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View from the Cheap Seats-2018 Pre Season
It's on like Donkey Kong
Welcome back our small but demented following of Cheap Seat readers for the kickoff of the 2018 season. (Bonus points if you can name the movie reference). The only thing the Cheap Seats likes better than watching TEXAS football is talking TEXAS football and real football is right around the corner, we are under 1 week from the start of the most glorious sport on the planet, LONGHORN FOOTBALL. . . . can I get a HOOK'EM. . .
Let us make no mistake, 2017 was pretty meh season and started Coach Herman (CTH from here out) off with a stumble from the blocks. Yes, we had a winning season, hell we expected that from the likes of TEXAS where even average coaches produce winning records, see great player but over his head HC David McWilliams, Fred and Johnny Mon. The only reason 2017 was even tolerable was the prior 3 years of the worst HC in TEXAS history, CFS. Somewhere Jack Chevigney is looking down and saying "whew, I'm not longer last". If you do not know the Jack Chevigney story, it is a great one and he was a great man. His story recanted in the excellent book by Jeff Walker, The Last Chalk Line. Jack would give his last full measure of devotion to our nation as a Marine Lt on Iwo Jima and is the only coach remembered in DKR with a bronze plaque. Absent Companions Coach and Semper Fi
And on the subject of military men from TEXAS, we would be remiss if we did not take a moment to address the passing of one of the teams BIGGEST supporters and a 4 time Silver Star recipient, Frank Denius. His life is chronicled in the book "On The Way", which is an artillery term alerting a forward observer that a round was coming. Frank was an artillery spotter and his 1st Silver Star was earned sitting on a hilltop surrounded by Germans calling in artillery on tanks. Had those tanks reached the beach, one of the 4 beaches would have been lost, maybe 2. Frank was a warm wonderful man, he gave so much back to TEXAS and the community. Was honored to spend a half hour with him at Michelle's 1st game in person. Absent Companions Mr Denius
Now back to the 2018 season and expectations for CTH and crew. Time to look forward not back. And make no mistake, it's hard to type this but most are hoping for an 8-9 win season. From the Cheap Seats, 8 wins is the absolute floor. And that's 8 regular season wins. Oh how we miss the days of bitching about Mack Brown "ONLY" winning 10 games a year, of ONLY going to the Rose Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl, nope the bar at TEXAS has been dramatically lowered. Coach it's time to get this one figured out because today, TEXAS is a dark horse (at best) to play for the BigXII title in what might be the down-est (isthat a word? it's the cheap seats, we don't do grammar Nazis here) year for the BigXII in . . ...well. . . .. EVER. Not one Heisman candidate in the conference. Not one QB on anyone's watch list. We're not trying to be Debbie Downer here and we do think CTH is Da Man. . . . .but time to show us on the field.
So let's start with the pros then we'll hit the cons then we'll do our pre-season ranking of the BigXII.
PROs
Let's make no mistake, biggest plus is the Defense on this team. Coach Orlando and staff have their young charges ready like a stallion at the starting gate. And oh lordy, the young DBs who stepped on campus . .our only regret, most will likely only be here 3 years. ..they are that good. And they are hardly the only stars. Brecklyn Hager plays like a man possessed and Gary Johnson may well be a better LB than Malik. Not to mention, DBU is BACK in a big way.
If there is one side of the ball (barring a Manny Diaz-like, sophomore year implosion) we are not worried about, it's the D. TEXAS has easily one of the Top 2 Ds in the league and likely one of the best Ds in the nation. At the Cheap Seats. ..WE LOVE D . . . ..defense wins championships.
While potential means you ain't done it yet (how many remember who uttered that quote 1st?), Cheap Seats uber excited about the potential of our WRs and a bit less so our RBs. And in full disclosure, we have some impressive TEs as well. The 2 question marks, QB and OL but there is a pro for each one of those
#1 CTH named a starting QB early (well 2 weeks) and said, we're riding this horse, we will not rotate QBs. We didn't care which one he picked, though Sam was the obvious choice but pick one, stick with him.
#2 When you have a problem, do something to solve it. Problem? Offensive line. Solution? CTH went out and hired one of if not the best OL coach in the nation. Coach Hand has been a breath of fresh air so far and his efforts will be aided by some talented but inexperienced guys growing up with another year in the program.
