Sark - the honeymoon is officially over

jmac11234 said:
Mack went 9-3 his first season. I agree, the oline and defense left behind by Herman was terrible, he'd certainly have lost to TCU and wouldn't have even competed with OU. At least Sark is getting us into position to win, hopefully with more time to recruit he can finish those games off.
Click to expand...
You're right. 9-3. Not sure how I got 8-5 in my head.

Edit: In 1999 he was 9-5, that is probably where I was getting loss totals all mixed up.
 
Last edited:
Back on the crowd I thought they were loud. In fact I thought during the game how much louder they seemed than previous years and realized I might be confused by last year. Nevertheless I do think Jumbotron has been turned back up again and it drowns out what little I could hear before, even though from the NEZ you can’t hear them very well regardless.
OSU playing over the Eyes irritated the heck out of me cause it was over before I knew it was being played.
 
nashhorn said:
OSU playing over the Eyes irritated the heck out of me cause it was over before I knew it was being played.
Click to expand...

I don't blame that on oSu, I blame that on the Texas band leader. oSu played their school song followed by their fight song. Perhaps the band director/drum major couldn't hear the oSu band, BUT the LHB should have waited.
 
Does anyone have an opinion on how or why a team that was doing great on both sides of the ball and was ahead should fall apart?
In 2 games ?
 
Sabre
I thought that was protocol. That the opposing band got to play first at end of game.
What I don't know is, do opposing bands usually play 2 songs
LHBSOB might know
Do opposing bands usually play Both songs?

If not I can see the LHB director going ahead after one song
 
Horn6721 said:
Does anyone have an opinion on how or why a team that was doing great on both sides of the ball and was ahead should fall apart?
In 2 games ?
Click to expand...
Lack of quality depth on OL and DL, LB. maybe the practice regimen is too tough late in the week? But I doubt that is the reason, it’s mostly depth! Sark hoovered up everyone he could as grad transfers or portal transfers last spring. Herman left Sark with no depth! Our first string is talented but along the LOS we need to sub in back ups and when we do.....jail break. We need to roll Casey out and run him more, on RPO’s. Otherwise we’re 6-6 or 7-5.
 
UT Coaches lifecycle 101
Year 1 -“wait till he gets his players”. Cupboards bare. Of course he took over a 7-3 team and has the best RB i the country. Still Fire a Strength coach for the crowd who want blood.
Year 2- Fire Coordinator
Year 3-Fire other coordinator
Year 4- HC is Fired
Year 5 -New coach is hired -everyone predicts greatness….but the cupboards bare…
 
Well, I think Sark could be the guy. But I'm not so sure about the DC. K's inability to slow the run the last two weeks is VERY worrisome. We'll know more soon about K.

I have to give Sark a couple of years to measure the progress. Then we'll know something.

I have no illusions that the Horns are a better team than ou and osu. Them beating the horns didn't surprise anyone in Las Vegas.

I think we all got over confident when the Horns kicked ttu's arse. Now we know that ttu is a bad team.

Every game is gonna be a dogfight. horns have some real talent and depth problems. O line, LB, especially.

The B12 this year has one quality team and one sheit team. We know who they both are. The rest are sort of equally mediocre. So each game is essentially a toss up.

Breaks, penalties and turnovers will be the difference in each game. We do not out talent and out depth anyone by a significant margin except KU.

Buckle up buttercup. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.
 
Horn6721 said:
Does anyone have an opinion on how or why a team that was doing great on both sides of the ball and was ahead should fall apart?
In 2 games ?
Click to expand...
On the offensive side of the ball in the 1st quarter in both games we come out throwing. In the 2nd half we ran on 1st down all 4 3 and outs. Ran on 2nd at least on some of them. Doesn't help that CT dropped the snap on 2 third downs. Doesn't help that to my knowledge we threw 0 passes to a TE. No miss direction back to an uncovered TE which is the easiest play in the book. Just watch Dak and the Cowboys as they run that 2-3x a game. Also doesn't help that our WR's blocking was terrible. On those bubble screens where you have 1 WR and all he has to do is block a corner and you get 5 yds and we whiffed most of the time. Sark is responsible for the play calling. He better understand what this team can and can't do and we can't play not to lose. You need a good OLine to protect a lead running into 8 man fronts.
 
