They gave the Dude a sponsor…
Very excited to say this week’s column is brought to you by WYLD GALLERY:
VISIT WYLD GALLERY AND SHOP UNIQUE, FINE NATIVE AMERICAN ART
WYLD GALLERY is a downtown Austin gallery featuring traditional and contemporary fine art by Native American Artists.
The gallery is the part-time retirement gig for Ray Donley, an Austin attorney who has been a lurker on OB since 2002. Ray has been collecting Native American art since the 1980s. He has made friends with a number of Oklahoma Native American Artists, and enjoys ribbing them for their fanatical support of a football team that honors the land thieves who took their land.
Contemporary Native American paintings are bold, bright, and never boring. And they will look great on the walls of your office or home. Many of the artists in the gallery have pieces in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian.
Please check out these unique, vibrant paintings at www.WYLD.GALLERY. Treat yourself to some cool art because everyone has that one wall in their home that could use some more character. And treat yourself to 10% off any online purchase using the coupon code OrangeBloods19.
This week’s column:
1) Let’s talk about the defense…
Grab your marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate and let’s gather around the campfire and discuss the Texas defense. We’ll get Willie to play some tunes on the guitar.
Actually, grab a handle of Tito’s and all the beer you have. Willie has been replaced by Rage Against the Machine. Because we’re talking about the Texas defense, and the mood isn’t kumbaya, although Texas fans are probably searching for Willie’s stash to chill their vibe.
How do we discuss the Texas defense fairly while resisting to urge to constantly fire the hot take cannon? Well, there are a few components in no specific order:
--- Injuries
Yeah, the Longhorns have a ton of them on defense, and even are reaching the point they play injured players despite their obvious ineffectiveness. You can’t have a true discussion about the Texas defense without mentioning injuries, and there are more than a couple significant ones.
--- Available personnel
How good is it? I’d argue there’s more than enough talent available to give up less than a million yards and a thousand points at home against Kansas. I’d also argue the available talent isn’t in the same tier as Ohio State, Clemson, and Alabama. But in the same tier as Oklahoma? Absolutely. And the Sooners are getting results. The defense Texas will see Saturday probably has less talent and is getting more results despite at times abysmal quarterback play.
--- Schedule
Texas has played the following S&P+ Offenses: No. 1, No. 2, No. 9. On one hand, the Longhorns have played half their schedule against really, really good offenses. On the other hand, they’re now all the way down to No. 77 in S&P+ Defense and No. 54 in FEI; both account for and adjust for schedule.
While purely yardage statistics are often deceiving, the adjusted metrics don’t paint a prettier picture, especially following the abysmal Kansas performance. Basically, the schedule must be considered, but lack of results against lesser opponents suggests this isn’t just a defense that, like almost all defenses, has a difficult time with top-rated offenses.
--- Scheme
If you missed last night’s Three Things After a Rewatch, look and see all the visual examples of what’s happening when Texas is repeatedly being beaten in coverage. The issue for Texas isn’t one game or even two games; rather, the Longhorns are repeatedly being beaten the same way and far too often are exposed in single coverage situations even when rushing three.
When a team isn’t generating sacks, and is giving up long gains in single coverage situations when dropping coverage, a systematic problem persists that needs adaptation. Perhaps the most perplexing aspect of the Texas defense is how wildly inconsistent it is as a blitzing defense; visually, there are times when it looks completely out of sync and lacking in effort while other times it looks like a defense that should lead the Big 12 in sacks and go after the QB every play.
--- In-game play-calling and adjustments…
There have been times when it was really good (Oklahoma State), a clear adjustment from one game to the next (LSU to Rice), and clearly affected a quarterback (West Virginia). There were times when the results were mixed (Oklahoma) and there were also times when it was the definition of insanity (LSU and Kansas).
2) In summary…
This is an enormous week for Todd Orlando and Tom Herman. The Longhorns looked like a much-improved offense – consider the opponent – with clear play calling, performance, and schematic adjustments against Kansas and can fairly be classified as elite on that side of the football. These types of offenses and quarterbacks don’t come around every season. If the defense doesn’t improve, it will be the culprit for wasting an opportunity to compete for a league title in one of Ehlinger’s final two seasons.
