Lived in Austin for over 40 years and have always been a Longhorn fan! I have to say anything shy of 8 wins this year and a change must be made. This is Texas not Texas state. This is a blue blood program top 5 school in the nation no more excuses. I hope he gets it done but not willing to sit by and watch this school be run over and embarrassed anymore! We should be about championships and a fixture in the top 10.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (They are who we thought they were)
- Thread starter Ketchum
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However 8 wins and 3 bad loses ? Just want to see significant improvement with this team, being competitive each weekend. After this year would expect consistent improvement to where we are in the top 10 each and every year competing for championships this is the last 8 Win season i hope I see for a long long time. Bigger and better things!
Yep.
I have matured past getting angry over UT football, now it just makes me sad for a short amount of time after we lose. I am REALLY trying to enjoy each win at this point. As a 48 year old, lifetime fan, who grew up going to almost every game home and away, I know that nothing is a given in life or in sports. We have 1 NC in my personal memory (the other 2 won while I was alive were before I was cognizant of going to UT games). We may not win another in my lifetime.
Whatever angst and frustration he is feeling, he better figure it out fast. Because to me, it feels like the ground has shifted under his feet. Where 8-4 once felt like a good season, may no longer be true. In fact, on this board, I'm not sure 9-3 is going to work for him.
Ketch was 100% in favor of replacing Mack Brown with Charlie Strong. I thought the move was ill conceived, but IMO it is premature to pull the ripcord on Coach Strong. As a head coach he needs to improve, but it's a lot easier to fire a coach than hire a good coach.
I have to admit, I drank the Kool-Aid, ate the cheese and sprayed anointing oil around like I was Deion Sanders trying to find Tim McCarver in the locker room.
After six seasons of forgettable football, it was easy to think the Texas Longhorns had turned a little bit of a corner after a thrilling, classic overtime win over a top-10 team with a future NFL first-round pick at quarterback and the destruction of a UTEP team that didn’t appear to be absolutely wretched.
With the quarterback problems seemingly in the rearview mirror and young talent emerging on the fly, it was easy to close your eyes and imagine the possibilities of what this team just might be.
Of course, in doing so, it meant ignoring the realities that we’ve known to exist for months when we leave our eyes open, a truth that was hammered home in the early Sunday hours a week ago in the aftermath of a loss to an average Pac-12 team, and, during the bye week, when all three opponents that the Longhorns faced dropped to a combined 4-8 record (1-3 Notre Dame, 1-3 UTEP and 2-2 Cal).
Try as we might to put the growth of Charlie Strong’s third season into hyperdrive, this is still an incredibly inexperienced football team that hasn’t yet taken the steps it needs to take in order to truly be ready for prime time.
As the late Dennis Green said a decade ago, “They are who we thought they were.”
It’s a team with a quarterback who will cross off a ton of firsts every time he takes the field this season (his first road conference start is this weekend). It’s a team with an offensive line that has question marks from which it can’t run away. It’s a team with a defense that was among the worst in school history a year ago and hasn’t shown any real improvement a year later. It’s a team with a head coach who makes critical in-game management mistakes.
If you add all of that together, you’re likely going to get a team that lives week to week on the high wire, providing both occasional thrilling highs and also soul-torturing lows. Yes, the Big 12 is in such a state this year that any number of Mack Brown’s teams from 1999 to 2009 would have run away with a conference title, but the likes of Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU, West Virginia and Texas Tech (among others) have enough offense to turn most weekends into a virtual coin-flip depending on the bounces.
Before the season started and I fell for the okey-doke, I struggled with budging from the 7-5 record I had this team earmarked for - and now that we’re one quarter of the way through the season, I’m back to where I started.
Two weeks after telling you that it was okay to dream big, I’m telling you to prepare yourself for a nightmare or two, because this team is literally capable of any result any week.
No. 2– Charlie Strong’s job-saving task ...
In a poll of nearly 600 Orangebloods subscribers this week, more than 95-percent of those who responded gave former Texas defensive coordinator Greg Robinson a grade of at least a B for his emergency fill-in performance following the dismissal of Manny Diaz back in 2013.
