Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (Real talk on Quinn and Sark)
- Thread starter Ketchum
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Saturday alone, there were two drops by Worthy and two passes downfield where Worthy could have drawn a PI flag had he made an actual attempt to work through the defender towards the ball instead of just running downfield and giving up if the pass isn't perfect.
Thats about 60-75 yards of offense/penalty yards Worthy left on the field that had nothing to do with Ewers.
Yeah, I'm not really having the he could have drawn some flags on the bad theows bit of this.
He did need to catch the balls that hit him in the hand.,
But, I'm not subscribing to the Xavier is the real problem line of conversation. Not even remotely.
Control the things you can control. His effort on the deep balls sucks about as bad as the passes are.
I would love to say just give Sarkisian a little more time to get things together, but that just doesn’t line up with what I see. Sark has been a head coach for a total of a little over 9 years, but he just keeps making the exact same mistakes over and over. One would honk he would learn from past errors, but that is just not the case with him. He came to Texas with a career record barely over .500, and that is what he’s delivering. It doesn’t have to be that at, but his inability to adjust during games will keep haunting us until he leaves. I’m just hoping, at this point, it’s pretty soon. We can’t keep getting beat by teams stocked with much less talent.
I agree the optics look bad because of the body language, but I think you're taking it too far.
I think more crossing routes and screens should go Worthy's way.
Let J-Whitt handle some of those long, inaccurate passes for a change of pace. It's not that J-Whitt is that much slower.
I don’t subscribe to him being the problem at all, but the kid gives up on balls way too soon at times and although there’s no guarantees that it matters or that it would result in a positive outcome, but a bit more dog in him certainly raises the odds of something more positive happening, IMO, even if it’s just keeping the defender from having as good of an opportunity to make a play. He needs to mature a bit more as well.
Whitney’s vocals in “I Have Nothing” may be unparalleled
Everyone just calm down.
There's no question that there's a lot for us to unpack following a scene on Saturday night that left a lot of puzzled faces at DKR, but the default position of the Orangebloods universe after a loss can't be to act like zombies are running amuck on the streets and screaming bloody murder about the end of the world is the only way to live.
There are conversations that we need to have about Quinn Ewers, Steve Sarkisian and the overall state of the program, but I'm offering that we clear our heads and try to use some common sense when evaluating the current state of affairs from 30,000 feet.
No. 2 - Let's start off with a discussion of Ewers ...
The redshirt freshman simply isn't playing well in the last month. While we all should have been able to see a few clumsy performances coming from a young quarterback, it's impossible to discuss his redshirt freshman season without acknowledging that Ewers hasn’t really improved at all since returning from injury in early October.
His footwork is all over the place from play to play. His ability to go beyond a first read on most pass plays is an obvious area of needed improvement. Throw in questions about his overall knowledge of the offense and an inability to make deep throws anything other than an adventure with his receivers, and we've got a young man that has a lot of growth/improvement to make in the coming weeks, months and years.
None of this means that anyone should give up on Ewers. Far from it. His arm talent is undeniable, but there's more to mastering the position than being able to make an occasional badass throw with mechanics that remain as wild as a seven-month-old colt.
The fact that my naked eyes haven't observed any area of obvious improvement has left Ewers in a position where he's being questioned as a player for the first time in his career. With Arch Manning set to arrive in two months, Ewers can't expect to post a 129.5 efficiency rating for the season and expect that there won't be clamoring for the soon-to-be backup that has the golden last name.
The plan all along has been for Ewers to play for two seasons, go pro and then turn the keys to the car over to Manning, who would be walking into a top-10 level team in Sarkisian's fourth season as head coach. Instead, it seems like there's a much better chance that Manning will take Ewers' job than Ewers' will be preparing to be a top-five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft in 12 months.
I don't see how there's any way that the next off-season won't be defined by a Ewers vs Manning battle for the starting job. A Ewers that is making constant improvement is the favorite to win that job, but the guy we've seen since the Oklahoma game? The version of Ewers that has fans calling for Hudson Card to play is going to have a hell of a time holding off Manning if he doesn't start putting the pieces together.
