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2022 Summer Season: Flavor-Aid (Strength: Prison Wine)


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1 hour ago, MH BEVO said:

Is this the first season in awhile where we don’t anticipate a walk on getting significant playing time? Between Dylan Haines, Kai Money, and Luke Brockermeyer we had a long stretch. 

Bet Taffe plays

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16 minutes ago, Had Enough said:


Can you define significant?

I’m not sure Mo Money got significant run. He did play for sure.

I guess I allowed the definition of significant to move a little when switching from scholarship to walk on. Special teams is fine but non-garbage time snaps on offense or defense is significant for a walk on. 

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I guess I allowed the definition of significant to move a little when switching from scholarship to walk on. Special teams is fine but non-garbage time snaps on offense or defense is significant for a walk on. 

Gotcha. I was curious as to your mindset. I wouldn’t distinguish between scholarship versus non, but I don’t have a way to define it either. But going with my feel, I’d say Bush played significantly but not Money.
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35 minutes ago, Had Enough said:


Gotcha. I was curious as to your mindset. I wouldn’t distinguish between scholarship versus non, but I don’t have a way to define it either. But going with my feel, I’d say Bush played significantly but not Money.

I definitely agree on Bush. I forgot about him. I’m not trying to belittle the walk-ons. They play an important roll in the program, however, if recruiting/roster management are going well… they shouldn’t be needed much on Saturday. Tbh I haven’t taken the time to look if the upper tier teams play walk-ons much. I suspect the Hunter Renfrows of the world are fairly rare at that level. 

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I definitely agree on Bush. I forgot about him. I’m not trying to belittle the walk-ons. They play an important roll in the program, however, if recruiting/roster management are going well… they shouldn’t be needed much on Saturday. Tbh I haven’t taken the time to look if the upper tier teams play walk-ons much. I suspect the Hunter Renfrows of the world are fairly rare at that level. 

I’d say you’re right that they shouldn’t be needed much if recruiting is going well. But a Michael Ungar was a huge contributor as a gunner but with his size that’s all he was ever going to be. Renfroe is a good example as to why you shouldn’t ever shut that door.

But Stetson Bennett and Baker Mayfield have done some good things too. Both those teams kinda got in a short term bind for that to happen. It also highlights how the strength of a program can overcome.
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IT Scoop on skill depth

Quote

Remember years ago when Tom Herman and Tom Hermehringer Jr would constantly rotate receivers, driving the fan base nuts in the process? Rotating receivers isn’t a bad practice, unless you’re making the absolute right call to the absolute wrong receiver for that call, something we saw frequently. Kai Money on the corner fade!

Well, get ready for plenty of rotation this season. But given the weapons, speed, and most importantly, the play-caller, I doubt we’ll hear much griping about too much rotating at the position.

Per sources, Agiye Hall had yet another strong week of work. He’s catching consistently, his smooth off the line of scrimmage, and he doesn’t lack for confidence. He is playing mostly to the field, but has worked in the slot some as well.

Now, he’s not going to unseat Xavier Worthy at field receiver, but he is going to rotate in quite a bit. As for Worthy, he’s been quiet all offseason, mainly because he’s a known commodity and they’re trying to work newer guys into the fold, but housed a 90-yarder in two minute drill this week (dime from Card).

Isaiah Neyor has boundary receiver in a Kung-fu grip, but he can also play to the field.

Of course Whittington has the same grip on slot. Freshman speed demon Brennan Thompson is getting a lot of looks behind him.

We’ll have a ’camp battles’ post up this week, but what won’t be written about is the tension between personnel packages. E.g., what’s the preference, 11-personnel or 12-personnel? In that regard, the position battle is Jordan Whittington (when in 11) versus Jahleel Billingsley (when in 12). For those new to the game, 11-personnel features one running back and one tight end, while 12 features one running back and two tight ends. From there you can deduce 11 personnel has three receivers on the field and 12 only features two.

Your 12 personnel will feature Neyor and Worthy at receiver alongside the running back (usually Bijan Robinson) and the two tight ends, Ja’Tavion Sanders and Billingsley.

When asking further about running backs, IT asked if there were times when Jonathon Brooks and Keilan Robinson would be in competition and the response was, “don’t forget about Jaydon Blue. He is an effortless runner.” It sounds like Blue is going to play this year.

Like with Bijan, you can easily swing Blue out to slot. He has exceptional hands.

