SB Nation - Kheeston Randall

A Time to Celebrate, A Time to Reflect

GhostofBigRoy — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:24:57 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

The Longhorns may have needed a few lucky breaks to overcome the Cornhuskers and the incomparable Ndamukong Suh and any proper analysis of the game will reveal a litany of complaints regarding every facet of the offense. But with more than a month until Texas faces off against Alabama in Pasadena, there will be plenty of time for to analyze, further analyze, and overanalyze the Nebraska game and everything related to the match up between the SEC champion and the Big 12 champion.

Today, however, is a day for celebration, for reflection. For celebrating a team that accomplished a feat that only the 2005 team accomplished under Mack Brown -- beating both Oklahoma and A&M in the same season while finishing undefeated and winning the Big 12 championship. For celebrating a team that replaced three starters along the defensive line, lost a starting linebacker to injury in the first game, and absolutely counted upon improvement from the entire secondary and role players like Sam Acho, Eddie Jones, Kheeston Randall, and Ben Alexander. For celebrating a team that replaced two starting receivers after the departure of ultra-reliable Quan Cosby and the academic ineligibility of Brandon Collins, who broke out in the final games of 2008.

For celebrating a team that discovered leaders in Sergio Kindle, Lamarr Houston, and Roddrick Muckelroy. For celebrating the effort of Marquise Goodwin against Oklahoma, Colt McCoy's year-saving tackle after his late-game interception, interceptions by Earl Thomas, Curtis Brown, and Blake Gideon against Oklahoma State, exorcising the demons of a certain Halloween past. For celebrating Hunter Lawrence, one of the greatest kickers in Texas history. For celebrating a team the lived up to the highest of standards -- perfection. Losing was not an option and this team did not lose.

Today is a day for reflection. Reflection on the how the seasons ended in 2006 and 2007, with the Longhorns dropping games to Kansas State and Texas A&M late in the season, causing both teams to lose opportunities to play for the Big 12 championship and make it to big-money BCS games. Reflection on why those teams fell apart -- mostly the complete and utter inability of those defenses to stop the passing game and imperfect defensive coordinators. Reflection on the best decision that Mack Brown has made as head coach at Texas in his hire of Will Muscahmp as defensive coordinator and the subsequent decsion to name him the next head coach of the Longhorns. Reflection on the other hard decisions that Brown made to forge this team into a champion -- bringing Major Applewhite back to Austin, moving Ken Rucker into an administrative position, instituting a higher level of accountability, looking hard at himself as a coach.

Most of all, it's a day for reflection on just how far the Longhorns have come since last season. Reflection on the feeling of complete and utter lack of control, having relinquished all power to determine the ultimate destination of the team with the last-second loss in Lubbock. Reflection on the 45-35 campaign, all the politicking and arguments about the meaning of head-to-head victories and resume ranking, planes with banners flying over stadiums, accusations of whininess directed towards a heartbroken fanbase. Reflection on the hatred of Bob Stoops after risking the health of his starters to string together 60-point scoring games. Reflection on how karma can be a bitch, can't it Big Game Bob? Reflection on how 0.128 is now in the past, just a small wound now healing, a footnote to history. Reflection on just how hard this team worked to avoid a repeat of last season, how hard they worked to keep their BCS destiny in their own hands.

Yes, today Burnt Orange Nation must celebrate and reflect, look back upon the road now traveled, full of victories and nary a defeat. The cycle is now complete -- Texas returns to the Rose Bowl four years after Vince Young stood there in confetti, having won one of the greatest college football games ever played. After the loss by Florida, the Longhorns have the nation's longest winning streak, now standing at 17 games. Not only that, but Tim Tebow's college career is all but finished, with the lasting memories an impotent speech to his defense and him crying on national television like a six-year-old Sooner fan. After a long season, Texas is undefeated and headed to Pasadena. There is time in the coming month for all the worry a Longhorn fan desires, so what is there to do today but celebrate and reflect, with a strong emphasis on the former?

Postgame React: Texas Overwhelms UCF 35-3

Peter Bean — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:21:56 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Not good at celebrating. Damn good at football.

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The outcome was: solid. If it wasn't before, that an undefeated Texas will play for the national title is officially a certainty after Iowa's loss to Northwestern today. For Texas, then, the only "outcome" that matters is the scoreboard -- narrow wins, big wins, uneven wins, it's all the same in terms of getting to Pasadena. As such, the Horns' 35-3 win over UCF was plenty solid, enough to maintain the second or third spot in the BCS while waiting for SEC elimination to play out. Win, and they're in.

Beyond the victory, if you're eager to see Colt McCoy win the Heisman Trophy then today's outcome was satisfactory on another level as well. If Malcolm Williams had scored Texas' second touchdown instead of Cody Johnson, McCoy not only would have finished with 3 passing TDs instead of 2, but the reception would have been enough to put his total for the day above the 500-yard mark. As it was, the 470 yards set a school record for a regular season game (single-game record set by Major in the 2001 Holiday Bowl, at 473 yards passing), a gaudy number that -- in a wide open year for the award -- will give a big boost to a name familiar to voters. Neither he nor the offense were perfect on the day, but if over his final four games he puts up numbers anywhere near today's, he'll return to New York once again and have as good a shot as anyone to take the trophy.

The Offensive MVP was: The Roommates. We've already started to discuss McCoy's big day (33-46 passing for 470 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT), but there's no way to separate his production from Jordan Shipley, who finished with 10 receptions and a ridiculous 273 yards receiving, including an 88-yard touchdown in the final quarter. Shipley's big day not only shatters the university's single-game record for receiving yards, but improves his season totals to 74 catches and 1,050 yards. If he maintains his current pace Shipley will finish the 14-game season with 115 receptions and 1,516 yards, both of which would leave in the dust Texas' current single-season bests. Three notes on the duo's huge afternoon:

Central Florida's secondary is awful. I say that not to discredit the stellar performance, but to wonder about the Longhorns' empty offensive first quarter, which was an example of opening the game content to "do what we do" rather than scheme to an opponent. To Texas' credit, after the second drive the usual offensive approach was discarded, Greg Davis started taking shots downfield, and the passing party was underway. What's more, I'm not sure about any larger point here, since a week ago I was greatly miffed by Davis' decision to open five-wide particularly to attack a perceived OSU weakness. I think, if anything, the lessons here might center on (1) our offense's standard operating procedure, which teams have been defending successfully since the start of the year, and (2) the encouraging results the offense has seen employing various adjustments to that core approach.
Shipley's production today was a lot like that from the Colorado game, only this time around there's not much about the big day about which to be concerned. Recall that against CU, not only was McCoy-to-Shipley more or less the entire offensive production, but it more or less seemed the entire offensive focus. Not so today, when Texas -- though again paying only lip service to the running game -- featured a much more robust aerial attack that included roll outs, heavy play action, and multiple shots down the field (to multiple receivers). The Malcolm Williams breakout continues, Kirkendoll and Chiles are settling in to minor but helpful roles, and even when Marquise Goodwin isn't making receptions he's affecting the game with his speed, versatility, and superior blocking.
While first and foremost developing diversity in the passing game was essential to countering that which defenses have been doing to frustrate what we wanted to do, there are rich secondary benefits to be had from evolving. Chief among them is the return of Texas' efficiency converting third downs, a healthy 55% over the last three games (22-of-40), up from 42.5% (34-of-80) through the season's first six games. The outstanding McCoy-to-Shipley connection is valuable to the offense in any case, but substantially more so when defenses have to commit resources elsewhere.

Quick hits on other highlights from offense:

* I really like how Colt McCoy is taking an active role in launching a Malcolm Williams breakout party. McCoy's near-touchdown strike to Williams was a great look on its own, but it was the way McCoy went right back to him on the next play that impressed me most. If this is something we wish had begun early in the season, the effort underway now appears genuine and ambitious.

* Other good signs in the passing game include steady niche production from Chiles and Kirkendoll. No longer miscast as a receiver with the ability to separate, Chiles is contributing nicely in the ways he's able, developing into a solid possession guy helpful to keeping defenses honest. As for Kirkendoll, he seems to have gotten his head in the right mental place after a mostly miserable start to the season. He's neither quite fast enough nor strong enough to do much with the underneath crossing stuff we run for him, but as a receiver to send out on a seam route he's plenty capable of finding space and making catches 15 yards downfield.

* Gotta love the effort Texas is getting from Big Cody, whose 10 carry, 44-yard stat line seems like it undersells his overall contributions. It's comical to send him out there for our zone stretch plays, but in all fairness, Barry Sanders would struggle to make yards on those plays, too. I still like Johnson in a situational role, even if that role is a relatively involved one; Johnson isn't a great fit as a primary guy in the zone read or pseudo-counter.

* Illustration by contrast: great a weapon as is Cody for various goal-to-go situations, Texas doesn't score that final touchdown if it's Johnson instead of Whittaker. Speaking of which, Fozzy was limited to just 4 carries on the game, 5 if you include -- as does the box score -- his ridiculous attempt to execute a flea flicker (the fumble of which wound up counting against him for -13 yards rushing). As middling as is our rushing scheme, I'd still like to see him touch the ball 10 times a game; as we've seen two of the last three weeks, he possesses the speed and slipperiness that allow him to get to the end zone where others will not.

* And finally, we're running a lot of play-action all the sudden, a welcome development. With that said, when Texas finds itself facing an elite defense, the play action won't sparkle like it does against terrible teams, unless the play fake is actually credible. We're still running the ball so haphazardly, and generally poorly, that elite defenses can and will be able to ignore the run game as insignificant -- enough so, at least, to scheme to ignore all play fakes and assume that whatever runs we do call won't pop us much, if at all. As noted above, part of the solution to a good defense sitting back on our passing game is to develop and diversify the passing attack itself, but I remain in the skeptics camp that there won't at some point be a price to pay if the offensive approach doesn't better and more systematically incorporate runs.

