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Texas vs Maryland Game Week Thread


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A couple of things I noticed from Maryland's depth chart: 

1) Terrance Davis is not listed as the starting guard. He had some type of surgery in the off-season and it sounds like he still has some nagging injuries per their 247 board. He's their best guard so that would be fairly significant if he can't play. 

2) Outside of Tavion Jacobs they don't have much production returning at WR. Their other two starting WRs (DJ Turner/Jahrvis Davenport) have produced very little. DJ Moore was obviously a significant loss. 

3) We should have success inside against Maryland's DL. They are replacing both tackles (Opara and Walker) who were the starters in '17 and '16

Edited by texasstrong12
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2 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

It's 4:20 a.m. and I am drinking alone in the Green lot A4 parking lot outside Fedex field in Landover, MD. Got my tailgate situation set up.  I have two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that I need all this for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worries me is the ether. 

Where are you fuckers?

There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

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3 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

It's 4:20 a.m. and I am drinking alone in the Green lot A4 parking lot outside Fedex field in Landover, MD. Got my tailgate situation set up.  I have two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that I need all this for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worries me is the ether. 

Where are you fuckers?

Well there's your problem, Hunter. 

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12 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

Both Hill and Pigrome (if he’s healthy) will play.  Orlando has to be preparing for both.  Canada is mega stupid if he doesn’t run more zone read and option against us since we never proved we could stop it against the same personnel.  We were very soft on the edges in this game last year.  

Key words in your statement "last year".....also it was the first game.

If we would have played Maryland in a bowl game "last year" even with their starting QB, we would have stuffed them.

Also the 60% chance of rain is for thunderstorms which always means a game delay.......I hate those.

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4 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

It's 4:20 a.m. and I am drinking alone in the Green lot A4 parking lot outside Fedex field in Landover, MD. Got my tailgate situation set up.  I have two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that I need all this for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worries me is the ether. 

Where are you fuckers?

Now this is dedication.

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4 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

It's 4:20 a.m. and I am drinking alone in the Green lot A4 parking lot outside Fedex field in Landover, MD. Got my tailgate situation set up.  I have two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that I need all this for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worries me is the ether. 

Where are you fuckers?

That sounds great for a Wednesday, but what are your plans for the rest of the week?

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10 hours ago, texifornia said:

Alright, it's a 9am game time on the West Coast... what does Surly recommend for a get-up-and-go kind of morning?

Was thinking Irish coffee/mimosas and a nice brunch spread but I know there'll be better ideas.

The obvious answer is Bloody Mary's(land) and feasting on the souls of the qb.  

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2 minutes ago, MAGS® said:

The obvious answer is Bloody Mary's(land) and feasting on the souls of the qb.  

Agree on the Bloodies.  Irish Coffee is acceptable, but GTFO with the mimosas, unless you have a lady friend with you, then serve in large batches to increase odds of getting laid.

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Agree on the Bloodies.  Irish Coffee is acceptable, but GTFO with the mimosas, unless you have a lady friend with you, then serve in large batches to increase odds of getting laid.
Fuck all that, start with a double shot of vodka-redbull, follow up with coffee stout and breakfast tacos of your choice. #earlykickpro
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A few notes from TFB: https://texas.thefootballbrainiacs.com/2018/08/open-post-wednesday-august-29th/

 

Texas Depth Chart Released
 

Texas released the depth chart earlier this week.

Depthchart1.jpg

Defensively, no real surprises. Of note, you may recall that when Ossai first arrived, he was the first freshman name we mentioned:

It’s obviously way too early to be dishing out compliments to the newly arrived freshmen. They have started working out but again it’s early.

However, I did want to note that I heard from a source that the initial impressions of Ossai in terms of attitude and how he looked coming into the program is really good. It looks like he was using these past few months of high school, wisely.

depthchart2.jpg

No big surprises here but things worth noting…

***Tre Watson coming in and taking the running back spot. How about that? Whoever inside the program pushed for him…well done.