A lot is being made about front-line skill talent, but the wave behind the main guys is very promising too.

 

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5 hours ago, ATXhorn17 said:

If I cared enough, I’m sure I could dig up an IT Scoop from last off-season—hyping up Moochie Dixon, Josh Moore and Marcus Washington…

Time is a flat circle, etc.

I'm not sure why anyone pays any serious attention to anything these people write. If they had any idea of what was going on in the program they would have known last year the new coach install and culture wasn't good and we would have heard about difficulties in establishing consistency in the program all through the spring and summer/ camp. Not one of them even hinted at it. Nothing. 

Then after the disaster 6 game losing streak and Kansas game they all tried to claim there were issues in the spring and summer. 

Edited by Hermanator
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6 hours ago, ATXhorn17 said:

If I cared enough, I’m sure I could dig up an IT Scoop from last off-season—hyping up Moochie Dixon, Josh Moore and Marcus Washington…

Time is a flat circle, etc.

If I remember right, the entire month of August last year was spent worrying about receivers. No one could catch the ball in camp, Washington being the biggest culprit, Whittington was banged up and no one had any clue what to expect from Worthy.

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Texas has worked plenty this offseason to improve its 2022 defense

Joe Cook•1 minute

Article written by:Joe Cook

josephcook89

Steve Sarkisian (Will Gallagher/IT)

At one point during his Big 12 Media Days breakout session, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian mentioned to reporters that to play successful defense, “you’ve got to have the ability to stop the run.”

[Get a FREE 7-day trial of Inside Texas Plus!]

Minutes later, in a different response, he said “I think the natural thing is you want to affect the quarterback more, but it’s hard to affect the quarterback when you’re giving up easy completions and the ball is coming out so quickly.”

If being ranked No. 100 in total defense and No. 99 in scoring defense wasn’t enough, Sarkisian’s words should get the point across: the Longhorn defense under Pete Kwiatkowski was a weakness on the 2021 team.

Kwiatkowski assuredly faced some headwinds entering his first year in Austin. As the third defensive coordinator in three years, he walked into a roster without perfect fits for his unique 2-4-5 defense that bullied the Pac-12 for the better part of the last decade. He also felt the effects of the season-long culture change that some players on his defense simply did not buy into.

That said, Kwiatkowski does bear responsibility for instances of misplaced personnel, tactical errors, and the plain inability to stop outside runs for a significant portion of the season.

Because of Sarkisian’s interview policies, Kwiatkowski has only faced the local media once in his Texas tenure. The offensive playcalling head coach prefers the questions about his defense go to him, and at Big 12 Media Days, they assuredly did.

How will the defense improve? Well, in addition to bolstering the run defense, ranked No. 114 in the country last year, Sarkisian knows his team has a need for improved coverage and pass rush.

“We tried to move people around in different spots and do some things schematically that would allow us to play tighter coverage that can help the pass rush, but also in turn continue to develop that pass rush to where we can get third-down stops and then create turnovers especially late in games,” Sarkisian said.

One such move is moving DeMarvion Overshown around the defense instead of slotting him only at the Will linebacker spot. Also included were shifting Anthony Cook and Kitan Crawford to safety from their respective Star and cornerback spots. Personnel additions were made in the offseason when Texas added Ohio State transfer cornerback Ryan Watts and James Madison transfer linebacker Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey to the defense, plus five-star defensive back Terrance Brooks from the 2022 class.

Plus, the current Longhorns say they have a better understanding of Kwiatkowski’s defense. And even though the pieces still may not be perfect fits, Kwiatkowski has the advantage this summer of additional instruction time with players during their workouts. In the extra time with the team, he emphasized an area where Texas struggled last season.

“I think this year, our point of emphasis is learning our playbook and also understanding why our job is so important to the defense as a whole,” Texas linebacker Ovie Oghoufo said at Big 12 Media Days. “As we’ve been learning that throughout the spring and heading into fall camp, all those counters and all types of runs, stretch, whatever you want to call it, will be shut down.”

Kwiatkowski also has some newfound help this season in the form of former TCU head coach and current special assistant to the head coach Gary Patterson. All reviews from Sarkisian regarding Patterson have been positive, and not all of those reviews have been concerning the defense. That said, defense is Patterson’s specialty and he’s taken chances to help current Longhorn defenders whenever the opportunity arises.

