Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (Go medium, young man...)
- By Ketchum
- Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend Archive
- 218 Replies
As far as bye weeks are concerned, this one went pretty well for the Longhorns.
* A pathway to the SEC title game opened up with Texas A&M's loss to South Carolina. It's almost pretty simple ... win the final four games of the season (and have LSU lose) and the Longhorns will be in Atlanta for a chance at their first SEC championship.
* The game against a gritty Florida squad was made easier with the injury to true freshman five-star quarterback D.J. Lagway, leaving the Gators with not much other than redshirt freshman Aidan Warner, a transfer from Yale who has completed 9 of 25 passes for 96 yards and an interception this season. In a year when the schedule has offered up a number of sketchy quarterback situations, the Gators could come to town this weekend with the worst.
* Speaking of quarterback injuries, Arkansas looms in a couple of weeks and while the Razorbacks lick their wounds from a 63-31 home loss to Ole Miss, they’ll try to figure out their own quarterback situation after an injury to starting quarterback Taylen Green left them with freshman Malachi Singleton playing most of the second half. Meanwhile, if Steve Sarkisian needed an offensive blueprint for the game in Fayetteville, Lane Kiffin provided him one on a day when the Rebels rolled up 694 yards of offense.
* As far as the Aggies are concerned, they'll have to sweat out the injury to starting running back Le'Veon Moss, who left the game against the Gamecocks with a knee injury. The early word out of the A&M camp after the game was that the injury isn't viewed as a disaster, but it could still be a situation that could see him missing some time this month.
A different result in Columbia this weekend might have seen the Longhorns potentially boxed out of a spot in Atlanta, even with a win in College Station, but the pathway to first-season immortality remains open.
Assuming the likes of wide receiver Isaiah Bond and safety Andrew Mukuba were able to heal up with the week off, you'd be hard-pressed to complain about the events of the weekend if you're the type of person who gets a lot of burnt orange stuff as presents under the Christmas tree.
The amount of virtue that will be assigned to this season will come down to what happens in the final four games of the regular season, two of which come against offensively-challenged home foes, while the other two will come against hosting teams that combined to give up 107 points.
Yes, the two looming road games will feel like Daniel walking into the lion's den, but Ole Miss and South Carolina revealed both teams as very beatable. Very, very beatable.
The Longhorns are either a championship-caliber team or it's not, but the possibility is sitting on a silver platter for them.
Let's find out if they can take it.
No. 2 - Go medium, young man ...
To hear Steve Sarkisian tell it, opposing teams aren't giving the Longhorns much of a chance to attack teams down the field in the passing game.
It seems opposing safeties are bailing deep at the snap or the ball, which is significantly contributing to Texas' inability to challenge teams in the vertical passing game. Well, that and the fact that outside of the 2023 Alabama game, starting quarterback Quinn Ewers doesn't tend to have a lot of success when climbing out on these limbs of the passing tree.
Of course, there are a lot of ways to attack a team down the field and they don't all have to feature Ewers heaving the ball down the field to a receiver running a go route. With opposing safeties playing deep, there's a massive part of the field available to the Texas passing game in the areas between the 10-12 yards from the line of scrimmage where the safeties line up pre-snap and the area of the field where they end up dropping to.
The problem is that Ewers isn't sticking those throws in the intermediate passing game the way the Longhorns need him to. Take a look at Ewers' passing depth map (courtesy of PFF):
When throwing outside of the numbers, Ewers has completed only 6 of 17 throws this year between 10-19 yards, for 93 yards. Ewers has been much more accurate between the numbers (11 of 17), but he's turned the ball over twice (vs. zero touchdowns) when working that area of the field.
What's mystifying is that these areas of the field are the areas where he had the most success in 2023. Just look at the numbers:
As critical as I've been of Ewers' play in recent weeks, it needs to be said that I've always felt like his ability to work these exact areas of the field is his No. 1 strength as a player. When Ewers is at his best, these are the throws that make him a guy that NFL teams would covet.
If Texas is going to accomplish its goals on offense down the stretch, these are the areas where Ewers must start thriving in, not the areas where the safeties are hanging out in hopes of preventing the play that Texas rarely executes in the first place.
No. 3 - Out of curiosity ... let's do some cockamamie stuff ...
