Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend: 24 Hours Later...

[UTbatachele]

This. Jeezus is that’s so hard to understand. For whatever oddball f’n reason there is this sheer terror by some in the possibility, remote or not, that Card jut might not be the QB Messiah.

He likely isn’t. He has glaring red flags all over the place.

 

[Ketchum]

Umm @Ketchum don’t take this personally but I’m going to have strongly disagree with just about everything you mentioned in this thread.

1.) One on hand you would have liked to see Hudson benched halfway through the game but on the other hand, somehow it would be a “woeful” decision to start Casey? So Thompson is good enough to come in and save the day but hasn’t shown enough to start the game? How is bringing Thompson in at halftime after openly admitting both will play before both games not at least a slight admission that the QB battle might not be over? Yet playing the first quarter instead of the 3rd quarter is? That just doesn’t make any sense.

2.) Then you basically doubled down and said that Thompson hasn’t shown enough while alluding to the past 9 months…. when Casey has the best QB play in a single half we’ve seen in recent memory and has continued to play well given his opportunities including the first game. I’m not going to fault Casey for playing when he does, the fact is when his number is called he has 9 out of 10 drives scoring points. On top of that, it wasn’t like Card took the job from the beginning of spring ball. Sark named his starter right before game week so it was close up until the end. Some way, some how Card has shown enough to be the starter and play for *checks notes * …..two quarters. I mean even Vince Young who infamously had a perfect rivals rating lost starts to guy with even less history of college success than Casey Thompson. I just don’t understand the logic here. I don’t believe it’s there case at all but this type of reasoning is why some people believe there is a hidden agenda to push Card.

3.) And the “do you trust your coach” comment in the same thread as this team doesn’t have 5 star talent it needs comment is bananas. How can you even make a judgment on Sark after two games when the talent is this bad? So what if he switches the QB after a couple of games (where they have both played in each) to find out what he has? The offensive line is worse from last year and they have been trending downward for over 10 years now lol. There’s not one draft pick on it. Our WR room is also average, outside of worthy eventually and a hurt Omiere, maybe not a draft pick there either. The QB room is completely unknown. The defense has one bonafide stud on it in overshown with a couple of solid but inconsistent players. We don’t have a pass rush and for as good as the DL is supposed to be we just saw Sark recruit 6 DL and edge players in this upcoming class not to mention go head over heels for any LB he could get in the transfer portal. Plus Jamison, Thompson and to some degree Foster (and I really want to like them) have been a part of some of the worst defenses statistically and mental breakdowns in recent years…. all the while we were talking ourselves up in schooler a guy who hasn’t played defense let alone the position in 3 years. Even dicker has regressed to the mean. We drink the kool aid (myself included) every year but we’ve seen the same results from the same tier of recruits we’ve been able to bring in across 3 coaching staffs now. It’s really on Sark to bring in true top 5 classes (not these feaux top 10 classes that fall apart and don’t have any 5 star lineman or QBs) year after year. You did say something I am willing to agree with, probably looking back on the players in the recruiting classes that actually stayed at Texas and comparing it to those on other teams, we’d realize our talent advantage is not all that great.

4.) For heavens sake we are going to discuss the OL transfer portal decision this past offseason to death. You can’t say we need 5 star talent but Sark should have went after avg transfer OL targets and not get an eye roll from me. We should just bring in OL just for the hell of it and yet we wonder how we ended up in this situation. As many years as you’ve been doing this and the amount of transfers you’ve seen, you should know most of them don’t amount to Jack shit. There wasn’t an iron sharpening iron type of potential in the portal and certainly not one good enough worth a potential early enrollee class counter number.

5.) Last but not least the QB evaluation thing. That’s all well and good that those QBs you listed and “hit” on went to the league but none of that makes a shit and I’ll tell you why. Which one of those QBs helps Texas win a National or even conference title? Probably 2? Playing in the league on the practice squad and as a backup is great, few ever sniff coming close…. but their college careers is much more relevant to Texas and they were
(outside of Young and Luck) very meh.

