Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Ok, let's talk about the defense...)

[MEP1992]

I think plan B is you make Ossai your designated pass rusher. Move him from end to end and set his ass lose and tell em sic the qb...

 

[Ketchum]

Great example that QB rating doesn’t tell the whole story because no other measure would have your #1 over the #2 and not be a long shot

Of course, it can never tell the whole story, but it can still tell quite a story, nonetheless.

 

[Ketchum]

You are right on as far as Sam's pluses, but blind as to his one glaring weakness that he has shown time after time, the inability to hit a deep wide open receiver. :You write as if we don't understand what we are seeing, but most of us played the game and understand it very well. Sam needs work on deep passes to the point that he can reliably hit a wide open receiver down the field. I blame the coaches for concentrating on other aspects of the game at the expense of this correctable weakness.

A year ago, he was second in the nation in downfield passing efficiency.

Downfield passes are the least efficient throws a quarterback can make, so he's going to miss some, even when they are open.

Tom Brady was awesome last night... and he missed a couple of throws it. It happens.

I'm nopt the one that's blind. I'm the one using my brain.

 

[Ketchum]

Ketch, why do you hate Georgia so much?

I barely think about them.

 

[Ketchum]

And in yet other news, members of a sports message board suffer near-virtual annihilation attempting to point out that a beloved, oft-deified quarterback has deep passing accuracy issues.

People said this about Troy Aikman well into his pro career.

Most quarterbacks develop the deep ball among the last things they do.

I'll repeat for those in the back... he was No.2 in the nation last year on deep ball efficiency.

That doesn't mean he isn't going to miss some... it's a reminder that sometimes fanatics focus on the things that don't happen more than they focus on the things that do.

 

[Ketchum]

OB: Sam doesn't throw the deep ball well.

Reality:

 

[AEB1989]

SIAP. This defense in recent history has a habit of making otherwise good qb’s look like Heisman shoe-ins.

 

[Ketchum]

Interesting that 1989 Tech with Jamie Gill showed up on your list, @Ketchum, as I immediately flashed back to that game Saturday after the 3rd-and-17 went for a TD. Very similar play happened in that Tech game. We were within a score late and Tech facing 3rd and long. I still remember Brad Sham’s radio call as it went from the anticipation of getting the stop to the dagger of a long TD pass that broke our backs. We were coming off two straight upsets of OU and Arkansas behind Gardere, but that Tech game sent the season down the other direction, culminating in the utter embarrassment of losing 50-7 to Baylor at home.

Baylor's quarterback play in the 50-7 game was so dreadful. How they scored 50 is beyond me and I was on the 50 that day.

 

[Ketchum]

We don’t see eye to eye often, but this was great. Thanks for the effort!

Gracias.

 

[Ketchum]

When to we get more RB that are healthy? Do we have any recruits on the DL or CB that are good enough to help next year?

The DL is going to take more than 12 months to fix. I have higher expectations and hopes for the CB position.

 

[Ketchum]

If we can't win the Big 12 without Ingram being one of the conference's best backs then we can't win the Big 12. He does not have the speed, quickness, elusiveness or burst to pose a threat to any top 40 team. His HS 100 meter PR was 12.5, and now he wears a brace. He has good forward lean and vision but that's not enough to make him one of the best backs in the Big 12. He racked up yards in HS running trough holes that he will never see against any top 40 team. The coaches may try to help him rebuild some confidence against Rice, but it was obvious that RoJo was the better back against LSU and has a level of burst, quicks and want to that Ingram does not exhibit. RoJo is not a proven commodity by any means yet, but unfortunately Ingram has shown that he lacks the burst to be more than an average back.

well, then Texas won't win the Big 12 this year.

 

[Ketchum]

KSU will be playing Miss State this weekend, so if you’re right we will know it. OSU’s defense is pure trash, but their offense may be the best of the Gundy era. That’s not an exaggeration







I guess I don’t see what y’all are seeing, because IMO, Jones has been the one constant on the entire defense. His tackling has been superb, his run fits have been money and he has actually batted down balls and nearly converted a tough pick in the end zone. I’m actually not sure that he has given up a catch to a man that he is directly responsible for... His other half in Sterns, has yet to show up this year and it’s killing us. Sterns is late on every throw in his area of the field. He’s not anticipating very well at all.

Jones has been just a guy through two games.

 

[Ketchum]

Ketch, I have a buy/sell question that is not about Kirk Johnson who I always root for.
Sam has at least five games this season where his QB rating is above 170. And my answer is "buy" because Sam keeps getting better because that is who he is.

sell

170 is a hard number to hit.

 

[AEB1989]

The best coaches alter their schemes based on available talent. Orlando sticks with the 3-4 regardless of what talent he has.

 

[Ketchum]

Maybe we do focus too much on the negative. No doubt Sam is a warrior. But when you watch opposing quarterbacks torch our D with pinpoint accuracy on deep passes, it isn’t unreasonable to wish that Sam have that kind of accuracy

Burrow's performance was truly for the ages. Sam's wasn't far behind.