Fortunately for Texas, I think you can make a good case the quarterback it just faced is better than the one it will play this weekend, and Texas doesn’t have to become an elite defense overnight. It just needs to be above average. That's it. Because the offense is really, really good. Right now, the defense is a mudslide gaining the wrong type of momentum, and heading straight towards crushing the goals of the 2019 season. Herman and Orlando better get the team out of the way before it’s too late.
3) B.J. Foster…
Perhaps this is beating a dead horse, but I was really bothered by B.J. Foster’s performance against Kansas and it has nothing to do with Foster. Herman admitted Monday during his weekly press conference the sophomore defensive back wasn’t right against Kansas. Duh.
I don’t think Foster has been right since that vicious collision at West Virginia when he lowered the boom on a helpless receiver. So, why was he playing? He clearly wasn’t right from the opening snap versus Kansas and was in during the final moments of the game despite being limited to running at less than full speed and not being able to attempt a tackle.
I know Texas has endured so many injuries at safety, but it has other players to insert into the game. Playing Foster was bizarre and inexcusable. He’s clearly not going to take himself out of the game unless the pain is so bad he can’t function.
4) Ranking the Big 12 after week seven (updated S&P+ ranking in parentheses)
Oklahoma (No. 3)
Texas (No. 27)
Baylor (No. 16)
Iowa State (No. 17)
Oklahoma State (No. 29)
Texas Tech (No. 34)
TCU (No. 30)
Kansas State (No. 38)
West Virginia (No. 71)
Kansas (No. 80)
League average: 34.5
Unfortunately for Texas fans, recent weeks have revealed that both Iowa State and Baylor are improving, and are real threats to the No. 2 spot in the league. Baylor went on the road and pounded Oklahoma State. The Cyclones handled their business at Texas Tech.
This week, Iowa State tries to do what Baylor just did at Oklahoma State while Mike Gundy somewhere screams about someone being soft with his bottle of Ambien nearby. Will OU have a sleepy 11:00 a.m. start at Kansas State? Doubtful.
NOTE: S&P+ definition
5) I’m in Kansas City for Big 12 Media Day
Hello, friends. It’s me. Basketball. I’ll be back soon.
I’m currently at the Sprint Center in Kansas City covering the annual Big 12 Media Day, which continues to be a whole lot of interviews crammed into a half day. The good news for Texas? It is represented by three guards that aren’t freshmen, including two juniors: Matt Coleman, Jase Febres, and Courtney Ramey. College basketball is a guards’ game, and Texas is going to go as far as its guards take it.
Is this season going to be remarkably different for Texas? We’ll see. I’ll be interested to hear why Texas believes it will be different, and the strengths and weaknesses of the team and personnel thus far. Are the frontcourt minutes all available for grabs or has Jericho Sims claimed his share? Sources have stated Gerald Liddell has been really good this preseason. What will the players and Smart say about him? Just how much of an impact has Luke Yaklich made and how much can he make?
Look for a lot of coverage in the week or so following the event because it almost always results in over a hour of interviews.
6) Texas Baseball
It sounds like the ball has been flying out of the yard in scrimmages at an increased rate relative to recent seasons. Is that good news for the hitters or is it bad news for the pitchers? Excited to get a look at Texas again this Sunday against McLennan Community College, who has a few really talented arms.
7) Scanning the rest of the sports globe…
--- Buckle up for what should be an awesome World Series. Of course, I can freely state that because I don’t have a rooting interest. I can imagine the anxiety for Nationals and Astros fans is high. But game one already showed the back-and-forth expected in this World Series, and that both bullpens could create some tense moments in the final innings.
--- Unfortunately for the Astros, their conduct off the field has been a big story in addition to the World Series team. Houston’s PR department is swinging and missing more than Yordan Alvarez in the playoffs. The job of a team’s PR department is to represent the organization and deliver its message to the public while creating a working relationship between media and personnel. Immediately releasing a statement calling something false – which was then confirmed by multiple eyewitnesses – and questioning the reporter's agenda, credibility and basically calling her a liar is a good way to get everyone covering baseball from a national sense to bury you, and start digging, which is what the media did. Poor form, Astros front office and PR.
