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Official Coach Sark Thread of Dominance—haters back off


SimkinsMan

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7 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Here ya go. 

Spoiler

FORT WORTH, Texas — A boring win in a drawn-out, four-hour game would have been chicken soup for the tortured Texas soul.

This is a program that has had so many teams with so much promise over the years, yet so many times it has driven over potholes along the Big 12 schedule that derailed quests to the College Football Playoff and beyond. Potholes like last week’s game against Kansas State or this week’s late comeback attempt by TCU. Those games probably would have been losses in years past, games used as the butt of jokes by the same people who are still desperately waiting for this year’s Texas team to spring another flat tire.

 

But Texas outlasted Kansas State last week, escaping with a 33-30 win in overtime.

And in Fort Worth on Saturday night, TCU turned a boring match riddled with game stoppages, timeouts and injuries into another Texas sweater. But the Longhorns, true to their new form this year, found a way to take what once looked like a blowout and leave with a narrow 29-26 win over the Horned Frogs.

What’s different this year?

“These guys believe,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I would say in previous years, our first year, I don’t know if we believed. Last year, we had moments of, ‘Can we? I think we can.’ This year, I don’t think they have any doubt. We are going to win the game, it’s just a matter of how. I don’t think the guys blink when their number is called. They believe that we are going to make the play that needs to be made.”

USATSI_21881591-e1699790550264.jpg
 
Wide receiver Xavier Worthy, coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns remain in first place in the Big 12. (Ricardo B. Brazziell / USA Today)

Do you want to know what’s different about this year’s Texas team? It has a lot of good players who are actually producing.

That may sound overly simplistic, but it’s true. Sarkisian will tell you all about his program’s culture, and there’s no question how much fostering a positive and loving environment can impact a team. But when Texas steps on the field against overmatched Big 12 opponents this year, the future NFL players on its roster are stepping up and making plays in clutch moments. And because of it, the Longhorns — now 9-1 and the only team with only one loss in Big 12 play — are in pole position to win the conference for the first time since 2009. Don’t look now, but Texas also has a clear path to the College Football Playoff and, if you dare to dream, maybe even more.

Take how the TCU game ended as an example. The Longhorns dominated the first two quarters and took a 26-6 lead into halftime. The third quarter was a scoreless slogfest, then TCU came alive in the fourth. The Horned Frogs caught Texas sleeping and put up 20 points in the final quarter, including 13 straight in a span of 150 seconds late in the game. All of a sudden, the Longhorns found themselves with the ball with 3:22 remaining and the TCU crowd back into it.

 

Texas needed a first down or it would be forced to give TCU the ball back with a chance to tie the game or take the lead. Reporters on the sideline were joking that this could be the reveal of the real Texas, that they’ve seen how this movie ends so many times. Was this going to be the disappointing loss that knocks Texas out of the Playoff race and started up the jokes about choking and failing to live up to expectations?

Nope.

Quarterback Quinn Ewers, who returned to the starting lineup after missing two weeks with a shoulder injury, dropped back on third-and-12 from Texas’ 12-yard-line and let it rip. It was a 35-yard pass to AD Mitchell, who beat single coverage and made a spectacular catch while practically lying on his back. Game over.

 

Mitchell, the Georgia transfer who has become one of the premier receivers in the sport, stepped up in a big moment and made sure TCU never touched the ball again. Fellow star receiver Xavier Worthy had 10 catches for 137 yards. Ewers completed 22-of-33 pass attempts for 317 yards and a touchdown. Running back Jonathon Brooks rushed 104 yards and two touchdowns and added 74 yards receiving. Brooks, however, left the game late with a lower-body injury and his status is unknown.

Still, this team has so many pieces that are dangerous and can win a football game.

Against Kansas State, the Longhorns won in overtime because of a defensive stand. Against TCU, the Longhorns won with offense.