Out of random curiosity, I wondered on Sunday how PFF would rank the best Longhorns this season in order.
The 80s
1. (88.0) CB Jahdae Barron
2. (84.6) DT Alfred Collins
3. (84.6) S Michael Taaffe
4. (83.0) LT Kelvin Banks
5. (83.) LB Anthony Hill
6. (83.0) DE Colin Simmons
The 70s
7. (78.6) S Andrew Mukuba
8. (75.6) DT Vernon Broughton
9. (75.4) WR Isaiah Bond
10T. (74.6) DE Barryn Sorrell
10T. (74.6) CB Malik Muhammad
12. (74.1) LB David Gbenda
13. (72.1) RB Tre Wisner
14. (71.1) C Jake Majors
15T(70.3) RB Jaydon Blue
15T. (70.3) RT Cameron Williams
The 60s
17. (69.6) LB Liona Lefau
18. (68.9) LG Hayden Conner
19. (67.0) DE Trey Moore
20. (66.4) CB Jaylon Guilbeau
21. (65.5) WR Matthew Golden
22. (65.3) WR DeAndre Moore
23. (64.2) QB Quinn Ewers
24. (63.4) RG D.J. Campbell
25. (62.3) TE Gunnar Helm
On case you're wondering, Arch Manning's season grade is ... wait for it ... 90.1.
No. 4 - Ready or not, here I come ...
I'm taking this weekend off from Orangebloods.
For the first time since my twins were born in 2014, I'm going to take the entire family to DKR on Saturday for their first Texas football experience. Honestly, neither of my kids is into football at all, but maybe this is just the thing that will help make it a little more interesting.
Therefore, I'll let someone else handle my post-game duties this weekend. I'm ready to have some fun.
I’ve just got to get my hands on four tickets. Oh, and if anyone wants to give me an invite to their suite, I'm perfectly okay with pulling an @Alex Dunlap and flat out asking for it.
No. 5 - Updated Texas Scholarship Board ...
Steve Sarkisian mentioned this week that they are still recruiting as a staff under the notion that the scholarship limit number they need to work with is 85 and not the proposed 105 scholarship limit that could be in place by August.
The Longhorns are currently sitting at 85. They will slice 18 seniors off the roster at the end of the season. There are currently 21 commitments, which means that the Longhorns are +3 going into next season before any attrition takes place.
Last year, 80+% of power four schools lost at least 20 scholarship players to attrition, so it's safe to project that the Longhorns will have plenty of room to address their needs in the Portal and with any high school players they choose to bring in.
No. 6 - If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Texas
5. Miami
6. Tennessee
7. Indiana
8. Notre Dame
9. BYU
10. Penn State
Heisman Trophy
1. Cam Ward (Miami)
2. Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
3 Dillon Gabrel (Oregon)
4. Travis Hunter (Colorado)
5. Kurtis Rourke (Indiana)
No. 7 - Time to panic ...
I almost don't know what to say about the Texas Volleyball team.
Three weeks ago, the season appeared to be on track and an SEC title was within grasp with three straight home games looming on the schedule.
First, Texas lost to A&M. Ok, anything can happen ... I guess.
Then, Texas lost to Missouri. Uh, oh ...
On Sunday, Texas lost to freaking Oklahoma...
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I'll give them 13, but your point is completely fair. Texas should dominate the Florida offense.
(Sell) I feel like that's the kind of thing that would have been said about Mack Brown with Major Applewhite/Chris Simms in 2000 and 2001 ... and it proved to not reflect his ceiling.
(Buy) The staff doesn't believe in him. I'm not sure that he'll find a better landing spot, especially since Arch Manning seems to like throwing in his direction, but he has to be as frustrated as any player in the program.
(Sell) I'm not sure Texas can afford to be vanilla.
(Sell) They've got to be better and do more, but this group isn't the problem.
(Buy) I'll let you know if I ever need to sell ... you won't need to ask.
(Sell) Give him one more year and get ready to execute a real plan if he fails.
(Sell) I think Texas wins out. Your situation isn't an impossibility by any stretch, but I believe in this team.
(Sell) Great quarterbacks make offensive lines look better more often than the other way around.
(Buy) Don't think for a second that the team from last night will be the one that shows up in College Station.
(Buy) That's probably accurate.