CONs
While defense wins championships, that doesn't mean you don't need offense. Teams that move the chains wear out other Ds and let your D rest. 2017 TEXAS ranked #84 in 3rd down conversions, simply HORRID. That was around where the 2010 team ranked. Let's be candid, CTH is known as an offensive guru, TEXAS fans did not see that in 2017. Between his seeming refusal to get involved with play calling to some REALLY bizarre player personnel decisions, CTH came out of the gate stumblin'. Worst example was OT in the OSU game, at the 7 yard line, 1st and goal with 4 WRs in the game. Now we understand Jerrod Heard is one of our best WRs but Collin Johnson was on the bench, John Burt was on the bench and Lil Jordan Humprey was on the bench. All big guys who can go up and get balls. WHY????? Ok, rhetorical question but it was on glaring example of a season of bizarre personnel decisions.
QB play. While we are pleased CTH named ONE QB and said let's ride and while we love Sam's potential, we need to see it. And we need Sam to stay healthy which hasn't happened since 3 seasons ago. Having said that, we have zero doubt both QBs are better than 2017, the negative, that's not a very high bar.
OL play. Yes, one of the excuses from 2017, our OL sucked. Sadly it's sucked for awhile. Going from below average in 2017 to average in 2018 would certainly be an improvement but we are not going to win titles with average play from any position group. Referencing above, #84 in the nation in 3rd down conversions, not good.
Offensive coaching staff. Truth is going to offend some, seek safe space. While the Cheap Seats leans toward the optimistic side, we don't pull punches. Only change CTH made from last year's underperforming O staff was adding Coach Hand to handle the OL. . .a big Pro/positive. As for the rest of them, TEXAS plays big boy football, not sure the rest of CTH's staff is ready for the bright lights.
We lost the best punter in TEXAS history and our kicking game is shakey. Yes, better than Russell Exerclabain (sp?) Our best defensive weapon was TEXAS 1st Ray Guy award winner. We went down under again to land his cousin to replace him so hope he's ready as the crowds are a bit bigger than the Aussie Rules games.
Conclusions/predictions
9 win season. We think the offensive is enough better and the defense plays up to their standard. Alamo Bowl invite. . ..win 10 and we play New Year's Day and we don't think 10 is far fetched. An 8 win season our bare bones floor and would represent another year of under performance.
Late Oct/early Nov, the speculation heats up as to where Coach Orlando lands a HC gig. Does TEXAS look externally or promote someone internally? If so, whom?
Gary Johnson Defensive player of the year
Sam Elhinger Offensive Player of the year but Watson gives him a run for his money. Watson and Ingram rush for over 1000 combined only because we get 5 RBs significant carries.
OU and TCU square off for the 2nd time in the BigXII title game.
BigXII preseason standings
OU Lord does that suck to type, someone want the #1 spot? you gotta beat the champ
TCU till they prove otherwise they get the 2 spot but they do have a new QB there
WVU Might have them over rated, they lost some talent but best returning QB in the conference
TEXAS Hope they are at least 2-3 by mid season
OSU They do better, Gundy's an even better coach than we think
KSU Snyder is the Mick Jagger of CFB, the man just keeps going and he's a really good coach
ISU Think they go bowling again then someone steals their coach, they land BigXII's last bowl game
Baylor Lord does that suck to type, they can join the Penn States and Ohio States of the world, as long as you can win a football game, we don't care who you abuse.
TT Cheap Seats is warming to the idea of Kliff at TEXAS in 2019 as OC at TEXAS. . . he will need a job
Kansas Is it basketball season yet?
Thanks for reading. We have no doubt we've made some mistakes and we have no doubt some will point it out.
Shit happens. Hook'em
PS, was asked who I saw us beating/getting beat by. Cheap Seats does not try to predict specific wins/losses, why we no longer bet College Football. What we do is rank teams into 3 groups. Games we are underdogs, toss ups and games we are favored.
Underdogs:
OU and TCU, in both cases till we prove otherwise
Toss ups:
USC/WVU/OSU
Favored:
KSU
ISU
Maryland
TT
Baylor
Tulsa
Kansas
So if we sweep the toss ups or split the underdogs and go 2-1 vs toss ups and sweep the favored games (which we should). 10-2 season. We'd love to call it but think we run into a turnover fest somewhere like the great plains of Lubbock where weird shit happens.
