Longhorns 2016 Thread

[514]

I just hope this is not a sign of things to come in the future. I don't want Texas to become a Baylor or Texas Tech having to score over 40 to 50 points to win games because of a high tempo offense that makes a defense play more snaps in every game.

[JustAFan11]

Texas was up 24-14 when Swoopes through his INT. That should've been the drive where we ran the ball 16 times and punch it in to take a commanding lead.

 

I don't have a problem with Swoopes throwing the ball but he had 6'6 Colin Johnson wide open on a slant and over threw him. That was brutal for momentum and confidence.

[cats69]

This is why Longhorn fans use the term, aggy

and this is why people don't like you. Thats your best response? How about providing some substance as to why my statement is false?

[DB2point0]

For you Aggies, spavital's offense looked like it knew how to attack a defense

[Lhornfan]

All you guys making excuses for the defense need to man up. Mental mistakes don't happen as often as they did last night to a well coached team.

 

A few observations now that I've cooled off after last night. First the offense:

1. Why do we avoid the middle of the field throwing the ball? We've got some burners, and a good slant, post, dig or cross could really open some things up. Remember the days that Quan Crosby used to kill defenses catching a crossing route on the run?

2. Who's in charge of the RB's playing time? We've got two beasts at RB, and I see guys play the whole series or even two without the other guy seeing the field. As good as Foreman is, I would have loved to see Warren come in a few times late because he had to have fresh legs.

3. What happened to the idea of getting Heard the ball? We also were very fortunate to get Devin Duvernay from Baylor after their collapse, and he has had 3 targets. Get that young man some touches. Run a reverse, a fly sweep, a shuttle pass, etc...

4. Last one... 3rd and 14 to go, and we throw a 6 yard curl to Oliver. PS - we are NOT in FG range. What the ####? Are we just getting our punter an extra 6 yards. And there was no real pressure on Shane.

 

Defense - where to start?

1. DB's overall technique is poor to say the least. I thought Hill did a decent job, but the rest seem to playing on nothing more than a spirited pep talk. "You a 4/5 star athlete that can cover anybody. Plus you got a cool twitter handle and ran track in high school."

2. Somebody tell K. Boyd he is no longer at Gilmer High School. He's going to have to step up his game if he wants to see the field. He's not the big fish on campus anymore like high school.

3. If our safeties are going to #### balls, let's go ahead and put Brandon Jones out there. That guy is flying all over the field trying to make a play. And I'm pretty sure he can make an open field tackle.

4. "If it's easy, it's sleazy!" This is what I've heard DL coaches tell their players for many years. Learn to recognize a screen guys. The OL isn't going to just stop blocking you unless they want you to run up field.

5. Vance Bedford - please get up to the white board and explain the idea of a gap control. Because you got guys playing in the same gaps all night. You crash an end on the TB with no one to play the keep or D gap. When you finally figure this out, you put your OLB to the D gap, and there is no one to cover the C gap after Malik takes on the lead blocker... aka the last run of the game.

6. How about dropping a safety into the box every now and then when the offense doesn't have 4 WRs. Bedford is playing too much Cover His Own A$s with his two safeties WAYYY over the top for protection. And then we still get beat deep!

 

Rant over. Great week for a bye. Challenge the secondary and let B. Jones get some reps. OSU is next, and they are going to throw the ball just like Cal.

[Lhornfan]

nm

[Lhornfan]

Seriously though, I can't understand why top defensive talent would go to Texas over A&M in this class. This is not even comparable... Chavis>>>>>Bedford.

I can't think of a single Texas player that chose the Longhorns because of Bedford like defensive players do for Chavis. Players specifically mention Strong or Brian Jean-Mary. There were even some DL that mentioned Brick Haley. And don't forget the ace in the hole for East Texas - Jeff Traylor. He's the one that pulled in Jones.

[JohnnyFootball]

Tough loss for Texas vs Cal for the 2nd year in a row. Missed the entire 4th quarter, so I don't know what happened. I think the defense can improve- the talent is definitely there. Dunno what happened- Spav was never that great at A&M lol.

[WETSU]

For you Aggies, spavital's offense looked like it knew how to attack a defense

That's not spavitals offense.... He's not even in complete control of play calling. Everything goes through Dykes.

[JustAFan11]

All you guys making excuses for the defense need to man up. Mental mistakes don't happen as often as they did last night to a well coached team.

 

A few observations now that I've cooled off after last night. First the offense:

1. Why do we avoid the middle of the field throwing the ball? We've got some burners, and a good slant, post, dig or cross could really open some things up. Remember the days that Quan Crosby used to kill defenses catching a crossing route on the run?

2. Who's in charge of the RB's playing time? We've got two beasts at RB, and I see guys play the whole series or even two without the other guy seeing the field. As good as Foreman is, I would have loved to see Warren come in a few times late because he had to have fresh legs.

3. What happened to the idea of getting Heard the ball? We also were very fortunate to get Devin Duvernay from Baylor after their collapse, and he has had 3 targets. Get that young man some touches. Run a reverse, a fly sweep, a shuttle pass, etc...

