Steamboat Willie

So there will be no development on offense of current players?

Hickory wins!!!!

Good Post— and that’s actually why I’m less panicked about the interior than some folks. Brooks has been cross trained at both guard and tackle, and everyone who’s watched him knows his ceiling is higher inside. He’s got the frame and the power for guard and moving him there stabilizes at least one spot immediately. When you line it up that way, the OL picture looks a lot more functional: LG: Brooks (best natural fit; cross-training pays off here) 😄 Robertson / Cruz (and yes, Cruz is probably a long-term center, not a guard) RG: Kibble (talent is there — consistency just needs to show up) Portal Guard to round it out If Neto gives you anything, that’s gravy. If Cojoe takes a leap at RT, that’s even more cushion. So yeah, Texas needs help at guard — but not because the cupboard is empty. It’s because guys like Brooks have been playing out of position out of necessity. Put him where he belongs, let Cruz grow at center, and add one veteran guard… and suddenly the “gulp” turns into “actually, this can work.”

Fair point, but let’s be accurate about what these OL guys are. Sark didn’t inherit them — he recruited most of them — but they weren’t recruited to be instant-impact, SEC-level frontline starters. They were taken as developmental depth pieces, guys you hope turn into contributors in Year 3 or 4, not anchors of the line. And that’s exactly the issue right now: Texas is having to start players who were originally projected as long-term depth because the higher-ceiling recruits (the Banks/Campbell/Brockermeyer era guys) either left early, got hurt, didn’t develop fast enough, or didn’t fill out the pipeline the way it ideally should’ve progressed. You can criticize Sark’s offensive roster build — that’s fair. But it’s not fair to pretend he walked into a stocked pantry and somehow burned the ingredients. The truth is he built the OL room with a mix of big hits and long-term projects, and now those “projects” are being thrown into starting roles earlier than planned. That’s why it looks messy right now. Not because he inherited a disaster, and not because he’s a “God King” micromanager — but because Texas is asking depth-grade players to play SEC-grade roles. Big difference.

A visitor for the weekend?

Honestly, this is exactly why Iwaited a full 24 hours before posting anything. When you look at the numbers laid out like this, it’s hard not to say the quiet part out loud: the offseason talent eval and offensive roster building flat-out missed the mark. And the stats don’t sugarcoat it. Last in the SEC in YPC (2.61). Second-fewest rushing attempts. Dead last — by a mile — in conference rushing yards per game. Averaged 5.0+ YPC vs ranked teams only three times in 13 tries. That’s not a “trend.” That’s an identity crisis. It’s a combination of everything: • Personnel misses (– whether we mis-evaluated the backs, the OL, or both) • Scheme stubbornness • No real rhythm or commitment to the run game • And a portal strategy that backfired This isn’t bad luck. It’s structural. The SEC is a league where you earn yards on the ground, and right now Texas is trying to win heavyweight fights by shadowboxing. You can’t live in 3rd-and-8 all season and expect your offense to look coherent. The craziest part? Sark came in with a 1,000-yard rusher streak that spanned like a decade and half a country. Now we’re staring at a season where the leading rusher might not hit 450 yards. That’s not a small dip — that’s falling out of the airplane without a parachute. There’s a ton to fix this offseason, but the first place to start is admitting the eval and acquisition strategy at RB and OL simply wasn’t up to SEC standard. Until that’s addressed, everything else is window dressing. And yeah… this was the toned-down version of what I wanted to post yesterday.

A blended family mix of Coach O’s chaos with Petrino’s scenic-route decision-making? The Hogs might be the first program ever to lead the nation in both rushing offense and HR investigations. Arkansas wants juice, sure… but are they really ready to jump into the blender?

Every week we see games swing on bad spots, missed holds, mystery DPI, clock screwups, and “after further review… who knows?” moments. Meanwhile the sport is worth billions, the technology clearly exists, and other leagues are already using versions of this stuff. I’m not talking about replacing refs with robots. More like: Real-time ball/line tracking AI flagging obvious misses for review A centralized oversight room that standardizes rulings Automated clock/spot corrections Data-based grading for ref crews Basically, give officials the tools to stop human error from dictating outcomes.

A little bit of a throwback player? I hope he hasn't topped out!!!!

skinny ankles!!!

So… what happened to Thursday night college football? This used to be a thing!!! Like, a real weekly ritual — a big-enough stage that you’d plan dinner around it, flip on ESPN, and watch some random ACC or Big East game that somehow felt important because it was the only show in town. Now? Crickets. One MAC game here, a stray C-USA game there, but nothing that feels like appointment viewing. I know the NFL muscled in, I know coaches hate short weeks, and I know TV networks reshuffled the whole calendar… but still. For a sport that clings to tradition, it’s wild how quickly we all pretended Thursday nights never mattered.

