I first started reading and commenting on this blog in August 2007. Since that pre-season of Colt euphoria (coming off his record-setting freshman season) and justified anxiety about the defense, the most consistent complaint about the Horns, like a festering boil in the nether regions, has been the poor play of the offensive line. From observations of wussiness, to consternation about the zone blocking schemes left over from Vince young's zone read days of 2005, to derision by recruits (see Jake Matthews, 2008) the line was a laughing stock (ridiculed even in defeat by Rice defensive linemen in 2010). Even I likened the line to a collection of "dancing bears" during the 2009 journey to the MNC game. Though many UT players and units dug themselves holes in the slime at the bottom of the proverbial barrel in 2010, no unit reached the depths of the offensive line. Poor coaching, missed assignments, flailed reach and cut blocks, and two tackles (Hix and Mitchell) with the feet of mermaids produced the catastrophic inconsistency that turned the mush that was Garrett Gilbert's confidence into a final, cold soup worthy of the Bastille circa 1789. Given the recruiting assessments of the assortment of flesh that began 2010 as the Texas offensive line, it was not an understatement to to rate the Horns' 2010 performance as a "big ugly."

So here we are in 2011, and what are the prospects? The mainstream media claims that bad line last year plus only 36 collective starts must mean bad line this year. On the other hand, one could argue that the raw material is there in terms of beef and athleticism; what is needed is something to turn that meat into a gourmet meal. Even the most tasteless corn-fed anti-bioticized rump roast can be converted into a spectacular entree with the right sauce. As Texans, the sauce we'd all like to have on the plate would be a slow-cooked third generation recipe barbecue mix. So the question is whether the Texas coaches can create that "sauce" in the environment  of offensive plays, blocking schemes and techniques, and the collective attack psychology of the group. 

In the restaurant that is the Texas football season, Mack Brown fired the chefs, remodeled from 1970's avocado to 21st century eclectic, and re-opened for business in late July. Brian Harsin and Major Applewhite have designed an offense that creates favorable blocking angles, and Stacy Searels has taken the concept of football boot camp to a new meaning. Those in need of attitude adjustments need not apply (are you hearing me Paden Kelley?). All has been whipped, pressure-cooked, and deep-fried together from scratch in a frenzy that would make McDonald's logistics engineers blush, and there's still a lot of experimenting in the kitchen. The aroma is tantalizing, but the question is, is this new simple, whisked sauce worthy of a successful re-opening of the Texas offensive menu? Or will we be muttering about the failure of the fancy new chefs by mid-course and despairing of any hope? My take is that the Texas offensive line will fall short of a "to die for" barbecue sauce but just might come together as a satisfying au jus.

 Will Texas fans be satisfied with an excellent au jus in lieu of aged barbeque from their offensive line this year?

The Texas coaches simply haven't had the time to forge an unbeatable barbeque. The Horns' best hope may be to get the right players in the right positions for some running and playaction success, but the line likely can't withstand the pass rush assault that would come on repeated third and long plays.

via retrodinnerdiva.files.wordpress.com

Success in 2011 will depend heavily on whether fifth year senior Tray Allen can live up to his 5 star recruiting ranking and lock down left tackle.

via cdn.bleacherreport.net

if you can't have.....

via www.foodnetwork.co.uk

i.e. Justin Blalock,

via cdn.bleacherreport.net

So what will this collection of stock, onions and salt look like? After the jump, I explore the key players, schemes, and overall outlook for the Texas offensive line in 2011. Explore after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The controversy of showing high school football games on the new Longhorn Network (LHN) and the threat that OU and aTm will bolt for the SEC is nothing more than an over-bet bluff in the first round of a poker tournament. For OU and aTm to move to the SEC would require the alignment of so many planets and so many backroom deals between universities and state governments, that their threat is a bit like a wife threatening to move to the Riviera when her husband refuses to take out the trash.  

If Texas wants to make the most of its long-term opportunities with LHN, it must keep a seat at the Big 12-2 table. via www.blindbetpoker.com

The threat of realignment seems more truly centered on a much larger issue that will likely play out in all of college football over the next decade as a series of high stakes matches worthy of an entire World Series of Poker epic. The Big 12-2, that loosely tangled conglomerate of schools with dramatically different market potentials, athletic traditions, and geographical and academic cultures, is merely the test tube for the grand economic experiment that is unfolding in college football. The issue for colleges and universities (note that I did not say the NCAA, because the financial choices of universities have nothing to do with the NCAA) is how to mix revenue generation and "fair" competition. Specifically, should individual universities fully exploit their marketing power even if they gain too unfair a competitive advantage in the perceptions of their sporting partners? After the jump, I try to expand on what Peter’s excellent missives suggest is the "long play."

Continue reading this post »

Bill Parcells was famous in his post-loss press conferences of shrugging his shoulders and declaring, "It is what it is." Since we fans have to listen to Mack Brown and Greg Davis after games, there's no chance of hearing that. Mack seems to think that if the coaches claim some general unspecified responsibility ("I need to do better") and then pump highly pressurized sunshine, this is good enough for the public. So I thought I might offer some Parcellsian postgame comments that explore what really happened in the OU game. The 2010 Texas Longhorns are a collection of great athletes with self-defeating mindsets as a consequence of the schizophrenia of ultra-conservative offensive coaching and ultra-aggressive attitudes in the defense. As I discuss after the break, there is cause for concern about the future but also some signs of life. The Longhorns are what they are, a flawed team of talented players with slightly unscrewed heads, a suburban soccer attitude, and some potential to be better than they've looked the last two weeks.

The proverbial "game of inches" for Texas has become a game of nanometers. The nanometers, that is, of distance across the neuronal synapses of the warped psyches that led to 9 penalties for 81 yards, including 4 penalties on defense that extended Sooner scoring drives and 1 drive-killing penalty on offense. The nanometers left uncrossed of the synapses in Mack Brown's and Greg Davis' right brains that would allow them to believe in their sophomore quarterback and his ability to throw in the middle of the field to wide open receivers. The nanometers gained by Texas running backs in the second half when Oklahoma offered up the softest underbelly since Chris Farley. And of course, the nanometers crossed by Landry Jones' fingertips that pushed his fumbled ball just to the left of Jared Norton's covering lunge, causing the ball to be pushed out of bounds in a final cruel coup de gras of futility.