Wadster,

I understand everyone's "love" for the TEs, but it is hard to throw to them when they either (1) stay in to lock or (2) get knocked off at the LOS. We had the one TE trap (although he was lined up as a WB) that worked for a good gain. In the second half, I would look in the secondary and there would be only 3, and sometimes 2 receivers downfield. Of course, when none of the front five touch anyone, all Casey could see was mat black helmets & white jerseys.

I made the statement during the game that I would have the OL & DL on the practice field this morning (Sunday) at 12:01 until sunrise.

Could any of those guys survive Frank Medina's 100 pound vest?
 
wadster said:
Sark is responsible for the play calling. He better understand what this team can and can't do and we can't play not to lose. You need a good OLine to protect a lead running into 8 man fronts.
Click to expand...
He seemed to "know" well enough in the first half of the last two games. i don't think he forgot at half time. But penalties, dropped snaps, other execution mistakes will throw a wrench into a game that's a tossup. Would other play calls have helped? Maybe. But losing an O lineman to injury when that cupboard is already bare and then losing your best LB in an already weak LB corp doesn't help. Nor does a pick six. Etc.
 
SabreHorn said:
Dawg,


Not being very bright, it dawned on me on the drive home that I do not believe that Sark has ever had to coach with so little talent - certainly not at USC, probably not at Washington, and again definitely not in Tuscaloosa. I said last week that several of our OL should be paying tuition. On one play, four of them were standing around watching intently as Casey got mobbed.

.
Click to expand...

4 OL standing around watching the QB get mobbed...This has zero to do with individual talent. It has 100% to do with coaching
 
I also think this team doesn't have enough "alpha" players - players willing to get down and dirty no matter the circumstance - won't take defeat as a possibility -we might have too many players just happy to put on the Texas uniform - Sark has a lot to sort out the rest of the season and the spring
As has been stated in this thread, the real problem is the talent and numbers on both lines of scrimmage - we can't win like we want until that is upgraded - not an easy fix
 
Sangre Naranjada said:
For those who agree with the premise of the thread title I have a question.

What was Mack Brown's record his first season here?

Remember, Mack inherited a top notch o line in front of a guy named Ricky. Mack had a first year QB. Mack had a weak defense. Mack inherited upper classmen who were SWC champs and Big XII champs before shitting the bed in 1997, so he had guys who knew how to win.

Sark has less to work with than Mack Brown, especially on the offensive line and in terms of a winning culture. And Mack went 8-5 and everybody was ecstatic.

If you were not pissing and moaning midway through 1998 saying Mack's honeymoon is over, why are you saying it about Sark now?

EDIT: Mack went 9-3, not 8-5. I think the overall thesis still stands.
Click to expand...
Truer words have never been spoken Sangre - you nailed it.
 
caryhorn said:
He seemed to "know" well enough in the first half of the last two games. i don't think he forgot at half time. But penalties, dropped snaps, other execution mistakes will throw a wrench into a game that's a tossup. Would other play calls have helped? Maybe. But losing an O lineman to injury when that cupboard is already bare and then losing your best LB in an already weak LB corp doesn't help. Nor does a pick six. Etc.
Click to expand...
You're missing my point. We ran on 1st down all 4 possessions we went 3 and out on in the 2nd half. 1st half we were mixing it up. Did this both games. So Sark may. not have forgotten football, but his actions make one question why he has gotten so conservative with a lead in the 2nd half. He can't get out there and block, but he at least has control over how he calls plays. This team can't play "not to lose football" and win. He needs to quit worrying about the clock and start to call the plays with the best chance to get a 1st down. And if you get a 1st down, play fast down the field and keep the pedal down. Only way this team is going to win.
 
Lots of talk of the D being gassed. Running on 1st down and trying to sustain a drive or two sounds like a good idea to me. Why the OL falls apart in the second half is probably the biggest question.

