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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend

Originally posted by jstreet1514:
The third worst home loss in 60 years in a game that Strong drew a circle around and that Vegas thought was pick em.What a joke. Can't blame" talent issues" if the team wasn't ready, that's on Charlie and staff. Horns have as much talent as anyone in big xiii.

Good thing UCLA looks like the most overrated team in college football.
Actually, you can blame the talent issues. It was a big storyline in the game. I think the whole :I knew they weren't ready to play" angle Charlie is playing is BS, but it's his way of protecting the truth. He can't come out and say we don't have good players.

The team played inspired ball, I thought, in the first half.
 
Originally posted by champ6369:
"Vegas Misses, Too: In the aftermath of what took place at DKR on Saturday, it's a little head-scratching to think that Vegas odds-makers had the Longhorns as a slight favorite going into the game. I'm guessing that mistake won't be made again."


Vegas probably had it right. Since you are obviously clueless about how lines work, Vegas sets the line at the point it takes to equalize money bet on each side, which guarantees they win. If Texas being a slight favorite accomplished that, then they were spot on. Vegas doesn't predict who will win and by how much, their line is their prediction of what it takes to get an equal amount bet on both sides.
Clearly, Vegas had it right. Me too!
 
I support Coach Strong---but he should not have put out there, the line about knowing we were not ready to play.
 
Originally posted by champ6369:
"Vegas Misses, Too: In the aftermath of what took place at DKR on Saturday, it's a little head-scratching to think that Vegas odds-makers had the Longhorns as a slight favorite going into the game. I'm guessing that mistake won't be made again."


Vegas probably had it right. Since you are obviously clueless about how lines work, Vegas sets the line at the point it takes to equalize money bet on each side, which guarantees they win. If Texas being a slight favorite accomplished that, then they were spot on. Vegas doesn't predict who will win and by how much, their line is their prediction of what it takes to get an equal amount bet on both sides.
I am not much of a gambler, but I always been confused about this. I realize Vegas sets the line to get equal action on both sides, so they never lose, but if the action is equal on both sides where is the money for them? Is there a fee associated with placing the bet? That is probably a stupid question, but I am completely ignorant on the topic.
 
After that performance all I can say is we SUCK

Seemed liked once the defense got tired in the 3rd they went back to old habits. Think that will be corrected in the long run

Why can everyone else on God's green earth just plug and play move the ball and score? If its 3 and out anyway what's the difference in opening up and trying to make BYU work a little and react to what we are doing instead of dive right/dive left short incomplete pass/punt.

As its been said before the spread started and worked because inferior teams couldn't compete. We are that inferior team

Stupid but at some point some backyard ball and everyone go deep gives us a better chance
 
Originally posted by clark98ut:
At what point do you quit blaming Mack, Ketch? Next year? 5 years from now when no one Mack recruited remains?
You think his years of mismanagement have his fingerprints off this thing after two games and eight months?

Would you consider yourself an enabler of the last 4 seasons before Strong took over?
 
Originally posted by RickNelson:
"… Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray are very good college running backs, but there's just nothing exceptional about either player's explosiveness or overall athleticism....."

Since when have you held this opinion, particularly of Gray? I don't recall these guys ever being described as this kind of JAG-plus player.

Not shooting the messenger here, seriously. But haven't these guys gotten a ton of hype on this site, especially Gray?. When/why did you change your assessments (if you did)? Or is this just my reading with my ridiculously rose colored glasses?
a. They aren't jags, as evidenced by the fact that I called them very good college running backs. They simply lack elite-level explosiveness.

b. Gray is coming off a serious injury.

c. Your use of the JAG is a misrepresentation of the remarks and ignores the bigger point being made.
 
Originally posted by Double Dribble1:
Why do pretend not to be the poster CS?
My man, I'm the father of nearly 6 month old twins. I don't have time for alias' these days.

In order for me to be CS, you'd be suggesting that on game night, while I'm in the middle of all my duties on the site (writing multiple articles, posting on the site, managing the board, etc...) that I'm logging in and out of another handle.

Not saying it's impossible, but anyone that believes that should just use their head and apply some critical thinking.
 
Originally posted by Ketchum:


Originally posted by clark98ut:
At what point do you quit blaming Mack, Ketch? Next year? 5 years from now when no one Mack recruited remains?
You think his years of mismanagement have his fingerprints off this thing after two games and eight months?

Would you consider yourself an enabler of the last 4 seasons before Strong took over?
I asked a similar question, but I didn't mean for it to come off the way it sounds. Regardless of anyone's feelings on Mack, there is a possibility that Strong isn't the right fit. Right know it's impossible to judge, at what point do you think it becomes possible?
 
