Here for the Wins

They should be student athletes. They should have to attend classes. Carson Beck received far greater benefit from college football than he gave to it for example. As I understand it, he wasn’t actually a student attending classes. That’s ridiculous. The SEC is protecting Kentucky and Vanderbilt and maybe some others. The Big 10 is protecting others yet little talk about kicking them out. lots of talking out each side of the mouth.

Thought maybe you were having a stroke or something. 20-30 points more without Wisner is interesting.

Goodness gracious. 4th and Five we need some prayers for some of these dudes.

As for Hill, my view is that he’s a better secondary level pass rusher than straight beat you man to man. He has nice hands. So his best matchup is situational. In 2024, he was in the box on 77% of snaps, DL on 9%, slot 14%, and CB 1%. In 2025, he was in the box 76% of snaps, DL 7%, slot 16%, and CB 1%. Rounding comes in to play so the difference in box snaps is actually 0.2%. So pass plays. In 2024, he pass rushed 16% of plays versus 84% in coverage. In 2025, he pass rushed 26% of plays versus 74% in coverage. His alignment is similar year over year. For those saying he should have rushed the passer more in 2025 relative to 2024. He did. Sixty percent more. As the Vandy game has been beat to death, I’ll hit it again. 3rd and whatever inside our 20. We rush 5 leaving the middle exposed. This is an example of too much aggression. Believe Hill was the 5th pass rusher. 4th and 19. We sacked Pavia on 3rd with a 4 man rush. On 4th and 19, we rush 5 with Hill being the 5th. My opinion is overly aggressive. Both of those plays could have been denied with proper deployment and execution from your LBs. That’s my recall anyway.

Vs USF. They blitzed 55% of the time. 1 TD with no picks. Higher completion % versus the blitz. 1 pick, no TDs when no blitz. UF versus LSU. They blitzed 45% of the time. Versus the blitz Lagway he completed 78% of his passes. No picks. 6.4 yards per attempt. So when they did not blitz, he completed 58% at 5.3 yards per attempt. 1 TD and 5 interceptions. That was without Dallas Wilson. Vs Miami the numbers were similar with 58% no blitz, 42% blitz. Texas blitzed 42% of the time. Numbers were reasonably similar with a pick on the blitz but otherwise 10-12 versus the blitz and similar passing yards although 5 fewer attempts versus the blitz. Both TDs to Wilson, the guy that hadn’t played up to that point. One versus a blitz, one not. Pretty sure his long TD was press coverage when he tossed Black aside. The other TD had a drawn up safety. We did a pick versus the blitz. A&M blitzed 18% of the time. Georgia 36% blitz. Ole Miss 43%. The results were reasonably balanced. Dallas Wilson only played a full game versus the Aggies. Kentucky blitzed 13% of the time. 3-3 for largely insignificant yards. Versus no blitz? 19 dropbacks, 1 TD, 3 picks. So exactly what about these results show that more blitzing was the desired gameplan? Most of these teams didn’t get Wilson who was a tougher man matchup in theory. And many of those matchups were on the road when blitz pickup communication is often stressed more.

I’m always a Team guy. I won’t blame one guy, which happens a fair amount on boards. As I’ve aged, I’m more “just win” whether that’s ugly, by 1 point, by 30, just win. 2023 OU. Obviously if the defense shuts them down, we win. The offense was in position to shut it down completely, but that didn’t happen. I’m not blaming them for the loss. Neither unit was blameless. As for last years offense, injuries matter. Mosley out early didn’t help. I think Wisner being out set us back, but the tenor here is that he was expendable. But my point about DB injuries is that those guys are more easily exposed. We talk about Taaffe being a high IQ guy but act as though him being out is not impactful then we McDonald goes out early against the # 1 OFEI offense in the country that is more impactful than Mosley being out, who at that time had never even played here. And I think if you actually look at last years UTEP game - Wisner out, Baxter out after play 1, Moore out, Mosley out - that was part of the reason the offense looked shoddy. The play calling failed to get the QB in rhythm early then everybody’s confidence tanked.

Again, the only team with legit pass catching threats in 2024 were Clemson and OSU. One threw for 330. Even Clemson had limited skills at Oline, their RBs pedestrian, and the QB had one better than average college season. ASU was missing their top WR threat. Qb a frosh. Middling OLine talent. That matters. The Georgia guys had talent but couldn’t catch. Go watch Barron get his butt torched versus TCU in 2023. It wasn’t because his IQ grew from nothing to something. Taaffe was there too. He was there this year except when hurt. 2023 and 2025 ran up against better offensive talent, and they did it with more significant injuries. Backups are backups for a reason. That’s absolutely part of it. And part of the reason Sayin wasn’t pressured was because we had no points through 3.5 quarters. I take 14 points allowed on the road versus a top 10 every time. No one said PK was without blame.