(Sell) Alabama's Ryan Williams will be the best wide receiver in the SEC next year.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... SEC Thoughts: Where was the Georgia that played Florida two weeks ago when they came to Austin? I don't think Texas fans truly realize how good the Kentucky defense is, but they'll know soon enough. You could see South Carolina beating A&M coming from 2,000 miles away. Bru McCoy has 25 catches for 345 yards and zero touchdowns this season. He's never averaged more than 13.8 yards per catch in any season. A possible NFL player? Yes. A 5-star? Not in retrospect.
... I'll never understand Tom Herman taking the Florida Atlantic job and I'm not sure what is going to await him after he eventually loses this job.
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... Thank goodness James Franklin isn't at Texas. Can you imagine watching that offense?
... Matt Campbell losing an undefeated season in week eight at home to Texas Tech is the most Big 12 thing that's ever happened.
... Clemson ... what the hell was that?
... Oh, Nebraska ... are the Huskers about to miss out on a bowl?
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... What the hell am I supposed to even say about the Cowboys?
... Never seen this before.
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... I am not mad at Joel Embiid at all. Philly reporter Marcus Hayes name-dropped his son and deceased brother in an attempt to question Embiid's professionalism. I can't condone the kind of physical violence that would leave Hayes in the hospital ... but a shove? Yeah, I can live with letting a man shove someone that brings my family into places they shouldn't be.
... lulz
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... Hold up, Alex Ovechkin is 36 goals away from Gretsky's all-time record? Wow ...
... Premier League Randomness: Thank you, footy gods. These are the weekends you dream of. Man City, Arsenal and Austin Villa all dropped three points, while Aston Villa, Chelsea and Manchester United each dropped two. Arsenal fans on social media are a strange lot. That group acts like the Gunners are Real Madrid. Liverpool needs to give Mo Salah his extension and let that man chase down the all-time greats. He's 11 goals behind Henry. 13 behind Lampard. 20 behind Aguero. 23 behind Cole. Could he score 44 in the next 2+ seasons to catch Rooney for 3rd place? It's a tall climb, but he needs to be given that chance.
No. 10 – The List: SRV
It's been more than a dozen years since I did an SRV list for this column.
How is that possible?
I have a feeling there will be much disagreement. He's one of the few artists that I've ever ranked who I'm not sure has an obvious No. 1. Am I wrong?
Let's just get to it.
Last 5 Out: Superstition, The Things (That) I Used To Do, Cold Shot, Change it and Couldn't Stand The Weather
10. Riviera Paradise
I want everyone to know that I stewed for more than an hour over which song to put in the 10th spot.
9. Lenny
It has to make the list ... period. But, is this too low?
8. Little Wing
If I had a dollar for every time I've heard this song in an Austin bar over the years ...
7. Life By The Drop
This is one of the songs that I can't tell if I have slotted too low or just right. It's not one of his guitar scorchers, but it's so authentically him.
6. Voodoo Child
It's Jimi ... but it's still uniquely SRV. It's one of the greatest songs of all-time, no matter how you slice it.
5. Crossfire
I know there will be some calls for this to be in the No. 1 slot, but I like a few others just a little more.
4. Tin Pan Alley
This. Song. Is. A. Whole. Damn. Mood.
3. The Sky Is Crying
My personal favorite. I think this was the song that turned me on to SRV when I was a teenager.
2. Pride and Joy
Written by SRV about an old girlfriend. Thank goodness for her because it gave us an all-timer.
1. Texas Flood
It feels like the quintessential SRV song. It might not be your favorite SRV guitar performance of all-time, but almost everyone agrees that it's in the top 3.
Early peek at Tues' 1st playoff report
- By echeese
- Inside the 40 Acres
- 76 Replies
Found this interesting.
Early projection of how the top 12 looks on Tues. tOSU with the only easier path to the Semi's, I'll take it.
Early projection of how the top 12 looks on Tues. tOSU with the only easier path to the Semi's, I'll take it.