What you’d like to see next from Texas is the ability to step on an opponent’s throat and not allow things to get dicey late in the fourth quarter. Texas held big leads against Kansas State and TCU and still found itself biting its nails with minutes remaining on the clock. But making it to the Big 12 Championship Game has typically been reserved for the mature teams that know how to win close games in this ultra-competitive conference. Texas has become that mature team — not the one that used to blow winnable games — and it has the talent to be dangerous on a national stage.

 

“Where we can improve is that killer instinct,” Sarkisian said. “That mental intensity, that focus, that tenacity that we played with in those first two quarters and to come out in the third quarter and finish a team off. … That’s where we have to improve. I’m sure other teams have other areas where they need to improve. We have to have that killer instinct to put people away when we have the chance.”

Texas is going to have more chances. There’s a lot of high-level football remaining.

The Big 12 race became more interesting when Oklahoma State got blown out by UCF and Kansas lost to Texas Tech. There’s a real chance that the Longhorns will play Oklahoma — the only team they lost to this year — in the conference championship game in Arlington in December. Texas still has some tricky games left on its regular-season schedule — at Iowa State, vs. Texas Tech — but the Longhorns have earned back our trust. We shouldn’t anticipate Texas losing either of those games. It has proven to be different this year.

And if Texas makes the Playoff for the first time? These Longhorns may be more equipped to face Georgia or Alabama or Ohio State in January. They have already beaten the Crimson Tide on the road. We know Texas has the players — it ranks No. 6 in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite. This year, its players are producing.

Texas isn’t back yet.

But it’s dangerous.

 

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Defensively, I hate that we rotate so much. TCU found success on the ground running against guys like Broughton up front. When our DL fails, everything else gets pretty suspect.



Versus KSU Broughton played almost half the defense snaps. Versus TCU he played less than a 3rd. He played more snaps and a higher percentage versus OU and Bsma than TCU.

Sweat and Murphy very possibly played their most snaps of the year versus TCU. Without looking at every game, I’m confident it was easily their highest percentage of snaps played in any game.

Your final sentence here is accurate. Maybe for TCU it was just a good day.
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This.  Red just isn't good at that role.  Not even in the same ballpark as Roschon last year.   Need to just scrap it.   

I don’t believe this to be correct. Single biggest play versus Tech last year was a failure on this play. Earlier in the game, it worked by a hair.

The issue with it is Sarks stubbornness. Quit going left 75% of the time. Give it occasionally. Or maybe don’t delay every damn time.
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26 minutes ago, Had Enough said:

 


Versus KSU Broughton played almost half the defense snaps. Versus TCU he played less than a 3rd. He played more snaps and a higher percentage versus OU and Bsma than TCU.

Sweat and Murphy very possibly played their most snaps of the year versus TCU. Without looking at every game, I’m confident it was easily their highest percentage of snaps played in any game.

Your final sentence here is accurate. Maybe for TCU it was just a good day.

 

I said nothing about snap counts. Rewatch the game. They ran at Broughton on most of the big runs. 

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48 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

Guys that have won national championships in recent memory:

Les Miles

Ed Ogeron

Jimbo Fisher

Dabo Sweeney

 

 

You see any of these fuckers on Jeopardy Tournament of Champions? 

After sleeping on that game, you’re right. This isn’t rocket surgery and he should be able to figure this stuff out. Maybe he fixes it. 

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from Coach Venable's 9.95 column:

Quote

Two straight third/fourth and ones were ran right behind our LG (weakest one on one blocker) and his defender stopped Brooks in his tracks. If Campbell and Jones are our best drive blockers then why aren’t we attacking behind them instead of a proven NCAA (no contact at all) at LG?

Just a very good example of issues seemingly caused by Sark's Inability to multi-task 

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Was hoping to put this in Steve Rides Again thread but it is locked so it goes here.

I would have to say that Steve has been on his ride for two weeks now and the players or the other team continue to bail him out. So a big shout out to the players for helping us out. Today Steve showed his issue again when he got on the defensive play calling two days to late. He should have said what he said today during his presser to PK and the players toward the end of the third quarter. He probably didn't because he sucks at game management since his busy looking at his play sheet or frustrated that his genius offensive play calls are being stopped. So lets get past CJ's last obstacle and onto the a beat down of the last Texas school. After OU I said I would get excited for a possible CFP birth again after TCU but after the last two weeks I am putting my excitement on hold one more week.

