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2023 Fall Camp Thread of Dominance


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24 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

e) it all comes out in the wash in 2023. either the problem vanishes or the problem is getting paid $5M and will be gone after the 2024 season with more failure piles of sadness stacked on us in 2023 and 2024 second halves. 

Man.... I'd rather ride along for two more years through 2026 and see if the Zebra changes it's spots just enough, than start the whole 3 year refresh/rebuild thing over. 

I don't see Texas out-talenting everyone this season or next, but it looks like Sark is building in that direction. I'd rather go with the guy that has shown he can recruit the right types of players to Texas. I suppose Jeff Traylor could work, but that's not a splash name that people would get excited about coaching in the SEC unless he leaves UTSA and wings at a P5 first. 

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9 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Saw in an interview with Sark that during a scrimmage this fall they put a 8-10 minute "halftime" in to see how the team would came out. Said they came out flat and he got into their ass because they've been preaching 3rd/4th quarter starting/finishing since last season.

If the whole team is flat coming out of half, that's on him. He leads the culture. He orchestrates the halftime. His coaches follow his plans. His player leaders follow him and the coahce. 

Change the halftime program, Coach. 

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Just now, closetojumping said:

I don’t even know how I would feel. I’m fatigued from wrong-guy-itis like everyone else. Why can’t this guy just figure it out this year and stay for awhile?

I'm with you, but whatever happens this season, we're rolling out an inexperienced QB next season when we start in the SEC (I assume Ewers is gone). We're not plowing through the SEC in year one with a new starter at QB, so we might as well play the longer game and see what we look like with 2 deep talent and a upper-class QB in 2025 or 2026.

 

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24 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Saw in an interview with Sark that during a scrimmage this fall they put a 8-10 minute "halftime" in to see how the team would came out. Said they came out flat and he got into their ass because they've been preaching 3rd/4th quarter starting/finishing since last season.

Pretty sure the halftime thing isn’t new. No team is running 120 plays straight in mid-August.

I do recall either him or one of the 9.95ers saying the beginning of the second half of the scrimmage wasn’t what they wanted but the finish was strong.

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5 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Pretty sure the halftime thing isn’t new. No team is running 120 plays straight in mid-August.

I do recall either him or one of the 9.95ers saying the beginning of the second half of the scrimmage wasn’t what they wanted but the finish was strong.

Yeah the goal was to simulate a halftime. He took the entire team into the tunnel during this time is how it was phrased....it just wasn't a break on the field. 

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Hell, Saban always gets pissed at the effort of his players during his fall camps... gotta keep demands and pressure on a team for excellence.

Focus, discipline, developing depth, and reducing mental mistakes are paramount for a successful fall camp.

I like hearing a few reports of Texas coaches getting on players asses... this isn't pee-wee football.

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25 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I don’t even know how I would feel. I’m fatigued from wrong-guy-itis like everyone else. Why can’t this guy just figure it out this year and stay for awhile?

I just don't know who I would even want us to go after at this point. There's no sure thing out there (I don't think Urban's a sure thing anymore for a few reasons). Kyle Shanahan seems like an NFL guy through and through. Traylor? I feel like if Sark fails, we have one more chance to get this shit right, before more long term damage to this program starts to set in. With that in mind, I feel like Traylor would be way too big a gamble. 

So yeah, I really hope Sark just works out. A shiver runs down my spine when I think about how we possibly might be one Gary Barnett hire away from 50 years of wandering the desert. 

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47 minutes ago, Slacks said:

Man.... I'd rather ride along for two more years through 2026 and see if the Zebra changes it's spots just enough, than start the whole 3 year refresh/rebuild thing over. 

I don't see Texas out-talenting everyone this season or next, but it looks like Sark is building in that direction. I'd rather go with the guy that has shown he can recruit the right types of players to Texas. I suppose Jeff Traylor could work, but that's not a splash name that people would get excited about coaching in the SEC unless he leaves UTSA and wings at a P5 first. 

Have you looked at the schedule at all?

With the exception of Alabama, I don't know how it's possible not to see that.  

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41 minutes ago, Slacks said:

I'm with you, but whatever happens this season, we're rolling out an inexperienced QB next season when we start in the SEC (I assume Ewers is gone). We're not plowing through the SEC in year one with a new starter at QB, so we might as well play the longer game and see what we look like with 2 deep talent and a upper-class QB in 2025 or 2026.

 

I don't know about plowing through, but I'm not going to be worried about QB play. 

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1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

a) that isn’t English

e) it all comes out in the wash in 2023. either the problem vanishes or the problem is getting paid $5M and will be gone after the 2024 season with more failure piles of sadness stacked on us in 2023 and 2024 second halves. 