I appreciate the insightful discussion here and don’t want to seem like I’m attacking you, it’s just in this thread we have very different viewpoints here.

1. I didn't say it would be woeful to start Thompson. That's not quite what was said.

2. I'm not telling you Thompson didn't do enough in the last 9 months, the head coach and quarterback guru did.

3. I'm not making a judgment on Sark after three games. I asked others if they did.

4. I didn't say to go after average OL targets. There were better options than that available and better ways to work the transfer market IMO.

5. k/

 

[RLong68]

No doubt, but I was mainly thinking of first seasons as starters.

Let's be frank, both Brown and VY and significantly longer bodies of work of quality starts before any first clunker.

 

[Ketchum]

Good grief, this is so dramatic. Coaches have to reevaluate decisions all the time. Mackovic was thought of as an offensive guru and eventually he was forced to realize that James Brown was the guy over the golden boy Shea Morenz. It happens; you never know what’s really going to play out until the lights come on.

Mackovic was never forced to do anything. Morenz got hurt and when he did Brown ran away from him to a degree, along with Morenz being drafted in the first round.

 

[RLong68]

VY went 6-0 after he became the starter though

And James Brown kicked ass in his only 4 starts in '94.

 

[Ketchum]

VY had a solid to very good offensive line in front of him
This line is playing on a flag football level

and had first round picks at running back and wide receiver, along with an NFL level tight end.

 

[UTbatachele]

Let's hope the team disagrees.

Let's hope the team disagrees.

The players aren’t stupid. They know who is the gamer and who is the young grasshopper trying to learn. Not only learn but adjust to speed of game and not fear getting hit when and if he runs the ball.

 

[RLong68]

Lots of thoughts are based on heavy emotion.

Ironic given your Card stance.

 

[Ketchum]

While Saturday’s effort was among the worst I recall, under any Texas coach, it is unrealistic to judge this coaching staff and team based upon 8 quarters of football. After Louisiana, some were already predicting 10 wins, which was a premature call. After Arkansas, many are forecasting a dismal season. Also premature, IMHO. We will know what time of team we have after game 5, back to back games against TCU and OU. Time will tell if this is a good coaching staff; but, time is not 8 quarters.

I'm not judging the staff on 8 quarters of football, other than to say Saturday was poor and the OL as a whole hasn't taken forward steps.

 

[Ketchum]

Saban changed QB’s at halftime in a Natty. So, there’s that.

Because he didn't care who played. It wasn't a reflection on him.

Saban would have made the call earlier on Saturday than when it was 33-7.

 

[Ketchum]

So you guarentee hed be here if they pushed?

Those are DLs not OLs. What was the magic they sold the current OL commits that the elite arent buying?

You think 2020 bowl game Colorado and 2020 end of year Kansas State, both awful football teams, are better than 2021 ULL and Arkansas?

a. Yes, he'd absolutely have come to Texas.

b. The level of play by the OL in those two games was much better, with younger players that didn't have full off-seasons following their true freshman seasons,

 

[Ketchum]

This. Jeezus is that’s so hard to understand. For whatever oddball f’n reason there is this sheer terror by some in the possibility, remote or not, that Card jut might not be the QB Messiah.

terror?

 

[RLong68]

VY flashed though. Bad games still have flashes. There were no flashes from Card last night. Zero. Like, if someone said, ‘what are this guy’s strengths based on tonight?’, you would struggle to come up with something. He didn’t get hurt? He didn’t throw it right to the other team?

@Ketchum is playing fast and loose in attempting to draw parallels with VY/JB and Card. NEITHER of them had a clunker in their first real challenge.

 

[Ketchum]

What were they?

Couple of third down throws that went for first downs and the ball to Whittington in the third quarter that was dropped.

Just flashes.

 

[Williamhill2034]

Let's be frank, both Brown and VY and significantly longer bodies of work of quality starts before any first clunker.