The offensive Offensive LVP was: The O-Line. I've spent the better part of too many Saturdays this fall hammering out new variations on the same points, and I am at this point disinterested in continuing to do more of the same. This week, we keep it simple: the offensive line struggled in myriad ways, some of which is inadequacy of players, and some of which is inadequacy of coaches. In any case, well-established as are the various strengths and weaknesses of all involved, detailed analyses of substantial changes that might be made are at this point wishcasting. We are what we are as a running team, and I've limited my hopes in that regard to modest improvement in the way our mediocre rushing game is incorporated into a larger strategy, if only to assist the passing game. Beyond that, the story to watch is how far along Texas gets developing a truly dynamic passing attack, such that even an elite defense that can ignore our run will be challenged to deal not just with Shipley, but with Malcolm Williams and Marquise Goodwin. And so forth.

The Defensive MVP was: Lamarr Houston and Sergio Kindle. Nine tackles for Kindle, 7 for Houston, 3 tackles for loss apiece. Another opponent's game plan brutally disrupted by Texas' ferocious defensive line. There's a lot to love about Sergio Kindle, and if you're just watching him as a pass rusher, you'll miss it. To be sure, he's a good pass rusher right now, with an already great speed rush and, in my view, a lot of yet to be realized potential as he adds more upper body strength and some variety to his moves. It's easy to forget that he's still in some important ways relatively green. In any case, there's so much more to what he's giving us than pass rushing, and he's as likely to be the one blowing up a screen in the flat as a linebacker or defensive back. He plays with intensity you can't teach, which on the first series occasionally leads him to overpursue, once he settles into a groove and the game gets going, he's everything you could ask for in a college end.

As for Houston, I've made no secret about how much I love his abilities, over-zealously proclaiming prior to last season that I thought he could be the best player on the entire defense. In year two as an interior linemen, he might well be if not for the outrageous depth of elite excellence on this defensive roster. No one would be wrong to single out Earl Thomas or Sergio Kindle for top honors, but neither do I hesitate to place Houston right there alongside them. The play we're getting from Kheeston Randall and Ben Alexander has been tremendously valuable, but as much of it has to do with the jobs they're doing, a non-trivial amount of it has to do with Houston's dominant season. It's a damn shame he'll likely have to settle for Second Team All-Big 12.

Overall, there's not much to be said about today's defensive performance, given its dominance represents for this group par for the course. George O'Leary's squad did a nice job in the first half countering our pressure, but as has also become par for the course, Will Muschamp made decisive counter-adjustments in-game, shifting to more zone play and steady diets of both run and zone blitzes. After which the Golden Knights did absolutely nothing.

The offensive Defensive LVP was: N/A. I may never answer this again.

On the Milk Carton: Dan Buckner. Briefly now, because I've already said far more about the game than I intended, I want to raise one final point about the haphazard commitment to running the football. One consequence of remaining disinterested in meaningfully committing to rushing the ball is that in so doing the Greg Smith > Dan Buckner proposition loses most, if not all, of its value. That is, if we're not even going to pretend to be interested in rushing, we'd might as well go with Buckner. Alternatively, if we intend at least to enjoy some benefits from conveying to defenses that we're interested in rushing, it's still not clear that there's any reason not to go with Buckner; sure, the run blocking might be a downgrade, but where we're only haphazardly running as a means to an end, and thus only minimally succeeding in any case, what's the real loss?

To the extent that the plan is either to ignore or only minimally engage the run, roughly the same could be done in the run game with Buckner as with Smith, while the benefits to the passing game are obvious. Of course, I'll say once more that the alternative to those two options is the one I'd prefer: meaningful commitment to running the ball not out of naive belief that it can be a centerpiece, or even a strength, but as an essential ingredient to the passing game being all it can be. We can all agree that Texas will or will not win the national title based on -- at least offensively -- what Colt McCoy does on the field for us. It is at this point well-established that the line between his being the focal point of the offense, and his being the only thing in the offense, is the line between the player who will at times struggle, and one who can win us a national title.

I hope we get it right.

Baylor Fear Factor: 0 out of 10. (5) is the baseline. -5 for no Robert Griffin.

Heading into next week I feel: Steady. The team is in the ideal position we hoped it would be, the defense is a dream, and the offense has over the past three weeks begun to round into form -- if not yet to the point where I'll predict great success against Alabama or Florida, at least to the point where it's almost unimaginable the team could fail to reach Pasadena.

For now, that feels good. It feels great, really. 95% of what a college football fan should care about relates to getting to the title game. The other parts related to maximizing your chance to win it are important for exactly the two teams who actually get there. Insofar as we're on track to give ourselves a chance, this season is at this point a success. We can at this point watch the next four games and, firstly, root for the wins to send us to the Rose Bowl, and second, from those performances spend an entire month talking about how well-suited we are to win it.

So long as we're having that debate in December, I'll be happy. And hopefully, I'll be, well, hopeful. So far, so good.

Hook 'em

Five Things to Watch Against Central Florida

GhostofBigRoy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:51:09 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

Fozzy Whittaker and Adam Ulatoski have the privilege of carrying the flag into the stadium because their brothers are both readying to deploy to the Middle East. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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How well does Cody Johnson run the ball? The two strengths of the Central Florida defense are the Knights' ability to stop the run and similar aptitude for sacking the quarterback. Starting Cody Johnson, or at least featuring him early in the game, is a direct attempt by the coaches to test Johnson -- can he succeed at efficiently running the football against a team that stops the run well? Ross Lucksinger calls it "four yards and a cloud of dust," which aptly describes the current emphasis of the Texas running game.

The Texas running game just isn't going to make big plays unless the defense is completely worn out, that much is exceedingly clear, but consistently picking up yardage is the main priority, even if it is only four yards. A lot of that falls on the offense line to perform better and more consistently, but the coaching staff probably hopes that Johnson's ability to break tackles and move the pile can increase the number of successful runs.

There are also strategies in football for getting running backs the ball while they're already moving. Pretty revolutionary idea, I know, especially for a bigger back like Johnson. And no, I'm not talking about running to the line of scrimmage and then running the ball after a hand off from under center -- that was getting ridiculous by about the third game of the season. Now it's just stupid. Why is it, GD that only two times this season have the Longhorns thrown the ball after going jet tempo and then quick-snapping the ball? Why only once with McCoy, a screen pass that ended up getting a holding called on Kirkendoll because he didn't have time to get lined up and figure out who he was supposed to block.

Of course, there's also the pistol. How I pine for Texas to use the pistol. Call it the Colt .45. It's just too perfect, yet Davis and Brown -- might as well throw him in there, too -- ruin the beautiful opportunity.

The point, of course, is that the coaches want to see Johnson run the ball well, and more often than he ever has in a collegiate game, and maybe, just maybe, he can finally earn himself a nickname if he's successful.

Can Texas exploit the secondary, the weak link of the UCF defense? All the talk about Johnson means there will be an emphasis on the running game, but that's going against UCF's strength. Their secondary is the team's weakness, as they give up plenty of passing yards every game. With that being said, Texas probably will not and should not come out with a bunch of empty sets and four-wide packages given the good edge rushers for UCF -- with good protection, someone should be able to get open, even if there are only three or four players out in the route and one of them is EBS in the case of four receivers.

Here's the key though, play Malcolm Williams and Marquise Goodwin early -- they need the quality game reps for an extended period of time. Play them exclusively the first two or three drives with Shipley and EBS, using Buckner on passing downs or for a change of pace. Note: that's change of pace, GD. Along with Shipley, those are the players most likely to break big plays for the Texas offense.

Hey, and while you're at, GD, how about giving the ball to Goodwin two or three times on the jet sweep, then maybe throw a pass off it. Just for fun. LIke a little experiment, see if anything good happens. Considering that Longhorn running backs have carried four times for 33 yards on the jet sweep, even though several of the plays weren't even particularly well blocked, the play works. And works well. That's an average of 8.3 yards per carry!

Here's how the experiment works, GD -- you commit to running the play four times a game. Just four -- not that many, we're just talking every once in a while, then see if the other team can stop it. Because no one has yet. In fact, it's more that the Longhorns have stopped themselves by failing to block more consistently on the offense line to avoid early penetration. On the edge, I like the chances with Johnson taking a safety or nickel back, then Williams and Shipley blocking on the perimeter. Those are the more important blocks, anyway. Put I'll take that every time, against any defense until it doesn't work.

You can even keep it really, really simple. GD, you don't even have to run the counters off of it against UCF. That's fine, save those for the magic moment.

Oh yeah, back to the issue here. About the receivers -- it was nice that Chiles had a third-down catch against Oklahoma State and that Kirkendoll turned a short pass into a nice gain early, but save them for later in the game or just put them in if Goodwin and Williams get winded. They lost their starting jobs for because they weren't producing -- treat them like back ups.

Can the defense shutout the Knights? George O'Leary's general offensive philsophy is to run the football, then run the fooball some more until they can hit some play-action to a group of receivers even Scipio Tex seems to like. You know, for Central Florida. Since Will Muschamp lives to stop the run on first and second down and Lamarr Houston, Ben Alexander, and Kheeston Randall performed extremely well against Oklahoma State, the best running team Texas will face all season, particularly inside, that strategy may not work well for the Knights, forcing them either out of their normal gameplan, common for opponents against this Texas defense, or into third-and-long situations. The second scenario will give the Longhorn defensive ends plenty of opportunities to get after the quarterback, something they weren't able to do much of last week because of concern over Zac Robinson's scrambling abilities. Personally, I'll be disappointed if I don't see a "freaky leg plant" sack, UTEP-style.