OT: 80 Years Ago This Week -- Leyte Gulf: U.S. v. Japan in the largest sea battle in history
- Inside the 40 Acres
- 42 Replies
In the fall of 1944, MacArthur’s return to The Philippines after his daring escape from Corregidor there (on the orders of Pres. Roosevelt) in 1942, was all but assured. Two massive U.S. battle fleets, the Third Fleet under the command of Adm. William “Bull” Halsey, reporting to Nimitz in Hawaii, and the Seventh Fleet led by Adm. Thomas Kincaid, reporting to MacArthur in Australia, would spearhead the invasion. Opposing them was the last gasp of the once mighty Japanese Imperial Navy, determined against all odds to stop MacArthur’s return in the naval equivalent of a kamikaze attack.
The Japanese battle plan for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, fought from October 23 to 26, 1944, involved the typical Japanese Navy’s multi-pronged approach to counter the Allied invasion. The plan included:
The divided command and reporting structure of the two American fleets, and Halsey’s impetuousness, very nearly allowed this Japanese “Hail Mary” plan to succeed. Ultimately, after the Japanese forces were spotted by our submarines as they headed toward The Philippines, the “Battle of Leyte Gulf” actually devolved into four separate naval battles fought throughout the archipelago over four days:
1. Battle of the Sibuyan Sea -- in the middle of the Philippine archipelago, American carrier-based aircraft from Halsey’s Third Fleet inflicted heavy damage on Kurita’s Central Force, sinking the formidable Musashi and forcing Kurita to turn his force around – but unfortunately for the Americans, only temporarily.
2. Battle of Surigao Strait -- This was the last battleship-to-battleship action in history, where in a dramatic night battle, Kincaid’s warships, including PT boats and destroyers in addition to the battlewagons, essentially destroyed Nishimura’s Southern Force.
3. Battle off Cape Engaño -- Halsey fell hook, line, and sinker for the Japanese Northern Force’s diversionary attack. Although his carrier planes attacked and sank several Japanese ships including carriers, in doing so Halsey drew his protecting forces away from the San Bernandino Strait guarding the exit from the Sibuyan Sea. Kurita then reversed course, sailed right through the strait, turned right, and descended on the small fleet of destroyers and light escort carriers defending the American landing forces at Leyte.
4. Battle off Samar -- Despite a desperate and heroic defense by the “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors,” vividly documented in the late Austin author James Hornfischer’s great book by the same name, Kurita was positioned to destroy the forces at Leyte, but that small but valiant group of sailors in the destroyers and small carriers with severe losses nevertheless fended off the attack long enough to convince Kurita he had to withdraw to save what remained of the Japanese fleet.
The cost: over 3,000 American sailors killed and 11 ships sunk including a light carrier, two escort carriers, two destroyers, and one destroyer escort – mostly in the Battle off Samar, as well as over 250 planes. These also included the first substantial American casualties inflicted by Japanese kamikaze pilots intentionally crashing their planes into American ships.
The Japanese suffered far more catastrophic losses: over 12,000 sailors killed and 26 ships destroyed, including one fleet carrier, three light carriers, three battleships, six heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and nine destroyers sunk and over 300 planes lost. The American victory assured MacArthur’s long-promised return to The Philippines, and effectively ended the offensive fighting capability of the Japanese fleet.
The Japanese battle plan for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, fought from October 23 to 26, 1944, involved the typical Japanese Navy’s multi-pronged approach to counter the Allied invasion. The plan included:
- A “Central Force” led by Adm. Takeo Kurita and the mighty battleships Yamato and Musashi – the largest such ships ever built -- intended to sail through the Sibuyan Sea in the middle Philippines, pass through the San Bernadino Strait, and directly engage and destroy the American landing forces in Leyte Gulf. Kurita’s force would confront Kincaid’s Seventh Fleet head-on.
- A “Southern Force” under Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura, seeking to attack Kinkaid’s Seventh Fleet from the south, and aiming to disrupt the American supply lines and distract Kincaid.
- A “Northern Force,” intended as a diversionary tactic involving a small carrier force under Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa, which was intended capitalize on Halsey’s well-known aggressiveness to draw him and his fleet away from the main Japanese Central Force attack.
The divided command and reporting structure of the two American fleets, and Halsey’s impetuousness, very nearly allowed this Japanese “Hail Mary” plan to succeed. Ultimately, after the Japanese forces were spotted by our submarines as they headed toward The Philippines, the “Battle of Leyte Gulf” actually devolved into four separate naval battles fought throughout the archipelago over four days:
1. Battle of the Sibuyan Sea -- in the middle of the Philippine archipelago, American carrier-based aircraft from Halsey’s Third Fleet inflicted heavy damage on Kurita’s Central Force, sinking the formidable Musashi and forcing Kurita to turn his force around – but unfortunately for the Americans, only temporarily.