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Our struggles in the 2nd half this year aren't really new.  This year we are talented enough, and the big 12 is so dogshit, that we have been able to overcome our 2nd half bed shitting. But Sark has struggled in the 2nd half throughout his time at Texas (remember 2021 OU game?) and really throughout his career.  I don't see this getting fixed with a few adjustments.  

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On 11/11/2023 at 10:49 PM, Hermanator said:

I didn't think this was on Sark. WTF was the defense doing in the 2nd half? PK starts rotating the DBs way early and way too much and it just ignites the other team's offense. This is crunch time of the season. Ride the horses that get you wins and shorten the rotations in the defensive backfield until it's legitimately garbage time.

It isn’t just the defense. The offense also starts misfiring in the 2nd half.

 

 

That said, I damn sure prefer close wins to devastating upsets, so… keep piling up the wins in any manner you can, Sark.

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7 hours ago, 40acredropout said:

Lol at the dipshits calling for heads literally last season trying to hop on a dick rn.  Hat tip to those who have been in all along.

Haters will NEVER appreciate 2005 like I did, all of them hedge their bets emotionally and are empty devoid husks because of it. If you are going to be a hater you better be correct.

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10 hours ago, Davis Lane said:

I don't recall the players as cohesive as they are in regards to the last three coaches.

Things changed immediately after year one with Sark, i.e. Bo Davis rant.

Bo Davis going off like he did would have been a bad look on the head coach in years past.

Sark is different and I believe he genuinely holds his "second chance" to heart.

For everyone that doubts him, or hates him/dislikes him playcalling, well, look at the team perform.

This team does not fold when faced with adversity. 

They just keep on.

So....any parents that are contemplating sending their children to the University of Texas to play football and get an education, should watch this.

This is our coach, folks.

Dusty in here.

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22 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Can we please not do a huge albatrossy extension?  How about 2 more years and an extra mil.   That would the buyout at 24mil.  Need to see sustained success in the new league to go higher. 

Sark's current 2021 contract details...

  • 2021 - $5.2 million
  • 2022 - $5.4 million
  • 2023 - $5.6 million
  • 2024 - $5.8 million
  • 2025 - $6 million
  • 2026 - $6.2 million

 

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32 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Can we please not do a huge albatrossy extension?  How about 2 more years and an extra mil.   That would the buyout at 24mil.  Need to see sustained success in the new league to go higher. 

I am sure Jimmy Sexton will be super amenable to that. Go ahead and draw up that paperwork. 

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25 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Can we please not do a huge albatrossy extension?  How about 2 more years and an extra mil.   That would the buyout at 24mil.  Need to see sustained success in the new league to go higher. 

https://frontofficesports.com/who-are-highest-paid-college-football-coaches/

He's going to get a raise, and my guess is that raise will be a good deal greater than an extra mil. Tbh, I don't care nearly as much about how much we pay a guy every year, as long as we don't fall into that stupid trap of 8-10 year extensions. CDC seems fairly competent so I'm not particularly worried about that. 

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6 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Currently handles 10 of 14 coaches in SEC per Finebaum.   Not sure if Sexton is Sark's agent or not...  

https://www.on3.com/db/coach/steve-sarkisian-132832/

He is according to On3. Its insane how many of the  games top coaches are represented by one man. When you are involved in every high profile job negotiation, there wont be a lot of information you aren't privy too. You know at any given time what everyone else is paying because if there is a big job open, you're probably involved. 

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Both of those videos were awesome, Sark is a different kind of coach and I hope like hell he builds a dynasty here. I heard him say that he builds his offense every year differently, so that he makes sure his weapons are used properly. That should quiet some of the noise around how he doesn't adjust and is not capable of being flexible with his system. 

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