Longhorns 2022 Thread

[Mr. P]

I'm seeing a wide variety of responses to Texas's awesome achievement against Alabama last week. While I don't believe in "moral victories" in sports, anyone with even a modicum of football sense could see that Alabama was getting pushed around on both sides of the ball.  

Whether you chalk it up to the Ewers injury, untimely penalties, or poor clock management at the end, UT had every opportunity to bring down Goliath. Based on pure physicality alone, UT beat 'Bama up and down the field. I can't remember the last time I saw a Saban squad so outmatched on the line of scrimmage. 

But I am interested in y'all's takeaway... how do you interpret this game going forward?

A one-game fluke (on par with the 2019 loss to LSU), or a clear sign of what's to come? At season's end is this game just going to be a one-off exception, or has Sark actually managed to right the ship?

Is UT just that good, or is Alabama that bad? 

[DB2point0]

Kinda dumb answer options for Texas fans.

[Mr. P]

8 minutes ago, DB2point0 said:

Kinda dumb answer options for Texas fans.

Not for a board that is not UT exclusive. 

[ETXfan16]

I was restricted on Saturday so I haven't expressed my thoughts yet lol. So here's my take for those that care...

It's hard to just pick one of those options, but I think it's a mix between 1 and 2. And option 1 isn't that Bama is bad, but they played really bad on Saturday. I don't think I've seen a more undisciplined Nick Saban team, like ever. And a lot of that can be credited to a few things.... A) the environment. DKR was absolutely nuts. See Will Anderson's comments B) Sark being in his bag with Quinn C) Texas being a lot better than they (as in Bama, and I guess everyone else) expected. 

I said it Saturday, but out of the 15 penalties Bama was called for, you can maybe pick up one or two, but the rest were blatant. I mean offsides, facemasks, PI's, they weren't ticky tack calls. It was Bama straight up making mental mistakes. While Texas was extremely disciplined for the most part.

This Saturday against UTSA will be the answer to the second option. How does UT bounce back from this and move forward? I certainly think they have the talent and coaching to make it to Dallas and possibly win the Big 12, but I've said it from day 1, I want to see them mentally tough and see how they handle adversity/a loss. Realistically, they had plenty of opportunities to win that game and it doesn't involve blaming the refs. But I do think the Bama game gave them some confidence that they can compete with not just one of the best teams, but the best program in college football.

Like Sark said, this doesn't define them or determine their trajectory for the rest of the season. The goals are still on the table and Saturday showed that they can get there, but will they have the fortitude to get there, is the real question imo.

[514]

How they responds the next 2 weeks will give me all the answers I need. If they come out with the same intensity and energy as the did last Saturday week end and week out. Then the program has took a big step forward. I am tired of hearing about Alabama, its over lets move on. UTSA will bring all they got Saturday, that's all we should be focused on. If that turns out to be the case then I will feel good about this team and it's chances this year. If it turns out they are just happy about playing Bama close and reading about how good they are then we will take our usual 1 step forward and 2 step back approach

[Coach Rab]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:52 AM, Lobo97 said:

He won't be able to play for a few weeks, but it's his non throwing shoulder, so there's nothing to prevent him from still throwing the ball.

That’s great.  It Essentially means that the fear is a full surgical separation if he falls on it again but will be able to still get some actual practice in taking snaps and throws at the 3-4 week mark

[ETXfan16]

 

 This was a beautiful play call by Sark utilizing all three threats at RB. 

[Mr. P]

7 minutes ago, ETXfan16 said:

 

 This was a beautiful play call by Sark utilizing all three threats at RB. 

Good lord, that's superb! Man alive, I swear it's feast or famine with that guy!

There are moments he scares the absolute #### out of me. And other times he seems like an off-brand Greg Davis (if you can even imagine). 

[JohnnyFootball]

Not a Longhorn fan, but I honestly believe Texas played well. Gary Patterson absolutely owned Bill O'Brien at times. 

[ETXfan16]

12 minutes ago, LOL said:

Good lord, that's superb! Man alive, I swear it's feast or famine with that guy!

There are moments he scares the absolute #### out of me. And other times he seems like an off-brand Greg Davis (if you can even imagine). 

Right? I went back to watch the UL Monroe game and it's hilarious how bland and vanilla that was. Granted it was on purpose, but having Quinn back there opens up so many different looks for Sark. We saw the difference in play calling with Quinn vs Card and it was glaring. 

[ETXfan16]

3 hours ago, JustAFan11 said:

Quinn played at SLC after sports hernia surgery. He’s a tough kid and I’ve read that this could be a situation of pain tolerance once inflammation goes down. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s back sooner than expected. 
 