As to A- yep my bad- that was horrific use of my IPhone while getting the kids ready for school. 

As to E- I’ve staked out my opinion since last spring that this thing is headed in the right direction and it’s the dipshits and morons who can’t recognize the difference between a leading indicator (talent acquisition and development) and a trailing indicator (W’s and L’s) that have it laughably wrong. You seem to have gotten religion on this about a year later than me, but it’s possible that I could be wrong, and the dipshit in a spectacular way when this thing comes crashing down because Sark truly is 7 win Steve and can’t get it done. 

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2022 second half scoring (excluding defensive TD's, give up drives in blowouts with less than 5 minutes left and drives ending in kneel downs)

ULM- 21 points in 5 possessions

Bama- 9 points in 6 possessions

UTSA- 17 points in 5 possessions

Tech- 10 points in 6 possessions

WVU- 10 points in 3 possessions (very weird game possession wise)

OU- 21 points in 5 possessions (6th possession was a give up with 4 minutes left in the game)

Iowa State- 10 points in 4 possessions

Oklahoma State- 3 points in 9 possessions (by far the worst second half performance of the season)

Kansas State- 3 points in 5 possessions

TCU- 3 points in 5 possessions

Kansas- 24 points in 4 possessions (5th possession was a give up with 5 minutes left)

Baylor- 21 points in 6 possessions

Washington- 17 points in 4 possessions (5th possession was a hail mary)

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Just now, Hookem2147 said:

Worthy, Mitchell, Sweat, Ford, Catalon, Watts, Barron, Sanders, Ewers and Jones?

Worthy
Mitchell
Sweat
Ford
Catalon - Depending on health
Watts
Barron
Sanders
Ewers - Depending on season
Keilan - Apparently scouts like him as a special teams demon/3rd rb
Christian Jones
Murphy - If he declares


 

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34 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

2022 second half scoring (excluding defensive TD's, give up drives in blowouts with less than 5 minutes left and drives ending in kneel downs)

ULM- 21 points in 5 possessions

Bama- 9 points in 6 possessions

UTSA- 17 points in 5 possessions

Tech- 10 points in 6 possessions

WVU- 10 points in 3 possessions (very weird game possession wise)

OU- 21 points in 5 possessions (6th possession was a give up with 4 minutes left in the game)

Iowa State- 10 points in 4 possessions

Oklahoma State- 3 points in 9 possessions (by far the worst second half performance of the season)

Kansas State- 3 points in 5 possessions

TCU- 3 points in 5 possessions

Kansas- 24 points in 4 possessions (5th possession was a give up with 5 minutes left)

Baylor- 21 points in 6 possessions

Washington- 17 points in 4 possessions (5th possession was a hail mary)

Its bad.. 

Offense pts per Q: 

20th   1Q (8.2)
13th   2Q (11.6)
27th  

3Q (7.6)

62nd   4Q (7)

 

Defense

   
43rd   1Q (5.1)
4th   2Q(4.7)
18th    3Q (3.9)
85th    4Q (7.7)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Codaxx
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17 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

Its bad.. 

Offense pts per Q: 

20th   1Q (8.2)
13th   2Q (11.6)
27th  

3Q (7.6)

62nd   4Q (7)

 

Defense

   
43rd   1Q (5.1)
4th   2Q(4.7)
18th    3Q (3.9)
85th    4Q (7.7)

 

 

 

 

 

hmm, 62nd (pretty much right in the middle of the pack) is actually better than I would have expected. And it's interesting that the third quarter scoring has been fairly solid. I wonder if the fact that we seemed to receive a lot to open second halves benefited our numbers there.

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If the whole team is flat coming out of half, that's on him. He leads the culture. He orchestrates the halftime. His coaches follow his plans. His player leaders follow him and the coahce. 
Change the halftime program, Coach. 

Are you suggesting that wolfing down a pizza wasn’t a good idea, coach?
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1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

Keep Catalon in bubble wrap till season starts.  This defense needs more playmakers...  Cat should really help 🤘

 

It’s a good thing we have depth in the secondary, because he’s gonna have to sit out a few halves for targeting with the Bg 12 refs doing their thing this year.

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12 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

hmm, 62nd (pretty much right in the middle of the pack) is actually better than I would have expected. And it's interesting that the third quarter scoring has been fairly solid. I wonder if the fact that we seemed to receive a lot to open second halves benefited our numbers there.

