echeese
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Execution
It is the most important thing a football team does. Complex or simple game plans are largely irrelevant. . .talent can be rendered irrelevant. . . but the mark of well coached teams is execution. The greatest play calling is neutralized by sloppy execution.
If there is one word to sum up this 28-7 loss, it would be execution. . . .in this case, TEXAS' failure to execute. As games go, this was more UCLA than BYU. .. . . .Now granted, UCLA was a game we should have won. . while Baylor was a game we could have won but it was not BYU. .. .a game we had no chance to win.
Baylor had one drive where they dominated. . . a long 83 yard drive to open the 2nd half, a drive that stuck a dagger in TEXAS' heart. . .. . . .oddly enough, so did we. We had a 98 yard + drive where we ran the ball, converted on 3rd down and made a physical statement .The difference in the drives, they stuck theirs in the end zone while we fumbled at the 1/2 yard line after driving from our own 1. Those two drives came on either side of halftime on our last possession of the 2nd and their 1st possession of the 3rd. They would be the final difference in the game.
TEXAS finished the 1st half down 7-0. . . .we should have lead at least 10-0 .. . . wait .. what did you say? Up 10-0 that doesn't make sense. Not so fast my friend. . . . . .Remember the play right before the FG attempt was blocked. A pass to Jordan Shipley for a gain of 12 and a 1st down. . . but the Baylor DB got their half a step too soon. This was clear pass interference but no flag. Horrid call nor would it be the only head scratcher. CFS goes for the FG, no issue with the call but we again fail to execute, FG is low and blocked, returned for Baylor's only TD of the half. And a 10 point swing in the score.
Had you told me that Swoopes passing line (less the INT. . .2nd one was meaningless) would be better than Petty's. . . . had you told me Baylor would try to win the game running the ball up the middle. . .I'd have laid hundreds on TEXAS -14.5 .. . .I'd have lost my azz.
Our keys to victory were to not turn the ball over, we did that 4 times in the 1st half, an INT, a turnover on downs, a fumble and a blocked FG. And despite that, we were only down 7-0, we had moved the ball and we were 5 of 9 on 1st downs. More importantly, our defense had shut Baylor out of the end zone, forced 4 punts and had an impressive goal line stand.
Now in the interest of full disclosure, I have not read or listened to any post game commentary at this point. I even missed Mack's comments if he made any. I will predict that Watson is being ripped pretty hard. . . .. Which is odd as the gameplan itself was excellent. Baylor's D was better than I thought, frankly I did not expect them to be as good as they were. They play aggressive because Briles isn't worried about being scored on because his offense generally can cover up mistakes.
We saw clearly the problem with a young QB, on his INT he stared down McFarland, he never looked anywhere else. . .DB read it and jumped the route. Swoopes is like a young baseball pitcher with a great fast ball, as long as he can throw it on a line, he's very good and I thought we set him up for plenty of those throws. But when he has to spot a curve or set a batter up for something he's not expecting, he's not there yet. This is a growth year for him.
My biggest criticism is for our Special Teams coach. . .dude . ..WTF?"???? Special teams failures where huge in this game. Blocked FG for a TD. ..we almost recovered from that but a fake punt for 10 yards. . . .sucked the life out of the defense. Of course there is no specific "ST" coach, this one is squarely at the feet of CFS. Doesn't mean I don't love him still but the last guy was known for his ST successes. . .gotta be better than that.
#2 criticism. . . our LB play. Linwood abused those guys. Hicks had him stuffed for a loss at one point, simply shook him off .. .Edmond? Same as last year and the year before. . . does not read well, hits the wrong hole frequently. He is at his best rushing the passer. ..not unlike Sergio Kindle, he's a DE/pass rusher not a LB .. .. .our LBs simply do not make plays in the run game consistently enough
#3 criticism. . . .this one on Mack and especially Harsin. . . . Swoopes over JT Barnett who is showing himself to not only be a much better passer than Swoopes (though everyone knew this) but also a better runner. Woulda Shoulda Coulda I know but it's true. Swoopes is still raw, he is Nuke LaLush with an overpowering fastball but no curve or slider or change up. . .upside is huge. . .but potential means you ain't done it yet.
#4 Criticism. . . .J Gray's blocking. . . .saw 2 whiffs which lead to Baylor blowing up plays. One where he ran right past a blitzing Baylor defender. Of course I have to included some very untimely penalties. Flowers' needless hold, McFarland's needless hold, Harris' taunting penalty doing his Michael Irvin 1st down . ..though that was a BS flag. These all in the category of LACK OF EXECUTION.
To win we had to play clean. . .we failed to do that . .4 turnovers (well 2 plus a blocked FG and turnover on downs). .penalties at the WORST of times, failures to execute, to make tackles on 3rd down.
#1 Accolade .. . . Our DL.. . .it pressured Petty into his worst game of his career. Of course Briles playing nothing but tomato cans helped too. Petty simply looked flustered and overwhelmed at times. Never seen him that far off on his throws.
#2 Accolade. . . .Our DBs. . . . .save one busted coverage . .. they kept the Baylor WRs in check and
#3 Accolade. . . game plan by offense and defense. . .
