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Showing content with the highest reputation since 03/25/18 in all areas
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375 points
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My father died last night. He was 87 years old. It was his time. He was ready. I wasn’t. But then, I suspect that we never are. We only have one father in our lives and, if we’re lucky, he’s a good one. Mine was. I can’t think of my father without thinking of fishing. I love to fish, he taught me to fish, and I passed that along to my kids. But the most meaningful fish of my life is a fish I never caught. Now, anyone who has ever fished with me knows that the world is full of fish I’ve never caught (why, the laws of physics may even be bent; I may have not caught more fish than have ever existed). But the fish I’m talking about was a flounder in the summer of 1984 or so. I was a teen. Being that age, I had a particularly difficult relationship with my father at that time. As I grew into myself and worked on figuring out who I was, a good part of that exercise was me pushing back on everything my father was, everything he wanted, everything he said, everything he even thought. I was….an unpleasant adolescent. And my father did not bend to my will. He pushed back. He loved me enough to stand fast, and to make me hate him, because he wasn’t going to stop being my father, even if that required standing strong and letting there be conflict. There was a great distance between us – the greatest it had ever been and ever would be. We had functionally nothing in common. We could go weeks without meaningful conversation. But we had one thing – ONE THING – that we still shared; we loved to fish, and we still liked to do it together. So, reaching out to me, to try to hold on to that last, tenuous thread holding father and son together, he suggested we go on a fishing trip to south Texas, to the bay house of dear family friends where we’d had so many great trips before. I agreed, because hey, I loved fishing. We had a great trip. We ate giant chicken fried steaks at the Brush Country Inn. We fished from a lighted pier all night long, every night for three days. And we caught fish, mostly speckled trout. But one night, I hooked into something big. My rod was bowed, it was a fight to get whatever it was to the dock. We were going to need the landing net. As I fought the fish close enough for us to finally get a glimpse, we saw that it was a beautiful, enormous flounder. Truly, the biggest flounder I’ve ever had on the line. I maneuvered him to the pier, my father laid out on his stomach with the landing net so he could reach as far out as possible to net the fish. As he lowered the net into the water, the flounder turned, shook his head once, and swam off. I felt in an instant when he threw the hook. My father flailed with the net, trying to scoop the fish before he got away. No dice. I was laughing – because of COURSE the best fish of the trip just shook the hook and swam away. That is the way of fishing with me. But what struck me was my dad’s reaction. He flailed with the net, and had a look of real anguish on his face. Anguish that the fish he wanted me to catch got away. Disappointment FOR me. Not IN me, but for me. He cared. In spite of all I’d put him through, how much I had alienated him, what mattered most to him was seeing ME have success. After all that had come between us – and still WAS standing between us – he loved me. Totally. Completely. Unconditionally. It still took us a long time to heal, and grow back together, but as we did so, I always remembered that fish, and how much he cared. Through everything, my father’s love was an anchor. His love for me. His love for my mother – oh, how he loved my mother. His love for my wife – a relationship that was far from easy, but was bound up in that same complicated love that I experienced for a time. A relationship that drew upon her pastoral strength and presence, which when he needed it, at the very end – it was there. Given freely, with grace, and with a connection to the divine that, well if you know wife, you know from which it flows. And love for his grandkids. To a person, everyone I’ve talked to about my dad since his passing has mentioned how he adored them. How proud he was of them. How they reminded him of my mother, my wife, me, and sometimes even of him. To the end, he talked about how his love for them was what kept him going. What he loved the most about each of them was their kindness – their intelligence and their achievements mattered, but when he spoke of them, he always spoke of how good and decent they are. Which makes sense, as his kindness was his enduring feature. There are things I knew of and saw along the way. When a family member was in a bind, how money was sent to solve the problem, no questions asked, and no expectation of repayment. And mind you, we were not a family of any great means. There also are things I didn’t know of before – how they opened their home to a young man as he started his cancer treatments in Houston and needed a safe place to stay. Again, no questions asked – just sharing of what they had, being kind because – well, why wouldn’t you be? My father was a child of the border, and all that entails. Some of it was hard; he was separated from his parents often at a young age, because they weren’t going to send him to school in the crappy little Mexican ranching town they lived in. So he grew up mostly in Eagle Pass, with family. He found opportunity in education – a high school teacher told him and so many of his classmates that they could go to college, driving them to A&M – yes, A&M – in the local school bus to see the campus and watch a football game. He got that education, which let him live a life that took him on adventures around the world – his years working in Argentina, living in Buenos Aires with my mother, the two of them together living a life of dreams, was one of the highlights of his life. Indeed, my father’s story cannot be told – not even a little bit – without talking about my mother. The best things in this world are love stories, the real love stories, the stories of a love that is tied to your very being. Theirs was that kind of love story. My father was a freewheeling young man living in the valley, working in the oil patch. My mother was a striking beauty, but the product of a hard life of fleeing an alcoholic father, abuse, poverty, and betrayal. She desperately wanted a man who would be kind to her, and who could someday provide her the life she barely dared to dream of. They met. My father couldn’t believe that he’d met the beauty he'd seen only from a distance. And my mother couldn’t believe that she’d met a man who was so kind, and so devoted. They married having dated for only a few weeks. And they were together for decades after that. He gave her the life she dreamed of – a son, a home, safety and security – until she died three years ago. He was her rock. She was his love, his adoration, his heart. And dear God, did he miss her so. Every day. In the end, he was ready to go. So he went. On his terms. He was ready to see her again. I hope that is a thing, that we do see each other again in some beyond. In our last conversation – which I knew was our last – we talked of the universe, and stardust. And how we are at once insignificant pieces of coalesced stardust in a universe of trillions of galaxies….but that same infinite, incomprehensible universe cannot have its story told without speaking of the time that some coalesced stardust was my father. And some other coalesced stardust was my mother. And together, they found and fostered a love fitting for an infinite universe. We are in awe of the universe, but the universe itself should be in awe of love. We matter. Love matters. My heart is broken. My parents are now both gone. My children are devastated by loss. My wife is my rock, a guide and pillar for me as I grieve. And I am lucky. I am so goddamned lucky.238 points
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225 points
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Texas has spent the better part of the last 12 years getting sand kicked in its face and told it isn't good enough, or it isn't back, or its boosters are meanies holding down the program or that Austin is a cesspool. You name the kind of derisive, condescending shit-talking someone in the media, or representative of another fanbase, or even writing as a UT reporter but needing to pay off gambling or IRS debts, could say about the Texas football program, and it has been said. This all started on the evening of January 7th, 2010, just after that dirty, impish grandmother molesting Nick Saban sacrificed what is rumored to be a live chicken and a dead rhino to Lamashtu The Eraser, in exchange for the greatest dynastic run in CFB history, beginning with the immediate demise of Texas via an early injury to its star QB and leader, Colt McCoy. Twelves Years a Knave is a run too long for any blue blood program to endure. It all ends this weekend, right where it started, in front of God, Country, Longhorn Nation, all of US sports media, and that dark, tiny ankle-biter himself, Nick Saban. "But closetojumping, Alabama is the #1 team in the country!! They’re a juggernaut!" Yeah, yeah, I get it. Alabama is 10 feet tall and shoots lightning bolts from its arse. They're favored by 20.5 points on the road. Right. It’s true, when you look at what Bama does on the road against non-conference opponents, it’s quite intimidating. I think we all remember the last time they went on the road into unfriendly non-SEC confines in the year … (checks notes) … 2011. That’s right, Bama hasn’t played a legitimate non-conference game on the road since 2011. That means there are like 4 people currently involved with the program who have actually been a part of Bama going into unfamiliar territory with an overwhelmingly hostile crowd and no “gentleman’s agreement” creature comforts. In fact, in Saban’s entire 15 year tenure, Bama has gone on the road OOC exactly twice – against the mighty Duke Blue Devils in 2010 (62-13) and to Happy Valley in 2011 (27-11) while the PSU child molestation scandal was roiling under the surface within the football program. For all of the SEC tough talk about what brutal opponents they are to the outside world, they’re a generally inward-looking and thinking collection of programs and people, and Bama is no different. Hell, the last two times they played Big 12 opponents, they didn’t exactly run them out of the buildings on neutral sites – WVU 2014 (33-23) and OU 2018 (45-34). But, hey, maybe that is all ancient history and Alabama is lately a rolling ball of butcherknives when it comes to real road games, right? Let’s look at how largely the same team playing this weekend did in 2021. They played road games against UF (31-29), ATM (38-41), MSU (49-9), and Auburn (24-22 in quadruple OT). The Miss State game was the week after they shit themselves on the road against ATM. The other 3 games involved a mediocre UF team going for 2 to tie it late, ATM embarrassing them for 60 minutes, and Auburn’s Tank Bigsby going out of bounds like an imbecile to giftwrap a Bama comeback to tie a game that Auburn dominated. Does Texas face the team that lost to ATM the last time they were in Texas, or the team that rolled a hapless MSU the following week? “But CTJ, Texas lacks the talent to keep up with the Bama Machine!!??!” For the first time in a very long time, Texas will be going up against an elite team and will not have a major talent gap at multiple positions by comparison. In fact, Texas has more starting talent than Bama at multiple positions going into this game. 1) Bama’s OL is an untested pile of poo. They are going to gargle our collective balls after being left in a state of rubble by the “greatest OL coaching hire in college history”, Doug Marrone. Anyone who watched them against Utah State witnessed the OL struggling to get push against the USU front seven. Bama’s leading rusher in the game was Bryce Young and that isn’t a result of either Young being an amazing scrambler or Bama taking it easy with their TBs against the G5 program. Texas’ DL will face more complete OLs this season than the one they face on Saturday. 2) Bama’s WRs and TEs should scare no one. This isn’t 2019. Bama hasn’t had this weak a group of TEs in over a decade, and that’s even if Latu plays. The WRs aren’t substantially more formidable. Burton is fine, but he’s not keeping anyone awake at night. Prentice looks good but he’s not Waddle. After that, shit gets dicey. 3) The defensive line for Alabama isn’t up to its usual snuff. The 3 interior DL positions are manned by big bodies, but also guys that haven’t gone pro yet because they weren’t good enough to do so. By Bama standards, that should give every opponent some upside in expectations. Of course their outside guys, Anderson and Turner, are all anyone on this board wants to shit themselves over, but they’re two guys. The interior doesn’t command a double team, so energy can be focused in supporting the outside. 