Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend: (The problems on offense....)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
Ah, yes. The gritty Sam could do it all. No he couldnāt! More often than not, he tried to play like Brett Favre but with far less talent.
If he had been the QB against Vandy, we lose that game due to Sam trying to do too much.
But apparently "Sarkisian's system" is something different than Sarkisian.
Sark's inclination to go with Ewers & to stick with Ewers speaks to something beyond the formal system. Sark's inclination as OC aligns with Ewers' proficiency in the short passing game. I'm sure Sark's system has lots of routes down the field which Arch is happy to take advantage of. But that's apparently not aligned with Sark's sense of what is best for the offense.
Not Sark's blind loyalty to Ewers, but instead Sark's own inclinations in terms of offensive approach is the decisive factor here. Not Quinn but Sark played it safe after the 4 minute (~?) mark of the 2nd quarter.
It wasn't Quinn that tightened up. It was Sark.
Interesting. It feels like my initial framing was correct, no?
You provided reasons why Sark is starting Ewers, none of which have to do with Ewers being the better quarterback at this point in time. You suggest Sark is starting Ewers out of loyalty and a fair amount of sunk cost āequityā invested. What I find fascinating is how anyone can be sure Arch is better to the point of questioning the coach?
Also, why fall for the same trap our friendly neighbors to the north and east have fallen for - the belief that the guy on the bench is better? As of today, they have no idea if Weigman or Reed is better, or Arnold or Hawkins. Why should we think Arch is better today if Sark isn't and other examples tell us to proceed with caution.
You and I believe Arch is going to be great at some point. But we can't know if he is ready right now. Maybe Sark knows better after working with many quarterbacks over the years.
I just think we're in danger here of oversimplifying things into a question of Ewers vs Manning when in fact there's an issue here with Sark himself.
I like Sark. He's doing a great job overall. But he has to figure this out.
Man, some of your questions are just puzzling, and very naive.
Somebody's Doing me right is a great Keith Whitley Song, always on my list! The offensive line issues are terrible footwork and teams in the SEC have watched this sliding O line play for years and when you have a QB that just does not want to run and has a good but not great arm this is what you get! If you want to play in playoff Ewers will get you there but if you want a shot to win it, Arch is the best solution!
I did the same thing with my ex wife and that was 2 1/2 too many. There is a time to cut bait.
I think Oregon wins the natty and Gabriel should win the Heisman.
I'm not opening up this week's column with concerns about Quinn Ewers.
Or the Texas offensive line. Or the Texas running backs. Or even a wide receiver unit that people really should apologize for daring to compare to last season's group.
As the Texas football team gets ready to head into a bye week with one foot into the first-ever 12-team college football playoff that begins in 54 days, my issue is less about the individual parts of Steve Sarkisian's offense and more about the sum of the collected parts.
By the end of Saturday night's win over Vanderbilt, the Texas offense had been found out. The passing game was performing at the levels of the first half of the Georgia game. The running game was admittedly solid, but not so solid that it could punt any drive into the end zone. Explosive plays were suddenly occurring with a premium. Sloppiness was constantly popping up. Vanderbilt defensive backs were sitting on every route, daring Texas to do anything down the field.
Texas averaged 3.1 yards per play, 1.4 yards per rush, and completed two passes in the fourth quarter, while nearly posting as many yards in penalties (45) as it gained in total offense (51).
That's so not remotely good enough as a standard for the future that actual poor standards are blushing in comparison. When Sarkisian says that his team needs to play to a high standard, and not to its weekly opponent, this is the opposite of what he's aiming for.
With the weeks that will ultimately determine how the season is remembered looming in the near-distance,
Sarkisian has to put his Humpty Dumpty offense back together again ... or else.
Let's take a look at the various areas of concern.
No. 2 - Quinn Ewers ...
Since returning from his oblique injury three weeks ago, here's a look at Ewers' performance levels by quarter:
OU 1st Q: 3 of 5 for 13 yards, OT, 1 INT (41.8 rating)
OU 2nd Q: 10 of 12 for 109 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (181.7 rating)
OU 3rd Q: 5 of 9 for 71 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (121.8 rating)
OU 4th Q: 2 of 3 for 6 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (6.4 rating)
Georgia 1Q: 5 of 8 for 17 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (80.4 rating)
Georgia 2Q: 1 of 4 for 0 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (-25.00)
Georgia 3Q: 7 of 10 for 90 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (211.6 rating)
Georgia 4Q: 12 of 21 for 104 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (98.7 rating)
Vandy 1Q: 12 of 13 for 126 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT (201.3 rating)
Vandy 2Q: 7 of 8 for 85 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (218.0 rating)
Vandy 3Q: 6 of 9 for 39 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (80.8 rating)
Vandy 4Q: 2 of 7 for 36 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (71.8 rating)
For those who don't completely understand the context, know that the nation's lowest-rated passer on the official NCAA website this week is Wyoming's Evan Svoboda, who is the only player in the country with a sub-100 rating (94.58). In seven of the quarters that he's played since his return, Ewers has posted sub-100 ratings, and in six of those quarters, his passer rating was below the season number for the worst quarterback in the country. Another Ewers' quarter (OU third quarter) would rank 106th in the country, respectively, if slotted in this week's current NCAA individual passing leaders rankings.
It means that since his return, Ewers has delivered four absolute elite of the elite-level quarters of action and eight quarters of the worst or the worst-level quarters of action as it relates to non-subjective passing efficiency data.
Heading into this weekend, Ewers ranked 128th nationally in air yards per attempt (5.65) and 115th in percentage of throws 20 or more yards downfield (9.3%), numbers that were impossible to forget during the Vanderbilt game as the naked eyes of the Orangebloods universe watched pass after pass after pass after pass after pass delivered within a 10-yard window of the line of scrimmage.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ewers has thrown 31.0% of his passes behind the line of scrimmage this season, while 36.9% are within 0-9 yards of the line of scrimmage. By comparison, only 25.0% of Arch Mannings's passes have been behind the line of scrimmage and only 28.6% of his throws have been between 0-9 yards. Meanwhile, Manning's instinct to throw the ball 20+ yards down the field (20.2%) is one of the reasons why he would lead the nation in yards per attempt if he had enough attempts to qualify.
I'm not suggesting that Manning be the starter. I'm merely pointing out that all of the data surrounding Ewers isn't a byproduct of Sarkisian's system with Ewers as the centerpiece.
The rub is, according to PFF, Ewers only has a passing efficiency of 136.8 when he throws the ball 10+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage, while he has a 162.3 rating when throwing the ball under nine yards from the line of scrimmage. As things stand, Manning has a season efficiency rating of 255.3 when throwing the ball 10+ yards down the field, while also having a much higher rating when throwing under nine yards from the line of scrimmage.
Simply put ...
a. Ewers must play better.
b. Ewers must throw the ball more down the field.
c. Ewers must achieve more success when throwing down the field.
No. 3 - The offensive line ...
It's all been falling apart throughout the last two games, at least when comparing the level of play by this group compared to what was produced in the first half of the season.
It feels like three areas of this group need to be focused on ...
a. Penalties
The mountain of flags thrown against this group simply has to slow down significantly. If you have a passing game that wants to throw the ball short, constantly putting it in awful down-and-distance situations is begging for problems.
It's not rocket science. Texas had a penalty by an offensive lineman or tight end in every second-half possession against Vanderbilt outside of the drive that ended on play No. 3 because of an Ewers interception.
Cam Williams has to clean up his game. The entire line does, but Williams has been called for 11 penalties (per PFF) in eight games and has only played two clean games all season.
b. The right side of the line
The combination of Williams and starting guard D.J. Campbell hasn't been good enough in the last two games.
Period.
c. Protecting Quinn as a pass protection unit
This doesn't all fall on the offensive line because you have to include the running backs and tight ends to get a full grasp of the failings that have occurred as a working unit, but alarm bells are going off.
Ewers has a 105.23 quarterback efficiency rating, is completing only 48.9% of his passes, and averaging 6.0 yards per attempt when pressured this season (per PFF).
Teams have figured out that the way to break the Texas offensive passing game is to get to Ewers because he'll either ineffectively throw it short or the line will commit a penalty. The rub is that if you blitz and don't get to Ewers, he'll kill opposing defenses.
Too often in the past couple of weeks, Ewers is getting pressured by teams that don't need to blitz to create pressure. Opposing defensive linemen are winning too many battles.
These are all areas that Kyle Flood has to improve.
No. 4 - The running backs ...
It's possible that nothing can be done about the situation at running back and it's also possible that all of the issues at running back would still exist if CJ Baxter was healthy.
Tre Wisner has been solid this season, but his 5.3 yards per carry is largely lifted because of a season-best game against Oklahoma, as he's been held under 5 yards per carry in five out of seven games. Meanwhile, my guy Jaydon Blue is averaging 4.4 yards per carry this season and you can't call that anything other than a borderline disaster after averaging 6.1 yards per carry a season ago. Baxter averaged 4.8 yards per carry last year, so it's hard to say with certainty that he would have impacted these numbers significantly if healthy.
The bottom line is that Jonathon Brooks, Bijan Robinson, and Roschon Johnson aren't walking through the locker room doors and what's left behind has been below any resemblance of high-level standards.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Tashard Choice has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 5 - The wide receivers ...
Since Ewers returned to the line-up, here is how the wide receiver unit has performed in each game:
vs. Oklahoma: 8 catches for 105 yards and 0 touchdowns
vs. Georgia: 9 catches for 100 yards and 1 touchdown
at Vanderbilt: 13 receptions for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns
The offense just isn't getting enough out of the players available. Ryan Wingo is averaging 22.3 yards per game in SEC play. DeAndre Moore had six catches for 97 yards against Vanderbilt, but had only 3 combined catches for 25 yards in games against Georgia and Oklahoma. Matthew Golden is averaging 36 yards per game over the last three games. Silas Bolden and Johntay Cook are basically non-factors.
All of this is happening while Isaiah Bond hasn't been able to feature because of injury.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Chris Jackson has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 7 - About the defense ...