Finished 16th in OFEI, but the worst metric was OFD (drives the result in one 1st down or TD) at 42nd (.716) ... So Texas was a good offense, but one that was prone to 3 outs (28.4% drives failed to gain 10 yards)

Defense

Finished 11th in DFEI. Texas was 39th in DAY (yards available). Texas was 36th in DVD (drives that gain 30 yards or a TD), 45% of the opposing offense's gained 30 yards or a TD.. based on pts per drive (Texas finished 11th), that was generally first downs and not TDs. 

Thing that sticks out is the offense was not very consistent (too many 3 and outs) and the defense struggled getting off the field (too many drives with multiple 1st downs). That going to leave you with a tired defense in 4Q. 

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I'm with you, but whatever happens this season, we're rolling out an inexperienced QB next season when we start in the SEC (I assume Ewers is gone). We're not plowing through the SEC in year one with a new starter at QB, so we might as well play the longer game and see what we look like with 2 deep talent and a upper-class QB in 2025 or 2026.
 

Next year is definitely a transition year at QB and elsewhere. Feel like the schedule is relatively high floor and low ceiling overall - OU, A&M, and Arkansas will obviously be rivalry game dogfights, Sark’s probably not winning on the road at Michigan, and Georgia will probably stomp Texas; but no reason to be scared of Florida, Vandy, Miss St, and Kentucky. A winning conference record is achievable, add three buy a wins to that and you can see a respectable season as long as Texas doesn’t go 0-fer in the rivalries. While I personally don’t see Texas contending for anything next year they should have a 7-win floor, with 9-10 possible if the stars align.

This year is definitely the year for really lofty expectations. Reasonable people can agree on whether they think Sark can deliver on that, but fortunately most seem on the same page in understanding if it’s not this year, there will never be a year with him.
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Ian Boyd: Is Jake Majors limiting the Texas O-line?

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Texas’ interior offensive line has not yet put together a dominant season under Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian and a lot of people have a good guess as to why. The inside zone and gap scheme focused Flood-Sarkisian partnership inherited a very different sort of center at Texas than they’d had at Alabama. While with the Crimson Tide, Flood rolled with present day Philadelphia Eagle guard Landon Dickerson at center, a 6-foot-6, 333 pound behemoth of a human. At Texas they inherited the quick but small Jake Majors, listed generously on the roster at 6-foot-3, 315 pounds.

Virtually every offseason Flood has tinkered with the offensive line and appeared to try and edge out Majors in favor of bigger humans such as Junior Angilau in 2022 (6-foot-6, 311 pounds) and Cole Hutson in 2023 (6-foot-5, 318 pounds). Texas’ struggles to dominate the interior in the run game combined with these regular moves against the smaller center point to an obvious conclusion. Jake Majors is the problem. But is it true?

Surveying the losses of 2022

If you look back at 2022 there are a few obvious games in which Texas faced big, physical nose tackles you’d expect to have generated issues for the run game. Baylor had big Siaki Ika (6-foot-4, 355 pounds), Iowa State always has multiple powerful, stout defensive linemen, and Kansas State had a 6th-year senior named Eli Huggins who stood at 6-foot-5, 300 pounds. However, Texas ran for 208 yards on Baylor and clinched the game by running every play for two consecutive drives. They also ran for 191 yards on Iowa State and a whopping 269 on Kansas State, on the road no less.

The games where Texas had real issues running the football which helped lead to defeats were the Alabama game, Texas Tech road trip, and narrow home loss late to TCU. Texas had 79 rushing yards at 3.3 ypc against the Tide, 151 yards but several short-yardage miscues against Tech, and a dismal 28 total rushing yards against the Frogs. The 151 yards against Tech were boosted by a long run from Bijan Robinson…which featured Majors lead blocking around the edge on a sweep.

So what went wrong in those contests? Against Alabama Texas had great difficulty with a rather un-Saban like approach in which the Tide would repeatedly slant defensive linemen across the faces of Longhorn linemen, often against the grain of zone runs, and create issues for the combo blocks.

You can see in the first clip Majors’ track to the second level is thwarted by trying to trade a tackle crossing his face back into Hayden Conner, which doesn’t go super well, and then he doesn’t have much force when taking on a linebacker. In clip two, Majors adjusts quickly to his defensive tackle going elsewhere but Conner stays on the other D-lineman and no one picks up Will Anderson.

That’s one of the few ways for a defense to blow up the Ezekiel’s Wheel RPO like Alabama did here, if you can get Will Anderson unblocked the play definitely doesn’t work as well. Texas Tech created similar issues with post-snap movement and also a heavy dose of nickel blitz with their big hybrid Marquise Waters (13 tackles for loss on the year).

