As Charlie Strong’s players tossed him around in jubilation in the aftermath of the most important win in the first two years of the Strong Era, I couldn’t help but think of a light-hearted moment from earlier this season involving a couple of true freshmen.
On the opening Monday of the first game-week of the season and just days before he would make his first start, Strong’s most important asset through the first 20 months on the job took to social media to give his head coach a little bit of public ribbing.
Moments later, another true freshman that was only days away from making his first career start (in South Bend, Indiana of all places), made sure that his teammate realized that everything in life comes with a price.
From my point of view, what was explicit in that moment of social media pleasure is that Strong clearly has a special relationship with the players on the team that are on campus because of him. They’re the players on the team that I refer to as “Charlie’s guys.”
For all of the conversations among the national and local media about the players that Charlie dismissed from the programs (most of whom had either been alleged to have committed a crime or couldn’t stop smoking weed) in the previous year, there was very little mention of the relationships that Strong had been able to build with the players who remained. While some might have frowned over Jefferson’s audacity to clown on his own head coach, what was really noteworthy about it for me was the window into the soul of this team that it provided.
Charlie’s guys love him. Unconditionally.
If you’re Jefferson, you don’t make that tweet if the door to Strong’s office in the football facility remains closed at all times.
If you’re Jefferson, you don’t make that tweet unless you’ve got a pretty special relationship with your coach.
No, the only way you make that tweet before you’ve ever played a down of football for Strong is if something more than the average player/coach relationship is building behind the scenes. I mean … you have to know that when he sees you later in the day, your backside isn’t going to be the grass to his lawnmower.
The aftermath of Saturday’s win was a showcase for the love that exists behind the scenes between the players that have embraced Strong as their leader. As soon as the final seconds ticked off the clock it seemed as if every player in the program made an effort to find Strong immediately. When dozens of them arrived at the same time, rather than wait their turns for a
hug, the players organically decided to share the experience collectively.
Along the way, Jefferson eventually found Strong on the field and as they embraced each other, the smile on each other’s face spoke to the bond that exists between the two. Little moments like that one were shared over the course of the next hour between Strong, his staff and every player on the team.
As someone who has covered this team professionally for more than 20 years, I’d personally rank the aftermath of Saturday’s win as one of true special moments of Longhorn football I’ve seen. From a spectator’s standpoint, I couldn’t get enough of the euphoria because so much angst had existed around this program over the last month that a feel-good moment such as this needed to be savored.
Of course, the team is still 2-4 heading into a bye week and much work remains to be done, but for one day the special qualities of Strong’s ability as a coach and leader of men was on display for the entire nation to view.
It can be argued that those qualities are on display far more often than most realize, but winning has a way of highlighting progress in a way that losing almost never allows for.
Assuming that yesterday was a first step and not a final destination, the outpouring of love within the program has likely just begun.
No. 2 - Capturing Saturday’s performance in a bottle …
On a day when the Longhorns mostly dominated Oklahoma en route to a win that on the surface appears to have given some wind to the team’s 2015 sails, here’s a look at some of the things the Longhorns were able to accomplish that need to be repeated in future games if Texas wants to continue winning games with a similar formula.
1. Play ahead
When you’ve got a team that is hesitant with its passing game and would prefer the offense be centered on its quarterback’s legs and an improving running game, the best way to accomplish that is by scoring first and eliminating as much chasing on the scoreboard as is humanly possible. One of the underrated storylines of this game was that the Longhorns not only scored first, but the separation created from the team’s second touchdown allowed the offense to work with breathing room for pretty much the remainder of the day, as there wasn’t a single moment in the game where Texas trailed or was put into a position where the unit was forced to stray from the
game plan.
Moving forward, this team can’t afford to get behind by multiple scores as it has done in four of the other five games that it has played. The one fear about the offensive approach that the Longhorns invested in on Saturday is that if you find yourself in a pretty typical Big 12 shootout, you’ve got to be careful to play well enough early in the game that you can stay inside of your comfort zone.
2. Control down and distance on offense
On nine of the first 10 first-down plays, the Longhorns gained at least four yards seven times and gained positive yardage nine times.