I'm amazed at how quickly Texas fans have gone from wishing they had a quarterback at all to taking him completely for granted.

 

[Ketchum]

I’ve told you once and I’ll say it again... Don’t ever stop talking tennis, when you get the chance.

That USO Final last night was nothing short of EPIC. Truly it was the best thing that happened in sports this past weekend. Vamos Rafa!

That break in the fifth set at 2-2 was the stuff of legends.

Every time you think Rafa might be about to lose his grip, he doesn't. What a champion.

 

[Ketchum]

SIAP. This defense in recent history has a habit of making otherwise good qb’s look like Heisman shoe-ins.

Indeed.

 

[Ketchum]

The best coaches alter their schemes based on available talent. Orlando sticks with the 3-4 regardless of what talent he has.

Ironically, he made the move to the 3-4 (3-3/3-2) because he wanted to be more versatile.

 

[southlakehorn]

@Ketchum 5 star analysis of the game! I can't remember you doing a better job.

 

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum 5 star analysis of the game! I can't remember you doing a better job.

Man, that's nice of you to say. Thanks!

 

[HealthLawHorn]

Great write-up. I think, as fans, one of our problems with Sam is that we keep wanting him to be Colt as a passer but are frustrated because he’s not quite there. Sam does a lot of things really well, but if he’s playing the other night, Colt throws a more catchable ball to Ingram and doesn’t miss Jake and we probably win the game.

I look at your top 10, though, and wonder if Sam is better than any of the QBs of the teams, except Auburn, on the list ranked above us. If not, I hope the recruits coming in are better than the QBs that the teams ranked above us are getting. Otherwise, how do we take it to the next level? Just a thought.

 

[RTR]

OB gonna OB.... sorry for the lack of empathy here, but some people who come here to bitch and moan are sorry and pathetic. It’s tiresome to read the same shit day in and day out. One incompletion and Sam is worse than Trey Holtz. It’s embarrassing how childish a significant amount of the board acts like after a game. It’s unbelievable really.

Like you, I'm thrilled we have a QB with all of Sam's deficiencies... Just think how many TD's rushing and passing he'd have if he wasn't such a bum for those critics were All Backyard 12 years in a row

 

[Ketchum]

Great write-up. I think, as fans, one of our problems with Sam is that we keep wanting him to be Colt as a passer but are frustrated because he’s not quite there. Sam does a lot of things really well, but if he’s playing the other night, Colt throws a more catchable ball to Ingram and doesn’t miss Jake and we probably win the game.

I look at your top 10, though, and wonder if Sam is better than any of the QBs of the teams, except Auburn, on the list ranked above us. If not, I hope the recruits coming in are better than the QBs that the teams ranked above us are getting. Otherwise, how do we take it to the next level? Just a thought.

Sam is playing better right now than Colt did as a senior. Colt was awful vs. the best teams on the 2009 schedule.

 

[solman1972]

When you hear folks like me sing about the dangers of missing on elite defensive line targets year after year, thus relying on too many players that arrive in Austin with a 75-80 percent likelihood failure with regards to developing into an NFL player, this is what we're warning against.

What do other big 12 schools run? Presumably, those schools, other than OU, have lesser talent than we do at Dline...2 and 3 star guys which have an even lesser chance of making the league. Do they not get pressure? Perhaps they all run 4 man fronts.

Charles O had 9.5 sacks last year. I agree that will be tough/impossible to replace with what we have now. He had 7 sacks in his first 3 years and then blew up for his senior year. He drew double teams and opened it up for others. Huge loss, for sure.

 

[RLong68]

c. Todd Orlando's scheme and play-calling

The current Texas defensive coordinator will forget more football than 100 of us combined will likely ever know, but with that acknowledgment out of the way, it's fair to ask a couple of questions

No. 1 - If we took every defensive lineman option on the roster and put them in a pile, is a three-man front the scheme that we'd immediately think to put them in? I'm just not sure. There just might be too much responsibility and not enough ability to pull off what Orlando wants to pull off on defense without NFL-level linemen at his disposal.

No. 2 - Given the state of both the front and back end of the defense, what should the new set of expectations be for this defense because elite-level standards seem like a foolish notion to suggest as things stand.

If you have to bring extra men to create pressure on opposing quarterbacks, where does that leave a defense that is struggling to cover AND tackle?

No. 3 - Does Orlando have a plan B? Is it possible to have a plan B, given the circumstances?

How do you make 3 points about his scheme and play-calling and NOT address his bewildering decision to all-out blitz on 3rd and 17 when all we needed was a a simple stop that LSU likely would have settled for to force a timeout?

 

[FrozenHorn]

People said this about Troy Aikman well into his pro career.

Most quarterbacks develop the deep ball among the last things they do.

