How could I forget VY taking down #3 ranked Ohio State on a last 4 minute drive and last 2 minute TD pass to Limas Sweed...
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (I'm not talking about quarterbacks... just kidding)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
I'm not following. So your ranking/scoring is based on the recency of QB play?
I guess our scales are different. I judge 1-10 based on simply good QB play comparative to other QBs.
Seems a little loosey goosey otherwise.
Ehlinger wasn't a 9, no matter what our specific QB history is.
I mean you're basically saying he was only a play away or so from being a perfect 10. No, cmon. Get real.
BUY or SELL: Tim Beck will be a problem as long as he's here?
(Sell) Is Beck a bigger problem than his limited personnel? Maybe. I think what I consider to be the most important question is whether he's a solution. If you're the OC at a program like Texas, you need to be an elite coach capable of creating solutions. I don't know that I view him that way.
- Ketch, I am glad someone brought this up, and thanks. Here's the deal - we cannot fully judge his prowess (or lack of it) as a OE until he has a solid class of recruits. I know some OB posters want to rush to judgement on Beck - and yes they might be right, but let's table this discussion until end of year. HookEm
(Sell) Is Beck a bigger problem than his limited personnel? Maybe. I think what I consider to be the most important question is whether he's a solution. If you're the OC at a program like Texas, you need to be an elite coach capable of creating solutions. I don't know that I view him that way.
- Ketch, I am glad someone brought this up, and thanks. Here's the deal - we cannot fully judge his prowess (or lack of it) as a OE until he has a solid class of recruits. I know some OB posters want to rush to judgement on Beck - and yes they might be right, but let's table this discussion until end of year. HookEm
Regarding #1...except he had 4 turnovers, missed untold long passes and fumbled on the 1 yard line in double OT. I'm a WHS alum and love Sam but pump the breaks on anointing him this season.
Yup, I'm writing about the Texas quarterbacks.
Again.
I know it has to wear some of you guys out for this to be a never-ending-conversation, but there are a couple of things that make this the most important story-line three games into the season.
a. It's the single-most important position in a sport that is mostly defined by great quarterback play.
b. The Longhorns currently have a murky situation at this critical position.
With his performance in the fourth quarter and in overtime on Saturday night, Sam Ehlinger made Tom Herman's decision-making even trickier than a tricky situation already was. For the better part of nine months, Herman has been begging for one of his quarterbacks to emerge as the kind of alpha-male leader that will strap the team to his back when the truest of gut-check moments stares them in the face.
Ehlinger did that on Saturday night.
Yes, he turned the ball over too much. Yes, he was in over his head early in the game. Yes, there are still growing pains to come.
Yet, no matter what happened in the first 55 minutes, when the game was on the line in the final moments of the fourth quarter, Ehlinger emerged as one of the best players on the field. He stood in the face of constant pressure and made one play after another, evoking memories of Major Applewhite in Lincoln back in Mack Brown's first season.
He did something that Shane Buechele has never done ... go on the road against a very good team and carry the team to near-victory with a sterling late-game performance.
In reality, Herman doesn't have a plus-quarterback on his hands, at least not in the traditional terms by which we judge the position. For argument's sake, let's take a look at what the top-half of a crude 1-10 scale probably looks like in college football.
10 - Retire his number
9 - All-American
8 - All-Conference
7 - Borderline All-Conference/Top 40 nationally
6 - Slightly above average player.
5 - Average
Only Texas fans blinded by their burnt orange-tinted glasses would dare suggest that the Longhorns have a quarterback that warrants being listed 7 or above, which means that it's pretty impossible to dial up a definite right answer. The majority of the sample size that Buechele has delivered in 13 starts at quarterback suggests that he's probably in the 6 range. In the first part of Saturday's game on the road facing the No. 4 team in the nation, Ehlinger probably wasn't even a 5, but in the late stages of the game he played like a 9.
That leaves me in kind of the same position I felt I was in a week ago when I wrote about this, which is that I'm just not sure what the right answer is. I understand both sides of the discussion and there are fair points on both sides.
While this all gets sorted out, I feel for both guys, as neither is actually ready to be in the position he’s been forced into due to program need and what happens next will be unfair. If Buechele starts against Iowa State and doesn't lead the team to a score in two or three drives in a row, everyone in the stadium and on television will start eyeballing the back-up. The same is true if it happens to Ehlinger.
Until one of these guys emphatically claims the position, this is the world in which the Longhorns reside with respect to the quarterback position ... The Land of Uncertainty.
No. 2 – The elephant in the room going into this week ...
The long-term loss of Connor Williams is the worst-case situation actually occurring along the offensive line.
Suddenly, this team goes from having the blind-side of its two quarterbacks protected by an elite protector and feeling like it had a go-to-path in the running game to having two starting tackles on the field that make you nervous on every single play.
And the interior of the line is only marginally better.
On top of those truths, I really can't process what happens if there is even a single injury to this group moving forward.