Originally posted by UT_TheUniversity:
I was on a similar opinion of OU being extremely overrated and while that might still end up being slightly true, I now believe they could represent in the top-4 playoff. I'm still not 100% sold on Knight and their defense hasn't still faced any offense worth a dang.

I still believe the South Carolina from the first 2 weeks is going to be scratching and clawing to win 6 games this year. East Carolina has to be leaving that game thinking they are the better team and that they let one slip away. To my eye ECU was the better team and again, USCeast looked terribly bad.

So with that said, the media should slow roll all this love for aTm an especially the nonsense of Kenny Hill and the Heisman. All the same questions before the year and still left unanswered on aTm. No way they are a top10 team.

Shame the BYU game fell apart on Strong in the second half. Texas actually had played some solid football in the 1st half. Once one wheel fell off it was as if the other wheels said the heck with if and folded as well. Shame the players did that to Strong.

North Texas stomped a mudhole into SMU along the lines of a varsity team spanking a FR team. It was bad bad bad on SMU. Baylor smoked SMU as well a week beforehand. The North Texas dominating win will continue to look like a great win as year goes by.

Agree on JJ Watt. I still don't think even the true expert diehard fan realized how good his 2012 season was.

Shame on Clowney injury as he played great before his injury. Early returns IMO are that the Texans got it right taking him #1 overall.

I understand the Romo dilemma for Cowboys fans but who out there right now is better than him? Name me 10 guys? You cant.

Still top 3 teams in NFL: Seattle, Denver, & 49ers.

Miami won but Tannehill played very avg. If Tannehill could take a step then they will be a giant.


Posted from Rivals Mobile
same page

same page for the most part, although the UGA game this weekend can change that narrative.

We'll see on A&M... they have a special set of playmakers on offense.

same page

a great win? Who on earth is going to call the North Texas win a great win? They are a Sunbelt team.

same page

same page, but Blake Bortles hs been looking better and better, even if Henne did play great for a half yesterday.

You talking about the Romo of 2013-14 or the Romo prior to that? The guy in 2014 is older and has had multiple back surgeries.

same page

Tannhehill outplayed Brady yesterday, while playing against a defense that everyone expects to be one of the league's best,
 
Originally posted by Ketchum:

Originally posted by clark98ut:
At what point do you quit blaming Mack, Ketch? Next year? 5 years from now when no one Mack recruited remains?
You think his years of mismanagement have his fingerprints off this thing after two games and eight months?

Would you consider yourself an enabler of the last 4 seasons before Strong took over?


An enabler? Really? How so? I'm an alum, fan, etc, but how on God's green earth could I be enabling anything related to Texas Football???

And you still didn't answer the question. At what point is this no longer Mack's fault?

Weak sauce Ketch. Weak...
Posted from Rivals Mobile
 
Random thoughts of my own

Mack left us a mess... "duh"The defense has now been thru three coaches (Diaz,Robinson & Bedford) with basic same results playing BYU. Maybe its NOT the coaching? It's obvious to me it's lack of talent i.e. bad recruiting evaluations and player development.Swoopes impressed me. He didn't look overwhelmed by the moment. Jesus, Watson let him use his cannon for some shots downfield?How in the world does Texas end up with a O-line this bad??? (See #1 & #2 above).Going to be one of the worst seasons in Texas history. Hope I'm wrong.Meanwhile, Aggy.... (this is going to be sickening all season long)

Hook'em
 
Originally posted by jstreet1514:
The third worst home loss in 60 years in a game that Strong drew a circle around and that Vegas thought was pick em.What a joke. Can't blame" talent issues" if the team wasn't ready, that's on Charlie and staff. Horns have as much talent as anyone in big xiii.

Good thing UCLA looks like the most overrated team in college football.
Strong's assessment of the team's pregame mindset surprised me considering how badly we played the year before. However, one can somewhat understand the defense's exasperation in watching the offense fail to get any points on its first 3 pretty good drives, and then only gain 25 total yards on its next 8 drives, while giving BYU 3 TOs in Texas territory.

LIke you, I tend to rely too much on recruiting rankings as a barometer of D-1 talent. Just because you have physical talent doens't mean you're capable of beating good D-1 competition. The reality is that Mack left us lacking in talent ready to play, particularly at the key offensive positions of QB and OL.

The ugly truth is that we have huge deficiencies on offense, and those are all on Mack Brown. No staff facing 4 Top 25 teams early in its first season is going to turn this around quickly with defense alone.
 
