You expected any different? As soon as we had one loss there was going to be an absolute meltdown whether it was here, Tech, or TCU.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend: 24 Hours Later...
- Thread starter Ketchum
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You expected any different? As soon as we had one loss there was going to be an absolute meltdown whether it was here, Tech, or TCU.
He's not admitting that he was terribly wrong at all. He said it was the toughest decision of his coaching career, meaning that the two were so close in camp that either guy could start essentially. Putting Casey in isn't any admission of failure IMO.
What is best for the long term future is to play the player right now who is best equipped to win right now. That's not Hudson Card.
It's ludicrous to play Hudson Card because of the theory that he'll eventually be better.
Right now Hudson isn't the right QB for this job. The offensive line sucks. Hudson isn't as adept to deal with that as Casey is. That should be patently obvious to anyone who watched the game last night.
Sure, Hudson can come in and play fine against Rice and maybe even Texas Tech. How does that help us when we get to TCU and OU? It's going to be Arkansas revisited part two and part three.
The answer to your question is no, I do not feel better allowing Hudson to grow into the position. Long term Hudson will still be the guy. No matter what happens Casey will be gone after this season. I'm talking what's best right now, and that is to play Casey Thompson.
Kerksteter and conner to guard. Karic to right tackle. Okafor and Junior huge liabilities
As expected coming from prez of Card fan club. Hope Sarkisian sucks up his ego more than you did and benches Card. Qb shuffle in first quarter asinine and only unsure coaches with no clue do this. Casey is the clear starter going forward. I fell for Card last week because I wanted so dearly to believe Texas had a bonifide stud at QB in Card. Made a post last week during game that you were right. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice yada yada.
Ok, let's talk about it.
As president of the Hudson Card Fan Club, the last thing I can do after my guy posted a quarterback rating nearly 100 points lower than his previous game is bury the discussion down a few sections. In the face of the hottest kitchen Card has ever entered, he didn't so much as blink when the flame got near him as he simply allowed himself to become engulfed into flame over the course of nearly three quarters of action.
While he wasn't throwing the ball into dangerous areas that led to turnovers, that can't be the best part of your performance. We can't come out of a game and say that the best part of a quarterback's performance is that he didn't have too many disasters. Card wasn't good enough on Saturday. He missed throws that should have put points on the scoreboard. His eyes never seemed to find what they wanted to look for and he didn't lead the offense to remotely enough success.
At halftime, Card was 4 of 8 for 39 yards and he simply wasn't giving the offense enough. Even the president of his fan club can admit that Sarkisian looked like Rocky Balboa refusing to throw the towel while Ivan Drago was seconds away from killing Apollo Creed because of a need to protect the ego of his guy.
It's hard to believe that Sarkisian's old boss Nick Saban would have hesitated to make a switch at halftime, considering we've seen him pull the plug on much more accomplished players than Card when the moment calls for it.
At 16-0, the moment was screaming for a change, all in the name of doing what was best for the team in the next 30 minutes of action. That the hook didn't come until the game was effectively over at 33-7 is completely on Sarkisian.
Perhaps it's unfair to suggest that Sarkisian hesitated because he didn't want to create a quarterback debate with a switch six quarters into the season, but it's hard to fathom what else he could have been thinking in not making the switch. Sometimes a guy just doesn't have it and Card didn't have it on this night. Leaving him in did Card and the team about as many favors as Balboa not throwing the towel in did for Creed.
Ironically, if Sarkisian was trying to avoid a debate at the most important position on the field, he failed because that's where we absolutely are heading into the Rice game this week after Casey Thompson outperformed Card in his limited time to a large enough degree that many of those reading this article might riot at DKR is a change isn't made.
What Sarkisian does next is fascinating on multiple fronts. Consider the following:
* Making a switch after two games would essentially translate to Sarkisian admitting that he not only hitched his saddle to the wrong guy, but that he's been wasting a lot of important time and reps since the first scrimmage of August when he positioned Card to take the overwhelming majority of the reps in each practice outside of the one that occurred on the day before he actually told the quarterbacks of his decision.
* In choosing Card as his starter in August, Sarkisian unofficially announced that Card was his quarterback for the future. One of the elements of Sarkisian's decision that was discussed all season was that the winner of the job in 2021 might set the winner up to be the long-term answer at the position, meaning that Sarkisian would need to be prepared to lose the loser of the battle to a transfer at some point. There's been so much discussion about Thompson leaving immediately, but there's little question that both players would likely have a big issue with sitting through the 2022 season. If Sarkisian makes a switch in the third game of the season, it's fair to wonder exactly where the long-term future of the position stands.
* Few will watch the Rice game and believe that the result of the game means much after what happened on Saturday night, but it's exactly the kind of game that could provide a platform for whomever he chooses to begin the process of building momentum that would allow him to keep the job moving forward.
