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burdine

Burnt Ends
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Posts posted by burdine

  1. 29 minutes ago, 83Horn said:

    That would be funny.  But seriously, what this indicates to me is that Sark has a level of introspection and humility that Tom never had, or at least never showed.  This alone bodes well for his growth as a coach, and will hopefully manifest itself in more consistent ass kickings of opponents on the football field in the very near future.

    It's hard to be successful in recovery without developing a fair amount of introspection and humility.  

    Identifying the problems is the first step.  Mission accomplished.

    Fixing problems can be harder.  He has to get it done.

    If we play Utah in the bowl game, they have a pretty good  D.  It will be interesting to see if anything seems different in a good way.

  2.  

    I thought this week's press conference had some good stuff.

    Sark was pretty reflective and voiced many of the concerns we have all had on here.  I can't remember Herman or Mack approaching things that way.

    He took the blame for not running the ball better late in games.  Also said more development of the passing game would be the focus of bowl workouts.

    Saying it doesn't mean it will get fixed but it does seem like he recognizes most  of the same issues we worry about here and isn't afraid to voice them as needing to be fixed.

    • Hook 'Em 6
  3. 26 minutes ago, Irish Wrist Watch said:

    I never said that the coaching staff was the problem with Ewers, I threw it out as a possibility, and I don't think anything's been said that changes my mind on that. If they're good, they'll take a look at everything this off season and figure out what the problem is. I expect Ewers to be much improved. Wouldn't mind seeing a new OC. It wil be interesting to see what the loss of Bijan does. Maybe Sark will step up. Maybe he won't. 

    If we don't see any improvement next year but instead fall into the same patterns we did this season, Sark may be shown the door. TCU did not impress me all that much, yet they shut down our offense completely. That bullshit isn't going to cut it. If your QB has weaknesses, you compensate. You try something different. We did yesterday, but we weren't ready for the Horn Frogs. That's on Sark. Can't help but think that part of Ewers' problem comes from the coaching staff.

    Hudson Card’s improvement is a pretty strong counterpoint to your “possibility.” IMO freshman-itis is the most likely explanation.

    • Hook 'Em 1
  4. Just now, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

    It’s crazy how much rode on yesterday’s game in terms of the perception of the direction of the program. It really was a must win game IMO.

     

    Agree there was real pressure on the staff and players and they responded. It’s not everything but it’s encouraging. 

    • Hook 'Em 4
  5. A lot of this discussion is different frames of reference.

    If you are looking at this season in relation to Texas’s potential as a program, then this season probably looks pretty poor.

    If you are looking at this season in relation to where we have been as a program (2nd best season since 2013, 3rd best season since 2009), then this looks like progress and a step forward.

    Given we are in Year 2, then I think the second frame is more applicable. In a couple of years, then it should rightfully shift to the first frame.

    • Hook 'Em 3
  6. 4 minutes ago, BevoAbyss said:

    Always great to beat Baylor. Always. Especially with the 4th quarter running game featuring Bijan. Why did it take so long to come up with that plan?

    But, for those who attended UT in late 1980s-early 1990s, we have seen this before. 
    — 13-11 after two years suggests Sark will end up somewhere between Mackovic (best-case scenario) and McWilliams (worst-case). This season has a total Mackovic feel: great victories and inexplicable, bumbling losses. Mackovic was supposed to be offense whiz.
    — Sark has 3 more wins than last season, but only 1 more than Herman’s last season. So the longer-term improvement is not 3 wins, but 1 win across two years. Almost exactly like Mackovic following McWilliams.
    — Sark has 5 wins and 8 wins, which averages to 6.5 per year, which rounds to 7. As in 7-Win-Steve. 
     
    The history repeats because we ignore it and do the same thing again ... and again ... and again. All while hoping for the best despite what is right before our eyes. Feel free to ignore or slam me with my references to actual Texas football history.

    Overconfidence on small sample size. That’s a bold move Cotton.

    • Haha 1
  7. I get that we lost some games that it looked like we could have won, looking at you Tech and Ok State.

    I get we had some persistent issues.

    Still this was a pretty young team -  67 of 85 schollies were frosh or soph.  Ewers is some form of freshman and 2 OL were true freshmen.

    And this is our conference record since Colt McCoy was our QB.

    image.thumb.png.4af8a2f9633b9eaa74ca53837e3b1dfd.png

     

    6-3 is our 3rd highest conference win total and win% since Colt.

    I like conference wins because it's probably one of the best measures over time in CFB.

    I know we are Texas but our conference record says we haven't been that Texas for awhile.

    I would also say this was not a down year for the conference.  No real easy outs.

    Sark wants to build around a dominant OL and hard running game and, while all the pieces aren't quite there on the OL, we took real steps in that direction.

    This is not to say the season is some huge success on an absolute basis.

    But empirically, we took a step forward.  I think that needs to be acknowledged.