4) Texas has elite talent at TB, WR, and TE. It has potentially elite talent at QB, OT, and OG. Sarkisian is one of the best offensive playcallers in football. He has the talent and depth at key positions which will enable him to create interesting match-ups even for a talented defense like Bama. 5) Bill O’Brien is a meatheaded asshole chugger. BOB is in the process of doing what he does. He’ll continue to degrade his unit on a yearly basis until there is simply nothing left. Saban won’t allow for that, but he’s let him stay on another year after sniffing around in the market and not liking his other options. That serves to our benefit, as we should expect turtled playcalling and a general lack of creativity. For a defense still trying to find reliable footing, O’Brien is the ideal OC at a place like Bama for Texas to face. “closetojumping, these guys are SEC! SEC! SEC! and I am not sure our stadium can handle their ferocity!?!” The last time a “greatest team ever” from the SEC marched into the confines of DKR, Texas was a dropped touchdown pass via a gimpy and weak-willed Keontay Ingram away from ruining their plans. As mentioned earlier, this is a program that is unused to walking into a foreign, angry fanbase 100,000+ strong and hell bent on turning the tide of 12 Years a Knave, bestowed upon us by their dark lord of a head coach in the first place. I don’t expect Bama to cringe or crumple under the pressure, but I do expect them to be at an inherent disadvantage. I also don’t expect to see many Alabama fans in attendance, simply because most of them have to work in the service industry on weekends and these tickets and Austin travel are also quite expensive for a base of largely minimum wage workers. Also, we’re fucking due. Storied programs are forged and burnished by deliverance when the spotlight and sun burn brightest. Our time for ascension is here, goddammit, and it is long overdue time for Nick Saban and his waterheaded following of fucktards to go to hell and give the rest of college football some fucking space to breathe. I believe the great Texas freedom fighter Davey Crockett said it best, specifically thinking about the cowering brethren he was leaving behind as he headed out when he said: “Alabama Fans and the rest of these God forsaken SEC mouthbreathers can actually all go to hell. As for us, we’re going with Texas – 34-31. “ Hook’em208 points
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204 points
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One of the great things about being a Texas fan is that the football team plays at least 10 P5 teams each year. I heard some SEC honk on XM 84 mention recently that Georgia is really showing the world who’s the balls by playing an amazing 10 P5 games this year. “Wow. I’m sexually aroused, Commander.” You know who else plays 10 P5 games this year? Every fucking Pac 12, Big 10, and Big 12 team in existence, you myopic fuck. These fucking clowns have gone so deep into their own fart-huffing that they forgot that the sport is actually played beyond the range of their backwater region. Anyway, part of what’s great about how Texas plays its 10 P5 games is that the 10th game is damned near always against a worthy opponent with a well-known brand. This year is no different, as the horns don their gear this Saturday to face a powerful foe in the LSU Tigers. It should be a great match-up and fun Saturday night. And by that, I mean I expect Texas to stomp a deep and dirty mudhole painfully into the ass of these Cajun hillbillies and send them packing back to the swampy nether regions faster than you can spot corruption in their state government. “But closetojumping, LSU’s student athletes are among the elite in college sports!” First of all, let’s be clear about something, I don’t think LSU is even an accredited university. The trolls showing up to this site, and anyone who’s ever read TigerDroppings can also attest, simply reflect the concept that LSU isn’t an actual school, therefore these are not “Student” Athletes that UT is playing. Look at the facts: -LSU has an application acceptance rate of 74%. The literacy rate for the state of Louisiana most recently posted at 69% according to the Department of Education. Basic math says this is an open-enrollment school creating vocational opportunities for the literate and semi-literate in its home state. They’re effectively taking anyone from Louisiana that can sign their name on the application. -The admission standards and average SAT scores accepted into LSU are lower than the NCAA eligibility requirements for true freshmen student athletes entering into its FBS schools. A state of Texas GED is an acceptable posting of the documents required for acceptance into LSU. Given this data, it’s reasonable to assess that LSU’s football team is in effect a local team of mercenaries that do not face the same academic and educational responsibilities that any of their opponents besides Ole Miss, Auburn, and Mississippi State will face. So they’re not to be called student-athletes, and they’re able to show up competing with that advantage against Texas. I still like where we sit against them and their fans, both in this game and in life. “closetojumping, you seem awfully bullish about Texas facing a team with a new offensive juggernaut of an offense that dismantled a mighty 10 win team last weekend.” I keep hearing a couple of refrains from LSU visitors, the media talking heads, and the coelenterates cloaked in UT gear that surface themselves on the boards and at the proverbial water cooler. The mighty new offense is one of the bigger talking points as to why Texas shouldn’t even bother showing up this weekend. So LSU hired a guy that’s never actually been a coordinator of any sort and shoved him into the pedestrian Ensminger’s thinking, and asked those two to have a football baby. And we’re supposed to be concerned, especially after watching LSU publicly buttfuck the wizards of GA Southern. “Hey, GAS won 10 games last year, they’re strong.” Right. Their best win last year was against Appalachian State. They were blown out by ULM. So, no, pummeling a shithole team from the Sun Belt doesn’t do anything for me. I realize, given LSU’s troubles with the Sun Belt, this is a step up, like going from using an outhouse to having indoor plumbing. A wise philosopher once said that everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. Installing a new offense with a nonbelieving head coach that panics when he sees his offenses actively using motion faces more peril than what a cupcake can present. When Texas sends LSU back to the sidelines after a couple of 3 and outs, let’s see how much resolve Brady and Ensminger have when Baron von Edward Beauregard Orgeron is heaving red bull and dirty rice flavored, spittle-loaded invective in their direction and regressing the offense back to 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Orgeron’s loomed like a gargoyle over the offensive strategy of his staff in every season of every stop he’s made as a head coach. It’s difficult to fathom that he’s shaken that monkey in one offseason because an analyst from the Saints was hired. The oldest running joke in college football is that LSU has opened up its offense. That punchline will be toasted again in the late hours of Saturday night. “CTJ, these LSU boys got that swagger though!!! They Sposed to be SEC!!!” A team hasn’t talked this much shit about an opponent since Miami prepared to face Penn State in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl. The media has certainly bathed LSU in Sazerac-flavored glory as the LSU idiots have fed them sound byte after sound byte. K’Lavon Chaisson and his 3 career sacks has pulled up in his shit smelling clown car and spouted off at the mouth to anyone who will listen. This guy must still be pissed that Tom Herman took up residence in his home for 8 hours and subjected him to bingewatching Friends. One of the linebackers has announced that they’re going to run over Sam Cosmi in 10 different ways. I can’t remember which one said it, and while my understanding is that their LB corps is apparently on par with 70’s Steelers, I don’t see a single fucking one that can sniff Devin White’s jock, and he’s long gone. Their entire DB unit has collectively rubbed its sandy vagina and moaned that Texas, a program that has put more than 60 DBs into the league, has the temerity to continue to claim a moniker that UT’s been using for 3 decades. The LSU DBs are hurt because history apparently started with Patrick Peterson and the fucking Honey Badger. Right. Sorry, LSU, we forgot you were there. All of the shit talking and chest beating is the same false bravado we witnessed in our last 2 endeavors against overrated SEC teams. They’re fucking great because they say they are. It’s got all the markings of a situation in which a team shows up, throws their helmets out on the field, and says “okay, we’re here, give us the W”. As Texas fans, we know it all too well, having seen that bullshit start with overhype at the turn of the decade and the UT teams of that period playing right into it. Herman lives for this kind of game and situation, and his team feeds off of it as well. Underdogs at home? Getting shittalked by clowns who’ve never shared the field with Texas? Big national audience? All those boxes are checked and the history of those circumstances tells us that Texas will be ready. Beyond the mental prep, or lack thereof, depending upon the side, there’s also a really simple exercise to think through here. If you had one game to win against a highly touted and talented opponent, which head coach would you want prepping the strategy for your team and hatching the gameplan – Tom Herman or Sir Edgar Beaujolais Orgeron, Esq.? Only LSU fans are dumb enough to claim they’d choose the latter. “OH NO closetojumping, you’ve doomed us to our fate!!” I mudhole posted about USC last year, if it makes you feel any better. Stop squatting to pee. Texas wins this game with a score closer than the way the game was actually played on the field – 31-24. I expect misdirection, tempo, and a steady diet of fat ass LSU defenders sucking wind. The Texas defense will sell out to stop the run and force Jesus Joe Burrow to swagger the passing game to a big night while the beached whales masquerading as offensive linemen attempt to fend off multiple blitzes in front of him. I look forward to seeing many hot and trashy Cajun females bawling after the game, barely speaking audible English, lamenting the beating their team just took. LSU players, apparently, will be looking forward to heading back to the lockerroom so they can continue to compare notes on how they’re going to rape each other, or whatever the fuck this is: Anyway, Hook'em202 points
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Dear aggies, You’ll always be little brother. 77-37-5. No arbitrary timeframes, just ownership. You assholes tried to blow up the Big 12 and then whined and blamed it on us. You assholes tried to derail our move to the SEC because you were desperately hoping we wouldn’t shine the light on your utter failure. You accomplished exactly jack shit in the years following Justin Tucker’s dagger into your hearts. You’ve spent the last two years touching yourselves at the thought of this game you screeched and cried to the SEC to get at Kyle even though it should have rightly been in Austin this year. You’ve run your mouths the whole season, as if you’ve won anything of consequence. We gifted you 3 times and you only got 7 points off of those gifts. You gave it your best shot and it’s this?! The only thing intimidating about Kyle Field is the halitosis from 100,000 screaming Aggies. Our history proves it’s not any tougher a place to play for us than it is for you. Almost a 15 year head start and y’all have yet to play for an SEC title. But here we are in year one. Poor aggies. Now shut. The fuck. Up.187 points
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If you've been following the news, shit is bad. Really bad. There's lots they need, but there's only so much regular folks can do. But here's a thing you can do, and they desperately need it: please donate to their food bank. They are just about out of money and out of food. And the people of El Paso have never needed it more: https://elpasoansfightinghunger.org/donate El Paso is good people, and a lot of them are hard working folks who make enough, but not a lot more than that. And even without accounting for ordered business limitations, because people are taking the COVID surge there seriously, work (and thus pay) is taking a nosedive for a lot of them right now. They need our help. This is what we fucking do, and now is when we fucking do it. So let's help our fellow Texans in their hour of need. I'd sure appreciate it, and they will too.179 points