In the event you're concerned that too much of the column is based on negative things, take a look at these defensive numbers:
Scoring Defense: (11.50) 2nd nationally
Total Defense: (241.2): 1st nationally
Passing yards allowed: (135.8) 3rd nationally
Rushing yards Allowed: (105.5) 20th nationally
3rd down defense: (28.4%) 8th nationally
Red-Zone Percentage: (.733) 14th nationally
Red-Zone Scores Allowed: (8) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Passing TDs Allowed: (2) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Rushing TDs Allowed: (4) 6th nationally
First Downs: (13.1 per game) 1st nationally
Team Passing Efficiency: (90.77) 2nd nationally
Team Sacks: (20) 16th nationally
Team Tackles For Loss: (6.9 per game) 23rd nationally
Turnovers Gained: (17) 8th nationally
No. 7 - If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Clemson
9. Indiana
10. Notre Dame
Heisman Trophy
1. Cam Ward (Miami)
2. Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
3 Dillon Gabrel (Oregon)
4. Travis Hunter (Colorado)
5. Kurtis Rourke (Indiana)
No. 8 ā BUY or SELL ā¦
(Sell) I still think Texas heads into College Station with a 10-1 record, but the game in Fayetteville is ominous.
(Sell) Sam played with the following NFL skill players: Devin Duvernay, Collin Johnson, Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Keaontay Ingram, Andrew Beck, Jared Wiley, Jordan Whittington, Roschon Johnson, and Bijan Robinson. Let's not pretend that he was a one-man gang that was always surrounded by bums. No, in general, he did not do more with less. I completely reject that notion.
(Sell) I've always been at a 10 with this game. It's the second-most difficult game on the entire schedule.
(Sell) It's at least a 9, even if I think Texas will win the game.
(Sell) My instincts say no, but perhaps I'd change my mind if I had more context to "Texas trailing".
(Buy) I absolutely expect it to be better. It's going to be loaded.
(Sell) I'm kind of done giving the offense the benefit of the doubt. Some really good defenses are on the horizon.
(Buy) 10000000000%
(Buy) I always hold back to some degree. There's never a completely unvarnished, unhinged expression of thought.
(Buy) I believe Arch is better. I have been saying that at least on the low-key for the last few weeks.
(Sell/Buy) I don't know what to tell you about the Arkansas roady. There's absolutely some real risk in a terrible weekend occurring. Yes, Green will be a good practice exam for the game in College Station. It definitely won't hurt.
(Sell) I don't believe that at all.
(Buy) Arch's distribution in the passing game mirrors what Alabama did under Sark.
(Buy) Probably by less than a field goal. Maybe a pick'em?
(Sell) All you're telling me with that suggestion is that the band-aid should pulled off slowly instead of quickly IF the band-aid needs to be pulled.
(Sell) He'll be in the NFL next season.
(Buy) He's hit something. He hasn't recorded an official stat in the last two games.
No. 9 ā Scattershooting all over the place ā¦
... Let's just not speak of what happened to the volleyball team in mid-week ...
... Game this week to enjoy on the bye week: No. 4 Ohio State at No. 3 Penn State (11 am on Fox)
... Ohio State is nothing special.
... Notre Dame really beat the hell out of Navy. Isn't that a federal crime?
... SEC Thoughts: That Aggies team looked like a real threat in the second half after a pretty weak first half. Mess around with that team and you can find out. Missouri should be ashamed of itself for that performance at Alabama. Woof. OU's going to need to win in Columbia to make a bowl game. That's not an impossible mission. Arkansas' season will be defined by its next two games... at home against Ole Miss (this Saturday) and Texas (in three weeks).
... Ho-hum, the Texans are just on pace to win 12 or 13 games ...
... Bijan Robinson is on pace for 1,173 yards rushing, 1,661 all-purpose rushing/receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns in his second NFL season.
... Aaron Rodgers has the same record with the Jets as the Browns have after this weekend. Lulz ...
... Kevin Durant has passed 29,000 career points, joining LeBron James, Kareem Abdel-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain. Some company. The dude just turned 36 years old and he dropped 31 points and 9 boards on 10 of 21 shooting in a win over the Mavericks.
... Ohtani's gonna play in game 3? Ohtani's gonna play in game 3!
... Did the game one walk-off clinch Freddie Freeman as a Hall of Famer?
... Max Holloway got knocked the hell out at UFC 308. I guess there's a first time for everything.
... Man, Barcelona dog-walked Real Madrid 4-0 in the Bernabeau. It's a result that is so emphatic that I'm not fully sure how I should process it.
... Premier League Randomness: Liverpool/Arsenal played what it ended up being a pretty fair result. I found it interesting that Arsenal basically sat in deep and played for a 2-1 game coming out of halftime, as it created a mere .05 xG from halftime until the 81st minute. At home, needing 3 points? Cowards. That slate of Saturday 9 am games didn't look like much on paper, but the final combined 30 minutes was borderline insane. Brighton has no business dropping points to Wolves at home after taking a 2-0 lead. Woof. That would keep me up for a week. I didn't watch a second of the Spurs game... what the hell was that? It bothers me that Man United is going to get Ten Hag fired.
No. 10 ā The List: Keith Whitley
If Keith Whitley never died and had found a way to get on top of his demons... what happens?
Is he the GOAT? Is he just outside of King George territory? Does he become forgotten in time?
Something I was thinking about this week while spending some time listening to him.
Last 5 Out: It Ain't Nothin', Hard Livin, Some Old Side Road, Brotherly Love and
Til a Tear Becomes a Rose
10. I'm Over You
A top 5 song for Whitley on Spotify with more than 33 million listens.
A duet with Whitley and Lorrie Morgan
9. Homecoming '63
The second Top 10 hit of Whitley's career.
8. Ten Feet Away
Our boy could simply sink the hell out of a ballad.
7. I Never Go Around Mirrors
The most underrated song among the best of his best songs.
6. I'm No Stranger to the Rain
It hit No. 1 on April 8, 1989, and one month and a day later, Whitley was dead.
5. I Wonder Do You Think of Me
This was the first single released after he died... you're going to hear this word again in a bit, but, haunting...
4. Miami, My Amy
The catchiest song of his catalog.
3. Tell Lorrie I Love Her
Absolutely haunting.
2. When You Say Nothing At All
It feels like this song would be the consensus No. 1 for Whitley, but I prefer a different song.
1. Don't Close Your Eyes
This song makes me ask a hell of a lot of questions, but the bottom line is that the pain of him singing for the love of his life to forget about some other guy is a hard listen packed into incredibly painful storytelling/singing.
What makes you say that? An injury prone QB who wonāt throw beyond 10 yards and shrinks under pressure. That doesnāt sound like a 1-4 round QB to me.
Totally agree we lose 2 of the last four with Quinn! Sark better wise up or we're toast!
I think the receiving corps need to be given some slack due to the poor quarterback and line play. If you donāt throw the ball down the field and the passes are off when you do, how are they supposed to put up big numbers?
Itās not ridiculous though that his scrambling ability would come in handy right now.
I'm weary of weary being used for wary. :>)
..... and like you, unihorn, I am wary of A$M....this year.
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I think this yearās receivers actually catch the ball better than any group weāve had in a long time. Theyāre not as impactful as last year largely because of Ewersā yips.
Iād like to thank you for telling us all the truth about Ewers play or lack of play the last several weeks. Itās kinda like telling the truth about my Cowboys, no shame I saying they have problems as does Dak.
I'm not opening up this week's column with concerns about Quinn Ewers.
Or the Texas offensive line. Or the Texas running backs. Or even a wide receiver unit that people really should apologize for daring to compare to last season's group.
As the Texas football team gets ready to head into a bye week with one foot into the first-ever 12-team college football playoff that begins in 54 days, my issue is less about the individual parts of Steve Sarkisian's offense and more about the sum of the collected parts.
By the end of Saturday night's win over Vanderbilt, the Texas offense had been found out. The passing game was performing at the levels of the first half of the Georgia game. The running game was admittedly solid, but not so solid that it could punt any drive into the end zone. Explosive plays were suddenly occurring with a premium. Sloppiness was constantly popping up. Vanderbilt defensive backs were sitting on every route, daring Texas to do anything down the field.
Texas averaged 3.1 yards per play, 1.4 yards per rush, and completed two passes in the fourth quarter, while nearly posting as many yards in penalties (45) as it gained in total offense (51).
That's so not remotely good enough as a standard for the future that actual poor standards are blushing in comparison. When Sarkisian says that his team needs to play to a high standard, and not to its weekly opponent, this is the opposite of what he's aiming for.
With the weeks that will ultimately determine how the season is remembered looming in the near-distance,
Sarkisian has to put his Humpty Dumpty offense back together again ... or else.
Let's take a look at the various areas of concern.
No. 2 - Quinn Ewers ...
Since returning from his oblique injury three weeks ago, here's a look at Ewers' performance levels by quarter:
OU 1st Q: 3 of 5 for 13 yards, OT, 1 INT (41.8 rating)
OU 2nd Q: 10 of 12 for 109 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (181.7 rating)
OU 3rd Q: 5 of 9 for 71 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (121.8 rating)
OU 4th Q: 2 of 3 for 6 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (6.4 rating)
Georgia 1Q: 5 of 8 for 17 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (80.4 rating)
Georgia 2Q: 1 of 4 for 0 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (-25.00)
Georgia 3Q: 7 of 10 for 90 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (211.6 rating)
Georgia 4Q: 12 of 21 for 104 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (98.7 rating)
Vandy 1Q: 12 of 13 for 126 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT (201.3 rating)
Vandy 2Q: 7 of 8 for 85 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (218.0 rating)
Vandy 3Q: 6 of 9 for 39 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (80.8 rating)
Vandy 4Q: 2 of 7 for 36 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (71.8 rating)
For those who don't completely understand the context, know that the nation's lowest-rated passer on the official NCAA website this week is Wyoming's Evan Svoboda, who is the only player in the country with a sub-100 rating (94.58). In seven of the quarters that he's played since his return, Ewers has posted sub-100 ratings, and in six of those quarters, his passer rating was below the season number for the worst quarterback in the country. Another Ewers' quarter (OU third quarter) would rank 106th in the country, respectively, if slotted in this week's current NCAA individual passing leaders rankings.
