There’s a lot of comments. And I haven’t read any of them. Just here to share a few of my thoughts to vent to my OTF family after a tough day of digesting. Sorry in advance for the long post.
This does not feel like the end of the world by no measure. If you look at the stat line, penalties might have been the deciding factor, despite how terrible some of Arch’s throws were.
On that note, when have we seen an inaccurate ball from Arch prior to this game? As cool as he is, I think he felt the true pressure of being a starting QB in a competitive college setting. He will settle down and start delivering balls on time/schedule like we’re used to seeing. We cannot rely on his wheels to win games.
CJ Baxter’s return was a breath of fresh air. That dude is a stud. But Tre lead the stat line. He was elusive and just doesn’t quit on his runs. We have a true tandem set this year of quality backs.
Oline looks good. This was a good pash rush defense. Arch did avoid some pockets that collapsed - last year we might have seen a few more QE sacks or balls thrown out of bounds just because of Arch’s athleticism.
We miss the soft touch of QE. Arch needs to back off on the heat for his intermediate throws. Honestly, Quinn wins this game easily for Texas. That’s a hard pill to swallow, because Arch is currently and will be the future of this program. It’s just the difference between both players at this moment in time.
No mention of Taafe, Simmons, or Hill this game. That’s not gonna happen again Seeing Littleton ball out was super fun to watch.
Taking these massive OOC games always feels like a risk. It’s good for the sport, and it’s good for TV, but I’m always on the fence whether or not it’s good for the team. Let these guys get some reps in before playing the best teams in the league. I don’t think this game was of no consequence. Now we HAVE to beat A&M, OU, and one of UGA/UF for good seeding in the CFP we can even be tripped up and miss a CFP spot all together. It only seems unfair because other teams don’t take on the same challenge.