There is no doubt that the talent level is down at Texas (perhaps in a big way). Rather than belabor the point about the lack of talent, I just don't see how Mack is getting most (if not all) of the blame here. Is the lack of mental preparation and fight in the dog on Mack alone? Sorry, but I refuse to give Strong a pass on this game. I have beef with the following coaching issues/decisions:

1. Run play calling . Watson already talks like Mack and is clearly coaching like him too. The rep on Watson was he was good at molding his offense to the talents of his players. Calling BS on that. The O line is horrible in an epic way. Just accept that and figure out (quickly) how to run the ball that doesn't require the O line to create the holes which they are clearly not capable of now. Not a single jet sweep, reverse or running play designed to go outside. Unacceptable...if you plan to run the ball. Which leads to me to...

2. Passing game. For the most part, the short passing game was actually pretty darn good. Why not run an offense similar to Leach's Tech offenses for the time being? Why not take a page out of the Pirate's book and find 5-10 short to intermediate passing plays that we can execute on and let that be the impetus for moving the chains? Look, it seems to me that we need to find some area of our offense that had some amount of success and maximize it. Be a one trick pony...so long as your pony is getting a desired result. I refuse to believe that the likes of Briles, Sumlin or Gundy couldn't polish this turd and implement a scheme that gets decent results.

3. Marcus Johnson returning kicks. 3 returns in what felt like a 5 minute window were horrendous. He may be an excellent WR but that doesn't mean he should be retuning kicks. Earl Thomas is the greatest safety in the history of football, but he isn't the best punt returner.

4. Ball security is on the coaches (the current set - not Mack). Way too sloppy in the first 2 games.

5. Half time adjustments. Where were they? What the hell happened in that locker room? Even if not mentally prepared to the start the game as Strong said after the game, what are you doing to change the mindset when you are down a pair of FG's? The meltdown at the beginning of the 3rd Qtr was unbelievable to watch.

6. How is it that this team was not fired up to play this team? Just amazing. Sure, we are lacking in the leadership department with the players, but the coaches clearly did not earn their paychecks in preparing this team.

Like all of OB, I want Strong to succeed in the biggest way. If he can't find 85 players that have enough pride to fight through adversity, then cut bait as seen fit. But I severely doubt that what we witnessed on Saturday was just a talent issue. This was a "want to" issue combined with bad preparation and in game coaching (at least in certain areas). That goes on Strong and staff.
Originally posted by Ketchum:


Originally posted by longhorn73:
Sorry Ketch... The turnovers, terribly timed penalties and the give up in the third quarter is the current staffs responsibility.

Strong said it was his responsibility in the opening statement of the presser. That sh-t is coaching.

Contininualy blaming Mack for the mental mistakes listed above is just ridiculous.

We can talk talent all night long if you want and you have a great point there but the rest is just bs.

Let's not hand out journalistic crutches that support terrible coaching.

That's Strong's job and he gets a nice paycheck from Texas confirming that's his responsibility.
You'll never get it because you don't want to get it.

You've lived in a hole for years.
 
Thought it was a strange statement by the Fox announcers during the game that the SEC and ACC said they will not schedule BYU in the future because they were not, I think the said something like worth enough to schedule.
But look who the SEC played this weekend.

This is going to take 3-5 years to correct, it will not have a Manziel-like change.

It is time for there to be more public criticism of Romo. He did not give his team a chance.

A&M looks like a very powerful offense team and the defense is good enough to carry them through an undefeated season.

For all the criticism we give SEC teams and Baylor for scheduling weaklings; there is madness to there reasoning. This type of scheduling is glorified scrimmages that give teams a chance to fine tune their offense for the big games.

Long time Cowboy fan but I would like to see some type of Cowboy protest in reference to the state of the team. Their playoff absence or losses in the last 20+ years reeks of middle earth franchises like the Royals, Twins, Bucs, etc.
 
Originally posted by bubba2023:

Originally posted by champ6369:
"Vegas Misses, Too: In the aftermath of what took place at DKR on Saturday, it's a little head-scratching to think that Vegas odds-makers had the Longhorns as a slight favorite going into the game. I'm guessing that mistake won't be made again."


Vegas probably had it right. Since you are obviously clueless about how lines work, Vegas sets the line at the point it takes to equalize money bet on each side, which guarantees they win. If Texas being a slight favorite accomplished that, then they were spot on. Vegas doesn't predict who will win and by how much, their line is their prediction of what it takes to get an equal amount bet on both sides.
I am not much of a gambler, but I always been confused about this. I realize Vegas sets the line to get equal action on both sides, so they never lose, but if the action is equal on both sides where is the money for them? Is there a fee associated with placing the bet? That is probably a stupid question, but I am completely ignorant on the topic.
I will try and answer---If Vegas took $100K on BYU...and $100K on Texas, they would win $10K, as both bets have to put up $110K to win $100K
 
Sorry, If you're trying to sell the proposition that BYU has a talent edge over Texas, much less one that results in a 41-7 blowout, that simply defies all reason.
 
