. I give the BENEFIT to the coaches because they see the players every day in practice and know when someone is hurt, or in trouble, or fucked up in class/partying too much/homesick, you name it. We know virtually none of this.

I have no problem with playing with ideas, but shit, present an idea clearly, specifically. And don’t pretend your idea is the ONLY way it can or should work. That’s just pompous and ignorant. The discussion should be there, but in a constructive way. You guys only focus on the negative. How much time do you spend speaking to Texas’ strengths? You guys need to find a way to enjoy our season.

If I really wanted advice about what our team might do, I’d trust coaches that are more successful than our current coaches….and those guys are few and far between.
Sailor Ripley said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 12:23 pm

Let’s get this started….

TEXAS!!!!
nordberg said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 12:35 pm

I will now ignore what was previously posted, and instead tell you about what I ate for lunch.
UPS driver said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 pm

Football is hard
gohornsgo90 said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 1:39 pm

“How much time do you spend speaking to Texas’ strengths?”

About as much time as needs to be spent…which is not very much at all.
NVHorn said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm

Contribution of idiot-pumper sodiumacetate on OB:

“The main problem that I have with the barking carnival crowd is the lack of basic understanding of the game of football. It’s painfully evident that their entire basis of comprehension is what they’ve heard said by color commentators on broadcasts.”
gohornsgo90 said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 4:45 pm

Haha that post pretty much sums up both OB and HF. You guys should see some of the battles Nordberg, Levander and I (as well as a few educated others) get in over there in regards to GD and the offense in general. Usually goes something like this:

HF Thread Title: 16-13, SUCK IT Greg Davis Bashers

Me: You are bragging about scoring 16 points with almost our entire offense back? Seriously?

HF Poster: Idiot. Check the stats. Pretty sure we’re number one in the country in scoring offense!!! God some people will bitch about anything.

Me: One, we’re talking about OU, where we scored 16 points. Two, those stats don’t take into account how many points our ST and D have scored.

Another HF Poster: Wow haven’t you seen what GD has done with the offense over the past (insert random number) years??? We won a NC in 2005 and had the highest scoring offense in history. Dumbass.

Me: We also had that Vince Young guy. He was pretty good, wasn’t he? You think Greg could make what happened that year happen if VY weren’t there?

Rex Kramer: Obviously you know nothing about football. Pretty sure Greg Davis has a lot more coaching experience than you, plus he gets (insert absurdly high number) head coaching offers every day but turns them down because he loves where he’s at right now and UT is the best team of all time. Besides, who cares how many points we scored. Will Muschamp said “stats are for losers,” so I am going to use that line in defense of Greg Davis every time we have half as many yards of total offense against CU as Toledo (yet another instance of Muschamp saving GD’s ass).

Me: If stats are for losers, why does it matter if we are the number 1 scoring offense in the nation?

HF Posters United: …because we have the NUMBER 1 SCORING OFFENSE in the nation!!!

Me: *sigh*

Private Message: You have been banned for 2 weeks for (insert highly logical quote). Don’t you ever learn? With your past history, you’re lucky we haven’t banned you completely. Don’t you know not to insult our coaches in that manner?
BEHorn said:

October 22nd, 2009 at 6:55 pm

“anyone who still refers to Applewhite as “the Major” needs to be kicked in the balls 11 times.”

Somewhere, Brent Musburger is feeling an irresistable urge to protect his junk.
Saltshaker said:

October 23rd, 2009 at 8:53 am

Why would it surprise anyone that Davis would finally roll out the offense best suited for the tools given……at mid season?

This is the same way he runs his game plans…..admittedly. He likes to collect data all the first half, then dial in a game plan to win for the second half.

Instead of learning to type, he hunts and pecks……but at the end of the day…..we still have a good letter. It is Davisian, you never get what you want, but you end up getting what you need.

Davis is the kid that was so smart, he never had to study, and eeked out B+’s all the time. Every once in a while, he runs into an adjunct professor that hands him his ass at KState or A&M.

