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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (The three things that won't go away)

@Ketchum Your Top 10 is much better than the Rolling Stones list. I’m struggling to see that Stairway to Heaven isn’t on there. That has to be in my Top 10 of all time for sure.
 
I went to the Rice rout, first time in DKR since Mack Brown’s first game. What I saw was a team that continues to add wrinkles, formations and plays on offense while still trying to figure out the basics on defense. Keondre Coburn’s inability to dominate the middle at his size is just strange. Maybe you see more of Sweat and Murphy in the rotation to keep the pressure on. Sweat was looking good early but got tweaked so I think they just took it easy with him since the game got out of hand quickly.
 
Any list with an Outkast song on it is a total fail. That doesn't even qualify as music for me. Both lists are jokes. Pick a genre and run with it. No list that tries to include rock, country, rap and soul is ever going to be a serious list.

outkast doesn’t qualify as music?

wow.
 
Rice was exactly what we needed to test out new schemes and plays and get an extensive look at our depth in a live bullet situation.

I think Sark & PK now know what this team is good at (and not good at) and which players he can count on for conference play.

Glad we get Tech at home instead of a night game in Lubbock which we all know weird crap happens out there. This team needs to build more confidence and reps before the TCU game.
 
ee0e3a40b744e2eebc3b4d949eaa9055x.jpg

Offensive line, quarterback experience and playmakers on defense.

Throughout the off-season, these were the three areas of concern that dominated conversations with regards to the 2021 Texas Longhorns. If those three areas of concern proved to not be major areas of concern during the season, you could see this Longhorns team having a good chance to compete for a spot in December in the Big 12 Championship Game.

A quarter of the way into the season, I find myself at a loss to completely answer questions about all three areas.

For instance, where do we even begin with the Texas offensive line?

We all know that this group has some serious limitations going into conference play, but what exactly does it mean? Is it going to directly lead to a loss? Two?

If there was an ominous feeling in a 58-0 win over Rice, it was the pressure the Owls were able to generate on Casey Thompson in the first quarter any time Thompson wasn't getting the ball out quickly on a screen or something semi-related to it. This is a group that is going to probably let every opponent it plays for the rest of the season get a few big shots in on its starting quarterback.

Can it get better? How much can it get better? What should the expectations be for this group knowing its limitations?

Maybe these are questions we're only going to have true answers to in a few weeks when both TCU and Oklahoma are in the rear-view mirror.

Meanwhile, while it's true that new starter Casey Thompson won't make his first career road start until the Longhorns head to Fort Worth, I'm less concerned about his experience at this point than I am with the Texas passing game in general, which ranks 91st nationally in passing offense, 66th in the nation in passing yards per completion and 100th in the nation in sacks allowed.

As much confidence as Thompson is playing with since replacing Hudson Card, he's still directing a passing offense that is among the worst in the nation in completing passes down the field and struggles to consistently get the ball to its best receivers.

These are areas that simply have to improve or Texas isn't playing in Dallas beyond this October.

Finally, on the defensive side of the ball, the Longhorns rank 75th in the nation in turnovers created and 68th in the nation in sacks.

More stuff that needs to get better.

The point of all of this isn't to rain on your 58-0 parade from the weekend, but rather make sure that everyone understands the scope of where things stand with this team as the most important stretch of football in the entire season begins this week against Texas Tech.

Each week this season, the Longhorns will go as far as these areas of the team allow them to. Nothing that happened on Saturday night against the Owls changed any of it.

Perhaps we can't know the answers to a lot of different questions, but we do what we need to be looking at before it ever happens.

No. 2 - Bijan's greatness ...



The worst part of Saturday might have been the fact that the Longhorns beat Rice so badly that it robbed Bijan Robinson of a chance to put a real marker down in his quest to compete for first-team all-America honors.

If there was a night this season when a 300-yard effort might have been in the books, it was probably against a Rice defense that might have allowed four different Texas backs to rush for more than 100 yards if Steve Sarkisian cared about such things.

Still, it was a pretty good night for Robinson, who reached the 1,000-yard career mark in rushing at the fastest pace (138 carries) since Jamaal Charles. Typically speaking, if you're tying Charles in some sort of record, you're likely doing something really well.

No. 3 - Three personnel changes I'd make going into Texas Tech ...

a. If was given a chance to be Kyle Flood for a day, I'd move Andrej Karic into the starting line-up at left tackle, while moving Christian Jones to right tackle and Derek Kerstetter to left guard.

b. Notre Dame transfer Ovie Oghoufo would be my first-team edge and my first-team strong-side linebacker. Basically, I would not be taking him off the field unless he needs a breather.

c. True freshman Byron Murphy would be taking reps away from every single interior lineman on the roster right now. No one else has been playing well enough to warrant taking reps away from the guy that seems to do something disruptive on nearly every snap.

