Daily Short #70, September 28th, 2017: GAMEDAY - Iowa State
presented by the Dental Offices of Wendy Swantkowski, DDS
The Absolute BEST in family and cosmetic dentistry for the Houston-Memorial Area
Now Accepting New Patients --- 281-293-9140
This Week in the Short
TUESDAY - Coverage, Pass Rush and Missed Tackle Leaders
WEDNESDAY - Top Run-Stoppers
Scheduling Note
With the unusual schedule this week featuring a game on Thursday night, this is just a reminder that there will be no Daily Short column on Friday as I'll be spending the day attempting to get the defensive portion of my film work done for a Saturday column breaking down that side of the football. The column will then return to its regular Tuesday-Saturday in-season schedule next week, with the offensive breakdowns scheduled to come out on Tuesday (skill players) and Wednesday (offensive line).
Fun Facts from the Texas SID
- Iowa State enters at 2-1 overall, defeating Northern Iowa and Akron. The Cyclones were defeated in overtime by Iowa at home.- Not counting season openers, Tom Herman is 4-0 in his career with at least 12 days since the last game.
- The Longhorns lead the all-time series with a record of 12-2. Texas enters with a 5-1 record on the road against Iowa State.
- UT is first nationally in fourth-down defense, not allowing a conversion in five attempts. Only 11 teams have been perfect on fourth down defensively, while having faced at least three attempts. Nobody in that category has faced more than Texas' five.
- Through three games, Texas has returned three interceptions for touchdowns, which already is tied for the fourth-most in school history for a single season.
- Holton Hill is just the second player in school history (Brandon Foster, 2007) to score three non-offensive touchdowns in the same season, and the only player in school history to have three in a two-game span.
- Beginning with USC, UT plays the winners of last year's Rose, Texas, Sugar, Alamo and Cactus Bowls within the current six-game span. Texas, having already played at No. 4/4 USC, still faces (as of the latest rankings) No. 3/3 Oklahoma, No. 6/7 Oklahoma State and No. 16/15 TCU. West Virginia, K-State and Texas Tech are receiving votes.
- Collin Johnson now has two career 100-yard games, both of which have come in the first three games of the 2017 season.
Vegas
CURRENT LINE: Texas -6.5
OPENING LINE: Texas -5.5
Over/Under: 64.5
Texas Moneyline: -240
Public Bets: Texas 50% of public tickets, Iowa State 50% of public tickets per TheSpread.com
Sharp Money: It's rare to see a perfect 50/50 split of public bets, but per theSpread.com, that was the case to close up business on Wednesday night. With the shift of longer odds to Texas in the face of no significant differential in percentage of public bets, it would indicate the larger-dollar-sum bettors being on the Horns.
What I'll be watching ...
- How the defensive staff handles WR Allen Lazard. He's a terrific prospect who commands attention, especially with QB Jacob Park actually looking like a pretty good player himself from the small bits of action I've seen from the Cyclones this season. Typically, the corners for Texas stay on their own sides through series', but if the ISU coaches try to attack Kris Boyd and/or Davante Davis with him, I'd be interested to see if they employ at shadow situation with Holton Hill.
- If the offensive line can look better. Last week versus USC was putrid. I don't need to keep beating a dead horse but Tristan Nickelson needs to look much more communicative with Patrick Vahe on their shared assignments and Denzel Okafor needs to be much more consistent with his positioning, specifically in deep-ball pass-sets where he was absolutely abused versus USC.
- Who the starting QB is. At this point, all we can make are educated guesses and anyone who says they know definitively one way or the other is basically saying they have a source inside Moncrief that is risking their job to leak news. The information leaked under Herman is virtually all stuff that he wants out, and he doesn't seem to want this out. With this said, the educated guess would be Shane Buechele in shotgun to start things out in Ames. With the state of the current offensive line, the thing fans will surely be watching most closely is how Buechele holds up when hit and also his ability to escape the pocket and extend plays when things break down. This was something Sam Ehlinger showed a lot of capability to do versus USC and it could be needed to function in this post-Connor Williams iteration of the OL.
- Speaking of the USC game, if Buechele is under center, it will be impossible to run as many designed QB rushes. Not only is he coming off a shoulder injury already, he's also not as stout a runner as Ehlinger. With any hope, this won't be an issue anyway as the staff will surely at least try to commit to a true running game early. Based on the small 3-game sample we have thus far of Herman's staff at Texas, we know that after Tim Beck wets the bed by turtling up and inexplicably abandoning the run-game, Herman makes him re-commit to it strongly in the next week.
- Can this team actually look like one filled with older, veteran players? It isn't exactly a youth movement anymore. The excuses about being young really only apply to a few positions, namely QB. Otherwise, this should be a mature team capable of handling their business in a weird game schedule-wise -- in a Thursday primetime slot in a tricky away stadium.
Because the bottom line is that this one is a must-win. As wild as it is to say about an opponent like Iowa State, it's not a gimme, either. Texas can't go to 1-3 to start conference play with the meat of a murderer's row schedule still ahead on the calendar. If it does, there would be no other way to describe Herman's start at Texas other than disappointing if using even the kindest of language.
