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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend

Bubba---yes, Vegas makes you put up $11 to win $10 on type of bet you are asking about. So if the money is about equal on each team, Vegas win a small percentage/Vig regardless of outcome
 
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.
There's a lot of truth to all of this.
 
Originally posted by Ketchum:

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.
Same. Not really what I was expecting from the show and was underwhelmed.
 
Inexplicable:

- that coaching staff did not make adjustments at halftime
- that a defense that played hard the entire first half and held BYU to 6 came out flat & uninspired in the 3rd quarter
- that as soon as BYU BEGAN their 3 touchdown trouncing in the 3rd, coaches did not call timeouts & do SOMETHING immediately to disrupt/alter that momentum

I would like to hear what went on in the Longhorn locker room during halftime

If Coach Strong saw that his players were not ready to play as stated after the loss, why wasn't he fiercely focused on making the necessary game plan adjustments from the sidelines throughout each set of downs during the game?
 
Originally posted by VALonghorns:
Originally posted by Ketchum:


Originally posted by BRHornz:

I love JJ Watts, but he is no Deacon Jones, IMO. Stats be damned. One of the things that made Deacon Deacon was that he part of the Fearsome Foursome, which makes 1-on-1 comparisons impossible. But I am an old guy, and Deacon was the best I have ever seen. But I love me some JJ, who signed a big $$ contract but intends to earn every penny.

Hook 'em!!!


This post was edited on 9/8 5:40 AM by BRHornz
Thing about Deacon is that he played in a generation that didn't have the monsters up-front that Watt has to deal with. The players were smaller, slower and not as good.
I think what makes JJ so special in this comparison are the rules he plays with today---all designed for the offense, holding is OK and no touching the QB.
It is hard to compare sizes of people when you look at different eras, IMO.
I usually just think about everything in terms of raw dominance. I never really watched Deacon play other than the highlights, so I can't speak of him, but I can speak on Reggie and Bruce and Watt is as dominant as either ever was.
 
Originally posted by bubba2023:
Originally posted by Ketchum:


Originally posted by jaguar02:
Burn it to the ground? Mighty scary proposition for a coach that loses his best talent this year, has little in the cupboard, and a bad season probabably causes recruits to jump ship. I'd argue that's a recipe for being fired after a similar year next year with the hated AD that hired you.
Strong will get three years. Best way to get over the jump is get all of the stink out of the program, while developing for the future. No reason to be playing for 2014.
At what point will we know that losses can be correctly attributed to Strong instead of Mack Brown stink?
probably the first season. I'm really not big on excuses, so anything beyond that just means that he's not really an elite coach, which isn't meant to be insulting, but the elite guys don't need four-year plans.
 
I don't buy the "break em" philosophy. These aren't US Marines headed to Tarawa to battle the Japanese Empire. Make rules. Set high expectations. Work very hard. But, crap it's college football. Did Pete Carroll break the great SC teams. Are the Aggies good because Sumlin broke them. Nope.

I'm as mad as anyone about how bad we are. But the answer lies in building, not breaking.
 
Originally posted by VALonghorns:

I support Coach Strong---but he should not have put out there, the line about knowing we were not ready to play.
I tend to agree, but there seems to not bullshit about him and he says what he feels and means what he says,

I'd rather him make some mistakes than not be that way at all.
 
Originally posted by bubba2023:
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?
Sure, that possibility exists, I've written about the daunting challenges in front of him at great length, before and after he took the job,

As you said, too early to judge or know because his personnel issues are a little silly.
 
Ketch,

You can explain exactly what you mean by burning it to the ground. What steps were you thinking of?

Does that mean running off more players.? Firing coaches? I just don't know what else he can do. You clearly had something in mind.

Thanks.
 
Originally posted by clark98ut:
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
a. Do you really need to explain the enabling that has gone around the program for years? I'm asking if you were part of the crowd that closed his eyes to what has been happening all these years. Perhaps not, I'm seeking clarity. because,.,

b. The entire program is in a personnel crisis, ranging from poor quarterback options to lackluster skill options to an offensive line trainwreck to the mentality that they must be broken from.

c. Strong gets a first year pass. Excuses stop after the first year, even of Mack's fingerprints are still on a lot of the problems.
 
Originally posted by davrob1:
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
1. an atrocious mess.
b. You might be right, but even Charlie thinks they have the raw talent to be very good on that side of the ball.
3. agreed
4. poor development, awful mentality, injuries and other assorted mess.
5. Could very well be.
6.
scared0016.r191677.gif
 
Originally posted by Hook 'em Danno:
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.
I don't really have an issue with all of that and the approach on offense is more than fair to discuss and critique. You just can't ignore the personnel issue and the overall mentality that Strong is still trying to beak this team of, which is at the root of what happened on Saturday.
 
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.
Let's start by talking about the quarterback and offensive line positions...

Pretty important to the discussion.
 
Coming into this season, there was really only one thing most Texas fans HAD HAD HAD to see from this team this season: an end to the embarrassing blowouts. Even 7-5 with hard fought losses would've been OK because people understood where things were.

I do think there was a honeymoon, but this -- as you said -- ends it for sure. That second half looked like so many other second halves we've seen over the last few years. And while I understand that they've been riddled with injuries and that creating toughness and attitude takes a long time, that was a trainwreck.