It makes the stakes of these new three games (including the bowl game) pretty critical for Ewers, who simply has to get his groove back like he's Angela Bassett hanging out with Taye Diggs on the beach.
If he can’t show some exciting promise, he'll go into next season fighting to keep his job. Period.
No. 3 - As for Sark ...
It's Sark's job to produce elite quarterback play. It's why he was hired.
Yet, for the second straight season, the quarterback position is dissolving down the stretch to the point that there's a feeling that the Longhorns have played an entire year without the most important position on the field becoming settled for the future.
That's a massive indictment of Sarkisian.
Everyone wants to point to an offense that hasn't scored a touchdown in six straight quarters (along with six straight quarters in the second half) and a program that constantly walks to the edge of relevance before falling back, but Sark is failing at the one thing that is supposed to be his secret weapon ... quarterback whispering. He's the guy who is supposed to make quarterback wine out of water, but all we can taste is Maddog 20/20.
Yes, his play-calling and game-planning were massively suspect last night. Yes, his offense is its own cooler as soon as the clock strikes halftime. Yes, he's 11-11 in 22 career games, which is closer to Charlie Strong than Tom Herman.
Those things might all be very real issues, but I can't get beyond how poorly the area of his true expertise is playing as the season comes to a close, how little improvement at quarterback we're witnessing and how little distance has been covered in two years with the position.
Are we sure the ghost of Shawn Watson isn't pulling the strings? Has anyone seen Tim Beck?
I ask because those guys could have been given a five-star and turned out a player that ranks below Adrian Martinez, Donovan Smith and Hunter Dekkers in terms of season quarterback efficiency through 10 games.
No. 4 - Who saw this coming?
It's time to give Pete Kwiatkowski a little love.
In the three biggest games of this season (vs. Alabama, vs. Oklahoma and vs. TCU), the Texas defensive coordinator has produced results that should have seen the Longhorns finish 3-0 in these games.
While his unit is far from perfect, it has been nothing short of sensational in the biggest games of the season and only so much credit can be given to a guy (Gary Patterson) not calling the shots on game day.
Given all the buzz around his job status, it's only fair to give him some love when he produces a unit that everyone wishes the offense could be more like.
The world is a weirdly ironic place.
No. 5 - Two big defensive attaboys ...
Do you know who leads the Texas defense in tackles for loss with 9?
It's not Jaylan Ford, DeMarvion Overshown, Barryn Sorrell or Ovie Oghoufo.
Believe it or not, it's Jahdae Barron, who posted 3.5 on Saturday in his best performance as a collegiate player. It's hard not to think of this summer when Barron was close to entering the Portal, but decided not to after being told that if he just performed as a Texas player at this level, the NIL money would flow.
Well...
Meanwhile, you can't quite call Sorrell an all-conference player, but he's closing in on that kind of conversation.
A new bar was created by Sorrell on Saturday night with his 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. It felt like he couldn't be blocked.
Now, do it again. If Sorrell can tap into that kind of play on a consistent level, there's no limit to what we might call him in the future.
No. 6 - Scattershooting on the Longhorns ...
... So much for Bijan getting an invite to New York ...
... Was D'Shawn Jamison even missed on Saturday?
... It was hard not to think of the lack of linebacker depth when Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey wasn't able to make the play on Kendre Miller's 75-yard touchdown run. He'll be gone next year. So, will Overshown. Who knows with Ford? Who is playing linebacker next season?
... Danny Trejo didn't have an awesome night punting, but he very quietly had a pretty good night.
... The receiving game has pretty much evolved into two wide receivers, a tight end and no one else. Does Brennan Marion not have anyone else that can make half of a play? If we're keeping it real, he hasn't had a great first year as the wide receivers coach.
