The False Statement

Interesting read on ESPN.com regarding the Texas OU game.

“I've been on that side where I did let it get too big,” McCoy said. “In this game, it's one of those deals where you just can't turn the ball over. It's a rivalry game and, in this rivalry game, you have to decide it's OK to punt and kick field goals. We're going to take care of the ball and execute. You take care of the ball in rivalry games and the rest will play itself out.” 

No, it's not okay to kick field goals, not the way we're kicking them now.  Hush.

The Legends

I thought this article on ESPN.com, where legends give wisdom/advice to Charlie Strong on the Red River Shootout was pretty darn cool.

Some things I thought were interesting:

Barry Switzer, head coach, Oklahoma (1973-88): [The Longhorns] are playing [against] a program, in my estimation, that has a greater tradition than them. That's something that isn't easy for Texas to swallow. But all you got to do is check the records. Check the record book. Go back to the war. Don't give me this 1800s bulls---. Oklahoma has more national championships, won more games than they have. We're a step better.

...except when you play head to head?

Oklahoma vs Texas

 Texas          60

 Oklahoma    43
Ties             5

Billy Sims, RB, Oklahoma (1976-79): You can throw out the records. Both sides are going to come to play.

Case McCoy, QB, Texas (2010 - 13): Just talking about it gives me chills. There's really no words to describe it unless you can actually go experience it.

Derland Moore, DT, Oklahoma (1970-72): The hard hitting. The emotion. The lack of cheap shots. It's straight-up. Everyone hits you between the hashes. Texas is a very, very worthy opponent. I remember some teams we played would cheap-shot you. But Texas, nope, they're coming right at you. They're going to let you know they mean business.

Meeeeh...I will say a lot of calls aren't called....I've seen a lot of cheap shots (on both sides of the Red River) in my 16 Texas-OU games.

James Brown, QB, UT (1994-97): [Charlie Strong] He'll have many more. Don't get caught up in the venue or the long history of the Texas-OU rivalry. He needs to make his own history and he can start on that Saturday.

Chilling.  

Tony Casillas: I would say to not to eat a lot beforehand.

Hilarious

And my favorite, the statement I think sums it up the best:

Derland Moore, DT, Oklahoma (1970-72): A lot of emotion. It's the greatest game in the world. There's nothing more exciting. Nothing riles the fans up more than this game. It's a classic. And it doesn't matter who's better. It matters who wants it the most.

The Bears

Prediction wise…I was right and wrong….for some reason I was convinced this game was in Waco.  Maybe it was wishful hoping…a drive from Waco to Dallas saves me a good 3-4 hours in the car as opposed to driving to Austin.   Regardless, we lost … as predicted.

Our defense played so well!   And according to this article, we’re not the only ones who think so. 

“He [Briles] said, 'This is the first time we've been shut down,'” Strong said. “I said, 'Well, I understand that, but I would have loved to have gotten that win.'”

(I’d like to take this time to say that everyone always talks about what a classy guy Coach Briles is.  After this game, I’m not so convinced.  I know our game play likely threw a wrench in his plans, but I didn’t care for his antics on the sidelines (or the field, rather) on Saturday.   Ironically, Gary Patterson and I might actually agree on something for the first time.

Those not at the game may not have noticed some of the strange things the Baylor coaching staff did this weekend.   For one, in what can only be described as an attempt to ice our offence, Coach Briles stepped onto the field and called a delay of game.  Which the refs totally went with…but more on that later.  In another instance, while refs discussed an on the field pass interference ruling, a Baylor Coach took the liberty of walking on the field, picking up the flag and handing it to the refs while still conferring.  What?!  Sideline warnings, and what appeared to be an amazing amount of coach to ref contact…I wasn't a fan.)

I digress.  I’m so pleased with our defense, holding Baylor to ZERO offensive touchdowns until halfway through the third quarter.  After that, the wheels popped off a little and we lost control.   And, unsurprisingly, our offense was not able to score. 

The saddest thing about that is this stat:

Total Yards:

Baylor – 389

Texas – 334

We controlled the ball six minutes longer than they did.   We drove the ball 99 yards in one drive, just to fumble and turn the ball over on the goal line.   Two interceptions.  There's clearly a lack of 

Penalties...though I wanted to shake John Harris for his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, we did well.   I think Baylor was feeling pressure like they hadn’t before, attributing to 10 penalties for 95 yards. 

The reffing was some of the most terrible I’ve ever seen.  Not bad calls, necessarily, I think those rarely change the outcome of a game.   It was mostly what I would call flat out incompetence.  

From the phantom false start they were trusting Art Briles on, to the 4^th down stand they were determined to take away from us, I heard things on the ref microphone I’d never heard before.

“Holding, on the kicking team, half the distance to the goal”… excuse me?  “Oh, we meant receiving team.”  How about “the ruling on the field stands. Texas ball.”  Then they talked about it for 8 minutes, got back on the microphone and proclaimed “correction, it was 3^rd down.”  Uh, yeah, one down ago?   I’ve asked people that watched the game on TV, and they’ve said that none of this was really discussed during the broadcast.  It’s hard to explain to people that weren’t there how TERRIBLE the officiating in that game was.

I’d like to know why Coach Strong thought our (at that time) 3-6 field goal kicker was capable of making a 32 yard field goal.   That blocked attempt lead to the only score of the quarter.  Kind of how I felt after Coach Strong made comments I didn’t agree with regarding the defense at the BYU game, I felt a little like he knew nothing about his team.  When they lined up to kick, the entire stadium sighed. 

All in all, we put up such a great defensive showing against Baylor, it’s hard to be too upset.  I am so proud of that side of the ball.  Hopefully we keep things tight and take advantage of the rain against OU.  And maybe this is the week that the offense (and special teams) get it together and come to play real ball.