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https://www.theplayerstribune.com/cj-baxter-ncaa-football-texas-longhorns To the Texas Brotherhood Nov 27, 2024 Everybody knows my mindset. I’m a simple guy. When I’m lined up in the backfield — no matter what the situation or how high the stakes are — my mind is usually pretty clear. I’m only ever thinking about three things: My alignment. My assignment. Executing the play. I’ve been playing football my entire life, so whenever I’m on the field, there’s never any fear or hesitation. I just feel like I’m where I belong. That was the case last August when I lined up to take a random snap during a preseason practice, and my whole life changed in a split-second. Honestly, at that moment, I was probably as confident as I’d ever been playing football. I came to Texas as the No. 1 running back in the nation out of high school. I learned the ropes from future NFL draft picks. And now, this season was going to be my turn. I was ready to be the next great Longhorns running back. When I got the ball, I hit the left B-gap, same as I have literally thousands of times throughout my life. But when I got tackled, I knew something was wrong. And it wasn’t the pain that scared me — I don’t even remember the pain that much. It was the sound. A pop. I’d heard about “the pop” many times — the sound a ligament makes when it snaps — but had never experienced it myself. I knew right away that all of the plans I had before I was handed the ball were out the window. One moment, I felt ready to take on the world. But as soon as I heard that sound — that pop — all I felt was fear. If the sound wasn’t enough of a hint, I knew things were bad when Coach Sark stopped practice. You have to understand, this program runs like a well-oiled machine. Every minute of practice is used up with specific intention — and nothing stops that, not even injuries. As a million thoughts went through my head, I heard one voice clearly — Coach Choice’s. “Breathe. Just breathe. It’s going to be OK.” I’ve never wanted to believe something so badly in my life. Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK Coach Choice was a big reason I decided to move away from Florida and attend UT. I’d been recruited since I was in 9th grade and had heard just about every pitch imaginable from different coaches. They are nice for stroking your ego, but my mom raised me to value genuineness over everything. And there was no other coach my family connected with on a genuine human level better than Coach Choice. His general approach to life and football is something that I immediately wanted to emulate. He’d played in college and the NFL, but that wasn’t what stuck out with me. I could tell he really cared about developing his players as people, and that really influenced my recruitment. And I mean, my visits to Austin didn’t hurt either. Bijan Robinson was there for all of my visits to the school, and one of the things I admired most was watching how he operated as a person. He was the best player on the team (maybe just the best football player ever?), a surefire first round pick — and he was also everyone’s favorite person to be around. Walking around campus, he always had a smile for you no matter who you were — not just for other players but literally every person he encountered. That was my first exposure to Texas’s culture, but it wasn’t until I enrolled my freshman year that I was given The Blueprint. I don’t think that’s the official term, but it’s the only name that fits. One day during lunch, Jordan Whittington — Whitt — sat down with me for a talk. He’s another player I looked up to — a Five-star recruit who battled through injuries and is now playing out there on Sundays. When I first came to Texas, Whitt let me take the number 4 from him so I could honor my cousin Greg Bryant — a great running back himself at Notre Dame, who tragically passed away a couple of years ago. We’ve always been cool since then. What Whitt broke down for me was essentially all of the things that usually go unspoken, but that make the difference between a team competing for a national championship and missing a bowl game entirely. He’d experienced both sides of it since he’d been at Texas. He told me from the jump what I did in high school didn’t matter anymore. Everybody at Texas balled out in high school — that’s why they’re a Longhorn. For a lot of players, it means sitting on the bench for the first time in your life. Lesson 1: Don’t complain and poison the locker room. Earn your spot on the depth chart. That ego hit can ultimately be too much for some guys. And if it is? There’s the door. Beyond that, as a Texas football player, the person you are matters. Lesson 2: You have a huge microscope on you all the time, and how you act around others leaves an impression. If how you represent yourself and the team doesn’t mean anything to you? There’s the door. There were more lessons to come. It was lessons on lessons, every day. But I think of all the things Whitt told me, the most impactful aspect of the blueprint was that it was another player delivering the message. Of course you never want to disappoint the fans or your coaches. But what elevates a team to the next level is when all of the players go all-out and sacrifice for each other. Not worrying about the outside noise, or the haters, because you already hold each other to the highest standard possible. The difference in these past few years came down to a change in culture. Of course, everybody in college football talks about “culture.” But are they walking the walk? Are they backing it up on tape? Everything Whitt told me during lunch that day was perfectly encapsulated by one play last season against TCU. You can check it out here. It was early in the game against a team we’d struggled with in recent years, and Quinn threw a pick. It’s the type of mistake that might have snowballed into other mistakes in past years. But on this play, Whitt decided that wasn’t happening. He hustled back and tackled the defender returning the pick, and he ended up causing a fumble that Xavier Worthy recovered. Lesson 3: Never quit on a play. Never quit on anything. That play is everything — sick athleticism, unreal effort and just having your teammates’ back. When two of the best players — not just on the team but in the entire country — are going that hard, what’s your excuse? The next deep ball Quinn threw was a perfect pass to Xavier, and we won that game. If you want to know what makes a winning team, there’s your blueprint. Trask Smith/Cal Sport Media via AP Images When I was named a team captain heading into this season, I took to heart what that really meant. Maintaining a winning culture, laying out the blueprint for the new guys coming in, that was on me now. And I was so excited about it. Until I heard that pop. When that happened, I was just filled with fear. By the time I made it back to my locker to let my parents know I was hurt, my phone had more messages on it than I’d ever seen before. It was clear news travels fast in Texas, even when you’re just at practice, and by now pretty much the whole state knew about it. One of the very first people who hit me up was Jonathan Brooks. We became really close when we shared the backfield last year, and he also happened to suffer a season-ending injury. So if anybody in the world understood how I was feeling, it was him. He told me I had a right to feel mad and frustrated — and also that it was important to let myself feel those emotions rather than bottle them up. I think all the attention kind of took my mind off of what happened because I was interacting with so many people. It was in the days and weeks later, after my surgery, when the messages kind of died down and I had a lot of time to myself, that I think the weight of everything hit. It’s a crazy thing to go from being a starting running back to having to learn how to walk and run again at age 19. There were a lot of days early on during rehab that it was tough to get out of bed. Both physically tough, but also mentally draining. Because playing running back, that was always something that came completely natural to me. Now I’m literally back at square one — doing these exercises moving my leg with the goal of increasing the range of motion just a few centimeters. That wasn’t natural at all. That was just pain. I think the biggest thought that consumed me was, “What if I’m not the same player?” One day in the facility, when I was doing my rehab, I got approached by Coach Gideon — our secondary coach. He’s a Texas Ex himself and always has an upbeat message. He recommended that I read this story in the bible, the Book of Job. It’s the story of a man who is given the ultimate test of faith. He has everything he values stripped from him: Friends, family, material wealth— I mean everything. Despite having all of these things stripped away, Job maintains his faith — the only thing that couldn’t be taken from him. It definitely hit me in a certain kind of way, at a time when I really needed it. Sometimes there isn’t a good explanation for why bad things happen, but what’s in your control is how you react. Even when your body is hurt, you can always lean on your faith. Tim Warner/Getty Images I’ve tried my best to look at my injury through the most positive lens that I can. All of my goals in life are still very much ahead of me. Next season, I know that I can still be the best running back in the country. I can still be drafted to play in the NFL and play alongside Jonathan, Bijan, Roschon and all the other amazing running backs this school has produced. And I’m going to be able to approach it all from a place of gratitude. Just loving football more than I ever have before — because I know what it’s like have it taken away. But right now, my goal is to be the best teammate I’ve ever been. Because even if I can’t be out there on the field against A&M, I know my voice holds weight. Whether it’s giving advice to the younger players or just keeping a positive vibe when things are tense, there’s power in taking ownership of the ways you’re able to contribute to the culture — even when you’re hurting. I’m so excited to watch my guys do their thing on Saturday. There’s a phrase that gets tossed around the building a lot…. “Culture + Talent = Dangerous” This school has always had the talent part down. Anyone who’s ever been to Austin understands why talented people kind of naturally want to be here. But now that we have a culture to match it, I mean, that’s just really, really bad news for every other team in the nation. We are back to where we belong. Playing for all the marbles. The Blueprint is there. Now it’s time to execute. Go out there and get one for your brother. Sincerely, CJ174 points
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https://www.captiongenerator.com/2107502/SurlyHorns-Reacts-to-the-Coaching-Search Enable subtitles if you're watching embedded.149 points
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Well, it's been a good run during the 2024 CFB season for Texas. A year of mostly highs, with only a shitty home game versus GA and an OT loss to GA standing in the way of what's been perfect. I'm thankful for the memories and experiences, personally. Unfortunately, all of that comes to an end this weekend on Friday night in the bowels of the DFW metroplex. Watching this season die at the stale, beer-soaked, cheese curd-smelling fat fingers of the sweating, mouthbreathing giant Ohio State football team is an inevitability. It's going to be demoralizing to witness, but we should continue to hold our heads high irrespective as Texas fans. "But closetojumping, this same Ohio State team lost less than 6 weeks ago to a mediocre Michigan team at home. We blew those same assholes out, while they still had Will Johnson, in Ann Arbor even, earlier this year!" I realize that Texas and Ohio State have actually played the same opponent this year and the results might be revealing in some ways, but that is apparently irrelevant to the current situation. I've yet to hear or read any analysis in the public domain of that situation mattering. Apparently both rosters have completely turned over and it no longer matters. Or maybe the notion is that Ohio State takes pleasure in getting publicly buttfucked every year by their arch nemesis, but will not play the bottom in any other match-up. I don't know, but I've been told that we've got to throw it all out. I wish Texas would petition to play OSU this weekend in their famous alt-unis colored maize and blue, but they're apparently not doing that. "But CTJ, Will Howard has the tendency to become a turnover machine in big games and he's never beaten Texas!?" I get it. I realize that Will Howard appears to be a spare to Texas fans as we've watched him on numerous occasions attempt to lose ball games on his own at KSU and even this year against Oregon and Michigan. However, Texas fans are the fucking blind morons here. The fatass, jort-wearing, gravy-splattered experts from the