One of many neural synapses that failed to fire on the Texas Longhorn coaches and players against Oklahoma via 1.bp.blogspot.com

The mistakes of past games on defense thus continued. The offense made fewer mistakes than against UCLA, but continued to be generally moribund until the risk of losing exceeded the risk of a bad play and the offense showed a few signs of life. Some detailed thoughts after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

All right, people. Buckle your chinstrap. No more screwing around with metaphors, weird humor and strange analogies. This is serious business. We're going to analyze the un-analyzable and attempt, from afar, and without compensation, to propose where the Texas Longhorns' offense can go from here for the rest of 2010. All the remaining games are winnable. We are fans, and we shall overcome the tortoise-like properties of one Greg Davis, fume about the mindlessness of the Horns' senior leadership, or decry the strangely empty results of offensive recruiting over the past 5 years, and as mighty mites irritating the skin of the Texas coaching staff, shall attempt to fix the problem with all of our amateur might.

Amateur analysts arise! Descend on the skin of Greg Davis and dare to inject your great wisdom, O mighty mites of the interwebs! There is yet hope to topple the evil empire of of Greg Davis and his polluted vassal,  young Garrett Gilbert , and opiated minions otherwise known as the Texas wide receivers and tight ends. Let freedom ring!   www.koppertonline.ca 

 Hope. Defined as "the general feeling that some desire will be fulfilled." Often used in the context of when failure seems imminent, that is to expect a positive outcome when all indicator lights are flashing red, and steam is issuing forth from all apertures, when every instinct is to bail and run for the nearest bomb shelter.

So what exactly is the hope of fans of this tortured version of the Longhorns? Well let's start with the crazy ones and put those out of their misery.

1. Freaky Saturday will descend and Garrett Gilbert will wake up as Vince Young, stride onto the field, run the zone read offense, and vanquish the Sooners. Okay... right...uh... next?

2. Major Applewhite gets the play-calling mantle. Are you kidding me? This is OU week.

3. Greg Davis puts in DJ Monroe for 20 plays and actually runs a (gasp) toss sweep out of the I formation on 8 of them. On the basis of this wrinkle, plus the usual jet sweeps and draws, DJ goes off for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns, and the Horns win 34-10. Greg Davis thinks a toss sweep is a trick play, so we can only run it once a game...next?

4. A Sooner defensive back falls down on Texas' first series, giving up a 70 yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Williams. Jackson Jeffcoat mauls Landry Jones, strips the ball and Sam Acho carries the ball in for a touchdown. Down 14, OU panics a little and passes too much, playing into the strength of the Texas defense. Result: Texas 20 OU 10. That's why they play the game, but hey, let's get real.

5. Garrett Gilbert will go deep to Texas' speedy receivers 10 times during the game, throwing for 2 interceptions but four touchdowns, and Texas wins 31-17. Okay, there's actually some possibility... uh..

 Greg Davis considering the prospect of throwing deep against a two-deep safety coverage. a.espncdn.com

Uh.. not happening.

6. Greg Davis changes the "rules" for Garrett Gilbert to throw into tighter coverage windows for larger gains. Hmm.... Now we might be getting somewhere.

7. The offensive line finally figures out how to assign protection to asymmetric defensive fronts in which an outside linebacker or defensive end lines up way outside to the offense's left, and the other defensive linemen (and potential blitzing linebacker) crowd the right. This alignment has caused two strip-sack fumbles plus at least two other sacks in Gilbert's five meaningful games, including the MNC. It also produced two sacks on Colt McCoy in the RRS last year. The problem is that Texas has an automatic protection call to shift protection to the right without regard to who is isolated on a TE (!) or left tackle, like Jeremy Beals, which leads to This should be a certain improvement, not a hope. But wait... this has been a problem since last year's OU game. Hmmm...

8. Garrett Gilbert reverts to his second half form from the MNC and begins to look off safeties and linebackers and deliver good passes up the seam. Another possibility.

Hopes 1-4 simply aren't going to happen during a one-week preparation for OU. To find out if hopes 5-8 would make a difference, I break down some plays (take your acetaminophen now, everyone) from the UCLA game after the break.

Continue reading this post »

Dr. Alan Goldberg, famous sports psychologist, is taking his final putt on the seventh hole of a round of Sunday afternoon golf, when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees a herd of goats spilling onto the green from behind. Muttering to himself, "Who let a herd of goats onto the course!" he turns around. Each goat is wearing a white shirt with a burnt orange number on it. Number 7 comes tottering up, "Hey Dr. Goldberg!"

"What now," he thinks, "TALKING goats?"

Figuring that he is in some bad dream, and that he might as well just play it out, the good doctor responds, "Uh what can I do for you?"

"Well," number 7 bleats, "We just won a football game, but, like, as we exited the locker room, we, like, all turned into goats."

A whole new concept in sports - the Texas Longhorns victory goats. You know, players that get criticized severely after wins? Only at the University of Texas, eh?

 

Dr. Goldberg peruses the gangly group, seeing numbers like 1, 9, 83, 64, 28, and 89. One especially scrawny, sickly-looking goat wears number 72. "So how do you think this happened?"

The 7 goat turns his head sideways, "If we knew, we, like, wouldn't be here. I mean, we went up to Lubbock, where Texas has lost 3 of the last six times and lost in 2008, on that, you know, freaky pass at the end of the game. And anyway, like we just WON THE GAME, 24-14, and were feeling pretty good about ourselves, and were headed out to get on the bus to the plane, and blink, we all turned into, like, goats."

"What's your name, son?"

"Garrett."

"Well, Garrett, I have a few questions. Why don't we step over to my golf cart and try to sort this out?"

Bleating louder now in encouragement, the cluster of goats parades over to surround the doctor as he sits in his cart.

" So, were all your teammates turned into goats?"

"Well, sorry, sir, I guess, like, not all of them were. It looks like only some offensive players became goats. It looks like defensive players numbered 3, 21, 32, 44, 91, and even, wow, number 8, headed off on the bus."

"How do you feel about that, Garrett?"

"How d'ya think I feel, I mean, we won the game. I guess I, like, threw three interceptions and got sacked a few times. But hey, I threw for over 200 yards and for two touchdowns. I mean, like, what's up with this goat business? You're only, like, a goat when you lose, right?"

"And I had a great kick-out block to help score the first touchdown," chimed in number 83. " My name is Greg, by the way.

The babble of bleating crescendoed, as each goat tried to get in what they had done well. Dr. Goldberg held up his hands. "OK, OK! Calm down."