Of that group of graders, 54.4 percent gave Robinson a grade of at least an A.
With nine regular season games left to play in the 2016 season, I wonder what it would take for the same Orangebloods subscribers to give Charlie Strong the same grade now that he’s apparently going to step in, impose his will and take some accountability for his team’s defense?
It’s a unit that ranks 68th in the nation in total defense, 65th in third-down defense, 107th in scoring defense and last in the nation in turnovers gained. Those numbers are pretty incredible when you consider that one of three games includes a UTEP team that ranks as one of the seven worst offenses in the country.
Given that the Big 12 schedule awaits the Longhorns, and that it includes three of the nation’s top eight offenses, four of the top 13 and six of the top 41, it’s hard to imagine that all of the team’s defensive numbers will improve from here on out.
I say this because, when you look at the Texas defense right now, it features a line that doesn’t rush the passer well, a linebacker unit that isn’t making any game-changing plays and a secondary that seems to have a constant revolving door of personnel. The issues are so plentiful that I wouldn’t even know where to begin when it comes to giving friendly advice to Strong.
The issues are everywhere and they will be stressed on a weekly basis.
In my mind, the most important thing Strong has to do in the coming weeks is get his experienced sophomores going, as Malik Jefferson, Holton Hill and Davante Davis were all expected to take steps toward stardom this season, and it hasn’t really come close to happening. In the case of Hill and Davis, you can’t even make a case that the pair is playing a solid brand of football through three games.
Clearly, this has to change, because this defense can’t be good without those three playing really well or it’s hard to imagine that this team is going to win seven games ... which means that Strong’s future is likely tied to his ability to get them on to the launching pad.
So, let me ask you ... what has to happen by the end of the season for you to give Charlie Strong the same type of grade as a "defensive-fixer-upper" that Robinson received when he came off the street three years ago and somewhat saved the Texas season?
No. 3– Initial thought on Oklahoma State ...
I think we’re going to see the Cal game all over again.
After watching the Cowboys give Baylor a four-quarter game in Waco this weekend (before the Bears finally put the game away), it’s clear that the Longhorns will have their hands full this weekend.
Mason Rudolph is basically Davis Webb. Justice Hill is basically Vic Enwere. James Washington is basically Chad Hansen. Oklahoma State’s defense is slightly better than the Cal defense.
Just like Cal, the Cowboys have the offensive personnel to score 40 points against this Texas defense, and a defense of their own that could possibly give up 40.
It’s basically a coin-flip.
No. 4– Scattershooting on the Longhorns ...
… Through three games this season, Shane Buechele has a 158.8 passing efficiency, which ranks fourth in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally. If he can keep that up, it’ll be a hell of a true-freshman season and easily the best any Texas quarterback has enjoyed in the last seven years. To put it in perspective, Colt McCoy posted a 147.1 rating in his senior season.
… Sophomore punter Michael Dickson ranks third in the nation in punting with an average of 50.4 yards per punt. That’s nearly five yards better than the second-best mark in the Big 12.
… The Longhorns have the top two running backs in the Big 12 in terms of rushing yards per game, as D’Onta Foreman is first with 144.0 yards per game and Chris Warren ranks second with 86.7 yards per game.
… No Big 12 player has more than 2.5 sacks, which means Malcolm Roach and Kevin Vaccaro currently rank first in the conference in sacks per game with 0.67.
… While the above stat is true, so is the fact that Texas doesn’t have a single player ranked in the top 20 of tackles for loss/tackles for loss per game.
… Another ugly defensive stat: Texas doesn’t have anyone in the top 20 in passes defended.
No. 5 – Buy or sell …
BUY or SELL: Texas is 2-3 after the OU game?
(Sell) I view each of the next two games as 50-50 shots, which means in theory that there’s a 25-percent chance that they would lose both. It’s possible, though.
BUY or SELL: Possible coaching vacancies at LSU, USC, and Auburn changes expectations at the end of the year for Texas?
(Sell) I’m not sure Texas has the infrastructure in place to make a big hire right now and I haven’t sensed that there’s any panic around the program. However, I’m willing to revisit this issue again in a few weeks if Texas is staring at a 2-3 record.