4. Last one... 3rd and 14 to go, and we throw a 6 yard curl to Oliver. PS - we are NOT in FG range. What the ####? Are we just getting our punter an extra 6 yards. And there was no real pressure on Shane.

 

Defense - where to start?

1. DB's overall technique is poor to say the least. I thought Hill did a decent job, but the rest seem to playing on nothing more than a spirited pep talk. "You a 4/5 star athlete that can cover anybody. Plus you got a cool twitter handle and ran track in high school."

2. Somebody tell K. Boyd he is no longer at Gilmer High School. He's going to have to step up his game if he wants to see the field. He's not the big fish on campus anymore like high school.

3. If our safeties are going to #### balls, let's go ahead and put Brandon Jones out there. That guy is flying all over the field trying to make a play. And I'm pretty sure he can make an open field tackle.

4. "If it's easy, it's sleazy!" This is what I've heard DL coaches tell their players for many years. Learn to recognize a screen guys. The OL isn't going to just stop blocking you unless they want you to run up field.

5. Vance Bedford - please get up to the white board and explain the idea of a gap control. Because you got guys playing in the same gaps all night. You crash an end on the TB with no one to play the keep or D gap. When you finally figure this out, you put your OLB to the D gap, and there is no one to cover the C gap after Malik takes on the lead blocker... aka the last run of the game.

6. How about dropping a safety into the box every now and then when the offense doesn't have 4 WRs. Bedford is playing too much Cover His Own A$s with his two safeties WAYYY over the top for protection. And then we still get beat deep!

 

Rant over. Great week for a bye. Challenge the secondary and let B. Jones get some reps. OSU is next, and they are going to throw the ball just like Cal.

Offense

1. Agreed, no idea why we don't hit slants. Only thing I can think is they haven't given Shane the whole playbook.

2. I like the series switching of the RBs but I agree id love to have one of them fresh for the 4th quarter.

3. They tried to get Heard some screen passes but our WRs don't block well. We didn't hit anything down field on a wheel route. Agree on Dev, I think he'll start getting more reps.

4. They didn't trust Shane to throw downfield after he was hurt.

 

Defense

1. Hill is our best CB but he's been in the doghouse because of his preparation.

2. Boyd has the least amount of reps at CB than any CB on the team. He's great on punt coverage because he just flys downfield and hits, no thinking just track and smack. Give him time he'll be fine. Remember he played very little CB in high school.

3. Just like Kris Boyd, Jones is asked to track and smack on punt/kickoff coverage. I want to see him at safety too but give him time.

4. DL is a struggle, our best player may be the freshman Roach. We're going to need the freshmen DL to step up and provide something in Big 12 play.

5/6. I've got nothing for you. Hopefully we see some good things in 2 weeks.

 

I really just wanted to reply to have some feedback and discussion.

[BrawnyMan]

I haven't gotten to watch the game yet, I just tracked it through gametrax but I noticed they didn't get the ball to Heard any. Also noticed Cal didn't have much of an answer for Warren or Foreman so i'm not sure why they didn't just pound it on them more and eat up clock. Defensively I have been wondering why the wont get Jones in there more, safety is an obvious weak point in the defense besides the line who only has young talent.

[thegreatbambino]

Hopefully they use this game to better prepare them for all the air raid offenses they will face in the big 12. The run defense hasn't done as bad as I thought. Each game they give up 1 big run of 50+ yards and other than that they don't do too bad. But I thought the secondary would be a strength for this team, but I was shown otherwise. All in all this team still has a good chance to compete and win the big 12. They've shown a lot of fight that we haven't seen the last few years, which is good. A 2-1 record after the first 3 games is what most of us thought they would be. Time to fix some stuff and get some players healthy for OSU.

[JohnnyFootball]

That's not spavitals offense.... He's not even in complete control of play calling. Everything goes through Dykes.

I noticed that there weren't near enough swing passes on 3rd and long to be a Spavital offense. Sonny Dykes has a far more vertical passing game that looked like it was on display.

 

As someone else said, this game isn't the end of the world for Texas. It gave them a chance to see a pretty high-flying offense. And let's not forget- the Horns DID score 43 points. If they can learn from a few defensive mistakes this game, I think they can definitely beat anyone in the Big XII. OU, TCU, and Baylor are not as strong as they have been.

[JustAFan11]

I borrowed this from a fan site to sum up my feelings on coach Strong and this Texas team.

 

 

Strong has put my emotions to the test. He's flung me through the ringer with every emotion more than once and I must say it's been exhausting. I desperartely want the man to succeed but every time he earns my trust he seems to rip it out in the most painful ways. The man can flat out recruit and evaluate. He's a top five coach in the country in that category IMO. He's also a great leader for the university and the young men he's entrusted with.

 

Here we sit at 2-1. We all expected 2-1 but only Strong could find a way to meet our expectations but do so in a way that has ppl up in arms. He truly has a talent for that doesn't he? This season is still young and a program defining season is still obtainable if the work is put in. Strong has two weeks to right the defensive ship and get this thing back on the tracks. Can he do it? I believe he can. Will he? I never know the answer to that question regarding Strong no matter the circumstances in which it's asked. That's probably been the most frustrating aspect of Strong's tenure so far; believing he has the ability but not sure if he has the decisiveness and the self awareness to get the job done. IMO we'll know very soon if Strong is the Coach we hope he is. If OSU and OU combine to hang 100 on us then I believe that will set things in motion that will be hard to overcome. Keep that number to below 60 and I think he's got a chance to stick around for a while. Honestly neither scenario would shock me with Strong... not at this point.

