Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (Spitballing all weekend)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
Well coaches who win multiple titles don’t suddenly fall off the cliff unless they’re bobby Bowden and in retirement age...so harbaugh is the closest to mind unless you can think of someone better.
You keep saying this, but in what scenario do we “finish” 8-2? Are you saying “finish” because we don’t make the CCG? Because if so, and we finish 8-2 but lose a tiebreaker and miss the CCG because we lost to pathetic TCU at home, Shirley you agree Tom is gone.
James Brown played in an offense not suited for his talents.
From a stats standpoint, he wins big.
That's the only area he wins in my mind. All of his other accomplishments are better.
Neb and A&M wins were miles more important than UGA.
James shouldn't have played in 1997 and if he had been playing his senior season 20-25 years later, he'd habve redshirted instead of playing on that ankle.
Mackovic should have been charged for a crime.
You and I have been on this familiar ground for years now. It's always been fascinating to whom Texas fans give their undying fandom, or more interesting, to whom they don't. You and I both have acknowledged on this board the rather criminal underrating Texas fans do with Brown. For whatever reasons is pure speculation. But the hard truth is Brown was very much a bad ass and "alpha" in every sense of the word. He really deserves more respect from the Texas fanbase in general.
The problem with having a bye week in the middle of one of the strangest seasons I've covered in the 26 seasons I've been covering the Texas football program is that it gives you a lot of time to ponder an assortment of random things.
After spending far too much time trying to figure out how to creatively spin out the pile of thoughts in my head into a seamless piece of creative writing beauty, I've given up.
You're not getting creative. Just a pile of thoughts in this first section.
A word vomit of sorts.
Here goes ...
* As someone that was ridiculed as a misguided worrywart for predicting a 7-3 record for the Longhorns before the season started, I'm slightly amused at the situation the program is currently in with a 5-2 record and an easier-than-it-is-hard pathway to a Big 12 Championship game. Sight unseen, I feel like if I had offered the Texas fan base an 8-2 regular season and a spot in the Big 12 Championship game before the season started, an overwhelming majority of fans would have snapped my hand off in a race to accept it.
After all, we're talking about a team that was 7-5 a season ago, had a historically complicated off-season and was entering a season of unknown with the threat of COVID hanging over the team each week. An 8-2 record wouldn't be perfect, but it would do the trick of accomplishing the greater goal of giving the team a chance at a Big 12 Championship. Other than killing misguided notions of competing for a spot in the playoff, 8-2 would represent serious improvement in the standings from a year ago and it does the same thing that a 10-0 and 9-1 record would accomplish, which is set up a 60-minute standoff for the school's first conference championship since 2009. Hell yes, most of you would have taken that deal. Only the fanatical part of being a fan would lead someone to pass up shooting from the lay-up line in the name of chasing an extra layer of glory when you haven't tasted a smidge of any kind of true glory in 11 years.
That's like a single guy that hasn't been on a date in 11 years telling an active friend in the dating market that he's going out on too many dates and should instead be looking for someone who is perfect.
Of course, that getting to the conference title game alone doesn't make for a successful season around here as much as it represents steps of improvement that shouldn't exist at this stage of Tom Herman's tenure in Austin, but there's no getting around the fact that this team is headed towards hitting a reasonable set of expectations through the first 10 games of the season. It's not there yet. A 7-3 record feels most likely, but the Longhorns will likely be favored in each of its final three games.
* Timing is everything. It's very possible that we'll get to a final record that should fit into the category of acceptable based on the fact that it gets the team into the Big 12 Championship game for only the second time since the Big 12 Championship game enjoyed a rebirth, but the timing of that performance in Lubbock, coupled with the following losses to TCU and Oklahoma created a momentum of desperately desired change that doesn't slow down because a string of wins inconveniences it. If we get to a point where the Longhorns are 8-2, the losses to Oklahoma and TCU wouldn't seemingly justify a dismissal by itself, but that they happened together during a time of historically explosive off-field minefields has made for a fascinating set of circumstances.
