Texas vs TTU game thread
- Thread starter Olehornfan
- Start date
I thought not giving heard a legit shot at qb when we only had 2 on ship was a bad idea but what’s done is done . Sam is young he needs to learn that hero stuff he got away with in high school won’t cut it with the big boys. I think he will be okay just not a polished passer yet and heard at qb might have allowed him to shirt and learn. the o line isn’t good enough for Shane to stand behind and throw because running with the ball isn’t his skill set. I think everyone knows how I feel about beck and warhime by now. I feel like we should go back to the spread and not this qb power or whatever he calls it, it’s not fooling anybody
No, we had one guy who fits that description. That would be our QB who does not protect the ball, and continues to throw interceptions that are lethal. Last night he threw two ints in the last two minutes.
If he simply holds the ball and takes the no gain. We punt it and our defense wins the game. (Our D played very well last night. Gifted our O with great field position all game.) Or if Sam really had "it" as many on this board have claimed, perhaps he would taken the team down the field in the last 90 seconds for a victory. But no, he underthrows the deep pass (as he did all night) and this one, again, gets picked off.
This game was lost by poor QB play, the ints in the last two minutes; and the inability to pass well enough to capitalize on the great field position they had all night.
Clean
5,000+ Posts
I agree that Sam played his worse game of the year. I called for Shane to get another look probably in the third qtr, but it certainly wasn't all Sam's fault.
When you have two 1st and goals inside the 5 and come away with 6 points, you deserve to lose. Darrell Royal must have rolled over in his grave. When you have to resort to a WR trying to throwback to your QB to get one yard, that's pathetic.
When you have two 1st and goals inside the 5 and come away with 6 points, you deserve to lose. Darrell Royal must have rolled over in his grave. When you have to resort to a WR trying to throwback to your QB to get one yard, that's pathetic.
eastexhorn
250+ Posts
Pathetic is too mild a word.
Joe Fan
10,000+ Posts
I am a broken record on this but I think the OL has been the single biggest issue for our team going back to the end of the Mack Brown era. Under Brown's last several seasons, they were experimenting with offenses and changing the OL scheme on the fly. It did not work. On top of that, IMO at least, we underrecruited/misrecruited on the OL. We were "offering recruits off their online rankings (from the golf course)." We never had a RS program for OL and lacked continuity along the OL. In fairness, part of the OL problem under Brown was injuries and legal/grade issues. But, overall, he and his people were not handling the OL properly and we are still feeling this today. I say that proof enough can be found in what the NFL thinks of UT OLs, which is not much (our last OL draft pick was 2008).
Then Strong came in and immediately got rid of starters on the OL. We all (or most of us) applauded his rules and demands. But, in that process, we also lost starters on the OL (including all the OTs). They may have been potheads who went to 6th Street too much, but they were also the best OLs we had. The O-line has never recovered from this period. And, as a result, the entire team has never recovered. Strong thought he made a great hire for OL coach with Wickline, but that turned into a disaster. And his OC position was a revolving door of coaches and schemes. Again, part of the OL issues were dismissals/injuries/grades but there was never any consistency in the offense or the blocking schemes. Wickline was constantly moving guys around and, as a direct result, they never had any continuity. We never had a period of 5-6 starts in a row where our OLs were playing next to the same guys. This might be the single most important component to a cohesive OL unit.
And so the OL Strong handed off to Herman was in pretty sad shape, but for one player. And that player got hurt early. The other OL who was at least a workhorse in terms of consecutive starts then got hurt (even when playing, Vahe was pretty disappointing given his experience) and so the left side of the line completely collapsed. Which stole bodies from the right side and center which doomed the entire season for the offense. For most of the final 2/3 of the schedule, we barely had enough bodies on the line just to get through games. We were playing guys we never thought we would be playing. Including having no choice but to start a guy with a giant club on his hand. Can you imagine trying to block without the use of one hand?
Anyway, I apologize for repeating the same stuff over and over. I was screaming about the OL program under Mack Brown. And while I dont scream as much any more, I still believe this team will never get right until we fix the OL. It really doesnt matter how many 5-star and "high 4-star" WRs and RBs we sign (or how many TEs we dont sign, lol). This (and bad QB decisions too I must concede) is where the downfall began and it is where the resurrection will come from as well. If I ran the program, I would devote all resources to getting the OL remedied.