***Early in camp, Ingram was run behind the pack. We had been told he’d surge up the depth chart. Appears he has done that sitting just behind Watson and Young.

***Cosmi is another guy who had a great camp and is now mentioned alongside Derek Kersetter as the starting right tackle.

***As we noted all along, Calvin Anderson would be the starting left tackle.

depthchart3.jpg

Camp Notes | Prove Us Right
– Alex Briseno

If you ask any player in the Longhorn locker room what their motto is, they will all give you the same answer: “Prove us right.”

***Breckyn Hager described what the phrase means to him.

“It means we know how good we are,” Hager said. “We know who we have on our depth chart. Prove us right is just okay now we just have to go out and perform the way we know we can perform. We watch film on each other since spring football. We know what a good team looks like, we know what a great team looks like and we know what a bad team looks like. I believe we’re great.”

***Sam Ehlinger said Cade Brewer, Andrew Beck and himself all watched film from Texas’ 51-41 loss to Maryland in last year’s season opener.

“It was pretty eye-opening to see how far behind we were offensively in the understanding of what we were doing,” Ehlinger said. “There were some very obvious things that we would pick up now that we’ve been doing since the spring. It’s kind of knee-jerking but we know how far we’ve come since then.”

***Several players said they aren’t even thinking about last year’s stunning loss. Kris Boyd was hesitant to use the word “revenge” when asked about it.

“We’re not just focused on getting payback,” Boyd said. “We’re just ready to get out there and spread some culture.”

***Hager didn’t want to entertain past thoughts from last year’s game, but he did tell us what he saw when he watched the film of the loss.

“I saw us beat ourselves,” Hager said. “I saw a different team. I don’t even recognize the team out there. I know it’s frustrating for all of us just to watch that film for personnel sake to see the returning guys. When you watch them score in DKR it hurts but the great thing about it is we have this week for more preparation before Saturday and we are all excited about that.”

***As for Sam, he has had the opportunity to prepare for this season opener as the starting quarterback for nearly two weeks. According to several players, Sam has seen major developments from his freshman year to his sophomore year.

“I see him throw the ball and not run the ball which is a huge sign that he’s developed as a quarterback,” Hager said. “He’s doing all of his check downs. He’s not learning the offense, he knows the offense and now he’s executing it at a high level. Even though we can’t hit the quarterback, I would get so mad at him when I would chase him on third downs because he would just scramble. I would tell him, “Dude, throw the ball.” Now he’s not scrambling, he’s just throwing the ball and beating us with his arm, not his legs.”

***It’s no secret, Sam suffered from a severe deprivation of experience last season. He even acknowledges it, but that’s why nearly beating USC in his first start and almost leading Texas to a comeback victory in his first Red River Shootout is even more impressive.

“With the lack of experience and the lack of understanding of what I was truly doing it brings an extra level of confidence to know that even without the knowledge and the experience I could still pull some stuff out that I never thought I could,” Ehlinger said. “Now with the experience and knowledge I’m really excited to see what is to come.”

 

Edited by Machinator
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Just now, South Austin said:

Sorry if this has been reported before, but since Gary Johnson has been tabbed as a starter, is he at or near 100% since his fall camp injury?

I think so. He got a stinger about two weeks ago, and he didn't miss a full practice even immediately after that, so I will take it on faith that he's good to go now.

Edited by Machinator
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Scipio Tex: Maryland Terrapins Football Preview

The Longhorns want revenge against a team that manhandled them in Austin last year, 51-41, and Tom Herman needs some credibility for his Year 2 rebuild. Last year in Austin, the Terps led 30-14 at halftime, rushed for 263 yards, held Texas under 100 yards rushing, and QB Tyrell "Piggy" Pigrome efficiently lit up the Texas secondary on 9 of 12 passing for 175 yards. After Piggy blew out his knee late in the 3rd quarter, freshman QB Kasim Hill took over and coolly steered the Terps to a double digit win on the road, despite Maryland entering as a 15 point underdog. 