In any case, pressure on the quarterback will give the secondary chances to make plays on the football. Perhaps another pick six there might help the ol' Thorpe Award candidacy, Earl. Or a ridiculous strip like you made near the goalline against Oklahoma (one I forgot to mention, somehow, when I was discussing the playmaking defense the other day). Maybe Blake Gideon even makes another play and gets a better chance to return an interception, to shut his teammates up about being tackled by an offensive lineman last week. After all, Gideon admitted this week he hasn't had much practice with the ball in his hands, having not carried it since high school.

How do the special teams perform against strong UCF coverage units? Jordan Shipley has gone the last three games without picking up any positive yardage on punt returns. UCF has only given up 17 punt returns yards all season, perhaps because their punting ranks 113th in the country at just more than 36 yards a pop. Those aren't the type of punts that are easy to return, leaving a lesser chance of Shipley actually breaking one. If the Longhorns elect to place an emphasis on returning punts, can that unit block better?

Or will Mack Brown opt to go after the punter more often, which also means more fair catches and fewer hits on Shipley, while giving the someone a chance to join the block party. How about DJ Monroe? Chykie Brown perhaps? The special teams star from the Oklahoma State game, Kenny Vaccaro? Malcolm Williams, even? C'mon Mack, go after a couple.

Even if the defense doesn't play lights out and gives up a touchdown or two, Texas isn't going to have many chances to return kicks, unfortunate because good things happen when DJ Monroe has the football. In fact, in the last five games, the Longhorns have received only 14 kickoffs, of which Monroe has returned seven, good for 240 yards -- more than 34 yards a return. UCF is fith in the country in covering kicks, giving up an average of only 16 yards. The Knights will have to kick off at least once in the game -- can the Longhorns return it if it's not well into the end zone?

Can the offensive line protect Colt McCoy? The two best players on the UCF team are probably also their sack leaders -- of UCF's 22 sacks, good for 17th in the country, tied with Alabama and a host of other teams, edge rushers Jarvis Geathers and Bruce Miller account for 12.5 of those. Can the offensive line avoid the complete breakdowns in protection that seem to occur once or twice or more every game, particularly of the kind where no one decides to block an edge rusher? Those are kinda dumb. Also annoying. And dangerous. Maybe Texas could even use some constraint plays like the draw that Texas used to start the game off against Oklahoma or the screen pass that has been successful two out of three times in recent games? That would help slow down Geathers and Miller, which is one of the highest priorities for the Texas offense and an early in which they cannot afford to fail.

In the Trenches - Answering the Call

burnt in ny — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:33:24 -0000

July 30 2009 - In a pre-season fanpost, I expressed the following concern for the upcoming season

As evidenced in last year's games against Oklahoma State and Ohio State, Texas's defense, which is increasingly designed to emphasize speed and quickness in order to match up with spread offenses, is vulnerable to power rushing attacks.

Numerous pre-season posts expressed anxiety about Texas' defensive tackles behind Lamarr Houston, who was an unknown commodity himself, such as perceived journeyman Ben Alexander and green redshirt sophomore Kheeston Randall. Visions of helpless collapses against power running teams in critical games filled everyone's heads. 2009 could be the year of Motown's Lamarr and the Space-Eaters against the blitzkriegs of Chris Brown, Kendall Hunter, Christine Michael, Tim Tebow, or Mark Ingram. The Horns might even have to use, gasp!, true freshmen Calvin Howell and Derek Johnson. The call went out by anxious UT fans for anyone, anyone to step up.

The Space Eaters - Ben Alexander (92) and Kheeston Randall (91)

Sure, UT could win 10 and maybe even make a BCS bowl (little did we know that there might be as many as 6 undefeated teams after 9 weeks in the 2009 season), but if it was the 2009 mythical national championship the Horns wanted, these guys had to step up.

Jimmy Hoffa, from the grave, "I need some nasty, beefy guys up front, and not ya cousin Guido. Whatevah it takes, capisce?!"

November 1, 2009. Basking in the glow of 41-14, the report is in: The call was ANSWERED!

For the details and more on the offensive line, Will Muschamp, and other tidbits, make the jump!

The Evolution of the Defensive Tackles: Space Eaters to Gap Monsters

No doubt, the Cowboys thought they could build on last year''s success and overpower the spread-ready Texas D. From the first offensive play, Oklahoma State's strategy was clear. Double the strongside DE (Acho or Kindle) with a tackle (Russell Okung or Brady Bond) and tight end Wilson Youman. Let Lamarr Houston penetrate into the play and have Keith Toston cut back behind a double team from guard Noah Franklin and center Andrew Lewis on the presumed sacrificial Kheeston Randall. Randall holds position with his shoulders underneath Lewis, and then when Franklin leaves to block Rodderick Muckelroy, he reaches out and slaps the ball out of Toston's hands, luckily recovered by Oklahoma State. OK, not exactly chopped liver, but it's one play.

On the first drive, powered largely by Zac Robinson's scrambling and a couple of trick plays, OSU ran some variation of the inside power run at Kheeston Randall 6 times. In the half they tried it 8 times The result: gains of 2, 2, 3, 1, 3, 4, 5, and 3 yards. That's a 3.8 ypc average if you're calculating at home. Not exactly 2008, when the Pokes averaged over 6 yards per carry. On all six runs, either Randall or Houston was able to slide off their block into the gap chosen by Toston, or were able to tie up two offensive linemen without losing ground for long enough to let Keenan Robinson or Roddrick Muckelroy make the tackle.

Even more interestingly, on the second drive, OSU abandoned the inside run almost completely (only two more inside runs the rest of the half) and instead began to attack Texas' corners. In the next 7 plays, 3 before and 4 after Jordan Shipley's fumbled punt, and ending the dropped fourth down pass in the end zone by Hubert Anyiam, OSU ran speed options to the outside or passed. They did not make a first down on either drive, and both Houston and Randall had QB pressures. Indeed, for most of the game the primary pressure on Zac Robinson was from either Houston or Randall.

This is worth taking a moment to appreciate. The play of the Longhorn defensive tackles, perceived to be a weakness at the beginning of the season by the fans and clearly also by Mike Gundy (otherwise why call 6 inside runs?) so completely defeats the OSU power running game that the Cowboys have to go to Game Plan B after the first drive. This shift in offensive philosophy eventually leaves Robinson vulnerable to the Texas secondary and perhaps provided the key to the blowout. While the Houtson-Randall-Alexander trifecta may not be composed of the best individual defensive tackles in the Big 12, they are good enough to stop the best power running team on the schedule without altering the defensive formation or changing personnel.

34 or 43: Which is the Magic Number?

The average fan is often aware of offensive formations (Wildhorn vs. empty set, etc.) but oblivious to details in defensive formations. Texas features a "Buck" package with Sergio Kindle as the "Buck" linebacker who can put a hand on the ground as a defensive end (to make a 4-3 alignment) or line up as a linebacker (to create a 3-4). The 3-4 alignment allows Will Muschamp to move Kindle around and create confusion in the blocking scheme. The success of the 3-4 alignment depends heavily on Texas having a strong presence at the nose, and Kheeston Randall filled that bill pretty well. A 3-4 defense is strongest against the pass because of the flexibility and uncertainty it creates for the offense in choosing routes and pass-blocking assignments. The 4-3 has the greatest potential against the run because the defensive tackles can take just one gap and penetrate and the linebackers are more protected.

In the Oklahoma State game, Texas switched regularly between the two alignments, and with largely the same personnel on the field. Although both fronts played well, there was a striking difference in OSU's performance against the two that highlights their strengths and weaknesses. Oklahoma State ran (not counting QB scrambles) against the 4-3 front 5 times in the first four drives, gaining 3 total yards (0.6 ypc). They ran against the 3-4 front 9 times, gaining 45 yards (5 ypc), with two runs accounting for 20 of the 45, including a 13 yard "jet sweep" by Travis Miller. On the other hand, Robinson passed against the 4-3 alignment 8 times, going 4-7 for 31 yards and an added 5 yard scramble (4.5 yards per play). Against the 3-4 front, Robinson threw five incompletions and had one scramble for 5 yards (0.8 yards per play). By the second quarter, Robinson was checking in and out of running plays to try to avoid running against the 4-3. Eventually, that caught up with him as he checked out of a run on 3rd and 2 from the Texas 30, only to throw the pick six to Curtis Brown.

The moral of these stats is that there will be a little cat and mouse game every week with opposing offenses trying to avoid running against the 4-3 and passing against the 3-4. The dominance of each defensive front against the offense it is designed to stop allows Texas to play against the offensive tendency, such as to expect a playaction pass on first down against its 4-3 or expect a run against its 3-4. Reducing an offense's playbook by half is a powerful defensive weapon.

Muschamp, You Wily Fox, You

Muschamp, the fox, playing with the mind of Zac Robinson. No chance, mouse: 41-14!

In going back over my notes and studying the tactics of both teams' playcalling, I'm convinced (without proof of course) that Muschamp baited Zac Robinson into Earl Thomas' interception. One of the great things about spread offenses is that receivers' routes are dictated by coverage, which allows the receiver to exploit the right seam or gap in the defense. However, I think that one of the reasons Texas' offense is struggling as much as it has this year is because defenses have now learned what choices receivers and QB's tend to make against particular formations. Defenses can now "show" one formation, know what choice a QB will make, and then run someone to that spot to jump the route. Against OSU, Earl Thomas began to run with the slot receiver, likely knowing that if he went with the receiver, Robinson would make the read to throw to the receiver running underneath to the area Thomas vacated. Knowing that, Earl released his man to Gideon deep and jumped the underneath route. If a defense gets to the point of responding to an offense's read rather than the actual player movements, then the offense will suffer the fate of the poor mouse in the photo, especially since there's no hole in the snow for an offense to hide.