* The recruiting in 2021 is an incredible disappointment and a borderline disaster when you consider what the Longhorns haven't been able to accomplish with the in-state plate of prospects that was available to the staff, but the truth of the matter is that I don't have a great feel for what would happen in the 2022 class should the Longhorns emerge from this season as Big 12 champions. While things have been stuck in the mud for the 2021 class for a while, there are signs that a number of top 2022 in-state prospects have the Longhorns at the top or near the top of their leaderboards. It would be naive to believe that winning a Big 12 title wouldn't have a positive bounce for recruiting when you remember what the win in the Sugar Bowl a few years ago achieved. Perhaps the million dollar question in this scenario is what would happen to 2022 and 2023 recruiting if things went sideways on the field, similarly to what happened in 2019, which the program hasn't yet recovered from?
* It's hard not to wonder how different the state of Herman's tenure might look if he had looked to go with a bunch of recruiting rain-makers when he turned over his staff instead of hiring a bunch of guys with reps as developers of talent, but not necessarily dominant in recruiting. The feeling at the time was that if Texas won on the field, recruiting would take care of itself. That was a fairly naive position for Herman to take when he hired his staff because it speaks of an overestimation of Herman's juice with top prospects. Herman is nothing like Mack Brown as a recruiter, which means that four years into his tenure, he's not a guy that can turn water into wine with regards to recruiting momentum.
* There's still a part of me that will believe Texas hires a guy like Urban Meyer when I see it, with most of my doubt centered around the notion that Texas will be willing to break the bank in a potential bidding war with Meyer. The word I got recently was that a potential deal with Meyer would likely be heavy in incentives and bonuses if it ever came to fruition but the working part of my brain wonders how someone with all the leverage would be won over with a contract built on incentives in order for it to compete at the highest levels nationally in terms of total take-home.
* The elephant in the room with Herman in 2020 is that the entire season is being seen through the prism of the anger created from The Eyes of Texas situation. It's hard not to wonder how this season would feel if the leadership in athletics that emerged in October hadn't needed to arrive only after a public disaster.
* If there's one thing that really bothers me about what we've seen in the last month or so, it's the attack on Herman's character with attempted smears related to off-field activity. I think it's complete trash. If you want to get rid of the guy because his coaching isn't good enough, fine, go for it. This other stuff? Trash. Don't let your thirst for change related to football make you cross the line of decency out of desperation. Be better than that.
* South Carolina setting 13 million on fire to rid itself of Will Muschamp (see section. 10) is an interesting development because it creates another precedent for the Longhorns to lean on if it seeks to do the same later in the season. UT is a place that loves to have others do the things it wants to do first, just so that it can have some optics cover. It's an underrated little event for the "change" crowd.
No. 2 - The COVID cloud ...
It was kind of hard to watch college football this weekend and not notice that half the schedule was wiped out because of COVID.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about the season thus far in Austin is that the Longhorns have been able to navigate the schedule seamlessly thus far without a COVID outbreak causing the pause-hammer to come out. Seriously, it got Baylor big-time earlier in the season. It got A&M this weekend and might get the Aggies again next weekend. It's been a while, but TCU had a game cancelled earlier this season as well.
With seemingly the entire SEC forced to sit out this weekend, it's more than fair to wonder how the hell this season is going to finish. Personally, it feels like everyone is going to treat it like "the show must go on" to some degree, but when my mother-in-law asked me what might represent the straw that would break the camel's back, I had to confess I didn't have a good answer.
Into the next few weeks of the season we go, with cases exploding all over the country at dizzying rates, with where it might end up, no one seems to know.
No. 3 - ICYMI on Sam ...
This piece of news would seem to answer the questions about whether Sam Ehlinger would consider coming back to Austin for a fifth season because of the current NCAA rules over eligibility during the pandemic (2020 is a free season for everyone).
With four or five games left in his career, his place on my list of the top Texas quarterbacks of all-time seems cemented.
1. Vince Young.
2. Colt McCoy
3. James Street
4. James Brown
5. Bobby Layne
6. Sam Ehlinger
7. Chris Simms
8. Major Applewhite
The list hasn't changed a bit since the start of the 2019 season, which is disappointing for everyone because cracking the top four seemed possible 20 months ago and that it hasn't occurred speaks to the heights that haven't been reached.
