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gmr548

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Everything posted by gmr548

  1. Man, fuck you for opening this wound. Such a frustrating game to watch, in no small part because Penix and crew were just downright incredible that night. They missed/dropped several plays against Michigan they were making on us. I've been of the opinion that 2026 is probably the year. We're breaking in a lot of young talent at the most important positions next year. Essentially the whole offense including QB, C, and both OT spots; interior DL, now it seems like CB. Texas is talented enough and the schedule sets up in a way they we should be looking at a ~10 win regular season, contention for the SEC championship game, a playoff berth, and being fun to watch for sure; but the chance of drawing a head scratcher on a given Saturday is always higher dealing with that volume of change and inexperience. But 2026 we're talking Arch Manning and Ryan Wingo at the height of their powers and a year of experience for the rest of the WR/TEs, veteran OL, veteran secondary, bunch of talented Year 2-3 DTs, veteran LBs despite the probable loss of Anthony Hill (God, imagine if he came back) all led by a third year Collin Simmons... with another probable top 5 class coming in. There's a world where the 1.1 and 1.2 picks in the 2027 NFL draft play for the same college team. Long way out but we could seriously be monstrous. So I don't think these are mutually exclusive ideas. Yeah. Breaking in one new corner against Ohio State was already a challenge. Breaking in two new corners and being thin-ish at Safety against Ohio State is... probably not going to be fun. It hurts no doubt but fortunately it should never be worse than it is that first game. Well, this is the rub isn't it? People get this image in their head because Texas fans have this weird fetish about being the biggest, richest, etc. In reality Texas is a program at the top tier of NIL - or at worst tier 1B if the idea is Oregon, Michigan, and Ohio State are just out here truly out of their minds. "The" vs. "a" has a profound difference in meaning. I'm no insider but it's not hard to grasp that we're at the top of the SEC in NIL and still have all of the natural football recruiting advantages that come with being the flagship university in the state of Texas. We'll be alright. Anyone thinking we could simply buy unquestioned dominance or having some difficult moment of reckoning realizing we can't, that's on you.
  2. For context, Mississippi State thanks god for Purdue because they were the only worse defense in P4 football. MSU was well outside the top 100 defensively and the worst defense Texas played by a pretty decent margin. Arch played well and I'm really excited to see what the offense looks like with him taking the reins, but there's even less to read into these numbers than there is in a rando G5 cupcake game.
  3. The latter is why Taffee coming back is so big. Barring some kind of injury apocalypse it really fortifies the talent/experience level in the safety room and really makes that second CB spot the only part of the secondary with any real break-in needed. Lose him and you're all of a sudden having some young guys drink from the firehose more than you'd like.
  4. This defense was so goddamn fun to watch this year. Just incredible for a college team to be that consistently good, especially with an offense that seemed like the only thing it could do consistently is put the defense in bad positions. People need to be ready for a step back next year; I'm not saying that means we won't be good or anything but there's basically nowhere else to go. We're going to be using this 2024 defense as a measuring stick for the next decade. lmao yes please I think it's probably too early to say and depends on NFL decisions and what the portal attiriton and additions look like. We're losing so much quality, highly experienced talent especially up front that it's hard not to give some ground. Taaffe and Moore coming back would be really big though. Would be huge. Edge group would be downright filthy and take some pressure off a DT group that will probably need to find its legs.
  5. Ah I got you. Not what I thought at first. We're belaboring that last 4th down but he had a really rough night last night overall. Not the first time Sawyer just smoked him. OL and QB are the two positions that benefit most from coming back an extra year. I think he could certainly use one to clean up his game. He's going to have an extremely rough rookie year if he declares. But if the NFL is still telling him first round he should obviously go get that bag. Will be interesting.
  6. I think he could be a really good pro but going to a dumpster fire like the Titans or Browns will not end well.
  7. It's more that there's no decision to be made for Banks. Foregone conclusion. He gone, as he should be.
  8. Pure uninformed speculation, but if I had to guess: Golden, Bond, Blue declare; Campbell, Williams (no one's buying that first round talk after last night), Taaffe, Moore return.