Ohio State fanbase and the talking heads in the media have seen a different Will Howard. Things have gotten so distorted compared to what we've experienced that draft ranking services now have Howard listed above Ewers on the boards. So, yeah, we're the idiots here, folks. There's simply no way to envision a scenario in which one of the nation's leading turnover defenses could force a turnover prone QB with a history of choking under pressure to go on a turnover spree. Bucknuts has convinced me so. "closetojumping, this Ohio State OL has lost 3 OLs, is playing true freshman, playing their star guard at OT, and barely fields a two deep. Texas has one of the best front 7's in all of college football with elite LBs, OLBs/Edges, and DTs. Ohio State hasn't faced a front like this all year!" I'm sorry to inform you guys, but none of that matters. Ohio State is hot! They've got the hot hand and those OL have magically transformed from their November embarrassments to looking like a Joe Moore trophy-winning unit. Plus, Ohio State has the aforementioned Will Howard, who has obviously turned a corner in his play, and has like 5 or more elite skill players guaranteed to go to the NFL in Henderson, Judkins, Egbuka, Tate, and, of course, Jeremiah Smith. Texas can try to play sound gap integrity on the early downs while bracketing Smith all they want, this OL is apparently too robust. "Texas has elite skill guys, a Joe Moore finalist OL group, and a resurgent Quinn Ewers, who always shows his best in big games on the road, ctj. Ohio State's D doesn't know what's coming!" Listen, by all national accounts and according to the room temp IQ wizards at Eleven Warriors, the Ohio State defense has "elite" players at every level of the defense. Ohio State sports multiple potential 1st rounders (whenever they're eligible to declare) on defense, for sure. JT Tuimoloua is a projected early round guy and he's usually a terror about twice a season. Maybe he shows up against Texas and does something? We'll let Kelvin Banks figure that out, I guess. The guy has been playing lately for a contract, but he was irrelevant against Michigan and Oregon the first time. Tyleik Williams is well regarded inside but he's got all of 12 tackles on the year. Jack Sawyer can prevent an opponent's flag from being planted at the 50 yard line like a motherfucker, and no one can talk more Ohio State meatheaded shit than this blowhard, so maybe that leads to something game-changing on Friday? Denzel Burke has blown harder this year than a meth-ed out OSU sorority girl, but maybe he can hang with Matthew Golden unlike anyone else this season. Sonny Stiles has run past more tackles this season than Danny Stutsman, but I've heard he's also super good. Caleb Downs is actually the real deal, so hopefully Ewers is decisive in the pocket this week. The rest of the secondary has been beaten more this season than Zach Smith's wife, but never mind that. I realize that even the adjusted stats love the OSU defense. That said, don't look at who they've played in posting the numbers they've posted. Don't consider that IU was a paper tiger or that Oregon did what they wanted in the first game, or that PSU pissed down its leg when it saw the Scarlet and Grey or that they played no one else worth a fuck on offense all year. No, those things don't matter, their defense is an unrivaled beast and the Texas offense stands no chance. "Fine. We get it, closetojumping, you're giving us no shot. But what about Ryan Day folding in big games as though he's being grilled under a heat lamp by suspecting police officers of his role in numerous pedophile rings?" I realize that Ryan Day appears to be a violently aggressive groomer of catamites and that he probably feeds off the blood of small children to maintain a solid coif and a 68-10 career record, but you can't argue with success. I don't care if the guy had his pants pulled down on national tv by Steve Sarkisian in the 2020 title game. Day going into the fetal position and sucking his thumb while crying for mommy against Michigan shouldn't matter to us. The guy is 4-4 in the postseason with the wins coming against: -a Utah team that lost their QB to a devastating knee injury early in the game -a good Clemson team in 2020 -a 2024 coelenterate in Tennessee -a revenge game against Oregon in 2024 I don't know, maybe he's able to find something new to fire up his team this week against the underdog Longhorns. There's no way that Texas will find motivation from being counted out all week and being told they have no chance. Hell, I don't think they've got a chance myself, and I know I'm notoriously one of Longhorn netdom's biggest Pollyannas. So give me Ohio State in a runaway, 55-14. Thoughts? Hook'em140 points
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Finally can tell my aggy story. Have a good insight into this kids recruitment and I’m still laughing about his visit to aggy. Dude gets his player host (I’ll let y’all find who that is) and since it was midweek the host has to go to class, Livingstone gets invited to attend class as well but the player host was extremely late, got kicked out of class and went back to his dorm to smoke weed until practice while leaving Livingstone in the class. Livingstone sits through this dudes underwater bb stacking class or whatever and goes to the football facility by his lonesome for practice to see if he can even find his host. He still can’t, but he proceeds to listen to Jimbo and Petrino mother fuck each other and their players for the next two hours. Just pure hatred between those two, the only people they hate more than each other is their players, all of them. Kid leaves a day early and aggy doesn’t understand why… On the flip side, the whole family can’t brag enough on Jackson and how much they love him. I think he’s gonna be a beast, welcome to the 40 kid!136 points
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In 2015 my wife and I had a son that passed away shortly after. I was devastated but held on to my faith and was given plenty of strength for my family. Longhorn football has always been my #1 favorite hobby. It was during the malikmas that I discovered shaggy. Omg I needed it. The laughs I had the excitement of that class was the only amount of fun I had in months. Our team still stunk but the board was what I needed. When shaggy went down needless to say our team still sucked but I loved the board thank you @blacklab. Thank you @immamac for saving the community. Now that we've finally had a season worth cheering for I know I couldn't have enjoyed it more without surly. Playoff bound fuck Washington. TEXAS!134 points
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I just want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for helping me get through an extremely tough time lately. My fiance and I just recently lost our new born son a few ago weeks ago (and nearly lost her as well), and I have been mostly wallowing in despair. One of the few things that has helped me take my mind off of things is laughing at all the crazy shit some of you fuckers post on here. Y'all surly bastards keep being y'all, and Hook' em.132 points
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Well, other than my wife, and my doctor, you fuckers are the only ones to know. I had an endoscopy last Thursday as I have had increasing difficulty swallowing food. The scope showed a stricture (narrowing of the esophagus near the stomach that he stretched out. As a matter of course, like a colonoscopy, they took a few biopsies. I got a call last night from my GE. I got the cancer. He's not an oncologist, so doesn't want to try to paint to much of a picture, but it's in the esophagus, so likely esophageal cancer. That's not a good cancer. Referred me to a top thoracic oncology surgeon at City of Hope. Haven't yet connected. Until the tests are done, really won't know the stage or any of that. I've been literally having an out of body experience the last 18 hours. Like it's somebody else. But it's me. Not sure how to process it. Of course all I can think about is my family. Son is graduating HS in a week. I don't want this to fuck him up, so may wait to tell the kids until afterwards. And he's planning on spending his first year of college in London. I don't want this to fuck it up. And, well, they really need me around. I'm having lunch with a few buddies today, one of which has brain cancer that is terminal. He and I have been friends since we were kids. I'll be driving him home. He'll be the 2nd person I tell. Figured he can relate.131 points
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Thanks. I have been on the boards since 1997 when I was a student at Texas. We've spent decades as fans and board patrons feeling powerless to create any real change. The Internet, social media, and time building knowledge and money have brought us to the point where we can actually do something about this sport we love. My expectation is that this does indeed help this staff, the players, future players, and the program. If we could start winning at an elite level again, that would justify the effort we have put in since early July when it became immediately evident that the Athletic Department wasn't going to be a help. If Texas, its layers of fanbase from the BMDs to the middles to the everyday fans, the city of Austin, and the state of Texas are truly able to harness the competitive advantages within NIL's framework, UT can have an engine built that very few other programs can rival and will put these silly ass, dark market bagman games to absolute shame. @immamac @RGBIII @SydneyCarton @GlenFromTheMailRoom @SquishMitten and several folks not on this board, including Bobby Burton, played huge roles in getting this going. @texifornia @Burt Macklin @Dbeasy @henrygandorf and a number of other folks (shout yourself out for positive rep if you're not named) helped get this from idea to a germinating sapling as well. Here's to bigger and better.130 points
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My buddy was 35 and had intestine surgery in Oct. There were complications and a stint in the ICU and he was in the hospital past Christmas. He was single and his mom was checking on him today. They had a good conversation while she rubbed his back. She stepped out of the room to call her sister and when she came back 15min later he was gone. Just peacefully. Craig was a character but if I had to tell something about him to describe him I’d say he was born and raised in Boston and was a Southie growing up. He liked to let loose and enjoyed the drink but had the character to stand up for the little guy/gal. Hes that guy who watched over the passed out chick on the couch all night because there were some sketchy people sleeping in the house too. he’s the guy who was nice, polite and loved people but knew all the hustles/cons/grifts and had no problem calling your shit out a mile away. He wasn’t scared of anything and could take a punch. so long partner. I’ll see you when I see you124 points
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She died on Saturday. I was the last one to hold her. There is blood on my shirt from some of her last breaths. She cradled me in her arms the moment after I came into this world, and I realized that I was the last to carry her as she prepared to leave it. Before she was even taken from the house, through tears, I confessed that realization with my father, and he shared that as of late, he had been thinking of a line from one of his favorite songs by Jose Alfredo – “La vida empieza lorrando, y asi llorando acaba.” Roughly translated, life begins with crying, and so it ends with crying. Es la verdad. It came faster than we expected, and she was in distress near the end, but we did all we could, and when the fine men and women of AFD and Austin EMS arrived and got her breathing stabilized, her body could rest. And then, shortly thereafter, her soul joined it, and she was gone. Nothing but praise for the kindness and sensitivity shown by AFD and EMS. They were everything you would hope for. She passed away on a gurney, but they carefully brought her back inside, and laid her back on her bed. The entire crew stood solemnly with us in our grief. They bowed their heads and were silent. We were embraced by strangers in our loss, if but for a moment. But the moment mattered. After she was gone, and everyone had departed the scene, I went outside to talk to her friends, who had gathered. I told them of her passing, and their response was perfect in two parts: “She was a good woman . . . and a kick in the ass.” She was born in New Orleans spitting-distance from the Mississippi, met her life-long love on the north bank of the Rio Grande, and lived her life at points between, almost all along the Gulf Coast. She was a daughter of hurricane country, and she had a Category 5 personality to go with it. Her early years were so hard. Because people can be hard, and cruel. Her early family life was a