I'll repeat for those in the back... he was No.2 in the nation last year on deep ball efficiency.

That doesn't mean he isn't going to miss some... it's a reminder that sometimes fanatics focus on the things that don't happen more than they focus on the things that do.

Doesn't the LJH jump ball play account for a large majority of those completions? We saw a bunch of them last year.

Dismissing the question as an overreaction to a couple passes a game is underplaying it. Everyone wants Sam to succeed in every way possible, and there is no QB controversy in play. Yet many of us who perceive there to be a deep ball issue.

Shane Buchele somehow stands out in memory as a good deep ball passer. And McCoy, and VY, and every OU qb of the last 20 years. Why does Sam seem somewhat unique in generating an elevated level of criticism on this point?

And why do the fans who get defensive about it insist that the criticism has to mean the criticism is anti-Sam and anti-Texas?

I hope you're right about improvement being possible. Irving's patented pushoff might have something to do with the perception and/or success of Aikman's deep accuracy.

 

[RLong68]

Sam is playing better right now than Colt did as a senior. Colt was awful vs. the best teams on the 2009 schedule.

yep.

 

[86Horn2]

You are right on as far as Sam's pluses, but blind as to his one glaring weakness that he has shown time after time, the inability to hit a deep wide open receiver. :You write as if we don't understand what we are seeing, but most of us played the game and understand it very well. Sam needs work on deep passes to the point that he can reliably hit a wide open receiver down the field. I blame the coaches for concentrating on other aspects of the game at the expense of this correctable weakness.

On a Saturday when it would have been easy to mail it in after the half, or after they took a 14-point lead or after 3d and 17. Sam did not. He forced the team back into the game time and again when many QBs would have gotten discouraged and given up. That is not a quality that can be coached, and it is rare to find it in a guy as young as he is. If he has missed a few deepp balls, I am sure the coaches are working with him on improving that, but he has been a true leader on the field. Appreciate what you’ve got while you got it.

 

[Ketchum]

What do other big 12 schools run? Presumably, those schools, other than OU, have lesser talent than we do at Dline...2 and 3 star guys which have an even lesser chance of making the league. Do they not get pressure? Perhaps they all run 4 man fronts.

Charles O had 9.5 sacks last year. I agree that will be tough/impossible to replace with what we have now. He had 7 sacks in his first 3 years and then blew up for his senior year. He drew double teams and opened it up for others. Huge loss, for sure.

Other Big 12 schools don't really have defensive lines that would have done any better on Saturday night.

LSU might have put 70 up on the rest of the conference.

 

[Ketchum]

How do you make 3 points about his scheme and play-calling and NOT address his bewildering decision to all-out blitz on 3rd and 17 when all we needed was a a simple stop that LSU likely would have settled for to force a timeout?

I talked a lot about that in my previous column.

It was a disaster that cannot be explained.

 

[Ketchum]

Doesn't the LJH jump ball play account for a large majority of those completions? We saw a bunch of them last year.

Dismissing the question as an overreaction to a couple passes a game is underplaying it. Everyone wants Sam to succeed in every way possible, and there is no QB controversy in play. Yet many of us who perceive there to be a deep ball issue.

Shane Buchele somehow stands out in memory as a good deep ball passer. And McCoy, and VY, and every OU qb of the last 20 years. Why does Sam seem somewhat unique in generating an elevated level of criticism on this point?

And why do the fans who get defensive about it insist that the criticism has to mean the criticism is anti-Sam and anti-Texas?

I hope you're right about improvement being possible. Irving's patented pushoff might have something to do with the perception and/or success of Aikman's deep accuracy.

a. Are you going to go back and eliminate all the downfield throws for all quarterbacks where receivers didn't have to "work" for it? Lol at the idea that a non-drafted NFL player without elite physical tools gets all the credit for Sam finishing second in the nation in downfield passing a year ago. Here's a hint... the No.1 guy has a bunch of bad ass receivers as well.

All quarterbacks usually struggle with downfield throws, even guys getting paid millions.

Too many are confusing playing well with needing to be perfect. It's fantasy stuff.

 

[RLong68]

How some of you missed two quarterback masterpieces taking place in front of your very eyes is beyond me, but it apparently happened.

You'll forgive me if I chuckle at your criticism because he wasn't perfect.

Correctly pointing out his inconsistency to hit the deep throws in some ways still hinders the offense is hardly harping about him not being "perfect."

 

[RLong68]

Jalen Hurts has a quarterback rating of 252.3 through two games with Oklahoma. Lol.

Clearly ill-suited for Riley's offense.

 

[txfight]

That dog could play defense for LSU

Absolute stone cold post of the week!

 

[Ketchum]

Correctly pointing out his inconsistency to hit the deep throws in some ways still hinders the offense is hardly harping about him not being "perfect."

All college quarterbacks, except Joe Burrow on Saturday, usually struggle for consistency in downfield throws.

They are typically low percentage plays/throws.