Originally posted by texaspaulo:
No love for the Boardwalk Empire premiere?

This post was edited on 9/8 1:09 AM by texaspaulo
Solid, but was slightly disappointed. I need to re-watch because I wasn't able to completely focus on the show.
 
There wasn't a talent edge. No way. Is Estelle for sure gone? Harrison?

Golson should be in the top three of the Heisman.
 
Originally posted by jstreet1514:
Sorry, If you're trying to sell the proposition that BYU has a talent edge over Texas, much less one that results in a 41-7 blowout, that simply defies all reason.
The first half performance shows that the BYU talent edge wasn't material. Texas has won many games after trailing at halftime. They came out of the halftime unprepared for the second half. That's a coaching issue IMO.
 
Originally posted by tjhooker67:

Originally posted by longhorn73:
Sorry Ketch... The turnovers, terribly timed penalties and the give up in the third quarter is the current staffs responsibility.

Strong said it was his responsibility in the opening statement of the presser. That sh-t is coaching.

Contininualy blaming Mack for the mental mistakes listed above is just ridiculous.

We can talk talent all night long if you want and you have a great point there but the rest is just bs.

Let's not hand out journalistic crutches that support terrible coaching.

That's Strong's job and he gets a nice paycheck from Texas confirming that's his responsibility.
Agree totally. C'mon Ketchum, that is weak f'n sauce you keep blathering on with.

"Waa waa waa. It's all MB's fault. Boo hoo hoo." Seriously, STFU with noise!

Everything that happened last night was the fault of the man who currently occupies the office that says Head Coach. So far all he's done is collect paychecks, recruit 3* prospects and kick starting players off the team. Blame the dude that did not have HIS team even remotely prepared to play last night.

a. I didn't say everything was Mack's fault.

b. You typing what was bolded shows that I'm not sure you get the problems in the program. Just get'em ready to play, huh?
 
Originally posted by CenTex Horn:
I agree with you 100%. Mack has been gone for 9 months. He's out of the picture and he left behind a lot of talent that's just waiting to be coached up.

That said, Texas can beat UCLA with motivated players and the right game plan. At the very least it should be competitive.
Good grief.
 
Originally posted by Ketchum:


Originally posted by A-10HORN:
Also, have you heard anything on the possibility of Ash being cleared for next week? Saw a post about it and was wondering if you heard anything. Obviously I think it's a stupid idea.
a. I've heard about it, but I've heard all kinds of things about it. Hell., there have been rumors that people don't think he even had a concussion. There's a lot out there right now.

b. IMO, you can't let the kid play. It's on Texas if he gets seriously hurt again. How many warning signs are needed?

c. He has not been through the entire concussion protocol at this point, so he can't officially be cleared... yet.
Rhetorical question, but is David Ash just stupid or is his father trying to live his dreams through his son? He is risking not being able to provide for himself or even live without intense pain for another 60 years.
 
As far as I'm concerned, Brown IS the only captain this team has right now and every player on the team needs to be taking notes.
_____________________________________

Ketch, you are WAAAY underestimating Quandre Diggs.
 
Originally posted by dallashorn02:

Originally posted by Ketchum:

Originally posted by SAMike74:


Also any idea why they can't at least try warrick on a few jet sweeps, end around, etc???


Posted from Rivals Mobile
They can. Thy just haven't. Not exactly the most creative of offenses thus far.
That's because Strong views his offense as an extension of his defense. He doesn't believe in needing any creativity on offense. When the acumen of your offensive staff is low, the creativity will need to come from the elite talent you recruit on offense. Recruiting elite talent on offense also appears to be an issue as well, since the best playmakers in Texas for 2015 aren't even giving the school a sniff.

Strong either needed a group of BAMF's as recruiters on offense, or offensive assistants with a high level of offensive coaching acumen, and it's quite possible he got neither.
Maybe.

Or maybe he doesn't trust his quarterback, offensive line or most of the skill players that lack a lot of unique, next-level skill. Add all of that together and you have problems.
 
Originally posted by Ketchum:

My advice?

Break'em … 2014 season be damned.

With the upside of this season in serious doubt, it's time to start building for the future and more than anything else, it's time to find out which players in this program have the guts to lead the way. Those that are getting in the way of program development will show themselves soon enough.