“Every little bit that you get from a coach like Coach Patterson, it means a lot,” Overshown said at Big 12 Media Days. “Knowing his resume, knowing the guys he’s put at the next level, if he says something you’re going to sit down and listen because you know he’s saying it for the good of you and for the team.”

In addition to working on the schematic and technical aspects of football, Longhorn defenders have worked to improve their mental conditioning during their physical workouts. Overshown mentioned there’s a pause in some workouts to note the end of the session is near, meaning it’s time to push past their perceived limits.

“We get to the last portion of it, and it’s the hardest part,” Overshown said. “We call everybody up to let them know that last year this is where we lost control of some of our games.”

Those are all positive sentiments coming from the side of the football that was a net negative against SEC and Big 12 opponents last year. With the influx of talent on the offensive side of the ball, competence from Kwiatkowski’s unit could be enough to create a winning product for Sarkisian in year two.

Have they reached that threshold? That’s to be determined in practices and games, but after fielding a historically bad unit in 2021, there’s nowhere to go but up in 2022.

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1 hour ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

The PK demise really makes no sense. I remember that Washington fans were so sad when he left. He has such a great reputation throughout the industry that I’m thinking the odds favor him getting things turned around. The culture issues within the program and him being the third DC in three years and the players not grasping his concepts are legitimate excuses imo. But those excuses are gone now in year 2

I believe PK gets it turned around this season. The thing that gives me some hope is the rumored scheme tweaks from last season. His first season at Washington was pretty rocky as well, then he turned them into an elite defense in year 2. He walked in as one of the last coaches on the staff and had to work with guys he has never worked with before outside of Choate. Choate was forced to start a walkon who couldn't outrun a zamboni and a converted safety at LB who had never gone through a spring to learn the position. We had no EDGE play, no LB play, and our coverage didnt make sense. I have hopes that we get at least league average play at both LB and EDGE this season. If we do then there is no reason we should not be in contention for the CCG.  

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The PK demise really makes no sense. I remember that Washington fans were so sad when he left. He has such a great reputation throughout the industry that I’m thinking the odds favor him getting things turned around. The culture issues within the program and him being the third DC in three years and the players not grasping his concepts are legitimate excuses imo. But those excuses are gone now in year 2

I’d be awfully curious to hear staff discussions on the issues. There are certainly some issues with the scheme that result in fan frustration. Particularly being the corners playing off and allowing those 3rd completions just past the sticks.

I’ve rewatched damn near the whole season again this summer with particular interest on the defense. As you can expect with any team, there are guys overly criticized and some overly hyped. And some bs talking points that you’ll find here.

I think we all want more big plays. Well, PK damn sure put some guys in position to make negative plays. Almost always DBs and nearly every time they came up empty handed. Just off the top of my head, there were 3 in the OU game. That doesn’t include the 70 yard Williams TD run. They often were not good in contain.

I will say that outside of WVU and KU our 3rd down defense was solid. It was awful in those two games. And really outside of those games, the defense had moments in every other game. The OU game is probably the luckiest game I’ve ever seen a team have. Penalties not called at the point of attack. Low percentage completions on 3rd and long. Split second near turnovers including one that was not reviewed in a professional manner. The offense could have changed game plans for both the OSU and BU offenses but failed to do so. The defense ran out of juice in the 2nd half versus ISU.

We should expect better production in year 2 especially given previous turnover in defensive scheme and coaching.
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1 hour ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

The PK demise really makes no sense. I remember that Washington fans were so sad when he left. He has such a great reputation throughout the industry that I’m thinking the odds favor him getting things turned around. The culture issues within the program and him being the third DC in three years and the players not grasping his concepts are legitimate excuses imo. But those excuses are gone now in year 2

Agree with this. I wouldn’t say those issues are completely gone in year 2, but significantly diminished to where they are little more than an afterthought when a player or two has a brain fart for a minute. 

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1 hour ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

The PK demise really makes no sense. I remember that Washington fans were so sad when he left. He has such a great reputation throughout the industry that I’m thinking the odds favor him getting things turned around. The culture issues within the program and him being the third DC in three years and the players not grasping his concepts are legitimate excuses imo. But those excuses are gone now in year 2

Based on few things. I am going with the secondary coaches and PK not being on the same page. 

#1 They brought in Gary.

#2 Watts was the only transfer on defense

#3 Sark is constantly talking about being more aggressive in the backend. 