No. 4 - More randomness with a day to chew on things ...

... As well as DeMarvion Overshown has been playing this season through three games, you'd like to see him making more game-changing plays. The moment he starts getting to the quarterback, forcing fumbles or creating interceptions, it'll be the moment when this defense is the best version of itself.

... Ovie Oghoufo is the only player on the defense with more than one sack with 2.0 and he's one of only two players, along with Luke Brockermeyer, to have more than two tackles for loss this season with 3.0.

... How well has Anthony Cook been playing in the slot? I don't really remember anyone getting the best of him in coverage this season and outside of a missed tackle against Arkansas, it's hard to find any areas to nitpick even a little. He's been nails so far.

... It's only one game, but it was interesting to see Jordan Whittington turn into a complete non-factor in the passing game, while Xavier Worthy's place in the passing game really took off with the inclusion of Casey Thompson into the offense. It'll be interesting to see if they can find a way for both guys to get going in the same game because it hasn't happened yet through 1/4 of the season.

... Joshua Moore seemed to lose his job on Saturday. I'll be curious to see what his game reps number looked like when Alex breaks down the numbers this week, but Kelvontay Dixon seemed to take his action against the Owls and the only target Moore received came when Hudson Card came into the game in the third quarter.

... Speaking of Hudson Card, I'm not sure he plays at all this week against the Red Raiders.

... Bijan Robinson is the team's third-leading receiver through the first three games with six receptions.

... Apologies to @RLong68. I was waaaaay wrong about the level of production that this tight ends group would produce.

No. 5 – ICYMI ...

If you haven't given it a watch yet, @Anwar Richardson and I stayed up until nearly midnight breaking down the Rice win.



No. 6 - A little love for the Texas volleyball team ...

The No.1 Longhorns didn't just beat Texas A&M in four games on Friday night to move to 8-0.

They beat the Aggies and then clowned on them.


No. 7 – BUY or SELL …

BUY-SELL.gif




(Sell) I think it's going to be a fairly close game.



(Buy) That doesn't mean that it's going to happen, but they are definitely working behind the scenes in the event that it can happen.



(Sell) I think we'll see more of that formation moving forward because it's going to be helpful to the offense to have something that opposing defenses have to account for. Whether it was successful last season or not, this offense needs as many wrinkles as it can produce.



(Buy) He's not going to be taking many reps away from Bijan Robinson, but this offense needs playmakers and speed, something he brings to the table.



(Buy) I think his three-year total between 2021-2023 will put him in some rarified air at the position in program history.



(Sell) It's not impossible, but it probably is not the betting favorite in terms of options.



(Double Sell) Pay for play is not allowed under NIL rules.



(Buy) You're not new around here, you should know this place doesn't handle losses well.



(Sell) I'm not sure it'll happen this season.



(Sell) Way early for that kind of talk.



(Sell) Hard for me to pick this team to win in Ft. Worth at this point. The Longhorns haven't earned that benefit of the doubt.



(Buy) Playing true freshmen a lot is always good for recruiting.



(Sell) My wife goes by this scale, but I'm more about the quality of the chicken and steak.



(Sell) You are asking if D'Onte Foreman could make fourth string running back on this team? Or Malcolm Brown? Or Fozzy? Come on...



(Sell) I'm not quite ready to buy the passing game producing historic numbers.



(Buy) I think Sarkisian has mentally made the switch.

No. 8 - Scattershooting on the sports weekend ...

... Only Alabama could win on the road against a top-11 team and have people convinced it is vulnerable, Man, it's quite a standard the Tide has established.

... Repeat after me, nothing Oklahoma does in September ever matters in October.

... Tech quarterback Tyler Shough has been good and terrible so far this season, but will enter Saturday with a 170.8 quarterback rating, which means he has a chance to be a handful.

... West Virginia looks like a team that will put up a good fistfight later this season.

... How good is Baylor running the football right now? The Bears have the top two rushers in the league at this point in the season with Abram Smith (366) and Trestan Ebner (317).

... Solid win for the Cowboys over the Chargers on Sunday. That felt like we got out of Dodge with a few breaks going our way and I'll take it.

... I watched a lot of the Texans loss on Sunday to the Browns and I'm not sure what anyone watching that team is expecting. They aren't terrible, but they aren't really any good, either.

... Jameis Winston is back to being Jameis Winston.

... I should have drafted Derrick Henry.

... Is Jon Gruden good again?

... The Jets are going to break Zach Wilson. That dude has no chance.

... Admit it, there are folks on OB you'd love to direct this kind of hit towards.