It means that since his return, Ewers has delivered four absolute elite of the elite-level quarters of action and eight quarters of the worst or the worst-level quarters of action as it relates to non-subjective passing efficiency data.
Heading into this weekend, Ewers ranked 128th nationally in air yards per attempt (5.65) and 115th in percentage of throws 20 or more yards downfield (9.3%), numbers that were impossible to forget during the Vanderbilt game as the naked eyes of the Orangebloods universe watched pass after pass after pass after pass after pass delivered within a 10-yard window of the line of scrimmage.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ewers has thrown 31.0% of his passes behind the line of scrimmage this season, while 36.9% are within 0-9 yards of the line of scrimmage. By comparison, only 25.0% of Arch Mannings's passes have been behind the line of scrimmage and only 28.6% of his throws have been between 0-9 yards. Meanwhile, Manning's instinct to throw the ball 20+ yards down the field (20.2%) is one of the reasons why he would lead the nation in yards per attempt if he had enough attempts to qualify.
I'm not suggesting that Manning be the starter. I'm merely pointing out that all of the data surrounding Ewers isn't a byproduct of Sarkisian's system with Ewers as the centerpiece.
The rub is, according to PFF, Ewers only has a passing efficiency of 136.8 when he throws the ball 10+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage, while he has a 162.3 rating when throwing the ball under nine yards from the line of scrimmage. As things stand, Manning has a season efficiency rating of 255.3 when throwing the ball 10+ yards down the field, while also having a much higher rating when throwing under nine yards from the line of scrimmage.
Simply put ...
a. Ewers must play better.
b. Ewers must throw the ball more down the field.
c. Ewers must achieve more success when throwing down the field.
No. 3 - The offensive line ...
It's all been falling apart throughout the last two games, at least when comparing the level of play by this group compared to what was produced in the first half of the season.
It feels like three areas of this group need to be focused on ...
a. Penalties
The mountain of flags thrown against this group simply has to slow down significantly. If you have a passing game that wants to throw the ball short, constantly putting it in awful down-and-distance situations is begging for problems.
It's not rocket science. Texas had a penalty by an offensive lineman or tight end in every second-half possession against Vanderbilt outside of the drive that ended on play No. 3 because of an Ewers interception.
Cam Williams has to clean up his game. The entire line does, but Williams has been called for 11 penalties (per PFF) in eight games and has only played two clean games all season.
b. The right side of the line
The combination of Williams and starting guard D.J. Campbell hasn't been good enough in the last two games.
Period.
c. Protecting Quinn as a pass protection unit
This doesn't all fall on the offensive line because you have to include the running backs and tight ends to get a full grasp of the failings that have occurred as a working unit, but alarm bells are going off.
Ewers has a 105.23 quarterback efficiency rating, is completing only 48.9% of his passes, and averaging 6.0 yards per attempt when pressured this season (per PFF).
Teams have figured out that the way to break the Texas offensive passing game is to get to Ewers because he'll either ineffectively throw it short or the line will commit a penalty. The rub is that if you blitz and don't get to Ewers, he'll kill opposing defenses.
Too often in the past couple of weeks, Ewers is getting pressured by teams that don't need to blitz to create pressure. Opposing defensive linemen are winning too many battles.
These are all areas that Kyle Flood has to improve.
No. 4 - The running backs ...
It's possible that nothing can be done about the situation at running back and it's also possible that all of the issues at running back would still exist if CJ Baxter was healthy.
Tre Wisner has been solid this season, but his 5.3 yards per carry is largely lifted because of a season-best game against Oklahoma, as he's been held under 5 yards per carry in five out of seven games. Meanwhile, my guy Jaydon Blue is averaging 4.4 yards per carry this season and you can't call that anything other than a borderline disaster after averaging 6.1 yards per carry a season ago. Baxter averaged 4.8 yards per carry last year, so it's hard to say with certainty that he would have impacted these numbers significantly if healthy.
The bottom line is that Jonathon Brooks, Bijan Robinson, and Roschon Johnson aren't walking through the locker room doors and what's left behind has been below any resemblance of high-level standards.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Tashard Choice has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 5 - The wide receivers ...
Since Ewers returned to the line-up, here is how the wide receiver unit has performed in each game:
vs. Oklahoma: 8 catches for 105 yards and 0 touchdowns
vs. Georgia: 9 catches for 100 yards and 1 touchdown
at Vanderbilt: 13 receptions for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns
The offense just isn't getting enough out of the players available. Ryan Wingo is averaging 22.3 yards per game in SEC play. DeAndre Moore had six catches for 97 yards against Vanderbilt, but had only 3 combined catches for 25 yards in games against Georgia and Oklahoma. Matthew Golden is averaging 36 yards per game over the last three games. Silas Bolden and Johntay Cook are basically non-factors.
All of this is happening while Isaiah Bond hasn't been able to feature because of injury.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Chris Jackson has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 7 - About the defense ...
In the event you're concerned that too much of the column is based on negative things, take a look at these defensive numbers:
Scoring Defense: (11.50) 2nd nationally
Total Defense: (241.2): 1st nationally
Passing yards allowed: (135.8) 3rd nationally
Rushing yards Allowed: (105.5) 20th nationally
3rd down defense: (28.4%) 8th nationally
Red-Zone Percentage: (.733) 14th nationally
Red-Zone Scores Allowed: (8) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Passing TDs Allowed: (2) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Rushing TDs Allowed: (4) 6th nationally
First Downs: (13.1 per game) 1st nationally
Team Passing Efficiency: (90.77) 2nd nationally
Team Sacks: (20) 16th nationally
Team Tackles For Loss: (6.9 per game) 23rd nationally
Turnovers Gained: (17) 8th nationally
No. 7 - If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Clemson
9. Indiana
10. Notre Dame
Heisman Trophy
1. Cam Ward (Miami)
2. Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
3 Dillon Gabrel (Oregon)
4. Travis Hunter (Colorado)
5. Kurtis Rourke (Indiana)
No. 8 ā BUY or SELL ā¦
(Sell) I still think Texas heads into College Station with a 10-1 record, but the game in Fayetteville is ominous.
(Sell) Sam played with the following NFL skill players: Devin Duvernay, Collin Johnson, Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Keaontay Ingram, Andrew Beck, Jared Wiley, Jordan Whittington, Roschon Johnson, and Bijan Robinson. Let's not pretend that he was a one-man gang that was always surrounded by bums. No, in general, he did not do more with less. I completely reject that notion.
(Sell) I've always been at a 10 with this game. It's the second-most difficult game on the entire schedule.
(Sell) It's at least a 9, even if I think Texas will win the game.
(Sell) My instincts say no, but perhaps I'd change my mind if I had more context to "Texas trailing".
(Buy) I absolutely expect it to be better. It's going to be loaded.
(Sell) I'm kind of done giving the offense the benefit of the doubt. Some really good defenses are on the horizon.
(Buy) 10000000000%
(Buy) I always hold back to some degree. There's never a completely unvarnished, unhinged expression of thought.
(Buy) I believe Arch is better. I have been saying that at least on the low-key for the last few weeks.
(Sell/Buy) I don't know what to tell you about the Arkansas roady. There's absolutely some real risk in a terrible weekend occurring. Yes, Green will be a good practice exam for the game in College Station. It definitely won't hurt.
(Sell) I don't believe that at all.
(Buy) Arch's distribution in the passing game mirrors what Alabama did under Sark.
(Buy) Probably by less than a field goal. Maybe a pick'em?
(Sell) All you're telling me with that suggestion is that the band-aid should pulled off slowly instead of quickly IF the band-aid needs to be pulled.
(Sell) He'll be in the NFL next season.
(Buy) He's hit something. He hasn't recorded an official stat in the last two games.
No. 9 ā Scattershooting all over the place ā¦
... Let's just not speak of what happened to the volleyball team in mid-week ...
... Game this week to enjoy on the bye week: No. 4 Ohio State at No. 3 Penn State (11 am on Fox)
... Ohio State is nothing special.
... Notre Dame really beat the hell out of Navy. Isn't that a federal crime?
... SEC Thoughts: That Aggies team looked like a real threat in the second half after a pretty weak first half. Mess around with that team and you can find out. Missouri should be ashamed of itself for that performance at Alabama. Woof. OU's going to need to win in Columbia to make a bowl game. That's not an impossible mission. Arkansas' season will be defined by its next two games... at home against Ole Miss (this Saturday) and Texas (in three weeks).
... Ho-hum, the Texans are just on pace to win 12 or 13 games ...
... Bijan Robinson is on pace for 1,173 yards rushing, 1,661 all-purpose rushing/receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns in his second NFL season.
... Aaron Rodgers has the same record with the Jets as the Browns have after this weekend. Lulz ...
... Kevin Durant has passed 29,000 career points, joining LeBron James, Kareem Abdel-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain. Some company. The dude just turned 36 years old and he dropped 31 points and 9 boards on 10 of 21 shooting in a win over the Mavericks.
... Ohtani's gonna play in game 3? Ohtani's gonna play in game 3!
... Did the game one walk-off clinch Freddie Freeman as a Hall of Famer?
... Max Holloway got knocked the hell out at UFC 308. I guess there's a first time for everything.
... Man, Barcelona dog-walked Real Madrid 4-0 in the Bernabeau. It's a result that is so emphatic that I'm not fully sure how I should process it.
... Premier League Randomness: Liverpool/Arsenal played what it ended up being a pretty fair result. I found it interesting that Arsenal basically sat in deep and played for a 2-1 game coming out of halftime, as it created a mere .05 xG from halftime until the 81st minute. At home, needing 3 points? Cowards. That slate of Saturday 9 am games didn't look like much on paper, but the final combined 30 minutes was borderline insane. Brighton has no business dropping points to Wolves at home after taking a 2-0 lead. Woof. That would keep me up for a week. I didn't watch a second of the Spurs game... what the hell was that? It bothers me that Man United is going to get Ten Hag fired.