By the numbers: 

The Jayhawks

In light of the Kansas game, I get to talk about one of my favorite things:  The Texas Defense.

 

Finally a shut-out!!  I mean, sure, a shut-out against Kansas is kind of like kissing your cousin, but in all honesty, I think our defense needed to be able to look at a game and see conclusive results of their hard work. 

Not only did the defense shut out the Jayhawks, but:

They did it on the road
They turned the ball over four times

They didn't allow a rush longer than 20 yards

I can’t say I was super concentrating when I watched this game, so I don’t have a ton to say.  I was at a sports bar and the game was being shown on a tiny TV in the corner…if it wasn’t hard enough to watch from that angle, the Texas A&M / Arkansas game was playing and I wanted very much for Arkansas to win.  It didn’t help that Fox Sports changed the channel of the game at the last minute and this was just a little too much for the TV Wrangler at the bar to comprehend.

Prediction wise, I was totally on point:

I’m loving when I can see John Harris or Jaxon Shipley connect on a nice pass, and we got to see that against Kansas.  Six receptions each, averaging just over 14 yards.  

I’m thrilled that three defenders had takeaways: Duke Thomas (had 2), Jordan Hicks and Quandre Diggs, who is one of my favorite players, all had interceptions.

I’m not exactly sold on our kicking game yet.  Nick Rose missed an extra point (no excuse!) and a 48 yard field goal.  While Rose did nail a 42 yard field goal, it was his career long and he is 3 for 6 this far in the season.  Maybe I’m spoiled after years of AMAZING kickers like Kris Stockton, Dusty Mangum, Justin Tucker, Ryan Bailey, and Hunter Lawrence.  Even Anthony Fera pulled it together for a great 2013.  

Unfortunately, in this time of darkness when the offense can’t necessarily score touchdowns, a kicker with a higher than 36.6 yard average is valued and preferred. 

Instead, we have the 162^nd ranked kicker in FBS.  Out of 175.  I’m just saying.  That’s not going to get it done.

All that being said, I’m happy with our defense.  Even though we weren’t playing the greatest team, I hope the confidence has been boosted on all sides of the ball to give us a little momentum in the weeks ahead.

By the numbers:

The Bruins

Oh UCLA…I had such great hopes for beating you.  And my dream was so, so very attainable.  Until it wasn't.  Our dreams went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in a swing of 3:10 seconds.

With 4:17 seconds left in the game, Texas, up 17-13 recovered a fumble on the Texas 25.   The offense chose to completely waste this opportunity by spending 1:11 seconds on the field and going 3 and out.  UCLA promptly returned our punt 45 yards, and five seconds later, UCLA scored a passing TD pushing the score 20-17.

Texas, with three minutes left and the chance to win the game, chose again to completely waste a possession by showing another three and out for four whopping yards for one minute and ten seconds.  UCLA spent the next 1:50 running out the clock for the win.

I am convinced that if we are going to win any games, the defense will be required to score all of the points.  I am unimpressed by what our offense is attempting to do.

That being said, here are some things we did well:
No turnovers:  Good
Defense:  Good
Time of Possession: Good

That is all. 

Prediction wise, I was close...except we lost by just a little.  

I’d like to point out that many UCLA fans (also many Texas haters), as well as many media outlets have claimed the game was only so close because UCLA had to win the game with their back-up quarterback. 

Am I delusional?  Isn't Texas also playing with their back-up quarterback?  Whenever I point this out, I am met with scoffs.  Simply because the Swoopes name has been around Texas for so long, people forget that Tyrone took less than 20 snaps in 2013. 

Frankly though, Swoopes simply wasn't ready to play in 2013.  And IMHO, he’s not ready to play now.  Regardless, he’s our starting quarterback.  Considering the coaching staff doesn't appear to have plans to burn Jerrod Heard’s red-shirt, I can only assume he’s not ready to play either. 

Mediocrity at quarterback doesn't have to equal disaster, but bad on the field QB decision making will.

By the numbers: 

The Cougars

Well, BYU came and went.  While my prediction was wrong, I may not have been too off point on my points.

Most notably, we did nothing to contain Hill.  And the beast unleashed on us a wrath of 181 yards passing and 99 yards rushing. 

Below are some comments that Coach Strong made about the game that I can’t say I’m totally on board with: 

"We gave up 28 points in the third quarter, allowed their quarterback to think we went into this game saying that we were going to stop the quarterback from running the football and we did not allow that to happen," Strong said. "You can't do that if you think you're going to play great defense. It wouldn't ever happen. We've still got a ways to go.”

"It's the second ballgame," Strong said. "I don't know how much of a reality check, but the reality is we need to come prepared and play great defense if you want to go play and compete.”

The score at halftime was BYU – 6, Texas – 0.  Going into the locker room, BYU was held to 2 field goals and no TD’s, offensive or otherwise. 

To me, it appeared that two teams went into the locker room and only one team made offensive adjustments.  That team was not Texas.  Unless you mean backward adjustments.  In the 3^rd quarter, Texas had two straight drives with less than one yard gains…well, three if you count the fumble by Marcus Johnson on the kick return

.   

The fourth quarter wasn’t much better.  Four drives:

5 snaps for 17 yards
3 and out for 17 yards
5 snaps for 11 yards
3 and out for 5 yards

It’s true, the defense did not contain Hill in the second half – but I would imagine the defense had trouble keeping up because they had been on the field 10 minutes longer than the offense.  A three and out offense doesn’t do much to keep our boys on defense rested.  Four turnovers doesn’t give the defense much time to prepare and adjust. 

Our defense wasn’t the problem in this game.  If the offense can’t stay on the field and make something happen, it’s going to be a long season with very few wins. 

By the numbers: