Last week was my 30th Wedding Anniversary, and Sark and QB #11 Thompson and the refs ruined one bookend weekend of our celebration by failing to get the W vs OSU so my wife and I were prevented from getting that picturesque moment from the balcony of our Tower Room at the AT&T Conference Center Hotel on campus with the gorgeous burnt orange Tower picture. **** them. Really pissed me off. Now to the re-watch.
Our defense held OSU's stud RB to 80 yards on 21 carries through 3 quarters, a very respectable 3.8 yards per carry, and no TD's. Hell, OSU' s offense never touched the endzone through those 3 quarters. But when our starting QB #11 Thompson throws an unexplainable brain dead "only looking at one WR the whole time" pick-6 and guts what was about to be at least a 20-3 lead for us (we were up 17-3 and it was 3rd and 10 at the OSU 18, so even if no gain, Dicker the Kicker nails a 35 year FG for sure), and possibly a 24-3 lead if Thompson actually could make a play. And without the pick 6, there is less than 5:00 to play in the half however we score, and with us holding that nice lead and all the momentum.
Instead, that tide-turning horrific play by Thompson began one of the most dreadful offensive showings by UT in a long time: out of the next 9 offensive series, we had ONE successful drive = 5 plays for 80 yards and a TD to start the third period.. The other 8 drives ended as follows: the half, 5 by punts, one by turnover on downs, and finished up with another stake-in-the heart super-choke interception by Thompson. Those 8 drives consisted of a whopping 21 plays for a net 17 yards. Let that sink in. Who would have ever thought that would be possible when offensive guru Sark was hired.
So, while watching our D wither in the 4th quarter and finally break down, the reality is they only gave up one real TD drive all game, the 10 play 80 yarder to start the 4th quarter. The last TD drive was only 42 yards thanks to back-to-back HORRIBLE CHOKE plays by our QB #11 Thompson on the turnover on downs possession. So, let's be sure to place the primary blame where it belongs - Sark, Thompson and the Offense.
Oh, and let's not forget the refs. I swear this cannot be by accident. I hope that in this bye-week Del Conte was sitting on the desk of the Big 12 Head of Refs and chewing his ass out while showing videos on his laptop of the incredible number of mind-numbing horrible calls vs UT this season. This game just continued the travesty, as follows:
1st Qtr
1st and 10 at UT 27. Illegal motion call on RB #5 Robinson. BS, he was moving with the snap, timed it perfectly. Sure, on the surface this seems minor, but in reality Robinson probably has a 73 yard TD run on that play if it was not whistled dead, as an OSU stunt and natural angle blocking had a huge whole and only one deep DB to beat. Fortunately the drive continues and we get downfield on the only nice long ball of the day, 58 yarder.
Now 3rd and 9 from OSU 10. Our WR #16 catches the loopy pass on far side of endzone but his foot is barely out of bounds - BECAUSE THE OSU DB WAS CLEARLY PUSHING HIM JUST BEFORE THE BALL GOT THERE AND THAT FORCED HIM TO BE OUT OF BOUNDS WHEN HE CAUGHT IT! NO CALL, OF COURSE. We settle for 3.
2nd Qtr:
OSU has ball at their own 39 on 3rd and 1. The OSU Left Guard is clearly In Motion, which would have made it 3rd and 6 from their own 34. Instead, they made the first down by an inch and it kept the drive alive which ultimately wound up in a FG for them, tightening the game to 17-13 and keeping momentum building on their side.
3rd Qtr:
OSU has ball on UT 46, 3rd and 9 with about 7 minutes to play in the 3rd. UT is up 24-13. UT D stops them and OSU will have to punt - BUTTHE REF THROWS AN INSANE ROUGHING THE PASSER PENALY VS OUR DE #46 THORTON!!! Replay shows it was a bad call, yes momentum of making the tackle causes 46 to falls on top of the QB, but not a pile drive hit worthy of a flag. That penalty moves them into FG range, and even though our D eventually stops the drive and forces a FG, it should have never happened. We should have had the ball back leading 24-13. Instead, it is now a one score game and OSU again is gaining momentum.