Takin' it to the house!

Jekyll and Hyde, Version 2009.8

The offensive line that is. Frankly, I'm tired of analyzing the line's play because it's the same infuriating play every week. Any given individual along the line makes 3 great plays, 3 okay plays, and one really bad play. Against OSU, it was MOS. Chris Hall lets the defender get underneath him and thus enough penetration to trip Colt McCoy for a first down on 3rd and 2 in the red zone (Texas 3-0 instead of 7-0). Adam Ulatoski takes the wrong pass rusher and Colt takes a sack (end of drive). Charlie Tanner turns his head to the left and a blitzing LB goes by him to his right - sack and end of drive.

The good news is that, for the first time in three games, the OL was not physically overmatched at any time. The bad news is that this means it's all mental and after 140 collective starts or whatever it is, there shouldn't be this many mental errors. The offensive line is like an old house with faulty wiring: when you flip the switch, the light comes on most of the time, and good luck figuring out why it doesn't come on a few times. That said, GD had better be careful in how much he relies on only the core 5 offensive linemen to protect Colt. Five wide may be a nice change of pace, but an entire series of plays based on it, or using it on third and long, is going to get Colt injured or result in a turnover.

Greg Davis is a Genius

In an ode to GhostofBigRoy's call for series-based playcalling, I give you Texas' third drive against the Pokes at 14:25 of the second quarter. The previous (second) drive self-destructed from missed blocks by Greg Smith and Chris Hall and a failed run on first down, Colt throwing to a triple-covered Shipley for 3 yards when James Kirkendoll was 10 yards from anyone wide open 3 yards downfield on the opposite side of the play on second down, and a missed block by David Snow allowing Colt to get tripped up on a QB scramble.

With visions of Wyoming and Colorado dancing in the fans' heads, Texas started their third drive, after Hubert Anyiam's fumble, with three plays from 4 or 5 wide receiver sets. After overcoming a first down failure of the empty backfield and a sack of Colt, the Horns started first down on the OSU 38. The Horns, using their 11 personnel set with a running back and Greg Smith as the TE, ran the most beautiful series of running plays of the season.

1st down - Jet sweep to Marquise Goodwin (surprise, not DJ Monroe) for 7 yards.

2nd down - Spread counter to Cody Johnson up the middle for 7 yards. Charlie Tanner had awesome lead block.

1st down - Fake the jet sweep to the left and run Fozzy on a counter sweep to the right for 6 yards.

2nd down - Zone read, the DE crashes on Fozzy to seal the backcut, and Colt keeps for 6 yards.

1st down - Play action, fake the zone stretch left, Colt rolls out to the right and finds Marquise Goodwin in a seam vacated by Jordan Shipley's crossing route for 11 yards.

1st down - Jumbo package - Cody Johnson goes 2 yards and breaks the plane of the goal line - touchdown.

So the next time someone tells you that Texas has no running game, no misdirection, or no playaction passing, you can whip this out. The Horns have now used multiple plays to set up multiple other plays on the same drive, including in the running game. MORE OF THIS PLEASE!

Greg Davis goes from genius to imbecile on the same drive

It's the first drive of the second half. After the best playaction pass of the year for 44 yards to Malcolm Williams on a post pattern vacated, once again, by a Shipley crossing route underneath, Texas has the ball on the OSU 20. We're seconds away from 31-7 and good night ladies....

1st down - Cody Johnson on the zone stretch, cuts back inside and, with a good block from Buckner, gets 6 yards.

(Yeah, baby, pound it home!)

2nd down and 3 - Oops, OSU dances in front of Adam Ulatoski, threatening the blitz. Uli decides to tango. False start -5 yards.

2nd down and 8 - Davis can't get the play in in time AFTER A PENALTY &^&%&I. - 5 yards

2nd down and 13 - Let's call a play that hasn't worked all year against a defense that isn't blitzing. Shovel pass to Fozzy, who is clocked by an unblocked linebacker. - 4 yards

3rd down and 17 - Using 11 personnel (Okay, the Horns aren't running, it must be for max protect), Greg Smith runs out in the flat, Colt gets harassed and throws it to Smith for 5 yards.

4th down and 12 from the OSU 23 - Hunter Lawrence bails out the Horns with a 40-yard field goal.

What does it all mean?

Somehow, out of the flickering lights of GD's brain and the offensive line's attention span, Texas has a top offense that is going to look unstoppable on some series and infuriating on others. It is what it is, and I will officially stop complaining from now on and start appreciating it when the lights are fully on.

Postgame React: Texas Routs OSU 41-14 in Stillwater

Peter Bean — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:02:16 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

If Malcolm Williams can regularly make difficult catches like the two hauled in Saturday evening, Texas officially has one of college football's most dangerous downfield receivers.

Browse more photos »

The outcome was: exceptional. Heading into this game, I felt good about Texas' chances, but I figured the 'Horns wouldn't pull away until the 4th quarter, when the difference between the two defenses would be most pronounced. Instead, for the second straight week the outcome was all but decided by halftime. Not only did Texas's score with 9 seconds left in the half give them a commanding 24-7 lead, but the touchdown was a beautiful 11-yard strike to Malcolm Williams in the back of the end zone.

Maybe best of all, the 'Horns didn't win 41-14 on the back of a "perfect performance" or anything like that -- Texas was just the better team, with the better roster, and with sufficient depth of excellence that even on a "merely good" day, the 'Horns blew out Oklahoma State on their own field.

If we say that this season contains three big goals -- winning the Big 12, getting to Pasadena, and winning the national title -- tonight's performance was tremendous in service of the first two; with the win, Texas is in commanding position to get to both the Big 12 title game and, assuming no truly monumental upsets, the national title game. After the jump, where this week's Postgame React focuses on the less-than-great aspects of tonight's performance, the motivation will be to think about how to achieve that third goal. The current version of the Longhorns can and should win the remaining games on the schedule; but even if they do, beating a team like Florida is a different story altogether.

The Offensive MVP was: Colt McCoy (16-21 passing, 171 yards, 1 TD; 11 rushes, 34 yards; 0 turnovers). If the early season offensive struggles were equal parts Bad McCoy, Bad Greg Davis, and Bad Offensive Line, the past two weeks have been a great sign that the quarterback portion of the problem is behind us. He threw two incompletions that were simply bad throws of his own fault, but the other three were the result of pressure/nowhere to go; the other 16 passes were, of course, completions.

McCoy's 10.7 average yards per completion and 8.6 per attempt were markedly up from the rank pile of mess we were seeing early in the season, his distribution is improved, and his scrambling/decision-making on the fly is once again providing a big boost to an offensive system that depends upon it. If we take away the 2nd quarter blindside sack for a loss of 10 yards (identical, by the way, to the Austen English sack that resulted in a fumble -- pretty clearly a problem with our blitz pick up scheme), McCoy's legs chipped in an important 44 yards rushing, while at other times his scrambling was enough to avoid costly sacks, or to buy his receivers time to drift open. When your offensive design is as pedestrian as is the current Texas model, success literally depends on the quarterback's ability to make yards on broken plays. I think it too charitable to call that part of the "grand design" of the offense -- McCoy's strengths could be similarly leveraged, but in a systematic way, as opposed to serving a rescue function -- but things being what they are, it's good to see that Texas has succeeded in getting McCoy back to being McCoy.

Alongside the scrambling playmaking, the two things I most liked about McCoy's performance were the improved distribution and, not unrelated, the increased willingness to throw the deep ball. Eight games in, we've now seen why McCoy-to-Shipley can be both problematic and an enormous asset: as a near-exclusive element of the passing attack, the tendency can be troublesome, but when, as tonight, McCoy-to-Shipley is simply the highlight of a more comprehensive passing distribution, the value is easy to appreciate. While Shipley's team-best 6 catches were incredibly important, the evening easily could have turned out to be a bittersweet one had McCoy not also found a half dozen other receivers -- none more important than the two completed to Malcolm Williams: the 11-yard touchdown before half and a 44-yard gain early in the third. Both were good throws but made for difficult catches, and if along with getting Good Colt back there is any single offensive bright spot on which to focus, it's surely that Texas looked to its enormous split end down the field, and on both occasions he came through. My cries to move Shipley back to the slot were in part about how best to use the Roommate, but the other big focus was the potential upside of Williams succeeding at split end. Things are looking up.

The Offensive offensive LVP was: Greg Davis. I don't want to spend too much time on this today, since the offense is improving overall, there are several trends to like, and so forth. See above. However, it'd be intellectually dishonest not to say a few words about certain aspects of the offensive approach.

To his credit, Davis correctly thought that McCoy could exploit the Cowboys' zone defense both through the air and with his feet; to that end, the five-wide, empty set playcalling was not entirely senseless. That being said, there's an obvious and important difference between timely using such a formation as a component of a broader game plan and, as we saw tonight, exclusively deploying the formation for entire drives at a time -- the former is a strategic deployment, the latter a pretty sad concession that there exists nothing else of value in the offense that could allow for well-rounded-ness. Put another way, while the five-wide, empty backfield stuff had its value as a weapon with which to attack OSU, that Davis went with it so early, so often was a depressing confirmation either that Texas doesn't possess the ability to execute in the running/play-action game, or that Greg Davis is simply disinterested in it altogether. In either case, the culprit is the OC.