... Premier League Thoughts From The Weekend Because I'm Trying To Force Soccer Down Your Throat: One of the big clubs needs to take a punt on Allan Saint-Maximin. I'd take him on Liverpool in a heartbeat. Speaking of Liverpool, my guy Sadio Mane scored No.100 for the Reds this week and in general I just want to see the boys keep their heads down and keep grinding out results. I enjoy watching Everton lose more than I enjoy watching the Eagles lose. Crystal Palace is going to win a few games this year against the big boys. Ismaila Sarr is going to be playing for Leicester next year. I can feel that coming a mile away. You could also see Mark Noble missing that penalty on Sunday coming from a mile away. Chelsea is good.

No. 9 - Top 10 Most Best Songs of All-Time ...

Rolling Stone magazine updated its Top 500 songs of all-time list this week. Yes, it was controversial. No, I didn't agree with the list.

However, it made this week's Top 10 list an easy call.

First, let's take a look at Rolling Stone's Top 10 songs of all-time list.

10. Hey Ya - Outkast
9. Dreams -Fleetwood Mac
8. Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott
7. Strawberry Fields, Forever - The Beatles
6. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
5. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
4. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
3. A Change is Going to Come - Sam Cooke
2. Fight the Power - Public Enemy
1. Respect - Aretha Franklin

Here's my personal Top 10 list.

10. Hotel California - The Eagles
9. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
8. The Tracks of My Tears - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
7. He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
6. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
5. Respect - Aretha Franklin
4. Hey Jude - The Beatles
3. B.O.B. - Outkast
2. Imagine - John Lennon
1. A Change is Going to Come - Sam Cooke

No. 10 - And Finally ...

I loved this photo so much that I wanted to give it a section. Moms are just the best.

Solid post
 
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If we lose card it will be an utter disaster and I don’t see sark making it here if that happens


aren't you overreacting a bit? first, Thompson has two seasons left to play, because unless he puts up Dan Marino numbers this year the NFL will tell him "stay another year". that's not gonna happen so he's got two years. if he's still the guy going into his senior year and Texas shows improvement like Sark was hired to do, then Card might be better served staying till it's his turn. look how that worked out for Mac Jones at Alabama. second, if you are pinning Sark's entire chance of success at Texas on one player, even a potential elite qb, then why did Texas hire him in the first place? say Card does leave. it opens up a spot for the next elite prospect. and then there are grad transfers who can play right away and the portal.

remember that Riley relied on transfers at qb and that turned out pretty good for him. Rattler is his first actual recruit to start. and for Riley the timing couldn't have been better because that wasn't sustainable year after year and the ZerOU faithful, while giddy at his overall success were wondering if he could ever land a top qb recruit on his own.

some people think Rattler will turn pro after this year. i don't see it unless he puts up Heisman numbers, but he supposedly isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer so who knows? so unless he has a lights out year and that's possible he's coming back for his senior year, at least he should.

so ZerOU is in the same boat as Texas with Thompson, albeit one season later as a starter. this is assuming Thompson keeps the job and is pretty much entrenched as the starter. so what if Card doesn't want to wait? he's free to go if he thinks it's in his best interest. pinning Sark's entire future at Texas on Card staying is overreacting and if Rattler hadn't panned out i don't think it would have spelled doom for Riley at ZerOU either.
 
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Rolling Stone ranked "Strawberry Fields" in the Top Ten but not "A Day in the Life"? Booooooo ...
That's pretty egregious. I could make a case for a couple dozen Beatles songs over Strawberry Fields and that was probably my first favorite Beatles song. A Day in the Life would certainly be atop that list. But I could go with probably 2/3 of Revolver (particularly Tomorrow Never Knows & Eleanor Rigby) without even a fleeting doubt in my mind.

RS has been trending this way for probably 20 years but that list is maybe 20% legit editorial thoughts 30% catering to youth and 50% clickbait.
 
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ee0e3a40b744e2eebc3b4d949eaa9055x.jpg

Offensive line, quarterback experience and playmakers on defense.

Throughout the off-season, these were the three areas of concern that dominated conversations with regards to the 2021 Texas Longhorns. If those three areas of concern proved to not be major areas of concern during the season, you could see this Longhorns team having a good chance to compete for a spot in December in the Big 12 Championship Game.

A quarter of the way into the season, I find myself at a loss to completely answer questions about all three areas.

For instance, where do we even begin with the Texas offensive line?

We all know that this group has some serious limitations going into conference play, but what exactly does it mean? Is it going to directly lead to a loss? Two?

If there was an ominous feeling in a 58-0 win over Rice, it was the pressure the Owls were able to generate on Casey Thompson in the first quarter any time Thompson wasn't getting the ball out quickly on a screen or something semi-related to it. This is a group that is going to probably let every opponent it plays for the rest of the season get a few big shots in on its starting quarterback.

Can it get better? How much can it get better? What should the expectations be for this group knowing its limitations?

Maybe these are questions we're only going to have true answers to in a few weeks when both TCU and Oklahoma are in the rear-view mirror.