After a tumultuous offseason resulting from the likely preventable death of a Maryland player by heat stroke, head coach DJ Durkin was suspended on August 11th and 1st year Maryland offensive coordinator Matt Canada finds himself holding the big whistle on a staff that also features a new OL coach and two new defensive assistants. 

So is Maryland in total disarray? Or will they rally around their new leadership? 

Texas finds itself as a double digit favorite in a de facto road game. We're a few days from finding out if that's justified. 

MARYLAND DEFENSE

Just call Maryland Transfer U. They'll start three defenders who transferred from other programs in former FSU CB Marcus Lewis, former Auburn 5 star recruit DE Byron Cowart (most services considered him the top recruit in the nation) and a two year starter and former team captain at Illinois in LB Tre Watson. These players will be vital in reinvigorating a Terrapin defense with several new faces and a desire to improve upon last year's unit that surrendered 37 points per game. 

Exactly one Maryland defender - safety Darnell Savage - has more than eleven career starts at Maryland. 

DL 

The Terps struggled all year to get a pass rush after their best pass rusher Jessie Aniebonam (30 pressures in 2016) went down against the Longhorns in Austin. The rest of the Maryland defensive line graduated, but that's good news for Maryland. They weren't any good. Aniebonam (6-4, 260) returns at their Buck End spot (he'll line up everywhere on 3rd and long) and he's joined by pedigree DE Byron Cowart (6-4, 295) and squat interior run stoppers Adam McLean and Mbi Tanyi. The Terps don't lack for size on the defensive line. The question is whether they can improve against the run and on last year's awful team total of 16 sacks. Aniebonam and Cowart provide potential, but there's not yet any proof. 

LB

Transfer Tre Watson, the Will LB, will be crucial in heading Maryland's defensive turnaround. A low end NFL prospect, he was a team captain at Illinois and finished his junior year in Champaign 8th in the Big 10 in tackles. Mike LB Isaiah Davis is big (6-1, 245), physical and considered a raw talent. 

DB

Antoine Brooks is their big nickel (5-11, 210) and he's a physical player who excels against the run. I don't think he can handle LJH inside in coverage, so you may see the Terps swing their CB co-starter Ravon Davis inside and deploy Brooks more as a ball-hawking Rover. Brooks is too much of a playmaker to come off of the field. Outside, Maryland is counting on returning cornerback starter Tino Lewis and FSU transfer Marcus Lewis to lock it down and you can bet they'll try to bully Colin Johnson early to see how he responds. They're both big long corners, but I question their ability to match up without help over the top. That's where returning safety starters Darnell Savage and Antwaine Richardson come in. Savage was an Honorable Mention All Big 10 player last year and he has good range. This unit has upside, but cohesion is a question mark. 

Keys for Texas offense

We simply don't know what this defense is yet. Maryland DC Andy Buh will play multiple fronts and he'll try to stop the Texas running game with a big front six and run blitzing while playing basic coverages behind. That puts a premium on Sam Ehlinger's legs to help open up the running game and the execution from the Longhorn passing game to take advantage of any Maryland's "uh-oh, I thought you had 'em" coverage moments. Texas can't let Maryland gain confidence early. Maryland's defensive talent has improved. The question is how well they can play together. 

MARYLAND OFFENSE 

Offensive coordinator Matt Canada is now the interim head coach and the peripatetic play caller (Maryland is his 7th job in eight years after being forced out at LSU by Ed Orgeron) will have some interesting choices to make given the destruction last year's Maryland spread option offense wreaked on Todd Orlando's defense. Longhorn safeties and nickels froze and took horrendous angles, Kris Boyd lost his mind (again) and the Texas linebackers played like they were mired in mud. One can blame it on opening game jitters, but Kansas State presented similar challenges a few games later. 