What frustrates me the most is the overwhelming evidence that the problem is primarily Greg Davis disinterest. If Texas was simply grossly incompetent, it'd still be on Davis but there would at least be the silver lining that such knowledge could be helpful to optimizing a game plan. However that is not what appears to be the case here: for one thing, there is reason to believe that Texas can run the football with modest success, certainly enough to be useful and off which play action can be utilized. Moreover, just when it looks like Greg Davis may have abandoned the run altogether, he haphazardly turns to it at predictably inopportune times. Call it the Token Run Play game plan -- limit your offensive package with disproportionate passing, and then make the challenge even harder by wasting a dozen plays a game on token rush plays called at the wrong time, and to which you're not meaningfully committed.

With Good Colt showing up this week, the offense had enough punch to be solid, but again, to the extent the goal is to win the national championship, the obvious concern has to be whether it will succeed against another elite defense. If Good Colt shows up, and if Texas continues to get more from its full set of receivers (Williams especially), it might be just enough to win alongside a dominant performance from this defense. For Texas' title chances to be greatest, however, the offensive approach will need to evolve and improve between now and January. After tonight, I'm convinced what we see is what we're gonna get; any meaningful recalibration would be a pleasant surprise.

The Defensive MVP was: All. No fair to single out any one or two guys when the entire unit stepped up to deliver such a thrilling performance -- all told, 4 picks, 1 fumble, and 2 touchdowns scored, while limiting the Cowboys to about 3 yards per play while the outcome was still in question.

The secondary will get most of the attention for this one, but hopefully fans noticed just how good was Texas' defensive line for most of the game. Sergio was Sergio, but my lunch pail would go to Kheeston Randall for his brilliant first half -- whether blowing up double teams, destroying any semblance of an inside running lane, or making Robinson throw the ball a half-second sooner than he wanted, Randall's impact was outstanding.

Moving back from the line, Texas got its best game of the year from its linebacking corps, who were physical in the run game and disciplined in support of the passing attack. Muckelroy was a human missile, Keenan Robinson was a bull, and Emmanuel Acho was just plain unfair -- he's going to put up junior-senior seasons that would make Derrick Johnson proud.

Finally, then, the secondary -- last year's goats not only aren't giving up anywhere near as much yardage, but are, as a second-year unit, turning the ball over at an amazing pace. Four more picks tonight for the DBs, with one each from Curtis Brown (TD), Earl Thomas (TD), Chykie Brown, and Blake Gideon. So long as Aaron Williams' injury doesn't linger, his absence tonight gave Texas fans a nice chance to see how far along Nolan Brewster has come; the sophomore safety knew what he was doing out in coverage and was encouragingly physical in run support (still a weakness for Blake Gideon).

The offensive Defensive LVP was: Oklahoma State receivers. Just a quick reminder that football is about preparation, and football is about execution, but it's also a bit about plain old luck, too. A year ago, Texas caught very little luck -- be it the brutal schedule, the Gideon gimme, or the terrible outcomes from other games that hurt the 'Horns in the BCS. This tear's team is better, but also to this point a good bit more fortunate: the schedule has been helpful (including, especially, the move of the Tech game), Texas won the Red River Shootout despite the offensive no-show (thanks, in large part, to two dropped pick-sixes by OU defenders and a game-saving tackle by Colt McCoy), and now last night in Stillwater, an early assist from Oklahoma State's receivers, whose bumbling first half performance spared the Longhorns the pressure of another tight contest in the early going.

This is not to say that the Texas defense was lucky, or the team's win fortunate... Just a nod to Lady Luck, who has to this point in 2009 smiled kindly upon the Longhorns. It can only help.

On the Milk Carton: Rushing the football. Because of the Shipley fumbled punt and the Curtis Brown run-back for a score, Texas only had four offensive drive in the first half, but as discussed above, the effort to rush the football was sparse and sporadic. On the team's opening drive Davis passed his way down to the red zone before token running his way into a field goal; the three-and-out second drive included one rush for a loss of three yards; the third drive opened with three straight pass plays, before 4 of the drive's final 6 plays were called rushes (Texas' first touchdown drive of the game); the fourth and final drive of the half was all passes in the two-minute drill.

Let us pray that this week's overwhelming number of five-wide, empty set formations were mostly about Davis thinking he could particularly drill an OSU weakness with them; the game's rhythm being what it was, the sample size of offensive drives when the game was in question was notably small. There's not much to dislike about a 41-14 win, but for the reasons discussed at length above, the five-wide, empty backfield as a primary emphasis of the offense has concerning long-term implications.

Central Florida Fear Factor: 2 out of 10. (5) is the baseline. +1 for Texas's potential to start flat from being in letdown mode; -1 for the near-certainty that any flat start could be overcome; -1 for the home field; +1 for UCF's defense looking respectable so far this year; -3 for Texas' defense looking like one of the two best in the country.

Heading into next week I feel: Excited. At the very least, Texas is a very good flawed team that has an excellent chance to battle through the rest of the regular season undefeated. At best, Texas is a great team coming into its own -- already there on defense, and with time to work on optimizing the offense.

Either way, the nightmare scenario is behind us (I was fearing my ability to blog the rest of the season after a loss to OU or OSU) and the season's three big goals are all very much in play and, increasingly, within reach. I'll drink to that...

Hook 'em

In the Trenches - Anatomy of a Muschamp Adjustment

burnt in ny — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:59:28 -0000

So there were the Horns, having a 21-0 lead on the road, with the ball and all the momentum. Three plays later, Texas comes up a yard short and has to punt. Missouri then takes the ball down the field with a series of running plays, eventually scoring a touchdown when Missouri's offensive formation resulted in Chykie Brown having 1 on 1 coverage of Jared Perry. An excellent throw by Gabbert yielded 6 for the Tigers. OK, it's 21-7, and the offense had looked weak again on the previous series. In days gone by, the track meet would be on, with the opposing offense marching up and down the field and the Texas offense would have had to keep pace. Think Texas Tech 2007. But not in 2009. Not with Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator. First the offense did their part, overcoming a dropped pass by Malcolm Williams with a brilliantly executed screen to Fozzy Whittaker and then once again using Marquise Goodwin as a decoy to free Shipley for a TD pass. Then it was back to the defense, and, as we fans have become almost spoiled to experience this season, came the MUSCHAMP ADJUSTMENT.

Exactly as I planned, men, exactly as I planned!

As the offense, and ergo the offensive line, finally found itself in the first half, I decided to focus the majority of this week's column on the defense. And the epitome of the defensive effort in this game was a subtle but critical change in defensive strategy that largely shut down the MU running game. As an example of many such adjustments Muschamp has made over the past 19 games for Texas, I'll analyze it in detail along with a few comments about the offense after the jump.

In one drive, Missouri outrushes Texas' four previous opponents combined.

So what happened? Missouri got an extra "tight end" on the field in the form of starting left tackle Elvis Fisher (72). Fisher was replaced by backup center J.T. Beasley (67). This effectively put six offensive linemen on the field with three wide receivers still to spread the field. They lined up Denario Alexander in the slot to the opposite side of the two tackles, whilch pulled Earl Thomas to that side of the field. At the same time, Texas lined up Kheeston Randall and Lamarr Alexander in gaps 1 (between the center and guard) or 2 (over the guard) (see purple circles in diagram below). During the drive, Missouri shifted their strong side with Elvis Fisher as tight end. The coupling of these formations left Texas in an unbalanced defense with their arguably four best defensive players (circled in yellow) on one side of the field and allowed Missouri to exploit mismatches on the opposite (strong side)

On the drive, Missouri mostly ran away from Kindle and pulled either guard Kurtis Gregory (78) or tackles Dan Hoch or J.T. Beasley to provide extra blockers at the point of attack. No play epitomized Missouri's success, and the source of it, more than Derrick Washington's 13 yard run for a first down to the Texas 14 yard-line with about 8 minutes left in the first half. The formation allowed MU to double team Sam Acho (81), put a tackle on Rodderick Muckelroy (38), let center Tim Barnes (62) push Kheeston Randall out of the play and pull J.T. Beasley (67) to block Keenan Robinson (1). Sergio Kindle is never blocked on the play.

Note how the play looks defended because of Randall's penetration and Robinson flying in to fill the gap behind him. Instead (see below), because of the mismatches on Acho and Muckelroy, Washington cuts inside Randall into a huge hole created by Dan Hoch (77) doing a niceuncalled infant grip on Sam Acho (purple circle) and Kurtis Gregory getting off the initial block on Acho to double team Robinson. Blake Gideon, for some reason is late getting over and has to take a deep angle on Washington to avoid giving up a TD.

So the next series, Muschamp ADJUSTS by essentially shifting to a 3-4 alignment, with Randall at the nose (0 technique) and Kindle as an extra linebacker. Houston is now the strongside defensive end playing over the 4 or 5 gaps, with no one outside him. Perhaps anticipating Muschamp's adjustment, Pinkel changes to a 20 personnel, with an extra back, Matt Davis (35) in the backfield, and two WR to either side. The only (apparent) advantage MU has in this formation is the ability to double team Randall in the middle.

Note the more balanced distribution of Texas best players (although part of this is the placement of Denario Alexander in the slot opposte the tight end, which puts Earl Thomas behind Kindle).

The example play from this ultimately ill-fated drive is on second down, a sweep with MU's speed back De'Vion Moore (26). The idea is for Alexander to crack back on Kindle and for Davis (35) to block upfield on Earl Thomas, and for Dan Hoch (77) to seal Lamarr Houston. As you might suspect, all these matchups favor Texas, especially now that Kindle is not playing DE and can turn to face Alexander's block rather than being hit from the side.