  9. Sadness? I went to school in the late Mack years and had season tickets for Charlie Strong and Tom Herman. The past two seasons are as good as Texas has been since I was in high school (I'm in my 30s). We smoked OU, A&M, and Arkansas by a collective margin of 71-23; all away from DKR. Oklahoma and A&M combined for three offensive points. Not three scores, three points. We're going to be talking about shutting out A&M's offense in the return of the rivalry for the rest of our lives. We went 7-1 in the SEC and played for the conference title our first year in the league. We were right there in that game. That loss is probably the one that stings the most from this year. By that point it was evident we weren't the best team in the country but I wanted that first year SEC title bad and we were capable of winning it. We hosted a CFP game and beat both the ACC and Big 12 champions en-route to a second consecutive national semifinal, the only program in the sport that can say that. Over the course of the year we got to see Texas roll out an elite defense for the first time in a long while; which can be hard to fully appreciate in the moment, but there's going to be points 5, 10, 15 years from now where we have a really good defense and we're going to refer to them as the best since 2024. We got to see the Thorpe Award come back to Texas and the National Freshman of the Year become ascendant on defense. I suppose there's some sadness in not having hardware for that unit but that's how it goes sometimes. They were an absolute pleasure to watch and played incredible football with unbelievable consistency for a college team. We signed the consensus number one class stacked on top of multiple top 5 classes before it. Last night was disappointing with the way it went down at the end, but you know what? We're not the best team in the country this year. So while you obviously always want to win those games, I can live with a hard fought loss in a semifinal against what probably is in fact the best team in the sport. Since I set foot on campus up until last season, every time I watched Bama, Georgia, Ohio State, or some other top team it was like watching a different league of football. No longer. This year cemented Texas as a top 5 program in the sport. Not top 5 potential, not top 5 coaching jobs, not just a one time top 5 finish in the polls. Top 5 program, today. If we compete at this level long enough we're going to make some additions to the trophy case. So, yeah, there's a universe where we could have had more success this year. Oh well. It was still an important, successful year for the program and the window should be open the next few years. This season and last are the first time I can say that in my adult life, so you won't catch me being sad about it. And if you are, these should help:
  10. Kelvin Banks an the FB are the only two that don't get their shit rocked. Williams and Davis do okay I guess but their men aren't really interested in the play, rather edge contain.
  11. I do think we probably beat Georgia if Beck doesn't get hurt. Georgia's emotionally charged drive rallying behind their young backup out of the half doesn't happen in that world and the defense was throttling the Georgia offense with Beck. SEC championship probably has the most what ifs of the year. If nothing else, we'd have actual hardware which would be nice. First Georgia game was an ass kicking and I don't think there's much to what if about. Last night has some for sure - what if we don't give up the screen, what if Sark doesn't have a stroke on the headset on second down, what if Ewers is a little sharper and some of those botched throws are converted, what if Bond has hands, etc. Ohio State also has some too and that game could have been a lot worse. They're just a better team this year so I don't sweat it too much even though it was a painful way to lose.
  12. Actually, funny enough, I bitched about a really stupid second down toss call that set the rest of the series back.
  13. It was a genuinely well coached game from Texas... aside from two brutal, kick in the nuts type play calls.
  14. Yep. I have my qualms with Sark but if you're consistently putting a top 5 type team out there, which he has for two straight years, at some point it probably breaks for you on pure chance if nothing else.
  15. The Texas offense mostly slogged through that and only blew it open with Wisner creasing OU a couple times. Watching the elite Texas defense just bludgeon the OU offense was beautiful though.
  16. Quality IOL is a no brainer if you can get it. I wouldn't take a JAG just to do it but we're talking about an all Big Ten guard. Campbell is inconsistent, Hutson has always been bad, Neto can't get on the field over either of them for whatever reason, and you might need Hutson at center anyway. It's not crazy to think age/experience makes Hutson/Robertson/Campbell/Neto a serviceable interior rotation but if you can add an all conference type you do it, no questions asked. Similarly, we've recruited well at WR and S. They should be selective there.