No. 10 ā The List: Keith Whitley
If Keith Whitley never died and had found a way to get on top of his demons... what happens?
Is he the GOAT? Is he just outside of King George territory? Does he become forgotten in time?
Something I was thinking about this week while spending some time listening to him.
Last 5 Out: It Ain't Nothin', Hard Livin, Some Old Side Road, Brotherly Love and
Til a Tear Becomes a Rose
10. I'm Over You
A top 5 song for Whitley on Spotify with more than 33 million listens.
A duet with Whitley and Lorrie Morgan
9. Homecoming '63
The second Top 10 hit of Whitley's career.
8. Ten Feet Away
Our boy could simply sink the hell out of a ballad.
7. I Never Go Around Mirrors
The most underrated song among the best of his best songs.
6. I'm No Stranger to the Rain
It hit No. 1 on April 8, 1989, and one month and a day later, Whitley was dead.
5. I Wonder Do You Think of Me
This was the first single released after he died... you're going to hear this word again in a bit, but, haunting...
4. Miami, My Amy
The catchiest song of his catalog.
3. Tell Lorrie I Love Her
Absolutely haunting.
2. When You Say Nothing At All
It feels like this song would be the consensus No. 1 for Whitley, but I prefer a different song.
1. Don't Close Your Eyes
This song makes me ask a hell of a lot of questions, but the bottom line is that the pain of him singing for the love of his life to forget about some other guy is a hard listen packed into incredibly painful storytelling/singing.
Itās not personal about Ewers, I just think Arch is the better QB and weāre all entitled to our opinions. I think Ewers is hurt and canāt make the long or intermediate throws right now which is making us very one demential and thatās just the facts.
I want nothing more than Ewers to be successful, but right now he and Sark are holding back the rest of the team by not at least trying out Manning with some new packages to see if he can spark the team.
The truth hurts sometimes.
He Stopped Loving Her Today
Family Tradition
Friends In Low Places
Amarillo By Morning
I'm not opening up this week's column with concerns about Quinn Ewers.
Or the Texas offensive line. Or the Texas running backs. Or even a wide receiver unit that people really should apologize for daring to compare to last season's group.
As the Texas football team gets ready to head into a bye week with one foot into the first-ever 12-team college football playoff that begins in 54 days, my issue is less about the individual parts of Steve Sarkisian's offense and more about the sum of the collected parts.
By the end of Saturday night's win over Vanderbilt, the Texas offense had been found out. The passing game was performing at the levels of the first half of the Georgia game. The running game was admittedly solid, but not so solid that it could punt any drive into the end zone. Explosive plays were suddenly occurring with a premium. Sloppiness was constantly popping up. Vanderbilt defensive backs were sitting on every route, daring Texas to do anything down the field.
Texas averaged 3.1 yards per play, 1.4 yards per rush, and completed two passes in the fourth quarter, while nearly posting as many yards in penalties (45) as it gained in total offense (51).
That's so not remotely good enough as a standard for the future that actual poor standards are blushing in comparison. When Sarkisian says that his team needs to play to a high standard, and not to its weekly opponent, this is the opposite of what he's aiming for.
With the weeks that will ultimately determine how the season is remembered looming in the near-distance,
Sarkisian has to put his Humpty Dumpty offense back together again ... or else.
Let's take a look at the various areas of concern.
No. 2 - Quinn Ewers ...
Since returning from his oblique injury three weeks ago, here's a look at Ewers' performance levels by quarter:
OU 1st Q: 3 of 5 for 13 yards, OT, 1 INT (41.8 rating)
OU 2nd Q: 10 of 12 for 109 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (181.7 rating)
OU 3rd Q: 5 of 9 for 71 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (121.8 rating)
OU 4th Q: 2 of 3 for 6 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (6.4 rating)
Georgia 1Q: 5 of 8 for 17 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (80.4 rating)
Georgia 2Q: 1 of 4 for 0 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (-25.00)
Georgia 3Q: 7 of 10 for 90 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (211.6 rating)
Georgia 4Q: 12 of 21 for 104 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (98.7 rating)
Vandy 1Q: 12 of 13 for 126 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT (201.3 rating)
Vandy 2Q: 7 of 8 for 85 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (218.0 rating)
Vandy 3Q: 6 of 9 for 39 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (80.8 rating)
Vandy 4Q: 2 of 7 for 36 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (71.8 rating)
For those who don't completely understand the context, know that the nation's lowest-rated passer on the official NCAA website this week is Wyoming's Evan Svoboda, who is the only player in the country with a sub-100 rating (94.58). In seven of the quarters that he's played since his return, Ewers has posted sub-100 ratings, and in six of those quarters, his passer rating was below the season number for the worst quarterback in the country. Another Ewers' quarter (OU third quarter) would rank 106th in the country, respectively, if slotted in this week's current NCAA individual passing leaders rankings.
It means that since his return, Ewers has delivered four absolute elite of the elite-level quarters of action and eight quarters of the worst or the worst-level quarters of action as it relates to non-subjective passing efficiency data.
Heading into this weekend, Ewers ranked 128th nationally in air yards per attempt (5.65) and 115th in percentage of throws 20 or more yards downfield (9.3%), numbers that were impossible to forget during the Vanderbilt game as the naked eyes of the Orangebloods universe watched pass after pass after pass after pass after pass delivered within a 10-yard window of the line of scrimmage.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ewers has thrown 31.0% of his passes behind the line of scrimmage this season, while 36.9% are within 0-9 yards of the line of scrimmage. By comparison, only 25.0% of Arch Mannings's passes have been behind the line of scrimmage and only 28.6% of his throws have been between 0-9 yards. Meanwhile, Manning's instinct to throw the ball 20+ yards down the field (20.2%) is one of the reasons why he would lead the nation in yards per attempt if he had enough attempts to qualify.
I'm not suggesting that Manning be the starter. I'm merely pointing out that all of the data surrounding Ewers isn't a byproduct of Sarkisian's system with Ewers as the centerpiece.
The rub is, according to PFF, Ewers only has a passing efficiency of 136.8 when he throws the ball 10+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage, while he has a 162.3 rating when throwing the ball under nine yards from the line of scrimmage. As things stand, Manning has a season efficiency rating of 255.3 when throwing the ball 10+ yards down the field, while also having a much higher rating when throwing under nine yards from the line of scrimmage.
Simply put ...
a. Ewers must play better.
b. Ewers must throw the ball more down the field.
c. Ewers must achieve more success when throwing down the field.
No. 3 - The offensive line ...
It's all been falling apart throughout the last two games, at least when comparing the level of play by this group compared to what was produced in the first half of the season.
It feels like three areas of this group need to be focused on ...
a. Penalties
The mountain of flags thrown against this group simply has to slow down significantly. If you have a passing game that wants to throw the ball short, constantly putting it in awful down-and-distance situations is begging for problems.
It's not rocket science. Texas had a penalty by an offensive lineman or tight end in every second-half possession against Vanderbilt outside of the drive that ended on play No. 3 because of an Ewers interception.
Cam Williams has to clean up his game. The entire line does, but Williams has been called for 11 penalties (per PFF) in eight games and has only played two clean games all season.
b. The right side of the line
The combination of Williams and starting guard D.J. Campbell hasn't been good enough in the last two games.
Period.
c. Protecting Quinn as a pass protection unit
This doesn't all fall on the offensive line because you have to include the running backs and tight ends to get a full grasp of the failings that have occurred as a working unit, but alarm bells are going off.
Ewers has a 105.23 quarterback efficiency rating, is completing only 48.9% of his passes, and averaging 6.0 yards per attempt when pressured this season (per PFF).
Teams have figured out that the way to break the Texas offensive passing game is to get to Ewers because he'll either ineffectively throw it short or the line will commit a penalty. The rub is that if you blitz and don't get to Ewers, he'll kill opposing defenses.
Too often in the past couple of weeks, Ewers is getting pressured by teams that don't need to blitz to create pressure. Opposing defensive linemen are winning too many battles.
These are all areas that Kyle Flood has to improve.
No. 4 - The running backs ...
It's possible that nothing can be done about the situation at running back and it's also possible that all of the issues at running back would still exist if CJ Baxter was healthy.
Tre Wisner has been solid this season, but his 5.3 yards per carry is largely lifted because of a season-best game against Oklahoma, as he's been held under 5 yards per carry in five out of seven games. Meanwhile, my guy Jaydon Blue is averaging 4.4 yards per carry this season and you can't call that anything other than a borderline disaster after averaging 6.1 yards per carry a season ago. Baxter averaged 4.8 yards per carry last year, so it's hard to say with certainty that he would have impacted these numbers significantly if healthy.
The bottom line is that Jonathon Brooks, Bijan Robinson, and Roschon Johnson aren't walking through the locker room doors and what's left behind has been below any resemblance of high-level standards.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Tashard Choice has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 5 - The wide receivers ...
Since Ewers returned to the line-up, here is how the wide receiver unit has performed in each game:
vs. Oklahoma: 8 catches for 105 yards and 0 touchdowns
vs. Georgia: 9 catches for 100 yards and 1 touchdown
at Vanderbilt: 13 receptions for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns
The offense just isn't getting enough out of the players available. Ryan Wingo is averaging 22.3 yards per game in SEC play. DeAndre Moore had six catches for 97 yards against Vanderbilt, but had only 3 combined catches for 25 yards in games against Georgia and Oklahoma. Matthew Golden is averaging 36 yards per game over the last three games. Silas Bolden and Johntay Cook are basically non-factors.
All of this is happening while Isaiah Bond hasn't been able to feature because of injury.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Chris Jackson has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 7 - About the defense ...