Maybe it was just confirmation bias on my part, but reading between the lines of Herman's near emotional-breakdown of a presser last night, I think he was saying this as well as he could state it. "What do you expect from us with this horrible of an O-line?" But he cant say it that way of course. Hopefully he is as smart as we read he is, and will get this solved. Beck is clearly not smart enough to do this (he refuses to scheme around and playcall for an OL that can't hold blocks or even likes to block air). It has to be Herman.
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BevoJoe
10,000+ Posts
I agree with Joe Fan; the OLine HAS to be a priority. The troubling issue I saw concerns the lack of any improvement in the guys that played in the OL all year and were stagnant at best or regressed. The same guys repeatedly held and or jumped the gun repeatedly costing us field position and points. The success of any offensive game plan begins and ends with the quality and skill of the players in the trenches. I am hesitant to rank ours as high as being mediocre. So using coach speak, get it “fixed”!!
Good post Joe. Lots of truth to your call for O line help. But as many former O linemen have pointed out on this thread, it takes two or three years to develop a good O line. They have to bulk up. They have to, emphasize have to, play together/coordinated. It takes some time.
Our team played well enough to win last night with the exception of one position. I think we all know which one it is. It is the most important position on the offense. In a passing offense, you have to play it smarter, A LOT smarter, to win at this level.
You simply cannot throw interceptions when you are ahead with the game on the line. Period. You eat the ball, keep the clock running. Let the best kicker in the country pin them again. Two minutes in the game, with our defense playing well. We win that game.
Texas Lawhorn
100+ Posts
Wow. Throwing the players under the bus. Last I checked Tom was the only guy making $5 million a year on this team. Herman had been a disappointment in his first season and he has no one to blame but himself. Opportunities were there. Lack of discipline and mediocre to bad coaching. Seeing the same mistakes being made at the end of the season as we saw at the beginning.
There's a lot we can pick at when it comes to coaching but in general you would hope that coaching would at least be evident in smarter players at seasons end.
Joe Fan
10,000+ Posts
The Ian Boyd take on the game
http://insidetexas.com/5-quick-thoughts-texas-loses-its-composure/
Points 3-5 at the link
http://insidetexas.com/5-quick-thoughts-texas-loses-its-composure/
Quick thought no. 1: Texas blew that game
Kris Boyd played like a maniac throughout that game, trying to will the Longhorns to victory. He had five pass break-ups, an INT, and several physical tackles including one just before the marker on a third down and another just before the end zone. He also held Tech WR Dylan Cantrell to two catches for 12 yards. The rest of the Longhorns really crumbled under the pressure of that game, which was frankly rather surprising given how many close games they’ve already played this season.
The Longhorns coast to victory without the four turnovers they committed. Calling a passing play on third and two was certainly curious, particularly in an area of the field where Texas had been going for it on fourth down throughout the night. Sam Ehlinger’s decision to throw across his body there was certainly poor, Texas’ scramble drill play has been weak all season but it was downright terrible tonight and it cost them dearly.
Ehlinger’s second interception was largely indicative of an area of much needed growth this offseason, his deep sideline throws. Texas Tech’s gameplan conceded single coverage on Collin Johnson and Ehlinger struggled to hit him throughout the night (4 catches for 30 yards, a penalty, and several misses). For the costly late interceptions in crunch time, there were plays left on the field earlier in the game that would have made a big difference in this game. It’s an area for obvious growth this offseason.
Texas also fumbled a punt on their own 31 and fumbled a run on the Texas Tech 32 yard line. DeShon Elliott fell down on a game-winning TD pass and Connor Williams committed a holding penalty on a key final drive. The Longhorns looked like a freshman team overcome by the moment tonight, which is disappointing because while they’ve made freshman errors throughout the season they’ve been stronger late in games.
Quick thought no. 2: Texas Tech’s linebackers controlled the Texas offense
Dakota Allen and Jordyn Brooks were running to the football and Tech was able to cover down outside on Texas’ wide receivers without much fear of being left undermanned in the box. Granted, Texas didn’t run the ball behind Connor Williams as much as any of us would have liked, but this was a major challenge for the Longhorns in this game.
The Raiders were able to deny some of Ehlinger’s scrambles with their LB speed, held Texas to 116 rushing yards at 3.5 yards per carry, and prevented the (ideally) run-centric offense from putting the game out of reach in the second half. Ehlinger ended up attempting 47 passes on the day and averaging 5.1 yards per attempt while throwing a sole TD and then of course the two fourth quarter picks.
