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Texas vs USC Game Thread


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29 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Uh, Ehlinger still made a bunch of dumb plays.

I've ragged on him, and could be completely off, but the second half was the first time I saw him not taking that extra half second to think about what he was doing. Again, possibly wishful, but maybe a flip of the switch.

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3 minutes ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

I've ragged on him, and could be completely off, but the second half was the first time I saw him not taking that extra half second to think about what he was doing. Again, possibly wishful, but maybe a flip of the switch.

Let's hope it was a flick of the switch

 

 

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SC is actually a pretty decent team. They have some stand out players, a few that will play on Sunday. But, Helton is not a good football coach. He made some really bad calls that made me shake my head.

One of the more egregious was going for the touchdown on 4th and goal in the 2nd quarter. Had he simply kicked the field goal he would have answered the Texas score in less then two minutes later. That was a crucial error, and would have been huge for them going forward had they simply kicked the field goal. 

At that point a 4 point lead, along with a good drive for his young QB to hang his hat on that would have paid dividends later in the quarter. And more importantly would not have allowed Texas to double down on the huge emotional edge of stopping your team at the goal line right after scoring their own TD. At that point if the game it wasn’t necessary to sell out. Basic football with a fucking freshman QB on the road tells you to take the points, settle your team down and shift momentum.

SC doesn’t have a strong enough team that can afford to waste a scoring opportunity. As they were neither the more talented or physical team on the field. As not only did they fail to score, they gave Texas a huge shot of momentum. Helton showed his impatience on that play call. And that he is coaching scared. As far as I’m concerned Texas won the game at that exact moment.

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My hot take, Sam and the offense are improving. They are far from a powerhouse, but it's improving and so has the play calling. Tempo is good. More tempo. The Defense hasn't shown a pass rush all season until the 3rd Q tonight. It looked good, but will it hold up? TCU will mudhole us, but I think we get revenge on The Purple Wizard then fuck up Oklahoma's plans. I can live with 2 outa 3 in that group. See you at Lee Harvey's.

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18 minutes ago, po elvis said:

No wide receiver screens tonite. No cute reverses. Actually a few slant passes in the middle. The throwback to Sam on 2nd and 1 was a horrifically bad play call that Sam turned a 10 yard loss into something, but we seemed to cut down on those type play calls this game.

You don’t need those plays when your offensive line is creating holes for the running game and time for the QB. Hopefully we have found something that works up front. 

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I'm happy that we're keeping the ball in the hands of our best players.  Last night, only Watson, Young, and Ehlinger carried the ball.  Lil'Jordan and Collin Johnson combined for 10 catches and 163 yards with a td.  Kyle Porter didn't see the field except to block in the 2 minute drill at end of first half.

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7 hours ago, Bevo14 said:

The offensive line is definitely better. A lot of these runs that would've gone for no gain or losses in the past are getting 3+ yards now a pop. The new backs are also good to very good. We still have to deal with some wtf shit from Beck and co. and they're not going to light up the scoreboard, but the offense definitely better.

 

Anyway, I've learned to enjoy just about any P5 win regardless of the future.

Word.

Every win matters.

Yes USC is not USC of yore but who cares as we are not Horns of yore.

Also I guess we will see how many pass plays we give up to legit QBs who are not freshmen with fuzzpornstaches,

but wtf WE WON.

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SIAP but imo Josh Moore 's fantastic touchdown catch seems to be overlooked as one the biggest momentum changers to secure the Win.  Also Dicker provided a huge lift in first half.

Was nice to get some catches from Collin Johnson and Andrew Beck.  Still wonder why not more passes to RBs in USC game??

Hope Sam can start hitting Duvernay and other WRs on deep throws against TCU..... gonna need more explosive plays vs horny toads.

HOOK'EM

Edited by LTtxfan
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1) imma enjoy the shit outta this win
 
2) that usc team is trash and like others have said, wont make a bowl. Helton may get fired in december. Some of the worst pussy coaching ive ever seen
 
3) team played well in 2nd half. However;
- our punt block is soooo shitty. Tcu gonna block a fuck ton of punts
- why the fuck were we throwing the ball in the 4th quarter. Play calling was still pretty shitty
- USC could have tried to make it more of a game, but its crystal clear they gave up after the blocked FG kick

Dude are you ever fucking happy? Just be happy for one game. This team isn’t going to win anything significant this year but try and enjoy the bright spots along the way.
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7 hours ago, HornPhD said:

Especially in the age of video replay. There was a reason why the call was not overturned. And I don't care what it was.

B12 officiating crew and replay crew. It was some KState level home cooking and bullshit, but I am glad to have one of those go our way for once. The targeting was legit, as was Foster’s. It is just the world we live in now.