[JustAFan11]

The next game will be very telling IMO.

 

If Texas goes to Stillwater and holds osu to less than 30. Then I think the Cal game falls on the players more so than Bedford. If they give up 40 or more then Strong may have to make a change at DC.

[Lobo97]

The next game will be very telling IMO.

 

If Texas goes to Stillwater and holds osu to less than 30. Then I think the Cal game falls on the players more so than Bedford. If they give up 40 or more then Strong may have to make a change at DC.

Personally, I already think he needs to make a change at DC. The Cal game isn't the only game the defense has looked that unprepared.

 

If you have talent (which the Texas defense has) and are still always unprepared, that falls on the coach. That's Bedford.

[JustAFan11]

Personally, I already think he needs to make a change at DC. The Cal game isn't the only game the defense has looked that unprepared.

 

If you have talent (which the Texas defense has) and are still always unprepared, that falls on the coach. That's Bedford.

The only reason I'm giving Bedford the OSU game is because he, Strong, and every defensive player that was interviewed post game said the same thing. They all said during practice they had no busts, no blown assignments, and no confusion. The players said it was on them, that they didn't execute during the game.

 

So I'm going to take their word for it and see what they look like vs osu. That's really all we can do because Bedford isn't losing his job today.

[WETSU]

The next game will be very telling IMO.

 

If Texas goes to Stillwater and holds osu to less than 30. Then I think the Cal game falls on the players more so than Bedford. If they give up 40 or more then Strong may have to make a change at DC.

Is there any truth to the rumor that Strong already has a heavy hand in the defensive playcalling?

[Lobo97]

The only reason I'm giving Bedford the OSU game is because he, Strong, and every defensive player that was interviewed post game said the same thing. They all said during practice they had no busts, no blown assignments, and no confusion. The players said it was on them, that they didn't execute during the game.

 

So I'm going to take their word for it and see what they look like vs osu. That's really all we can do because Bedford isn't losing his job today.

Well what do you expect them to say? I mean let's be honest, no player is going to come out and say, "We're doing exactly what we're being told. Problem is, what we're being told is wrong and getting us beat. We have the talent, we just need someone who's going to better teach us."

[JustAFan11]

Is there any truth to the rumor that Strong already has a heavy hand in the defensive playcalling?

I think he has a heavy hand on the defense in practice. I don't think he calls plays during the games.

[Lobo97]

It was pointed out already earlier, players aren't committing to Vance Bedford. They're committing because they believe in Charlie Strong. They're committing to Brick Haley, Brian Jean-Mary, and even Jeff Traylor. I don't want to see Haley nor Jean-Mary go anywhere. I think the lone person who needs to be replaced is Bedford. He's three games into his 3rd season, and I've yet to see anything that says keep him.

[JustAFan11]

Well what do you expect them to say? I mean let's be honest, no player is going to come out and say, "We're doing exactly what we're being told. Problem is, what we're being told is wrong and getting us beat. We have the talent, we just need someone who's going to better teach us."

You're exactly right but what else can we do? Bedford didn't own it, Strong didn't own it. The players did, none of us can see practice so we don't know if they are great in practice and lost on Saturday's.

 

Sure we've seen the defense look terrible before but we've seen them shut down teams too. Our next 2 opponents, our defense shut down last year. So with a week off and a team that our D has played good against before I want to see what we look like then.

[Lobo97]

You're exactly right but what else can we do? Bedford didn't own it, Strong didn't own it. The players did, none of us can see practice so we don't know if they are great in practice and lost on Saturday's.

 

Sure we've seen the defense look terrible before but we've seen them shut down teams too. Our next 2 opponents, our defense shut down last year. So with a week off and a team that our D has played good against before I want to see what we look like then.

Then maybe that's the problem. Talent or not, it's the coaches job to get the players ready. If the coaches aren't 'owning it', them perhaps that's why it's not getting better.

[JustAFan11]

It was pointed out already earlier, players aren't committing to Vance Bedford. They're committing because they believe in Charlie Strong. They're committing to Brick Haley, Brian Jean-Mary, and even Jeff Traylor. I don't want to see Haley nor Jean-Mary go anywhere. I think the lone person who needs to be replaced is Bedford. He's three games into his 3rd season, and I've yet to see anything that says keep him.

His first defense in 2014 was pretty good. Lots of EXPERIENCED talent.

 

I've said before I don't care if they remove Bedford or not but he can coach a defense.

 

Maybe the defense is too complicated for these young guys?

[JustAFan11]

Then maybe that's the problem. Talent or not, it's the coaches job to get the players ready. If the coaches aren't 'owning it', them perhaps that's why it's not getting better.

We've seen Strong own it before vs TCU, vs Iowa st, and others. He put this one on execution.