HornSports Staff
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Discipline & Determination
'Discipline' and 'determination'...when you put those words together, great things happen. Usually one induces another. A person who has discipline is normally a person who also has determination and vice versa. Discipline is a fundamental aspect of being human. Discipline is what gets us up in the morning, and gets us to work on time. It is putting in a good days work, and wanting to do it over again the next day.
The Texas Longhorns showed on Saturday that they have the determination but not quite the discipline yet. The Longhorns were showing no aspect of the discipline needed to excel on the football field on Saturday. Consistently through the first half they were getting false start penalties, one right after the other. Throughout the game, they are constantly getting too close to the end of the play clock to where they had to burn crucial time outs that would've made a big difference in the outcome of the game.
While the Longhorns surely no discipline whatsoever on the football field, they showed the necessary determination that you want to see out of the football team. They never gave up even when the score was 31-13 with less than nine minutes to go in the game. They kept fighting - they kept trying, and they ultimately were unsuccessful but only because of the lack of discipline showed by the team.
So what does that mean for the Texas Longhorns for the rest the season? It means that they're going to give you everything they have on the football field for every play. This is the type motivation and determination that we want to see in ourselves as well as the football team that we root for. The issue is whether or not the Longhorns will develop enough discipline throughout the season to have their determination rewarded.
Charlie Strong has had a rough six games to start his career. This is the worst starting record for any Texas Longhorns team since 1956. That is not something you want on your resume when you're a coach. Is that all his fault? Maybe. But sometimes you have to move backwards to move forward.
The Texas Longhorns don't need to get more plays in their playbook or even try to come up with trick plays. They need to get back to fundamental football. The Longhorns must practice every day snap counts, snap exchange, and proper technique on the line. The plays, if executed properly, will get the Longhorns yards. They must practice the fundamentals of the game to ensure maximum success.
We'll never know if the mistakes they made in the first half of the OU game would've made any difference in the outcome of the football game. We can only determine that those mistakes seriously hurt their chances of scoring on those particular drives. When John Harris got called for a holding penalty, it negated a 68 yard rush by Tyrone Swoopes. Would the Longhorns have scored without the hold? Maybe. We'll never know because the hold was there and it was properly called.
Until the Longhorns understand the snap counts and how to execute a proper football play, they shouldn't be focused on anything else. Until they do that, we should always expect the Longhorns to disappoint despite one of the greatest defense this program has ever seen.
Other Week 7 thoughts:
- Mizzou's performance on Saturday was one of the more pathetic performances I have seen in my life. Maty Mauk accounted for 5 turnovers and led an MU offense that had 147 yards of total offense. Pathetic.
- I haven't decided if the TCU-Baylor game helped or hurt the Big 12 but that was one hell of a game. That performance puts TCU in the first tier of Big 12 teams.
- Lane Kiffin is doing his damnedest to never be employed in football, ever again. Well...he could go to Kansas.
- Hail State! It's good to see a program like Mississippi State put it all together for one magical season. Let's see if it sticks all year long.
- I know UCLA came back to make it look respectable but anyone who watched that game knew it wasn't that close.
- Texas A&M. That's all I have to say. They haven't capitalized on their early season momentum and they have no marquee win. And they go to Alabama next Saturday. I guess they can now say they have the attendance record for the state of Texas - congratulations (even though all those "true fans" left early in the 4th quarter).
- I don't think Notre Dame was looking ahead to Florida State. Instead, I believe they just aren't that good - at least not top 10 good. We'll see next Saturday but I really think Notre Dame will get taken to the woodshed in Tallahassee.
- Speaking of Tallahassee, the New York Times had a very well researched article about the troubles and lack of punishment for FSU players. Do you think anyone in Tallahassee will actually care? Probably not. As the Times pointed out, the football program can bring up to $10 million dollars per football game. The university is likely to stay in the ACC and having to compete with the SEC teams for recruits. I hope they change but I am not holding my breath.