I dont think PK had any trust in that secondary last year. He also had a front 6/7 that could not help cover up the secondary. in fact, the front could not survive without secondary help. The results were worse than they shoudl have been, but it was a shit sandwich. There is no defense that works without at least one strong unit. 

 

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16 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

Agree with this. I wouldn’t say those issues are completely gone in year 2, but significantly diminished to where they are little more than an afterthought when a player or two has a brain fart for a minute. 

The TCU game and the Arkansas game stand out the most. There were multiple times where we looked like the old Rob Ryan led Cowboys defenses with players in utter confusion and linebackers having their backs turned to the ball and yelling at safeties when the ball is snapped. 

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2 hours ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

The PK demise really makes no sense. I remember that Washington fans were so sad when he left. He has such a great reputation throughout the industry that I’m thinking the odds favor him getting things turned around. The culture issues within the program and him being the third DC in three years and the players not grasping his concepts are legitimate excuses imo. But those excuses are gone now in year 2

I still think S&C was a factor too. Defense was fine in the first 2-3 quarters most games, then completely collapsed. Probably part mental/culture too.

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1 hour ago, Had Enough said:

The defense ran out of juice in the 2nd half versus ISU.

Because of my own self-loathing issues I've also been re-watching, and it occurred to me that the KSU offensive game plan seemed 100% designed to protect our defense (for those not so inclined the KSU game featured a dozen or more Wildcat plays w/ RoJo taking the snap and CT split out wide, lots of game-shortening). 

I mention that in the context of both the ISU collapse (and others) as well as the PK-Sark dialogue we all wish we could eavesdrop on. It seems all of the kool-aide I've found remotely appetizing is all on the Offensive side of the ball, so hopefully we can use improvements there to protect our Defense, because other than "How in the blue fuck could we be worse" I'm not sure how we improve dramatically there.

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, GringoSalado said:

Because of my own self-loathing issues I've also been re-watching, and it occurred to me that the KSU offensive game plan seemed 100% designed to protect our defense (for those not so inclined the KSU game featured a dozen or more Wildcat plays w/ RoJo taking the snap and CT split out wide, lots of game-shortening). 

I mention that in the context of both the ISU collapse (and others) as well as the PK-Sark dialogue we all wish we could eavesdrop on. It seems all of the kool-aide I've found remotely appetizing is all on the Offensive side of the ball, so hopefully we can use improvements there to protect our Defense, because other than "How in the blue fuck could we be worse" I'm not sure how we improve dramatically there.

 

 

 

It is an interesting point of discussion. Part of the Sarkisian offense is the quick strike drives where it only takes 3 or 4 plays. Stretch some of those drives out to 7 or 8 plays and all of sudden the other team loses a possession they were getting this past year. Could be the difference in some of those one possession games falling our way.

The defense sucked, but the offense did very little to help them out. It sounds stupid to say but the offense had way too games where either scored in 3 plays or went 3 and out in 2 minutes three consecutive drives. There was no middle ground or flipping of field position. Hell, I feel like I could count on one hand the number of times we punted from around midfield and one of them was that awful fake against Baylor.

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1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Probably didn't help that they received zero help offensively in the second half of most of the game they collapsed (Oklahoma State, Baylor, Iowa State).

PK had a great gameplan against Oklahoma State. Debuted the 3-down look with Collins at Jack, held Jaylen Warren to 55 yards in the first half. Then we got Casey Thumbson'd before halftime and during the second half and left the defense out to dry. 

It’s both. I believe the offense was in the 90s in 3 and outs and the defense was in the same vicinity. Offense didn’t help, but the defense couldn’t get themselves off the field. Also keep in mind the offense ranked near the bottom of FBS in drives starting with poor field position. I believe it was like 120th. Defense was 85th in available yards. They averaged giving up 50% of the available yards. Means if the opposing offense started at their 20, on averaged they went to the TExas 40. That meant a lot of shitty field position for an offense that sucked when backed up. Neither unit helped the other out. The sun of the parts was worse in this situation. That isn’t even mentioning turnovers. OSU game flipped on a health Casey throwing a terrible pick 6 and was probably a 10 pt change in the score 

Edited by Codaxx
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13 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

I don’t see much that’s changed with the defense. 

Just got to pray that PK had some faith in the secondary and the secondary is much improved. They had problems at every level of the defense, so it not like 1 player or a small tweak is going to fix it. 11 players are going to have to improve to see this defense be significantly better

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