  17. It's going to be interesting. I think the offense will be more feast for famine. Certainly the vertical passing game won't make me clench up for an INT like it did this year, but the RPO and screen game is going to be clunkier. I tend to agree that 2026 might be the year.
  18. If Ewers had this reaction after the strip sack you'd be going in on him for being an unhinged pussy and we'd probably have been flagged for delay of game to boot.
  19. Can't wait to lose to Oklahoma because we just keep spamming IZ. Yeah, it was a surreal feeling to see Texas come out and win the third quarter. But I got a really bad feeling with Quinn airmailed that ball to Golden. I think it was generally a well coached game except for the deep nickel zone blitz on the long screen TD right before half and the flabbergasting second down sweep call at the goal line. Unfortunately those two plays ultimately doomed Texas in game with such tight margins. Texas was going to have to coach and execute at as high of a level as they did all year to win and they didn't quite get it done. It is what it is. This team still beat the everloving fuck out of Michigan, OU, and A&M; went to OT in the SEC CG; and beat the ACC and B12 champions en route to a national semifinal and 13-3 season. It was a successful year even if I'm sitting here a little disappointed. Tough way to lose but they competed and were right there and that's all you can ask for. Hang around at this level long enough and it'll break for you. At least that's what I tell myself. Honestly the SEC CG loss hurt more than this one. Ohio State is just better and Texas didn't play/coach quite well enough to win. There were many times where the game could have gotten away from them but they managed to stay in it. In the conference championship, Texas was the one with many chances to break the game open and never cashed in, and it came back to bite them. Quinn is what he is; I'm grateful to him as the guy who oversaw the turnaround and wish him well but I'm very much ready to see what this offense looks like under a new QB. Fill out the DL in the portal and all of a sudden next year looks really promising. The window is open for a few years at least. It didn't happen for Bama, Georgia, or Michigan until it did. Onward.
  20. The fuck else is he supposed to do? Cry and have a meltdown like you are on the field? Have you ever played a sport?
  21. This. The second down sweep. That was really damning in an otherwise very well coached game. Yes, let's test an elite defense to the field side when they have the leverage after getting stuffed on first down. Great call. Jesus Fucking Christ. This must be what aggy felt like running up the gut on 4th and short for the 109th time. It didn't matter what we did after that. We were too easy to defend in that situation, especially considering Sawyer had smoked Cam Williams multiple times to that point. The TD was of course worst case scenario but the Ohio State pass rush wrecking the game there was utterly predictable. Lendale White shredded Texas in that game. I guess you could argue Bush should have been on the field as a decoy but giving White the ball is a very defensible decision. I actually agree Sark's gameday blunders at Texas make me skeptical he can pull off 3-4 straight against CFP caliber teams but this is a really weird one to go back to. You don't have to go nearly this far.
  22. This is such a beautifully concise example of why you are on everyone's Mt. Rushmore of most braindead motherfuckers on Surly. Bravo. Caveat to this is that extremely inefficient, car-centric sprawl that consumes vast amounts of resources and pushes up against wild spaces prone to these kind of disasters is at the root of the issue rather than the simple number of human beings in Austin (which absolutely is a wildfire disaster waiting to happen on the west side) or LA or wherever a vacuum.
  23. It hasn't even begun yet and he's just going to continue to decline. I'm really going to have to triage news a lot more thoroughly than I did last time around. If it's not direct economic, housing, or climate/environmental policy, trying to start wars, or further eroding democracy, I am preemptively not giving a fuck. I can't do four more years of getting worked up about wanting to nuke hurricanes or annex Greenland or drinking bleach to cure COVID or whatever. There is going to be new, really dumb shit on a near daily basis. Probably getting dumber as he ages. Gotta pace yourself and not take the bait.
  24. lmao holy shit this is diabolical and not getting enough attention. I lol'ed for real. That's hilarious to imagine in a pee wee football game.
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