No. 4 - A few thoughts on Terrence Cooks' commitment ...
a. I'm not sure that I care at all that he isn't highly rated (rating range hovers between low-four star/high three-star depending on the service) because highly-rated linebackers from the state of Texas have the highest bust rate of any position on either side of the ball in the entire state. Of the 14 highest rated in-state linebackers from 2003-2016, only Keenan Robinson was truly a plus-college player. Honestly, it would be scary if he WAS highly rated because of the incredible bust-rate. I kid ... kind of.
b. Cooks feels like a guy that fits the prototype of a successful linebacker in the Big 12. On paper, he profiles like a tweener on a traditional linebacker prospect scale, but his physical tool belt suggests that he can eventually have a DeMarvion Overshown-type of evolution over his collegiate career. While every linebacker in the state is a long-shot these days when it comes to emerging as a future Sunday player, I can close my eyes and see him becoming a really good Big 12 linebacker. His versatility is the reason why he ended up with 35 offers at the time of his commitment. View him as a long-shot bet with a really high upside as opposed to a long-shot bet with limited upside.
c. Cooks and Morice Blackwell feel like double-downs on landing a future starting linebacker with an Overshown-ish skill set/game. If the Longhorns can hit on one of the two moving forward, and by hit I mean one of the two emerges into a starting level player with NFL ability, you'd have to consider that a major win. The math suggests that it's unlikely to occur, but both of these kids are going to arrive with fans from the scouting community.
d. From a profile standpoint, Cooks and Blackwell might not be the two best linebacker prospects in the state, but they do project as the two best with games that profile to the type of skill sets that thrive the most among Big 12 linebackers.
No. 5 - Strong Troll Game ...
Urban is messing with your minds at this point.
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No. 6 - Real greatness ...
It's too bad you guys don't care more about volleyball because the Longhorn are basically Ohio State football in the sport and just wrapped up another Big 12 title over the weekend.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) That's absolutely on the table.
(Buy) I can't speak for everyone else, but I hate being called a mod. Maybe hate is too strong of a word, I can't decide.
(Buy) It comes down to whether Texas leadership believes a deal with an upgrade is in the bag. If not, I'm less emphatic.
(Sell) I feel like we've been very transparent.
(Sell) It's not a one-sided discussion, but it's still one that favors Sam.
(Sell) There's been some good coaching and development taking place on the defensive side of the ball.
(Sell) It's always in the hip pocket, but it's not being thrown around a ton right now. I always reserve the right to change this answer.
(Buy) Probably.
(Buy) Until the benefit of the doubt is earned, it shouldn't be given.
(Sell) No, I don't believe that.
No. 8 - Scattershooting on the world of sports ...
... It feels like Dustin Johnson is going to be this decade's Phil Mickelson, as the sports world will spend a lot of his career focused on what he didn't do and then one day you'll look up and he'll have four or five majors baked inside of a Hall of Fame career. After this weekend's win at The Masters, Johnson is basically half-way there.
... The Masters really missed the gallery. I'm not taking anything away from Johnson's win, it just didn't feel nearly the same.
... Dylan Frittelli landing a fifth-place finish represented his first real successful run at a major. The former Longhorns star was one of the big winners of the weekend.
... Tiger posting a 10 on the 12th hole on Sunday was the most relatable thing about him since his wife came at his car with a golf club.
... My goodness, what the hell is going on at Michigan? I'm having a hard time comparing that situation to anything. 49-11 at home to Wisconsin after losing to Indiana by 17 the previous week? 1-3 to start the season? Hoo-boy.
... I'm not sure if it's because a former radio producer of mine from my YahooSportsRadio days played at Indiana (it is), but I find myself rooting for this Hoosiers team and enjoying its success.
... What are USC fans feeling right now? Really feeling?
... It kind of feels like LSU got a get out of jail card in not having to play Alabama.
... That Nuke Hopkins catch to win the game over Buffalo on Sunday is one of the best catches I have ever seen in my life. It mostly rendered me speechless.
... You'll never convince me that Nick Chubb wasn't trying to make Scott Van Pelt's Bad Beat section of Sportscenter...
... No matter what Ronald Jones ever accomplishes, and on Sunday he scored a 98-yard touchdown in the NFL, he'll always be Roland Jones to me.