It's on like Donkey Kong
Welcome back our small but demented following of Cheap Seat readers for the kickoff of the 2018 season. (Bonus points if you can name the movie reference). The only thing the Cheap Seats likes better than watching TEXAS football is talking TEXAS football and real football is right around the corner, we are under 1 week from the start of the most glorious sport on the planet, LONGHORN FOOTBALL. . . . can I get a HOOK'EM. . .
Let us make no mistake, 2017 was pretty meh season and started Coach Herman (CTH from here out) off with a stumble from the blocks. Yes, we had a winning season, hell we expected that from the likes of TEXAS where even average coaches produce winning records, see great player but over his head HC David McWilliams, Fred and Johnny Mon. The only reason 2017 was even tolerable was the prior 3 years of the worst HC in TEXAS history, CFS. Somewhere Jack Chevigney is looking down and saying "whew, I'm not longer last". If you do not know the Jack Chevigney story, it is a great one and he was a great man. His story recanted in the excellent book by Jeff Walker, The Last Chalk Line. Jack would give his last full measure of devotion to our nation as a Marine Lt on Iwo Jima and is the only coach remembered in DKR with a bronze plaque. Absent Companions Coach and Semper Fi
And on the subject of military men from TEXAS, we would be remiss if we did not take a moment to address the passing of one of the teams BIGGEST supporters and a 4 time Silver Star recipient, Frank Denius. His life is chronicled in the book "On The Way", which is an artillery term alerting a forward observer that a round was coming. Frank was an artillery spotter and his 1st Silver Star was earned sitting on a hilltop surrounded by Germans calling in artillery on tanks. Had those tanks reached the beach, one of the 4 beaches would have been lost, maybe 2. Frank was a warm wonderful man, he gave so much back to TEXAS and the community. Was honored to spend a half hour with him at Michelle's 1st game in person. Absent Companions Mr Denius
Now back to the 2018 season and expectations for CTH and crew. Time to look forward not back. And make no mistake, it's hard to type this but most are hoping for an 8-9 win season. From the Cheap Seats, 8 wins is the absolute floor. And that's 8 regular season wins. Oh how we miss the days of bitching about Mack Brown "ONLY" winning 10 games a year, of ONLY going to the Rose Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl, nope the bar at TEXAS has been dramatically lowered. Coach it's time to get this one figured out because today, TEXAS is a dark horse (at best) to play for the BigXII title in what might be the down-est (isthat a word? it's the cheap seats, we don't do grammar Nazis here) year for the BigXII in . . ...well. . . .. EVER. Not one Heisman candidate in the conference. Not one QB on anyone's watch list. We're not trying to be Debbie Downer here and we do think CTH is Da Man. . . . .but time to show us on the field.
So let's start with the pros then we'll hit the cons then we'll do our pre-season ranking of the BigXII.
PROs
Let's make no mistake, biggest plus is the Defense on this team. Coach Orlando and staff have their young charges ready like a stallion at the starting gate. And oh lordy, the young DBs who stepped on campus . .our only regret, most will likely only be here 3 years. ..they are that good. And they are hardly the only stars. Brecklyn Hager plays like a man possessed and Gary Johnson may well be a better LB than Malik. Not to mention, DBU is BACK in a big way.
If there is one side of the ball (barring a Manny Diaz-like, sophomore year implosion) we are not worried about, it's the D. TEXAS has easily one of the Top 2 Ds in the league and likely one of the best Ds in the nation. At the Cheap Seats. ..WE LOVE D . . . ..defense wins championships.
While potential means you ain't done it yet (how many remember who uttered that quote 1st?), Cheap Seats uber excited about the potential of our WRs and a bit less so our RBs. And in full disclosure, we have some impressive TEs as well. The 2 question marks, QB and OL but there is a pro for each one of those
#1 CTH named a starting QB early (well 2 weeks) and said, we're riding this horse, we will not rotate QBs. We didn't care which one he picked, though Sam was the obvious choice but pick one, stick with him.
#2 When you have a problem, do something to solve it. Problem? Offensive line. Solution? CTH went out and hired one of if not the best OL coach in the nation. Coach Hand has been a breath of fresh air so far and his efforts will be aided by some talented but inexperienced guys growing up with another year in the program.