#4 Accolade. . . Swoopes. Yep, he was not without his poor reads and problems but measuring the whole, he played a good game. He moved the team, he didn't get down on himself. He is a young QB who enjoyed a 'learning experience' and I have little doubt he will continue to improve.
And as a cherry here, I did not chart how often James was in the game but moving Hutch to the right side and Perkins sliding down was a BIG BOOST to the OL. . . .Still a work in progress but we were better.
Where do we go from here?
CFS and staff face what might be their toughest coaching challenge of the year. . .at least until the next cross road game. This team knows it let UCLA and Baylor off the hook, that it left 2 wins on the field. How do they respond vs the biggest game of EVERY year at TEXAS. CFS needs a signature win and he needs it quick. Don't look now but TCU. . WVU. . .KSU. . .these are not gimmies. These have turned into tough opponents, all of whom would LOVE a shot at TEXAS when it's down.
Not unlike a boxer who's had a couple losses, confidence is a fleeting emotion and make no mistake, football is an emotional game played by angry people. For better or worse, Mack Brown is the bar and the one thing Mack was great at was not letting his team get down after a loss at least until 2010. We hired CFS to be Mack circa 1998-2009 . . .2010 is why Mack was replaced.
Ranking the Big XII:
#1 Baylor . ..their defense is better than I thought. But they paid the price for their cupcake schedule and if we had not shot ourselves in the foot, would have left Austin with their playoff hopes dashed. Their O is not ready for good D's. PS, I found it interesting Briles took a knee late in the game. Interesting. .. . .
#2 TCU. . . statement win. TCU's biggest as a member of the BigXII.
#3 KSU. . . .impressive beat down of a 2nd Tier TT. . .and TT is no mutt
#4 Okie Lite. ..for now. . . .tempted to ranked OU ahead of them because I think they are the better team but hard to penalize one team for a good win and reward another for losing a game they should have won but were outplayed.
#5 OU .. . playoff hopes alive thanks to the wildest day of Top 10 upsets since 1990. . . UVa was ranked #1 at this point in 1990? I'd have lost money on that bar bet
Big drop here. . .
#6 WVU . .. .
#7 TEXAS. . . .we suck less than the rest right now and I do think we continue to improve as the year wears on.
#8 TT. . . . .or ISU. . .coin flip
#9 ISU
#10 KU. . . ..this is a really bad team .. . .
PS, in the one who got away category . ..Billings. . .kid can play. . ..
And Will Russ with another very nice day. . . . .
It is the most important thing a football team does. Complex or simple game plans are largely irrelevant. . .talent can be rendered irrelevant. . . but the mark of well coached teams is execution. The greatest play calling is neutralized by sloppy execution.
If there is one word to sum up this 28-7 loss, it would be execution. . . .in this case, TEXAS' failure to execute. As games go, this was more UCLA than BYU. .. . . .Now granted, UCLA was a game we should have won. . while Baylor was a game we could have won but it was not BYU. .. .a game we had no chance to win.
Baylor had one drive where they dominated. . . a long 83 yard drive to open the 2nd half, a drive that stuck a dagger in TEXAS' heart. . .. . . .oddly enough, so did we. We had a 98 yard + drive where we ran the ball, converted on 3rd down and made a physical statement .The difference in the drives, they stuck theirs in the end zone while we fumbled at the 1/2 yard line after driving from our own 1. Those two drives came on either side of halftime on our last possession of the 2nd and their 1st possession of the 3rd. They would be the final difference in the game.
TEXAS finished the 1st half down 7-0. . . .we should have lead at least 10-0 .. . . wait .. what did you say? Up 10-0 that doesn't make sense. Not so fast my friend. . . . . .Remember the play right before the FG attempt was blocked. A pass to Jordan Shipley for a gain of 12 and a 1st down. . . but the Baylor DB got their half a step too soon. This was clear pass interference but no flag. Horrid call nor would it be the only head scratcher. CFS goes for the FG, no issue with the call but we again fail to execute, FG is low and blocked, returned for Baylor's only TD of the half. And a 10 point swing in the score.
Had you told me that Swoopes passing line (less the INT. . .2nd one was meaningless) would be better than Petty's. . . . had you told me Baylor would try to win the game running the ball up the middle. . .I'd have laid hundreds on TEXAS -14.5 .. . .I'd have lost my azz.
Our keys to victory were to not turn the ball over, we did that 4 times in the 1st half, an INT, a turnover on downs, a fumble and a blocked FG. And despite that, we were only down 7-0, we had moved the ball and we were 5 of 9 on 1st downs. More importantly, our defense had shut Baylor out of the end zone, forced 4 punts and had an impressive goal line stand.
Now in the interest of full disclosure, I have not read or listened to any post game commentary at this point. I even missed Mack's comments if he made any. I will predict that Watson is being ripped pretty hard. . . .. Which is odd as the gameplan itself was excellent. Baylor's D was better than I thought, frankly I did not expect them to be as good as they were. They play aggressive because Briles isn't worried about being scored on because his offense generally can cover up mistakes.