nightmare. But that gave her a vision of what she wanted, a vision of a life with safety, security, and family. To the child, it was a dream that gave her hope. To the woman she became, it was a glorious reality. She gave me a home where I wanted for nothing, where I never feared for my safety or security. And she gave that freely to everyone who passed through her door. She was a second mother to so many of my friends. When I came along, my parents didn’t have a pot to piss in, living in a little apartment off of Woodway in Houston. But there they would sit, on the furniture they had bought from a motel close-out auction, reveling in the wealth that mattered, the wealth of their family, telling each other “somos millionarios.” And she believed it, because she had a family, a roof, and unconditional love to give and receive. That feeling remained her one true treasure. As I grew up, our home was a refuge, security, a warm embrace and mothering for my friends, and whoever else walked through our door. She was a mother to the world, and in turn, a grandmother to the world. When we began sharing the news of her death, we got tearful calls from Mexico, Argentina, Norway, and dozens of other places full of people she loved, and who loved her dearly in return. Even we had no idea of the breadth and depth of her reach. She was no delicate flower. The lung cancer that eventually got her came from a lifetime of a cigarette flapping between her lips as she told anyone who needed to hear it to kiss her ass. She was a child of Louisiana and Texas oilfield trash, and it still showed. She could pull off elegant, and she appreciated the finer things…..but she’d call you some shit that you can only imagine in your darkest dreams if you got on her bad side. She clocked the hell out of a snatch-and-grab robber in Buenos Aires as he tried to take my old man’s watch; she had a heavy wooden box in a shopping bag, swung it over her head to clock the guy on the top of his dome, at the same time that she took her cigarette and burned his arm. He sprinted back to his accomplice’s motorbike and GTFO of there. We are positive that when he returned to his lair with his amigos, they gave him a world of shit. There’s no good time to lose your mother. But in retrospect, I’m grateful for so many things. I’m grateful that we had gotten her onboarded to hospice just two days before she died, so her death was an at-home death under hospice care, which is much easier for all. I’m grateful that just over a month ago, before her health took its precipitous decline, I got a wild hair in my ass to have an oyster shucking and grilling session, followed immediately by a crawfish boil Oysters and crawfish were two of her favorite things. As we prepped dozens of oysters, I called her and my dad and told them to hustle on over (they were planning on the crawfish boil later, but I hadn’t told her about the oysters because I didn’t know how her strength would be). She got here lickety split. She stood next to us while we shucked and shot the bullshit, slurping fresh oysters as we handed them to her. Then she went in and sat down, where we brought her a half dozen grilled. She wasn’t eating a lot by this stage of her illness, but she ATE. Then she went home to rest a bit, and came back for crawfish. We sat at long tables, and she held court surrounded by joy and friendship. And as we told stories, she chipped in with a horrifically perfect, totally NSFW, pure-dee S. Texas off-color observation that had all of us howling, including @Pescado_Rojo and @Kyrie Eleison (pescado’s teen son just lowered his head and grinned). I was mildly mortified. They damn near pissed themselves. She was in her element. But one of the most important things was something Pescado just shared with me the other day – as he was leaving with his son that evening, my mom pulled him aside and told him “you’re raising a fine young man.” Which is true. She was so proud of all of my friends, and loved them as if they were her own kin. Because that’s how she rolled. So, I wake up for the first time in a world without my mother. As we all will someday, if the order of things stays as we would hope. And my father wakes up alone for the first time in over half a century. And we will move forward, with those who matter. My mother spun threads that stretched far and wide, and can never be cut. They can only be tied together into the tapestry in which we all live together. And those of us who knew her and were touched by her love, nurturing, and strength, can genuinely say “somos millionarios.” Soy millionario.124 points
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I don’t know where to put this, so it’s going here. My Dad, Mike B, was just diagnosed today with Kidney cancer. He’s 73, and he’s survived all sorts other stuff, so I’m hopeful he can survive this. He’s a tremendous father and a example of a man which I can only barely hope to emulate. My poor mother is devastated. I’ll take any prayers or positive thoughts you’re willing to send his way. thanks for taking the time to read this121 points
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Just got a text from my friend in the Bama program that Flood and Wiggins are going with Sark. It's done.121 points
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Fuck the sec. Every week is as big as Texas OU please mutha fucka. We’ve always belonged. Big programs are up and down - Bama - Tennessee - Florida - Georgia - LSU - all of them down at times - but got dayum, great programs don’t fucking fold. 5 sacks 2 INTs ewers 350 yards / 60%+ passing / no INT / 3 TDs ZERO sacks and ran the ball to run out the clock with SEVEN FUCKING MINUTES LEFT. who fucking quit? Bama. you mother fuckers don’t want Texas with legal pay for play. We are gonna fuck your shit up. it’s no wonder we said “nah” to the SEC for decades with dirty money. Now the playing field is even with NIL? bitches we coming to own your ass. kiss my tranny ass mother fuckers !120 points
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49 in Sept. It sucks - went from jogging and a swimmer to tremors and shakes. I'm scared to death of fixing a light bulb on a ladder. I just pray it isn't MS. Neither have a blood test, it takes time. When your legs constantly feel like you hit your funny bone in your elbow, concern. when you have tremors so bad you can't shave it's an issue. Not looking for sympathy, just a Longhorn. I was at that Nebraska game in SA with Mackovic on 4th down with a pass to the TE to seal it. I was at the Michigan Rose Bowl. On my dorm, it was a shithole on Guadalupe street right across from Dobie (sp?) the big blue one. I accepted late it was the only dorm available (off campus, it was too late to get on campus). I originally was going to texam with my high school friend and now my ex-brother in law. We could walk to a great Greek restaurant down some steps and get a gyros, the arcade - Street Fighter tournaments, Gumby's pizza, Double Dave's I think too . I covered my expenses with internships at AA, PW, and Enron. And further down Taco Bell. I just want to see some good football before I go. I will donate and have already left some to UT. I realize this is a fun, thrash people board. Thrash away, it's ok. It won't offend me. Life Alumni Member, 2 degrees from UT, season ticket holder for years I lived in Texas, hate aggie, respect OU but want to beat them, contributor to UT. And for BigBend1812:120 points
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119 points
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I'm pissed, I'm not at all happy with what has gone down the last 2 weeks. I'm disgruntled at the fact that we have had 2 similar 2nd half collapses which led to losses in games that were wins. I'm disgusted with the pathetic excuse of an offensive line. That doesn't mean I'm shutting the site down. That doesn't mean we aren't going to have a tailgate for Kansas and Kansas state. That doesn't mean we are going to stop paying players. Get your shit together and stop embarrassing yourselves.116 points
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116 points
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The one week a year where I get to just be a fan A lot of you probably read my post from last weeks absolute shitshow of a weekend. I remember telling my wife on the phone on the way to the Lambda Chi house at UF when she asked if I was still going to Dallas with my oldest Gunnar the next weekend. I told her honestly “I don’t fucking know”, I was so defeated and mentally exhausted from everything that had just transpired. The season felt over to me, Oklahoma did not seem like they sucked this season and if they beat Texas that next Saturday the season was actually over in trainwreck fashion before the second half of the year. Then I got drunk about it with a bunch of kids from a “basketball school”. Within hours of being a complete pussy about even going to the game that I circle on the calendar and look forward to more than any other game every year I am back mentally where I needed to be. I fire off an it’s 11:35AM ET and ou STILL SUCKS text to the Burnt Ends, to which I promptly receive an appropriate two word response from the locker room. FUCK OU! I immediately change the site motto to these wise words, board my plane back to Austin and look forward to what is supposed to be the best week of shit talking in sports. There’s all kinds of hate week threads that pop up, namely the annual GIF thread, the Oklahoma head coach <insert something unhatable here> thread and inevitably the hate filled haiku thread. Everything about this week is fantastic and it always culminates with me getting to spend some time as a normal fan with some of my closest friends watching the game and drinking all the wax cup beer they will let me. I barely miss flag football, but make it home in time to spend the majority of the day with the family. My wife goes to a movie and I get the kids for the evening, my ankle is jacked from all the walking I did trying to sell tickets so I can’t do much chasing, but get into our pool which is a refresher. Settling in for the week ahead and feeling pretty good about it by the time I crawl in bed. “Sorry I’m not going to make it for ou” I get word/confirmation from my best friend he’s bailing on TX ou weekend, not that I give a single fuck about any excuses, but he has a 7 month old at home. I do my best to convince him to come anyway to no avail. The hangover that never came from the party in the swamp is showing up in my life in the form of harsh realities that stem directly from what happened there. I’m getting nothing but bad news, bad vibes and when I come to Surly instead of a bunch of ou focused shit talk it’s a complete fucking meltdown. I join the meltdown for a day until… ASSWATER The absolute catharsis that came from watching this video in it’s entirety and the reminder it served on how much I really just fucking hate ou. I turn a corner and start to really ratchet up things. Texting my friends, getting ready for the weekend and planning what’s going to go on, generally getting my mind right. By Wednesday I’m on a full on tear – I’m tired of all the pussy shit I’m seeing all over the board and I start to lose it on everyone. I have to go to Jonestown to pick up all the tailgate shit that got muled back from Florida and have breakfast with @DanTheHorn, he can tell you that my excitement for the weekend is becoming overwhelming and I can’t wait until Friday to leave, me and my oldest son Gunnar take off Thursday night after dinner ~5:30PM as he doesn’t have school Friday or Monday. Buc-cee’s is fucking awesome #wishIwassponsored We make it to Temple before we need to gas up, so I take Gunnar to Buc-cee’s for the first time ever. He’s losing it and gets a sliced brisket sandwich and a cherry lime soda. I’m building core memories for what it means to do TX/ou weekend for the rest of his life. It’s not just about the game, it’s about everything around it including the trip up. It’s why College Football hits different, and it’s what being a true degenerate Texas Longhorns fan is all about. 20251009_204321.mp4 Traffic is ASSWATER We hit delay after delay, it’s wild that the Thursday before the game we are in so much traffic and we don’t get to Fort Worth to stay with my parents until 9:45 at night. A 4:15 drive that should have taken 3:30 with our stop. Whatever I’m buzzin’ at this point I’m in the metroplex and I know I have a big weekend ahead so I zonk out ASAP. IT’S FRIDAY BEFORE TX/ou MOTHER FUCKERS I have a pretty easy weekend Itinerary: 1. Get to Dallas and eat a late lunch/early dinner at Campisis with @BurntEyes, as is tradition. 