echeese

Need a ruling from the panel, is 4th and stuff a turnover, or is it just fumbles/INTs? And we did recover the fumble on the plays, is that 2 turnovers?

View from the Cheap Seats-Mississippi State Wild Ride If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs. . . . . TEXAS needed their largest quarter points-wise in the past several seasons to force overtime, where, for the 2nd week in a row, the offense put points on the board, and the D bowed up and forced an OT shutout while giving up ZERO yards in OT to win this wild ride. You have to go back to last year’s Mississippi State game to see the Horns put up more points in the 2nd half of a game. The unlikeliest of heroes was grad transfer Matthew Caldwell, on his 4th school, who stepped into the game, 2nd and 8, and threw a top-tap dime to fellow transfer Emmett Mosley, the Vth from Stanford, who made his 2nd outstanding touchdown catch of the night. Welcome again to the SEC. For the 2nd week in a row, TEXAS faced one of the worst teams in the conference, with both Mississippi State and Kentucky making it their homecoming games. Both teams were looking for a season-salvaging wins, and both forced TEXAS into overtime. Wins don’t come easy in the SEC. So props to the Bulldogs for bringing their best. 3 former Longhorns who transferred to Miss State put their stamps on the game. Linebacker Deron Gullette had a sack and a half, a tackle for loss and a half as he regularly put pressure on Arch. Wide receiver Brennan Thompson led the Dogs in receptions and recorded 2 TDs, while defensive tackle Jarey Bledsoe recorded a sack and a half and a tackle for loss in a half. Each seemed bent on making a statement. Resilience When we look at the “glass half full” side of the equation, this TEXAS team, playing in its 4th road game in a row, found a way to overcome a 17-point 4th quarter deficit to win. This team is creating a “we’re never out of it” attitude. As poorly as the defense played, in the 4th quarter they forced punts with three straight 3-and-outs, giving the offense —well, the offense and Ryan Niblett — a chance. A chance that TEXAS did not squander. Stop us if you have heard it before: for the 3rd week in a row, a Niblett return made the difference in the game, as he housed another for a touchdown in response to Miss State’s 4th-quarter TD. The offense would add two touchdowns and a field goal in the 4th quarter to force more overtime heroics. Arch would have his biggest yardage game, which started on the 1st play of the game, a WR screen to Trey Wingo that went for 60 yards to the MSU 3-yard line. We appreciated Sark taking the Cheap Seats advice and getting back to the Red River War game plan. Trey Wingo would also have his best game as a Horn, with 5 catches for 184 yards. Props to Trey Moore, who was named a finalist for the Campbell Award. Often called the Draddy (why we have no clue where Draddy comes from) or the Academic Heisman Award. The award is in recognition of both on-field performance and off-field academic excellence. Moving to the “glass half empty” side of the equation, perhaps the most stark difference in the game was Miss State’s ability to get pressure on Arch, while Texas lacked it, giving Blake Shapen time to throw. Shapen is a very good, very efficient QB, ranking in the Top 40 nationally in pass efficiency. More bad news: of the next 4 QBs TEXAS will face, he is the weakest, ranking #36 in the nation —which is actually very good. The offensive line continues to struggle, and with it, the offense lacks a real identity. And for all his positives, Sark has not shown the ability to adapt from “his offense”. Of course, when you do not have good line play, it is hard to make any offense work. TEXAS comes home to DKR to face the "meat" of the schedule, Vandy, Dawgs, and Agroid represent the best teams TEXAS will see this side of Ohio State, and Arkansas is playing better than their schedule says. No easy outs from here. How important is Michael Taffe? The Bulsworth Award semi-finalist (who was robbed of the award last year) for best walk-on in the nation was out due to hand surgery. He will remain out until the Georgia game, at the earliest, in 3 weeks. Without him, the secondary often seemed lost on their way to giving up 384 yards passing and a TEXAS opponent's largest scoring output since Oklahoma State in 2022. This was also the worst yards allowed since 1st round NFL pick Michael Pinex carved up the Horn secondary in the 2023 playoff game. Suffice to say, not the PK standard. The lack of consistent pressure also played a role. Stats that Matter 4 of 5 On 5 Red Zone trips, the Horns would record 4 TDs and a FG 8 of 20 TEXAS cannot convert on 3rd downs 5/12 5 sacks allowed and 12 tackles for loss allowed. 86 X 2 For the 2nd week in a row, the defense had to defend 86 plays, too many O Zero TEXAS recorded no turnovers Offensive Player of the Game Trey Wingo with 184 yards receiving. Though as much as we enjoyed seeing him “break out”, he had 2-3 drops which would have impacted the teams performance. He is a talent for sure. Defensive Player of the Game Anthony “Ant” Hill. Two and a half sacks, three and a half tackles for loss, and 2nd on the team in tackles. The defensive team leader continues his excellent season. Special Teams Player of the Game Ryan Niblett. 2nd week in a row he has housed a punt return at a key point in the game. 3rd week in a row his returns have aided in TEXAS securing the win. This week was a 79-yarder for one of the nation's top punt returners. Honorable Mention: Ethan Burke’s 1st quarter block of a Bulldog field goal attempt loomed large in the final outcome. On Deck After a month on the road, TEXAS returns to DKR to face Top-10 Vanderbilt. No rest for the wicked, as Vandy is excellent. They have playoff dreams this year and see a trip to DKR as a great scalp to claim. Their defense is ranked #24 in scoring. Buckle up, TEXAS, the last quarter of the season will be the toughest of the year this side of Ohio State. And the Horns have zero margin for error if success is measured by making the playoffs. Diego Pavia, their QB, is ranked in the Top 20 in pass efficiency, to go with excellent running ability. The game will be featured on ABC. The defense needs to contain Pavia’s running, while they must up their play in the secondary. At this point, we have no idea the seriousness of Arch’s injury. We will make a Homer-ish call of : 24-20 good guys. It wouldn’t be TEXAS if there wasn’t drama. I’m told that representatives for Texas coach Steve Sarkisian have let NFL decision makers know that he would be interested in potential head coaching openings, including the Titans -Dianna Russini on X/twitter/whatever Our first question was “who?” Upon further review, she is a Senior NFL “insider” for The Athletic. The timing of this is ridiculous, and if it really came from Sark’s people, shame on them. And the Titans? Really? Now, Sark’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, and his firm, CAA, immediately issued a denial of the claim. We are inclined to write this off as clickbait. Our advice to CDC: Sark is signed through 2031, earning $10 million+ annually, escalating to $12 million+ by 2031, with incentives. No more extensions, no more raises until we produce on the field. Which is not to say we don’t love most of what Sark has done here; he is an outstanding representative of THE University, having built a fantastic culture and one of the best recruiters in the nation. We understand the pre-season hype was both absurd and unwarranted. This team simply has too many holes. Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VK_cxxvxbM

My 3rd time at IT. OB for the community IT and OTF for the info

Yep. Thank you sir.