2. Battle of Surigao Strait -- This was the last battleship-to-battleship action in history, where in a dramatic night battle, Kincaid’s warships, including PT boats and destroyers in addition to the battlewagons, essentially destroyed Nishimura’s Southern Force.
3. Battle off Cape Engaño -- Halsey fell hook, line, and sinker for the Japanese Northern Force’s diversionary attack. Although his carrier planes attacked and sank several Japanese ships including carriers, in doing so Halsey drew his protecting forces away from the San Bernandino Strait guarding the exit from the Sibuyan Sea. Kurita then reversed course, sailed right through the strait, turned right, and descended on the small fleet of destroyers and light escort carriers defending the American landing forces at Leyte.
4. Battle off Samar -- Despite a desperate and heroic defense by the “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors,” vividly documented in the late Austin author James Hornfischer’s great book by the same name, Kurita was positioned to destroy the forces at Leyte, but that small but valiant group of sailors in the destroyers and small carriers with severe losses nevertheless fended off the attack long enough to convince Kurita he had to withdraw to save what remained of the Japanese fleet.
The cost: over 3,000 American sailors killed and 11 ships sunk including a light carrier, two escort carriers, two destroyers, and one destroyer escort – mostly in the Battle off Samar, as well as over 250 planes. These also included the first substantial American casualties inflicted by Japanese kamikaze pilots intentionally crashing their planes into American ships.
The Japanese suffered far more catastrophic losses: over 12,000 sailors killed and 26 ships destroyed, including one fleet carrier, three light carriers, three battleships, six heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and nine destroyers sunk and over 300 planes lost. The American victory assured MacArthur’s long-promised return to The Philippines, and effectively ended the offensive fighting capability of the Japanese fleet.
Immediate Reactions to Sark's Florida Presser
- By Alex Dunlap
- Inside the 40 Acres
- 33 Replies
Here are a few immediate thoughts about, and reactions to, Steve Sarkisian's Florida-week press conference coming off a bye week -- and a weekend in the SEC that saw Texas' path to the SEC championship become more clear thanks to a rotten egg laid by Mike Elko and the Aggies at South Carolina:
- Sark starts out by saying that the month of November is going to be challenging, but "the games in November are the games you remember." Sark says the last three games for UF, overtime versus Tennessee and really hung in versus UGA. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Sark with another snappy saying kinda like "don't count your reps, make your reps count." A November to remember! It sounds like one of those commercials where a dude gives his wife a car with a bow during the November to Remember sales event.
- Ed Clements asked about the UF QB situation: "You prepare for the scheme," Sark said. Talk about formations and shifts, etc. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Not having Lagway is going to affect their scheme greatly. The backup Warner is not good at all, but they need to prepare for a dogfight as the defense can keep UF in games. Kirby Smart said, coming into this game last week, that UF is playing at as high a level as any team in the conference right now. The UGA/UF game might have had a different outcome if Lagway doesn't hurt his hammy.
- Chip Brown asked about curbing penalties: "18 penalties last two games, we really try to minimize the pre-snap stuff. Working on technique on things that happen in play. Hands inside on the OL, getting your head around in the secondary to make a play on the ball." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: If he's referencing Manny Muhammad's DPI, Manny is going to be fine, that was a completely uncharacteristic play from him.
- Anwar asked about Bond and Mukuba and what the team can improve on for the last four games: Both those guys practiced today and looked good. It was a good start. Sark says he wants to get his mojo back on offense is a way to improve. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Sounds like Texas will have those guys back. As for the offense, Quinn needs to get his mojo back in order for the offense to.
- Thomas Jones asked about some of the younger guys that might get more playing time: Kobe Black continues to make strides. Gibson showed us alot last week. JJR and Filsaime are both on the come. I'll say this, Sydir Mitchell has had his best two weeks of work. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: well, well, well. ..... a Sydir Mitchell name drop.