As we discussed earlier, the best way for this Longhorn team to implement its preferred method of offensive football is to play ahead, but that isn’t exclusively related to the scoreboard. Controlling down and distance allows this offense to stay within itself and when the team was able to do exactly that on Saturday, it enjoyed success. When the offense sort of bogged down in the second and third quarters, it’s inability to do this was one of the reasons the Longhorns couldn’t add points to the scoreboard.
3. Speaking of down and distance, about the defense …
Let’s not make this rocket science. What’s good for the offense is bad for the defense and vice versa, which means often times, what happens on first down dictates everything that follows.
Consider the following third-down situations Oklahoma found itself in during the first half against the Longhorns:
3rd and 10
3rd and 8
3rd and 2
3rd and 14
3rd and 18
3rd and goal
3rd and 12
Guess which of these plays the Sooners converted … yup, third and two. The best way to typically get off the field on third downs is by playing well enough on first down that it puts the opposing offense into stressful down and distance situations.
Here’s a look at the second half third downs for the Sooners:
3rd and 9
3rd and 10
3rd and 12
3rd and 8
3rd and 14
Overall, the Longhorns forced the Sooners into 12 third downs during the game and were able to stop them from converting on nine of the plays. On pretty much every offensive drive of the game, the Longhorns won first down in a way that helped make Oklahoma completely uncomfortable. If Texas can keep winning on first downs, it’s going to win more third downs and that will likely translate to wins.
4. Eliminate mental mistakes and win turnovers
The numbers (zero turnovers and five penalties) only tell a piece of the story.
Consider that outside of the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Marcus Johnson following his touchdown and a facemask penalty on Kris Boyd, two of the other three penalties that the team committed were effort plays on defense.
What that translates to is zero false starts, delays of game, too many men on the field or offensive holding calls.
What the final numbers also don’t show upon initial inspection is that none of UT’s five penalties were committed in the second half.
Outside of just a couple occurrences, this team played an incredibly disciplined game, especially on the offensive side of the ball, which was responsible for two penalties and zero turnovers. That’s not going to happen every week, but a new standard has been set for this team to strive for each week.
No. 3 – NCAA Team Stats Through Five Games …
(Note: Difference from last week to this week in parenthesis)
Offensive Stats
Total offense: 106 (+5)
Rushing offense: 43 (+24)
Passing offense: 116 (-10)
Team Passing Efficiency: 82 (+5)
3rd Down Conversions: 99 (+19)
Red-zone offense: 54 (-25)
Turnovers: 12 (+12)
Defensive Stats
Total defense: 111 (+8)
Rushing defense: 89 (+19)
Passing defense: 109 (+9)
Team Passing Efficiency: 117 (+4)
3rd Down Conversions: 117 (+5)
Red-zone defense: 114 (+1)
Team sacks: 52 (+49)
Turnovers: 35 (-11)
Defensive touchdowns: 1 (same)
Special Teams
Kickoff returns: 87 (+12)
Kickoff return D: 121 (-4)
Net punting: 42 (+3)
Punt returns: 7 (+2)
Punt return D: 10 (-1)
No. 4 – Scattershooting on the Longhorns …
… I can’t say enough good things about true freshmen offensive linemen Connor Williams and Patrick Vahe after their combined performance against the Sooners. In an incredibly pressurized setting, both players imposed their will on Oklahoma defensive linemen over four quarters and limited their mental mistakes to an absolute minimum. What the Longhorns are receiving right now from both players is outside of what should be expected from linemen who were high school players at this time a year ago.
… Forgive me for not mentioning Holton Hill in my initial post-game remarks because he deserves his own set of accolades after making his physical presence felt all over the field, while settling in quite nicely at cornerback in his first career start. Barring injuries, one of those cornerback spots is on lockdown for at least the next 30 games.
.. Speaking of true freshmen, DeShon Elliott is going to make a game-changing play on defense in the very near future.
… Interestingly enough, the Longhorns rank 42 in team punting, but freshman Michael Dickson ranks only 76th in the country in punting, which says a lot about the job that the punt coverage unit is doing.
… What Malik Jefferson did on Saturday was very much Derrick Johnson-esque. Keep it up, young fella.
… I know a lot of people are down on John Bonney, but keep a few things in mind …
He’s just a freshman.