BUY or SELL: If Texas is 3-4 through 7 games (OSU, OU, KSU) Strong will be fired at the end of the season even if Texas wins its last 5 games?
(Sell) There’s no way that Strong would be fired if he wins his final five games. The decision-makers would almost certainly view that kind of run as a reason to keep Strong for another year. However, the extension that Strong almost certainly will covet will not arrive.
BUY or SELL: Kent Perkins doesn't play another down for us?
(Sell) We might not see him for a few weeks, but few programs in the nation would throw a player off the team for a DWI. Look for him to get 2-3 games.
BUY or SELL: It’s fair after a 2-1 start to asking for Charlie Strong to be fired?
(Buy) When you’re paying someone five million per year and the third year is full of the same issues that have existed for the last two years, everything is fair. Strong’s teams must be better.
BUY or SELL: A&M regains the in-state recruiting edge, as a result of a significantly better record this season?
(Buy) You might not see the real impact until 2017, but I could easily see a swing of the pendulum if the Aggies finish this season strong.
BUY or SELL: Ketch is the biggest Charlie homer on the interwebs?
(Sell) That’s the weirdest question I have received in months.
BUY or SELL: Charlie takes over the play calling on defense and we don't give up 50 again this year?
(Sell) Better offenses than California remain on the schedule and I’m done giving benefit of the doubts to this defense.
BUY or SELL: The offensive improvement has more to do with Shane than Sterlin and Shane would have made Watson a successful OC here.
(Sell) Yeah … no.
No. 6 – College Football randomness ...
… If I had a vote that mattered…
1. Louisville
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Wisconsin
6. Texas A&M
7. Clemson
8. Houston
9. Tennessee
10. Stanford
… Big 12 Power Poll
1. Baylor
2. Oklahoma
3. TCU
4. West Virginia
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma State
7. Kansas State
8. Texas Tech
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas
… The Wanna Get Away Moment of the Weekend
… If you had a choice between Jalen Hurts and Shane Buechele, would you definitely take Buechele? I wonder who Nick Saban would take.
… Lamar Jackson might be the most VY-like player I’ve seen in college football since VY.
… Texas should have offered Jim Harbaugh $10 million per year when it was looking for a coach. He’s worth every single penny, even if he is a little bat-crap crazy.
… Tom Herman to LSU is going to happen, isn’t it? The Tigers were not afraid to stick the knife in Les Miles a month into the season and now it has all the time in the world to get its ducks in a row.
… Where in the world is Les Miles going to coach next?
… Kevin Sumlin has done a great job with his team early this season, Trevor Knight has been a godsend and the Aggies might have the best defense in the state of Texas. That’s a sentence I never thought I would write.
… Tennessee fans were able to post about their happiness on Facebook and Twitter for the first time in their liveson Saturday. Chew on that fact for a minutes.
No. 7 – Dak boy is good!
Tonight: 19 of 24 for 248 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions (123.6 rating). Four carries for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Clearly, Dak is the best quarterback in team history, so the question now becomes who is the second-best? Troy or Roger?
Oh, and this might be the best Tweet in NFL history from a losing team.
No. 8 – Confessions of an angry fantasy football owner …
I can’t really describe the amount of anger I had on Sunday afternoon for Ryan Fitzpatrick and the rest of the New York Garbage, but if I was Catholic, I need to visit a priest for confession.
The only thing keeping me from a comfortable win is the fact that Fitzpatrick threw six interceptions and the Garbage allowed two completely ridiculous touchdown returns to the Chiefs defense. It’s literally the worst game a quarterback has had since Joe Namath was playing on horrible knees one year before I was born.
Total number of points for the Chiefs defense: 35.
Now I’m going to need a Monday Night Football monster from Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.
It’s not a nice thing to write and I know I need to be better, but I want to punch the entire Garbage team in the face.