The result? Houston blows by Hoch like Hurricane Katrina, Randall ties up three (!) MU blockers in the middle (purple circle). Kindle abuses Alexander, and Thomas just runs by Matt Davis for a joint collision and a loss of a yard. All three plays on the drive were disrupted by Houston, who could no longer be double-teamed. On every play, Randall stood up Missouri's double teams, freeing Acho and Houston and Robinson to fill gaps or harass Gabbert. In retrospect, one wonders what Pinkel was thinking in his playcalling and why he got away from the 3-tackle offensive line formation that produced the success on the previous drive. Perhaps, because of the poor field position and only 1:45 left in the half, he thought he needed a more pass-friendly formation but regardless, Muschamp's adjustments shifted the advantage from Missouri to Texas, with immediate results.

Missouri is pinned inside their 10, decides to rugby kick, and Curtis Brown blocks the punt, Malcolm Williams recovers, and it's Texas 35-7. Game. Set. Match.

The Screen Game

Now that Fozzy Whittaker is the #1 RB and is playing well on all 3 downs, including pass blocking, Texas has added the screen to their arsenal in a big way. This puts new expectations for the offensive line, and over the past three games, we've learned a bit about how successful these screens are likely to be. Against Missouri, the Horns ran two screens. One went for 17 yards, following excellent downfield blocks by Michael Huey and Chris Hall, and a solid block against a defender chasing from the rear by Charlie Tanner. The other screen went for one yard even though it was equally well set up and timed because Charlie "Tunnel Vision" Tanner didn't see the nearest and most threatening defender, who sliced in behind the blocking to stop Whittaker. Against Oklahoma, the screen was moderately successful (7 yards), but again, defenders sliced in behind Tanner to make the tackle. Texas also ran a screen against Colorado out of the flex TE formation, but Dan Buckner's missed block caused the play to be stopped for a minimal gain.

Prognosis: The screen pass to Whittaker could become an excellent component of the newly diversified Texas offense, but perhaps it needs to be run to the right behind Michael Huey instead of to the left behind Tanner.

Offensive Line Report

After six games, the "sick child" of the 2009 Longhorns is officially the offensive line. It is the leading cause of sleepless nights for fans and lost thumbnails for Colt McCoy. Against Missouri, they earned these grades.

Adam Ulatoski A- An absolute rock in the run game, number 74 is still showing vulnerability to bull rushes followed by quick inside moves from defensive ends in the passing game.

Charlie Tanner B+ Tanner seems to have gotten over the hurdle of picking up blitzes but still struggles at times with picking out the right defender to block on downfield runs and screens (see above).

Chris Hall B- Struggled with his snapping all night - Colt made him look good with a couple of athletic grabs, but one bad snap led to a sack. Chris still struggles with the cut blocking needed for effective double teams in the Horns' zone blocking schemes. Nevertheless, his blocking calls are usually on and the whole line plays better when Hall, as opposed to David Snow, is in at center.

Michael Huey A- Slowed by a high ankle sprain since the ULM game, Huey was replaced by David Snow after a miserable Colorado game, but came back in to start and play well in the second half against Oklahoma. Huey blocked magnificently on several running plays and was solid in pass protection except for one play where Terrell Rosonno (I believe it was) blew him 5 yards backward. Huey should become stronger as his ankle continues to heal.

Kyle Hix C Texas' largest lineman seems to get physically dominated early in every game, and it's not clear why. Perhaps being matched up against future NFLers Gerald McCoy and Jeremy Beal of OU is too much for Hix, but redshirt freshman Aldon Smith of Missouri? His early failures can make Colt have a short clock in his head before he feels like he has to throw, which can lead to an inefficient passing offense and an over-reliance on short looks to Jordan Shipley. The domino effect of Hix being dominated early in the game may even affect the playcalling, although Greg Davis' eclectic portfolio prevents any real analysis. But early game failures, which fortunately had no impact on the outcome in this game, start sending the message about what you can't do rather than what you can.

Greg Smith Saga

The player who easily leads the team in fan groans over the past two seasons is Greg Smith, an offensive lineman converted from a high school TE to a guard and then back to a TE. Known misaffectionately on the site as the "Extra Blocking Surface" or EBS, Smith is now the favorite son of Greg Davis, who lauded what having Smith enabled the Horns to do once again on his "From the Film Room" report (now up on page 2 videos on the main page of MB-TF). Greg had a typical game against Missouri: decent but somewhat inconsistent run-blocking, and a presence that allowed Texas to block well on zone read and counter plays in the first series. He also caught the only ball thrown to him, and seems to have improved speed in escaping the desultory linebacker usually assigned to him. In some big game in the future, Smith will make a couple of key first down catches.

On the other hand, Smith is still a liability in pass protection. Against the Tigers, he was manhandled by Aldon Smith, on one play that led to one of Colt's two sacks on the day. In some big game in the future, Smith will get overwhelmed again leading to pressure or a sack on McCoy and a turnover.

That's a risk the Horns are just going to have to take, because Smith's presence on the field shifts the blocking schemes to allow the offensive line to have two initial double teams up front, a greater likelihood of the backdoor cut for Whittaker, and greater opportunities in the zone read. It is clear that the Horns want to be able to run the ball up to 5-6 plays in a row, and that's just not possible without a true TE on the field.

The Man in the Middle

Kheestion Randall and Ben Alexander have been incredibly pleasant surprises this year at defensive tackle (see the section above on the benefits of putting Kheeston Randall at the nose. Kheeston has emerged as the clear starter over Alexander in the last two weeks, largely because he has become the first DT since perhaps Frank Okam who is big and strong enough to take on two gaps. That is he lines up in the nose or directly in front of the center and stands him up, and then shifts to the right or left if a running back tries to come through either hole. Randall has shown outstanding quickness on slants, and has gotten close enough to the opposing QB enough times to draw 3 personal foul roughing the QB penalties. Randall is just a sophomore, and if he keeps developing, he could remove worry about the center of the Texas defence and free playmakers like Eddie Jones, Alex Okafor, and Reggie Wilson for the next two years.

Game Day Buff Bites - Colorado Buffaloes vs. Kansas State Wildcats

irish1611 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:42:16 -0000

Buffs aim for road reversal - The Denver Post

CU is 2-16 on the road under coach Dan Hawkins, including last year's game against Florida State at Jacksonville, a contest that was technically a "neutral site" game although it was played in Florida and more than 1,700 miles from Boulder. The Buffs have lost their past nine road games — including Florida State — and have not won a Big 12 road contest since Oct. 27, 2007, when they beat Texas Tech 31-26. That year, CU also beat Baylor in Waco. Those are the two road wins in the Hawkins era.

KSU ready for Hansen this year - Boulder Daily Camera

It makes sense for CU to do all it can to force that passing game to produce today. If the Buffs allow running back Daniel Thomas, the Big 12's third leading rusher, to have his way, it might be a long day for the defense.

CU wants to stuff the run and make the Wildcats pass. It has been a winning formula for CU twice this season and led to some near-misses as well. Defensive coordinator Ron Collins has the Buffs playing well after a slow start this season. The most dramatic improvement has come in stopping the run. CU has held Kansas and Texas -- both nationally ranked programs -- to a combined total of 38 rushing yards the past two weeks once sack yardage is deducted.

Buffs seek way to win when they leave the state - The Longmont Times-Call

Colorado-Kansas State matchups - Boulder Daily Camera

Ringo picks the Buffs 24 - 21, even suggesting that Colorado matches up even or better against Kansas State in every phase of the game except special teams. Yes, coaching was included in the head to head matchups where the Buffs were considered even with Kansas State.

Big 12 midseason awards, from the haves to the have-nots

Here is a stat I didn't know about Jimmy Smith...who knows if its accurate, I am almost positive it isn't because I know both Shipely and Briscoe caught a ball against him in man coverage but still like the recognition for Smith:

Biggest surprises: In order, the candidates are Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith, who has allowed one completion in man coverage; Texas Tech running back Harrison Jeffers; Texas defensive tackles Kheeston Randall and Ben Alexander; and OSU receiver Hubert Anyiam.

Uncoach of the Year: Colorado's Dan Hawkins wins top — rather, bottom — honors in falling way short of his bid for 10 wins and waiting too long to switch to quarterback Tyler Hansen. However, Sherman could edge out Hawkins if the Aggies win fewer than six games, which is likely.

Big 12 commissioner Beebe preaches patience over realignment - Kansas City Star

"I don’t think it’s healthy to have one division that’s just clearly dominant," he said. Beebe preaches a mixture of creativity and patience. "At the beginning of the conference (1996), you had Kansas State, Nebraska and Colorado were the dominant teams," he said. "Texas and Oklahoma weren’t as good. I think it could be cyclical and that we could be in the situation where that might turn around someday."

Buffs out to earn respect this year - Boulder Daily Camera

"I feel a little bit of anger," Cory Higgins said as he looked around the room at his more popular and appreciated peers. "I just want to earn respect I guess. It`s about that time. I`ll use this as motivation." Higgins, selected All-Big 12 third team as a sophomore, has earned individual accolades. The 6-foot-5 junior guard led the conference in steals (59), was fifth in the conference in scoring (17.5 ppg) and also led CU in rebounding (5.4 rpg) last season.

Friday football roundup | After School
Colorado Buffaloes commit Nick Hirschman is piling up the stats right now. Last night, he completed 12 passes for 413 yards and five scores. His Los Gatos team won 47 - 0.

Seniors Nick Hirschman and Andrew Berg put on a show, hooking up for four touchdowns, including back-to-back strikes of 70 and 69 yards. Hirschman finished 12-of-17 for 413 yards and five touchdowns; Berg had 247 yards receiving and four touchdowns. Jake Hackman-Salazar added 166 receiving yards and a TD. Joey Visuzzi had 19 tackles, Alec Gletzer added 14 tackles and Charlie Zweng had two fumble recoveries for Los Gatos.