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his smartphone. "We can figure this out guys," as he peered sideways, still not convinced that he was really surrounded by a herd of talking goats who claimed to be the Texas Longhorn offense.

"All right let's take a look at the play by play here on the internet. Surely we can identify what this is all about... Wait!, Here's an analysis straight off the internet from a couple of wiseguys named ''Peter Bean' and 'burnt in ny.'"

"What would they know? I mean their just fans!" fumed number 64.

"Calm down, 64, maybe they are FOS, but then again, maybe he doesn't have all this baggage and the need to keep up the good PR front like your herder, ah, coach. And by the way, where is your coach anyway?

"Oh, you mean Coach Davis?" The goats all looked at each other. "Uh, he, like, lost us."

"Really? How did that happen? I mean, how does a coach lose his offense?"

"I don't know Dr. Goldberg. He was muttering a lot at the end of the game, and just, like, kept calling the same play over and over." The goats sort of rolled their eyes and stamped their hooves.

Dr. Goldberg pressed his fingers to his temples. This wasn't necessarily going to be easy. I mean it's like the first rule of psych warfare that if you cut off the head, the body will die. But these guys looked like they hadn't been herded properly in awhile. A vision of Greg Davis as Little Bo Peep flashed into his head, and he gulped down a little bile.

"All right goats, er guys, let's get into them." He held up the smartphone.

 

Continue reading this post »

Meta - what? This is sports, right, not psychology. Well, it goes without saying that much of sports performance is psychology, and Satyurday night's game with Wyoming was a classic example. The example, that is, of Garrett Gilbert, that hoped for superstar-to-be quarterback. In both the Rice game and for the first 25 minutes of the Wyoming game, I felt like I was looking at a stranger when I watched Gilbert play. Where was that pocket presence and quick decision-making we all saw in the MNC? Where was that pocket presence and ability to look off defenders? Mr. Gilbert had all of spring ball, summer 7-on-7's, and fall practice do get in sync with his receivers, so With 5:17 left in the first half against Wyoming, I just can't buy that this is a, "he's just not in rhythm with his receivers yet," scenario.

Psychologists have a term for when someone is thinking about what they are thinking, called "metacognition," and that's what I saw from Garrett Gilbert throughout the Rice game and until Alex Okafor took the wrong gap in a pass rush in a cover 1 blitz, allowing Austyn Carta-Samuels to stroll 18 yards for a TD and give Wyoming a 7-6 lead. It seems clear now, that Gilbert and the entire Longhorns offensive unit unit looked at these games as "practice" until, all of a sudden, it wasn't. Garrett in the first 25 minutes Saturday was worrying about where his foot was, what throwing motion he was using, which safety he was reading, which receiver Greg Davis wanted to get some reps, how long he should wait before looking to his checkdown, etc. You know, thinking about what he was thinking. Result? Not bad, but not great, and to the fans, singularly uninspiring: 10 of 18 (55%) passing for 89 yards (4.94 yards per attempt), for two field goals.

So Wyoming takes the lead, and from the scowl Mack had on his face on the sideline you can just imagine Mack saying to Greg Davis, "It ain't practice anymore." More importantly, I think Garrett just said, "Screw it, I'm just playing." And behold, the waters parted, the bed of the sea was dry land, and Garrett Gilbert ignited like the burning bush. Garrett made play after play. After the jump, I review this performance and offer some other thoughts on the offensive line, Tyrell Higgins, and the UT safeties.

Continue reading this post »

Saturday's underwhelming performance by the Texas Longhorns against the Rice Owls was like a bad take-out Chinese dinner. The beef, soy sauce, veggies, and ginger were all in there, but the sauce was weird and the Rice was dry. In football terms, we saw the beef in tremendous overall team speed on defense, the veggies in great performances from critical people like Sam Acho, Kheeston Randall, Keenan Robinson, David Snow, and Malcolm Williams, and ginger in the promise of Kenny Vaccaro as a playmaker in the Big Nickel against spread offenses. The Horns finished dinner (got the win) but had a few too many burps afterward for my taste.

But the sauce? You know, that right mix of ingredients that pulls everything together? Not so much. Like a missing right side of the offensive line. Like LB's that took too many poor pursuit angles (but got away with it because hey, it's Rice), or played the zone read with insane devotion to the running back. Like wide receivers who couldn't beat Rice's Dean's List cornerbacks off the line, down the field, or pretty much anywhere for that matter. Throw in some gaffes in the punt return game, and a few lucky Rice bounces, and I was left wondering if I should try a new restaurant (like following the Horns next year), or hope that the kitchen (coaching) staff can go all Gordon Ramsay and spit that old sauce in the trash and get in the face of some underachievers.

Texas had a bad Chinese take-out taste in it's mouth after gulping down some dry Rice and strange sauce at Reliant Stadium. Looking forward to what DKR has to offer next week.

For some nice overviews see Peter's First Quarter Notes and Postgame React, and Ghost's Trends, and InDKR's analysis. My focus here (after the jump) is on evaluating three of the biggest question marks for the Longhorns going into the season

1. Is the offensive line an offense or an inspiration to the Garrett Gilbert era?

2. Can anyone play defensive tackle other than Kheeston Randall?

3. What up with the WR's?

4. Where is this team headed?

I think we have evidence of a very ADVENTUROUS season for the Horns with a high likelihood of unexpected heroes and goats to go with the bastions of predictably good performance (Sam Acho anyone?) The Horns could be anywhere from 9 to 14 wins, depending on how many players step up as the season progresses.

Continue reading this post »

It's officially the off-season, and just like any good steer, Longhorn fans are left to wander off to the shade and ruminate on things that were and things the might yet be. In the interest of making the first belch, I thought I would visit the issue of the new offense and Texas' current crop of frustrating wide receivers.

via farm4.static.flickr.com - There's nothing like an off-season rumination party for Longhorn fans

The story begins back In 2008 (seems like a long time ago already), the Texas Longhorns produced their own lethal version of the spread offense built on the short-intermediate passing accuracy of Colt McCoy and the football IQ and sticky hands of two of the Horns' most prolific receivers in history: Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley. In 2008 they became the first pair of wide receivers to surpass 1000 yards receiving in the same season, and they helped Colt McCoy to a single-season NCAA record for pass completion percentage. This flood of success was based on something called the "two-man passing game," (for more details, see Chris Brown's pre-season article from his ‘Smart Football' blog) in which McCoy and his receivers would read the defense, and the receivers would choose the "option" of different possible routes that would best exploit the coverage and force defenders to leave someone open. With McCoy, Cosby, Shipley, and as the season wore on, Brandon Collins, on the same page in reading the defense on virtually every play, the Longhorns sliced and diced opponents like ripe mangoes most of the year, culminating in the impromptu go route by Cosby against the blitzing Buckeyes to which Colt delivered a perfect zinger with just 16 seconds left to win the Fiesta Bowl.

via i.cdn.turner.com - No current starting Texas receiver has anything close to the hands and quickness of Quan Cosby, shown here making a tough catch in the 2008 Red River Rivalry.