I hate his method, we all collectively do, but in the end, he makes the adjustment, just not when we want it. His method if you were to try to understand it, would leave you in awe thinking you were before a genious, only to later realize he could be less analytical, less strategic, and skip most of his steps to get there.

Unfortunately, he is mostly stubborn and could save all of us a lot of time, if he’d just pull over and ask directions.
RD said:

October 23rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm

Can you imagine running this offense with Brock Edwards at TE? He would be perfect in the H-back role (which he ran while at UT).
kafka said:

October 23rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm

The solution is to delegate some of GD’s duties to other staff members (call it personel development). Mack is not required to fire GD so it could happen. My guess is that Major was responsible for the sweet changes we saw in the run game, put him officially in charge of the run game architecture. Bobby Kennedy can be assigned to ripping off Tech’s passing game (especially the receiver routes and screen game. Major can start calling the running plays and encouraged to override bad play calls. Game plan production can be collaborative endeavor.
sandman said:

October 26th, 2009 at 10:36 am

the TE position is now more like a fullback. 3 wide is working. did you see the freaking game? including RB, we still have 4 major threats at receiving, as well as the threat of Colt taking off and running. what’s with all the crying? most NFL teams don’t have a threat at TE.
Barking Carnival — Blog — Matchup Preview: Texas Longhorns @ Missouri Tigers said:

November 22nd, 2009 at 6:13 pm

[...] for fans of beautiful offense. My faith in our ability to quickly and successfully install the New Longhorn Offense is unsurprisingly low. It’s hard to believe, but in one year the Big 12 has gone from the WAC [...]
Barking Carnival — Blog — The Good, The Good, and The Goodly - Texas 41, Oklahoma State 14 said:

November 22nd, 2009 at 6:14 pm

[...] getting a real shot at playing. He and Marquise Goodwin have made a huge difference in this ‘new’ offense’s effectiveness [...]

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Ibas water bottle wrote a new blog post: What ever happened to Luke Schenscher? 32 seconds ago

We earned a 7 seed and will face Georgia Tech in Milwaukee on Thursday. If we survive that we face Ohio State in the second round. Shoot well and we can make the sweet 16. I’m relieved that Lunardi missed on his 8 seed projection for us. I’m much less worried about Ohio State than

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 29 minutes ago

Virginia Tech not getting in is a joke.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 31 minutes ago

Baylor may be the best team in the South.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 34 minutes ago

Wow, louisville as a 9 will give Duke all they want in the second round.

The TAMU vs. UTAH state battle of the aggies might be played in the 40’s.

Siena will beat Purdue. Bank it. They probably win their next game.

Nova as a one seed an overseed.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 34 minutes ago

Wow, louisville as a 9 will give Duke all they want in the second round.

The TAMU vs. UTAH state battle of the aggies might be played in the 40’s.

Siena will beat Purdue. Bank it. They probably win their next game.

Nova as a two seed an overseed.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 36 minutes ago

The South, Duke will lose to AK Pine Bluff, mark it down. I kid.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 39 minutes ago

Don’t listen to Seth Davis, Texas is a shell and Wisconsin is over seeded as a four. Kentucky will run them out of he gym. Kentucky walks to elite 8 where WVU will have something for them.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 40 minutes ago

It won’t matter because Marquette will beat New Mexico in the second round game.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 41 minutes ago

West Virginia draws New Mexico as the 3. Kansas fans do triple face palm.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 42 minutes ago

Kentucky gets screwed by drawing WVU. The good news is the Cats got a pretty good top of the bracket draw.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 43 minutes ago

Texas gets a manageable first round game. UK will smoke us.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post Texas Basketball is Dangerous 44 minutes ago

We’re live blogging the selection show over here if you’re interested.

http://marchtomarch.fantake.com/2010/03/14/ncaa-selection-show-open-thread/comment-page-1/#comment-507
Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 48 minutes ago

The West is the weakest bracket. Perhaps the weakest I’ve seen in some time if Onuaku isn’t 100%

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 49 minutes ago

In the West, Syracuse has a walk to the sweet sixteen, but Butler can give them problems.

