Give Sark credit

Vol Horn 4 Life said:
I'm pretty sure everyone is happy we won but frustrated with the complete second half incompetence. We're a first half national champion and a second half conference basement dweller. We go into every single week knowing we'll probably have a big halftime lead and have to sweat it out to see if we can hold on. Who we are playing seems to be irrelevant, its ground hog day every Saturday.
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This is my take or speculation.

Sark does not trust his offense to not lose the game.
It's sort of analytics.
During the first half when we still have time to overcome mistakes (fumbles, interceptions, sacks, OL penalties) the offense is run more wide open.
But with a nice lead to open the second half there's not as much time or as many possessions to overcome these mistakes.
So the offense is drawn in and we try to burn time with the running game and hopefully score more points.
And hopefully the defense will continue to hold it's ground.

I could be full of it.
But that's the only explanation I can come up with.
 
Vol Horn 4 Life said:
I'm pretty sure everyone is happy we won but frustrated with the complete second half incompetence. We're a first half national champion and a second half conference basement dweller.
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The pattern is obvious, but your description is extremely hyperbolic.

We moved the ball well for most of the 2nd half. They got two turnovers, both of which an objective observer would say they earned. Neither Roschon nor Worthy were being careless with the ball when they fumbled, instead the KSU defenders made really good plays. We still held them off. Was it frustrating to watch, and did visions of past blown games arise in my head? Hell yes. But guess what? At the end of the night we forced a turnover of our own and we won the damned game. And we earned it.

I just can't understand posts around here that don't reflect an appreciation of the win. It's as if this team is being perpetually compared to 2005, and any shortcomings relative to that squad get nitpicked to death. It's a strange phenomenon.
 
Vol Horn 4 Life said:
I'm pretty sure everyone is happy we won but frustrated with the complete second half incompetence. We're a first half national champion and a second half conference basement dweller. We go into every single week knowing we'll probably have a big halftime lead and have to sweat it out to see if we can hold on. Who we are playing seems to be irrelevant, its ground hog day every Saturday.
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You may be right, but you posted that we were lucky to win because of one bounce that went our way. How about all the bounces that went KSU's way? RoJo does not fumble but did to keep us off the board. How about Worthy's fumble that was not due to carelessness on his part either. How about the two KSU's fumbles that we could very easily, but did not, recovered. I do not think we won because of a lucky bouncee of a single play.
 
I will bet that Saban will be 2nd guessed as much as anybody after their loss in LSU in OT. If Bama had kicked the extra point after their last two TDs, Bama wins in regulation and is still in the hunt.
 
We have to somehow realize what we're dealing with here: we have a lot of very young people in key positions on the team. Kansas State actually had some really good and smart (well coached?0 players. Their quarterback was very smart. On his lunge into the end zone he extended his leg so his knee would not touch the ground. When we were receiving a punt one of their players pushed one of ours towards the ball in order to induce a fumble. They caused a fumble by running behind our running back and waiting waiting waiting until the right moment to slap the ball away. They hustled to jump on loose balls. Vaughn is a great back and jumped right up after being lit up by our players. They had imaginative pass plays such as the quick turnaround that turned into a skinny post down the middle for a touchdown. Their fans were crazy loud.

But we won!

As for Sark keeping his composure; I thought he did in many situations as the play caller. My wife and I specifically discussed what it took to ignore a bad play and call the next one. The pre-snap penalties in key situations occurred more than once and there was Sark, on to the next play. We were mouthing off with our loud lamentations and he had to let it go. Frustration control is huge in this game.

I say he did a good job there.

The main thing was possibly selling out to the running game which maybe you can't blame him because Bijan was running like a Heisman Trophy winner. But that second half thing definitely needs to be worked out.

Regardless, we are 6 - 3, will move up in the rankings and have some great goals still ahead of us if we win out.
 
bystander said:
We have to somehow realize what we're dealing with here: we have a lot of very young people in key positions on the team. Kansas State actually had some really good and smart (well coached?0 players. Their quarterback was very smart. On his lunge into the end zone he extended his leg so his knee would not touch the ground. When we were receiving a punt one of their players pushed one of ours towards the ball in order to induce a fumble. They caused a fumble by running behind our running back and waiting waiting waiting until the right moment to slap the ball away. They hustled to jump on loose balls. Vaughn is a great back and jumped right up after being lit up by our players. They had imaginative pass plays such as the quick turnaround that turned into a skinny post down the middle for a touchdown. Their fans were crazy loud.

But we won!

As for Sark keeping his composure; I thought he did in many situations as the play caller. My wife and I specifically discussed what it took to ignore a bad play and call the next one. The pre-snap penalties in key situations occurred more than once and there was Sark, on to the next play. We were mouthing off with our loud lamentations and he had to let it go. Frustration control is huge in this game.