... Shame on you if you benched Tom Brady in fantasy after that horrible performance last week. You had to know he was going to have a Brady bounce-back game.
... The NFL kind of sucked on Sunday until that Hopkins catch.
... You never would have convinced me when Freddie Freeman was 25 that he would one day be an MVP, let alone a near unanimous one. It's kind of crazy these days to see a one-team lifer like Freeman.
... James Harden in Brooklyn? Sure, let's see what the hell happens with that.
... Consider me a very big fan of the Lakers adding Dennis Schroder. He's a very good catch and shoot three-ball shooter (37-percent in his career) and that's the kind of shot you'd expect him to get a lot of in that Lakers line-up. Unless you believe that the 33-year old Green has a bounce back season in him (and he could), this feels like a win for the Lakers.
... F International soccer.
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 TV Shows of 2020 ...
After devouring The Queen's Gambit this week on Netflix (it was sensational), I thought I'd be in the mood for a little TV series rankings.
I'm not saying these are the best 10 shows of 2020. I'm just saying these are the 10 best shows of 2020 that I've seen this year with six weeks to go.
10. Pen15
9. Tiger King
8. Schitt's Creek
7. Perry Mason
6. Curb Your Enthusiasm
5. The Last Dance
4. I'll Be Gone In The Dark
3. Ted Lasso
2. Better Call Saul
1. The Queen's Gambit
No.10 - And finally ...
In light of South Carolina eating 13 million dollars worth of buyout money in order to rid itself of Will Muschamp, which makes the second school the former Texas defensive coordinator has flamed out in as heads coach, it's begs a question I'm not sure we've ever given enough proper consideration....
What the hell was Texas thinking more than a decade ago when it named Muschamp as the "head-coach-in-waiting" ?
It's not revisionist history to say that the hire came completely out of left field when it happened and it seems crazy to me now that the rock star defensive coordinator was viewed as more important than the hall of fame head coach the move inadvertently marginalized. I'll always maintained to this day that the beginning of the end for Mack was the moment that the retirement seed was planted in his head with this move to secure Muschamp for the long-haul.
From that moment on, Mack seemed to defer to Muschamp in a number of key areas, several directly related to recruiting.
So, let me ask again... what the hell was DeLoss Dodds and Texas thinking? How could a guy with no head coaching experience ever be deemed so important? How did we all allow this to happen?
Ketch -
I have never responded to your thoughts but your comments on the season compelled me to describe my feelings at this point. I have lived on the continuum of Longhorn football love for approximately 40 years (student for 7 years, season ticket holder for more than 30 years, married to Longhorn, sent 3 kids to UT, attended 2 National championship games). In that time, I have learned that your rational thought process with respect to all things UT football changes as you age. I have spent thousands of hours following and worrying about recruiting. My hatred of everything Aggie has been unwavering. My disgust with Mackovic overwhelming. My gradual acceptance that Coach Brown needed to go was difficult but absolute. My almost immediate recognition that Coach Strong was in over his head. My excitement about Coach Herman and unfortunate realization that he was not UT good are all part of being a football fan.
The reason that 8-2 is not acceptable this year is not the record. Although a true optimist may argue that with some breaks we could have beat OU in OT or that without a fumble we would have beat TCU, misses the point. This team is without question AVERAGE. The OL is not good enough, the QB is not accurate enough, and the team discipline is completely lacking. I acknowledge that the D is greatly improved, but the scheme being taught our DBs is garbage. We are the only team that does not teach the DBs to find the ball. Anybody claiming that they have confidence in a PBU on any play, is delusional. I personally believe that there is talent at corner, but poor coaching. The LBs are athletic but not disciplined. I am a true optimist with respect to the talent on the DL, and I am convinced that with proper development that they will prove to be the strength of the team.
At the end of the day, other than Kansas, if a UT fan tells you that they are confident that this team can beat another team in the conference by more than a TD, they are lying. Tech is horrible, Baylor is bad, TCU is bad, West Virginia should not play the Horns within 17. There is no reason (based on talent) that we should struggle to beat K-State or ISU, but both games are a coin flip.