* Sarkisian's team is watching all of this closely. They'll know that Thompson outplayed Card in Fayetteville. They'll know that if it had been any other position on the field, such a thing would matter with regards to future playing time.
Bottom line - Sarkisian has a lot to think about. Either decision has implications that go beyond who gives the team the best chance to win against Rice.
Is he ready to make it?
His actions suggested the answer is yes, and that the answer was Card. His actions also suggest that confidence in his decision-making among the Texas fan base has been shaken in less than 90 minutes of action as the coach.
Whatever happens, the eyes of Texas are watching and ready to render some judgments based on what happens next.
It's never easy around this place, is it?
No. 2 - For the record ...
I'm torn on what I think should happen at the quarterback decision.
On one hand, I'm not a fan of giving up on the guy you thought was the quarterback of the future after 2 1/2 quarters of bad football because it screams of a panic move by a coach that doesn't know what he's doing.
On the other hand, I'm not a fan of suggesting that what happened on Saturday night shouldn't matter at all.
If I had a third hand, I'd also say I'm not a fan of a decision being made on what happens in practice this week.
At the end of the day, Sarkisian needs to trust himself, but if it were me, I'd probably treat a Rice team that just got worked 44-7 by Houston as a platform for both to decide what happens next on the field in actual games. Both would play in the first quarter and throughout the game.
It's far from ideal, but nothing about where things stand is ideal. I'd probably start Card because I'm not going to quit on Card after one miserable half of football, but Thompson doesn't deserve to simply slide back into the kind of back-up role he's been in the first two games.
No. 3 - Discussing Kyle Flood ...
There are three things that I believe represent a bit of an early indictment on the coach that was supposed to be the answer of the offensive line problems that just won't go away.
1. The choice to stand with a pat hand throughout the off-season and not really make any effort to improve the starting options in the transfer portal was just a terrible decision and it's one that everyone that has followed the program closely knew was a terrible decision.
2. Flood's recruiting in the 2022 class hasn't been good enough at this point. There's still room to change this before the 2022 class puts pen to paper, but up until now, it hasn't been good enough.
3. There's not a single starter on the offensive line that I can tell with my naked eye has made progress from last year to this year, which is the single biggest indictment of all at this early stage of the season. The offensive line actually played pretty well in the final two games of the 2020 season with almost the same exact personnel that exists this year and the results from this group right now are borderline horrifying.
I'm not saying that Flood warrants being on the hot seat or anything like that, but we also can't ignore what has actually happened right now just because Flood came from Alabama, is making a ton of money and is Sarkisian's guy.
No. 4 - More randomness with a day to chew on things ...
... It is less incredibly worrisome that Sarkisian is 0-19 in games when his teams have fallen behind by 10+ at halftime than it is that he has been behind by 10+ at halftime in more than 20-percent of the games he's put together as a head coach. The math says what happened last night won't be the last time it happens this season. Hell, the math says it might happen more than once before this season is complete.
... What exactly what Sarkisian's plan in this game? When you look at the early scripting of the offense, I can't tell who he thought needed to get the ball. Where we the screens and short throws that might have allowed his quarterback to get into some kind of groove? Why are they not finding a way to get the ball into Xavier Worthy's hands with end arounds, screens and other plays that can get him in space? Why did it take nearly three quarters for Joshua Moore to get a target? I just don't have any idea what the plan was.
... The defense deserves credit for keeping the Longhorns in the game through the second quarter, but there were some guys that stopped giving maximum effort in the second half and that just can't happen.
... We've talked about the pass rush being a question mark all off-season and there never really appeared to be anyone that was getting close to K.J. Jefferson when he dropped back to pass, as the Longhorns finished as a team with zero sacks and two quarterback hits. This is going to be a problem all year.
... Joshua Moore can't go catchless over 60 minutes. It feels like that's the kind of thing that happened last season after he'd catch a couple of touchdowns the previous week. How are we not beyond that kind of thing happening?
... There were five players I thought could hold their heads up high on Sunday ... Bijan Robinson, Casey Thompson, DeMarvion Overshown, Anthony Cook and B.J. Foster.
... Cook is very quietly having an excellent start to the season. Whatever success is occurring against the Longhorns in the passing game isn't occurring on his watch so far.
... Luke Brockermeyer's lack of athleticism and speed felt like a problem on Saturday night. He'll have better days moving forward, but he just seemed a tick slow in getting to the football for a lot of the game.
No. 5 – ICYMI ...
It's year seven of our post-game show and I'm pretty sure we've never had more people watching than we did in the aftermath of Saturday night.
No. 6 - A little love for the Texas volleyball team ...
The No.1-ranked Longhorns moved to 7-0 on Sunday with a four-set win over Notre Dame, which followed a four-set win over Arizona on Friday night.
So far this season, the only question has been whether the Longhorns will lose a game, not whether they'll lose a match.
