Cotton Bowl: Horns-Buckeyes Game Thread

Deep red zone offense has been an issue for a couple of years now. Sark, and everyone else knows this. In a way I don’t blame him for not wanting to try and power it in four times straight into the meat of the D (probably losing a yard or two on each attempt). Nonetheless I wasn’t crazy about the pitch play. If it had caught them by surprise and worked then great but Caleb Downs is a bad mofo and he blew it up before it had a chance to develop.
The answer is a couple of big road grader guards and a power back and/or a big strong QB that can help move the pile. Hopefully next year we’ll have that - Arch definitely has the size and strength to do his part.
 
HalRex said:
Deep red zone offense has been an issue for a couple of years now. Sark, and everyone else knows this. In a way I don’t blame him for not wanting to try and power it in four times straight into the meat of the D (probably losing a yard or two on each attempt). Nonetheless I wasn’t crazy about the pitch play. If it had caught them by surprise and worked then great but Caleb Downs is a bad mofo and he blew it up before it had a chance to develop.
The answer is a couple of big road grader guards and a power back and/or a big strong QB that can help move the pile. Hopefully next year we’ll have that - Arch definitely has the size and strength to do his part.
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Brute force will work for us against most teams, but not against Ohio State yesterday. Even if we "lose" the G-C-G vs DT-NT-DT tackle battle in the middle of the line, a high-flying back can clear the pile for the TD. The LBs must time their counter-jumps just right, and hit the RB at an angle that will stop the high jumping back leaping OVER the pile.
 
Chop said:
Brute force will work for us against most teams, but not against Ohio State yesterday. Even if we "lose" the G-C-G vs DT-NT-DT tackle battle in the middle of the line, a high-flying back can clear the pile for the TD. The LBs must time their counter-jumps just right, and hit the RB at an angle that will stop the high jumping back leaping OVER the pile.
Click to expand...
OK, I'll tell Sark he needs to get his *** to Texas Relays and soccer practice to find us a kicker & high jumper that can take a hit.
 
I woke up this morning in a very foul mood. Yes, I guess I’m a glass half empty guy.

Not withstanding our inexplicable defensive breakdown at the end of the first half, and not withstanding the uncalled holding penalty that facilitated Ohio State going up 21 - 14, at the end of the fourth quarter we had a first and goal from the one. At that point, everything else that had happened prior in the game was not relevant. It was clear that we could play with this juggernaut of an opponent, and our opportunity was at hand.

I would be happy to give Ohio State credit for stopping us, but doing so would probably not be accurate. I think we stopped ourselves with very poor play calling and personnel selection. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Our uneven offensive performance for much of the year is difficult to process. With a very good roster of offensive lineman, receivers, a great TE and a talented quarterback room, we struggled to score points in game after game. I hope Sark can get that fixed next year, and with a different type of quarterback, perhaps he can. Again though, it seems odd the extent to which we struggled to score points down the stretch, and I believe it does raise questions about the consistency of Sark’s play calling.
 
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