Meanwhile, while it's true that new starter Casey Thompson won't make his first career road start until the Longhorns head to Fort Worth, I'm less concerned about his experience at this point than I am with the Texas passing game in general, which ranks 91st nationally in passing offense, 66th in the nation in passing yards per completion and 100th in the nation in sacks allowed.

As much confidence as Thompson is playing with since replacing Hudson Card, he's still directing a passing offense that is among the worst in the nation in completing passes down the field and struggles to consistently get the ball to its best receivers.

These are areas that simply have to improve or Texas isn't playing in Dallas beyond this October.

Finally, on the defensive side of the ball, the Longhorns rank 75th in the nation in turnovers created and 68th in the nation in sacks.

More stuff that needs to get better.

The point of all of this isn't to rain on your 58-0 parade from the weekend, but rather make sure that everyone understands the scope of where things stand with this team as the most important stretch of football in the entire season begins this week against Texas Tech.

Each week this season, the Longhorns will go as far as these areas of the team allow them to. Nothing that happened on Saturday night against the Owls changed any of it.

Perhaps we can't know the answers to a lot of different questions, but we do what we need to be looking at before it ever happens.

No. 2 - Bijan's greatness ...



The worst part of Saturday might have been the fact that the Longhorns beat Rice so badly that it robbed Bijan Robinson of a chance to put a real marker down in his quest to compete for first-team all-America honors.

If there was a night this season when a 300-yard effort might have been in the books, it was probably against a Rice defense that might have allowed four different Texas backs to rush for more than 100 yards if Steve Sarkisian cared about such things.

Still, it was a pretty good night for Robinson, who reached the 1,000-yard career mark in rushing at the fastest pace (138 carries) since Jamaal Charles. Typically speaking, if you're tying Charles in some sort of record, you're likely doing something really well.

No. 3 - Three personnel changes I'd make going into Texas Tech ...

a. If was given a chance to be Kyle Flood for a day, I'd move Andrej Karic into the starting line-up at left tackle, while moving Christian Jones to right tackle and Derek Kerstetter to left guard.

b. Notre Dame transfer Ovie Oghoufo would be my first-team edge and my first-team strong-side linebacker. Basically, I would not be taking him off the field unless he needs a breather.

c. True freshman Byron Murphy would be taking reps away from every single interior lineman on the roster right now. No one else has been playing well enough to warrant taking reps away from the guy that seems to do something disruptive on nearly every snap.

No. 4 - More randomness with a day to chew on things ...

... As well as DeMarvion Overshown has been playing this season through three games, you'd like to see him making more game-changing plays. The moment he starts getting to the quarterback, forcing fumbles or creating interceptions, it'll be the moment when this defense is the best version of itself.

... Ovie Oghoufo is the only player on the defense with more than one sack with 2.0 and he's one of only two players, along with Luke Brockermeyer, to have more than two tackles for loss this season with 3.0.

... How well has Anthony Cook been playing in the slot? I don't really remember anyone getting the best of him in coverage this season and outside of a missed tackle against Arkansas, it's hard to find any areas to nitpick even a little. He's been nails so far.

... It's only one game, but it was interesting to see Jordan Whittington turn into a complete non-factor in the passing game, while Xavier Worthy's place in the passing game really took off with the inclusion of Casey Thompson into the offense. It'll be interesting to see if they can find a way for both guys to get going in the same game because it hasn't happened yet through 1/4 of the season.

... Joshua Moore seemed to lose his job on Saturday. I'll be curious to see what his game reps number looked like when Alex breaks down the numbers this week, but Kelvontay Dixon seemed to take his action against the Owls and the only target Moore received came when Hudson Card came into the game in the third quarter.

... Speaking of Hudson Card, I'm not sure he plays at all this week against the Red Raiders.

... Bijan Robinson is the team's third-leading receiver through the first three games with six receptions.

... Apologies to @RLong68. I was waaaaay wrong about the level of production that this tight ends group would produce.

No. 5 – ICYMI ...

If you haven't given it a watch yet, @Anwar Richardson and I stayed up until nearly midnight breaking down the Rice win.



No. 6 - A little love for the Texas volleyball team ...

The No.1 Longhorns didn't just beat Texas A&M in four games on Friday night to move to 8-0.

They beat the Aggies and then clowned on them.


No. 7 – BUY or SELL …

BUY-SELL.gif




(Sell) I think it's going to be a fairly close game.



(Buy) That doesn't mean that it's going to happen, but they are definitely working behind the scenes in the event that it can happen.



(Sell) I think we'll see more of that formation moving forward because it's going to be helpful to the offense to have something that opposing defenses have to account for. Whether it was successful last season or not, this offense needs as many wrinkles as it can produce.