--- Hey, it’s me. Basketball. The NBA edition. At this point of the NBA calendar I’m normally already bitching about the lack of parity in the league and preparing for the Rockets to suck me in before spitting me out, which will likely happen again. But I’m genuinely more interested and in on the NBA this season than any recent season I can recall.
Why? There are so many teams that can compete for a championship this year. Heck, some people are seriously counting out the Warriors as a playoff team – I’ll buy that stock, and Steph Curry is going to post some monstrous scoring numbers on his way to a potential MVP run – because of how loaded the Western Conference is.
8) Anything and everything…
--- As much as I love traveling and exploring new places, I’m also a creature of habit that enjoys making return trips to places and heading back to previous spots. So, my annual, 28-hour trip to Kansas City meant a return trip to The Peanut for its famous wings. Hot damn were they delicious, and being a big fan of dive bars, the energy, environment, and people checked the boxes. Plus, Boulevard Wheat always goes down smooth.
--- Dogs are so funny. This weekend, since it’s not annoyingly hot anymore, we took Willie to his favorite place, Jo’s coffee on South Congress. He grew up across the street and visited almost every day when I lived on or near South Congress for about six years. The moment he arrived to the front of the line, he began begging the same way he did as a puppy.
---
9) This week’s read… is from Boston Magazine: How to Sell Drugs and Influence Everyone on Instagram
And this week’s featured art from the WYLD GALLERY includes two awesome pieces that can be purchased at the gallery website:
Cuerno Verde is Quanah Parker Burgess’ homage to Comanche warrior Tabivo Naritgant, or Dangerous Man. The Comanche chief was also called Green Horn because of the green tinted horns he wore on his head-dress in battle. After Green Horn was killed in battle, the King of Spain presented Green Horn’s head-dress to the Pope. The head-dress remains on display in the Vatican museum in Rome.
DIRECT LINK
DIRECT LINK
Remember, Orangebloods.com members receive 10% off all purchases at WYLD.GALLERY by using the coupon code OrangeBloods19. Get something for yourself, a friend, or your business.
Very excited to say this week’s column is brought to you by WYLD GALLERY:
VISIT WYLD GALLERY AND SHOP UNIQUE, FINE NATIVE AMERICAN ART
WYLD GALLERY is a downtown Austin gallery featuring traditional and contemporary fine art by Native American Artists.
The gallery is the part-time retirement gig for Ray Donley, an Austin attorney who has been a lurker on OB since 2002. Ray has been collecting Native American art since the 1980s. He has made friends with a number of Oklahoma Native American Artists, and enjoys ribbing them for their fanatical support of a football team that honors the land thieves who took their land.
Contemporary Native American paintings are bold, bright, and never boring. And they will look great on the walls of your office or home. Many of the artists in the gallery have pieces in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian.
Please check out these unique, vibrant paintings at www.WYLD.GALLERY. Treat yourself to some cool art because everyone has that one wall in their home that could use some more character. And treat yourself to 10% off any online purchase using the coupon code OrangeBloods19.
This week’s column:
1) Let’s talk about the defense…
Grab your marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate and let’s gather around the campfire and discuss the Texas defense. We’ll get Willie to play some tunes on the guitar.
Actually, grab a handle of Tito’s and all the beer you have. Willie has been replaced by Rage Against the Machine. Because we’re talking about the Texas defense, and the mood isn’t kumbaya, although Texas fans are probably searching for Willie’s stash to chill their vibe.
How do we discuss the Texas defense fairly while resisting to urge to constantly fire the hot take cannon? Well, there are a few components in no specific order:
--- Injuries
Yeah, the Longhorns have a ton of them on defense, and even are reaching the point they play injured players despite their obvious ineffectiveness. You can’t have a true discussion about the Texas defense without mentioning injuries, and there are more than a couple significant ones.
--- Available personnel
How good is it? I’d argue there’s more than enough talent available to give up less than a million yards and a thousand points at home against Kansas. I’d also argue the available talent isn’t in the same tier as Ohio State, Clemson, and Alabama. But in the same tier as Oklahoma? Absolutely. And the Sooners are getting results. The defense Texas will see Saturday probably has less talent and is getting more results despite at times abysmal quarterback play.