Good question You are correct, I did flip those. Good catch Also left out they recorded 26 1st downs to our 8. Which makes the final score even more impressive for our D. Thanks all.

Good guys.

View from the Cheap Seats-Kentucky Blue Grass time Winning ugly is better than losing pretty. Having said that, this was the ugliest win and most anemic offensive performance in the Sark era. In a game where the Horns were outplayed and outcoached on the offensive side of the ball, the good guys managed to eek out a win on the road in Overtime, thank you defense for that amazing back-to-back goalline stands. The Horns traveled to Kentucky for the first time in their history to take on the Wildcats, who came into the game as one of the bottom feeders in the SEC. Welcome to the SEC, where even the weak teams field some pretty good D’s and will knock you out of your socks if you aren’t ready to play. Now, if you just looked at the stat sheet, you would think the Wildcats won by 20. Cats doubled the Horns in time of possession, tripled them in 1st downs, and more than doubled the Horns' in yardage. As the Cheap Seats often mentions, the only stat that really matters is scoring, and thanks to the Horns' D, TEXAS snuck out of Lexington with a 3-0 record vs the boys in blue. Twice, Mark Stoops tried to bow up and go after the Horn D on 4th down, the last one being fatal as the Cats were stuffed from the 1, not once but twice in overtime. The overtime goal line stand was a classic play and assured the Horns' win, given that Mason Shipley is $$$$ as a kicker. Twice, Mark “Stooper” Stoops went for it on 4th down attempts when he should have taken the points, but he wouldn’t be a Stoops if he were very bright. And it was fun to watch him throw tantrums on the sidelines at the refs when his guys would screw up and get flagged. He even blew up at his brother at one point for some added humor. Something the Cheap Seats said pre-season and have repeated often: this team goes as far as Coach PK’s young charges will carry us. And despite them not always being 100% in the Bluegrass state, when it mattered most, they were there, bending but not breaking. Good thing too, as the offense vanished. With 3 minutes to go in the 1st half, Anthony “Ant” Hill snags an interception with a catch any wide receiver would be proud to claim. Not only did the Horns have the ball set up at midfield right before half, they would get the 2nd half kickoff, the perfect opportunity to score twice and effectively put the game out of reach. The game situation could not have played out better. Instead, the offense would squander the only turnover of the night by gaining a meager 7 yards before being forced to punt. Adding insult to injury, they would then open the 3rd quarter with another three-and-out, one of 5 out of 11 drives on the night. Stop us if you have heard this before: another game where Sark was outcoached and the best QB on the field was on the other sideline. We do not understand Sark’s thinking/scheme in the game. In the 1st half, we ran the ball 10 times and threw the ball/dropped back to throw 17. A young QB's best friend is a strong running game, and we saw a great rushing attack vs the thieves of dirt. Not to mention the rushing attack sets up play action, which aids a young offensive line that remains a work in progress. Yet on the road in Lexington, Sark chose to go pass happy with a struggling QB. Another night where the passes were down the field. Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, OC Bush Hamdam called a great game plan, one that kept his young but talented QB out of trouble much of the night. Hamdam was a player at Boise State when Coach PK was the defensive coordinator and was on staff with PK at UDub. A strong balance of rushing attempts and the short passing game that Sark seems allergic to, even though we run that offense really well. Sark is stubborn, many (most?) coaches are, but he seems hell bent on living up to his “offensive guru” hype and less on matching his talent to scheme. And to be clear, we ARE NOT calling for Sark’s head, we are calling for him to self-coach/self-evaluate. We would also not be opposed to him hiring a play caller, and the guy across the field just offered up a great audition tape. We also realize that isn’t going to happen, again, Sark is stubborn. We do not understand why we changed the game plan from the burglars of dirt scheme, run heavy, play action. In the 1st half, Sark called 17 pass plays to 10 rushes, and a couple of those rushes were Arch scrambles. We saw Christian Clark for 1 series with 3 carries, then he vanished. All he would do is lead the team in yards per carry. Wisner would only carry 12 times. We don’t get it. Another long-time concern we have with Sark is that, once again, he was outscored in the 2nd half of a game. The inability to put away teams, especially weaker opponents, remains a problem. We get that after an emotional win in the Red River War, getting the kids ready was going to be a tough coaching challenge, but not unlike the Gator game, it's hard to think Sark did anything but fail. As for Arch, he did not have a good game. Something that came up after the UTEP and San Jose games, he is an emotional player. When he’s up, he’s fantastic, but he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and his demeanor reflects that. When he’s not “up”, he seems to retreat into himself. We need a relaxed Arch, an Arch that is having fun. A pre-game stat was mentioned that Arch is the 7th most pressured QB in the country, the kid is under the gun, and clearly, it is affecting his play. Against the Cats, officially, he was sacked 3 times and hit 8. Whether you want to use QBR, the eyeball test, or some other metric, one thing is clear: against 4 of our 7 opponents this year, Arch was the 2nd best QB on the field. Sadly, it’s often not close. Using QBR, those games are tOSU, UTEP, Florida, and UK. The offensive line is a work in progress. Certainly, their development is experiencing growing pains. We’re calling on our “offensive guru” to give them some help with the scheme. What does our offensive line do well? Run block, here’s a Cheap Seats idea: we used to keep teams off balance with formation, motion, and misdirection. This sets up play action. We ran one TE screen; it went for 25 yards. Our approach, OK, that play worked, now put it back in the bag, and let’s not use that club again (golf metaphor). Most prominent bright spot of the night, not named our defense, how big is it that Ryan Niblett was kept on the 40 instead of letting him portal? His 2nd quarter 45-yard return to the UK 5 set up TEXAS' sole touchdown of the night. Then in the 4th quarter, his 43-yard return flipped the field position, setting up Shipley’s 2nd field goal and briefly giving TEXAS the lead late. Speaking of special teams, Mason Shipley was 3 for 3 on field goals, including a 43-yarder to take the lead deep in the 4th and a 45-yarder to win the game in OT. And our Aussie punter, well done, young man. On 8 punts, he would pin the Cats inside their 20 six times. In a game like this, field position matters. Offensive Player of the Game You are kidding, right? Defensive Player of the Game All-American Anthony “Ant” Hill. If his athletic interception wasn’t enough, he again led the team in tackles with 8 solos and 4 assists. He was in the middle of both “scrums” at the goal line in overtime, assuring the Wildcats did not get into the end zone. Special teams player of the week Ryan Niblett for the 2nd week in a row. He has become a force in the return game. We’re really glad he did not portal this offseason. Stats that Matter: 8 of 11 TEXAS punted 8 times on 11 drives 5 Arch was sacked 5 times 8 Hits on Arch when he dropped back, 8 times 1 A single touchdown in the game 5 Five 3-and-outs by the TEXAS offense 5 of 16 Texas’ 3rd down conversion rate, #88 in CFB on the season, UGH 4 of 5 Red Zone TD scoring in SEC play. A problem stat in the past, but the problem now is we are not averaging two red zone trips per game in conference play. UGH. On Deck: Mississippi State Bring on the cowbells, TEXAS must travel to Starkville, where they once castrated a bull before John Makovic’s trip to the deep south. This will be Texas’ last October game being played away from DKR. Player fatigue is setting in, and Sark faces another coaching challenge. Not X’s and O’s this time, but handling the mental aspects of his young team on the road for the 4th week in a row. While Miss St is also in the bottom half of SEC teams, TEXAS has already been beaten by Florida and narrowly escaped Kentucky. Top to bottom, this conference is GOOD. At 4-3, this will be the Bulldogs' 2nd biggest game of the year after the Egg Bowl vs in-state rival Ole Miss. Fully expect the crowd to be heavily into the game, again a hallmark of SEC football. Our call: 24-13 Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ktToESFAJY