In the event you're concerned that too much of the column is based on negative things, take a look at these defensive numbers:
Scoring Defense: (11.50) 2nd nationally
Total Defense: (241.2): 1st nationally
Passing yards allowed: (135.8) 3rd nationally
Rushing yards Allowed: (105.5) 20th nationally
3rd down defense: (28.4%) 8th nationally
Red-Zone Percentage: (.733) 14th nationally
Red-Zone Scores Allowed: (8) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Passing TDs Allowed: (2) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Rushing TDs Allowed: (4) 6th nationally
First Downs: (13.1 per game) 1st nationally
Team Passing Efficiency: (90.77) 2nd nationally
Team Sacks: (20) 16th nationally
Team Tackles For Loss: (6.9 per game) 23rd nationally
Turnovers Gained: (17) 8th nationally
No. 7 - If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Clemson
9. Indiana
10. Notre Dame
Heisman Trophy
1. Cam Ward (Miami)
2. Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
3 Dillon Gabrel (Oregon)
4. Travis Hunter (Colorado)
5. Kurtis Rourke (Indiana)
No. 8 ā BUY or SELL ā¦
(Sell) I still think Texas heads into College Station with a 10-1 record, but the game in Fayetteville is ominous.
(Sell) Sam played with the following NFL skill players: Devin Duvernay, Collin Johnson, Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Keaontay Ingram, Andrew Beck, Jared Wiley, Jordan Whittington, Roschon Johnson, and Bijan Robinson. Let's not pretend that he was a one-man gang that was always surrounded by bums. No, in general, he did not do more with less. I completely reject that notion.
(Sell) I've always been at a 10 with this game. It's the second-most difficult game on the entire schedule.
(Sell) It's at least a 9, even if I think Texas will win the game.
(Sell) My instincts say no, but perhaps I'd change my mind if I had more context to "Texas trailing".
(Buy) I absolutely expect it to be better. It's going to be loaded.
(Sell) I'm kind of done giving the offense the benefit of the doubt. Some really good defenses are on the horizon.
(Buy) 10000000000%
(Buy) I always hold back to some degree. There's never a completely unvarnished, unhinged expression of thought.
(Buy) I believe Arch is better. I have been saying that at least on the low-key for the last few weeks.
(Sell/Buy) I don't know what to tell you about the Arkansas roady. There's absolutely some real risk in a terrible weekend occurring. Yes, Green will be a good practice exam for the game in College Station. It definitely won't hurt.
(Sell) I don't believe that at all.
(Buy) Arch's distribution in the passing game mirrors what Alabama did under Sark.
(Buy) Probably by less than a field goal. Maybe a pick'em?
(Sell) All you're telling me with that suggestion is that the band-aid should pulled off slowly instead of quickly IF the band-aid needs to be pulled.
(Sell) He'll be in the NFL next season.
(Buy) He's hit something. He hasn't recorded an official stat in the last two games.
No. 9 ā Scattershooting all over the place ā¦
... Let's just not speak of what happened to the volleyball team in mid-week ...
... Game this week to enjoy on the bye week: No. 4 Ohio State at No. 3 Penn State (11 am on Fox)
... Ohio State is nothing special.
... Notre Dame really beat the hell out of Navy. Isn't that a federal crime?
... SEC Thoughts: That Aggies team looked like a real threat in the second half after a pretty weak first half. Mess around with that team and you can find out. Missouri should be ashamed of itself for that performance at Alabama. Woof. OU's going to need to win in Columbia to make a bowl game. That's not an impossible mission. Arkansas' season will be defined by its next two games... at home against Ole Miss (this Saturday) and Texas (in three weeks).
... Ho-hum, the Texans are just on pace to win 12 or 13 games ...
... Bijan Robinson is on pace for 1,173 yards rushing, 1,661 all-purpose rushing/receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns in his second NFL season.
... Aaron Rodgers has the same record with the Jets as the Browns have after this weekend. Lulz ...
... Kevin Durant has passed 29,000 career points, joining LeBron James, Kareem Abdel-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain. Some company. The dude just turned 36 years old and he dropped 31 points and 9 boards on 10 of 21 shooting in a win over the Mavericks.
... Ohtani's gonna play in game 3? Ohtani's gonna play in game 3!
... Did the game one walk-off clinch Freddie Freeman as a Hall of Famer?
... Max Holloway got knocked the hell out at UFC 308. I guess there's a first time for everything.
... Man, Barcelona dog-walked Real Madrid 4-0 in the Bernabeau. It's a result that is so emphatic that I'm not fully sure how I should process it.
... Premier League Randomness: Liverpool/Arsenal played what it ended up being a pretty fair result. I found it interesting that Arsenal basically sat in deep and played for a 2-1 game coming out of halftime, as it created a mere .05 xG from halftime until the 81st minute. At home, needing 3 points? Cowards. That slate of Saturday 9 am games didn't look like much on paper, but the final combined 30 minutes was borderline insane. Brighton has no business dropping points to Wolves at home after taking a 2-0 lead. Woof. That would keep me up for a week. I didn't watch a second of the Spurs game... what the hell was that? It bothers me that Man United is going to get Ten Hag fired.
No. 10 ā The List: Keith Whitley
If Keith Whitley never died and had found a way to get on top of his demons... what happens?
Is he the GOAT? Is he just outside of King George territory? Does he become forgotten in time?
Something I was thinking about this week while spending some time listening to him.
Last 5 Out: It Ain't Nothin', Hard Livin, Some Old Side Road, Brotherly Love and
Til a Tear Becomes a Rose
10. I'm Over You
A top 5 song for Whitley on Spotify with more than 33 million listens.
A duet with Whitley and Lorrie Morgan
9. Homecoming '63
The second Top 10 hit of Whitley's career.
8. Ten Feet Away
Our boy could simply sink the hell out of a ballad.
7. I Never Go Around Mirrors
The most underrated song among the best of his best songs.
6. I'm No Stranger to the Rain
It hit No. 1 on April 8, 1989, and one month and a day later, Whitley was dead.
5. I Wonder Do You Think of Me
This was the first single released after he died... you're going to hear this word again in a bit, but, haunting...
4. Miami, My Amy
The catchiest song of his catalog.
3. Tell Lorrie I Love Her
Absolutely haunting.
2. When You Say Nothing At All
It feels like this song would be the consensus No. 1 for Whitley, but I prefer a different song.
1. Don't Close Your Eyes
This song makes me ask a hell of a lot of questions, but the bottom line is that the pain of him singing for the love of his life to forget about some other guy is a hard listen packed into incredibly painful storytelling/singing.
Great perspective and supporting data points by Ketch.
I'm not opening up this week's column with concerns about Quinn Ewers.
Or the Texas offensive line. Or the Texas running backs. Or even a wide receiver unit that people really should apologize for daring to compare to last season's group.
As the Texas football team gets ready to head into a bye week with one foot into the first-ever 12-team college football playoff that begins in 54 days, my issue is less about the individual parts of Steve Sarkisian's offense and more about the sum of the collected parts.
By the end of Saturday night's win over Vanderbilt, the Texas offense had been found out. The passing game was performing at the levels of the first half of the Georgia game. The running game was admittedly solid, but not so solid that it could punt any drive into the end zone. Explosive plays were suddenly occurring with a premium. Sloppiness was constantly popping up. Vanderbilt defensive backs were sitting on every route, daring Texas to do anything down the field.
Texas averaged 3.1 yards per play, 1.4 yards per rush, and completed two passes in the fourth quarter, while nearly posting as many yards in penalties (45) as it gained in total offense (51).
That's so not remotely good enough as a standard for the future that actual poor standards are blushing in comparison. When Sarkisian says that his team needs to play to a high standard, and not to its weekly opponent, this is the opposite of what he's aiming for.
With the weeks that will ultimately determine how the season is remembered looming in the near-distance,
Sarkisian has to put his Humpty Dumpty offense back together again ... or else.
Let's take a look at the various areas of concern.
No. 2 - Quinn Ewers ...
Since returning from his oblique injury three weeks ago, here's a look at Ewers' performance levels by quarter:
OU 1st Q: 3 of 5 for 13 yards, OT, 1 INT (41.8 rating)
OU 2nd Q: 10 of 12 for 109 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (181.7 rating)
OU 3rd Q: 5 of 9 for 71 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (121.8 rating)
OU 4th Q: 2 of 3 for 6 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (6.4 rating)
Georgia 1Q: 5 of 8 for 17 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (80.4 rating)
Georgia 2Q: 1 of 4 for 0 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (-25.00)
Georgia 3Q: 7 of 10 for 90 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (211.6 rating)
Georgia 4Q: 12 of 21 for 104 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (98.7 rating)
Vandy 1Q: 12 of 13 for 126 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT (201.3 rating)
Vandy 2Q: 7 of 8 for 85 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (218.0 rating)
Vandy 3Q: 6 of 9 for 39 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (80.8 rating)
Vandy 4Q: 2 of 7 for 36 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (71.8 rating)
For those who don't completely understand the context, know that the nation's lowest-rated passer on the official NCAA website this week is Wyoming's Evan Svoboda, who is the only player in the country with a sub-100 rating (94.58). In seven of the quarters that he's played since his return, Ewers has posted sub-100 ratings, and in six of those quarters, his passer rating was below the season number for the worst quarterback in the country. Another Ewers' quarter (OU third quarter) would rank 106th in the country, respectively, if slotted in this week's current NCAA individual passing leaders rankings.
It means that since his return, Ewers has delivered four absolute elite of the elite-level quarters of action and eight quarters of the worst or the worst-level quarters of action as it relates to non-subjective passing efficiency data.
Heading into this weekend, Ewers ranked 128th nationally in air yards per attempt (5.65) and 115th in percentage of throws 20 or more yards downfield (9.3%), numbers that were impossible to forget during the Vanderbilt game as the naked eyes of the Orangebloods universe watched pass after pass after pass after pass after pass delivered within a 10-yard window of the line of scrimmage.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ewers has thrown 31.0% of his passes behind the line of scrimmage this season, while 36.9% are within 0-9 yards of the line of scrimmage. By comparison, only 25.0% of Arch Mannings's passes have been behind the line of scrimmage and only 28.6% of his throws have been between 0-9 yards. Meanwhile, Manning's instinct to throw the ball 20+ yards down the field (20.2%) is one of the reasons why he would lead the nation in yards per attempt if he had enough attempts to qualify.