If only it could be like this in football.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) Sadly, I've done so many of these after awful losses over the last decade-plus that I'm just numb to it all. No dread.
(Sell) I don't know many coaches that are willing to admit being terribly wrong after just two games. It might be the wrong decision, but changing quarterbacks at this stage would make Sarkisian look like he doesn't know what he's been doing for the last month.
(Sell) Exactly as Tom Herman did, Sark overestimated the level of talent on the current coaching staff.
(Buy) I'll just let the facts speak for themselves. In my 25 years of doing rankings, all six of the quarterbacks I've ever ranked as five-stars that have finished their eligibility have played in the NFL and five of the six were drafted by NFL teams. If we extend the list to quarterbacks I've rated as high four-stars, the numbers are eight of 11 of the highest-ranked quarterbacks I've ever evaluated have played in the NFL. If we extend the data to include all mid four-star quarterbacks, the numbers turn into 11 of the 20 highest-ranked quarterbacks I've ever ranked have turned into NFL players.
You let me know a single person on the planet that has a better track record than that with evaluating high school players and I'll let you talk all the mess you want.
(Sell) Largely, the realistic expectations for this program centered on an 8-4 or 9-3 season. No one on Orangebloods picked this team to make the Big 12 Championship game.
(Sell) The schedule outside of Oklahoma the rest of the way is full of a bunch of crap. Just don't get overly excited when Texas potentially proves to be less crappy than the rest of the teams in the Big 12.
(Sell) lulz.
(Sell) Last night was an abomination in all three phases of the game, the coaching staff, the overall effort and intensity.
(Buy) He's real good. Just ask Sarkisian.
(Sell) There have been teams in the last decade that didn't have any NFL-level draftable players on the roster. That's not the case with this team. I mean ... 2014-16 happened.
(Sell) Texas is still in the running with Campbell, but this was a damaging loss in the pursuit of Stewart IMO.
(Buy) Decent might be good enough in the Big 12 this season.
(Sell) Texas has a bunch of four-star players on the roster that are marginally more valuable than three stars. It has too few five-stars and high four-star level talent.
(Sell) All of the above.
(Sell) I'll take the under.
(Sell) I'm not sure average helps change what happened last night at all.
(Sell) Part of what will make this game miserable in future weeks will be seeing Arkansas exposed as just an ok team over 12 games. Rice was more competitive last week than Texas was this week.
(Sell) I don't really understand this question at all. Ash's sophomore season in 2012 is probably the best quarterback season of the last decade, unless you want to argue that Sam Ehlinger in 2018 was better. Regardless, Ash's career was sidetracked by injuries, which isn't an issue with Card. Maybe put some respect on Ash's name.
(Sell) No, the early returns do not suggest that yet.
(Buy) Bingo. We were supposed to be beyond this team getting its ass kicked to such levels that Charlie Strong's worst teams get mentioned as comparisons.
(Sell) Let me introduce you to Arsenal TV. (NSFW)
(Buy) Of course. He's one of the best coaches in the history of college football. He might be an awful human being that would have hired a racist strength coach and tolerated all sorts of felonies from the players on his roster, but he wouldn't get skull-banged on national television at this level.
(Sell) This was settled last night. Kayla wore a watch last night.
No. 8 - Scattershooting on the sports weekend ...
... The moment when you knew Ohio State was in trouble.
... Iowa State returned 20+ senior just so that it could get thrashed at home and have its starting senior quarterback benched against its in-state rival. Woof.
... I have to believe Florida State fans felt worse on Saturday night than Texas fans. Someone ask @DustinMcComas for an opinion.
... My fantasy football team's first three picks combined for less than 15 points and I likely lost my fifth round pick (Jerry Jeudy) for the entire season after a third quarter injury.
... Are the Texans any good or is Urban Meyer about to flame out in Jacksonville in historic fashion?
... If you had the 49ers at -8.5, I'm really sorry for your weekend.
... Chandler Jones is a damn monster.
... Daniil Medvedev shut down Novak Djokovic's run for history. I didn't see that coming at all.
... Emma Raducanu is going to be a superstar tennis player that crosses over into the public mainstream in a big way. Huge talent. Magnetic personality. Let's hope the British tabloids don't ruin her.
... My first mention of cricket in 20 years of Orangebloods...
No. 9 - Top 10 Most Believable Actors as Athletes in Movies ...
Two weeks ago, Michael J. Fox topped the least of the least believable actors in sports movies, which means this week we'll look at the actors that were the most believable.
Rule: Actors that played the sport that they are nominated in at the professional level were not eligible for the list.