Under Glass half empty, 2 turnovers, zero points gained. 3rd turnover ended the half.

View from the Cheap Seats-Red River War The Angry Team Won “Only angry people win football games.”-Darrell Royal. In a series dating back to 1900, covering 121 games, TEXAS came into the game with their season on the brink. There is zero margin for error, as another loss, especially against their bitter rival, would end any hope of a playoff berth and send the fanbase over the edge. The pre-season edition of the Cheap Seats stated this team would take us as far as the defense would carry us. After a horrid showing in the swamp, the defense came out angry, pissed off, and with a point to prove. And prove it they did. Coach Kwiatkowski’s young charges looked like a completely different team than the team Florida gashed. They would hold OU’s offense completely out of the end zone, only allowing two field goals and both of those coming very early in the game. Along the way, they intercepted Mateer 3 times, though they let one get away, which would have been an easy pick-six. And sadly, for the 1st quarter, the TEXAS offense looked completely lost again. Penalties would once again rear their ugly head and fans were bemoaning “Oh no, here we go again”. The offense would doink a long field goal on their best early drive of the game. The Horns would only have one drive in the 2nd Quarter, but it was a good one. A 12-play, 70-yard+ drive to kick a field goal, making the game 6-3, the score that would stand up at halftime. The thieves of land would then drive for it on 4th down in the red zone, passing up a chip shot FG, only to see Malik Muhammad record his 2nd interception of the game. The 2nd half was a tale of two teams. The TEXAS offense woke up, mainly behind the rushing and pass-catching of Tre Wisner. The young man announced his return from injury (kinda like his presence, bonus points if you know the movie) with authority. TEXAS took the opening kickoff and converted on 3rd down 4 times on their way to their 1st touchdown of the game. It would also result in the “winning score” to use a baseball analogy. Along the way, they faced 3rd down on four separate occasions, converting each of them. They would only have four drives in the 2nd half, as the game went very quickly, TEXAS would record a Touchdown, would kick 2 FGs, and had a long FG come up short. The offense came alive in the 2nd half against one of the best defenses in the Nation. Along with a nifty, Ryan Nibblet punt return, tight-roping down the sideline for a TD, the Horns would outscore their bitter rivals 20-0 following their early 6-0 lead. Arch had a good game, essentially driving the bus and extending plays with his legs. While it wasn’t a spectacular statistical performance, he looked much better throwing the ball and making his reads. We have to mention one play that might have been the key play of the day. Backed up to their own 5-yard line on 3rd down, the Burglers of Dirt pinned their ears back and came hard. Arch rather deftly, side steps the pass rush and hits his roommate (you did know Arch is rooming with Livingstone?) Parker for a 21-yard gain on a deep sideline route. It was a tough throw and catch, but Parker got both feet down for a major 1st down instead of TEXAS punting to OU and giving them decent field position. The drive resulted in TEXAS’ 2nd field goal. Is there a better sight than watching the Sooner side of the Cotton Bowl start emptying in the 4th quarter? The only thing funnier was watching Arch waving to the Boomer fans late in the game. He had just gone on a long run on 3rd down to ice the game. Nana-nana-hey-hey-goodbye. https://www.tiktok.com/@secnetwork/video/7560101999484751134?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc Glass half empty After the 1st quarter, not much Glass half full Vs the best D they faced this side of Ohio State, the Horns answered the bell in a big way in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, the Horns' D played well from the start. Welcome back, Tre Wisner. We have to give props to an offensive line that spent the week having abuse heaped on them. Seems they had a point to prove as well. And they did this with Nick Brooks recording his first start. BTW, beating OU is always goal #1 of every season, doing it against an unbeaten Sooner team, just that much sweeter. Offensive Player of the Game Tre Wisner-he made his 2025 debut in grand style, rushing for 94 yards and adding another 34 yards receiving. His ability to make tacklers miss has frankly been “missing” from our offense. Most importantly, he would record seven 1st downs out of TEXAS’ total of 15. Defensive Player of the Game Collin Simmons, in his biggest game so far of the season, would record two and a half sacks to go with two and a half tackles for loss. Breakout game for the pre-season All-American? Special Teams Player of the Game Ryan Nibblet-His 75-yard punt return up the sideline for a touchdown put a dagger in the hearts of the Sooners. He picked a great time to break out. Stats that Matter · 8 of 13 3rd down conversions in the 2nd half by the Horns · 6 of 17 The Thieves of Land 3rd down conversion rate · 5/7 5 sacks record and 7 tackles for loss · 3-2 Sark’s record vs our friends from the North · 4-7 Sark improved his record at TEXAS vs top 10 teams to 4-7 · 1-1 Red Zone TD scoring by the Horns On Deck The Horns will not play at DKR the entire month of October. This week, they travel to 0-3 in conference, Kentucky, which will be coming off a bye week. Sark had the team ready for the biggest game of the year. Can he keep them focused, traveling to play the weakest team in the SEC? He proved he can handle failure with Texas’s best game of the season following a brutal loss to the Gators. Can the Horns and Sark handle success? We think so and are calling it a 38-10 victory. We’re fans, we can look ahead, we believe a trip to Starkville is the middle third of the season’s “trap game”. Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQakUVA2UA

