
SL Xpress
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SL Xpress last won the day on August 7 2021
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Wait, wut?
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The success of it also rewards poor decision making. I thought it was dumb at the time, and I think it's even worse in retrospect.
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Red zone issues are a noted problem. I think even the most rabid Sarkisian fan can acknowledge that. I think the most optimistic feel like it might be a Ewers issue, but I am not one of them. I guess my feeling is that we'll have to win even with Red Zone issues. I think our team motto should be, "Nobody scores from the one yard line. Not even us!"
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I don't think of going for it on 4th down as chasing points. I think of going for a 2 point conversion early in a game to create a certain point differential as chasing points. I didn't have a problem with either Texas or Ohio State going for the touchdown on 4th and goal. I didn't like the early 4th down conversion Sarkisian went for with Manning's QB sneak that worked. I didn't like the next 4th down conversion after crossing the 50, especially with this new punter and his ability to get the ball inside the 10 (a bit of a segue, but man I love our punter - why are we recruiting Americans for that role?). I didn't like the 4th down attempt by Ohio State that they would have converted if Max Klare hangs on to the ball. I am of the opinion that settling for field goals can get you beat. Obviously they have a time and place. 4th and short on the goal line is not it. BTW, on Ohio State's play where they converted for the touchdown Hill has an unblocked path through the hole, but he fell down without making contact with anyone. If instead he's able to standup the lead blocker or even make the tackle that doesn't get converted. Not trying to blame the play on Hill. It's bam bam and he's just trying to be disruptive in the backfield. But that play could have easily failed for them, too. It was still the right call on their part, IMO. They were wise not to call a quarterback keeper, unlike Texas.
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I don't want to jump to conclusions here, but what's the verdict, then?
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No active coach. Jim Tressel and Jeff Fisher both would.
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Yeah, there were other things going on. What we saw against UTSA and MSU was translatable. He was terrible today. My hope and expectation is that he'll get better. But it was still disappointing. I'm sure for him more than any of us. He's not going to be able to watch the film of that game and think, "if only my teammates had given a little more effort, we win that game!"
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I'm sympathetic to your point of view. There were issues with Mack Brown that were much more cultural. There was a lack of player development in some ways that was endemic to the program. There was a core laziness when it came to certain approaches internally. The strength and conditioning was a cancer, not a strength. I watch what we do as a program now, and it feels elite. The staff leaves no stone unturned when it comes to recruiting. We're constantly developing underrated players into stars. We're constantly seeing elite players get better year after year. There were times when I didn't feel like that was happening under Mack Brown as consistently as I felt it should. His blow outs to OU and the close losses in 2001 and 2004 felt like systemic issues more than once offs. Basically he parlayed his closing ability with any player he set his sights on, along with elite defensive coaches, and some otherworldly college quarterbacks, into 11 years of tremendous program success from 1998 to 2009. And then it fell apart. What I will say is that my perspective over my lifetime of following sports closely is how easily the moniker of "can't win the big game" is applied too early in a career. Sometimes it's simply a matter of getting enough opportunities and then you break over the hump. In college football Tom Osborne had it in spades. Bobby Bowden. Heck, Ryan Day just overcame it, and that's after losing to Michigan four years in a row, including last year at home when he had the decisively better team. I don't see Sarkisian as a mini James Franklin. At least not yet. It's the first game of the season. Obviously Sarkisian didn't have Texas as prepared for this game as Ryan Day did his team, but Sarkisian took his team on the road, whereas Day got to play his first game at home. I'll also say Ohio State has plenty of things to work on, too. I understand the frustrations with creativity. The red zone ineptitude keeps cropping up every year. There's one common denominator, and it's Sarkisian. What was that pass to Livingstone out to the edge of the end zone on 4th down? I hated the QB sneak play on 4th down prior to that. The toss sweep from last year. We could all go on and on. But even with all that this team, IMO, outplayed Ohio State in nearly every phase of the game other than quarterback. That still is on Sarkisian, so I'm not trying to make excuses for him. But I do want to give him credit for building a staff and a culture that performed as well as it did, even if it fell short. The nice thing is this wasn't an elimination game. Even prior to the game I felt the most important part of the season is actually coming up, and that's whether we won or loss. Both teams need to show improvement from here to win a national championship. Ohio State has a couple of cupcakes before they head to Seattle to take on Washington. We have 3 easy foes plus a bye week before playing Florida in Gainesville. My hope is that we see a lot of improvement in the team in that time. That will be a much better barometer for me in terms of what we have than this game was. Not to dismiss it, but to try to keep it in a realistic perspective.