I say he did a good job there.

The main thing was possibly selling out to the running game which maybe you can't blame him because Bijan was running like a Heisman Trophy winner. But that second half thing definitely needs to be worked out.

Regardless, we are 6 - 3, will move up in the rankings and have some great goals still ahead of us if we win out.
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We play 2 true freshman on the OL. Our best TE and WR are sophomores. The QB is a RS freshman. The other WR is either a RS freshman or a true freshman. Our most experienced players are RB’s, which play great and are the most consistent. Imagine that!
 
Sangre Naranjada said:
The pattern is obvious, but your description is extremely hyperbolic.

We moved the ball well for most of the 2nd half. They got two turnovers, both of which an objective observer would say they earned. Neither Roschon nor Worthy were being careless with the ball when they fumbled, instead the KSU defenders made really good plays. We still held them off. Was it frustrating to watch, and did visions of past blown games arise in my head? Hell yes. But guess what? At the end of the night we forced a turnover of our own and we won the damned game. And we earned it.

I just can't understand posts around here that don't reflect an appreciation of the win. It's as if this team is being perpetually compared to 2005, and any shortcomings relative to that squad get nitpicked to death. It's a strange phenomenon.
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31 plays for 119 yards in the second half. One "drive" was for -1 yard.

You sticking with that story?
 
horninchicago said:
31 plays for 119 yards in the second half. One "drive" was for -1 yard.

You sticking with that story?
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I would say the two fumbles definitely occurred when we were moving the ball. Both came on big explosive type plays. Had we not fumbled who's to say we wouldn't have put more yardage and points on the board.

At the same time, it sounds like a boxer who say's, "I would have won the fight had he not knocked me out." Turnovers are part of the game. If you fumble then either you don't know how to protect the ball (meaning you're not an elite player) or they were just that good.

I say they were just that good.
 
bystander said:
I would say the two fumbles definitely occurred when we were moving the ball. Both came on big explosive type plays. Had we not fumbled who's to say we wouldn't have put more yardage and points on the board.

At the same time, it sounds like a boxer who say's, "I would have won the fight had he not knocked me out." Turnovers are part of the game. If you fumble then either you don't know how to protect the ball (meaning you're not an elite player) or they were just that good.

I say they were just that good.
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The first fumble happened in the first half when no one around here seems to have any issue with how Texas played offensively. The post I quoted above specifically said Texas was moving the ball well in the second half. I say they weren't.

The second fumble occurred in the 3rd quarter on the 4th play of a drive that had gained 20 yards.

Again, Texas won and it's great. The second half offense is a concern.
 
horninchicago said:
The first fumble happened in the first half when no one around here seems to have any issue with how Texas played offensively. The post I quoted above specifically said Texas was moving the ball well in the second half. I say they weren't.

The second fumble occurred in the 3rd quarter on the 4th play of a drive that had gained 20 yards.

Again, Texas won and it's great. The second half offense is a concern.
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If yesterday was a single occurrence I could understand more. But this is an ingrained pattern at this point and Sark needs to figure out what "he" needs to change to stop this. It starts with him.
 
bystander said:
Glad we won. It was stressful which is weird because it's just a game but my wife (a lifetime Longhorn) and I were fully invested. A couple things I posted on my FB page in the second half:

"It appears that the longhorns believe a zone defense means if someone comes into your zone you should move away from them and by all means not turn it into a man to man situation."

"Also tackling appears to be optional."

The play calling in the second half did appear to be based upon a stubborn insistence (is that redundant) on running the ball. But that pitch out on 3rd down to the short-side of the field was very frustrating. It was a critical point in the game and I wondered why the offensive guru didn't have some amazing play up his sleeve knowing he'd drawn the K-State defense in towards the overwhelming tendency we'd displayed to run the ball.

It was my impression we had some major busts in the secondary and that our linebackers dropped too far into coverage as Vaughn (who obviously was going to get the ball on a dump-off) was wide open. It was hard to understand what was happening.

The fumbles we cause but could not recover were excruciating. My wife now knows what a pre-snap penalty is. Hard core football and she started picking up on it.

Ewers seemed to drop some dimes in there at times. He has the capability but he's just inconsistent right now. It may be that simple; he's a young guy who hasn't played much.

This was the 13th ranked team in the country who SHUT OUT Okie State last week, though they now appear to be in a free fall. And we were on the road. Regardless of the stress we won the game.

It's just ugly watching the sausage being made. Imagine how the K-State fans feel.
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We play too much zone. The defensive coaches worry too much about mobile quarterbacks. In man coverage it’s, of course, difficult to play run defense in the secondary but at least there is a man close to every receiver. It’s better to tackle a quarterback in the open field than a running back or receiver with a full head of steam.
 
horninchicago said:
31 plays for 119 yards in the second half. One "drive" was for -1 yard.