Mistook somber for sober And it was Greg Robinson, twice but yeah, Tomey was a part of that too the 1st time. We need one of those to fix the O.

View from the Cheap Seats-Gators No Joy in Sark-Ville Welcome to the SEC, where even the bad teams are good. There is no way to spin this other than failure. Starting with the most basic principle of football, you have to win the line of scrimmage. The most concerning aspect going forward for this team is that we were outplayed on both sides of the ball. The Horns were outphysicaled for the majority of the game. This by a team that will finish in the middle tier of the SEC and likely is playing in a minor bowl. Don’t say we didn’t warn you, this quote is from the Preseason edition of the Cheap Seats, sub-titled “Don’t eat the cheese”: To quote Bill Parcells, DON’T EAT THE CHEESE. Don’t let the hype get inside your head. This will be Sark’s biggest coaching challenge in his career against a tough schedule. This loss hurts. We've seen cracks all year, exacerbated by absurd pre-season hype. Against Florida in the Swamp, the dam burst on those cracks and exposed big flaws across the board. The worst, this staff did not have the team ready coming off a bye week. Make no mistake, this was a butt whipping and it exposed holes, some we knew about (young QB, offensive line, lack of running game), some that frankly shocked us, namely the defense getting roasted. Starting with the opening play, DJ Lagway completes a pass to a true freshman WR, our true freshman DB Singleton makes a tremendous open field tackle, and dislodges the ball. Potential game-changing moment, but TEXAS can’t recover the fumble, and their WR gets back on it to record a 7-yard gain. Very much, the tone of the game was set on the opening drive. The first play in a 13-play, 84-yard drive culminating in a Gator touchdown. A very balanced drive with a strong mix of rush and short passing to keep our pass rush off Lagway. This against a defense which had not allowed a point in the 1st quarter this season. The writing was on the wall. TEXAS takes over with the offense facing the strength of Florida’s team, their front 4. And they gave TEXAS young offensive line fits all day. Arch completed one great pass to early Offensive Player of the Year Parker Livingstone, but the drive ended in a punt. Florida puts together a 10-play drive and adds a field goal, putting the Horns down 10-0 in the 1st quarter. The Horns would record a touchdown, Florida answered with their own TD, then forced a 3 and a Safety. Say what? 3 and out, leading to a punt that, thanks to some good scouting by them and poor coaching by us, gets blocked out of the back of the end zone. 19-7 at halftime We have been both fans and critics of Sark since he arrived. He has done some GREAT things and brought in a ton of talent. His biggest flaw is that he is stubborn and he wants to force his offense regardless of results. The Cheap Seats became very concerned when, during a bye week press conference, Sark talked about the need to “push the ball downfield”. We do not understand why, and that strategy largely failed again. Gone were the passes to the RBs, the throwback screens, the misdirection by formation and motion. All of the things that help a young QB get settled, all the things Billy Napier did to get his QB in rhythm. All the things you do to slow down a pass rush that would record six sacks, along with 10 hits on the QB, or pressures. Arch was under duress throughout the game while we continued to call slow-developing plays, trying to force the ball downfield. The Nintendo fans love it, they love the “explosives”, forgetting that many of the “explosives” last year came from WR screens and passes to RBs in the flats. We did run one throwback screen, and it went for a nice game. Let’s not do that again, then. Now, in fairness, some of the downfield stuff worked and worked well, but too often the pressure on Arch prevented a solid throw, or he would release the ball a second too late. So, although we were not impressed with the game plan, we were equally disappointed with the poor offensive line play. And the bad news is that, while it’s easy to correct (at least if the coach puts his ego aside), play calling and fixing a developing offensive line mid-season are a bridge too far. Ols take time to gel and honestly, this one is going backwards. We have to credit Sark for the WR pass but when we did have the right play called, we failed to execute as Wingo put up a wobbly duck to a wide open Enderies. Glass half full This will not take long. The Horns did not quit. With nothing going right, offense, defense, or special teams, the team kept coming. Not unlike the game at the Shoe to open the season, In the last drive, the Horns had a chance to tie the game. Thanks to the safety, they couldn’t win on the last drive, but they battled back the entire 2nd half and had a chance to tie. 4th quarter, Manning’s helmet was pulled off while he was being sacked, and he had to go out. Matthew Caldwell, playing for his 4th school, calmly comes in facing 2nd and 22, stands firm in the pocket, and delivers a strike to Ryan Wingo, who makes a great move to gain extra yards, but also to get out of bounds, stopping the clock with no timeouts left. 2 Red Zone Trips, 2 Touchdowns. Glass half empty The offensive line and play calling are the low points in this section. With the OL under duress, why were we trying to push the ball downfield so often? Why was nothing being called to protect the QB/OL with short passes, WR screens, etc? Our best offense came when plays broke down and Arch played backyard ball. He was our leading rusher, mostly on scrambles and his best passes came when he was forced out of the pocket and he improvised. Can someone tell us where the defense, which had been outstanding, went? Their lead RB averaged over 5 yards a carry, and we couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down, while the offense could not convert on 3rd down, frequently facing 3rd and long vs the Gators' 3rd and short. And the number of missed tackles was simply ugly. We suspect Lagway is the SEC player of the week after completing 75% of his passes and recording 2 TDs. We did not sack him nor get any real pressure on him. Offensive Player of the Game Arch Manning, often coming on busted plays where he took off and was TEXAS’ leading rusher, or he scrambled and played sandlot ball. He’s a young player still, but the game is coming to him, and he did not seem to be a “deer in headlights” as he was earlier in the year. Defensive Player of the Game Colin Simmons. In one series, he recorded 3 straight tackles for loss; one was wiped out due to a holding penalty, but he went beast mode. Some love for Ty’Anthony Smith, who delivered a great punch out, creating a fumble, which gave Texas a short field for their first touchdown. Special Teams Player of the Game Jack Bouwmeester-Our Aussie punter who had a decent day while the rest of the special teams were poor at best. How many special teams breakdowns is Sark going to allow? Stats that Matter 3 of 11 3rd down conversions, we are #115 in the nation, and that after playing three tomato cans 10 for 70 Penalties continue to be a significant issue, #129 in number of penalties, #125 in penalty yards. 457 Yards given up by the defense 6/0 Sacks given up by the Horns vs sacks recorded by the Horns On Deck The Red River War. Sark is 2-2 vs the Dirt Burglars. Bad news, they have a talented front 7 as well. Another tough test for the Horns. A major coaching challenge for Sark is maintaining the team's mental focus while also being willing to admit that he does not have the offensive line to run a bombs-away offense. Or does he allow one loss to become two? Look no further than Pedo State getting blasted by UCLA (couldn’t happen to a worse bunch). Clearly, they were hungover after losing to the Ducks. We stated in the preseason that this team would go as far as Coach PK and the defense carry us. Can he right the ship as TEXAS’ schedule does not get any easier from here out? Oklahoma is ranked #96 in the nation in rushing, and the RRW usually comes down to two factors: turnovers and whoever can establish the run. We’re not off the Sark bandwagon, at least not yet. Can he keep the talent together to give the team time to reach its full potential? Hey, no pressure, the season is largely on the line. Drop this game, or any game from here, the playoffs are GONE. Prediction: TEXAS 23 Thieves of Land 20 Lowlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWRNl8sXnYw