The coaches like him.
He’s just a freshman.
No. 5 – Buy or sell…
(As always these are real questions submitted by real Orangebloods subscribers.)
(BUY or SELL) Texas goes 5-1 in their last 6 games?
(Sell) That’s asking for perfection outside of the Baylor game and I don’t see a team yet capable of that kind of consistent good play. Not yet, anyways.
(BUY or SELL) The OU win by itself is enough to guarantee a third season for CS?
(Sell) I think Strong was already assured of a return based on everything I have heard behind the scenes all season. Saturday did not change that.
(BUY or SELL) This is the turning point for recruiting?
(Sell) The turning point will occur if the Longhorns can keep up the level of play the rest of the season, but one win rarely changes anything. It definitely helps with the overall profile of the program, though.
(BUY or SELL) If the Longhorns go 6-1 to end the season, then Jay Norvell is promoted to OC.
(Sell) My expectations are that the team will have a new coordinator after the season.
(BUY or SELL) DeShon Elliott starts to get snaps in the defensive backfield against KS, and replaces Haines the following week after he shows a huge talent jump over what’s on the field presently?
(Sell) I don’t see the coaches making a change that quickly.
(BUY or SELL) OU was overrated at #10 and we still don't know how good or bad this team will play the rest of the year?
(Buy) Texas exposed Oklahoma on several fronts and there’s no way to know what’s in store for this team the rest of the season.
(BUY or SELL) Jerrod Heard passes for more than 150 yds in at least 1 more game this year?
(Buy) I’ll say he does it at least twice.
(BUY or SELL) Let's imagine D’Onta Foreman starts getting 2/3 of the carries. Does it change the win total at the end of the year?
(Buy) I spent about five minutes debating this question and decided that before this season is all said and done, yes, it might just mean the difference between winning and losing in one of those final six games.
No. 6 – Week 2 CFB Randomness ...
… If I had a vote that mattered …
Florida
Utah
Alabama
LSU
Clemson
Texas A&M
Baylor
Ohio State
TCU
Michigan
… If college coaches and ADs are paying attention, Baylor ranking No. 2 in the nation after going out of its way to play no one for pretty much the entire first half of the season means there’s zero reason to play anyone of consequence in the nonconference portion of the season. There’s a very good chance that Texas would be ranked in the top 10 right now if it had played Baylor’s schedule. We’re talking about a team that has never beaten anyone of consequence outside of the Big 12 and the national media and the nation’s coaches are eating up what has historically been nothing but fool’s gold.
… More people watched a 400-pound man score a touchdown on Saturday than the number that stopped to take a hard look at the details of a rape scandal that’s essentially two months old.
… Trevone Boykin has the glow. You better keep the ball out of his hands if it’s in the final minutes of the game because he will get you beat.
… Baylor’s Corey Coleman might be the best Heisman candidate that no one seems to be listing as a Heisman candidate.
… Jim Harbaugh is very good … very, very good. Check that, he’s elite of the elite.
… Every time I think a team has secured a great win, the team it beat loses the next week, thus taking some of the shine off of what was thought to be a great win.
No. 7 – My own silent protest…
For the first time since the 1981 season when I was five years old, I didn’t watch the Dallas Cowboys play a regular season game.
Over the course of the last week, I found myself routinely put off by the reality that one-time convicted woman-beater Greg Hardy was about to wear the silver in blue. For months, I’ve just blocked the fact that he would eventually be in the line-up out of my mind, pretending that something would make it go away.
Instead, he formally arrived back on the scene on Tuesday, insulting women and humanity with almost every thought and spoken word. Then Jerry The Enabler doubled down on his insulting comments by adding to them. Then Jerry did it for a second time. Then I saw the rap video made while Hardy was suspended.
And I just had enough.
Jerry Jones gambled that Dallas fans everywhere would put their hypocrisies away over the exhilaration of a pass rush and while he’s probably more right than wrong, for at least one Sunday, I didn’t care about America’s Team.
Oh, I’m the first person that will point out that the NFL is comprised of a bunch of not-so-quality guys, but the Hardy situation… every step of it… requires more soul-selling than I’m currently willing to give. At no point on Sunday did I want to put myself in a situation where I found myself even remotely happy by something Hardy did on the field.