Is it just me or is @Ketchum dodging some rather good and factual points being made here regarding Thompson Vs Card. I’m with you I think Thompson needs to start and we can always go back to Card if Thompson isn’t getting it done. This whole decision to ride with one guy all season when they aren’t playing well even though we’ve been told it was a tough decision to choose a starter is frankly just completely illogical and a good way to not move the ball. We witnessed this bs for far too long against Arkansas and then the coach has the idiocy to say hindsight is 20/20. Really? Like was he watching the same game? What on earth other than his pride was telling him He shouldn’t give Casey a shot to get something going. Goodness gracious

 

[Ketchum]

Fair. But they sure haven't got better.

I don't have a lot of faith in Coleman.

 

[Ketchum]

Quite honestly, I found the following quote a bit laughable in real time but it's still a bit shocking this was the sentiment less than 2 weeks ago:

"I was told Card has the mental makeup of a quarterback most people within the program have rarely seen.

Some quarterbacks are viewed as players who are hard to rattle.

Card is viewed as a quarterback who cannot get rattled, no matter what happens."

Literally the very FIRST time adversity presented itself to Card, he folded like a house of cards. I wonder sometimes if there's something about Lake Travis QBs who grew up coddled with every major advantage on the field that when punched in the mouth they fold like cheap suits. I mean, one could argue Westlake QBs are just as coddled but at the end of the day, Westlake has given us two SB MVPs, a future HOFer and one of the toughest QB hombres the 40 has ever seen.

I didn't write any of that stuff.

 

[UTbatachele]

His actions don't reflect what his words told us.

He literally sacrificed reps for Thompson for Charles Wright at times.

I don’t want to believe this but even Anwar suggested Sark didn’t bring Casey in because he knew Casey would do better and create a qb controversy. If that’s true than it’s not far from thinking the Charles Wright thing was also to bury him some more. Sark isn’t dumb he knows Casey is better than Card right now. He needs to do the right thing before he loses all trust of the team. He has already crossed the danger line Saturday. Players noticed.

 

[Rotarran9116]

a. Yes, he'd absolutely have come to Texas.

b. The level of play by the OL in those two games was much better, with younger players that didn't have full off-seasons following their true freshman seasons,

Ok

And doesn't level of play also equate to the level of the opponent? Colorado's DL for example was abysmal. Arkansas' wasn't.

 

[Ketchum]

I’ve said before Ketch that some players are just gamers and you can’t go just by practice. Speaking of last 6 months, how can you not start a QB that has score 9 out of 10 possessions in game time with the only Non score being a clock kill. He has absolutely shown it to be true that he deserves to start. And I’m a Card fan.

Most of those possessions just don't mean much to me in the context of the here and the now.

We're no doing that with any of the other positions. It's meaningless for Joshua Moore at this point that he caught two touchdowns against Colorado.

 

[HookemChargers]

Fair. But they sure haven't got better.

I dont fault them for not making bad players good I fault them for sticking with the same bad players and not giving the young guys a shot.

 

[Ketchum]

Clearly you are too emotionally invested in Card. Perhaps like Sark you are terrified of being wrong. At the end of the day, WGAF. Recruiting experts get people wrong all the time. Wouldn't be the first. Won't be the last.

I'm not emotionally invested in anything. I just have my thoughts and are honest with them.

 

[Ketchum]

The GOAT changed QBs in a NATIONAL TITLE GAME. And he pretty made that change as easily he would change a pair of socks.

a. He also had zero personal skin in the game in coaching that position.

b. He's the GOAT. Sark ain't that.

 

[bobarmstrong]

That loss was a humiliating reality check. I bought the hype after a solid first week and believed we could make it to OU undefeated. Arkansas bullied us with a more physical team and exposed our flaws to the delight of the SEC haters.

Casey Thompson has to start in my opinion. I don’t understand how you can say Sark didn’t throw in the towel early enough during a Drago fight, and also conclude that Card deserves to keep the starting job.

Casey has earned his opportunity and should get the start. Card can still eventually win the job back, but he temporarily lost it against Arkansas.

 

[Williamhill2034]

a. He also had zero personal skin in the game in coaching that position.

b. He's the GOAT. Sark ain't that.

