How you like Ehlinger now?

I have waited 5 days to post to this thread and man have I had my share of crow from earlier in the season to eat over the last 5 days. Like many others on here, I was flat out wrong. The hangover from last year's Turkey Day Tech debacle was just rekindled after my trip to DC to see the Maryland game. And after being burned by Charlie & Co, I was dead set to take a wait and see approach on TH. And through the Tulsa game, I wasn't happy with what I had seen from our coaching or our QB.

Specifically regarding Sam, I was a naysayer, determined that the critical errors in key decision time he made as a freshman were in his DNA and couldn't be changed. I was one of the posters that told everyone unless you were at the Maryland game you couldn't see how poor his passes were and how our receivers were bailing him out with great catches. Even through the USC game, I was adamant the the stats were misleading and that had he been more accurate in his passes our receivers would have plenty of more TD's. I was flat out wrong.

What I saw from him on Saturday blew me away. I couldn't believe the throws I saw, the progression reads and in a big game situation the great decision making from him (disregard the 3rd down throw away, where he should have kept the ball and run the clock). I would say three throws from Sam in Saturday's game have changed my opinion of him. The deep ball to CJ on the first drive was perfectly thrown- I think it was his best deep ball this year and maybe over both years. His TD across the middle to LJH over the defender was a throw I haven't seen him make this year. And my personal favorite was the drop-in TD to Watson on the wheel route. From our seats in the NE corner I could see that play develop from the snap and was yelling at the top of my lungs- "HE'S GOT HIM!! THIS IS A TD!!! HE'S GOT HIM" before Watson even broke upfield and Sam had looked back his way. People in my section were looking at me like I was crazy until they saw Sam drop it in perfectly. As much as I have said in the other games- you just can't see how off the passes are unless you are at the game, I will say that from Saturday- you just can't see how good his passes were unless you were at the game.

Mr Ehlinger/ Coach Herman- I was flat out wrong and am damn happy that I was! Keep doing what your doing and I will keep my mouth shut.
 
Last week we had very few sideways passes. I actually thought we could have more (I know right) mainly because their secondary is so much smaller. CJ and LJH are damn near impossible to contain 1-1 and if a defender goes low and misses or they break free life gets really good for us. With Duverney and the way Beck is playing, we have as good of a receiving core as anyone right now. Mapps was stupid to leave. CJ will almost certainly go pro so Mapps could have had a breakout year next year. Patience grasshoppers.
 
wadster said:
Last week we had very few sideways passes. I actually thought we could have more (I know right) mainly because their secondary is so much smaller.
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I suspect it's because they played a lot of press man coverage (for some reason). I don't remember a whole lot of plays where they were giving lots of cushion, but I may be forgetting them. But when we were in four and five wides, it seemed like they were in man and playing about 5 yards off pretty consistently. We did run a couple of receiver screens that worked well, but man, when your middle passing game is so open, why bother?
 
I really hope we can keep LJ, but I got the impression he is going to be moving on no matter what rating he is given.
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Hmm, what have you read/heard that makes you think he's already decided to leave?

Look, Colt had an AWFUL deep ball as well.
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I don't think he did. He didn't have a very strong arm, but that's a separate issue. Yeah, he couldn't heave the ball half the field away ala VY to Tony Jeffrey against KSU in 2003, but he hit guys accurately running 30-35 yard routes well enough. It's just that we were so damn good at running short and medium routes with Cosby and Shipley (who were both excellent at them and at YAC) and Collins and Ogbonnaya (who weren't as good but still quality guys), and Colt would hit them on-target and in-stride most of the time, so that we only needed run deep routes a few times a game just to keep the D honest.

The deep ball to CJ on the first drive was perfectly thrown- I think it was his best deep ball this year and maybe over both years . . . . And my personal favorite was the drop-in TD to Watson on the wheel route. . . . People in my section were looking at me like I was crazy until they saw Sam drop it in perfectly.
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Agree completely on the first, but not the second. That ball was quite underthrown, but Watson had burned the poor LB/DE so badly that he could wait on the pass and still beat the guy to the endzone.
 
It sounds like there's a decent chance that he's back for Okie State. We'll see... fortunately Okie State's offense has been in a serious funk, and I'm hoping that continues.
 
Horn87 said:
broke Vince's season rushing td record!!
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Mentioned with Vince, compared to Tebow, said Texas is baaaaaaaaaack, now all he needs to do is say a few prayers on TV with a split screen with that awesome picture of him when he was two and he's guaranteed a Heisman.
 
I was convinced by posters here that Texas wouldn't win a game as big as the Sugar Bowl until Cam Rising was the quarterback. Thanks for proving me wrong Sam!
 
Orange capes, anyone?

sam-cape.jpg
 
Two common mantras:

1. We need to play the backup QB more.
2. A team with two QB's has none.

Which is it going to be? Many will be unhappy whichever way we go.
The ONLY way to get reps for the backup is to be in a blow out. Exactly how many of those have we had? I count zero!
 
mchammer said:
Healthy Sam is good. We need to play Shane more next year in case Sam is hurt.
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This. There is no doubt that Sam is a tough competitor. His key asset is strength and balance. He just doesn't go down easy. Not a graceful runner or a fast runner but super competitive.

That doesn't make for a great career in most cases. We REALLY need to develop a running game and red zone offense that doesn't depend on Sam to scramble/sneak. It's nice to have that capacity but it is VERY likely that he will get hurt with 15-20+ carries per game and when he does, our whole season goes out the window.

It was great to have this asset to get over the hump, but we have got to develop a legit run game with a RB that can score inside the 5yd for next year.

That 4th down score from 1yd out told you all you needed to know. Teams are totally zeroed in on Sam inside the 5yd and will be even more so next year. If we don't develop reliable options, that 3 yd sneak that we frequently find ourselves in, will fail more often than not next year.
 
Heck, it failed 3 times out of 4 in that sequence. I guess you only need it to work 1 time out of 4, but it would be nice have a Cody Johnson type back to mix in there too if we want to slam the ball up the middle against all 11 guys over and over.
 
BrntOrngStmpeDe said:
This. There is no doubt that Sam is a tough competitor. His key asset is strength and balance. He just doesn't go down easy. Not a graceful runner or a fast runner but super competitive.

That doesn't make for a great career in most cases. We REALLY need to develop a running game and red zone offense that doesn't depend on Sam to scramble/sneak. It's nice to have that capacity but it is VERY likely that he will get hurt with 15-20+ carries per game and when he does, our whole season goes out the window.

It was great to have this asset to get over the hump, but we have got to develop a legit run game with a RB that can score inside the 5yd for next year.

That 4th down score from 1yd out told you all you needed to know. Teams are totally zeroed in on Sam inside the 5yd and will be even more so next year. If we don't develop reliable options, that 3 yd sneak that we frequently find ourselves in, will fail more often than not next year.
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This sounds a lot like when Mack failed to get Gilbert quality time back in 2009. But, he was too busy preparing Colt for the Heisman Trophy to worry about Colt going down in a game. What the heck let Sam play all the snaps. Damn the torpedoes! Worked for St. Mack, let's keep it going!
 
He ran it 5 times in a row in that sequence, which is okay when you have a year to recover, but not okay during the season.
Agreed we need the MB old mega jumbo package using a DT or something, or a Cody or another 18 wheeler around goal line.
Hopefully, Herman is smarter than to pursue a Heisman with Ehlinger, and just let the chips fall.
 
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