Offensive line coach Derek Warehime has his hands full, to say the least. Somehow, some way, he has to find a way to mold a good enough unit with which this team can compete at a fairly high level.
If we're keeping it 100, this situation looms as a much bigger problem for the offense than its quarterbacks, both to the overall quality of play and to the future health of the quarterbacks.
No. 3 - USC Game Balls ...
My goodness, there were some awesome performances by Longhorns playing in Los Angeles on Saturday night. The following players were not just very good, but they were among the best players on the field ... period.
Malik Jefferson - For the first time in his career, he dominated a meaningful game in a way that would make Derrick Johnson proud. It felt like he was everywhere all the time.
Collin Johnson - Texas can't target him enough in the passing game. When he was thrown the ball and he simply decided that no one was going to stop him ... no one stopped him.
DeShon Elliott - 7 tackles, a tackle for loss, two interceptions and two pass break-ups.
Anthony Wheeler - a team-best 12 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
If each of these players can bottle up what they had going on against the Trojans for the next nine games, this team can reach its ceiling.
No. 4 – Ames is everything ...
It is far from sexy on the marquee, but the game in Ames represents a major moment in this season.
Win that game and the path for a potential eight-win type of season still exists. Drop it and suddenly the weight of the looming schedule could devour this team. No one wants to hear this, but if the Longhorns can come out of the Oklahoma State game at 4-3, wins in four of its last five games would deliver an 8-win season going into the bowl game.
That would represent real progress in year one.
Personally, I'm expecting this team to answer the bell and handle its business in Ames and at home against Kansas State.
No. 5 – Buy or Sell …
BUY or SELL: Sam Ehlinger starts vs Iowa State?
(Sell) I think we're going to see Shane Buechele get the start. I think.
BUY or SELL: Tim Beck will be a problem as long as he's here?
(Sell) Is Beck a bigger problem than his limited personnel? Maybe. I think what I consider to be the most important question is whether he's a solution. If you're the OC at a program like Texas, you need to be an elite coach capable of creating solutions. I don't know that I view him that way.
BUY or SELL: Malik Jefferson continues this type of play the rest of the season. The switch has flipped?
(Buy) I don't know if he plays like he did against USC each week, but he's currently the best player on this team, along with Collin Johnson.
BUY or SELL: Someone should tell CTH to quit chewing bubblegum on the sidelines because it looks stupid?
(Buy) It's not a big deal, but it's kind of weird. There's a little bit of Les Miles to the whole thing.
BUY or SELL: We have a fighter’s chance with Anthony Cook now?
(Sell) I think he knows he's going to Ohio State.
BUY or SELL: This is TH's M.O. and his teams will always get up and play big in big games but continue to be schizophrenic and lose games they shouldn't to the Iowa States and Marylands of the world?
(Sell) It's fair to have this thought in the back of your mind after what his Houston team went through a season ago, but there's a very limited sample size in trying to make such a damning conclusion. Let's visit this later in the season.
No. 6 – The reality of the Big 12 ...
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are a cut above everyone else in this league, but there's no reason the Longhorns can't finish a respectable third this season.
Kansas State isn't all that and neither is West Virginia. TCU and Texas Tech are very unproven.
There's room for a real move up the ladder this season to take place, which would set up a potential big season in 2018.
Don't lose sight of the bigger picture.
No. 7 – If I had a vote that counts ...
My Top 10 through three weeks looks like this:
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Penn State
5. Oklahoma State
6. Washington
7. USC
8. Wisconsin
9. Michigan
10. Mississippi State
No. 8 – Mile-High beatdown ...
Soooooo, that was rather emphatic.
As someone who owns measured expectations for the 2017 Dallas Cowboys, I'm not going to get too high or too low with any result this team registers. On its best day, it can beat just about anyone and on its worst day, it can get its ass kicked by a Trevor Siemian-led team.
Sometimes you have to take your L and just move on. Sunday was such a day.
This is what regressing to the mean looks like in real life. There's no reason to panic, but you have to be realistic about the deck of cards this team is playing with.
No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... I still haven't seen Canelo/GGG, but it sounds like it was a doozy. No one that watched the Canelo/Mayweather fight could be shocked that someone had a scorecard one-sided in his favor that no one with working eyes would concur with. Oh well, if it means that we'll get a Part II, maybe the silly scorecard was good for the sport.
... Man City and Man United represent the clear early class of the Premier League. The other Big Four teams better raise their level of play because the two Manchester teams are rolling everybody in their path at the moment and racking up three points each week like Steph Curry on a heater.
... If the Raiders can stay healthy, that team is going to be a major factor in the AFC this year.
... You just knew the Patriots were going to drop a bomb on New Orleans after that Thursday night opener. I almost felt bad for Drew Brees on Sunday because of the early schedule minefield.
... Never have I appreciated Sam Bradford more than by watching Case Keenum on Sunday. Seriously, how is that guy on a roster?
... Travis Kelce was the truth against the Eagles.