(Buy) He's not going to be taking many reps away from Bijan Robinson, but this offense needs playmakers and speed, something he brings to the table.



(Buy) I think his three-year total between 2021-2023 will put him in some rarified air at the position in program history.



(Sell) It's not impossible, but it probably is not the betting favorite in terms of options.



(Double Sell) Pay for play is not allowed under NIL rules.



(Buy) You're not new around here, you should know this place doesn't handle losses well.



(Sell) I'm not sure it'll happen this season.



(Sell) Way early for that kind of talk.



(Sell) Hard for me to pick this team to win in Ft. Worth at this point. The Longhorns haven't earned that benefit of the doubt.



(Buy) Playing true freshmen a lot is always good for recruiting.



(Sell) My wife goes by this scale, but I'm more about the quality of the chicken and steak.



(Sell) You are asking if D'Onte Foreman could make fourth string running back on this team? Or Malcolm Brown? Or Fozzy? Come on...



(Sell) I'm not quite ready to buy the passing game producing historic numbers.



(Buy) I think Sarkisian has mentally made the switch.

No. 8 - Scattershooting on the sports weekend ...

... Only Alabama could win on the road against a top-11 team and have people convinced it is vulnerable, Man, it's quite a standard the Tide has established.

... Repeat after me, nothing Oklahoma does in September ever matters in October.

... Tech quarterback Tyler Shough has been good and terrible so far this season, but will enter Saturday with a 170.8 quarterback rating, which means he has a chance to be a handful.

... West Virginia looks like a team that will put up a good fistfight later this season.

... How good is Baylor running the football right now? The Bears have the top two rushers in the league at this point in the season with Abram Smith (366) and Trestan Ebner (317).

... Solid win for the Cowboys over the Chargers on Sunday. That felt like we got out of Dodge with a few breaks going our way and I'll take it.

... I watched a lot of the Texans loss on Sunday to the Browns and I'm not sure what anyone watching that team is expecting. They aren't terrible, but they aren't really any good, either.

... Jameis Winston is back to being Jameis Winston.

... I should have drafted Derrick Henry.

... Is Jon Gruden good again?

... The Jets are going to break Zach Wilson. That dude has no chance.

... Admit it, there are folks on OB you'd love to direct this kind of hit towards.


... Premier League Thoughts From The Weekend Because I'm Trying To Force Soccer Down Your Throat: One of the big clubs needs to take a punt on Allan Saint-Maximin. I'd take him on Liverpool in a heartbeat. Speaking of Liverpool, my guy Sadio Mane scored No.100 for the Reds this week and in general I just want to see the boys keep their heads down and keep grinding out results. I enjoy watching Everton lose more than I enjoy watching the Eagles lose. Crystal Palace is going to win a few games this year against the big boys. Ismaila Sarr is going to be playing for Leicester next year. I can feel that coming a mile away. You could also see Mark Noble missing that penalty on Sunday coming from a mile away. Chelsea is good.

No. 9 - Top 10 Most Best Songs of All-Time ...

Rolling Stone magazine updated its Top 500 songs of all-time list this week. Yes, it was controversial. No, I didn't agree with the list.

However, it made this week's Top 10 list an easy call.

First, let's take a look at Rolling Stone's Top 10 songs of all-time list.

10. Hey Ya - Outkast
9. Dreams -Fleetwood Mac
8. Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott
7. Strawberry Fields, Forever - The Beatles
6. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
5. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
4. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
3. A Change is Going to Come - Sam Cooke
2. Fight the Power - Public Enemy
1. Respect - Aretha Franklin

Here's my personal Top 10 list.

10. Hotel California - The Eagles
9. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
8. The Tracks of My Tears - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
7. He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
6. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
5. Respect - Aretha Franklin
4. Hey Jude - The Beatles
3. B.O.B. - Outkast
2. Imagine - John Lennon
1. A Change is Going to Come - Sam Cooke

No. 10 - And Finally ...

I loved this photo so much that I wanted to give it a section. Moms are just the best.

10) I love rock n roll- Joan Jett
9) Panama-Van Halen
8) I’m a Believer- Monkees
7) In-a-Gadda-da-vida - Iron Butterfly
6) My Sharona - The Knack
5) Long way home- Boston
4) Smells like Teen Spirit- Nirvana
3) Hell’s Bells - AC/DC
2) Stairway to Heaven- Led Zeppelin
1) Tom Sawyer- Rush
 
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Both song lists are garbage. Yours and RS. That's not even Sam Cooke's best song. SMH.
Whoa whoa whoa.