The standard at Texas should be excellence. The team should be disciplined and not making bone-headed mistakes. We should not worry that we were "out-coached." None of these expectations are things that I feel confident will occur with Herman. I realize that it is unrealistic to hold Coach Herman to a Saban standard, but ask yourself would Coach Saban have tolerated the penalties, the leaving the field after the game, the selfish displays of "look at me" that we have seen from Chris Brown? Not a chance.
The failures in recruiting are beyond disappointing and reflect on Herman's ego. If he does not have coaches that can recruit in-state talent, he needs to find someone that can. The O line needs to be a #1 priority - recruiting the best and developing them into draftable players. This year we have starting OL who has been in the program for four years who has not developed into a reliable frontline player? It should never happen at UT.
Sorry for the long-winded response, but for the first time in 40 years, I don't read recruiting news because it is too depressing. I have chosen to play golf instead of watch this team play. I never thought things would come to this and I hope that things change. I laugh at the notion that this team is in the Top 25 and pray that we don't get a false sense of security because they somehow manage to play one good game in a meaningless bowl game.
Maybe I don’t pay that close of attention, but I am extremely surprised at the hate/non-love Brown is getting itt. I mean it’s not even close for me who was better between those three. I honestly would have laughed at even including Applewhite in that discussion.
Edit to include me agreeing with both you guys in the same post is so 2020.
Opinions on who is greatest in sports will always be influenced by what time frame the opinion holder really started watching the sport in earnest. Especially in sports where supposedly objective statistical measurements also trend over time as the sport evolves. (Really all sports.)
A lot of current fans have no direct experience of the James Brown years. More current fans watched Simms and Applewhite (and still don't always agree on the two). But anyone who became a dedicated fan in the last 15 years is only going to know Sam directly.
A lot of current fans have no direct experience of the James Brown years. More current fans watched Simms and Applewhite (and still don't always agree on the two). But anyone who became a dedicated fan in the last 15 years is only going to know Sam directly.
This is a stupid question, but is there a good way to get an idea in front of the coaching staff?
I'll be the first to admit that JB's stats don't cut the mustard in 2020. He did his thing in a system not perfect for his skill set and just before the offensive explosion in the sport.
It's gotta be the stats thing. It's hard to quantify his value from an era that forced round pegs into square holes.
Wasn't the HCIW designation Mack's idea originally? Fending off potential suitors for Muschamp, and eyeing the 2009 season as his swan song with another NC in tow cementing his legacy?
Remind me where Mayfield, the midget, and Jalen Hurts came from..... Championships draw winners and winners win championships.
Plus he was a 4 year starter who was invited to NYC twice wasn't he? Colt was a man, until that last game of his...
I usually don't read posts this long but this is excellent and spot on. Our standard is too low. NOT beating bad Baylor and TTech and TCU teams by 25 is unacceptable. I quit reading recruiting news when all we seemed to bring in was skill position recruits. Don't get me wrong, they are great to have IF you have the O and D Line recruits. But I honestly can't remember the last time we entered a season without question marks at O and D Line. That's a problem you don't have to be a Mensa member to figure out.
Why does this pos dribble driven sight not give a simple way to cancel this complete worry wort shit show?
The problem with having a bye week in the middle of one of the strangest seasons I've covered in the 26 seasons I've been covering the Texas football program is that it gives you a lot of time to ponder an assortment of random things.
After spending far too much time trying to figure out how to creatively spin out the pile of thoughts in my head into a seamless piece of creative writing beauty, I've given up.
You're not getting creative. Just a pile of thoughts in this first section.
A word vomit of sorts.
Here goes ...
* As someone that was ridiculed as a misguided worrywart for predicting a 7-3 record for the Longhorns before the season started, I'm slightly amused at the situation the program is currently in with a 5-2 record and an easier-than-it-is-hard pathway to a Big 12 Championship game. Sight unseen, I feel like if I had offered the Texas fan base an 8-2 regular season and a spot in the Big 12 Championship game before the season started, an overwhelming majority of fans would have snapped my hand off in a race to accept it.
