SB Nation User Blog: edsp

McMichael inducted into Hall of Fame

edsp — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:05:58 -0000

McMichael inducted into Hall of Fame

Former UT defensive tackle Steve McMichael was inducted into the National Football Foundation's College Hall of Fame today. His comments follow. For a look at McMichael's days at UT and Freer High School, click here:

Hall of Fame moderator: 1976 to 1979 at Texas, defensive tackle Steve McMichael was a unanimous first team All-American selection in 1979. The Longhorns all-time sack leader, and in tackles as well, Steve McMichael.

STEVE McMICHAEL: Even something that happened this morning. I hear my wife. I was in the bathroom, she goes, "Oh, no." I come out and I go, what could go wrong today? I came out and she said she watched some TV. They closed down Canal Street today. So she's probably wearing out my credit card on 5th Avenue, so feel sorry for me about that.

But to be on a more somber note, my freshman year, the first game I started in Lubbock against Texas Tech as defensive end the night my father was killed. Now without the University of Texas becoming my patriarch, I wouldn't be sitting up here today. I promise you that. These universities that these guys come from are what football is all about. The morality, the fortitude, who you become in your life. All of these guys will tell you that. The thanks goes out to the university, the coaches, the guys they played with the most.

You're not out there playing an 11-man game by yourself, because they can stop you. If you don't have teammates playing with you that are great themselves, you're not going to get any notoriety. And that's who I want to thank is my teammates. The Texas Longhorns. Hook 'em Horns. Thank you.

Last look at '05 class

edsp — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:17:58 -0000

Last look at '05 class

Good little wrapup on the undersized class of 2005 from the Houston Chronicle. Because he was a walk-on, TE Mac McWhorter not mentioned in the story; he should have been.
DE Chris Brown, an early transfer from UT, is a two-time All-Southland Conference pick at Sam Houston State.

Former Longhorn Roy Watts

edsp — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:35:18 -0000

Former Longhorn Roy Watts

Roy Watts was part of the 2006 signing class with the 'Horns. He redshirted that year and transferred to Navarro the following spring before signing with UH last February. He's now the starting left tackle. Excellent story in today's Houston Chronicle.

Halloween tidbits

edsp — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:24:46 -0000

Disjointed thoughts while hoping the tricks go their way and the treats come ours:

Does Oklahoma State miss TE Brandon Pettigrew? Last year's game isn't close over the final 20 minutes if he doesn't catch 8 balls for 83 yards (6 for 71 in the first half) and block our ends and linebackers off the field. Our safeties are still having nightmares about him!

OSU is talking about how much more diverse its attack is WITHOUT Dez Bryant. OK. Except Bryant made his 17 catches for 323 yards and 4 scores (plus a punt return TD) while playing against Georgia, Houston and Rice. The fill-ins have done their damage against Grambling, Texas A&M, Missouri and Baylor. I have Baylor ranked 12th in the Big 12, the Aggies and Missouri around 7-9.

For more, keep reading.

Mack Brown talks about being able to run out the clock in the fourth quarter by turning to the ground game. Last year, Texas took 7:31 off the clock ON ONE fourth-quarter drive that ended with a Colt McCoy fumble at the OSU 10-yard-line. The 'Horns ate up another 2:06 with a seven-play push that ended on the Cowboys' 1-yard-line. Most of those plays were rushes.

OSU rushed for over 200 yards on Texas a year ago, 154 in the second half. Most of that yardage was gained by Kendall Hunter and much of it came with LT Russell Okung working against DE Brian Orakpo -- who, we found out the following week -- was playing hurt. Hunter (foot injury) hasn't played since the Houston game (Sept. 12).

Field position has been critical for the Longhorns in their last two games with the Cowboys. UT started drives at its 7, 10, 20, 16 and 22 in last year's 28-24 win. The Longhorns started at their 21, 13, 23, 22, 17, 1, 1 (again) and 9 in the 38-35 win in Stillwater two years ago.

Despite the tense final quarter of last year's win, Texas had a 77-64 edge in offensive snaps. The Cowboys balanced that out with two kickoff returns of 50 or more yards.

The improved OSU defense has surrendered 45 points to Houston, 24 to a winless (0-8) Rice team and 31 to Texas A&M.

Colt McCoy was 38-for-45 for 391 yards against OSU last year. The weakest part of the Cowboys' defense this year is supposed to be the pass rush from its front four.

In (sort of) defense of Greg Davis

edsp — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:59:56 -0000

On Sunday, I commented briefly on one aspect of PB’s terrific Texas-OU wrapup. His post centered on Greg Davis’ failings; I responded, “My view on Greg Davis’ performance is somewhat different than yours.” PB answered (well, kind of challenged) with, “Look forward to your take on GD.”