CONs
While defense wins championships, that doesn't mean you don't need offense. Teams that move the chains wear out other Ds and let your D rest. 2017 TEXAS ranked #84 in 3rd down conversions, simply HORRID. That was around where the 2010 team ranked. Let's be candid, CTH is known as an offensive guru, TEXAS fans did not see that in 2017. Between his seeming refusal to get involved with play calling to some REALLY bizarre player personnel decisions, CTH came out of the gate stumblin'. Worst example was OT in the OSU game, at the 7 yard line, 1st and goal with 4 WRs in the game. Now we understand Jerrod Heard is one of our best WRs but Collin Johnson was on the bench, John Burt was on the bench and Lil Jordan Humprey was on the bench. All big guys who can go up and get balls. WHY????? Ok, rhetorical question but it was on glaring example of a season of bizarre personnel decisions.
QB play. While we are pleased CTH named ONE QB and said let's ride and while we love Sam's potential, we need to see it. And we need Sam to stay healthy which hasn't happened since 3 seasons ago. Having said that, we have zero doubt both QBs are better than 2017, the negative, that's not a very high bar.
OL play. Yes, one of the excuses from 2017, our OL sucked. Sadly it's sucked for awhile. Going from below average in 2017 to average in 2018 would certainly be an improvement but we are not going to win titles with average play from any position group. Referencing above, #84 in the nation in 3rd down conversions, not good.
Offensive coaching staff. Truth is going to offend some, seek safe space. While the Cheap Seats leans toward the optimistic side, we don't pull punches. Only change CTH made from last year's underperforming O staff was adding Coach Hand to handle the OL. . .a big Pro/positive. As for the rest of them, TEXAS plays big boy football, not sure the rest of CTH's staff is ready for the bright lights.
We lost the best punter in TEXAS history and our kicking game is shakey. Yes, better than Russell Exerclabain (sp?) Our best defensive weapon was TEXAS 1st Ray Guy award winner. We went down under again to land his cousin to replace him so hope he's ready as the crowds are a bit bigger than the Aussie Rules games.
Conclusions/predictions
9 win season. We think the offensive is enough better and the defense plays up to their standard. Alamo Bowl invite. . ..win 10 and we play New Year's Day and we don't think 10 is far fetched. An 8 win season our bare bones floor and would represent another year of under performance.
Late Oct/early Nov, the speculation heats up as to where Coach Orlando lands a HC gig. Does TEXAS look externally or promote someone internally? If so, whom?
Gary Johnson Defensive player of the year
Sam Elhinger Offensive Player of the year but Watson gives him a run for his money. Watson and Ingram rush for over 1000 combined only because we get 5 RBs significant carries.
OU and TCU square off for the 2nd time in the BigXII title game.
BigXII preseason standings
OU Lord does that suck to type, someone want the #1 spot? you gotta beat the champ
TCU till they prove otherwise they get the 2 spot but they do have a new QB there
WVU Might have them over rated, they lost some talent but best returning QB in the conference
TEXAS Hope they are at least 2-3 by mid season
OSU They do better, Gundy's an even better coach than we think
KSU Snyder is the Mick Jagger of CFB, the man just keeps going and he's a really good coach
ISU Think they go bowling again then someone steals their coach, they land BigXII's last bowl game
Baylor Lord does that suck to type, they can join the Penn States and Ohio States of the world, as long as you can win a football game, we don't care who you abuse.
TT Cheap Seats is warming to the idea of Kliff at TEXAS in 2019 as OC at TEXAS. . . he will need a job
Kansas Is it basketball season yet?
Thanks for reading. We have no doubt we've made some mistakes and we have no doubt some will point it out.
Shit happens. Hook'em
PS, was asked who I saw us beating/getting beat by. Cheap Seats does not try to predict specific wins/losses, why we no longer bet College Football. What we do is rank teams into 3 groups. Games we are underdogs, toss ups and games we are favored.
Underdogs:
OU and TCU, in both cases till we prove otherwise
Toss ups:
USC/WVU/OSU
Favored:
KSU
ISU
Maryland
TT
Baylor
Tulsa
Kansas
So if we sweep the toss ups or split the underdogs and go 2-1 vs toss ups and sweep the favored games (which we should). 10-2 season. We'd love to call it but think we run into a turnover fest somewhere like the great plains of Lubbock where weird shit happens.