I expect Wright to start vs UTSA Saturday and depending on how that goes and how bad Cards ankle is next week, we might see Wright again vs Tech. 

Might just be me, but I like that Sark keeps information close to his chest. I like that he doesn't release the depth chart.

The media, especially Texas media, has been a huge distraction. They asked who was taking snaps at QB1 and his response was "That's for me".

[Red90fly]

I'd say TBD/"wait and see".  Been burned to many times.  At the end of the day, it's a loss and that's all that matters.  We can play the "what-if" game if Ewers had played the whole game or question the refs on calls/non-calls, but the bottom line is, a hobbled backup QB took them down and scored to take the lead with about a minute and half left.

Now, I think you can look at some things that were positives.  Outside of the long TD run early, you could make the case the Texas DL handled the Bama' OL.  The defense as a whole looks way better than last year so far (small sample size, keep in mind).  I know a lot of talk is Gary Patterson, but Kwiatkowski deserves credit IMO.  He's still calling the plays, and outside of the dumpster fire last year, this guy had a decade+ of high rated defenses.  I don't think he all of the sudden forget how to scheme/coach/call plays.  Defense just looks faster, is tackling/swarming to the ball, and getting pressure/penetration in the backfield.

I think something to add on with the defense is the previous three years it was three different DC's/schemes.  Maybe guys are more comfortable now, know assignments, not learning a new system for the third year in a row, ect.

It was always going to be difficult running against Bama'.  That front 7 may be the best in football and is nothing but high rated upperclassmen.  I was surprised Texas did as well as they did in pass-pro with two true freshman and another RS freshman starting.

Let's check back during the BYE week.  If Texas loses one of the next three, then it's probably same ol' same ol'.  UTSA, Tech, and WVU aren't that good and two of those are at home.

This team looked a lot better in game two of this year than last year.

[iRockNewbzz]

Sorry if this was mentioned earlier, but what exactly is Card's injury? Obviously something with his ankle, but to what extent? I know UTSA could give us a challenge, and Tech is no pushover but definitely winnable games if our Defense continues to get after it like we have the first 2 games. Patterson definitely makes a difference on that side of the ball, and before Ewers injury he threw for like what, 140?! Looked very poised and composed vs former #1 team in the country. I loved Sark's comment about not taking the rat poison, because we definitely are no where near COMPLETE but we have alot of nice building blocks in place. 

*If we could somehow land Duce Robinson and Jalen Hale....

[JustAFan11]

This is a different Texas team. Will they win the Big12…I don’t know but they aren’t the same team that went 5-7 last year and the biggest difference is the line play on both sides of the ball. Countless posters on her and other sites have said before Texas has all the talent at the skill positions but they are soft upfront. Saturday the Texas linemen controlled the game on both sides. To me that was the most encouraging aspect of the game. 

They struggled to run the ball against Alabama and that was unsurprising to me. In pass pro the Texas oline gave up 3 sacks (all with Card at QB), 1 was a CB blitz, 1 was Moody on a LB zone blitz, and the last one was Anderson after Bijan tripped after the play action fake. I’m sure these guys will continue to grow and get better as the season goes on. 
 

The depth at Dline was huge for Texas on Saturday in that heat. Honestly after the 81 yard touchdown run on the second drive for Alabama I thought to myself nothing has changed but I was wrong and the defense forces 6 straight punts after that. 
 

Now Alabama isn’t as good as everyone thought. They’re breaking in 2 new tackles on the oline and all new WRs. Their best player outside of Bryce Young was Gibbs. He was the go to guy on passing downs. Their CBs can be beat over the top but they are very tough over the middle. With BOB calling plays they’re very pass heavy but that’s ok because Bryce Young is that guy and if he needs too he can run. Alabama will get better as the year goes on but they aren’t unbeatable. 
 

I chose Texas was good because on Saturday they were good. That effort should be the new normal but we need to see it for every game and not just the high profile opponent. 

[JustAFan11]

2 hours ago, ETXfan16 said:

Might just be me, but I like that Sark keeps information close to his chest. I like that he doesn't release the depth chart.

The media, especially Texas media, has been a huge distraction. They asked who was taking snaps at QB1 and his response was "That's for me".

Completely agree. I watched the PC and loved his reply about QB reps in practice. 
 

Texas is Texas so they’re going to be discussed in the media as much as anyone. Him keeping some things from being a distraction for the team is brilliant. Think about how many questions the other players would’ve been asked about Wright if Sark makes it public or how many articles would’ve been written about it. These kids all use social media so he can’t stop that but he can control some of it. 