With that background, anything I say about Davis is certain to be looked at as a defense of the oft-criticized offensive coordinator. That’s not my intent. But I do feel that too many of us are looking at the half-empty side of Davis’ performance – and specifically his play-calling. This is an attempt at taking the half-full side. Does Davis frustrate me? Sure. Absolutely. I cuss him (or the play he just called). I throw (foam rubber) bricks at the TV when one of his calls results in a drive-killing abortion of a play.

But I see a bigger picture to the issue of “Davis’ play-calling.” There are two ways to look at it: (1) An overall view of UT’s offense, and (2) the specific calls and decisions made in Saturday’s (it still feels good) win over OU and other recent games. The first of these is worth an in-depth post; if another deep-thinker doesn’t beat me to the topic, I’ll deal with it in a week or two. As to the second . . . Like you, I cringed when the Longhorns lined up in a five-wide set on third-and-short situations against the Sooners. We can all agree (maybe even the coach nobody criticizes since 41-38) that those were bad decisions. As to the rest . . . Please look after the jump.

The short pass is the bread and butter of the offense. Has been since Florida Atlantic in 2008. Texas hasn’t employed a run-oriented offense since Jamaal Charles’ last game. In only one season (2007) since Cedric Benson’s last game can UT’s offense be described as run-first. We’ve adopted the “We Are Texas” mantra this season. Well . . . what we are is a passing team. Short to intermediate length passes aimed at a variety of receivers running quick routes. Often, there’s no true tight end on the field. Sometimes, there’s no running back next to Colt McCoy. Davis’ game plan for OU reflected that. This was the time to change, to become run-oriented or try deeper passes? Against OU? I figured Texas’ biggest concern would be achieving ANY rushing success against the Sooners’ terrific front four, and linebackers generally regarded as better at stopping the run than pursuing and tackling in space. Taking the game beyond them seemed like a good plan .

Any play will be successful if it’s executed properly. Many (most) of the first-half plays against OU were not well executed. Repeating: They were not well executed. Blockers whiffed or failed in their 1-on-1 matchups. Receivers (you know which ones) didn’t get open. The one receiver proven capable of getting open was so blanketed that his roommate couldn’t see him. And, as McCoy said postgame, OU came with blitzes he’d never seen. Two points here: You can’t blame the Sooners for going all-in to stop the short passing game with kamikaze blitzes and tight initial coverage on the receivers. And you can’t blame UT’s coaches (Davis, if you prefer) for going largely with the same plays that have produced an 18-1 record over the last 1½ seasons. Regardless, you gotta execute. That means block, achieve separation from DBs, make the right reads. Everybody failed there. The everybody includes Davis. But it includes way more players/coaches than just Davis.

Any play-caller makes his decisions within certain parameters. For example, you don’t run a bunch of dive plays if you’re down 20 just before halftime. To counter OU’s pass rush, Davis could have inserted a top-notch blocker at running back to buy McCoy some extra time. But Chris Ogbonnaya used up his eligibility last year. Davis could have replaced tight end Greg Smith with a better receiver. But David Thomas isn’t a Longhorn these days. My point is that when there’s no complete tight end, no real blocking option among the running back stable, you’re limited in what plays will work. You can call ‘em (as Davis did), but their chances of working aren’t real high. And there was McCoy’s physical status. We learned later he was not 100 percent healthy leading up to the game. Then, he ripped his thumb on a helmet so badly that he wouldn’t let reporters see it two days later. Might this have impacted the execution of some plays? Which plays were called?

Davis is paid the big bucks to adjust on the fly. Again, we can all agree this isn’t achieved rapidly or efficiently. Poor starts are more than a nuisance; they’re part of the DNA of this team. (And, lest we forget, last year’s.) But adjustments ARE made. Usually at halftime. That’s soon enough. The misdirection plays, the greater emphasis on running the ball, the substitution of Marquise Goodwin for John Chiles, are among the adjustments Davis (or the staff) made in-game.

Davis’ play-calling on Saturday wasn’t of the jaw-dropping, where’d-that-come-from variety. In a tight, defense-dominated game, you might have wished for something unexpected. Why take silly gambles when the LAST THING you want to do is take the game out of the hands of your defense? If your defense (and special teams) can win the game for you, let ‘em. Help ‘em out. Don’t get in the way.

Give me a moment here to adjust my suit of armor, and fire your best shots. I’m a man. I’m (sadly) well over 40. I can take it.