So get with the program and get into your right head space. Take off work a little early and go get lunch beers. Texas plays in a must-win tonight. On a Thursday. Whether you're ready or not, the team will have to be. This is gameday.
presented by the Dental Offices of Wendy Swantkowski, DDS
The Absolute BEST in family and cosmetic dentistry for the Houston-Memorial Area
Now Accepting New Patients --- 281-293-9140
This Week in the Short
TUESDAY - Coverage, Pass Rush and Missed Tackle Leaders
WEDNESDAY - Top Run-Stoppers
Scheduling Note
With the unusual schedule this week featuring a game on Thursday night, this is just a reminder that there will be no Daily Short column on Friday as I'll be spending the day attempting to get the defensive portion of my film work done for a Saturday column breaking down that side of the football. The column will then return to its regular Tuesday-Saturday in-season schedule next week, with the offensive breakdowns scheduled to come out on Tuesday (skill players) and Wednesday (offensive line).
Fun Facts from the Texas SID
- Iowa State enters at 2-1 overall, defeating Northern Iowa and Akron. The Cyclones were defeated in overtime by Iowa at home.- Not counting season openers, Tom Herman is 4-0 in his career with at least 12 days since the last game.
- The Longhorns lead the all-time series with a record of 12-2. Texas enters with a 5-1 record on the road against Iowa State.
- UT is first nationally in fourth-down defense, not allowing a conversion in five attempts. Only 11 teams have been perfect on fourth down defensively, while having faced at least three attempts. Nobody in that category has faced more than Texas' five.
- Through three games, Texas has returned three interceptions for touchdowns, which already is tied for the fourth-most in school history for a single season.
- Holton Hill is just the second player in school history (Brandon Foster, 2007) to score three non-offensive touchdowns in the same season, and the only player in school history to have three in a two-game span.
- Beginning with USC, UT plays the winners of last year's Rose, Texas, Sugar, Alamo and Cactus Bowls within the current six-game span. Texas, having already played at No. 4/4 USC, still faces (as of the latest rankings) No. 3/3 Oklahoma, No. 6/7 Oklahoma State and No. 16/15 TCU. West Virginia, K-State and Texas Tech are receiving votes.
- Collin Johnson now has two career 100-yard games, both of which have come in the first three games of the 2017 season.
Vegas
CURRENT LINE: Texas -6.5
OPENING LINE: Texas -5.5
Over/Under: 64.5
Texas Moneyline: -240
Public Bets: Texas 50% of public tickets, Iowa State 50% of public tickets per TheSpread.com
Sharp Money: It's rare to see a perfect 50/50 split of public bets, but per theSpread.com, that was the case to close up business on Wednesday night. With the shift of longer odds to Texas in the face of no significant differential in percentage of public bets, it would indicate the larger-dollar-sum bettors being on the Horns.
What I'll be watching ...
- How the defensive staff handles WR Allen Lazard. He's a terrific prospect who commands attention, especially with QB Jacob Park actually looking like a pretty good player himself from the small bits of action I've seen from the Cyclones this season. Typically, the corners for Texas stay on their own sides through series', but if the ISU coaches try to attack Kris Boyd and/or Davante Davis with him, I'd be interested to see if they employ at shadow situation with Holton Hill.
- If the offensive line can look better. Last week versus USC was putrid. I don't need to keep beating a dead horse but Tristan Nickelson needs to look much more communicative with Patrick Vahe on their shared assignments and Denzel Okafor needs to be much more consistent with his positioning, specifically in deep-ball pass-sets where he was absolutely abused versus USC.
- Who the starting QB is. At this point, all we can make are educated guesses and anyone who says they know definitively one way or the other is basically saying they have a source inside Moncrief that is risking their job to leak news. The information leaked under Herman is virtually all stuff that he wants out, and he doesn't seem to want this out. With this said, the educated guess would be Shane Buechele in shotgun to start things out in Ames. With the state of the current offensive line, the thing fans will surely be watching most closely is how Buechele holds up when hit and also his ability to escape the pocket and extend plays when things break down. This was something Sam Ehlinger showed a lot of capability to do versus USC and it could be needed to function in this post-Connor Williams iteration of the OL.
- Speaking of the USC game, if Buechele is under center, it will be impossible to run as many designed QB rushes. Not only is he coming off a shoulder injury already, he's also not as stout a runner as Ehlinger. With any hope, this won't be an issue anyway as the staff will surely at least try to commit to a true running game early. Based on the small 3-game sample we have thus far of Herman's staff at Texas, we know that after Tim Beck wets the bed by turtling up and inexplicably abandoning the run-game, Herman makes him re-commit to it strongly in the next week.
- Can this team actually look like one filled with older, veteran players? It isn't exactly a youth movement anymore. The excuses about being young really only apply to a few positions, namely QB. Otherwise, this should be a mature team capable of handling their business in a weird game schedule-wise -- in a Thursday primetime slot in a tricky away stadium.
Because the bottom line is that this one is a must-win. As wild as it is to say about an opponent like Iowa State, it's not a gimme, either. Texas can't go to 1-3 to start conference play with the meat of a murderer's row schedule still ahead on the calendar. If it does, there would be no other way to describe Herman's start at Texas other than disappointing if using even the kindest of language.
So get with the program and get into your right head space. Take off work a little early and go get lunch beers. Texas plays in a must-win tonight. On a Thursday. Whether you're ready or not, the team will have to be. This is gameday.