Roster Stew: Texas Longhorns Defensive Line

Peter Bean — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:12:06 -0000

Ruminations on the Texas roster at the midpoint of the 2009 season. First up, the defensive line.

Defensive Ends

Each week when I get to the Defensive MVP section of the Post-Game React, I pause and consider whether I can omit Sergio Kindle, if only for diversity's sake. Each week I include him anyway, and it's never a hard decision. The physical gifts are no secret, but I find myself repeatedly writing about the energy and effort, which are otherworldly, as well. In terms of his future, his elite length, ability to change directions, and straightline speed make him a Top 10 NFL pick, and he's got the frame to add a needed 10 pounds of muscle to his upper body. Needs to work on using his hands to keep blocks off his knees, but that's about it; he's special.

~~Fellow senior~~ Junior Sam Acho has been magnificent in '09 -- a smart, disciplined, and versatile player that gives Muschamp flexibility to strategically mix and match along the line. When he's on the end, he's doing a solid job rushing the passer and a superior job maintaining gaps and assignments; when he moves inside, there's not a quicker front four than Kindle-Houston-Acho-Jones.

Speaking of Eddie Jones, he's healthy and -- like Kindle a year ago -- is enjoying a breakthrough junior season. If he stays healthy, the former five-star prospect will be an All-Conference end for Texas as a senior; he's at 6-3, 260 now and if his shoulder allows it, can comfortably get that up to 275 by the combine. His strength is his, well, strength, and he's regularly abusing hapless tackles.

Freshman freakshow Alex Okafor is the last member of the regular rotation, and he's coming on fast. As if you needed another data point to confirm the great coaching being done on the defensive side, compare Okafor's play against Oklahoma with where he was in the team's opening two games against ULM and Wyoming; he's getting closer. At 6-4, 240 he's only a fraction of what he's going to be physically, but by way of comparison recall Brian Orakpo, who arrived at Texas at around 225 pounds. Okafor's got outrageous length and top-end speed/quickness; as he adds strength and experience, he's going to be a terror.

Looking ahead a year, while Tevin Mims and Dravannti Johnson are nominally in the mix, the big splash is the arrival of 2010 recruit Reggie Wilson and, hopefully, Jackson Jeffcoat. Wilson is perhaps the wilder physical specimen while Jeffcoat (terrific size as well) is as polished a high school end as you'll ever see.

Defensive Tackles

If not for Nebraska's Suh and OU's McCoy, senior Lamarr Houston is First Team All-Big 12. He still might join them as a first round draft pick. He's playing with tremendous passion, quickness, and lateral movement. Has just one sack, but his 5 other tackles for loss result from his consistently excellent ball pursuit and terrific use of his hands to avoid engagement with blocks at the point of attack. His 17 QB Hurries trails only Sergio Kindle (18); no one else on the team has more than 8.

Problems at defensive tackle? What problems? Sophomore Kheeston Randall was the big question mark and he's more than answered the challenge. Though not exactly overflowing with closing speed, Randall has displayed terrific lateral agility and quickness, as well as quality burst at the snap. He's been terrific eating the inside gap and has been a key factor in both Houston and Muckelroy succeeding as they have.

The feel good story of the '09 team has to be the tremendous senior year contributions from Ben Alexander, a guy who clearly busted his ass in the offseason, shed some body fat, and committed himself to being as prepared as he could be to give the team important minutes. Through six games, Alexander's got 17 tackles, including 4 for a loss; if you aren't happy for him, you have no soul.

Finally, sophomore Tyrell Higgins and freshman Calvin Howell have been sprinkled into the rotation. Higgins has a ways to go with his body; Howell won't need his mama around to develop into a quality tackle by next fall. Freshman Derek Johnson is redshirting and working on his strength, but he's got the size to play starting next year.

Morning Coffee Loves Beating OU

GhostofBigRoy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:31:57 -0000

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP

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Flavor of the Week at running back: Cody Johnson. Yes, one might be inclined to suggest that Fozzy Whittaker deserves this honor after what was undoubtedly his best performance in a Longhorn uniform and to further suggest that the only reason Cody Johnson is receiving this coveted honor is because the Flavor of the Week must change, avoid repeats as long as possible. Both valid arguments.

However, there are several reasons for Johnson winning the award this week -- the first reason is the hard work that he put in this fall to lose nearly 20 pounds and maximize his quickness. Yes, he should have been in better shape coming into fall practice, but the point is that right now he is where he needs to be physically. The second reason is that the coaching staff seems to finally have settled on the proper role for Johnson -- a fourth-quarter battering ram to bludgeon tired defenses. Mack Brown spent a lot of time during the spring and beginning of fall practice talking about wanting to run a better four-minute drill at the end of games to kill the clock and maintain possession of the football. For that role, Johnson is the perfect weapon.

Johnson also wins this award because against Oklahoma he looked as quick as he ever have, but more importantly, he ran angry, with a purpose, instead of the tentative Johnson from earlier in the season. The end result -- five carries for 31 yards, helping him finish with the highest per-carry average on the team for the game, while also catching a pass out of the backfield for a six-yard gain. He won't ever be a big-play threat in the passing game, but if he can make himself available for McCoy to pick up positive yardage on otherwise well-defended plays it can provide a big lift to an offense struggling to find an identity.

The bottom line is that Johnson provides the Longhorns with a serious weapon in games that are close into the fourth quarter and in situations where Texas needs to kill the clock. Nice to see him finally deployed in a way that strategically makes sense other than his specialty, short-yardage situations.

Musical chairs at the receiver position. John Chiles took a beating in PB's Postgame React due to his inability to separate from defenders. Well deserved after catching two passes for one yard on the day, one of them on a slip screen that Oklahoma clealry saw coming, as they did not even bother to line up a defensvie back over him. Had he just run straight down the field he probably would have been open. James Kirkendoll picked up a personal foul penalty for head-butting Quinton Carter, who apparently took acting lessons this off season from former punter Mike Knall and would have made Vlade Divac or your average Argentinian basketball player proud with his subsequent flop. Kirkendoll caught three passes for 11 yards and may be the biggest disappointment in the receiving corps after so much off season talk about how consistently he runs routes. Besides the Wyoming game, Kirkendoll has provided little in the way of help this season on offense and has been giving questionable effort.

So, exit Kirkendoll and Chiles, enter Malcolm Williams and Marquise Goodwin. During his Monday press conference, Brown spoke about wanting to run the ball better to open up more play-action possibilities downfield, which is where Williams enters the equation. The bottom line is that the other receivers haven't produced, so it's time to finally, belatedly, see what Williams can do with his first shot at extended playing time. As for Goodwin, the touchdown catch and the diving play near the sideline illustrate just how good he can be with more opportunities. It's cliche now given that he's proven all season that he's a football player willing to put as much of a hit on defenders as he can, but it's true. He's a football player who also happens to be an all-world track star and the future at Texas is incredibly bright for that young man. It's also worth noting that Jordan Shipley will return to the flanker position that he occupied most of the last season after failing to create separation against Oklahoma's Brian Jackson, who surely raised his NFL stock with his strong performance on Saturday.

Tracking: playmaking defense. What a change a year can make. After forcing five turnovers against Oklahoma, with two coming on special teams, the Longhorns now have three more turnovers than they forced all of last season. Individually, Earl Thomas now has five interceptions, only one fewer than the team had as a whole in 2008 and good enough to tie for the national lead in that category. Apparently not content to allow his brother to recover all the fumbles, Emmanuel Acho joined the party with two fumble recoveries and would have had a chance at the fumble Thomas forced near the goalline had he broken down a little better instead of overrunning the football. Hey, at this point, if an Acho is around a loose football and doesn't recover it, it's a remarkable occurrence.

Curtis Brown and Deon Beasley, once regarded as the two least physical members of the entire defense, put hard hits on Oklahoma players to knock the ball out, with Beasley's play probably ranking as his best at Texas, though there really isn't much competition. Like Michael Huff and Aaron Ross before them, it's now time to say that Duane Akina has finally molded them into football players. At points last season, I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to say that about them.

Consider for a second the stats put up by Earl Thomas -- seven tackles, two for loss, three pass break ups, one forced fumble, and one interception. Thomas had huge expectations for growth entering the season and it's safe to say that he has fulfilled those expectations and perhaps even gone beyond them. His play on the interception was just beautiful -- he faked the blitz towards the line of scrimmage, then dropped back into coverage and showed off his excellent speed doing so. Kid is fun to watch and it will be a travesty if he doesn't win a Thorpe Award at Texas.

Speaking of which, he might end up with some serious competition from Aaron Williams, who recovered from the biggest mistake of his career, the missed tackle on the long touchdown by Ryan Broyles, by using his sick vertical leap to catch a pass that Landry Jones was trying to throw out of bounds. You can watch football for a long time and never see a more athletic pick than that. Oh yeah, and he also knocked the reigning Heisman winner out of the game. If Will Muschamp could engineer a nickel back, he would have a hard time making a more perfect player than Aaron Williams. Simply incredible.

It's easy to forget now how much the Longhorns had to replace on the defensive line losing four players who were essentially starters or major members of the rotation in Roy Miller, Brian Orakpo, Aaron Lewis, and Henry Melton. This group inside is playing about as well as you could ask -- even though Sergio Kindle doesn't have the gaudy sack numbers, every team slides their protection to his side of the field and he still makes plays, pressuring the quarterback and playing the running game so quickly and aggressively that he's able to consistently make plays up and down the line of scrimmage. The player that he has become in the last season and a half makes his usage through his first two seasons at Texas all the more criminal. Shame on you, Gene Chizik, Larry Mac Duff, and Duane Akina.