10. Hilary Swank as Maggie Fitzgerald (Million Dollar Baby)
9. Maris Valainis as Jimmy Chitwood (Hoosiers)
8. Kurt Russell as Reno Hightower (Best of Times)
7. William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence (The Karate Kid)
6. Kevin Coster as Roy McAvoy (Tin Cup)
5. Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta (Raging Bull)
4. Charlie Sheen as Rick Vaughn (Major League)
3. Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Rod Tidwell (Jerry MaGuire)
2. Jamie Foxx as Willie Beaman (Any Given Sunday)
1. Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed (Rocky, Rocky II, Ricky III and Ricky IV)
No. 10 - And Finally ...
This video deserves its own section and this cat now has one less life to use up on its path towards nine.
Top 10 List: Totally agree on Carl Weathers as #1. He was made for that role, but it didn't define him as an actor. He's had a long, successful career in all sorts of roles.
Jimmy Chitwood should be higher, if only for the scene where Coach is talking to him at home and he's swishing almost every shot, and there were a few of them. You know Gene Hackman wasn't going to stand there grabbing an almost flat ball for several takes, so he must've practiced like a fiend to prepare. "I'll make it" - one of my favorite scenes in any sports movie.
Also, Kevin Costner was such as smooth athlete. I guess he played baseball when he was a kid or you would've listed those movies as well. Tin Cup is on my short list for something I'll stop and watch any time I find it while surfing channels.
My only disagreement is with Charlie Sheen in Major League. There were others in that same movie who looked more natural than him.
However, great effort here. Keep 'em coming!
Jimmy Chitwood should be higher, if only for the scene where Coach is talking to him at home and he's swishing almost every shot, and there were a few of them. You know Gene Hackman wasn't going to stand there grabbing an almost flat ball for several takes, so he must've practiced like a fiend to prepare. "I'll make it" - one of my favorite scenes in any sports movie.
Also, Kevin Costner was such as smooth athlete. I guess he played baseball when he was a kid or you would've listed those movies as well. Tin Cup is on my short list for something I'll stop and watch any time I find it while surfing channels.
My only disagreement is with Charlie Sheen in Major League. There were others in that same movie who looked more natural than him.
However, great effort here. Keep 'em coming!
Regardless, I trust Steve Sarkisian more than myself and 99 percent of you regarding evaluation of QB talent. I don't think that's crazy.
I'd keep my right side intact. I'd insert Connor at LG and Karic at LT
Agree completely. But I bet it doesn't happen. One thing for sure, were gonna find out some things about Sark really quickly that will clue us in on how this will go down the next few years.
Well, you are way off with this take.
It wasn't the loss itself. Hell, I actually predicted a loss (24-27, check the prediction thread from Friday), although I had hope that I would be wrong.
The issue is that we got brutally ass-raped by the pigs. Our team just gave up and didn't seem to even care. We had no fight, no heart, no nuthin’. And the coaches just let it all ride without doing a damn thing to change it until it was way too late.
That’s what pisses people off. There was no leadership, and really no identifiable game plan. This was Charlie Strong level crap.
That’s the problem, not a mere loss itself.
Ok, give me your thoughts on this, keeping in mind Im not attacking you, Im asking questions.
Thompson had months to win that job out right and he didnt do it. Every site said the competition was close in camp but Card did more to win the job. Anwar has his reasons for wanting Thompson to win that job, but off his column this morning Ill admit Casey has scored points.
However, we we're looking at an awful Colorado team, garbage time against an obviously worse than we thought ULL, and against Arkansas that was (even Craig Way said it on the broadcast) playing back and letting things happen in front of them. How do you know for sure without a shadow of a doubt that Casey Thompson is best equipped?
We dont know that Thompson is more adept to deal with it. Thompson wasnt in there from the start against Arkansas.
Both of them could come in and play fine against Rice and Tech. Thats not going to tell us anything anyway. Do you think Thompson will beat Oklahoma and TCU?
Your end is curious. You say long term Hudson will be the guy and Thompson will be gone no matter what happens after this season. So we walk into 2022 against Alabama with another "competition" between Charles Wright, Malik Murphy, and Hudson Card?
Im not saying there is a right or wrong answer for this QB issue, but to me its not going to matter because the offensive line is just that damn bad from a lack of heart and talent.
Yikes, what a lot of bad analysis. Sark gave Casey a ton of reps since he got hired. He gave Card a lot as well. And then he announced that Card was his starter but Casey would play. Fans and mods gave the typical "you need to pick one and stick with him" "if you have two you dont have one" knee jerk reactions. But the fact is Sark was clearly never convinced Card was ready, and he knew Casey might well be needed. He gave Casey real time in Game 1, not garbage time. That game wasnt cemented until Casey finished it off. That action alone refutes Ketch's assertion that Card was the "one". Further the assertion that one guy got an "overwhelming majority of reps" ignores the past 8 months of practices and training.
Sure Sark thought Card might be ready to take off this year, and then come back for 2-3 more. But he hedged that bet with Casey. Smart move, misunderstood by fans at the time, and clearly by mods even now. Sark is playing to win now, this year. He isnt going to punt a season hoping to set up future years. Everything he has said big picture wise since he was hired is he is here to win, now.
