I wanted to choke Bedford unconscious for most of the second half, but looking at everything with cooler blood, I don't think his strategy was indefensible. It may have even been the right way to go. I understand his and Charlie's apprehension about giving up a quick big play when at one time the back seven was made up of . . . seven freshmen (six of them true freshmen).
nobis60 at BC has a pretty balanced take on Bedford's approach:
___________________
Full marks to Art Briles and the Bears coaching staff for flipping the script and playing a pure numbers game in the second half. Baylor came out with backup running back Johnny Jefferson lined up as a Wildcat QB with a fullback and two receivers split wide - way wide - to either side. Strong and Bedford responded with Texas' standard 3-3- stack look, opting for the security of a deep safety and matching each detached receiver with a DB over outnumbering the box against a non-quarterback. They made a decision that's more or less been writ large all season, opting for one-play score denial uber alles and counting on someone - anyone - in the box to make a plus play or two and short-circuit the opponent's ground game.
What followed were three of the most frustrating defensive drives in recent memory. They resulted in 17 points, 35 plays, roughly 200 rushing yards and approximately 500,000 bloody knuckles, angry Tweets and FIRE EVERYONE NOW imprecations from the Longhorn faithful who weren't hunting, parasailing, antiquing or playing Star Wars Battlefront today.
Were Strong and Bedford mindless for not rolling the dice and outnumbering the run on the snaps when there was no legitimate passing threat in the backfield? Were they vindicated when holding Baylor out of the end zone on three of their five second-half drives proved sufficient to secure a victory? Were they simply battling with brutal injury circumstances when 49 second-half Baylor snaps were met with roughly five positively-graded DL plays and three acts of recognizable linebacking?
I guess...I'll have some of each?
When a staff is justifying 70+% of its right to keep coaching this team on the back of its defensive acumen, you want to see SOME kind of creative late shift/disguise/slant and scrape/SOMETHING to derail an alignment that had less than a 50% chance of completing a throw of any kind outside the numbers. At the same time, it's tough to hand Baylor a potentially effortless 30+ yard play or full-blown score by leaving them a two-on-one advantage on the outside or rolling with a zero look and allowing a single missed tackle or missed fit (and we didn't lack for THOSE) to go the distance. At the same same time, players gotta play - and when you're all but out of players, that becomes a tall order.
There's no excuse for the continued failure of guys with two, three or four years in a Texas uniform to execute basic contain responsibility on the edge against the clear and present threat of a QB read. But there's also no force on Earth that's going to have a Cole/Hager/Wheeler linebacking corps consistently hitting their fits and making sound plays against a quickly-conjured but highly effective ground game.
Ultimately, the Longhorns played it conservative and survived.
http://www.barkingcarnival.com/2015/12/5/9854014/shooting-from-the-hip-texas-23-baylor-17
nobis60 at BC has a pretty balanced take on Bedford's approach:
___________________
Full marks to Art Briles and the Bears coaching staff for flipping the script and playing a pure numbers game in the second half. Baylor came out with backup running back Johnny Jefferson lined up as a Wildcat QB with a fullback and two receivers split wide - way wide - to either side. Strong and Bedford responded with Texas' standard 3-3- stack look, opting for the security of a deep safety and matching each detached receiver with a DB over outnumbering the box against a non-quarterback. They made a decision that's more or less been writ large all season, opting for one-play score denial uber alles and counting on someone - anyone - in the box to make a plus play or two and short-circuit the opponent's ground game.
What followed were three of the most frustrating defensive drives in recent memory. They resulted in 17 points, 35 plays, roughly 200 rushing yards and approximately 500,000 bloody knuckles, angry Tweets and FIRE EVERYONE NOW imprecations from the Longhorn faithful who weren't hunting, parasailing, antiquing or playing Star Wars Battlefront today.
Were Strong and Bedford mindless for not rolling the dice and outnumbering the run on the snaps when there was no legitimate passing threat in the backfield? Were they vindicated when holding Baylor out of the end zone on three of their five second-half drives proved sufficient to secure a victory? Were they simply battling with brutal injury circumstances when 49 second-half Baylor snaps were met with roughly five positively-graded DL plays and three acts of recognizable linebacking?
I guess...I'll have some of each?
When a staff is justifying 70+% of its right to keep coaching this team on the back of its defensive acumen, you want to see SOME kind of creative late shift/disguise/slant and scrape/SOMETHING to derail an alignment that had less than a 50% chance of completing a throw of any kind outside the numbers. At the same time, it's tough to hand Baylor a potentially effortless 30+ yard play or full-blown score by leaving them a two-on-one advantage on the outside or rolling with a zero look and allowing a single missed tackle or missed fit (and we didn't lack for THOSE) to go the distance. At the same same time, players gotta play - and when you're all but out of players, that becomes a tall order.
There's no excuse for the continued failure of guys with two, three or four years in a Texas uniform to execute basic contain responsibility on the edge against the clear and present threat of a QB read. But there's also no force on Earth that's going to have a Cole/Hager/Wheeler linebacking corps consistently hitting their fits and making sound plays against a quickly-conjured but highly effective ground game.
Ultimately, the Longhorns played it conservative and survived.
http://www.barkingcarnival.com/2015/12/5/9854014/shooting-from-the-hip-texas-23-baylor-17