Both Cosby and Shipley found success in 2008 by routinely beating  safeties and linebackers to spots with their quickness. Once frustrated defenders began anticipating which "options" Texas receivers would choose and jumping routes, Cosby and Shipley would bait the defenders into jumping the simple inside or outside cuts of the normal routes and then, with what's called a double move, quickly cut opposite to the direction of the closing defender into open spaces for big gains and touchdowns. Perhaps Shipley's finest game was the Masumoto knife-filleting of Oklahoma in which he beat linebackers and safeties to a spot on several consecutive plays, and then burned them for a big play on a double move. Shipley further became "the man" in 2009 with his signature crossing routes and more double moves.

The result? Without a doubt, the most effective passing offense in the history of UT.

But wait, this article is about ruminating, not remembering, and so you ask, "Why bring up Cosby and Shipley at all?" The answer is, because Texas' new "downhill, under center" offense may be as much about featuring  its stable of wide receivers as it is about getting one of the posse of running backs going. More specifically, the peculiar athletic skills of Cosby and Shipley - not overwhelming straight line speed, but instead scintillating quickness and ridiculously good hands - are missing from the receivers left behind. Their skill set, in the form of the legs of James Kirkendoll, Malcolm Williams, John Chiles, and Marquise Goodwin, is mostly about straight line speed and not so much about quickness.

Speed...quickness...what's the difference? After the jump, I explore the consequences of one versus the other and how this will impact the Horns' offense in 2010.

Continue reading this post »

The period of mourning is over and it's time to take a hard look at the MNC game and discover the truths about what happened so we can make honest appraisals about the Horns' prospects for 2010 and beyond. The positive story of the game for the Horns was hands down the "discovery" that Garrett Gilbert will likely be an excellent quarterback. However, in reading the nearly 1000 comments posted in the days since the game, I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about how Gilbert performed, how much or little his teammates helped him, and how Greg Davis called the game. In the process of charting the offensive plays, a different pattern emerges than that related by the quick and thoughtless columns from the mainstream media. Frankly it resembled one of those cartoons by which a fish climbs out of the water to walk on land, becoming a frog, and then a lizard, and then a mammal, and then an ape, and then a human - a rapid transformation that most football fans expect to take years, but happened in the course of 66 plays last Thursday night.

Myth #1. Greg Davis waited until late in the third quarter to open up the playbook and let Gilbert try to win the game. Truth #1. While Davis did call a conservative game for the first couple of series for Gilbert, it wasn't just running the same play over and over - there was still some scheming and a clear attempt to give Gilbert a chance to make a play. By the middle of the second quarter, GD was going for it with middle and deep routes to Shipley, Williams and Buckner.

Myth #2. If Colt had stayed in the game, our offense would have overpowered Alabama for sure. Truth #2. Mistakes by offensive linemen and receivers that have occurred all year were repeated multiply in the MNC, and field position might have led to many of the same play calls and likely outcomes for McCoy. The offense might overall have performed better, but if Colt had to deal with the same mistakes, there's no guarantee that the offense would have flourished all game. There's also no guarantee that Colt wouldn't have stared down Shipley as much as Garrett did, since Colt had a bad habit of that all season as well.

Myth #3. Gilbert was "jittery" and inaccurate until late in the third quarter, and then gained confidence. Truth #3. Gilbert's throws were accurate enough to be caught unless he was throwing into coverage, in which he almost always seemed to put the ball where only a Texas receiver could catch it. It is true he didn't always catch people in stride, but frankly he didn't deliver the ball any less accurately than Colt did in the first half of this season.

Myth #4. The collapse in the final 3 minutes of the game was due to Texas' failures in the offensive line or the playcalling. Truth #4. Give Alabama credit - they actually threw in some new defensive wrinkles that led directly to the sack and fumble and then the interception on the subsequent drive, and I'm not sure whether Colt would/could have handled these any better than Gilbert.

To back this up, I thought that after the jump I would walk through each series so we could all take a detailed look at the evolution of Garrett Gilbert and the happiness I feel in never having to watch this offensive line play again.

Continue reading this post »

Well now, I've finally burned off all those Christmas sugar calories and made up all the hours of missed New Year's Eve sleep, and what's that? The national championship game is upon us? Hell, I thought it would never get here.

I've taken the Rip Van Winkle approach to the lead-up to this game. I've read few prognostications that had any authority or real thought put into them, and the blather from ESPN makes my mother-in-law sound like Bill Belichick. So, I've slept through most of it.

O

Psst... buddy... the game is TOMORROW!

But now the day is at hand, the excellent series of snapshots and stories by GhostofBigRoy, statistical analyses by TheElusiveShadow, and broad overviews by our master Peter are in, and it's time to wake up and get the mental gears cranking.

My purpose here is to point out a few things that I think no one, or at least no member of the media (isn't that the same thing?), is really looking at. These are likely schemes, player matchups, psychological issues, injuries, and anticipated brain farts that I think (for what that's worth) will heavily influence the outcome of the game. I'm also not interested in making the many Bama fan readers of BON (as muchas I've appreciated their classy reparte' in the past two weeks) happy - this is a hopeful column.

As with any top flight scientific theoretical exercise, let's begin with a few debatable assumptions.

1. Jordan Shipley wasn't really at the Big 12 Championship game, or at least not all of him. He suffered a mysterious (aren't they always with the Horns) foot injury in the second half of the A&M game, and after reviewing some game tape, I think it affected his explosiveness, which after all is the key to his game. Let's assume that the mysterious injury is now healed and The Roommate is now an All-American for which Bama may have no answer.

Jordan Shipley: Will his quickness be back?