So, I didn’t watch.
What happens next, I’m not sure, but my zeal for the Cowboys has reached a new low over this situation, so much so that I’m in no rush to return to my normally scheduled Sunday viewing.
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… Scattershooting on Week 5 in the NFL …
a. Right when it looked like Cincinnati was proving to the world that the 2015 Bengals are the same as any previous year’s Bengals, something crazy occurred … the Bengals started taking it to Seattle like Rocky Balboa in the late rounds against Ivan Drago. Down 24-7 in the second half, the Bengals dug deep to a place I’m not sure that team has ever dug to in previous years. Suddenly, Andy Dalton looked elite, the defense and special teams started dominating the line of scrimmage, and suddenly the Bengals came all the way back and won the game in overtime. I’m not ready to say this team is elite, but it’s knocking on the door at 5-0. That was a big boy win.
b. The Seahawks might make the playoffs, but that team has wildcard written all over it, which means it isn’t going to the Super Bowl this season.
c. Damn, damn, damn … it happened again, as it looks like former Longhorn Jamaal Charles tore his right ACL, four years after he tore his left ACL. Brutal.
d. Cory Redding might have had a pick-six on Sunday if he’d been the same guy he was back in 2001 when he flipped his way into the end zone against North Carolina at DKR in a game most people will remember as the “Cole Pittman Game,” but the guy that made that play 14 years ago has been gone for a while, replaced by a rugged, veteran NFL defensive lineman. There might have been a better chance of him jumping over the moon as there would be him flipping into the end zone from five yards out.
e. Atlanta is living right.
f. The Ravens are done. The Saints are done. The Lions are done.
… Dallas Keuchel is the new Madison Bumgarner.
… What is this site going to look like if the Rangers and the Astros meet in the American
League Championship Series? It’s bad enough when the Rockets and the Mavs play in the regular season.
… Yes, I’m a Chase Utley homer, but his the slide that took out Ruben Tejada would have received barely a second glance if the injury hadn’t occurred, which was incredibly unfortunate and fluky. At this time of the year, the slides to break up a double play live more and more in the grey area of what is supposed to be allowed. We’re not talking about a guy in Utley with a reputation for being a goon. On the contrary, he’s know as a throw-back, all-hustle type. He should have been called out and he went in way too hot, but a lot of the reaction to what happened has been an overreaction.
… Over the course of the last year, my passion for soccer has at least multiplied 10 times over and it might have multiplied by 100 after Liverpool hired Jurgen Klopp on Friday. Yes, it’s true, I knew nothing more than his name a little more than a week ago, but I’ve spent my free time last week doing nothing but watching videos and reading articles about the man that seemed destined to take over for Brendan Rodgers. Call me a novice all you want, but I’ve found myself more excited about this hire for my adopted soccer team than any hire any of my favorite pro teams have made since Bill Parcells was hired by the Cowboys. My expectations? I’m just looking forward to wanting to watch Liverpool play because before his hire, watching the Reds play can feel like sitting in a doctor’s office for 90 minutes. YNWA!
No. 9 – It’s Oscars Season …
As the father of 19-month old twins that always seem to get sick when I’ve got a date with the Alamo Draft House, I can’t remember the last time I went to the movies.
It was sometime this summer, but I can’t remember when, which is a truth that makes my yearly quest of seeing every film and actor that will be Oscar-nominated (among the major awards) before the big event in February rather imposing.
How in the hell am I going to pull this off? The good news is that I haven’t missed much because few film released before October will be a factor in a few months, so I at least have a fighting chance.
However, I have my work cut out for me.
Here’s a list of the films (in order) that I’m looking forward to seeing in the coming months, complete with links to trailers for each movie.
1. The Revenant
2. Spotlight
3. The Hateful 8
4. Sicario
5. Bridge of Spies
6. Steve Jobs
7. Room
8. Brooklyn
9. Black Mass
10. Suffragette
11. Concussion
12. Son of Saul
13. The Danish Girl
14. Burnt
15. Beasts of No Nation
No.10 - And finally....
It’s been a while since I released a new musical Top 10, but I’m working on a Don Henley list and was wondering what songs outside of the obvious classics I need to give a third and fourth listen to.