... Ovie Oghoufo is playing the best brand of football of his college career right now. He's not a difference-maker, but he's a good football player.
... If Ewers had enough passes to qualify, he'd rank eighth in the Big 12 in passing efficiency.
... Season efficiency rating: Ewers (129.5), Hudson Card (158.3). Who saw that coming?
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I see you woke up today and choose violence.
(Buy) BIG buy.
(Buy) It wasn't all negative last night. It just felt that way.
(Buy) None of the guys scheduled to return do it for me. I'd rather gamble on greatness.
(Sell) No, I can't rank him over John Mackovic.
(Sell) It's hurt equally the same. It's not an insignificant deal.
(Sell) They don't make four non-painful losses at Texas.
(Buy) I'm 60-40 on this, but the hot seat would be seriously toasty without real steps taken next season. A 7-5 season means the Ewers era was a miss.
(Sell) It's too early to say that, but so far ... they aren't right.
(Buy) There's no reason right now to truly feel like next year will be better than this year until some personnel replacements are ironed out and the quarterback play improves.
(Buy) Had he stuck with Card, he might not have needed anyone other than Card in the last two seasons.
(Sell) He's a No. 1 receiver not being used to the strengths of his ability.
(Sell) Nope.
(Sell) Not even close.
(Sell) No, not really.
(Sell) His main job task when he was hired was to fundraise and he's been sensational at that. The overall health of the combined athletic programs is quite good. He needs his football program to take off. How he manages the football program will define him in the next few years.
(Sell) This question didn't go where I thought it would. Card is not a major college receiver. I really couldn't begin to explain why someone would think he is.
No. 8 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...
... If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. Georgia
2 Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. TCU
5. Tennessee
6. LSU
7. USC
8. Alabama
9. Penn State
10. Clemson
... Heisman Ballot: 1. QB Caleb Williams (USC), 2. QB CJ Stroud (Ohio State), 3. RB Blake Corum (Michigan), 4. QB Hendon Hooker (Tennessee) and Drake Maye (UNC)
... Kids, do not do this at home.
... If TCU makes the playoff, it's going to wish it didn't by the time Georgia or Ohio State/Michigan is done with it.
... Bryce Young is having a better year as a player in 2022 than when he won the Heisman, but his stats and his team aren't as good.
... Harold Perkins is what a five-star linebacker looks like when it goes super boom.
... Massive props to KSU for going to Waco and serving the Bears some sin. That was some performance.
... I lost my butt on PrizePicks this week while going heavy on the "more" in the Texas/TCU game. Oops.
... I could have done without that loss in Green Bay today.
... As far as regular season games in the NFL are concerned, the Minnesota/Buffalo game was about as good as it gets.
... Justin Jefferson is some kind of player.
... Having Pat Mahomes in fantasy is a hell of a lot more fun than not having him.
... It would be fun being a Dolphins fan right now.
... It sounds like UFC281 was worth purchasing.
... The World Cup begins this week. Let the sportswashing begin!
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 Whitney Houston songs...
I just found myself on a Whitney kick this week. I can't even remember how it quite started, but the sound of her voice last weekend had me searching for more and by the time I was done this week, I had listened to a lot of her.
What a voice. What a performer. As good as Mariah is, she never quite passed Whitney in my mind. There was just something majestic about her.
Here's my top 10.
10. Exhale
9. All The Man That I Need
8. Saving All My Love For You
7. I'm Your Baby Tonight
6. One Moment in Time
This song made the 1988 Summer Olympics feel special when I was 12.
5. How Will I Know
4. Greatest Love of All
3. I Have Nothing
Is it possible that this song is the true No. 1?
2. I Wanna Dance With Somebody
This is probably my personal favorite. It's a song that just makes me feel good.
1. I Will Always Love You
Objectively, this is the song that defines her career.
No. 10 - And Finally ...
It'll be 35 and sunny on Saturday in Lawrence with a 12-MPH winds.
What kind of Texas football team shows up? Good practices during the week isn't enough.