No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… NFL week three randomness:
a. Minnesota went to Carolina without Teddy Bridgewater and dominated the defending NFC champs. Dominated. If we take The Hoodie out of the equation, Mike Zimmer has to rank as one of the top coaches in all of football. That Minnesota defense is ridiculously good.
b. Sam Bradford outplayed Cam Newton. That is not a misprint.
c. One of the highlights of my Red-Zone viewing on Sunday was watching former Longhorn Aaron Williams return a botched field goal snap for a touchdown in Buffalo’s win over Arizona. Attaboy, Aaron.
d. One of my big predictions for the NFL season was that Arizona wouldn’t make the playoffs. With Carson Palmer coming back to earth, that might just happen.
e. Denver didn’t have great quarterback play a season ago and won a Super Bowl. Denver doesn’t have great quarterback play this season and is undefeated. Great defense in the NFL matters now more than ever.
f. I’m guessing we’re not going to hear about Aaron Rodgers struggling this week…
g. Justin Tucker is the best player on the Baltimore Ravens.
h. If you started Terrelle Pryor on Sunday in fantasy… well done.
i. The Christine Michael that we saw on Sunday is the Christine Michael I always thought we’d see when he was in high school.
j. Old Man Derrick Johnson is still making plays 11 years into his NFL career. It took him a while to get going in Kansas City, but he's turned out to be a great player.
k. I can't believe Carson Wentz is this good. I refuse to believe it.
l. I'm at a loss how San Diego defended TY Hilton in the final two minutes on Sunday. Former Texas safety Adrian Phillips will have nightmares tonight about that game-winning touchdown.
… The death of Jose Fernandez is beyond devastating, it’s absolutely heartbreaking. Not only was a senseless death for a young man with so much life in front of him, but he leaves behind a pregnant wife. Damnit. Rest in peace, Jose.
... Rest in peace, Arnie. We should all live 87 years like he lived. Rest in peace.
… After a 17-0 loss to the Mets on Sunday, Ryan Howard is batting .192 in his final season in Philly. Sigh.
… A Rangers/Red Sox series would be a hell of a lot of fun. A Rangers/Cubs World Series might be even more fun.
... How fitting was it that the Dodgers won Vin Scully's final game at Dodger Stadium with a walk-off in the bottom of the 10th inning? Enjoy.
… Jordan Morris might not be Premier League quality, but he’s having a hell of a finish to his rookie season in Seattle. It might be time for a national team call-up.
… Scattershooting on the English Premier League weekend…
a. I think we’ve likely seen the end of the Wayne Rooney era at Manchester United.
b. The only thing that might stop Man City right now is an injury to Sergio Aguero and I’m not even sure if that will stop them.
c. That being said, I can’t wait to see Man City and Liverpool get after it later in the season. There might not be a match-up all season with more fireworks.
d. Chelsea is a mess. How have they let the defense get so old? Why does it seem this team has so few playmakers? Other than Diego Costa, what can this team count on each week in a positive way?
e. I know that felt good, Arsenal fans. Enjoy the week.
f. He might not be a Red any more, but I was really happy for Christian Benteke when he scored the game-winner at Sunderland.
No. 10 - And finally …
In the middle of a time when there’s a lot of division in our country, this photo made me smile. More love, less hate, folks.
I really did think CS would have this defense playing at least sound by now. Isn't that something that any half-ass defense minded head coach should be able to accomplish? I have given up on Strong 100%. Go ahead and prove me wrong Charlie. Who saw Sam Bradford finally wake up and play football like he has not been able to do since his draft day? What the hell?
Yes, in that it was a coin-flip game on the road.
I made no mention of it being a given that Texas would give up 40, only that OSU was capable of it.
Gave up 343 passing and 125 rushing vs. UCLA
Gave up 371 passing and 120 rushing vs. ARK
Gave up 163 passing and 236 rushing vs Auburn
They are not a really, really good defense.
What you are seeing is an offense not turning the ball over and putting the defense in tough situations. Those numbers do not look that good to me.
I'll be reasonable b/c of the offenses we are going to face coming up soon.
Holding opponents to an average of 26 point or less
+1.5 in turnover margin
5 TFL or sacks per game
This isn't part of defense, but how about kicking the ball into the endzone at every kickoff for a chance to force a touchback? This has me worried too.