     

    • Hook 'Em 9
  8. Hiring Kyle Flood is probably the single best decision Sark has made as head coach at Texas.

    We have been in the OL desert for so long that it feels amazing.

    I know Sark has lost some games we probably shouldn't have so all is not perfect, but this hire alone makes me want to be patient and see if those other areas can come around.

    • Hook 'Em 3
    • Like 1
  9. On the plus side, I really like that we have a modern, attractive offensive identity and I really like what I see on the OL.

    On the negative, we have lost 2 very winnable games and we definitely seem to struggle with malaise in the 2nd half.

    Your view of Sark and the program probably depends on which you think is more predictive of our future.

    I am believer in the possibility of change, and by getting sober Sark has proved he can learn and change for the better.

    Yet there is a timeline that it has to happen in.

    • Hook 'Em 1
  10. We need more of the OL performance in the running game we saw in the 4th qtr against ISU.  That plus a fully operational Ewers deathstar could be filthy.

    That would go a long way to changing that road record of Sark's.  A dominant running game can suck the life out of opposing crowds.

    • Hook 'Em 1
  11. The next 3 games probably define our season (OSU, KSU, TCU).  If we go 2-1 in those then we just have to beat an improved but injured Kansas and Baylor in Austin to go 9-3.

    We are very close to being dominant on offense - need a more experienced OL and a QB with more than 3 starts I think.

    Defense is much improved but can't really be counted on to win games though Cook sort of did just that last Saturday.

    The most hopeful thing I have seen this season is the way the offense ended that ISU game by physically imposing their will on the best defense in the conference.  That was a thing of beauty.

    Hook'em!

    • Hook 'Em 5
  12. 10 minutes ago, lilMAC25 said:

    Consider when the OP was posted Oct 9, 2021. We had just shit the bed against OU, (beginning our 6 game slide) and the prediction proved to be accurate as far as last year went.

    Hell it may end up being completely accurate.  Who knows at this point!

    My ability to pick out who is going to be a great coach in year 1 went out the window with Gary Barnett back in the day.  

    Find a way to enjoy the ride if you can.  There are good moments even in tough seasons.

    • Hook 'Em 3
  13. As somebody who had a very close family member struggle with addiction and seeing how it just plain wrecked their life for a time, I have no trouble thinking recovery could lead a person to achieve very different results.

     

    I'm also beginning to think we are about to have our best NFL draft day in a loooonnnnng time.  Several players have really elevated their game and look very draftable to me.  Just one more bright spot and wonderful for recruiting.

    • Hook 'Em 2
  14. Agree this team could be a fraud and Sark might not be the guy.  But IMO there is not enough out there to know definitely.

    And  I can see bright spots - defensive improvement, actual player development, Manning approval, very good offense - that make me okay with being patient and waiting on more evidence.

    Given all that, I find it a lot more enjoyable to root for the team and the coaching staff with a glass half full approach during the season.

    The end of a season is a good time to reflect on "is he the guy" or "can he become the guy".

    If I approached every game as an "accountability game" for the staff I would be miserable.

    There is too much emotional up and down in season for me.

    As to the Tech loss, Mack Brown had a ton of those bad losses (NC State 99, Stanford 00, WSU bowl game, Tech 98 + 02) yet he was elevating the program and putting us on our best footing in decades.

    I'm not reading much into the Tech loss or the OU win either.  I think OSU, TCU and KSU will tell us how good this team is.  With ISU, we will have probably played the 4 weakest Big 12 teams this year.  The back half of the season should tell us a lot.

    • Hook 'Em 3
  15. On 10/9/2021 at 3:05 PM, lilMAC25 said:

    He’s a middling HC. Fantastic OC, middling HC.

    Not a terrible hypothesis.  Maybe stated with more conviction than the data supported.

    Middling HC as untreated alcoholic seems more fair.

    TBD in recovery with some finishing school time with Saban.

    Also, I would say that now more than in the past, starting as a fantastic OC is a pretty good place to start if you want to place bets.  I think the modern game favors offense and the trip from fantastic OC to solid to very good HC is pretty short nowadays.  Not a given for sure but not a huge reach either.

     

    Also, I don't think we should read too much into this OU result.  If we beat OSU and TCU that should be a lot more informative.

    Also, if the Mannings think he is a good bet maybe you should consider updating your thoughts as well.

    Hook'em.

    • Hook 'Em 5
  16. regarding Kiffin, he may be a good coach but I wouldn't use "10 win" seasons to justify that.  Look at his out of conference schedule this year.  it's just not comparable to the way UT schedules so season win totals are not informative.

    Probably should use conference or P5 record.  It still might look good but I bet it's much less impressive.

    35-27 win over Tulsa in Oxford.  Hmmm.

    Great win over Kentucky for sure.

    image.thumb.png.16822cbbca425db60371fdca02146c4f.png

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