2. Get to Lee Harvey’s around 5PM to kick the weekend off with some of my favorite people 3. Dinner plans 8PM at Loro in Dallas with 2 of my best friends who live in the city. 4. Party until there’s no more party 5. Scoop my Mom and Son up at ~8:40 from the TRE station in Dallas 6. Park and head into the Fair by 9:30 7. Beat the absolute hell out of ou at 2:30 8. Send Mom and Son home in my car 9. Go out and party some more 10. Get home by 12:30 for Flag Football Sunday I get up and I’m completely healed of whatever ailment I had from the swamp, there is no malaise here there’s nothing but love for the longhorns and hate in my heart for the sooners. I’ve got a bunch of work shit I need to get done, but it doesn’t phase me and I’m blowing through it. I don’t have that much from a commitment perspective going on, but I still had stuff that I wanted to get done before ultimately going out and partying until somehow I made it to the fair on Saturday. I take off for Dallas. I look like Hagrid from Harry Potter I meant to go get a beard trim to look like I haven’t been in the woods for a month before heading up to Dallas and just didn’t end up doing it before I was there. I start calling barber shops on I-30 corridor all the way to Dallas to see if anyone has some walk in availability to get it done. No one really does, until Dallas – I find this place and walk in, sit down in the barber chair and tell them beard trim and shampoo me I’m kicking off a weekend bender. I bullshit with the barber while he’s trimming and edging me up – I don’t have my glasses on and I usually just trust these folks they were legitimate and he was on top of it. I know it’s not going to be like any other beard trim I’ve gotten when he pulls out the stencil thing and starts marking up the lines. Nice – I’m gonna be fresh AF. Now I have mostly experience with places like SHED in Austin, hipster barber shops for mainly white people. This place serviced a bit of a different demographic (Read: Black and Hispanic). He washes my hair and makes it look pretty awesome. I put my glasses back on and I have to laugh a little bit – I’m edged up like Bad Bunny. lol thin ass mustache and low cheek beard. Much better, but not the “Mel Gibson” he told me he gave me. lol. Head to Campisis and tell @BurntEyes to order ahead as I’m running about 15-20 minutes behind. Get to Campisis and it’s nowhere near the same buzz in there as usual before a game. It’s got it’s fair share of fans, but it feels flat. Our server is obviously having some kind of episode and is struggling with the basics. Have a great pizza, some ravioli and cheesy bread. We are talking about how we feel about the game and how much ou still fucking sucks. I know I need to eat well so that I can have a long night. I say fuck it and crush 2 beers while I’m there and we take off to get to Lee Harvey’s and since I’m not opening the tab this year I can be “fashionably late” as they say. Roll in at around 5:30 and ou STILL SUCKS, @luke duke had just gotten the first bucket of beers and @TxEx84 was there as well. Smiles, Longhorns and cold beer. I go inside and open a $200 bartab (thanks @RPM). MULEDICK. I open the tab with the bartender who is there every year, but it’s been a while since we’ve done it not at the pool. I ask him to tell me when the tab hits $160 so we can close it for $200 and he sorta looks at me like I’m regarded and says why don’t you just ask me when you come in here. I was like well anyone who tells you surlyhorns or MULEDICK is on the tab, then *click* he remembers our group and changes his demeanor. I give him my card and he looks at it and announces to the bar that he’s never seen a card with MULEDICK as the name before. I order a double tall ranchwater. What a fucking time. It takes a good 30 minutes for more people to trickle in, and we get a good group going. I’m recanting my Florida story to a guy who hasn’t been in lulz and has been avoiding the board – it’s a vibe. One of my best friends, an aggy, shows up and brings out a shot for me. I’m rolling and feeling fantastic about the direction of the weekend. I’m talking shit to every sooner I see and throwing up the horns to any burnt orange I don’t know. @Born Burnt shows up and we shoot some gonzo stuff – the bartender had been trained on an order a double tall ranchwater is now known as an ASSWATER on MULEDICK. SurlyHornsLeeHarveys.mp4.33af176a1c4e7d83a9d228ae1012f011.mp4 Alright – I’m feeling great. Fuck the sooners we are going to eat a fantastic dinner at Loro with my aggy friend his wife and my Longhorn friend and his soon to be fiancée. We roll up and park, get inside and it’s just…not the vibe. We get in line we are ready to order and it’s just kind packed full of Dallas-ites. It just doesn’t feel right. I say fuck it lets go to Bob’s which has been a thing we’ve been doing the last 2 years or so. We roll up into Bob’s, my friend lives close by so the car is stashed there and we have a purpose. Do you member that one time we almost got kicked out of Bob’s? I member Bob’s is an epic feast and we aren’t going from 0-100, we are going 0-130. We are proper fucked at this point and the night is young. My aggy friend is mouthing off entirely too much about how they are gonna run through Florida and I stupidly make a $200 dollar bet on the game and his wife holds each of our $200 in “escrow” (her purse). It’s nearly 11PM ou STILL SUCKS and we’ve still got 3 hours worth of bars to fuck up and talk shit to sooners in preparation for the next day. We get the ladies home, my responsible longhorn friend stays back and it’s down to just me and my aggy bff. We tear up uptown the best we can, but inevitably end up at a nice whiskey/cocktail bar where we are having night caps and chatting more than we are raging at the packed bars that we went to before. We close out the night at the bars. FUCK, WHERE ARE MY CAR KEYS I’m so hammered and worried about the next day where in less than 5 hours I’m going to be picking up my mom and son from the train station. I panic and can’t find my keys in my pockets. Damnit. I’m ubering back to my friends place where I am staying and where the car is parked – I have a habit or just leaving my keys in my car and figured that’s what I did and needed to check. I walk up on my car and it’s locked. FUCK I don’t ever lock my car – this is the time where I get a call from @tex48. He’s been assaulted in the lobby of his hotel and is covered in blood telling me he’s talking to the cops and needs to go to the hospital. Damnit. This sucks. He’s going to the game and sitting with my 66 year old mother tomorrow while Gunnar sits with me in some seats I had already secured. Well after all this mischief being managed and me walking back to bars trying to retrace steps and find keys…I go into my friends place to sit down and figure out what to do next and…lo and behold I had wisely given my keys up at Bob’s before we went out to avoid any temptation of being an idiot. They were on the night stand for me. It’s nearly 6AM ou STILL SUCKS and I’ve gotta get whatever sleep I can. I wake up from my phone ringing – It’s 7:51AM ou STILL SUCKS and I’ve slept maybe a good hour and a half. They made it on the 7:48 train departing Fort Worth and are headed to Dallas. I try to go back to sleep for at least 30 more minutes and just can’t. I buy 2 seats the row behind where mine are for my mom and Gunnar for face. I get up go expel any and all evil that’s left inside of me and get in the shower, then that evolves into laying down for a warm bath. All I can think about is how much I fucking hate the entire state of oklahoma and how the Longhorns are going to beat the ever living fuck out of the sooners today for my son’s first game inside the Legendary Cotton Bowl for the greatest and most unique college football game in existence. I get my shit together and am out the door on track to pick them up from Victory station at 8:41AM. I’m about a block away and she calls me saying they are headed towards LBJ/UNION STATION and I was like oh alright I guess y’all must have missed getting off – confusion happens when traveling with a 5 year old totally understandable…I plug it into maps and I’m headed there, it’s a bit further north and I’m 10 minutes away. Mom calls me about 7 minutes later and says we just got off the train, and I’m like man there’s no way the train got all the way to LBJ from victory that fast and I ask her if she’s in north dallas or if she’s downtown. She’s doesn’t know – she tells me she sees the dallas morning news. I’m like wtf is going on then it occurs to me. She’s at EBJ/CENTRAL STATION and just was frazzled. I turn around and pick them up – it’s 8:56AM – I know this because as soon as Gunnar got in the car he asked me and then yelled AND ou STILL SUCKS. I swell with pride. We are all in burnt orange headed to the fair and I’m running on pure fucking adrenaline. We get some sick parking right outside the main gate for $100, want to make it as easy as possible for my mom to get out of the game with Gunnar after the Longhorns send the sooners home crying. There’s a group of sooners as we get to the gates and Gunnar asks them what time it is and yells ou STILL SUCKS. They laugh and tell him good luck, I retort I hope you lose today and get more laughs. We walk into the gates and buy coupons with no lines and head in. We get Gunnar the kids wristband in case he gets lost. Test the airtag he’s got in his jersey and do a dry run of what to do in case we get separated with the nice ladies from the fair. Gunnar is good to go. 20251011_094528.mp4 Vibin’ with the alebrijes before heading into the Mexican cultural exhibit at the fair. 20251011_095200.mp4 We go do some art, check out the scenes and ride all the rides before the game. Gunnar is beaming, I’m talking shit to every sooner I see. We cover a ton of ground. We hit every part of the fairgrounds and are having an outstanding morning. Right after this picture we passed by a stand that had Electrolyt bottles on ice. SALVATION. I buy one for 4 coupons and chug it. I’m feeling fantastic. Gunnar rides a bunch of rides, then we head to the food court to meet up with @MBHORNSFAN and talk more shit to sooners. 20251011_105231.mp4 20251011_102825.mp4 We take turns leading TEXAS FIGHT chants once we get there in rotating fashion for about 10 minutes and then we take off to go meet up with Bobby B at the Texas Exes tailgate. Pro tip – there are 1 coupon juices in the food court for kids and adults who need sugar water hydration. We got 3 and crushed them while walking to the exes tailgate. IMG_2512 (1).mp4 20251011_114855.mp4 The Exes tailgate was lame – no TV’s a bunch of limp dick Texas fans who didn’t wanna participate in TEXAS FIGHT chants and overall just not the vibe. We leave and go to the aquarium to get some good AC time and clean bathrooms in before going into the legendary Cotton Bowl. 20251011_132117.mp4 I stay outside and watch the Alabama Mizzou game right outside at the beer garden. I’m talking shit to any and all sooners, end up sitting to a really nice sooner couple and we are jabbing back and forth but watching the game and talking about how special and unique it is to have this going on for generations. They wish me luck, I tell them I hope they lose. It’s time to go to the game with plenty of time to get to our seats and get situated. Hordes of people, Gunnar has never experienced anything like it. Boomer sooner and TEXAS FIGHT breaking out left and right front and back and all around. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE IT. We get to our seats loaded up on water and get ready to bake in the afternoon sun while Texas fucks oklahoma up. There’s some sooners in our section and I’m heckling. My favorite one of the day was a jacked dude coming down with a ton of food and French fries stacked on top that he was balancing on top of all the beverages. He was loaded up and focused. I yelled “I HOPE ALL YOUR FOOD TASTES LIKE SHIT AND YOU DROP YOUR FRENCH FRIES” – he broke and started laughing and everyone around in our section got a good laugh. The game is incredible. The Texas fans snap the fuck out of it, the team feeds off the energy and the game goes our way, but that’s not what this post is about. My favorite moments in the stands: 1. 3rd down on the Texas side of the field that got so loud the sooners had to call a timeout, the building was legitimately shaking. 2. Singing The Eyes of Texas before the game with Gunnar and the Longhorn Faithful. Chills. 3. The impromptu ou SUCKS, ou SUCKS, ou SUCKS chants that broke out throughout the game, sometimes for no reason at all, well except the fact that ou in fact SUCKS. 4. Boomer Sooner echoing while TEXAS FIGHT echoed back. Nothing like it in sports. 5. The 4th quarter starting with Django Walker – Texas Longhorn and no sooner song. We wrap up the game, don’t stay for the eyes – I need to get my 5 year old and 66 year old mom out of the stadium before the stampede starts and get them back home safe. We have 30ish coupons left, get a burger, fries, some lucky duck dumplings and are 3 tickets short of a Modelo…Fair worker decides she’s gonna give me the Modelo anyway and I slam my first beer of the day and it tastes like sweet sweet victory. We heckle the crying sooners the entire way out of the fair and get to our car in less than 90 seconds after leaving the gate and are in uptown Dallas within 7 minutes. Success. I get dropped off at my friends place and immediately beeline to the shower, get changed and get ready for round 2 going out and watching aggy lose to Florida and winning my bet. I get back to the couch after the shower and I never get back up. My friend and his wife put a weighted blanket on me that they call “the pacifier” and ordered some Canes. I ate, we had another friend come over and I drank 1 more beer and could hardly keep my eyes open to finish the aggy game. Set up the CPAP and I was out by 9:30PM under the pacifier and ou DEFINITELY STILL SUCKED ending a near perfect weekend. If you liked this story, please share it or better yet subscribe or donate to this website. It helps me do crazy shit like this and share it with all of you. View full article115 points