I have been one of those who has been willing to give Charlie the time (though not indefinitely) to get the job done in Austin. But my biggest disappointment with him is that he has not been able to shape the defense up...or show hardly any improvement in that area since he took over. He's supposed to be a defensive guru. I had hoped that, even if we were losing ball games and the offense was sputtering, we could point to the defense with pride. Not even remotely the case so far.
The single thing that is the most surprising to me about the Strong era is the same reason, IMO, why Robinson got an A from me in the poll - fundamentals and assignment football.
Talent aside, I thought the one thing that Strong could control was teaching fundamental football. You know, get the snap count right, minimize penalties across the board, block who you're supposed to and defend this person or area of the field. I just haven't seen that kind of discipline since he's been here and I'm shocked by it, frankly. The guy has a great reputation as a coach. The knock against him was always that he might not be able to handle the PR and CEO side that Mack did so well and is required at a complex program like ours.
When you look at Robinson, it was a "just add water" kind of thing. He took the same talent that his predecessor had and immediately got results by coaching fundamentals. The players immediately responded and we improved almost overnight (we weren't miraculous world beaters, but we weren't getting gashed anymore either).
I like to give people the benefit of the doubt so I choose to be optimistic about the results of Strong getting more involved with the Defense. If his involvement doesn't work, though, I'm afraid that this fan will move on from supporting him because I won't be able to justify his value as the head man. It's already a struggle (as the head man) no matter how much I appreciate what he stands for.
Talent aside, I thought the one thing that Strong could control was teaching fundamental football. You know, get the snap count right, minimize penalties across the board, block who you're supposed to and defend this person or area of the field. I just haven't seen that kind of discipline since he's been here and I'm shocked by it, frankly. The guy has a great reputation as a coach. The knock against him was always that he might not be able to handle the PR and CEO side that Mack did so well and is required at a complex program like ours.
When you look at Robinson, it was a "just add water" kind of thing. He took the same talent that his predecessor had and immediately got results by coaching fundamentals. The players immediately responded and we improved almost overnight (we weren't miraculous world beaters, but we weren't getting gashed anymore either).
I like to give people the benefit of the doubt so I choose to be optimistic about the results of Strong getting more involved with the Defense. If his involvement doesn't work, though, I'm afraid that this fan will move on from supporting him because I won't be able to justify his value as the head man. It's already a struggle (as the head man) no matter how much I appreciate what he stands for.
I think what I would have said this week is let's see what really happens after this week when we play a better team after Strong basically says he's taking more responsibility for the defense. I feel this week the rubber is finally going to meet the road when it comes to Strong. He got Gilbert, well with help. He's recruited well. But the single thing he's really failed at is on defense. Quite frankly I've always been surprised about that too. I've pretty much stated I was going to take a sit back and see approach this year, but for certain this coming week is shaping up to be one of the most important of the year for Strong. He HAS to get it together this week, and they are on the road in a hostile environment. I not going to jump off the cliff as much as you did but I will say I'm walking up to it. As for A&M.....patience. Trevor is giving them the season of the year but the beat down they aren't expecting is coming.
Being for replacing Mack Brown does not automatically mean he is pro-Charlie. In fact, I do NOT remember a time when Ketch has been Pro-Charlie, he's taken the wait and see approach.
Exactly, I think everyone is a little too presumptive about A&M's defense. They are better but it's because Garrett and Hall are better. That being said they have teams coming that have personel that will gash them more. Arkansas shouldn't have scored that much on them.
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That's a legit observation. I like what he does and I like his age. I think he would make Texas great for a LONG TIME. Never gave much thought to him failing.
Manic, not panic. You have been all over the place with your assessments so far. From not budging off 7.5 wins, to dreaming big, and now back down again with the Aggies ready to reassert themselves in recruiting.
Which would be understandable if we were farther into the season. But we are only a quarter of the way through.
a. The possibility of a 7-5 season was always there, even when I allowed for dreaming big.
b. This team could still get on a roll. Just needs to make massive strides. You can still dream big.
c. You're making a little too much of my Buy or sell question related to recruiting.
I don't know about that. He reacted with extreme bitterness on the day of the Red Banquet.
Also, he wasn't my first choice.