After all, we're talking about a team that was 7-5 a season ago, had a historically complicated off-season and was entering a season of unknown with the threat of COVID hanging over the team each week. An 8-2 record wouldn't be perfect, but it would do the trick of accomplishing the greater goal of giving the team a chance at a Big 12 Championship. Other than killing misguided notions of competing for a spot in the playoff, 8-2 would represent serious improvement in the standings from a year ago and it does the same thing that a 10-0 and 9-1 record would accomplish, which is set up a 60-minute standoff for the school's first conference championship since 2009. Hell yes, most of you would have taken that deal. Only the fanatical part of being a fan would lead someone to pass up shooting from the lay-up line in the name of chasing an extra layer of glory when you haven't tasted a smidge of any kind of true glory in 11 years.
That's like a single guy that hasn't been on a date in 11 years telling an active friend in the dating market that he's going out on too many dates and should instead be looking for someone who is perfect.
Of course, that getting to the conference title game alone doesn't make for a successful season around here as much as it represents steps of improvement that shouldn't exist at this stage of Tom Herman's tenure in Austin, but there's no getting around the fact that this team is headed towards hitting a reasonable set of expectations through the first 10 games of the season. It's not there yet. A 7-3 record feels most likely, but the Longhorns will likely be favored in each of its final three games.
* Timing is everything. It's very possible that we'll get to a final record that should fit into the category of acceptable based on the fact that it gets the team into the Big 12 Championship game for only the second time since the Big 12 Championship game enjoyed a rebirth, but the timing of that performance in Lubbock, coupled with the following losses to TCU and Oklahoma created a momentum of desperately desired change that doesn't slow down because a string of wins inconveniences it. If we get to a point where the Longhorns are 8-2, the losses to Oklahoma and TCU wouldn't seemingly justify a dismissal by itself, but that they happened together during a time of historically explosive off-field minefields has made for a fascinating set of circumstances.
* The recruiting in 2021 is an incredible disappointment and a borderline disaster when you consider what the Longhorns haven't been able to accomplish with the in-state plate of prospects that was available to the staff, but the truth of the matter is that I don't have a great feel for what would happen in the 2022 class should the Longhorns emerge from this season as Big 12 champions. While things have been stuck in the mud for the 2021 class for a while, there are signs that a number of top 2022 in-state prospects have the Longhorns at the top or near the top of their leaderboards. It would be naive to believe that winning a Big 12 title wouldn't have a positive bounce for recruiting when you remember what the win in the Sugar Bowl a few years ago achieved. Perhaps the million dollar question in this scenario is what would happen to 2022 and 2023 recruiting if things went sideways on the field, similarly to what happened in 2019, which the program hasn't yet recovered from?
* It's hard not to wonder how different the state of Herman's tenure might look if he had looked to go with a bunch of recruiting rain-makers when he turned over his staff instead of hiring a bunch of guys with reps as developers of talent, but not necessarily dominant in recruiting. The feeling at the time was that if Texas won on the field, recruiting would take care of itself. That was a fairly naive position for Herman to take when he hired his staff because it speaks of an overestimation of Herman's juice with top prospects. Herman is nothing like Mack Brown as a recruiter, which means that four years into his tenure, he's not a guy that can turn water into wine with regards to recruiting momentum.
* There's still a part of me that will believe Texas hires a guy like Urban Meyer when I see it, with most of my doubt centered around the notion that Texas will be willing to break the bank in a potential bidding war with Meyer. The word I got recently was that a potential deal with Meyer would likely be heavy in incentives and bonuses if it ever came to fruition but the working part of my brain wonders how someone with all the leverage would be won over with a contract built on incentives in order for it to compete at the highest levels nationally in terms of total take-home.
* The elephant in the room with Herman in 2020 is that the entire season is being seen through the prism of the anger created from The Eyes of Texas situation. It's hard not to wonder how this season would feel if the leadership in athletics that emerged in October hadn't needed to arrive only after a public disaster.
* If there's one thing that really bothers me about what we've seen in the last month or so, it's the attack on Herman's character with attempted smears related to off-field activity. I think it's complete trash. If you want to get rid of the guy because his coaching isn't good enough, fine, go for it. This other stuff? Trash. Don't let your thirst for change related to football make you cross the line of decency out of desperation. Be better than that.
