Bunk Moreland

The remarkable thing to me is that this program has had many of the same issues since Sark arrived and none of them have been addressed. The extremely experienced 2024 OL couldn’t get any push in the run game against any decent defensive lines. It took three high-level nfl players (Bijan, Roschon, and Brooks) who were elite at breaking tackles to overcome the problem. I think Sark looked at the results (really good running game 2021-2023) and trusted his buddy Flood without actually reviewing the tape and the advanced analytics. This has been a problem for years that was going to rear its head the second either the OL or RB experience or talent dipped just a bit. This year, unfortunately, both happened. The same is true of penalties. The number of penalties the OL creates is completely unacceptable. That’s a Kyle Flood problem. But we also get a ton of ST penalties and boneheaded plays. That’s a Banks problem. The same is true of Milwee and qb development / mental makeup. I’ve said it before, but Sark has a problem with delegating too much to his buddies on the coaching staff and not holding them accountable. When the same problems keep popping up year after year across multiple position groups and dozens of different players, the problem is systemic. And it stems from the coach who oversees the entire offense.

Dumb question: should Sark get Arch warmed up by calling a bunch of early deep shots? Just like he warmed up Quinn by calling a bunch of short, quick throws and screens, which was Quinn’s comfort zone, I wonder if it would get Arch going to hit a couple of deep shots. Sark barely called any deep shots in the first half against UTEP, but maybe that would actually benefit Arch. Some combination of giving him 7-10 designed runs and 5-10 deep throws a game might get him some success and feeling a rhythm.

This definitely feels like an OL scheme/technique issue. How can Flood place such a premium on recruiting large humans only to have these gargantuan be unable to push around smaller lines? I have a lot of respect for Flood, but something is very wrong.

It isn’t just Arch. Remember when Quinn first started at Texas? There were all the reports about how he bonded with his teammates, had ice water in his veins. The bama game in 2023, he told his teammates on the sidelines before the winning drive to trust him and that he was going to win it. Quinn badly regressed by 2024 and it was clear that his confidence never recovered. He was a deer in the headlights anytime he felt the slightest pressure. What I want to know is why these QBs are regressing so badly under Sark and why he can’t seem to keep up their confidence. Because, again, this hasn’t just happened to Arch.

I’m not certain we can win any conference games unless the offense shows dramatic improvements. Miss St has been playing really well so far and we play them on the road—we could easily lose that one. Vandy went to Columbia and beat the brakes off South Carolina. That looks like a loss today.

This is the problem when you hire all your buddies to coach around you: there’s no accountability. It is inexcusable that Flood couldn’t have a better succession plan for his OL after losing so many key starters. Surely Sark has given him a ton of leeway. It’s inexcusable that Sark allowed himself to rely on so many young receivers this year. It’s inexcusable that Milwee’s QBs have shown zero development. There’s a hell of a lot of accountability on defense. So clearly this is a Sark problem. He needs to take a long look in the mirror.

What I don’t understand is that Sark exuded a huge amount of confidence about Arch and about his offense coming into the season. How could he possibly be so wrong? Have the coaches taken the experience and leadership of the last few years for granted and taken their foot off the gas? Are these guys having problems when the lights turn on that aren’t apparent in practice? It’s a real head scratcher.

Yeah this is just painful. We look just as bad on offense as OU did last year. Does not bode well for when we play SEC teams.

I agree on the D. I think there’s one defensive score (Colin Simmons strip sack). Then I think Arch and Wingo finally connect for a long TD. But I also expect the offense to be very uneven again. Baxter gets on the board with one TD and Manning another with his legs after the defense turns UTEP over and creates a short field. Shipley gets a 40-45 yard FG. Then, Manning to McCutcheon, who makes a play in space. I think Texas is going to struggle sustaining drives again. The running game might look slightly better, but at the end of the game we are still complaining about the OL. We are going to be very fortunate that the defense gives us short fields again. The good news is that I think the offense will show minor strides forward, even if it still looks a bit messy. What I want to see is OL, WR, and TE sustaining their blocks at the second level. I want to see better leverage and coordination from the OL. I want to see receivers dialed in and making easy catches. I want to see a little more burst from Baxter and for him to break some tackles. I want to see SOMETHING from Gibson or Clark. I want to see SOMETHING in the return game. Even if it’s just very small signs of progress in these areas, it would give me great confidence that we are on the right track.

I would add more experienced depth across the board. Lots of young players trying to grow up on offense right now. But I think the rest of the factors you identified are also accurate.

Jonah Williams returning punts and/or kicks

Bobby also muted himself yesterday, so maybe he’s hiding in shame.

It kind of reminds me of that 2022 bama defense that had Will Anderson and Dallas Turner, which had Anderson coming off a 17-sack season but they started pretty slow. The sacks will come in bunches.

38-10. I’ll believe that this offense can crack 40 when I see it. Hope they prove me wrong!