I’m talking solo stuff, not his hits from The Eagles.
On the opening Monday of the first game-week of the season and just days before he would make his first start, Strong’s most important asset through the first 20 months on the job took to social media to give his head coach a little bit of public ribbing.
Moments later, another true freshman that was only days away from making his first career start (in South Bend, Indiana of all places), made sure that his teammate realized that everything in life comes with a price.
From my point of view, what was explicit in that moment of social media pleasure is that Strong clearly has a special relationship with the players on the team that are on campus because of him. They’re the players on the team that I refer to as “Charlie’s guys.”
For all of the conversations among the national and local media about the players that Charlie dismissed from the programs (most of whom had either been alleged to have committed a crime or couldn’t stop smoking weed) in the previous year, there was very little mention of the relationships that Strong had been able to build with the players who remained. While some might have frowned over Jefferson’s audacity to clown on his own head coach, what was really noteworthy about it for me was the window into the soul of this team that it provided.
Charlie’s guys love him. Unconditionally.
If you’re Jefferson, you don’t make that tweet if the door to Strong’s office in the football facility remains closed at all times.
If you’re Jefferson, you don’t make that tweet unless you’ve got a pretty special relationship with your coach.
No, the only way you make that tweet before you’ve ever played a down of football for Strong is if something more than the average player/coach relationship is building behind the scenes. I mean … you have to know that when he sees you later in the day, your backside isn’t going to be the grass to his lawnmower.
The aftermath of Saturday’s win was a showcase for the love that exists behind the scenes between the players that have embraced Strong as their leader. As soon as the final seconds ticked off the clock it seemed as if every player in the program made an effort to find Strong immediately. When dozens of them arrived at the same time, rather than wait their turns for a
hug, the players organically decided to share the experience collectively.
Along the way, Jefferson eventually found Strong on the field and as they embraced each other, the smile on each other’s face spoke to the bond that exists between the two. Little moments like that one were shared over the course of the next hour between Strong, his staff and every player on the team.
As someone who has covered this team professionally for more than 20 years, I’d personally rank the aftermath of Saturday’s win as one of true special moments of Longhorn football I’ve seen. From a spectator’s standpoint, I couldn’t get enough of the euphoria because so much angst had existed around this program over the last month that a feel-good moment such as this needed to be savored.
Of course, the team is still 2-4 heading into a bye week and much work remains to be done, but for one day the special qualities of Strong’s ability as a coach and leader of men was on display for the entire nation to view.
It can be argued that those qualities are on display far more often than most realize, but winning has a way of highlighting progress in a way that losing almost never allows for.
Assuming that yesterday was a first step and not a final destination, the outpouring of love within the program has likely just begun.
No. 2 - Capturing Saturday’s performance in a bottle …
On a day when the Longhorns mostly dominated Oklahoma en route to a win that on the surface appears to have given some wind to the team’s 2015 sails, here’s a look at some of the things the Longhorns were able to accomplish that need to be repeated in future games if Texas wants to continue winning games with a similar formula.
1. Play ahead
When you’ve got a team that is hesitant with its passing game and would prefer the offense be centered on its quarterback’s legs and an improving running game, the best way to accomplish that is by scoring first and eliminating as much chasing on the scoreboard as is humanly possible. One of the underrated storylines of this game was that the Longhorns not only scored first, but the separation created from the team’s second touchdown allowed the offense to work with breathing room for pretty much the remainder of the day, as there wasn’t a single moment in the game where Texas trailed or was put into a position where the unit was forced to stray from the
game plan.
Moving forward, this team can’t afford to get behind by multiple scores as it has done in four of the other five games that it has played. The one fear about the offensive approach that the Longhorns invested in on Saturday is that if you find yourself in a pretty typical Big 12 shootout, you’ve got to be careful to play well enough early in the game that you can stay inside of your comfort zone.
2. Control down and distance on offense
On nine of the first 10 first-down plays, the Longhorns gained at least four yards seven times and gained positive yardage nine times.