I don't buy that it takes opposing D coordinators until halftime to adjust to our running game.
 
Horn2RunAgain said:
Standing around = not knowing what to do. That's on coaching
Click to expand...

Aren't our O line coaches the same guys who coached Alabama's O line the last time Alabama won the NC? They have not forgotten how to coach.

I think two or three of our O-line guys will be overmatched in most of our games. This will be a problem all season.

One of our O-line guys went out in the OSU game. Our lack of quality depth is evident, to say the least. When our O-line is made up of Seniors and Juniors with redshirt sophomores/juniors as back ups; and freshmen spend their first year in the strength and conditioning program & learning the blocking schemes/system then we will be serious contenders. Expecting anything else is believing in the tooth fairy.

How many freshmen wide outs are now playing significant minutes? Are they having difficulty making adjustments, getting separation due to lack of experience, strength/size? Yes.
Are they on the same page with our QB when communicating, changing signals/picking up reads/adjusting to blitzes? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Inconsistency is a hallmark with teams having these issues.

We simply do not have the horses to excel against superior teams for the entire 60 minutes. They will improve, and it will show. There also will be mistakes this year in every game that will present big challenges.

If this team goes 8-5 it will be an incredible job of coaching.
 
AC said:
Lack of quality depth on OL and DL, LB.
Click to expand...
Absolutely! Sark is playing with the cupboard that TH left for him - let's be a bit patient and see how he does (a) recruiting the guys he wants and (b) coaching them to play his system. Unfortunately, that will take some time.
 
AC said:
Sark hoovered up everyone he could as grad transfers or portal transfers last spring.
Click to expand...
Well, we got some good skills players from the portal (some of them really good), but no OL--not a single one. And OL is what we need the most. So unless, during and after Spring practice, Flood was thinking "wow, this sure is a bunch of great O-linemen I've inherited, and what great quality depth,"* I've got to wonder why we didn't seek some more OL in the portal. One explanation is that all the portal OL sucked, but I doubt that's the case. Another explanation is that there were some good portal OL, but none of them wanted to come here... (that may be it)

As a fan, I'm giving this staff some time. It's the first year. We'll see how we do over the next year or two. Nobody was calling for Tom's or Charlie's head after the first year. I think Flood can ultimately get the job done, over a few years. But the non-use of the portal thing for OL (a desperately needed position) is a real head scratcher.


*if Flood actually thought that, we've got bigger problems
 
Last edited:
All these comparisons of mack and sark. I don't recall mack blowing leads like sark has in the second half.

If this doesn't bother you, cool. I find it odd that losing like we have seems okie dokie to the masses.. It stuns me. I've said it before, we have better players than osu, probably better than Arkansas. What this team did in laying down late vs ou , I don't see many coaches in this league capable of doing that
 
Last edited:
I hope the Horns heal up with the bye week....

12 regular games for the season. The Horns sit 4-3 with 5 games left to play this season:

@ Bailor
@ ISU
KU
@WVU
KSU

All of those teams will be jacked up to play UT. Those are 3 tough foes on the road and KSU is strong with their QB back.

Assuming the Horns win at least 6 games, they will get a bowl bid - 13 games total.

My expectations have gone way down ...
 
Last edited:
If I remember correctly Vegas had UT over/under conference wins at 4. When I saw that my expectations dropped dramatically. I still think Sark has improved the team.
 
Horn6721 said:
Does anyone have an opinion on how or why a team that was doing great on both sides of the ball and was ahead should fall apart?
In 2 games ?
Click to expand...
Yes, the other teams have scholarship players also that desire to win.
The other teams have coaches that can scheme and scheme well
Injuries we lost our best linebacker
Defense got tired when the offense stagnated. Lack of depth
We got outplayed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

NEW: Pro Sports Forums

Cowboys, Texans, Rangers, Astros, Mavs, Rockets, etc. Pro Longhorns. This is the place.

Pro Sports Forums

Recent Threads

Back
Top