Here for the Wins

He’s a moron. On that screen, there was a guy in the first window, a guy in the second window too. In all his arrogance, he tells me it's to be thrown immediately until I show him the screenshot with two guys squeezing Endries in that window so then he says the 2nd window is open and that the defender is too locked leg to the play. The absolute risk is a tip and pick. His actions were completely reasonable. So every time you get a screenshot, every defenders reaction is based on the action to the point. If a QBs head, shoulders and feet are down the middle of the field, then certainly in a non-man coverage situation, the defender will act accordingly. So, if that Qb shifts to the right flat, like in the Endries Ohio State shot, then defenders will begin to move so 15 yards of space when the QB is not ready to throw and has to throw it 30 yards, the pass catcher has to catch, turn and run isn’t as open as he appears. And sure, that curl right, imagine the corners reaction when he sees those shoulders and hips turning that way. He has help deep, he has help to the inside. There’s no threat underneath. It is entirely possible the QB identified that early and went to the other side of the field because the numbers were more advantageous. The last one before the screen. If that’s the play I think it is, there is a similar if not identical to the right. There’s absolutely no way to know which side will be open initially. But you can imagine that a right handed QB may look right first. You can pretty much do this all day, every day on zone coverage. There will always be missed QB opportunities. And you’re pretty much a moron if you think on 5 man routes the QB will find the first man open or the only man open every time.

He’s a little awkward on slants, but I don’t generally buy that. If it’s truly quick, there’s not much else you can do. Set your feet and rip it.

Sark has great play designs. I think one play you might be wanting is the 2nd play of the game versus UTEP. Well executed. Simple execution. I don’t recall seeing it since then. Not sure we saw it prior to that. Hes got a ton at his disposal that could help. Like maybe someone WR other than Wingo gets a carry. Sometimes his good stuff disappears for too long.

And as far as Neto how does that impact the other Z on the team?

A little look and comparison on our screen game the past 3 years. 2024 was the least effective in terms of yards per play in the 6.4 range then this year at 7.8 and 2023 at 8.5. 2024 was the lowest in terms of completion percentage and adjusted completion so that probably brings the ypp back in line. Sark for sure needs to lean into it a bit more but we’re not much different than years prior although UF likely competes with the fewest Sark has run since his arrival.

But you’re not a coach. Or are you? That’s a joke by the way. If you get the time and inclination, maybe throw together a graph game by game on the ball distribution- behind LOS, 1-9, 10-19, 20+. Pair it with run-pass ratio. I would wager a bit of our issue is that the gameplans are too varied given our lack of playtime with each other. The merry go round at RB and LG also play into that. I think we wasted that UTEP week.

Maybe you should ask why the performance last weekend was less inspiring than the opener.

Positivity. The pass protection problem, if you believe in PFF grades, is not widespread. LG and RB were the issues. Is that fixable? Maybe Baxter returns and handles part of it. There are options to make LG serviceable.

The play that got it to 2nd and 1. Why is it not in our playbook/used?

Umm Ceej, you can’t put Wingo there. Not only the drop, but he had the easiest play of the day in his midst and failed to convert.

I’m generally more upbeat about the season prospects than most on here making themselves miserable. But…. Just odd we run a guy at LG that really hasn’t been playing there. Niblett seemingly got a fair amount of time early. If we were going to do that, maybe run it a bit more leading up to this game. Again, I’d sssume a fair amount of practice time was allocated here. Not the best use of time. Our short yardage O was 1-2 attempts. How about that. I am not overly concerned about the D. That wasn’t the UF team that anyone else faced. UTEP and SHSU offenses were not discussed much. They are poor then throw in an off and our early game tackling was poor. Obviously Manny being out didn’t help.

I just did a little quick math. From game 1 2024 thru today, we’ve had 4 games in which Texas has a run-pass ratio at 50% or greater in favor the run. Clemson and ULM at 50%. Ohio State at 60%. UTEP at 71%. There’s multiple reasons to say UTEP is an outlier and worth tossing out in any serious evaluation. That was not a Sark/Texas gameplan that you’re likely to see again. But go ahead wet your pants about it. Much of what you saw on the field to date won’t matter much at all tomorrow.

I’ll just repeat it one more time. The offense you saw versus UTEP was one you haven’t seen from Sark since arriving at Texas. Roughly 2/3rds run to pass in the first 30 plays. Sub-20% pass on 1st down. And absence of Moore, Wisner, then the presumed RB for the day going out after 1 play. The gameplan matters. It likely impacted that game. Maybe you get something similar if the weather kicks in. Otherwise, you likely won’t see that approach again.

I’m confident in it. Was just trying to stir up some drama. It would not surprise to see the best prepared UF offense this year.

Let me rain on your parade. Per OFEI, UTEP is the worst offense in the country. Our overall opponents to date rank 122 out of 136. We don’t know what we have.