Say what you want about Schloss (and it better be good), but the guy has a PhD in building middle infields. Wherever he goes, the shortstop and second baseman play like they’re auditioning for a fielding clinic video. Smooth hands, great turns, zero panic. It’s been his calling card forever.

LSU is putting on an all-time clown show right now, and it has nothing to do with on-field play calling. From the messy coaching search to the way they handled Brian Kelly’s exit, it’s hard to find anything that resembles competence in Baton Rouge. The “presidential search” looked less like a real process and more like a performance to justify a hire that was already decided. Meanwhile, the Brian Kelly situation has gone from bad to completely unbelievable. LSU is now arguing he wasn’t officially fired after the A&M game and is suddenly trying to label it a “for cause” firing — months later — to dodge a $50M buyout. Never mind that they publicly framed it as a performance issue at the time. This is the kind of chaos that scares off top coaches. How do you convince an A-list candidate to take the job when the school can’t even agree on who had the authority to fire the last guy? Or when they’ll rewrite the timeline on a termination after the fact? Someone will take the LSU job — it’s still LSU — but the way they’re handling things is doing real damage to the brand. Coaches want stability, clarity, and a department that honors its contracts. Right now LSU is offering none of that. At this point, the only consistent thing coming out of Baton Rouge is confusion.

UT 24-Ga 16 Georgia’s offense isn’t the old Death Star — most of what they do in the air runs through the tight ends with Delp and Luckie off play-action, and Branch is basically an extension of the run game with a 3-yard target depth. They want safe throws and long drives, not explosives. Texas should’ve won the SEC Championship last year, and this matchup looks even more manageable now. If the Horns tackle in space and take away the play-action comfort throws to the TEs, Georgia gets pushed out of its rhythm fast.

UT 24-Ga 16

The Century Club!!! Hook ‘Em

Gerry, how should I feel about this happening?

This offer makes sense to me — Sark’s always going to take the skyscraper types when they’re special, but he clearly doesn’t want a room full of one body type. You need the big catch-radius guys and the sudden, explosive separators. Both Bishop and Bey bring the jugo (juice), and check the “if he touches it, you hold your breath” box. College football keeps proving speed scares defensive coordinators more than anything, and Bey’s track numbers are silly. If Sark sees a QB with that kind of burst who already flashed at WR in camp? Yeah, that offer deserves our attention.

Turns out 10.23 solves a lot of route-tree questions

Obviously Akina isn’t a long term solution for many reasons.

If Caldwell starts, don’t expect fireworks — expect efficiency. He’s not Arch with the legs or the flair, but he’s a veteran who won’t blink under pressure. Sark’s not ripping up the playbook; it’ll just lean more on timing, quick throws, and steady drives. It’s not the sizzle, but it might be the steak — and that’s perfectly fine against Vandy. Sometimes you don’t need flash; you just need someone to steer the bus straight and get everyone home with a win.

So LSU is still trying to cook at the crawfish boil — but have burned down the kitchen in the process!!!

Fair point — I get the career ladder logic. Every coach wants to climb from assistant to coordinator to head guy and cash in when the time’s right. But let’s not act like Stillwater is some golden opportunity right now. Boone Pickens isn’t around writing blank checks anymore, and OSU’s wallet suddenly looks a lot thinner when the donor dust settles. If I’m Collin Klein, I’m thinking long and hard before trading stability for a gig where you’ve got to rebuild an offense with duct tape and hope the Powerball hits to fund NIL and facility upgrades. Major might fit there, sure — but only if he’s bringing his own checkbook and a bottle of Tums.

This one feels like an early-kick rock fight. Vanderbilt’s tough enough to make Texas earn it, but let’s be real — they’re walking into a bad matchup. Texas’ defense has started to click again, and when that front seven brings pressure the way they did against OU, it changes everything. On offense, Sark isn’t reinventing the wheel. Whether it’s Arch or Caldwell, the plan stays the same: get the ball out fast, stay balanced, and let the playmakers go to work. It doesn’t have to be flashy — it just has to be efficient. Vandy might hang in for a while, but the depth, the home crowd, and the overall talent gap should start to tilt things Texas’ way by the fourth quarter. This team has been learning how to win the hard way, and that experience pays off in games like this. Texas 28, Vanderbilt 21 — and honestly, why would I pick anyone besides Texas?

Would be really surprised if Arkansas doesn’t take a long look.