I'm not suggesting that Manning be the starter. I'm merely pointing out that all of the data surrounding Ewers isn't a byproduct of Sarkisian's system with Ewers as the centerpiece.
The rub is, according to PFF, Ewers only has a passing efficiency of 136.8 when he throws the ball 10+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage, while he has a 162.3 rating when throwing the ball under nine yards from the line of scrimmage. As things stand, Manning has a season efficiency rating of 255.3 when throwing the ball 10+ yards down the field, while also having a much higher rating when throwing under nine yards from the line of scrimmage.
Simply put ...
a. Ewers must play better.
b. Ewers must throw the ball more down the field.
c. Ewers must achieve more success when throwing down the field.
No. 3 - The offensive line ...
It's all been falling apart throughout the last two games, at least when comparing the level of play by this group compared to what was produced in the first half of the season.
It feels like three areas of this group need to be focused on ...
a. Penalties
The mountain of flags thrown against this group simply has to slow down significantly. If you have a passing game that wants to throw the ball short, constantly putting it in awful down-and-distance situations is begging for problems.
It's not rocket science. Texas had a penalty by an offensive lineman or tight end in every second-half possession against Vanderbilt outside of the drive that ended on play No. 3 because of an Ewers interception.
Cam Williams has to clean up his game. The entire line does, but Williams has been called for 11 penalties (per PFF) in eight games and has only played two clean games all season.
b. The right side of the line
The combination of Williams and starting guard D.J. Campbell hasn't been good enough in the last two games.
Period.
c. Protecting Quinn as a pass protection unit
This doesn't all fall on the offensive line because you have to include the running backs and tight ends to get a full grasp of the failings that have occurred as a working unit, but alarm bells are going off.
Ewers has a 105.23 quarterback efficiency rating, is completing only 48.9% of his passes, and averaging 6.0 yards per attempt when pressured this season (per PFF).
Teams have figured out that the way to break the Texas offensive passing game is to get to Ewers because he'll either ineffectively throw it short or the line will commit a penalty. The rub is that if you blitz and don't get to Ewers, he'll kill opposing defenses.
Too often in the past couple of weeks, Ewers is getting pressured by teams that don't need to blitz to create pressure. Opposing defensive linemen are winning too many battles.
These are all areas that Kyle Flood has to improve.
No. 4 - The running backs ...
It's possible that nothing can be done about the situation at running back and it's also possible that all of the issues at running back would still exist if CJ Baxter was healthy.
Tre Wisner has been solid this season, but his 5.3 yards per carry is largely lifted because of a season-best game against Oklahoma, as he's been held under 5 yards per carry in five out of seven games. Meanwhile, my guy Jaydon Blue is averaging 4.4 yards per carry this season and you can't call that anything other than a borderline disaster after averaging 6.1 yards per carry a season ago. Baxter averaged 4.8 yards per carry last year, so it's hard to say with certainty that he would have impacted these numbers significantly if healthy.
The bottom line is that Jonathon Brooks, Bijan Robinson, and Roschon Johnson aren't walking through the locker room doors and what's left behind has been below any resemblance of high-level standards.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Tashard Choice has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 5 - The wide receivers ...
Since Ewers returned to the line-up, here is how the wide receiver unit has performed in each game:
vs. Oklahoma: 8 catches for 105 yards and 0 touchdowns
vs. Georgia: 9 catches for 100 yards and 1 touchdown
at Vanderbilt: 13 receptions for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns
The offense just isn't getting enough out of the players available. Ryan Wingo is averaging 22.3 yards per game in SEC play. DeAndre Moore had six catches for 97 yards against Vanderbilt, but had only 3 combined catches for 25 yards in games against Georgia and Oklahoma. Matthew Golden is averaging 36 yards per game over the last three games. Silas Bolden and Johntay Cook are basically non-factors.
All of this is happening while Isaiah Bond hasn't been able to feature because of injury.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Chris Jackson has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 7 - About the defense ...
In the event you're concerned that too much of the column is based on negative things, take a look at these defensive numbers:
Scoring Defense: (11.50) 2nd nationally
Total Defense: (241.2): 1st nationally
Passing yards allowed: (135.8) 3rd nationally
Rushing yards Allowed: (105.5) 20th nationally
3rd down defense: (28.4%) 8th nationally
Red-Zone Percentage: (.733) 14th nationally
Red-Zone Scores Allowed: (8) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Passing TDs Allowed: (2) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Rushing TDs Allowed: (4) 6th nationally
First Downs: (13.1 per game) 1st nationally
Team Passing Efficiency: (90.77) 2nd nationally
Team Sacks: (20) 16th nationally
Team Tackles For Loss: (6.9 per game) 23rd nationally
Turnovers Gained: (17) 8th nationally
No. 7 - If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Clemson
9. Indiana
10. Notre Dame
Heisman Trophy
1. Cam Ward (Miami)
2. Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
3 Dillon Gabrel (Oregon)
4. Travis Hunter (Colorado)
5. Kurtis Rourke (Indiana)
No. 8 ā BUY or SELL ā¦
(Sell) I still think Texas heads into College Station with a 10-1 record, but the game in Fayetteville is ominous.
(Sell) Sam played with the following NFL skill players: Devin Duvernay, Collin Johnson, Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Keaontay Ingram, Andrew Beck, Jared Wiley, Jordan Whittington, Roschon Johnson, and Bijan Robinson. Let's not pretend that he was a one-man gang that was always surrounded by bums. No, in general, he did not do more with less. I completely reject that notion.
(Sell) I've always been at a 10 with this game. It's the second-most difficult game on the entire schedule.
(Sell) It's at least a 9, even if I think Texas will win the game.
(Sell) My instincts say no, but perhaps I'd change my mind if I had more context to "Texas trailing".
(Buy) I absolutely expect it to be better. It's going to be loaded.
(Sell) I'm kind of done giving the offense the benefit of the doubt. Some really good defenses are on the horizon.
(Buy) 10000000000%
(Buy) I always hold back to some degree. There's never a completely unvarnished, unhinged expression of thought.
(Buy) I believe Arch is better. I have been saying that at least on the low-key for the last few weeks.
(Sell/Buy) I don't know what to tell you about the Arkansas roady. There's absolutely some real risk in a terrible weekend occurring. Yes, Green will be a good practice exam for the game in College Station. It definitely won't hurt.
(Sell) I don't believe that at all.
(Buy) Arch's distribution in the passing game mirrors what Alabama did under Sark.
(Buy) Probably by less than a field goal. Maybe a pick'em?
(Sell) All you're telling me with that suggestion is that the band-aid should pulled off slowly instead of quickly IF the band-aid needs to be pulled.
(Sell) He'll be in the NFL next season.
(Buy) He's hit something. He hasn't recorded an official stat in the last two games.
No. 9 ā Scattershooting all over the place ā¦
... Let's just not speak of what happened to the volleyball team in mid-week ...
... Game this week to enjoy on the bye week: No. 4 Ohio State at No. 3 Penn State (11 am on Fox)
... Ohio State is nothing special.
... Notre Dame really beat the hell out of Navy. Isn't that a federal crime?
... SEC Thoughts: That Aggies team looked like a real threat in the second half after a pretty weak first half. Mess around with that team and you can find out. Missouri should be ashamed of itself for that performance at Alabama. Woof. OU's going to need to win in Columbia to make a bowl game. That's not an impossible mission. Arkansas' season will be defined by its next two games... at home against Ole Miss (this Saturday) and Texas (in three weeks).
... Ho-hum, the Texans are just on pace to win 12 or 13 games ...
... Bijan Robinson is on pace for 1,173 yards rushing, 1,661 all-purpose rushing/receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns in his second NFL season.
... Aaron Rodgers has the same record with the Jets as the Browns have after this weekend. Lulz ...
... Kevin Durant has passed 29,000 career points, joining LeBron James, Kareem Abdel-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain. Some company. The dude just turned 36 years old and he dropped 31 points and 9 boards on 10 of 21 shooting in a win over the Mavericks.
... Ohtani's gonna play in game 3? Ohtani's gonna play in game 3!
... Did the game one walk-off clinch Freddie Freeman as a Hall of Famer?
... Max Holloway got knocked the hell out at UFC 308. I guess there's a first time for everything.
... Man, Barcelona dog-walked Real Madrid 4-0 in the Bernabeau. It's a result that is so emphatic that I'm not fully sure how I should process it.
... Premier League Randomness: Liverpool/Arsenal played what it ended up being a pretty fair result. I found it interesting that Arsenal basically sat in deep and played for a 2-1 game coming out of halftime, as it created a mere .05 xG from halftime until the 81st minute. At home, needing 3 points? Cowards. That slate of Saturday 9 am games didn't look like much on paper, but the final combined 30 minutes was borderline insane. Brighton has no business dropping points to Wolves at home after taking a 2-0 lead. Woof. That would keep me up for a week. I didn't watch a second of the Spurs game... what the hell was that? It bothers me that Man United is going to get Ten Hag fired.
No. 10 ā The List: Keith Whitley
If Keith Whitley never died and had found a way to get on top of his demons... what happens?
Is he the GOAT? Is he just outside of King George territory? Does he become forgotten in time?
Something I was thinking about this week while spending some time listening to him.
Last 5 Out: It Ain't Nothin', Hard Livin, Some Old Side Road, Brotherly Love and
Til a Tear Becomes a Rose
10. I'm Over You
A top 5 song for Whitley on Spotify with more than 33 million listens.
A duet with Whitley and Lorrie Morgan
9. Homecoming '63
The second Top 10 hit of Whitley's career.
8. Ten Feet Away
Our boy could simply sink the hell out of a ballad.
7. I Never Go Around Mirrors
The most underrated song among the best of his best songs.
6. I'm No Stranger to the Rain
It hit No. 1 on April 8, 1989, and one month and a day later, Whitley was dead.