We saw clearly the problem with a young QB, on his INT he stared down McFarland, he never looked anywhere else. . .DB read it and jumped the route. Swoopes is like a young baseball pitcher with a great fast ball, as long as he can throw it on a line, he's very good and I thought we set him up for plenty of those throws. But when he has to spot a curve or set a batter up for something he's not expecting, he's not there yet. This is a growth year for him.
My biggest criticism is for our Special Teams coach. . .dude . ..WTF?"???? Special teams failures where huge in this game. Blocked FG for a TD. ..we almost recovered from that but a fake punt for 10 yards. . . .sucked the life out of the defense. Of course there is no specific "ST" coach, this one is squarely at the feet of CFS. Doesn't mean I don't love him still but the last guy was known for his ST successes. . .gotta be better than that.
#2 criticism. . . our LB play. Linwood abused those guys. Hicks had him stuffed for a loss at one point, simply shook him off .. .Edmond? Same as last year and the year before. . . does not read well, hits the wrong hole frequently. He is at his best rushing the passer. ..not unlike Sergio Kindle, he's a DE/pass rusher not a LB .. .. .our LBs simply do not make plays in the run game consistently enough
#3 criticism. . . .this one on Mack and especially Harsin. . . . Swoopes over JT Barnett who is showing himself to not only be a much better passer than Swoopes (though everyone knew this) but also a better runner. Woulda Shoulda Coulda I know but it's true. Swoopes is still raw, he is Nuke LaLush with an overpowering fastball but no curve or slider or change up. . .upside is huge. . .but potential means you ain't done it yet.
#4 Criticism. . . .J Gray's blocking. . . .saw 2 whiffs which lead to Baylor blowing up plays. One where he ran right past a blitzing Baylor defender. Of course I have to included some very untimely penalties. Flowers' needless hold, McFarland's needless hold, Harris' taunting penalty doing his Michael Irvin 1st down . ..though that was a BS flag. These all in the category of LACK OF EXECUTION.
To win we had to play clean. . .we failed to do that . .4 turnovers (well 2 plus a blocked FG and turnover on downs). .penalties at the WORST of times, failures to execute, to make tackles on 3rd down.
#1 Accolade .. . . Our DL.. . .it pressured Petty into his worst game of his career. Of course Briles playing nothing but tomato cans helped too. Petty simply looked flustered and overwhelmed at times. Never seen him that far off on his throws.
#2 Accolade. . . .Our DBs. . . . .save one busted coverage . .. they kept the Baylor WRs in check and
#3 Accolade. . . game plan by offense and defense. . .
#4 Accolade. . . Swoopes. Yep, he was not without his poor reads and problems but measuring the whole, he played a good game. He moved the team, he didn't get down on himself. He is a young QB who enjoyed a 'learning experience' and I have little doubt he will continue to improve.
And as a cherry here, I did not chart how often James was in the game but moving Hutch to the right side and Perkins sliding down was a BIG BOOST to the OL. . . .Still a work in progress but we were better.
Where do we go from here?
CFS and staff face what might be their toughest coaching challenge of the year. . .at least until the next cross road game. This team knows it let UCLA and Baylor off the hook, that it left 2 wins on the field. How do they respond vs the biggest game of EVERY year at TEXAS. CFS needs a signature win and he needs it quick. Don't look now but TCU. . WVU. . .KSU. . .these are not gimmies. These have turned into tough opponents, all of whom would LOVE a shot at TEXAS when it's down.
Not unlike a boxer who's had a couple losses, confidence is a fleeting emotion and make no mistake, football is an emotional game played by angry people. For better or worse, Mack Brown is the bar and the one thing Mack was great at was not letting his team get down after a loss at least until 2010. We hired CFS to be Mack circa 1998-2009 . . .2010 is why Mack was replaced.
Ranking the Big XII:
#1 Baylor . ..their defense is better than I thought. But they paid the price for their cupcake schedule and if we had not shot ourselves in the foot, would have left Austin with their playoff hopes dashed. Their O is not ready for good D's. PS, I found it interesting Briles took a knee late in the game. Interesting. .. . .
#2 TCU. . . statement win. TCU's biggest as a member of the BigXII.
#3 KSU. . . .impressive beat down of a 2nd Tier TT. . .and TT is no mutt
#4 Okie Lite. ..for now. . . .tempted to ranked OU ahead of them because I think they are the better team but hard to penalize one team for a good win and reward another for losing a game they should have won but were outplayed.
#5 OU .. . playoff hopes alive thanks to the wildest day of Top 10 upsets since 1990. . . UVa was ranked #1 at this point in 1990? I'd have lost money on that bar bet
Big drop here. . .
#6 WVU . .. .
#7 TEXAS. . . .we suck less than the rest right now and I do think we continue to improve as the year wears on.
#8 TT. . . . .or ISU. . .coin flip
#9 ISU
#10 KU. . . ..this is a really bad team .. . .
PS, in the one who got away category . ..Billings. . .kid can play. . ..
And Will Russ with another very nice day. . . . .
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