The cheap seats is not happy with Maater now out for our game, we want no excuses from the Land of Dirt Burglers. B ut 100% agree, our D going to have some fun. The question is can we move the ball on them. Shaping up to be a 17-10 type struggle today, now 3 weeks from now, offense should be much better.

How you been?

It is funny how many people I have to educate on some of the classics, Animal House, Blazing Saddles etc etc. The Napier was just a brain fart. Dude, I stalk you everywhere. F Friendswood

Good catch on Billy, I didn't think that sounded right. But the game may very well be for his job. And I left out, will Sam Pittman or Bobby "motorcycle mama" be the HC of the Pigs when we play them? But wow, did you not get the Animal House reference? BTW, I have flown over (at 500 feet) the Arizona memorial, several times actually, it is humbling. Actually I post this on 3 different sites. Thanks all.

View from the Cheap Seats-Sam Houston State Slumpbuster When we reviewed the preseason schedule, this game was circled as essentially meaningless, glorified scrimmage against a former FCS power that was struggling badly with the transition to D1 football. Not sure anyone had “season salvaging game” on their bingo card, certainly not the Cheap Seats. After 3 weeks of struggles and lackluster performances by the TEXAS offense and Arch Manning, this game might be what salvages the season. We believe the Texas offense and Arch’s #1 problem was trying to live up to the absurd pre-season hype as National title contenders and Heisman favorites. Arch has been pressing, at least from our view up in the Cheap Seats, he has been pressing too hard, trying to make too much happen. Now, Arch is not mentioned in Heisman discussions, and the Horns can focus on winning the SEC and making the playoffs, the playoffs being the bigger priority of the two. And we appreciate Sark taking the Cheap Seats advice. Give the kid some quick, easy throws to get into a rhythm, let him have some success. Let the game come to him instead of forcing everything. One of our concerns about Arch had been his body language and the way he interacted with his teammates. Saturday night gave him a chance to get back his swagger, to embrace the joy of the game that he has enjoyed in the past. Forget the hype, forget the fans, go out and play for your teammates, play for yourself. Mission accomplished in spades. Once again, it was Texas's defense that set the tone early. Talk about “announcing your presence with authority”, the TEXAS D sacked SHSU’s QB on the game's first play, forcing a 3 and out, they then followed up with four straight three-and-outs, before finally giving up a first down on the Bearcats' last drive of the first half. It was a clinic on defensive dominance. The defense would record its first shutout of the season. And Coach PK, who was a finalist for the Frank Broyles Award in 2024, should be the favorite in 2025. This team will go as far as its defense will carry it, and as good as this defense is, that might be pretty far. Not to be outdone, the offense took out 3 weeks of frustration on the outmatched team from Huntsville. TEXAS would score a touchdown on their 1st three offensive drives, a holding penalty in the red zone forced TEXAS well behind the chains, forcing a FG before they recorded another touchdown on TEXAS’ last drive of the 1st half. Not skipping a beat, TEXAS would start the 2nd half with back-to-back touchdown drives before another FG drive. Arch would then give way midway through the 3rd quarter to Matthew Caldwell, who would lead TEXAS on their longest drive of the night, 91 yards, which included Caldwell’s 50-yard run that even faked out the cameraman. Glass half empty The quality of the defenses our offensive line will face in the weeks to come is going to improve significantly, and the OL remains a work in progress. Is it odd to say we are not crazy about the timing of the bye this week? The Horns will not play at DKR again until November this year. ESPN+ sucks. How we miss LHN Glass Half Full It was everything the Horn fans and team could expect. The offense got into a much needed rhythm while the defense feasted on an outmatched opponent. Arch clearly was clicking on all cylinders, and Ryan Wingo had his biggest day of the year. Good to see those two on the same page. Have we mentioned this D is REALLY good? Offensive player of the Game Arch Manning-18 of 21 for 309 yards and 3 passing TDs to go with 2 rushing TDs and a bowed up in the end zone moment that should have been called for taunting, which we’d have taken in a heartbeat. More importantly, the swagger is back. Defensive Player of the Game We’re going with the linebacker corps this week. All American Ant Hill, Ty’Anthony Smith, Liona Lefau, and Brad Spence were the top 4 tacklers on the team and added 3 of the 10 tackles for loss and a sack. Special Teams Player of the Game Ryan Niblett had three punt returns, including a 49-yarder, to go with a rushing attempt and a pass reception, where his nifty moves netted a 39-yard gain. Stats that Matter 11 TEXAS had 11 drives, the 1st nine resulted in 7 touchdowns and 2 FGs. You win a great many games with those numbers 0 SHUT OUT, D allowed ZERO points 10/5 10 tackles for loss and 5 sacks by the TEXAS D 9/1/1 TEXAS D forced 9 punts, 1 turnover on downs, one interception and an end of the game 2 play drive. 7 of 11 On 3rd downs, TEXAS moved the chains 2 of 14 TEXAS D denied SHSU 12 of the 14 times they faced 3rd down. On Deck The bye week before traveling to Gainesville, Florida, to take on the reeling Gators. The last time the Horns traveled to Gainesville was December 6th, 1941. The next day, the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, oh wait, Bluto had it wrong. In some ways, Florida’s season resembles TEXAS, a strong defense and an uber-talented but not yet clicking offense. TEXAS has more talent, Florida/Jimmy Napier might be playing for their season. SEC play begins, and if the Horns want t o make the playoffs, their margins are slim. Some thoughts on OU, we are concerned about their front 7 against our offensive line. They beat Auburn with the help of some blown/non-calls. Their secondary can be had, and we will need Arch’s legs to loosen up their D. Their O struggled vs Auburn’s D, while ours is better. The Red River War is shaping up to be another battle, though today, we see the Horns putting it away in the 4th. Game Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgXd5UROlFg