As we discussed earlier, the best way for this Longhorn team to implement its preferred method of offensive football is to play ahead, but that isn’t exclusively related to the scoreboard. Controlling down and distance allows this offense to stay within itself and when the team was able to do exactly that on Saturday, it enjoyed success. When the offense sort of bogged down in the second and third quarters, it’s inability to do this was one of the reasons the Longhorns couldn’t add points to the scoreboard.
3. Speaking of down and distance, about the defense …
Let’s not make this rocket science. What’s good for the offense is bad for the defense and vice versa, which means often times, what happens on first down dictates everything that follows.
Consider the following third-down situations Oklahoma found itself in during the first half against the Longhorns:
3rd and 10
3rd and 8
3rd and 2
3rd and 14
3rd and 18
3rd and goal
3rd and 12
Guess which of these plays the Sooners converted … yup, third and two. The best way to typically get off the field on third downs is by playing well enough on first down that it puts the opposing offense into stressful down and distance situations.
Here’s a look at the second half third downs for the Sooners:
3rd and 9
3rd and 10
3rd and 12
3rd and 8
3rd and 14
Overall, the Longhorns forced the Sooners into 12 third downs during the game and were able to stop them from converting on nine of the plays. On pretty much every offensive drive of the game, the Longhorns won first down in a way that helped make Oklahoma completely uncomfortable. If Texas can keep winning on first downs, it’s going to win more third downs and that will likely translate to wins.
4. Eliminate mental mistakes and win turnovers
The numbers (zero turnovers and five penalties) only tell a piece of the story.
Consider that outside of the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Marcus Johnson following his touchdown and a facemask penalty on Kris Boyd, two of the other three penalties that the team committed were effort plays on defense.
What that translates to is zero false starts, delays of game, too many men on the field or offensive holding calls.
What the final numbers also don’t show upon initial inspection is that none of UT’s five penalties were committed in the second half.
Outside of just a couple occurrences, this team played an incredibly disciplined game, especially on the offensive side of the ball, which was responsible for two penalties and zero turnovers. That’s not going to happen every week, but a new standard has been set for this team to strive for each week.
No. 3 – NCAA Team Stats Through Five Games …
(Note: Difference from last week to this week in parenthesis)
Offensive Stats
Total offense: 106 (+5)
Rushing offense: 43 (+24)
Passing offense: 116 (-10)
Team Passing Efficiency: 82 (+5)
3rd Down Conversions: 99 (+19)
Red-zone offense: 54 (-25)
Turnovers: 12 (+12)
Defensive Stats
Total defense: 111 (+8)
Rushing defense: 89 (+19)
Passing defense: 109 (+9)
Team Passing Efficiency: 117 (+4)
3rd Down Conversions: 117 (+5)
Red-zone defense: 114 (+1)
Team sacks: 52 (+49)
Turnovers: 35 (-11)
Defensive touchdowns: 1 (same)
Special Teams
Kickoff returns: 87 (+12)
Kickoff return D: 121 (-4)
Net punting: 42 (+3)
Punt returns: 7 (+2)
Punt return D: 10 (-1)
No. 4 – Scattershooting on the Longhorns …
… I can’t say enough good things about true freshmen offensive linemen Connor Williams and Patrick Vahe after their combined performance against the Sooners. In an incredibly pressurized setting, both players imposed their will on Oklahoma defensive linemen over four quarters and limited their mental mistakes to an absolute minimum. What the Longhorns are receiving right now from both players is outside of what should be expected from linemen who were high school players at this time a year ago.
… Forgive me for not mentioning Holton Hill in my initial post-game remarks because he deserves his own set of accolades after making his physical presence felt all over the field, while settling in quite nicely at cornerback in his first career start. Barring injuries, one of those cornerback spots is on lockdown for at least the next 30 games.
.. Speaking of true freshmen, DeShon Elliott is going to make a game-changing play on defense in the very near future.
… Interestingly enough, the Longhorns rank 42 in team punting, but freshman Michael Dickson ranks only 76th in the country in punting, which says a lot about the job that the punt coverage unit is doing.
… What Malik Jefferson did on Saturday was very much Derrick Johnson-esque. Keep it up, young fella.
… I know a lot of people are down on John Bonney, but keep a few things in mind …
He’s just a freshman.
The coaches like him.
He’s just a freshman.