TCU…did the exact same thing. Often crossing up Texas’ guards and generating penetration with superstar defensive lineman Dylan Horton, who would line up as either an Edge or slant inside as a 3-technique.

In none of those games was Majors’ inability to bully big defensive tackles the issue. Problems always centered around “who’s got who” execution when D-linemen would move after the snap and slant across gaps. In a related story, Texas was using first-year starter and true sophomore Hayden Conner as the left guard and true freshmen Cole Hutson and D.J. Campbell at right guard.

So should Texas try to replace Jake Majors?

So if Majors wasn’t the underlying problem for the Texas offense, why does it seem like Flood is always trying to replace him? For starters, it’s not clear that replacing Majors is really a priority for the 2023 season. Getting Hayden Conner and Cole Hutson snaps at center in spring and fall camp could be as much about creating depth and versatility amongst the top eight linemen as it is upgrading at center. An offense has a lower floor if an injury to the center forces the unit to go to an eighth, ninth, or 10th option to replace him. As of today, Conner and Hutson are better linemen than future center Connor Robertson.

Secondly, Jake Majors isn’t a dominant player. He’s very assignment sound and is great at using his quickness to ensure contact on pass-rushers and D-linemen alike. You don’t get free-hitters and totally blown up plays when Majors is involved in the action. However, you don’t always get major movement behind Majors either. He’s not a huge and powerful player, at his best he’s a force multiplier who can generate steady contact, make sure no one gets cut loose, and set the table for powerful guards to wipe out defensive fronts. The latter happens if and when the chemistry is right between Majors and the guards on his left and right.

That’s true for most centers. The difficulties of making great line calls and snapping a ball before executing timely and effective blocks is difficult enough that most teams are happy if the center is a reliable table setter. Texas would love to aim a little higher and play a powerful NFL player like Landon Dickerson at the position, and they may yet in the future, but don’t expect Majors to be supplanted in 2023 and don’t expect him to put grievous limits on the offense either. The ceiling for Texas’ interior line play this coming season is going to come as a result of development at the guard position.

 

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12 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

So Texas was a good offense, but one that was prone to 3 outs (28.4% drives failed to gain 10 yards)

What is a good % for 3 and out drives? 20% or fewer? Would be interested to know where other good offenses ranked.

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I just don't know who I would even want us to go after at this point. There's no sure thing out there (I don't think Urban's a sure thing anymore for a few reasons). Kyle Shanahan seems like an NFL guy through and through. Traylor? I feel like if Sark fails, we have one more chance to get this shit right, before more long term damage to this program starts to set in. With that in mind, I feel like Traylor would be way too big a gamble. 
So yeah, I really hope Sark just works out. A shiver runs down my spine when I think about how we possibly might be one Gary Barnett hire away from 50 years of wandering the desert. 

Not having an obvious candidate is how Texas ended up with Sark in the first place. This definitely factors in. Unless there’s both strong underperformance AND underachievement the next two years, I think he’s getting through 2025.
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30 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

What is a good % for 3 and out drives? 20% or fewer? Would be interested to know where other good offenses ranked.

https://www.bcftoys.com/2022-ofei

you can play around here. There 2 ways to be a good offense, efficient or explosive. Texas leaned on the later. Great offenses are both. 

Both units were good, finishing 20th in pts per drive. Amazingly the defense finished 105th in in DLD (Drive starting inside the opposing offense's 20 yard line), so really bad at giving up long drives. The issue with Texas was the offense tended to be more of a boom or bust variety and the defense is more of bend and dont break variety. That leads to long periods of time where the opposition has the ball.  I am not a big believer in T.O.P, but Texas was pretty extreme there (119th overall). This is a very long winded way to say that the Texas offense needs to cut down on the amount of 3 and outs and the defense needs to be better at getting off the field. 

Edited by Codaxx
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18 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

https://www.bcftoys.com/2022-ofei

you can play around here. There 2 ways to be a good offense, efficient or explosive. Texas leaned on the later. Great offenses are both. 

Both units were good, finishing 20th in pts per drive. Amazingly the defense finished 105th in in DLD (Drive starting inside the opposing offense's 20 yard line), so really bad at giving up long drives. The issue with Texas was the offense tended to be more of a boom or bust variety and the defense is more of bend and dont break variety. That leads to long periods of time where the opposition has the ball.  I am not a big believer in T.O.P, but Texas was pretty extreme there (119th overall). This is a very long winded way to say that the Texas offense needs to cut down on the amount of 3 and outs and the defense needs to be better at getting off the field. 

to second this, ignore 3 and outs and look at things like ODE or OBD

Quote

Drive efficiency (ODE) is offensive value generated per drive

Busted drive rate (OBD) is the percentage of drives that gained zero or negative yards

you can go here: https://www.bcftoys.com/2022-gr#texas and see the stats for each Texas game and you can click on the scores to see the drive by drive breakdowns

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1 hour ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Bunch of gaping pussies here. Every year from this year forward with the talent and depth we're creating we should expect to compete. Arch will play behind a better OL than we have this year with more experience. 

