What a great year. No way too many of you saw this coming when we embarked on our first SEC year, and had to replace by far the most NFL draft picks in some time.
Thank you Sark for making this team a true, viable top 5 team in both play and recruiting. The only team in the final 8 from the playoff the year before, and a few plays from being favored in the NC game. This was a truly special year. We came into it replacing our top 5 pass catchers, 2 all American DTs, limited answers at TE, and a secondary which had to be completely rebuilt. This was a true reload. Looking back on it, it gives me confidence we will reload for next year.
In play calling on both sides of the ball. It always kills me when folks focus on a single call or play. Overall Sark was trying to move the ball against a very elite, loaded defense. He has a QB who is really limited in even passable pocket movement and certainly not a threat to gash(needed zero spy), a smaller (scrappy) but pedestrian tailback who struggles to break tackles, Our "big back" (baby Rhino) is like 205, a banged up set of wideouts with limited size, and an OL which is fairly soft in the middle and banged up. We moved the ball most of the night. Not many coaches could do that with those assets. We were dead even in yards and most categories with 2 minutes to go in the game, and played far better than anyone expected. Give Sark the OSU personel on offense we win by a couple TDs.... As for Defense, save the screen lapse, pretty salty performance against an offense up 34-0 on #1 Oregon a week ago.... I also expect them to pull away from ND. Overall Sark continues to improve in clock management, and in game decisions, he is not elite, still screws up, but is getting better.
Speaking of which, OSU torches ND, does that get us consideration for the final #2? At least it should wipe any nonsense around Penn State ranked higher.
I wonder which intern ran into the box on a break near full half to pry Herbie and Fowler from their deathgrips on OSU's member? (He resumed later) The score and the yards were dead even by the middle of the second quarter with us settled in. They made a single personal foul into the only reason we were not out of the game and hanging on for dear life..... Overall ESPN picked a heck of a year to quit slobbing all members of the SEC (the year we got here)
A couple of plays from a Natty game and we should have a better production from our WRs next year . (if they stay healthier)
I am going to trust the process on OLs. They can be a funny thing. Experience is absolutely important, that said, it always amazes me the number of true and redshirt freshmen taking meaningful snaps for teams taking deep runs in the playoff. Heck, we could like our OL better next year. We do have a bunch of talent stockpiled and selected by Flood... All this said, would love to see us take 2-3 OLs in the portal, upgrade 1-2 starters and just for the depth. Also amazing are the playoff teams who lost multiple starters for the yea, some as early as camp. Cam and DJ coming back would improve both their stocks. Pay them. Cam has the body to be the #1 OT in the draft if he cuts the penalties, and assorted mental lapses.
Blue for me is a pretty important piece in this year. I hope he does not portal. He really is the most dangerous players on our roster to defend. (Outside Wingo with another year under his belt) Come back, get head on straight, commit, and turn yourself into a top 2 round back. (Take a chunk of NIL for your troubles)
Great to see Vasek in there, our DE room is really transformed from the decades of hoping some longshot pans out to give us a true threat there, feels like we could have a half dozen next year.
If we do not reach into the portal for a back over 220, I like where Ketch was going with on Terry. Has the frame, and could be a Rojo type back for us at 230+ over time. Just a thought, seems piped for the outside. Heck E. Winston coming in under the radar. Get him in for some H-back sets. Under 6'2, and roughly 245 coming in, kid is an athlete. Moves more like a TE, but could be a hammer back there.
Washington is my G-Helm quantum leap candidate this year at TE. Niblack has everything he needs below the neck.
The obvious key with young Manning will be between his ears. I wish he played more this year, in some much bigger situations. We have some adult road situations he will be a work in process. I hope he keeps the gunslinging mentality and does not lose the feel for the deep ball. Getting a feel for the pocket, and how to use his superior athleticism at least will force DC
's to defend it. He is not super sudden. That said, a much stronger runner, more durable, and should offer some escapes.
Really liked the 3 wideouts we took this year, Lockett is probably the jewel, but all three look like keepers. Trendy pick for a breakout is Aaron Butler who was a late add kid we took a bit of a flyer on. 6.0 or even 6.1 kid with a 5.7 type history and risk factor. Turns out all signs say he has shown up a heck of a take. Love those late takes/flips with a bit of hair on them...J. Baron, J.MacDonald, etc.... When they land, they are magic... DeAndre Moore could be the pick for taking his game to the next level, get more consistent, become a stronger leader. He has the tools.
Net-net - This season had a lot of greatness. We dominated both OU and Aggies when it counted. Manhandled them. We won numerous games where the opposition probably thought they had us, but Texas found a way. Like the old Mack days when we frustrated a ton of teams by usually finding a way. While we had a very fortunate schedule, and many teams were either down or down temporarily with QB injuries, we showed well in year 1 in the SEC. We ramped and rebuilt in prep, and hats off to the coaches for that. Pete K also put one h-ll of a defense on the field. Future is bright on D.
Finally, to Quinn. Thanks man. Regardless of your opinion of him, no question he probably took more sh-t than he deserved. His switch to us help build the momentum and gravitas which was part of the recruiting momentum we gained and still have. He was and will always be a tremendous system QB with fantastic ball skills inside 25 yards. I also think he needs to get fully healthy and his deep ball may shift (more) from an early release float to a stronger push down the field. I remember the zip on his early over-throws. Does he have the athleticism to be a first round, 15 year NFL starter? I think that is a stretch even at his best. Do I think he could be a solid back up and carry a team in a game or a short stretch of games? I could see it. Could he find the right system? Maybe. Tough to hold off a generational Phenom, and still carry us from time to time, and the kid does bleed Orange. Thanks again.