... Demarcus Lawrence was the truth against the Broncos.
No. 10 – And finally …
Thinking a lot about old times in the last few days. Rest in peace, my friend.
Except I've openly said Buechele is ahead of Sam. I just think the margin is somewhat slight.
more silliness that literally isn't based in any kind of reality.
It's the reason why folks like this never specifically quote anything that they disagree with.
It's easier to make up a narrative in your head and just spout off about it with zero evidence.
who anointed him this season?
I specifically called him no better than slightly above average at this stage of his development at best.
I just don't get what some of you process when you read something that's pretty damn clear.
I quote someone most of the time, so your accusation is false. I could quote anyone of a dozen posts in this thread alone where you focus purely on Shanes negatives, that fail to provide any context.
If Shane had four turnovers, two blown snaps, multiple blown opportunities, 11 out of 13 possessions that were bad to awful, I can pretty much guarantee you wouldn't be calling his one great drive as All American, and rubbing that drive in every posters face who put context on the other 55 minutes of the game.
I don't care that you are biased, that's your issue. Most posters have picked up on it, which is why you are getting so much shit on this thread, and many others. I do care that you appear to be on a mission to cause dissension among the fanbase, and as I said above, that's sad.
I am going to enjoy the games and hope Sam and Shane both continue to develop and help win games. I'm done with this issue, its pointless, and it just breeds unnecessary negativity to everyone.
No, my accusation is not false, as evidenced that you remarked that you could do something but are choosing not to do so. The reason for that is clear.
Let me ask you this... what is my motive behind my bias? Let's dig you out of your rabbit hole by starting there.
If he had played worth a spit for the first 95% of the game none of that would have been necessary.
True freshman in his 2nd start on the road vs a top 5 team. Starter was hurt. It's the hand we were dealt.
I don't think that's really a fair representation of his play. The first half was not good. The second half saw steady improvement.
Better OL play, a running game and not facing 2nd and 15 every drive because your line can't stop committing pre-snap penalties would help both young quarterbacks.
bingo.
No one ever claimed the circumstances of Saturday were ideal... not for anyone.
Hindsight is always 20/20. If we had a coherent game plan against Maryland(run Warren) we would have won. If we played D against Maryland like we have since, we would have won. If we beat Maryland with Shane we probably aren't having these discussions. The fact of the matter is Sam made some very poor decisions, didn't protect the ball, was bailed out quite a bit by Mr. Johnson and with the game on the line...fumbled. I think he will beat SB out before Shane graduates maybe even next season. But right now, a healthy Shane is our best option.
We agree on the last part.
I don't think a coherent game plan automatically saves Texas against Maryland, though. They kicked UT's ass.
Shane is a JAG right now. So is Sam.
I think way too much is being made of Sam's turnovers, even if all four were hugely impacting.
* One came on a snap from the center, who thought he heard a clap when Sam never clapped.
* One came on a sensational play by a defender to strip the ball out. Sam wasn't careless, the guy just made a great play.
* One came on a deep ball where his receiver gave up inside position and didn't fight hard enough in the air to force an incompletion.
* One came on a bizarre throwaway, which was forced by a defender grabbing his faceand not getting the penalty.
I mean some of that shit is just odd and will likely never be repeated. It wasn't like he was forcing bad balls and making bad throws, although the deep ball that was picked was a poor throw.
It was a clutch performance of significant variety in extreme circumstances, so yeah, a 9.
Exactly.
I prefer to analyze how we did with what we had, including losing Conner.
Right. And by an All American and only the greatest football player in UT history, if not college football history.
Sam did indeed have a Herculean final 3 minutes of regulation and both OT's until the fateful strip.
I'm not sure I understand, but that doesn't mean you're not right.And you wallow in it.
Regarding the tackle issue, it might be confusing to think about, but while moving Nickelson to LT is a downgrade at LT, moving Nickelson from RT is actually an upgrade at RT. So while not quite a "wash" given the greater importance at LT, we still have just one real question mark at OT. it just flipped sides.
Both tackles are subpar at this point, so I'm of the opinion there are two questions.
Hell, they aren't questions. They are non-plus players. It's what the team s working with.
Brutal assault isn't how I'd describe it. FSU had a punt blcoekd and fumbled a kickoff back-to-back late in the third quarter when it was 10-7 with under 17 minutes left in the game. Both turnovers were self-inflicted. Alabama capitalized, and turned that into 10 points (Alabama started one of those drives on the six-yard line and gained -1 yard and had to kick a field goal). Thus, the game. Otherwise, it was pretty even, even after Francois' interception that Alabama couldn't convert into anything.
FSU's yards per play: 4.2
Alabama's yards per play: 4.5
Alabama was +3 in turnovers yet had two fewer first downs. That's not domination.
This x a million. If the OL and running game continue to suck, Sam gives us the best chance to win and probably has the best chance to survive, too.
After an initial rough early patch, Okafor played no less than solid in the 2h. I fully expect to really improve over the course of this season.