Ideally similar to colt’s first year, but with less talent on defense. Tougher schedule too. 

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5 minutes ago, NoName said:

to second this, ignore 3 and outs and look at things like ODE or OBD

you can go here: https://www.bcftoys.com/2022-gr#texas and see the stats for each Texas game and you can click on the scores to see the drive by drive breakdowns

OBD was 36th, way off from the overall rank of 16. I do wish there was a 3 and out stat available.  Not gaining a 1st down is essentially a wasted drive. Gaining 2 yards ,instead of the 0 is not a big difference. 

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1 hour ago, Codaxx said:

Finished 16th in OFEI, but the worst metric was OFD (drives the result in one 1st down or TD) at 42nd (.716) ... So Texas was a good offense, but one that was prone to 3 outs (28.4% drives failed to gain 10 yards)

Defense

Finished 11th in DFEI. Texas was 39th in DAY (yards available). Texas was 36th in DVD (drives that gain 30 yards or a TD), 45% of the opposing offense's gained 30 yards or a TD.. based on pts per drive (Texas finished 11th), that was generally first downs and not TDs. 

Thing that sticks out is the offense was not very consistent (too many 3 and outs) and the defense struggled getting off the field (too many drives with multiple 1st downs). That going to leave you with a tired defense in 4Q. 

aggy was first in DVDA

 

and seeing as how the VP is such a VIP, shouldn't we keep the PC on the q.t., because if it leaks to the VC, he could end up an MIA, and then we'd all be put on KP.

Edited by Nivek
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22 minutes ago, Nivek said:

aggy was first in DVDA

 

and seeing as how the VP is such a VIP, shouldn't we keep the PC on the q.t., because if it leaks to the VC, he could end up an MIA, and then we'd all be put on KP.

I am not sure about that. Tech was far and away the leader in STD. I am sure they gave aggy a run for their money in DVDA. 

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1 hour ago, satyanash said:

Virtually every offseason Flood has tinkered with the offensive line and appeared to try and edge out Majors in favor of bigger humans such as Junior Angilau in 2022 (6-foot-6, 311 pounds) and Cole Hutson in 2023 (6-foot-5, 318 pounds). 

Fucking Ian Boyd. Majors is currently listed at 6'3" 315. 

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1 hour ago, SydneyCarton said:

Today I learned that Ian Boyd and BO&W both share the same opinion on Jake Majors.

That's like that the duggar who went to jail for diddling and Sandusky locking eyes as they both reached for the same 12 year old. 

Those two assholes would describe that as a meetcute.

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4 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

As to A- yep my bad- that was horrific use of my IPhone while getting the kids ready for school. 
 

Interesting. I just assumed you were still drunk. 

3 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

 

Oklahoma State- 3 points in 9 possessions (by far the worst second half performance of the season)

Kansas State- 3 points in 5 possessions

TCU- 3 points in 5 possessions

The OSU / KSU / TCU stretch was rough. Thank God we still held on to beat KSU, but that whole second half half had me screaming. More than anything, the OSU game made me question Ewers' future as QB1 and the TCU game made me questions Sark. I'm glad we cleaned things up and looked better against Kansas and Baylor, but it's hard for me to go full Wulaw with those games lingering on my mind.  

3 hours ago, Codaxx said:

Its bad.. 

Offense pts per Q: 

20th   1Q (8.2)
13th   2Q (11.6)
27th  

3Q (7.6)

62nd   4Q (7)

 

Defense

   
43rd   1Q (5.1)
4th   2Q(4.7)
18th    3Q (3.9)
85th    4Q (7.7)

I can chalk up the poor Q4 offensive performance to us being up late in games. Playing ball control trying to run out the clock isn't going to boost statistics. The real issue for me is the defensive performance in Q4. Where the fuck is that drop off coming from? Seems insane. 

1 hour ago, SydneyCarton said:

Today I learned that Ian Boyd and BO&W both share the same opinion on Jake Majors.

That's like that the duggar who went to jail for diddling and Sandusky locking eyes as they both reached for the same 12 year old. 

Boyd has verbal diarrhea and is painful to read, but is he wrong? Majors isn't great but it seems like the guards are our problem. 

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