Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (The chance was there for the taking)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
I am not yet sold on Sark as our head coach but really like the guy and I do think we are currently positioned well for the future both with our current roster and where we stand regarding recruiting.
I have to wonder what our year would have looked like if Ewers had not gotten hurt against Bama .
My prediction for this year was 9-3 but like where we stand .
One of Sark's biggest successes has been how our LOS is beginning to take shape.
We will be much improved next year and should be in great shape for our entry into the SEC hopefully a year later.
Our offense with a more mature Quinn with a solid OL should be lethal given our skill players available and some of the new additions to come .
I could not be happier with the progress made on defense.
If Ford and Sweat both return, we should be good to go next year.
One factor going into next year that is very important is continuity regarding our coaching staff.
I'm very bullish on the Horns going forward .
I have to wonder what our year would have looked like if Ewers had not gotten hurt against Bama .
My prediction for this year was 9-3 but like where we stand .
One of Sark's biggest successes has been how our LOS is beginning to take shape.
We will be much improved next year and should be in great shape for our entry into the SEC hopefully a year later.
Our offense with a more mature Quinn with a solid OL should be lethal given our skill players available and some of the new additions to come .
I could not be happier with the progress made on defense.
If Ford and Sweat both return, we should be good to go next year.
One factor going into next year that is very important is continuity regarding our coaching staff.
I'm very bullish on the Horns going forward .
OK, here goes.
Why do mods (all sites) continue to give Sark cover for failing to perform his prime directive.
Sark was hired to WIN football games!
Yet, he has continued to sacrifice offensive effectiveness to the gods of QB "development ".
While I understand the desire to protect the QB from injury, Sark's absolute refusal to utilize the QB as an active participant in the ground game cost us at the very least, two ganes.
Both Tech and Oakie State were easily winnable.
Even Ewer's limited mobility would take some of the pressure off both the offensive line and the RBs.
Lincoln Riley on the QB competition at USC, 04/05/22.
“My expectations for that position, individually, is for those guys to become the best players and leaders they possibly can be,” Riley said.
“Everybody knows there’s going to be competition here at every spot. I think we make that very very clear to our guys. For those guys, it’s, ‘Hey, here’s where we think you can be as a player. Here’s the steps you can take to get to that. Here’s where we think you can be as a leader. Here’s the steps you can take to get to that.’ Then it’s just a constant push every single day."
Lincoln
a. It was probably a C
b. Ultimately, it didn't matter much for the reason you outlined.
The pass blocking did not cause Ewers to make the mistakes he did. His not being smarter with the football did.
His job is to protect the ball at all costs and his inability to do so made a game that shouldn't have been a game a game.
He'll learn from those mistakes.
TEOT really killed recruiting. It needed a reset because of it. 8 months before all of that happened, Herman was on an all-time roll.
You'll never hear me say that change wasn't needed.
Just curious, did Quinn ever give more context on why he decommitted? Cant imagine it was the TEOT issue that scared him away.
A very important family member specifically mentioned TEOT situation when it happened.
To be fairer, in retrospect, I could have mentioned other aspects of failure more. Those IA pieces are not meant to be the full and comprehensive 360-degree analysis of the game. There's not enough time to do that.
I fully understand the notion from some that those areas deserved more focus.
It might have been an off the record comment. I can't remember. We were talking about it as a staff in our slack channel this week.
@Ketchum
on the below, I take issue. this is year TWO with a new coach rebuilding from a roster starting to come together plus a rs qb. compare as you want us to the "acronyms" of TCU and USC with 1st year coaches who caught lighteningi n a bottle, but 8-4 to me is success in the true sense of the word: "Being successful means the achievement of desired visions and planned goals". Now, did we hope to exceed that? hell yes, but not much expected if we are honest. and btw, Baylor would have clipped us without their dropped passes and ones in the turf, but hey...we are what we are too...realistically improving.
My general rule of thumb for Texas football is that any season that doesn't end with the Longhorns AT LEAST playing for the Big 12 Championship and qualifying for a major bowl game isn't a success.
Period.
on the below, I take issue. this is year TWO with a new coach rebuilding from a roster starting to come together plus a rs qb. compare as you want us to the "acronyms" of TCU and USC with 1st year coaches who caught lighteningi n a bottle, but 8-4 to me is success in the true sense of the word: "Being successful means the achievement of desired visions and planned goals". Now, did we hope to exceed that? hell yes, but not much expected if we are honest. and btw, Baylor would have clipped us without their dropped passes and ones in the turf, but hey...we are what we are too...realistically improving.