Both of those lists were questionable but I don't think Ketch was saying "my list is the definitive top-10 best songs" and more importantly, what exactly do you think is Sam Cooke's best song? If you're arguing it's not his best vocal performance and want to throw something from Live at the Harlem Square ahead of it, fine. That album may very well be the best vocal performance ever recorded. There's that apt old idiom about great singers being able to "sing the phone book" - apt until American Idol judges started lavishing it upon anyone who could carry a note, anyway- and let me tell you something, I'd pay to have the Sam Cooke from that Harlem show sing a few pages out of the Yellow Pages. But I'd hope that his encore would be A Change is Gonna Come because it's his best AND most important song.
 
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(Sell) Way early for that kind of talk.
Thanks for answering, Ketch.

Regarding Ja’Tavion possibly being a transfer portal casualty following this season, is it way early for this type of speculation though?

For an elite 5 star athlete to not even make a meaningful appearance nearly a month into the season at a position group that we’re (at the very best) average in both regards (i.e. TE and Dline) suggests one of three things to me: 1) he was overrated as a prospect, 2) there’s a communication breakdown between player and coaching staff, and/or 3) he’s injured.

Strange to write at this point, but I hope it’s #3. Hook’em
 
You are spot on with your thoughts on offensive line changes. I have thought the exact changes should have been made two weeks ago. Get Karic on the field and Okafor off!!
From you and Ketch's keyboards to Sark's ears. As far as personnel, it's the one thing that just makes no sense based on game performance.
 
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which particular criticism was overdone?
“Meanwhile, while it's true that new starter Casey Thompson won't make his first career road start until the Longhorns head to Fort Worth, I'm less concerned about his experience at this point than I am with the Texas passing game in general, which ranks 91st nationally in passing offense, 66th in the nation in passing yards per completion and 100th in the nation in sacks allowed.”
 
ee0e3a40b744e2eebc3b4d949eaa9055x.jpg

Offensive line, quarterback experience and playmakers on defense.

Throughout the off-season, these were the three areas of concern that dominated conversations with regards to the 2021 Texas Longhorns. If those three areas of concern proved to not be major areas of concern during the season, you could see this Longhorns team having a good chance to compete for a spot in December in the Big 12 Championship Game.

A quarter of the way into the season, I find myself at a loss to completely answer questions about all three areas.

For instance, where do we even begin with the Texas offensive line?

We all know that this group has some serious limitations going into conference play, but what exactly does it mean? Is it going to directly lead to a loss? Two?

If there was an ominous feeling in a 58-0 win over Rice, it was the pressure the Owls were able to generate on Casey Thompson in the first quarter any time Thompson wasn't getting the ball out quickly on a screen or something semi-related to it. This is a group that is going to probably let every opponent it plays for the rest of the season get a few big shots in on its starting quarterback.

Can it get better? How much can it get better? What should the expectations be for this group knowing its limitations?

Maybe these are questions we're only going to have true answers to in a few weeks when both TCU and Oklahoma are in the rear-view mirror.

Meanwhile, while it's true that new starter Casey Thompson won't make his first career road start until the Longhorns head to Fort Worth, I'm less concerned about his experience at this point than I am with the Texas passing game in general, which ranks 91st nationally in passing offense, 66th in the nation in passing yards per completion and 100th in the nation in sacks allowed.

As much confidence as Thompson is playing with since replacing Hudson Card, he's still directing a passing offense that is among the worst in the nation in completing passes down the field and struggles to consistently get the ball to its best receivers.

These are areas that simply have to improve or Texas isn't playing in Dallas beyond this October.

Finally, on the defensive side of the ball, the Longhorns rank 75th in the nation in turnovers created and 68th in the nation in sacks.

More stuff that needs to get better.

The point of all of this isn't to rain on your 58-0 parade from the weekend, but rather make sure that everyone understands the scope of where things stand with this team as the most important stretch of football in the entire season begins this week against Texas Tech.

Each week this season, the Longhorns will go as far as these areas of the team allow them to. Nothing that happened on Saturday night against the Owls changed any of it.

Perhaps we can't know the answers to a lot of different questions, but we do what we need to be looking at before it ever happens.

No. 2 - Bijan's greatness ...



The worst part of Saturday might have been the fact that the Longhorns beat Rice so badly that it robbed Bijan Robinson of a chance to put a real marker down in his quest to compete for first-team all-America honors.

If there was a night this season when a 300-yard effort might have been in the books, it was probably against a Rice defense that might have allowed four different Texas backs to rush for more than 100 yards if Steve Sarkisian cared about such things.

Still, it was a pretty good night for Robinson, who reached the 1,000-yard career mark in rushing at the fastest pace (138 carries) since Jamaal Charles. Typically speaking, if you're tying Charles in some sort of record, you're likely doing something really well.