No. 5 – Buy or sell…
(As always these are real questions submitted by real Orangebloods subscribers.)
(BUY or SELL) Texas goes 5-1 in their last 6 games?
(Sell) That’s asking for perfection outside of the Baylor game and I don’t see a team yet capable of that kind of consistent good play. Not yet, anyways.
(BUY or SELL) The OU win by itself is enough to guarantee a third season for CS?
(Sell) I think Strong was already assured of a return based on everything I have heard behind the scenes all season. Saturday did not change that.
(BUY or SELL) This is the turning point for recruiting?
(Sell) The turning point will occur if the Longhorns can keep up the level of play the rest of the season, but one win rarely changes anything. It definitely helps with the overall profile of the program, though.
(BUY or SELL) If the Longhorns go 6-1 to end the season, then Jay Norvell is promoted to OC.
(Sell) My expectations are that the team will have a new coordinator after the season.
(BUY or SELL) DeShon Elliott starts to get snaps in the defensive backfield against KS, and replaces Haines the following week after he shows a huge talent jump over what’s on the field presently?
(Sell) I don’t see the coaches making a change that quickly.
(BUY or SELL) OU was overrated at #10 and we still don't know how good or bad this team will play the rest of the year?
(Buy) Texas exposed Oklahoma on several fronts and there’s no way to know what’s in store for this team the rest of the season.
(BUY or SELL) Jerrod Heard passes for more than 150 yds in at least 1 more game this year?
(Buy) I’ll say he does it at least twice.
(BUY or SELL) Let's imagine D’Onta Foreman starts getting 2/3 of the carries. Does it change the win total at the end of the year?
(Buy) I spent about five minutes debating this question and decided that before this season is all said and done, yes, it might just mean the difference between winning and losing in one of those final six games.
No. 6 – Week 2 CFB Randomness ...
… If I had a vote that mattered …
Florida
Utah
Alabama
LSU
Clemson
Texas A&M
Baylor
Ohio State
TCU
Michigan
… If college coaches and ADs are paying attention, Baylor ranking No. 2 in the nation after going out of its way to play no one for pretty much the entire first half of the season means there’s zero reason to play anyone of consequence in the nonconference portion of the season. There’s a very good chance that Texas would be ranked in the top 10 right now if it had played Baylor’s schedule. We’re talking about a team that has never beaten anyone of consequence outside of the Big 12 and the national media and the nation’s coaches are eating up what has historically been nothing but fool’s gold.
… More people watched a 400-pound man score a touchdown on Saturday than the number that stopped to take a hard look at the details of a rape scandal that’s essentially two months old.
… Trevone Boykin has the glow. You better keep the ball out of his hands if it’s in the final minutes of the game because he will get you beat.
… Baylor’s Corey Coleman might be the best Heisman candidate that no one seems to be listing as a Heisman candidate.
… Jim Harbaugh is very good … very, very good. Check that, he’s elite of the elite.
… Every time I think a team has secured a great win, the team it beat loses the next week, thus taking some of the shine off of what was thought to be a great win.
No. 7 – My own silent protest…
For the first time since the 1981 season when I was five years old, I didn’t watch the Dallas Cowboys play a regular season game.
Over the course of the last week, I found myself routinely put off by the reality that one-time convicted woman-beater Greg Hardy was about to wear the silver in blue. For months, I’ve just blocked the fact that he would eventually be in the line-up out of my mind, pretending that something would make it go away.
Instead, he formally arrived back on the scene on Tuesday, insulting women and humanity with almost every thought and spoken word. Then Jerry The Enabler doubled down on his insulting comments by adding to them. Then Jerry did it for a second time. Then I saw the rap video made while Hardy was suspended.
And I just had enough.
Jerry Jones gambled that Dallas fans everywhere would put their hypocrisies away over the exhilaration of a pass rush and while he’s probably more right than wrong, for at least one Sunday, I didn’t care about America’s Team.
Oh, I’m the first person that will point out that the NFL is comprised of a bunch of not-so-quality guys, but the Hardy situation… every step of it… requires more soul-selling than I’m currently willing to give. At no point on Sunday did I want to put myself in a situation where I found myself even remotely happy by something Hardy did on the field.
So, I didn’t watch.