Sam Acho's play on the other side deserves plaudits as well -- he has made the jump predicted in his first season lagging heavy snaps. Then there's the interior of the line, supposedly a major weakness. Remember that? Seems so long ago, doesn't it, since we were all wringing our hands about the defensive tackle position? Lamarr Houston has been unbelievable and Ben Alexander continues to play extremely well in his last season on the 40 Acres. Kheeston Randall has held his own, but now has at least three roughing the passer penalties on the season and that needs to stop. Like, yesterday. Oscar Giles and Mike Tolleson both deserve a raise after the job they have done with this group. Phenomenal.

Tracking: special teams. The special teams may not have scored a touchdown on Saturday, but they sure worked hard at it. Deon Beasley's forced fumble along the sideline nearly led to a scoop and score by Malcolm Williams, but I still have no idea how the officials ended up determining that it was Texas ball at the OU 18. As mentioned below, the field goal kicking was perfect from Hunter Lawrence and the rubgy punt was much more effective this week from Justin Tucker, who did not kick the ball left-footed during the game.

Of his eight punts on the day, Tucker put three inside the Oklahoma 20 yardline and averaged 45 yards per attempt, including one 60-yarder. The concern is that he's having trouble consistently getting the ball to fall in front of opponents to get that good roll he consistently got last season, which creates another problem -- with the low, line-drive nature of the punts, it's easy to out-kick the coverage, especially if the punt travels 40 or more yards in the air. That precise scenario allowed Dominique Franks to return a punt 30 yards to midfield. After a week of evaluating whether to stick with the rugby punting or return to using John Gold, Brown clearly made the philosophical decision to stick with Tucker and that simply may be the way that Texas continues to punt in the future.

The return game was not as effective as it has been, with Shipley picking up negative yardage on his two punt returns and DJ Monroe failing to break off any long plays on his three returns. On the positive side, Antwan Cobb returned a sky kick 18 yards and Monroe was effective, averaging 25 yards a return, certainly enough to give the Longhorns the good field position they enjoyed for most of the day.

The Sooners made the smart decision to block Marquise Goodwin when punting, but Aaron Williams came free on the edge and nearly blocked the first attempt of the day. Good to see him return to action in that capacity. On the other side, the Longhorns covered kicks as well as they have this season, holding Mossis Madu to only 21 yards per return on the day.

Overall, it's clear that the Sooners have worked hard in the last year to shore up their kick coverage and did a passable job by not allowing any long returns by Jordan Shipley or DJ Monroe. However, it's equally clear that Texas will continue to win the special teams phase of the game if the Longhorns can continue to cover kicks and get good production of Justin Tucker rugby punting. And it should be a major relief to Texas fans that Hunter Lawrence proved himself so capable on such a pick stage. Way to go, kicker.

Randomness. Let's do this bullet-style.

The game plan running the football was excellent against Oklahoma with some actual misdirection and using DJ Monroe in motion on the jet sweep. Kudos to the coaching staff. The plan in the passing game? Not so much.
Recently, PB asked me about where I would rank this Texas defense and after that performance against Oklahoma, it has to rank right up there with 2005, but this team even seems to have a few more playmakers on it. Another performance like that against Missouri and I might be inclined to put them in front of that excellent 2005 unit.
Fozzy Whittaker won the Hard Hat award this week after crashing into Thomas following a personal foul committed by Oklahoma. Mack Brown said that the team had a good laugh about that at the meeting.
How clutch was Hunter Lawrence? Anyone who has watched teams like South Florida over the years knows that field goals of over 40 yards are far from gimmes in the college game and Lawrence nailed identical 42-yarders. You can bet that Bobby Petrino would have sacrificed one of his children to have someone that consistent against Florida this weekend.
Blake Gideon missed six tackles by himself against Oklahoma. Christian Scott let his team down terribly by failing to remain eligible and I wonder how his teammates will accept him back next season, assuming that he makes progress academically -- will it be hard for them to trust someone who left them hanging with his own selfishness?
Why has the offensive line been such a disaster in the first half of so many games, only to respond with sometimes-dominant performances in the second half? I love the ability to finish, but why the consistently poor play early?
You may have heard rumors about OU still sucking. Absolutely true.

Getting To Know The Texas Longhorns: Q&A with Burnt Orange Nation

Jon Woods — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:40:38 -0000

The Ralphie Report sat down for a quick Q&A with Peter Bean of the SBNation Texas Longhorn site, Burnt Orange Nation. Peter gives us some insight into some of the key positions to watch this weekend as well as some important gambling tips. Take a look!

Head over to BON to see our responses to their questions.

Taking the level of competition into account, how would you asses Colt McCoy's performance so far this season? Closer to 2007 or 2008?

The 5 interceptions is more in line with 2007, but it's just not possible for anyone watching closely to think he's regressed since last year. He's unequivocally a better football player today than he was in 2007. It's also worth acknowledging that when you put up one of the freakier statistical seasons in college football history, some regression to the mean is likely. The important question for Texas is whether McCoy can settle into a similar comfort-level as that in which he operated a year ago. He's still building rapport with new receivers and has at times appeared to be pressing a bit. It's hard to blame him given the expectations.

I drafted Malcolm Williams in my fantasy league and he's gotten next to no points. Outside of Jordan Shipley and Dan Buckner (A-town represent) who is catching McCoy's passes and how would you grade the unit as a whole?

I'm glad you drafted Williams on your own and not after asking me because I'd have told you to grab him and you'd be blaming me for his early season no-show. With that said, if you have the roster flexibility to wait it out, I'd hold on to him for a while. As I wrote earlier today (link:http://www.burntorangenation.com/2009/10/8/1076558/pre-game-musings-colorado-at-texas), he's an enormously "high reward" player Texas needs to try to involve more. I doubt you'll be rooting for as much this Saturday, but I'm rather hoping this is the week he begins his ascendance.
Beyond Williams, Buckner and Colt McCoy's roommate, Texas gets the ball to John Chiles and James Kirkendoll with some regularity, though neither has been a huge factor in the receiving game so far. Talent-wise, this unit is an A-grade group, but there's clearly some learning and comfort-building going on out there right now. Their production and excellent blocking earn them a solid B for performance so far, but the ceiling is much higher.

The Longhorns have lacked a featured running back for the past few seasons. How has the position shaken out so far this year and how does the fan base feel about the unit's progress to date? Follow question, was Mack Brown smoking crack when he said he was scared of the CU running game?

From one hippie town to another, you should know that it was grass or hashish, dude. This isn't Rutgers. (To answer your question: that's just Mack being Mack, and while you can rightfully poke fun at his folksiness, it's genuine and infinitely preferable to the petulant egomania of a guy like Bob Stoops.)
As for the Texas tailbacks, there's a group of good-not-great guys with similar skill sets that Texas can plug-n-play, highlighted by Tre' Newton and Vondrell McGee. Beyond that, I'm personally bullish on redshirt sophomore Fozzy Whittaker, who along with having one of the greatest names in the history of ever has been sidelined by just enough nagging injuries to justify optimism that "if he can just get healthy..." a big breakout awaits. Both (a breakout or lasting health) are mere hopes at this point.

Also worth mentioning is short-yardage and goal-line specialist Cody Johnson, who has proved as a law of physics that he is incapable of losing yards. Everyone in the stadium and on both sidelines knows where the ball is going when Texas needs a yard or two, but no one has stopped him yet. We probably take it for granted, but shouldn't - it's tremendously valuable.

We all know about Sergio Kindle, but I believe the rest of your defensive line is rather young. Give us the lowdown on the other starters and who we should watch out for.

It's not so much young as it was unproven before the season. Starting nose tackle Kheeston Randall is a true sophomore, but starting alongside Randall is senior standout Lamarr Houston. (Senior Ben Alexander is the primary substitute on the inside.) At end opposite Kindle is junior Sam Acho, a strong and smart D-Lineman who will occasionally slide to the interior to make room for fourth-year junior Eddie Jones, whose name I suspect Colorado fans will know by the end of Saturday's game.
An injury to Kindle or Houston would carry scary consequences for the unit, but so long as they remain healthy, they've looked terrific and quashed every preseason worry.

I would ask a question about your secondary here but they won't be needed this weekend. Instead, how you feel about the Dez Bryant situation?

I think I'll just add a "Seconded" to Gobbler Country's take on the topic (link: http://www.gobblercountry.com/2009/10/7/1075498/ot-dez-bryants-suspension-is-why-i):
"Bryant thought just going to Sanders' house was a violation of NCAA rules. I don't blame him. It seems every small, stupid thing is an NCAA violation, even if it's just Chillin' With Deion. The NCAA has these kids scared to leave their dorms without doing something that will cost them their eligibility.

That's not how it should be. If the kids take pay for play then they should be ineligible. But when kids start thinking that talking to a retired NFL player is a violation, then you know there are too many rules.

Congratulations on busting such a nefarious rule breaker like Dez Bryant, NCAA. Now when are we going to hear something from you about Reggie Bush?"

Hypothetical... If CU somehow upset the Longhorns in Austin this weekend (hey, K-State and A&M pulled it off) do you think that Texas would still be able to recover and advance to the National Championship game like OU did last year (and no, I don't think it will happen)?

If Texas loses to Colorado on Saturday, they might be able to recover to get to the Big 12 title game, but they will not play in Pasadena.

Last question. Does Texas cover the 32 point spread?

Texas could start slow coming out of a bye week and I've no doubt Hawkins will try to slow this game to a crawl by running the football, so it's a risky bet perhaps, but if I were to throw money down I'd lay the points. My sense is that Texas is rounding into form. Playing a night game in front of an excited home crowd, I won't be surprised if this one gets out of hand by halftime.