OTF Premium Texas is a Starving Dog, But Will They Find Their Own Food? | Wednesday 11:30 a.m.

[CJ Vogel]

Texas fans know, this game is won on momentum, emotion and who wants it more.

I typically hate the "Team X lost because Team Y wanted it more" nonsense that you hear on broadcasts and recaps. You are telling me one team just didn't care to try and win a football game? But in the case of these Red River Shootouts, this is largely the case.

You see coaches on either side of the river call trick plays and become the most aggressive version of themselves in this football game because they know they must do anything and everything to win this football game. It means that much to both football teams in a given year. 

In regards to Texas, playing in the 2025 Red River Shootout means playing for your season.

A third loss in six games slams the door shut on every goal you hoped to achieve as the preseason No. 1 team with the Heisman favorite leading your huddles. Poof. Gone, after six weeks.

It was shocking to see the Longhorns get bodied in the trenches on both sides of the ball in Gainesville. Yet, I can't help but think that performance may be copy-pasted to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Saturday given the body of work we have seen on the offensive line this season.

However, the old adage goes A Hungry Dog Runs Faster.

We will see just how hungry Texas is on Saturday. Does this team have what it takes to right the ship? To turn around what has not been a sufficient start to the season and defeat its biggest rival on a stage where things are trending in opposite directions for each team?

Even bigger than that – does Texas possess the necessary leadership on its football team right now to stay the course if things start slow?

Again, my answer to that remains an unknown. However, I lean towards no.

For all of the talk about culture in the Texas program, this is the definition of a culture game. Rebounding from an embarrassment on national television to a team that was very much looking for a reason to punch it in and a fan base ready to fire up FlightAware is step No. 1 to getting the season back on track. 

Someone outside of the typical Michael Taaffes and Anthony Hills and occasional Colin Simmons has to take the reigns as a leader and ultimately will their team to a victory.

This weekend will be a big test for those guys as well. You just had your food taken and eaten right in front of you in Gainesville last Saturday and only after the grave was dug did you see some fight to survive. 

Offensively, I don't think you have a leader. Closest thing you have right now is DeAndre Moore.

I won't ever question how much he cares about winning football games. That was a guy who was so frustrated after the UTEP game, it looked like he was close to tears – and he could not even play due to injury. He cares. Texas needs more guys like that. To show that they care.

Additionally, the Texas sidelines are noticeably quieter in 2025 than they were in 2024. There is no rah-rah guy. It appears to me that there are ten guys who look in a huddle on a given snap and think "We have Arch, it will be alright."

Maybe that eventually becomes the case with Arch. Where the SuperMan cape is sewn into his jersey and he can't help but be the reason why the offense goes. But that clearly is not the case right now.

And perhaps all of this becomes moot by the 2nd quarter of this game on Saturday. But right now, I have not seen enough to give the Texas offense any benefit of the doubt when it comes to heart and passion.

This game on Saturday is great. It squeezes every ounce of passion out of teams, especially when backs are against the wall much like they are for Texas entering the weekend.

But Texas must fend for itself. Until I see that hungry dog start hunting for its own food rather than waiting for the dinner bowl to be served, I fear this weekend, and subsequently the remainder of the season, could be one that turns Saturdays into a day of dread rather than excitement and anticipation.

 

[JMarquette]

I think this season emphasized the fact that you need leaders on the Line of Scrimmage, they set the tone. 

[Texas fan in Georgia]

There’s nobody on the o line I’d be scared to run into in a dark alley. They all just seem too nice and mellow. There’s no Kelvin banks in there giving Bijan Robinson a blank stare after an attempt at cracking a joke.  

[Connor Vaughn]

Pretty sad that we have to have a conversation about “bringing physicality,” in year 5 of Sark. 

[CJ Vogel]

11 minutes ago, Connor Vaughn said:

Pretty sad that we have to have a conversation about “bringing physicality,” in year 5 of Sark. 

It certainly isn't encouraging.

[Here for the Wins]

@CJ Vogel

Two Qb philosophical questions.

Should a QB look deep to sort or short to deep?  And why?

If you have a WR singled up, is it ever a bad choice to make that throw?  I’m not asking if it’s the best choice.

[alrightalrightalright]

We need the Hills brothers to talk to these guys in the locker room on Saturday.

[Hashtag]

1 hour ago, CJ Vogel said:

Additionally, the Texas sidelines are noticeably quieter in 2025 than they were in 2024. There is no rah-rah guy. It appears to me that there are ten guys who look in a huddle on a given snap and think "We have Arch, it will be alright."

This was noticeable after the Taffee interception when they all ran to the sidelines and everyone from offense seemed disinterested in celebrating. 

[John F.]

Interesting not about the sideline. Haven’t been to a game yet and I hadn’t noticed that on the broadcasts. I remember seeing Cole Brevard on the sidelines for a playoff game or two last season and he was hyped up, which I loved because he wasn’t really even part of the team yet. Hopefully some guys like that can start being more vocal. 