5. I Wonder Do You Think of Me
This was the first single released after he died... you're going to hear this word again in a bit, but, haunting...
4. Miami, My Amy
The catchiest song of his catalog.
3. Tell Lorrie I Love Her
Absolutely haunting.
2. When You Say Nothing At All
It feels like this song would be the consensus No. 1 for Whitley, but I prefer a different song.
1. Don't Close Your Eyes
This song makes me ask a hell of a lot of questions, but the bottom line is that the pain of him singing for the love of his life to forget about some other guy is a hard listen packed into incredibly painful storytelling/singing.
I think that rather than the real issue being about whether Quinn should be replaced by Arch, itās mainly about fixing the O line issues. Both the unacceptable amount of penalties, and the lack of pass protection and run blocking.
If the coaches can fix the O line, thatās what will give Quinn his confidence back and receivers will have time to get open.
As is almost always the case, when an offense struggles, it starts with how the O line is playing.
Give Quinn time again, and we will see the the āgreat Quinnā again.
If coachās canāt fix the O line, Quinn will continue to struggle.
His lack of confidence isnāt just in himself, itās in his protection.
Maybe not an easy fix (I donāt know) but, that is what needs to happen.
I believe we do have the coaches and personnel to get back to much more consistency out of this O line than weāve seen the last three games. Quinnās issues arenāt only on him.
IMO
Really? You're dumping on this year's receiver room?
I'm not opening up this week's column with concerns about Quinn Ewers.
Or the Texas offensive line. Or the Texas running backs. Or even a wide receiver unit that people really should apologize for daring to compare to last season's group.
I think since they're spreading the ball around much more than last year, it somewhat obscures how good this year's receiver room really is. Just as a bit of a counter-point to the notion that this year's group is not nearly as good a last year's group, here are some facts:
- This year's receivers group has the same number of touchdowns (19) in 8 games as last year's group had in 14 games.
- As a group, this year's WR room is averaging 191.8 yards per game, compared to 180.5 for last year's group.
- There are 5 receivers in this year's group who are averaging more yards per reception than Worthy did last year.
- Bond and Moore already have as many TD's in 8 games (5 each) as last year's TD leader, Worthy had in 14.
- So far, Texas has not had to resort to using Defensive Tackles and Jumbo Tight Ends to throw touchdowns in the end-zone.
- We saw more WR drops early in the year from last year's group than we've seen so far with this year's group.
2024 Receiver Numbers
Wingo 19 for 328 / 17.3 ypr /2 TD
Cook 8 for 137 / 17.1 ypr / 2 TD
Bond 23 for 380 / 16.5 ypr / 5 TD
Moore 17 for 249 / 14.6 ypr / 5 TD
Golden 24 for 332 / 13.5 ypr / 4 TD
Bolden 12 for 108 / 9.0 ypr / 1 TD
2023 Receiver Numbers
Worthy 75 for 1014 / 13.5 ypr / 5 TD
Whittington 42 for 505 / 12.0 ypr / 1 TD
Mitchell 55 for 845 / 15.4 ypr / 11 TD
Cook 8 for 136 / 17.0 ypr / 0 TD
Neyor 1 for 14 / 14.0 ypr / 1 TD
Cain 1 for 13 / 13.0 ypr / 1 TD
Am I wrong to askā¦ Doesnāt it seem like every single play save for the long 3rd down to Bolden that if Quinnās first read isnāt there or if the pocket at all begins to degrade that Quinnās visibly tenses up for a hit thatās not close yet or he just pump fakes to no one and then folds has become the norm? It felt like the 2nd half of Vandy was like Wiegmanās first half of the LSU game. Then Nussmeier had a Quinn ewers (1st and 2nd qtr against Georgia) 2nd half in his Aggie game?
I'm not opening up this week's column with concerns about Quinn Ewers.
Or the Texas offensive line. Or the Texas running backs. Or even a wide receiver unit that people really should apologize for daring to compare to last season's group.
As the Texas football team gets ready to head into a bye week with one foot into the first-ever 12-team college football playoff that begins in 54 days, my issue is less about the individual parts of Steve Sarkisian's offense and more about the sum of the collected parts.
By the end of Saturday night's win over Vanderbilt, the Texas offense had been found out. The passing game was performing at the levels of the first half of the Georgia game. The running game was admittedly solid, but not so solid that it could punt any drive into the end zone. Explosive plays were suddenly occurring with a premium. Sloppiness was constantly popping up. Vanderbilt defensive backs were sitting on every route, daring Texas to do anything down the field.
Texas averaged 3.1 yards per play, 1.4 yards per rush, and completed two passes in the fourth quarter, while nearly posting as many yards in penalties (45) as it gained in total offense (51).
That's so not remotely good enough as a standard for the future that actual poor standards are blushing in comparison. When Sarkisian says that his team needs to play to a high standard, and not to its weekly opponent, this is the opposite of what he's aiming for.
With the weeks that will ultimately determine how the season is remembered looming in the near-distance,
Sarkisian has to put his Humpty Dumpty offense back together again ... or else.
Let's take a look at the various areas of concern.
No. 2 - Quinn Ewers ...
Since returning from his oblique injury three weeks ago, here's a look at Ewers' performance levels by quarter:
OU 1st Q: 3 of 5 for 13 yards, OT, 1 INT (41.8 rating)
OU 2nd Q: 10 of 12 for 109 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (181.7 rating)
OU 3rd Q: 5 of 9 for 71 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (121.8 rating)
OU 4th Q: 2 of 3 for 6 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (6.4 rating)
Georgia 1Q: 5 of 8 for 17 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (80.4 rating)
Georgia 2Q: 1 of 4 for 0 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (-25.00)
Georgia 3Q: 7 of 10 for 90 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (211.6 rating)
Georgia 4Q: 12 of 21 for 104 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (98.7 rating)
Vandy 1Q: 12 of 13 for 126 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT (201.3 rating)
Vandy 2Q: 7 of 8 for 85 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (218.0 rating)
Vandy 3Q: 6 of 9 for 39 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (80.8 rating)
Vandy 4Q: 2 of 7 for 36 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (71.8 rating)
For those who don't completely understand the context, know that the nation's lowest-rated passer on the official NCAA website this week is Wyoming's Evan Svoboda, who is the only player in the country with a sub-100 rating (94.58). In seven of the quarters that he's played since his return, Ewers has posted sub-100 ratings, and in six of those quarters, his passer rating was below the season number for the worst quarterback in the country. Another Ewers' quarter (OU third quarter) would rank 106th in the country, respectively, if slotted in this week's current NCAA individual passing leaders rankings.
It means that since his return, Ewers has delivered four absolute elite of the elite-level quarters of action and eight quarters of the worst or the worst-level quarters of action as it relates to non-subjective passing efficiency data.
Heading into this weekend, Ewers ranked 128th nationally in air yards per attempt (5.65) and 115th in percentage of throws 20 or more yards downfield (9.3%), numbers that were impossible to forget during the Vanderbilt game as the naked eyes of the Orangebloods universe watched pass after pass after pass after pass after pass delivered within a 10-yard window of the line of scrimmage.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ewers has thrown 31.0% of his passes behind the line of scrimmage this season, while 36.9% are within 0-9 yards of the line of scrimmage. By comparison, only 25.0% of Arch Mannings's passes have been behind the line of scrimmage and only 28.6% of his throws have been between 0-9 yards. Meanwhile, Manning's instinct to throw the ball 20+ yards down the field (20.2%) is one of the reasons why he would lead the nation in yards per attempt if he had enough attempts to qualify.
I'm not suggesting that Manning be the starter. I'm merely pointing out that all of the data surrounding Ewers isn't a byproduct of Sarkisian's system with Ewers as the centerpiece.
The rub is, according to PFF, Ewers only has a passing efficiency of 136.8 when he throws the ball 10+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage, while he has a 162.3 rating when throwing the ball under nine yards from the line of scrimmage. As things stand, Manning has a season efficiency rating of 255.3 when throwing the ball 10+ yards down the field, while also having a much higher rating when throwing under nine yards from the line of scrimmage.
Simply put ...
a. Ewers must play better.
b. Ewers must throw the ball more down the field.
c. Ewers must achieve more success when throwing down the field.
No. 3 - The offensive line ...
It's all been falling apart throughout the last two games, at least when comparing the level of play by this group compared to what was produced in the first half of the season.
It feels like three areas of this group need to be focused on ...
a. Penalties
The mountain of flags thrown against this group simply has to slow down significantly. If you have a passing game that wants to throw the ball short, constantly putting it in awful down-and-distance situations is begging for problems.
It's not rocket science. Texas had a penalty by an offensive lineman or tight end in every second-half possession against Vanderbilt outside of the drive that ended on play No. 3 because of an Ewers interception.
Cam Williams has to clean up his game. The entire line does, but Williams has been called for 11 penalties (per PFF) in eight games and has only played two clean games all season.
b. The right side of the line
The combination of Williams and starting guard D.J. Campbell hasn't been good enough in the last two games.
Period.
c. Protecting Quinn as a pass protection unit
This doesn't all fall on the offensive line because you have to include the running backs and tight ends to get a full grasp of the failings that have occurred as a working unit, but alarm bells are going off.
Ewers has a 105.23 quarterback efficiency rating, is completing only 48.9% of his passes, and averaging 6.0 yards per attempt when pressured this season (per PFF).
Teams have figured out that the way to break the Texas offensive passing game is to get to Ewers because he'll either ineffectively throw it short or the line will commit a penalty. The rub is that if you blitz and don't get to Ewers, he'll kill opposing defenses.
Too often in the past couple of weeks, Ewers is getting pressured by teams that don't need to blitz to create pressure. Opposing defensive linemen are winning too many battles.
These are all areas that Kyle Flood has to improve.
No. 4 - The running backs ...
It's possible that nothing can be done about the situation at running back and it's also possible that all of the issues at running back would still exist if CJ Baxter was healthy.