UT has ball on own 19 with 0:48 to play in the the quarter. UT QB # 11 Thompson drops back to pass and OSU LB #20 crushes Thompson as he is releasing the ball - a clean hit at that point - BUT THEN #20 COMPLETELY PILE DRIVES OUR QB INTO THE TURF WITH BOTH REFS LOOKING RIGHT AT IT. ON THE REPLAY AT HOME, YOU CLEARLY SEE THE ONE REF REACH FOR HIS FLAG BUT THEN STOP!!!!! This no call was SO MUCH MORE EGREGIOUS of a roughing the passer penalty than the one they had previously called on our #46 it was not even close. And our QB is clearly down hurt to boot!! I could not believe Sark was not 20 yard onto the filed raising hell on that - he should have been. That would have given us a first and 10 at our own 34. Completely different landscape for the O at that point going into the 4th quarter with reasonable field position.
Having noted all of that, I still believe this game was winnable IF our QB Thompson plays a better game and Sark calls a better game. But Thompson really fails to take the simple open shorter throws and tries too hard to make the bigger plays happen. His inability to realize that a dump down to RB #5 Robinson is a FANTASTIC option almost any time is truly mind boggling, and I honestly think he choked this game away for us. Very sad.
What is also sad is we just do not have the hogs up front we need on the OL. I re-watch each game and am astounded at how our opponents OL seem to be able to push our DL guys back or off their mark regularly, and seem to be able to actually sustain blocks against our DL, and get to our LB's and sustain blocks on them as well. Our OL seems incapable of regularly doing any of that. Very frustrating, and not likely to improve much this year I am afraid.
As for the D, I am still routinely unimpressed by out LB play, their inability to read and attack their gaps correctly, the uncanny tendency to overrun the play, and the inability to get off blocks. Then there is our S #25 Foster, who just is NOT a football player. He should have pursued basketball or baseball, because he clearly does not want to hit people, and it is embarrassing to watch sometimes. Lastly, I am really concerned that Coach K does not seem to grasp down and distance and clock and tendencies, as he continually has his Corners and Safeties lining up WAY off the ball (CB 7-9 yards, S 10-13 yards all the time, but particularly insanely on short yardage situations!! AND THEN HE HAS THEM BACK PEDALLING AT THE SNAP!!!! I literally am screaming at the TV.
On a positive note, my wife and I did thoroughly enjoy our weekend 30th wedding anniversary celebration in Austin despite the tragic loss, and I was successful in surprising her with the stay at the ATT Center, as well as a great gathering at Vince Young's Steakhouse on Friday night. Even better, this weekend since we were off, there was no chance Sark and Thompson could ruin the bigger surprise dinner event I had planned for us up here Plano/Frisco. Great 30th surprise celebration successfully pulled off! Happy wife. I am good for a decade now.
Blessed indeed. Hook'em!!
Our defense held OSU's stud RB to 80 yards on 21 carries through 3 quarters, a very respectable 3.8 yards per carry, and no TD's. Hell, OSU' s offense never touched the endzone through those 3 quarters. But when our starting QB #11 Thompson throws an unexplainable brain dead "only looking at one WR the whole time" pick-6 and guts what was about to be at least a 20-3 lead for us (we were up 17-3 and it was 3rd and 10 at the OSU 18, so even if no gain, Dicker the Kicker nails a 35 year FG for sure), and possibly a 24-3 lead if Thompson actually could make a play. And without the pick 6, there is less than 5:00 to play in the half however we score, and with us holding that nice lead and all the momentum.
Instead, that tide-turning horrific play by Thompson began one of the most dreadful offensive showings by UT in a long time: out of the next 9 offensive series, we had ONE successful drive = 5 plays for 80 yards and a TD to start the third period.. The other 8 drives ended as follows: the half, 5 by punts, one by turnover on downs, and finished up with another stake-in-the heart super-choke interception by Thompson. Those 8 drives consisted of a whopping 21 plays for a net 17 yards. Let that sink in. Who would have ever thought that would be possible when offensive guru Sark was hired.
So, while watching our D wither in the 4th quarter and finally break down, the reality is they only gave up one real TD drive all game, the 10 play 80 yarder to start the 4th quarter. The last TD drive was only 42 yards thanks to back-to-back HORRIBLE CHOKE plays by our QB #11 Thompson on the turnover on downs possession. So, let's be sure to place the primary blame where it belongs - Sark, Thompson and the Offense.
Oh, and let's not forget the refs. I swear this cannot be by accident. I hope that in this bye-week Del Conte was sitting on the desk of the Big 12 Head of Refs and chewing his ass out while showing videos on his laptop of the incredible number of mind-numbing horrible calls vs UT this season. This game just continued the travesty, as follows:
1st Qtr
1st and 10 at UT 27. Illegal motion call on RB #5 Robinson. BS, he was moving with the snap, timed it perfectly. Sure, on the surface this seems minor, but in reality Robinson probably has a 73 yard TD run on that play if it was not whistled dead, as an OSU stunt and natural angle blocking had a huge whole and only one deep DB to beat. Fortunately the drive continues and we get downfield on the only nice long ball of the day, 58 yarder.