He is going to play the QB that gives him the best chance to win conference games Just like Saban does, just like Day does, just like Swinney does. He thought Card could be that guy. He gave himself the ability to switch, which he may well do. He is playing chess. Analysts of his moves are playing checkers. Sark didnt hitch his saddle to either guy, Ketch is laughably wrong on that front as well. Sark wont truly commit on a QB until the Tech game, at the earliest, Rice is another exhibition affair.
The only one panicking are fans and mods. This coaching staff is light years ahead of the past decades. They are going to make mistakes, sure. But much of the nonsense on message boards is just that, ridiculous over reaction.
Sure Sark thought Card might be ready to take off this year, and then come back for 2-3 more. But he hedged that bet with Casey. Smart move, misunderstood by fans at the time, and clearly by mods even now. Sark is playing to win now, this year. He isnt going to punt a season hoping to set up future years. Everything he has said big picture wise since he was hired is he is here to win, now.
He is going to play the QB that gives him the best chance to win conference games Just like Saban does, just like Day does, just like Swinney does. He thought Card could be that guy. He gave himself the ability to switch, which he may well do. He is playing chess. Analysts of his moves are playing checkers. Sark didnt hitch his saddle to either guy, Ketch is laughably wrong on that front as well. Sark wont truly commit on a QB until the Tech game, at the earliest, Rice is another exhibition affair.
The only one panicking are fans and mods. This coaching staff is light years ahead of the past decades. They are going to make mistakes, sure. But much of the nonsense on message boards is just that, ridiculous over reaction.
Nah, not at all off with the general mood. For every somewhat reasonable poster such as yourself there are 10 fools who want to raise buyout money now.
It would literally be a meltdown if we lost to anyone but Oklahoma because so many had this idea that somehow this was going to magically be a 10 win team and blow people out. Even I fell for it a little bit out of excitement, but Im not on board with the fire everyone right new crew at all thats running wild around here.
This place has bad PTSD and its going to take a lot of winning to cure that.
indeed
exactly. Ash had a great sophomore year. he had tons of upside and potential. only his concussion issues derailed him.
tell him no, you had your chance.
yes he has. can't blame the 2010 year on Gilbert alone. there were more issues there. why that didn't work is still a mystery to me.
Gilbert is still in the NFL today, albeit on the Pat's practice squad. he was a active roster player on various teams including the Cowboys for 4 years. he earned his NFL keep.
even Colt suffered a bit of a regression his second year as a starter, tried to do too much on every play. he learned his lesson on that and look what he did in his junior and senior years.
yeah .. like Thanos we don't mention that name here ... lol
the "Rout 66" game is the worst home loss ever for Texas .. and second worst ever. Mackovic is an arrogant authoritative jerk. that team quit on him. not the kind of guy that inspires a team. look at his later meltdown at Arizona. that team didn't just quit on him .. they revolted. Mackovic didn't learn a thing from his failures at Texas.
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I'm saying yes, yes we do know that Thompson is a better option for an offense with a weaker offensive. We know this because Thompson is better in the pocket, is a better runner and is better at ad-libbing plays than Hudson is.
Yes, I think we have a better chance to beat TCU and OU with Thompson than I do Hudson.
Yes, I think Hudson could benefit from watching a little more football from the sidelines.
Yes, I think we know all those things despite Hudson outplaying Thompson in practice. Here's a thought; games are different than practice. Coaches don't get to control the agendas in games or rig the circumstances in games like they do in practice.
Look, I get why Sark likes Hudson. Hudson just isn't ready yet. Nobody is doing him any favors trying to shove him back out there because he's just going to become damages goods that way, then where are we?
The last thing I am worried about right now is who the starting QB is going to be in 2022 vs Alabama. For all I know it could be a transfer QB. That's thinking way too far ahead and has nothing to do with this conversation.
All Sark needs to figure out is who he wants to be the QB vs Texas Tech, TCU and OU. If he gets that one wrong, especially if he gets it wrong because of the idea Card will eventually grow into the job, he may actually lose the team in the process.
Sarks QB decision will be about his own ego. I bet he sticks with Card rather than admit he was wrong.
On an intensity scale of 1 - 10 ours was a 6. Theirs was a 17. Nothing else needs to be said.
Ok, let's talk about it.
As president of the Hudson Card Fan Club, the last thing I can do after my guy posted a quarterback rating nearly 100 points lower than his previous game is bury the discussion down a few sections. In the face of the hottest kitchen Card has ever entered, he didn't so much as blink when the flame got near him as he simply allowed himself to become engulfed into flame over the course of nearly three quarters of action.