2. Greg Davis will try something new. Like the Christmas present sent by my 88 year-old aunt (no it wasn't a cat), and as per GhostofBigRoy's rant against Richard Justice, I'm somewhat afraid to see what it is. But I'm certain we'll see something new from the Texas offense. 30 days isn't long enough to install the wishbone, or some such, but

3. Will Muschamp will trust his players. There will be no sell-out gambling or tricky, complex coverages for the Horns to blow in this game. The defensive strategy will be identify the gap and fill it and don't stop tackling until the ref says break it up. I expect

4. The coaches for both teams will try to put their strength against the other team's weakness. That's such an obvious thing to say, I'm embarassed to have to write it. But it is a very important principle in understanding how I think the game will play out.

What, pray tell, are these strengths and weaknesses?

For Texas, their offensive strength is Jordan Shipley and Colt McCoy's ability to make the same read on coverages and blitzes, Malcolm Williams' still untrusted, but very real ability to make tough catches and beat almost any single coverage, Tre Newton's ability to find the cutback lane, and Colt McCoy's threat to run and ability to improvise. Their weakness is the ability of the offensive line to see the field and to deliver cut blocks in space, both heavy requirements from the current blocking scheme. Their defensive strength is the ability to play man-to-man defense and make plays on the ball in the secondary, to generate pressure on the QB from the defensive tackle position, and to have sufficient overall team speed to run down any slowly-developing plays like screens and draws. Their defensive weakness is incinsistency in their ability to play effective zone defense, particularly in the transition of receivers from linebackers to safeties, frequently poor tackling ability at the corners, a lack of closing speed at free safety, and cornerbacks who sometimes do not have their head in the game.

For Alabama, their offensive strength is the power running game, which allows Mark Ingram to make plays and for the offense to control the clock, the ability to execute effectively from a wide variety of formations, and the talents of Julio Jones and Marquis Maze in running routes on play-action passes. Their weakness is in not having a good but not great QB in McElroy who has fewer improvisational skills. On defense, the Tide is strong in its ability to blitz from confusing and unpredictable angles, a scheme that allows superstar players to make plays in the middle of the field, and its intelligence.

So these assumptions add up to exactly what? A victory for Texas. To see how exactly, make the jump

Continue reading this post »

Five days post aTm and I finally have a chance to review game tapes of the worst, by a factor of 2, defensive performance of the season by the Longhorns. PB's in-depth defensive analysis of the first half suggests that the injury to Aaron Williams was a major factor, and that Muschamp's decision to use a lot of new zone coverages with two slow safeties (Brewster and Gideon) was instrumental in giving up the second two touchdown drives in the first half.  However, as when someone (Horns) gets a diagnosis of cancer (Nebraska thinking they have a chance against Texas' defense), a second opinion can be valuable.

The theme for today focuses on the often ignored domino effect in football: when a problem arises in a hidden or misunderstood area of play, like the offensive or defensive line, the problem is often manifested in a much more visible area, such as poor cornerback coverage, an ineffective running back, or (lack of) interceptions. There are two areas for considering the domino effect for the Horns: understanding the abysmal defense last Thursday night and anticipating potential trouble with the offense against Nebraska in the upcoming Big 12 championship game. Today I deal with the post-game analysis of the Aggie game, and later this week, I will visit the critical issues in the trenches for the Nebraska game.

For the first time this year, I felt that the lack of depth among Texas defensive tackles and safeties reared its ugly head in the A&M game, and with dire consequences. It was a short week, made shorter by the post senior day celebrations following the late Kansas game. The defense was on the field a long time in the second half of the Kansas game due to a few stumbles by the offense. So I believe the Horns came into the Aggie game tired and this created a domino effect that was manifested in a number of ways, including the overall lack of intensity, weak-sister tackling, and lack of mental sharpness across all positions.

After the jump, I discuss in more detail the series of dominoes that led to the collapse of the Texas defense by the end of the A&M game.

Continue reading this post »

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!

Continue reading this post »

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.

Continue reading this post »

Wow, what a strange game. After re-watching it, I came away reminded of the Texas-OU clashes from the mid-1970's, in which neither team could do anything for 3/4 of the game because the defenses were so amped up. The media looked on the game as sloppy because of all the turnovers and penalties, but the speed and power on both defenses was the root of most of the miscues (more about that later). As Mack noted, it was like a prize fight, but one in which neither team could do much more than jab without being counterpunched. Both team's collective faces look like this charming visage

via img.skysports.com

Only Texas' players are smiling

Some lessons from the game:

Greg Davis - bureaucratic loser or offensive investor?

The Colorado and Oklahoma games, coupled with strangely slow offensive performances in the first halves of ULM, Wyoming, and Texas Tech, have the fanbase in a mob mentality. Greg, you'd best not be seen at Walmart this week. Frustration with the offensive philosophy and playcalling was eloquently discussed in PB's postgame react. But I have to wonder, is the ineptitude all on GD? Or did multiple players simply not execute? Or is the lack of execution created by poor playcalling? And round and round we go.

Davis the Bureaucrat

In his excellent post-mortem, ScipioTex, who's depth of understanding of the game exceeds that of any member of the press by two orders of magnitude (that's 100 for you English majors), had this to say about GD:

In an alternate universe, Greg Davis is employed as Process Manager Grade 3 at the Port Arthur DMV. This is the guy who goes on break when you’re next in line and sits staring at you at his desk slicing up an apple during the noon hour rush knowing full well that he could take a longer break one hour from now when no customers are in line.

via positivesharing.com  Add some glasses, 25 pounds, a golf shirt and a gentle twang, and call me when Mack retires.

Is Davis a bureaucrat of a coach? In manner, yes. The Davis way is to follow the formula, stay within the "rules," and cover your ass with excuses. This is the guy who is shocked when the other team blitzes more than expected, or which blitzes less than expected. A man that gets excited when a back runs for 7 yards or a receiver catches a pass for 3 yards. A guy with a perpetually clean desk and color-coded files, and who has to go to the restroom when a receiver drops a pass.

It seems clear now that not only does GD not anticipate well, he fails to consider that others might anticipate his own anticipation. Such was the case with the OU game. Texas read for the last month about how teams were attacking OU over the middle, by golly, just like the Horns did in the RRS in 2008. So here we go boys - we get to get'em where we got'em last time. News flash. Brent Venables read the same articles, and looked at the same tape and said to himself and his team, "Whatever they might do, Texas is NOT going to beat us by throwing short stuff over the middle or that bubble screen crap." So Brent dials up blizes up the middle, stacks coverage in the middle and trusts that Chiles and Kirkendoll cannot beat his corners in single coverage. Furthermore he instructs his charges to forget covering the actual receiver, and run instead to all of Colt's favorite spots to throw. Result, Colt is flabbergasted that there was nothing available in the middle. The flex TE has 0 catches. Jordan Shipley has 4 for a paltry 27 yards. Colt gets blasted back to the Stone Age, minus a fingernail. Self-flagellation by the fanbase ensues, while GD just blinks and points out the three good plays and talks about "how hard our kids played" on his "from the film room" expose.'