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This is my take completely. I hate to put it all at his feet. I wouldn't if I was his father, coach, or friend. But as a fan he was the difference in the game. Switch quarterback performances, Texas wins. Sayin even looked worse than he actually was because his WRs and tight end let him down in ways the Texas corps didn't for Manning. Bring back Ewers for another year, Texas wins that game. Since I've seen Manning play better in ways that translates, I assume the moment was too big for him at this stage of his career. He needs more reps. VY wasn't VY at the beginning. Colt McCoy wasn't Colt McCoy in the beginning. Hopefully Manning can show more of what he can do this year, but it was an inauspicious debut as QB1, and that's all there is to it.
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Texas Football 2025 - Kicking the Sonofabitch In
SL Xpress replied to closetojumping's topic in Football
If the quarterback is throwing it over the receivers' head or skipping the ball to them, how is that on them? This is a better wide receiver room than either 2005 or 2009. It's not as good as the last two years, at least not right now. We'll have to see how it looks at the end of the year. But at the end of the day the wide receivers are very dependent on the quarterback getting them the ball. Arch Manning was awful for most of the game, aside from the TD drive and then the one pass to Endries on the sideline in the drive that we turned it over on downs to end the game. The game was simply too big for him at this stage of his career. My hope as a fan is that with more reps he improves. I watched the fan base clamor for Vince Young to be moved to wide receiver after his redshirt freshman year, and he looked not great until after the Missouri game in his redshirt sophomore season, then he became the Vince Young we all love to remember. I kept thinking Colt McCoy needed to be recruited over during his first two years. Too many interceptions and way too many should have been interceptions on top of that. Then he was a magician his last two years, making up for what was a so so WR room in terms of elite NFL talent and a gawdawful OL both years. Maybe this is the Arch Manning we get the rest of his career, but I sincerely doubt it. But that performance was awful. It seems like a horrible thing to say, but I truly believe he cost us that game. That's all there is to it. I wouldn't say that to him as his father, or his friend, or his coach, but I sure as heck feel that way as a fan. -
Texas Football 2025 - Kicking the Sonofabitch In
SL Xpress replied to closetojumping's topic in Football
Every position group on the Texas team outplayed their opposition, other than one. Tate had the one amazing grab/breakup/grab for a touchdown going against Guilbeau. Outside of that the OSU receivers spent their offseason watching tape of Georgia last year thinking, "we need to play more like these guys!" Including all world Jeremiah Smith. On the final drive where Texas turned the ball over on downs Wingo is wide open on a crossing pattern that easily gets the first down and more, and Manning throws behind him which makes it practically impossible to catch, and even if he did, breaks his stride enough he wouldn't have been able to move the chains. And that's just one play. The wide receivers are going to end up looking a lot more all world against the rest of the competition leading up to Georgia, but it's primarily going to be because Arch Manning doesn't look like complete ass all game long. You're looking for receipts, but you should really keep looking. To paraphrase Obi Won Kenobi, this is not the performance you're looking for. -
These last two drives have been promising. Just something to show what he can do. Of course my emotional health is getting wrecked in real time, but let's see how this goes.
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Brandon Baker taking over for Cam Williams in more ways than one.
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Okay okay okay. More of this. I don't care about the result. I just want to see Arch not look like complete poo.
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I would agree with a lot of that. Right now I'm in the moment, and the moment is telling me this is the apocalypse unfolding. But the truth is what I've seen beats pretty much everyone on the schedule other than Georgia. But Arch Manning has to improve. The moment was definitely too big for him. Maybe that's normal given the circumstances, but it was still disappointing to see. I'll say this. I watched Colt McCoy his first two years as a starter and thought, "Well, he'll get recruited over." He threw a bunch of interceptions, and more than that, he seemed to throw so many passes that should have been interceptions that weren't. Then in 2008 and 2009 I thought, "well, that opinion didn't age well. This dude is a magician." There are 3 games before we head to Gainesville. Manning simply has to get better. This is not a starting level division I performance.
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