Canada is a former Broyles Award winner (Pittsburgh) who is best defined as a coordinator who...escapes easy definition. He morphs to his talent, but there are some distinctive Canadian attributes (beyond drinking Moosehead and wearing jean jackets, eh): he loves pre-snap motion, RPOs, crazy personnel groupings, jet sweeps, smashmouth spread, pro concepts matched to college spread formations, misdirection, winning by alignment and constant tests of the defense's assignment soundness. But his modus operandi has always adapted to his personnel. There are some Bryan Harsin parallels. Canada even revived the old Redskin counter gap play at Pitt.

Texas will have to prepare for Maryland by watching Canada's previous stints while still understanding that Canada will adapt to Maryland's personnel. With the additional wrinkle of preparing for two different QBs. The risk is overloading the defense and creating paralysis by analysis. 

The Gordian knot solution may just be to play fast and knock them on their asses. 

QB

Sophomore Kasim Hill and senior Piggy Pigrome were named co-starters. That's part subterfuge, part respect for both player's abilities. Hill is the better thrower and Pigrome is the better runner, but each is just fine at the other's primary attribute. Hill is a big QB (6-2, 235) with a strong arm and adequate running ability. Pigrome has excellent quickness and surprising strength in his 5-11 frame. To add further intrigue, both QBs are recovering from ACL injuries, so how complete is each of their recoveries? I expect Hill to get the start, but Pigrome certainly adds a dynamic element to the offense. 

RB

Speedy co-starters Ty Johnson and Lorenzo Harrison return. Johnson popped Texas for 132 yards on only 11 carries last year and the two productive backs have combined for 3134 yards in the last two seasons. Both are fast and elusive, but not necessarily physical chain movers. They're looking to pop a crease or get outside and get their shoulders squared and Canada will employ them accordingly.

WR/TE 

The weakest unit on the Terp offense. The Terrapins miss now Carolina Panther DJ Moore (Kris Boyd does not miss him) and though they return three experienced receivers in Taivon Jacobs, DJ Turner and Jahrvis Davenport, they're not great talents and no Maryland starter is taller than 6 feet. The splintery Jacobs - who will be their #1 guy - scored in Austin last year on an easy Pigrome bomb which demonstrated that it doesn't take great talent to win one-on-one coverage when the defensive back is lost. Incredibly, Maryland didn't have a TE catch a single pass last year. Texas is TE U by comparison.

OL

Five returning starters (though one was unseated by spring competition) and 104 combined career starts headline this unit. 6-5, 330 pound OT Derwin Gray is a legitimate NFL prospect and his OT companion Damian Prince has started 30 games. The interior of the Maryland offense isn't as talented as their tackles and that's where Texas needs to make it hay, with Chris Nelson getting push inside and Roach, Johnson and Hager exploiting their quickness and athleticism advantages. 

Keys for Texas Defense

1. Assignment soundness.
2. Containment in the pocket.
3. Setting the edge in the running game.
4. Physicality. 

Canada thrives on misdirection and making defenses overthink formations that show complexity but mask simplicity. Longhorn defenders have to do their jobs and communicate. Pocket containment is vital. I question Maryland's ability to consistently move the ball throwing from a constricting pocket whether it's Hill or Pigrome behind center. Maryland's big play ability running the ball will be predicated on winning the edge - whether option, outside zone or on a bounce. The outside edge defender has to bring his A game and the outside run forces have to clean up. Finally, Maryland lacks size at wide receiver. The Longhorn defensive backs need to make them feel it.

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"Canada thrives on misdirection and making defenses overthink formations that show complexity but mask simplicity. Longhorn defenders have to do their jobs and communicate. Pocket containment is vital. I question Maryland's ability to consistently move the ball throwing from a constricting pocket whether it's Hill or Pigrome behind center. Maryland's big play ability running the ball will be predicated on winning the edge - whether option, outside zone or on a bounce. The outside edge defender has to bring his A game and the outside run forces have to clean up. Finally, Maryland lacks size at wide receiver. The Longhorn defensive backs need to make them feel it."