- Kirk Bohls asked if they've lost confidence in losing mojo: "It's like anything, if you're a home run hitter or 3pt shooter, when you see them go in or go out of the park, you don't lose confidence, you just have to see one go out of the park." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I actually think that's a really astute illustration.
- Jeff Jones asked about Jahdae Barron's decision to come back. Sark was asked about this last week on the SEC media conference call and answered the same way by saying he wishes all players would go through the process like he did, and that he made himself a lot of money by coming back. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: On the SEC conference call by the way, he also mentioned Alfred Collins making his money as well which was an interesting thing to throw in. Collins has played fantastic the last two weeks.
- Eric Henry asked about the run game and if it can achieve his preseason goals: "We've been a work in progress .. the key is continuing to grow." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Talk about a guy who would help to get his "mojo" back - I'd love to see the early season Jaydon Blue return.
- Ced Golden asked about the logjam atop the SEC and any coaching tools from the ATM loss? "A lot of football to be played in November, the one thing I took away is the only thing we can control is us. One thing you learn from watching tough games, you wanna get up for each week and you just have to fight that dropoff." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: The SEC is something else, man. Even with a kinda "easy" remaining schedule, Texas has its hands full this month.
- On the SEC fake injury policy from last Friday: "We haven't felt it as much as some other teams have." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED YOUR BOY KIFFIN YET, COACH!
- On what about Liona Lefau allows Anthony to be himself: Liona can play multiple positions, communicates well and Anthony trusts him -- but on the flip side, when David has played on limited reps, his production has been really high. All three of those guys are benefitting. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Yes, plus it allows Hill to be used in ways that are more impactful.
- Brian Davis asked about Ewers and the idea of a starting script of plays. Sark said Quinn has had a good week. AS for the script. 1) gives us best success, 2) gives us hints as to how they'll defend us and 3) gives us some burn and some chalk on their sideline (???). ALEX'S THOUGHTS: For once, I don't know what Sark means when he said that.
- About the UF defensive line. "One of the best looking teams in our conference, big long and athletic." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Someone asked about Watson the NT Who I believe is the behemoth No.21. Yes, he is giant, but I watched back the UGA game today and he really can't move well. Their edge guys (34 and 94 especially) are good, though and they have other DLs who are very long. In the UGA game, between the INT DL and the edge guys they batted down 5 passes and Beck is not exactly short. Quinn is going to need to be on point and be ready for some hands getting thrown up. It's a point of emphasis on their defense.
- Josh Newman asked if the significance of the SEC championship is less if both teams can make the CFP: "Not around here, the SEC championship is our first goal." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Well, from a chronological standpoint it kinda has to be, but the biggest goal is of course a natty.
- On the offense "overtrying": Like the 3pt shooter or the HR hitter reference -- I don't want our guys to press. We didn't have a couple of great weeks, that's OK. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Interesting to hear Sark admit the last two weeks haven't been great. He never really expressed that post-Vandy. Seemed pleased with the win.
- Danny Davis asked about Broughton missing the first half due to targeting -- Great opportunity for Jermaine Lole. Norton, January, we're going to need more out of Savea, and Sydir has had his best two weeks here. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: There is a lot to unpack with this one: 1) Lole is clearly going to get the most run, we don't need Sark to tell us that. 2) Savea hasn't played at all in conference play and Sark only saying "we need more out of him" isn't the most inspiring; and 3) another Sydir Mitchell unsolicited reference????
Dare I say
- Sark starts out by saying that the month of November is going to be challenging, but "the games in November are the games you remember." Sark says the last three games for UF, overtime versus Tennessee and really hung in versus UGA. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Sark with another snappy saying kinda like "don't count your reps, make your reps count." A November to remember! It sounds like one of those commercials where a dude gives his wife a car with a bow during the November to Remember sales event.
- Ed Clements asked about the UF QB situation: "You prepare for the scheme," Sark said. Talk about formations and shifts, etc. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Not having Lagway is going to affect their scheme greatly. The backup Warner is not good at all, but they need to prepare for a dogfight as the defense can keep UF in games. Kirby Smart said, coming into this game last week, that UF is playing at as high a level as any team in the conference right now. The UGA/UF game might have had a different outcome if Lagway doesn't hurt his hammy.