View from the Cheap Seats-Texas @ El Paso Miners come to town What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on in Austin? This game featured the #1 and #2 QBs from the 2023 recruiting class. One might have expected an aerial circus; one would have been disappointed. Sark/TEXAS only threw the ball 25 times against 53 rushes. That stat is somewhat skewed due to Arch pulling the ball down and running. Still, in a game that should have created the opportunity for Arch to get his passing on track and boost his confidence, he had the worst day for a Longhorn QB in some time. We hate to bag on the kid, as by all accounts, he is a great young man. It is what it is, though. Arch is struggling and cannot seem to find a comfortable rhythm, while his play caller is not helping at all. One example of a play that is a staple of Sark’s offense has been the WR screen. A play designed around a quick pass outside with the idea that if a WR can get one block and/or make one defender miss, he’s off for a big gain. We did not see that play called until late in the third or early fourth quarter, despite UTEP playing off coverage. Clearly, the game plan was to force-feed the ball to Ryan Wingo, an uber-talented WR. The problem is that Ryan and Arch cannot seem to get on the same page. Sark’s offense is also predicated on numerous shifts and motions, which serve two purposes. First, it forces a defense to show its coverage, as well as work to create mismatches in the scheme, which can be exploited through play calling. When it’s going well, it is a beauty to behold. This week, Sark seemed content to line up and run base offense with little misdirection. One play that worked exceptionally well in the first two weeks, a staple of the Sark offense, is the TE screen, often called as the QB rolls right and then throws back left. That play and others like it were nonexistent this weekend. A Cheap Seats pet peeve, late in the 3rd quarter, early in the 4th, we saw Arch on a called QB run. WHY????? For the 3rd season in a row, TEXAS is leaning hard on Coach Pete Kwiakowski’s outstanding defense to carry the day. And once again, they delivered. The defense was suffocating, forcing five punts, three turnovers on downs, and recording 2 Interceptions. This, while limiting UTEP to an FG through 57 minutes of the game, only allowing a late TD with backups on the field. This season, the team's success will be determined by its defense, and they are a pleasure to watch. Glass half empty Arch is clearly struggling, misfiring on even easy passes. In 2 of 3 games this season, Arch has not been the best QB on the field. Keep in mind, we are talking about the pre-season Heisman favorite. The offensive line remains a work in progress. Red Zone TD scoring a paltry 3 TDs on 6 attempts, 2 Arch rushing TDs, and a pass to Ryan Wingo with 2 FG & an INT. Texas' offense was handed the ball twice on turnovers, but only managed to create 3 points. The team must capitalize on such opportunities. While the number of penalties has been reduced from last week, they came at the worst possible times, including negating the best punt return of the day. 1st play of the game saw our RB2 (RB1 being held out due to a lingering injury) go down and not return. We would finish the day with RB5, who had a very nice game. Not only was Arch still in the game late in the 3rd, early in the 4th, but Sark called a QB run. What was he thinking? On the subject of highly questionable play calling, you are not going to get Arch on track by handing the ball off. Yes, still early in the season, but in three weeks, we’ll open conference play. There is reason to be concerned as starting in October, the caliber of play is going to be significantly better. Per ESPN, today we do not project as a playoff team, we would agree with that. We miss the Longhorn Network. Glass half full Defense, Defense, Defense. Coach PK and crew are doing the job at championship levels. Our Aussie punter and Ryan Niblett on punt returns are a pleasure to watch. On two of the three turnovers on downs the defense forced, the Texas offense turned them into touchdowns. A short list this week. Stats that matter 11-25 Arch’s passing line, which included a 10 straight incompletion stretch, putrid. 3 of 6, Red Zone TD scoring. Continues to be an issue 5 of 16, Offense on 3rd down attempts. TEXAS simply cannot sustain drives 2 of 5, Offense on 4th down attempts. 4 of 15, Defense, this is how you win 0 of 3, Defense stuffed UTEPs 4th down tries 7 for 78, Penalties which seemed to come at critical times, compounding the problem. 2 for 3 Two turnovers/INTs is good but TEXAS only turned that into 3 points, not good 2 for 3 Two of the three times TEXAS’ D held Offensive Player of the Game James Simon, RB 5. Came into the 2nd half of the game, carried 17 times for a net of 67 yards. Co-Defensive Players of the Game Leona Lefu led the team in tackles, including a tackle for loss, and Jelani McDonald, who was 2nd in tackles, recorded an interception. Special Teams Player of the Game Ryan Niblett had 3 punt returns for 72 yards, a 24-yard average, and his best return was called back from a dumb penalty. On Deck-Sam Houston State The Bearkats come to town riding a 3-game losing streak this season, and are projected to finish at or near the bottom of Conference USA. The game will be on the SEC network again. We hope to see Arch with 30-35 passing attempts in 3 quarters, then take a seat. In fact we hope no starter plays in the 4th quarter. 3 weeks to get ready to travel to the Swamp to play the Gators. Game Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJemykVh7EA