Tre Wisner has been solid this season, but his 5.3 yards per carry is largely lifted because of a season-best game against Oklahoma, as he's been held under 5 yards per carry in five out of seven games. Meanwhile, my guy Jaydon Blue is averaging 4.4 yards per carry this season and you can't call that anything other than a borderline disaster after averaging 6.1 yards per carry a season ago. Baxter averaged 4.8 yards per carry last year, so it's hard to say with certainty that he would have impacted these numbers significantly if healthy.
The bottom line is that Jonathon Brooks, Bijan Robinson, and Roschon Johnson aren't walking through the locker room doors and what's left behind has been below any resemblance of high-level standards.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Tashard Choice has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 5 - The wide receivers ...
Since Ewers returned to the line-up, here is how the wide receiver unit has performed in each game:
vs. Oklahoma: 8 catches for 105 yards and 0 touchdowns
vs. Georgia: 9 catches for 100 yards and 1 touchdown
at Vanderbilt: 13 receptions for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns
The offense just isn't getting enough out of the players available. Ryan Wingo is averaging 22.3 yards per game in SEC play. DeAndre Moore had six catches for 97 yards against Vanderbilt, but had only 3 combined catches for 25 yards in games against Georgia and Oklahoma. Matthew Golden is averaging 36 yards per game over the last three games. Silas Bolden and Johntay Cook are basically non-factors.
All of this is happening while Isaiah Bond hasn't been able to feature because of injury.
In addition to the not-good-enough numbers, the blocking at the position has also been a problem in recent weeks.
These are all areas of things Chris Jackson has to improve, if at all possible.
No. 7 - About the defense ...
In the event you're concerned that too much of the column is based on negative things, take a look at these defensive numbers:
Scoring Defense: (11.50) 2nd nationally
Total Defense: (241.2): 1st nationally
Passing yards allowed: (135.8) 3rd nationally
Rushing yards Allowed: (105.5) 20th nationally
3rd down defense: (28.4%) 8th nationally
Red-Zone Percentage: (.733) 14th nationally
Red-Zone Scores Allowed: (8) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Passing TDs Allowed: (2) 2nd nationally
Red-Zone Rushing TDs Allowed: (4) 6th nationally
First Downs: (13.1 per game) 1st nationally
Team Passing Efficiency: (90.77) 2nd nationally
Team Sacks: (20) 16th nationally
Team Tackles For Loss: (6.9 per game) 23rd nationally
Turnovers Gained: (17) 8th nationally
No. 7 - If I had a vote that mattered ...
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Clemson
9. Indiana
10. Notre Dame
Heisman Trophy
1. Cam Ward (Miami)
2. Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
3 Dillon Gabrel (Oregon)
4. Travis Hunter (Colorado)
5. Kurtis Rourke (Indiana)
No. 8 ā BUY or SELL ā¦
(Sell) I still think Texas heads into College Station with a 10-1 record, but the game in Fayetteville is ominous.
(Sell) Sam played with the following NFL skill players: Devin Duvernay, Collin Johnson, Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Keaontay Ingram, Andrew Beck, Jared Wiley, Jordan Whittington, Roschon Johnson, and Bijan Robinson. Let's not pretend that he was a one-man gang that was always surrounded by bums. No, in general, he did not do more with less. I completely reject that notion.
(Sell) I've always been at a 10 with this game. It's the second-most difficult game on the entire schedule.
(Sell) It's at least a 9, even if I think Texas will win the game.
(Sell) My instincts say no, but perhaps I'd change my mind if I had more context to "Texas trailing".
(Buy) I absolutely expect it to be better. It's going to be loaded.
(Sell) I'm kind of done giving the offense the benefit of the doubt. Some really good defenses are on the horizon.
(Buy) 10000000000%
(Buy) I always hold back to some degree. There's never a completely unvarnished, unhinged expression of thought.
(Buy) I believe Arch is better. I have been saying that at least on the low-key for the last few weeks.
(Sell/Buy) I don't know what to tell you about the Arkansas roady. There's absolutely some real risk in a terrible weekend occurring. Yes, Green will be a good practice exam for the game in College Station. It definitely won't hurt.
(Sell) I don't believe that at all.
(Buy) Arch's distribution in the passing game mirrors what Alabama did under Sark.
(Buy) Probably by less than a field goal. Maybe a pick'em?
(Sell) All you're telling me with that suggestion is that the band-aid should pulled off slowly instead of quickly IF the band-aid needs to be pulled.
(Sell) He'll be in the NFL next season.
(Buy) He's hit something. He hasn't recorded an official stat in the last two games.
No. 9 ā Scattershooting all over the place ā¦
... Let's just not speak of what happened to the volleyball team in mid-week ...
... Game this week to enjoy on the bye week: No. 4 Ohio State at No. 3 Penn State (11 am on Fox)
... Ohio State is nothing special.
... Notre Dame really beat the hell out of Navy. Isn't that a federal crime?
... SEC Thoughts: That Aggies team looked like a real threat in the second half after a pretty weak first half. Mess around with that team and you can find out. Missouri should be ashamed of itself for that performance at Alabama. Woof. OU's going to need to win in Columbia to make a bowl game. That's not an impossible mission. Arkansas' season will be defined by its next two games... at home against Ole Miss (this Saturday) and Texas (in three weeks).
... Ho-hum, the Texans are just on pace to win 12 or 13 games ...
... Bijan Robinson is on pace for 1,173 yards rushing, 1,661 all-purpose rushing/receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns in his second NFL season.
... Aaron Rodgers has the same record with the Jets as the Browns have after this weekend. Lulz ...
... Kevin Durant has passed 29,000 career points, joining LeBron James, Kareem Abdel-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain. Some company. The dude just turned 36 years old and he dropped 31 points and 9 boards on 10 of 21 shooting in a win over the Mavericks.
... Ohtani's gonna play in game 3? Ohtani's gonna play in game 3!
... Did the game one walk-off clinch Freddie Freeman as a Hall of Famer?
... Max Holloway got knocked the hell out at UFC 308. I guess there's a first time for everything.
... Man, Barcelona dog-walked Real Madrid 4-0 in the Bernabeau. It's a result that is so emphatic that I'm not fully sure how I should process it.
... Premier League Randomness: Liverpool/Arsenal played what it ended up being a pretty fair result. I found it interesting that Arsenal basically sat in deep and played for a 2-1 game coming out of halftime, as it created a mere .05 xG from halftime until the 81st minute. At home, needing 3 points? Cowards. That slate of Saturday 9 am games didn't look like much on paper, but the final combined 30 minutes was borderline insane. Brighton has no business dropping points to Wolves at home after taking a 2-0 lead. Woof. That would keep me up for a week. I didn't watch a second of the Spurs game... what the hell was that? It bothers me that Man United is going to get Ten Hag fired.
No. 10 ā The List: Keith Whitley
If Keith Whitley never died and had found a way to get on top of his demons... what happens?
Is he the GOAT? Is he just outside of King George territory? Does he become forgotten in time?
Something I was thinking about this week while spending some time listening to him.
Last 5 Out: It Ain't Nothin', Hard Livin, Some Old Side Road, Brotherly Love and
Til a Tear Becomes a Rose
10. I'm Over You
A top 5 song for Whitley on Spotify with more than 33 million listens.
A duet with Whitley and Lorrie Morgan
9. Homecoming '63
The second Top 10 hit of Whitley's career.
8. Ten Feet Away
Our boy could simply sink the hell out of a ballad.
7. I Never Go Around Mirrors
The most underrated song among the best of his best songs.
6. I'm No Stranger to the Rain
It hit No. 1 on April 8, 1989, and one month and a day later, Whitley was dead.
5. I Wonder Do You Think of Me
This was the first single released after he died... you're going to hear this word again in a bit, but, haunting...
4. Miami, My Amy
The catchiest song of his catalog.
3. Tell Lorrie I Love Her
Absolutely haunting.
2. When You Say Nothing At All
It feels like this song would be the consensus No. 1 for Whitley, but I prefer a different song.
1. Don't Close Your Eyes
This song makes me ask a hell of a lot of questions, but the bottom line is that the pain of him singing for the love of his life to forget about some other guy is a hard listen packed into incredibly painful storytelling/singing.
See if you can code break that garbage? Lol š
TCU and ISU were both post injury, and both close/ugly wins.
Historical question..
This three game stretch has been the most difficult on paper (rivalry top 20 matchup, top 5 matchup then on the road for a top 25 matchup) since when?
One thing i noticed in watching the second half again last night was that most plays no wr route was mor than 8-10 yards
I haveā¦.I paid attention when we played TCU last year and the year before. I paid attention when we almost lost to U of H. I donāt understand why people think weāve been this dominant offense for the lasy few years. We really havenāt minus weaker defenses. Thereās been many of halves where we score two field goals such as Vandy and the defense has to bring us the win.
Guys it really isn't that hard to follow. Quinn still has the oblique injury and can't throw it deep because you use your core to throw deep. Sark and Quinn didn't just decide to throw the ball within a 10 yard window most every play for the hell of it. The opposition knows what's happened no matter how bad we try and keep it hidden. Maybe this 2 weeks will help get Quinn healthy.
IMO, he thinks Arch isn't ready yet. Quinn is still hurt and is limited throwing the ball downfield but he is in more command of the offense. I'm just not sure Quinn will get healthy before the season's end but I sure hope so.
Absolutely terrific read. Best analysis yet of the issues facing Texas. So knowing that Sark will stick with Ewers, the onus is now on him to gameplan around the teamās weaknesses. Since itās clear that opponents now know how to defend a limited QB that will either cause sacks or holding penalties; how to protect a limited part of the field, go to it Sark. The buck stops with you.
Just about every single thing, sans experience, points to Arch being the better choice at QB. What the hell is Sark waiting for to make the switch and improve this team. Quinn just simply plays scared, and he has never been accurate with his long passes. The deep ball threat is important to opening up so many other factors of the offense. Frustrating to watch. Elko had the balls to make the change at Ag, and that move really worked out well for them. Sark needs to follow suit