[Alex Butler]

Do we think Mateer is betting on the over thinking he’s going to dominate Texas? Maybe he’ll Venmo it. I’m actually not worried about this team turning things up now that they’ve been knocked down. Get your ass back up Shane it off and start punching. We have to be the aggressor. Hell if we’re getting this many penalties let’s get some for being too physical DJ Campbell and Trevor Goosby I’m looking at yall. 

[JMarquette]

2 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

This was noticeable after the Taffee interception when they all ran to the sidelines and everyone from offense seemed disinterested in celebrating. 

To be fair, I don’t think anyone on offense knew we were playing a football game

[CJ Vogel]

8 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

This was noticeable after the Taffee interception when they all ran to the sidelines and everyone from offense seemed disinterested in celebrating. 

That play specifically and moment is actually what helped inspire this article. 

[Inspired73]

CJ, I gotta say that I like your writing style. It is fun and I always read.

However (you knew it was coming), I do not agree that our issue is desire or even toughness.  Florida kicked us in the groin more than once.  Yet, we righted the ship as the game progressed.  I, for one, thought we were going to win. In my humble opinion, our main issue is execution.  More specifically, the offense line is terrible (or is it as bad as it seems?)

The o-line can make your backs and wide receivers look like All-Americans when they block (and block the correct guy).  What we are seeing is the non-blocking approach.  In my day, we called these lineman "lookout linemen".   As in "look out Arch, I missed him again", or "look out Tre, I don't block twists."   

Offense is about rhythm.  It's pretty hard to have rhythm when your right guard [and most senior player] can't block a defensive tackle [normally the defense's best lineman], can't pickup a twist or slant, can't get the correct protection call to his very young right tackle, etc..   A trend is developing.

Our issue is a personnel issue.  We need our senior right guard to fire off the ball and kick some ass.......every frickin play.  He needs to set the tone.  He needs to establish the standard.   This big panzie needs to open up a can of Whup A** and set the standard.

 

 

[Hashtag]

1 minute ago, CJ Vogel said:

That play specifically and moment is actually what helped inspire this article. 

It was so awkward. How as a team can you not be hyped to get the turnover and get back out there. 

[CJ Vogel]

28 minutes ago, Here for the Wins said:

@CJ Vogel

Two Qb philosophical questions.

Should a QB look deep to sort or short to deep?  And why?

If you have a WR singled up, is it ever a bad choice to make that throw?  I’m not asking if it’s the best choice.

It’s all dependent upon the play that’s called and what is being asked of him. Plus situation. 

If you go to low to high or high to low on every single snap, you’re doing yourself a disservice. 

[Hashtag]

3 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

It’s all dependent upon the play that’s called and what is being asked of him. Plus situation. 

If you go to low to high or high to low on every single snap, you’re doing yourself a disservice. 

It’s largely dependent on knowing coverage reads pre snap and seeing the matchups 4 to cover 3 or 2 to cover 2 and knowing the likelihood of the mismatch being either to field or boundary 

[DanielOnorato]

9 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

It’s all dependent upon the play that’s called and what is being asked of him. Plus situation. 

If you go to low to high or high to low on every single snap, you’re doing yourself a disservice. 

Correct. If the defense is running a zero blitz probably shouldn't wait on a long concept to develop etc. Get the ball out quickly even if it is a go route one on one for a playmaker with no safety help. 

The quarterback has to survey and constantly evaluate what the defense is giving him and adjust accordingly based on pressure and coverage. Generally pass play concepts have a designed first read and progressions are established but obviously must be adjusted to on the fly based on disguise and defensive scheme. Processing speed is the most underrated attribute of a QB.

Ray Lewis once said the most impressive thing by Tom Brady on a 3rd and 8 was looking off the deep routes and dumping it to Kevin Faulk underneath who made a man miss and got 9 to ice a game. 

Take what's there, sometimes keeping it simple is best. 

[Tim Longoria]

29 minutes ago, Inspired73 said:

CJ, I gotta say that I like your writing style. It is fun and I always read.

However (you knew it was coming), I do not agree that our issue is desire or even toughness.  Florida kicked us in the groin more than once.  Yet, we righted the ship as the game progressed.  I, for one, thought we were going to win. In my humble opinion, our main issue is execution.  More specifically, the offense line is terrible (or is it as bad as it seems?)

The o-line can make your backs and wide receivers look like All-Americans when they block (and block the correct guy).  What we are seeing is the non-blocking approach.  In my day, we called these lineman "lookout linemen".   As in "look out Arch, I missed him again", or "look out Tre, I don't block twists."   

Offense is about rhythm.  It's pretty hard to have rhythm when your right guard [and most senior player] can't block a defensive tackle [normally the defense's best lineman], can't pickup a twist or slant, can't get the correct protection call to his very young right tackle, etc..   A trend is developing.

Our issue is a personnel issue.  We need our senior right guard to fire off the ball and kick some ass.......every frickin play.  He needs to set the tone.  He needs to establish the standard.   This big panzie needs to open up a can of Whup A** and set the standard.