* South Carolina setting 13 million on fire to rid itself of Will Muschamp (see section. 10) is an interesting development because it creates another precedent for the Longhorns to lean on if it seeks to do the same later in the season. UT is a place that loves to have others do the things it wants to do first, just so that it can have some optics cover. It's an underrated little event for the "change" crowd.
No. 2 - The COVID cloud ...
It was kind of hard to watch college football this weekend and not notice that half the schedule was wiped out because of COVID.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about the season thus far in Austin is that the Longhorns have been able to navigate the schedule seamlessly thus far without a COVID outbreak causing the pause-hammer to come out. Seriously, it got Baylor big-time earlier in the season. It got A&M this weekend and might get the Aggies again next weekend. It's been a while, but TCU had a game cancelled earlier this season as well.
With seemingly the entire SEC forced to sit out this weekend, it's more than fair to wonder how the hell this season is going to finish. Personally, it feels like everyone is going to treat it like "the show must go on" to some degree, but when my mother-in-law asked me what might represent the straw that would break the camel's back, I had to confess I didn't have a good answer.
Into the next few weeks of the season we go, with cases exploding all over the country at dizzying rates, with where it might end up, no one seems to know.
No. 3 - ICYMI on Sam ...
This piece of news would seem to answer the questions about whether Sam Ehlinger would consider coming back to Austin for a fifth season because of the current NCAA rules over eligibility during the pandemic (2020 is a free season for everyone).
With four or five games left in his career, his place on my list of the top Texas quarterbacks of all-time seems cemented.
1. Vince Young.
2. Colt McCoy
3. James Street
4. James Brown
5. Bobby Layne
6. Sam Ehlinger
7. Chris Simms
8. Major Applewhite
The list hasn't changed a bit since the start of the 2019 season, which is disappointing for everyone because cracking the top four seemed possible 20 months ago and that it hasn't occurred speaks to the heights that haven't been reached.
No. 4 - A few thoughts on Terrence Cooks' commitment ...
a. I'm not sure that I care at all that he isn't highly rated (rating range hovers between low-four star/high three-star depending on the service) because highly-rated linebackers from the state of Texas have the highest bust rate of any position on either side of the ball in the entire state. Of the 14 highest rated in-state linebackers from 2003-2016, only Keenan Robinson was truly a plus-college player. Honestly, it would be scary if he WAS highly rated because of the incredible bust-rate. I kid ... kind of.
b. Cooks feels like a guy that fits the prototype of a successful linebacker in the Big 12. On paper, he profiles like a tweener on a traditional linebacker prospect scale, but his physical tool belt suggests that he can eventually have a DeMarvion Overshown-type of evolution over his collegiate career. While every linebacker in the state is a long-shot these days when it comes to emerging as a future Sunday player, I can close my eyes and see him becoming a really good Big 12 linebacker. His versatility is the reason why he ended up with 35 offers at the time of his commitment. View him as a long-shot bet with a really high upside as opposed to a long-shot bet with limited upside.
c. Cooks and Morice Blackwell feel like double-downs on landing a future starting linebacker with an Overshown-ish skill set/game. If the Longhorns can hit on one of the two moving forward, and by hit I mean one of the two emerges into a starting level player with NFL ability, you'd have to consider that a major win. The math suggests that it's unlikely to occur, but both of these kids are going to arrive with fans from the scouting community.
d. From a profile standpoint, Cooks and Blackwell might not be the two best linebacker prospects in the state, but they do project as the two best with games that profile to the type of skill sets that thrive the most among Big 12 linebackers.
No. 5 - Strong Troll Game ...
Urban is messing with your minds at this point.
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No. 6 - Real greatness ...
It's too bad you guys don't care more about volleyball because the Longhorn are basically Ohio State football in the sport and just wrapped up another Big 12 title over the weekend.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) That's absolutely on the table.
(Buy) I can't speak for everyone else, but I hate being called a mod. Maybe hate is too strong of a word, I can't decide.
(Buy) It comes down to whether Texas leadership believes a deal with an upgrade is in the bag. If not, I'm less emphatic.
(Sell) I feel like we've been very transparent.
(Sell) It's not a one-sided discussion, but it's still one that favors Sam.
(Sell) There's been some good coaching and development taking place on the defensive side of the ball.