“Overall, I liked PK but I prefer a DC that can call the entire defense so that we don't have to worry about this "front not being married to the back" nonsense that we dealt with in '23 & '25.” Akina wasn’t here in 2023 or 2024, right? So it couldn’t have been his doing in those years. Gideon couldn’t solve it in 2023 but could in 2024? PK couldn’t figure it out in 2023 but did in 2024 then forgot in 2025. A defensive coach for decades. None of that makes sense. There’s no doubt Sark would prefer someone else to PK. Obviously PKs style doesn’t suit everyone. You ignore injuries. You know who screws up coverages? Backups that don’t have experience in high leverage situations. You ignore the pass rush. Let’s call it the secondary when our LBs don’t get depth. Our 2023 schedule had roughly 15 top 100 NFL picks in that NFL draft. That is 15% for those that struggle with math. That is a lot. Maybe even historic. That doesn’t include a fair number of underclassmen drafted the following year. DFEI provides you and others insight into the relative strength of the opponents offenses yet some people ignore it. Easy to play defense against WRs that can’t get open when being thrown to by inept QBs being protected by mediocre lines. The secondary didn’t let us down in 2023. It was a team effort. No sacks. Two turnovers. The offense inside the opponents 20 with 4 chances at the end of the game. Washington’s defense was JV level relative to their offense. The next to last offensive possession we had 1st and 10 from the 13. We have to kick a FG. If we score a TD there, all that was needed on the last possession was a FG. Maybe I’m wrong but thought Moore returned to show the NFL he could be versatile. Spirited football talk. It’s time.

Disregard for context. The offense threw a pick on possession 1 versus OU. Very short field. Texas had 1st and 10 on the OU 30 or so with roughly 3 minutes to go. One more first down and chances OU scores go down significantly. That didn’t happen. Now OU’s TD drive started with the LBers being attacked. First down, stoppage of clock. 2nd play, Manny misses tackle first diwn. Starting corner Watts out the whole game. The big play was the 28 yarder in which the pass rush helped cause the issue. I believe the TD was a LB miss. So blaming the secondary is not completely accurate. As for Washington, that was a boatload of offensive talent. I’m not even sure that the entire regular season in 2024 schedule included as many first round picks as this UW team. Maybe not even as many NFL guys as that UW team. I don’t think that’s true cause Georgia. But no sacks. Penix had several great throws with pretty solid coverage. And still the offense had 4 shots inside the 20 in the final minute. Houston wasn’t good, but Barron and I think Watts were hurt. M Golden was better than given credit. And Houston only scored 20- something points. And one of their TDs came when PK dialed up a free blitzer that missed. Maybe the defense wasn’t great, but it absolutely gave the offense a chance. And in the two losses, there were 4 turnovers that impacted the scoreboard.

Yes, that’s what I am saying, the offense had its chances versus Ohio State. Sure, the defense could have done more. I won’t blame any one player or any one unit for any loss. In the end there are opportunities and plays to be made for anyone, any unit. I also like stats and the relativity of metrics like OFEI/DFEI. Those happen to say the defense has been better ranked than the offense. Any fan who follows closely will have complaints about any OC or DC. My complaint on the 4th and 19 versus Vandy is different than most. Mine is that we rushed 5 and left a LBer short essentially leaving 5 to cover 4 I think it was. Others will not like it because we didn’t run tight man coverage. Suppose those same people were happy with 3rd and 17 versus LSU. Blitz with man behind it.

We were down two safeties, a 3rd was banged up. Pretty sure a CB was banged up too. Vandy was the #1 OFEI team. They were #56 in DFEI. # 1 FPI offense. #54 FPI defense. Surprise, the #1 scored points against a depleted defense. Disappointing, the offense could not finish 1 drive in the 4th against a middle of the road defense. Since Sarks arrival the offense has struggled to finish. Ohio State, Kentucky, Vandy last year. There have been FGs to tie or take the lead when first downs or TDs finish the game. The opportunity was there versus Vandy. It didn’t happen.

Kicking his ass individually does little for our team objective. I interpreted it as Texas kicking OUs to include him. There should be no specific objective to hit him harder, more often, whatever than any other Sooner. And if the opportunity presents to waylay any Sooner, at any time, we need to take advantage of it.