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Some paywalled articles below:

From Max Olson:

Spoiler

Texas is … better

Look, USC is not great. It’s a work-in-progress team with a true freshman QB. A team that made a ton of mistakes Saturday, particularly on special teams. This needs to be said. Reason needs to prevail here. Because as recent history has repeatedly reminded us, no one win is going to turn around Texas football.

And saying this is not a knock on the Longhorns, who ran away with a 37-14 win against No. 22 USC in a game they really needed to win. This is progress. It’s a start. And the way they won is important. Because for once, they did not take a game deep into the fourth quarter. They did not let it be decided by one momentous play late. They lost four games in that fashion in Tom Herman’s first season and did it again against Maryland to open the season. This time was different.

Texas pulled off a 34-0 run to finish the night, a run that did not depend on any one play. The Longhorns instead swung this in rapid fashion in the second quarter with a Lil’Jordan Humphrey 47-yard touchdown catch followed by a Kris Boyd interception, a Cameron Dicker field goal, a fierce fourth-and-goal stop, a very fortunate call for Sam Ehlinger on a non-safety and another Dicker kick to steal a halftime lead.

And they dominated the third quarter. Ehlinger led a sharp 74-yard drive to make it 23-14. Then a three-and-out. Then the Longhorns made up for a Daniel Young fumble in the red zone by getting a blocked field goal from Caden Sterns that Anthony Wheeler scooped up and scored on to make it 30-14. Then another three-and-out. Then another efficient touchdown drive from Ehlinger. And that’s all Texas needed. This one was over before the fourth quarter began.

“We hadn’t been able to do that as long as we’ve been here, to that level,” Herman said of rallying from a 14-3 deficit. “That was really good to see our guys respond.”

Herman said this was probably a big step forward for his squad from a psychological standpoint. Players said pulling away like they did and not having to nervously attempt to scrap out a win in the fourth quarter was downright refreshing.

When asked if Texas proved anything Saturday night, Boyd hesitated but could not resist.

“I ain’t gonna lie, I feel like we kinda proved that we back,” Boyd said. “But this is just the beginning. We’ve got a lot of season left.”

And the next three weeks are incredibly challenging: home vs. TCU, a road trip to Kansas State and then rival Oklahoma in Dallas. The ’Horns are definitely not flirting with being “back” yet, not with that road ahead. But for one night, they did so many things right that they had messed up before. They capitalized on their chances and beat up on a good team. And they didn’t wait until the final minutes to do so.

“We’ll look back on this one and hopefully, if we build upon it the way that I think we will and respond to it the way that I think we will, it will be a really good one when we look back upon it,” Herman said.

From Antonio Morales (USC reporter):

Spoiler

There’s no question Saturday’s 37-14 road loss to Texas represented a complete, thorough, all-around failure for the 22nd-ranked Trojans football program.

USC’s offense was held without a point over the game’s final 45 minutes and finished with minus-5 rushing yards. The defense allowed the Longhorns (2-1), who had converted eight of their 27 third-down attempts entering the game, to convert 10 of 19 third downs. The Trojans invest a significant amount of time each practice to special teams, and Saturday’s effort consisted of punts for 13, 22 and 29 yards, a blocked field goal attempt that was returned for a touchdown, and a roughing-the-punter penalty that kept another drive alive.

It was the kind of performance that will give only more ammunition to those who continually question Clay Helton and his coaching staff.

“There’s a lot of guys playing a lot of good ball out there. We’re just not doing it all together right now, and that’s my job,” Helton said. “Nobody else’s. It’s mine and my responsibility, so put it on me.”

The losses under Helton that have raised the ire of a segment of the fan base have come against some of nation’s elite programs. This one came against a rather unimpressive Texas team. The last time USC suffered consecutive double-digit losses was in 2000, when it finished last in the Pac-10.

 

The connection between JT Daniels and Amon-Ra St. Brown is obvious. Daniels found St. Brown nine times for 167 yards Saturday.

They were a big reason why USC led 14-3 after the first quarter. But then everything fell apart. Stephen Carr was stuffed on a toss play on a fourth-and-goal from the Texas 1. That was the perfect representation for the running game’s night. 

USC’s running backs, Carr, Aca’Cedric Ware and Vavae Malepeai, rushed 12 times for 24 yards. One of those runs was a 23-yard touchdown by Carr. Daniels, who completed 30 of 48 passes for 322 yards, was sacked three times as well.

The Trojans have scored 17 points in the past two weeks.

As far as the defense goes, Texas found rhythm in the second quarter and kept rolling. Sam Ehlinger found receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey for some big plays, including a 47-yard touchdown, and Collin Johnson, who had six receptions for 79 yards, had another solid night against USC.

Linebacker Porter Gustin collected two sacks but was ejected from the game in the third quarter after a targeting call. So he’ll have to miss the first half of the Trojans’ game against Washington State on Friday.

 

 

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