While he wasn't throwing the ball into dangerous areas that led to turnovers, that can't be the best part of your performance. We can't come out of a game and say that the best part of a quarterback's performance is that he didn't have too many disasters. Card wasn't good enough on Saturday. He missed throws that should have put points on the scoreboard. His eyes never seemed to find what they wanted to look for and he didn't lead the offense to remotely enough success.
At halftime, Card was 4 of 8 for 39 yards and he simply wasn't giving the offense enough. Even the president of his fan club can admit that Sarkisian looked like Rocky Balboa refusing to throw the towel while Ivan Drago was seconds away from killing Apollo Creed because of a need to protect the ego of his guy.
It's hard to believe that Sarkisian's old boss Nick Saban would have hesitated to make a switch at halftime, considering we've seen him pull the plug on much more accomplished players than Card when the moment calls for it.
At 16-0, the moment was screaming for a change, all in the name of doing what was best for the team in the next 30 minutes of action. That the hook didn't come until the game was effectively over at 33-7 is completely on Sarkisian.
Perhaps it's unfair to suggest that Sarkisian hesitated because he didn't want to create a quarterback debate with a switch six quarters into the season, but it's hard to fathom what else he could have been thinking in not making the switch. Sometimes a guy just doesn't have it and Card didn't have it on this night. Leaving him in did Card and the team about as many favors as Balboa not throwing the towel in did for Creed.
Ironically, if Sarkisian was trying to avoid a debate at the most important position on the field, he failed because that's where we absolutely are heading into the Rice game this week after Casey Thompson outperformed Card in his limited time to a large enough degree that many of those reading this article might riot at DKR is a change isn't made.
What Sarkisian does next is fascinating on multiple fronts. Consider the following:
* Making a switch after two games would essentially translate to Sarkisian admitting that he not only hitched his saddle to the wrong guy, but that he's been wasting a lot of important time and reps since the first scrimmage of August when he positioned Card to take the overwhelming majority of the reps in each practice outside of the one that occurred on the day before he actually told the quarterbacks of his decision.
* In choosing Card as his starter in August, Sarkisian unofficially announced that Card was his quarterback for the future. One of the elements of Sarkisian's decision that was discussed all season was that the winner of the job in 2021 might set the winner up to be the long-term answer at the position, meaning that Sarkisian would need to be prepared to lose the loser of the battle to a transfer at some point. There's been so much discussion about Thompson leaving immediately, but there's little question that both players would likely have a big issue with sitting through the 2022 season. If Sarkisian makes a switch in the third game of the season, it's fair to wonder exactly where the long-term future of the position stands.
* Few will watch the Rice game and believe that the result of the game means much after what happened on Saturday night, but it's exactly the kind of game that could provide a platform for whomever he chooses to begin the process of building momentum that would allow him to keep the job moving forward.
* Sarkisian's team is watching all of this closely. They'll know that Thompson outplayed Card in Fayetteville. They'll know that if it had been any other position on the field, such a thing would matter with regards to future playing time.
Bottom line - Sarkisian has a lot to think about. Either decision has implications that go beyond who gives the team the best chance to win against Rice.
Is he ready to make it?
His actions suggested the answer is yes, and that the answer was Card. His actions also suggest that confidence in his decision-making among the Texas fan base has been shaken in less than 90 minutes of action as the coach.
Whatever happens, the eyes of Texas are watching and ready to render some judgments based on what happens next.
It's never easy around this place, is it?
No. 2 - For the record ...
I'm torn on what I think should happen at the quarterback decision.
On one hand, I'm not a fan of giving up on the guy you thought was the quarterback of the future after 2 1/2 quarters of bad football because it screams of a panic move by a coach that doesn't know what he's doing.
On the other hand, I'm not a fan of suggesting that what happened on Saturday night shouldn't matter at all.
If I had a third hand, I'd also say I'm not a fan of a decision being made on what happens in practice this week.
At the end of the day, Sarkisian needs to trust himself, but if it were me, I'd probably treat a Rice team that just got worked 44-7 by Houston as a platform for both to decide what happens next on the field in actual games. Both would play in the first quarter and throughout the game.
It's far from ideal, but nothing about where things stand is ideal. I'd probably start Card because I'm not going to quit on Card after one miserable half of football, but Thompson doesn't deserve to simply slide back into the kind of back-up role he's been in the first two games.
No. 3 - Discussing Kyle Flood ...
There are three things that I believe represent a bit of an early indictment on the coach that was supposed to be the answer of the offensive line problems that just won't go away.
1. The choice to stand with a pat hand throughout the off-season and not really make any effort to improve the starting options in the transfer portal was just a terrible decision and it's one that everyone that has followed the program closely knew was a terrible decision.
2. Flood's recruiting in the 2022 class hasn't been good enough at this point. There's still room to change this before the 2022 class puts pen to paper, but up until now, it hasn't been good enough.