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I haven’t seen anyone talking about this, so I wanted to mention something that I noticed during the game on Saturday and that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed on the rewatch. Also, given the flack our offensive staff gets (and the “credit” Orlando gets for scheming), I thought it was only fair to give credit where credit is due. Against TCU, Herman showed a great package that our offense has never shown before, and it resulted in a lot of positive yardage, helping to jump start our offense in several critical moments of the game. Here’s the scenario: Texas has a TD on the previous possession, taking our first lead over TCU since 2013. TCU has just punted (a crappy punt), downed by TCU at their own 47 yard line. Texas has a short field to march. On first and ten, Watson gets 6 yards on inside zone with an insert lead block from Beck. Now, it’s 2nd and 4. Here’s the scheme itself: Play #1: We show 11 personnel (1 TE/1 RB), with trips one side. But the look is actually unbalanced—two of the trips receivers are on the line of scrimmage, meaning only two of the trips receivers are eligible receivers. Beck is playing TE off the line of scrimmage, and the RB is shaded to the TE side. Here’s a screen cap of the initial formation: In this formation, Beck (TE), Josh Moore (who is playing slot WR), Duvernay (farthest outside WR), and Tre Watson (RB) are eligible receivers. Collin Johnson is not. After showing that relatively simple set, the QB then sends the RB in motion to the field side (away from the trips receivers), leaving himself in an empty backfield. Here’s the post-motion set: TCU still has, effectively, seven men in the box at this point. One of their overhand defenders is lined up, at linebacker depth, just outside the shoulder of Calvin Anderson, giving him the ability to defend a pass to Josh Moore or stop the run. In addition to that defender, TCU still has their traditional 4-2 front in the box, as well. After the ball is snapped, Sam fakes the bubble screen to Josh Moore. Now, the overhang defender who was playing both run and pass is screaming towards Moore, thinking he needs to shut down the bubble screen. Duvernay and Johnson are both stalking the men over them, showing bubble screen looks as well. But that defender has guessed wrong—the play is actually a QB power. Back at the line of scrimmage, it’s just carnage. Anderson has escorted his pass rusher up the field, walling him off completely from the play (and further selling pass to the edge defender). Cosmi and Kerstetter have delivered a crushing double team on the playside defensive tackle, allowing Cosmi to break off and block the backside linebacker. Rodriguez mauls the nose guard, and Beck effectively shadowboxes Banogu. Vahe pulls, his target is Wallow (LB #30). Wallow actually takes himself out of the play, jumping outside Vahe’s block. Vahe actually turns upfield, looking to take on another man, because Wallow has appeared to totally take himself out of the play. But insanely, Wallow still able to get an arm inside on Sam’s hip, tripping him up. If Wallow misses that tackle, Sam might have scored because there is no safety help over the middle of the field. Sam ends up with a seven yard gain. Here’s the full clip of the play (starts at the 40:45 mark on the full length YouTube video): Play #2: The very next play, we come out in an identical formation—with two minor differences. First, Ingram has replaced Watson at RB. Second, Ingram’s initial shade is to the opposite side of the QB (i.e., on the trips side instead of the TE side). The motion action and eligible receivers all remain the same as in the first play. Looking at the defense though, you’ll see TCU has already adjusted. Instead of heaving three men accounting for the trips receivers (along with an overhang defender), TCU now has three defenders isolated on that, with a safety over the top of the box for the play. They’re no longer asking the overhang defender to play both run and pass. The final pre-snap defense looks like this: Texas runs the exact same play. But this time, the nose guard shoots the A gap (crossing Rodriguez’s face) before he can be blocked. Vahe does a tremendous job of recognizing the stunt and picking up the nose guard during Vahe’s pull. In the meantime, Rodriguez has recovered, and he is able to lay a hat on Wallow, who is playing backside linebacker this time. Because the nose guard has stunted, it has opened up a huge hole on the backside of the play, taking Banogu and the other backer out of the play completely. Sam is able to get through the second level before he is brought down by the free safety (the additional defender who TCU brought into the box). Sam ends up with a gain of eleven. Here’s the full clip of the play: Play #3: Texas has now gained 18 yards on the same play, run twice in a row. They hustle to the line, showing the same formation a third consecutive time. In response, TCU devotes even more defenders to take away the run. They’ve brought the overhang defender back in from his coverage of Moore, now requiring him to play both run and pass responsibilities. And they’ve kept the safety over the top of the formation (on a pass play, it looks like he would have man coverage responsibility for Beck). Here’s the post-motion look shown by the 😧 On the snap, the players show the same look they have previously (other than Beck, who takes off the down the field on a vertical route). Vahe’s pull is deeper, so that he can account for the DE who Beck is leaving unblocked. This time, though, Sam does not fake the bubble screen, but he throws it to Moore. But the two previous run plays have done their job: Watch the hesitation shown by the overhang defender. He doesn’t know if he should be playing run or pass. He drifts closer to the line of scrimmage without actually committing to defend either play (compare this with the very first video, when the overhang defender screams toward Moore’s bubble screen). As a result, the defender’s feet have almost completely stopped when he is locked up by Collin Johnson, who then rides him about seven yards upfield. Jerrod Heard (who has replaced Duvernay as the outside eligible receiver) does almost nothing on this play other than shadow the cornerback from about five yards away. If Jerrod Heard attacks that block, Moore has a lot to work with (and is basically one on one against the safety). Instead, Moore has to take the route outside Heard and only gains five or six yards. Here’s the full play: New Scenario: It’s the first play of the next offensive series for Texas. Caden Sterns has just picked off the double-pass, giving Texas the ball back at Texas’s 38 yard line. Play #4: TCU has adjusted again. After motioning out Watson, TCU still has seven men in the box itself—a four man line and two LBs and a strong safety who is playing over the top of Beck at linebacker depth (the strong safety likely has man coverage responsibilities for Beck). But Texas has modified the look. Now, instead of the trips receivers lining up to the boundary, they’re on the field side (wide side) of the formation. TCU can no longer devote an edge player to having both run/pass responsibilities. And when Watson motions out wide, he’s only about five yards split out from Calvin Anderson. The cornerback covering Watson is playing off coverage at about 7 yards. Here’s the post-motion defensive look: After the snap, the offense shows a similar look. But TCU has had enough of sitting around and letting Texas take the fight to them. They’ve adjusted by bringing Banogu and the other DE hard off the edge. They’ve also adjusted by having their LBs step up into the B gaps once the ball is snapped. They guess wrong again. And Herman has banked on an aggressive response from Patterson. Sam fakes the bubble screen to LJH, pulling the LBs toward the trips side of the field. He then comes back and rifles the ball to Watson, who has run a stop route just behind the line of scrimmage. Calvin Anderson ignores the playside DE and flies out to try to put a hat on the cornerback. Beck is flying upfield, looking to block the free safety, who will be coming across the formation to tackle Watson (as a side note, although the strong safety over the top of Beck almost certainly has responsibility for him in the pass game, he totally lets Beck run by. If the play had been a jump or pop pass to Beck, he would’ve had a 20+ yard gain. Keep your eyes peeled, because that wrinkle is definitely coming in the future.). Rodriguez’s block is a thing of beauty. He makes it across the playside linebackers face, hooking up with him on the hash about two yards past the line of scrimmage. He then rides him all the way to the numbers at the first down marker. Kerstetter gets a decent piece of Wallow, but Wallow is able to wriggle free. Unfortunately, much like Vahe’s near miss on Play #1, above, Anderson can’t quite seal the deal on the cornerback who dives outside the block, but is able to get a hand on Watson’s ankle. If he doesn’t make that tackle, Watson would probably have gotten the first down (assuming Wallow would’ve been able to get to him). Watson ends up with a gain of about six. Here’s the full gif of the play: Takeaway: All in all, we ran this set three times in a row in the second quarter and gained 23+ yards, getting us into the red zone (ultimately resulting in Dicker’s one made FG). We ran it again the next series and got another six yards. These are solid if not very good results against a fundamentally sound TCU defense. Against a defense less in “control” of their keys, one or more of these plays could’ve broken the D wide open. Even so, they resulted in huge gains that were basically "free yards" resulting solely from scheme and decent execution of the scheme. The plays' success are also almost entirely set up by the fact that we were able to run block effectively on the first two plays out of the package, requiring TCU to respect the run possibility each subsequent time we showed the formation. If my memory serves, we ran the same set once or twice more in the second half, gaining positive yardage but showed no different wrinkles than those above. This set is something very similar to a scheme that OU liked to run with Baker Mayfield and that they’ve continued with Kyler Murray. Empty out the box and run RPOs or RPO “looks” that spread the defense out and force it to defend three things: Space, the run, and the pass. The defense has to guess the play correctly to beat you. Even with TCU’s great pattern-matching scheme and technical soundness, they couldn’t stop it from being effective on Saturday. Credit to Herman and Co. for unleashing this very effective wrinkle against TCU. Because of the pressure it puts on the defense on all sides of the field, this package should continue to pay dividends down the road.114 points
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This thread could very well be about how, despite several buffoons on this board loudly complaining otherwise, this former walk-on safety has been the best player on the field for short stretches despite playing on one of the most talented Texas defenses in recent memory. Or for the Blake Gideon and Dylan Haines jokes. Frankly it’s unbelievable this thread title is said without irony or sarcasm. But I also wanted to highlight and memorialize Taaffe’s postgame remarks in response to that heinous game day sign, because the remarks demonstrate remarkable character and why he is an exemplary representative of this program. For the uninformed, some red ass “blue collar salt of the earth” ag inexplicably brought a sign to College Gameday making fun of deceased Texas walk on Jake Ehlinger, who tragically passed away in a fentanyl-related accident. Obviously this behavior doesn’t represent the entire Texas A&M fanbase. Most alumni would condemn this once understanding the context, and many already have (although I am sure everyone here has met exceptions and can debate in another thread). But unlike most game day signs and taunts, this one actually provokes a reaction. Austin is now a big city but it is still a small community in a lot of ways. The Ehlingers live and work here. If you’ve met this family and know what they have been through in the past, that gameday sign gets even more odious. So in the postgame press conference Michael Taaffe somehow trumps his cathartic performance on the field with remarks far better than anything I could have come up with: “I want to say I feel sorry for the person that posted that sign. I feel sorry for him because I don't know what he's going through, how much he's dealing with in life. To think that that was a good idea, to think that was OK, to think that was appropriate for anything, no matter what rivalry. I just wanted to make that clear." The national media and our fanbase will quickly move on from this win because at the end of the day we just beat a middling 8-4 SEC team. But I felt that Michael Taaffe’s maturity and passion deserves special recognition and it shouldn’t get buried in a game thread. Proud he’s a Longhorn.113 points