 

 

You said our problem isn't passion or toughness, then called out DJ Campbell. I would venture that having passion and toughness would remedy what you talked about. If you're passionate about your play, like Tony talked about, you'd be doing the little things throughout the week to ensure you play at an optimal level on Saturday. If you're passionate on Saturdays, that becomes infectious and should cause your teammates to look within and ask if they want to match your passion, or get out of the way. And toughness? You either got it or you don't. Coach Ship brings up Kasey Studdard all the time as an example of toughness. I don't mean this in a condescending way, but if you've never played in the trenches before, it really is a fight every play, and you better have the will to bring it, or get out of the way.

[Inspired73]

22 hours ago, Tim Longoria said:

You said our problem isn't passion or toughness, then called out DJ Campbell. I would venture that having passion and toughness would remedy what you talked about. If you're passionate about your play, like Tony talked about, you'd be doing the little things throughout the week to ensure you play at an optimal level on Saturday. If you're passionate on Saturdays, that becomes infectious and should cause your teammates to look within and ask if they want to match your passion, or get out of the way. And toughness? You either got it or you don't. Coach Ship brings up Kasey Studdard all the time as an example of toughness. I don't mean this in a condescending way, but if you've never played in the trenches before, it really is a fight every play, and you better have the will to bring it, or get out of the way.

Perhaps my writing wasn't as clear as I would have liked.  My comments were directly related to technique and assignment sharpness.  None of which has anything to do with passion or toughness.   In my opinion both our offensive and defensive are not using good technique.  They know how to play, put are thinking too much. which slows down reaction time.  

As for the right guard, he doesn't come off of the line at the correct pad level or quickly enough.  The defensive guy is delivering the first blow....ie poor technique.  The twist (line stunt) or the loop from the d-tackle is handled via commuication....another poor technique.  Neither of which has anything to with passion.

Finally, your attempt to impugn my integrity is misplaced and unappreciated.  Coming from a family with 3 generations of high school and college football  coaches, I do know a few things.

Tell Eva hello

 

[Here for the Wins]

@Inspired73  if I am following your lead correctly, confusion and waning confidence, brought on by poor technique and assignment sharpness, can overtake passion and toughness rather quickly.

[Tim Longoria]

8 minutes ago, Inspired73 said:

Perhaps my writing wasn't as clear as I would have liked.  My comments were directly related to technique and assignment sharpness.  None of which has anything to do with passion or toughness.   In my opinion both our offensive and defensive are not using good technique.  They know how to play, put are thinking too much. which slows down reaction time.  

As for the right guard, he doesn't come off of the line at the correct pad level or quickly enough.  The defensive guy is delivering the first blow....ie poor technique.  The twist (line stunt) or the loop from the d-tackle is handled via commuication....another poor technique.  Neither of which has anything to with passion.

Finally, your attempt to impugn my integrity is misplaced and unappreciated.  Coming from a family with 3 generations of high school and college football  coaches, I do know a few things.

Tell Eva hello

 

I understand where you're coming from. I meant that passion isn't just being fiery on Saturdays. Passion is also honing technique like you talked about. Passion is also working at deficiencies in your game, like Tony referenced another time. 

 

As for "impugning your integrity", I said that I didn't mean to sound condescending, but do understand how what I said came across. I think most of us come from some sort of background in football, whether playing or coaching, so we all have our different experiences to rely upon, and can continue to learn from each other. I meant no disrespect.

[PaulieD]

On 10/8/2025 at 11:56 AM, Texas fan in Georgia said:

There’s nobody on the o line I’d be scared to run into in a dark alley. They all just seem too nice and mellow. There’s no Kelvin banks in there giving Bijan Robinson a blank stare after an attempt at cracking a joke.  

Maybe before Florida.  Now I think they are salty.

[PaulieD]

On 10/8/2025 at 12:49 PM, Inspired73 said:

CJ, I gotta say that I like your writing style. It is fun and I always read.

However (you knew it was coming), I do not agree that our issue is desire or even toughness.  Florida kicked us in the groin more than once.  Yet, we righted the ship as the game progressed.  I, for one, thought we were going to win. In my humble opinion, our main issue is execution.  More specifically, the offense line is terrible (or is it as bad as it seems?)

The o-line can make your backs and wide receivers look like All-Americans when they block (and block the correct guy).  What we are seeing is the non-blocking approach.  In my day, we called these lineman "lookout linemen".   As in "look out Arch, I missed him again", or "look out Tre, I don't block twists."   

Offense is about rhythm.  It's pretty hard to have rhythm when your right guard [and most senior player] can't block a defensive tackle [normally the defense's best lineman], can't pickup a twist or slant, can't get the correct protection call to his very young right tackle, etc..   A trend is developing.

Our issue is a personnel issue.  We need our senior right guard to fire off the ball and kick some ass.......every frickin play.  He needs to set the tone.  He needs to establish the standard.   This big panzie needs to open up a can of Whup A** and set the standard.

 

 

I am speaking out of ignorance, but is it possible that the RG is in the wrong position at RG?  

Thanks in advance for schooling me on OL. Paul