No. 3 - Three personnel changes I'd make going into Texas Tech ...

a. If was given a chance to be Kyle Flood for a day, I'd move Andrej Karic into the starting line-up at left tackle, while moving Christian Jones to right tackle and Derek Kerstetter to left guard.

b. Notre Dame transfer Ovie Oghoufo would be my first-team edge and my first-team strong-side linebacker. Basically, I would not be taking him off the field unless he needs a breather.

c. True freshman Byron Murphy would be taking reps away from every single interior lineman on the roster right now. No one else has been playing well enough to warrant taking reps away from the guy that seems to do something disruptive on nearly every snap.

No. 4 - More randomness with a day to chew on things ...

... As well as DeMarvion Overshown has been playing this season through three games, you'd like to see him making more game-changing plays. The moment he starts getting to the quarterback, forcing fumbles or creating interceptions, it'll be the moment when this defense is the best version of itself.

... Ovie Oghoufo is the only player on the defense with more than one sack with 2.0 and he's one of only two players, along with Luke Brockermeyer, to have more than two tackles for loss this season with 3.0.

... How well has Anthony Cook been playing in the slot? I don't really remember anyone getting the best of him in coverage this season and outside of a missed tackle against Arkansas, it's hard to find any areas to nitpick even a little. He's been nails so far.

... It's only one game, but it was interesting to see Jordan Whittington turn into a complete non-factor in the passing game, while Xavier Worthy's place in the passing game really took off with the inclusion of Casey Thompson into the offense. It'll be interesting to see if they can find a way for both guys to get going in the same game because it hasn't happened yet through 1/4 of the season.

... Joshua Moore seemed to lose his job on Saturday. I'll be curious to see what his game reps number looked like when Alex breaks down the numbers this week, but Kelvontay Dixon seemed to take his action against the Owls and the only target Moore received came when Hudson Card came into the game in the third quarter.

... Speaking of Hudson Card, I'm not sure he plays at all this week against the Red Raiders.

... Bijan Robinson is the team's third-leading receiver through the first three games with six receptions.

... Apologies to @RLong68. I was waaaaay wrong about the level of production that this tight ends group would produce.

No. 5 – ICYMI ...

If you haven't given it a watch yet, @Anwar Richardson and I stayed up until nearly midnight breaking down the Rice win.



No. 6 - A little love for the Texas volleyball team ...

The No.1 Longhorns didn't just beat Texas A&M in four games on Friday night to move to 8-0.

They beat the Aggies and then clowned on them.


No. 7 – BUY or SELL …

BUY-SELL.gif




(Sell) I think it's going to be a fairly close game.



(Buy) That doesn't mean that it's going to happen, but they are definitely working behind the scenes in the event that it can happen.



(Sell) I think we'll see more of that formation moving forward because it's going to be helpful to the offense to have something that opposing defenses have to account for. Whether it was successful last season or not, this offense needs as many wrinkles as it can produce.



(Buy) He's not going to be taking many reps away from Bijan Robinson, but this offense needs playmakers and speed, something he brings to the table.



(Buy) I think his three-year total between 2021-2023 will put him in some rarified air at the position in program history.



(Sell) It's not impossible, but it probably is not the betting favorite in terms of options.



(Double Sell) Pay for play is not allowed under NIL rules.



(Buy) You're not new around here, you should know this place doesn't handle losses well.



(Sell) I'm not sure it'll happen this season.



(Sell) Way early for that kind of talk.



(Sell) Hard for me to pick this team to win in Ft. Worth at this point. The Longhorns haven't earned that benefit of the doubt.



(Buy) Playing true freshmen a lot is always good for recruiting.



(Sell) My wife goes by this scale, but I'm more about the quality of the chicken and steak.



(Sell) You are asking if D'Onte Foreman could make fourth string running back on this team? Or Malcolm Brown? Or Fozzy? Come on...



(Sell) I'm not quite ready to buy the passing game producing historic numbers.



(Buy) I think Sarkisian has mentally made the switch.

No. 8 - Scattershooting on the sports weekend ...

... Only Alabama could win on the road against a top-11 team and have people convinced it is vulnerable, Man, it's quite a standard the Tide has established.

... Repeat after me, nothing Oklahoma does in September ever matters in October.

... Tech quarterback Tyler Shough has been good and terrible so far this season, but will enter Saturday with a 170.8 quarterback rating, which means he has a chance to be a handful.

... West Virginia looks like a team that will put up a good fistfight later this season.

... How good is Baylor running the football right now? The Bears have the top two rushers in the league at this point in the season with Abram Smith (366) and Trestan Ebner (317).

... Solid win for the Cowboys over the Chargers on Sunday. That felt like we got out of Dodge with a few breaks going our way and I'll take it.

... I watched a lot of the Texans loss on Sunday to the Browns and I'm not sure what anyone watching that team is expecting. They aren't terrible, but they aren't really any good, either.

... Jameis Winston is back to being Jameis Winston.

... I should have drafted Derrick Henry.

... Is Jon Gruden good again?