- Chip Brown asked about curbing penalties: "18 penalties last two games, we really try to minimize the pre-snap stuff. Working on technique on things that happen in play. Hands inside on the OL, getting your head around in the secondary to make a play on the ball." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: If he's referencing Manny Muhammad's DPI, Manny is going to be fine, that was a completely uncharacteristic play from him.
- Anwar asked about Bond and Mukuba and what the team can improve on for the last four games: Both those guys practiced today and looked good. It was a good start. Sark says he wants to get his mojo back on offense is a way to improve. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Sounds like Texas will have those guys back. As for the offense, Quinn needs to get his mojo back in order for the offense to.
- Thomas Jones asked about some of the younger guys that might get more playing time: Kobe Black continues to make strides. Gibson showed us alot last week. JJR and Filsaime are both on the come. I'll say this, Sydir Mitchell has had his best two weeks of work. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: well, well, well. ..... a Sydir Mitchell name drop.
- Kirk Bohls asked if they've lost confidence in losing mojo: "It's like anything, if you're a home run hitter or 3pt shooter, when you see them go in or go out of the park, you don't lose confidence, you just have to see one go out of the park." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I actually think that's a really astute illustration.
- Jeff Jones asked about Jahdae Barron's decision to come back. Sark was asked about this last week on the SEC media conference call and answered the same way by saying he wishes all players would go through the process like he did, and that he made himself a lot of money by coming back. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: On the SEC conference call by the way, he also mentioned Alfred Collins making his money as well which was an interesting thing to throw in. Collins has played fantastic the last two weeks.
- Eric Henry asked about the run game and if it can achieve his preseason goals: "We've been a work in progress .. the key is continuing to grow." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Talk about a guy who would help to get his "mojo" back - I'd love to see the early season Jaydon Blue return.
- Ced Golden asked about the logjam atop the SEC and any coaching tools from the ATM loss? "A lot of football to be played in November, the one thing I took away is the only thing we can control is us. One thing you learn from watching tough games, you wanna get up for each week and you just have to fight that dropoff." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: The SEC is something else, man. Even with a kinda "easy" remaining schedule, Texas has its hands full this month.
- On the SEC fake injury policy from last Friday: "We haven't felt it as much as some other teams have." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED YOUR BOY KIFFIN YET, COACH!
- On what about Liona Lefau allows Anthony to be himself: Liona can play multiple positions, communicates well and Anthony trusts him -- but on the flip side, when David has played on limited reps, his production has been really high. All three of those guys are benefitting. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Yes, plus it allows Hill to be used in ways that are more impactful.
- Brian Davis asked about Ewers and the idea of a starting script of plays. Sark said Quinn has had a good week. AS for the script. 1) gives us best success, 2) gives us hints as to how they'll defend us and 3) gives us some burn and some chalk on their sideline (???). ALEX'S THOUGHTS: For once, I don't know what Sark means when he said that.
- About the UF defensive line. "One of the best looking teams in our conference, big long and athletic." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Someone asked about Watson the NT Who I believe is the behemoth No.21. Yes, he is giant, but I watched back the UGA game today and he really can't move well. Their edge guys (34 and 94 especially) are good, though and they have other DLs who are very long. In the UGA game, between the INT DL and the edge guys they batted down 5 passes and Beck is not exactly short. Quinn is going to need to be on point and be ready for some hands getting thrown up. It's a point of emphasis on their defense.
- Josh Newman asked if the significance of the SEC championship is less if both teams can make the CFP: "Not around here, the SEC championship is our first goal." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Well, from a chronological standpoint it kinda has to be, but the biggest goal is of course a natty.
- On the offense "overtrying": Like the 3pt shooter or the HR hitter reference -- I don't want our guys to press. We didn't have a couple of great weeks, that's OK. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Interesting to hear Sark admit the last two weeks haven't been great. He never really expressed that post-Vandy. Seemed pleased with the win.
- Danny Davis asked about Broughton missing the first half due to targeting -- Great opportunity for Jermaine Lole. Norton, January, we're going to need more out of Savea, and Sydir has had his best two weeks here. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: There is a lot to unpack with this one: 1) Lole is clearly going to get the most run, we don't need Sark to tell us that. 2) Savea hasn't played at all in conference play and Sark only saying "we need more out of him" isn't the most inspiring; and 3) another Sydir Mitchell unsolicited reference????
Dare I say