This is quite a good post. We can only hope our opponents prepare to do what UTEP did. If Mateer were to have beaten us, that means their Oline won. Quite a lot. And that their receiving corps won. Quite a lot. It is difficult to see that happening.

Auburn gave their RBs 8 carries after getting sacked 10 times the week prior. That is dome unusual play calling.

And that got started earlier than anticipated with FSU losing yesterday. But, oh no, who’s going to beat UVA now? I’m not certain who was supposed to win, but ASU beating TCU also muddied the waters. After today we’ll have another round of this teams so good, and this team has weaknesses. That’s true. Today. Welcome to college football because that may largely different a month from now. As a Texas fan, we want Georgia over Bama.

There are few teams as well positioned to make the playoffs as Texas. It’s mostly conference games moving forward. Defensively, there are few with our talent for the starting 11. There are few with respectable depth that we have. Not just this year but historically. We’re well balanced too. We’re good at the run game. Good at covering. Good at getting to the QB. So we’re as competitive here as anyone. Offensively, that’s the concern. But in a sense for the entire season our most difficult matchup was and should be Ohio State. That game was competitive so that should provide the baseline for competitiveness. The public discussions have focused on the negatives but ignoring the positives. There are references but not significant discussions regarding Sark and his efforts to plan for the long season not the 4 game stretch in September. For any concern one may have for the offense, there are justifiable reasons to believe that concern can be improved. Starting next week, we’ll likely be healthier and more experienced than we’ve been. Unpredictability is Sark’s friend. That’s the key. We are not an impose our will offense but one that can make it difficult for a defense when you have to defend our options. The play calling needs to follow suit. Let’s do it.

I’m not sure how much it was considered versus UTEP, but there were lots of guys running routes that had not run many in live games. And the completion percentages to those 4 targets, maybe toss Baxter in there, could be an indicator too. Moore is a big deal. And maybe a bigger deal than most realized. Honestly, WR blocking may be the thing I pay least attention to but can see how Moore can be a key there based on how he plays the game.

Are you disagreeing that Hill should have made the play? And are you disagreeing that any top flight D1 school if allocating bodies in the manner OSU did on that sneak would stop it? Do we need to be better? No doubt, but this season has had 3 practices and OSU. The Oline was not great versus OSU, but they showed some life. Our playcalling did not give us a chance because Sark played in to their numbers advantage. Arch has scored rather easily several times now so that should loosen that interior. Bleed that 2nd TE into the flat a time or two and give the defense something to think about. Until you make your opponent defend outside the box, you will have issues. And right now, we don’t really know what this offense is.

So you show a video of us versus OSU in which Hill is 3 yards in the backfield and blocks himself and are convinced that’s great line play? They doubled a dude and won yes but ignored Hill and he blew it. The one for us - they had 3.5 guys over our C/RG. You aren’t winning that. We even tipped the sneak. OMG. It’s a goalline play and Banks is blocking no one. Fire him. I simply cannot believe Conner didn’t block those 3 defenders. Helm looking at his QB. Thank goodness he left for the NFL, and we don’t have to deal with that anymore.

And we’ve largely whipped our opponents short yardage efforts too for the last handful of years so where are their dominating road graders? Goalline and short yardage is about numbers. There is no one to block a Ransom or Downs. The play caller has to account for those dudes. We have added some QB run to the mix. That’s already helped. This belief that defenses get moved off the line is a fallacy. In the 8 game regular season SEC slate last year, we led the conference in yards per carry with no help from the Qb and backs generally perceived to get what was blocked. No team, in the theoretical best conference, is moving teams off the line consistently. You gave no examples on these dominating offensive fronts. We clearly value pass protection. Our tight ends are generally better pass catchers than blockers. Until proven otherwise that’s where our priority lies. I understand that’s a problem for you.

To put some numbers to this, he was 128th in big time throw percentage last year. His rate was twice as high the year before at 5.7%. Think his average depth of target is just under 10 this year so not dinking and dunking but limited big time throws, which are heavily weighted towards deep throws and less at the intermediate range. Like many guys he’s improving as he matures, at least from s statistical standpoint.

Yet somehow that C, in spite of being injured, was picked up by the defending Super Bowl champs. The team whose starting crew is considered by some to be the best unit in the NFL. That problem at G was so terrible he was drafted. For two years running, Texas had a top 3-5 ish pass blocking unit. I’d challenge you to find me any OL, but provide some support for you claim, that could claim to be top 5 in both pass protection and run blocking. I’d bet you can’t find one. And you sure as hell won’t find one in which all 5 members are equally adept at pass protection and run blocking. And even in spite of this major “problem” two of the plays on our final important drive last year were off the edges. All teams have strengths and weaknesses. And that’s for certain in every teams Oline so it’s really more about playing into your strengths. But sure let’s harp on it as a problem that probably doesn’t have a solution to satisfy you. Its still early so we don’t fully know what we do best. Funny too that message board warriors had themselves convinced that our interior run game would be improved because the “problems” were now gone.