Texas’ inability to run the ball in this game was jarring and they looked poorly prepared to attack the Red Raiders’ gameplan (lots of man coverage. Most of Ehlinger’s 10 carries came on scrambles and Texas didn’t do much to try and force the issue against the Raider fronts with option runs, instead trying to beat Tech with RPOs outside vs man coverage. Ehlinger was decent on those but he’s not there yet and beating man coverage with RPOs is a challenging task.
It would have made a lot of sense to come at Tech with more power-read or other run schemes involving the QB so that if Ehlinger had to carry the offense he could do so with his legs. Or conversely, the lead draw RPO that burned West Virginia in man coverage might have been a useful tool. The one new run they carried into the game was the Stitt sweep tosses to Jerrod Heard that were executed decently but frequently relied on successful stretch blocking to the right side that has been iffy all year.
Kris Boyd played like a maniac throughout that game, trying to will the Longhorns to victory. He had five pass break-ups, an INT, and several physical tackles including one just before the marker on a third down and another just before the end zone. He also held Tech WR Dylan Cantrell to two catches for 12 yards. The rest of the Longhorns really crumbled under the pressure of that game, which was frankly rather surprising given how many close games they’ve already played this season.
The Longhorns coast to victory without the four turnovers they committed. Calling a passing play on third and two was certainly curious, particularly in an area of the field where Texas had been going for it on fourth down throughout the night. Sam Ehlinger’s decision to throw across his body there was certainly poor, Texas’ scramble drill play has been weak all season but it was downright terrible tonight and it cost them dearly.
Ehlinger’s second interception was largely indicative of an area of much needed growth this offseason, his deep sideline throws. Texas Tech’s gameplan conceded single coverage on Collin Johnson and Ehlinger struggled to hit him throughout the night (4 catches for 30 yards, a penalty, and several misses). For the costly late interceptions in crunch time, there were plays left on the field earlier in the game that would have made a big difference in this game. It’s an area for obvious growth this offseason.
Texas also fumbled a punt on their own 31 and fumbled a run on the Texas Tech 32 yard line. DeShon Elliott fell down on a game-winning TD pass and Connor Williams committed a holding penalty on a key final drive. The Longhorns looked like a freshman team overcome by the moment tonight, which is disappointing because while they’ve made freshman errors throughout the season they’ve been stronger late in games.
Quick thought no. 2: Texas Tech’s linebackers controlled the Texas offense
Dakota Allen and Jordyn Brooks were running to the football and Tech was able to cover down outside on Texas’ wide receivers without much fear of being left undermanned in the box. Granted, Texas didn’t run the ball behind Connor Williams as much as any of us would have liked, but this was a major challenge for the Longhorns in this game.
The Raiders were able to deny some of Ehlinger’s scrambles with their LB speed, held Texas to 116 rushing yards at 3.5 yards per carry, and prevented the (ideally) run-centric offense from putting the game out of reach in the second half. Ehlinger ended up attempting 47 passes on the day and averaging 5.1 yards per attempt while throwing a sole TD and then of course the two fourth quarter picks.
Texas’ inability to run the ball in this game was jarring and they looked poorly prepared to attack the Red Raiders’ gameplan (lots of man coverage. Most of Ehlinger’s 10 carries came on scrambles and Texas didn’t do much to try and force the issue against the Raider fronts with option runs, instead trying to beat Tech with RPOs outside vs man coverage. Ehlinger was decent on those but he’s not there yet and beating man coverage with RPOs is a challenging task.
It would have made a lot of sense to come at Tech with more power-read or other run schemes involving the QB so that if Ehlinger had to carry the offense he could do so with his legs. Or conversely, the lead draw RPO that burned West Virginia in man coverage might have been a useful tool. The one new run they carried into the game was the Stitt sweep tosses to Jerrod Heard that were executed decently but frequently relied on successful stretch blocking to the right side that has been iffy all year.
Points 3-5 at the link
The tweet in your post is a parody account, not Tom Herman. Just FYI.
Godz40acres
Happy Feller
But, are you certain TH isn't the holder of the account????
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Statalyzer
10,000+ Posts
Granted he's probably really surprised when he gets time in the pocket and it's probably automatic for him by this point in the year to bail after a couple of seconds because that's usually all he's gotten.