Sark should emulate these types of coaching moves which pay off

 

[Ketchum]

I mean, did we hire Sark to be "less crappy" than the rest of the Big 12? At the end of the day, 8-4 regular season will be a disaster on many levels. And when you can't block and you can't get to the passer, then pretty much the season will prove mediocre.

No.

 

[Akina Matata]

​

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.

Casey is the only option from a recruiting game theory perspective. it's the easiest way to explain away such an embarrassing loss. And is there such a thing as a long term plan in college football anymore? OU portals in Heisman winning QBs every year without an issue.

 

[LSM_Zach]

What if he believes the right thing is to play Card because he thinks he's better?

I fully expect him to play Card and I fully expect Card to play better. I expect the team to play better and to almost make this a distant memory for the casual fanbase when we're fighting for a Big XII CG berth in November.

But none of that blind optimism should distract from the critique of what was one of the least inspiring, most confounding coaching performances I've ever seen at the college level. You guys have done a good job bringing it up repeatedly but seriously: what the F*** was the gameplan here? There wasn't a single first half possession that had anything other than the stench of potential failure on it from the get-go. Nothing worked. Nothing looked like it would eventually work. Other than a handful of guys, it didn't even look like our guys knew there was history between these two teams.

And as we (well, as you mods) attempt to deconstruct the myriad coaching failures over the next few days, it should not go unnoticed that this team that seemingly completely undressed us on national TV could've been in legitimate trouble if this team just executed and caught some whiffs of competent officiating.

We don't need to catch all of these breaks but, imagine if:
-we recover the muffed kick and go in for an easy 7-0 lead
-Arky gets penalized for tackling Card low as he's flipping the ball to the ref, 3 seconds after the whistle
-Dicker doesn't fumble the punt
-Dicker makes a makable FG
-JWhitt catches that ball
-Card connects on one of those deep balls
-We run literally any other play on that 4th and 1 from our own 35ish
-Jamison doesn't blow that coverage so egregiously
-targeting called on that asinine 4th and 1 play

There's probably another dozen what-ifs but those are the most memorable. If we catch a few of those breaks (especially that opening kickoff muff), we could have changed the trajectory of that game, taken the crowd out of it a bit and made the game manageable. But it doesn't change the fact that our coaching staff brought out a team that appeared to lack enthusiasm, direction, confidence and energy. Really weird temperament for a rivalry-game in a hostile environment and one that we have to hope isn't repeated in Dallas.

 

[Ketchum]

With all due respect, suggesting you play both in the first quarter is stupid and simply a product of some bizarre fear of Thompson taking the reins and running with it.

Nope, it's an acknowledgement that a clear answer doesn't truly exist. There's no way Sark believes that Saturday cancelled out months of personal evaluation from the last six months. JMO>

 

[Ketchum]

How much of a sample size did you have in those 6 months? At the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is what happens when live bullets are flying. Card's played 3 games. He was meh at best in the Alamo Bowl. The was real good against Louisiana and he was dreadful against Arky. Thompson was terrific in all 3.

40+ days of in person evaluation in a team setting.

 

[Ketchum]

He needs to separate the thinking of "who's better" and "who can get the job done NOW."

Very much an Applewhite/Simms discussion.

 

[Ketchum]

This. For one, EVERYONE had those 6 QBs as 5-stars. @Ketchum makes it sound like they were LSR "specials." As it is, only 50% of those guys were legit CFB QBs at the level for which they were recruited. His sticking with Gilbert for a damn decade is rather bizarre. Gilbert has overwhelmingly been a practice squad player in his "NFL run."

He was starting games in the NFL as recently as last year.

 

[Ketchum]

Funny thing is Card isn’t even better by any measurables compared to Casey.

Your head coach and one of the best quarterback coaches in the history of the sport disagrees with you.

 

[RLong68]

I didn't write any of that stuff.

Did I say you did?

 

[Ketchum]

At the end of the day, WGAF? The fanbase wants to win. Jeezus, if Thompson were named the starter and took off leading us to, say, the CCG who the hell is going to care that Sark started off with Card?

Sark might care more than anyone else.