For an alternative view and observations about offensive and defensive line play, make the jump.

Continue reading this post »

After reading over 100 comments in PB's postgame react and completely reactionary articles such as this one, the fanbase is screaming for an explanation about why Texas rushed for 46 yards on 25 carries while Toledo rushed for over 300. Our very own dimecoverage, in response to a comment in her postgame Daily Roundup responded:

My mother would like our o-line to get their s&%$ together.

So what was the deal? Is it evidence of a soon-to-be-fatal weakness, a warning klaxon for a complete system failure?

via www.stsci.edu Reactor meltdown at Chernobyl. A metaphor for the Texas running game?

Or is it a case of hubris and overconfidence, causing the players to play like they had their head firmly inserted into a sunless area

via 4.bp.blogspot.com - The Extra Blocking Surface? Anyone? Anyone?

In this week's rendition of In the Trenches I'll explore these and other questions. But here's a hint : hold off just yet on reaching for that morning cocktail, the Vallium, or even the Tylenol.

Continue reading this post »

As the Longhorn fanbase wakes up from a sleepy off-week and prepares for Colorado, I thought I'd use this week's version of "In the Trenches" to address some questions about the Longhorn offensive line and that mysterious thing we've all heard about, called zone blocking. For experts like ScipioTex of Barking Carnival or our very own GhostofBigRoy, much of this may be old hat, but comments from many suggest that it's new hat for many BONers.

Let's see, where to begin... I recall overhearing a conversation on a London train that went something like this...

via xtrvaluedvds.com

"By jove, Holmes, that Newton's a right quick little roger!"

Two gentlemen, decked out in tweed and hats, sat cross-legged on the bench.

The one with the cap exclaimed, "Dear God, Holmes, what on earth are you reading!"

Nonchalantly sucking on a pipe (since there's no smoking on the trains nowadays), the porkpie-hatted one rustled his newspaper and replied, "My dear Watson, this is a snappy little rag known as the Austin American-Statesman. I never had much use for those newfangled internet sites, however fiendishly cleverly they're linked to the great library of the world. I much prefer the feel and rustle of newsprint beneath my fingers."

"Well, what's so fascinating about that provincial outpost," pressed Watson.

"It's quite fascinating, really. Seems there's quite the mystery  about this raucous game called American football. Some team in a rather heat-blasted colony called Texas has a football team with all the ingredients for a smashing ability to hand the ball to a quick bloke and let him run with it. Yet somehow the populace is quite fervent in their disbelief about its efficacy and extremely dispossessed in their lack of understanding of it."

"Well, it must be quite the story to be wresting your attention away from all the nefarious crime here in our fine city of London," said Watson doubtfully.

"Indeed, Watson, indeed... Seems there's this bizarre phenomenon called 'zone blocking' that's got everyone titillatingly frightened and frustrated. A mystery worth solving by any standards, I'll warrant."

Continue reading this post »

Another superb bit of analysis on Texas' line play from burnt in ny. --PB--

It's like Thanksgiving afternoon on the UT blogs today, as fans sit satiated with great plays and haul in their bloated bellies from a 64-7 smacking of UTEP.  I'm digesting the last icing on the final cupcake of the afternoon for the Horns, thinking on what we learned about play in the lines this week.

The human metaphor for the Longhorn fanbase at the moment

Yes, there were astounding plays by Kindle, Houston, Sam Acho and Ben Alexander on defense. Yes, the Horns rushed for more than 300 yards for the first time in a coon's age, and yes Colt was smiling on the bench for the first time this season. But hey, this was UTEP, a team that largely gave up after Colt McCoy's 16-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Shipley's back shoulder made it 33-7 with 7:08 left in the second quarter. You always have to wonder about how much you learn from a game like this, so let's go to class after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Bumped. Another quality take from burnt well worth reading. --PB--

This is the second installment of a weekly series on perhaps unappreciated key play along Texas' offensive and defensive lines.There are many things happening in the lines that may not be noticeable to some fans, so perhaps these posts can provide some insight.

Last week I opened the series by suggesting that Sergio Kindle, while playing positionally very well, seemed a step slow and might be injured. So today I'll begin with a breakfast of Kindled Crow, complete with feathers, feet, and beak. Sergio is NOT injured and is NOT slow. Beyond the celebrated obliteration of Taylor Potts leading to the fumble (recovered as usual by Sam Acho) that set up the Horns' last touchdown, was a steel-jacketed bullet all night long. He mixed speed and power in a unique way and made critical plays all night long. It was a Kindle pressure that led to Earl Thomas' interception, and at least two other pressures led to bad incompletions. On another play, he lined up as a LB as if to cover the inside slot receiver on a trips left formation for Tech, but instead blitzed and bulled Tech's 300+ lb LT like he was pushing a wheelbarrow right back into Potts. He was monster against the run, as he seemed to make the tackle on Tech's little draw plays no matter where he lined up. My favorite play was his erasure of TT runningback Eric Stephens on a 3rd and 1 draw play. Kindle came on an inside stunt, sniffed the run, and completely stoned Stephens, who otherwise was running out of tackles all day. Perhaps most telling, Muschamp gave him a rest after the Horns went up 24-10 with 5:25 left in the third quarter, and Potts drove Tech 84 yards in 8 plays for a touchdown in a series that looked a lot like 7-on-7 against a high school team. Sergio has been found, and after I wipe that last feather off my lip, I will be happy to tell you how much I am enjoying eating bird way before Thanksgiving.

Now, for the other important news, check out the new kids movie "Snowing Newtons" after the jump, featuring an unusually powerful offensive lineman and visionary running back, after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Entree with an Italian troubadour tenor and lute strolling the sidelines of DKR...

"Where oh where is Sergio... where oh where can he be?....  

We're looking for sacks from our favorite beast, we're not impressed in the least!"

via www.recorderhomepage.net - Wherefore art thou Sergio?!