View from the Cheap Seats Sputtering vs Sparty The San Jose State Spartans came to town and surprised most TEXAS fans and players with their very disciplined brand of football. They proved to be a better test than many expected, which might have been precisely what this team needed. It wasn’t always pretty all the time, it was a win, and it was much-needed reps for this young offense. At times, the Horns looked impressive, while at times, they showed why they have not been able to reach the next level of college football. This three-game stretch at home will be invaluable for the development of our young offense and players. Doesn’t mean it will always be pretty. Sark takes the ball for the kickoff to get Arch on the field, four plays, and a punt. Defense shows it hasn’t had enough coffee and gives up a 10-play drive ending in a missed FG. Offense responds with five plays and a punt. Oops, this isn’t the script. Defense forces a punt only to rough the kicker. No problem, the Defense forces another punt. We take the ball, run two plays; it’s 3rd and 6 from our end of the field. Sark lines’em up to spread Sparty’s D, Wingo runs a post from the wide side while Parker Livingstone runs a wheel route deep behind him, Arch with his best pass of the day so far, hits Parker in stride up the sideline, Sparty’s DB falls down, and 83 yards later, TEXAS on the board. Both sides of the Horns stand up strong to close out the 1st quarter and the opening 3 minutes of the 2nd, turning an interception and three forced fumbles into 21 points and a 28-7 lead going into halftime. Glass half empty It was not a complete football game. Texas would punt six times in the game. Give up an interception in the red zone and the fumble ending a really nice fourth quarter drive by the 2nd teamers. Arch continued to have problems with his mechanics. Those showed significant improvement from the Ohio State game. Arch was pressured in the red zone, his arm was hit as he tried to force a ball to his WRs, leading to his 2nd interception in 2 games. And there were some dropped passes. Perhaps the two most significant negatives in the game were the offensive line's blocking breakdowns and 12 penalties for over 100 yards. 2 of 12 on 3rd down ain’t getten’ the job done. Against better competition, this team must sustain drives. This team is still a work in progress. Glass Half Full The defense continues to be the strength of this team, setting up the offense with 4 short-field chances following turnovers. The offense capitalized on 3 of those turnovers, scoring touchdowns. Arch and Parker Livingstone’s work last year together is clearly paying dividends like most young quarterbacks. Arch continues to struggle with mechanics. He showed clear improvement from last week—some of his throws reminded fans why he is so hyped when he brings his A game. Transfer TE Jack Endries has made an early case for the Newcomer of the Year award. Excellent hands and route running. With Tre Wisner being held out, thought CJ Baxter flashed why we were so excited about him. Sark read the cheap seats and called ZERO QB rushes. Arch had a couple of excellent scrambles. We hope for the best with DeAndre Moore, otherwise no injuries. Plenty of “teaching moments in the game to “coach up” the team. Offensive Player of the Game Arch Manning- In a span of about 8 minutes, Arch threw four touchdown passes, each an excellent throw. In the 3rd quarter he would add a 20 yard scramble for a TD, capping his best day as a Horn. Honorable Mention The receiving duo of Parker Livingstone and transfer Jack Endries. Each would record two touchdowns; they are sure-handed and outstanding route runners. Clearly, Arch has a pair of new favorites as they finished #1 and #2 in pass catching for the 2nd week in a row. Defensive Player of the Game Anthony “Ant” Hill- He would force two of the D’s turnovers, one of which the O turned into 7 points while finishing 2nd on the team in tackles on the day. Stats that Matter 2 of 3 Red Zone TDs vs Red Zone chances. An improvement 12-115 12 penalties for 115 yards would be crippling against a better team 4/3/5 4 turnovers, 3 turnovers on downs, and 5 punts forced. The D was overall A- 2 of 12 3rd down inefficiency. #1 concern coming out of the game 2 of 2 4th down conversions and we thought the play calls were better too. On Deck The Mighty Miners of UTEP. They are led by former 5 Star QB Malichi Nelson, who transferred from USC. He is also coming off a 4-touchdown day vs U of Tennessee at Martin, a good FCS level program. We look for the Horns to show steady improvement, week over week, and see this as a 48-7 type game. Game Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkpAH2ccIhM