--- Schedule
Texas has played the following S&P+ Offenses: No. 1, No. 2, No. 9. On one hand, the Longhorns have played half their schedule against really, really good offenses. On the other hand, they’re now all the way down to No. 77 in S&P+ Defense and No. 54 in FEI; both account for and adjust for schedule.
While purely yardage statistics are often deceiving, the adjusted metrics don’t paint a prettier picture, especially following the abysmal Kansas performance. Basically, the schedule must be considered, but lack of results against lesser opponents suggests this isn’t just a defense that, like almost all defenses, has a difficult time with top-rated offenses.
--- Scheme
If you missed last night’s Three Things After a Rewatch, look and see all the visual examples of what’s happening when Texas is repeatedly being beaten in coverage. The issue for Texas isn’t one game or even two games; rather, the Longhorns are repeatedly being beaten the same way and far too often are exposed in single coverage situations even when rushing three.
When a team isn’t generating sacks, and is giving up long gains in single coverage situations when dropping coverage, a systematic problem persists that needs adaptation. Perhaps the most perplexing aspect of the Texas defense is how wildly inconsistent it is as a blitzing defense; visually, there are times when it looks completely out of sync and lacking in effort while other times it looks like a defense that should lead the Big 12 in sacks and go after the QB every play.
--- In-game play-calling and adjustments…
There have been times when it was really good (Oklahoma State), a clear adjustment from one game to the next (LSU to Rice), and clearly affected a quarterback (West Virginia). There were times when the results were mixed (Oklahoma) and there were also times when it was the definition of insanity (LSU and Kansas).
2) In summary…
This is an enormous week for Todd Orlando and Tom Herman. The Longhorns looked like a much-improved offense – consider the opponent – with clear play calling, performance, and schematic adjustments against Kansas and can fairly be classified as elite on that side of the football. These types of offenses and quarterbacks don’t come around every season. If the defense doesn’t improve, it will be the culprit for wasting an opportunity to compete for a league title in one of Ehlinger’s final two seasons.
Fortunately for Texas, I think you can make a good case the quarterback it just faced is better than the one it will play this weekend, and Texas doesn’t have to become an elite defense overnight. It just needs to be above average. That's it. Because the offense is really, really good. Right now, the defense is a mudslide gaining the wrong type of momentum, and heading straight towards crushing the goals of the 2019 season. Herman and Orlando better get the team out of the way before it’s too late.
3) B.J. Foster…
Perhaps this is beating a dead horse, but I was really bothered by B.J. Foster’s performance against Kansas and it has nothing to do with Foster. Herman admitted Monday during his weekly press conference the sophomore defensive back wasn’t right against Kansas. Duh.
I don’t think Foster has been right since that vicious collision at West Virginia when he lowered the boom on a helpless receiver. So, why was he playing? He clearly wasn’t right from the opening snap versus Kansas and was in during the final moments of the game despite being limited to running at less than full speed and not being able to attempt a tackle.
I know Texas has endured so many injuries at safety, but it has other players to insert into the game. Playing Foster was bizarre and inexcusable. He’s clearly not going to take himself out of the game unless the pain is so bad he can’t function.
4) Ranking the Big 12 after week seven (updated S&P+ ranking in parentheses)
Oklahoma (No. 3)
Texas (No. 27)
Baylor (No. 16)
Iowa State (No. 17)
Oklahoma State (No. 29)
Texas Tech (No. 34)
TCU (No. 30)
Kansas State (No. 38)
West Virginia (No. 71)
Kansas (No. 80)
League average: 34.5
Unfortunately for Texas fans, recent weeks have revealed that both Iowa State and Baylor are improving, and are real threats to the No. 2 spot in the league. Baylor went on the road and pounded Oklahoma State. The Cyclones handled their business at Texas Tech.
This week, Iowa State tries to do what Baylor just did at Oklahoma State while Mike Gundy somewhere screams about someone being soft with his bottle of Ambien nearby. Will OU have a sleepy 11:00 a.m. start at Kansas State? Doubtful.