'Discipline' and 'determination'...when you put those words together, great things happen. Usually one induces another. A person who has discipline is normally a person who also has determination and vice versa. Discipline is a fundamental aspect of being human. Discipline is what gets us up in the morning, and gets us to work on time. It is putting in a good days work, and wanting to do it over again the next day.
The Texas Longhorns showed on Saturday that they have the determination but not quite the discipline yet. The Longhorns were showing no aspect of the discipline needed to excel on the football field on Saturday. Consistently through the first half they were getting false start penalties, one right after the other. Throughout the game, they are constantly getting too close to the end of the play clock to where they had to burn crucial time outs that would've made a big difference in the outcome of the game.
While the Longhorns surely no discipline whatsoever on the football field, they showed the necessary determination that you want to see out of the football team. They never gave up even when the score was 31-13 with less than nine minutes to go in the game. They kept fighting - they kept trying, and they ultimately were unsuccessful but only because of the lack of discipline showed by the team.
So what does that mean for the Texas Longhorns for the rest the season? It means that they're going to give you everything they have on the football field for every play. This is the type motivation and determination that we want to see in ourselves as well as the football team that we root for. The issue is whether or not the Longhorns will develop enough discipline throughout the season to have their determination rewarded.
Charlie Strong has had a rough six games to start his career. This is the worst starting record for any Texas Longhorns team since 1956. That is not something you want on your resume when you're a coach. Is that all his fault? Maybe. But sometimes you have to move backwards to move forward.
The Texas Longhorns don't need to get more plays in their playbook or even try to come up with trick plays. They need to get back to fundamental football. The Longhorns must practice every day snap counts, snap exchange, and proper technique on the line. The plays, if executed properly, will get the Longhorns yards. They must practice the fundamentals of the game to ensure maximum success.
We'll never know if the mistakes they made in the first half of the OU game would've made any difference in the outcome of the football game. We can only determine that those mistakes seriously hurt their chances of scoring on those particular drives. When John Harris got called for a holding penalty, it negated a 68 yard rush by Tyrone Swoopes. Would the Longhorns have scored without the hold? Maybe. We'll never know because the hold was there and it was properly called.
Until the Longhorns understand the snap counts and how to execute a proper football play, they shouldn't be focused on anything else. Until they do that, we should always expect the Longhorns to disappoint despite one of the greatest defense this program has ever seen.
Other Week 7 thoughts:
- Mizzou's performance on Saturday was one of the more pathetic performances I have seen in my life. Maty Mauk accounted for 5 turnovers and led an MU offense that had 147 yards of total offense. Pathetic.
- I haven't decided if the TCU-Baylor game helped or hurt the Big 12 but that was one hell of a game. That performance puts TCU in the first tier of Big 12 teams.
- Lane Kiffin is doing his damnedest to never be employed in football, ever again. Well...he could go to Kansas.
- Hail State! It's good to see a program like Mississippi State put it all together for one magical season. Let's see if it sticks all year long.
- I know UCLA came back to make it look respectable but anyone who watched that game knew it wasn't that close.
- Texas A&M. That's all I have to say. They haven't capitalized on their early season momentum and they have no marquee win. And they go to Alabama next Saturday. I guess they can now say they have the attendance record for the state of Texas - congratulations (even though all those "true fans" left early in the 4th quarter).
- I don't think Notre Dame was looking ahead to Florida State. Instead, I believe they just aren't that good - at least not top 10 good. We'll see next Saturday but I really think Notre Dame will get taken to the woodshed in Tallahassee.
- Speaking of Tallahassee, the New York Times had a very well researched article about the troubles and lack of punishment for FSU players. Do you think anyone in Tallahassee will actually care? Probably not. As the Times pointed out, the football program can bring up to $10 million dollars per football game. The university is likely to stay in the ACC and having to compete with the SEC teams for recruits. I hope they change but I am not holding my breath.