My general rule of thumb for Texas football is that any season that doesn't end with the Longhorns AT LEAST playing for the Big 12 Championship and qualifying for a major bowl game isn't a success.
Period.
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Negativity craze not caused by you, but flamed (I really meant "fanned the flames" by you, sorry). Go back and listen to your post game show before Anwar appeared. Lots of finger pointing and blame at QE. No critique on how bad pass protection was, stupid penalties, fumble by another player, blown coverage. And the statement of Sark keeping the game out of Ewers hands at the end of the game due to trust issues. If there were trust issues, it had more to do with the OL letting defensive lineman run free at his QB and the confidence he had in the running game. Also, did you see the idiotic, unmonitored posts that were made on this site this weekend ( i mentioned two)? I hope no players or recruits were seeing how a player can be attecked. It was sad a player could be treated so badly, especially after a win.
Not trying to be hard on you. I agree with you on 95% of you takes and alway have. But the last few days have been rough.
No doubt about it just saying in hindsight no shit LSU had one of the best offenses of all time. Look at that team now in the league.
I mean... Ewers mistakes are the primary reason why Texas trailed in the fourth quarter.
That might sound harsh, but that's what actually happened. He gifted them to points and turned a 5-point Texas lead into a 3-point deficit by not taking care of the ball better.
That's simply what happened.
I don't know how to talk about the game without pointing out those details.
Caleb started the final 6 games for OU in 2021, then transferred to USC with Lincoln. Quinn started 8 games for Texas this season.
Coach speak is coach speak.
If you're going to make comparisons between Sark's words and Lincoln's words. At least make an apples to apples comparison.
I'm not the one using words said BEFORE Caleb Williams wins the Heisman as my exhibit A.
That was just stupid.
I think both Ketch and Anwar's analysis can be correct at the same time.
If viewed by the standards and expectations of a place like Texas, anything less than playing for a conference championship is not meeting expectations. Sark himself has said their standard is championships.
Anwar can also be right in this year being successful in showing progress from a program building perspective. There was clearly progress in many areas in building the program.
It comes down to whether or not you demand Texas be elite right away or if you're willing to accept Texas isn't Georgia right now and this year was progress in building towards that.
More than obvious to me!
I don't often criticize you guys, but your (all mods, all sites) refusal to critcize Sark's decisions is there for all to see.
Ketch,
Good article but I do have one response. You are saying 8-4 is not a success yet that is the record you predicted preseason. Weren't you saying then that 8-4 would show the expected improvement and therefore be a good year? For me, 8-4 is what I expected and from that perspective, it is a successful year. On the other hand, because we lost 2 or 3 games that we could have won (and should have), 8-4 does feel like a let down.
Good article but I do have one response. You are saying 8-4 is not a success yet that is the record you predicted preseason. Weren't you saying then that 8-4 would show the expected improvement and therefore be a good year? For me, 8-4 is what I expected and from that perspective, it is a successful year. On the other hand, because we lost 2 or 3 games that we could have won (and should have), 8-4 does feel like a let down.
The t-Rex chasing the jeep when viewed from the side mirror can also be scene in Spielbergs made for tv movie Duel. Dennis Weaver being chased the the large fuel truck is also viewed from the cars mirrors. Spielberg was 24 when he did Duel.
a. 8-4 is improvement. From 5-7.
b. Just because something is expected and then it occurs as expected, that doesn't make it a success.
You know this for a fact? Texas had a QB room with about 2 games worth of experience going into 21, 0 NFL talent on the O-Line, a bunch of low talent receivers and a defense that was going through it's 3rd DC transition in 4 years. 5-7 was certainly below expectations and was in no way acceptable, but to think that this team would be winning double digit games by now is probably about on the outside edge of what I would have expected. There were definitely some missteps by the coach and in hindsight its probably something that we should have expected in hiring a guy who last stood on the sidelines as a head coach half a decade ago.
So your prediction of 7-5/8-4 for this team from the beginning meant that your expectation was for this not to be a successful season from the start?
About 0.5 seconds.
Follow up question, how many quarters transpired between that play and then turning to only running the ball?
It is my opinion based on the fact that they viewed Sark as very good and wanted someone to take them higher through slight gain of fine margins.