 

BIG KEY on D...  Hager has to be disciplined and set the edge first...... Stop Maryland from getting outside running the Ball and TEXAS Wins by 2+TDs

Edited by LTtxfan
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27 minutes ago, Machinator said:

One can blame it on opening game jitters, but Kansas State presented similar challenges a few games later. 

1.) We had totally shut down KSU's running game with Ertz before he went out in the 3rd quarter (and never played again).  Tough to fault us for struggling with keys against the Alex Delton wildcat offense, when it was vastly different than the kind of QB leads that we prepped for to be run by Ertz.  Plus, the real issue against KSU was giving up huge bombs to walk-on WRs.  Not Delton's legs.

2.) Canada's offense is nothing like K-State's single wing attack.  Frankly, if anyone's offense is similar to KSU's, its our own.  Canada's is much more similar to what Harsin used to run here, although Canada rarely uses a TE and FB on the same play, and Harsin loved that shit.

3.) I do agree with the concept that we need to ensure we're setting the edge and preventing Canada's jet sweep calls from getting vertical.  If we can stretch those runs all the way to the sidelines, they will do minimal damage.  Also gotta hope that our backside LBs and DL are staying in their gaps to account for inside zone off of the fly sweep action.  If we can successfully stop the run early in the game and force Maryland into predictability, this one will be over fast.

4.) Canada's offense is complex and requires lots of coordination in pre-snap movement.  I'm not sure if any of you remember Harsin's first few games as OC here (Rice and BYU), but our offense was putrid early that year.  We had to rely on WR passes from Jaxon Shipley to beat Rice and then basically just inside zone with Fozzy in the wildcat to beat a crummy BYU team 14-13.  I don't think we should expect MD to be firing on all cylinders in Canada's coordination of MD's offense, from the sideline, in his first action as a HC.

Canada looked like a deer in the headlights at his presser yesterday, and I expect he'll be that and more on Saturday.

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Canada is definitely overwhelmed right now and it won't get better on Saturday when he's wearing two hats.

Having said that, classic Admiral Ackbar "it's a tarp!" game for us, turtles have little or no pressure and plenty of self evident excuses on tap.

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18 hours ago, Mileslong said:

they just wanted a little respect...

do i have to keep quoting lyrics or will someone hurry up and acknowledge my genius?  this wouldn't have happened on Shaggy...

Man, fine. I love to hate you. I love to hate you. I love to hate yoooooooooou!

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9 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

It's 4:20 a.m. and I am drinking alone in the Green lot A4 parking lot outside Fedex field in Landover, MD. Got my tailgate situation set up.  I have two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that I need all this for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worries me is the ether. 

Where are you fuckers?

1

I think you just sent up the Danger Snax bat signal.

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9 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

It's 4:20 a.m. and I am drinking alone in the Green lot A4 parking lot outside Fedex field in Landover, MD. Got my tailgate situation set up.  I have two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that I need all this for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worries me is the ether. 

Where are you fuckers?

Given your inventory, at the very least you should have attracted several ho's and congressmen by now. (Sorry for the redundancy.)

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13 hours ago, texifornia said:

Alright, it's a 9am game time on the West Coast... what does Surly recommend for a get-up-and-go kind of morning?

Was thinking Irish coffee/mimosas and a nice brunch spread but I know there'll be better ideas.

1

Bloody Marias... chicken & waffles... jalapeno poppers. Irish Car Bombs at the start of the 2nd half.

Edited by cafe society
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30 minutes ago, jdhorn92 said:

Is Sam really 6'3" as per depth chart?  All others look about what I expected, but Sam at 6'3" looks a little...suspect shall I say.  I guess it doesn't matter, just didn't think he was all that tall.

I cant' say for sure but I could see Sam having grown 2 inches since 2015. Favre was 6'2" at the combine. 

 

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2 hours ago, Dr Fear said:

Not a football school and FedEx Field is a super shitty gameday experience. This should have been in College Park, at least the students like to drink hard and get loud.

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