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I'm fed up with this bullshit. This forum is for news that has no ties to anything political. That means if you want to discuss policy, how laws work, bitch about laws, bitch about whatever fucking bullshit that has to do with politicians, talk about who is elected, anything related to POLITICS will be aggressively moved to the POLITICS section of the board called CLOAK ROOM. I don't fucking care if you think there is a "cabal" or if you will "get negged" - get the fuck over it. Stop politicizing everything and just post the news, make fun of shit that happens, get into serious conversations about what it potentially means to you or those around you. DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR FUCKING POLITICAL FEELINGS OR WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO TO FIX IT. Anything that has more than 5 posts on a page that are political is just going to get moved to the CR.112 points
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110 points
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Listen bros. Here is what I am going to say. Last year when we played good defenses like Georgia we looked completely inept offensively. Then there would come a point in the game where we would get desperate and Sark would start spreading it out and we would look like a completely different offense. Spreading the formations and running with more receivers cleans up the whole picture for the quarterback. If you are 4 and 5 wide, its hard for the defense to disguise what they are in. Further so if you are sending guys in motion every snap to make them declare man or zone. Last year when we played Georgia in the SEC championship Sark came out in 11 personnel or 4 wide and Quinn lit them up for 160 yards in 20 minutes. Then we settled into two tight end sets and we bogged down for the rest of the game. Well, take a look at what we did and how Arch responding from the end of the 3rd Qtr and on. 1st and 10 and we are in 11 personnel here(1 TE and 1 back). Us being in 11 personnel makes us faster because the TEs we are currently employing are slow. Take one off for another WR and routes get completed faster meaning Arch can let it fly that much sooner. State responds with a legit 3-2-6 which is a fucking mistake. Our line struggles with passing off rushers and our QB struggles moving quickly through his progressions. Now you just solved both of our issues in one fell swoop. Now look at the route concepts here. Two comeback routes on the outside. Easy to read. Easy to throw. A 5 yard drag for a hot and a 12 yard dig going the other way. Arch is superb here. Ball is out on the break. Not a G-damned thing the DB can do about it great ball! YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p.mp4 3rd and 10 and State is going to bring the house. We keep Wisner in to block and successfully wash down the defensive line allowing Manning to slide out to his left and buy time for these routes to develop. Yall should recognize the route combo. Its the same post with a dig combo we always run. Arch always fucks this up. The deep dig is almost always open underneath, and it's wide the fuck open here but it doesn't matter because Wingo is too fast for State safeties. It's double coverage and he still destroys their angle. When you see this you see why Sark had Wingo in there but damn it if dude doesn't fellate large phallus 50% of the time. Arch underthrows it a little as not to miss for a big gainer. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_2.mp4 . So here we are on the goalline in 12 personnel. We are going to motion Wingo to the boundary. Their entire defense is worried about Wingo, and both safeties shift to get a man over top of him. Sark just put their DB on an island 1v1 with Livingstone. At first when I saw this throw I thought it was late. But pay attention. The DB is in 13's hip pocket but Parker gives a little stiff arm right on his break that created space, and that's when Arch throws. any sooner and I am not sure it would be broken up. Beautiful throw by Arch and great catch by 13. Arch maybe could've thrown it 3 feet sooner at best. We max protect as we roll this pocket, keeping 7 in to block. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_3.mp4 We are in 11 personnel. We have a bit of a modified smash route to the boundary. Now the smash can be run a myriad of ways. Traditionally the inside receiver runs an out, and the outside receiver runs a corner. Sark changes this combo a lot but today the outside runs an out while the TE runs an arrow. The QB is reading the outside corner. If he is up he throws the corner route over his head between the corner and the safety. However, if he is playing off you rip the under. At the snap State makes it easy as they try to roll coverage to the field and Arch correctly takes the short throw. Now look at the pass rush. DJ's man beats him and comes completely free but Arch gets rid of the football so quickly that it doesn't matter. Normally Arch holds this ball looking for a deeper route and gets sacked. Nice work Arch. We had this same call on vs OU and he didn't throw it. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_4.mp4 3rd and 3. State is going to bring 6. Sark has a man beater on with Parker running the 5 yard drag. Arch correctly identifies the blitz but is just a touch slow getting this ball out. Regardless, at least he saw it. That's what needs to happen for teams to stop blitzing us so frequently. This would've been even better if Sark allowed the receivers to sight adjust. If Parker's man runs by him to blitz he should run a quick 4 yard hook. By crossing he ran himself right into the defenders in the middle. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_6.mp4 Sark is in his bag here. 11 personnel. We are going to motion Moore to the boundary which gives us trips to that side. A man comes with him which tells Arch it's man coverage. At the snap the TE runs up the seam carrying his man, but making sure to run outside the LB who is responsible for Wisner creating a natural pick. Arch hits him and Tre does the rest. Nice playcall by Sark. Again, this is the kind of ball Arch has to throw to beat the blitz. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_7.mp4 So back in 11 personnel. Remember that smash concept a couple plays ago where Arch threw the quick arrow route because the corner was playing off. Here is the same concept but the corner squats on the under so we just pitch it over his head. Pretty simple read that works against quite a lot of coverages. Why don't we run it all the time? We do. Arch is just dealing here. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_8.mp4 This next one is what Manning struggles with. Were are in 11 personnel. Sark is trying to isolate Wingo against a DB for a speed out that Wingo should win, especially with this much cushion. A few things about it. Yes, Arch is late on this throw and as you can see it allows the DB to recover and make a okay. But more importantly than that, Wingo runs a shitty route. He never stems his route(get the receiver to turn his hips) and just rounds the route off to the sideline. Then. Catch the fucking football G-damnit! This fucking guy. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_9.mp4 As yall know we run this fake screen all the time and I don't think it ever works when run with a TE. Takes too long to develop. Two receivers and it happens way faster and you can get the ball out faster. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_10.mp4 2nd and 10. State gives us a 3 man rush. Manning probably had more time to throw but checked it down quickly. I love to see it. It's 2nd and 10 and if you miss here State is bringing the house. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_12.mp4 So you remember that speed out that we just ran with bitchass Wingo? We flip the play and run it with Moore on the right. Same fucking defender. Number 13. As Moore runs up the seam he makes a subtle move with his feet making the DB step a little inside before me makes his break and look at how much more separation he gets. Easy pitch and catch. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_13.mp4 Remember this play earlier in the qtr? We motion Wingo to the field side this time. A defender comes with him and we hit Tre on the rail out the backfield. This time we catch them in a blitz and get a chunk play. Now we've run two plays twice in this Qtr. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_14.mp4 Enders wide open at the bottom of the screen. Missed him. Overall his decision wasn't bad, he just has to throw this before the receiver clears the first defender. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_15.mp4 Remember that speed out? Yep, we are about to run it for the third time in the quarter now. Except this time it's going to Livingstone. He fires upfield and runs the defender out of view, Nice easy pitch and catch even though he slipped trying to make a play after he caught it. YTDown.com_YouTube_Texas-vs-Mississippi-State-Condensed-WIL_Media_uUf47YeX4o4_001_1080p_16.mp4 So what coach did was go largely 11 personnel and run the same few plays for Arch. Probably something he executes well and likes. Arch responded it well, and because of that we will be right back to running double tights and slow developing plays. And for you Quinn haters, this was the same thing happening to Quinn last year it's just that Quinn is a bit more polished and could operate fine in Sarks slow ass offense until we came up against Georgia or the like. These are the kind of concepts and routes that Freshwater is running. He isn't some genius his offense just is a bit more basic.109 points
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109 points
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Y’all really think Jimbo is gonna sit on the sidelines and watch as 2 men take turns doing the one thing he loves?109 points
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I'm tired. I'm tired of the killings of unarmed Black people. I'm tired of Black people getting the cops called on them for doing normal shit like bird watching. I'm tired of wondering if I, a Black man who owns a home, need to call the police will they automatically shoot me on site because of my skin and not realize I own the damn house? I'm tired of certain people getting mad at football players kneeling for police injustice yet those same people are mad at Black people rebelling because they've had enough. I'm just...tired. There are many awesome parts about America and being and American, and I'm proud of that. But if you aren't Black, I can't tell you how difficult it is to be a Black American. I know what my grandmothers (may they rest in peach) went through during the 50s and 60s. I wonder if what is happening now is similar or if that's too harsh of a comparison. I remember asking a White poster on Hornfans if he would ever wish that he could change and let me be White and him Black for a week, and of course his response was "no way." And pretty much all White people will say that because it's hard yall. It's difficult. It's frustrating. It's tiring. I've stayed out of the recent threads with the recent killings of Black people by police, the Bird lady, and others because there's just nothing really I can say. This recent killing feels different, especially because I'm seeing all of the tweets by White athletes (just saw one by Joe Burrow and Carson Wentz) along with White celebs that I feel would haven't been posted during a killing like this a few years ago. At least I don't remember it. I'm just rambling now, and I'm fully aware that posters like Brother Horn probably do not feel the same way. After all, everyone has a different Frame of Reference. But for a large, large, large, large, large majority of Black Americans, I think I can speak for us/them when I said--we're tired.109 points
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