(lute strums violently)

After two games of mostly dominant defense and All-American performances from Lamarr Houston, Sam Acho, and Earl Thomas, much of UT fandom is asking, "Where is Sergio Kindle?" We fans were expecting a one-man wrecking crew to roll up the line and obliterate the first and second-string quarterbacks of both ULM and Wyoming...Okay, maybe get a couple of sacks and have the quarterbacks looking for stray prairie dog burrows to hide in two seconds after every snap.  Well, maybe just a constant steaming presence in the backfield. Still no? Alright, so maybe he was triple teamed, and we haven't seen him because he's been surrounded by offensive linemen. What's that? We can see Sergio's #2 clearly on every play?

How to explain this phenomenon of the disappearing Sergio? Take the jump.

Continue reading this post »

As the daily countdown to the UL-Monroe game begins, I started thinking about how this Longhorn team, with so many apparent pieces in place, will be different and need different things than last year's to achieve an undefeated season. The coaches have already alluded to the need for new leaders, as Roy Miller, Chris Ogbonnaya, and Brian Orakpo, 3/4 of the heart and soul of the 2008 Horns with Colt McCoy, have journeyed on to the NFL. And that made me think about who on the 2009 burnt orange needs to STEP UP.

As a point of reference, the 2008 team was all about players "stepping up." In fact, watching players of purported talent but little experience blossom is one of the things I like best about college football. In 2008, Texas had Roy Miller emerge from the third guy in a 3 DT rotation in 2007 to All Big 12, Fiesta Bowl Defensive MVP, and third round NFL draft choice. There was Brian Orakpo, the oft-injured Mad Dog creation, who emerged from perceived threat to consensus All-America and winner of three national defensive player awards. How about Henry Melton, who emerged from his spectacular failure at running back as a sophomore and obscurity as a junior to lead the team in quarterback hurries and become a 4th-round NFL draft choice? Earl Thomas rose from virtually unknown redshirt freshman to be a pre-season All Big 12 safety for 2009. On offense, Jordan Shipley rose from a valuable third receiving option in 2007 to the biggest offensive impact player on the team.

So who will be the "Step Up Guys" in 2009? I really don't know. But I do have a wish list. And this list is related to what I see are the biggest weaknesses on the Horns, especially relative to their two toughest opponents Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Here are my top 6, ranked in order of need for the biggest improvement. Clearly all would need to improve over their 2008 performances, in terms of production and playing time. Several of these players have been discussed at length in different threads, but some, as expected, are still under the radar.

1. Jared Norton

2. Kyle Hix

2. Christian Scott

4. David Snow

5. Lamarr Houston

6. Malcolm Williams

I explore the reasons in more detail after the jump

Continue reading this post »

With this earlier post, I began a breakdown of Horns players by position starting with the offense. While offense wins BCS rankings and gets most of the press, I believe this Texas team achieved its 11-1 record on the back of its defense. The key word here is evolution; the defense has undergone a remarkable transformation this year, a baby turning into a teenager. Mack’s transformation of his defense from a 4-3 run plugger that depends on play-making safeties to a flexible, fast, pressurizing bee swarm to combat spread offenses is now nearing completion. All that remains is to develop those play-making safeties and find at least one more linebacker, and this becomes a defense that beats teams up (like they did to Kansas).

What’s left, and the Fiesta Bowl provides a great intermediate target, is to complete the journey from teenager to man for the 2009 season. So where are the Horns in that process?

Defensive Tackle – All summer, fans worried that Texas would be too light and too shallow in personnel to hold up for the season. The show was billed as Roy Miller and the Munchkins, since 260 pound DEs (in 2007) Lamarr Houston and Aaron Lewis bulked up to 275-280 and converted to tackle in the spring. That show never made it out of focus groups; what we got instead was The Gatling Gun, a group of gap-shooting disruptors that played hell with opposing teams’ running games and produced 7 sacks and an astounding 52 quarterback hurries (only 3 less than that produced by the much more ballyhooed defensive ends). In perhaps their finest game, the play of the DT’s actually forced Missouri to shrink the gaps between the center and guards, equivalent to a big-time tightening of the derriere and capitulation by a spread offense. Instead of a weakness, DT was a team strength. Individually, senior Roy Miller was a god, with 26 quarterback hurries (only one less than Brian Orakpo), 4 sacks, and 46 tackles with 10 for losses. How he could not be on the All Big 12 defensive team is beyond me. Miller’s stuffing of the Jeremy Maclin opening-play reverse against Missouri was the statement play of the game and maybe for the year. Although much less heralded, Aaron Lewis played better than expected and looks to be a very good player for 2009. Lamarr Houston, one of PB’s “my guys” from the pre-season, was somewhat disappointing, given his athletic talents. Aside from the distraction from the DWI incident in September, I suspect it’s a case of “You can take the DE to DT, but you can’t take the DE out of the DT,” or something like that. Houston ran himself out of too many plays and seemed to struggle to hold position when double-teamed. On the other hand, he’s been plagued with a nagging foot injury that has diminished his explosiveness. Despite all this, he was undeniably disruptive, because 7 (30%) of his 20 tackles went for loss and he delivered another 11 quarterback hurries.

Continue reading this post »

Now that the toxic dust generated by the BS (cough) BCS controversies of OU and then Florida have receded into the recesses of our poisoned brain fissures, I thought it worth writing a brief (well I guess it's not so brief) position-by-position summary of the Horns through the regular season and improvements/prospects fans might expect for the upcoming Fiesta bowl. And let me say, I expect the Horns to be motivated for the Buckeyes from the ubiquitous chips that will dot the shoulders of the players until the last opponent has been trodden into the ground come January 2010. But, there are some improvements needed if Texas is to position itself for a 2009 run by beating the Buckeyes. To that end, let’s dive in.

Quarterback – Colt McCoy. What more needs to be said that hasn’t been. One of the gamest players ever to suit up in the burnt orange, McCoy will set the NCAA FBS record for passing accuracy by more than 4% (That’s like setting the record for the 100 m dash by more than 0.2 seconds, simply astonishing). His career records are nearly up to those of that VY demi-god’s, but through his own gutsy playmaking style in which brilliant plays still seem somehow unexpected. He certainly deserves the Heisman as an MVP type player (I’m reminded of Larry Bird).

All that said, McCoy needs to convince defenses that he can burn them with the deep ball if he wants to take the team to the next level. Other than in the second half of the Texas Tech game, when there was little choice, and against A&M, when it was easy, Colt simply hasn’t been excellent on deep posts or go routes and frankly hasn’t tried very much. The threat of a successful deep pass would be the best tonic to teams that currently stack their safeties to stop the run, and may be essential in getting an aggressive and talented Ohio State secondary to back off.