What happens next, I’m not sure, but my zeal for the Cowboys has reached a new low over this situation, so much so that I’m in no rush to return to my normally scheduled Sunday viewing.
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… Scattershooting on Week 5 in the NFL …
a. Right when it looked like Cincinnati was proving to the world that the 2015 Bengals are the same as any previous year’s Bengals, something crazy occurred … the Bengals started taking it to Seattle like Rocky Balboa in the late rounds against Ivan Drago. Down 24-7 in the second half, the Bengals dug deep to a place I’m not sure that team has ever dug to in previous years. Suddenly, Andy Dalton looked elite, the defense and special teams started dominating the line of scrimmage, and suddenly the Bengals came all the way back and won the game in overtime. I’m not ready to say this team is elite, but it’s knocking on the door at 5-0. That was a big boy win.
b. The Seahawks might make the playoffs, but that team has wildcard written all over it, which means it isn’t going to the Super Bowl this season.
c. Damn, damn, damn … it happened again, as it looks like former Longhorn Jamaal Charles tore his right ACL, four years after he tore his left ACL. Brutal.
d. Cory Redding might have had a pick-six on Sunday if he’d been the same guy he was back in 2001 when he flipped his way into the end zone against North Carolina at DKR in a game most people will remember as the “Cole Pittman Game,” but the guy that made that play 14 years ago has been gone for a while, replaced by a rugged, veteran NFL defensive lineman. There might have been a better chance of him jumping over the moon as there would be him flipping into the end zone from five yards out.
e. Atlanta is living right.
f. The Ravens are done. The Saints are done. The Lions are done.
… Dallas Keuchel is the new Madison Bumgarner.
… What is this site going to look like if the Rangers and the Astros meet in the American
League Championship Series? It’s bad enough when the Rockets and the Mavs play in the regular season.
… Yes, I’m a Chase Utley homer, but his the slide that took out Ruben Tejada would have received barely a second glance if the injury hadn’t occurred, which was incredibly unfortunate and fluky. At this time of the year, the slides to break up a double play live more and more in the grey area of what is supposed to be allowed. We’re not talking about a guy in Utley with a reputation for being a goon. On the contrary, he’s know as a throw-back, all-hustle type. He should have been called out and he went in way too hot, but a lot of the reaction to what happened has been an overreaction.
… Over the course of the last year, my passion for soccer has at least multiplied 10 times over and it might have multiplied by 100 after Liverpool hired Jurgen Klopp on Friday. Yes, it’s true, I knew nothing more than his name a little more than a week ago, but I’ve spent my free time last week doing nothing but watching videos and reading articles about the man that seemed destined to take over for Brendan Rodgers. Call me a novice all you want, but I’ve found myself more excited about this hire for my adopted soccer team than any hire any of my favorite pro teams have made since Bill Parcells was hired by the Cowboys. My expectations? I’m just looking forward to wanting to watch Liverpool play because before his hire, watching the Reds play can feel like sitting in a doctor’s office for 90 minutes. YNWA!
No. 9 – It’s Oscars Season …
As the father of 19-month old twins that always seem to get sick when I’ve got a date with the Alamo Draft House, I can’t remember the last time I went to the movies.
It was sometime this summer, but I can’t remember when, which is a truth that makes my yearly quest of seeing every film and actor that will be Oscar-nominated (among the major awards) before the big event in February rather imposing.
How in the hell am I going to pull this off? The good news is that I haven’t missed much because few film released before October will be a factor in a few months, so I at least have a fighting chance.
However, I have my work cut out for me.
Here’s a list of the films (in order) that I’m looking forward to seeing in the coming months, complete with links to trailers for each movie.
1. The Revenant
2. Spotlight
3. The Hateful 8
4. Sicario
5. Bridge of Spies
6. Steve Jobs
7. Room
8. Brooklyn
9. Black Mass
10. Suffragette
11. Concussion
12. Son of Saul
13. The Danish Girl
14. Burnt
15. Beasts of No Nation
No.10 - And finally....
It’s been a while since I released a new musical Top 10, but I’m working on a Don Henley list and was wondering what songs outside of the obvious classics I need to give a third and fourth listen to.
I’m talking solo stuff, not his hits from The Eagles.
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