You sticking with that story?
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I can alter the sentence to "we moved the ball well when we needed to in the second half", if it makes you happier. We did have some stagnant drives thanks to boneheaded penalties. However, the defense did its part, forcing KSU to kill more than 6 minutes of clock time to earn their last field goal, and then finally getting the turnover we needed. It's the definition of complementary football, in my opinion.
 
Sangre Naranjada said:
I can alter the sentence to "we moved the ball well when we needed to in the second half", if it makes you happier. We did have some stagnant drives thanks to boneheaded penalties. However, the defense did its part, forcing KSU to kill more than 6 minutes of clock time to earn their last field goal, and then finally getting the turnover we needed. It's the definition of complementary football, in my opinion.
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In your opinion. To you, posters can only have positive opinions and not be critical and analyze what didn't work in a game.
 
wadster said:
If yesterday was a single occurrence I could understand more. But this is an ingrained pattern at this point and Sark needs to figure out what "he" needs to change to stop this. It starts with him.
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Players haven’t helped either, unless you mean that is on Sark to solve as well.
 
For a little perspective:
-Kansas State had picked off more passes than allowed TD passes. No turnovers for Ewers.
-Worthy fumble changed the game. Was a great play by Ewers and it happened after D got a stop. We likely put a nice drive together there and momentum doesn’t swing.
-Kansas State was a solid run and overall defense and just gashed them. And it would have been more if we just run some RPO when there’s NINE men in the box.
-Just a little more creativity in second half. I understand wanting to lean on Bijan but don’t be a meat head and slam your head against the wall.
-We stopped Deuce on the ground after first drive. Obviously tough to cover in zone. Really shifty. Zone needs to be stickier. Again, Texas run defense may be biggest improvement this year.
-plenty of other things have been brought up. But a dub on the road against number 13 team in country and getting your self in position to run at the big 12 is huge.
-Also… more Savion Red please? And Brennan Thompson. Those two need some bubbles against TCU.
 
horninchicago said:
In your opinion. To you, posters can only have positive opinions and not be critical and analyze what didn't work in a game.
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Not true. If a poster has a legitimate critique that goes deeper than "we suckz again", I enjoy reading it. But most critical posts are nothing more than heat of the moment "we suckz again" type idiocy.
 
Vol Horn 4 Life said:
I'm pretty sure everyone is happy we won but frustrated with the complete second half incompetence. We're a first half national champion and a second half conference basement dweller. We go into every single week knowing we'll probably have a big halftime lead and have to sweat it out to see if we can hold on. Who we are playing seems to be irrelevant, its ground hog day every Saturday.
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I actually don’t think we necessarily need a big lead at halftime. I suspect the big lead may be part of the issue. I do feel like the problems this weekend would have been much less of an issue if not for the fumbles and false starts. The play calling to me didn’t become a real issue until the fourth quarter when we were trying to hold on and kill clock.

I will say that with a banged up secondary and an opposing QB that was heating up, shortening the game was a good decision. I think we needed to be more creative late, but I didn’t feel like the team just fell apart like they did against OK State. Still work to do, but I suspect we’re going to see a four quarter track meet this coming Saturday.
 
where does Bijan rank as far as the best rbs in the history of longhorn football?
I was pondering that.
I know it's early cause his career here isn't over yet but we've seen enough to have an idea.

He definitely gets #1 in my book for the best hands in receiving as a rb.
 
Pomspoms said:
where does Bijan rank as far as the best rbs in the history of longhorn football?
I was pondering that.
I know it's early cause his career here isn't over yet but we've seen enough to have an idea.

Earl is the greatest power back in NFL history. Bijan has the best hands in Longhorn running back history AND one of the top 2 shiftiest and he has power. Ricky had more power than Bijan And very good hands and moves. Bijan fits the modern game better than Earl. Until Bijan has the same impact in the NFL..the answer IMO is still Earl. I attended UT same time as Earl so I may be biased.

He definitely gets #1 in my book for the best hands in receiving as a rb.
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Since he won the game, I’ll give him credit. He/they earned it!

Sark did some good coaching by leaning on his stud running backs and very short passes, to hide that Ewers was still struggling on downfield throws (that weren’t wide open). I’m not convinced Ewers is better than Card this year. Especially, if you factor in mobility. Eating up clock was the right call with a 21 point lead as opposed to going 3 and out and extending the game in a hostile environment.
He learned after the OU 2021 debacle.

On Defense -The middle of the field is still wide open in our secondary but the D Line is playing great.

I think we will beat TCU, but they have the best QB in the conference. We will need to step it up and I think we will.

The final record ranges from 6-7 to 11-3. So a lot of football is left to do great things or crap the bed.
 
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