I’m one who’ll stick up for PK. I do think we’ll improve numbers-wise this year. Jackson and/or Zina stepping up their rush game will be the biggest factor as to how much. Then if one of the interior guys ups their pass rush game, we could have a devastating defense.

Texas had more sacks per game and more interceptions per game than Indiana. His pass defenses were not below average. That is a complete and utter disregard for applying any context. Now to the specific example. Sayin threw a pick versus Indiana drive 1. Then proceeded to throw for 245 yards with no interceptions subsequent to that. J Smith did more in that game than two versus Texas combined. On a 4th and 1 from the IU 5. Play by play shows that was overturned on a Sayin run. Then OSU missed a game tying 27 yard FG. I guess that’s the defense taking it to him. Id say those two defensive performances were comparable given the contexts.

I think we’ll return to top 10. Muschamp can take some credit, but personnel on defense is much more prepared this year. Last year, DT was a question mark with limited big play ability. All the key parts are back. And hope is that Justus brings some plays. Simmons should be better. Zina, Jackson better. LBer similar but Biles adds a bit more versatility. Then the maturity of the DBs takes a pretty solid jump. And absolutely the improved offense makes life easier for the D. Taaffe, Hill, Manny all missed games last year. January too. McDonald missed the majority of Vandy. So whatever we started with took some hits.

I do think Guilbeau blitzed but the opposite side defender dropped so still only rushing 4. I could be wrong on that. Angles were a problem. You’re the first I recall mentioning this so kudos to you. Players need to make plays. I’d classify this play as one of those. Guilbeau should be aware that a screen is very possible on that play. On the back end, we had one guy let him get outside while at the same time taking out another one of ours.

Curl is certainly underappreciated. It’d be cool to talk football with him. A generation too soon. A football player.

He sure threw a better pass.

I was always curious about his pro career. His production was excellent. From what I recall his combine/pro day numbers were solid. Why did it take awhile to get the surgery?

Please explain those limitations . There were effectively 3 plays that kept the game in question. And one of those was the offense taking a lower percentage shot on 3rd down on the non-Pi call. The same play that had a secondary effect of a slightly more difficult FG because no yards were gained. It virtually eliminated any decision of a potential 4th down try. And it stopped the clock. Seeing as how Vandy scored with 33 seconds it certainly changed Vandys philosophy with that extra half minute. Yes, a TD ends the game but a first down virtually does as well. So we chose poorly on the risk/reward side of that playcall. Then the next possession we have 4 plays and punt. The offense had an opportunity to end and did not. So let’s keep that in mind given there was a questionable strategic decision. The other two were the TD pass right before half and the 4th and 19. I just saw an article saying that was a busted coverage in the first half. I did not see elaboration on what should have happened though. Then the 4th and 19. But what I do know is that we had two backup safeties out for the majority of the game. I also thought Filsaime got dinged too. Maybe Manny. Or maybe another DB as well. So some confusion given Vandys offense and our experience level was not completely surprising. What exactly does they weren’t playing together mean? The long Stowers TD - there wasn’t much apparent the front had anything to do with it. The other two plays are difficult to determine how they weren’t playing together. I don’t know the dynamics internally. No idea who wanted Akina. Maybe I’ve forgotten but I do not recall ever hearing that a teams front and secondary are not working together.

I can see OSU 2025. Their schedule was pretty weak too. Bama - I don’t remember who was on that team. I remember the offense moreso. Georgia - was it the secondary or a dominant front? Bama and Georgia each had a 5 year window in which their overall talent completely overwhelmed most opponents. May be why the names don’t just jump out at me.

I’m curious what you think is elite. The QBs and WRs faced in 2024 were mediocre at best. And that’s only cause we made a deep run into the playoffs.. When we played competent teams, they did reasonably well. Clemson hit for 300+ passing and 3 TDs. Michigan and UF didn’t even throw out D1 QBs. The two turnovers had a bit to do with the UW loss. No sacks. But talk about competence. The tackles have started in the NFL. 3 WRs drafted, pretty highly too. One TE ran a sub 4.5 40. The other is in the NFL. The center just got drafted. The QB a top 10 pick. My point is that defending teams is more difficult when the offensive competence and skill increases. The 2024 defense was great, but our regular season opponents had poor offensive talent. Even the playoff contenders had some kinks offensively.

Out of curiosity, name some elite secondary’s.

He did leave a year early. He compiled some stats too. When he was a freshman we had too many freshman defenders playing. I’m not sure he would ever been terribly instinctive, but he could run around and be active.