The View from the Cheap Seats-tOSU The Stage was Too Big Same story, different season for Sark and the Horns. When matched against similar talent and coaching staffs, Sark reverted to form and turtled up. The hype and the pressure was clearly too much for Sark, Arch, and the offense. The same things we saw against Georgia twice last year and Ohio State in the playoffs: dumb penalties, turnovers (well, just 1), the same abandoning of creative play calling. On the positive side of the ledger, the D came to play. This team will go as far as the D carries us in 2025, which isn’t a bad thing. Now in his 5th season at TEXAS, Sark has one win over an equally manned, equally coached team, and that was Bama on the road 2 years ago. Don’t worry, the hype machine will crank back up as TEXAS now faces 3 tomato cans in a row, then a bye week before a road trip to play the Gators. Gators are a good team but not in the Buckeye’s league. All 3 games at home where the stats can be padded and for everyone to forget letting victory escape in Ohio. Props to tOSU, they were the better team and outcoached the Horns. Glass half empty Let us open the Cheap Seats with our frustrations. And we’ll start with Sark’s largely inept play calling. Where was the motion? Against a top-flight D, where was the misdirection? Why did we not use scheme and formation to put them off balance? Or down in the Red Zone, where we failed to score a point on 2 drives? Not scoring Red Zone TDs cost us the SEC and National titles last year and clearly still an issue. Our lone TD pass came from outside the Red Zone, FYI. We do NOT fault Sark for going for it on either 4th down. Honestly, did anyone know we were not going to QB sneak the ball from the 1-foot line? We do fault all eight of our play calls, each of which played into the strength of their D. Sark did run the TE screen and it worked great. Worked so well he never used the play again. No way to spin it, Sark continues to come up short on the biggest of stages. We expect he takes a 1-loss team between the hedges with another crack at Georgia. The good news is that this team will be more battle-tested. Sark’s grade for the offensive game plan is a D. Not unlike the last game with tOSU, we had the chance to win, but we failed to execute/play our best. Bombs away on 1st down is back, putting the Horns behind the chains. Our offensive line remains a bit of a work in progress. Not unexpected. The defensive grade is a A-, the minus due to the lack of pass rush we put on their 1st time starting QB. For the first time since 2014, the #1 team in the nation was shut out in the first half, an ignominious distinction the Horns now own. We have always told it like it is in the Cheap Seats; we saw why Arch was not the starter last year. We felt sorry for the kid; he didn't have a good game by any stretch. He will learn from this, he will grow from this. And last on the list were the mistakes. It seemed that every time we did something right, we would get penalized by TOSU. We had two false starts (more problems from last year) and gifted the Bucks their TD drive. We were lining up to take the punt when a personal foul occurred, giving them a 1st down on the 1st TD drive. Kinda hard to miss when you rip the defender's helmet off. Buckeyes countered with a clean game. Glass half full Coach K and the defense. We’d have bet the house had you told us we’d hold them to 14 points. This team goes as deep into the playoffs as Coach K and crew will carry us. How good was the TEXAS D you ask? tOSU only crossed the 50 twice in the game. The two shining stars of the D were the transfer defensive tackles who had a great game and true freshman Graceson Littleton. Where did he come from? No wonder Coach Akina wanted to come back to add to DB-U’s . Smith was the best player in the nation? Coach K and company said “we’ll play him every week”. Shut down again by Coach K. The leading returning rusher in the SEC picked up where he left off from last season. Tre Wisner racked up 80 yards against a tough tOSU front and ran HARD. Speaking of running backs, Cedric Baxter showed us why he has been hyped. Welcome back after losing back-to-back seasons to brutal knee injuries. And we should mention, a key block on a blitzing LB that appeared to have a straight shot to Arch until Ced stonewalled him. The block led to one of the best completions of the day for Arch-to-Livingstone, a combo we think we hear often the next two seasons. TE Jack Endries, our transfer from Cal, with 50 yards to lead all pass catchers, and True Sophomore WR Paker Livingstone flashed with a great TD grab. Not surprising given the reports on the two of them coming out of Fall drills. Hello punting game. We love Aussie punters. Arch was intercepted. Why is that good? Get it out of the way. Arch’s early Heisman hype is done. Why is that good? It’s about winning, not awards. Team #1 ranking is gone. Why is that good? From #1, no place to go but down. Now they can focus on climbing back up. Make no mistake, this team was always going to be better in November than September. Not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, all the makings of a great season are ahead of the Horns. Net Net Largely, a speed bump on the way to the playoffs. TEXAS will lose its #1 ranking, so what? Not a conference game, so it does not impact a shot at automatically qualifying for the playoffs. It does cut the margin of error pretty dramatically as the Horns now have a “game to give” if the playoffs are the goal. Short of winning the conference, 3-loss teams don’t make the playoffs. Miss the playoffs, and it would be hard not to describe the season as anything but a failure given the hype. Offensive Player of the Game: Tre Wisner had an excellent game against a tough defense. TEXAS now knows it can run the ball. 80 yards on 16 carries with a 5 ypc average. Against a good D, we’ll take it. Defensive Player of the Game Graceson Littleton announced his presence with authority. Special teams player of the Game Punter Jack Bouwmeester pinned the Buckeyes inside their 10 twice and made sure TEXAS won the field position battle. Stats that Matter 5-14 on 3rd down-not our standard on offense 1-5 on 4th down-with these stats, not shocked we lost 3-12 on 3rd down-OUTSTANDING by the D stuffing tOSU drives, Championship football 6-50 Penalties, the worst part, many of them bailed tOSU out and kept their drives alive On Deck Texas has a home date against the San Jose State Spartans to release some of their frustrations. We hope we do not see Arch on a called rush in the game; that we work on the run game, and we work on getting Arch in a rhythm early. With 2 more tomato cans on deck after the Spartans, we’d love to see Arch give way in the middle of the 3rd, but hope he doesn't take a 4th-quarter snap in the month of September. These next three games should be games we get a great deal of reps for 2nd and 3rd level players, we will need as the season continues. If you look at the season in thirds, we face Florida on the road after the bye, then the RRW before road trips to Kentucky and Mississippi State, before facing Vanderbilt at DKR, the middle of the season. It will be a tough road stretch against teams we should beat, but none of them are tomato cans. Then a bye week before Georgia on the road, and the close of the season. Game Highlights (low lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcGN5jyC2yM

Dec 6th, 1969, 1st football game I ever watched. I was a 7th grader and AF brat, football was something you played at that age. Dad had been assigned a year unaccompanied (no dependents) to Korea. I suspect my Cousin Ronnie, who was a film and journalism major at TEXAS, had something to do with it, I'm not sure. But I knew I was hooked (not sorry for the pun). Watched the game on an old black and white TV, we were living in an apartment out the gate of Randolph. BTW, Randolph Field was 1-0-1 vs the Longhorns during the WWII war years. Dad was from Pandora, Texas, a south Texas town that has been absorbed into Nixon, Texas, which isn't much bigger. Most of the family were Aggies as they were mostly farmers, many still are. Dad served in the Pacific, while Uncle Ferd was a B-26 crewman, flew 2 missions on D-Day, and came home with a Silver Star. Uncle Milton (Uncle by marriage) ran one of the peanut farms in Dilley, Texas, and was a Marine at Iwo Jima. 2 years later when I was trying to play HS football, we were visited by on again, off again starting LB for the Horns Bruce Cannon, who had been a star at Randolph. Bruce passed away recently after returning to Randolph to run the school. I graduated the same year as Earl Campbell and we were proud, we were the last San Antonio team still standing in that chilly Decemeber Good morning my friend. And yes Gerry and Jeff Howe do GREAT work but F Frienswood. Really enjoying the site. Gerry's Dad's team (Friendswood) would rather unceremoniously end our playoff dreams one step from the title, F Friendswood. It was an unlikely run that year but I got to play against such Longhorn legends as Brad Shearer from Westlake (his coach, Ken Dabbs would be hired by TEXAS with the sole purpose of recruiting Ricky) and Steve McMichael from Freer.

I met Fozzy's mom in 2009 at the BigXII title game tailgate, was sending Fozzy's brother game DVDs of the season. Their mom is hilarious.

Do we know where in Dallas?

16 is the correct number as it eliminates the bye week games which failed miserably last year. 1st round home games for the Top 8 seeds The way the season falls, EVERYBODY in the playoffs gets a bye week (effectively) anyway. This isn't the NFL. Well, 8 would have been best, but that ship has sailed.

An absolutely GREAT Longhorn and a colorful character who came out of small town Freer HS to be an All American at TEXAS and a Super Bowl Winner/Hall of Fame NFL player RIP Bam Bam. And one of the rare Longhorns/NFL players I played against. Needless to say, he was always a favorite. He made the world more interesting.