Continue reading this post »

It is painful to write at this moment, after watching 6 dropped passes and two dropped interceptions, Deon Beasley playing like my five year-old, the entire Texas offensive line crying for mommy, and GD/McCoy showing the shivers until the third quarter to take the ball up top over some incredibly outmanned cornerbacks, we learned five things about this Longhorns team that bode well for this year and next.

Continue reading this post »

Trust is what makes Texas special; trust is what makes them vulnerable. Trust in Colt McCoy allows Greg Davis to treat the passing game like the running game -  whn Colt completes 80% of his throws and can scramble for first downs on other passing plays that break down, how can you not trust it. Trust in Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley allow Colt to release throws before either receiver has made their break and know that the ball will be caught. This quadrangle of trust is leading to an offense of historic proportions, an 8-0 record, and dreams well beyond expectations for this season.

At the same time, this intense trust is beginning to make the Horns' offense to become simplified. When every pass goes to Shipley or Cosby, and every successful run is the same  trap play to the left, defenses gradually begin to re-position to get better angles on the blockers or jump the passing routes. The offense gets tougher, which makes the Horns even more reliant on plays and players they trust.

So the question for the Horns is, how do they build trust in new plays and players while inside the crucible of an undefeated potential Big 12 title and national championship season?

Continue reading this post »

No, this isn't a link to an as yet undiscovered 2009 calendar for our female readers. It is a call to our defensive backs that, if the Horns are to hang on to the precious #1 ranking, they are ALL going to have to step up and be men.

Why the DB's in particular?

Because of how Oklahoma State runs their offense.

I broke down the OSU-Missouri game tape to get an idea about the X's and O's involved in slowing down the Cowpokes (details after the jump). Bottom line: OSU likes to find the single coverage matchups and throw the ball high so that their tall, athletic receivers can outjump or shield off the DB's and thus outplay them for the ball.  A large fraction of OSU's touchdown passes in the red zone and passes for first downs on third and long are of this nature. If the Horns want to stop the Cowboys, they are going to have toi find a way to go up and play the ball. That means you Deon Beasley. And you too, Ryan Palmer and Earl Thomas. If there is a weakness in the Texas secondary right now, it's playing the ball effectively in the air, and if the DB's don't step up and work on finding the ball in the air and being absolutely determined to get it, the game will be a shootout for sure.

Continue reading this post »

Now that the Horns have held onto the #1 ranking for one full week, I thought I might open the distasteful but titillating comparison of the 2005 MNC team and this 2008 Longhorn team. Many view the 2005 team as an inevitable force of nature with VY as the eye of the hurricane. Nervous tentative comments about this years team, driven by scars from meltdowns in 2006 and 2007, would have us believe that the 2008 Horns are getting by on moxie, wiliness, and smoke and mirrors. Others would argue that this is silly because we haven't seen what the 2008 team can do for a whole season. I thought the question worth entertaining because I sense the fans could have a little more confidence in this 2008 team.

I'm here to argue that the play of the 2008 team is every bit a force of nature as that of 2005, only different. If the 2005 team was a hurricane, the 2008 team is an army of loggers with chainsaws and unlimited fuel. The teams, or  "trees," on the schedule will be chopped down with ruthless efficiency rather than speed and fury. As college football fans, we are used to seeing teams win through explosive plays and dominant defenses; other methods of success are suspect. But this Horns team is as capable of chewing through teams as a top NFL offense.

In some ways, 2008 may be more likely to be our year than 2009 because the transcendant play of Brian Orakpo, who may be as dominant at DE as VY was at QB, will not be in play in 2009. That doesn't mean 2009 won't be a MNC year, it just means that this 2008 team, while young in many areas, has terrific talent that is capable of winning against all comers.

Continue reading this post »

For all those pessimistic prognosticators in your favorite media, neighborhood and family, you can take heart that, since 2000, Texas is 10-0 at home, 4-0 on the road vs. ranked Big 12 teams. The problem is on neutral fields (OU and Big 12 championship games) where Texas is only 4-6 (although they are 4-1 since 2005). Message?

Mack Brown knows how to coach this game and the players will be ready.

The problem games for the Horns since 2000 have been the "trap" games against unranked teams (Texas Tech 2002, 2003, A&M 2006, 2007, Kansas State 2006, 2007).

Good news- the only games Texas has left against unranked teams are both at home (Baylor, A&M).

Well I guess you could call it a safari. An unbeatable business opportunity arose this past summer, leading me to spend in Tanzania the 3 weeks of the football season just prior to jailbreak of the Land Thieves. My brother’s reaction might be similar to yours, “Where’s Tanzania at, exactly?” It’s the country just south of Kenya in East Africa and probably the world’s number one safari destination at the moment, featuring Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and Mount Kilimanjaro, the world’s largest mountain and erstwhile planting location for a five foot long Longhorn flag

So the trip, despite its awesome spectacularity (I doubt that’s a real word – MS Word told me so), was, for a football addict like me, something like going off heroin cold turkey must be to a back alley junkie.

Continue reading this post »

Now that the results practice has slipped out of public eyes, into the ears of selected sportswriters and onto the mouths of coaches and selected, usually senior, players, the dedicated fan longs to know how things are proceeding. Entering this season, major questions existed about the maturation of the younger receivers and the offensive line, about who would play defensive tackle, and who would rise among the many young players in the secondary and at other positions.

The entirety of Burnt Orange Nation is fed on the trickle of bleached and sanitized comments from coaches and players and fuzzy video clips of apparently random plays from practices and scrimmages posted on MB-TF as evidence of the dawning brilliance of the Texas Longhorns, version 2008.0 . Interpreting comments to the press and these videos is tricky, especially in Mack Brown Nation, where usually there is some uselessly positive babble about working hard, learning, being physical, etc. trolled out when any player is discussed. However, human nature is what it is, and the excitement of coaches and players can sometimes not be contained, while silence about other players is probably deafening.

I offer the following cryptic, admittedly mal-informed "State of the Horns" as interpreted from three forms of reliable data: (1) repeated mentions of players and their performance from multiple players and coaches on different days, (2) changes in the tone and adjectives used to describe players as the first game approaches, unusually detailed descriptions of players and/or situations, and (3) the general absence of specific comments about certain players for which we might expect considerable comments. Below I offer my nickels' worth on the major emergent themes from the first two weeks of fall practice.

Continue reading this post »