Thank you Sark for making this team a true, viable top 5 team in both play and recruiting. The only team in the final 8 from the playoff the year before, and a few plays from being favored in the NC game. This was a truly special year. We came into it replacing our top 5 pass catchers, 2 all American DTs, limited answers at TE, and a secondary which had to be completely rebuilt. This was a true reload. Looking back on it, it gives me confidence we will reload for next year.
In play calling on both sides of the ball. It always kills me when folks focus on a single call or play. Overall Sark was trying to move the ball against a very elite, loaded defense. He has a QB who is really limited in even passable pocket movement and certainly not a threat to gash(needed zero spy), a smaller (scrappy) but pedestrian tailback who struggles to break tackles, Our "big back" (baby Rhino) is like 205, a banged up set of wideouts with limited size, and an OL which is fairly soft in the middle and banged up. We moved the ball most of the night. Not many coaches could do that with those assets. We were dead even in yards and most categories with 2 minutes to go in the game, and played far better than anyone expected. Give Sark the OSU personel on offense we win by a couple TDs.... As for Defense, save the screen lapse, pretty salty performance against an offense up 34-0 on #1 Oregon a week ago.... I also expect them to pull away from ND. Overall Sark continues to improve in clock management, and in game decisions, he is not elite, still screws up, but is getting better.
Speaking of which, OSU torches ND, does that get us consideration for the final #2? At least it should wipe any nonsense around Penn State ranked higher.
I wonder which intern ran into the box on a break near full half to pry Herbie and Fowler from their deathgrips on OSU's member? (He resumed later) The score and the yards were dead even by the middle of the second quarter with us settled in. They made a single personal foul into the only reason we were not out of the game and hanging on for dear life..... Overall ESPN picked a heck of a year to quit slobbing all members of the SEC (the year we got here)
A couple of plays from a Natty game and we should have a better production from our WRs next year . (if they stay healthier)
I am going to trust the process on OLs. They can be a funny thing. Experience is absolutely important, that said, it always amazes me the number of true and redshirt freshmen taking meaningful snaps for teams taking deep runs in the playoff. Heck, we could like our OL better next year. We do have a bunch of talent stockpiled and selected by Flood... All this said, would love to see us take 2-3 OLs in the portal, upgrade 1-2 starters and just for the depth. Also amazing are the playoff teams who lost multiple starters for the yea, some as early as camp. Cam and DJ coming back would improve both their stocks. Pay them. Cam has the body to be the #1 OT in the draft if he cuts the penalties, and assorted mental lapses.
Blue for me is a pretty important piece in this year. I hope he does not portal. He really is the most dangerous players on our roster to defend. (Outside Wingo with another year under his belt) Come back, get head on straight, commit, and turn yourself into a top 2 round back. (Take a chunk of NIL for your troubles)
Great to see Vasek in there, our DE room is really transformed from the decades of hoping some longshot pans out to give us a true threat there, feels like we could have a half dozen next year.
If we do not reach into the portal for a back over 220, I like where Ketch was going with on Terry. Has the frame, and could be a Rojo type back for us at 230+ over time. Just a thought, seems piped for the outside. Heck E. Winston coming in under the radar. Get him in for some H-back sets. Under 6'2, and roughly 245 coming in, kid is an athlete. Moves more like a TE, but could be a hammer back there.
Washington is my G-Helm quantum leap candidate this year at TE. Niblack has everything he needs below the neck.
The obvious key with young Manning will be between his ears. I wish he played more this year, in some much bigger situations. We have some adult road situations he will be a work in process. I hope he keeps the gunslinging mentality and does not lose the feel for the deep ball. Getting a feel for the pocket, and how to use his superior athleticism at least will force DC
's to defend it. He is not super sudden. That said, a much stronger runner, more durable, and should offer some escapes.
Really liked the 3 wideouts we took this year, Lockett is probably the jewel, but all three look like keepers. Trendy pick for a breakout is Aaron Butler who was a late add kid we took a bit of a flyer on. 6.0 or even 6.1 kid with a 5.7 type history and risk factor. Turns out all signs say he has shown up a heck of a take. Love those late takes/flips with a bit of hair on them...J. Baron, J.MacDonald, etc.... When they land, they are magic... DeAndre Moore could be the pick for taking his game to the next level, get more consistent, become a stronger leader. He has the tools.
Net-net - This season had a lot of greatness. We dominated both OU and Aggies when it counted. Manhandled them. We won numerous games where the opposition probably thought they had us, but Texas found a way. Like the old Mack days when we frustrated a ton of teams by usually finding a way. While we had a very fortunate schedule, and many teams were either down or down temporarily with QB injuries, we showed well in year 1 in the SEC. We ramped and rebuilt in prep, and hats off to the coaches for that. Pete K also put one h-ll of a defense on the field. Future is bright on D.
Finally, to Quinn. Thanks man. Regardless of your opinion of him, no question he probably took more sh-t than he deserved. His switch to us help build the momentum and gravitas which was part of the recruiting momentum we gained and still have. He was and will always be a tremendous system QB with fantastic ball skills inside 25 yards. I also think he needs to get fully healthy and his deep ball may shift (more) from an early release float to a stronger push down the field. I remember the zip on his early over-throws. Does he have the athleticism to be a first round, 15 year NFL starter? I think that is a stretch even at his best. Do I think he could be a solid back up and carry a team in a game or a short stretch of games? I could see it. Could he find the right system? Maybe. Tough to hold off a generational Phenom, and still carry us from time to time, and the kid does bleed Orange. Thanks again.
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