View from the Cheap Seats-TCU

[echeese]

Turnovers .. . 

The Cheap Seats did not have a good T Day as both the Horns and Da Boys were rolled .. .and badly I might add.   Took a few days off to take Mom and the crew to Marshall for the Wonderland of Lights (OK but not the must see it was advertised) and Jefferson Texas . . .Now Jefferson is a great little town full of history and it is a must for the bucket lists of traveling Texans.

Thud. . . . . . . .That was the sound of the TEXAS Longhorns hitting the end of the season.  Talk about sucking the air/life out of the Horns team. . .TCU won both matchups in the trenches though our D played exceptional for 3 quarters, holding TCU to 2 FGs. . .but with zero help from the O, they eventually succumbed.

Hard to say which was the weakest link. . ..the OL or Tyrone Swoopes.    The young man has had an up and down season but the fact is, when he is facing a good D . .. it's pretty ugly .. . and he saved his worst for last as he spent the evening looking like a deer in headlights.   Here are his numbers from the top D's we faced:

UCLA  24-34   0 Picks and 2 TDs 196 yards 
OU     . 27-34  1 pick  2 TDs  334 yards   these would be relative "high water" marks
KSU  13-25    no picks no TDs 106 yards
TCU  20-34  4 picks  1 TD 200 yards

84-137 4 TDs  5 Picks 810 yards. . .. . 

4 picks, one a pick 6 and a fumble. . .doomed any chance TEXAS had of pulling the upset.   

Primarily a running QB in high school, until the 2nd half, continued to refuse to keep the ball. . .I wonder if we are running called handoffs but his best weapon is his legs. . . . .and TS rushed for 61 yards on 15 carries. . .offsetting a lost day from our RBs

2.4 yards per rush, this despite TS' efforts. . . . . .Our OL was whipped by TCU's DL.   And I realize some want to blame this on Watson .. .sorry but Guz Malzahn nor Urban Meyer could have done much with the parts that Watson inherited.

Very much this was Gary Patterson beating CFS at his own game, great defense, great player development and control the LOS on both sides.

Spring is going to be interesting.


Our D played their hearts out for 3 quarters, any offensive production at all would have given us a chance but in the end,  TCU (boasting the #5 offense in the nation) proved to be just too much. . . .giving up only 6 points through 3 quarters, TCU exploded for 21 points in the 4th (the 4th TD came on a pick 6).   D also held TCU to 4.4 per rush. . .

The only good bowl news, we will not face an opponent as good as any of the Top 5 we saw this year (above list + Baylor).

Ranking the Big XII:

#1 

  .. .kick the crap out of a Horns team on the road. . .in a game TCU HAD to win. . . .Frogs made a playoff statement and the rest of the weekend likely could not have gone better for them.

#2  Baylor. . . . held off TT but at the end of the day, they won

#3  KSU. . . they will have a very real chance to knock off Baylor next week to take 2nd spot in the BigXII

#4   

   Season is never a complete loss when OU seriously underachieves. . .

#5   

   CFS has to learn to beat good teams. . . . 

#6   

     They are bowl eligible 

#7  Okie Lite   Need to win bedlam to go bowling

#8   

  scared the crap out of Baylor

#9  Kansas   

#10  ISU. . . I'd take Sam Richardson as our QB in a heart beat . ..sorry it's the truth


If I had a playoff vote:

#1   

  would open vs #4  

 

#2  Oregon   vs  #3  

 

#5  

   #6 Baylor/ 

 / 

 

 

[HornEsch]

The sad thing is trying to figure out which is worse is that the only way whole can one overcome the other is for one to be really good. Unfortunately both are very sub-par. Only when they both bring their play up (generally against weak teams) do we have a chance.

It is scary because if both the OL and the QB are bad, you have little to no chance to beat a good team.

 

[bcherry168]

Agree with you again. It is going to take a couple of years of good recruiting to even start to get to the high levels we want. A good quarterback, and a better offensive line are both imperative. Until we get there, we will really struggle against the better teams. Freshmen don't usually fare well as offensive linemen, so that will continue to be a problem. A JUCO QB to give Heard and Swoopes competition would really help. A couple of JUCO tackles wouldn't hurt, either.

Our defense played at a championship level after BYU, but with very little help from the offense, they would eventually wear down late in the games. We lose the heart of the D after this year, but I have hopes that we have some kids coming along that can step up. We will probably have several freshmen playing a lot on D next year, particularly if we hit on some of the undecided recruits out there.

This is going to be a multi year process. But I am confident Strong will do it right.

 

[HornEsch]

I think people need to realize that Strong is playing chess, not checkers. He is looking several moves ahead and playing the long game.

It will take a few years to be at our best, although I suspect we will see a lot of improvement along the way. Once we get there I think we will see a much more sustainable level than we had after our peak with Mack.

 

[Duke C #11]

I thought Diggs played himself right out of the NFL draft.

 

[echeese]

I thought Diggs played himself right out of the NFL draft.

Diggs got boxed out by a former basketball player. . . I've always thought basketball players translated well to football. . . 

In reality his coverage was good but 5'10" doesn't rebound well (which is about all those plays were) vs 6'4" . .. .I know. . .one of my short comings. . . 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Diggs got boxed out by a former basketball player. . . I've always thought basketball players translated well to football. . . 

In reality his coverage was good but 5'10" doesn't rebound well (which is about all those plays were) vs 6'4" . .. .I know. . .one of my short comings. . . 

Diggs is 5' 10" in high heels

I don't understand why Strong and Bedford didn't play Thompson or Thomas across from Doctson.  TCU fully exploited that mismatch.  Not a good scheme

 

[Duke C #11]

The trick to covering a tall WR is to know where he wants to be and be there first every time.