(Sell) It's always in the hip pocket, but it's not being thrown around a ton right now. I always reserve the right to change this answer.
(Buy) Probably.
(Buy) Until the benefit of the doubt is earned, it shouldn't be given.
(Sell) No, I don't believe that.
No. 8 - Scattershooting on the world of sports ...
... It feels like Dustin Johnson is going to be this decade's Phil Mickelson, as the sports world will spend a lot of his career focused on what he didn't do and then one day you'll look up and he'll have four or five majors baked inside of a Hall of Fame career. After this weekend's win at The Masters, Johnson is basically half-way there.
... The Masters really missed the gallery. I'm not taking anything away from Johnson's win, it just didn't feel nearly the same.
... Dylan Frittelli landing a fifth-place finish represented his first real successful run at a major. The former Longhorns star was one of the big winners of the weekend.
... Tiger posting a 10 on the 12th hole on Sunday was the most relatable thing about him since his wife came at his car with a golf club.
... My goodness, what the hell is going on at Michigan? I'm having a hard time comparing that situation to anything. 49-11 at home to Wisconsin after losing to Indiana by 17 the previous week? 1-3 to start the season? Hoo-boy.
... I'm not sure if it's because a former radio producer of mine from my YahooSportsRadio days played at Indiana (it is), but I find myself rooting for this Hoosiers team and enjoying its success.
... What are USC fans feeling right now? Really feeling?
... It kind of feels like LSU got a get out of jail card in not having to play Alabama.
... That Nuke Hopkins catch to win the game over Buffalo on Sunday is one of the best catches I have ever seen in my life. It mostly rendered me speechless.
... You'll never convince me that Nick Chubb wasn't trying to make Scott Van Pelt's Bad Beat section of Sportscenter...
... No matter what Ronald Jones ever accomplishes, and on Sunday he scored a 98-yard touchdown in the NFL, he'll always be Roland Jones to me.
... Shame on you if you benched Tom Brady in fantasy after that horrible performance last week. You had to know he was going to have a Brady bounce-back game.
... The NFL kind of sucked on Sunday until that Hopkins catch.
... You never would have convinced me when Freddie Freeman was 25 that he would one day be an MVP, let alone a near unanimous one. It's kind of crazy these days to see a one-team lifer like Freeman.
... James Harden in Brooklyn? Sure, let's see what the hell happens with that.
... Consider me a very big fan of the Lakers adding Dennis Schroder. He's a very good catch and shoot three-ball shooter (37-percent in his career) and that's the kind of shot you'd expect him to get a lot of in that Lakers line-up. Unless you believe that the 33-year old Green has a bounce back season in him (and he could), this feels like a win for the Lakers.
... F International soccer.
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 TV Shows of 2020 ...
After devouring The Queen's Gambit this week on Netflix (it was sensational), I thought I'd be in the mood for a little TV series rankings.
I'm not saying these are the best 10 shows of 2020. I'm just saying these are the 10 best shows of 2020 that I've seen this year with six weeks to go.
10. Pen15
9. Tiger King
8. Schitt's Creek
7. Perry Mason
6. Curb Your Enthusiasm
5. The Last Dance
4. I'll Be Gone In The Dark
3. Ted Lasso
2. Better Call Saul
1. The Queen's Gambit
No.10 - And finally ...
In light of South Carolina eating 13 million dollars worth of buyout money in order to rid itself of Will Muschamp, which makes the second school the former Texas defensive coordinator has flamed out in as heads coach, it's begs a question I'm not sure we've ever given enough proper consideration....
What the hell was Texas thinking more than a decade ago when it named Muschamp as the "head-coach-in-waiting" ?
It's not revisionist history to say that the hire came completely out of left field when it happened and it seems crazy to me now that the rock star defensive coordinator was viewed as more important than the hall of fame head coach the move inadvertently marginalized. I'll always maintained to this day that the beginning of the end for Mack was the moment that the retirement seed was planted in his head with this move to secure Muschamp for the long-haul.
From that moment on, Mack seemed to defer to Muschamp in a number of key areas, several directly related to recruiting.
So, let me ask again... what the hell was DeLoss Dodds and Texas thinking? How could a guy with no head coaching experience ever be deemed so important? How did we all allow this to happen?