[iRockNewbzz]

While Alamaba doesn't seem to have the same caliber of athletes they had in recent years, other than that McClellan run, our defense was stout the entire game up until that very last drive (could have different outcomes if Ryan Watts makes that sack). Regardless, there was something noticeably different about this team. In past few years, if we got down, you could definitely tell and our play on the field showed that.

*On Saturday, the crowd was raucous, loud, cheerful and that's what is to be expected moving into the SEC in a few years. But like Sark said in an interview, that caliber of defense we played on Saturday set the bar. Plain and simple. We know what kind of defense we are capable of playing, and if it's not the same or even an improvement we didn't get better that week. I know UTSA and Tech are no pushovers, but I think our defense is gonna have to limit the scoring opportunities because without Ewers or Card, I'm not sure how efficient our O will be... 

[iRockNewbzz]

We won't forget that Roshon also played QB at Port-Neches Grove, so I could see him playing some in that game too 

[ETXfan16]

43 minutes ago, iRockNewbzz said:

Sorry if this was mentioned earlier, but what exactly is Card's injury? Obviously something with his ankle, but to what extent? I know UTSA could give us a challenge, and Tech is no pushover but definitely winnable games if our Defense continues to get after it like we have the first 2 games. Patterson definitely makes a difference on that side of the ball, and before Ewers injury he threw for like what, 140?! Looked very poised and composed vs former #1 team in the country. I loved Sark's comment about not taking the rat poison, because we definitely are no where near COMPLETE but we have alot of nice building blocks in place. 

*If we could somehow land Duce Robinson and Jalen Hale....

Card tweaked his ankle. He won't be out for UTSA, but they may put Wright out there for precautionary reasons. If i had to guess, we will see Wright Saturday, Card against WVU and Tech, and then Quinn is back for OU.

Now, none of that could happen. But that's the impression im starting to get from people in the know of what's really going on.

[WETSU]

Not a Texas fan either. I would say that Bama played what I think will be their worst game this season, but a lot of that is because Texas had a great plan for them. 
 

Bama wasn’t as bad as they looked, Texas isnt as good as they looked. The truth is somewhere in between. But Texas is definitely better than Alabama is bad. My preseason look on Texas was most likely 8-4 with 6-6 possible. I’d say now I view them as 9-3 with 10-2 very possible and 7-5 possible but unlikely. There’s still a lot that hinges on whether or not Card can be the guy for a few weeks. 

[Lhornfan]

I think the question can partially be answered by listening to the post game presser of the current projected #1 pick in next year’s NFL draft. He said it was the toughest game he has played in his career while at Alabama. And he spent a good part of the game against a true freshman at OT. 

[Baron]

4 hours ago, ETXfan16 said:

Card tweaked his ankle. He won't be out for UTSA, but they may put Wright out there for precautionary reasons. If i had to guess, we will see Wright Saturday, Card against WVU and Tech, and then Quinn is back for OU.

Now, none of that could happen. But that's the impression im starting to get from people in the know of what's really going on.

Rumor says it is a high ankle sprain for Card and an SC sprain for Ewers. I'm thinking we will see a good dose RoJo and Wright this weekend.

I'm more concerned how Jamison is doing because we will need him against Frank Harris who has thrown for 696 yds.

[DB2point0]

11 hours ago, LOL said:

Not for a board that is not UT exclusive. 

But your title specifically says the question is “….for UT fans”.  Which is it?

[blesseddaily]

I'm also not a Longhorn fan but I am a big fan of Coach Patterson and love his defensive schemes. He really is a genius at coming up with defensive schemes to match whatever offense they are facing. 

[WETSU]

3 hours ago, Lhornfan said:

I think the question can partially be answered by listening to the post game presser of the current projected #1 pick in next year’s NFL draft. He said it was the toughest game he has played in his career while at Alabama. And he spent a good part of the game against a true freshman at OT. 

I mean, can he really say it was tougher than the two losses they had last year. He was shut down by a true freshman OT that year as well. Perhaps that’s his kryptonite lol. 

[JustAFan11]

11 hours ago, Baron said:

Rumor says it is a high ankle sprain for Card and an SC sprain for Ewers. I'm thinking we will see a good dose RoJo and Wright this weekend.

I'm more concerned how Jamison is doing because we will need him against Frank Harris who has thrown for 696 yds.

Jamison had an MRI but everything was good. Same with Bijan on his shoulder.