What's really scary is that they could lose to UCLA, OU and Baylor by a combined 75+ points in the next month. I think that if they're not competitive in any of those games, it gets really ugly really, really fast for Coach Strong.

This post was edited on 9/8 12:50 PM by mschulz52
 
Originally posted by Ketchum:

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.
Let's start by talking about the quarterback and offensive line positions...

Pretty important to the discussion.
Seriously. Take UCLA and Hundley for example. One of the most hyped player in the nation pre-season. Without a good O-line, even the most talented quarterback is playing in a very extremely limited capacity, unless you're a superhuman freak like VY (in college anyway).

Or take Peyton Manning without his starting left tackle. When facing a good defense, he was shut down.

The state of our O-line currently can not possibly be understated because it literally makes it impossible to have a good offense. The best we can hope for with Estelle and Harrison out is a halfway decent offense.

That doesn't excuse the defense folding like a cheap tent, but it does shed some light on a defense getting worn out and giving up a couple of big plays here and there over the course of a game.

The mentality of the team and the effort that is given is what I'm gonna be looking for improvement in during this season. My win/loss expectations are pretty much out the window at this point. I just want to see some hope for the future in the mental makeup of this program going into next season. That's the foundation that Strong HAS to establish if he wants to get Texas back where they should be. Mack and company did 4 plus years of big time damage, so it makes sense that repairing that damage would take longer than one off-season and a couple of games.
 
Originally posted by Okie4horns:

There wasn't a talent edge. No way. Is Estelle for sure gone? Harrison?

Golson should be in the top three of the Heisman.
Yes, BYU was substantially better at quarterback and along the entire offensive line.

Probably right about Golson. My bad.
 
Originally posted by True horn:

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.
Just to be clear, you don't believe BYU had a QB/OL advantage for four quarters?
 
Seems like you're lobbing softballs at the coaches while placing most of the blame on the players and Mack.
 
Originally posted by asics:
Ketch,

You can explain exactly what you mean by burning it to the ground. What steps were you thinking of?

Does that mean running off more players.? Firing coaches? I just don't know what else he can do. You clearly had something in mind.

Thanks.
Bump for Ketch.
 
Originally posted by jspirohorn:
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.
I don't know what to tell you.
 
Originally posted by jspirohorn:
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.
I agree. My bad.
 
" Strong wants his players to play without fear, but he needs to ask his coaches to live by the same code."

Well said !
 
Your opening monolog is right where I am at. I was a season ticket holder for 23 years until 2011. Mack and DeLoss burned me, and I have not returned. It is time to gut the property and re-build.

Also, I completely agree on our running backs. While both performed admirably in high school, neither has shown to be elite. I watched numerous games over the weekend and saw less heralded running backs make moves throw small creases for good gains. Neither has shifty feet between the tackles. They give it their all, but with our o-line we need some quick feet to elude tacklers.
 
Originally posted by Ketchum:


The team played inspired ball, I thought, in the first half.
Dead nuts on. The defense actually did play inspired in the first half. Held BYU to 6pts with an offense that either turned the ball over or went 3 and out. I can't say the offense wasn't inspired, but they clearly have an O-line that is so horrible they cannot move the ball on the ground at all. Seems to me the defense had a bad first series in the 2nd half, and then just lost any morale they had. It was clear at that point the offense would be lucky to score a field goal, much less come back from 13pts down.

I think CS's comments about not being ready is just covering up for the fact that the O-Line is not D1 caliber, and they're likely to get steamrolled all year unless something drastic happens (player reinstatement's, switches being flipped, etc).
 
This will be heresy to the fan base because of their high school 5* status, but I'm not sure that our running backs are better than BYUs. Malcolm missed some cutback lanes and didn't outrun anybody to the corner, which NFL first day draft choices do. He and Gray are solid college players and may end up on NFL rosters, but have not played like 1-3rd round draft picks in 2014.

This post was edited on 9/8 5:53 PM by jspirohorn
 
Originally posted by LEFTY658:


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.
FYI, I didn't say that the defense couldn't be really good, but there are weaknesses at the linebacker position that cannot be easily ignored. The best MLB option lacks great instincts and the ability to play well without moving forward in attack mode (ie., blitzing, stunting, etc...)
 
Originally posted by 2005NatChamps:

Texas Oline is really really bad but SMU should also be in that conversation.
Oh, they are.
 
Originally posted by Ketchum:

Originally posted by clark98ut:
Originally posted by Ketchum:

Would you consider yourself an enabler of the last 4 seasons before Strong took over? You think his years of mismanagement have his fingerprints off this thing after two games and eight months?



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
a. Do you really need to explain the enabling that has gone around the program for years? I'm asking if you were part of the crowd that closed his eyes to what has been happening all these years. Perhaps not, I'm seeking clarity. because,.,

b. The entire program is in a personnel crisis, ranging from poor quarterback options to lackluster skill options to an offensive line trainwreck to the mentality that they must be broken from.

c. Strong gets a first year pass. Excuses stop after the first year, even of Mack's fingerprints are still on a lot of the problems.
a. Nope, no explanation needed. Just trying to figure out how I fit into the equation. I felt it was time for Mack to hang it up. Don't really like the way it went down, but if Mack didn't want to step aside, there's not much that could have been done differently.

b. Agreed, it's bad.

c. That's fine by me I guess. Seems a reasonable timeframe. At some point though, the product on the field is the responsibility of the current head coach.
 
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