Syracuse gets KSU as their two so it looks like either Kentucky or Duke is stuck with WVU. Tough break. Pitt as a three is a joke. If I’m Self I’m really pissed now. KU

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HenryJames commented on the blog post As if we didn’t already like Traylon Shead enough… 52 minutes ago

What’s the background on this photo?

The AP captions reads

Cayuga’s Traylon Shead, a Texas recruit, flashes the ‘Hook ‘Em Horns’ sign to Gov. Rick Perry during the awards presentation after Cayuga beat Bronte 66-60 to win the Class A, Division 1 basketball championship. Perry went to Texas A&M.
ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NFL Draft: A Mockery 55 minutes ago

Carlos Dunlap is going to be an incredible pro. If he goes to the Ravens that is going to suck for their opponents.

I can’t see McClain going that high. And I keep hearing that Claussen has dropped.

What are the chances of the Steelers drafting a QB early? They can’t feel
Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 57 minutes ago

Georgetown as the 3 seed in the midwest make this a monster bracket.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 57 minutes ago

Ohio State vs. Kansas should be championship game, not an elite 8 game.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 58 minutes ago

Holy crap, KU got screwed by getting the toughest two seed. I’d be pissed if I was Self.

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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post NCAA Selection show open thread 59 minutes ago

Midwest 1 goes to Kansas, no surprise they deserve it. They’ll face Lehigh who happens to have a pretty athletic frontcourt for a 16.

Kansas got a tough breaking drawing Maryland on the four line. There was talk the terps could be a 3.

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ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post As if we didn’t already like Traylon Shead enough… 1 hour, 1 minute ago

That is really great. An auspicious beginning.
Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: NCAA Selection show open thread 1 hour, 4 minutes ago

Syracuse gets screwed by getting the fourth number one seed.

Midwest 1 goes to Kansas, no surprise they deserve it. They’ll face Lehigh who happens to have a pretty athletic frontcourt for a 16.

Kansas got a tough break drawing Maryland on the four line. There was talk the terps could be a 3.

Holy crap,

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Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Evan Turner is the Best Player in the Country 1 hour, 7 minutes ago

For my money the race for Player of the Year isn’t all that close. Sorry John Wall. My apologies Wes Johnson. Evan Turner is the most dynamic and talented player in the college game today. He’s built like a hybrid wing, handles like point guard, and shoots it like a sniper.

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Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Trey Metoyer to the Oklahoma Sooners 1 hour, 10 minutes ago

Ripley,

Agreed 100%. I meant only to observe that Metoyer wasn’t a guy like Stills (once recorded running a 4.36) who just really impresses you with his speed, too. That’s one of the reasons I think Stills ends up being the 4th WR in the rotation by conference play.

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Scipio Tex commented on the blog post Texas Basketball is Dangerous 1 hour, 36 minutes ago

We’re as dangerous as a switchblade comb.
P.Drez wrote a new blog post: Can Anyone Stop This Guy? 1 hour, 43 minutes ago

With another two-goal effort following his midweek brace against Milan, Wayne Rooney is simply lighting up the English game, and as a result, Manchester United have never looked more dangerous than right now. Will anyone be able to stop, nay, contain this all-around phenom and derail United’s quest for more glory?

Enough to make any

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Luke commented on the blog post Another game vs. Kansas, another loss 1 hour, 50 minutes ago

Neon, you might be right about Kentucky, but I’m still worried about their athleticism and I’m not sure K-State has anyone to match up with Cousins inside. Plus, it’s KSU’s offense that has been struggling lately, so I would be afraid of getting into a high-scoring game, even if Kentucky isn’t great defensively. As for

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bigdukesix commented on the blog post As if we didn’t already like Traylon Shead enough… 1 hour, 53 minutes ago

The look on the face of the kid next to Shead is hilarious too.
Trips Right commented on the blog post Basketball Bets 3/12 2 hours ago

Wow, glad I let it ride.
Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Damion…prepare for glory 2 hours, 2 minutes ago

Well I won’t disagree that Syracuse plays a better zone than Baylor but I think the strengths of the Texas offense still give them some good answers for a zone. Syracuse invites teams to get the ball inside where James and Johnson are comfortable even if they are contesting it much better from there than

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