Across his body or not, the guy just wasn't open and the defender had position. Duvernay, however was wide open and Sam just didn't even see him.
It was a risky pass, but it wasn't nearly as off-target as that makes it sound. Burt just stood there watching it while the Tech guy went after the ball. If that were Cosby or Shipley standing in the same spot as Burt, it's probably a big play and at worst incomplete, because those guys fought for the ball and knew when to go towards it in order to beat the defender to the first point where the pass is reachable. Burt was far too passive.
Texas Lawhorn
100+ Posts
The internet never lies!
Really would like to see that replay of what Burt was doing when the ball was in the air. TV showed the ball in the air rather than the whole play. I've been saying that those ints. Could have been prevented if the two had come back to the ball.
But Burt has never fought for a ball in his life. You have to know who you're throwing to. BTW, Burt really hurt us not throwing earlier on the WR pass. Guy was wide open for a TD and Burt held the ball too long. We actually should have scored all 3 plays on that 1st and goal. 1st: Ehlinger miss reads the zone read and loses 3. Just give the big man the ball. 2nd: TE is wide open for a TD and Burt holds the ball. 3rd: Burt breaks wide open for a TD and Ehlinger never sees him even though Burt is right in front of him. I mean I get Hermann throwing his players under the bus. Sometimes guys just need to make the play right in front of them.
We have plenty of players who do not make plays. I am ready for a change in personnel or attitude or both.
I agree about the OL and have been sort-of defending Tim Beck because playcalling always looks bad when you cannot block. However, that 3rd and 2 pass play he called with 2 min remaining was THE DUMBEST call of the year. You just do not do that in that situation even if you know up front the run play is not going to get the 1st down. You still run it to kill the clock and make TTU go the length of the field.
I agree about the OL and have been sort-of defending Tim Beck because playcalling always looks bad when you cannot block. However, that 3rd and 2 pass play he called with 2 min remaining was THE DUMBEST call of the year. You just do not do that in that situation even if you know up front the run play is not going to get the 1st down. You still run it to kill the clock and make TTU go the length of the field.
AGREED but how do you scheme around a big pile of Sh*t?
Don't throw the ball on 3rd and two.
I coughed up a lung....
I understand the OL needs time to gel and become cohesive but we were playing TT and how much time do they need. It's the last game of the season. So in 12 games there's been zero cohesion!/!?!? SMH!!! Come on now. Whose coaching this OL? So I believe the QB is part of the problem as well.
I just pulled the starters from yesterday's game. Most of these guys came out of high school as 4 year starters and all kinds of accolades. So by now you should be able to tackle. Most of these guys are JRs. So is it the OL, QB or the coaching? Or a mixture of all 3?
68 Kerstetter, Derek RT , Fr
64 McMillon, Jake RG, , Jr
55 Williams, Connor LT , Jr
51 Cuney, Terrell LG , Jr
56 Shackelford, Zach C, So
WV game
68 Kersetetter, Derek RT
64 McMillon, Jake RG
55 Williams, Connor LT
77 Vahe, Patrick LG , Jr
51 Cuney, Terrell C
KS game
68 Kersetetter, Derek RT
64 McMillon, Jake RG
75 Nickelson, Tris LT
77 Vahe, Patrick LG
51 Cuney, Terrell C
I'm going to rewatch the game and play particular attention to the OL.
I just pulled the starters from yesterday's game. Most of these guys came out of high school as 4 year starters and all kinds of accolades. So by now you should be able to tackle. Most of these guys are JRs. So is it the OL, QB or the coaching? Or a mixture of all 3?
68 Kerstetter, Derek RT , Fr
64 McMillon, Jake RG, , Jr
55 Williams, Connor LT , Jr
51 Cuney, Terrell LG , Jr
56 Shackelford, Zach C, So
WV game
68 Kersetetter, Derek RT
64 McMillon, Jake RG
55 Williams, Connor LT
77 Vahe, Patrick LG , Jr
51 Cuney, Terrell C
KS game
68 Kersetetter, Derek RT
64 McMillon, Jake RG
75 Nickelson, Tris LT
77 Vahe, Patrick LG
51 Cuney, Terrell C
I'm going to rewatch the game and play particular attention to the OL.
Excellent post and insight! OL is where it starts....
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That would be horrible against Alabama, but this was Tech.
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