... The Jets are going to break Zach Wilson. That dude has no chance.

... Admit it, there are folks on OB you'd love to direct this kind of hit towards.


... Premier League Thoughts From The Weekend Because I'm Trying To Force Soccer Down Your Throat: One of the big clubs needs to take a punt on Allan Saint-Maximin. I'd take him on Liverpool in a heartbeat. Speaking of Liverpool, my guy Sadio Mane scored No.100 for the Reds this week and in general I just want to see the boys keep their heads down and keep grinding out results. I enjoy watching Everton lose more than I enjoy watching the Eagles lose. Crystal Palace is going to win a few games this year against the big boys. Ismaila Sarr is going to be playing for Leicester next year. I can feel that coming a mile away. You could also see Mark Noble missing that penalty on Sunday coming from a mile away. Chelsea is good.

No. 9 - Top 10 Most Best Songs of All-Time ...

Rolling Stone magazine updated its Top 500 songs of all-time list this week. Yes, it was controversial. No, I didn't agree with the list.

However, it made this week's Top 10 list an easy call.

First, let's take a look at Rolling Stone's Top 10 songs of all-time list.

10. Hey Ya - Outkast
9. Dreams -Fleetwood Mac
8. Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott
7. Strawberry Fields, Forever - The Beatles
6. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
5. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
4. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
3. A Change is Going to Come - Sam Cooke
2. Fight the Power - Public Enemy
1. Respect - Aretha Franklin

Here's my personal Top 10 list.

10. Hotel California - The Eagles
9. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
8. The Tracks of My Tears - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
7. He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
6. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
5. Respect - Aretha Franklin
4. Hey Jude - The Beatles
3. B.O.B. - Outkast
2. Imagine - John Lennon
1. A Change is Going to Come - Sam Cooke

No. 10 - And Finally ...

I loved this photo so much that I wanted to give it a section. Moms are just the best.

Ketch - Thank you for such great work you do. I generally agree with you 99% of the time. But, criticizing the passing game after Rice is off the mark. We took what the defense gave us - rushing yards. We got Xavier involved; we had a TD to a tight end. Now teams have to really worry about our passing to Bijan, JWitt, Xavier, TE’s. Plus, Casey had an excellent QBR. In this case, I think you need to get out of the “fog” of your national statistical analysis. Step back, look at the game. Of course - time will tell. I think Sark is showing just enough passing to G. Patterson and L. Riley - enough to challenge their defenses Given Sark’s track record, my hunch is that he has more passing game which he is not showing. I know - we cannot overlook TTech, got it. But, this is about Oct 2 and Oct 9. On Sunday October 10th, I will be checking the W-L record, not so much the National passing stats.
 
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As someone who was there, “A Change Is Gonna Come” was a minor hit and wasn’t even considered a top 10 song of the ‘60s. If you want to talk about immediate social impact at the time, the Fifth Dimension’s cover of Laura Nyro’s “Save The Country” blows that away. Labeling any list of songs as the “ten greatest songs of all time” is a fool’s errand because it’s really just a list of the author’s “ten favorite songs of the moment” and often for unstated reasons that may have nothing to do with their musical merit.
 
If you take it as some sort of political manifesto, it is lacking, But I don't think Lennon meant it that way. Instead, it is a child like wishing away the things that divide us.

This. Figured that was obvious
 
Per your Cowboys evaluation...yes, they got a lot of good breaks. Terrible officiating in that game, especially toward the end when it mattered most. Poor clock management by the Boys too. Lucky to win that one.
They didn’t get the breaks against Tampa so it evened out yesterday. A lot of parity this year. Should be an interesting playoff race.
 
The Horns finally put together a complete game and showed total dominance. What a ridiculous doom and gloom write up, such a freaking joke.
 
The Horns finally put together a complete game and showed total dominance. What a ridiculous doom and gloom write up, such a freaking joke.

Great performance, but it was Rice after all. As Anwar said in his column, the next three games will tell the tale and each one represents a successive step up in the challenge it presents to this team.
 
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If we lose card it will be an utter disaster and I don’t see sark making it here if that happens
Arkansas Card is no great loss and I am damn happy you aren't in position to make football decisions here. I am not at all convinced Card beats out Murphy when he arrives
 
@Ketchum Excellent grounded review. I would add to the list of lingering questions (related to the passing game) is the lack of deep ball connections.
 
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a. If was given a chance to be Kyle Flood for a day, I'd move Andrej Karic into the starting line-up at left tackle, while moving Christian Jones to right tackle and Derek Kerstetter to left guard.

I've been a bit surprised from the jump that Karic wasn't in the starting line-up. He looked pretty salty late last season at LT. I don't get Kerstetter at tackle. He's not terribly good at any of the 3 positions "he can play" but tackle is certainly his worst.
 
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