3. There's not a single starter on the offensive line that I can tell with my naked eye has made progress from last year to this year, which is the single biggest indictment of all at this early stage of the season. The offensive line actually played pretty well in the final two games of the 2020 season with almost the same exact personnel that exists this year and the results from this group right now are borderline horrifying.
I'm not saying that Flood warrants being on the hot seat or anything like that, but we also can't ignore what has actually happened right now just because Flood came from Alabama, is making a ton of money and is Sarkisian's guy.
No. 4 - More randomness with a day to chew on things ...
... It is less incredibly worrisome that Sarkisian is 0-19 in games when his teams have fallen behind by 10+ at halftime than it is that he has been behind by 10+ at halftime in more than 20-percent of the games he's put together as a head coach. The math says what happened last night won't be the last time it happens this season. Hell, the math says it might happen more than once before this season is complete.
... What exactly what Sarkisian's plan in this game? When you look at the early scripting of the offense, I can't tell who he thought needed to get the ball. Where we the screens and short throws that might have allowed his quarterback to get into some kind of groove? Why are they not finding a way to get the ball into Xavier Worthy's hands with end arounds, screens and other plays that can get him in space? Why did it take nearly three quarters for Joshua Moore to get a target? I just don't have any idea what the plan was.
... The defense deserves credit for keeping the Longhorns in the game through the second quarter, but there were some guys that stopped giving maximum effort in the second half and that just can't happen.
... We've talked about the pass rush being a question mark all off-season and there never really appeared to be anyone that was getting close to K.J. Jefferson when he dropped back to pass, as the Longhorns finished as a team with zero sacks and two quarterback hits. This is going to be a problem all year.
... Joshua Moore can't go catchless over 60 minutes. It feels like that's the kind of thing that happened last season after he'd catch a couple of touchdowns the previous week. How are we not beyond that kind of thing happening?
... There were five players I thought could hold their heads up high on Sunday ... Bijan Robinson, Casey Thompson, DeMarvion Overshown, Anthony Cook and B.J. Foster.
... Cook is very quietly having an excellent start to the season. Whatever success is occurring against the Longhorns in the passing game isn't occurring on his watch so far.
... Luke Brockermeyer's lack of athleticism and speed felt like a problem on Saturday night. He'll have better days moving forward, but he just seemed a tick slow in getting to the football for a lot of the game.
No. 5 – ICYMI ...
It's year seven of our post-game show and I'm pretty sure we've never had more people watching than we did in the aftermath of Saturday night.
No. 6 - A little love for the Texas volleyball team ...
The No.1-ranked Longhorns moved to 7-0 on Sunday with a four-set win over Notre Dame, which followed a four-set win over Arizona on Friday night.
So far this season, the only question has been whether the Longhorns will lose a game, not whether they'll lose a match.
If only it could be like this in football.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) Sadly, I've done so many of these after awful losses over the last decade-plus that I'm just numb to it all. No dread.
(Sell) I don't know many coaches that are willing to admit being terribly wrong after just two games. It might be the wrong decision, but changing quarterbacks at this stage would make Sarkisian look like he doesn't know what he's been doing for the last month.
(Sell) Exactly as Tom Herman did, Sark overestimated the level of talent on the current coaching staff.
(Buy) I'll just let the facts speak for themselves. In my 25 years of doing rankings, all six of the quarterbacks I've ever ranked as five-stars that have finished their eligibility have played in the NFL and five of the six were drafted by NFL teams. If we extend the list to quarterbacks I've rated as high four-stars, the numbers are eight of 11 of the highest-ranked quarterbacks I've ever evaluated have played in the NFL. If we extend the data to include all mid four-star quarterbacks, the numbers turn into 11 of the 20 highest-ranked quarterbacks I've ever ranked have turned into NFL players.
You let me know a single person on the planet that has a better track record than that with evaluating high school players and I'll let you talk all the mess you want.
(Sell) Largely, the realistic expectations for this program centered on an 8-4 or 9-3 season. No one on Orangebloods picked this team to make the Big 12 Championship game.
(Sell) The schedule outside of Oklahoma the rest of the way is full of a bunch of crap. Just don't get overly excited when Texas potentially proves to be less crappy than the rest of the teams in the Big 12.
(Sell) lulz.
(Sell) Last night was an abomination in all three phases of the game, the coaching staff, the overall effort and intensity.
(Buy) He's real good. Just ask Sarkisian.
(Sell) There have been teams in the last decade that didn't have any NFL-level draftable players on the roster. That's not the case with this team. I mean ... 2014-16 happened.
(Sell) Texas is still in the running with Campbell, but this was a damaging loss in the pursuit of Stewart IMO.
(Buy) Decent might be good enough in the Big 12 this season.
(Sell) Texas has a bunch of four-star players on the roster that are marginally more valuable than three stars. It has too few five-stars and high four-star level talent.
(Sell) All of the above.
(Sell) I'll take the under.
(Sell) I'm not sure average helps change what happened last night at all.