Mack comes clean about the offensive line

edsp — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:57:57 -0000

After some years spent listening to, and reading comments by, Mack Brown, I’ve reached the conclusion that the man answers very few questions completely. Oh, I like him. I'm glad we have him. But on questions, he usually holds something back. On occasion he's intentionally misleading. Now, if he chooses to answer a question, what you get is 100 percent accurate. And he won't lie to you. Most of the time, though, he dodges the tough ones and even skirts some of the easy ones. Worse, those who ask the questions either don’t know enough – or aren’t confident enough – to ask the tough questions.

Which brings us to today’s news conference. Last question of same. The one dealing with the offensive line and its performance. I listened live this morning and read the transcript some hours later. I still haven’t figured out what he was talking about. Selected comments from Coach Brown follow the jump:

I can’t go into that here. It is too long, too big. Well, that tells us a lot. A major reason a room full of reporters was “here” is because that’s what they – and their listeners and readers – wanted to know. Either duck the question entirely, or don’t insult our intelligence. Next.

Probably, when you look at it, Chris Hall played really sore . . . didn’t get to practice at all during the week off. . . It really hurt Michael Huey, who’s had a bad ankle and been playing with it all year, so David Snow’s been playing both places. “Got that, guys? No? That’s what I was hoping.” Best I can figure, two players tried to go who shouldn’t have which means their timing is better than if they’d sat, and their ailments are hopefully no worse. Great. Also hard to argue. After an open date, timing matters, and if the players had sat out a second week, the early offensive possessions against OU would almost certainly be lousy. (Come to think of it, that’s been in the game plan anyway.) Continuing.

Protection’s been great, but running has been inconsistent. Our numbers look good, but our numbers haven’t been good. (Pause. Please reread the second sentence. Think about it. No, don’t.) Didn’t John Kerry bury his Presidential hopes with a comment like, “I voted for it before I voted against it.” Thanks, Mack. The numbers look good, but they aren’t good. I guess that means you can play bad and run up decent stats if you schedule enough ULMs and UTEPs. How’d you miss SMU? As to the "protection, great – running inconsistent,” I think we all concur. Of course, when you’re inconsistent against Sun Belt and C-USA foes, and those that allow 54 to Toledo, you’re probably looking at disastrous when OU is defending the run. (Suggestion: Knock back one of two before wading into the next one one)

So sometimes, we just think we are going to run up and down the field because we do all the time, we score a bunch of points and when you don’t, you’re in shock. We ran four or five different runs Saturday. We didn’t do much at all and should have done more. Yes. No. No. I’m not sure. Yes. I think so. What was the question again? (Match these answers to Mack’s comments as suits your fancy; I’m pretty sure he won’t hold you to your responses.) And, finally:

. . . you line up, you try to figure out how to run it better, and whoever you’ve got, you put in there and you have to run it better. Thanks, Coach. That pretty well clears this up. You gonna bust Chris Whaley’s redshirt on Saturday?

OU's offense

edsp — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:02:34 -0000

OU's offense

Hard to know whether to laugh or cry. Well, not THAT hard.

Dunce Cap Award

edsp — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:38:47 -0000

Periodically, we'll recognize (well, riducule) a deserving coach or player. Easy winner this week. Come on down, Danny Hope.

Purdue's coach managed to turn (probable) victory into defeat when he handed Notre Dame a free play in the final seconds of Saturday's 24-21 Irish victory.

With Notre Dame out of timeouts and the clock under 40 seconds -- and after Irish coach Charlie Weis called a running play that netted two yards on second and goal from Purdue's 4-yard-line -- the Irish were frantically trying to line up to spike the ball on third down. That would have left one play for the win.

Instead, Hope took a timeout. Notre Dame misfired on third down, then won on a short touchdown pass on fourth down. "I wanted to leave enough time to run a couple of plays," Hope said. "I wanted to save some time and be able to run three or four plays."

That's the way to show confidence in your defense.

"That kind of helped us out a little bit right there," Weis said.

You think?

Ohio State vs. USC

edsp — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:05:52 -0000

So, BON experts, whadda think? Trojans again? Buckeyes defend the home turf?

Who do you like, and why? Which team losing helps the Longhorns more in the MNC picture? I'll kick if off.

I'd like both to lose, for reasons that go beyond the poll/national title game picture. USC has more speed, a much better offensive line. Trojans would probably like to control the game on the ground. This won't be a turnover-free game. Trojans have a lot of new faces on the defensive side. A true freshman QB on the road in his second start ain't what you'd choose. Ohio State won't lose many with the schedule it plays; most likely is Penn State and that might leave the Nittanys undefeated. USC has lots of potential stumbles in a wicked schedule.

I gotta hope Trojans win; they'll fall in Berkeley or South Bend. I hope.

Gresham gone for season

edsp — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:46:56 -0000

Gresham gone for season

This posted just a few minutes ago on Tulsa World website

Final confirmation. Best of luck to Jermaine with his rehabilitation. -- GoBR --