If it means Strong has to burn the damn thing all the way to the ground, then do it because there's absolutely nothing about the program right now that needs to be preserved. When this season ends, Strong needs to know who he can count on and who needs to likely find another place to play football.

For the next 10 games, 2014 needs to be about 2015. Play the young kids. Find out who in the program flinches in the face of adversity and who doesn't. Once those players that don't flinch are found, build around them.

With a team that in no shape, form or fashion is ready to compete for anything of substance, doing anything less will prove to be a disservice to the long-term viability of Strong's program.

It won't be pretty. It won't be fun. It is much-needed.

So, go ahead, Charlie … break the colts until there is no more breaking to be done and if it means setting fire to the stables to finish the job once and for all … so be it.
Perhaps the best 15 sentences you've written since I've been a member. Thanks. Hope that we see more & more of our fan base get this.
 
Agree that there's a ton of work to do with the offense.

Disagree that this defense is not capable of being a really good unit. Unless rivals completely blew it on player evals, this defense has plenty of talent and showed it in the first half and 4th quarter. The third quarter melt down is on the coaching staff and if you can't see that then there's nothing else to say.

Agree, Malcom Brown is a bad dude.

Agree, Swoopes played solid for his first start and showed what i have said all along. That Swoopes can be a plus player at this level.

Agree on Brown and Gray. Rivals missed it claiming they were 5*. Neither one has that type of ability at this level.

Agree the big 10 is a train wreck.

Still shaking my head about Romo. I think it's time for him to hang it up. One positive was this defense is going to be much better than last years barring more key injuries.

J.J. Watt is a bad man.
 
Originally posted by VALonghorns:

Originally posted by bubba2023:


Originally posted by champ6369:
"Vegas Misses, Too: In the aftermath of what took place at DKR on Saturday, it's a little head-scratching to think that Vegas odds-makers had the Longhorns as a slight favorite going into the game. I'm guessing that mistake won't be made again."


Vegas probably had it right. Since you are obviously clueless about how lines work, Vegas sets the line at the point it takes to equalize money bet on each side, which guarantees they win. If Texas being a slight favorite accomplished that, then they were spot on. Vegas doesn't predict who will win and by how much, their line is their prediction of what it takes to get an equal amount bet on both sides.
I am not much of a gambler, but I always been confused about this. I realize Vegas sets the line to get equal action on both sides, so they never lose, but if the action is equal on both sides where is the money for them? Is there a fee associated with placing the bet? That is probably a stupid question, but I am completely ignorant on the topic.
I will try and answer---If Vegas took $100K on BYU...and $100K on Texas, they would win $10K, as both bets have to put up $110K to win $100K
So a % of the winnings goes to the house? Like a fee to place the bet? If I put 100 down on BYU, I would only be getting 190 back in return?
 
Texas Oline is really really bad but SMU should also be in that conversation.
 
I'll give CS the benefit of the doubt - for now at least.

His explanation that the team wasn't ready didn't seem accurate. The defense was ready to play. In fact, the defense played outstanding the first half and kept us in the game when the halftime score could have been much worse given the two turnovers that the offense committed.

What happened at halftime and in the 2nd half cannot be explained. We seemed to make no adjustments on offensively. Instead, we continued to try the same things that did not work in the first half.

This team is not without play makers. Try to get the ball to Marcus Johnson, Armanti Foreman, or Jacorey Warrick. Not once have we tried to throw deep during the first two games, particularly when Marcus had single coverage. Dink and dunk routes do not cause the defense to unstack the box.

Try more straight ahead running plays. Pulling and trapping is not the forte of this offensive line and it worked horribly Saturday night. We either do not have the linemen to do it successfully or we are not playing the ones that might make it work. Our greatest success when we ran the ball against BYU was when we lined up and ran straight ahead.

I have no doubt that MB and JG are good college backs. But forget trying to emulate Barry Sanders. Hit the hole or the crease and run north and south. Forget juking, dancing in the hole, or running laterally. We will lose yardage more often than not with the play that we are getting from the offensive line.

Malcolm Brown needs to become a leader on both sides of the ball. He is a beast and playing at an all-conference level. He, Diggs and others must be leaders on offense too because we have no one who is truly a leader on that side of the ball.

I'm much more impressed with what the defensive coaches have done so far this year. Guys like Hassan Ridgway, Paul Boyette and others are playing at a very capable level.

And I agree with Ketch. Start playing the young guys and find out who can play and who cannot and then keep playing them. They are going to be the foundation of this team going forward. They may be raw and inexperienced, but they cannot be any worse than what we have witnessed so far, particularly on offense.
 
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