(Sell) Part of what will make this game miserable in future weeks will be seeing Arkansas exposed as just an ok team over 12 games. Rice was more competitive last week than Texas was this week.
(Sell) I don't really understand this question at all. Ash's sophomore season in 2012 is probably the best quarterback season of the last decade, unless you want to argue that Sam Ehlinger in 2018 was better. Regardless, Ash's career was sidetracked by injuries, which isn't an issue with Card. Maybe put some respect on Ash's name.
(Sell) No, the early returns do not suggest that yet.
(Buy) Bingo. We were supposed to be beyond this team getting its ass kicked to such levels that Charlie Strong's worst teams get mentioned as comparisons.
(Sell) Let me introduce you to Arsenal TV. (NSFW)
(Buy) Of course. He's one of the best coaches in the history of college football. He might be an awful human being that would have hired a racist strength coach and tolerated all sorts of felonies from the players on his roster, but he wouldn't get skull-banged on national television at this level.
(Sell) This was settled last night. Kayla wore a watch last night.
No. 8 - Scattershooting on the sports weekend ...
... The moment when you knew Ohio State was in trouble.
... Iowa State returned 20+ senior just so that it could get thrashed at home and have its starting senior quarterback benched against its in-state rival. Woof.
... I have to believe Florida State fans felt worse on Saturday night than Texas fans. Someone ask @DustinMcComas for an opinion.
... My fantasy football team's first three picks combined for less than 15 points and I likely lost my fifth round pick (Jerry Jeudy) for the entire season after a third quarter injury.
... Are the Texans any good or is Urban Meyer about to flame out in Jacksonville in historic fashion?
... If you had the 49ers at -8.5, I'm really sorry for your weekend.
... Chandler Jones is a damn monster.
... Daniil Medvedev shut down Novak Djokovic's run for history. I didn't see that coming at all.
... Emma Raducanu is going to be a superstar tennis player that crosses over into the public mainstream in a big way. Huge talent. Magnetic personality. Let's hope the British tabloids don't ruin her.
... My first mention of cricket in 20 years of Orangebloods...
No. 9 - Top 10 Most Believable Actors as Athletes in Movies ...
Two weeks ago, Michael J. Fox topped the least of the least believable actors in sports movies, which means this week we'll look at the actors that were the most believable.
Rule: Actors that played the sport that they are nominated in at the professional level were not eligible for the list.
10. Hilary Swank as Maggie Fitzgerald (Million Dollar Baby)
9. Maris Valainis as Jimmy Chitwood (Hoosiers)
8. Kurt Russell as Reno Hightower (Best of Times)
7. William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence (The Karate Kid)
6. Kevin Coster as Roy McAvoy (Tin Cup)
5. Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta (Raging Bull)
4. Charlie Sheen as Rick Vaughn (Major League)
3. Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Rod Tidwell (Jerry MaGuire)
2. Jamie Foxx as Willie Beaman (Any Given Sunday)
1. Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed (Rocky, Rocky II, Ricky III and Ricky IV)
No. 10 - And Finally ...
This video deserves its own section and this cat now has one less life to use up on its path towards nine.
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Rest of your post is a matter of opinion and you made a good argument. This one I have to disagree with you. If you think this was bad you damn sure dont want to see anything like this happen against Alabama next year. a 60 point loss in DKR on national TV cant happen, so to me it absolutely matters who is under center week 2.
Im prepared to chalk this year up to a rebuild. I know thats not popular.
Good stuff though. Appreciate the banter.
I agree. Ketch is trying to save his rep here. Card was very indecisive and conservative as if he was trying not to lose instead of trying to win.. CT has more confidence and is more decisive at this point in his career. CT has had the benefit from watching one of the best do it for 4 years SE. Card is a stud and wont be a bust like Garrett Gilbert but he isn't ready right now. If you leave him in their you run the risk of the whole team losing confidence in the coach..
I think the biggest part is who does the team believe in not just the coach. I think Card is the better QB but I do not like his leadership style and if feels like the staff will let Thompson run more and move the chains with a bad OL. I think you play both all year and get Card ready for next year but roll with Casey as the starter most games.
I totally agree with you about David Ash.
Guy was laser focused in 2012 - always showed up to our 8am math class in the Petroleum engineering building.
I don’t think Urban quits on the Jags after one season.
Jimmy Johnson told him it wouldn’t be easy.
How about these movie athletes:
Cedric the Entertainer as Percy Stevens (Man of the House)
Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteberg (Moneyball)
Scott Bakula as Paul Blake (Necessary Roughness)
Anthony Mackie as Nate Ruffin (We Are Marshall)
Cedric the Entertainer as Percy Stevens (Man of the House)
Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteberg (Moneyball)
Scott Bakula as Paul Blake (Necessary Roughness)
Anthony Mackie as Nate Ruffin (We Are Marshall)