Now 3rd and 9 from OSU 10. Our WR #16 catches the loopy pass on far side of endzone but his foot is barely out of bounds - BECAUSE THE OSU DB WAS CLEARLY PUSHING HIM JUST BEFORE THE BALL GOT THERE AND THAT FORCED HIM TO BE OUT OF BOUNDS WHEN HE CAUGHT IT! NO CALL, OF COURSE. We settle for 3.
2nd Qtr:
OSU has ball at their own 39 on 3rd and 1. The OSU Left Guard is clearly In Motion, which would have made it 3rd and 6 from their own 34. Instead, they made the first down by an inch and it kept the drive alive which ultimately wound up in a FG for them, tightening the game to 17-13 and keeping momentum building on their side.
3rd Qtr:
OSU has ball on UT 46, 3rd and 9 with about 7 minutes to play in the 3rd. UT is up 24-13. UT D stops them and OSU will have to punt - BUTTHE REF THROWS AN INSANE ROUGHING THE PASSER PENALY VS OUR DE #46 THORTON!!! Replay shows it was a bad call, yes momentum of making the tackle causes 46 to falls on top of the QB, but not a pile drive hit worthy of a flag. That penalty moves them into FG range, and even though our D eventually stops the drive and forces a FG, it should have never happened. We should have had the ball back leading 24-13. Instead, it is now a one score game and OSU again is gaining momentum.
UT has ball on own 19 with 0:48 to play in the the quarter. UT QB # 11 Thompson drops back to pass and OSU LB #20 crushes Thompson as he is releasing the ball - a clean hit at that point - BUT THEN #20 COMPLETELY PILE DRIVES OUR QB INTO THE TURF WITH BOTH REFS LOOKING RIGHT AT IT. ON THE REPLAY AT HOME, YOU CLEARLY SEE THE ONE REF REACH FOR HIS FLAG BUT THEN STOP!!!!! This no call was SO MUCH MORE EGREGIOUS of a roughing the passer penalty than the one they had previously called on our #46 it was not even close. And our QB is clearly down hurt to boot!! I could not believe Sark was not 20 yard onto the filed raising hell on that - he should have been. That would have given us a first and 10 at our own 34. Completely different landscape for the O at that point going into the 4th quarter with reasonable field position.
Having noted all of that, I still believe this game was winnable IF our QB Thompson plays a better game and Sark calls a better game. But Thompson really fails to take the simple open shorter throws and tries too hard to make the bigger plays happen. His inability to realize that a dump down to RB #5 Robinson is a FANTASTIC option almost any time is truly mind boggling, and I honestly think he choked this game away for us. Very sad.
What is also sad is we just do not have the hogs up front we need on the OL. I re-watch each game and am astounded at how our opponents OL seem to be able to push our DL guys back or off their mark regularly, and seem to be able to actually sustain blocks against our DL, and get to our LB's and sustain blocks on them as well. Our OL seems incapable of regularly doing any of that. Very frustrating, and not likely to improve much this year I am afraid.
As for the D, I am still routinely unimpressed by out LB play, their inability to read and attack their gaps correctly, the uncanny tendency to overrun the play, and the inability to get off blocks. Then there is our S #25 Foster, who just is NOT a football player. He should have pursued basketball or baseball, because he clearly does not want to hit people, and it is embarrassing to watch sometimes. Lastly, I am really concerned that Coach K does not seem to grasp down and distance and clock and tendencies, as he continually has his Corners and Safeties lining up WAY off the ball (CB 7-9 yards, S 10-13 yards all the time, but particularly insanely on short yardage situations!! AND THEN HE HAS THEM BACK PEDALLING AT THE SNAP!!!! I literally am screaming at the TV.
On a positive note, my wife and I did thoroughly enjoy our weekend 30th wedding anniversary celebration in Austin despite the tragic loss, and I was successful in surprising her with the stay at the ATT Center, as well as a great gathering at Vince Young's Steakhouse on Friday night. Even better, this weekend since we were off, there was no chance Sark and Thompson could ruin the bigger surprise dinner event I had planned for us up here Plano/Frisco. Great 30th surprise celebration successfully pulled off! Happy wife. I am good for a decade now.
Blessed indeed. Hook'em!!
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