NOTE: S&P+ definition
5) I’m in Kansas City for Big 12 Media Day
Hello, friends. It’s me. Basketball. I’ll be back soon.
I’m currently at the Sprint Center in Kansas City covering the annual Big 12 Media Day, which continues to be a whole lot of interviews crammed into a half day. The good news for Texas? It is represented by three guards that aren’t freshmen, including two juniors: Matt Coleman, Jase Febres, and Courtney Ramey. College basketball is a guards’ game, and Texas is going to go as far as its guards take it.
Is this season going to be remarkably different for Texas? We’ll see. I’ll be interested to hear why Texas believes it will be different, and the strengths and weaknesses of the team and personnel thus far. Are the frontcourt minutes all available for grabs or has Jericho Sims claimed his share? Sources have stated Gerald Liddell has been really good this preseason. What will the players and Smart say about him? Just how much of an impact has Luke Yaklich made and how much can he make?
Look for a lot of coverage in the week or so following the event because it almost always results in over a hour of interviews.
6) Texas Baseball
It sounds like the ball has been flying out of the yard in scrimmages at an increased rate relative to recent seasons. Is that good news for the hitters or is it bad news for the pitchers? Excited to get a look at Texas again this Sunday against McLennan Community College, who has a few really talented arms.
7) Scanning the rest of the sports globe…
--- Buckle up for what should be an awesome World Series. Of course, I can freely state that because I don’t have a rooting interest. I can imagine the anxiety for Nationals and Astros fans is high. But game one already showed the back-and-forth expected in this World Series, and that both bullpens could create some tense moments in the final innings.
--- Unfortunately for the Astros, their conduct off the field has been a big story in addition to the World Series team. Houston’s PR department is swinging and missing more than Yordan Alvarez in the playoffs. The job of a team’s PR department is to represent the organization and deliver its message to the public while creating a working relationship between media and personnel. Immediately releasing a statement calling something false – which was then confirmed by multiple eyewitnesses – and questioning the reporter's agenda, credibility and basically calling her a liar is a good way to get everyone covering baseball from a national sense to bury you, and start digging, which is what the media did. Poor form, Astros front office and PR.
--- Hey, it’s me. Basketball. The NBA edition. At this point of the NBA calendar I’m normally already bitching about the lack of parity in the league and preparing for the Rockets to suck me in before spitting me out, which will likely happen again. But I’m genuinely more interested and in on the NBA this season than any recent season I can recall.
Why? There are so many teams that can compete for a championship this year. Heck, some people are seriously counting out the Warriors as a playoff team – I’ll buy that stock, and Steph Curry is going to post some monstrous scoring numbers on his way to a potential MVP run – because of how loaded the Western Conference is.
8) Anything and everything…
--- As much as I love traveling and exploring new places, I’m also a creature of habit that enjoys making return trips to places and heading back to previous spots. So, my annual, 28-hour trip to Kansas City meant a return trip to The Peanut for its famous wings. Hot damn were they delicious, and being a big fan of dive bars, the energy, environment, and people checked the boxes. Plus, Boulevard Wheat always goes down smooth.
--- Dogs are so funny. This weekend, since it’s not annoyingly hot anymore, we took Willie to his favorite place, Jo’s coffee on South Congress. He grew up across the street and visited almost every day when I lived on or near South Congress for about six years. The moment he arrived to the front of the line, he began begging the same way he did as a puppy.
---
9) This week’s read… is from Boston Magazine: How to Sell Drugs and Influence Everyone on Instagram
And this week’s featured art from the WYLD GALLERY includes two awesome pieces that can be purchased at the gallery website:
Cuerno Verde is Quanah Parker Burgess’ homage to Comanche warrior Tabivo Naritgant, or Dangerous Man. The Comanche chief was also called Green Horn because of the green tinted horns he wore on his head-dress in battle. After Green Horn was killed in battle, the King of Spain presented Green Horn’s head-dress to the Pope. The head-dress remains on display in the Vatican museum in Rome.
DIRECT LINK
DIRECT LINK
Remember, Orangebloods.com members receive 10% off all purchases at WYLD.GALLERY by using the coupon code OrangeBloods19. Get something for yourself, a friend, or your business.
